My baby is 1

My little Marshmallow turned one yesterday. I thought about his birth a great deal yesterday and how much it hurt and then finally he was here and all of that hurt went away so fast! He is such a special little person already and I am just loving watching his personality emerge. He is very sweet, a terrible flirt with the ladies, and has a bit of short temper. He is very lovey and likes to rest his head when you hold him. He also loves to give kisses. He just learned to clap both hands together and his first real words were - "My Baby!" I guess that is how I refer to him so he just picked it up. He usually says it when he want attention which is the cutest thing of all. Happy Birthday to my fair haired spring chicken!

Easter 2009

We had a great Easter weekend! Saturday we headed out to Bedias to see Meemaw and Pawpaw and Erika, Connor and the girls. Thanks to the Bedias Baptist Church, the kids got to have a great egg hunt and lots of candy was had by all! We went back Meemaw's and spent the day catching up with everyone. String Bean had a great time playing with his cousins and I think Butter Bean did too. We love being only an 1.5 hours away instead of the 3 hours it used to take from Austin. It makes day trips possible and that is good thing for mommy since I don't have to pack up the house for only one night!

Sunday we went to our Church. It starting raining cats and dogs while service was going on so we decided to skip the indoor egg hunt and head out to lunch. We had made plans to go to Jason's deli since that is the only place I can eat and not worry about soybean oil slipping into my meal but they were closed for the holiday. So we went to a local place and I ordered yet another salad. I asked for oil and vinegar on the side and the poor waitress brought me Italian dressing! Good thing I have turned into a quack who carries her own dressing in her purse for just in cases. After lunch we went home for naps but somehow Daddy was the only one who ended up with anything resembling a nap. Here are a couple of pictures of our weekend.

Our day

We went out the Arbor Gate and got some vegetables to grow in containers today. I had grand designs of building raised beds to grow lots of veggies this year but alas, time and money got in the way. So, I had almost given up on growing anything this year until last night when I decided I wanted to give it a last ditch effort. So, we headed out this morning and had the plants in the pot all before nap time. I would love to say String Bean was really into planting but he mostly just wanted to water them to death. He also wanted to tickle the plants and as far as I know that is not good for transplants trying to figure out where in the world they are! Anyway, I hope to post the progress of our little container garden as the plants grow.

Maybe String Bean will be more excited about the harvesting end of things.

15 Pounds!

Yep, that's right, I have lost 15 pounds. My husband even told me I have my pre-pregnancy shape back! Whoo Hoo I have a shape and it is just not round!

So the new food sensitivity diet looks like it is working. I also do have more energy and less of what I call brain fog. I am just so delighted to actually be feeling better and the weight loss is just the greatest thing ever. I mean at most I have ever lost is 20 pounds at once and that was with Atkins. Of course, it came right back and then some.

I am also learning lots of new things to cook and I am doing things I never thought I would. For instance, since I can't have eggs I basically eat oatmeal every morning but after two weeks that is boring so I had brown rice with coconut milk and cherries. So yummy! Never in a million years would I believe I was the person grinding up flax seeds to put into her brown rice breakfast!

I guess I will also mention my boys since my new diet has hijacked their blog! String Bean is doing so great here of late. He can sing all the books of the testament and as of last week, can dress himself. He is just getting so big and learning things so fast now.
Butter Bean is trying to walk but just will not let go and take that first step. He will get there and I am in no rush to rush him into it yet. He is starting to play with String Bean more and more and wants to be in anything that String Bean is doing. Poor String Bean can't lay on the floor without Butter Bean tackling him.

The results are in!

I had my follow-up appt. with Dr. Meyer this week and received my test results regarding food sensitivities. Turns out that I am reacting to the following:
Dairy
Eggs
Cashews
Garlic
Pinto beans
Mustard
Peanut
Soybean
Strawberry
Almond

So for the next 12 weeks I (and Butter Bean) cannot have any of the above items. This basically means I have to prepare all my own food including making my own bread and tortillas. All commercially available breads have either soy or dairy in them in form or the other. It also means that eating out will be next to impossible unless it is a salad bar and I can verify that they did not use soybean oil in any of the dressings!

It sounds a little scary at first but I am glad to finally know what is going on with me and I know it will be helping Butter Bean too. His cough and runny nose are finally gone (I have been dairy free for a month now). I am so excited about the possibility of losing some real weight too!

I think the thing I will miss most will be garlic. I use garlic nearly every time I cook and it is so healthy for you. I hope that in 12 weeks I can add it back into my cooking but maybe just not as much. Not having eggs will be hard too. I eat eggs every morning for breakfast, guess that is why I have become sensitive to it!

Even more exciting is that Husband is going to get tested too. It might help avoid a surgery!

Heaven help us get through Butter Bean's birthday party because anyone that knows me, knows that I love me some cake!

Birthday Party Fun

We celebrated String Bean's third birthday today. I still can't believe he is three. I really do feel like it was yesterday that I had him. Moments after I gave birth to him he laid on my chest and looked at me with the most knowing eyes. Now he is a ball of energy that that could charm the spots off of cheetah. I love him so much and I am so proud to call him my son. Two was a really hard year for him and I. Shortyly after his second birthday, his brother came into the world and reshaped our family. We moved twice and he got potty trained. I am looking forward to year three with all his curiosity and excitement we should have a great year.

His party was fun and I know he had a good time. He was so excited about his birthday I am a little worried about how he will wake up tomorrow! So now I have to start planning Butter Bean's first birthday because it is in three short weeks!

Yeah for me!

So I have lost like ten pounds and my pants are getting loose. I am so excited I am giddy. I guess this has to do with the no dairy diet I am trying to help Butter Bean but man it is working for me like gangbusters!

Butter Bean has another ear infection and just got over the worst flu. I was so lucky that String Bean was never sick when he was a baby so I am having to figure out how to treat a baby when they are sick. He is doing great today so hopefully he will be even better tomorrow.

My blood tests are back and I see the my naturopathic doctor next Tuesday to figure out what foods are causing problems for Butter bean and myself. I still can't believe I have survived this long with no cheese or butter but the weight loss is proving to be a new motivation!