A Special Day

   It's been a busy spring so far. Mason's dad, Corey, and I are planning to get married this August! I'm so excited! We're planning an outdoor country wedding at my grandma's place. It's my favorite place to be, 20 acres of trees, fields and hidden little springs surround her beautiful big yard and perfect little barn that my grandpa built when they first moved to the property 50+ years ago. All in all, to me, it's the perfect place to get married.
   With that comes a lot of work.
   The barn needs painted, an old shed needs cleaned out, taken apart and everything hauled to the dump. The yard needs some serious TLC, along with planting flowers and an endless list of other things to be done. There's so much to do that I decided to make a "task list" and each week assign myself a task to get done.
   This week, paint the barn. Sunday my mom and grandma picked out the paint and got all the supplies together at her house. Then I decided that I would paint on Monday because it was going to be really warm and one of the only days without rain this week. While planning this paint day I was somewhat ignoring the fact I would have to get the barn painted with my little 2 year old helper Mason.
   Monday morning as Mason slept in, I packed the truck full of extra clothes, toys, gluten free food, blankets, a pack n play, sunblock, the dog, and plenty of other things to make this day as easy as possible. Then I got a phone call from my dad. He didn't have to work that day and was headed up to Grandma's to help me paint! Thankful for that, I got Mason out of bed and we headed up the canyon.
   When we got there Mason was really excited to see Great Grandma and my dad, "Papa". He was most excited to see the cows he had been talking about the entire drive there. After I slathered a thick layer of sunblock on Mason we headed out to the garden where I dumped all his toys out to play. This way I could lock him in the garden area with me while I painted the barn. Then I wouldn't have to worry about him getting into something dangerous or wondering off. I thought he would love this, he was outside, he could run, get dirty and basically do whatever he wanted. Turns out, this was the one day he didn't want to play outside. Less than an hour of being there he was totally done and ready to go into the house.
   My grandma didn't mind being inside with him, so off they went. Now my grandma is wonderful but she is 89, and Mason is almost 2 and full of trouble. I was very worried about what he would do. Would he throw a car at her head? Or hit her, or something new that I'm not even thinking about. After about 30 minutes of pondering this while I painted, I told my dad I had to go check on them. He agreed it was a good idea, and with that I headed up to the house. As I opened the side door and snuck in I was shocked to see Mason playing nicely and quietly with blocks. Confused, I headed back outside before I was seen and the good behavior ruined. My grandma followed me out and said he was being really good and was just playing with the blocks. I informed her to come get me if things changed, and then headed back down to the barn for more painting.
   Over the next couple of hours I would sneak into the house to see how he was doing. Each time I was pleasantly surprised to find him playing nicely. After lunch I tried to lay Mason down for a nap but he wash't going to sleep today. We still had a couple hours of work left and I was worried the good behavior was over now that he was tired. My grandma told me he would be fine, so my dad and I headed back out to finish up.
   As we were painting, my dad and I had a lot of time to just talk to each other. He told me about his new job that he loved and how nice the guys all were. He told me about my late grandpa, (who is my mom's dad, but MY dad really looked up to him). He told me about all the things my grandpa could fix and make and do. As my brush painted over the same wood my grandpa had driven nails into so many years ago I couldn't help but feel grateful for this day. My dad and I rarely get to spend the day together talking, and Mason never spends time with just him and his great grandma.
   With that, I decided I better go check on him again. This time as I walked quietly through the kitchen I didn't hear him talking or playing. I peeked around the corner into the living room to find him sitting with my grandma in her chair. She had him cradled like a baby and was rocking him. I couldn't believe it! Ever since he was a newborn he has hated to be cradled and rocked! He never lets me rock him and here he is being as sweet as can be while she rocks away with him!
   I almost got a little mad for a minute, until I realized how dumb I was being. I headed back out without being seen by Mason and told my dad what I had witnessed. He was surprised too, and we were both grateful he was being so good and that we were almost done.
It was late afternoon by this point and we were both tired, hot and sweaty. As we cleaned up I stepped back to look at the freshly painted barn. It turned out perfect. What a wonderful day. So rarely do I slow down and take a look around at the things that matter. A day spent with my dad, working on grandma's place while Mason had the opportunity to just be with his great grandma. A day spent strengthening family relationships and creating memories. How silly was I to think I'd just be painting a barn...

Gluten Free, Organic and Grandma...

  I'm slowly getting the hang of a gluten free menu. The taste not so much, but we're working on that. I can see that if this is going to be his diet I will be doing more cooking than normal. Gone are the rushed morning where he would eat a bagel or dry cereal in the car. This is probably all for the best because I should always make time to sit down and eat a real breakfast with Mason. The frustrating part is that he usually doesn't even want whatever I've taken the time to make him. (Gluten free or not)
  Along this journey I've taken the time to read the ingredients in almost every food I currently have or have picked out in the grocery store. This has been a real eye opener! It has made me realize something I knew but ignored for convince and taste sake. Let's be real, 90% of food in the aisles of grocery stores are so packed with chemicals/acids and other unnatural ingredients it's no wonder so many people are unhealthy. By sticking to the the outsides of the store while shopping you're basically shopping in the produce, meat, dairy and bread sections. I've also been so disgusted with my findings in all this food research that I have been making the change to more organic choices. Especially milk! If you're a milk drinker or your child is I can not stress enough to buy organic! I feel like I've been serving Mason a little bit of poison with each glass before switching to organic. (Ok I may be exaggerating a tad, but not much).  Produce and meat are the next big chemical/steriod holders. It does take more time and it does cost a little more, but in the end you can't put a cost of your family's health.
   I often think of my grandma. She will soon be 89 and is in basically perfect health. Yeah she's a little slow and a little forgetful but she's almost 89! She's never had cancer, allergies etc (knock on wood, i feel like I'm possibly jinxing her).
  Now a days not too many people make it through their life with this good of health. So, what has made her so fortunate? I believe our family can thank genetics for some, but I also think it's something else in particular with her. For most of her life she's had a garden and canned a lot of food. They also use to raise their own beef. She's always been active and a hard worker. Another thing I take into consideration is that there wasn't a McDonalds and Starbucks at every corner offering to serve her a helping of processed foods and chemicals since she was a child. I think she has basically ate natural organic foods without really thinking about it for the majority of her life because that's all there was.
  Yes, you may think I've gone to the extreme on this subject so let me clarify a little. I drink Starbucks more than I should. I still eat things that I know are not the best choice and I used to take Mason to fast food chains. My grandma shops at regular grocery stores and eats things that are not organic or all natural. I just think in comparison we have a lot more unhealthy choices than she did. I also think if everyone could eat homegrown natural food like when Gram's was growing up more people might be as fortunate to have better health like her.
   I can only pray that when I'm 89 I'm doing as well as she is....
   Until then, Mason will continue Gluten Free because his rash has gone away everywhere except one spot on his leg. I will continue to make the transition to organic a little at a time, but I know for now Starbucks will continue to be my guilty pleasure...

Day 3: Gluten Free

    Well day 3 into our gluten free trial seems to be showing some progress. Maybe I'm just hopeful but the rash seems a little less red today. In some spots it looks as though its almost completely faded.

     I'm hoping this trial works, but a little part of me (the selfish part) doesn't want to have to deal with food allergies. He's difficult enough with everyday life, I don't need more added to it. I'm sure once I figure it out it won't seem that hard, my biggest challenge is finding a variety of foods that he will actually eat. Thank goodness he can still eat yogurt and cheese. 

    The hardest part for Mason so far is that he can't have goldfish crackers or "cupcakes". He calls cake pops, cookies, etc "cupcakes". I just try to keep them out of sight, but he's a little smarty. Good thing here in Mac there is a cupcake shop that is all gluten free/nut free and vegan. They also have a great play area for kids and mini cupcakes which are perfect for a busy guy like Mase who although loves them, doesn't have time to sit and eat. They're good for moms too who are trying to watch how many calories we cram in our mouths each day. 

    So gluten free will continue on. Tomorrow is Easter and I got him a little candy for his basket. That wasn't too hard to find gluten/wheat free. He doesn't get a lot of candy anyway. Probably he'll be most excited to be outside and to have plastic eggs and a basket to play with. 

    

Gluten Free, Day 1

  Two weeks ago Mason developed a rash on his face. Then came an ear infection, no cold symptoms, just an ear infection. After "treating" him for a potential yeast infection, eczema, and changing his laundry detergent to "free and clear hypoallergenic", and changing his milk, I am left with a rash that has not gotten any better, and is now on his arms and legs.
  A trip to the pediatrician was a good waste of overpriced diesel and precious time. His regular doctor is out on maternity leave so we got to see the arrogant doctor who never seems to care much about his patients. He told me to pick up an over the counter steroid cream and try that for 3 days, and sent me off with some ear drops for the ear infection.
  No big surprise the steroid cream did nothing. The ears seem slightly better, I'm hoping by day 5 of treatment they will be completely better.
  So, after a whole lot of reading and research I see that there is a high possibilty he has a gluten/wheat allergy. Some symptoms that fit Mason were, eczema and or a rash, ear infections, constipation then diarrhea then constipated again, irritable and whiney, etc. I'm listing these symptoms because I was surprised to find that these could all be pointing to a gluten and/or wheat allergy. It could also be a number of other things, but all I can do is cross one thing off at a time. I do know that he recently developed a ketchup allergy. More likely its the acidic tomato part that he has an allergy to, but I know that ketchup makes the rash worse within minutes.
  Anyway, this afternoon I went to the health food store and stocked up on gluten free/wheat free groceries for Mason. I'm going to give this 2 weeks. In that time I'll be keeping a food diary and be making notes about his behavior and the rash. I'll continue to use the eczema wash and lotion because it won't make anything worse. The lotion is so moisturizing I wouldn't mind using it on myself if it wasn't so expensive. (It's the Aveeno baby eczema moisturizing lotion by the way).
  I'm hoping he won't have to eat gluten free forever. For one, he's already an extremely finicky eater. For two, it's so expensive! A loaf of bread (that he probably won't even like) was $6.99! Just for one loaf! But in the end, whatever is going to make him feel better and get better is worth it, no matter how expensive.
  So, gluten/wheat free......here we come, for the next 2 weeks at least....