Bridger's One Year Photos

Bridger turned one on October 7 but I just got the photos from his shoot back. I had to share some of them because they turned out so cute! I miss his shaggy hair and chub! 

A little about Bridger at 1 year:

He loves books and reads stacks of them on a daily basis

His second love is balls

He's really good at animal and vehicle sounds

He cans say ball, hot, cracker, momma, dada, Jack Jack, and cheese

He's a momma's boy for sure 

He gives the best hugs, kisses and snuggles

He admires his big brother Jack and wants to play whatever he's playing

He has ten teeth, 

He's loud

and he loves to climb even though he's afraid of heights

Thank you Lauren for capturing these for me! They are so precious to me.

Curing My Vitamin C Deficiency

A couple months ago my doctor discovered that I was allergic to vitamin C. That meant that instead of absorbing it into my body I was rejecting it, flushing it out of my body, and therefore deficient. She found that Jack had a vitamin C allergy as well. After treating and reversing our allergies we had to address the deficiency. So how do you get a lot of Vitamin C in the most efficient way?

Here are the top 10 foods highest in Vitamin C
1. Peppers
2. Guava
3. Dark green leafy vegetables
4. Kiwi
5. Broccoli
6. Berries
7. Citrus fruits
8. Tomatoes (cooked)
9. Peas
10. Papaya

Citrus fruit is only number 7? I'd always assumed it would be at the top of the list.  But here's a great secret that not many people know. When you eat an orange, you toss most of the vitamin C in the trash when you throw out the peel.  Yes the peel is packed full of it! Even more than the flesh. But why not just take a vitamin supplement you might ask? 90% of vitamins are synthesized in a lab in order to increase shelf life and potency. They are a backwards mirrored image of the natural vitamin and are not absorbed nor perform in the body the same way.  Ascorbic acid is a synthesized salt form of real vitamin C and is made using gmo corn syrup and gmo soybean oil. Then they usually add dies, additives, maltodextrin, aspartame, coal tar or other damaging and carcinogenic ingredients. Ascorbic acid has been scientifically proven to destroy good bacteria in the gut and lower immune system. Need more reasons? Orange peels are cheap and you are taking the vitamin in it's complex, highly bioavailable from.

The facts about orange peels: There is 136 mg of vitamin C per 100 g of orange peel vs 71 mg per 100 g of orange flesh. The peel is full of riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, folate, vitamin A, vitamin B-6 and Vitamin B-5. It contains 10 mg of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper and selenium. Orange peels contain 60 different flavonones, powerful antioxidants that help reduce oxidative damage and fight free radicals. On top of that, orange peels are loaded with natural histamine suppressing compounds.  Orange peel provides effective support against respiratory distress. It has a lung cleansing effect by breaking down and helping expel congestion.  It's been proven to help coughs, colds, and asthma.  It relieves gas, heartburn, vomiting and improves digestion. 

It's common knowledge that Vitamin C helps fight flus and colds but adding all the other powers of orange peels is like having and army of cold fighting ninjas flowing through your veins! Thats exactly what you want this time of year. So how do you harness the power of orange peels? It's pretty disgusting to try and chew it. If it's just the vitamins your after you can soak the peel in water and then drink it.  Dehydrating is the most effective way to get the most out of your peels. After eating the orange, cut the peel into strips and dehydrate at the lowest setting (to be sure you don't kill the enzymes) for just a couple hours. If you don't have to have a dehydrator, just place the peels in a dry warm place and wait for a couple days until they are nice and crisp. After drying the rinds, grind them to a powder in your blender, coffee grinder, or food processor.  This can be stored in a jar on your pantry shelf for . . .  well for a really really long time.

My Orange Rind Powder

The powder can be used in bars, smoothies, juices, hot cereals, and many other recipes.  We love the subtle orange zest it adds to our breakfast smoothie. When Jack isn't in the mood for a smoothie I will juice one orange and put a tsp of the powder right into it. It blends so beautifully you don't even know it's in there. Super juice!  I build up my vitamin C levels in no time and now I'm ready to take on winter. You won't see me getting any colds this year. One tsp of this powder contains more vitamin C than your body needs. 

A precaution about eating orange peels. While there is no harm in eating it, always make sure that you use organic oranges. Just like all other fruits, the highest level of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides build up in the skin. Inorganic peels are steeped in chemicals. Unless the orange came from a certified organic farm or orchard and displays a white and green USDA Certified sticker, there is no way to know what types of chemicals invaded the peel. Certified organic farmers only use natural weed and pest control methods. 

Candied Orange Peels

http://bostonfound.blogspot.com/2011/01/candied-orange-peels.html

Learn more at:

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/lung-cleansing-benefits-orange-peel/

http://healthmunsta.hubpages.com/hub/Benefits-of-Orange-Peels

Harvest House Pumpkin Fest

Now that Bridger's birthday has passed, we are beginning to celebrate halloween.  We started off by going to Harvest House Farms at Green Bluff. I got in line for the pumpkin doughnuts first thing. The only reason I waited in line for two hours was because I have had them and know how unreal they are. While I waited, the boys went to play.

You can't even see the front of the line

Tractor and barrel rides!

When you're nervous and dad tells you to smile . . .

It was a wee bit windy

The hay maze was a favorite. Bridger was obsessed (So I hear) with the tunnels and kept hollering, "JackJack!" whenever he couldn't find big brother.

This next sequence makes me laugh because I can just imagine what Jack is saying, or rather, crying. The wind started to kick up a lot of dust and he wasn't happy about it. Bridger took it like a man.

The boys joined me right as I got our fresh hot doughnuts. We ate way too many but enjoyed every bite! 

Carol I thought of you the whole time. I wish I could mail one to you.

Tastes like a hot cinnamon pumpkin churro

Then we picked out our pumpkins

Pumpkin climbing

Right before he face planted

Even though we had long lines, dust and wind, it was still so fun and the boys didn't want to go home.

Mom's turn?

We are always finding ways to make dad work hard

Let the holidays begin! 

Bridger Turns One

It's unbelievable how quickly this year flew by. At one year old Briger:

Walks backwards (took first steps at 9 months), dances, runs, climbs

Says JackJack, mama, uh-oh, ball

Signs food, water, all done, up

Loves balls, playing outside, dogs, books, and playing with Jack

He's a screamer. He screams when he's happy, excited, sad, mad, etc. And it's LOUD. The first day he was born, my mom and I were shocked at how loud his scream was. I remember saying, "I sure hope that's not his normal cry!" The kid was born with a powerful set of lungs.

He is also a bit dramatic. I alway have to tell people that it's only half as bad as his cry sounds. But he's also a tough little guy. He bounces back from injuries surprisingly quick. 

Bridger loves to laugh and he has the cutest laugh ever. At nap time he always throws his head back, falls upside down, and laughs so hard! It's been nap time tradition for months now. Too funny. He's such a happy boy! 

In the hospital 

They both look so little!

I picked this teddy bear cake because it looked cute and easy. It definitely was cute, but not easy. The piping threatened to make my fingers fall off.  It's always worth it though to see my kid's faces light up!

Thank you friends and family for all the gifts! It felt like Christmas morning.

Getting a bird's eye view of his cake (which looks as big as he is)

A little shy about it at first, he quickly learned that it was ok to just go for it.

He was really excited about all of his presents!  Lots of screaming! And also, he probably had a sugar high. It was a late night.

My sister Tawny made these amazing stuffed soccer balls. It produced some pretty good reactions from the kids. An instant favorite! Thank you Tawny!

Bridger's birthday was simple but absolutely perfect.

Tubb's Hill

Between general conference sessions on Saturday we hiked Tubb's Hill at Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was beautiful weather for hiking and the views were spectacular. It's the perfect hike for little ones. Not too hard and lots of exploring.

We left the trail and hiked down to the water to eat lunch

It was the perfect place to eat with these logs to sit on and use as tables.

(watching boats drive by)

Throwing rocks into the lake from a hundred feet up!

He's just too cute

Jack got tired of walking and so Todd carried both the boys.  Just getting in his workout for the day. 

This is where we saw wild turkeys

It looks like we are right by the water but we are actually high on a rock cliff and with the sun behind us it created a really beautiful picture.  

Getting a bike trailer and hiking backpack really opened up our world and allowed us to get out and create wonderful memories with our boys.  Best purchases ever