Mommin' It Up!

January 5, 2015January 4, 2015

Happy New Year! Let’s Torture Ourselves

In an effort to make my life one big cliche (and keep Emily rolling her eyes at me pretty much constantly), today, yes the first Monday of the new year, I am starting a cleanse. No dairy, no sugar, no lots of other things but since I can’t eat wheat anyway, dairy and sugar are the MOST painful things – basically everything I love and hold dear I cannot have for 10 days. WAAAAAHHHH! Crazy, right? I mean, I have zero self-control. So. This should be fun.

EXCEPT, I’ve done it before. Are you shocked? I have. And I lived to tell about it. It was sometime last year, I can’t even exactly remember when, but I did the cleanse, I DIDN’T EVEN CHEAT, and I survived. The thing I missed the most was my sugary, liquid-poison coffee creamer. Oh man. I might cry just thinking about it! I wish I would have had an extra helping yesterday!!

I should probably be even more cliche and say the reason I am doing this cleanse is because I want to “get healthy” but that would be a bold-faced LIE. Or a bald-faced lie even. Probably both. The truth is, I am doing this cleanse because NONE OF MY PANTS FIT. It has taken me over two years, but I have finally gained back every last pound of the 12 ell bees I lost when I quit eating wheat. That’s right, I’m here to prove that you can eat gluten-free and still be fat! Thanks, Mountain Dew! Just kidding, I know I’m not fat. BUT I AM SQUEEEEEZING myself into my pants in a MOST UNCOMFORTABLE manner which in case you didn’t comprehend from my use of ALL CAPS is extremely uncool.

That’s right, people. Vanity rules.

So.

Cleanse.

No sugar. No dairy. No amazing creamer or sugary lattes. No Mountain Dew or Chewy Sweet Tarts. No cheese sticks, Sonic slushies, or delicious chocolatey gluten-free cereal.

Oh man. I feel sorry for my kids.

If you need me I’ll be huddled in the corner pretending a carrot stick is a pixie stick.

Wish me luck!

December 31, 2014

2014 – It’s been a weird year.

I’ve been trying to determine what kind of year 2014 has been for us, and overall I’d say it’s just been kind of weird.

The thing that sticks out most in my mind is our medical mishaps. Kate had tests, tests, and more tests, but never really received a diagnosis. Andy finally got treatment for the back problems he was having, and while we were not thrilled to hear he has an autoimmune form of arthritis, the medication he was put on has improved his life tremendously. I was diagnosed with a big tongue, which led to me getting braces. And then there was that thing with my ovaries a couple weeks ago.

Yeah, I’d say “Weird” pretty much sums it up.

Honestly, I have a hard time remembering the rest of the year.

But, thanks to the wonderful world of technology, Facebook told me it’s been a great year… and in many ways, it was right!

I read a lot of books and saw a few movies. The kids turned 6 and 10 and had a blast on the swim team. We vacationed in Nashville and Northern Michigan, and celebrated my brother-in-law’s wedding in Chicago. Spreadsheet Thanksgiving was a success, and Santa was good to them.

We are all happy and healthy and together. I would say that makes 2014 pretty great.

Here’s to an even better (and maybe slightly less weird) 2015!

December 30, 2014

Something to Talk About

A few days before Christmas we watched “Home Alone” with the kids. I laughed so hard…I’d forgotten how FUNNY that movie is! Jonah watched most of it with us, especially the part where Kevin’s older brother says “a$$” which he then repeated a couple times (I had NO memory of any of those kind of words in Home Alone! Whoops!). But near the end, he was weary of watching, and apparently hungry AND tired, because as the closing credits rolled, I found him like this ^^ – enjoying his favorite (local! #dayton) gluten-free snack while reclining comfortably on the kitchen floor.

This kid cracks me up!

Over the past couple of months, Jonah has made lots of progress in speech. Not necessarily in language concepts so much (which is the real challenge and was for Sophie) but in fluency – which is really fun. Specifically he has started ASKING questions. This is huge. I remember praying so hard that Sophie would ask questions. It’s a major language milestone. So when he started walking around saying “Where’s Joshua?” and “Can we listen to the Grinch song?” and “What are you doing?” it made me VERY happy. And although this is a “good” thing – he has also been asking WHY constantly!

Since I started working, I have not been as good about working with Jonah as I should be. I have berated myself for this, but the truth is, I am doing my best. I am still figuring this out – how to best manage my time – and apparently the learning curve is steep. We are still working 4-5 times a week plus he still goes to speech, but I am not putting the time into lesson plans that I have previously. So to see him doing well despite my slackerness is a great encouragement to me both that he’s going to be ok AND that I need to press on and make his lessons a priority (I guess I need to stay up even later, LOL. Because I cannot get up before 5:45. I can’t!)

As Jonah progresses in his speech he cracks us up daily. He is such a joy! For instance this morning, he crawled up on my lap and said: “Where’s Daddy?”

Me: Daddy’s at work.
Jonah: He’s not at work!
Me: Yes, he’s at work. Poor Daddy, he had to go to work and you’re still on break.
Jonah: That make Daddy cry.

I love that so much! Not only is it funny, it shows that Jonah deduced that Daddy would rather be at home with us than at work.

Smart boy. I’m so proud of him and delighted by him…I can’t wait to know what else he has to tell me!