Happy 13th Birthday, Clayton!

Before the creation of the world, God chose to create you - for His pleasure! (Eph. 1:4-5)

He knit you together in my womb. (Ps. 139:13)

You were the first piece of me, that I ever held outside of my body.

You were our first....the son of our youth.

Welcomed by excited family.

When you were brand new, we dedicated you to the Lord -

- something we've had to do over and over again.

You made it clear from the beginning that you had your own way of doing things.

You were my best little friend, the joy of my lonely days....

....the one who tagged along with us in all that we did.

The child your dad waited 28 years for.

All of your firsts, were our firsts too.

You were the one that we have made the most of our mistakes on.

The one we didn't hold often enough.

The one that we let cry more than we should have.

The one we couldn't keep from climbing up everything you could find to climb. You gave me lots of little heart attacks.

You have been the one that challenges our thinking to the nth degree.

The one who has excelled at everything you've tried.

We have only one little problem.

You won't quit growing.

You won't stop changing.

You keep amazing us.

With each passing day, we're more aware of how short our time with you is growing....

....and we plan to make use of every minute of it!

Happy Birthday, Clayton! We love you so much!

Tricky Tonsils

Yesterday, our dear Riley blacked out at school. He was sitting on a stool by his desk, fell to the floor, hit is lip on the trash can (which resulted in a nasty cut), then hit the floor (which resulted in a bump). His teacher walked him to the office. Apparently, he was white as a sheet. He said that he had a couple of dizzy spells during the day and the night before. So we went to the doctor for a diagnosis. He was talking slowly and deliberately and telling the same stories over and over. I could just generally tell he wasn't himself.

The doc checked blood pressure, pupils, heart rhythms, reflexes, muscle control, ears, nose, throat, etc., etc., etc. Nothing popped out as a clear diagnosis. So we went home. He had another dizzy spell last night, so I kept him home today. He laid on the couch and watched t.v. most of the day and complained of a headache.

The doctor wanted us to come back this afternoon and just re-check everything and make sure nothing else jumped out. So they checked blood pressure, pupils, heart rhythms, reflexes, muscle control, blood sugar, ears, nose, throat - "Riley? Does your throat hurt?" "Nope." "Are you sure?" "Yep." "Cause it doesn't look so good today."

I explained to the doctor that he has had strep several times this year and that he never has normal symptoms. In fact, a couple of years ago, we ended up at the ER on a weekend because of weird symptoms that seemed kidney related. He didn't have a sore throat. But the diagnosis? Strep.

So the doctor did a culture, and guess what?! Positive. Strep. Again. #4 this year.

We talked about Riley's strange sleeping habits....how he rips his bed apart every night and ends up on the floor most of the time...how I hear him up at midnight, rummaging through drawers...how he is impossible to wake up in the morning and has been very cranky and moody.

The doctor explained that sometimes tonsils can interfere with sleep. Weird. Who knew.

So we're off to see a ear nose and throat specialist. Riley isn't so thrilled about the prospect of having his tonsils out, but I am! Enough is enough! Black outs, hives, sleepless nights, leg pain, back pain. Seriously.

New Posts

I posted some thoughts today about the times we live in. You can read them here.

I also posted about our day right here.

I figured some of you follow all three blogs, so there is no sense in boring you over and over with the same stuff. :)

Thoughts on Fasting

I've been thinking about fasting tonight. It comes from a long string of thoughts in my mind as I realize how addicted I am to food. My new diet journey has really made me realize how much of my life I've tied to food. I love to cook. I LOVE to bake. I love having big family dinners and having people over. I love to take meals to people and surprise them with cookies or a loaf of bread.

Since I started my diet, I've began to realize how often I reward myself with food or turn to food when I'm upset. When I need a pick me up, I go get a special coffee or grab a piece of chocolate cake. Today, I got upset about something and was really feeling down. I wanted coffee. I wanted cake. I wanted lemon pie. None of it is on my diet.

In a sense, even though I'm eating everyday, it feels a bit like fasting because my diet has become about "don'ts" and discipline. Honestly, there is little joy left in eating. I've learned the discipline, but I still have lots of desires that are not being met.

With each of those unmet desires, I turn to the Lord and confess how often I've not turned to him because I was drooling over cake instead.

It made me wonder....what was God's original intent when he encouraged fasting. Was it that the people go without food? Or that they realized He met their deepest needs? If it is the heart issue, then what is the more important thing about fasting today? That we give up food? or that we give up the thing we turn to instead of Him?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you'd told me to give up football for the month, I wouldn't even be feeling any pain - because I could care less about football. But if you asked my brother, Taylor, to give up football for the month, he would be in more pain than I am on my diet.

Anyway, my perspective has changed a bit, as I view the purpose of fasting being met more by the sacrifice of something I might turn to other than the Lord - so He has more of my mind and my heart.

What do you think?

Nominate A Mom

Do you know a mom that could really use a reward? You can nominate her in Mom 4 Life's annual Mother Load contest for a great Mother's Day gift basket. That's not all! If your nomination receives the most votes and wins, you get a basket too!!

Lifestyle Changes

This has been a rough couple of years for me in the weight department. Somehow, sitting at a desk for 40ish hours a week doesn't seem to burn as many calories as chasing four kids. Besides that, I found out I had high triglycerides. I also realized I was perpetually congested, perpetually sluggish, and perpetually just not feeling good.

When the scale gave me a number higher than it had ever given me (even when full term pregnant), I decided I had to do something. I have said over and over that it was time, that I had enough. But the truth was, I didn't feel good enough to exercise and always changed my mind.

I was researching some of my symptoms and began to wonder if I might have Candida - which is basically an overgrowth of yeast in your body that can cause all sorts of things from headaches to back pain to acne to depression to digestive problems and obviously yeast problems.

I decided that even if I really didn't have the condition, it wouldn't hurt me to change my diet and see what happened. So the very next day, I dove in!

So! I'm not eating:
*Anything with any form of sugar in it because it feeds yeast. That is no sugar, honey, corn syrup, molasses, maple syrup, any kind of "trose" (dextrose, fructose, etc). I can have plant based agave or stevia if I just have to have sweetener, but as time goes on I need it less and less.
*No dairy except plain, unsweetened yogurt and butter
*No caffeine
*No fruit, except berries
*No wheat or yeast
*No vinegar, alcohol (so hard for me. LOL!)
*No starchy veggies like corn, potatoes
*No mushrooms

I can eat:
*meat and eggs
*rice, oats, and some other grains
*almost any vegetable (including avocado)
*yogurt, butter, oils
*berries

So I eat a lot of eggs with veggies in them, salads (with the one dairy/vinegar/sugar free dressing I could find), yogurt with a little agave and berries, steel cut oats with almond milk, soups from scratch. I can't eat hardly anything in a box or a can. I have bought wheat free/dairy free/sugar free pancake and biscuit mixes from the organic section of the store, so I can eat plain pancakes with butter and make small batch of biscuits for myself when I need some substance.

The first day, I thought I would die. The second die, I just thought it wasn't very fun. In time, I've really learned to adapt - except for some occasional cravings.....like when Bill brings home a whole box of maple bars! My new treats are frozen blueberries, pea pods, and Sweet and Spicy Tea. I'm learning to throw spinach and avocados in my fruit smoothies and enjoy soy and agave in a very occasional cup of decaf coffee.

I do plan to start re-introducing some of those foods into my system over time and see how my body reacts. If I do okay, they can stay - like FRUIT!

I've been doing this for four weeks, and so far I've lost 14 pounds and am completely off of allergy meds. I've felt congested for maybe two days of it. Most of my acne has cleared up. I've had two headaches (rather than 2-3 a week). I've had so much more energy, it is insane....which makes me want to actually exercise.