weeks 20-21

I really don't even know where to start on these last two weeks. When they say deployment is a roller coaster- this is definitely what they are talking about. But then, when you think about it, life really is. We are all given speed bumps without warning and expected to figure out the best route to take that gets us to the other side. The difference with deployment is that, well, we are forced to face many of these speed bumps alone. It also means that even if these little problems are going on here, there is constantly a HUGE MOUNTAINOUS speed trap in the back of our head... our soldiers safety.

Last week I wrote about the Gluten Free changes we decided to make in our house. It really has been great. We have adapted tons of delicious new recipes, learned a lot, and overall Steven's behavior AND digestion have improved tremendously. And then he was " glutened." Sunday morning he ran into his sunday school class happy as can be. In an effort to avoid any meltdowns, I ducked out as quickly as possible... unfortunately that meant NOT letting his teachers know about his new diet and the fact that he had a nice bag of snacks for himself in his backpack. Instead I blanked and he ended up eating a snack full of ritz crackers with his classmates. We spent a good 24 hours learning just how AWFUL being " glutened" can be after removing it from your diet. We are talking the most violent, out of control, non sleeping, freak outs I have seen maybe ever in a child. But some how we made it through and it was clear as night and day when it made it's way out of his system. My grown up little kind hearted 2 year old was back and ready for anything.

After a few ups and downs this week I decided I was done playing this game and we needed to see the doctor. So we did and they ran the proper bloodwork and samples to hopefully get some answers in the next week.


Whew. Enough of the sob story. Here are some POSITIVE memories from the past two weeks:

Had some fun hanging out in  Grandpa Trumbull's Garage and opening Christmas presents over there...

Life changing: One banana + 2 eggs = naturally gluten free " pancakes" 

Alabama won the national championship, of course. Had to get this shot for Uncle Brad and Aunt Sheila

Gotta love trips to home depot for Mom's Projects! I think they love the cart more...

Ok so this is as the stain was drying. Had been dying to finally make the infamous " pallet projects" we all oo and aa over on pinterest. Built this and stained it for the backyard only to realize it is the most awkward height. Still neat and cost me about 5$ to make so I can't complain

Ok this brought me to tears last week. Steven had been begging to go to the park all day, so after a nice long nap we drove over ( WAY too cold lately to walk) and the first thing he wanted to do was " go see Daddy's brick." All he wanted to do was go sit under the flag, look around, and touch Daddy's brick. Forget the GIANT park behind it , just wanted to hang out with Dad for a little bit . 

Grandma and Grandpa came up to hang out as the boys were getting over being sick. Reading stories and playing cars...

Potty training is going to be a slow process until we get this digestion thing figured out. But he is ALL about his potty and really is doing awesome with it! 

This hair was Getting OUT OF CONTROL! Kaners got his first buzz cut from mama

Daddy has been flying a TON- here is a Gorgeous picture he took for us! 

I only managed to get one long run in before the race this weekend. Hopefully I can keep this pace for Sunday so I can PR!  That would be neat :) 

Cutest boys ever... playing in the bath

I was putting away laundry and walked by this- I can't believe how big Kaners is getting. They are finally at the age where they play together well and it is SO sweet to see. 

Used my Christmas money to order this FUN new toy and I am LOVING it! Cute little pancake 40mm lens

Today we spent the afternoon walking around downtown Phoenix to pick up my race packet and Bib. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day out and the boys loved seeing the big city buildings. 

We have a lot of fun things to look forward to. 

Sunday is the Rock n Roll Marathon in Phoenix. Besides the fact that I am thrilled to only be running 13.1 this time, and that it is a big local race, I also get to run along side a bunch of really awesome people. A friend from high school who just completed an IRONMAN ( or ironWOman in her case) is running with me- TALK about inspiring! 

Next weekend my in-laws from Las Vegas are coming to town and we can't WAIT!!! 

Mr Kaners' FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY is next weekend. Even just typing that makes me tear up. 

I wouldn't say things are terrible lately, but they definitely aren't great. I guess they just are. We are close to halfway through this deployment and I really just can't wait to make it over this 6 month hump. 

So here is to an AWESOME race weekend here Phoenix- more successful flights for Daddy- some health answers solved for Steven- and a VERY happy Birthday party for Mr. Kane!!! 

Diet

No I'm not talking about eating crazy to get skinny. In fact I am the most anti-diet person you can talk to- I believe in eating healthy and always staying active . I'm talking about diet as in the food we put in our mouth. Our habitual eating and the way it effects our emotions, mood, digestion, and of course our bodies.

<INSERT WARNING HERE> 

THERE IS POOP TALK to come. If you are afraid of POOP talk EXIT THIS BLOG POST NOW----

This week I set my foot down and decided OK it's time to potty train. We picked out some awesome lightening mcqueen undies, got hyped about becoming a big boy, and began the popular 3 day potty training method. The first day went pretty well actually, only a couple accidents and he realized when it was time to go and went. Awesome.

We stuck to diapers at night and naptime because that is something I am just not ready to tackle quite yet. Then it got me thinking. For the past 1.5 years, really since around his first birthday, our little Mr. Pants has always had horrible.. well.. pants. He maybe has a couple solid poops each month , the rest being horrible horrible messy diapers. Diapers that we have just gotten use to changing, but are still really awful. The past month or so it has gotten to the point where he wakes up almost every single morning and he has to shower it is so bad, I have been washing and changing sheets daily- trying to spare the gorry details here.

It got me thinking, GOOD lord. WHAT if this happens without a diaper on? I can deal with shampooing spots for pee, I can deal with accidents. But if this horrible-ness were to get anywhere else- that would be a nightmare. Then it got me to thinking, wait this isn't normal. Even though I have told his pediatricians about it and they think it's fine, it is NOT normal to have only a couple solid poops a month. We really need to get to the bottom- honestly no pun intended- of this situation. WHAT is going on with his digestion that is causing this?

I have tried reducing dairy, removing milk, removing fruit and juices, eating earlier dinner, you name it I have tried it with hardly any changes. As I sat here researching( I mean googling) - horrible toddler diapers- I finally found something that I was shocked hadn't come to mind earlier. The EVIL gluten.

Celiacs disease and other gluten intolerances are not news here. Many of our friends have problems with gluten making it pretty aware of what the diet consists of. Wheat -rye-barley are the obvious culprits. The biggest problem is all of the hidden places food manufacturers hide this nasty stuff. It can be  found in everything from chicken broth to shredded cheese as fillers , preservatives, etc.

So I thought about his average diet-

breakfast- Either Waffle, Pancakes, Toast, oatmeal or a bagel

Snacks- Crackers, Granola bars, Fruit, Cheerios

Lunch- Sandwich of some sort ( two pieces of bread of course) with fruit

Dinner- Vegetables, protein of some kind, and almost ALWAYS a variation of pasta.

HOLY CRAP! All this kid eats is wheat. Considering I am a self proclaimed carb-o-holic it really shouldn't be a surprise. But also considering I have had digestion problems for YEARS including having my gallbladder removed 4 years ago, the idea of myself having a problem digesting those mountains of gluten never came up.

Not only did my findings point to the obvious diaper problems, it is also known to cause hyperactivity, cloudiness, and other behavioral issues in children. Many parents state that their children would be their loving happy self one day and a completely different child the next... DING DING DING! Light bulbs flashing everywhere. In fact I found this blog post that just hit too close to home
http://joyfulchoices.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/joyful-family-gluten-intolerance-in-kids/

Before jumping to the doctor and running through the circus of appointments and testing that is bound to come, I am trying a week Gluten Free. It can't hurt anything and it may give us some answers to a few battles that my son and I have both been losing at for years. If not, O WELL . We will just continue searching for what can be the cause of the HORRIBLENESS we wake up to each morning.

So yesterday was Day 1. Let me tell you- after a long run with the boys in the morning, and a full busy day... I had more energy after their bedtime than ever. This morning we didn't have sheets to clean or a necessary shower, and it was a happy tantrum free morning. It could be a coincidence, but I am very hopeful.

As anyone with celiacs or a gluten intolerance will tell you, eating gluten free is not easy. Fortunately we cook most meals at home, and our grocery stores here are filled with plenty of organic gluten free options. Many meals we eat actually are already GF which is awesome. I have already found great substitutions like corn tortillas  for sandwich " bread" and rice as a staple instead of pastas. The amount of recipes online are ENDLESS and pinterest- of course- makes it all a breeze.

Maybe I am just coming out of the gluten " fog" they call it but I am pretty excited about this new adventure and hoping that it brings GREAT things to our family. Inlcuding-but not limited to- the restarting of potty training without the fear of the horrible-ness.

Hope everyone is having a happy week!

Weeks 18-19

It is officially January 3 which means the inevitable holiday season is OVER! I can not say how happy that makes me.As soon as official deployment orders are in, the first thing most families think about is each holiday/birthday/anniversary/ important ANYTHING that will be missed. Or in some cases how many of each. The nice thing about 12 month deployments is you only miss everything ONCE, but the hard part is that you miss one of EVERYTHING. One Birthday for each family member, one anniversary, one Christmas, one Easter... etc. 

Honestly, December was the most difficult month so far. Most holidays are easy to move past. You pretend it's just another day, don't make a big fuss like you would other years. But Christmas enraptures our culture. There is no way to avoid it. Every step you take, every moment of the month it seems is filled with either Shopping, mailing, Parties, Gifts, Christmas trees, Train rides, Santa Claus... you just can't hide out from it.  Now don't get me wrong, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is WORTH getting excited about. In fact the one moment I felt whole and comfort in the season was during the beautiful Christmas service at Arizona hills. But in general it is a very lonely and empty time for a family that is missing their loved one. It's not even the "empty" chair so to say that makes it so tough. It's the fact that we both come from very different families than what we have created in our OWN home. We had started our own traditions, and value the peace the comes with spending time as a family... our own family. SO being back "home" for Christmas for the first time in a while was just different, and a bit difficult. 

Thanks to the amazing technology we have now, we were able to briefly facetime with Daddy Christmas morning. Of course the internet was bogged down leaving a blurry shot and nearly inaudible communication- BUT we are very fortunate to get anything. The boys got too many presents of course. The biggest hit was reindeer poop. The week prior to Christmas I kept asking Steven what he wanted. Mostly responding with Cars and Apaches. SO I would list things. Do you want....Dinosaurs? No. Do you want...trains? No. Do you want.... REINDEER POOP? YAAAA!! From that moment on he kept telling me he wanted Reindeer poop from Santa. So Santa delivered- a bag full of reindeer poop. Whipped together last minute Christmas morning- Mini Marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate/peanut butter. They were ACTUALLY delicious, I think he was on to something. 

When the boys went down for a nap  I went a little nut-so. Being pretty depressed in general and being READY for the season to be over and behind us.. I packed up Christmas before it ended. Yes I took down my tree at noon, packed up the lights, took every ounce of decor down, put away Elfie and her book,  and shoved it all in the garage. And let me tell you- NOTHING felt better! 

We enjoyed time with my whole family on my Moms side for Christmas night- All 4 of us 'kids' and our families , besides my husband of course. But it was nice and extravagent , full of great food and WAY too many presents. To say we all were  spoiled is an understatement. 

New years eve was Steven's first sleepover! Our favorite Army " soul family" I'd like to call them, came over and celebrated with us. We baked some delicious cupcakes, and probably overindulged a little bit once the boys were ALL fast asleep ;) 

January 2nd was the best day in a LONG long time. What did we do? NOTHING. We stayed home for the first time in what seems like forever, and played played played. We all three wore our sweats  and just enjoyed time together. I realize now I need to make a conscious effort to do this more. It was so easy in Alabama because our options of entertainment were limited- we were forced to live a much simpler life. Since living in Phoenix we seem to never stop, if I have ANY new years resolution at all it is to return back to our slower life as much as possible. Start saying NO to plans and focus on my boys and my house- because that is truly all that matters right now. 

Ok off my soap box. Life is good again finally...really really good- as good as it can be without him. The holidays are over HOORAY and now we can focus on the important things. 

Here's what we did the last couple weeks...

My little Christmas Angels...

Christmas Eve run together

Christmas Eve hanging out with Papa

Christmas Morning. Cheesy effects I know but I thought this was kind of cute, like the spirit of Christmas morning all lit up...

Opening presents 

Yup. Reindeer poop. 

Dinner and presents at the Colaiacovo house...

I'm so spoiled...

and so are my boys. 

Our family 

Mama and her boys with their matching PJs from Santa

Getting together after Christmas with some great friends and adorable kiddos. 

Besides that little boy in the awkward bumblebee shirt that he HAD to wear.. don't know who he belongs to....

So this was crazy. I went for a quick run the other afternoon. Right when I left my Mom's house it seemed to get really dark but of course I kept on going. At about mile 4 it started to just POUR down on me- but running in the rain is my ABSOLUTE favorite so I kept going. Then the wind picked up and I felt like I was in a wind tunnel. Before I knew it the most BEAUTIFUL double rainbow sprung right over Daisy mountain! Quite a metaphor to life lately actually .The last photo is courtesy of my cousin-in-law who lives in Washington. Her friend posted this picture of a double rainbow  to Facebook , and in that picture just happened to have this familiar person in it running.... How bizzare is that? 

 Steven has found a new love for hiking or "climb mountains" as he calls it. Kane loves to ride in the  Carrier so I think we may just have to try out camelback here soon! 

Is there anything better to wake up to than this face?

HAPPY 2013!!

I thought this was an Amazing pic from the "other" desert he sent me. The irony that such a horrible place can still hold so much beauty..

 We decided that we needed to find use for the baby pool in the winter. So here was our solution.. SO much fun! 

I am actually really excited for this year. For once I am not pregnant, have no major events to schedule around, and am just looking forward to spending my time with my favorite little men until Daddy comes home in the fall. My overall goal is to plan less and just trust that God has my steering wheel.

 Here is to week 20! And a very happy 2013 to all :D