Grayson turned 1, Christmas happened twice, and I just had a birthday!

Pallows (pillows), honeys (undies), Eggo (Diego), dinky doo (pinky dinky doo), I think I can, I do it, icky poopoo's, OOOH budder (brother), pretties, rite dare, stwower (stroller), I needsta help, boots, choc-oh-late, helmit (remote)...

I love listening to Lydia talk. I absolutely love her sweet little words and how she says each of them in her own little accent. These are just some of my favorites... some of the ones I hear the most. She's given her own names to so many everyday things that I often forget that it's not what other people normally call them. I'm teaching myself how to not speak her language back to her, though. I know it doesn't benefit her when it comes to teaching her the correct pronunciation of things, but my goodness it's hard not to say silly sentences like "I needs lots is a more of dees ones" when she's usually the only little human I talk to all day... everyday.
That and yes, I want to keep her little a lot of the time. I don't want her to grow up. It's so dear to my heart to hear how she's developed her own language to describe her little world... I feel like I see my world differently just from the way she has described it to me in her words.

Grayson's birthday came and went and with not TOO many tears... We celebrated with family the weekend before Christmas. It couldn't have been better. He loved being sang to so much that we sang him happy birthday twice! He ate more cake than I'd like to admit, but it was so extremely cute and I just wanted him to enjoy it. My mom made him a beautiful little sock monkey cake (hopefully I can find and add pictures!). You could tell he knew EXACTLY what it was and who it was for by his sweet little squeals the moment he saw it! He has loved his sock monkey from the moment he received it and it has been his favorite lovey since. Besides his train... it's by far his favorite thing in this house.
I hope that we get to celebrate his birthday with family like that every year. What a blessing!

Christmas with my family was celebrated that same weekend. I don't think I can remember having a better Christmas! All of the kids did great and had such a wonderful time! It was more relaxed than any other Christmas and I really think that everyone there could agree that we all left with full hearts and truly enjoyed our time with each other. We opened presents Saturday morning (my goodness every child was spoiled!). I was able to cook my favorite meal, breakfast, and then the kids played with all of their toys all day. We got everything prepared and cooked for the 'big dinner' and family all slowly arrived. We visited, opened beautiful stockings (just wait until you see how huge mine was! hahaha), and shared gifts that we had chosen for each other. We draw names every year and it's always fun surprising them with something unique and personal! The dinner was amazing and the deserts were even better! We sang birthday songs to my Uncle, Grayson, and myself, opened more presents, and then everyone went their separate ways. Jacob and I had planned to leave the next morning, but after some discussion... we decided it would be safest to leave that evening.
The kids are still loving all of their gifts from santa and I am too!!

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with just us as a family. It was such a sweet time! I read a book to the kids regarding the birth of Jesus, which Lydia loved, and we celebrated Christmas as a tribute to Christ's birth. Lydia is STILL singing 'Happy Birthday baby Jesus' around the house!
We opened presents, nothing big, but just a few things special that we had got for each other, and had our friends for dinner. All of the kids played well together and had a great time as did we. It was such a wonderful Christmas this year!

The day after was my birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! I'm now 24, be amazed, I know. I'm getting so stinkin old! Jacob came home and brought me beautiful flowers and a yummy peppermint starbucks! It was wonderful :)

So here comes the new year! I'm excited to be starting a new year full of new adventures! I haven't fully thought of any new year resolutions, but I'm sure that I will. Probably some new plan to build some muscle on these bones, learn a new craft, play more music, or finally sew Lydia's quilt that I started BEFORE she was born :/. I'm not sure yet, but when I know... you'll know.

Jacob and I hadn't planned on being in this picture, but neither of the kids wanted near Santa! :)

Grayson in his sock monkey little get up with his lovey

Me and my GINORMOUS stocking full of goodies!

My mom had a wool sock monkey dress... of course I had to put it on! haha... (ignore my lack of make up!)

A photo of all of the stockings together.. you can tell Jenna and I are the favorites here! ;)

Grayson seeing his cake with his cousin Autumn (otter pop)

Want some??

So handsome!!!

Lydia concentrating on opening everything in her stocking :)

The adorable cake and cupcakes!

MY beautiful cake my mom made me...  COMPLETELY dairy and gluten free!!! <3

Oh baby Gray...

Thanksgiving went well! It was so very wonderful to have my house full of family and smelling of yumminess. I already wish I could have them all back again! I'm not sure that I'll be doing it again for a long while though. It is just such a long drive to my house for everyone that came. They all arrived early to be able to spend more time with each other, but that's when I'm in the kitchen the most. It made it hard for me to spend time with them. Then they all needed to make the long trek home early enough to avoid freezing roads, which meant for only about 4 hours spent with them total... most of which I was either in the kitchen or cleaning up. Don't get me wrong, I had a FANTASTIC time! I LOVED doing the cooking and serving my family. I even loved trying to squish that many people into our little kitchen and dining room.
I keep trying to convince them all to move here, but they're just not having it! :)
So next year we'll most likely be spending it at my mom's beautiful home and I'll just have to talk her into letting me come a day ahead and we can cook our little fingers off together again.
That was definitely the part of Thanksgiving that I think I treasured the most, spending time cooking with my mom. We work so well together weaving around the kitchen and never even knocking into each other despite the small space. We are a well oiled machine and once we get started then there's no stopping us!

My sweet little family and I just returned from a trip to Grammy and Grandpa Buddy's house in Grants Pass. We brought Uncle Seth along with us too. The crazy kook volunteered to hold Juneau the entire drive down! June surprisingly did REALLY well, but we had no idea what to expect. Praise God for no puppy accidents in our car! Anywho, back to talking about Grammy's...
Can I just say I love it there?
They have such a wonderful place and we love spending time there with them. The kids and Juneau had the run of the place, which Grammy and Bud so sweetly baby proofed, and they had a blast! Grayson had a ton of fun toting around all of Grammy's potatoes and trying to eat them raw. Lydia entertained all of us, as always, and June... well she's June! She played well with Gray and entertained us too with all of her sweet puppyness. Jacob, Seth, and Bud watched endless hours of football and I even got a chance to read a book! It was wonderful! I'm glad that Grammy and Bud are here for the winter and I hope that we get to go see them again soon. They're so full of love and are a joy to be around and the kids adore being with them too!

Now starts the week of trying to get back on schedule, grocery shop and meal plan for the next two weeks, unpack from our trip, do laundry, and plan for Grayson's birthday!

EEEEEEK!!!!!! I can't believe that his birthday is only a week away!
I had big ideas planned for his birthday. I wanted it to be just as fun and decorated as Lydia's was. I wanted to make him a beautiful cake just as well thought out as Lydia's castle cake was, and have a lot of friends over to celebrate him too. I know that he won't remember it. I know that he probably could care less. He probably wouldn't even notice the decorations much, might even get overwhelmed if there's too many people here, and will probably care less what his cake looks like as long as he gets to eat and his sister doesn't steal any of his ;).
As silly as it is, though, I still want to do it for him. This 1st year mark is huge to me. It's celebrating making it through all of the hard sleepless nights, watching him grow from my sweet little 6 pound 9 oz newborn to my toddler that's trying so hard to keep up with his sister, and remembering every little stage he went through to get here. Every moment of his first year is engraved into my heart and I just want to celebrate it!! Can you blame me??
I know that there won't be a HUGE party, but I'm going to try and put something together for him. I hope that he'll have another little friend or two here to play with, some fun and shiny decorations to look at (and I'm sure tear down), and a cute cake to dig his sweet little fingers into.

Grayson,
I love you so much my sweet baby boy. From the moment you were born we have had such a strong bond. You were such a sweet and snuggly baby. When you were a newborn and I had to sleep with you on my chest you would squirm your way all the way under my chin. You wanted to be snuggled up as close as you could to your momma. Your adorable little fingers would hold a death grip on my shirt so that I wouldn't put you down, I didn't. For four weeks I slept on the couch while you slept on my chest and hardly left my arms. I didn't want to be away from you either! When other moms reveled in their little ones sleeping through the night, I do admit I was a bit jealous at times, but as soon as I would go in to nurse you.. you'd curl up under my chin again. I still wake up with you... not because I know you can't sleep through the night without it if I tried to teach you, but because I simply treasure rocking you when you sleep. I find myself fighting to get back into my own bed as I hold you, but knowing I have to give in or I won't be able to keep up with you during the day too! You have such a beautiful little grin, these super cute little stinky feet, and the best little chubbies on the planet. You're constantly getting into 'trouble'. You climb everything, go through all of my cupboards and drawers, and eat anything in your path.
I really don't want to know some of the things that have made it into your mouth :|
Your sister is always getting you to do her dirty work while knowing full well that you'll get in less trouble than she will- I'm working on that-. How can I punish you when you give me your cute little squinty grin?? I definitely don't want to see your sad face, oh how it instantly breaks my heart!
You are starting to learn what fits are, surely from your mischievous big sister, and I'm learning how to adjust. Your favorite toys are anything you can pull, hit, smash, makes noise, or you can make sound effects to. Either that or my phone, that works too.
You love talking on the phone/skyping with your nana or dada. As soon as I get a call on my phone you're already at my feet tugging on me jabbering to talk.
My boy you can dance! You've got the cute little bounce down and you're learning how to wink... what else do you need?
You're just a joy to be around and I love you. I am already missing my sweet little newborn with those beautiful little eyes looking up at me, but I'm excited to see who you become and to enjoy the adventure along the way. I will forever celebrate this first year that we have spent together. I love you baby bear, Your Momma

Happy Gluten Free Thanksgiving!

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year!!! Wahoo!!! 11 Adults and 6 children will be on their way to my humble abode and I can't wait!!! Everyone is traveling at least 2 hours to get here... so I'll be doing all the cooking here. It should be interesting! It'll be a long day, but I'm really excited to do it. Not only do I get to pick out the recipes, but I get to make everything I love gluten and dairy free so I can eat it all too! Woot woot! No more longily staring at yumminess that I can't touch. :) Some of you are asking how I'm making my dinner gluten free, well here you go! Here are my recipes! It's really not too much different than anyone else. Just a few extra steps here and there, and lotsa love ;)
I woke up at 6 this morning and put in a lovely 20 pound turkey.
I cook my turkey in a bag... (I don't want to hear anything from you plastic haters out there, I like it- I do it)
I melted 'earth balance' butter with some fresh minced garlic and poured it all under the skin. I stuffed it with 3 onions, a few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and then stuffed 3 slices of my gluten free bread in the opening so that it stays nice and moist inside and closed it all up. No one eats the stuffing in the turkey in our family, so I don't do it. I then put a bunch of chopped onions and cornstarch into the bag and shook it, dropped the turkey on in, rubbed it with oil, and then rubbed it with a spice blend.
spice blend: a mix of lawrys seasoning salt, powdered garlic, course ground pepper, and freshly chopped rosemary and thyme.
close up the bag, flip it breast side down, you're in! I'll be flipping it in an hour or two before it gets too soft to flip without it falling apart.

For my pumpkin pie crust:
http://shinycooking.com/walnut-oat-pie-crust
For the pie:
http://glutenfreeeasily.com/best-pumpkin-pie-ever-and-its-crustless-gluten-free-and-dairy-free/

My stuffing:
I toasted 4 slices (diced up) of my favorite Udi's brand cinnamon bread- then set to the side.
I cooked red sweet pepper, minced garlic, chopped onions, and celery until the onions turned clear.
At the same time I made some quinoa cooked in chicken broth ( I like to use 'better than bullion. It does contain trace amounts of Whey protein, but it doens't seem to bother me)
mix it all together and put it in a pie dish... (I'm going to add a bit more toasted bread once I make my rolls!)bake at 350 for 30-35min!

Rolls: I'm using Pamela's gluten free white bread mix

Green bean casserole:
I plan on making it pretty much the same... just with homemade 'cream of mushroom soup' copied a little from this recipe and green beans I picked and blanched this summer- YUM! http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/how-to-make-gluten-free-cream-of-mushroom-soup/

Cream corn casserole:
MY FAVORITE!  I bought a ton of fresh corn this summer and made my own cream corn... but I'll be using just one bag of that in replacement of a can--
2 cans of cream corn, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, salt, pepper- mix and pour in a pie dish (feel free to add yummies like chopped onions and things. be creative!)
then top with crushed (gluten free) corn flakes and then put a few pads of earth balance butter here and there on top. Bake 375 35-45min. until it's no longer watery, but a bit firm.

We may make a few other things here and there, but these are the staples. If I do make more, I'll add them to the post!... And maybe I'll add some photos of what I make after it's all done :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!





Next I'll be making some

The Little Sea, Seattle

Oh Seattle! I adore you for no apparent reason at all. Maybe it's the glamour of your dreary skies, constant rain, or the city surrounding the sound... or the I-hate-them-but-can't-get-enough-of-them ferries, well dressed folk wrapped in scarves, the green landscape, or the Tullys (or Starbucks) that meets you at every corner. Oh Coffee. oh wonderful coffee.
Maybe it's the chocolate?
I really have no idea. I just know that I love it there and will go any chance that I get!
This last weekend was crazy wonderful. Packed with wedding-y activities for a couple that we love, fun shopping, and time spent with  my beautiful sister, neice, and sister in law. Even the little brother in law was there! It was like a dream come true kind of trip for Lydia... she danced with a 'princess' (the bride at the wedding), went swimming with mom and dad, saw big boats and tiny boats at the expo, went shopping, had cake, and stayed in the same bed with mom ALL NIGHT long. Seriously the only thing that could have made her weekend better was if Jack Jack, O-Oh, and Ava were there too! She's too cute, seriously.

It was hard with two kids, of course, but thoroughly worth it! As strange as it is... I love traveling with my kids. I think 3-4 days is definitely the limit that my kids can handle with their little schedules being thrown to chaos, but those few days are a blast! I think they like it too :)
It's almost like fuel for Lydia when we arrive at a new place. She's all charged up and ready to spring on a new adventure. She can't wait to go shopping, get fun treats (like fro-yo) that we don't normally get, and play in hotel swimming pools. She sleeps well in the car, entertains herself and her brother, and usually sleeps just fine in whatever bed we put her in. Probably because she's simply too worn out from WAY too much excitement to care :)
Grayson, on the other hand, could just care less. He feeds off his sister's reactions and the overall emotions of those present and just goes with whatever. As long as he knows where his mom, dad, and sister are... all is good in the world.
I'm really thankful for this. I know that many kids just aren't travelers. I'm not saying that my kids are perfect, but I do believe that they are pretty good at it and I am very grateful for that.

That being said... I'm also so very thankful for being home. There's nothing like your own bed after a long trip skipping from one bed to another. I'm also thankful for no longer living out of a suitcase
---okay... wait. I'm still living out of that suitcase since I haven't 'fully' unpacked....---
Anyway! I'm glad to be home and being away just made me love my little place in this world even more. We have so much to be thankful for and as thanksgiving preparations will be starting tomorrow, I feel primed for it all.

Thank you Lord for our wonderful trip, for the beauty of Seattle, for the sound of the rain, for my sweet family, for friends that we love, for making new friends, for bringing us all back safely, and for this awesome little place we call home. <3

Grayson taking breakfast into his own hands at the hotel & Lydia getting an italian soda at the wedding :)

We all had a great time at the wedding :)

This was obviously taken at the end of the night ;)

Lydia admiring the little boats at the Pacific Marine Expo

My sweet boy

Holding hands, tickling each other feet, and giggling on the ride home :)

I'm not ready!!!

I just realized that yesterday was the 14th... which means that Grayson's birthday is now less than a month away! How did this happen?! He is my BABY boy! I am almost positive he just came out of my belly a couple days ago right? Wow... now I feel like there's no time to prepare for a party! I know what you're thinking... Oh it's easy... just get some plates, napkins, make a cake, send an invite, and then you're good! The thing is, I'm thinking emotionally here. I am just.not.ready. for this. Maybe this is why parents often say their little ones ages in terms of months. That could be me, I guess? "Hello, my baby is 46 months old." "No, he's not a toddler... I just had him 32 months ago."
What if I start feeding him purees again? I could do that too!
Okay, okay.. I'll stop being ridiculous. It's just going to take me a while to come to terms with this. That and I need to go order some plates and napkins and send those invites out....

FYI if you're reading this and you're planning on coming and you're one of those people that plan ahead (and obviously I haven't thought ahead and sent invitations yet)... It will be an all love, tickles, cake, snuggles, refreshments, and no gifts kind of party. (We currently have so many toys that they should rent their own storage shed.) I'm excited to celebrate my sweet boy with all of you and love on him and watch him, and I'm sure lydia too, eat their own weight in cake too!

Oh Grayson my sweet baby boy, we love you!!!

How could anyone resist those cute ears, beautiful eyes, little button nose, and that amazingly sweet smile?!

Dear blogs, I like you much.

www.thespunkycoconut.com

http://www.foodallergymama.com/

http://allergyfriendlyrecipes.co.uk/

paleoparents.com

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

..... A few blogs worth mentioning that I visit frequently for recipes! 

Since finding my intolerance to gluten and dairy I've had many people come forward struggling in their own diets. It's hard when you're diagnosed with an allergy or an intolerance all of a sudden. It  like being sent to a foreign country where none of the ingredients in the stores are remotely recognizable or even in the same language! Sorghum flour & xanthum gum????.... I had absolutely NO idea these things existed a year ago. It took me long enough to pronounce them let alone know what the purpose of them were. Not only must you walk into this new territory of endless new ingredients, but you'll also learn that anything that sounds remotely delicious or close to edible and is already made for you comes at a ginormous cost! There's no more dropping by the beautiful cereal aisle and picking out any box you like. In fact there's no more picking up a box at all and just sticking it in the basket. Well, maybe eventually, but first it'll take reading EVERY label. If you don't take the time and just grab a snickers then you may end up paying for it... for days... and days. 

I've never struggled with something as hard as my diet. It's not a choice for me. I can't just cheat for fun. I actually have found that even one bite of  little Miss So&So's amazing homemade cheese this or whole wheat that will leave me in stomach pain or with mouth sores that can last for days. It used to be that I could cheat and have a bowl of ice cream every once and a while and only have mild reactions, but it's just not like that anymore.  

So a question I get a lot is...What is the difference between an allergy and an intolerance?

In simple terms... which is all I feel like doing right now... (if you want a better one, google. you can find anything on the internet!)

allergy: even a tiny bit of said item can cause a VERY bad reaction and can be life threatening. The reaction can happen almost immediately. Intolerance: non-life threatening and reactions can come on gradually. you may even be able to have a tiny bit of the food without a problem at all.

Now I'm not 100% sure I don't have an allergy to dairy or wheat/gluten, but out of my little self diagnosis based on trial and error... well. I'm not dead :) From what I have heard from friends, doctors, and random people I've met with the same diet, trial and error is a much more accurate way of finding out than any blood test anyway. 

A few more questions I hear a lot as well.... How do you live?! What do you eat?! Is your whole family 'forced' into this diet too??

1. I live just fine, just slightly bitter when I see you eat ice cream on a cone from a convenient location bought with pocket change. I'm kidding. Well, kind of. I have found ways to make the things I love and have also opened myself up to trying new things as well and have come to love those things too. It's kind of a give and take. I thought about the things in my diet I REALLY didn't want to let go of... like chocolate and ice cream. I spend a little extra on those things and it make me feel a whole lot less 'deprived'. I've been surprised by how many things I've weeded out of my diet without a care in the world too. :)

2. I eat EVERYTHING. I probably eat a larger variety of things than most people do too. It's not just meat and potatoes for this little lady! I have come to love so many different new dishes and I think I've become more knowledgeable about what is going into every meal I make as well! I'm not afraid of cooking out of my comfort zone as much and my family doesn't get as bored with the same old meal plans rotating every month. It's nice... which brings me to...

3. (nice segue, I know) bahaha... I crack myself up. Wow I'm horrible at this blogging thing! Ah, but I know none of you probably care.

okay... I'm digressing...

so! My family DOES eat what I eat and I eat what they eat too!... most of the time. The thing is I don't want them losing the enzymes in their sweet bellies to break down gluten or dairy though simply because I don't feed it to them. We don't always eat the same breakfast or lunches. I always have yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, and various cheeses for my hubby or the kids to enjoy with their meals. sometimes I just make a dish dairy and gluten free, set some aside for me, then add some dairy products for the rest of them. It really isn't that big of a deal. I hardly buy anything prepackaged or go to any health food stores and I don't really seem to have a problem cooking things that I like.

I'm not sure if you care about any of this at all, but being that I find myself in conversations with acquaintances or friends regarding my diet at least 3 times a week... it's nice to just release it into some written words.

Can you even say 'written words' when it's been typed?

I wonder if that little phrase will disappear in a few years...

Typed words?

That just sounds lame.

Once again I apologize for the horrible grammatical errors. There once was a time where poor grammar bothered me to no end, but I have 2 children now and talk in grunts, points, and giggles the majority of the time. Poor grammar is the least of my problems. 

If you find that the links up there aren't to your liking and you need help with a recipe, just ask!

I really don't buy too many of the specialty flours and strange ingredients and I do just fine. There's almost always a way to make a recipe you love to taste great and still be gluten or dairy free. 

Welcome Juneau

June, Juneau, Junebug, puppydoo (yes I am even surprised when that comes out of my mouth!), JuJube...

These are the names I call my our,  new puppy :)

Here she is!!!

Isn't she adorable??? I love her soft, little, floppy ears and her kind eyes!

She fits perfectly in the double stroller under the kiddos :)

I've always scoffed at people that dress their dogs up in sweaters... until now. Well... kind of. It's so cold outside, but we're crate training her and she's doing WAY better when we take her outside to potty rather than try to get her to use a piddle pad. I couldn't bear watching her shake in the cold... so now I own a dog sweater. bahaha... Interesting fact: I made it out of an old sweater sleeve!

Grayson adores her! She does have the horrible desire to nibble his sweet ears (I mean who doesn't?!) so I often have to separate them for a little while!

Oh Grayson :)

Of course I had to add one of me and my sweet girl. We definitely spend the most time together! We play all of the time and cuddle even more. I'm attached!

Most of you that know me are wondering how I of all people came to a point where  I  would get a dog.

-Understandable.-

I've been known to have an allergic reaction to almost all dogs and, unfortunately, even this one at times. It hasn't been bad at all though. I feel like it's going really well and I'm hoping that my body acclimates. I've been licked by her and haven't gotten hives, had my face up to her and haven't coughed or sneezed.... the only thing is my eyes get a bit itchy, but I feel like that's absolutely bearable and a small price to pay for the joy of a new puppy! 

Everyone keeps asking me what breed she is... 

Her mommy is a brittany spaniel and her daddy is a boston terrier (not actual picture of them)

Kind of a strange mix, I know, but I've always liked bostons and brittany spaniels are beautiful! I think she looks a lot more like a spaniel right now, but it'll be interesting to see what she ends up looking like when she's an adult. The owners seem to think that she'll be about 20lbs or less... so not too tiny, but not too big! Perfect for our little family! 

There's so much training to go and I have no idea what I am doing, but I'm working with her a lot right now. Any ideas on how to keep her from teething on my children is welcome! :)