Happy Birthday, Josiah!

Josiah- our first camping trip- May 2011

My little boy... my first born baby... is 5 years old. He turned 5 on Sunday, May 29th.
A couple friends have asked me, "So how ya feeling now that Josiah is 5?" and I responded, "totally fine". It's true, but I think that is only because I had a meltdown when Josiah turned 4!! I'm not sure why it hit when he was 4 years old, but something about it hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe it was because Josiah was doing all the things a normal 5 year old would do, at age 4. Like starting up kindergarten, becoming more independent, and not needing Mommy so much in general... really becoming his own little person. Anyway that meltdown only lasted a few weeks, then I realized I better just enjoy the moment before he turns 15 ;)

Josiah has been such a tremendous blessing to our lives. He is funny and very silly, loves to play with his best friend and sister, and dote and snuggle on his little brother. He loves to make up imaginary names to fancy LEGO cars he builds, and make up fancy elaborate stories as well. He likes to draw and color, especially forming pictures around stickers and making up fancy "machines" and things that do something-or-other. He is very caring and compassionate. He is also very helpful, but is going through a "I don't wanna help, I just wanna play!" kinda phase too. I'm sure we'll balance it all out. ;) He's getting so tall, and watching him run around it makes me feel like he is 7 or 8. His speech and vocabulary of course, make him sound like he's 17 ...or maybe 27. ;o) His intelligence goes without having to say usually... he is very smart. He has completed his kindergarten curriculum, religion, math, and reading/phonics/handwriting. He is reading on about a 1st- 2nd grade level, from what I can tell without an official evaluation. The books he reads from the library are Level 2 readers and he reads those with ease. We've dabbled in science and of course done many arts and crafts, but haven't studied art or music yet. He can play twinkle twinkle little star on the piano- but says he wants to "play the trombone like Daddy!" haha. This year I'm sure will bring many new things... perhaps starting an instrument, and probably starting up a team sport in the fall.

Josiah is so SILLY and loves to be SILLY. :o) He loves to make up jokes and is finally able to make up some that actually make sense and are funny. His most recent joke? "What do you get when you roll a witch down the beach?.... a sandwich!"  touche my boy! Good word play.

He's also really dramatic. So much so that Mommy gets preeeeeetty sick of it. Let's just say that I can't wait until his flare for the dramatic can be harnessed on a STAGE perhaps? Rather than in my house? Who knows, maybe he has a calling to the arts. I guess time will tell...  until then we're trying to work on his incessant exaggerating of things and help him just relax a little and chill out. ;o)

He loves God so much and immediately asks "Do you forgive me?" when he knows he has hurt someone or made a mistake. He remembers to pray every time we pass the local abortion clinic in our van... and prays throughout his day for someone he knows is sick or hurting. He stops to pray every time someone gets hurt when we are playing, and likes to ask deep questions about Jesus. Sometimes I think he has the faith figured out more than I do... but children are blessed like that. They accept readily what they already feel in their hearts. The truth that they feel and know, before the world has tried to convince them it is false. I know God has big plans for this little boy, and I can't wait to watch him carry them out!

In honor of Josiah... a little acrostic for his 5th year:

J -  joyful
O - outgoing
S - silly
I -  intelligent
A - artistic
H - holy, happy

We all love you Josiah and pray we get to spend many many more years celebrating the gift of your life!

She is really cute.

It's just not possible to find words to describe how cute she is!

First Camping Trip!

This past weekend the kiddos (Josiah and Lydia) had their first camping trip! We went with Grandma and Grandpa to a nearby campground and stayed with them in their camper. Daddy and Benjamin stayed home to get some work done around the house... and boy did Daddy work! His gift to me this Mother's Day was to clean the house while I was away, and I've never seen this house look so fabulous as when I returned. I don't know how he got so much done! He must've worked really hard, and I'm so grateful for his love and care. It was a wonderful idea and a great gift!

We all had a blast camping. Some of the highlights would be the hikes we took, several different playgrounds we played on (we borrowed Benjamin for a bit on Saturday and he was a lot of fun! Lots of room for him to run) a little animal show that happened on Saturday night with animals brought from the aviary at the nature center, as well as the kids first smores! Lots of fun memories made, and we're all planning to go camping again soon... with Daddy and Ben this time! ;)

Grandpa and Josiah

Eating YUMMY meals at the campsite.

We drove and hiked by this fallen tree... Dad counted the rings and it appears to be (at least) 75 years old!

The kids on one of the playgrounds

Josiah helping Grandpa saw wood pieces for the campfire

Turtle we saw at the animal show

Small owl --one of three she brought...(This was a screech owl I think?)

Roasting marshmallows with Grandpa

Mmmm Yummy!

Lydia's SMORE face :)

Josiah loved his smore!

Mommy invented the GF smore- gluten free pretzel sticks, chocolate and marshmallow. Hard to handle and messy to eat, but delish! :)

Lydia was just so full of joy from being outside all weekend, eating chocolate, and staying up late, that she was just DANCING around... so cute!

Big rock on one of our hikes

Hike to the river. Me and my girl

She's the adventurous one... took off her shoes with me and splashed her feet in the river.

The diva swinging

Best Buds

They would walk around the campsite with their little paper bags I brought and collect "nature treasures"

My big boy Benjamin! He loved the see saw!

Grandpa and Josiah exploring

Grandma and Ben swingin'

We hiked and found a dam! 

(ahem... afterwards we read the sign and saw we weren't supposed to be down there... hahaha- Oh well!)

It was really neat!

Lydia putting her pajamas on her head... this is what happens when you let your 2 year old stay up late and snack on sugar ;o) 

Lydia and Josiah also tasted honeysuckles for the first time... fun! :)

Cat in the Hat

Such a rainy week,

What to do about that?

Why not dress up, 

as the Cat in the Hat?

It'll be fun, so much fun you see,

Mommy has face paint and silly we'll be!

We'll wear big hats and bow ties too,

Dress up in black and white like the Cat would do,

We'll rhyme all day long,

and make funny names,

we'll sing silly songs,

read books and play games!

For dinner we'll eat green pancakes with syrup,

what a wonderful way to make silly kids cheer up!

The Big Day...

My Dad's ordination is coming up this weekend and we are all so excited. I can't believe after 4 years of study and preparation, this day has finally come. We're all so proud of him for allowing God to guide him in this new vocation in life. We're also proud of Mom... being there to support him and share her husband with the church community and with everyone, to promote our faith. We can't wait to witness this event and celebrate with them! ...only 4 more days of life in the Laity Dad... 

Happy Birthday, Claire!

We'd like to wish a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our beautiful new niece, Claire Faustina... (7 lbs, 11 oz)
Welcome to the world sweet baby girl! We love you so much and cannot wait to meet you in person!

Countdown... to my new Niece or Nephew!!

My Sister (in law) is having her baby tomorrow... and I'm SO EXCITED!!!! Around lunch time tomorrow, we'll figure out whether we have a new baby niece or nephew in the family, and his/her name! I'm so excited!!! Did I mention I'm excited!?? Okay well... stay tuned. I will be posting an update and all the stats (and a picture!) as soon as I possibly can. You can also check out www.plantedandblooming.com.
Get ready to celebrate new life with us!! :o)

Gluten Free Diet- Update

So... for any of you who have been wondering, I've been eating gluten free (mostly! don't count a bite here or there...ahh the temptation) for about 2 weeks I think? When was that last post? haha. Anyway, here's the scoop.

I tried to give it atleast a week before I started assessing how I was feeling. I think I've come to the following conclusions.

        First-- It's not the reason for my stomach pain.  The stomach issues started after my surgery, and as much as the doctor's say "ahh you don't need your gallbladder! Let's just cut it out!" it's simply false. God PUT IN THERE for a reason, or else He wouldn't have given it to us. Sure you can live without it, but I'm about 100% certain it'd be better if it just worked properly and you could keep it in there. So obviously, my body has been adjusting to the idea of not having a gallbladder, and it's making me have to adjust my diet because anything that is "hard to digest" on a regular basis is making my stomach hurt. I have to be careful about how much dairy I consume (I am no longer drinking straight up milk, eating yogurt or ice cream) and that made more of an impact than anything in regards to the stomach pain. I didn't notice any difference with the GF diet in my stomach pain. It's still been minor lately, coming and going and I'm not sure what causes it still.

      Secondly-- I've noticed a dramatic increase in energy, an ability to sleep better and longer without waking up throughout the night, and therefore somewhat less painful joints and muscles. Okay maybe that's three things? :o) The point being, it HAS made a difference in those regards. Mostly in my energy level. Before, I always felt like I needed to take breaks throughout the day... do the dishes, ok, need to sit down for a while... that sorta thing. But now, I can just go pretty much throughout my day, getting a lot more done, doing more with the kids, and not suffering from it. I AM still having the usual pain- don't get me wrong- it hasn't completely cured or taken away my fibromyalgia... but it does seem to be having an effect on the level of pain, or the duration of it. For example, if I walk to much, I usually pay for it later in the day and have a lot of pain in my legs, or knees, or shins, whatever decides to flare up. Then usually that flare up can last for an extra day... or three. Now, I might have some pain, but in comparison it is minor, and typically goes away quicker.

What's interesting about noting such an increase in energy, is that this is the only way celiac disease presented itself in my father. He tried to give blood and was really anemic. (He was always "tired" and rested/slept a lot) Mom made him go to the doctor I think (isn't that always how it is?? haha) and they eventually found his anemia was due to the celiac disease. Now, I've had a stomach biopsy and it was negative for celiac. However, Dad also wasn't diagnosed until later in life... maybe I am pre-determined to have it and it may have presented itself later in life? After more damage was done to my body through gluten? I'm not sure, who really knows.

But, the point is, since I've noticed a difference and it seems to be helping, I'm planning to stay off gluten (for the most part) for now. I guess maybe I have a gluten intolerance... or it's just harder for my body to digest, maybe even more so now that I am missing part of my digestive system. Unlike someone with celiac disease however, if I have a little here and there or in something (or something that was processed in the same facility as something with gluten) I'm pretty sure it won't affect me much. A couple times I had a bite of something I was making the kids for dinner, and didn't notice any difference.

So, wish me luck on this new adventure. If there's any hints, tips, advice, or suggestions any of you have, especially for eating gluten free without spending a fortune in extra groceries just for me, I'd greatly appreciate them!