travel binder.

my favorite sister.in.law

is getting married.

this saturday.

we are so excited we cant stand it.

we made binders for her out of town guests.

included are: brochures. menus. weather forecast. 

a map the bride drew of their favorite places downtown

(including the best place to jog. and get gelato. and where she met her groom.)

the idea is that when the guest return home

they can use the binder to keep travel information.

you could have a divider for each location.

dreams and ideas for future trips. 

reservations and recommendations on trips being planned.

and even a place to keep treasures found.

then when you have a friend who wants to know the name of that little hole in the wall where you had that best pancakes ever on your vacation last summer... 

you'll have it right there in the binder...

(note: that place is the incomparable blue heaven. in key west.) 

mr. cool sighting

you remember mr. cool.

he's taken it to a new level.

his sister is a bit bothered.

but he sure is having a good time.

but I'm afraid he has bug bites in places rather unpleasant.

homie.

do you remember this housewarming party?

we asked our friends to define home.

I punched the cards and strung them up on a ribbon.

some of my favorites: 

"a matter of the heart" -cm

"a place to hang your baseball cap" -cn

"the most important place full of the most important people" -sn

"christ. crumbs. cookies. and love" -lt

what is home to you?

mr. cool

riding tricycles is cool.

tricycle tag. 

with your own name...really cool.

meet mr. cool.

note: other cool adventures today... buzz lightyear.
you mighta heard of him.

called trent.

from his space rocket. on his space phone. to encourage trent to use the potty today. 

special thanks to buzz... I love how you didn't hesitate to make the call...with clients in your car.

xoxo

baby love.

nine months and I still cannot believe she is our baby.

her little nose. little fingers. and big eyes.

I love to watch this kid think. and laugh. and play.

his best idea. his favorite thing. life is so fun for trent.

 he loves to make her laugh. and take her pacifiers.

I am so in love.

go team.

our team marlins last game was saturday.

and yes, this picture really is our team.

#2 really mastered his signature play. 

"the sandcastle"

my favorite part.

a tie.

when tom gave out the team trophies and gave trent...

"coach's favorite"

and when tom said it would be years till we tried baseball again.

go marlins!

this is us.

I'm so glad this is my "us".

I am crazy in love with these three.

God is so good.

food allergies.

I am not a doctor.

by any stretch of the imagination.

I am a mom.

and my son has food allergies.

I have poured my time. tears. and gallons of rice milk.

into making healthy choices for him and our family.

If this does not pertain to you.

have a nice day.

but I have found many other moms in my shoes.

not really knowing what to buy. cook. or eat.

so here is my experience...

when trent was firstborn

he was inconsolable.

screaming. all day. all night.

he had blood in his diarrhea.

and eczema on his skin.

we tried to return him for a full refund 

at our pediatricians around 6 weeks.

she told us it was food allergy.

trent could not tolerate milk protein.

lactose intolerance is the sugar in milk not the protein. different.

she gave me a list of other "names" for milk.

whey. lacto-. casein. 

here is a cheat sheet

from this great site

www.kellymom.com

I was not only to take out the obvious milk. butter. cheese. yogurt.

but check all food labels to see if there were any less obvious ones hidden.

and boy are they.

on the back of food packaging there is a list of ingredients.

we spent several hours at the grocery checking labels only to put them

right back on the shelf.

a large number of children allergic to cows milk also cannot tolerate soy.

which was our case.

so we were avoiding milk. and soy. 

most food altogether for that matter.

I was quite discouraged.

I was a breastfeeding mom and was starving.

I could not eat or drink enough.

I ate embarrassing amounts of

chicken. green beans. bananas. grapes. raisins. 

but was quite hungry.

and then it happened.

two weeks after eliminating all dairy and soy.

we had a different baby.

calm. happy. peaceful.

we had a different house.

calm. happy. peaceful.

it totally worked.

the eczema was gone. diarrhea gone. screaming...gone.

There are many great subs out there for the foods you love.

but...

I would highly advise anyone starting this drastic of a change in their diet

to do the two weeks of protein. fruit. and veg.

it will change your tastebuds enough so that you will not miss the originals

and break any bad habits.

yes, lots of grilled chicken atop plain lettuce if we are out.

dried fruits. nuts. peanut butter on fruit.

loads of fruit. loads of veg.

but I have never felt better.

the diet did the trick and now that I had changed all my eating I needed

to expand my recipe box. and add to my list of menus.

so we started experimenting.

We were baking.

We were eating waffles. 

I sub organic enriched Rice Dream rice milk for milk

and coconut oil for butter.

note: I nursed trent the first 18 months. and then gave him rice milk 

with my pediatricians blessing.

we bought this dairy free chocolate chunk cookie mix

these dairy free chocolate chips

which I cannot live without.

I got the BabyCakes cookbook

and looked for any labels reading Vegan (and then would check for Soy)

or any labels reading anything about Allergen Free.

My local health food store.

Rollin Oats

has tons.

anything I crave. they have.

like Luna and Larry's Organic Coconut Bliss Ice cream and Popsicles. 

oh my.

or Lara Bars

as you can see we have quite the sweet tooth so each day we fill up on oatmeal. rice. hummus. peanut butter. fruit. veg. chicken and fish. 

and then treat ourselves to some kind of dairy free delectable at night.

The only things I struggle with...

going on vacation. we bring a cooler.

unless we are going to Disney 

which in fact is the best place to be if you have food allergies.

a chef comes to your table and talks to you about what wonderful things he can make.

and there are Divvies Allergy Free snacks throughout the park.

parties. we bring our own food.

and food on the go....

well. I have found some good snacks to keep on hand 

because I cant and won't just run through a drive through or something like that.

dried fruit. bananas. apples. small packs of applesauce. boxes of raisins. Lara bars.

We have found the restaurants that are most accommodating and frequent them.

one of our faves is Red Mesa

as for now. we are all doing wonderful. our pediatrician asked me (since I am breastfeeding) 

to eliminate dairy and soy again a few weeks prior to Lila's arrival last summer. 

and keep it out of my diet for her first year 

since there is a family history of food allergies.

as I write this I am munching on Newmans Own raisins. they are a still a fave treat.

we are still dairy free.

well at least three of us are...

tom occasionally indulges in chocolate frozen yogurt with reeses peanut butter chunks.

but I make him eat it in the closet.

update on a classic.

he ate it so fast.

these were the only two pictures I could snap.

you remember the grandma pat sandwich. 

from toms birthday right?

Well. I gave it my own twist.

flax flatbread.

peanut butter. organic.

a little extra crispy bacon. organic.

and a fried egg. yes, of course organic.

the egg warms the peanut butter. 

its gooey. cozy. and sticks to your teeth.

and not so much your backside.

perfect for saturday mornings. and sunday nights.

tom says he gives my version the blue ribbon.

but then again he wants to open a restaurant and serve just this one item.

ate least we know the way to each others hearts.

love and dirt.

I am a firm believer in helping your husband out.

if there is something in fact that you would like

say, for mothers day.

tell him.

I have been talking about a garden for quite a bit.

and when tom asked about mothers day.

I said start digging!

so my handy hunky husband built me a gorgeous cedar frame.

we filled it with small rocks. for better draining.

and then organic dirt mix for fruits and vegetables.

we planted some tomatoes. watermelon. and cucumber.

along with our favorite herbs for cooking.

basil. rosemary. mint. thyme. sage. parsley. cilantro. 

it smells like dirt.

and cow manure.

which trent really gets a kick outta.

I love everything about it.

getting my hands dirty. working in the yard.

dreaming up that first tomato.

tom is reading up on what to plant and when.

and digs sitting in the yard with his dog. 

we love watering the garden.

which typically involves watering trent more than the garden.

the whole family is really digging it.

 and lets just hope maddie never gets ahold of it.

despite her smile. she cannot be trusted.

sweet reality.

I can't believe I am a mom.

I mean I always knew I wanted to. 

with everything I had in me.

 

I kiss her face.

and let her kiss me back.

drooling all over me.

and I can't believe she is real.

Trent brings me joy like no other.

the things he says. and does.

he loves just running around like a crazy.

but lets me hold him in my arms.

and tell him stories.

and answer his questions.

singing songs together.

but I know I am their mom.

when I look at his eyes. his hair.

and feel her need to be near.

to look in my rearview and see him dancing

in his carseat the same way I do.

his hands in the air. his lips puckered.

these are my kids.

I am their mom.

what a sweet reality.

Happy Mothers Day.

especially to mine.

God is so good.

home sweet home.

back from a little work trip with dad to sanibel.

we brought back shells.

a piece of bubble room cake for mom.

a stomach bug.

tans.

and lots of dirty clothes.

thinking we will keep the shells on the porch railing and start a little collection.

now off to that laundry pile...