One one-hundredth of a second ...

I remember when I got married, just shy of 14 years ago. Which reminds me we should plan something special for 15, no?

We got engaged in November 93 and married in August 94. So we basically spent the better part of a year engrossed in the minute details of planning a medium-sized wedding. When the day dawned, it seemed we had the world ahead of us, an entire day to surround ourselves with family and friends. I put my gown on and faster than you can snap your fingers, it was all over. Such a strange feeling to be done with something so quickly that took so long to plan.

Well, that's what I thought of the other night when I watched Michael Phelps win his 7th gold medal and won by just that much -- 1/100th of a second. I mean, really, there isn't even a way to measure that in any practical every-day sense. I must have watched the replay 20 times and still couldn't fathom how they could tell who came in first. It was really amazing.

The next day I heard about the Jamacian runner who finished his run in less than ten seconds. Years and years of training, sweating, pouring out all your energy into something that is over in ten seconds! Mind boggling, don't you think? It's over before you even can wrap your mind around the fact that this is your moment in time. There's no time to relish the moment of being a contender in the Olympics. The starting fun fires and then it's over.

It's all so incredible. Some of the stories are so touching and amazing. I enjoy hearing as much about that as I do watching some of the events; swimming, diving, indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, gymnastics. I guess those are my favs right now. I watched some tennis, soccer, basketball, boxing and sabre as well. Not sure how they score the boxing. That was confusing, in deed. Seemed a little too subjective, if you ask me.

I haven't been able to watch as much as I wanted but try to keep tabs on the scores and such. Often I think back to the old times when Olympics were first organized and wonder about the atheletes, the spectators, which sports and what sorts of times and things they had. No fancy aerodynamic swimming costumes for ancient romans!

Gluteney in America

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my older two. Hard to believe! The summer has flown by and it just doesn't really seem that we did all that much. Was relaxing but perhaps too boring for my kids? I must say they didn't complain much about being bored. So that's a good thing, in my book.

I probably gained ten pounds just from eating this weekend. Friday for lunch I treated the kids to Chick-fil-a. Then Friday evening we went to a friend's to celebrate her dh's birthday. Saturday afternoon we went to a different friend's to participate in their fund-raising lemonade stand for child leukemia and stayed for bbq afterwards. More good food and treats!

Today we had a cookout with Mia's new preschool class. Lots of good food! I think we all ate off and on for three hours LOL!

To celebrate back to school we treat the kids to a dinner out the night before school begins. They chose Cheeburger Cheeburger because we see the commercials on TV a lot. Looks fun and entertaining and a friend said the fries and onion rings were good, as well as the milk shakes.

It's a fun 50's type of place with burgers, malts, shakes, soads, fries, etc. They have formica tales and a counter with round stools. Kind of reminded me of the show Happy Days.

As you come in the door they have a huge bulletin board with a lot of pictures on it. The sign proclaims that if you eat a pounder burger you can get your picture taken with a gigantic stuffed burger with the fixings and have it pasted on the board for all to see what a pig you are to eat all that food. For the record, it's actually 20 ounces of meat, a big more than a pound.

And if that's not bad enough, they even have a "junior" edition for those 12 and under -- a mere half-pound of meat. Oy! Is that something you really want your child to aspire to do? Just today I was heard a report on the radio talking about the children that are grossly overweight and how schools now need to buy new equipment to accommodate children that cannot use what they currently have.

How are we supposed to address these issues when everywhere we turn there are advertisements for food that command "bigger is better"? Extra large value meals, prizes for eating the largest burger, all you can eat buffets, super large frozen meals.

Just to summarize, I was not all that impressed with our dinner. There was a man who, in fact, ate the pound burger. Their waiter came over with said stuffed burger and digital camera, proudly and loudly proclaiming to the entire restaurant that this man did eat 20 ounces of beef while everyone clapped and cheered. We clapped too but now I'm not sure why.

Our service was exceptionally show due to a large party that probably took up half the restaurant. We were lucky to get the waitress that had the large party so we were there for 90 minutes and spent at least half that waiting. At least the kids were well-behaved, however, no one ate much. I felt the food was okay but not something I intend to race back for.

So I keep in the back of my mind when I hear the news reports commenting on the awful consequences of obesity and the realities of eating in America.

Welcome to My World

Today, August 1, marks the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week. Groups the world over are celebrating the beauty of breastfeeding this week through all sorts of activities.

I'm becoming more involved in a local La Leche League after having been a member for approx. seven years. I love the organization and its message of supporting breastfeeding mothers and their families is exceptional and close to home. I would not be where I am breastfeeding today without the support of the leaders and other mothers, nor would I be the mother I am.

I have learned so much from the leaders and other mothers over the years. I've learned so many other parenting and mothering concepts that I had never really even considered. I'm not perfect by any means, but I hope I'm at least better than I had been.

For some more information on international activities in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week, you can visit World Breastfeeding Week.

So my closest La Leche group is doing their annual celebration at a local children's farm in September. A bit past the formal timeframe, however, it can be cooler -- to be sure. I am involved in another group and we've planned our celebration for Sunday. We're having a picnic at a local fire station from 11-2 with food, music, and a cool silent auction. Personally, I hope to score some new cloth diapers. My moose is too big for even some large diaper covers! Maybe her rise is too long?

This is an inaugural event for the Eldersberg group and should be lots of fun. J&J have put in a lot of time and effort to have a successful event. It's the single-largest fundraiser of the year. The local newspaper is planning to do an article on the event. Gotta love small-town newspapers :) The reporter covering the story wanted to interview a member of the group and somehow I was chosen.

I spoke with the reporter today and hopefully answered the questions in a manner that sounds intelligent. She sounded really nice so I hope my words don't get twisted to sound judgemental or fanatical. I dodn't they they will. She asked about how I became involved in La Leche, how long I've been a member, my breastfeeding experience, breastfeeding in public and the like. I can't wait to read the article and see what it says. Maybe if it's good I'll post a link LOL!

I'm really passionate about breastfeeding. Not only are there myriad of benefits for mom and baby (both physical and emotional) but also for the environment and society as a whole. That statisics for moms breastfeeding when their babies are born is increasing, but so much more needs to be done to increase the numbers of moms breastfeeding 6+ months down the road. A key to successful breastfeeding is support and I truly look forward to continuing to support and help breastfeeding moms and their families.

So, check out the World Breastfeeding Week website or the La Leche website to see how you can get involved in supporting breastfeeding families or attending an event.

I am SO not ready for this!

So, it dawned on me recently that my children are not so little anymore. Of course, M&C are still small, but the original M&M team are slowly growing up. Who gave them permission to do this? I told them they're not allowed to grow up so fast but they don't seem to be listening!

Last week I was out with the kids and Matthew shares some information with me. Now, I thought I had a good handle on observing my children but you know, after they potty train and learn how to wipe their own butts and wash their own hair, all bets are off. So, it came as some surprise whenMatthew told me he had hair on his legs. I was like what, hair on your legs? How is that possible?!?!

Later on I checked and sure enough, he had hair on his legs! Now, really, this growing up business is getting all too real! I mean sure, you're really in the dregs when they're babies and you're knee-deep in changing diapers and cleaning up spit up. Then they start school and as a parent you feel all proud, excited and melancholy that your child has passed another milestone.

But none of this compares to when your first-born announces that their body is on the edge of entering puberty. I asked my husband if hair on the legs was the beginning of puberty and if it was I was SO not ready for this! Holy guacamole! This can't really be happening. Children don't actually grow up do they? I mean, they stay in elementary school and you always feel young because you have little children. Right? Right?

Last weekend they kids when to the in-laws. Last year when I would talk with Matthew on the phone he sounded so little and far away. So it was easy to think that he was still a little boy. But this past weekend, he sounded, well . . . like a kid. Not a little kid but a boy's who voice inching into the land of voice-change! Just another clue.

And lastly, my son has his first crush. Actually, I think it's his second LOL! A friend of mine from church has a 12-year old and my son talked about her a lot in the past year. I kind of consider that his first unofficial crush. But tonight he told me he had a secret.

Apparently, he has a HUGE crush on a little girl from his 3rd grade class. She's a very sweet girl and comes from a family of 4 girls. Just what he needs - more girls LOL! For his first crush, he couldn't have made a better choice ;) He was all embarrassed he told me and asked me to promise not to tell anyone. Then he promptly told his dad.

At bed he said he wasn't sure why he had a crush on her. I asked what he liked about her. He said she is so beautiful and it didn't know why but he just loved her. He said he has a huge crush on her. I asked if he was going to tell her and he said he didn't know.

I don't know what to make of all this. Do you have the "Talk" at age 9 and 4th grade? I can't imagine where all this would go but kids are so much more savvy these days. Yikes! When I see him from afar and interacting with his friends, I can see how he's growing up into such a fine young man. He has such a sweet spirit and I really do look forward to seeing the wonderful young man he's going to grow into :)

Allergy Update

So my dinner last night went well, especially since I hadn't planned it out ahead of time. I micro-defrosted my chicken tenderloins. Half I seasoned with Shake and Bake and the other I brushed with a little Olive Oil and sprinkled some salt, pepper and onion salt. I told Madison that I was making this chicken for us and the other kids had to have something different since they were so picky.

She didn't argue but I don't think she bought it either.

I also fixed white basmati rice, fresh corn on the cob and mixed veggies. It was delish! Everyone loved what they had except Mia. But then she's like that with food and I'll worry about that later. I'll devise or find a nugget recipe that's egg, wheat, soy and milk free at some point. Until then we can eat it plain w/ spices.

I was really encouraged to get a meal out that was theorhetically allergan free. I perused the Food Lion last night and found a couple things to try. I discovered today that I can make the corn cake packet and use goat's butter because non of it had allergans in it, including the "creamed" corn.

I'm keeping lists. Lists of banned foods, lists of allowable foods, lists of things she's tried and not liked, a list of each allergan and it's derivative for food shopping. I'll make a list to tack to the fridgie to remind us and at some point I'll probably make a menu of sorts to help with meal planning. On this side of things, I think I'll be easier to fix things we can all eat, even if the same or repetitive, so that no one feels singled out. It's just not fair to sit there and eat pizza and fix something different for my Madison.

My friend J, sent a recipe for Wacky Cake she saw in the newspaper over the weekend. It's an awesome recipe with the only allergan as wheat. Since I don't have to take the wheat out as of yet, I want to make this soon. I'm sure we can replace the wheat flour with a derivative and make it completely allergan free. We'll see. I'm going to make it properly first and then with an alternate flour or two to see how we fare. I'm excited about this! Oh and it has chocolate in it so it can't be too bad ;)

Feast or Famine?

I've collected some books from Freecycle over the past few months. The only one I felt compelled to read, "B is for Burglar" by Sue Grafton, I started reading and left at my dad's. Great.

In the meantime I bought some books online and reserved a book at the library. Yesterday I received three books; The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton and My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I also bought The Other Boleyn Girl which I wanted to read first but I couldn't wait so I started the Picoult book last night.

I have only read one other of her books, The Pact, and really liked it, although it was a heavy topic. This one proves to be the same. I was into it right away, however, the narrative bounces from character to character and I get kind of confused at times as to who is doing the talking. Usually this happens late at night. ;)

This morning I received a notice from the library that my book was in. Astounding! When I reserved it a couple weeks ago, I was 300 something in line. A few days ago, no earlier than the weekend, I was over 150 something in line and yet today my book is ready and waiting for me to pick it up at the library.

So now I have four books to read! Most have no time limit aside from the library book and I promised the Boleyn girl to someone else when I'm done. It's so nice to have some interesting and exciting things to read for a change. I can't get into the birth book I'm supposed to be reading for my La Leche application. I don't know if it's because I'm done birthing babies or the fact that it's a Bradley book and when I do read it, I'm just reminded that I never really had a birth like that and never will. Or maybe it's because now I have these ultra interesting books to read.

I stayed in bed until 10 this morning to read. I really just wanted 30 minutes to read but I kept getting interrupted. Such is the life of a mama! And I wouldn't trade a minute.

Feeling Discouraged

It's been 3 weeks or so since I've talked with the ped about Madison's allergy issues. I've been reading boards, perusing magazines, talking with people and buying products. It's frustrating spending hours poring over ingredient labels and recipes, spending extra money on special products and then having my girl turn up her nose at them.

It's frustrating find products that *almost* fit the bill. It's frustrating that everything on the market, especially in traditional grocery stores, have soy in them. It's incredibly frustrating to break my little girl's heart time and again when I tell her no she cannot have something, and it's always the yummy things.

It's frustrating to go to a gathering or restaurant and try to figure out safe foods. It's frustrating not being able to pop into the drive-thru for a quick meal on the run or throw a pizza or nuggets into the oven for a fast dinner. It's heartbreaking when my son complains that it's her fault we have to spend so much time in the store.

It must be terribly frustrating for my sweet little girl to be denied things she's always eaten and can no longer have. Comfort foods, special treats and sweeties are now off limits to her.

I need to work on finding alternate recipes that are tastey and fun to eat. I need new nuggets, cookies, muffins, pancakes, waffles, just to name a few. I'm getting some lovely recipes and support from some friends. I found a great magazine via J entitled Living Without. I'm sure I'll find more resources as I go along. I'm also kind of mourning the things we won't be having/keeping in the house out of support for Madison.

Within a week after eliminating cow's milk, the rash was about 98% gone. So quickly too! Unfortunately, she had a flare up over the weekend so I'm not sure what triggered it. Hopefully not the goat butter because I can use that in baking. I need it! We'll just keep trucking along. She'll be off soy at least a year and probably cow's milk and eggs as well. I think those were all Class 6 allergans. That's a long time but hopefully that'll give her body a chance to get the allergans out of her system and let it heal. Then we can reintroduce the allergans after that at some point to see which ones cause reactions still. I anticipate that we'll all be a little healthier and have better eating habits a year from now.