No sugar added...Ahhhhhhh

My son has had some trouble breathing for the past three months. One night was worse than others and my husband and I prayed as led by the Holy Spirit (I know some people may think this is "spooky" or fantasy but I am telling it like it happened). The Holy Spirit led us to pray against swelling and that the swelling would go down. Immediately his breathing returned back to normal and he returned to sleep. We then prayed further and the Holy Spirit directed us to visit a holistic pediatrician for further answers. We did just that and what we found out was mind boggling.

The report came back and his breathing was being effected by food allergies. Our son, age 14 months, was allergic to: banana's, cow milk, egg whites, oats, peanuts and... CANE SUGAR! When the results came I had three meltdowns. 

Melt down #1- I have been poisoning my child!!!! His diet consisted of everything on his allergy list (except eggs, he has always hated egg). I felt instantly deflated and couldn't believe I waited to long to find out what was effecting his breathing. 

Melt down #2- OMG everything, everything, everything has sugar in it. The fruit preserves I got from the store... sugar, the veggie straws he loves... sugar, the spaghetti sauce we buy... sugar. I felt my heart sink a little bit lower. 

Melt down #3- I don't have the time. I wallowed in a place of complaining "I work 9-10 hours a day", when I am not at work I bring work home, not to mention the work of being a mom and a wife. How, when, how am I going to have the time to cook and prepare the food that my son can eat and will eat? 

----------------------- Then I pulled myself together and went to the grocery store-------------------------

It took me two hours in the grocery store, and reading of label after label, but I found some good products that my son can eat. The picture above are the items above. The all have no added sugar, are dairy free, and are free from any of the above mentioned foods that my son is allergic to. My husband and I decided that we would change our diet with our son and eat the foods that he can eat. The doctor stated that it is very likely that our little man will grow out of these allergies, but in the meantime this has caused me to really begin to look at food differently and more intensely. 

This whole blog is about  our journey as a family to sweeten with fruit, cut out the dairy, and read the labels to protect our little guy against any allergens... and change our relationship with food in the process. 

First Family Vacation

We are back from sunny Florida. Our first family vacation was AWESOME! We spent time on the beach, relaxed by the pool and hung out with each other, uninterrupted, for an entire week. It was nice. It was a little different from my husband and I's pre-baby days but it was so fun. I mean it had me questioning if we should speed up for baby #2 lol.

But I did learn somethings about traveling with a baby that I thought I would share with you.

1. Beware of berries
SOOOOO I made the HUGE mistake of packing strawberries, blueberries and apple juice for Micah's first trip. These are his favorites so I knew he would enjoy them. And he loved them, BUT... Can you say poop-splosion. Those berries had him pooping every five seconds it seemed. Running back and forth changing him had his bum a little sore from all the poopy action. So on the trip back I opted for water, bananas and watermelon (and less of it). Only one poopy diaper and a much happier bum.

2. Nix the 17 hour drive
At the last minute my husband and I decided against driving 17 hours and opted for plane tickets. Sure they were a bit pricier but I welcomed that expense to car stops every hour cause baby is fussy and needs activity. On the plan we could read books, bounce up and down, look out the window, play with small toys, all from the comfort of mommy's lap. And babies fly free under two so why not take advantage of that.

3. Eating time- Take off and landing
Micah did not cry not one bit during the plane ride. We made sure to time his eating time during take off and landing, because I got advice from a mommy friend of mine that this helps with that annoying ear popping. Either she was right or our baby just really loves planes... but I do think that this really helped.

How about you? what helped you when traveling long distances with baby? Did you drive? Did you fly? Inquiring minds want to know.

What every working mom needs!

This post is a light hearted attempt to share some tips that have worked for me to make the working mommy balancing act a little easier. I use the word "sanity" in this post to show the intensity of the emotion one may feel when out of balance. I do however want to mention that if you are experiencing anxiety attacks or depression please seek help. I had to go to counseling this year for anxiety and God truly pulled me out. If you are looking for some tips to help restore a work life balance the post below may help. Happy reading. 

So this week I discovered something that I lost this year... MY SANITY! Yes everyone it is back and it only took a few days and three things to get it back. Some of you newbie working moms out there, like me, may think that I am joking. You may be saying "is it even possible to get your sanity back?". I am here to tell you that it is possible and with a few simple steps you to can be a sane mommy.

Tip # 1- Grocery Delivery

All you have to do is take out you smart phone and open your computer and you are instantly transported to the grocery store. You can roam the isle from the comfort of your couch, in your moo moo eating bon bons. Let me tell you this has sky rocketed my sanity level. Thank you peapod. Click the picture above and be transported to grocery shopping bliss. 

Tip # 2- House cleaning

So I was against this. Well honestly my  wallet was against this. My wallet and I had plenty of conversations that usually ended with "we cannont spend $300+ twice a week for this." That is until I found home joy. At 25 dollars an hour I think I have found my sanity answer number 2. The cleaner came to my house and spent 3 hours (totaling $75) to deep clean the kitchen and the bathrooms. Those were our yucky spots. But they do whatever you ask them to do. From bathroom cleaning to laundry. The opportunities are endless. 

Tip # 3- A week off/ or a weekend if you are not a teacher

I did the unthinkable. I committed the guilty working mommy no no. I, I, I sent my baby to daycare while I was home (gasp). Yea, that's right, I did it! And it was amazing. He had fun doing water play at daycare and I had fun...sitting! I had so much guilt about doing this that when winter break came I kept my little man home (while still paying for daycare for two weeks), Spring break came along (little dude was with me), finally the first week of summer break and I was EXHAUSTED! so I did the unimaginable. I set my mommy guilt to the side and I sent my little man off to daycare while I sat at home. And guess what, my sanity returned. It just fell right in my lap and said "Hello".

Try one or all three of these tips and I am sure you will be welcoming your sanity back in no time! Next week I will be writing about our first family vacation, which involves a 16 hour drive with a one year old. Hopefully my sanity wont take a vacation on my vacation lol.

A few words from the trenches!

Hello Blog World,
Just wanted to let you know that I still exist. As I sit here with pieces of my son's lunch stuck to my hand and try to soothe my spinning head from my grad school homework I just finished I would like to write a few things to mommies everywhere.

1. You will be remembered- Everyone is always trying to print their name in the sand or leave evidence that they were here and that they did something that gave their existence worth. I want you to know that a mist the midnight wake up calls from a screaming  baby, or the late night trips over your toddlers toys, that little needy creature will grow to become an adult and with them they will take all the love you poured in and prove to the world you were her and you made an impact.

2. You will be different- Life before baby will NEVER return. You may long for the days where you could stay at the office impressing your coworkers with your "dedication". You may desire the times when the only thing you thought about when girls night came along was what shoes would go with your dress... now the more imperative question is who will watch this little human I am responsible for.

3. You are not alone- Those days when you feel like no one understands,  when you feel like no one has had a house a messy, no one has had a hair day as bad, no one has had spit up on everything they own... remember years before you there was another mom feeling the same way. And years after you there will be another one... shoot you probably sat by one on the metro today!

I type this as encouragement and a reminder to myself and mommies/ mommies to be everywhere. I believe in you. You are doing something amazing. You are learning to love, be patient, be compassionate... You are growing (and boy do I feel those growing pains). You will conquer tomorrow with all the knowledge you gained today.

~A few words from the trenches!

365 days

So my little man has been taking the earth by storm for 365 days (actual 367 days... little late on the post). I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on 12 moments that made these 12 months amazing.

1. BORN DAY- The most life changing moment of my life. My son let out his first cry and immediately tears just streamed down my face. At that moment I just remembered thinking omg I a mommy. God has entrusted this little person to us. What a privileged and an honor.

2. HOME (5 days)- The first week we were home was shock and awe. Never did I know that I could pour out so much love and never did I know I could function on so little sleep.

3. SMILE (2 months)- The transition from the I look like I'm smiling but it is really gas to the Mommy I'm so happy to see you smile!

4. DID HE SAY DADDA (3 months)- The amazing sound of the first words (even if it was Dadda lol)... and then realizing that dadda also means bottle, diaper, toy and everything else to baby.

5. COMMANDO CRAWL (4 months)- His legs did not move but his arms got him every where... and FAST

6. YUM... FOOD (5 Months)- Say hello to gerber... then mommy tried to make her own baby food but it was to time consuming for this working mommy sooo... we said hello to gerber again.

7. HE CAN CRAWL (6 months)- Look he can crawl!!!... uhhh ohhh.... Micah don't touch that... CRASH

8. OUCH... TEETH (6 Months)- Micah's first tooth was super sharp... so sharp that breast feeding came to a stop when that lovely lower tooth came to say hello.

9. CHRISTMAS (8 months)- Realizing that this little guy would be more content with just ONE present. He couldn't understand why we taking his toys even though we just wanted him to open another present.

10. WE'VE GOT A CLIMBER (9 Months)- Micah began pulling up and climbing on EVERYTHING. If we turned our heads for to long I am pretty sure he would be on the roof.

11. HE CAN WALK (11 months)- I though he would crawl forever but then he took his first steps and he was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him then we got him some walking shoes (this is a MUST, no matter what anyone says) and he started walking and walking and walking! #proudmommymoment

12. HE'S 1 (12 months)-smashing a cupcake in his own face then putting the icing in his hair, next taking first birthday, and then finishing it off with a 1st birthday party this weekend at MY GYM.

Being a mommy is the hardest job I have ever LOVED! I am excited about what these next 12 months have in store... maybe they will have more blogging in store...hmmm who knows!

Taking time to enjoy life even more

So I have realized that being a working mommy means putting on the superwoman cape and only taking it off for the few (very few) hours you are sleeping. It can be quite tiring which means that it is even more necessary for you to plan moments to remind yourself that you have an identity other than ____'s mommy, _____'s wife, or _____'s teacher. So I have put together  list of things that I have done or plan on
doing to enjoy life even more. Maybe you can try some or leave a comment with other ideas about how you have fun a midst your mommy duties.

1. Paint night-sipping wine while painting horribly and then sipping wine some more until your horrible panting doesn't look half bad. If you do this with people you love it makes for seriously good times.

2. Sibling day- Nothing brings out the pre-baby you more than hanging out with your sibling. Or maybe that is just me because my baby bro rocks!

3. Swing- Go as high as you can until you feel like you are flying, or about to barf. I realize that as an adult I can not swing that high before i am  in danger of the latter.

4. Spa day- ENOUGH SAID

5. Me day get away- get your self a hotel room and be as messy as you want, don't pick up after yourself, or wake up early... why? Because you can.

6. Date night- there is something amazing about hanging out with your main squeeze without the danger of a massive poopy blow out disrupting cuddle time.

I would love to hear some ways other people take moments throughout your week to enjoy your life even more. I would also like to apologize for any typos. I managed to type this while being a jungle gym for an 11 month old!

Finding me

I have begun to realize that becoming a mommy has brought me to a new place of identity or lack thereof. To define myself outside of the perimeters of wife, mom, teacher, sister, daughter becomes increasingly more difficult the more titles you add. And for some reason the mommy title has caused a doozy on my identity. At daycare pick up I am Micah's mommy, when visiting the house of friends and family the same people who reached out for me now reach out for him and thank me for bringing him. Now don't get me wrong I LOVE this new season of my life. A season filled with baby parties and being known as Micah's mommy however I was jolted recently by the thought that I do not know who I am with out these titles... which means I do not know who I am.

I must admit that for the past month I went through some very interesting (and not productive) processes in attempt to find out more about me. But the only thing that has helped me to uncover myself is to sit in silence and refuse to be afraid of me. Sit in silence with my thoughts, my visions, the intricate path in which my mind moves. I found that as I started this process I was a little nervous about what I would find, however I am not quite intrigued. I realize that I was created with mind different than anyone else, with passions unique to my design, with strengths and weaknesses all my own.

I would like to encourage all mommy's, actually all women, to lay down your superhero cape and sit in silence with yourself and rediscover the beauty of YOU!