9th Anniversary

It is so nice to be away from the kids for a couple nights!  Davin and I are at a beach house in Depot Bay, OR.  It's owned by some church friends, and we won it in a missions trip fundraiser bid.  We just bid our whole anniversary budget although this house is worth a lot more, and since we paid it to the church, it's also tax deductible!  

We arrived yesterday afternoon, and it's perfectly lovely.  We have an ocean view and a hot tub.  Our walk on the beach last night was cold, but we're hoping to get more sun this afternoon.  We had a nice evening of relaxing, and I enjoyed working on a puzzle this morning looking out over the ocean while Davin slept in.  It's so nice having no little voices clamoring for me this morning.  Here's to a whole day of doing whatever we want!

An iPad

Davin purchased my anniversary gift early since I was quitting Target and he wanted to use my employee discount.  My iPad mini was a big surprise!  I am loving it and it has been helpful for taking notes at the homeschool conference, tracking my calories and exercise, a camera on the go, and keeping up with friends.  Technology is so fun!  I'm starting to feel like I can't go anywhere without it though so I might be getting a little too attached.  I can blog from it, too, so maybe I'll keep up with that a bit better.

Melissa's Naturopath Visit

I recently decided to go to the naturopath as well.  I've been super tired for... well, about as long as I can remember... at least since Kaylynn was born.  I'm tired of being tired and I feel like I keep having excuses - having a baby, working nights, etc.  Still I've wondered if there was something else going on since when I do get extra sleep I'm still usually exhausted.  The naturopath concluded that I have hypothyroid leading to adrenal fatigue.  I'm taking a natural thyroid supplement and so far I don't notice a huge difference, but it can take awhile.  I'm hopeful that some day I'll wake up in the morning totally refreshed.

In addition to the thyroid we also discovered that I have an intolerance to corn, fruit, and the combination of grains and sugar.  Ugh!  I've been working hard to keep all soy, egg, and fruit/sugar combo out of Kaylynn's diet, and it's hard!  Soy is in almost everything in a package.  Now I'm also trying to avoid my intolerances so we often eat a few different things at each meal because it's hard to find a balanced meal with no soy, egg, fruit, grain/sugar, or corn.  I've been a label reading fanatic and even asked for all the packages at the church lunch yesterday to verify what Kaylynn and I could eat.  She could have certain chips and the hot dogs were okay as long as she didn't eat any fruit.  I however was left with a hamburger patty on lettuce and water.  Everything else had some form of corn in it (corn starch or corn syrup mostly).  At least this should help me lose weight!

I want to give it a good try for a solid month avoiding my intolerances.  Then I want to eat a bunch of fruit one day (my goal is July 4th) and go clean again after that to see how that one day of fruit affects me.  The naturopath encouraged me to challenge the intolerance so I would know.  My hope is I won't feel that bad, and I can decide to just keep eating it.  We'll see.  It's a grand experiment!

Last week I lost two pounds with daily exercise (got to get in at 6:30 in the morning, though) and counting calories.  I also recently quit Target so that should help my energy, too, though we'll miss the income. I'm excited to have the evenings free, and we think that with extra income we wouldn't qualify for the kid's state medical insurance which is a huge money saver for us.

Camtown Youth Festival

 I like to take advantage of our free Saturdays, especially when the weather is nice.  I looked up some local calendars for ideas and came across the Camtown Youth Festival.  It was close, free, and geared toward kids.  We decided to check it out and I'm so glad we did!  It was a lot of fun and didn't cost us a thing.  They had bounce houses, inflatable obstacle courses, vendors with free giveaways, crafts, face painting, petting zoo, a flea market, and of course the regular park playgrounds.  The kids loved it and it was a great family day!  I'll be putting this on the calendar again for next year.

New Eating Adventures

Kaylynn has been constipated since about September.  It got really bad to the point where she would talk about going and not be able to for a day and a half and then she'd cry when she went. 

I took her to the doctor several times and the first suggestion was maybe she was eating too many bananas so we stopped giving her those, but nothing changed.  The doctor said there wasn't really a way to see if something in her diet was the culprit so I decided to eliminate dairy for a time though the doctor said that wasn't a good idea because she still "needed" the milk calories.  I knew she could get healthy calories elsewhere so we cut out milk for quite awhile but still didn't notice any improvement. 

In the mean time I did follow the doctor's recommendation of giving Kaylynn Miralax since we had to do something to help her go, but she started needing more and more of it.  I knew there had to be a better way, so I finally made an appointment to see a naturopath. 

Two weeks ago we had our appointment with Dr. Neale and I remember leaving thinking, "That's how a doctor's appointment should be."  I felt listened to and the doctor really took her time with us.  She made me feel confident that we could get to the root of the problem and fix it.  Kaylynn's regular doctor just wanted to treat symptoms with medication and wasn't interested in finding the source.

We did a food intolerance test and I got the results last week.  Egg, soy, and the combination of fruit and sugar appear to be the problem with Kaylynn's digestion.  My first thought was that we don't eat much egg and soy, but really, it's in almost everything in a box or package!  I'm totally focused on food now, reading labels and organizing the pantry and fridge.  I've made my own bread and egg-free cake for her birthday.  I'm also giving her a HMF probiotic.  I'm excited to see results.

This past week I did notice that Kaylynn was sleeping more and seemed to be happier.  She didn't complain of a tummy ache (a daily occurrence before) until today, and I know she had a little of the fruit/sugar combination at her party yesterday.  Her constipation is better but not resolved quite yet.

There are so many people I know with food allergies or intolerances, and I've been glad not to have to deal with it at home.  Well, now we get to experience that wonderful world.  I think there will be lots of benefits overall with becoming more aware of what we eat and making more things from scratch.  Here we go!

Kaylynn is 2!

Today is Kaylynn's second birthday!  She has grown and changed so much in the last year.  Some things are just the same as the first week of her life, mainly that she has strong opinions and doesn't change them easily.  I love her conversations.  Just yesterday she was telling me goodby as she went to the next room.  Then she paused to turn and assure me, "I'm just pretending, Mommy."


This morning she and I had a tea party and I let her spill real water all over the table with a little bit making it in the cups from time to time.  I enjoyed using my Czech tea set I recently pulled out that's just too pretty to sit unused.

Happy birthday, Kaylynn!  We love you and the spirit you bring to our family!

Desmond's Book

Desmond wrote a book and sounded everything out by himself which is cute to read.  Being the proud mommy I am I just had to share it. 

 

"Once upon a time there (was) Desmond."

 

"Poof.  He got bigger."

 "He was four and then comes Christmas."

 "The end. Once upon a time..."

 "There was Mommy.  She took good care..."

"...of me.  The end."

Big Girl Bed

Kaylynn has graduated to a big girl bed.  I've been sanding it down to refinish it, but we had to go ahead and use it unfinished after she climbed over the side of her crib and fell to the floor.  She's done remarkably well with the transition.  I remember having to put Desmond back in bed at least twenty times before he'd stay put for nap time.  Kaylynn hasn't climbed out of bed once.  I don't think it's occurred to her that she could get out though I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually.  Even when she wakes up in the morning she'll sit there until someone comes to get her.  She's growing up!

Passing around Germs

We've been battling sickness for about a month.  First the kids and Davin were sick, and once they were well I got sick.  Then the kids and Davin were sick again and now it's my turn for the second round. Desmond and Davin got well again fairly quickly.  Kaylynn has coughed for a solid month straight and I'm now dealing with the cough that leaves my sides hurting and head aching.  I've cleaned the whole house to try and kill these germs we're passing around.  Probably time to do a thorough cleaning again.  I think we're on the mend finally and hopefully we'll be done for awhile.

One thing I like about when the kids are sick is that they are so snuggly.  I can't remember the last time Kaylynn fell asleep on me when it wasn't nap or bedtime and even then it's fairly rare.

A late update from December

Maybe it's the Christmas season or maybe it's working evenings and weekends and feeling pulled away from family more than I like, but lately I've been thinking about my beautiful family and feeling so thankful for each of them.

Little Miss Kaylie is just a handful of emotion and movement.  She is always moving whether it's listening to a story, getting a diaper change, or eating - she's wiggling.  I must say her dancing is very cute.  She also loves to do whatever everyone else is doing and makes sure she's not left out.  If she sees anything on the dinner table (from a side dish to a condiment) that she didn't see me serve to her, she'll ask for it until she gets it.  She states her opinions loudly and sometimes I hear her using her frustrated mommy voice in which she ends her statement with a forceful, "Now!"  What a nice mirror!  She loves being a little mommy and carries her dolls around wrapping them in blankets or wiping their bottoms.  Kaylynn is starting to talk in sentences and some cute sayings I notice are, "Oh, nice!"  "Look, Des Des."  "Come on."  "Get up, Mommy."  "Look strong I am," followed by squeezing her fists tight.  I've also seen more defiance lately where she won't look at or talk to me when I'm correcting her and waiting for a response.  She can blow up fast, but also moves on, flashing a winning smile quickly.  She also has a knack for "changing the subject" when she's in trouble and it's so hard not to crack a smile.  She is a rushing river that will take much patience and consistency to direct. 

Desmond is best defined by: questions, questions, questions.  I feel he echoes everything I say but just changes it from a statement to a question as if more explanation is needed.  He's always thinking and gets this sideways squinty face when the wheels are turning.  We're are working on getting him to accept parental authority even without a "Why?" being answered.  He loves to figure things out and has developed quite a theory on how his digestion and elimination all work.  Quite amusing!  He likes to draw and builds LEGOs every day.  A recent highlight was when Davin took him to the LEGO store and let him fill a bucket with miscellaneous pieces he picked out.  He is starting to read and sometimes I have him read me the story at bedtime.  Desmond is bothered by Kaylynn's lack of order and cried when she ripped her coloring page yesterday.  

Davin is my rock.  He's patient and consistent through the ups and downs of young children and a frazzled, overtired wife.  He's been putting the kids to bed and cleaning up while I go to work in the evenings and I'm really looking forward to at least a couple evenings together this week!