The Life of Heather Alyssa

My son is bold. He is loud. He is energetic. He touchs everything. He is loving. He is always on the move. He can be kind. He can be aggressive. He is strong. He likes to snuggle his mommy. His favorite color is “GEEEN!!!”…..He loves spinach smoothies (because they are green 😉).  He sings in the car. He hums while he eats. He cries when he gets a boo boo. He hugs his sister. He loves to jump in puddles. He is 2.

Being the mother to a strong willed 2 year old boy is challenging but oh so much fun. There are times when others can not handle his boldness. But I refuse to apologize for his loud giggles, roars (because dinosaurs are AWESOME!), excitement, and songs. 

Sharing isn’t the easiest concept for a 2yr old boy to learn…. and sometimes he hits/pushes other children. Obviously when this happens we correct him by talking to him/time outs & try to make him apologize. (I’m not against spanking, but it doesn’t work for my 2yr old.) Because even though he may be as big as a 3-4 yr old child…..he’s still a 2 yr old…. a young 2 yr old. 

It’s so hard when he does get aggressive with other children, because he is so much bigger….and obviously other parents don’t like for their child to be pushed/or hit. Some even feel the need to yell at or attempt to correct him. Or tell me how to do so. Thanks so much. I haven’t thought of telling him “NO” or time out (or my personal favorite “teaching him not to be a little A**hole”. Yea that happened within the past 48 hrs 🙄 )  Of course I don’t want him to hit your child. No it’s not ok behavior. But again, he’s 2! We’re working on it! How about a little grace people? 

Sometimes I feel unwelcome places because of his intense personality. He is constantly sshhhed. Or I hear comments of “wow he sure is wild”, “he’s such a tank”, “you sure have your hands full”, “bet you’re done having kids after him!”. I can get slightly embarrassed, or feel the need to apologize. 

But you know what…. tonight I realized I am so thankful for his Boldness and his wildness. He explores! He gets excited about new things! He loves to play! He loves to sing and dance! Everything is funny to him! He is adventurous! He knows what he wants! He doesn’t want to sleep, because he doesn’t want to miss anything! He is curious & oh so smart because of it. He is wildly independent & strong willed.  He LOVES life. He feels ALL his emotions out loud.  And while at times it would be easier to have a more mild mannered child….. THAT IS NOT WHO GOD CREATED HIM TO BE! He is exactly what I prayed for. All of these things are what I pray he carries into manhood. I pray God uses his boldness for His glory, that my son continues to be amazed by all of the things around him, and his life is always full of adventure and joy. 

Sorry if he’s too much for you to handle, but I refuse to squander his spirit. 

“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Meet my sweet little Cloe Mae. She is all things sweet, kind, giggly & girly. Everything that I mother could hope for in a precious little girl. She is a wonderful friend to others & great big sister. She loves everyone she meets and honestly doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She amazes me daily, I have never seen a young child have such empathy for others.

When she was a baby we struggled with acid reflux and all kinds of tummy issues. We were using formula, since I was younger and honestly had no support in breastfeeding! I didn’t have a strong community of other nursing mothers and really wasn’t very educated in breastfeeding. So formula it was!  We tried everything, she always struggled with her tummy. We were switched to soy, alementum, and all the different brands.

Around her 1st birthday we switched to whole milk and a lot of her tummy issues stopped! However…. as we introduced more and more table (and processed 🙈) foods, she developed AWFUL eczema. Like her skin would crack and bleed.

We were immediately told to take her off dairy & eggs. This helped a little bit but the eczema and tummy aches remained. This battle continued for years.

As I became more aware of what was in our diets (overly processed food & GMOs), the situation would slightly improve. However, it still wasn’t great.

Then one summer day…. Cloe took a bite of a rice crispy treat (something she has actually never really had before). That is when our world changed!  Within minutes she started swelling and breaking out in a rash! I poured about 1/2 a bottle of children’s Benadryl down her throat & rushed her to the ER.  SCARIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

The next week we saw an allergist. And we’re given her list of allergies.

They are:

• Rice
• Corn
• Soy (yep we had been poisoning her with her baby formula)
• Peanuts
• Cottonseed oil
• Dogs
• Cats

Needless to say life changed a little bit! We immediately eliminated everything in our house that had those ingredients! And Cloe started carrying an EpiPen Jr.

We also sought out a holistic doctor who helped us with a nutrition plan. During that time we discovered that Cloe (&myself) had dairy intolerances.  Our best plan for sanity in our diets was to go on the Paleo Diet!

All of this has turned Cloe’s world upside down. There has been so many changes in her diet that sometimes she is excluded from others! Birthday parties, family gatherings, school lunch, and classroom activities have become things we have to prepare & plan for.

In all of this my sweet girl has become known as The Allergy Girl. She even refers to herself in that way sometimes. We have to constantly remind her that she is SO MUCH MORE than her allergies. We also have to see God’s blessings in these allergies as well! Our family eats way healthier than we did before, and Cloe is learning healthy diet & lifestyle choices at a very young age.

In all things, we have to look for the positives, and how we can turn the situation to good!

Make sure to subscribe to this blog, I will be sharing recipes and tips for survinging with multiple allergies in the future.

 

Hey Y’all.

I’m Heather Alyssa Faulkner. I’m a wife to an awesome man, named Dustin. We married young (like 19 😳) and almost immediately were blessed with starting a family.  We are in our 7th year of marriage and have 2 super cute kiddos, Cloe Mae (6) & Claxton Wade (2). Also, we recently purchased our 2nd (and hopefully final) house in September, which I am trying to turn it into home everyday.

I am a professional photographer (check out my work here), college instructor, and independent lipsense distributor. Needless to say I’m a busy woman.  Trying to find balance between my career(s) and family is something I struggle with daily! (Can I get an AMEN from the working moms ?!)

Starting this blog has been on my heart for a while. My social media feed is constantly full of unrealistic things, and expectations. Constantly, there is pressure for me as a woman, wife, & mom to portray a perfect life. Well…. guess what. Life isn’t perfect. My life is full of chaos, struggles, & stress. BUT also full of so much JOY! I want to share all of this with you, in hopes that I can encourage someone else that they are not alone. There is a Savior in Jesus Christ who loves and adores you, and created you for a specific purpose!

I plan to share a little bit of everything with you. From products & fashion (like I even know what I’m talking about 😂), to having a child with several food allergies. So follow along for the Real Life. Wife Life. Mom Life.
“I came so that you may have LIFE, and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

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