Hello! I want to start by welcoming you to The Happy Hippie Homestead! I am so happy to have you here on the page! Here is a little about me. 

My name is Kelsey and I live in beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since becoming a mommy, I have developed a passion for living life in a more natural fashion in order to be safer and healthier and that led me to wanting to raise our own goats for milk, our own chickens for eggs and our own garden for summer produce.

 

HOW IT ALL BEGAN....

Soon after my first child was born, she developed a HORRENDOUS diaper rash. As it got worse and worse, the doctors tried new creams, lotions, rubs and oral medicine. They thought it was from acid reflux, so they put her meds for that (which has now been recalled after being found to have “unacceptable” levels of a human carcinogen). When it didn't get better, they started with the creams. I knew we had hit a dead end when her doctor (unintentionally) wrote me a prescription for the same ointment that we tried at the very beginning. This was an ointment for chemical burns and while it offered some help, it didn't get to the root of the issue.

 

WHY was my 2 week old suffering from a chemical burn so severe that her skin on her butt was wiping off when I would clean her up? I needed more then, "Keep her on this cream and run her bottom under the faucet instead of wiping her".

 

I switched doctors and started talking to other mamas. I realized that I was drawn to the more natural advice verses the suggestions to try more pharmaceuticals (which was the start of something huge in our lives)! A few of the mamas suggested trialing a "dairy free" period, since she was exclusively breastfed.

 

So, I did and it seemed to help! Our new doctor sent us to a Pediatric Gastrointestinal (GI) specialist who confirmed that it was dairy that was doing all of this to her. The milk proteins in the cows milk were too big for her little system to process. So, this dairy loving, mid-western girl gave up dairy. I was heartbroken but us mamas will do anything for our babies!

 

My best friend started telling me that she was buying goats milk from her sister-in-law's sister and that she heard that babies tolerate it better than cows milk since the proteins are smaller. This makes sense if you think of the size of a baby cow vs the size of a baby goat, goat kids are much smaller (about 5 lbs). So, I gave it a try!

 

I drove up into the mountains and bought some raw goats milk. I was so scared to try it, but I worked up the courage and took a swig. I was very pleasantly surprised. After driving up to her homestead every week or so, she suggested that we get our own goats. We LOVED her goats and always looked forward to visiting them.

 

 At 1st I laughed but when I was at home and the house as quiet, I started to think about what she said. We did love the goats and it would be nice to have our own milk (back then we were paying $10/gallon plus the gas to drive about an hour out west). And this was the start of my homestead. And from here, I launched full speed ahead into becoming a "crunchy mama". As I type this, I have 4 mini dairy goats, 13 chickens, 4 ducks and some kick-butt gardens. This has been an amazing journey for us!

 

We've had our share of failures and triumphs- but you never know what will work until you try it! So, I invite you to buckle up and join in on the fun of backyard homesteading! Even if you are not looking to be a backyard homesteader, I still urge you to follow along! There is something for everyone in this lifestyle!