I have been making my own elderberry syrup for a year now and frequently get complimented on the potency and effectiveness of my magic potion.

In my family, we use Elderberry Syrup at the very first sign of illness.  Cough, runny nose, fever, you name it.  Even if someone just feels/seems off or we know they were exposed to something – we whip out the elderberry.  I find elderberry syrup to be very effective when used at the onset of illess to ward it off – but have found it to be pretty ineffective on an existing cold or illness.  If the elderberry “doesn’t work”,  meaning the person I am treating still ends up being full on sick – I stop elderberry and begin moving down my list of other alternatives.  However – I suggest using a few tbsp every few hours until symptoms magically vanish – and they most likely will.  In the case of flu, I would drink 6 ounces per day – one ounce at a time every few hours until you are fully recovered.  Elderberry has been proven to destroy the flu virus.

Shopping List:

2 cups of organic black elderberries (just the plain, dried berries.  Red berries and the green parts of the elderberry plants are poisonous.  You must only use black elderberries with no stem or leaves, also known as Sambucus Nigra.  Only purchase TRUSTED brands, such as the ones we link to.

1/4 cup Manuka honey

8 oz Raw honey or maple syrup

1 Organic orange

1/4 cup of organic ground cinnamon 

optional organic ginger root

7 cups of cold, filtered & purified water

DIRECTIONS:

In a large stock pot, mix 7 cups of cold filtered water with 2 cups of dried elderberries.  Leave pot uncovered.  Set the burner to medium and bring to a boil.

While you are waiting for the water to boil, roll your orange around on the counter to bring the juices to the surface, and poke a hole in it- extracting all of the juice that you can.  Zest the rind with a cheese grater and add it to the juice.

Once your water is boiling, add the orange juice and zest, 1/4 cup of ground cinnamon and optional ginger root to the pot, cover then reduce heat to a simmer.  Set your timer for 45 minutes.  Do not open the pot during this time.  When the timer goes off, open the pot to stir – then cover and remove from heat.  Let the mixture cool.

Get a very large bowl and sit it in a clean sink.  Set a stainless steel strainer inside the large bowl and slowly pour the elderberry juice into the strainer.  Once the juice filters through, take a meat masher or spoon and smash the berries to extract any remaining juice.  (The best stuff is what you are squeezing out).  Continue doing this until you have strained all of the berries and juice from the pot.  Cover the bowl and let cool to room temperature.

When the mixture has cooled, put 1 cup of elderberry juice in a food processor or ninja with 1/4c of manuka honey and blend until completely mixed.  Pour this into the big bowl and stir.

Stir in the remaining raw honey or maple syrup and bottle your syrup.

To prevent molding, make sure you dry the cap and ring of the jar after each use – and store upright in the refrigerator.

To prevent fermentation, ‘burp’ the syrup by taking the cap off for a moment and replacing it every day or two to let air in.

There are simpler and less expensive versions of elderberry syrup, but this blend packs the most immune-boosting vitamins and natural anti-viral/bacterial/fungal properties to create the most effective syrup.  Store bought syrups have junky added ingredients, including sugar which suppresses the immune system.  They also usually contain less than 14% elderberry meaning they are pretty ineffective.

If you do not want to make your own, the next best option is to buy elderberry extract and honey and just  mix them on your own.

Cheers to amazing immunity!

I was anxious to get my hands on a copy of this cute little book called “Baby Oh Baby, The Places I’ve Pumped” by Y.N. Farkas.  I just knew I would love it because of the title.

Sick Season is right around the corner.  Does anyone know why we even have a sick season?  The answer is quite simple and probably not what you would have guessed.

Colder temperatures mean less natural vitamin D from the sun.  We spend more time indoors and easily become deficient in this essential nutrient to a properly functioning immune system.  Everyone knows that vitamin C is good for immunity, but D is even more important and a majority of people don’t know that. Vitamin D supplements are tricky.  You need a good one with K for absorption, and most of the ones on the market are full of harmful additives and the D never even gets absorbed into your body.   Another reason is the way we eat.  In the off-season, fruits and vegetables cost more and are not as readily available as they are in the spring and summer months.  This means even more nutrition deficiencies.  Most people consume much more sugar and starchy foods during these times, especially because of the holidays – leading to suppressed immunity and inflammation.  All of these factors play into what we call Cold & Flu “Season”.

There are essential vitamins that you need to supplement yourself with during these times.  Those are: Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Probiotics.  In addition, I like to recommend a great greens powder or multi-vitamin to catch any other areas that are often overlooked.

So, when illness strikes – there are tons of ways to treat them at home without ever having to step foot into a Doctor’s Office.  When you go to the Doctor, you not only spend money on co-pays and RX’s, but you risk catching more germs than you started off with.  Think about it, you’re walking into a place where sick people are in and out of all day, with a compromised immune system.  Worse than that, most of them will just push antibiotics which make everything worse in most cases.

I’m so glad you’re here, so we can help.

Here is everything that you need to stock your medicine cabinet with to be well armed to fight off this germ-fest that we know as “Sick Season”.

Do your research.  Learn how to use these remedies and what they treat.  The links provided below are of brands that we know and trust with our own families.

The total investment to stock your home with these items is around $200.  It seems like a lot of money, but the reality is, that not being prepared will end up costing you more money.  In order for natural remedies to work, they need to be started immediately at the onset of illness.  That means that you do not always have time to be trekking around to all of the health food stores in town, searching for them – when all of a sudden someone is ill in your home.  If you cannot begin these at onset, you will most likely end up needing a Doctor to help if your body doesn’t heal itself.  So, with that being said – be prepared.  Think of it as paying for these things instead of the pricy medical bills that would otherwise follow – and remember that you cannot put a price on health.  It’s so important to have these things on hand for when illness strikes.  If you treat a sniffle, chances are that it will  not progress beyond that!  If I had to pick the two most important rescue remedies, I would choose elderberry syrup and monolaurin. 

Colloidal Silver 250ppm

CS Soap 

Elderberry Syrup – though we recommend making your own since the store bought kinds are mass-produced, less effective and often contain additives like GMOs and sugar (which suppresses the immune system, so counter-productive, right?)

or Elderberries and Honey to make your own (Find the recipe here)

Monolourin

Echinacea

Echinacea and GoldenSeal Blend

Thieves Blend

Bone Broth – Check out this recipe to make your own

Belladonna 30c

Ear Oil 

I wish wellness and health upon each and every  member of your family!  These items will surely help, especially when paired with a healthy and organic diet full of vitamins and nutrients.  If you need help and advice on when and how to use these items, be sure to contact us.  

I dream of living in a world where women love and accept each other with open arms.  No judgement, no comparison.  Where we are free to be vulnerable and to share the trials and successes of every day life without fear of judgement or criticism.  I wish we could be real with one another, support each other – learn from each other.  Being a woman is not a contest.  It’s not a game.  It’s a journey – it’s our lives.  If there were less judgement and comparison there would be less feeling of failure, less feeling of depression.  If everyone knew that all marriages struggle and one point or another, that no mother goes to sleep every night knowing she made all of the right choices.  If we knew that all of us have imperfections and flaws, that we all feel lonely or sad at one point or another – that we all need a shoulder to cry on from time to time.  I dream to live in a world where women don’t feel that they need to tuck, conceal, push up, plump or paint their faces and bodies before leaving the comfort of their own home.  A world where natural is beautiful.  A world of acceptance, encouragement.  It would be amazing.  This blog is a place where you will get my raw life.  There will be no hiding, fabricating.  Life is hard, and sometimes hearing it from someone else makes it feel okay for you too.  The more we all speak out about what is real, the better chance we have for changing the world for our daughters and the women of the future.  Self esteem troubles aren’t just about appearance.  It’s very present in motherhood.  We are all on different journeys with our parenting, and we are all in different places.  No one is better than another, no one is right or wrong.  Everyone is free to be where they are (as long as they are not hurting their children, of course) and should feel without judgement.  I was once taught that when you judge someone, you immediately lose the ability to influence them.  How can we learn from each other if we are always judging?  I challenge you this:

Embrace Women.  Trust them.  Believe that they are in the right place at the right time.  Know that just because something is right for you and your family, it’s not always right for them and theirs.  Every Mother has the right to close her eyes and just listen to the voice within her.  As long as she is doing what she believes is right, she is doing the best she can – and that’s the right thing.   Ladies, stop comparing yourselves.  You’re amazing.  If you want to learn and grow, that makes you even more amazing.  Know that others have something to offer you, and you have equally as much to offer them.  We are all unique and beautiful.  Let’s share our real selves with one another, and grow.  Love.  Support.

I believe that sharing your smile with strangers brightens their day.  I guarantee you that genuine people notice your smile instead of whatever handbag you have draped from your body.

Women of the world: Unite!

So, you’ve all heard of Life Hacks, right??  Well, here are your Mom Hacks.  Because being a Mom is hard enough!

Dinner for Breakfast??  Well, not exactly.  Chances are, you prepare some sort of breakfast on a daily basis for your family.  If you are anything like me, you cook and serve breakfast for a house full of people but don’t eat any of it!  So, you can prepare dinner and breakfast at the same time, and finish it up while everyone else eats!  You can use the same pans, and have all of your dinner dishes done before dinner time!  Just prepare everything, put it in a dish in the fridge and don’t forget to stick it on the stove or in the oven to cook.  Easy way to get an awesome jump start on your day.

Activity Bins  Put together some small bins full of activities that you can pull out during times when you  just need a few minutes to finish something up but your kids’ toys aren’t keeping them busy anymore.  Don’t overuse these unless you have a huge selection so they don’t lose their clout!

Call your kid!  Ever notice your kids don’t need your attention until you get on the phone?  Well if they are ignoring you, give them a “phone” (which of course can be anything they can hold up to their ear and pretend with) and call them.  I have tried this.  It works.

Find the treasure!  Need your kids to clean up their mess??  Hide 1 treasure per kid that you have beneath the chaotic mess and tell them to find the treasure!  Cleaning becomes a game!

……A video of Mom Hacks will be released in September!  Be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter to be the first to get a link!

“Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’99
Wear sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists
Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable
Than my own meandering experience, I will dispense this advice now…”

I remember the good ‘ol days, cruising around in my little covertable with my girlfriends singing “Everyone’s Free” by Baz Luhrmann.  I loved that song.  Most of his advice I like, but that thing about sunscreen – well, he and I need to talk about that.

So, I don’t put sunscreen or sunblock on myself or my kids, and no – I sure as heck don’t want them getting skin cancer.  Let’s talk about skin cancer for a second.  It’s caused by a lack of vitamin D.  Coincidentally, sunblock BLOCKS the absorption of vitamin D.  So… think about that one for a minute.  I know what you’re thinking: sunburn.  Well, we can talk about that too.  So, a sunburn is a reaction to UV rays that causes inflammation of the skin.  See, if you don’t have a vitamin D deficiency – most likely, you wont get a sunburn, even without sun protection.  Your best defense against skin cancer and sunburn/sun damage and pre-mature aging is easy: 

MAINTAIN OPTIMAL VITAMIN D LEVELS all year round.

Here are some great options to explore when trying to decide how to make sure you are getting enough D.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil

Liquid Vitamin D Drops

D capsules

Cod Liver Oil

Going out into the sun without sun protection

So, there are some skin types that are just prone to sunburn even if you have sufficient vitamin D levels.  (We will talk about D in another post, but the recommended doses from the FDA are laughable).  In this case, it is super easy to make a DIY sunscreen to protect even the most delicate of skin.  Here it goes.  Brace yourself, it’s easy!

Pick an oil: Coconut or grapeseed.

Mix it with 1/4 zinc oxide powder 3/4 oil.  Apply to skin. 

Now, if you choose not to take my advice or if you feel like you simply must have sunscreen, please only buy Badger!  I trust Badger Baby and Badger Sport.  

Choosing safe sunscreen isn’t just about protecting yourself from skin cancer.  Those sunscreen items are packed full of tons of other toxins that can just stay away!

 xox,

I am a huge believer in Mommy’s intuition.  I knew something was wrong with my baby, even though everyone around me was telling me that nothing was.  I am so glad that I didn’t listen.

After 6 weeks of my newborn son never looking at me, not responding to movement and stimuli around him, not showing clear response to light/dark (he didn’t even squint or blink from camera flash!) and not looking at my face – I couldn’t take it anymore.  I took him to his Pediatrician who did some basic testing and determined that he may or may not have a problem, but I was encouraged to wait it out.  I couldn’t.  I was on the phone that same day, finding someone who would see him.  Finding an ophthalmologist that will see a 8 week old infant that is not being referred from his PCP is not an easy task, but I found one.  A few days later, we had our appointment.  She didn’t give me any definitive information but agreed that something didn’t see right.  She referred us as a stat referral to the Kellogg Eye Center to see a team of specialty pediatric ophthalmologists.  He was examined by three Doctors at that visit.

My Husband,  18 month old Daughter,  9 week old Son and myself sat in this office – waiting for them to come back.  I can remember what each of us was wearing, I can remember every detail about this moment.  The moment that the Doctor came back into the room and said we needed to be seen by a Pediatric Neuro-Ophthalmologist to seek treatment for our blind Son.  Our blind Son.  We were told that he had Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, which is a condition that has no known treatment or surgery to cure it.  It never gets better, it actually gets worse.  Every ounce of my being was heartbroken, thinking about my sweet baby boy and how he would never see me, his sister, his family.  He would never see his future family or children, never have a favorite color, probably never ride a bike – the list went on and on.  I was devastated for him.  Completely shattered.  Can you imagine holding your baby and having all of these new realities flood your mind?  It’s awful.

My Husband was staying strong for us.  He reminded me that no matter what, we would give our Son an amazing life and always love him.  Always.  That wasn’t enough for me, I couldn’t accept this – but I was so thankful and humbled by my Husbands love that surrounded us at that terrible appointment and the emotional ride home.  The Neuro-Opthamologist could not see us for 4 weeks.  Four weeks.  I was supposed to wait for 4 weeks to learn what the prognosis was for my sweet child?  There is no way I could do it.  I spent the rest of the night on the phone with offices trying to get him seen sooner.  Shortly before 5pm, I got an appointment for the next day.  I was hopeful that the Doctor would tell us that the diagnosis was wrong, or that we could do something.  He just gave us more bad news, and told us that our son would never see.  Never see.  They said that though some children with ONH do have some vision, that our Sons optic nerves were completely gray – meaning that there was no chance of vision.  Normal optic nerves are pink.  They did not develop during my pregnancy.

I refused to accept it.  I wouldn’t listen.  I gave up on the traditional doctors and started seeking alternative therapies.  My best friend, and co-admin of this page, Rachelle, got me in that same day to see a Natural Practitioner that she works for that did a cranial sacral massage on my Son that same day.  He told me that he felt some overlapping of plates in his skull and referred me to a massage therapist to get additional massages.  The next therapist determined that he had a kinked nerve in the upper hemisphere of his skull that was most likely restricting bloodflow to his optic nerves- preventing them from developing.  Three massages later, and I am 100% serious – my son looked at me.  He made eye contact with me while I was nursing him – during which he would typically just be staring off into space.  He was 10 weeks old.  Every day there after, his vision kept improving.  He began tracking objects, his pupils dilated in response to light – I knew he could see me.  It was magical.  We kept going with these massages that we couldn’t even afford but couldn’t afford not to.  In addition to this, I began taking vitamins and nutritional supplements that are said to promote visual stimulation and healing.  Because I was taking them, my son would reap the benefits through my breastmilk.

I am so happy to report that my Son is now 2 years, 4 months old and has incredible vision.  He can see items up close and far away with a very slight lazy eye that will be correctable via patching therapy.  He may have a subtle color blindness but he is doing everything that I thought he may never be able to do.  It’s incredible.  I am crying as I write this, remembering all of these emotional days and celebrating the journey that restored his sight.  He has since followed up with his ophthalmology team who celebrate right along with us that he can see.  His optic nerves are now the perfect shade of pink!

I have reached out to people who have found this treatment to be helpful for them, too.  Spread the word, please.  Be inspired.  Know that you don’t have to accept anything that you are told that your gut is telling you otherwise.  I encourage everyone to search high and low until they find an answer that they are at peace with, and I thank and love each and every person who helped my Son along this journey so very much.  There is a permanent place in my heart for them, always.

Read more about ONH here

Read an email from someone our story helped, here. 

To all the Mothers who listen to their gut – to everyone in the world who reaches out to support, listen, and help – and to each and every one of you – cheers!

If you have not read my post about my Son who was diagnosed legally blind in infancy, you may want to begin: Here

From speaking out, I have found a few people to share my story with.  This email that I received a few months ago was life changing and has been the inspiration for me to keep going – and keep reaching out.  Read on to see how this woman helped her blind grandson to SEE AGAIN.

“Hi Robin,

Ditch the toxins.  Go green!  Try this super easy-squeezy-lemon-peasy recipe and never look back!

Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar if you can’t stand the smell)

2tsp baking soda

4c of super hot water

Stir these ingredients together in a pan (or something glass/metal) until completely dissolved.  Let cool.

Add about 10 drops of lemon essential oil and 5 drops of a thieves blend once the mixture is cooled (no warmer than room temp).

Pour into a spray bottle and get to cleanin’ 🙂

xoxox,