Well, this is it, my last day of blogging gratitude. There's so much in the world to be thankful for, I hope that I will keep this as an ongoing intention, even if it's just in my head and my heart. Simple, joyful, funny, little everyday moments can rush by so fast and get forgotten in the rush to get things done. I've enjoyed putting the focus back on the reward and less on the effort.
Today I'm grateful for porchetta with roasted potatoes. Yummmmm. And the perfect meal to linger around the dining room table, discussing the events of the day and listening to the fire crackle.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Nine
Today I am grateful for online shopping! ... And I don't think I'll say anything else and ruin any surprises in case one of the presents I bought today is for you.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Eight
I am grateful that today is the first day of Advent so we can decorate the house for Christmas. I was planning on putting up the Christmas tree today, no matter what, just because it seemed like a good day to do it, but today being the first day of Advent gives me a perfectly legitimate reason. Hooray for Christmas!
On a random, but related note, trying to explain to David the celebration timeline (that we are celebrating Advent for four weeks, during which we will celebrate a family birthday and his birthday, and then it will be Christmas) is incredibly difficult.
Since Advent starts today, I'd like to share a link to a blog post by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary full of simple ideas for celebrating the season. Merry Christmas!
On a random, but related note, trying to explain to David the celebration timeline (that we are celebrating Advent for four weeks, during which we will celebrate a family birthday and his birthday, and then it will be Christmas) is incredibly difficult.
Since Advent starts today, I'd like to share a link to a blog post by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary full of simple ideas for celebrating the season. Merry Christmas!
Friday, November 26, 2010
30 Days of Gratitude - Day 27
Today I am grateful that Chris and I know how to pack and unpack. It really is a skill. Of course, we've both had a lot of practice. I shuttled back and forth between my divorced parents' homes. Chris has moved over twenty times in less than thirty years of life. We are seriously fast packers. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't pack a lot. With small children, sometimes more is more. But we rarely find that we get somewhere and don't have what we need ... which makes me very grateful!
30 Days of Gratitude - Day 26
Today I am grateful for movies. I love books. But movies are great too! Today we took David to see Tangled, which made me cry, probably because I'm a huge sap, but I just love going to the movies.
Okay, I know that's short, but I'm too busy enjoying the family today to explain in detail!
Okay, I know that's short, but I'm too busy enjoying the family today to explain in detail!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Five
It's Thanksgiving. The ultimate day of gratitude. The day we gather together with family and friends, pig out, and share our thankfulness that we've made it through another year.
In the last couple of days we've had quite a development to be thankful for! Earlier this week David had a food challenge for wheat. A food challenge is the ultimate true or false test for food allergies. There are blood tests and skin tests, but false positives happen a lot with those tests, especially for those with eczema, like David. So, really, the only way to tell if David is actually allergic to something is to make him eat it and then see if he dies.
It's not really that drastic, but in my mind and my heart that's the way it feels. It's terrifying.
But David's allergist and I agreed that he hasn't shown any signs of wheat allergy. We use flour in our kitchen, baking and dredging, but I've never noticed David reacting to it. (They call that "baker's asthma" - there's your random factoid for the day.)
So that's how I ended up earlier this week, encouraging my son to eat Wheat Chex, made from WHEAT - a food David has never intentionally eaten, sitting on the floor in an exam room at the allergist's office. (Food challenges are typically conducted in medical settings for people with severe food allergies, just so, if anything comes up, medical help is standing by. In fact, the first thing they did when we arrived at the office was weigh David so that they could have an appropriate dose of epi standing by in case David went into anaphylatic shock.)
But the challenge ended with vague results. He had a lot of nasal congestion about halfway through the challenge. I think it was because I was letting him play on the floor, kicking up dust bunnies. (I could just kick myself for that one!) But he didn't have any breathing issues or hives. So, the allergist let us leave with instructions to keep trying wheat and report back to him.
Today we tried animal crackers. No reaction. None at all. He ate 10 animal crackers made from flour and had no allergic reaction.
This opens up a whole world for David. Pasta, sandwich bread, soy sauce, chicken nuggets, hamburger and hot dog buns, cakes and cookies. Oh, and Play-Doh! My son can play with Play-Doh!!!
I can't believe how grateful I am.
In the last couple of days we've had quite a development to be thankful for! Earlier this week David had a food challenge for wheat. A food challenge is the ultimate true or false test for food allergies. There are blood tests and skin tests, but false positives happen a lot with those tests, especially for those with eczema, like David. So, really, the only way to tell if David is actually allergic to something is to make him eat it and then see if he dies.
It's not really that drastic, but in my mind and my heart that's the way it feels. It's terrifying.
But David's allergist and I agreed that he hasn't shown any signs of wheat allergy. We use flour in our kitchen, baking and dredging, but I've never noticed David reacting to it. (They call that "baker's asthma" - there's your random factoid for the day.)
So that's how I ended up earlier this week, encouraging my son to eat Wheat Chex, made from WHEAT - a food David has never intentionally eaten, sitting on the floor in an exam room at the allergist's office. (Food challenges are typically conducted in medical settings for people with severe food allergies, just so, if anything comes up, medical help is standing by. In fact, the first thing they did when we arrived at the office was weigh David so that they could have an appropriate dose of epi standing by in case David went into anaphylatic shock.)
But the challenge ended with vague results. He had a lot of nasal congestion about halfway through the challenge. I think it was because I was letting him play on the floor, kicking up dust bunnies. (I could just kick myself for that one!) But he didn't have any breathing issues or hives. So, the allergist let us leave with instructions to keep trying wheat and report back to him.
Today we tried animal crackers. No reaction. None at all. He ate 10 animal crackers made from flour and had no allergic reaction.
This opens up a whole world for David. Pasta, sandwich bread, soy sauce, chicken nuggets, hamburger and hot dog buns, cakes and cookies. Oh, and Play-Doh! My son can play with Play-Doh!!!
I can't believe how grateful I am.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Four
I am grateful for my mini-van. I know so many moms, women my age, that hate mini-vans and refuse to buy one. They buy SUVs instead to carry their growing families from place to place. (Some people need SUVs because of the number of children in the family, but that's not us.)
At some point in my life I totally agreed. Mini-vans were ugly, they were boring, they were for old people, they were clunky, they were definitely not stylish.
But I love my mini-van. I call it the "Mom-Mobile" because with my mini-van I can do just about anything that I would need to do with the boys during any given day. Extra changes of clothes and (non-perishable) food. Entertainment options - I keep a backpack in the van with various activities for David, plus there's a DVD player for long stops and trips. I can change any diaper Timmy can produce. Plus, I usually keep two strollers in there; a single for when I just have Timmy, a double for when I have both boys and I need David to stay in one place. Plus, I keep a baby sling in there in case I want to carry Timmy. I keep a first-aid kit, jumper cables, and a windbreaker in there. And the majority of this stuff is kept in stow-and-go compartments where you can't see it and it doesn't junk up the usable area.
I can haul just about anything if I lay the back row of seats down. Oh, and if we have family in town, everyone can pile into one car rather than having to take two everywhere we go.
And I don't care that it's not very stylish, though the leather seating makes me feel luxurious. I feel like, with my mini-van, I could rule the world.
At some point in my life I totally agreed. Mini-vans were ugly, they were boring, they were for old people, they were clunky, they were definitely not stylish.
But I love my mini-van. I call it the "Mom-Mobile" because with my mini-van I can do just about anything that I would need to do with the boys during any given day. Extra changes of clothes and (non-perishable) food. Entertainment options - I keep a backpack in the van with various activities for David, plus there's a DVD player for long stops and trips. I can change any diaper Timmy can produce. Plus, I usually keep two strollers in there; a single for when I just have Timmy, a double for when I have both boys and I need David to stay in one place. Plus, I keep a baby sling in there in case I want to carry Timmy. I keep a first-aid kit, jumper cables, and a windbreaker in there. And the majority of this stuff is kept in stow-and-go compartments where you can't see it and it doesn't junk up the usable area.
I can haul just about anything if I lay the back row of seats down. Oh, and if we have family in town, everyone can pile into one car rather than having to take two everywhere we go.
And I don't care that it's not very stylish, though the leather seating makes me feel luxurious. I feel like, with my mini-van, I could rule the world.
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