Older pictures are fun too!

One of my favorites of Rachel and her Nana when Rachel was four months old.

Some Fun Pictures

Snow Hiking

Joshua calls snowshoeing "snow hiking". Finally after three years of waiting, the snowshoes we found at a garage sale fit Joshua this year. He enjoys them and is quite proud of his new talent. Below is a video of Joshua on his first 'snow hike'. At the end of the hike we ended up at the top of a sledding hill. So Joshua is walking by himself all the way down the sledding hill (at his request), at the end you can hear him yell: "Come down here!" (He wanted to watch us come down the hill, Joel of course ran with Rachel on his back, and Mommy, of course, walked.)

Upon the Potty

Last night, there was excitement in Joel and Renee's house! We have been casually potty training, meaning Rachel still wears a diaper, is encouraged to go pee pee on the potty, and has a sticker reward chart. Last night, to Mama's incredible amazement, Rachel said "pee pee", pointed to her diaper area, and walked to her potty in the corner of the kitchen. She proceeded to pull down her pants, take off her diaper (with some help) and sit on the potty. Ten seconds later she stood up and said "All done!" Mama looked. And looked again. Mama gives a shrieky Whoo-hoo! and starts clapping! Rachel had gone pee pee in her potty, by herself!!
Of course the whole family starts clapping and hurrahing. It was a fun time. After the necessary actions that follow going potty, things calmed down.

Ten minutes later Rachel does the EXACT same thing. Yes, pee pee and all. Can you imagine Mama's reaction?
She sat down and shook her head. Unbelievable.

Taxes according to Joshua

Daddy: What country do we live in Joshua?
Joshua: Hungary!
Daddy: Ha! No Josh, we live in the United States. Do you know what state we live in? (I know he knows this one)
Joshua: Soda pop!
Daddy: That's right, we live in Minne"soda"!
Daddy proceeds to give a brief explanation of why he has to do taxes.
Joshua: Then we give them money then they give us money then we give them money and we keep doing that.
Daddy: exactly. You're brilliant.

Another SUPER great Wonderful Thing...

"Reading labels for hidden sources of gluten from wheat has become much easier with thanks to the new Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act that went into effect January of 2006.

The new Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act requires the top eight allergens (which includes wheat) to be declared on all product labels." (source: Children's Hospital Boston) (Italics mine.)

Ok, so what does that mean? That means when you read a label on a product, if the ingredient is derived from any of the top eight allergens it must specify. So for example: Natural Flavor (soy), Artificial Flavor (wheat).

So this helps immensely. But gluten is also found in Rye, Barley (which is a popular flavoring), and sometimes oats. So it's a good step, but not quite there yet! :)

You have GOT to be kidding me!!

So I was on the Internet looking at Celiac Disease and Gluten Free Info (what else is new?) and I came across a thread on glutenfree.com titled 'Cross Contamination'. I haven't done much research on this aspect yet. Here's what I found:


Help with kitchen cross-contamination::

Replace the toaster/toaster oven if possible. If not, clean it out thoroughly and use foil under your food. If that's too scary, use your regular oven to toast and grill and use foil.

Replace all cutting boards - wooden and plastic. Do not share the GF boards with gluten food prep.

Replace wooden spoons and teflon/vinyl cooking utensils. Do not share these new utensils with gluten food prep.

Replace porous pots/pans/skillets. Teflon and cast iron are porous enough to retain gluten from past cooking. Do not share non-stick or iron pans with gluten foods.

This from another forum: never wash gluten and gf dishes in the same dish water. I wonder about the dishwasher?

Sponges harbor and spread gluten.

Shared dish towels might be an issue - do not share towels; and rotate all kitchen towels into the laundry after meals and clean-up.

Clean out all drawers - crumbs are insidious.

Counters, surfaces, handles can all have gluten residue - I go through this difficulty when my son comes home from college. After eating a greasy gluten pizza he may spread his glutenized fingerprints all over the kitchen. I have gotten contaminated from his "invisible gluten".

Do not share jarred condiments (butter, margarine, mayo, peanut butter, jam, etc.) with gluten eaters. Keep a separate set GF.

Health food store brand bagged bulk items may be cross contaminated (better to purchase a sealed package from the GF company). I have watched HFS employees use the same scoop for all their bagging; not to mention, seeing one guy sneeze into his hands then proceed with his bagging...!

HFS and grocery store bulk bins - a nightmare of cross contamination.

School, work desks, counters, tables...gluten residue can lurk everywhere. Frequent hand washing helps.

Other hidden gluten issues to look at:

can openers
colanders
pets (pet food can contain gluten)
stamps, envelope adhesive, school paste, glue
carbonless paper/checks often contain wheat starch
lipsticks
toothpaste
breath mints, antacids, etc.
vitamins and medicines
lotions/sunscreens/soaps

Sharing finger or snack food with gluten eaters - or sharing party dips, cheese, salsas...can be big trouble.

Grills and charcoal can be a source for contamination.


What is a mother to do????

I don't know if you know this, but Celiac Disease is STRICT. And I mean STRICT. Gluten Intolerance is the same world as Celiac, but Celiac is like another continent. So this Cross Contamination thing...I can't ignore this. The smallest molecule of gluten can harm Rachel and prevent healing. This is one of the biggest reasons I am pushing for my household to go 100% Gluten Free, not just Rachel to be GF.


How about something positive? :) I read this in an email I received recently:

"Gluten absorbed through the skin will not affect the gut as it passes directly into the bloodstream. So you are exactly right, unless you have Dermatitis Herpetiformis, you should not have a problem with the ingredients in lotions and skin creams. That does not include products that might get into the mouth such as lipsticks and lip glosses."

I almost jumped out of my chair about this one! OF COURSE, Celiac Disease is about the small intestines...not the skin. Rachel does not have any problems with her skin, it's JUST HER GUT. Can I get a HALLELUJAH??? HMMmmm.

Happy Valentine's Day

(Joel) I'd like to share the lyrics of a song from my favorite new album, Resurrection Letters, Vol 2, by Andrew Petersen. If you want to listen to the song go here, and choose "Love is a Good Thing" in the music player on the top-right corner of the page. More then any other artist I can ever remember God has used the music of this album to bless my socks off by getting me back to Jesus. Check it out.

It knocked me down, it dragged me out, it left me there for dead. It took all the freedom I wanted and gave me something else instead. It blew my mind, it bled me dry, it hit me like a long goodbye, and nobody here knows better than I that it’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing. It’ll fall like rain on your parade, laugh at the plans that you tried to make, it’ll wear you down till your heart just breaks and it’s a good thing. Love is a good thing.
It’ll wake you up in the middle of the night, it’ll take just a little too much. It’ll burn you like a cinder till you’re tender to the touch. It’ll chase you down, swallow you whole, it’ll make your blood run hot and cold. Like a thief in the night it’ll steal your soul, and that’s a good thing. Love is a good thing. It’ll follow you down to the ruin of your great divide, and open the wounds that you tried to hide. And there in the rubble of the heart that died you’ll find a good thing. Love is a good thing.
Take cover, the end is near. Take cover, but do not fear. It’ll break your will, it’ll change your mind, it’ll loose all the chains of the ties that bind. If you’re lucky you’ll never make it out alive, and that’s a good thing. Love is a good thing. It can hurt like a blast from a hand grenade when all that used to matter is blown away. There in the middle of the mess it made you’ll find a good thing.Yes, it’s worth every penny of the price you paid. It’s a good thing.
Love is a good thing.
Do not fear.

Better Update of Wednesday :)

So we got home late last night, but Joel was able to to snag a few moments before bed to let you know if we were having a boy or a girl. According to the ultrasound it looks like we're having a girl! Of course ultrasounds have been known to be wrong, so we aren't naming the baby until the baby is born. The ultrasound also revealed no known abnormalities. So far this baby looks very healthy and normal. Hurrah!

The meeting with the Celiac Specialist also went well. The doc looked Rachel over and took note of her symptoms and how she is doing better. He seemed pleased with her progress and also seemed confident she did have Celiac Disease. Though the blood test isn't a 100% diagnosis, he suggested a biopsy which Joel and I turned down. For now she is doing well, and we are pretty confident she has Celiac.

The rest of the day was busy busy, with a meeting with a pastor in Duluth (possible mission outreach opportunity for our church), shopping, eating and of course a refreshing car wash. I love car washes. This one had rainbow colored soap!!! I've never seen that one before, maybe it's because we splurged this time and got "the Works". Anyway the roads were fine, just wet, no ice. And a HUGE THANK YOU to Brook and John who babysat Joshua for 13.5 hours!!!

So that is all at the moment. Thank you so much for praying for this new little one. I am excited to have another baby, though I do have feelings of being overwhelmed, and wonder if it's too soon after Emily. I'm trying to find a name that means 'healing', 'restoration', or something of the like.

Three Girls in a Row!

But we're not painting anything pink or naming Grapenut until she proves she's a girl in person.
Otherwise she's appears to be perfectly healthy. Neat, eh?

Fun with Kids

Joel and I babysat for our friends Joshua and Stephanie a few weeks ago. They have two little girls, Claire (almost 2) and Sophia (6.5 mo).

Hey I Thought of Something Else!

The List continues from the Previous Post:

Rachel has two more teeth, making a total of 14! She is now getting her bottom two canine (eye/corner/so many different names) teeth. She has yet to get the top canine teeth and then the good old lots of fun two year molars (4).

Here's some pictures that I've been meaning to upload for awhile:

Can you find Joshua?

Playing in Mama's laundry:

This is specifically for Neena, but of course everyone can enjoy it!

Oh Randomness

Everyday I think of something I should write on the blog to share, and then when I sit down after a crazy morning, I forget everything. So this post might be a little random...

The exciting thing on my mind right now is this upcoming Wednesday! This is the day where Joel, myself and Rachel (Brook and John are going to be watching Joshua!! Thankyou!) drive to Duluth to St. Mary's and meet with the Celiac Specialist in the morning. Then in the mid afternoon we have an ultrasound of Grape Nut. We are going to find out if this baby is a boy or a girl!! I'm so excited. Joel and I actually have some names that we agree on for both. Should I share? maybe later. ;)

Joel still has work. He's been working every work day so far. This is big, because other friends of ours are getting laid off.

Today is warm. It got up to 30 degrees. The kids and I walked to Bible Study today. What a treat!

I got my bread machine in the "mail" yesterday. Actually it was a big cardboard box sitting in front of my door when I got home from errands. This morning I tried it out. It wasn't too bad. The bread is slightly yellow and has the consistency of homemade cornbread. The flavor, well, I can tell the flour I used had bean flour in it. Bean flour has a distinct taste and is quite strong. But Rachel had it for lunch with honey on it. So I'm not going to complain. It was soft, the dough rose, and it was edible. So there. Next up, cinnamon-raisin bread! (By the way, the recipe I used can be found in Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Gourmet Cookbook Revised Edition, sold on Amazon.com.)

Joel "started" taxes the other night. Actually he looked up one thing. But it had been on our minds for quite some time. The thing? Well, we wanted to know if we could claim Emily or not. Since she never lived with us, we weren't sure if she was truly a dependent or not. But we can claim her, which is a relief, yes financially, but more importantly- She's our daughter! I'd think it pretty sick if I couldn't claim a child that I had cared for for 9.5 months.

Ok, I can't think of anything else right now. Thanks for reading!