Hi

I really would like some help. My ex is threatening to use me being vegan against me in custody battle - thinks it is illegal for some reason yet he has no problem being a pot smoker. Does anyone know of cases where children have been removed because they are feed vegan food or is there more to it with the cases both here and in America - really woud like tohear from anyone.........thanks

Squidly

* Ships are safe in harbour but that's not what ships are for
* If you're not loving life then you're not living life
* There is enough land for all the people in the world but not for the fences that divide them
* Consider the usefulness of a postage stamp - it sticks to one thing until it arrives
* Consider the turtle - it ony makes progress by sticking its neck out
* Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it
*When you are interested in something you do it when it's convenient - whan you are committed there are no excuses - only results!

...............and there are so many more I love

So sorry to see you go as I have frequently read your posts with gusto enjoying every word. You are beautiful both inside and out and that has always shone through. I understand your journey and wish you all the love this world has to offer - from yourself and others!!! Be true to yourself.

Love Bronnie

Vitamix for sure. I have a juicer (Green Life) and dehydrator (excalibur) and I rarely use both but I use my food processor every day and plan to get a Vitamix when I can afford it. I have heard though that there is a better machine than a vitamix which I am now considering instead. It is called the K-tec HP3 . This and the vitamix are both the same price, and are considered to be comparable. Here is what Nomi Shannon says:

    * K-tec is 3 peak horsepower. Vita Mix is only 2.
    * K-tec has a life time warrantee on the coupling and the blade
    * K-tec lid is much easier on/off than the Vita Mix lid
    * K-tec does not use a plunger. It uses pre-set varying speeds to pull the food into the blades.
    * K-tec has a computer chip. It has no knobs or dials to get dirty, just a nice keypad.
    * K-tec stands as high as a normal blender, the other is very high and uncomfortable to work with, plus the        k- tec will fit under most upper cabinets, the Vita Mix doesn't.
    * K-Tec container is lighter and has straight sides making it much easier to get all the food out of the container, and easier to hold up for long periods of time while scraping out every last delicious bit.

Now all Starbucks, Jamba juice, and Disney use K-tec in place of the Vita-Mix.

Hope this helps

Bronnie

I too would be intersted in a shirt but agree with whet was said earlier about not 100%  - anything raw vegan would be good though or some other fruit / veg logo. Maybe you could ask for some preferred words on the shirts that people may like such as

Raw Veggie girl / boy
Loving the fruits of life

just some thoughts anyway - love to see more of your stuff.

Hi there

you could also try Living Velley Springs Health retreat in Queensland. Here is there website http://www.lvs.com.au/

I attended some lectures run by them in ALbury some years ago and was impressed

Good luck

Bronnie

The course I am looking at doing is a Diploma of Natural Hygiene with Arcadia Centre in Sydney. See http://www.alecburton.com/. It is a correspondence course and recognised by Natural Hygiene institutions world wide apparently. As soon as my baby is a little older and I have some more time on my hands that is the course I plan on doing.

This is Layali with her Dad - nothing like some skin to skin (or skin to hair) contact. We are breastfeeding much better now without all the pain - I can actually enjoy her alot more now which is lovely. I have strayed from raw a bit but know I will get back there. Off to soak some nuts for milkshakes tomorrow. Love making raw chocolate thick shake and have been eating heaps of bananas and grapes - hot cross buns has been my downfall though. Getting better every day and enjoying my days more (even though I saw every hour on the clock last night with my older daughter having an ear ache and Layali feeding or fussing for some reason).

Hugs to you all.

Hoping these photos work

Hi all

Well we are on the road to recover. Mastitis has gone and a lactation nurse has helped me with breast feeding so I no longer fear feeding my little girl. She is not putting on weight but the doctor has been good and not freaking out. They think it is because I am not well yet so we are working on getting me back to good health so as I can produce good milk.

We have changed the spelling of our little girl to Layali as no one could work out how to pronounce it with the other spelling. Luckily I had not done the birth certificate yet.

Would attach a photo but I don't know how to shrink them enough - can someone tell me how?

Take care all.

Love Bronnie

Hi all

On the 11 March 2007 our little girl Leiali (pronounced lay-arli) arrived supposedly 11 days over due. I had a natural birth (damn that hurt) with her coming into the world weighing 3.84 kg and 51cm long. The labour was tough but then I also had a post partum hemorage and lost 2 litres of blood so they had to operate on me 4 hours after giving birth - so much for the drug free labour I had just endured but at least my little girl was free from drugs.

I was one point off having to have a blood transfusion but as I have a blood disorder that makes me iron deficient at the best of time apparently it may take me up to 6 months to recover - yeh! On top of that I have now developed mastitis and am so over being in pain. My nipples are cracked and bleeding but I am persisting with the breast feeding and against my better desire on pain killers to help as well as homeopathics to help with everything BUT

she is here, she is well and we love her......no more though.

Will post photos and write more when I have time. Nice to be home and back on line though feeling weak so may not visit as often for a while. Take care all.

Bronnie

This is also often called Attachment Parenting and William Sears has some great books he has written about it. I rave about slings to anyone who listens after finding them when my daughter was about 3 months old. One of the great things is not only that you can carry them anywhere but you can breastfeed easily and privately with them in the sling whenever they want - of all my friends children my daughter was the only one to wean herself and she did so in her own time at 2 years old.

I too lay with my daughter every night still (almost 4) and we jump into bed together of a morning. We slept together for a while but found we all slept better when she is in her own bed - though she is allowed in with us if she wants. Our next child was due 7 days ago and we have set the bedroom up so we can all sleep together even though no all in the same bed - we have a bed, hammock for bub and mattress next to us for our daughter if she wants to sleep with us.

Our children are young for so little time and the first 7 years of their life are the formative years. They need to be loved, made to feel secure, encouraged, and allow them to know the world is their oyster. I love the other day my daughter told her father that he should be having fruit for breakfast instead of toasted sandwiches because that is what will make him healthy. She also asks me now when we are going for our daily walk as we need our exercise to be healthy - I am so glad that with all the outside influences she is learning some great stuff from me.

Enough rambling - go the continuim / attachment parenting style - trust your gut! It creates happy, healthy children. No other animal locks their children in a cage (cot) in another room, listens to them scream for love and feeds them when only they think they should be fed. Love them, nurture them ......and yourself!

I have an almost 4 year old who is 70% raw. She eats fruit only till lunch. At lunch she normally has more fruit or some raw ice cream or cucumber, tomato, capsicum with a home made dip and rice biscuits. More fruit in the afternoon, raw fruit ice blocks if hot and dinner is fruit salad or raw veggies with baked potato or gluten free pasta with raw veggies etc.

My daughter has a lot of fruit and not many greens - working on that one. I also make nut milks for her some days or smoothies.

I am not currently 100% vegan but I have to say I do avoid all leather, wool, products made from animals or tested on animals etc etc. My downfall is more thigns like chocolate and sweet treats. I go through phases of being 100% vegan and the first time I was vegan for over a year I have to say it was very stressful as I tried so hard to avoid EVERYTHING that had animal products - mentally I sent myself nuts and was emotionally a wreck and the thought I was possible hurting any animal in anyway. 

I believe that anytime we choose to avoid animal products that we are contributing to the safety of animals and the well being of our planet. Everything we do has an impact - e.g. chose cotton and you contribute to excess water usage, choose timber and you controbute to deforesstation, choose synthetics and you contribute to chemical pollution. My theory is to walk as softly as I can and do the best I can at any given moment in time.

Hi Maree

Have not had much to do with Alec Burton except to look into doing the Diploma of Natural Hygiene through their centre. I am planning to enrol but am waiting a while considering I think I will have my hands full with the birth of my second child within the next week or so and have only just started my own business 9 months ago - plenty of work to do there but will definitely do the Diploma. I looked in Dr Fielder's course to but it is aimed more at the doctor level - a lot longer and more intense course.

With regard to the foods you spoke of the philospohy of Natural Hygiene is that if you can't eat a food as is by itself then it is not a food we are meant to eat hence no garlic, chilli, onions etc as there are not foods you would eat as a mono meal. With the mushrooms I think it is the fact that is actually a fungus and therefore not good for our systems but not 100% sure on that one. As for grains they are acidic and not easily digested by the body - they are not a natural food for humans - they are a natural food for birds.

Have an awesome day

Bronnie