Organic Morning

Gwyneth

2013-03-07T08:24:00.001-06:00

In January Gwyneth turned six and it seems like over night she has gone

from this.....

to this.

We love you Gwyneth Elaine.

You are what you eat....

2013-02-09T10:07:00.000-06:00

If that is true than we are chickens, or eggs. Which one comes first! We eat a ton of eats, I mean, a ton. I order 10-15 dozen eggs a week. And we eat them all. Now I have always cooked or baked with eggs but have never just eaten eggs. No side of scrambled eats with my bacon. Why ruin the bacon! I am not sure how long it has been, maybe a year or two, but I have finally joined the world of egg eaters. I feel like such an adult. My preferred method of cooking is scrambled with cheese and caramelized onion. I will eat a hard boiled egg. When I make eggs in the morning for breakfast it can be quite a task. We all like our eggs a little different. Gwyneth likes hers scrambled with ketchup. No ketchup, no eggs. Taya likes what we call a "flat" egg. (some more of our own lingo!) It is an egg cracked in a sauté pan with tons of butter with the egg yolk cooked all the way through. No runniness at all. Then there is Henry, he prefers a "flat" egg with a runny yoke. Alex will take eggs of any kind and throw in some bacon! I remember "back in the day" when I bought 2 dozen eggs for a week. Oh my, we would starve around here like that now! Speaking of bacon, it has been over a year since we have had any. MMMM, yummy bacon, I miss you!

Random

2012-12-28T09:54:00.000-06:00

We have returned from our little get away to Branson. Fun was had by all! We love Silver Dollar City and enjoyed season passes this year. I have never been to SDC during Christmas and it was beautiful. Another successful vacation travelling with all our food. In a lot of respects it is easier travelling with food because we have everything ready to go and their is no debate about what to eat or where to go. Meals are simple and we don't think much about food. We focus more on what we are doing.

Christmas has come and gone and it was another wonderful time. Henry yelled "I wanted that!" after he opened every present. Mostly we enjoyed having daddy home for extra days. We are now in full swing party mode getting ready for Gwyneth's birthday.

I have been sick for the last two days. Some sort of head cold and junk. The girls have stepped it up and really helped around the house and let me rest. Got to get better for the big birthday weekend!!

I haven't noticed any changes in my skin taking the liver cleanse. Not sure how long until I see results. Sometimes I think the rash on the back of my right hand is better but then I am not sure.

So there is a random update for now. Still not very clear in the head.

Hmmm...

2012-12-18T09:11:00.001-06:00

...this liver cleanse has brought about some *interesting* events. Staying close to home for now. I also woke up the first night and the back of my hands were itching really bad. Enough to wake me. In just the last several weeks I have developed a rash on the back of my hands. Not sure if it is eczema or more psoriasis spots or some other rash. It is not itching any more today. The journey continues.

On the road again...

2012-12-16T22:20:00.000-06:00

I frequently get asked how in the world we travel and still stay on our diet. Well, the answer to that is to plan and cook :) Sounds pretty simple when you put it like that! But honestly, it is a challenge but not a deal breaker. We will be spending a couple of days in Branson and here is how I do it.

About a week before we leave I jot down the days we are going to be gone and include a line for breakfast, lunch, dinner snacks and treats. Then I start filling in the blanks with the meals we will eat. After I have figured out what we will eat I write a list of things to cook, things to bake/make and things to cut/pack. Then I put the list on the refrigerator and start checking things off the list as I get them done throughout the week. Maybe one afternoon I will cook one of the extra meals to take on the trip or tackle all the cutting. If I am preparing a meal that has some of the ingredients to something I am taking with us, I just prepare extra and save. I just chisel away at it until it is all done and then the day of I can pack it all into our cooler. Here is our menu for Branson

Thursday
Dinner-chili (we will be leaving straight from the office and the chili will be in the crock pot and we will eat before we leave)

Friday
Breakfast-hard boiled eggs, fruit
Lunch-beef jerky, raw veggies, cheese slices
Dinner-chicken soup

Saturday
Breakfast-yogurt/fruit
Lunch-cold chicken, raw veggies, cheese slices
Dinner-beef stew

Snacks-lara bars, trail mix, fruit,
Treats-brownies, macaroons, fruit snacks

The entire list of food is homemade and has to be cooked or prepared before we go. Meals are pretty basic but we have gotten use to that. In the 7 months we have been on this diet I have gotten pretty good at traveling with food. It use to overwhelm me but now it is just part of the program.

This diet is restrictive in many ways and I didn't want it to limit the amount of things we can do. Having to travel with all our food is not easy but I would rather work a little harder to make memories with my family than stay at home just because of food!

On a little side note, I started a herbal liver cleanse today and am hoping that it is the next step in riding my body of psoriasis. I am not sure how long it will take before I can tell if it is helping. We will see....

What a crock

2012-12-15T22:58:00.000-06:00

I just received a 6-quart, stoneware, travel lid, programmable crock pot for Christmas. My world has just been rocked.

Our own lingo

2012-12-10T17:24:00.001-06:00

If you come to our house and listen to us a talk you might get a little confused. Over the years we have added strange mispronounced or combined words to our lingo because they are so cute or funny. Sometimes they stick and become part of our ever day talk and get us in a rather embarrassing situation. For example, defaulty. Years ago I had a co-worker who combined two different words together frequently and their was no use setting him straight. He didn't care and wouldn't remember and would just roll with his own words anyway. They would be so funny sometimes that they would just stick. That is how we got defaulty in our lingo. Humorous to our group of friends or family who know the back story, not so humorous when accidently thrown into a conversations with people who have no idea you really know it is not a real word. I was talking to a patient of ours and threw down the word makie. It is what we call naked. Doesn't make sense to anybody else but us. Just makes me look like a mom who doesn't talk to adults much. Which is true I guess. Our newest addition is skirtsy. Taya and Gwyneth had their first piano recital this weekend and had to learn how to courtesy for it. Taya took to calling it skirtsy and after I corrected her a couple of times I just let it be and joined her in calling it skirtsy. It is really cute. When I was younger I use to call the lawn mower a mawn lower. To this day you can still hear my dad call it a mawn lower. I have a feeling I will be doing the same 30 years from now.

Betsy

How to start....

2012-12-09T23:26:00.000-06:00

Well, how do you start a blog post after not updating for a year. I have no idea. That is one of the reasons why I haven't posted in so long. So much has happened, so much to play catch up on. Oh well, I guess I will just ignore it and continue on. So much has changed in a year. I am different, my family is different. We have all grown and changed in so many ways. I was reading through old blog posts it just tugs at the heart strings. The kids have grown so much. So much has changed and yet I am so excited by it. I guess we will see what happens this next year. Hopefully I won't wait a year to post again :)

For now I will jot down a few things about a big change that our family has gone through this year. On May 2 we started the GAPS intro diet and have been on GAPS since then. GAPS stands for Guts and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell. We are gluten, refined sugar, starch, and ALL processed foods free. It is an intense medical diet aimed at healing the gut lining so that other health conditions are healed as well. We began working towards the diet in January and it took us to May to finally get to where we were ready to dive in. It was very painful at first but we have adjusted well and are doing great now.

I am happy to report that so far Alex has had the most significant improvement in his health. He suffered extremely from allergies and sinus infections his whole life. Since being on the diet he has hardly had any allergies and no sinus infections this year! He even went hunting and spent DAYS in the woods with minimal issues. He came home and was a little snotty for a day and that was about it! Before, that much time outside would have put him out with a sinus infection for sure. We are so excited.

Also, Gwyneth has resolved her distended bowl issue with out the further assistance of laxatives. I am thrilled with this. The doctor wanted her on a laxative for 6 months! No thank you. Once again, we are so grateful.

I am still searching and waiting for answers and healing. I found out this year that I have psoriasis. Along with the ugly skin issues, joint pain and arthritis can be an issue. I am not discouraged to not have any measure of healing. I am grateful to be on this journey towards better health and feel like this has been diet placed in my life to help me take the bull by the horns so to speak. GAPS is a medicinal diet and the average person is on it anywhere from 18 months to 3 years. I have no idea how long we will be on it or what our journey will look like. For now I am happy with the healing we have received so far and look forward to more.

I have not been to a restaurant or out to eat in over 7 months. CRAZY!!! I would have never thought it possible. I have been on vacations, last minute road trips, and long, unexpected shopping days. We have still been able to do it. God always provides the right amount of grace for every situation.

Excited to see where this next year takes us!

We did it....

2011-11-05T09:20:00.002-05:00

Henry is now potty trained! I can't even remember when I started. A month or so a go I guess. I just looked at him and decided it was time. I also decided it was time to paint the outside of the house so I knew I was going to be home for awhile. We went for it and he did awesome. He sleeps through the night and takes naps in his underwear. We go to the store or the office and he let's me know. He just does it himself all day long and let's me know if he needs wiped. It is such a strange thing to not have a baby in diapers anymore. He has an occassional accident but for the most part we are good to go. We are all grown up around here. I am so glad I stopped potty training the first time. When I think about how easy it was this time around I know I made the best choice for the both of us.

Great job Henry. You are growing up so fast and we are so proud of you. Now we just have to figure out how to keep you pants up without the big diaper padding!

What's in a name?

2011-08-31T12:39:00.003-05:00

We call her Ginn-Ginn or Ginny, she calls herself Gwyneth. I love that. She loves that she has special nick names that her sister and brother gave her, but she know who she is. She is Gwyneth, she can handle her big name!

OUCH!!

2011-08-23T21:18:00.003-05:00

While playing at a friends house today, Taya snagged her knee on a nail and tore her skin back pretty seriously. It tore in three separate, very jagged, pieces. We went to the doctor where he was able to put several special strip bandages on it and then she had to have two shots. Fortunately, Taya is going to be just fine.

The thing that amazes me about her is that when it comes to "serious" injury/illness she has been able to handle things pretty well. When she looked down at her knee, she knew it was bad. She never went crazy or lost control. She cried a little but she stayed calm and let me clean it up. When the doctor needed to put it back together she toughed it out. She even took the shots like a champ. About a year ago she cut cut the back of her head and needed a couple of staples. She did great. When Taya had chicken pox she never scratched them, never. It just blew me away that she never even touched them!

Taya, I am so proud of you. You showed considerable self-control today and that is something that I am pleased to watch developing in you. It is an area you show strength in and I pray it continues to grow in you. I am so blessed to be your mother. You are an amazing, tough, funny, loving, kind, spunky, loving kid. I love you.

Breakfast

2011-08-21T07:39:00.003-05:00

Sitting at the tables, with all the kids, eating breakfast. Oatmeal is on the menu. Taya takes hers with honey-a little extra honey. Gwyneth likes her with honey, frozen blueberries, cinnamon sugar and peanut butter. Henry likes his with honey and blueberry. Me, just honey. I love breakfast together. This is one of those simple mornings we enjoy most of the time. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. These are the kind of mornings I am afraid I will soon forget about. Will I always remember just how the kids use to take there oatmeal? Time is flying by.

Nevermind

2011-06-11T21:10:00.002-05:00

on the potty training. I did it for about 3 days and stopped. He did fine but I found myself panicking about getting him trained so I could go back to the office the following week and I realized I was headed towards a not so good potty training experience. I put the breaks on it for now. I am a firm believer in all in and don't turn back. I guess I have turned back a little but I will swallow my pride and do what is best for Henry. Potty training, in my opinion, is 90% parents attitued and consitency and 10% child skill. Henry is a smart kid and can learn new things quickly. When I set things up for him in the right learning environment he can grasp quickly and master. I was NOT setting potting training up right this time around. I found myself uneasy about it and stressed he would have accidents at work and just an all around not ready mode I guess. So I had a talk with him and told him we would do it when mommy was ready. He seemed just fine with that. We have enjoyed having jelly beans around the house though!

Potty Training-Third Times The Charm

2011-05-16T20:51:00.003-05:00

We started potty training Henry today. This is my third time to do this. I am an all in kinda of potty trainer. We are in underwear from now on out. No turning back. (With the expection of night time for now) My previous potty training experiences have been fine. It is work but the kids always seem to get it just fine. So here we go again. Just another step in no longer being my little baby. He is slowly turning into that big strong man we tell him he is. Why does he have to do it so fast?

Re-Organizing.......AGAIN!

2011-05-14T20:05:00.003-05:00

It is time to re-organize the house again. We have only lived here 2 years and yet it seems like I keep changing things again and again. I love to find a new way to put things away or find a pile of stuff to get rid of or repurpose something I thought I was done with. All of that is so exciting...yet frustraing. I have now come up with an idea of how to get an office and bookcases in my living room but can't find the furniture to make it happen. I came up with an idea to store some of my kitchen appliances but now I have to wait for my husband to bring back the screw gun from work. So until I can get it all done, I finish what I can, and then continue to shop on-line. Ugh, so boring! I want to be putting new furniture in now!!!

What can I say....

2011-05-10T08:18:00.003-05:00

I took a break I guess. Got tired of blogging. Was too busy. I don't know, you pick. For whatever reason I have not blogged in amlost a year. Things have changed a ton around here. We opened our own practice. I traded in my sweat pants and sandles for business casual. The kids and I have gone to work! It has been fun, hard, a learning experience to say the least. However,I am so grateful that we get to be a part of Daddy's work and spend more time with him.

We also started homeschooling. Taya went to about 20 days of public school and then we took her out. I am so grateful for the oppritunity to watch her learn and grow like this. She has done a great job. We have finished math for the year and will continue to work on English through the summer. We took a little break from it while we had to work full time with Daddy. Just in the short time off I can see how she has matured and is ready to take it on.

Henry,obviously, is now a walker. He is such a fun little guy. He wants to keep up with his big sisters and he loves them so much. He chatters all day long and loves to sing. We also turned his bed into a big boy bed several months ago and in a few weeks we will potty train. Big changes around here for sure!

Gwyneth is changing before my eyes. Taya's hand me down's go straight from her closet to Gwyneth's. She is shy, yet daring, loud and quiet all at the same time. She loves to swing, which she has been able to do on her own for 6 months. She is my little side kick and is so sweet. She is learning and changing faster than I can keep up with.

So much has happened and don't know where to start but here I go again. Back to the blogging world. Let's see if I can keep up. No promises!

Growing Up

2010-07-17T12:26:00.031-05:00

We are growing up around here! Henry is almost 1 year old. Wow, I can't believe that! He is all over the place with his army crawl. He can regular crawl but gives it up quickly because he is MUCH faster with the army crawl. He likes to walk around the furniture now and will hold a finger to walk with you. He is such a happy baby and we love him so much!

Gwyneth turned 3 1/2 this month and around here that means getting your ears pierced. It is a big deal! We count down until the day. When it is finally time you get to go out on special date with mommy and daddy. She got to go to Chick-fil-A (her choice) and then off to get new earrings,followed by a new animal at Build-A-Bear. I think Gwyneth must of said "I am getting my ears pierced today" about 100 times. Then after she got them done she would say, "Did you know I got my ears pierced today?" Yep babe, we were there. It was a very special day. They had to pierce her ears one at a time and she was so brave, she just said ouch. She is very proud of them and we are very proud of her.

Here is Gwyneth after the new earrings with a new haircut so we could show off the earrings better.

Giveaway

2010-05-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

Go here and enter to win. You never know.
http://chrisandnancybane.blogspot.com/

Thank You Selena!

2010-04-14T13:30:00.004-05:00

We love them! We use them all the time.

Not to be outdone

2010-04-05T11:41:00.002-05:00

I was telling Alex how by this age the girls were crawling and pulling up on furniture. I look over right at the at moment to see Henry pull himself up at their baby gate. The song "Anything you can do, I can do better" ran through my head.

Taya turns 5

2010-03-14T15:41:00.004-05:00

Most of you know how hard it was for me this birthday. I can't believe how big she is getting. Taya has grown and changed so much. She can read simple words and loves trying to sound things out to spell. She can pretty much ride her bike now. She needs a little more work on stopping! She loves to play dress up and baby dolls. She has really gotten in to imagination play. She is a great big sister! I wish I could stop time and keep her here forever. She is such a neat little kid and I love seeing her grow and change. I just wish it wouldn't happen so fast!

6 months old

2010-02-18T07:59:00.003-06:00

Half a year gone. Time only goes faster. Henry is growing so much. At his appointment this month he weighed 15lbs 15.2oz. He can now sit on his own. He has started to army crawl and can roll to whatever he wants. He started saying dada this week much to the delight of his father and the girls. He has enjoyed all the different kinds of foods, avacado, pumpkin, yogurt, rice cereal, oatmeal and bananas. He is so quick to smile and is such a good natured little guy.

A million thanks to Nancy for lending us her very nice, quick trigger camera. It is amazing what you can caputre when there is not a 20 second delay. Also, a shout out to Jen for making the adorable hat Henry is wearing. I LOVE IT! More pictures with hats to come. She has some mad crazy hat making skills and the kids are going to show off her handy work.

Beautiful

2010-01-18T08:22:00.014-06:00

Here are some of the pictures I took for Gwyneth's third birthday. She is getting so big. She got to go upstairs to Rainbow's class which has been the highlight of turning three for her. She loves being big and going upstairs with sister. We are also celebrating 10 days of not sucking her thumb tomorrow. She is doing a great job. She sleeps with socks on her hands during nap time and bed time and goes during the day with out putting it in her mouth. She slips up every once in awhile but immediately catches herself. I am hoping over the next 10 days we can start to take the socks off and her still be able to go with out her thumb. I am so proud of her.

For Jennie

2010-01-11T21:10:00.004-06:00

Hope you like them.

THRILLING!

2010-01-09T23:26:00.003-06:00

Grand total for all this was $6.85 with $4.00 in register rewards to use towards my next purchase. AMAZING! Total receipts went from $125.34 down to $6.85. WHAT!!!