Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride

I've done a lot of wondering, thinking, and reading over the past several weeks and I am quite certain that I have gluten intolerance on some level. The symptoms are extensive and vary dramatically in each person but I have some degree of all the top symptoms:

• fatigue/depression/lack of motivation
• "brain fog"
• skin rashes
• irregular bowel habits
• joint pain

At this point I have decided not to seek a diagnosis from a physician. There are dozens of tests that have to be done and most are not conclusive in and of themselves. It's the results together as a battery and the conclusion of an experienced doc that confirms. Unless you have a biopsy of your small intestine that is positive for Celiac, that's obvious.

Instead I have decided that our house will go Gluten-free and see how my body, and every body else too, reacts. I will most likely seek out a nutritionist to help teach me how to decode labels and ingredients. The books help but I'm so overwhelmed by all the info in them.

The good news is that on my last trip to Costco, I was able to find nearly a whole cart full of new G free choices, even hot dogs!!

I know I can and need to do this, and will get there eventually. It's just at this point it seems like an insurmountable obstacle to try to remove all wheat, barley, rye from our lives. No more blindly grabbing bread, cookies, crackers, pasta, spaghettios (even Annie's Naturals), pizza, etc. And there's so much more that you don't even think of: SAUCES! Thickening agents, Soy sauce, Ugh!

So much to learn! So much life to gain back!

Cameron's Big Day

He did it, he finally went #2 on the potty! I kind of guessed he had to go when I heard the whimpering and looked in the family room to find him kind of "galloping" in a circle and holding his rear end. He looked at me with his "freaked out" face and we high-tailed it to the potty. Usually he does the stiff-as-a-board thing when I try to put him on the potty but this time he was fine with it and I sat with him and sang to him and he relaxed but still had his "freaked out" eyes.

I told him I'd give him some M&M's for doing such a good job:

Cam: Can I have my bitamins now? In a bowl?
Mom: No, not a bowl. You can have the small cup (I use a small condiment cup).
Cam: Can it be a big small cup?


Also, last night he got a boo boo on his toe and was wailing, he's quite the drama king. For the life of me I didn't see anything so I said:

Mom: Point to it....Oh, that? (pointing out the knuckle wrinkle on his big toe)
Cam: Yeah, I gots a crack on my toe.
Mom: Baby, that's a wrinkle not a boo boo.
Cam: Well...........fix it.

If only I could make a wrinkle disappear instantly...I'd be blogging from my own tropical island right now!!

Pray for Kelly...

A friend of one of my best girlfriends is fighting breast cancer. Kelly is a spitfire of a woman who, on the handful of occasions I've had to hang out with her, lights up the room with her smile. She's one of those personalities that everyone is drawn to and wants to share space with. Just a few short weeks ago we were walking with Kelly's awesome Team Jet-On for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure celebrating her year long battle with breast cancer. Everything was looking good and she seemed cautiously optimistic. But just this week, while on vacation at the beach with her husband and 3 young children, Kelly had a seizure that has now been attributed to metastatic brain cancer. She has already started radiation.

Please pray for Kelly and her family during this devastating time.

A big day!!

Today Cooper lost his first tooth! The best part...it just fell out, no drama required :) I was drying my hair when I heard a bunch of kiddie commotion. Tim was due home from his red-eye flight from Seattle so I thought it was excitement because Daddy was home. In walks Cooper with tooth in hand. He was just wiggling it and playing with it and it just came out without any blood or tears. I hope the rest are like this, too. Now, hopefully the Tooth Fairy will remember to come tonight ;)

This is my cousin's baby, Morgan Lyn. You know I had to Picnik her :)

Something's up I can't post my pictures. I keep getting internal error messages. I'll try later.

More fun with Picnik.com

My favorite effect is "gritty". Then I used "black and white" and faded some color back in. Then I added blue eye color and added a text box. This is dangerous. Good thing I have lots of empty frames that I need to fill up.

Happy Birthday Abbie

We had the most fun this year for your birthday. Nine years old, wow! We spent the week at the beach camping with friends and cooked on the grill. We bought you a cool beach-y birthday cake and mommy made homemade vanilla ice cream with a mix-in "bar". Tasted great even though it ended up being milkshakes instead :)

You are so grown up now, or at least you think you are. Such a bundle of contradictions, this is a tough age for us both. You will flat out lie right to my face but at least I can still usually tell. You are testing your limits and I'm trying to let you stretch them as far as I am comfortable with. I still want you to be my baby girl but we are beginning the move into those fun 'tween years and I don't want to screw those up for sure!

You love to read. Astronomy, stars, constellations still fascinate you. You love learning random facts and telling jokes. You still haven't learned to ride your bike and seem to have no desire to ever do it?? You really enjoyed basketball this year and are excited to continue next season.

Love you baby girl!!

What's been keeping me from the laundry...

We've been at Myrtle Beach at Pirateland campground with a group of close friends. There's so much to blog about, we had such a great time but I've been uploading all my photos and playing with them on this great website, Picnik.com. It's addictive so don't say I didn't warn you. I've done nearly nothing today but play with pictures. So far this is my favorite.