Searching For Super-Mom: Meet Amanda!

Amanda is a Colorado mom to 2 kiddos. E (girl) is just turning two and N (boy) is almost 5 months old!

Amanda  (aka Natural Living Mamma)was told she was infertile due to PCOS, endometirosis and a prolapsed uterus. Doctors gave her no solutions other than countless medications and to "lose weight", but conventional wisdom for weight loss was not working. She decided to take her health into her own hands by doing countless hours of research to find a way to treat her problems without drugs. After making a transition to eating a whole food diet she got pregnant with her beautiful daughter E. During pregnancy she did more and more research about natural living, clean living, detoxifying her life, and natural health care options including herbs, acupuncture, chiropractic, and other forms of natural medicine. Now she also has a son, her own blog, and a line of natural remedies, teas, salves, tinctures, oils and baby care products as well as essential oils for use
during different seasons in life. She loves empowering others to heal themselves. You can find Amanda on her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Pintrest.

Here are a few questions to get to know Amanda better, before we get to the Super Questions:

What do you think is the ideal age to have children?
The older I get the more I tend to quote my dad. Here it goes: My daddy always said "If you wait for the right time to have children, you will never have them." I think this is so true. If we had waited to have kids until the "right time" we probably never would and our lives would be incomplete. While I think it is smart to be with a partner you know you can love, in spite of their flaws, for the rest of your life, and you should probably be able to afford kids (they aren't cheap) I say if you want kids just relax and see where life takes you. If you are ready then you can relax sans birth control. ;)

What's your parenting style? I am very much an attachment parent. I believe in peaceful parenting and communicating with my child to figure out why she is upset, or what she is asking for. I breast fed E until she was 19 months old and will BF N until he is ready to be done. I baby wear, co sleep and snuggle my kids whenever possible. We like to go out and learn and explore. I schedule my day around their needs for food and naps. I would not have it any other way! 

What do you wish you knew before you became a parent?
That a parent's gut health can effect the health of their children. All the medicines I was taking to feel better were making me sicker, so I was not as healthy as I would have liked during my first pregnancy. During my second I was better, but I still have a long way to go on my healing journey. 

Since you've become a parent, what advice would you give yourself, if you could go back in time (to before you had kids)? You know nothing. Those books you read? Yeah they don't know much either, but some of them have some nice suggestions. Parenting is a natural progression of events. You are constantly learning and evolving. Every child is different. Every day is different. Be patient and take a deep breath and realize even though today may be frustrating it is a part of the journey of being a parent. Your child will smile at you and it will all become a distant memory. 
Also, even though something is natural (like child birth and breastfeeding) that sure as heck does not make it easy! Find support and help wherever you can! 

10 Super Questions:

1. How is your family traditional? How is it untraditional? We have a dog. That is pretty traditional. We eat traditional whole foods, rarely eating out and no processed foods in the house.
 We are un-traditional in the fact that I don't jump to the doctor with every cold and sniffle. We use herbal and natural remedies before turning to allopathic medicine. We don't eat processed food so people find that odd. We also don't eat grains so that is really crazy. I garden and shop at the farmers markets when the season is right. I love fresh whole foods. We also like to re-purpose and up-cycle a lot of things which sets us apart. Oh and we don't have a proper TV. We watch TV occasionally on Hulu or Netflix on the computer but that is about it. 

2. Does your actual parenting style differ from what you thought it would be before you had children? If so, how? Oh my goodness yes! I can not tell you this journey I have made into natural healing, health and wellness has changed how my family functions. We live with less so I can stay home with the kids, we do not have cable, we have an old car and no new furniture. We re-purpose and re-use a lot of things to save money and live a little greener. This is not the person I was at all when we first got married but I am so happy the way things are working out and would not have it any other way. 

3. What was the best mothering advice you ever received and who gave it to you? "Lock your self in the bathroom, take a bath, read a good book, and have a glass of wine." I am not sure who told me that but one of the many mothers in my life told me this... well a few actually... my friends love wine. Anyway it is wonderful advice that every mamma should take! Take some time for your self! We all need it and almost never get it. 

4. What was the most surprising thing you learned in the first year?  Neither of these is very "appropriate" or insightful but the two that come to the top of my head are "OMG how did all that poop come out of such a little person" and "Wow I didn't know nipples stretched that far" #breastfeeding adventures.

5. Has your view of the world changed since you became a parent? If so, how? The other day we were at the park when some teenagers rolled up on their skate boards and started smoking and cursing while my daughter and her little friend were playing on the jungle gym. One of them shouted the F word very loudly and was talking trash to a friend. I said "Hey watch your language and put out that cigarette or Ill call your mom" *gives dirty mom look*  They apologized and left. I also don't know any of those kids mom, but it worked. Just 5 years ago I was loud, obnoxious, and a smoker. Oh how things change in the blink of an eye. 

6.  What is something that you have learned about yourself since becoming a parent? I have more love in my heart than I ever knew I could have. There is no sweeter thing than your child's laugh. I can function pretty well on four hours of interrupted sleep with the assistance of coffee. 

7. What about your child(ren) reminds you of  yourself? E looks just like me. My parents have a picture of me when I was about 6 months old and we look like we could have been twins. She is also smart, willful, suborn, and hilariously funny. She loves stuffed animals, real animals, and is extremely curious. She is definitely my daughter. 

8.  If you could have any super power, what would it be? The power to clean the house with a single snap! Really I hate cleaning. 

9. If an alien came from space and asked you what a "mother" is what would you say? A person who loves her children unconditionally, who will do anything for her children, and knows her kids better than anyone else in the world.

10. What annoys you most about other mothers? Their focus on finding the faults in other mothers! We are all in this boat together. Cant we share our parenting journey with love and respect? Even though we differ in opinions on child rearing, child health care, religion, and politics, in the end we are all mothers and all protectors of our little ones. I wish we could all just get along. *group hug*

Thank you so much, Amanda! I enjoyed getting to know you better! I found myself nodding in agreement so many times, and I love that you are having so much success with your alternative medicine!


Click here to see which super parties I link up to!