Voiceover

I did a couple of VOs between last week and this week.  It is always a pleasure to do the work.   One of our clients gave us a huge recommendation too.  I always love that.

I also auditioned all on my own tonight with no sound engineer.I just did my own recording and editing.  I know it doesn't sound like a huge thing but when you always rely on someone else for your editing, it makes it all a lot easier.

I chose something simple, a childrens book.   We all know I read a lot of those these days.

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

Yesterday I freecycled a blood pressure monitor and I got a coffee pot for free from freecycle. When I need something I look for it on freecycle, ecycle, or on craigslist free first.  That way I take something that someone doesn't need and fulfill my need at the same time.

I was recently cast in a film: "Doomsdays, shooting in Kingston."  Wayne and I play a couple who come to our vacation home and find creepy squatters in our house, LOL.

It is a low budget indie film and they were looking for donations for their crew house.  I had just cleaned out all the plastic and teflon in our kitchen and replaced it with corning ware, and cast iron.   I gave the film crew a giant electric grill, plastic bowls, a set of dishes, a whole set of teflon cookware, and a coffee maker.   They needed all of it.  I needed to get rid of it.  Such a wonderful relationship.

In honor of Earthday, Wayne went to a big dumpster down the road and got some wood.  He built a birdhouse. :)

Please think of ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.  Not just today, but everyday.

Pudding for the Allergic

Today is my birthday.   Wayne made me the cook and serve jello pudding with almond milk instead of dairy.  It was such a welcome treat for our family.  If consumed in moderation, it shouldn't bother me too much.  Still gotta watch out for the sugar and corn starch.
I've been working on getting rid of all of our litchen plastic and. And teflon and replacing it with cast iron, corningware and stanless products.  Today when I got my chilli I brought my own corningware container and my thermal bag. I felt good about not putting another paper plate into the landfills.
My Wayne also made me a giant recycled object wind chime in one of our trees...it was the most lovely  gift and my son loved showing me how it worked!   What a beautiful day.

Healing an Ear Infection without Antibiotics

This was my quick post from Facebook (I am trying to get this information out there so others may benefit from it):

Mommy and Daddy helped Willoughby heal an ear infection without antibiotics...we gave him local honey with cinnamon, put olive oil drops in his ears that had fresh garlic in, we massaged his ears, we reduced his sugar intake, we really kept flushing his sinuses and each night before he goes to bed, after brushing his teeth, we have him chew and antibiotic with xlitol in it instead of sugar. We were so thrilled when the doc said his ears were great! 

The last time we had been to the pediatrician she said that he had an infection and she tried to give us a prescription for an antibiotic.  I cried and said, "No."
I was terrified.  But I knew in my gut that I could beat this without more horrid chemicals.  We took her prescription and went on our way.  But we never filled it because we didn't have to.

Some interesting things I have learned about ear infections:

An ear infection can be viral or bacterial.  There is no way of knowing which your child has.  

So when the doctor looks in the ear and sees an infection the most they can do for your child is give them an antibiotic.

Here's the clincher: IF THAT EAR INFECTION IS VIRAL, the antibiotics WILL NOT WORK!  That means you are giving your child antibiotics steeped in SUGAR for NOTHING.

The sugar glop that your child takes with the antibiotic in it is part of the reason why the infection keeps coming back.  The SUGAR is a huge toxin that makes things fester and become inflamed.  The antibiotic is killing EVERYTHING.  That means the good stuff too.  So your child's ear has a festering inflamed mess on top of NO GOOD BACTERIA LEFT TO FIGHT anymore.

The probiotics are a great thing to help with this.  A pro-biotic given at night after brushing, a chewable, helps put good bacteria in the throat.

Another thing that I was afraid of doing was putting garlic and olive oil drops in the ear.  This helped my son a lot and he liked the way it felt.

Another thing to do is look up shiatsu points for helping ear infections and gently rub those areas if the child can tolerate it.

Dairy allergies can contribute to ear infections.

Honey kills bad bacteria and children generally love it.  REMEMBER NOT TO GIVE A CHILD UNDER ONE YEAR ANY HONEY EVER!  You should get local raw honey... nothing processed.

Elderberry is a natural antiviral.  I invite you to do research about the benefits and how long to administer it.  My pediatrician recommended this natural product to us. 

I asked my doctor about each and every one of these things that we did and she said each was safe.  You should always ask your pediatrician first.  I also think that it is very important to know that their training is limited.  If your gut is telling you that you don't want to have tubes put in your child's ears, and each time an antibiotic is prescribed you cringe from your head to your toes, you should question your doctor, do research, get a second opinion and know that you know your child better than anyone else in the world. 

Also it is very important to see your doctor after a week of trying the natural remedies to see if they are effective.  Your doctor is very proficient in diagnosis for sure.  If they aren't working THEN take the antibiotic... sometimes they are the only thing that will work. While taking them definitely give a pro-biotic twice a day.

We are healing his asthma diagnosis by removing dairy from his diet. ***More to come on this adventure soon.

Remove the toxins and you will be amazed by the results.

Who do you believe?

I am pondering this question because there are so many theories and so many different places to obtain information in this day and age.

I was posting on a high school acquaintance's facebook page today regarding soy and soy products.  I know that I have heard and read horrid things about soy.  I also know that I have read great reviews about how great it is for you.  Who do you believe?

I think what it comes down to is, you have got to go with your instincts.  If you are okay with consuming something no matter what the pro's and con's are that you find out there, that is what you have to go with.

The thing we have to do is pay attention to what the food that we consume is doing to our bodies.  If your body loves soy and you are healthier than you have ever been, that is a good sign for YOU.  If you eat bacon and you don't have problems with your heart and cholesterol, that is great for YOU!  If you know you get sick from eating corn and wheat then avoiding them is best for YOU, that is the key!  If you are getting congested every single day when you don't have a cold, then it might be time to consider what is causing it and remove it for a better functioning system.  If you get gas and bloating every single day, you probably have something irritating your digestive system and you have to find out what it is.  Your body is telling you something. Ultimately when it comes to our diet, we really only have ourselves  and our bodies to believe.

I denied one of my allergies for a very long time and I did it because it was such a healthy food. I kept trying to eat it because it was supposed to be good for everyone.  I was in such denial even when I vomited the food right after consuming it.  I would double over in pain after eating it. And finally it was making my body mimic a 24 hour stomach bug!   My partner finally said to never bring it in the house again and if I do I am not allowed to handle it.    I am allergic to avocados.  My body made it very clear that it wouldn't behave if I decided to eat this food.

My instincts also lead me to do research on what can happen if you consume too much flax seed... yes... I had consumed too much and it made me feel light headed and strange...because too much of it can cause a cyonide toxicity.  Now obviously I didn't have a cyonide toxicity but I did have a reaction to too much flax and my partner did too.  In moderation it is fine like with many things.  One would have to consume a very very very large amount of it to really cause problems but I had had enough to make me feel "not right."

Back to Soy.  It actually increased my bra one size up.  I hadn't gained weight anywhere else... just there...that was enough to make me realize that I was dealing with a product that too much of something my body didn't need in it.

We must listen and believe what our bodies are telling us.

Apple Cider Vinegar

I have decided to start with the most recent miracle of remedies we have in our cabinet and work backward.  Of course,  I am not a doctor, I am just a Mommy sharing her journey.  I do check with my doctor on a regular basis and share with her what remedies I use.  If you try any of these things, I recommend you talk with your doctor about them as well.

My 2 year old son, Willoughby has a diagnosis of Asthma.  He gets really congested from head to toe, it seems, and he coughs and wheezes.  So we are working on NO DAIRY(that will be a whole other blog,) and that seemed to be working for a while.  Just recently, we had received a clean bill of health with him and if he needed his medications (albuteral for emergency clearing of the airways, budesonide for asthma maintenance, and an anti-histemine for the congestion that may be caused by allergies,)we have them if we need them.  A Few days after the happy doctor visit,  W started with the coughing, and the runny nose, you know, the one at every daycare all over the world. ( I swear, if I was a daycare teacher, I would just sit and wipe noses allll day long.)

So he started to get this horrid cough.  We tried all our natural stuff first: honey, elderberry, etc. It didn't seem to be working at all.  We then in the middle of the night at like 3 am decided it was time to do albuteral. Out comes the nebulizer.  I give him the treatment and it does NOTHING.  W and I got up and he was playing at 3 am.  He was fine, and breathing fine, but coughing and coughing. It was breaking me down hearing him suffer so with the cough.  He still ate and played and all good things but coughed and coughed.  I gave him green smoothies and chamomile tea and kept flushing out his sinuses and gave him more honey and he coughed and coughed.  We tried albuteral again and he refused to sit through the treatment.  He never refuses it... because he knows it helps him...but this time he was just not having it.

He went down for a nap and I was cleaning for my brother- in-law's visit.  I had my stepson, Alex, get on the computer and I told him to look up natural cough remedies for toddlers... He said mix 1/3 a cup of apple cider vinegar with 2 heaping teaspoons of honey and 3/4 cup of boiling water.  I did this. Willoughby was still coughing in his sleep.  When the mixture was cool enough, I put 5ml in a dropper and gave it to him in his sleep.   He stopped coughing immediately.  He woke up shortly after and started playing.  His cough was reduced from a cough every 1 to 2 seconds to one per minute or so.  I kept giving him some of the mixture through the day and his cough got less and less.  When he did cough it was super productive and lots of junk came out.  

A day later, he is great!  He slept all night, he had a great morning and a three hour nap and all the congestion and junk is pouring out.  He is processing his common cold normally without unnecessary medications.  I was really worried that he was still having asthma even without the dairy in his system. I was feeling really defeated. The natural cough remedy we were brave enough to try was just the right thing.  

I am standing by my pledge to see if we can help Willoughby heal and grow a strong immune system by NOT overtoxifying his system with medications he really doesn't need.  We are working on removing problems by finding the irritation rather than masking symptoms with more toxins.

Natural Thoughts from a Struggling Voiceover Mommy

This is my first blog, ever.  I kept thinking about blogging, and I am one of those people who listen to "the voice that cries out the most," in my mind.  You may be thinking that it is strange that I admit there is a voice crying out in my head...it isn't really in my head, it is in my gut.  My gut is saying... "get your thoughts out there, Lady."  Then the other voice argues, "Why? No one will read it anyway." Then the gut voices stops and the head voice stops and there is quiet and in that moment when they stop arguing I get out of bed and come to the computer and begin.

Hello world, here I AM.  Heidi is my name, and I am a newish parent of 2 years with my own son and of 4 with my stepsons.  I live in the Hudson Valley of New York where I have a tiny house and still manage to save a closet for a voiceover booth where my parter and I record voiceover as a supplement to our meager living.

I moved up here to skydive from Manhattan nearly 10 years ago. I skydived my way around the country living in a converted school bus, and then found the love of my life...again.  We had done a tour of Romeo and Juliet sometime in the late nineties he was Romeo and I was Juliet. We were great friends for  years, he was married and I had my relationships so that was all we could give each other.  We lost touch after Sept. 11.  He went on tour with The LION KING and I ran away with the skydivers.
When we found each other again in 2007, he was divorced and I had just been dumped, again.  We were meant for each other and the rest is history.   In this blog I will tell you our adventures and most importantly share stories of how we are caring for our youngest son with natural remedies instead of the five medications that were prescribed by our child's doctor.