Amanda's Blog

This post has been a year in the making…you may laugh because I haven’t actually posted anything in over a year, but anyhow, I really have been contemplating this post since last August:)  You see, it was last August that my (actually our family’s) journey with Essential Oils began.

I have two children with asthma.  My 2nd and 3rd child have had struggled with asthma since they were infants.  Now, there asthma was not “diagnosed” until they were a little older, and we actually never went through rigorous testing to call it asthma; it just became apparent from symptoms, treatment, and frequency of attacks that we called it asthma.  (That is such an ugly word to anyone who struggles with the dreaded disease!)  Well, my 3rd child was much more severe than my 2nd, and when he was around the age of 15 months, he would go from sniffles to retracting in 18 hours!  We began Pulmicort on him twice a day (a pretty hefty dose of 0.5 mL each time) and this kept his asthma manageable, and I was thankful!  However, one of the side effects of Pulmicort, which is a low dose steroid delivered to the lungs via nebulizer, is that it can stunt the growth of the child.  Within about 6 months, I did notice that this was happening…and I HATED it!  Don’t get me wrong…I was THANKFUL the medicine had controlled his asthma; I just hated what I knew and saw it was doing to his body.  I hated that I was putting something into my child’s body that was causing him to not grow like he should!  I hated that I was putting something into my child’s body that was not natural.  I hated giving him medicine EVERYDAY!!  I just wished his body would be whole without added medicine!  (I should also mention that he had been on a gluten free diet most all of his life and had also gone soy free at one year, and he also saw the chiropractor regularly from birth.)  I wanted him off the medicine so bad, but felt stuck!  I knew he had to have the medicine to breath, and I knew he had to breath to live.  I also felt that taking a low dose steroid everyday was better than a high dose steroid at his monthly attacks like he had done for 3 months prior to starting the Pulmicort.  I was TORN!!!

Well, fast forward 21 months to August of last year….

I had tried without success to get him off of the Pulmicort for several months.  I would take him down to once a day and a few times even get him completely off of it.  But, low and behold,  within two weeks, the ugly asthma would rear it’s head and then we would be on not only Pulmicort, but Albuterol also, and even have the fear of needing an oral steroid to rescue him from an attack.  It was so discouraging.  I got to brainstorming and had remembered an Essential Oils sample that a lady who sells Young Living had given me to try with my husband’s headaches.  I got to thinking that maybe, just maybe there was something out there for asthma, too.  I went to scurrying the internet, and found a blog about asthma and Essential Oils.  (I tried to link the blog, but it is no longer available.)  In the blog it talked about using Breathe Again to treat asthma.  I was skeptical, but hopeful at the same time.  It seemed too good to be true in my mind that I could get my son off of his daily nebulizer with a simple Essential Oil blend.  I didn’t know anyone personally at the time that had ever used Essential Oils, so I felt a little weird to even consider that it could help him.  Well, I took the plunge (and I say plunge because therapeutic grade oils aren’t cheap!) and bought a starter set with Young Living and a bottle Breathe Again.

Here’s where it gets really amazing!!!

I got the oils in on a Saturday (August 18th to be exact…I can remember the date because it was that big of a deal to me) and decided that it was all or nothing!  My son was in the middle of a cold when they arrived, and I was nervous to drop the Pulmicort cold turkey since he was already coughing a little, but I listened to my heart (not something I do very often) and took the plunge.  On that Saturday, I stopped doing breathing treatments. I began rubbing Breathe Again on his back and chest every morning and every night.  That’s it!  I didn’t really think it would work…. BUT IT DID WORK!!!!  To make a long story short (ha!  You all are probably thinking it’s too late, the story is already long:) we have been a full year with only one flare up this winter with a  nasty chest cold that required any treatments at all, and then I only used about 3 Pulmicort and 5 Albuterol treatments!  I cannot even put into words how amazing that is for my son.  He was chained to a nebulizer from the time he was 4 months old between Albuterol and Pulmicort to treat his asthma, and now he has gone a whole year with hardly any!  I am also happy to say that after being off of treatments for the past year, it seems that he is catching up some in his growth.  (He sure is eating us out of house and home…so he better be growing:)!

I tell this story mainly to help others who may be out there looking for another solution besides medicine.  I am not against medicine, but I do believe that if there is a natural way to treat or heal, then that is the better option for our bodies.

This is not my only amazing story with Essential Oils, but the one I am sharing with you today.  So, it is also because of this amazing, life-changing story that I have decided to start selling Young Living Essential Oils and helping others have healthier lives, too!  I am thankful to God for these oils and want others to experience the amazing ways the oils can help them as well.

If you would like to know more or have specific questions, please feel free to talk to me or email me at youngliving@amandaketchum.com.  Also, if you are interested in signing up with Young Living, I would love to have you on my team!  My member ID is 1497647.  Just put that number in the “Sponsor ID” and “Enroller ID” spots.  I am glad to answer any questions that you may have about Young Living or Essential Oils.  (If I know the answer, of course!  If I don’t, maybe I can find it on the internet:))

You may wonder about my 2nd child and her asthma.  That will be another post, another day, but I will suffice it now to say that when we travel we almost leave the nebulizer at home:)  I have to say almost, because I am too superstitious to actually leave it.  I just know that the first time I travel without it, I will need it and not have it!  Maybe someday…

Today was Brooke’s 6th birthday.  It is hard to believe that it has been 6 years since her birth (I know I sound like every other parent, but it is true!).  It goes too fast!  We try to make birthdays special at our house.  I think this will be especially important since we have 4 kids.  At least they are guaranteed one day a year just for them. (Well, nothing is fully guaranteed with 4 kids:)

Her last picture as a 5-year old…she was a little upset because she had left Holly (her American Girl Doll) at church.  She loves her dolls like they are really her children.  (It should be noted that daddy went to church at 10:00 p.m. and searched for Holly so she could be safe in bed with Brooke…what a sweet dad!)

Today proved to be a special day for Brooke.  We chose to have her “friend” party next Saturday since her best friend, Grace, is out of town this weekend.  She didn’t want a party without Grace:)  So, today we celebrated as a family + Ashley!  The weather was PERFECT!!

The day started with donuts per Brooke’s request. (Gluten free, of course…which means they cost a lot more than regular donuts, but tasted a lot less! Ha!)  After breakfast, we had gift time.  Brooke got a new bike and PINK legos (pretty smart on Legos part to start making pink ones because I am pretty sure that is the only reason she wanted them…Ha!).

We then took a family bike ride/run around the neighborhood.  She loved her new bike!  But what girl wouldn’t?  It is pink, purple, sparkly, and has streamers coming out of the handlebars???  I think I want one, too!

Lunch was at Los Amigos per Brooke’s choice.  She ate at Los Pinos for her birthday last year and enjoyed the hat, song, and ice cream so much, she wanted to go Mexican again.  Los Amigos won over Los Pinos because of the buffet…we were all hungry after the bike ride!

We then made a quick stop at the Library to get her library card!!  Our library requires you to be 6 years old before you can get a library card.  She has been awaiting this day for a long time.  It is a special “rite-of-passage” in our house:)

We then headed to Draffenville to play putt putt golf at Maggie’s Jungle Golf.  We have been looking forward to a trip to Maggie’s for a while now…always a fun time (even though I am terrible and probably came in last!).  And, you can’t go to Maggie’s without snow cones!!

After the putt putt, we enjoyed more sunshine at Mike Miller Park.  (Notice the picture of Josh on his phone??? I caught him!!  He really wasn’t on his phone much…but I caught his quick check of the golf scores:)

After the park, we headed home for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, popcorn, and birthday brownies!!  (Who wouldn’t love a supper full of that junk food??)  (The picture of Caleb is to show you how excited he was about us singing “Happy Birthday”!  He loves it when we sing…he always thinks we are singing to him!)

After typing this post, I can’t believe we did all that in one day!!  We had a wonderful day celebrating Brooke, but are all worn out tonight.  Why is it that after such a fun day, every kid has to have at least one break down??  Oh well, they are all in bed now, and I am getting ready to head that way too!

I am so thankful for my little girl!

Last Saturday, we ventured to LBL with two loaded trucks (we don’t travel anywhere lightly:) to take advantage of the beautiful weather and try a new family activity – bike riding!!  Now, some may think that bike riding doesn’t seem like a very doable activity with our family of four small children, but they haven’t seen my bike riders!!  Brooke and Austin can ride forever!!!  We ended up riding/walking over 8 miles (up quite a few hills, too), and they never complained and lead most of the way!  Landon and Caleb hung out in our new bike trailer that Caleb got from Santa.  They had a great time, and Caleb even took a nap!!  Landon loved how fast it felt like he was going (no surprise to all that know Landon! Ha!)!

We were all excited that Wes and Ashley came with us, sporting their brand new bikes!!  We are really enjoying have Aunt Ashley live with us and also enjoy having Wes around, too!

We stopped by the lake a little into the ride to have a picnic lunch and do a little geocaching.  So much fun!

After finishing the bike ride, we went through the Elk and Bison Prairie (a trip to LBL isn’t complete without it…no telling how much money I have given them to look at the same Elk and Bison:) and then to the Murray park.  After the long, fun day, we ended with burgers, fries, ice cream and root beer (it was so good it had to be mentioned too! Ha!) at Culvers – YUM!!

We had a great day and hope to do it again, soon (if the weather would cooperate!)!!

We had the privilege this past Sunday night to help with the teen devotional after church.  Our teens have a devotional 2 Sunday nights a month in the home of one of our members.  They typically have singing, a short devotional thought, and then food prepared by the host/hostess (and let me tell you it is like ants on honey when they are released to the food!).  We don’t go very often, but this week Josh filled in for Ryan (our youth/associate minister) since he had surgery on Wednesday.

I sure do love being around the youth of the church to feel their energy and excitement for Jesus!  We have a great group of kiddos at Seven Oaks (yes, I am officially old enough to refer to teenagers as kiddos:).  I have watched several of them grow up in the 9 years we have been at Seven Oaks. (Ok, that just made me feel really old! Ha!!)

I had to take two pictures of the group to get them all in!!

Our teen group loves to sing, and boy did I enjoy singing with them (even though we had to bail on the song that I requested because it was WAY TOO HIGH! Ha!).  I also really enjoyed seeing my kids sit in the middle of the circle singing along and getting to soak up the influence of so many giving their time to attend the devo!

We love our youth and look forward to seeing what God has in store for them as they choose to put Him first in their lives!

Here’s what Caleb did the whole time…he’s such a difficult baby:)

I thought I had better do a post just to catch up on all that’s been going on around here since it has been a while since I last updated!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Austin has been playing Upward basketball.  He plays on a league at Beulah Baptist Church (which is next to nowhere on the other side of the universe…at least it feels like it early on Saturday mornings…Ha!)  He has a game every Saturday at 9:00 and practice on Thursday nights.  Josh is his coach, and he loves his daddy coaching him.  Landon is the assistant coach (at least he thinks so!).  Brooke is the self-proclaimed photographer and cheerleader. I am the water woman (at least that is what I feel like toting so many water bottles around…it just couldn’t be that you bring Austin a water bottle without bringing one for Landon and Brooke!)  And I guess Caleb can be the mascot:)

Mr. Dickie and Ms. Ann have been great spectators, making it almost every week!  We have also had Nana and Papa at two games, and Wes and Ashley even made a game! He is a good little baller, if I do say so myself!  He sure does love it!

 Brooke started gymnastics this past Tuesday night, and she loved it!!!  We had a major countdown (almost hourly) starting 9 days before when I signed her up!!  She actually told me on Sunday that I shouldn’t have told her about it until Tuesday because she has been too excited!! Ha! We now have a new vocabulary in our house that includes: pencil, candlestick, cartwheel, bridge, and strong arms…strong arms was by far her favorite which includes her holding herself up on her arms on the uneven bar.  Bless her heart though, she is her mother and father’s daughter…not limber at all and a little scared to just throw her body into a handstand or cartwheel.  I guess we will see just how good these instructors are:)

Landon has had the flu type B:(  Bless his heart, last week, he didn’t feel too good and ran a high fever.  We sent him to Missouri with Nana and Papa (since they had already had the flu) on Friday night to try to keep it away from Caleb.  It was hard on Mommy to send a sick child, but he couldn’t wait!!  He did great and got to come back home on Monday after being fever free for 24 hours.  We all missed him, but are thankful that no one else has gotten sick.  He somehow thought up the idea of bringing us all a present home.

Before going to the Dr. on Friday:( 

Had to have a picture with the water bottles!!

Caleb has just been growing!!!  He is such a sweet, easy-going baby!  It is a good thing too because he sure does take the abuse, I mean loving, from his siblings!  I won’t mention too much of his statistics or what he is up to because I plan to do a post later this week for him being 5 months old…where does the time go???  Caleb also went swimming for the first time last month.  He really enjoyed it and was so relaxed!!  He also got a new-to-him, borrowed Jumperoo that he enjoys hanging out in it a little each day.

What happens when you have an 8-year old brother!

Josh and I did a marriage seminar this past weekend at Union Hill Church of Christ near Hardin, KY.  This was a first for us, but had a lot of fun doing it together!!  (This was also another reason we had to send Landon to Nana and Papa’s for the weekend.)  Josh also spoke on the FHU lectures last Monday.  He did a fantastic job, as I knew he would!  It is always fun to take the kids to FHU and reminisce of college days…it was too bad our time got cut short this time with Landon getting what we know now was the FLU!

Maybe that gives you a little idea of what we have been up to…at least the “blog-worthy” material:)

Last year, we started what we hope will be a new tradition…going to see the eagles at Land Between The Lakes.  We had a wonderful time last year and had been looking forward to doing it again this year.  Well, a couple of Saturdays ago we sat out, all 6 of us + Stella (our Golden Retriever) in Josh’s truck for a fun afternoon.

We don’t take a paid tour…we just ask where the eagles are and then drive there ourselves (yes, we are cheap! But, with 4 kids and me staying home, I guess we will have to be:) We were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t get as close as last year.  Last year, we were able to drive close to the water and then walk even right up to the small pond.  We were able to watch them in their nests, dive to the water, and soar above our heads.  This year, however, there must be some high-strung eagles at LBL because we were not allowed very close at all…guess we stressed them out last year:)  The road was blocked off, so we had to go to a “viewing road” that was across a field and levee…  Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed, but still enjoyed watching the majesty of them soaring through the air.  At one point, I counted 11 soaring together and three white dots in the trees meaning their were three in their nests.

The kids LOVE getting out in nature, and they especially loved taking Stella with us!  Caleb even got out to watch the eagles for a brief moment, but he didn’t care too much for the wind taking his breath away!

While at LBL, we had to do the Elk and Bison Prairie.  For some reason, I have always loved to drive through and “hunt” for the elk and bison.  This trip was a little more interesting than others because we had Stella in the back of the truck!  And, what do you know, the elk and bison were both really close to the road!!!  When we came up on the elk, she started barking and all the elk turned and looked at us.  (Insert worried and crying children here…Brooke was worried about Stella getting hurt, but Landon assured us that he would run over the bison with the truck if they came after us:)  

Josh got out and told her to hush, and she listened better than the kids…we didn’t hear another peep from her.  As we approached the bison (that were walking in the road!) we were all a little okay, mostly a lot worried (except Josh, of course).  Thankfully, Stella was quiet and the bison took no notice of her.  Don’t really think I care to take a dog through a wild life trail again…it wasn’t near as relaxing, but it has been a great story for the kids to tell!

 And, for our family, a trip to LBL is not complete without standing on the rock at the Golden Pond Visitor’s Center or throwing rocks into the lake!

This is probably the kids favorite part of the trip!!

What a beautiful way to end a day enjoying God’s creation!!

For Christmas, Brooke got a real camera from Santa.  She was so excited on Christmas morning!!  She is still excited and LOVES to take pictures with it.  I am thankful for the camera, because, honestly, sometimes I am too lazy to get my camera, so it is nice to ask her to get up and get hers (just keeping it real!!).  

Such a beautiful girl!!

It has been pretty interesting to see life through her eyes, aka pictures.  I thought from time to time, I would share some of her pictures with you on this blog.  Some will be funny and some will be impressive!  She often captures parts of life that I missed as we go through the day, so it is nice to experience it through her lens…

Not sure what I was looking at…or what in the world I am thinking!!! But, I sure am rocking some family-matching, purple, fleece pjs…Ha!

She took individual pictures of everything they got for Christmas…even the socks:)

Her other gift (besides the camera) from Santa…

Matching pjs!! (I really don’t sit around in my cute pjs all the time even though this is the second picture I have posted of me doing just that! Ha!)

Daddy has to stand right by the tv so he can hear over all the noise:)…

“Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married!” Oh, the important, camera worthy events of a five-year old girl!!

Our pretty snow! (This is one of the pictures I am glad she got because I was too lazy to get my camera out…)

Aunt Ashley – No words!!!

Crazy bed head…Brooke told him to stay in bed so she could get her camera and take a picture…he was happy to oblige:)

Sweet Boy!

Wish I knew what he was thinking…

Her trusty dog!!! Oh the things she take pictures of!!!

She LOVES to take pictures of Austin at Upward basketball!  She is convinced that she will get that awesome play (whatever that is in 1st – 2nd grade basketball:) captured in her picture…a true photographer!

This is how I usually look…doing 200 things at once…

Fell asleep in mommy’s chair…this NEVER happens, except that it did just this once:) So cute!!

Ready to be a teenager…she can already take funny pictures of herself to post to Facebook! Ha!!

Butterfly tattoo! Too pretty not to capture in a picture…

Hope you enjoyed her pictures, too!  Of course, this is the edited version…the picture of daddy with his shirt off just couldn’t make the blog:)

Once again, I have no idea why my pictures won’t center…I am dumb when it comes to all of this!!! Thankful for a husband who will lose sleep tonight trying to figure it out:)

This past Sunday, January 20th, my Grandma Green (my dad’s mom) turned 85 years old.  We had a come-and-go party in her honor.  The party was very nice.  Caleb and I only drove over for the afternoon instead of spending the weekend as we had planned. My mom had the FLU and my dad was still recovering from it.  We missed Nana being at the party and hated her being sick!  (FYI…I didn’t fear the flu as badly until mom and dad got it and have been sick for 2 weeks or more!  YUCK!!!)

Grandma has always been a very important part of my life as I grew up across the yard from her.  Here are some special things I remember about growing up beside my grandma…

• She always kept Little Debbie cakes in a specific tupperware bowl in a specific cabinet so we always knew where the stash was and could take as we pleased:)  She also had Schwan’s ice cream sandwiches, which was a real treat for us!
• She had an intercom that ran underground from our house to hers.  The reason for this was that we had to majorly cut expenses when my dad went back to school when I was 5.  One of those expenses to be cut was the home phone, so we would give Grandma’s number to anyone who needed our home phone number, and she would intercom us when we got a phone call! Pretty funny to think about now with all the phone technology that we have:)
• She ran “Grandma’s taxi service” for a little while after her retirement and before I got my license.  I can remember her taking me to cheerleading practice very early on summer mornings and picking me up from practices after school.
• She usually fixed lunch on summer days for the farm boys and Ashley and me.  I would often go over around 11:30 so I could help set the table and finish up lunch with her.  She had a TV in her kitchen, so we would watch the weather and grain prices on the news (important info for a farmer…), and then she loved to watch “The Bold and the Beautiful” after lunch.
• She was always very active (and still is for her age!) and enjoyed going on trips to Batesville, AR with Ashley and me to visit our Aunt Linda.  She was especially happy when we got our license so we could do the driving!!
• She enjoyed working in her flowers and would always push mow her yard!  My dad would always fuss at her for choosing the hottest part of the summer days, but she did it anyhow:)
• She and I took many walks together down the field rows behind our house.  We would stop and eat the honeysuckle, and of course, Grandma had to pick up any trash along the way!!
• She lost the love of her life, Grandpa Green, many years ago…22 to be exact.  It was a hard transition, but she did very well!
• She went on a trip to Orlando, FL in 1998 with Mom, Ashley, Aunt Linda, Dean, Jacob, and me.  We had a great time…it was my first time to Disney World, and my first time to see the ocean.
• She worked many years (too many for me to know, but she could tell you) at the bank in Malden, MO as the secretary for the president.  She knew everyone because of this, so if you ever went anywhere in Malden, plan to take a while why she talked to everyone she saw (and she likes to talk…Ha!).

There are many more memories that I have in my mind, these are just a few that came as I was writing.  I was very blessed to grow up next door to my wonderful Grandma!!  I am thankful that she played such an important role in my life growing up and continues an important role even today!  I am thankful that my children know her and love her.  They always plan to see Grandma when they go to Papa and Nana’s house.  She is the only great-grandparent that they know and remember.  She raised a wonderful man whose is my father and has loved my mom as her own.

We love you, Grandma!!!

Wow, Caleb is 4 months old already.  He was 4 months on Sunday, January 20th, which was also my Grandma Green’s 85th birthday!

Caleb and Grandma at her party on Sunday

(Don’t know why this picture is not in the center, but I give up!!!)

Caleb being 4 months means I am 1/3 of the way done with breastfeeding him (funny way to think, but it is what I do every three hours and once in the middle of the night…).  I am both happy and sad about this….I am happy because I am on a special diet and have to think about everything that goes into my mouth and I am constantly on the clock, but I am sad because he is my last, and I have truly enjoyed being able to breastfeed and “bond” with my children.  Ok, enough of THAT discussion…on to what he is doing now:)

•  You are 15.6 pounds (50 to 75 percentile).
• You are 26 1/2 inches (75 to 90 percentile)…obviously a Ketchum!
• You can hold your head well now and like to sit in your Bumbo seat.  You still like your swing and bouncy seat, too!
• You finally enjoy tummy time a LITTLE more.  You are actually going on record time (like 7 minutes:) right now as I post this blog!!
• You rolled over from your tummy to your back…only once, but we are counting it:)  We know you are advanced!! (What do you know, you rolled over again while I was typing!! Of course, I haven’t actually seen you roll over yet because usually I have to rush to get something done while you are lying on your mat.  If you were the first child, I would be a little upset about missing a milestone, but since you are the fourth, I am just glad you are happy and need no other proof beyond you ending on your back to know that you rolled over:)
• You like to blow raspberries and slobber all the time.  It is so cute. (Well, the raspberries that is, not the slobber. Ha!)
• You get scared around new people and don’t like daddy’s silly/scary faces and noises.  Daddy called you his “tender foot” last night, and I think that nickname may just stick!
• You only drink breast milk right now (every 3 hours and once at night), no solid foods yet.
• You sleep pretty good.  You only get up once in the night to eat and take decent naps.  You especially like to nap in your carseat in the middle of the living room where all the noise is.  I guess that quiet just isn’t like home.  Ha!
• You laugh out loud and especially like to laugh at your brothers and sister!
• You still love your bath! Daddy gives you a bath every night.
• You can hold things in your hand and get it to your mouth.
• You like to suck your thumb/fingers, but we are fighting you and sticking a paci in whenever we see you!!
• You are still a great baby and are very happy if we keep you fed:)
• You enjoy Baby Einstein and Praise Baby.  We are thankful, because they buy us time when we need to get something done!

One of my favorite times of the day is when the big kids go to bed, and Josh and I have about an hour with Caleb before he goes to bed.  (Do you do a bedtime dance when you finally shut the kids’ doors at the end of the day with them in bed?  Yeah, me neither:)  It is at this time of night that we get to soak up Caleb like we did Austin when he was the only one.  Last night, we had fun trying to teach him to blow raspberries.  It was so funny, that we got out the camera (iPhone camera that is, not the real camcorder camera…Poor fourth child – his life will be chronicled on the iPhone and iPad instead of a camera or camcorder. Ha!).  It was soooo cute to see him try so hard to blow raspberries that I wanted to share the video on my blog.  I know the grandparents will enjoy it!  (Ignore the crazy parents’ voices in the background…)

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