As usual I have been seriously slacking in the blogging department. This is not helped by the fact that my laptop seems to be dying a slow and painful death. This always happens to us, because we usually cannot afford to buy anything better than the cheapest laptop available at the time, and therefore it usually has a short life span. This one is only three years old (and the battery itself died ages ago, it only works when plugged in). I have a feeling it will not last much longer. It is very temperamental and I never know when it is going to work. Because of this, I figured that I had better write something since I don't know when the next chance I'll be able to post is. I do have my tablet but it's not exactly great for typing long posts, so you won't catch me writing from there. Luckily we do have another computer. It's set up in the basement, aka the cellar, aka the dungeon, so you won't find me going down there where the house centipedes live to use it. But we are brainstorming a way to somehow fit a mini 'office' into our living room and bring it up, so as soon as we figure out how to cram a small desk and chair into our already crowded upstairs, we'll move it.
It is February, and as with every other February in the history of my life I am starting to get tired of winter and feel ready for spring. I don't mind winter, I really don't. But it gets old around February. Not helped by the fact that we just got buried in snow this past week. Snow that will not likely be gone until May. Woo hoo. But on the upside the kids love it, and it's been great for playing in and skiing. Yesterday I participated in the Romp to Stomp out breast cancer snowshoe walk for the second year in a row and it was amazing because of all the fresh snow. So I guess I shouldn't complain.
We had the most perfect day for the Romp to Stomp and it was fantastic. It was sunny and warm (well, warm for February). We did the 5k walk at the Scenic Caves. I loved it, but it seemed a lot harder than I remember from last year. And last year I was 4 months pregnant. I swear I'm in much better shape this year so I'm not sure why I found it so hard, but it was a good workout. I think I should take up snowshoeing every winter, as it is a lot of fun and great exercise. I think the kids would enjoy it, especially Tristan. I'm thinking of trying to take him snowshoeing soon, maybe at the farm.
The Romp was the only exercise I got in last week (except for a bit of hooping at home here and there) because I had somehow managed to injure my shoulder. I have no idea how it happened. I woke up Monday morning and my shoulder hurt a lot. I muscled through the day thinking it wasn't anything major, but around 2am Tuesday morning when I woke up to feed Lily I was in so much pain I had to go get Tylenol before going back to sleep. When I got up that morning it had worn off and I was in much more pain, so I took some Ibuprofen. I have been trying so hard to avoid painkillers all week but it's been so hard. Just when I think it's getting better, it gets worse again, usually towards the end of the day. The problem in my shoulder spread to my neck and has been affecting my arm as well. I know it is related and aggravated by carrying Lily around on my left side. My hip has been hurting as well. My whole left side is a mess. Now my shoulder seems better, but my neck has been in a lot of pain and very stiff. If it's not one thing it's another.
I also got a cold last week. It's been mild, but combined with my shoulder/neck issues it's been a rough week. Plus Lily hasn't been sleeping well so I'm tired. Plus Tyler has been working extra long hours trying to get work done before the rented equipment has to go back, so he has not been around. Plus he is also sick, and his gut problems are flaring up, and he is tired and cranky, and spends all day huffing and puffing. He still works hard and helps out, but I am annoyed. Annoyed because just for once, I would like to get sick and/or injured on my own, and not have to 'share' the misery with someone else. Seems like whenever I'm ill (which is rare), Tyler has it worse and then it's all boo hoo for him and no sympathy for me. Bah! I'm just being a complainer though.
Ranting aside, I do spend most of my days feeling incredibly thankful for the family I do have. Tyler, sickness aside, has been the world's best husband this winter. He has been around a lot and helping with the kids a lot, especially getting up in the mornings with him on really rough nights so I can sleep in (but only just a tiny bit, heaven forbid they let me stay in bed past 7:30am). My kids are amazing and I am so grateful to have them here. The older the get, the more things I hear happening to other people, the more thankful I am for my children. Thankful that I got pregnant easily with them, that they arrived safely, that they are healthy, and that I have them to share every day with.
We have been doing a whole diet overhaul for the family this year. Once again Tyler had had enough of his gut issues, and Finn had been suffering from awful eczema. Determined to get to the bottom of all of this once and for all, we have been meeting with a naturopathic doctor. She has agreed with Tyler's existing candida diagnosis, and as well has suggested a diet free of any foods he might be sensitive too (with his leaky gut, that means he is likely sensitive to almost everything under the sun). She has put him on a strict paleo/candida hybrid type of diet for several months to get back on track. For Finn she has agreed with my suspicions that his eczema is caused by a dairy intolerance and has recommended a dairy and gluten free diet for him. So with Tyler and Finn's diets taken into consideration, we have been working hard as a family to eat healthier as a whole. The paleo diet is made up mostly of meat, followed by vegetables, then fruits, then nuts. So no dairy and no grains. The candida diet is free of all starches, yeasts, and sugars which means that in addition to the restrictions of the paleo diet, Tyler can't have anything sugary as well (which includes most fruits).
This all sounds very overwhelming, but we have embraced it and are actually finding it quite easy, and enjoyable, to eat this way. Any other person in the world would be moping over the fact that their diet is so restricted, but Tyler has seen it as a new challenge. He is always trying to come up with new and tasty paleo meals, and everything he has made so far has been amazing. Giving up things like pasta has not been as hard as I thought. If we want a pasta dish, we use zucchini sliced up like spaghetti, or spaghetti squash. If we want something with 'rice', we use grated cauliflower. We have done cauliflower mash instead of mashed potato. We've had waffles and pancakes made with almond and coconut flours. Everything has been fantastic. We all feel healthier. Finn's legs are slowly getting better. Tyler feels better than ever. And the best part is, the kids are eating better than ever. By removing almost all carbs from their diets and most dairy as well, they are not filling up on that stuff and so they are eating all of their protein and vegetables at mealtimes. It's brilliant.
Tyler is also waiting on blood tests to see if there are any indications that he has celiac disease. I really hope not, but there is a chance and so we need to know.
So it has been a rather exciting year so far, and we're only a month and a bit into it. We're doing great and we're looking forward to so much in 2013.
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