Good Baby Question

Someone the other day asked me if FH was a good baby. Is there such a thing as a bad baby?

He cries when he is tired, when he has belly pains, when he is hungry, when he wants to be held. This seems reasonable to me.

No, he does not sleep particularly well at night with just one four-hour stretch and then up quite a bit after that, but I don't think that qualifies him as a bad baby.

I don't know; I just thought it was an odd question.

Six Days and Counting

Six days until I go back to work, and I am jamming all kinds of appointments into those last few days.

• meeting with the pastor about FH's baptism
• haircut (which is desperately needed)
• chiropractor
• FH's three month checkup
• eye appointment

We are also having a four-year-old birthday party for LM on Sunday, and somewhere in there I still need to lose ten pounds. Totally backslid this last week. Eating an entire bag of chocolate chips is probably not a good thing.

I should mention, just for the record, that I do not have a bad job at all. I know it may sound like I am going back to the worse thing ever, but that is not the case.

Of course, there is the proverbial grass is greener on the other side thing. I know in my head that if I truly quit my job to stay home with the kids there would be negative things about that too. For starters, money would be a huge issue. It is convenient to think all things would be fine but that is because my check "magically" appears in the checking account every two weeks while I have been on leave. This, obviously, would not be the case if I didn't have a job.

Sun Room Redo

After several weeks of having various samples of yellow painted on the sun room wall, we (actually W) painted the room. The new Behr paint with primer in it is awesome.

This is the first wall that you see when you come into the house via the side entrance (the one everyone uses). Kinda blah even with the new yellow paint. Ignore the couch cushions that still need to be recovered.

I got 11 x 14 prints made of these photographs and hung them above the couch. This picture really doesn't capture how great they look. The two landscapes are from our trip to Kansas, and the flower is one we found on a walk behind our house. I love them. Isn't that what making a house into a home is all about?!

This Box

I had forgotten but quickly remembered why this box has been sitting in the office for the last two years.

It is full of photographs--random photographs. You know, those one or two photos that someone sends you after an event or school pictures of family members. Honestly, some of the pics could be tossed, like the ones of old boyfriends. I mean really, why do I need those?

What do I do with the rest of them? I could scan them in and toss the originals. I could scan them and keep the originals as is. I could put the photos in an album.

I even drug the box upstairs, so it would be in my sight. Sadly, I think it is just going to go back downstairs unresolved. It requires too much energy to deal with at this time. Lame, I know.

Another Bib and Burp Set

For my friend who recently had a baby.

Homemade Lasagna

Yesterday LM and I made lasagna--homemade noodles and all. The plan was to save half of it for a freezer meal, but it is almost already gone. So much for that.

Gluten Free Journey

I was recently at a luncheon where we got started talking about how I began eating gluten free, so I thought it would be fun to write it out on the blog.

In 2002, I had been going to a chiropractor for awhile to eliminate back pain and some terrible headaches. After many treatments, the headaches still persisted. In addition to regular headaches, I had some major migraines that put me totally out of commission as well as nausea and dizziness. My chiropractor suggested that perhaps it was a food allergy causing the headaches because my back alignment seemed to be fine.

She suggested that I start taking out various types of food one at a time to see if the culprit could be identified and thought I should start with wheat or sugar.

I decided to start with wheat. Literally, within days of not eating anything with wheat in it, I was a new woman--no stomach ache, no headaches. It seems so hard to believe that one ingredient can wreak so much havoc in one individual and how quickly things turned around. I feel like I should be on that show Mystery Diagnosis. I hoped that my physical well-being would improve but was not prepared for how much the change also impacted my emotional well-being. It is hard to explain, but I felt like a huge curtain had been pulled back--I could breathe freely and simply was just happier.

Thinking back, I remember having headaches on a regular basis as far back as junior high. By college, I was taking Tylenol every day just to get through the day. No wonder when I drank beer or whiskey did I get so violently ill!

Initially after making the change, I lost quite a bit of weight. Although some of this weight loss was related to figuring out my new diet, most of it, I think, was my body finding its equilibrium.

It is seven years later, and I still maintain a wheat-free diet. Actually, I abstain from gluten ingredients all together just to be on the safe side since I was never tested for celiac disease.

People often ask if it is difficult to eat gluten free. Absolutely not, and it gets easier every year. Yes, in the beginning I spent a lot of time reading labels, but vegetables, proteins, and fruits are naturally gluten free. If I want processed foods like pasta, breads, and cookies, I can make them myself or buy them. Even my regular grocery store in a smallish Virginia city carries a large selection of gluten-free foods. I'm so glad this is a health issue that can be solved without medicine or other medical intervention.

So far, LM does not exhibit signs of having a problem, as he eats a mix of foods with and without gluten. I definitely keep an eye on it and will know what to do if he starts showing signs, so he won't have to suffer like I have.

Photo: from the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture