Back on the Gluten Free Lifestyle

Let me tell you, this gluten free thing can be tricky at times. I was having a lot of knee pain again, so I started doing even more research on the foods I was eating. I found a few things that were questionable and I cut those out. Things got better again and I was so happy. Then on Thursday, the knee pain returned. I was really frustrated at this point. Well, Wednesday night I had two pieces of Hershey's miniature dark chocolate. I guess Hershey is very good at hiding their gluten and not telling people. I found out that their products are a big no-no. I was happy to find this out though....at least it wasn't the other stuff I was eating! I can live without their chocolate :)

Last night, I was talking to my super bestest friend from back home and she asked if I cook gluten free when people come over. We really haven't had anyone over for dinner, except my sister and brother-in-law. But, the answer is yes. When I cook meals for us, they are GF. I am not going to take away mac and cheese from the little ones, but I do want to limit their gluten intake. Eventually I would like the boys to eat GF cereal. Their fruit snacks are GF. I am planning on making my own bread, so they would eat that also. I'm curious to see if it will help Jamie with his eczema. He only has problems during the winter. This winter has been so crazy, weather wise, that he hasn't really had any issues. Well, that is my update. I have to work at 8am....I know, not early for most people, but for me it is! My boys sleep til at least 9, and I love that :) Anyway, time for bed!

Christmas 2011

I love Christmas! I have always loved it. I love picking out a tree...yes, I real one! I love cluttering my house with totes, upon totes so I can decorate (I don't like taking everything done which is why I haven't done it yet...haha...this week though!). I think I love Christmas even more now that I have kids. Jamie is at the age where he understands it more. To see his excitement is great. I can't wait til next Christmas with Oliver and Jamie freaking out!

The boys got some fun little things in their stockings. We decided that we will open stockings on Christmas Eve and do presents on Christmas day. We also thought it would be fun to get Christmas PJs in their stockings to wear the next morning.

Yes, Jamie has a belt on with his pajamas...haha...he got it in his stocking and just loves it. Let me tell you, it was not easy finding a belt for his age! He really, really needed one :)

I love decorating! Even when the lights are being a pain and not working! I absolutely love big trees. I even told the hubby that our next house needs to be bigger and have taller ceilings (ours are 8 feet now and that is a good size) because I want a bigger tree :)

We put up our tree and decorations the day after Thanksgiving and keep it til about the second week in January. The boys love all the stuff in the house. It is going to look so boring after it is all down. I do have some plans for the living room though, just to make it pop more :)

The boys really liked their presents. They both got Cozy Coupe cars which was their "big" present. I was happy with the deal I got on these. Every place that I saw them, they were $60, but I got them for $40 :) I think the best deal I got though, was the dancing/rocker Mickey they got. I got for $21 instead of $50! There were a lot of gifts for them, but a lot of little things. I love finding deals :)

This was the best picture of the boys together that I could get...haha...it is not easy! I have no idea what Jamie was saying or pointing at, but it is great. I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a great 2012!

What to write?

I have been thinking a lot lately about what to write. I think about it everyday, but then I get tired, or just don't feel like it. This is sad to me, I really want to write on here more. I have so much on my mind, so many things going on. I think tonight I will just do a quick recap and work on a Christmas post.

I finally quit my job that absoutly hated! I got a job at Panera Bread (the reason for quitting the other job) which is a perfect place for a gluten free person...haha! I am really liking this job. It gets stressful at times and there is still drama, but nothing like my old job. Plus, I get to work with my sister....which has been a good thing so far! I'm still doing the GF thing, although my knee pain has come back, but I still have lots to learn about this. I have been doing more and more research and I'm hoping that after being GF for a few months....without messing up....things will be better. I did have a follow-up with the rhuematoidologist the other day and he told me the gluten free thing makes sense because of my blood work. I guess they tested my wheat tolerance...or something...and he said it was a 9.5 out of 10 meaning I definately have an issue with it. The thing that gets me, is that when they called with my test results a couple of months ago, they said nothing about the wheat thing, only that I was a little low on vitamin D. Why wouldn't they tell me about the wheat thing!

The hubby had surgery in the beginning of December. It was nothing serious, but was home from work for a week. It was a long week...haha! It was good having him home for a bit, but that messes with our schedule. Plus, he wasn't allowed to lift the boys for that week so that made things a little harder on mommy :)

Jamie is a very active 3 year old! I wish he could give me some of that energy once and a while. This child is so incredibly smart! I know parents say that all the time, but really, this kid is amazing. I can't believe that he will be 4 this fall and will be going to preschool....I know, I know, I still have 9 months, but I have a feeling that it will fly by! He is such a good big brother. He may get irratated with Oliver, but come on, it is what brothers do! In Jamie's defense, it is Oliver that starts it :) Jamie is also growing so fast. I look at his 2 year pics and get sad because he actually looked like a little kid! He has grown up so much in the past year. He is wearing all 4T and 5T things and his shoe size is 11! I bought him winter boots the other day (we just got snow that actually stuck around yesterday) and got size 1. I want them to fit next winter also. Winter boots are crazy though. Size 1 is huge, but they have so much padding inside that I'm sure when he gets to size 1, they probably won't fit. Jamie has thick feet also.

Oliver, well, he is my little man. He has one of the best smiles ever. He is definately stubborn and has a temper. When he gets mad, he will let you know! We keep telling him to be nice and not to hit, but he is only 15 months old. I am hoping it will settle in soon. He is growing like a weed, he is 32 1/2 inches tall! I think it is so amazing to watch kids learn new things. The smile on Oliver's face when he does something new....oh man, I love it! He knows that he did something new and he is so proud.

Ok, so I'm addicted to the show on Lifetime called One Born Every Minute. It is on right now and I love it. The one bad thing, it makes me want another baby. Jamie keeps telling me that he wants a pink baby!

Gluten Free

I am officially gluten free and have been for 2 weeks or so. Within the first few days, my knee pain was almost completely gone! I was a little sore at the end of the day, but nothing like it used to be. I am a little sad now because my knees have been hurting the past few days. Although it hasn't been as bad as in the past, but still. I'm hoping my knee pain is because of my back pain...haha, man, how old am I?! My tailbone got messed up during delivery with Oliver and every couple of months, it bothers me and for a week or so at a time. It has been getting better, but I think I was walking differently because of how bad it was hurting. I was talking to someone tonight and she said to just keep it up because it can take a while before everything is gone, even though I was feeling good for almost 2 weeks.

So, how is going otherwise? It hasn't been that bad actually. Most of the foods we eat are already gluten free and other things I just have to tweak a bit. I like that almost anything dairy is GF, but I am lactose intolerant....great....I have been taking the lactose pills again, trying to get that under control again. A few years ago I said "screw it" to taking those pills. I had a stomach ache everyday but I didn't care. I mean come on, I am from Wisconsin and I am lactose intolerant?! What kind of cruel and unusual punishment is that!? One of the biggest challenges is finding GF free in the grocery store. There is a lot out there, but it is located all over the store! I have been getting lots of advice from people and that has been amazing. I didn't like the noodles I bought, but heard of a different kind to try. I also heard of a website that sells food pretty cheap and I ordered some GF stuff. I just wish this stuff wasn't so expensive :( My biggest test will be next week. We are going to my parent's house in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving which shouldn't be too bad (food wise), but then the hubby's parents all taking all of us to Great Wolf Lodge in the WI Dells for our Christmas present, this will be the real challenge. We will be eating out for supper every night. Luckily more and more places offer GF foods, but this is a challenge I am up for! It just means I have to eat healthier and there isn't anything wrong with that! I'm having a hard time thinking of foods to bring for me for lunch and snack....I don't want to eat the same thing all day. I did get some good ideas for that tonight though.

I do like that this is making us eat healthier. I not making the boys go gluten free, but when I make a meal, obviously it is GF and they eat it. I am not taking away their noodles or mac and cheese. My goodness, if I did that Oliver wouldn't have anything to eat :) I guess the boys are half gluten free! I'm hoping to add a recipe tab to my blog so I can put up some yummy foods that I have been making. All in all, things are going pretty good!

Am I Crazy....

A couple things have been going through my head this week....asking the question Am I crazy? Example one: I want more kids! We have 2 now, but I want more, like 3 or 4 more! But, there are days that I can barely handle the two I have :) I came from a family of five and I loved it...for the most part! My parents come from big Polish/German families with at least 10 kids. The boys may drive me crazy, but there are so many things that make up for it! They may pick on each other (crazy how they know how to do that at such a young age), but Jamie is such a good big brother. He is very protective of Oliver and loves to help with him. I did decide that a new sibling would have to wait until next year though :) Hopefully it will be a girl, Jamie keeps asking for a sister....such a hard thing to explain to a three year old.

Example two: I am going to try being gluten free for a few weeks. Maybe not that crazy though. I have been having knee pain for like 12 years now and finally had some blood work done to try and figure it out. It came back saying that I had some sort of auto-immune problem...which could be my asthma....so more tests were done, looking at thyroid problems, food issues and they all came back clear. I guess that is good, but I was hoping for something, at least to answer all the questions. I do know that people can be tested for gluten issues and have them come back clear. My doctor did say that food issues like gluten, wheat, lactose intolerance...can cause arthitis problems. I am lactose intolerant. I used to take pills for that but they got to be expensive and a pain in the butt. Now, I'm going try the gluten free thing and work on my lactose intolerance thing and hope that things get better. I am hoping that it won't be that hard to do. I was looking at the foods we eat and a lot of them are gluten free, so that is good. I'm going to start slow so I don't go crazy with too many changes at once! I will defintately keep you all updated. Right now though, time for bed soon. We all have this nasty cold that is going around :(

Happy Birthday!

Well, it is birthday season in our house.....the boys' birthdays are 11 days apart and then mine in 10 days after Jamie's. I can't believe that this handsome little man is 3 already! He sure does keep us on our feet. Things aren't always easy, but we do have a lot of fun. I just love his smile, it just lights up the room...just like his brother.

He is all boy! He loves tractors, playing outside, getting dirty, being a total daredevil, being loud, and moving all the time! He loves music....playing (he has a bunch of instruments), singing and dancing. He is very musical. He is always tapping along with the beat. We listen to country music and Jamie knows at least 10 different singers and knows most of the songs before the person starts singing.

He is all about the Disney movies, especially the toy story movies. He is also into superheroes...Batman, Superman, Ironman, Spiderman....he loves them all.

His birth was not easy at all....not that having a baby is easy, but some are worse than others! I went in for a non-stress test on a Monday, one day after his due date. His movement was slowing down and they wanted to watch it. You see, this child never, never stopped moving! On this Monday, things were taking a little longer. My doctor came in and said that we would have to induce labor. He said his heart rate was dropping and that he wasn't in danger but if we would wait until my next test on Friday, then he would be in danger and I would probably need a c-section. This news made me cry....I went in for a test, not to have a baby! Being induced is not fun, it takes forever! The medicine was started around 11am on Monday and he was born at 7:30 Tuesday morning. I got an epidural and after awhile it started to ware off and then the new stuff was different and didn't really work and I was not happy! I was so tired and then the pain, I could barely push. And then I had to push for 2 1/2 hours. Then the doc came in and said he needed to come out. He had to use the forceps which is pretty painful! But, I got my precious little man! I had some issues after also. I think about that stuff a lot and as much as it sucked at the time, I did get a handsome little boy! And when you ask him how old he is, he will show you.....

Happy Birthday!

Ok, so I'm a little late here...sorry! Our precious Oliver Presley turned one last week! I cannot believe how fast this past year has gone by. All that day I was thinking about the day he was born. You see, his birth was sooo much better than Jamie's. The night before Oliver was born, we went to Chuck E. Cheese for a little fun time for Jamie's birthday which was in 12 days. I had been feeling different that day, but didn't think much about it. I didn't go into labor with Jamie on my own so I had no idea what to expect. So, after our fun time, we went to the grocery store because I was hungry but didn't know for what! We were planning on going to the baptism for my bestie's little girl on Sunday. I really couldn't sleep much when we got home. The contractions started around 3:15am and by 3:30 they were a minute apart. I was trying to stay calm, but man, those contractions came on so fast and so hard!

We got to the hospital at 4 (luckily it is only a few minutes from our house) and I was having a hard time dealing with those pains! I was happy to get some medicine to help relax while I waited for the epidural. I got that lovely medicine at 5am and was a 10 and ready to go (I was a 7 when I got to the hospital). The nurse said to just let Oliver come down the rest of the way on his own instead of pushing right away. I was fine with that. I could get some rest and let Oliver do his own thing and not have to push for so long. After a nice nap, the nurse came back in at 8 and said it was time to push. I was so relaxed this time around. We were watching CMT and music videos. I did 3 or 4 rounds of pushing and my little man made his entrance at 8:30. I felt so good, minus the horrible tailbone pain. I also looked good....please don't think that I full of myself, but I looked like poo after Jamie and had a hard time just moving....with Oliver, I was moving and just looked much better, and I felt better.

It is kind of ironic that Oliver's delivery was so fast because he is so laid back and kind of lazy :) I have a blast with him and get such a kick out of him. He has the best smile, his whole face lights up. He is definately a momma's boy, big time, but I'm not complaining! He loves to play, pick on his brother, dance, music, snuggle and has a temper. Oh my, when he wants something he will let you know. He doesn't like the word "no" and throws a fit everytime we tell him no. Like I said, he loves to pick on Jamie and Oliver starts the fighting most of the time. But then he flashes that smile like in the picture below and you just melt!