Free Range Family

Most new mothers experience the same things their children's first months of life: no sleep, breastfeeding issues, figuring out diaper brands... Could you imagine being a new mom, finding out one day that you may not live to see your daughter's first steps? Meet Heather. She is a cancer survivor and a mother. Both of these life-changing events happened to her at the same time. This woman is seriously one of the strongest people I have met, to overcome cancer all while learning the new ropes of parenting a child? Wow, she really is a phenomenal woman! Check out her POV Post today and be sure to stop by her blog here. She truly is a wonderful woman and an amazing mom! Check out her story! "When I married Cameron, the love of my life, I wasn't quite ready to step into the role of mother yet, but after seven happy years together, we both decided that it was time to take that next step. We knew our lives were about to undergo a major change as we prepared to w...

Kate Middelton and I have several things very similar to each other, from our wedding dates to the due dates of our children. Lon and I were married April 23, 2011 while Kate and William were married April 29, 2011. We will both be celebrating our second wedding anniversary this month. Kate is due with her first child in the middle of July 2013, while I was due mid July last year. Our pregnancies have also been similar. We both experienced severe morning sickness that wound us up in the hospital more than once, and we both had issues gaining weight during the pregnancy. I feel very connected to her because of these reasons. I feel that I can relate better than most and most important of all, I choose to support her over judging her with her pregnancy complications. I have seen it on the newstands and have read it more than a few times on the internet, that people are judging Kate for not only hiding her belly so much but also for her lack of weight gain. I cannot imagine how that m...

This month is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Not alot of people realize this, but there are alot of children in this nation who have cancer. In fact, it is said that 46 school children are diagnosed with some form of cancer EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.   Could you imagine your child recieving this diagnosis? I cannot even begin to. Any parent family who has a child with cancer is truly a godsend. I admire their strength and hope and faith during the darkest of times. I like to think I would be able to handle it but I do not honestly know.   Here are some facts about Childhood Cancer. Please learn them and share them with the world! People need to know! There are eight common types of Childhood Cancer: *** Luekemia *** Brain and other nervous system tumors *** Bone Cancer *** Lymphoma *** Wilm's Tumor *** Neuroblastoma *** Retinoblastoma *** Rhabdomyosarcoma Despite all the major advances in its care and treatment, it is the second leading case...

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy with Anna, I got a letter in the mail from the municipal court calling me for jury duty. I was a little frustrated because I planned on exclusively breast feeding Anna and didn't want to introduce bottles until after she was a couple weeks old. So I went online to research breastfeeding laws for jury duty and was relieved to see that I legally would be excused. After calling a court clerk, I was told that as long as I got my explanation notarized I would be excused. I thought it was funny that if you were doing jury duty all you needed to do was fill out a form but if you were excusing yourself for whatever important reason you had to get notarized. But oh well lol. I had never been notarized before as far as I had known. I knew what a notary was but had no idea how to get one or how much they costed. My mother knew of one that only charged a few dollars but by that point I had already had Anna. So when she was th...

I won't lie to you, I'm not perfect. But this is something that is not okay! I text while driving. I even Facebook sometimes while driving. I think I have checked my email while driving. Not all the time and DEFINITELY not whenever Alan is in the vehicle with me. I also won't ever answer my phone while driving, so at least there's that. But still. I never really thought it was too serious despite my husband's many concerns about it, until I saw these commercials. Not all of them hit home for me, except for this one about this boy. I'm not going to lie to you, this shook me to my core. I don't think I *could* text and drive now, even if I really wanted to. Please take the time to watch this video. I am making a vow to never again text while driving. You readers are my witnesses. And I urge you to do the same. There is no text important enough to hurt yourself or lose you life. Please no more texting and driving!

This morning, I woke up early (as usual lol) with morning sickness. The rest of my house was quiet because Lon and Alan were still sound asleep, so I channel surfed for something good to watch. I started watching this really interesting documentary on TLC about abandoned children who turn to animals for their care taking. It is called Wild Child: The Story of Feral Children. It really got me thinking about the ever old philosophy debate about nature v.s. nurture. First we should go over what qualifies a child as feral. As sometimes referred to as children with the "Mowgli Syndrome," feral children are human children who have lived away from any human contact from a very young age, generally around two or three. Feral children often are abandoned by their parents and turn to animals, usually canines but there have been  other animals reported like horses or primates. In other cases, children are isolated by their parents on purpose, or treated like animals. These children no...

Thursday, I watched a documentary on PBS called Nature's Child. It was about nature and how it affects and benefits childhood development. Of course being the hippie that I am, I already knew this lol. But it was still a very interesting show to watch and I learned quite a bit from it. In this day and age, most children spend their time indoors either on the computer or at the television. Gradually, less and less children are spending quality time outside. If they do get outside, it is either at school during recess or for an organized sport. While these are also good development teachers, they are not enough. Children need to play outside in their neighborhoods, like we all did as kids. But this is happening less and less. Why is this, you ask? Well there is one theory that I have found to be pretty feasible. Some believe that modern day parents are being conditioned by the media to be afraid to let their children play outside in the neighbor, whether by themselves or with other...

I discovered this organization a couple of days ago and being the hippie that I am, I didn't think it would be too difficult for me. I hardly ever wear shoes lol, especially in the summer. I told my husband about this and he thought it was silly because it wouldn't be a challenge for me. But that's not the point of this organization. Its to get conversation started. All around the world, children are going about their lives EVERYDAY without shoes. This may not seem like that big of a deal right? Except that lots of these children don't live in places with asphalt and cement, like we do. The majority of these shoeless children live in third world countries, places where no one should be barefoot. Especially not a child.  Here are some disturbing examples: *In the Philippines, there are 30,000 people living on a landfill without shoes and are exposed daily to broken glass, syringes and other filth. *In Kenya, there are 1,890,000 cases of jiggers in children...

Today is the eighth and final day of CHD Awareness Week. It is also Valentine's Day, the ultimate Heart Day! :D For my final day, I will feature Miss Kirsten and her son Ewan @ Team Ewan. Via I discovered Kirsten's blog Ocotober 2010, almost a year and a half ago. I am a pretty dedicated reader of her blog and I also have befriended her on Facebook. I care a lot about Kirsten and her family. Kirsten has two children: Ewan and Austen. Ewan has CHD, specifically two types called Tetrology of Fallout and Pulmonary Atresia. Pulmonary Atresia: A type of Congenital Heart Defect where the pulmonary valve does not form properly. A solid sheet of tissue forms where the valve opening should be and the valve remains closed. Because of this defect, blood from the right side of the heart cannot go to the lungs to pick up oxygen. For those of you that aren't familiar with these posts already, I will only be sharing a summary of Kirsten and Ewan's journey because I en...

Today is the seventh day of CHD Awareness Week. For the seventh day I will be feature Miss Krista and her amazing daughter Annabelle @ One Woman's Dream. Via I first started reading Krista's blog in March 2010, almost two years ago. I think that Krista is a very strong mother to have her youngest be diagnosed with CHD. She has gone through so much with her little one and in just under two years! Krista has four children total: Karalynn, Lacy, Gabriella, and Annabelle. Annabelle has CHD, specifically a variation of Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome called Atrioventricular Septal Defect. Atrioventricular Septal Defect: A failure of any of the tissues that help divide the chambers, leaving one or more "holes" and possibly one leaky valve instead of two developed valves. I plan on only sharing a brief medical history on Annabelle and her condition, but that is simply because I urge you to check out her blog out! Annabelle was diagnosed with AVSD when...

Today is the fourth day of CHD Awareness Week. For our fourth day, I will feature Miss Jill and her beloved son Joshua @ The Real Life of a Red Head. Via I first began reading Jill's blog October 2010, almost a year and a half ago. I have been very invested in reading this blog and I care so much about Jill and her family. Jill has four children total: Caleb, Hannah, Joshua and Luke. Joshua had CHD, specifically a type called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: A type of Congenital Heart Defect that refers to when the whole left half of the heart (including the aorta , aortic valve, left ventricle and mitral valve) is underdeveloped. I will only share with you a short history of Joshua and his family because I want you to check out Jill's blog yourself. Jill has been through a lot with Joshua and since and the more people who read her story and support her, the better. Please check her out! Jill had a rough pregnancy with Jos...

Today is the third day of CHD Awareness Week. For the third day, I will feature Miss Kristen and her daughter Cora Mae @ Cora's Story. Via I found Kristen's blog December 2009, a little over two years ago. Alan was only a few months old and I was a new mother, so reading the posts of Cora's last five days on the Earth honestly scared me to death. I took Alan into the doctor immediately and had him checked out for CHD, and his doctor assured me after a few short tests that Alan most likely didn't have CHD. After that, I went back to Cora's blog and have been a avid reader since. I think that Kristen is a wonderful mom, and that even now she is fully dedicated and invested in Cora. Once again, I will only share a short summary of Cora's short life and Kristen's journey afterwards. This is only because I urge you to read her blog and spread the word to others. Here is Cora's story: Kristen had a mostly normal pregnancy, and Cora Mae was b...

I am very excited today, because last night I got an email telling me that the red dress I had picked out was on its way to my house! :) Miss Bella, the wonderful gal who is donating the dress to me, said she mailed it Monday morning. So by my calculations, the dress should come either tomorrow or Saturday. Yay!!!!! :D I will be sure to take a break from my CHD Awareness posts on Saturday and will do a Traveling Red Dress Update, so be sure to tune in for that! Once again, Lon works today from 9 to 2. Alan and I need to get my car's oil change ( that will be an adventure in itself lol) and then we are supposed to meet up with Kelsie and her son Kelton for a playdate, though we have yet to decide where to meet and what to do lol. :P Then I work at the Y at four. Here's my heart healthy (for baby) Pregnancy Post! Enjoy! Via How far along: 17 weeks and 3 days Size of Baby: Seven ounces and six inches long or the size of a red onion. Developments of Baby: Ba...

Today is the first day of CHD Awareness Week. For our first day I will feature Miss Neyesa and her strong son Mason @ Mason's Journey. Via I discovered Neyesa's blog March of 2010, almost two years ago. Currently, I am an avid reader of this blog and I care a ton about Mason and his family. Neyesa has two boys, Carter and Mason. Mason has CHD, specifically a type called Tetralogy of Fallout. Tetralogy of Fallout: A congenital heart defect that refers to four anatomical abnormalities, three of which are always present. I will only share a short medical summary of Mason's miraculous journey because I urge you to check out her blog yourself. Neyesa is a wonderful mother and a better storyteller of her son's battle with CHD. Please take the time to check her out! Mason was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallout when Neyesa was 20 weeks pregnant with him. He was born full term at 37 weeks on September 1, 2010. He amazingly only spent a week in NICU before he...

Happy Monday everyone! This weekend was a busy but good one for my family and I. Saturday I had work at the Y, where I saw my friend Heather and Alan's friend Barrett. Then once I was off of work, Alan and I went out to dinner at Fuddrucker's with my family. Sunday was the Super Bowl of course, but we just went over to my parent's for their little Super Bowl party. It was fun and I enjoyed it when my dad would yell out in excitement and surprise Alan so badly he'd jump a foot in the air lol. Alan thought it was pretty funny as well. Today I am at home with Alan. Lon works from 9 to 1 so Alan and I are spending a mother-son day together. We are planning on playing his ABC Polar Bear Game, finishing his Valentine's and watching movies. Then I work at Child Watch at four. Alan will love seeing his friends at "school"! :) Tomorrow is the beginning of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (February 7-14). Via Congenital Heart Defect: Any problem...

As a skin cancer survivor, I am a huge advocate for sunscreen especially on children. Now that it is June, we all need to start thinking about what types of sun protection we will use on our little ones. Did you know that just one blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles your chances of developing melanoma later in life? Unfortunately, 54 percent of children burn or tan in their second summer, and 22 percent burn in their first, according to one US study. (Information thanks to the Skin Cancer Foundation) Here are some tips on keeping your toddler sunburn free this summer: -Try to keep your toddler out of the sun and in the shade as much as possible between 10 am and 4 pm. This is the hottest and sunniest part of the day. -Have your toddler wear a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses. I like these types of hats best for Alan because you can strap them under their chin so they won't blow off during playtime. Via And we get strap-on sunglasses, like these,...