The boys and I snuck off for the day and went to the coast to be with some of our *other* parents. Jim and JoAnn are there for the week and so we joined them for the afternoon. We left behind a dirty house, loads of laundry, and most all our worries.
Super Hero Reese has to have his cape...
...so we had to go to the pumpkin patch. Jim and Papa met us there before lunch and we rode the hay ride out to get our pumpkins and spent some time deciding on the perfect pumpkins. Carsten was very quiet and took it all in and Reese was excited to see it all again. Reese's plan for next year is to grow our own pumpkins with the seeds from this year's pumpkins.
Carsten's famous new look... raised eyebrows and goofy grin.
Our kids' favorite activity every year at the pumpkin patch is the duck race. You pump water down a trough and the duck dumps into a barrel at the other end and then you do it all over again!
Reese has shown quite a bit of interest in writing and reading lately. So, former teacher that I am I've grabbed the opportunity and we are practicing all things writing and reading. He likes to figure out that the light switch at the doctor's office says, "on" and "off"... Quite fun, although now he can decode some of what Jim and I spell to each other--have to be careful. I love seeing the wheels turn...
Funny, I don't know why I haven't posted about this before, but Reese has Celiac Disease.
I think a part of it has to do with just trying to keep him from being labeled or for him to think of it as a hardship on us. We try as much as we can to not draw attention to him needing to be gluten free. I've had to stop myself from making comments about the price of gluten free items or that we can't buy something because we just spent so much on his food.
We found out in August after about a year of trying a dairy free diet. His symptoms seemed to get better without dairy, but then worsened again. Our family doctor is also an acupuncturist and practices different kinds of Chinese medicine. She had his blood tested and it came back positive for Celiac Disease. About four weeks ago she started treating him with NAET which you can read about... long process, long story. We are very hopeful and he is doing well with it so far.
Reese feels much better on a gluten free diet, obviously, and if he has to stay that way the rest of his life it won't be the worst thing. We have found that we are all eating healthier--it is much easier to all go gluten free than to make two meals every mealtime.
So, I feel like lately I've been pulled in many directions. We've moved, we're settling in, I have to be very diligent about R's diet (reading every label and then reading it again because I'm not always sure what I am looking for) and pretty much learning how to cook all over again--and I wasn't a tremendous cook to start with.
I could write so much more about all this--people being understanding, people not being understanding, trying to keep him from being hurt (emotional as well as his gut), needing to be an expert on gluten free and not coming close... needing to get all this off my chest...
Our contractor did some digging the other day and two little boys had the time of their lives. We've also been adopted by a cat, Sarge, and so he had a good time with them too. The cat is great--de-clawed and awesome with kids, and the perfect set-up since we don't have to feed him or let him in the house!
A picture of the kitchen to tide everyone over until I can take pictures of the rest. Oma was here for three weeks to help us and I did not get one picture with her in it... actually didn't take any pictures at all. We are getting settled so I'll have to make sure and keep the camera handy again.
Moving day... it went pretty smoothly and we were all moved in one day.
Well, we have moved into our new home. It is not complete yet, still under construction, but definitely livable. This is our second week in it and it is starting to feel like "home"--Carsten does still call it the property, but slips a few times and says we are home.