Tag: health

Patty’s Pops

Momma Bear

Have you ever craved something cold and sweet but stayed away because of the insane sugar content or other unhealthy ingredients they contain? Or maybe you went ahead and indulged and felt instantly guilty right after because of all of the calories and sugar you just injected? Well, look no further because Patty’s Pops is coming to a town near you and you will NOT be disappointed!

Patty’s Pops will have a variety of delicious popsicles that are made fresh every single day with only organic fruits and vegetables. There will be a different variety of flavors every week and a tasty treat for every palate. Our ingredients are fresh, farm to table, and they will not disappoint. So next time you are craving something sweet and cold to battle the blistering heat ahead and head over to Patty’s Pops and live life guilt free!

New home & a fractured foot.

Momma Bear

After many, many months of house hunting and saving up our money, we finally found and purchased our first home. It has been a very exciting time for our little family, however, it has been extremely busy and I have been away from here for a long time. The past few months I have been spinning out of control because it seemed as if there was no time to even take a breath! I had to pack up a three bedroom apartment by myself and make sure that I finished my school semester strong as well. Between all the moving arrangements and juggling school, my two kids, and my two dogs I felt like I was literally losing myself in all of the chaos. Thankfully, two weeks ago we finally and officially moved into a super cute four bedroom home just a few minutes away from my mom’s house; which is a huge plus. Being so close to family has been such a blessing, especially because it just so happens that on the exact same day that we were moving in, I broke my damn foot.

Yup, as the movers were finishing unloading the rest of our belongings, I was also unloading a few of the things I had packed up in the Jeep. My four year old daughter insisted that I let our pug, Olive, ride in the middle seat with her and her brother in the backseat. I knew in my gut that it wasn’t a great idea, but I did not want to crush her so early in the morning so I caved in and let Olive ride in the back. Well, not too far down the road from our apartment on the way to our new home, Olive pooped in the backseat. Instant regret and anger filled my body but I could not stop the Jeep, I had to get to our new home before the movers so that I could let them in. As soon as I pulled up, I realized we made it before them so I drove the jeep around the back of the house to clean and dump the stinky poop into our trashcan outside. I drove back around to the front just in time because the movers were pulling up. I opened the door for them and they began to unload quickly as I also decided to unload the few things I had loaded up in the Jeep. I had placed Olive in his crate back in the trunk with our other dog Bunny and I was almost done unloading everything, I felt so accomplished and close to the finish line. I unloaded Bunny and when I got Olive and his crate down I realized that he had pooped AGAIN! This time in his crate but I was still so annoyed as I quickly cleaned up his mess and ran to the backyard so that I could throw it out in the trashcan outside. I was making my way back up to the front so that I could finally take the kids out of their car seats and finish our move officially when the worst thing happened.

I was lightly jogging from the backyard to the front thinking, ‘Well this is a great way to burn off some calories this morning.’, when I heard the ugliest crack and I collapsed to the ground. As I was running to the front, I stepped wrong on a little hill of dirt and my right foot twisted inward as my whole weight landed on it. I saw little black and white dots and I felt like I was going to pass out from the pain. I got up and forced myself to hobble over to the Jeep and got my two kids out and herded them inside. That is where I collapsed on the first chair that I could find and my body just gave out on me, I could not move. The movers were just gawking at me unsure of what to do or say. I just paid them and told that I would be ok and had them on their way. Once they were gone, I tried to stand up and test how much weight I could place on my foot and I quickly realized that was a terrible idea. I heard the crack again and collapsed to the ground from the pain and almost blacked out. I have given birth twice and I promise you that this felt more painful to me than those two times going through labor.

I just sat there on the ground and I could feel my eyes filling up with hot tears of anger and frustration. I could not believe this was happening to me! After so many months of hard work and the extreme amount of stress I had been putting myself through to ensure that the move went smoothly and finishing my semester, this just seemed like a cruel joke. I looked around and saw countless boxes that needed to be unpacked and I wanted to do so many things, I just could not deal with anything; I felt powerless. Thankfully, my mom came to my rescue and dragged my kids and I to an urgent care near me. Turns out my foot was pretty badly fractured and they provided me with a clunky, black boot brace and crutches and the doctor told me to stay off my foot for two weeks then continue to wear the boot for an additional two weeks. I just laughed out loud because I could not believe the situation I was in.

It has been the strangest two weeks of my life. I have never felt so powerless, I have become used to doing things for myself and getting things done no matter what. Now, for the first time ever, all I could do was sit still; literally. I feel like maybe it was a lesson that I needed to learn at the moment, to just sit still and enjoy being in the moment instead of spiraling all over the place, trying to get everything done. I had the hardest time during the first few days, especially when people would tell me to ‘relax and rest’. Thankfully, my mom has come through for me so much throughout this whole time. She stepped up and has been coming twice a day to help me out with my dogs, my kids, and even has helped me unpack and arrange things throughout our new home. I am so grateful for her and my sister, Aaliyah, because I truly would not have been able to get through any of this without them!

Update on my anxiety…

Momma Bear

A couple months ago it seemed like my panic attacks had come to a peak. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart beating out of my chest and finding it difficult to breathe. I would lay awake for hours just trying to breathe deeply and calm myself as I tried to sleep whatever hours that I could because I knew that my kids would wake up soon and it would be go time from there until they fell asleep at night. The mornings would begin and I would usually have a debilitating headache and a feeling of impending doom. Why? I don’t know but it was getting unbearable. I always felt like when you are about neck deep in a cold pool and you feel like the breath is being taken out of you, or when you are about to do something bad that you know aren’t supposed to be doing; that loud and pounding heart feeling. Sometimes it would get so bad that all I could manage to do in an entire day was make some grilled cheese for the kids and then curl up in a ball on the carpet on the living room floor, wrapped up in my favorite blanket to keep the panic levels down. I was really getting concerned about my health and convinced myself that something must be terribly wrong with me if I was feeling like that every single day and I finally worked up the courage to make an appointment with my doctor so they could take blood out and check all my levels.

I asked my mom to come over and watch the kids so I could go get myself checked out and she agreed right away because apparently my whole family was getting worried about my situation. My biggest fear was that something terrible would happen to me and nobody would even know for hours, since my husband has been working out of state, I was horrified at the thought of my babies being left alone and scared because something happened to me. Anyway, I went to the doctor and they took out five vials of blood to check my hormones, my thyroid, my white blood cell count, if I was anemic, etc. A week later they called me in to go over my results and the doctor informed me that I was absolutely, perfectly healthy. There was nothing wrong with me physically and all of my levels were off the chart amazing. Relieved, yet confused I slumped in my chair and asked the doctor what she recommended next. She said that it seemed as if everything might be in my head, she asked me if I suffered from anxiety or depression and I told her all about my first panic attack that sent me to the emergency room only because I was convinced I was going into cardiac arrest. In the emergency room, embarrassingly, they told me that I was just having a panic attack and I needed to hydrate more and they just shrugged me off. It had been two years since that first panic attack, and there I was still trying to figure out what to do. The doctor referred me to a cardiologist so that they can run some tests and see if the heart palpitations were because of an actual problem with my heart or if it was ‘all in my head’. My doctor seemed convinced that I am suffering from depression and that is what is bringing on these random panic attacks…depressed? I have never been happier or in a better place in my life…I do miss my husband terribly but he will coming home soon and the kids and I will most likely be traveling up with him on his next assignment. Which is cool because we will be able to explore the country a little bit and the kids will get to see places they otherwise never would. It will be an adventure! Sure, the world is going to shit and we are probably about to go into our Third World War, but other than that I feel ‘normal’?

I recently went to the cardiologist, waited FOUR hours to be seen and there they performed an EKG on me and said that everything looked relatively normal. There were a couple spikes that they want to look further into, but for the most part the cardiologist said I seemed to be healthy. He set me up for another appointment to perform an ultrasound of my heart and a stress test, not too excited about that. Those results will determine whether the palpitations are being caused by one of the valves in my heart not opening and closing properly or if it really is just ‘all in my head’. Gosh, I am so tired of hearing that. He even recommended me smoking a joint, which made me giggle to myself because if only he knew that in my past that was always my go to medication. However, he said since it is not legal here, he could not legally advise me to do that. I am not comfortable with taking prescription medications, personally, because in my past I had a problem with that…I definitely do not want to play with fire and mess around with prescription medications for anxiety and/or depression. I am going to get those tests done and see what the results are and then go on from there. If it is all in my head how they all seem to keep telling me, then I am just going to stay strong and ride the waves of my panic attacks as they come. Mind over matter. Knowing that my body is perfectly healthy and that I am not going to go into cardiac arrest is highly reassuring and I think I will be able to calm myself through the storms on my own… wish me luck guys!

I finally found the hair products that work for me!

Momma Bear

As some of you all know, I have been dealing with alopecia since I was 21 years old. I am about to be 29 in July and to this day no one has been able to tell me exactly what is the cause of the alopecia or how to treat it. It has been the most annoying and emotionally tumultuous roller coaster ride in my life honestly. I have looked high and low for a solution to my problem and I have not been able to find anything that truly works , or that is healthy for me. I started going to the dermatologist as soon as the issue began and first they prescribed a strange cream to put on the spots that would appear, but it was so greasy and it just ended up making my hair fall out worse. The next thing the dermatologist tried was giving me corticosteroid injections on my scalp, I would have to go every three months and get at least 20 injections at a time. That method worked somewhat, but it was extremely painful and it was not really the healthiest thing. The latest thing I tried, and spent thousands of dollars on, was laser hair therapy. I would have to go twice a week for thirty minutes and sit in a chair while the red laser lights soaked up in my scalp in addition to taking vitamins that the doctor prescribed and applying minoxidil on the spots twice a day. The laser hair therapy seemed to be working but when I asked the doctor what he would recommend after the six month treatment was over, I was a little disappointed to hear that if I chose to discontinue the treatment then all of the progress I made would go back to square one. I was devastated because it seemed like I had finally found the remedy to my problems but I did not want to keep applying minoxidil to my scalp because there are harmful chemicals in there that can really cause some harm in the long run. Plus, going to the doctor twice a week with two toddlers is definitely not easy so I decided to quit the treatment when the six months were over, and as expected, a BUNCH of my hair fell out.

I was back to being depressed and felt like there was no way out of this. Well, one day I was scrolling through instagram and I came across a post that claimed to be selling ‘real organic’ hair products. I had a heart full of doubt but I decided to explore the page a bit more and was very pleased with what I saw. It seemed too good to be true but I sent the user a direct message and told her about my situation and asked about her products. Her name is Clarissa and she was so nice and attentive to me, she took the time to explain to me in detail what each of her products was for and exactly what ingredients went into making each product. She was very authentic and honest about her products and she had plenty of before and after pictures on her page, I felt safe and determined to give her products a try. Clarissa is from New York City and she started her business from the ground up in the midst of the COVID pandemic, she has the best heart and she has a true passion for what she does; truly inspiring! Her business also offers amazing, organic bars of soap that help with any skin issues that you may have. Acne? No problem. stretch marks or dark spots? She has it all! Clarissa always takes the time to respond to whatever question I may have and I have come to see her as a friend and a gift from above because her hair products are actually 100 percent organic and they have helped my hair incredibly. My hair has never felt or looked healthier and it does not fall out anywhere as much as it used to. All of my spots have little baby hairs growing in them and I honestly have not been happier with my hair since this whole nightmare began. By these products restoring my hair they also restored my confidence and my mental Heath as well! Thank you Clarissa for doing what you do and may God bless your hands and your amazing business! If you are interested in exploring more of the amazing products she has to offer check her out @clarissa_organics go show her some love and support, she truly is the best!

How to make caldo de pollo

Momma Bear

Caldo de pollo has been one of my favorite dishes since I was a little girl. I remember my mom used to make it all the time whenever the weather was cold, which is rare for south Texas, so when she did make it , it was a delicacy. Growing up I never really appreciated the hard work that went into making caldo de pollo, it was delicious but I recall telling my mother that it was just a ‘side dish’ and I needed more food. I know, rude. Now that I am older and have a family of my own I try my best to make the healthiest and most nutritious foods for my babies so that they can get the best out of their meals, and this has become one of their favorites. Thankfully, they are a lot more appreciative than I was as a younger child and they always tell me how much they love their caldo de pollo. This last time it was freezing down here, I happily gathered all off my ingredients and set off to make the best caldo ever. After all of the chopping and hard work we sat down to enjoy our bowl of caldo. Well guess what this super smart momma did? I totally forgot to put the CHICKEN in the caldo! I know, totally dumb air-headed move but I managed to save the day however by placing my chicken in the oven so it could heat up and then shredding it into the caldo; the meal was saved! Alright , so enough silliness, here is how I make my caldo.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Chicken (I get mine ready to go, oven roasted chicken from the market; already cooked) I prefer the orange pepper rotisserie chicken from HEB

2. Chicken broth

3. Carrots

4. Celery

5. A couple zucchini squash

6. Potatoes

7. Corn on the cob (I use about 3 of the long corns but I rip them in half)

8. Cabbage

9. A couple Chayotes

10. One or two cloves of garlic

11. Red onion

12. Spanish rice ( I like to add Spanish rice to my caldo, that’s totally up to you) I have a post that I made a while back on how to make the Spanish rice.

13. Serrano pepper (this one is up to you if you like spicy stuff. I love taking bites of it as I eat my caldo)

14. Knorr

15. Salt & pepper

16. Garlic salt

HOW TO MAKE THE CALDO:

1. In a large pot (where you can for a lot of water) fill it about halfway with water and add in the entire container of chicken broth and set to a medium high to start boiling

2. After you wash all your veggies, start chopping the carrots and potatoes into little chunks and throw them in the pot. (I start with the carrots and potatoes because they take the longest to boil) boil that for about 12-15 minutes until they are fork tender.

3. While the above is boiling, chop the celery, garlic, and some onion and throw it into the pot once the carrots and potatoes have softened. Leave that for about 8 minutes and add a tablespoon of Knorr, sprinkle some salt, pepper, and the garlic salt. (Not too much because we will gradually be adding more)

4. Now is a good time to take that chicken and start shredding it into the pot, and add another tablespoon of knorr and mix everything up.

5. Chop the chayotes and zucchinis and go ahead and add them to the pot as well. These cook pretty fast so you only need to leave them for about 10 minutes.

6. Now is a good time to add the corn and let it boil along with the chayote and zucchini because it also needs to boil for at least ten minutes. While that’s happening add shreds of cabbage (I like to chop it into little one inch squares because it’s easier for the babies to eat rather than when it’s large, long chunks)

7. Your masterpiece is complete, add salt and pepper to taste, and another tablespoon of knorr to taste and let everything boil for those 10 minutes or so. (Not too long because then everything gets a little mushy, which I don’t mind at all but some people do)

8. Now this is optional but if you’re going to add the Serrano peppers, wash them and cut a thin slice in the middle of the pepper, not all the way through just a surface slice and throw it in to boil when you throw in the chayote, corn, and zucchini. It won’t make the whole caldo spicy so so t worry, I just like to take little nibbles of the Serrano pepper as I eat my caldo.

9. Now if you made the Spanish rice as well , you can add some of it to your caldo along with some lemon and enjoy this magical dish! (The rice takes about 30-32 minutes to cook so make sure to start at the same time that you start your caldo so that everything will be ready at the same time.

I hope you guys enjoy, and yes I know it seems like a lot of chopping and work but TRUST me it is so worth it and it’s packed with vitamins and minerals!

I started laser hair therapy!

Momma Bear

As you all may know, or not know, I have been dealing with alopecia areota since I was about to turn 21 years old; it has been a really crazy ride! I have tried millions of things to keep my hair from falling out and to regrow my hair, but nothing ever seems to stick…super frustrating. I’ve tried coconut oil, rosemary oil, I’ve rubbed egg on my head, I’ve even been getting cortesoid steroid injections to my scalp for a few years now and NOTHING WORKS. No one can tell me WHY this is happening or how to stop it and it has been just such an irritating problem. Having to deal with this situation has definitely changed me entirely, I feel like I have gone into hiding and my depression got really bad at one point honestly. My husband and kids are really the only things motivating me every day to keep going and not worry about my hair. They have saved me from myself and motivate me to just keep living my life and breaking glass ceilings! Well, about a year ago my husband and I were driving around town and we saw a clinic that said “Hair Loss Control Clinic” and it caught my eye but I never even dared to think about it because I had a feeling it would cost us a pretty penny. Recently however, I decided to just give them a call and see what they had to offer and when the receptionist told me the consultation was free and they offered payment plans, I thought “Why the hell not?” I set it up and my mom was nice enough to tag along with me because I needed her to stay in the car and watch my two kids since they were not allowed in the clinic, due to COVID safety precautions of course.

I walked in the clinic and everything just felt right, I felt like this might be the place that changes my life; but I was still very skeptical because I did not know anything about the treatments they would recommend or their prices. After my consultation, which was really quick thank goodness, the doctor recommended their hair treatments, along with a shampoo, and vitamins and laser hair therapy. The doctor raves about the products, showed me pictures of before and after the six month treatment, and guaranteed me a 93% success rate among the patients. I was sold. I ended up agreeing to the six month treatment, along with the hair treatments, and it came out to $1500. I was so surprised because I honestly thought I was going to walk out with a $5,000 quote, but no!! I ran outside to tell my mom and she were bursting with joy and gratitude because it finally felt as if this horrible problem will soon go away! This has been something that has been affecting my life and the lives of my loved ones for a long time now and I am so ready to kick it in the ass! I just completed my first week of laser hair therapy, it’s two sessions a week for the first couple of months and then it’s once a week. I know, how tedious, but if it works it’ll all be worth it to me! I am so grateful to my mother for helping me with this journey , and I will be keeping you guys updated with pictures as well!

Second sesh of laser hair therapy!

The laser hair therapy itself is so cool! It takes 30 minutes and they just sit you down in a private room with a TV and you literally just hang out while this machine is over your head, kind of like the ones at the salon but these use a red laser light that is supposed to stimulate your hair follicles to grow! It irradiates photons into scalp tissue and they are supposed to be absorbed by the weaker scalp skin cells and stimulates the growth, super sciencey and cool! I am just so excited to try something new and being very optimistic about it.

Raisins almost killed my dog!

Momma Bear

Monday morning comes around and as I’m following my still sleepy toddlers into the living room, I realize that there’s a bunch of raisins on the carpet and a large bag not too far away. I really thought nothing of it until our dog, Bunny, began throwing up and having diarrhea everywhere. I am not kidding it was on the walls and everything, super terrible. I rounded up the kids into their playpen, cleaned up the messes, and began googling, “ what happens if my dog eats raisins?”, and my heart stopped. Apparently, raisins and grapes are the worst things for dogs, other than chocolate of course. The internet basically was telling me that my dog was going to die because the raisins cause dogs’ kidneys to begin failing which ultimately leads to organ failure and death. I was freaking out. All the while trying to keep my cool because my two year old, Luna, is super observant and always watching every single little thing I do, and she was so worried already! I called my husband at his work and quickly explained the situation. He ended up rushing home and we made a emergency visit to the veterinarian, thankfully they were able to see her that very same day. Due to COVID we were not allowed inside the veterinarian’s office so they just took her by herself as we watched anxiously. It took them a while to come talk to us but when they finally did they said they had to take some blood samples and hook her up to an IV to replenish all the fluids she had lost and prescribed her three medications. They explained how if we had not brought her in that day, she definitely would not have made it to see another one. We were all so incredibly relieved to know that our Bunny was going to be alright. We ended up spending close to $300 that day for them to save her life…but it was honestly worth it. It was worth seeing my kids’ smiles when we brought her home and told them she was going to be ok. The kids love her so much and they are always hugging and kissing her, I can not imagine a world without Bunny. She really does bring so much joy into our home. I’m not going to lie though, it is tough having a dog with two babies under three years old but it’s all worth it in the end. Right now she is still on antibiotics, and a pasty medicine that’s supposed to help with her stomach lining if there was any damage done. Bunny is peeing regularly but she has not pooped yet which is a little nerve wracking honestly, but all I can do for now is keep a close eye on her. Moral of the story is: DO NOT LEAVE RAISINS OUT, they are TOXIC to dogs. I am so grateful to Valley Animal Hospital for saving our pup!

Alopecia Update: Tips

Momma Bear

Hi guys! I wanted to give you guys a quick update on how my alopecia areota is going. So I have been dealing with this strange and frustrating diagnosis for about six years now and it has been far from easy. In the beginning all of my hair fell out, literally had to cut almost all of my hair off so that it wasn’t so noticeable. Even after I chopped off all my hair it still took months to grow out enough hair to finally be able to rock a cute pixie cut! Some time passed and I was going through so many different kinds of hair products, trying to salvage what little hair I had left and nothing was working. Eventually even my left eyebrow began to fall out and I was just starting to lose all hope again. I was honestly in the darkest head space you could ever imagine. My family was always very supportive and loving, but I just felt absolutely terrible and self-conscious at all times. I did not want to go anywhere or see anybody for a long time… Anyway, eventually I ended up finding an amazing dermatologist that gives me injections in my head every couple months, it’s extremely painful, but it seems to help when I have new spots to fill in with hair. However, a few years ago I came across the shampoo I had been looking for my entire life! It is a holistic shampoo with all natural ingredients, REAL natural ingredients and it changed the game for me! As soon as I started using the shampoo I began to see results within the FIRST TWO WEEKS! Not only was my hair not falling out but it was REGROWING!! I have been using this magical shampoo for almost three years now and I refuse to use another. Ask my husband, I REFUSE. I don’t know if it’s because of my alopecia but I can not use any shampoo because right away my hair starts falling out like crazy and I have new spots within days, it’s terrible. But with this shampoo I only wash my hair once every other day or so and it is magical! The best part is, it comes with TWO bottles. I could not be anymore grateful and don’t worry I will put a link to this shampoo in the bottom of the blog. They also sell a lot of other amazing holistic products that I ended up exploring and using. I love this site so much I just actually partnered with them after sharing my story with them and I am so happy!! I get to help others and share my story, hopefully I can help you guys out there not feel so lonely. You are not alone in this, and things will get better I promise! I have used many of their products such as the Mullein Leaf Extract when my husband got COVID it really helped him clear out his lungs. I also can not live without the Ashgwanda and Holy Basil mix because it helps with my anxiety SO MUCH! I even used their baby probiotics with my baby, Noah when he had bad gas as an infant. Just check them out and see what you guys like, I promise everything is worth it! They also have a hair regrowth serum that I used on my eyebrow as well as coconut oil and now my eyebrow is flawless! I have another round of shots coming up this Friday so please wish me luck guys I always get so nervous the days leading up to the injections! Anyway, I hope you guys have a lovely evening and let me know if you have any tips or just want to vent about anything. I love you! Here is the link ❤️

https://www.holisticthingz.com/wearepoobears

How to help a constipated toddler

Momma Bear

This is something that my poor little girl has been battling since we began potty training her. There is something about going number two in the potty that just freaked her out, she would always tell me “mama my poo poo hurts” and it would hurt my soul because I didn’t know what I could do to possibly help her out. I would give her more fiber rich foods and more juices the way the doctor advised but nothing ever seemed to work. I attempted to give her prune juice or even baby food but the prune flavor and that never ended well, just a huge mess everywhere from Luna fighting me away. I was losing patience, I needed answers! We always ended up with my little one in tears because she would be too scared to even try to go potty anymore. One day my husband recommended we try Miralax, it’s an OTC laxative, and I honestly was very hesitant. One day I decided to cave because my little girl had not been able to go potty in almost four days and it was unbearable. I gave her just about 1/5 of the lid that comes on the bottle and mixed it with about a little under a whole cup of water, just enough for her to actually drink. AND IT WORKED! I was a woman on the moon! I was so happy! It was short lived, however, when I realized I couldn’t be giving my baby this medication every single time she was constipated. So my panic kicked in again. Then it hit me, my mom had told me a long time ago that pink salt mixed with water and a little bit of lemon was the best remedy for not only constipation but for relieving headaches! The next time my little one was having trouble going to the potty I was actually excited to try my mom’s home remedy. I filled her little sippy cup with a combination of warm and cold water, mixed in a pinch of pink Himalayan salt, and squeezed a lemon in there. I gave it to Luna with caution and a straight face because she is way too intelligent for her own good and if she saw any doubt in my eyes she wouldn’t drink it. She chugged it down and said it was so yummy thank goodness. Well, within the hour I saw her hurry over to her little potty and she was so excited that she was able to go without any pain or problems! I was soooo happy and it’s been a couple months now that I have been sticking to this remedy and I could not be more grateful to have listened to my mother! I also really upped my little girls water intake as well as fruits such as grapes, blueberries, and apples. (Just a few of her favorites) Oh and by the way, apparently bananas are not helpful with constipation at all. As a matter of fact, they make things worse! I had no idea and I definitely cut out bananas at least for a while.