Newsletter #3 Anti-depressants/Depression

Right now, with the schedule I (Tony) keep, the newsletters are coming more at a pace of one every other week rather than weekly. I made this one a little more interactive meaning that I put links to several articles and videos that you can check out when you get a chance. Here is the link to view the newsletter!

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhtf6hvg_2crh32zch

Baby Dance

So I found this DVD at the library called Baby Dance. And Kaiya LOVES it. My only criticism of the DVD is that it does not have the repeat play feature like many baby dvds. Because we watch this one over and over and over. And I really don't mind because she is not just sitting there vegging out. She's learning smokin' hot dance moves and working on coordination, creativity, etc.

Nanny kindly supplied us with all of the pieces we were missing to maximize Kaiya's dance moves. Every time we played the DVD Kaiya would point out to me that the little girls were wearing tu-tus. Then she would say her own name in the saddest voice possible. And I'd say, "No, Kaiya doesn't have a tu-tu." Thanks to Nanny -- she now has a tu-tu. I had given her a baby rattle for the maraca dance, but we now have the real thing. Warning -- 2 yr olds can be violent with maracas. Do not leave a 3 month old, 2 yr old and maracas in the same room unattended. (Just kidding -- it didn't happen, but she did accidentally whack me with one of those things and they are more dangerous than they look.)

We're still in need of a cowboy hat for the cowboy dance -- but she did learn how to say, "Yee-Haw!" She cracks us up doing it. I'll have to catch it on video before she outgrows it. Here are a couple pictures that Tony's mom took of her in action.

Birthday Part 2

This post is mainly for Aunt Bekah & Uncle Brent's entertainment. Thanks for the birthday package you sent. Here are a couple cute pictures of Kaiya opening the presents. You can see her animated expressions as she opened them. Thanks!!

This expression is her face just after saying, Ohhhhh!!!
Happy Camper!

Happy Birthday Kaiya, Part 1

A week ago, Kaiya Grace turned 2! She had a visit from Tony's mom, Nannie, who flew just for the special occasion. Instead of a cake (sugar overload), we decided to make a fruit creation. I got my inspiration for Edible Arrangments -- a company who makes fruit bouquets. Anyway... I bought styrofoam at JoAnn's Fabrics and carved the #2 out of it. Then I wrapped it in foil and started sticking fruit to it. It was so much fun and turned out perfect!

Tony and I lucked out on her birthday present this year. I actually found this at a yard sale for $20. It is nearly brand new and in perfect condition. And she LOVES it.

Then Mimi & Papa got her the IKEA children's kitchen playsets. They have a baking set (which she is opening now), cooking set and then place settings. They are all made out of real metal/wood and glass, so they are literally miniature versions of what I use in the kitchen.

Kaiya got to go with Nannie to Toys'R'Us to pick out her birthday gift. She wanted everything in the store. :) But among a few other things, we settled on this car. She can't quite move herself around, but she still has a blast in it. And Daddy gives her a ride in it every night to her room... it's like the "night-night taxi."

Things Bethany learned...

I can't resist the chance to give Bethany a hard time for not having a blog. And since she hasn't jumped aboard this bandwagon I will have to make this post for her. She e-mailed me a few things that she learned over the weekend...

1. You need a caravan of strollers to get through Disney World, so it's important not to forget one in the car. Twice. (Thankfully, Tony is responsible for the forgetfulness...)

2. It is possible to change three poops in under ten minutes.
3. If one child starts to cry, at least one (if not two!) others will join in for solidarity
4. Sippy cups are coveted treasures-- but only if they belong to someone else!
5. It is possible to fit three carseats and two adults in a small size Toyota, but the adults will have exactly 4.5 inches of leg room.
6. Kaiya does not like her breakfast stolen. If necessary, she will go in after the stolen piece to retrieve it.
7. A late night Wal-Mart trip = Girl Time. :)
8. Friends stay friends, even in the craziest of circumstances-- but that doesn't mean that we don't covet a weekend away! :)

At the end of February we had a visit from my friend Bethany and her little girl Enna. Enna is 6 months younger than Kaiya. We went to the beach, IKEA, Disney World, and the park while they were here. It was a great time and also exhausting. Before the trip, I don't think either one of us realized how tricky it would be coordinating schedules for 3 little ones under 2 years old.

Things I know:

1. Someone else's crouton off the floor at IKEA does not taste good.

2. Someone else's wipe out of the diaper genie at IKEA tastes worse.

3. There will be no moments of silence in the car -- at least one child will be fussing, crying, SCREAMING.

4. Kaleb's finger tastes good. As well as his arms and legs.

5. Two year olds can teach each other naughty things.

6. If Enna has it, Kaiya wants it. And vice versa.

7. Food = Quiet

8. Food + Barney = Really Quiet

9. Mothers with multiples ROCK.

This the first time we had ever been together with our kids and so it was awesome to reach the end of the time together and still be friends! I know that my friendship with Bethany -- which started when we first moved to St. Louis, before either of us had children -- will be able to transition with each stage of life we move through. Hence the 10th thing I know:

10. I love my friend Bethany!

Kaiya's expression during the entire "It's a Small World" ride.

I feel so behind on blogging lately. I have yet to blog my visit from friends Bethany and Enna... I'm awaiting better pictures from Ruthie's camera so I can really do it justice. :) Because Ruthie was babyhelper/camerawoman during our trip to Disney World. And I am working on my list of things I know after putting 3 kids under 2 yrs old together for and extended period of time. It's gonna be a classic. :) I also have to blog Kaiya's birthday because she turned 2 this week!!!

At the end of February we connected with our friends Donna and Paul. They are good friends of our family and were down while Paula umpired college softball games for a week. We visited the ballpark once and then had them over one evening during the week. It was so fun to see familiar faces and I loved being able to have my hands free a bit more than normal. :) It didn't take too much convincing to get Donna to hold Kaleb... or Kaleb AND Kaiya for that matter. I didn't end up with any pictures of Paul, but he taught Kaiya a few tricks and she did her best to wear him out. (As if umpiring softball games in the warm Florida sun didn't wear him out enough...)

Vaccination Newsletter

Click Here for the link to Tony's latest newsletter. I hope you find the information as shocking as I did when I began to educate myself on this topic. Knowledge is power! --Rachel

Blog Background

Here's the deal on the background. You click on the orange bar at the top of our blog. It says something like, "Click here to get thousands of free blog templates." That will take you to the Pyzam website where you can search through their templates. They have lots of good ones.

Follow the instructions on the page -- should tell you to copy the code and paste it into the Edit Html spot on your layout page. If you need specific help with this, let me know and I can try to help!

Quick update

Hey guys,

Some people have asked when the next newsletter (about vaccines) is coming out. This is one area of research that I have spent a great deal of time with. I am trying to figure out ways to shorten it from about 300 pages to about 3. It's like telling to Tolstoy to condense war an peace down to 5 pages. Okay, maybe not exactly the same scale but you get the point. I will be done in the next day or two.

Park

The house that we are living in is up for sale so occasionally we have to leave while it is being shown. This was the case on Thursday, so we loaded up and headed out to the park. It was a good thing that Tony went with us, because there was a bully at the park this time. Seriously... a 3 year old bully who hauled off and hit Kaiya twice!! She was in tears at the top of the curly slide because for no apparent reason this kid decided to slug her. In his meanest Daddy voice, Tony looked at the kid like he was going to seriously hurt him and said, "Do NOT hit her." The mom came over and made the child apologize, but he continued to reek havoc on the park. I snapped a picture of the little stinker as they left the park. You can see his hand is pulling back because at this point he was hitting his mom. Lovely.

Kaiya loves this bike rack at the park. I think because it is the perfect height for her to go under and over it. Anyway... got some cute pictures of her playing. I think some of these are frame-able. I'm gonna get them in black and white and stick them in the empty frame that I have had hanging empty for like 2 years now. She's wearing the dress the my Grandma Blackwell got her for Christmas! The perfect choice! :) Thanks Grandma!

Uncle Aaron

Tony's brother just finished his time at Ft. Stewart, GA and will head to Iraq later next week. We were able to meet him halfway between our place and Ft. Stewart. We had lunch together and then went to a nearby park and just hung out for a couple hours. It was so fun to be able to see them.

This is a classic picture of Kaiya. Fork in one hand, cheeseball grin, and a plate full of food. She couldn't be any happier. The kid LOVES food. :)

Looking Forward....

Just for all those future thinkers out there, I came across an article that fit well with the last paragraph of this week's newsletter. It goes back to the principle of what's cheaper.... changing your oil consistently or repairing a blown engine???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/ap_on_bi_ge/retiree_health_care

Things I thought while working out today...

1) Why must she say, "Okay... four more... 4, 3, 2, 1, ---C'mon, gimme four more." It's the cruelest fake-out ever. She should just start counting down from 8 the first time. Then I wouldn't want to punch my tv.

2) Lindsay Brin (workout DVD): We're really having fun now!
Me: NO I'M NOT!!!!!!!

3) Thank goodness I only do this every other day.

4) I better have freaking hard abs like she (Lindsay Brin) does when I finish this bootcamp.

5) I am awesome. (This was only thought after the workout was over.)

American Idol

We are American Idol fans and not ashamed to admit it. :) This season promises to be pretty decent and we already have our favorites. I meant to post this video last week, but got distracted. (I know, I know... you are wondering what in the world might have possibly distracted me. Ha!! The hint is: Their names start with the letter K...)

Anyway... this dude is absolutely adorable. #1 -- great voice. #2 -- seems totally naive and slightly awkward w/ the attention. I love it. If you have a second, watch the video. If I was 13, I would totally have a crush on him.

The Start of Much Yet to Come

I (Tony) received a ton of feedback about the flu vaccine article I sent out. The general gist of the feedback was that people wanted to hear more. So until I get my own office/website, I will be using our family blog to write on various topics. I am not a scholar in grammar; however, there shouldn’t be too many points that are beyond comprehension. The first topic starts below.

“So what exactly do you do?” In talking with people, that is a common question I get. People know that I am a chiropractor but most people associate chiropractic with helping low back pain despite that we actually see nearly every type of condition known to man. Chiropractic as a whole has been its own worst enemy. There are different types of Chiropractors, however, we have failed to better classify the different types so that the general public has some type of clue as to what to expect when they walk into a chiropractor’s office. I joined the group I am with now (Maximized Living) because they are like-minded in they way they approach patient care. This gives me an opportunity to give someone in another part of the country a trustworthy doctor that I can refer them too.

What exactly do I (and other doctor’s in Maximized Living) do? Do to the overwhelming prejudice chiropractic has received from the AMA (American Medical Association) I used to be in a defensive posture anytime anyone ever asked about Chiropractic. A passage of Scripture, Ezekiel 3:16-21, helped me grab a better understanding of how to explain to people what I do. My job is to spread the truth -- not to try and convince you. You are ultimately responsible for your own health. The short and sweet answer of what I do is that I take people out of the standard medical model and put them into a model that will actually allow them to keep their health the way God intended. Recently I had another doctor say to me that he was frustrated many times he walked into church. He said that the church will raise their hands and tell God that He is a Mighty Savior, Wonderful Counselor and Faithful Friend yet too often they deny that He is also the Great Healer. They say they have faith that He will heal them, yet as soon as they leave the church doors they go take something like the flu vaccine or an antibiotic etc. which basically says that they really don’t trust that God can heal them. They need something man has made and it is what does the healing. The Maximized Living lifestyle embodies the principle that we were created to live by. The principle is that God created us with the most amazing healing ability in our body; we just need to get out of the way so it can do its healing. Let’s think about this for a second. When you get a cut on your arm, do you have to take an anti-biotic for that to heal? Or does the body just innately do it by itself? Of course the body does it by itself. So the bigger question to ask is that if the body can heal and protect a cut on your arm, why is it not healing your diabetes, ulcer’s, ear infections, fighting of flu’s etc? The answer is that we interfere with it. My job, as a chiropractor, is to remove interference with the innate, God given, ability to heal. And guess what? All those health conditions I just mentioned (and many more), we see reversed on a consistent basis. Now it’s extremely important not to misunderstand this point. People often miss it and ask how I can cure their diabetes or infections among other ailments. The point I want to make is that all I do as a Chiropractor is find and remove anything that is interfering with the body’s natural ability to heal. You do the healing, not me! Your body has the best doctor, and the best pharmacy already inside it!

Many of you know my background, but for those who don’t, I wanted to share that I grew up in the standard medical model. My mom was a nurse who had the inside track on who the best pediatrician was in our area. So I supposedly had great care. And for anyone who knows my mom, when I mean she got me the best care, I mean she got me the best medical care. No one or thing messes with mama bear’s cubsJ Yet, despite my mom’s amazing job at getting me the best care she knew possible, all growing up and through college I was sick every year…. sometimes seriously. This happened without fail. In college I had bad sinus infections, pneumonia and what the E.R. doctor called the worst case of mononucleosis that he had ever seen. I actually had to drop out of a semester of college because I was so sick. Despite trying to achieve good health, I continually failed at attaining it. It wasn’t until I started in Chiropractic that I started to realize I had been on the wrong path. I’m happy to report since that point I have been sick once and instead of taking forever to “get over it”, it was short lived. More importantly is the change I see with my family. We let Kaiya watch “The Secret of Nimh”. In the movie there is a little mouse that is really sick. At that part of the movie she gives us a quizzical look. It is so amazing that Kaiya doesn’t comprehend what being “sick” is. Part of that is her age, but she has hardly ever had to deal with any type of “sickness”. We are not perfect as a family. We still do things that aren’t healthy. As I write to you, Rachel and Kaleb are expressing certain cold symptoms. The difference is that they won’t be taking any over the counter or prescription drugs, and instead, will concentrate on letting God’s amazing creation do the healing!

The topic for the next newsletter will be about vaccines. Many people had questions about it after I talked about the flu vaccine so I wanted to follow it up with a letter about all vaccines. It is an extremely sensitive topic that needs to be addressed. Look for it to be completed in the next week or so.

To finish, I understand that some people are concerned with the financial costs of chiropractic care. The way our health care (or rather disease care) system is set up; it doesn’t give much allowance for Chiropractic care. While I genuinely understand that some people cannot afford it, many times it is that people don’t value their health enough. People in our country think it is their right to only have to be responsible for co-pays when it comes to their health care. For as much as our health insurance costs, I understand why. However, times like last night, for me, when Rachel and I took turns staying up with Kaleb because he was having a hard time sleeping, allow me to see that it’s about value. I honestly don’t know how parents with kids that are sick frequently survive. As a parent I now know the toll it takes when they are sick. How much is that worth?