Where Have I Been?

That title reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Well, where have I been? That's a good question! I have been a bad mommy blogger and have all but totally neglected this little piece of my world for around two months now.

Just like a lot of other folks, one of my excuses for absenteeism is the busy-ness of the holidays. My other excuse? Stress.

During the month of December, Reiss had three seizures and a fourth episode that can only be described as what looked like a seizure trying to happen. I say "trying" because Reiss is on anti-seizure medication and the symptoms he displayed during that particular episode appeared the same as his symptoms at the beginning of any other seizure (look of extreme fatigue, unresponsiveness, but still conscious) but he did not progress any further to some of the more extreme symptoms such as his eyes being fixed to one side or convulsing. Instead, he got a little bit spacey, told me he wanted to lie down and then, he simply fell asleep...for nearly six hours straight! And that was right after he had gotten up for the morning and eaten breakfast.

That was not all. We also had the return of Reiss's persistently bloody nose. We think we have that one figured out though. We added a zinc supplement back into his regimen, which he had been lacking for a few weeks because we had run out and we were not sure how much of a difference it was making. Once that was added back in, the incidents of Reiss having a bloody nose on a daily basis disappeared immediately and he has not had one since then.

So that was our December. As if December, with its holidays and preparations and special events, does not already present itself with enough stresses and frustrations without the addition of daily bloody noses and the riddling of seizures here and there.

On a happier front, we did have our share of holiday good times...

Above is a photo of Reiss and Milla decorating Christmas cookies (GFCF, of course!) at the house of our good friends, Matt and Staci. Staci is a registered dietician and is very familiar with the restrictions of the diet we follow in our house. They invited us over for cookie decorating and Staci so generously accommodated our needs by making cookies Reiss and Milla can eat.


It would not have been Christmas had we not gone out on a few occasions to check out decorations in several different neighborhoods. I read about the decorations of the house above in an Indy Star newspaper article featuring the best light displays around town. Granted, it's not really very Christmas-y in nature, but living in Indianapolis and being Colts fans, it was indeed cool to see.


On December 21st, Reiss achieved quite an accomplishment for any five-year-old. One of his ABA therapists made him the award pictured above. It has been hanging on the wall since that day and Reiss has counted to 1000 many times since then as well.


This is the only photo we have of both children on Christmas day because, not long after this was taken, Reiss had a seizure. No, the poor little guy could not catch a break even on Christmas Day.


I think this photo (taken the day after Christmas at my dad's house) of Milla looking at me makes her look so sweet. Please don't look at my big, pointy nose or double chin.


Milla was quite the little helper with Reiss's gift. As a matter of fact, she was so helpful that day that she opened most of my gifts while at my dad's house and I had no idea of what I received until we got home and got everything unloaded and unpacked. I still have no clue who gave me which gift.

That just about covers our holiday season. Yes, I am quite late to the punch, I know.

January has been snow and appointments and school cancellations and exercising and weight loss and oh yeah, did I mention that I have lost nine pounds since the beginning of the year?

I do not mean to brag but I have remained extremely dedicated and focused on losing this weight...again. At least I did not let it get really out of hand before tightening the reigns again. In the past I have been - how shall I say this? More tolerant of my own weight gain before getting it back under control. I was fat. There, I said it. In the past, I have let myself get to what doctors categorize as being obese. Personally, the image of obesity that comes to mind for me is someone who is so morbidly overweight that s/he can barely walk. But for the record, "obese" in medical terms generally means a BMI of more than 30 and/or being more than 20% overweight. This time around, I met neither of those requirements, thank goodness.

Weight loss is not the only change that is coming in our household. We have another BIG change coming soon. BUT I cannot tell about it on here just yet. It is a secret. Stay tuned...

Feel the Love!

Just a Bunch of Pics

Reiss preparing to wrap Milla's birthday gift in wedding shower wrapping paper. (Because we're fancy like that!)

Milla trying on her new Tinkerbell costume she received as a birthday gift.

Sassy!!!

Reiss getting into one of Milla's gift bags...

Notice the legs coming out of the bottom of the bag?

Birthday cake!!!

This is what a sixty-nine-year-old man (my dad) looks like jumping on a trampoline.

Reiss trying on his chef's costume for Halloween that I have not been able to get him to wear to either of the two costume parties we have gone to this week. Thank goodness, the tags are still on it....bwahahahaha!

Milla in her peacock princess costume...

We went to a Halloween dress-up/family fun night this evening at the preschool where Milla goes a few mornings per week. Here, Reiss is high-five-ing one of the teachers in Milla's classroom.

LOVE this photo! Reiss, Milla, and Christina, Milla's lead teacher in her preschool classroom.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

It always seemed to me that Milla appears in this photo like she is thinking, "Mommy, you are so weird looking!"

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Vegetarian Silly Burgers

Silly Burger dressed with fresh cilantro, salsa, and halved cherry tomatoes.

This recipe is very loosely based on a recipe by Paula Deen called Black Eyed Pea Cakes.

While I would never accuse the charmingly southern-accented Ms. Deen of developing a bland recipe, I did, however, feel when I first tried her black eyed pea cake recipe that I could improve upon it in a way that creates an end product that is not only healthier but more flavorful.

Somewhere in my blood an ethnicity that is drawn to cilantro and cumin apparently exists and, for that reason, I will add one or both of them to nearly anything in the kitchen. For my children, foods need only be called burgers or fries and they come running. As a family, we also eat a diet free of gluten and dairy products. My recipe for Silly Burgers meets all our culinary tastes and dietary needs.

Silly Burgers - Approx. 10 "burger" patties
3 cups cooked black eyed peas, drained well
1.5 cups grated zucchini (approx. 1 average-sized zucchini)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced roasted red peppers
1 egg (for vegan option, leave out and add 2 T. GF flour)
1/4 cup GF flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
Oil for pan

Optional garnish:
Fresh cilantro, diced
Your favorite brand of salsa or make your own fresh
Cherry tomatoes, halved

Heat oil over low-medium heat. With a potato masher, mash the black eyed peas. Add all other ingredients minus the oil. Mix well and spoon out into skillet, flattening slightly to make patties. Cook until golden on both sides. Garnish and eat with a fork or serve on a bun as a burger. Enjoy!

And yes, my kids really do eat these and come back for seconds!

He Rode A Freakin' Pony!

Our annual trip to our favorite apple orchard could not wait a single week longer, so today was our day. Partly sunny, no rain, and a bit of a chill in the air made for absolutely perfect weather for such an outing.

Milla, Reiss, and James walking down the gravel lane from where we parked. I may have to have this photo expanded for framing....

Reiss being such a big boy and feeding a goat. Even just this past Spring he was quite hesitant to go anywhere near the animals.


This is where I got my blog title. Yes, I know the title does not sound very nice but I was so ecstatic when Reiss was riding that pony, I was flapping my own arms! By the time he got off it, I was crying tears of joy and squeezing the life out of him, telling him, "Reiss, you did it! You rode a freakin' pony!" People around me almost certainly thought I was nuts but they very likely were not there last year either, when Reiss thought he wanted to ride a pony and got near one only to end up screaming bloody murder. Yaaayyy, Reiss!!! He was so proud of himself too and that, in itself, is reason to be ecstatic.

Milla riding a pony. She looks cute and all but it definitely was not going to top Reiss doing it, and on his own, at that!

Luckily, our computer photo program has a "crop" feature. I told James I am getting him photography lessons for his birthday so he can learn how to take photos that do not show my huge caboose.

Kids....I tell them to look at me and smile and this is what I get. It is cute though...

Reiss climbing Mount Strawverest.

Reiss' proud face, as he calls it, on the train. We were like sardines in that little train car but I was definitely not complaining. Some very nice mommies in front of us had eleven people in their party and let us go our turn before them.

Milla....

And since this is my blog and few posts seem complete without some form of irony, here it is: We came home empty-handed. That's right! Not a single apple to be had - the lines were way too long.

Here You Are, June!

With my last post I hoped for warm weather and the arrival of June and now, here it is, the month of sunny days and strawberry picking in the Hoosier state. June is not only here but close to a third gone. My apologies for sounding cliche but seriously, where does the time go? What's more is it has been close to three weeks since my last post. Needless to say, I have become quite the blogging slacker. Not to be confused with a general slacker, which by far, does not describe me, despite my wishes to be able to do less and relax more.

So what have we been up to these last few weeks?

We have gone to downtown Indianapolis and rented a paddle boat on the canal. The photos from that outing.....

(To be read to the same beat as "Five Little Monkeys") Two little monkeys rolling down a hill, one got grass stains on his knee. Momma didn't worry and she didn't fret. She just let them play and frolic with glee.

Where might the photos of the actual paddle boat be, you ask? Well, long story short, paddle boats do not come equipped with seatbelts. Or at least, the paddle boat we rented did not come with them. Between trying to paddle the boat in a semi-sane path of travel through the canal and making certain none of our belongings - to include our backpack and children - fell overboard, conducting a photoshoot fell to the bottom of the priorities list.

Two weekends ago, we went to a USDA certified organic farm to "see the cows." There was not much to see but the man working the tiny little store there was nice enough to walk us out to the barn for the kids to see some calves and the bull. We purchased a few potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions. We also bought a pound of ground pork and much to my disappointment, they were out of veal at the time. We have a few photos from that little outing but as with so many things in our house, they have gotten lost in the shuffle. Actually, there is a pretty good chance they are still on the camera waiting to be downloaded. Guess I will find out next time I use the camera.

We have also gone to a neurologist appointment, a DAN! appointment, and spent countless hours doing ABA, occupational, and speech therapies.

We had a laugh-so-hard-I-cried moment here on Monday evening. I'm not quite sure why I decided to set up the pool that day, as it was quite cool for a June day but for some reason I asked the kids if they wanted to set it up and (stupid question, huh?) of course they did. It was one of those impulse decisions that was not well thought out at all and coaxing either child into the water meant boiling water in a big pan in the house several times and pouring it into the pool. (Yes, I always make them get out of the water when we pour the boiling water in....give me some credit, will ya?)

Anyway, Reiss had gotten out of the pool and walked around in the grass and the driveway a bit before coming back to the pool and stepping in, only to yell "There's a SNAKE in the pool!" loud enough for the neighbors on the next street to hear. My husband went over to inspect where Reiss was pointing to discover our "snake" was a dried up dead worm that was two inches long if it was a mile. He pulled it out, held it up, and then discarded it into the grass. And then that is when my laughing and snorting and, eventually, the tears began to stream out of me.

As I am sitting here, I just remembered Reiss has also GRADUATED since my last post. Yes, I know, this seems like a rather big thing to forget but in my defense, a lot happens in three weeks and I have slept since then....even if only a little. His graduation produced several adorable photos. However, many of them have other children in them and due to privacy and blah, blah, blah...they are not on here. Here are the photos I can post. Enjoy....

Are you wearing BLUE today?

If you are wearing blue today, your choice of attire may have been determined by one of a few things:

1. You are a basketball fan and are rooting for one of your favorite teams in the NCAA Final Four by wearing their colors.
2. You work at Best Buy and your "choice" was not a choice at all for you.
   
3. You are a smurf, and again, have no choice but to wear blue.
   
4. It is the color that popped out and said "Wear me!" this morning when you dragged yourself into the closet from the shower.
5. You are wearing blue for World Autism Awareness Day.

Or, possibly, you are simply wearing blue for another reason. Even if you are not wearing blue, I'd like to bring to the attention of anyone reading who is not already aware that April is Autism Awareness Month and today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day. In honor of today, many people are wearing blue, although, I have also heard of wearing purple on this day as well.

If you read this blog very often at all or if you know me, you know Autism Speaks is not at the top of my list of favorite charities doing work for autism and if you know me even better, you know why that is the case. But having said that, I would like to share a site sponsored by Autism Speaks called Light It Up Blue. Check it out - I think you will agree, the photos are spectacular and some are downright inspiring, even if many of the goals of Autism Speaks are different than my own.

Blech Friday!!!!

Call me a scrooge, but I do not do Black Friday.

Driving and driving around just to find a parking space, mass throngs of people (some of them behaving, while others only behaving badly) crowding into stores and all wanting to buy the same items, and a bunch of stuff that just takes up space in one's house, for what? A better deal? No thanks! I'll do my shopping from the clearance racks throughout the year where most of the deals I get are better than the Black Friday sale prices, anyway. And most of the time, I don't have to worry about my life or those of my children being in danger of being lost due to a cattle stampede of a bunch of crazies trying to get the latest dancing Elmo figure at a rock-bottom price.

So there it is....some people call it Black Friday. I call it Blech Friday.

I'm not totally against going out the day after Thanksgiving though. We did go out today for some fast lunch from a drive-thru and also to pick up a few items from the health food store. With the exception of our own dish, we did not bring home any leftovers yesterday from my mother-in-law's house. We left here to go to her house with collard greens and came home with almost the same amount we left with - I have never had the same tastes in food as my husband's family but oh well, more for me!

A bit after lunch today, we went back out to go to the health food store. It was one of those go-in-with-a-list-of-three-items-and-come-out-with-two-bags kind of trips. We needed sorghum flour because Saturdays are, of course, Pancake Saturday at our house and we ran out of sorghum flour last Saturday using up the last half-cup in our favorite GFCF pancake recipe.

On the way to the health food store, we witnessed the mass chaos at the mall, which is less than five minutes from our home. Cars were spilling out of the parking lot at the mall, with people even parking in the grass just to make a space. I don't know.....I just don't get it. I know some people will read this and think, "But have you seen the Black Friday ads?" Yes, I've seen them. I still think I get better deals on things throughout the year by shopping clearance racks and by combining sales with store coupons. But whatever. To each his own.

Geez, I'm doing it again. I keep meaning to get to this part about an accident we saw while we were driving to the health food store. By the way, am I the only one who has noticed over the years car accidents have gone from being called "accidents" to "crashes?" When I think of the word "crash," I think of a plane falling from the sky. Two cars or more plowing into one another makes me think "accident" or "wreck" - not "crash."

Anywaaaaaay, so we were on the way to the health food store to get sorghum flour and two other items and I'm driving along telling James something probably of little importance when I hear this really loud noise. I thought it was behind us but it ends up that it was in front of us. A red Ford pickup truck had run smack into the back of a Mercedes SUV. Then I was trying to get around it and someone almost ran into me. What a mess. I wonder what that guy in the truck was doing to run right into the person in front of him. He must have been distracted in some way as this was no small bumper to bumper tap. I hope all of them were okay but we weren't about to stop and cause an even larger disturbance to other drivers, especially since our children were in our vehicle.

Milla "shopping" on Black Friday morning. I tried to tell her most stores have a "No shirt, no shoes, no service" policy but she wasn't having any part of abiding by the rules.


The mess pictured above is what our bedroom looks like right now while we are remodeling the bathroom. Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned that yes, we are still remodeling our bathroom. Actually, I fired the guy doing the work one week ago today. I'm not going to get started on that in this post but suffice it to say a bathroom should not take three months to do and I should not have to be the one to tell someone when something is not right. But, that is another post.

Reiss dorking around in the hallway while I was chasing him and Milla around with the camera this morning.....

A (Nearly) Perfect Autumn Day

Today we went to a birthday party for a little boy who is our neighbor and a very good friend. In the last three and a half years, even before the little guy came along, James and I have really gotten to know his mother and father and they are awesome people. By the way, if you click on the link on the right for "The Wellness Philosophy," that is our neighbor's blossoming business.

The birthday party for our little friend was held at a park fairly close to our house. We have been there one other time and didn't think much of it but obviously it was because we did not walk around a whole lot while there. When we went today, we found there was a bridge over a stream that led to what must be miles and miles of cleared away and paved trails. It was an unbelievable surprise, to say the least.

At one point, I was walking along one of the trails with Milla while Reiss and James were over in the playground area and, with all the colorful leaves falling all around us and just being in the middle of it all, it felt like a little slice of Heaven. Being back there surrounded by all the color and beauty of the environment, one would never guess there is the hustle and bustle of a very busy commercial area close by and a very well-travelled street right outside the park's gates. It was refreshing and relaxing and I could have kicked myself for forgetting to bring the camera. The setting provided a perfect opportunity for one of those kinds of photos where a child is pictured from the back wondering amidst falling leaves and those already on the ground. Grrrr! Maybe next week.....

Our neighbor, who has shown great interest in the biomedical treatments we use in treating Reiss' autism, attended one of the DAN! conferences and is now a practicing provider in the DAN! protocol. Because she is so aware of the importance of our GFCF diet, she made a cake especially for us to eat at her own son's birthday party! How cool is that? And although I told her to please do not do anything special for us, I have to admit, that is a true friend!

There were several children at the party and we all played on the playground equipment and walked around (making certain to avoid a very large, very disrespectful pile of dog poo someone failed to dispose of - seriously...what is wrong with people?) and talked and it was just great fun.

There was one time when Milla was making her way up the steps to the slide and I had to seriously restrain myself and now I wish I hadn't but who knows what the consequences would have been had I opened my mouth. Anyway, there was a little girl of about four years old who was trying to get past Milla rather than wait her turn. Her father kept telling her to wait her turn and she kept on trying to get past Milla and the father grabbed her on her chest (like one of her breasts) and squeezed and very angrily told her to wait her turn. She let out a little wail and, although I did see it happen, I didn't need to see it happen to know by her wailing that it hurt pretty badly. Call me a wimp and call me a stereotyper, but I kept my mouth shut because all his tattoos running up and down his arms scared the crap out of me. Now I'm wishing I would have said something....poor little girl. If he does that out in public, I don't even want to think what happens at home when she does something he disapproves of. (SIGH!)

The child abuser was the worst part of my afternoon. Otherwise, things were mostly ideal. The kids played fuss-free for nearly two hours. They were very happy and having fun and probably would have played even longer without any fits but Milla was getting tired and naptime was approaching, so we left. Milla was worn out and was asleep in her carseat as we approached our house.

It doesn't sound like a particularly spectacular day but it was a great Autumn day and one I will remember for a long time.

A Monkey's Birthday

In this week's news, Milla turned two years old! We had a very impromptu party for her with only Daddy, Mommy, Reiss, Grandma Marie, Grandpa Phil, and Grandma Elaine as her guests.

We weren't going to do anything at all except make a cake but then I had James invite his mom over for dinner and cake and ice cream (all gluten-free and casein-free, of course!) and then I invited my own dad and step-mom for cake and ice cream. My dad is retired but he and my stepmom came just after she got home from work, not giving them time to eat dinner and I then felt bad for only inviting them for cake and ice cream. Once I got to feeling bad for that, I then began to wonder if I actually invited them for dinner and then didn't have dinner waiting for them when they got here.....who knows, I'm getting old. Should that be the case and if you are reading this, Dad or Elaine, my apologies because I really did think I only invited you for cake and ice cream.

I should have just invited everyone for dinner and I wouldn't be wondering like this now. Anyway, on to the photos............

First, we opened gifts and Milla received six books total. She loves, loves, LOVES books, which I love, love, LOVE that she loves them! Here we are looking at one of the board books she received that has flaps in it with toys and people and assorted other things hiding behind the flaps.

Here she is pointing to the baby in the book. She also loves babies and ducks and always points them out whenever she sees them, no matter where they are. We have a car dealership close to our home that has a big duck on the sign and she always yells out "Duck!" whenever we pass by it.

Milla's birthday cake.
I made the cake, frosted it, did the little stars on it and wrote her name. Next I let Reiss and Milla take turns placing the pure sugar (yuck!) ducky decorations on the cake. Notice the one that is upside down? Each child then placed a little duck candle wherever they chose. I'm not bashing those who buy store-bought cakes, but I'll take the fun of having the kids help out over paying for a fancy cake any day!

Milla blowing out her candles. Actually, I did it for her but she has plenty of years to get the hang of it.

"Let me at it!" Milla talked about her cake all day after we made it. When it finally came time to eat it, I don't think she could believe it.

Picking off the duck candles.....I also let Milla and Reiss pick off a few sugary ducks before slicing the cake into pieces.

Reiss helping with the first slice....

Milla helping with the next slice....
Happy Birthday to our little monkey!!!