seven

In celebration of the birthday boy, here are seven things about my oldest and only son, Dee:

1. His favorite clothes are pajamas. He often changes into them as soon as he walks in the door from school  or church. He would wear them all day every day if only his mother would let him.

2. He was born in Southeast Idaho, but didn't stay long. In his short seven years he has lived in four states and five houses/apartments. Luckily he makes friends easily and enjoys hanging out in moving trucks on those long drives with his dad.

3. His favorite food is spaghetti. Not necessarily because it tastes good, but because it is Mario's (Super Mario Bros.) favorite food. *motherly sigh* He also likes green apples, salad, blueberry pancakes, cinnamon bagels, orange pop, tortillas, homemade chicken noodle soup, and sorbet.

4. He rarely ever sleeps past 7:30 am. In fact he will often wake up at 4 am just to play Super Mario Bros. In character.

5. When he was around 14 months old and just learning to walk he toddled over to the oven that had been left open so hot food could be pulled out. Before anyone could stop him he placed both hands on the hot door and burned his palms badly. That is the most pain I've ever seen my little son in. He had humongous blisters that covered his entire palms. He had to be sedated at the hospital so they could clean and bandage his hands. The bandages made him look like a little boxer and complicated crawling. As sad as it was, it helped him to learn how to walk and taught him a very valuable lesson about staying away from something that is "HOT!".

6. He loves to go on long drives but mostly because it means we will probably stop at a convenience store. He has this thing for convenience stores.

7. He still sleeps with a Winnie the Pooh Bear blanket that a co worker gave me at a baby shower. He has to have it placed over him ever so particularly every single night. I've never been a big Winnie the Pooh fan, but I think I might cry the day he says he's too old for it.

Seven years ago this crazy, wonderful, little boy changed my life forever. And I will be forever grateful he did. I love you Dee! Happy Seventh Birthday!

Super Mario Birthday Party Preview

Dee's seventh birthday is tomorrow and the big party is Saturday. I'm up to my elbows in projects. No time for "real" blogging. So here's a little preview of the Super goodness to come:

I give you...The Table Centerpieces
(because 6 little first grade boys really care about stuff like that...)

Fess up.

Right now you're wishing you were seven years old.

That you're a boy.

That it's your birthday tomorrow.

And that I was your mom.

Let's a-go.

P.S. Tutorial anyone?

Food Allergy Mama: A History

*sets timer for 15 minutes*

Let's try this again, shall we? I promised I would share my story of how I became a "food allergy mama".

Let's start at the very beginning...

It was early Spring 2005. I was a first time mom learning the ropes of that altogether wonderful and terrible thing we call parenting. My first born baby Dee was only a few months old when one day I accidentally spilled some milk on his face. This isn't untypical. I'm pretty clumsy. What was unusual is that within moments my baby son's face changed right before my eyes. Where clear, soft baby skin had been, now there were red rashy hives.

Hmm. Well that's odd.

I figured the liquid had just irritated his skin, popped him in the tub, washed him down, and soon the rash disappeared.

Allow me to interject here. As a first time mom I had no clue whatsoever about food allergies. I was still trying to figure out how to change this boy's diaper without getting peed on. I have no personal history of food allergies. Neither does my husband. Nor do our families. Food allergies were for dweeby kids that wore coke bottle bottom glasses, had sea monkey farms and overprotective, hypochondriac mothers. Little did I know that I was about to become one of those overprotective, hypochondriac mothers.

Over the next few months we began to notice that the rash was not a one-time incident. Dee would mysteriously rash up every now and then. As we looked for clues, we gathered it was happening where we were planting kisses on his face or belly or hands. Soon we alighted on the possible source. Milk. Anytime we were eating yogurt, ice cream, cheese, or drinking milk and then kissing our sweet little baby, he was breaking out into a rash and hives.

At his 6 month check up I talked to Dee's pediatrician about our concerns. He queried that our boy might have a dairy allergy. "But it's rather unlikely considering there's no family history". Still he referred us to a pediatric allergist.

One pediatric allergist appointment later, we had our answer. The skin tests and blood work revealed what we had suspected. Not only was our six month old baby boy allergic to milk, he was deathly allergic. As we sat in stunned silence the doctor educated my husband and I about foreign things like anaphylaxis, epi-pens, Benadryl, food restrictions, medical bracelets, and more.

It was overwhelming. I had just learned how to feed my little son his first solid foods, rice cereal. Now I was panicking. Is there milk in rice cereal???

As we arrived home we began to scour our cupboards and fridge looking for "milk" or any of the other aliases for dairy (dry milk, nonfat milk, whey, lactose, casein, sodium caseinate, lactoglobulin, lactalbuminin, etc.) all of our foods. No, milk is not in baby rice cereal, but it is in a myriad of other foods we had in our house. Cereal, bread, crackers, soup, chocolate, hot dogs, margarine, bouillon, gravy mixes, frosting, and of course yogurt, cheese, milk, ice cream. There was even milk in some of his jars of baby food I had already purchased.

This was impossible. Milk was in everything. What on earth was our kid going to eat???

(To be continued...)

Res-a-what???

My sister called me out.

I got this text from her today:

"You can't get people all excited about you blogging 15 minutes each day then leave them hanging."

Ahem.

The blog is called HANGING by a Silver Lining after all. *cheeky smirk*

And that's kind of what I'm doing most days. Read my profile description. It says it right there.

I'm so busy tending to my three other New Year's Resolutions and four kids that I've really let my first resolution of blogging or journaling fall through the cracks.

Funny how when you're living a life worth blogging about, you don't have the time to blog about it.

I had every good intention of filling you all in on my history as a food allergy mama last Wednesday...

But then I got embarrassed because I realized how whiny I had sounded in my lament about having kids with food issues.

I mean--Come on. There are worse things in life. At least it's not PKU or diabetes or cancer or mental illness or disfigurement or...or...dare I list any more?

It's just food. It's just dairy and wheat. It's just going to take some time and perseverance on my part to get it figured out and running smoothly.

I know that.

I just needed to whine for a bit. And in some small way it made me feel better.

Selfish blogger. Guilty as charged.

First I got embarrassed. And then I got busy. Blog or journal daily quickly transformed from "on my list"  into "later" turned into "not tonight" turned into "k;ljbga[s08dfgb][abvfzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz".

So...all the same excuses.
Whatever.
Shake it off.
Try again.
It's not like anyone reads my blog anyway.
Oh.
Except my sister.

(Love you, Mille.)

Short story LONG...

Maybe I'll be back tomorrow.

Maybe I won't.

'Nite.

P.S. I just read through this post. It's basically about nothing. I'm a dork. Don't read this. Go to bed.

Lament of a Food Allergy Mom

For the past several hours I have been doing something that's against my personal code of conduct.

Web-surfing.

(Gag.)

I guess that's kind of strange for a blogger to be anti-web-surfing, but it is what it is. I hate it. It feels like the biggest waste of time. I go looking for a simple answer on some query and two hours later...I've wandered over to Facebook a dozen times, stumbled on something that requires brain bleach, learned how to make a pinata, read about some random strangers's vacation to South Dakota, and scanned through hundreds of inaccurate, outdated, or inapplicable bits of information.

And don't even get me started on Pinterest. (What's the big deal anyway???)

Anyway...I was headed somewhere with this...

Oh, that's right. Food allergies. Or more specifically feeding children with food allergies. For the past several hours I've been web surfing looking for recipes that are gluten free and/or dairy free. Because it's a necessary evil. Because I don't know where else to turn for information on how to do that. Because I don't have the financial means to hire a live in cook.

The live in cook is me.
And I don't get paid near enough.

*sigh*

As if it wasn't hard enough to feed a "normal" family.

You know how it goes. Every bloody night that same question of despair, destruction, and doom:

WHAT'S FOR DINNER??? dinner...dinner...dinner...dinner...


Now imagine that one of your children is allergic to dairy--and we're not talking lactose intolerant here, folks. Think more like hives, swelling of body parts, closing off of airways, stabbing of epi-pen, racing to emergency room kind of allergic whenever he touches milk, cheese, butter, cheese powder, yogurt, sour cream, cream soups, etc, etc, etc.

Now, let's make things even more interesting, shall we? Add a second child that has Celiac Disease. This means she cannot eat anything with gluten, wheat, barley, rye, and even oats. No hives or closed airways here. Nope. It's "simply" an auto-immune disorder so just the body attacking itself whenever the smallest crumb of gluten is ingested resutlting in stomach aches, chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive, oh and an increased risk of diabetes, osteoporosis, and intestinal cancer. No big deal.

Go ahead. Go on. Make dinner.

Drawing a blank??

Yeah. Me too. Every single wretched night.

One of my 2012 New Year's resolutions is to have dinner on the table every night. Healthy, dairy free, gluten free, fast food free, hopefully not taste free dinner. It feels so monumental; it's worthy of a New Year's resolution spot.

It's like this huge elephant crushing me to death in my own kitchen. You know what that saying is about what to do with an elephant? Something about eating it one bite at a time. And hey! As long as the elephant is gluten- and dairy-free I'd be more than happy to serve it at dinner. But after two hours of web surfing for recipes I failed to pull up one single recipe that highlighted elephant as the main ingredient.

But at least I read the synopsis on "American Beauty".  And played a mean game of Word Warp. And of course updated my Facebook status. Twice.

Ugh.

P.S. I've had several people ask how I knew that my children had food allergies/sensitivities/issues. I'm dishing up on that tomorrow. Pun intended.

Resolute.

*setting timer for 15 minutes*

Aaaaand...Commence blogging NOW!

Fact about Evelyn: She just can't resist New Year's Resolutions.

But what's not to love?

A fresh start. A chance to improve one self. Ambition. Productivity. World peace...

All that except maybe that last one. Because have you seen me when I'm going through sugar withdrawals? There's nothing peaceful about that. And of course this year just like every other year before it you can bet that at the top of my resolutions list is "Get healthy!" which basically translates into "STOP EATING ALL THAT DANG SUGAR WOMAN!"

*glance at timer* 10 minutes left.

This year I'm trying to take it a little easier on myself. My old strategy was to nitpick at every aspect of my life that I wanted to change. Eventually my list ended up being more of a 10 page report that not even world peace could have solved.

This year I'm only allowing myself 3...make that 4 resolutions. My hope is success in a few things will lead to success in more things.

7 minutes and 45 seconds...44...43...42...

Without further adieu, here is my list of 2012 New Years Resolutions:

1. Blog or journal something--ANYTHING--daily. Thus the timer. I'll let you know how it works out.
2. Lose 50 pounds. I lost almost 55 last year. I figure what's another 50, eh? Check out my other blog The Jolly Green Giant for progress.
3. Read the Book of Mormon twice in 2012.
4. Be better at having dinner on the table every night. Healthy, gluten free, dairy free, fast food free, and preferrably sometime before 7:30. My crockpot is already at work this morning so looks like 2012 is off to a rip-roaring start.

3 minutes and 13 seconds...12...11...10...

*Think about life for 37 seconds*
*Break up fight between 6 and 5 year old*
*Pick up screaming baby*

;ohasd0-y7 ]
-[91y5'pphlnmkdfs';pria
gh[0u7a
gkkh[

Cee says hi.

12...11...10...9...8...

Happy New Year!!!

Three for Thursday: Is it Thursday Already?!

Three things I do on December 1st (traditionally or just for today):
1. Wonder if being a good mom means doing something traditional on December 1st.
2. Think about getting the decorations out before half of the month disappears. I didn't say "Do it". I said "Think about doing it".
3. Eat something edible. Pretty sure this is a tradition for me.

Three “blessings” I’m grateful I do NOT have:
1. Twins.
2. A mansion. Then I would have to clean even more bathrooms.
3. A second income. Don't get me wrong! I like money as much as the next person, but this stay at home mom thing is pretty awesome.

Three things I spend waaay too much time doing:
1. Facebook.
2. Interior decorating. It takes me F O R E V E R to figure out how I want to decorate something and then even longer to make it happen. My perfectionist nature kicks me in the fanny every single time.
3. Obsessing over the past. It's not like I change any of it now. Best to just get over it and move on.

Three things that Reese Witherspoon and I have in common:
1. Our sons have the same name.
2. Big feet. (Monsters vs Aliens)
3. Like chihuahuas Date Jake Gyllenhal Water elephants Play guitar Enjoy Johnny Cash music!

Three fads I find absolutely 100% ridiculous:
1. Full blown Mohawks on little boys. And big boys. Oh and girls of any age as well.
2. Skulls. What's the fascination with skulls and crossbones?! Bones and dead people are not cute. Ever.
3. Twitter.

Three pictures:

"Cute" was never so loud.

Baby Cee with Grandpa Pee P. (Sorry about my potty humor. The poet in me just couldn't resist.)

Joe fried the turkey again this year. Obviously his brother doesn't have a lot of faith in his frying abilities.

Check out what some of my fellow bloggers are doing on their Thursday day:

Heather Johnson at The Parenting Patch needs a little fresh air away from all those books.

Mommy2Twincesses is singing show tunes with the flair of Carol Burnett.

Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt {Part Three}

21. Something I'm grateful for in the month of November.

My dad.
His birthday is in November. I'm grateful for the caring, goofy, crazy, talented, wonderful man he is.

22. Something I'm grateful for that makes my life easier.

Dora the Explorer.
Meet Dora. She is our second vehicle. She takes Joe to work so I can have the minivan at home. After being a one car family for a few years how I love her and appreciate her presence in our family. She makes my life so much more convenient.

23. Something I'm grateful for that makes my belly happy.

Leatherby's hot fudge ice cream sundaes.
I've never been the biggest ice cream fan...until...we found this little family owned gem. The food is terrible, but oh my stars! that hot fudge is truly something to be grateful for.

24. Something I'm grateful for that reminds me of friends.

Rag quilts.
My friend Lana taught me how to make these rag quilts while we lived in Arizona. Even if we don't live there anymore I am still grateful for my friendship with Lana and all the other amazing friends I have made in all our many moves. I have learned that no matter where you may wander in the world, there are good souls out there. And that is a truth that I am absolutely thankful for. 

25. Something I'm grateful for that is indicative of my city.

Temples.
I live in the Salt Lake valley where LDS temples are almost as "common" as Walmart stores. But there is nothing common about them. Because of temples families can be together forever. I love my family and I want to be a family for forever so you can see why I would have a deep gratitude for temples.

26. Something I'm grateful for that represents my country.

Parades.
I love a good parade. I love seeing people's patriotism on display. I am grateful to live in the United States of America. She may have her problems, but for the most part this great country is about freedom and a better way of life.

27. Something I'm grateful for in my Fall/Thanksgiving decor.

Candles.
This time of year has an abundance of good smells. I'm grateful for all the wonderful scents this time of year has to offer my nose.

28. Something I'm grateful for that gets me from here to there.

Prayer.

29. Something I'm grateful for that keeps me healthy and strong.

Vaccinations and medicine.
My children may not agree, but I am very thankful for medicines that keep us from getting sick or sicker.

30. The final photo challenge is to take a photo of how you intend to spread the Thankful Spirit.

Our Thankful Tree.
I ordered this vinyl tree from my friend Sami's vinyl business. It has been adhered to our front room wall. We started our little Thankful Tree for Family Home Evening on Monday by talking about the blessings we are grateful for. We will keep adding leaves to it throughout the week and on Thanksgiving day with our extended family when they come to visit.

Thank you again to Sarah at Sarah Dawn Designs for hosting this Thanksgiving project. We've had a lot of fun this month pondering and searching for our blessings.

Visit my friend ChemistryMama to see what she and her little ones found in their scavenger hunt.

Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt {Part Two}

11. Something I'm grateful for in black and white.

Talents. Particularly the talents of others.
My sister took this picture of me during my first pregnancy. She was using me as a model for practice for her photography class. I have always deeply admired her talents in photography and other creative paths. I have benefited from her talents in having beautiful photographs of my family. I have an appreciation of and gratitude for others talents whether they be photography, musical, homemaking, financial, performing arts, social, etc, etc, etc.

12. Something I'm grateful for in the workforce.

My husband Joe.
Because he works so hard in the workforce I am able to stay at home focusing on mothering our children. I am so grateful he has given me this opportunity. He has an incredible work ethic and I am so thankful for the example and provider he is for our children. And not only does he work hard outside our home, but then he comes home and uses his skills to help our family, such as replacing dead batteries in the minivan.

13. Something I'm grateful for with words on it.

The scriptures.
How grateful I am for the scriptures which bring wisdom and peace.

14. Something I'm grateful for that entertains me.

Blogging.
How can I not be grateful for the medium that not only entertains me but has also given me a creative outlet, a way to record some family history, an opportunity to share myself with others, and the chance to make friends from all over the world? I am grateful for blogging.

15. Something I'm grateful for that is unique to me.

My ancestors.
No one else has my set of ancestors...except of course, my siblings. Regardless, I am grateful for the good people who have made me the unique person who am I.

16. Something I'm grateful for in the retail industry.

Costco.
Where would I be without industrial amounts of toilet paper, bricks of cheese, and cratefuls of batteries? I'm grateful for a place I can go to stock up on things my growing family needs as well as buy a lunch for six people under $10.

 
17. Something I'm grateful for in my neighborhood.

Neighbors.
Shhh. Don't tell our landlord, but I'm pretty sure they should be charging us extra on our rent for the incredible people we get to live by. I'm grateful for such good souls who have cared and loved our family from the moment we arrived in that big orange and white moving van.

18. Something I'm grateful for that keeps me warm.

A garage.
I never knew how much I would appreciate a garage until I had one. I really enjoy being able to hop into my car in the mornings without having to clean the windshields off or warm up the engine. A simple, but wonderful luxury!

19. Something I'm grateful for that makes me laugh.

My children.
These four keep me in stitches every day. How grateful I am to get to live with four little comedians.

20. Something I'm grateful for in regards to the holidays.

My Savior.
How grateful I am for a Savior that loved me enough to come to earth and endure all He did just so that I (and all mankind) could return to live with Him and a loving Heavenly Father. I cannot let the holiday season go by without feeling gratitude for the ones who gave me everything I have and am.

Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt {Part One}

It just never fails. Each and every year the holidays come and go by so darn quickly. After they do, some random afternoon in early January, I find myself finally sitting down, letting out a big sigh of intermingled relief and regret, feeling stunned, and wondering how on earth I let another holiday season go by in such a flurry of chaos and chores. 

It doesn't seem to matter that each October I vow that "this will be the year!", the year I will wring every last ounce of meaning out of the holiday season. And predictably this October was no different. Once again, I found myself vowing "This--THIS! will be the year!".

Of course I mean it more this year than I've ever meant before. This year I'm going to do less shopping. Less stress. Less procedure and protocol. Less guilt. Less "To Do"s. More time. More quality. More actions. More service. More family. More love. This year I'm going to make the time to enjoy the holiday. This year I'm going to do my best to reveal the true meaning of the season to my children.

And it starts today!

Many thanks to Sarah at Sarah Dawn Designs for helping me to do that. The kids and I have had a lot of fun preparing to post and link up to her Gratitude Photo Scavenger Hunt. And while my 6 year, 5 year, 3 year, and 10 month olds weren't exactly catching on to the idea of finding specific things on the checklist that we are grateful for, this little scavenger hunt opened up the conversation in our family on gratitude and looking for the things in our life that we are thankful for.

I think we might be off to a pretty good start this year.

Over the next 3 days of posts here are pictures of 30 things that I'm grateful for...

1. Something I'm grateful for in color.

Family. We're a pretty colorful bunch.


2. Something I'm grateful for in nature.

Mountains. "What are men to rocks and mountains?" ~Jane Austen
There is something about mountains that connects to something deep inside of me. They stir me up. They set me soaring. They just make me downright happy. This year in particular I am grateful to live in a home where I can open my window blinds and see incredible mountain ranges in every direction. I imagine my window views have had a little something to do with what a good and happy year 2011 has been.

3. Something I'm grateful for in the city.

Cousins!
And they only live a half hour drive away! This is stretching the term "in the city", but after living so far from our family we're very grateful for a teensy tinsy half hour drive to spend time with our loved ones.

4. Something I'm grateful for at the park.

Green grass.
I never realized how much I took grass for granted until we lived in ugly brown Arizona where there was none. Well, there was some, but it was so prickly and ant infested that you couldn't sit on it without being assaulted. I'm grateful for a backyard and parks with lovely green grass that my children can run and play happily on. I'm grateful for summer evenings spent comfortably sitting on grass.

5. Something I'm grateful for that is soft.

Baby cheeks.
How grateful I am for the gift of motherhood. These precious moments spent nuzzling soft baby cheeks are ones I imagine I will remember long after those cheeks won't let me nuzzle them anymore.

6. Something I'm grateful for that is hard.

Running.
I'm getting a little abstract with this one, but I am grateful for running. It is hard, really hard especially as a mom of four little ones. But it has brought me a lot of joy. I've lost 60 pounds this year partly in thanks to running. I've found an escape and a release. I've discovered that I am capable of so much more than I give myself credit for. Running has developed my muscles and my self esteem. It's hard, but I can do hard things...And be happier because of them!

7. Something I'm grateful for in my closet.

Guns.
I'm grateful to live in a country where I can legally bear arms. I am grateful that I have something I can protect my family with if the occasion should ever arise. And I'm grateful my husband has finally found a hobby for himself.

8. Something I'm grateful for with texture.

Gluten free food.
It's been an interesting year at our house when it comes to food. When I discovered in September that my three year old Elle has Celiac Disease I was terrified at the thought of not having anything to feed my daughter. While it may have a strange texture and be quite expensive, I am grateful for gluten free food that I can safely feed my daughter.

9. Something I'm grateful for in my kitchen.

My Bosch mixer.
My mom found this little beaut at a thrift store for a few dollars. These things normally cost hundreds of dollars, but last forever. I am so grateful she found it. I could never have afforded a brand new one. I use my mixer all the time. Fruit smoothies, breads, cookies, etc. I love my mixer!

10. Something I'm grateful for in the weather.

Snow.
Along with the green grass, I missed the snow terribly when we lived in Arizona. Snow is magical and fun and wonderful. I love it when it comes and I love it when it goes. I am grateful to live in a place with weather variety. It makes me happy!

There are still twenty more things to show you that I'm grateful for. Make sure to come back Tuesday and Wednesday to see more.

And again, thank you to Sarah for hosting such a brilliant blog Thanksgiving celebration! Make sure to visit her to see what other bloggers are grateful for too.

Three for Thursday: Back from the Dead

Turkey Tail Feather / Don Van Dyke

It's Thursday again! Maybe that is nothing remarkable to you, but Wednesday morning around 4 am as I was leaning against the wall in my bathroom praying my children wouldn't find me unconscious or dead I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see another Thursday again.

Sparing you most of the gory details, let's just say Panda Express and I are through. For life. And not to slander Panda Express because it wasn't food poisoning that affected me so, but it just happened to be my last meal before...well, you get the idea. And now I can hardly type the words Panda Express without dying a little inside.

Moving on! 

Three things that I am grateful for from the year 2011:
1. Neighbors. I know, I know. I'm getting a little obnoxious with the I-love-my-neighbors thing, but they came to my rescue again yesterday when I called upon them for a priesthood blessing and help with my children. I am so grateful for good people!
2. Baby Cee. She was born right at the beginning of 2011. How I love this gorgeous, sweet baby of mine.
3. Getting laid off from my job. A few months ago I couldn't have said this, but I have finally been able to see what a blessing me not working has been for my family and home. Suddenly I have more time in my day. My house is cleaner, my children are happier, and I am more satisfied with how I am fulfilling my duties as "mama".


Three things “I’d rather not”:
1. I'd rather not give the kitchen table and chairs the deep down exfoliating scrub they so desperately need but that will require ninja skills and an exorcism to complete.
2. I'd rather not plan the Thanksgiving menu right now. My stomach just isn't up to it. Yet.
3. I'd rather not talk on the phone. Like ever. I really hate phone conversations. I freeze up. I can't hear. I would really just rather not ever use it for talking into.

Three Thanksgiving plans, traditions, or memories:
1. Plan: Cook my first gluten free Thanksgiving feast. Wish me luck!
2. Memory: A bird pooping on my head while I was hanging off the side of a moving suburban.
3. Tradition: Eat. Lots.

Three sneaky things I do:
1. Add spinach to the morning smoothie.
2. Watch the garbage man between the window blinds to see if he's irritated about my overly full garbage can.
3. Eat chocolate covered pretzels in the kitchen as quietly as I can while my children watch TV in the next room.

Three things that I missed the boat on:
1. Pop culture. Friends, Frasier, Lost, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Wonder Years, The Office. If it's popular I probably didn't read it or see it until it was all published or airing the final season.
2. Sushi. I didn't get brave enough to try it until a couple of years ago. Oh the years wasted!
3. Natural childbirth.

Three pictures:

Why wouldn't it surprise me to see Lady Gaga in this outfit?

Four of my greatest blessings

Thanksgiving 2009 in Arizona. Too small and too quiet. How grateful I am that we are close to family again.