End of the Year!

So the year is about to end. Only an hour and a half left. It has been a year of many ups and down. We added another member to our family....our Beautiful Elizabeth "Ellie Belle" Rose entered our lives on April Fool's Day. She has grown so much.....getting ready to walk and got her first 4 teeth this month.

Brittany is really growing up....growing into a beautiful you lady. A little attitude to show for it but nothing out of control. Each time she cuts her hair shorter and shorter. On Christmas Eve she cut it to a short pixie like Aunt Rene. She has a HUGE interest in sewing. Her dream is now to go to design school in Paris.

Madalynn is still a little spit fire. She is excited to learn to read and LOVES to do copy work every where she goes. She has been writing her name for almost a year and continues to learn more and more each day. She and Brittany like to spend their free time playing webkins online.

David....well David....he is such a little boy. He spends most of his day naked running around playing in water and dirt. He is SUCH a little mommy's boy. He still loves to nuzzle into my chest at night to go to sleep. I am sure that won't last too much longer but for now I will cherish those moments.

In late July Forrest took a promotion up to Daytona Beach at the Volusia mall. Our lease was up at the end of September so it was a perfect time to move. My mom Cheryl was ending her latest marriage and we started working together in early June. We thought it would be a great time to all move in together. She is getting older and would like help with cooking and the computer. I can always use and extra pair of hands with the kids as well as she really wanted to be able to spend more time with her grandkids.

So we set off to find a house that would work for all of us. In our price range, large enough for all of us and had privacy for Cheryl. There were many weeks of crazy house hunting. Mostly me and kids driving around everywhere from Port Orange, Deland, Deltona, up to Ormond Beach. After a few false alarms.....we found our perfect country retreat. Down a LONG bumpy road....it my perfect 2 story home on 2.6 acres.

We are looking forward to 2008 to be our best year ever. We are planning our first big family vacation and have SOOO many plans for homeschooling that I can hardly wait for the new year to start. I am off to go outside to snuggle in front of the fire and roast mashmallows....our new favorite family pastime. Our one big resolution for next year is to have a Family/Friends smores night atleast twice a month. An open invitation to our family and friends to come hang out around the campfire for fun and fellowship.

Jan 1st 2008 - Motivated Moms & Decluttering

January 1st To Do List

Morning
Check Email, Balance account, check schedule for day
Empty Dishwasher
Make Breakfast
Reboot Wash
Take Vitamins/Supplements
Load Breakfast Dishes
Clean Kitchen sink & stove
Clear/Wipe Kitchen Counters
Change dishcloth/towel
Empty Trash & Recycling in Kitchen
Sweep Kitchen/Dining Room/Entryway

Check on dinner plans/Put dinner in crockpot

After Breakfast/Before lunch
Make Beds
Quick Pick up of Bedrooms & Loft
Empty Trash in bedrooms
Vacuum 2nd story.....all bedrooms & loft

Start the kids on school project

Declutter & organize master bedroom closet
Make lunch
Add dishes to dishwasher & run
Reboot Wash

After Lunch
Clean upstairs bathroom - (Tub, shower, Toilet, floor, counters, mirrors, change hand towels)
Clean downstairs bathroom (sink, mirror, floor, toilet, change hand towels)

Special Reading Time with Mom
Kids OUTSIDE to play // Mom work/computer time.

After Nap/Before Dinner
Finish up dinner
Reboot wash
Put clean clothes away

After Dinner
Unload dishwasher
Clean up kitchen, (dishes, counters, sinks, stove, put away leftovers, table, sweep)
Start dishwasher

Before Bed
Declutter Coupons
Clean out Purse & Diaper bag
Make "To Do" List for tomorrow
Reboot wash
Journal/blog about the day

Ellie and Allergies

We have been fighting with an allergy problem for a while. She has some horrible red diaper rashes, stuffy noses and deep allergy shiners. I tried to eliminate just dairy . I am already gluten free so that isn't as much of an issues....but I am not 100% about it.

That didn't seem to work and she seemed to get worse. Some nights it was horrible...she would cry the wash was so read and so swollen. I had to do something drastic to resolve the problem. I went on a full TED. Total Elimination Diet....down to Turkey, sweet potatoes, pears, pear juice, reg potatoes, millet bread. It was so hard. I only last a little over a week. I added back in raw dairy and didn't see a reaction at first. I looked over our old food journal and began to think it might be acidic type foods.....tomatoes, citrus, kiwi....as well as dairy.

So.....after the 2nd week....I made a radical change. My food aversions (left from my HG pregnancies) really inhibit being able to eat a good variety of foods.

When I added the raw dairy back in with the TED...after 4 days it got really bad. The diaper rash had gotten better, as well as the mucus...but now she had small spots of excema on each cheek and the allergy shiners were the WORST I had seen.

SO.....now I am doing a modified Top 8 free diet. I trialed Eggs right away because I was taking away so many of my other main proteins....dairy & poultry (aversion).

So.....as of now I am ......
Free of....Dairy, Gluten, Vinegar,Citrus/Tomato, Soy (except Tamari), Nuts, Fish/Shellfish, Poultry, and trying to be medium to low on Salicylate.

The New Year and my plans!

The New Year is coming and as usual I have PLANS.....lots of plans.

I ordered the Motivated Moms calendar and printed out the "Simple Life Declutter" calendar. Everything has been combined into on flexiable binder (that can fit my purse). It includes the above....also....meal planning, shopping list, bible in a year and my new BLESSINGS DO LIST.

The Blessings Do List....is to replace the typical "Honey Do List". These are the large chores/ideas that I have to be done around the house. Now they are not CHORES....but items that IF done would BLESS me.

Typically....I make LOTS of plans but don't always follow thru for very long....like most people.

BUT....plan on also blogging as to how it is all going and keeping myself accountable for keeping things going. I am sure this will change the flavor of my blog some but I am sure it will keep LOTS of traditional food items incorporated since that is a A HUGE part of my life.