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An update and coming clean!

Dear Friends,

 

Wow, where has the time gone?! It’s been one whole year since I’ve created the space to regularly write here on the blog. Even though it’s been quite awhile, you all have been on my heart and mind regularly. 

 

I’m not sure if you care (or even remember me, ha!), but I wanted to give you all an update about what I’ve been up to if you are interested.

 

Most of you know that I recently became a first time mother unexpectedly. My little guy must enjoy giving surprises because he decided to arrive 2 months early and I was totally unprepared – both for his arrival and for getting the blog set up in advance so I could take a long maternity leave and have the blog running. 

 

But holy moly, was I ever unprepared for how much having a baby changes things! Call me naive, but when I was pregnant, I envisioned working on blog posts while the baby slept peacefully beside me. Let me just let out a loud laugh right now because that was far from my reality! (I got the energizer bunny baby who never wants to sleep, but that’s another story….)

 

He’s supposed to be sleeping, but just wants to talk and play with Daddy! He never wants to sleep ha!

 

Even though I haven’t updated the blog in about a year, I have so much fun stuff going on in my life……new dreams, new projects, new passions, and as always, learning so many new things that I can’t wait to share with you all (more about that below). And of course, a new little person has taken over our life, who we adore.

 

Here’s our little guy! He’s a performer and loves to sing and dance, especially when he wears this hat. We call it his dancing hat and he loves to wear it!

 

Motherhood

 

Motherhood has been a wonderful mess of emotions. It has grown and stretched me more than I thought possible. Never have I experienced more ups and downs than I have this past year. The most beautiful thing is that it’s brought me face to face with so many long held fears and given me the opportunity to let them go. I’m a far more patient, humble, joyful, open and non-judgmental human because of it.

 

Sam is a true joy and such a bright light. I hope you enjoy some of my favorite pictures of us throughout the past year 🙂

 

(FYI –  I share our life through the stories feature on Instagram daily. If you’d like to follow our adventures with pictures and videos of our daily life, you can find me on Instagram @primallyinspired)

 

Sam’s First Christmas!

 

We spend most of our time outdoors, no matter the weather. He loves nature as much as I do – yay!

 

Sam is quite the foodie and especially loves bold, unique flavors. He definitely appreciates good food as much as I do 🙂 We’ve done baby-led weaning (he eats everything we eat!) since he was 6 months old and it’s been such a fantastic experience! 

 

We both look forward to our daily hikes around our property. Nature calms and centers us and we are grateful to have such a gorgeous place in Pennsylvania to enjoy the great outdoors.

 

A whole year! And what a year it’s been!

 

My passions have changed a bit!

 

I need to come clean about something. The things I’ve been learning and can’t wait to share with you have nothing to do with food or nutrition. To be honest, I’m so over all the food and nutrition stuff and have been for a few years. I grew really tired of all the food fears and anxiety surrounding the nutrition industry. Don’t get me wrong, we still eat an organic, whole foods based diet. But for the past few years, we’ve had no restrictions. We eat alllll the things. Yes, even gluten. We truly feel amazing and are as healthy as ever. Sam’s over a year old and hasn’t even been sick yet – not even a little sniffle or cough and he’s been exposed to numerous things! 

 

We do a lot of listening to our bodies and eat what our body is telling us it needs. Long story short, we’ve ditched the food perfectionism that was creating anxiety and even fear around certain foods. We started giving thanks for ALL food and believing in our hearts that our body is not meant for restriction, but to enjoy and give thanks for all things. I really think that’s key. At least it has been for us. Anxiety and guilt creates disfunction in the body. Thankfulness creates healing. 

 

Since having a baby, I’ve gotten very passionate about child development, parenting and Waldorf and nature based education. As much as I’ve resisted posting about it on the blog (because I really didn’t want to turn into a “mommy blog”) I can’t hide my passions and knowledge anymore! I’ve read almost 100 books on these subjects, taken numerous courses and am completing my forest kindergarden teacher certification in May. It’s not fair to keep all this valuable knowledge to myself – I have a lot of amazing information and resources to pass along and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been learning!

 

Current Passions

 

Here’s what I’ve been up to this past year (well, besides Sam!):

 

Gardening – I’ve always loved gardening, but it’s become quite a fun hobby and learning experience for me. We had a fantastic garden last year and we’re going even bigger this year! I’m doing a super cool, French Potager Garden this year. If you aren’t familiar with that type of garden, it’s a well designed mix of food and flowers, designed to be both practical and extremely beautiful.  It’s going to be gorgeous and we’re even putting a little sandbox right in the garden for Sam to play in while I work in the garden 🙂 Am I being naive again? HA! 

 

Waldorf and Nature Based Education – this is one of my top passions right now. I dove head first into education philosophies while I was pregnant.  Waldorf philosophies resonated with me the most powerfully.  And it probably comes as no surprise that I adore nature based education being the nature lover that I am. This May I’m completing my certification to be a Forest School Kindergarden Teacher.  

Our dream is to start a non-profit Outdoor / Nature-based School on our property. I’m SO excited that our dream is starting to move forward!

 

Hiking – we take a hike around our property nearly every single day, no matter the weather. Call me crazy, but hiking in the rain is my favorite! I don’t do any formal working out these days, but I do challenging hikes on our hilly terrain while carrying Sam. I love it and it’s keeping me in great physical shape!

 

Herbal and Homeopathic remedies – obviously, I’ve been passionate about these things for years, but I have a new appreciation for them since having a baby.

 

RIE Inspired Parenting Approach – I’ve read 48 books on parenting during my pregnancy. Reading them must have been the way I dealt with my anxiety about having a baby lol! Anyway, we’ve been raising Sam using a RIE style parenting approach, which is a very respectful, emotionally nurturing, communicative approach with daily rhythms and clear, firm boundaries. I was raised in an authoritarian style environment, so this parenting style was very new to me. It’s been wonderful for us so far and I’m already seeing so many benefits and successes from the efforts we’ve made. If you’d like to learn more about RIE philosophies, HERE is the blog I recommend.

Want to know my favorite parenting books out of the 48 I’ve read? It’s THIS one and THIS one!

 

Personal Development – I’ve always been big on personal development even though I’ve never really talked about it on the blog. But the past few years, personal development has become a bigger part of my life. My husband and I recently took THIS course and it was downright AMAZING! If you are looking to take an area of your life to the next level, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s taught by the very top leader in personal development (and my husband’s mentor!), Bob Proctor. You can check out the course HERE.

My husband is also looking forward to contributing some personal development articles on the blog. He’s amazing and has been blessed with an abundance of wisdom, love and peace to share. I think you’ll enjoy reading his perspective. 

 

Cooking and Eating Good Food – I still love to cook and create in the kitchen! Sam loves alllllllll food and it’s been fun introducing him to so many fun flavors. We’ve been doing baby-led weaning since he was 6 months old so he eats what we eat. He has such an adventurous palate…the spicier the better for him! It blows me away what this kid eats! 

 

What’s next for me and the blog?

 

I’m here to stay! I love this blog and this community. The readers this blog attracts are some of the very best, kindest and openhearted people around. My goodness, how I’ve missed you.

 

I love learning and I truly enjoy sharing the knowledge I’ve learned.  I just got 2 baby-free afternoons a week that I’m using for space to create blog content. My weekly newsletter will resume again. Woohoo!!!

 

I’ve grown and changed tremendously the past year and my blog content will reflect that. I invite you to join me on my journey! But I totally understand if what I’m writing doesn’t resonate with you anymore. You can always feel free to unsubscribe – no hard feelings. Either way, I’m so thankful for allowing me to share my journey with you thus far! <3

 

Easy Paleo Recipes & Holistic Living

34 comments

  1. Avatar

    I was actually just thinking about you the other day and how I haven’t seen an update from you in a while. Glad to see how great you are doing! And your little man is so handsome! <3

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    Hi Kelly,
    I have missed you, and actually worried about you this year. I am SO glad to know you’re back and so happy as healthy! Sam is just precious!
    Welcome back!

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    I too have wondered where you went to. ,) So good to see you well and Happy! Motherhood is a wondrous thing! Enjoy every precious moment! One day you’re shopping for diapers, kissing skinned knees…then before you know it you’re touring colleges! :/
    Look forward to hearing all about your mommy adventures! 🙂

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    Kelly, I have missed seeing your newsletter in my inbox. I absolutely love seeing these pictures of you with this light filled little guy and know what is coming next is going to be amazing. I am a new grandma to a beautiful little guy myself and I can’t wait to read (and hopefully gently share) what you have to share about parenting. I also really appreciate what you say about giving up restrictions on food which is a source of stress for me everyday and replacing food stress with gratitude. Thank you for being such a light in this world!

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    Kelly, so happy to hear from you! And so excited about all of these changes. That is what life it about…growing and changing. I’ve always been fascinated by Waldorf education…sadly there was nothing available for my kids when they were young. Cannot wait to hear more about your adventures…I love following you on Instagram.

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    So happy that you are back blogging and looking forward to new content. I’m super into RIE too, my little girl is almost 3 and I feel like it has been a life-saver (for me and my parenting!)

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    I knew where you were and I still can’t believe it! HA! I knew you would be a good MOM!

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    So glad to see this post, Kelly! I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t been visiting your blog much at all the last year, but I follow along on Instagram. I love seeing what you guys are up to and I’m excited to see where the blog will go from here. I think you need to follow your heart and your passions and there you will find happiness! Best of luck with all of your new endeavors! The nature-based school sounds awesome and I can’t wait to see all that you and Zach do with it!

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    Happy Mother’s Day, Kelly. I had to unsubscribe from a lot of blogs to focus on other things before you disappeared, but you’ve been on my mind and I’m happy to find you again and get a great update. I also agree that food restrictions can create more stress than be helpful, but now my question remains, what to do with the knowledge I have from food sensitivity tests that some things are creating reactions internally for me (even if I don’t seem to notice much difference)? Do you have a researched philosophy about such things?

    I’ve always appreciated your research, recipes and resources, and your authentic sharing of where you’re at at the time. Thanks.

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    So glad to hear that you are doing so well! Can’t wait to hear about all your new knowledge you have gained over this past year. I’m especially interested in hearing how you’ve dealt with “dropping” the food sensitivities as I’m also prepared now to let go of the fear of food intolerances and just eat a wide range of good normal healthy food like our grandparents did. Gluten and eggs are my biggest challenges and would love to hear about your experience of reintroducing gluten. Thank you and congratulations on your lovely boy!

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    Congratulations! My older son Daniel was born at 26 weeks. He will be ten years-old soon as his birthday is this month. My younger son Thomas was born at 40 weeks and six days but died of SIDS seven weeks later six years ago. Looking forward to future updates.

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    I was thinking about you recently as well. I enjoyed your update. Happy first Mother’s Day! From your pictures it looks like motherhood suits you very well. You look amazing and have a beautiful family!!!

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    I just stumbled onto your site while searching the web looking for stretches to do while sitting in the office at work and there is so much here to learn i am so excited! I can’t wait to see your thoughts on Waldorf. My wife and i love what it teaches and how much it has helped our 4yr old learn! Thank you!

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    He is so beautiful!!! Kiss ang hugs Kelly!!!
    Monika from Buenos Aires

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    Congratulations on your beautiful son! My daughter is 15 years old (also born two months early!) and I raised her the RIE way. RIE made early motherhood so satisfying for me that my gift to new mothers is always one of Magda Gerber’s books. When I read on your blog that you were expecting a baby, my thought was you were a perfect match for RIE. I’m so glad you found it! Enjoy these young years of motherhood; it’s the sweetest time in life! BTW, my 15-year-old is absolutely lovely and I’m so proud of her.

    • Kelly from Primally Inspired

      McKenna, I’m so glad you took the time to comment….I’ve been very curious to talk to parents of older children who have followed RIE and it’s great to hear your positive experience. Thank you! I agree, it’s made parenting SO much fun and exponentially less stressful. People often tell me how rare it is to see a first time Mom who’s as relaxed and trusting as I am and that’s because of RIE! I’m so grateful to have found it! <3

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    Susan Olivetti

    So happy to hear you and your family are thriving- I never doubted it! I think of you every spring here in Central Pennsylvania when I make new batches of your tick spray. I’m so happy you’re “back” and ready to share your knowledge with all of us! I have 4 kids, 3 school age and then a 2 year old so I’m definitely interested in options for a different education model for my little guy. Thank you Kelly!

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    So happy you are back and all is well. I’ve missed reading your posts. I look forward to all you have to share in the future.

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    Beautiful pictures! Motherhood is not just a change of life but it’s a great phase that many women would love to undergo. Motherhood many change our body but it will grow our heart bigger and make us feel more inspired to wake up each day and face life with gladness and hope. Your baby is so cute and you share wonderful things on your blog! I will visit it more often and hope to find insightful posts and wonderful pictures in it. Good luck and keep on sharing your joy!

  19. Avatar

    Hello There Awwww you have a beautiful cute son and I am so glad you are back he is georgeous I wish you all the very best to you and your husband keep your posts coming as I enjoy your blog big hugs from over the pond Bless x

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    Kelly, I had just came across your blog and was going to try the Frozen Liver Pills as you made them. I see you mention you are over the Food/Nutrition thing and the post was from some time ago, but do you still feel they are worth taking? Thank You, for the time 🙂

  21. Avatar

    I haven’t heard anything from you in quite a while. I miss you and your blogs! I hope everything is well with you and your family. Look forward to hearing from you!

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