Cuckoo for coconut oil

I am always raving about coconut oil to any and everyone whenever I get the chance. It is SO amazing, and so very versatile. I finally had to dedicate a blog post to this awesomeness in a jar, so please enjoy! 

Coconut oil is known as a "Superfood", well because it's SUPER! In all seriousness, it's listed as this because of it's unique combo of fatty acids. These fatty acids aid in giving us so many health benefits. 

It has been shown that coconut oil has a therapeutic effect on many people suffering from a range of disorders, such as brain function or obesity. What I really love, is that the fatty acids also attack harmful pathogens, preventing illnesses or infections as well as helping you overcome the sickness much quicker.

A couple of my main uses for coconut oil are on my hair and body. I absolutely love using it as a moisturizer each night, and let the benefits just soak on in. Usually twice a week, I do a hair mask with coconut oil, either at night and cover with a shower cap, or early in the morning and then shower a few hours later. It has been amazing at reversing damage done to my hair over the years, adding the moisture back in, as well as helping my hair grow long and luscious in a short amount of time. For my face, I always use it as my moisturizer, and it's great for ALL skin types. Most people think (as I used to)  "I have oily-acne prone skin, I'm not putting oil on my face".. Wrong! Putting oil on your skin (I'm not talking about lathering it on like frosting) helps with the natural oils in your body, making a nice balance and leaving you with overall healthier and clearer skin. It is FABULOUS for acne, too, as the fatty acids break down the nastiness and give you a nice clean complexion. 

I love using coconut oil as a carrier oil for my Essential Oils, as well as cooking, and oil pulling. 

It's just pretty wonderful all around, and now it's your turn to fall in looooove with it..you'll thank me later!

Family photos

Here are our beautiful family photos, taken by Photos By Jewel.

I met Julie before Alex and I got married, as she was our wedding photographer. I loved her photos, her presence and professionalism. Ever since we got our Engagement pictures back, I was HOOKED on her work. Not only is she a wonderful photographer, but she is very personal, doesn't rush or make you uncomfortable, and is fun to be around. Shortly after our Engagement session, Julie announced she was pregnant! *For those that haven't seen our wedding photos, I was 6 months pregnant at the time.* We were so happy for her, and the fact that I had a new friend, and now our babies would be friends! She has taken many photos of our family as we grow, and I was lucky to make such a wonderful friend in the process. With that being said, if you are in South Florida, and are looking for a photographer, I can't say enough great things about her (can't you tell?). These are our most recent photos. She took Daniels cake smash, first birthday, and our family photos all around the same time.

Those were taken at the Morikami Museum, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Our life updates

I feel as if I have been so inactive with my blog, besides doing Young Living posts, I have not been so great at updating you all with our personal lives.. Sorry!

Lets begin with Daniel, always a good place to start. 

He is growing, growing, and growing some more. I swear he never slows down. Ever since he started walking a couple months back, he hardly ever stops moving. His new favorite activity: climbing! Lord, help me. He is a little rascal, but the cutest one for sure. Anything he can get his hands and feet on automatically become a challenge that he must complete. It's quite comical to watch sometimes.

Being outdoors is one of his favorite places to be. We currently live on a lake and the ducks are always outside swimming or coming onto our patio. I guess it is mating season for the ducks, because every couple of weeks there are lots of ducklings, the most i've seen are 14! Unfortunately, nature isn't being so nice to these babies, and they hardly ever make it. But, Daniel enjoys seeing them, and feeding them. One made a nest right under our stairwell, so every time we leave the house he waves hi & bye to her, even when she's not there he still peeks his head to the nest. I know he's going to love animals just like his momma. 

He now has all 4 molars in-making 12 teeth total, so chomping away on any and everything is now easy peasy. He weighs 23 pounds, and is 33 inches tall. Another haircut is going to happen pretty soon, because apparently he got his fast growing THICK hair from me, and he gets hot hot hot in this heat.

He's very smart in knowing which things go where, who is who, and letting us know what he wants. He knows who our dog is in a picture, all the characters of mickey mouse clubhouse, elmo, and of course Alex & I and our parents. When he's hungry, he walks to the highchair and points up, to put him in. Says and shakes his head no when he is done or doesn't agree with something. With all that good has to come a little bad, and when I tell you about his tantrums, that has to be as bad as it gets. I cannot believe my eyes when he throws these fits, he's only ONE! I have just begun to ignore him, leave the room, and when he is done he comes to me and everything is ok. He hates when I tell him no, but it is important to teach him right from wrong early, and although it's frustrating sometimes, I always approach the matter calmly, and talk to him through it. Even though he may not understand me, I feel that consistency is best.

Now that Daniel is pretty much spoken for, I have some updates on Alex and I, and our housing situation..

I am doing really well with Young Living Essential Oils. They have not only provided a secondary income for us, but a much more healthier life. I have been so blessed with stumbling into this company, and know that God had this set out for me all along. With that being said, Alex is also doing well. Currently, he went back to school for night classes in order to finish his degree. We could not be more proud of him, and all of his hard work. As far as schooling for me, I have my Doula workshop in October. It was originally for this June, but with a couple of things going on, it was best to push it back a couple of months.

We will be moving from our apartment into a rental home this June, and could not be happier about it. Although we would love to buy a home right now, it's not the wisest decision. The rental home gives us a lot of flexibility, and plenty of space. It is also much cheaper than our apartment, so we will be able to save more money for when the time does come to buy a home. 

With my 21st birthday coming up on June 3rd, I have reflected on all of the years that flew by. It amazes me how one person can change so much, all for the better. I have learned many valuable life lessons in my short amount of years, but being a mother and wife certainly has aged me more than others. I look forward to many more years of happiness with my family, and friends that have been there along the way.

Well, thats all of our updates! Following this post will be our family pictures that were taken last month. 

Thanks for reading!

Xo

Kelsey 

A look inside: 1st Birthday Bash

Hey all!
This is our better late than never birthday post.

Here are the details of Daniels Mustache Bash!

I handmade the invitations with the RhonnaDesigns app on my Iphone. It really is a handy app that has many features/symbols/edits/and texts to choose from. You can also select your size project before beginning. Then, I took them to Office Depot for printing.

I then ordered banners, confetti, cupcake toppers, dining ware, games, party favors, etc.. from Etsy and Oriental Trading. However, they only come as cutouts, so I assembled them after they arrived.

-bags filled with sippy/straw cups, mustache finger tattoos, stamps, lollipop, and a mustache whistle-

I ordered the cake and cupcakes from Whole Foods, because they are Vegan! And super duper yummy. The cake is the Vegan Carrot Cake, and it's OUT of this world! The cupcakes are vegan chocolate/vanilla.

The photobooth I made out of cardboard. I cut and made it into a frame, and then used chalkboard spray-paint to decorate. The back of the wall is baby blue, so it worked perfect for our color scheme. I also got fun props off of Etsy! 

Here are some photos from his cake smash, taken by Photos By Jewel.

I had a lot of fun planning his first birthday, and am looking forward to many more fun parties to have! There will be another post coming up (soon) with more pictures!

Xo

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

One year ago today, I had the most wonderful experience of my life thus far, by giving birth to my beautiful little boy! I woke up that morning just like any other day, got a bowl of cereal, and sat down to catch up on TV shows. As I was eating, I felt a POP, and a little wetness, but just thought I laughed too hard and sprung a leak (prego probs). I finish my cereal and go to the bathroom to feel that I was "peeing" for such a long time! I noticed something was off and started searching up "how do you know if your water breaks". I then got off the toilet to go wash my hands and a GUSH of water streamed down my legs..Water Broke! I called my husband, who was in school at this time, and he DID NOT believe me, and accused me of playing an April Fools Prank (you could imagine, a pregnant woman whose water just broke, followed by sudden painful contractions, hearing that she is JOKING) I could have killed the poor guy if he was in the same room as me. Needless to say, he was convinced and came home! In that time I took a nice shower, blow-dried my hair, did my make-up, and ate a snack. I called my best friend who out of town (just a couple hours north) and told her to get her butt home! I also called my mom, and Alex called his. OUR BABY WAS COMING! Around 12-1 p.m. we head to the hospital, signed in, and got settled in our delivery room. I was 3cm when I arrived, got everything done that the hospital needed, and asked for the epidural. However, they set it up so that I would get a little at a time, because I did not want the whole thing. This way, it took the edge off, but I still felt what was going on. I progressed fairly quick, and felt that "urge" to push around 7:30. The nurses still said I needed to dilate a little more, but we all knew that was not happening! The contractions were coming in HOT at this point and I literally felt like he was just going to fly out any second. Soon, the doctor came in and it was go time. I started pushing around 7:45 and getting used to the way to push correctly. I only had 3 people in the room, but everyone else was in the waiting room, and we had them on speaker phone through the whole thing (so awesome)! At 8:18 out came our BEAUTIFUL son! It was such a rush of emotions, so much love and happiness. I was able to grab him and pull him onto my chest with the last push, and that was the best moment of my life. If you are pregnant, DO IT!

This year has gone by way too fast, and I am honestly not ready for him to keep growing up! He has been the light in my darkest hours, and the instant smile I always need. Every day is a learning experience, for both of us, but I wouldn't trade this for anything else.

I will do another post on our festivities from his party and birthday. Thank you all for being a part of our first year together! To many more!

Happy Birthday my baby! You may outgrow my lap, but never my heart!

Young Living

Hey all! I am SO excited to announce my part in Young Living Essential Oils! I have been hearing so many great things about them, and decided to finally sign up as an independent distributor. This means that I got the Premium start up kit- 10 Everyday oils, a home diffuser, and the starter kit.

Since receiving these, I have been so pleased with each oil. There are some single oils, and some blends. I have also been blending oils together, and everything is just awesome. A couple of things that I have been doing are:

Sleep: I diffuse Frankincense, and then apply Lavender to the bottom of my feet. Has been awesome for a good nights rest, waking up refreshed!

Migraines: Panaway- I use two drops on my temples, sinuses, as well as the back of my neck.. Gone!

Teething & sleep for Daniel- 4 drops of Gentle Baby in his bath, 1 drop Lavender on his feet, Frankincense diffused, as well as Clove/ Thieves diluted and can be applied directly on the gums...Immediate life saver!

Immune boost- 2 drops of Lemon in my water, as well as Thieves diffused and applied on bottom of feet(at night).

Congestion- Peppermint in a bowl of steaming water, breathe in.. Cleared my congestion for the whole night.

I am just getting started on these oils, and am learning more each day! There are TONS of uses for each oil (singles or blends). I have already had many people give me recipes for everything you can think of.


Take a look at my website, and if you want to sign up as a wholesale member or just a retail customer trying some for the first time you may go to sign up:
https://www.youngliving.org/kelseycastellon


If there are any questions you may have, feel free to contact me directly!

The countdown to ONE begins!

Gosh.. 11 months.. I still am having difficulty wrapping my mind around this!

Now that March is in swing, it is crunch time for his 1st Birthday. I am so excited and emotional about it. I really don't believe that he is turning one, it does not feel like a year.

On that note, here are some fun things that happened this past month.

Walking!- He is getting closer and closer to walking without assistance. He walks now when I hold one hand, side by side.

Words- Duh(duck), OO OO(woof, woof...we're around dogs a lot, so when I say doggy, he automatically starts to "bark")

Foods- really loves broccoli, starting to like more fresh fruits (kiwi, melon, pineapple), not digging meats alone right now, but does love spaghetti with ground beef

Activities- wagon rides, peek-a-boo with doors (crawls behind a closes/opens the door), swinging, slides, crawling all around, walking, opening and getting into everything, bath time, swimming and reading. He loves to be read to, and he insists on flipping the pages. He is very independent, and will NOT let you help him with something, he will push your hand away and do it himself.

He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jake & The Neverland Pirates in the morning with breakfast.

He is a little over 2 and 1/2 feet tall and weighs somewhere between 22-25 pounds, not exactly sure, but he doesn't seem much heavier, and is evening out. He naps twice a day now, since he wakes up at 7am, or earlier each day.