Pictures of Madelynn

Madelynn is now three months old. She still has blue eyes, weighs over 12 pounds, and continues the attempt at rolling over onto her back. Sleeping through the night (sleeping more than eight hours without eating) is still hit and miss but at least we are on our way. She is a very easy baby and a blessing to each of us. Her smiles are a delight and her wide blue eyes make us laugh. Enjoy these few pictures!

Campamento Report Livestreaming

Last weekend (Aug26-29) Joshua and I were at a family camp for Hispanic churches in the Minnesota Baptist Conference. Cornerstone went with 7 adults and 12 of our own children to do the children's ministry during the camp. This allowed the parents to be more fully engaged in their teaching sessions. We re-ran the VBS program we had done earlier this summer, with much leadership from our middle-schoolers. We also had half a dozen Hispanic teenagers to teach and befriend over the weekend. Tomorrow at Cornerstone I will be presenting a slideshow of the family camp, as well as having some of those who went share. Now that our church is live-streaming every service on the internet, you can watch it live! The service starts at 10:30am CST. If you miss it it will be archived and I'll post the link to that later. But for now, here's the live-streaming address: http://cscchurch.com/livestream.html

Free Chocolate?

Yup that's right. Free Chocolate at Mars. Here's the Article about what's going on and why. Here's the link to Free chocolate.

5-HTP

What is 5-HTP? It is a plant extract from a bean of an African plant (Griffonia simplicifolia).

Completely natural.

What does it do? It simply encourages your body to raise the serotonin (a hormone) in your brain.

The following excerpt is taken from www.5htp.com

"5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is an amino acid that is the intermediate step between tryptophan and the important brain chemical serotonin. There is a massive amount of evidence that suggests that low serotonin levels are a common consequence of modern living. The lifestyle and dietary practices of many people living in this stress-filled era results in lowered levels of serotonin within the brain. As a result, many people are overweight, crave sugar and other carbohydrates, experience bouts of depression, get frequent headaches, and have vague muscle aches and pain. All of these maladies are correctable by raising brain serotonin levels. The primary therapeutic applications for 5-HTP are low serotonin states as listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Conditions associated with low serotonin levels helped by 5-HTP

Depression
Obesity
Carbohydrate craving
Bulimia
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Sleep apnea
Migraine headaches
Tension headaches
Chronic daily headaches
Premenstrual syndrome
Fibromyalgia

Although 5-HTP may be relatively new to the United States health food industry, it has been available through pharmacies for several years and has been intensely researched for the past three decades. It has been available in several European countries as a medicine since the 1970s."

When Joshua was 8 months old I had insomnia, even though I was exhausted. I just couldn't sleep. A trusted friend suggested 5-HTP to me and I started taking it. Within 3 days I was sleeping much better. I started taking 5-HTP again about a week ago because I was having feelings of depression and was craving sugar, chocolate and carbs. I still don't feel 'up to par' yet but I'm not crying every day anymore. I also have more energy and am starting to feel like myself again.

They are not paying me for this post by the way. I just want to share this info with you because it really is a great herb that actually works.

It has one side effect- mild nausea. But it was very rare in the studies taken and the people experiencing it did not complain about it. It cleared up six weeks after first taking the "drug".

It's non-addictive. You take it for awhile (about 3 months) and then you can just stop whenever you need to.

It's somewhat affordable. It's over the counter and it's completely safe, yes even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

If you are experiencing any unexplained headaches, migraines, insomnia, aches and pains, depression, cravings for carbs...try taking 5-HTP for awhile. Give yourself two weeks and see if it works. I highly recommend it.

Ok that's all. :)

Mother's Milk Tea

A tea recipe given to me by a friend. It's very refreshing and I drink it once a day now, either hot or as iced tea.

Equal amounts of:

Fennel- helps with milk supply
Camomile- calms
Catnip- calms
Nettle- nourishing, good iron source
Lavender- calms
Lemon balm- balances hormones

blend together in airtight jar or container. Store in a dry, dark, cool place.

1 tablespoon of tea per cup of boiling water. Steep 10 minutes.

For iced tea, steep until desired darkness. Add a little bit of sugar (I add 2 Tb per 32 oz/4 cups) and lemon juice (1 Tb per 32 oz/4 cups). Refrigerate. So refreshing!

These ingredients can be found at a whole foods co-op or health store.