Hormone Help!

Hormone Help!
Are you struggling with hormone imbalances and looking for natural solutions? My personal journey led me to discover the incredible benefits of natural hormone supplementation, combined with the use of essential oils. After years of struggling with heavy bleeding, anxiety, and mood swings, I finally found relief by incorporating natural progesterone therapy and Young Living essential oils into my daily routine.

In fact, my husband and I were so fascinated by the science behind essential oils and their ability to help balance hormones and combat endocrine disruptors that we created a system specifically for women's health. Our system includes a different blend of essential oils for each week of the menstrual cycle to help balance hormones and relieve associated symptoms.

If you're interested in feeling your best and getting started on this journey to hormonal balance, I highly recommend looking into how essential oils and natural hormone supplementation can help you achieve your health goals. Young Living is the only brand of essential oils that we recommend and trust for purity and quality.

To learn more, reach out to me and I'll share my personal experience and tips on getting started. Take control of your hormonal health and feel like a completely different person!
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Is God REALLY In the Little Things? Even shampoo??

Is God REALLY In the Little Things? Even shampoo??
Of course, every Christian is probably saying "YES!"
But, do we really believe that? We say it, but so we BELIEVE it?
Does God care about our every need and care? Is He always working in the little details of our lives? And are we selfish if we anticipate Him doing so?

As is true for everyone I know in 2020, this has been a TOUGH year. For some of us, tougher than for others.
Kids at home. Some 'normal' kids, some special needs kids. All kids who were made to be with their peers and loved ones without fear of dying or making anyone else sick. All frustrated. All (probably) spending too much time in front of a screen. All (probably) going to bed WAY too late. (OK, maybe that's just mine...)
So much is going on. Lost jobs. Health fears. Security fears. Fear for the future.

For my family, we are truly blessed (and I usually hate that term being used loosely, but in this case, it's very true). Doug's job has stayed steady. His boss has been great about making accommodations and letting him run the laboratory as he sees best. I always work from home, so my work hasn't been affected. (I can't say that I have used the time very wisely...but we won't talk about that right now...:-0)

So, for me, when I ask God for things when I pray, it almost feels selfish. Especially these days, when so many are struggling with so many obstacles and stressors. And yet, I continue to cry out to Him. My Abba. Father. Protector.
~When extra grocery bills and other unexpected expenses show up, and I selfishly worry ...I cry out.
~When I don't think I can handle ONE MORE sibling fight or emotional outburst...I cry out.
~When I am looking for a car for my 17 year old son, because it will make my life so much easier and help us SO much as we navigate this school year with 3 kids in 3 different schools and virtual learning/in person/virtual learning scenario...I cry out.
~When I come home from a day trip at the beach, after marinating in sand for 8 hours, and realize I have run out of shampoo...I cry out.

And what, you may ask, has happened this month when I cried out?
I'll tell you.I am amazed.
God has shown up. Even when my requests seem trivial, and even so very selfish to my own ears.
~He has sent me the exact amount of my Sams' grocery supply in Etsy sales. Or oil commissions checks.
~He has sent my 17 year old son down the stairs to offer to play Mario Kart with the girls. <3
~He has sent me to Facebook market place. And told me to go look at a car there. And he has put everything together to make it possible. And then made the car check out 100% mechanically when I cried out for that too.
~And yes, He even sends me a small bottle of SHAMPOO under my bathroom sink that I thought I threw away ages ago...even Keratin enriched. My hair felt like silk after that shampoo. HAHAHA

And here's where it gets really good, guys.
I stood in my (blissfully hot) shower, CRYING tears after I found that shampoo. Thinking about everything our God has done for, and continues to do for me. Because I am so unworthy. And because I have so much and so many have so little. WHY does God care about my shampoo? My son's seemingly frivolous car? The little extra padding of my bank account? My sanity where my kids are concerned?
WHY, when there is SO much hurt and death and poverty in this world??? WHY?

I prayed as I cried. Thanking God. And do you know what He told me? (Yes, He still speaks. If you listen carefully...and often in hot showers, in my case)
"My Child, Whatever worries you and causes you stress and heartache, that is what I care about. That is what I use to show you how much I care. I am eternal. I know what each person needs and when they need it most. If that happens to be the death of your child, I will send you peace (or whatever you need at the time). If that happens to be shampoo at the moment, and I know that my providing that will show you I am there for you always, I will send shampoo.
On the other hand, if your answer happens to be 'wait', I know that too. If it happens to be a trial that will teach you something eternal, I will walk you through that trial in my time and my providence. And I will do it so that you know I am there. Always."
 
And He always has. I know. I have been through some trials that were just a little more stressful than running out of shampoo.
I'll talk about those another day. :)

What do you need Him to send you? Ask Him. He will answer.
True, his answers are sometimes not quite as tangible as other times (he won't always send you keratin silk shampoo ;) ), but He will always answer you if you earnestly seek Him. And He will answer you in the way that is personal and perfect for YOU. And He will ALWAYS work EVERYthing for the good of those who love and follow Him.

Romans 8:28 "For we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them"


 

Discipline is Not One Size Fits All: Disciplining the Trauma-Touched Child

Discipline is Not One Size Fits All: Disciplining the Trauma-Touched Child
Hello friends. Tough topic tonight. 
Discipline. Remember before you were a Mom, and you swore your child would never pitch the fit to end all fits in the middle of the Wally World (Southern for Walmart)?
Remember after you had kids and you ate those words for breakfast? A thousand times over?
Remember when you had your own children, and realized that every child is different? Even biological siblings?
My oldest daughter was a handful from the time she entered by womb. Yes, you read that right. ENTERED. She made me sick as a dog, LOSE weight while I was pregnant (and this is when I was 20 years younger and weighed 40 pounds less), and then was STILL born weighing almost 9 pounds. She took cat naps as a newborn. She had to be, not just held, but BOUNCED continually or she would SCREAM. Until she crawled, she was mad at the world for not being able to move on her own. And after she crawled, she went almost straight to walking (at 8.5 months and not even on the growth chart), and she continued to be a tasmanian devil until she was about 12 years old...then started over again when she was 15. HAHAHA (She's a pretty good 19 year old now...and we are very proud of her :))
And then we had her brother, and he slept all night beginning at age 4 weeks (granted he was 10.5 pounds at birth and looked like a 4 month old at 4 weeks, but...).
Kyra (my oldest) was never fazed by discipline. We even spanked her a few times out of desperation, and it fazed her even less. We finally figured out that removing her from the situation and placing her AWAY from the attention she was seeking was the ONLY thing that affected her even remotely. Isaac, on the other hand, reacted to a simple 'no' more often than not.
Do I love one of these very different children more? Of course not. Do I wonder if I did something to cause Kyra to be such a difficult small child? Sometimes. She was my first. The guinea pig. I think I was anxious around her. I wonder if she sensed that. She has always been an extremely intelligent child. But mostly, I just think they are very different people. Kyra, if I'm being honest with myself, is a mini-me. Stubborn and strong willed. Isaac, without a doubt, is a clone of his father. Laid back and sensitive. A puppy dog.

Fast forward a few years. We go to China to adopt a little girl who has been in a horrible orphanage for the first two years of her life. We name her Adelina (Ada) Rose. Born underweight (probably a preemie) and abandoned, then neglected. We are told in China that they will 'get us a better baby'. We tell them, simply, 'she is our daughter'. We are told, when we return home with her, that she is severely autistic and that it is highly probably that she will never walk or talk.  We are scared, but we love her and don't hesitate to start working to find the best therapists we can find for her. She starts to walk and talk eventually, around age 4. She still shows signs up Autism, but she is coming out of her shell she has created to protect herself, slowly but surely.
Ada is very literal. She needs literal discipline. She needs to be told, point blank, when she is not to do something. She actually thrives on rules. She tends to hide things from us and to lie if given the opportunity, which may seem opposite of literal, but it is what it is. I believe it is all about control. She also refuses to eat 95% of food that most 14 year olds will eat. Fast out refuses. She ate baby food until age 4-5. Again, control, I believe.  So, what do you do with that? Do you give her the control? Do you let her sit at the table with her broccoli for 2 hours until she eats one piece (because believe me, some days she will)? Or do you give in and let her eat as she wishes? Honestly, it depends on the day. Our house rule is that if you don't eat dinner, you get no dessert or snacks. So, that is what rules over all. Does she have to eat her broccoli floweret? Some nights, yes. Others, no. #chooseyourbattles
My point here? We have been judged either way! If I make her eat, I'm mean. If I let her make the food rules, I'm a push over and I'm causing her to be unhealthy. Does the average Mom who is judging me know what we've been through with Ada and eating? Have they had a 4 year old spit baby food at them? Probably NOT. Have they been to feeding therapy 5 days a week for 3 years? Most likely NOT. Do they know what it's like to know your child was abandoned, then neglected, and is now the 'different' kid at school? Most of them, NO.
Next we have Miss Nora. She was adopted at age 3 1/2, and had been through more than most adults have by that time in her life. She spent 10 months in a Chinese hospital. Now, I don't know if you've ever been inside of a Chinese hospital...but it's definitely not a place I would like to spend 10 hours, much less 10 months in! We have no idea what she endured or saw in those 10 months. We do know that she almost died. We do know that even her caregivers at her Foster Home had all but given up on her living. And we do know that she amazed them all and survived and thrived until we came to get her a year later!
Once we got Nora home, we knew she was going to have attachment issues. She started showing signs of this early on, and we didn't even realize what we were experiencing for a couple of years. The first two years we had her were spent preparing for and anticipating her major heart surgery. We always contributed her behavior and attitude to her low oxygen concentrations. Then when she was 5, she had her surgery, and we excused her behavior as surgery recovery and anesthesia syndrome. About a year after her surgery, I was watching a random Facebook video, and in the first 2 minutes, I started sobbing. The video was shared by a friend, and it was about RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder). They described a chid with RAD as 'constantly being focused on creating CHAOS in their home'. I had never heard a better description of Nora in my life! As they went on to describe what the parents of RAD children face every day, and how they should react...I began to sob. THIS is what Nora had. And the description of why was SPOT ON. These children are AFRAID of attaching themselves emotionally to their primary caregiver. They have been abandoned by so many of these people in their short lives that they have learned to instinctively distance themselves emotionally from these primary people in their lives. :( And they don't even realize that they are doing it. They push these people ( usually their mother) away with their actions and words.
Nora would say things to me like "I hate this family. I never asked for a Mother. I want to go back to China" All it would take is me asking her nicely to stop hitting her sister. She would lose it. Once, when I was putting her to bed and we had read a Bible story, said our prayers, hugged and kissed etc with no issues, she looked at me, very calmly, with a smile on her face, and said, very matter of factly "Mom, I hope you go to bed and go to sleep and never wake up. I hope I never see you again and you die." :(
And yet, she would go to church and Sunday School and act like her Sunday School teacher was her best friend. And never say anything but words kindness and adoration to these women. Stings. Hard.
What do you do with that? If you are a mother, you know how that hurts. Deeply.
So, disciplining these children who have been hurt...how do you do it? It's not easy. And I have failed over and over. But, eventually, we have, for the most part, figured out a system that works for all of our children.
Nora needs a strict parent. If not, her chaos yearning wins out, and everyone in the house suffers. We can't survive that way. We've tried it. She has to be told, very firmly, what she can and can't do. And she has to be offered consequences in most cases. And very often those consequences have to be given, because she doesn't listen the first time.
What does this sound like to an outsider from our family when it is happening? Possibly not so good to someone who isn't used to parenting a child with RAD., because they don't understand what keeps Nora focused and out of her 'bad head'. They don't know what a melt down can look like if her 'mood' isn't tamed.  

Why do I write about these things? Because I know others want to understand. I also know that some mothers DO understand and need affirmation that they are doing OK. Do I mess up? Do I sometimes (OK, some days A LOT) lose my temper and yell or say things I shouldn't ? Yep. But, do I always love my daughter and want what's best for her? Also, YES. And do I apologize after I lose my cool? YES. Almost always. And then go cry in my room a lot of times. Which is OK too.
Why else do I write these things? Because we have found so many tools to use with our girls and their emotions since we discovered essential oils. I want to share these tools with you because I KNOW it is tough.
Can I tell you how much better it feels to say 'Nora, if you can't calm down, we're going have to go in the bathroom and use some oils' than it does to say 'Nora, do you want to go to the bathroom and get a spanking?' when she's having a meltdown in a restaurant or at church? SO much better. And SO much more effective, SO much more,  And she sees it as me caring for her and not ridiculing her (most days haha). She is slowly learning that I am here to stay and to help her, and it is SO much better than it was a few years ago...and continues to get better every day!
I would be thrilled to share the way we use oils with you if you think it might help you in your parenting adventure!

Please share your tips for calming emotions. Or for feeding issues. Or anything that you think might help us Moms out there.
And also, please know that you are doing OK. None of us have all the answers. None of us are perfect parents. We're all just doing our best to love our kids while raising them to be adults who don't melt down over the seat they get at Chili's. ;)
Also, always feel free to message me or share how we can be praying for you!
Amy

theflourishproject.net



Who's curious about Intermittent Fasting?

Who's curious about Intermittent Fasting?
Hi friends! Glad you're here! I hope everyone is having a great week!
Last week, I posted on Facebook about losing weight and my goals. I asked how many months it would take you to reach your goal if you lost 10 pounds per month. Mine was FOUR. Ugh.
Many of you said you would be interested in following along on my attempt to lose weight...again...HAHA...So, here I am.
A few months ago, I tried Intermittent Fasting. I had heard several friends mention that they had success using it, and it frankly just seemed like it would fit with my lifestyle, so I figured I would give it a shot. I do not do well depriving myself on any huge group of food. Low carb? Nope. Not gonna happen. God made carbs. I love carbs. Amen.
I rarely eat breakfast anyway, because I get busy and forget. I often find myself getting hungry around noon and realizing that it's because I haven't eaten a bite since the night before. So...I decided to try it and see what happened. The one thing I forgot...I wasn't taking into account the lack of midnight snacks (read: wine) I would be giving up. But, it still didn't sound as bad as low-carbing. 
I had also purchased a spin bike a few months before...and used it about ten times total. So, my plan was to do my spin bike for at least 20 minutes per day, 4 days a week (I like to set realistic goals and crush them, rather than failing HAHA), and to try the 16/8 method of Intermittent Fasting for a month and see what happened.
What happened is....1. I probably succeeded in an average of 3 mornings per week on my spin bike. Beginner level, 20-30 minutes. Low impact. 2. I used my DB Squat machine once a day, maybe 2-3 days per week, in the afternoons. 3. I did the fasting, but allowed myself one day per week to have a glass of wine for our 'date night in' (AKA Netflix and Chill...or not...;)).....
4. I lost 12 pounds in one month!


Woah. This was huge, for me especially, because my hormones make it very difficult for me to lose weight (read: I'm old).
So, I started to think that there must be something to all of this! And, of course, started googling.
Here are some things I found out about Intermittent Fasting and why it may work
1.  Fasting for 12 or more hours has been shown clinically to decrease insulin resistance (and therefore increase insulin sensitivity). This, in turn, does two things: A. Decreases insulin spikes, which are bad news for health and weight loss and B. Helps increase HGH (Human Growth Hormone) production.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2355952
The KEY is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat. And to allow a spike in HGH.
2. HGH is amazing. Google is your friend. It helps with fat loss, muscle gain, and just the aging process in general. Maybe celebrities get expensive HGH though IV's weekly because of it's amazing effects.
3. Your body adjusts your hormone levels when you fast to make BODY FAT MORE ACCESSIBLE....Yep, that means you burn it!
4. When your body cells are fasting, a repair cycle is initiated. This can only be good, right? :)
Check this out! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24048020

So...with that being said...I said that I did this a few months ago...before summer. And.....I went on 'vacation' a few too many times this summer. And I gained 10 of those pounds back. :(
BUT...I'm ready to try it again. And this time I am armed with a little new info and some cool new supplements, and I am also committed to attempting to eat less processed food and drink more WATER.
So, this is the plan starting Monday.
1. I will eat all my food between the hours of either 12:00 Noon and 8:00 pm. Or 1:00 pm and 9:00 pm (depending on what we have going on sports events wise that day...some nights it's hard for me to not eat after 8:00 pm)
2. I will be working out on my Spin Bike at least 4 times per week, in the morning (I have to specify this, as I won't do it if I don't do it as soon as I get up) I will also try to get some strength training or at least squats in at least two days per week
3. I will be using Young Living's awesome Amino Wise drink mix with my water during/after my work out, as it contains Branch Chain Amino Acids that have been recommended to use during and after a fasted workout. 10 calories, no artificial sweeteners, and approved to use while fasting https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-bcaa
4. I will be taking my regular Master Formula multivitamin from Young Living, as well as the Slique weight management supplement from YL. (Plus my probiotic, etc..but we'll talk about those later...)
 I will post the links for these supplements in case anyone is interested. And as always, contact me if you'd like to start your wholesale Oily Wellness Journey with me. I will also be posting some blog posts about other sorcery ;) you can use for all sorts of pesky aging issues. |

I will keep you guys updated. Please comment if you are planning on joining me in Intermittent Fasting. I would love to follow your journeys also!

Thanks for reading!
Amy

http://static.youngliving.com/en-US/PDFS/AminoWise_PIP_US.pdf


Welcome to the Corrigan Clan Crazy, Beautiful Mess

Welcome to the Corrigan Clan Crazy, Beautiful Mess
Welcome, and join us as we walk through the beautiful...and the ugly...parts of an adoptive family's (crazy) daily life. 
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