Well, it’s been a busy day! In all that cooking and playing and opening presents I forgot to shout out to the world a Happy Birthday to my little Bean!!! At 6:30 this morning, Jim Brett and I were reminiscing about the day we went to the hospital! I remember asking him to let me drive because I was having a c-section and I knew I would be able to for a while.

I remember having to say goodbye to my little Jacob, whom I had never been away from for an entire night, let alone 3 days. While I was excited for my little Bean to enter the world, I was devastated leaving my little J-Bird.

And I’ll be eternally grateful to Joan for being here with us that week! You helped in so many ways. But my most fond memory is from when we were in triage and they could not get my IV in and they were on the 5th try. I looked over at you and, without saying a word, the look you were giving me gave me the courage to let them try one more time. (Not that I really had much choice.) You looked so empathetic but also so encouraging. Like you were silently telling me, “You can do this.” That helped me take that deep breath I needed to buck up and stay calm. Once they finally got the IV in and my tears of gratitude that I wouldn’t have to do it again started, you cried with me.

(Right after I came out of surgery and I had that maddening itchy feeling from the epidural, you scratched my back for me so Jim Brett could hold his son! Thanks for that, too!)

I can’t believe that was all six years ago. My little Christopher has given me so much joy. He is such an amazing little guy! He is super smart! I love watching his little mind at work. And what a sense of humor! That child makes me laugh every single day.

Happy Birthday, my little Bean! I love you to the moon and back!!

I decided to do the GAPS diet for my boys. Without getting into it too much, it’s basically a diet where you eat nothing but broth, boiled meat and boiled vegetables for what seems like forever. (Ok, it’s only a few weeks but it already feels like forever.) It’s supposed to be good for all kinds of ailments but, since I have one boy on the spectrum and another one that’s ADHD I want to do everything as holistically possible… trying to avoid medication for either of them.

I started gearing up for this about a year ago. We went gluten free for about 10 months, then completely grain free then dairy free. Then the biggie… sugar free. I am pleased to say that my boys have adapted to all the changes quite well. Don’t get me wrong, there has been plenty of griping, mainly from my youngest. But they are trudging along with it. Christopher does say to me on a daily basis, “When is this break gonna be over?”

This past weekend was the big kick into high gear and doing the first phase of the diet. Jim Brett and I actually drove to a dairy farm in Pennsylvania to meet the farmers and do a tour so we knew exactly what we were buying. We stocked up on a bunch of fresh beef and chickens to make the required broth. I made my first batch this past weekend. I realized too late that I used too much water and it was pretty bland. Again, though, my boys trudged through it like champs! (Ok, maybe a little bit of griping. Ok, Christopher took about forty five minutes to drink his first cup, which had about a quarter cup of broth but, he did it!)

But my batch of chicken broth that I made today… fantastic! It was probably beginners luck but it tasted like it was made by a pro! I was so proud of myself! Both boys drank it up without one word of complaint. I was thinking to myself, “I can’t wait to see Jim Brett’s reaction to this one!” While my big pot of broth was cooling I cleaned up all my dishes. I had all my counters wiped down and everything put away. We had an appointment at 3:00PM. I had everything cleaned up by 2:00 and my broth was cool enough to put into storage bowls. Again, so impressed with myself; smiling away at my easy peazy handling of all it.

Now, I have to leave my house by 2:30 for this 3:00 appointment. All I have to do is dump the broth into my Tupperware bowls. Plenty of time, right? Yes, unless you are like me and the slippery handle of the huge pot of broth slips out of your hand and broth goes flying everywhere. I’m not kidding. It was everywhere. Some even got on the ceiling. How? Now, I am also covered in broth. It is now 2:15. Do I clean myself up and leave broth all over my kitchen for the next hour and a half? Sorry, can’t do it.

As I scrambled to sop up the broth as it rolled under my coffee maker, my knife block, the bag of ginger, my utensils jug (both of them), the thawing plate of burger and as it’s dripping down the sides of my counter, I thought to myself, “Not so busy patting yourself on the back now, are you?” Yes, I also went to this appointment smelling of fresh chicken broth.

After school today, Christopher and I went grocery shopping.  Giant is having this contest now where they hide this stuffed duck and you have to look around the store to find him. If you do, you get a prize.

The store wasn’t that busy so I told him he could go a an aisle or two ahead of me to look for it as long as he didn’t go too far and as long as he came back quickly. Off he ran, super excited for a bit of independence.

He was gone for about three minutes when I felt he had been gone too long, so I went looking for him. He truly was only two aisles away so he was safe.  He did not see me approaching. Where did I find him? He was by the bakery with his little hands inside one of the cases eating the candy shamrocks off of one of the cookies. He finished before I got to him so he didn’t realize I had seen him.

He comes strolling back to the cart with green dye all around his little mouth. He’s talking away to me about finding Lucky Duck. I asked him, “What’s that green stuff all over your mouth.” The look on his face was truly a Kodak moment. He tried to play it off though and said, “I don’t know.” But he couldn’t look me in the eye. I asked him, “Were you eating something?” Looking down at the floor he said, “Yes, but don’t be mad.” He confessed.

I stood there for a moment debating what I should do. I decided he needed to tell the people in the bakery that he ate some cookie without asking. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing or not but I also want my boy to understand he can’t just help himself to whatever he likes in the store. He cried. I picked him up and told him I loved him but that he took something and he needed to admit it. Again, my heart wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but I followed through with it.

He cried a little bit and hid his head in my neck, begging me not to make him tell. I told him it would be alright but that he needed to do this.  We walk back to the bakery and the woman behind the counter comes over to us. I make Christopher tell her what he did and what does she say? “That’s ok, honey, you help yourself.”

Are you kidding me? Then he found the damn duck and got a prize! So much for trying to teach him a lesson.