Of couch rest, germ season and babies

Yes, yes, I know...we've been strangely absent on the blog as of late.  To be quite honest, it's not that we've been too busy, it's just that we haven't been busy.  Ben would disagree, since he tells me that I am busy...making lungs, and toes and eyes, etc.... but I usually feel as though we haven't "done" anything since I've been on couch rest for about a month.  

Because of the couch rest and the need to lay low to keep our little guy cooking for a bit longer, we haven't been out of the house much and each day passes with pretty much the same routine...shower before Ben leaves for work, play with Lilyana, read the same books to her (we really need to get some more board books!), Ben comes home for lunch (*love*), nap time for Lilyana...sometimes me, more couch rest and quiet time, Ben comes home to make dinner, we spend time talking and reading out loud...just the three of us (very soon to be FOUR!!!!!), Lilyana goes to bed, Ben and I play a game, or read some more, or talk until we're tired enough to actually sleep, we sleep and then start all over again.  

I'm hoping to get the green light to get up and get some work done on Thursday when we have our next appointment.  My "to-do" list gets longer everyday and I'm eager to get started on some last minute projects/housework before our little guy arrives.  However, this last month of laying low has been good for us, I think.  Since I'm not allowed to "do" anything (by my definition), I can sit with my baby girl and read and play for hours without feeling like I have to get work done.  It's been a good reminder that my family...my wonderful, selfless husband and my sweet strawberry-blonde curly topped baby girl matter more than the dust under the desk.  Being there for them, letting them be there for me (wow...that's a hard one!), and just enjoying each day (which I usually don't get an A+ for) is my current calling.  It will be over soon...very soon...  And I am so thankful for two dear friends of mine who have come to visit and keep me company, and the delightful D. family for doing our grocery shopping...such a treat!

Laying low hasn't kept our house from colds and such, though.  Poor Lilyana came down with Roseola recently...congested, running a fever and then the rash, which wasn't as bad as I expected.  I was so thankful that it didn't itch!  She wasn't her normal cheerful, happy-go-lucky self for many days and just wanted to be held, mostly by her daddy.  We rubbed her down with oils and diffused them in her bedroom at nap-time and during the night while she slept.  This seemed to help a lot, but she was still waking up at least once during the night coughing.  At about the same time, Ben developed strep throat and I was doing all I could to stay healthy!  I wasn't going to be sick and in labor at the same time!  I hated to see both of them suffering and knew I could do more.  So I got up one morning and whipped together some home remedies to soothe their aching bodies.

What could be better than some Cough Syrup and a Vapor Rub?  These are so easy to make and use household ingredients and essential oils! Quick and easy, healthy and tasty, the Cough Syrup and Vapor Rub are good to keep on hand in your home, and if packaged nicely, would make great gifts to your friends and family this Christmas!  

So, I hope you enjoy these two recipes as much as my family has, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me!  



Homemade Cough Syrup

(Lilyana LOVES this stuff!)

1  C Honey (preferably raw, local honey)

1/4 C Organic Apple Cider Vinegar 

30 Drops Young Living's Lemon Essential Oil

30 Drops Young Living's Thieves Essential Oil Blend

Combine honey and vinegar in a small pot and heat over low heat until the honey is runny and the two ingredients are combined.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Pour into desired storage bottle and add essential oils.  Shake before serving a healing 1-2 teaspoons to your family!

**WARNING!!  DO NOT give to children under the age of ONE as this recipe contains honey**

Vapor Rub 

(A Lilyana favorite...she carried the jar around and would ask for more as she needed it!)

2 T Beeswax

1/2 C Olive or Coconut Oil

30 Drops Young Living's  Peppermint Essential Oil

30 Drops Young Living's R.C. Essential Oil Blend

20 Drops Young Living's Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Heat beeswax and oil in a small pot over low heat until the beeswax is completely melted.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Pour into desired storage jar, add the essential oils, stirring to combine and allow to set before use!  Rub on chest and back every 2 hours or as needed.

CAUTION:

NEVER take lower quality essential oils internally. From my research, the only essential oils that I trust enough in quality to be taken internally, are Young Living therapeutic grade essential oils, and only if it is labeled as a “supplement.” If your essential oil is from an edible plant such as lavender, lemon, orange, grapefruit, oregano, thyme, frankincense, ylang ylang, etc., and it states that the essential oil is “Not for Internal Use” then you can be certain that the essential oil is NOT superior quality. Only 2% of all essential oils in the world are considered therapeutic grade. CLICK HERE to find out what that means.

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If you don't use essential oils and would like more information, I'd love to answer your questions!  Leave a comment with your contact information and I'll get back with you as soon as I can!  If you would like to sign up for Young Living and share in these wonderful healing oils, click here!

So, if you have any jokes you'd like to leave in the comment section, please feel free to do so!  And if you try these recipes, please leave a comment and tell me how you liked them!  I love getting feedback!  

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor.  The information provided is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to prescribe, diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is your responsibility to educate yourself and address any health or medical needs you may have with your physician. Please seek professional help when needed.

Down by the riverside...

This past weekend rolled around with a projected high of 111 degrees on Saturday...yes, you read that right...111.  With that kind of news, we decided it would be a good idea to get out of town!  Ben came home on Thursday with big plans for our three-day weekend.  When he came home he found us getting out of the pool and cooling off with some coconut milk and peach smoothies...

 Lilyana LOVES her smoothies and she loves her straws.  

Ben was so excited to see our first produce ready for eating!  A cucumber and, my favorite, a little Sungold Tomato!!  YUM!

My wonderful husband has been working on setting up an outdoor kitchen for me...which has always been a dream of mine.  He bought me a gas range and got it all set up while I was out of town last month.  When summer days are sunny and hot, we do most of our cooking outside now, which keeps the kitchen cleaner and the house much cooler!    

For dinner that evening, we had Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Lemon-Garlic Chicken breasts, a fresh garden Salad (with our two veggies!!!!) and I introduced Ben to a Southern favorite...Fried Green Tomatoes!  I was thrilled that he fell in love with them...a new summer staple! 

Since Ben had last Friday off, we decided to walk down to the Farmer's Market together.  We usually drive down so that he can go with me, but he always ends up leaving Lilyana and I there so he can go work hard again to pay for all of the fresh goodness we're buying for the week.  It's nice being so close to the market!

BUT, since he didn't have to work on Friday, we did some shopping at the market and then went down to our very favorite little coffee shop (a little old-world kind of place...makes us feel like we're back in Spain... *sigh*) for some iced coffee and relaxation.  Lilyana enjoyed Ben's iced black coffee.  Nope, no sugar...just caffeine, water and ice.  Ick.

Speechless. 

We left Lilyana's new shades back at my parent's house, so she likes to play with mine.  Which was nice for Ben, because it meant that she wasn't trying to finish off his drink.

Back to the market for more goodies!  This little foodie baby takes her littler foodie baby (that blonde thing behind her) to Farmer's Markets.  Lilyana loves getting fruit samples from the vendors.

We spent the rest of that day at home, just having good old-fashioned family time.  We planned our trip for the next day, got all of our swim stuff packed up, food stuff picked out and ready for the cooler, and then went to bed looking forward to the adventures the next day was sure to bring...

 We were on the road bright and early, looking for that perfect riverside picnic spot!  We found what we thought was going to be a nice, quiet, secluded area for eating and swimming...we were right on the first part, but very wrong on the second!  But that was fine...we had a nice view, lots of shade (very necessary for hot days), and good food.

See...goooood food.  Asiago Sourdough break with a Garlic-Chive cheese spread and our favorite salami.  Oh, and fruit ,chilled water, and some desserty things.

 The Pluot eating pair.

Once we were completely stuffed, we packed up and headed further north to get further away from the heat and find a good swimming spot.

 We found it!  The very perfect spot!  Next time we go, we'll bring lunch up here!  

Lilyana is ready to hit the water!

Scorching hot day...nice cold river.  

She loved just sitting on the sand and playing in the water.

Only, the longer she sat there, the further she got in the water. 

Deeper and cooler...Daddy kept a good hold on her, though. 

"I LOVE IT!"

Standing in the river isn't quite the same as standing in her pool, but she enjoyed it...

...a lot.

We ended up taking a swim down the river.  We brought her floaty ring and she had a blast...until she started getting cold.  We pulled out of the river, eventually dried off, packed everything back up and began the drive home.  We were very pleased to find that our new favorite hang-out is just over an hour from our house and 36 miles from Yosemite!  We'll definitely be back!  Soon!

Lilyana was tuckered out.  Lots of playing, boat-loads of excitement, sunshine, warmth and love...she got a good nap on the way home and woke up just in time for...

...dinner!  We stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant in town and split a plate of enchiladas.  

The next day was also going to be horribly hot, so we mapped out our drive to San Francisco, got everything packed up again and crashed into bed so we'd be ready for an early morning...  But, you'll have to wait for the next post to see what we were up to!  Until then, enjoy this video of Lilyana in the river...

Y, lamentablemente, llegamos a la final ...

Yes, very sadly we come to the end of our Spain pictures...I know, I know...the trip has been over since March and I'm STILL posting?!?!!?  Well, yes.  Since getting home, our schedules were very busy...see, more busy, and yes, more busy.  Oh, and our busy schedule also included our first niece being born!!!!  HURRAY!!!!  

So, I need to wrap up our Spain trip, even though looking through the pictures as I agonize which ones I should share brings back soooo many good memories and warm fuzzy feelings....but yes, I need to finish so that we can move on and then I won't feel guilty for posting other pictures when I haven't finished what I started...yes, I'm like that.

So, be prepared for LOTS of pictures as this post will show you the last days of our AWESOME trip and then the very depressing homecoming pictures...

Now, remember from last post, at this point we're in France!

 We woke up the next morning in the busy town of Lourdes and guess what we found?!!?  A pastry shoppe!!  Our favorite!  Of course, I saw chocolate, so guess what Melissa and I got?

 Ben and Jess, on the other hand, wanted MEAT!!!!!!

Oh, and café au lait, which we all decided wasn't as good as our café con leche, but we were grateful for the warmth and the caffeine!

 Perky girls!  This was a bit overexposed, but check out Lilyana going for the bread! 

Attagirl!

On the road once more, we decided to take the scenic route, again.  But this time, there was a reason!

 Does anybody recognize this cute little village?

 Well, if you watch THIS show every year, you definitely would!!!!  Ben was sooooo excited to be on this road...the only thing we were missing was his bicycle. :(

 AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!  What's this?!!?!  Snow?  

 *pouts*

(Yes, he's pouting with bread in his hand...and his mouth, I think!)

 *sobs*

Such disappointment, grief and misery...  This means we can't go over the Tourmalet! :(

 It's okay, love...next time!

 Jessica standing on the famous Tour de France road...

 ...Ben kissing it.

Melissa and I actually took our shoes off to say that we stepped foot in France, and not just shoes.

Yeah, we're weird. 

Huh...not something you see everyday...

"Awwwwwwwwwww!! Can we take him home?" 

"Um, no."

Paris! Paris! 

Too far to Paris. :(

Breadstick goodness.

Oh dear...we found a McDonald's...ugh....

NO!  We did NOT eat there...but we did use their internet and bathrooms. 

Welcome to the past!

Carcassonne...a Medieval walled city.

Melissa and le bébé heading inside.

 Ben pondering the ancientness of the walls around him.

Some of my favorite people!  

LOVE Lilyana's expression here...isn't she just soooooooooo cute?!?!

Melissa wants to take the walls home.

Father-daughter love.

YUM!!!   J'aime les crêpes

Jess in the castle.

Melissa's epic shot!  LOVE this one!

On the other side of the fortress...

There is a cathedral.  A very old cathedral, full of very old things.

This church has been through so much. 

 Oh for windows like that!

Okay, and the pillars. 

 The window that they are standing under dates back to the early 14th Century.

Jess found a door that is just her size!

Ben wanted to pack this stone up and bring it home as his souvenir.  It is called the "Siege Stone" and dates back to the first half of the13th Century.  

 The metal pieces driven into several of the pillars were put there by the Revolutionary soldiers during the French Revolution.  They used this cathedral as a stable for their horses and would tie them up here.

 I can't remember who is buried here...

 Heading out.

 Melissa is an earthy person.

We left Carcassonne and headed off to another castle...only we were going to sleep in this one!!!!!

 The first records of this castle in history go back to the year 900...talk about OLD!!!

The hostess is a very funny French lady who has been working on renovating the castle for about 15 years. It's a beautiful place, very comfy and she's a FANTASTIC cook!  She only buys local foods and whatever is in season...

 Breakfast was delish!  Homemade yogurt and jams, breads, croissants, coffee, fresh squeezed juices...  The perfect French country breakfast!

 A quick shot before we finished packing up.  Ben, bébé and I had a HUGE suite!  Two bedrooms, a big bathroom and a lovely view!  

 Melissa and Jess had their own lovely room with a roof-top patio!  NOT fair!
After climbing a bunch of stairs you finally found the door to their room!

 A room with a view is the best...and this was a beautiful view!

 Melissa and her French hat and the sleepy bébé.

The Five.

The walkway between rooms and parts of the castle.  Can't wait to go back!

Since this was our last day in Spain and France, we decided to drive down the coast and see the small villages there and soak up as much local color as we could fit in one day!  

 The water is so blue and pretty!  Okay, and vineyards growing right along the coast is pretty, too...

 We stopped for lunch and Ben got all excited when he saw this... "Hey!  We have one of these...only this one is bigger..."

FOOD!!!!  Have I ever mentioned that I love food?  

So, we did pretty good ordering off of the menu in Spain.  Ben knew enough Spanish and was familiar enough with words to figure out (well, most of the time, anyway...) what our choices were.  Not the case in France!  

Instead of guessing, we asked our waiter, who spoke very broken English, if he would pick out our meal.  He was a bit confused at first, and then was very gracious and helped us out.  Two different salads...

 ...this one being the best of the two, but they both were oh-so-good!

  Moi et mon bébé.

 And then came the main course!  This one was a beef dish with grilled tomatoes and REAL French Fries!!  SO good.

 This one was the favorite among most of us...SHARK!  *sigh* It was incredible...

Jess was happy!

AHHH!!  Ice Cream to top it off!  YUM!

 Then we took walk to burn off all those calories we had just consumed.

Ben wanted to be the first one to touch the Mediterranean. 

 Our sea-side town. 

Thomas, if I remember correctly, the Thomas Ambulance company was in this town....

 Le bébé in the water.

So, we had to try crêpes in France.  Honestly, I think that they would've been better with ice cream.

While we were eating, a TON of fire hummer like things (not fire trucks like we have) drove by, usually followed by an ambulance every so often.  We figured something big was burning down.  

On our way out of town, we saw this: 

 So lazy...a small crew were up fighting the fire on the hill. 

Save the vineyard!

Adieu France...

 ...Hola España!

 We finally made it to Barcelona, with the three of us kicking and screaming the whole way...is it really possible that such an amazing trip could come to such a quick end?

Sadly, yes. :(

But that just means we'll have to go back!

*goes to check her Spain trip fund*

We stopped by to see the Gaudi, because that is something you have to do if you're in Barcelona.

We got checked into our hotel and then decided to hit the shops, which meant LOTS of walking...last minute gifts to buy!

And then more food!  Pizza!  And really good pizza, too!  Americans need to take lessons from real pizza makers.

On our way back to the hotel, we tried to get some bikes...they're free to use, but unfortunately, you have to live in Barcelona to use one.  Bummer...'cuz they're really cute!

 Crammed into the tiny, old, Victorian lift...up, and up, and up to the room!

We stayed up way too late packing all of our stuff into bags much too small.  But, we made it work, crashed into bed, got up much too early and made our way to the airport...very sadly. 

 I ordered some some café con leche at the airport as a last hurrah for the four of us, and no it's NOT nearly as good as the real stuff!.  I guess my Spanish was pretty good because the man next to me thought I was actually from SPAIN!!!  Wow!  What a compliment!  

 And then we got onto our plane and we were off...I think we all cried, even if we were in Business Class (the kind agent upgraded us!).

 *sobs* The Picos de Europa!  I was there!!!

We made it back to JFK, and had a horrible experience at that airport...we miss the Europeans.

After about an hour and a half, we had to part ways.  Ben, baby and I were off to sunny California and Jess and Melissa were on a different plane heading for Illinois.  More tears, more depression....

 The only thing that could distract us from our deep depression on the flight home was the oxygen masks falling out...nope, no emergency, but it sure did scare a few people!  They had to move the people who were sitting in that row...

 ...and then they tried to fix it....with hand cuff tape.  Yes, you read that right.

We made it safely home and were met at the airport by Pops, Mumsie, Thomas and Lindsey.  We grabbed a bite at Panera Bread (we miss European bread...they know how to make it right!) and then we started the long drive home.

Lilyana was pooped...it took her a few days to get back on schedule...and this is what she did for most of those days!

But I think that she had fun!  I know that the rest of us did, and we're all madly scrapping up every spare penny and counting our dollars to try and figure out when we can go back!  Such an amazing trip...so many great memories, so many wonderful places, so much rich history... 

So, as I said at the beginning of this rather long post, there is another Hector girl in the family!!!  

Congratulations, Thomas and Lindsey!

Isabella is a cutie!

Lilyana just adores her little cousin, as you can see in this video here: