Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Gluten-Free Free

What?
That makes sense right?
After 3 1/2 months of being totally gluten free,
I, now can have gluten.
So I'm free from having to be gluten free!
Simeon seems to be tolerating it and is still happy.
Wow.
The things we mamas do for our kiddos.
Actually, I found out that I liked being gluten free.
I didn't even know what gluten was til I had to get rid of it.
(it's basically anything with wheat in it, or anything with flour in it)
No pasta, cheerios, granola bars, or bread of any kind,
 except well...the rice flour varieties, I quickly got sick of those.

I found with adding gluten back into my diet,
I'm hungrier, actually feeling like I'm starving.
I'm feeling more bloated and well, just fat

OK, so I am fat, but I just had a baby 5 months ago!
I figured that in the past 13 years, I've been either
pregnant or nursing for about 11 1/2 of those years
so
I can be fat
and
I have time to lose it
And
I will lose it!

I've been doing the Weight Watcher's plan
for a few weeks now and have lost 9 lbs.
(it was 10 Sunday and 9 on Monday,
 I have to go with 9 because Monday is my weigh in day)

Yes, I weigh when I'm not supposed to, it's so hard to stay away from that darn scale!
I have 10 lbs to lose to get to where I was before Simeon
and about 50-60 to lose to get to my ultimate goal!

My point is, I'm staying gluten free.
I'm not as worried about the "may contain wheat" labels though.
I feel better

(and that milk I had stored in my freezer....I never could throw it and still have it--yay!)


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pentecost Cake!

 It worked (kind of)
I ran out of the red gel food coloring, so it turned more pink than red....
 Many, many "No, nos"going on.....
(it was supposed to look like flames coming up...like this)
I don't think the girls minded....
 Come Holy Spirit, give me the 7 Gifts of The Holy Spirit
"When do I get some cake?"

Pentecost Sunday!

 Come Holy Spirit Come!
Happy Birthday Church!
Not sure where I saw this, (I saw it a long time ago and saved it)
Wouldn't it be the perfect cake to make for today?
Might need to get some red and yellow food coloring....
Happy Feast day everyone!!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Catching up--Thankful...

 Thankful....for Kevin Costner and his gray hair--I love it.
  Isn't it funny how good men look in gray hair?
Indulge me a little, I'm trying to catch up all this jumbled up stuff in my head
(I'll post a separate First Holy Communion post soon)
 Thankful for my 5 year old and her love of planning parties!
She's planning a "fish" party, this is the craft I helped her pick to do
(her birthday is next week, we are on the countdown of days)
Thankful my little 2 year old does fall asleep sometimes, 
even if it's at the top of the stairs, during a temper tantrum!
(she wanted me to carry her down but my hands were full) 

 Thankful for washable markers!!
She always markers up her arms!
 Thankful for kiddos that can bike to piano and back home again....
 Thankful our band and piano concerts are over!!
It was a busy week last week!
 Thankful for this boot thing for my Plantar Fasciitis, 
after a week or so of using it, I can finally walk, with my good tennies on.
Thankful for all your suggestions for exercises and ideas, they have helped a ton, 
just knowing I'm not the only one who suffers from this was helpful!
 The same day my boot came, Jedi broke his foot!!
(on the trampoline)
Thankful he ended up getting a walking cast....
 5 days later!!
This also happened last week!
 Thankful for beautiful Iris blooms in my front yard....
 Thankful for Azaela bush blooms, that adorned our First Communion table!!
 Thankful for beautiful chive blooms...chives anyone?
 Thankful Mary Hannah's day was wonderful!
Here's the Azaela bushes,
 it rained in the morning, but got sunny in the afternoon!
(she couldn't get the dress off fast enough though, the veil was long gone by the time we got home...)
 Thankful sweet little Simeon slept through the whole Mass!!!
 Thankful Tom celebrated 23 years sobriety 
on her special day!!
(I'm so proud of him, and I know this day is more special to him than his birthday)
 Thankful for beautiful girls in the sun.....

 Thankful for my first Zulily purchase.....couldn't resist, she loves these guys....
 Thankful for sunny days on the porch....
Thankful for girls in curlers....
 and girls in curls.....
Thankful for this sweet baby!!!
He's finally almost back to normal....
sleeping a little more, but still only letting mama feed him....
He's 5 months now!!!!


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

 That's me screaming.....chicken with head cut off, that's how I feel today!
We have Mary Hannah's First Holy Communion Sunday and I have a gazillion things to do
to prepare.
I keep telling myself, it's not about the food, or how neat my home is, 
It's about Jesus.
Receiving Jesus for the very first time!!
It's such a special day, I want her day to special, I want to make it special.
I want to
 make chalice/host cookies
practice curls and hair styles
clean, clean, clean....
go to Confession, 
pick up cake
do groceries
Then, I have these questions like "Do I make one giant fruit salad, or make 3 big to normal salads?"
These things drive me crazy....the little things!
20 some people here, including us, 
It's celebrating Jesus
It's celebrating Jesus
Anyone have Plantar Fasciitis?
Not fun.
I can barely walk.
I ordered a boot to sleep in, it came today, can't wait to see if it helps!
See?  That chicken with her head cut off, can't even run.
Jesus must want me to slow down and remember 
the day is about
Celebrating Him.
It's all about Jesus!

Prayers for my sweet little girl?  

Hoping to find time to do a "Thankful Thursday" post!
Things have been crazy around here, 
I have not been very good at answering emails or posting comments,
I'm sorry...I'm looking, just doing it in 5 minutes here and there.
Things will be back to semi normal soon, I hope!!

Monday, May 14, 2012

First Cleft Lip Surgery

 It's been 10 days and our little red head is seeming to be happy again!!
Oh, how we've missed that sweet smile!
Day One
 I'm sorry if this is too graphic for you,
 but you must see this to even more appreciate how far he's come
 Day Two
Day Three!
Huge difference, huh?
The first 2 days in the hospital I cried out in my prayers, through my tears,
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

I felt like Jesus.
I felt like, where did all the prayers, Masses, sacrifices, rosaries, novenas, blessings, 
from so many, where did they go?
I worried about the before the surgery, I worried during the surgery, 
(surgery took 5 hours)
but 
didn't give much thought to how painful it would be to see him the first time.
Or
how hard it would be for him, how much pain he'd be in
afterward.

All I could think of was how unbearable this was to watch my baby suffer
(he had pain meds of course, but was still in pain)
My husband and I have barely mentioned the fact that this is the first of many surgeries, 
the thought brings me to instant tears, as does my husband.

Afterward, I felt more like Mary must have felt when she met Jesus carrying the cross.
Helpless.
And again how she must have felt when they took Him down from the cross and 
placed Him in her arms.
Holding my baby, helpless, to take away the pain.

I know those prayers were there, holding us up, even though, 
we wanted to run away and try to hide from the pain, 
we made it and sweet Simeon is doing great now.
He's been eating every 2 hours since about Wednesday,
making up for lost time and keeping his mama from sleeping much!

 Before
(the day before surgery)
After
This is today!
10 days later!
He has a top lip and a complete nose!!
He still has some scabbing, but it's looking better and better every day!!

His lip is pulled very tight on top and that will push the soft tissue down 
(that big chunk in the middle) 
 the goal is within a year so he can have his palate surgery.
It's already gone down some and centered itself.
It's amazing, really, how it all works.

Thank you for all your prayers, God bless you all!!
He's crying....gotta run!!!


Monday, May 7, 2012

We're Home!

We are home!!  We came home Sunday afternoon (late).

Thank you for all your wonderful prayers, I have no doubt they held me up.

Grace, I'm living on Grace.

Simeon is doing OK.  He's in a lot of pain.
It's pure agony for a mama to watch her child in any pain, and not be able to make it go away.
He's on Tylenol, but it still hurts.

He crys when he's hungry, or when he's not, and won't take a bottle because it hurts.  I rock him to sleep standing (he won't have it any other way) then can slip the bottle in and he'll eat...slowly and not as much as he used to...that will take time.  He's doing fine.

Tom and I look at it as "one down...many more to come"
(although, we are really trying to not think about the future surgeries...this one was hard enough)

The after-surgery was much harder than I ever imagined.  (agonizing actually)
But each day will get better!


I'll be off for a week of two, not reading blogs or blogging.
I need to take care of my baby....who needs someone with him at all times, he can't touch his face,
the arm guards work, but not that great for a 4 month old.

I'll be back with "the story" later....in a week or two.

Thank you again, your prayers are going to take him far in his life, and all the surgeries he needs. 
I just know it.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Please Pray! Surgery is Friday!

I've been a nervous wreck, but somehow, I've gotten to this day, 
the day before his surgery.
We all feel the same way,
We love him the way he is, the way God gave him to us, the way God made him.
Perfect.
In our eyes.
The kiddos all keep saying at different times how worried they are about him,
it's been a stressful week on all of us to say the least.
I tell them of the hundreds of people praying,
blog people, friends, family, neighbors, people from church,
prayer groups here and prayer groups of friends.
He is probably the most blessed little boy in the world and all will be fine.
They, and I have a sense of peace
with this thought.

Our priest came by yesterday and blessed Simeon
We called the Poor Clare Nuns and they are praying

His surgery is at 7:30 am Friday
We need to be there at 6 am,
he needs to have his last bottle by 3:30 am
The surgery is between 3-4 hours long.
He will be in overnight for sure, and 
will come home when he can eat (by bottle)

They don't allow cell phones in the hospital
I won't have time to post til I get home
So you will be in the dark til then.

Today
We are packing (Rosie is going to stay overnight with me in the hospital)
We are taking lots and lots of pictures of Simeon
We are taking lots of videos of him the way he is now
We are already missing his sweet little face, that we all love so much.
We are kissing his sweet little lips as they are now.

It's a sadness I can't describe,
 loving him the way he is now and not knowing what
he'll look like tomorrow.
And at the same time, we all know everything will be fine and he'll be beautiful.

Thank you for all your prayers and novenas and rosaries and Masses,
phone calls, letters, gifts and whatever I'm forgetting!

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Garden of The Good Shepherd Party

I'm going to link you to the Garden Parties at Catholic Cuisine for 
all the details, I'm short on time but wanted to post especially our "clouds"
THE HEAVENS TELL GOD'S GLORY
And then I'm going to link to our Last Year's Party,
 because it was so much better than our
"last minute thrown together quick before baby gets fussy party"
The girls loved making their SUN plates!

 Our CLOUDS were really cool, I have to admit!
They were not edible, but very fun to make!
Just get Ivory soap
pop it in the microwave and watch it turn into a cloud!!
I'll link you here to find out more if you want!
 Very fun and the microwave is now very clean!
 We did bubbles again for our "WIND"
Look at those cute bubble lips...


 HAIL  (crushed ice) and RAIN (water-pop)
 RAINBOW--popsicles
LIGHTNING--PB&J tortillas
We even got a real storm later that day,
hid out in the basement, from tornadoes storming the area
(I was pumping when the sirens went off and by the time I got my milk and pump and milk bottles, etc
for Simeon, the sirens were off and everyone was coming upstairs again!)
(baby's gotta eat!!!)
We also did the Good Shepherd Garden Party last week,
 but I never got time
to post about it... it was a lot of fun!
(Those are Barbara's biscuits)