Four Fill in Fun

 

1. Over the years I have had so many... places of residence! I think by the time I turned 18, I had moved more times than I had had birthdays! Since becoming an adult, though, I've cut way back on the moving. In fact, the last apartment that I lived in was the place I have lived the longest. 8 years! Wow!

2. It drives me crazy to... argue with my husband. Not because arguing is terribly upsetting, but because he happens to have a dizzying intellect, and I usually don't win! Boo!

3. Every time I walk in the house... I hang up my purse and diaper bag and other stuff on the hooks on the back of the door.

4. Right before I jump in bed... I use the potty. Ever since the two times I was pregnant, I can't stand having to get up in the middle of the night to go! It may seem like it's borderline OCD, but seriously, even if I just went 20 minutes prior, that is the last thing I do before going to bed.

So there you have it, four things you probably didn't need to know about me! :) 

Click on over to Feeling Beachie to read more!

What I'm Into this Month- February

Ahh...the end of February! Is it already upon us? This month whizzed by. (Actually, now that I'm about to click "publish post" it is already March- I really tried to finish before midnight, but that didn't work out! I'm going to go to bed soon, I promise!)

What I'm Into this Month is inspired by Megan at SortaCrunchy. Read her latest "What I'm Into this Month post here.

On My Night Stand: Okay, so you must know that I technically don't have a night stand. Despite that harsh reality, I do have books that I'm reading. I just started The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and I'm on the second or third chapter in a row about corn. I had no idea there was so much to know! :P I actually just finished In Defense of Food, which has so changed the way I look at food. Actually it kind of goes along with a lot of other research I've been doing about food in the past couple of years. I'm really amazed at how much I didn't know!

The other book I'm desperately trying to get through is Living in Love by James and Betty Robison. I'm going to do a review of it for my other blog, Happy Christian Home. So far it's a wonderful book, but I think the fact that it's kind of "required reading" (albeit self-imposed) is really messing with me. I've made the most reading progress when I've actually left the house by myself to go read somewhere (what bliss). I've been taking notes and doing the review questions and everything. Anyway, expect that review sometime in the next few weeks. I won't tell you how long I've been working on it.

Want to Read: The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. I've heard so much good stuff about her books. Have you read anything by her?

TV Show Worth Watching: Ummm...I really have to say that I don't watch much television. Though I am a sucker for pretty much any cooking show. Especially the ones on PBS. We don't have cable (thankfully!) so I don't get to watch Food Network (that may be one of the handful of channels I would watch if we had cable). I love America's Test Kitchen and one of my other favorites is Lidia's Italy. It is so fascinating to watch other people cooking.

Movie I've Seen (in or out of the theater): Babies. I loved this movie! We checked it out from the library. I had wanted to see it since I saw the preview for it in the theater, but I just never got around to it. It was beautiful though. I loved watching all the differences between the cultures, but also saw so many parallels in the way the babies were parented, and the family structures, etc. I took it a step further though, and went to the official website and read the bios of the babies and their families. I was especially interested in the family from Africa. I would love to learn even more about their culture. The Mongolian family was interesting too. They were such an odd mix of modern and traditional living. You saw a goat drinking out of the baby's bathwater, and then an older sibling playing with Legos.

On My Mind: Wow, some big things are happening! I'm trying to determine the best course of action for myself in one particular area. I want to get involved in the childbirth education field, or perhaps become a doula, but I'm not exactly sure which route to take. I know I don't talk much about this subject on either of my blogs, but I'm so passionate about pregnancy and childbirth. I'm really leaning more toward childbirth education rather than becoming a doula, at least for now, as I really don't feel like I can commit to the (potentially) odd hours that a doula must agree to.

(Not as) Quick (as I had hoped) testimony: My husband and I were out to dinner one evening when he suggested that I go into this field. It was sorta random. I kind of responded with "hmm...yes". We talked about it a little more in depth, and that was it. Well the very next afternoon, an expectant friend sent me a message asking me to be her labor coach. She said that God placed it on her heart to ask me to do it, but she kept arguing it away thinking that I wouldn't be interested, and I have two little ones to look after, etc, etc. She only knew that I had had two un-medicated births, and she wanted my support in having a natural birth. Well that ended up being an amazing experience. Her doctor had previously suggested that she have a C-Section if her baby was "too big" (more than 8 lbs) and she really wanted to avoid that if possible. She had gone in for an ultrasound (I guess so her doctor could get a better idea of the baby's size- which I really think is not entirely reliable) well they didn't get the results back before she went into labor. She delivered a healthy 9 1/2 pound baby boy, completely un-medicated, no induction, no augmentation- nothing! Amazing.

Along those lines, one of my sisters is due to have her baby within a few weeks from now and has asked me to come and support her during labor. I'm so excited!

3 Most Recent (Even Somewhat Notable) Bookmarks: How to Crack Open a Coconut (video). I had great difficulty with this by the way! They made it look so easy! We got two coconuts in our produce basket from the co-op this week. I am determined to use everything we get- especially if it's unfamiliar territory for me. I'm still going to try this method with the second coconut. I'm determined! Lol! Blogging Your Way. I haven't explored this one yet, but it looks promising! Gluten-Free Vegan Chewy Molasses Bars. Don't these look delicious? (Pay no mind to my comments at the end) :P

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:  The birth of my sister's newest baby. Also a Pampered Chef show or two (I'm a consultant). Looks like March will be an action-packed month. I'm hoping for my son to be completely diaper-free as well. He's been doing so well on the potty the past couple of weeks. He was not really feeling using the potty for the longest time, so I'm glad he's finally doing so!

One More Thing: Okay, so I know all of you who live in snowy climates are probably not going to really appreciate this one, but it snowed here! In the desert! Here's a picture of snow-capped Superstition Mountain (taken from the gas station around the corner):

I think it's pretty amazing! (It didn't stay long though- this pic was taken yesterday after church, and the snow is completely gone now!)

What are YOU into this month???

What I'm into this Month- August

I borrowed this idea from Megan at SortaCrunchy (a great blog, by the way), and thought it would be fun to do here, just so you all could get to know me a little better!   Enjoy!

On My Nightstand: Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (The FlyLady), re-reading A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

Want To Read:  Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris, Radical by David Platt, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

T.V. Show Worth Watching: I like watching Wife Swap though it seems to be going the route of Jerry Springer (silly and shocking). 

Movie I've Seen (in or out of the theater):  I watched Premonition with Sandra Bullock yesterday.  I was not such a fan!   

In My Kitchen:  Dirty dishes right now, as we're ending a pretty rough week health-wise (3 our of 4 of us have not been feeling well at some point or another).  Last night was chili, and tonight is meatballs- so yummy!

In My Ears:  "Your Love is a Song" by Switchfoot...also earlier this month I was constantly listening to "Lord Speak" and "Arise" by Shachah.  Good stuff...and probably not so much what you would think I would listen to!  Lol.

Three Newest Blog Reads:  http://www.chattingatthesky.com/,  http://www.keeperofthehome.org/,  and http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:  I hope it cools down at least a little!  We're roasting over here! 

My Allergen-Free Diet

You may have noticed my recipes for "allergen-free" food on my blog, and I feel I have some explaining to do.  See, I am not really allergic to anything (that I know of), but the young people in my life are.  My son has a mild allergy to milk and egg (that story is a whole different post), and my daughter is sensitive to dairy, soy, wheat and eggs via my breast milk. 

Baby C started showing symptoms when she was around six weeks old.  She is exclusively breast fed, and in fact has never even had formula.  Anyway, like I was saying, at about six weeks, I really started noticing that she spit up quite a bit.  It felt like I was changing her outfit several times a day, and going through several burp cloths.  At doctors' visits, the best explanation I got at first was "well, babies spit up...sometimes it's a lot...nothing to worry about".   I remember when my son was a baby and he hardly ever spit up...so that was where I got the idea that maybe she shouldn't be spitting up so much.  I didn't feel it was normal.  The other thing I noticed was that she had a rash on her face that seemed to be taking a long time to clear up.   It started when babies usually get that "baby acne" and I expected it to go away within a couple of weeks. 

Well, fast forward a couple of weeks, and she was still experiencing the same thing.  Then one evening, I changed her diaper and noticed some black specks in her stool.  I know she was only eating one thing, obviously was way too young for solids...so after some research, I read that what I saw could be blood.  I called the doctor's office and described what I saw.  They asked me to bring in one of her diapers so they could determine whether it was blood or not.  The next day in the doctor's office, sure enough it was found to be blood.  I had already read that it could be a sign of allergy, so I asked if I should eliminate anything from my diet.  The doctor said she didn't advise me to do that.  It was somewhat unnerving that I overheard her calling another doctor to ask what how she should proceed.

 

Ultimately, she sent me home with a stool collection kit, as she thought it best to test for parasites, infection and a couple other things.   It seemed to take forever to get any results back.  But everything came up negative.  The doctor said, "maybe you should go ahead and eliminate dairy from your diet- and go ahead and eliminate soy, too...sometimes babies are sensitive to both".  And then we were referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist.  

By the time our appointment came around for the GI doctor, I had eliminated milk, soy, and eggs from my diet.  I had been keeping a food journal to track the symptoms along with what I was eating.  After a few weeks, there was an improvement, but I still noticed at times the spit up would increase and at this point I started to see mucous in her stool pretty consistently.  (Sorry to gross anyone out!)  At the specialist, we talked about the baby's symptoms, and we discussed the "big eight" allergens (I think it's something like 90% of food allergies are caused by milk, soy, eggs, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish).  I was already off of three of the foods on the list, plus I didn't really eat nuts or seafood of any kind.  Because the symptoms hadn't completely cleared up, the specialist recommended waiting about another 10 days, and then eliminating wheat if things didn't improve.  I ended up doing so.  

Once I had all those foods out of my diet, I noticed a significant improvement in Baby C's health.  She was hardly ever spitting up...her stools started to clear up, and miracle of miracles, the rash she had cleared up as well.  Some days I felt like I was crazily obsessing over every little thing, and just imagining the symptoms.  But every time I slipped up and ate something I wasn't supposed to, the symptoms returned. 

Now, several months later, I'm still maintaining this way of eating.  I don't think it's nearly as bad as it sounds.  At worst, it's terribly inconvenient, and I really don't miss the eliminated foods that much.  I'm discovering foods that I can eat all the time and certainly have been stretched as a home cook.  During this journey is when my son tested positive for food allergies, so it's certainly been an interesting experience.  

I write all this in hopes of helping another mom that may be going through a similar experience, and hopefully my recipes and other food posts will be useful to families dealing with food allergies.  I know how hard it is to go down that road and still stay inspired in the kitchen.  

Breastfeeding is something that I am extremely committed to (in case you couldn't tell) so I'm glad that I've found a way to continue this relationship with my child even in the midst of dealing with food allergies. 

Hello!

Hi there…this is my first post.  I’m super excited to have a blog.  I don’t really know why I’m doing this, except that I imagine that there’s a grown up on the other side…and I’m speaking to them.  Lol.  I guess this desire just stems from my lack of adult conversation.  I am a stay at home mom, and I love being home with my children…I don’t know that any woman who chooses to stay at home would say otherwise.   I can’t imagine a SAHM saying “yeah, I’m a stay at home mom…and I really hate it”…I just don’t think that probably happens.  At that point, I think they are just considered “unemployed”.  :P

Anywho…I’ve been married for almost four years to my awesome, super patient, very “unruffled” husband (I don’t mean he doesn’t wear ruffles…which he doesn’t- you just can’t “ruffle his feathers” or whatever.  He doesn’t have feathers either, nor is he bird-like in any way.  I have no idea where that expression comes from.  Anyway, he just tolerates a lot.  I appreciate that about him.

I hesitate to be so open with blogging and all…I’ve been told that it’s hard to get to know me…I know I’m quiet, at least initially.  I don’t mean to be.  I’m just reserved I guess, and kind of prefer to hang back in a crowd and observe what’s going on.  Anyway…openness…that’s going to be interesting for me, especially knowing that any person on this planet (with internet access anyway) could be reading this.  Not that I have anything to hide.  Just hard for me to not think “what if so-and-so read this?”  I don’t really want to censor myself…that would just be boring. So, we’ll see how it goes, I guess.

That’s all for now…come back if you wanna know more!