"Free" Living

Today started our journey to gluten free, dairy free, egg free living for Phineas. I was told there is a huge learning curve to this new life. This can be seen in my first attempt at "free" bread.

I know. Yikes! Fresh out the oven, it wasn't too bad. Okay, it had the texture of a sponge, a really dense sponge. But butter on anything can make a vast improvement. Now all it is good for is bread crumbs. Which is great - we are having meat loaf this week and spaghetti with meatballs next week.

I did succeed in making "free" chocolate cupcakes from a GF cake mix. Phin's going to take these to his Easter party on Thursday. It's fun to send stuff that he can eat and that everyone else will enjoy too. If anyone is interested, I replaced the egg with applesauce (2 TBS for each egg) and the sour cream with soured potato milk, then cut back the water to 3/4 C. They turned out really good. Even Adam said they were good.

Phin did really well today. He was excited to eat his Cocoa Pebbles with his "special" milk. I tried to toast "the bread", but butter couldn't save it a second time. For lunch/dinner he had peanut butter sandwiches (thank you Mette for the bread) and then he enjoyed a chocolate cupcake as a treat. Tomorrow we will try "free" chicken nuggets for lunch and the meat loaf for dinner.

And although this post sounds nice and cheery, making these changes has been anything but. Adam and I were grumpy and grouchy and everything got on our nerves today. We took a walk to clear our heads (and cleaned the kitchen together) and that helped a lot. Deciding to do this now is not convenient either. We are going to relative's houses for Easter and then we have a week and a half trip to Portland. Trying to eat "free" when you are not at home is a challenge. But I really think this will help Phin. So I'll do it and enjoy it.

Medical Madness

When it comes to the mysteries of medicine, the internet can be a blessing - and a curse. How many hours have you spent on WebMD when you or your child was sick? It's the old "is it serious enough to call the doctor?" question. So you type in the symptoms and it tells you "yes, you need to call the doctor" or "no, just get extra rest and drink lots of fluids." Great! The internet just saved me a $65 office visit.

For me, though, the internet has been a curse the past little while. Our little Colin will be six months old next Friday. As of yet he does not roll over or bear any weight on his arms or legs. As I mentioned before he has constant fluid in his ears and is not verbalizing as much as he should be. He's also had respiratory infections or problems from the time he was two months old. So I started searching and have nearly sent myself (as well as my wonderful pediatric nurse) to the loony bin.

"What could it be?" I kept asking myself. Cerebral palsy? Ataxia? Spinal Muscular Atrophy? Pretty soon I was reading blogs and looking at pictures of wonderful children who couldn't even hold their own heads up and the incredible parents who care for them day after day. I was so scared. I called my pediatrician - "Let's do an ultrasound to see if there's brain damage. Or how about blood work to see if his CPK levels are high. They do genetic testing in Spokane, you know. We could overnight the sample there." Finally, Adam and my pediatrician told me I had to stop. Colin has a well-child visit at the beginning of May. Two weeks is not going to make a difference either way, they told me.

And they are right. So, I've let it go (as much as a mother can). I still try to get him to stand up on my lap and with some massage we've actually achieved a five second stand. But until the first of May I am just going to enjoy my baby.

Just for reference to how insane this week has been, we've already seen the naturopathic doctor (Phin is allergic to everything I feed him apparently), the chiropractor, the audiologist, the urologist (Colin is having surgery on his testicle), the pediatrician (George has strep throat) and the speech therapist. We're looking forward to seeing the developmental specialist and the optometrist before the week is over. I am thinking we probably should have put more money in our flex spending account, hmm?

Little Big Blessings

Sometimes I stop and think of how good I have it. Since it is spring break, a friend with kiddos similar in age to mine asked if I'd like to spend some time together. The plan was to go to the library and then head to the park for a picnic lunch and outside play. It was supposed to be 61 degrees today.

The weather man lied and it was cold, windy and raining. So we opted for the indoor play place at Burger King. How great is it that I can take my kids to lunch at the drop of a hat? We don't do it all the time, of course, but it's definitely a blessing that the option is open to us. We are so fortunate.

Later, while looking over my calendar for the month, I noticed at least 7 appointments this month where I will need someone to watch one or more of my brood. Seven! So I sent an email to our Relief Society sisters and BAM! within an hour three of the seven are taken care of. Isn't that awesome?! I love Relief Society.

Little big blessings all day long and waffles with crisp bacon for dinner. Plus Adam did the dishes! How can I not be happy with a day like today?

Running Away or My Husband is Awesomer than Your Husband

Four kids under the age of 6 one of which has been congested, coughing and basically unhealthy more of his life than he's been healthy, and another who should have come with "DIFFICULT" tattooed to his behind. I've been sleep deprived for six months and had a doctor's appointment every week for the past two months. I'm really concerned about Colin's health but have given the "wait and see" diagnosis from the doctor. I was yelling at everyone and crying at the drop of a hat. So Adam made me run away.

He gave me all of his blow money from the past few months and told me to go away for the weekend, stay in a hotel, eat out, sleep in, do whatever I wanted to do (within reason since I would still have to take Colin with me). So I found a deal at a hotel in Spokane and Thursday afternoon, I ran away from home. It was so nice. I read a book that did not have pictures, I slept until 8:30, coaxing Colin to sleep with my finger in his mouth for the last two hours, and I went to a museum without worrying about anything being broken.

I had written "The Plan" a couple of weeks ago when Adam stayed home from work because I physically and mentally could not take care of the kids one day. Here was the plan:

1. Get 7 hours of sleep, be in bed by 9:30 pm

2. Take my vitamins

3. Drink more water and eat healthy (no treats until after dinner)

4. Move each day, exercising for at least 20 minutes

5. 15 minutes of scriptures, 15 minutes of journal (blogging counts)

6. Pray on my knees, morning and night

7. Go "to work" three days a week to get household "stuff" done, don't let "work" interfere with family time.

I was going to do this for 14 days. It lasted about 5 days. But after my weekend away, I'm starting again with new determination and a grown up "sticker" chart to reward myself for the days that I stick to the plan. I guess I never gave up the need for gold stars.

So here's to being happy. Or at least having the energy to act happy. Goodnight.