A Family of Five

Finding the time to sit and type...with two hands...seems to be one of my greatest challenges from this Mom of three (still crazy to think/ know I have 3 kids!).
Between breast feeding, chasing a ridiculously active 2 year old, hitting up weekly therapists, cooking, baking, diapering, cleaning, picking up...breast feeding (did I say that already?) these two hands are rarely without something in them.
But this morning:
Crew is asleep.
Carter is eating her second breakfast.
Quinny is at school.
Picked up and cleaned last night.
Finished Enrich All paperwork.
Grocery shopping getting done tonight.
...
I have TWO FREE HANDS!

I have never been more busy in my life, but I have never had more fun either. Having three kids who need you and your love, patience and gumption all day and night is exhausting- but having three kids who give you their love, creativity, smiles, laughter, hugs, and tenacity all day and night...makes it all worth it.

We had a Harvest season full of family, friends, gatherings and adventures:

A Halloween party brought wonderful neighborhood kids, costumes, snacks, crafts and some pretty cool games.

Trick or Treating with our wonderful cousin/ niece Olivia.

Thanksgiving- we hosted at our house. Family and friends filled the tables, food was amazing, and a Disney movie, with our Besties, after was icing on the cake.

We're still a GFCF home. Doing really well with this actually:
We were having some rough weeks with Lou, so I wanted to see if having the family on GFCF was really "worth it". We gave Quinny a few bites of pie crust one day (both gluten and casein filled) and within an hour she was falling apart with any transition and unexpected noise, touch, feeling from others.
She also got a massive tummy ache and pooped her little heart out all night long (yes, I know, mother of the year).


Bottom line: GFCF DOES truly make a huge difference in all our lives. On our hard days, it is difficult to remember how much more challenging it used to be- but I know in my heart (and by experimentation) that GFCF is an incredible gift of healing for our entire family.
So I'll keep baking and cooking while breast feeding.
I'll keep spending more money on groceries and cutting back on play money.
and I'll remember how lucky we are to have found such a wonderful, healing solution for our baby's ailments and challenges.

All in all, we are counting our blessings each and every day:
Three wonderful babes.
Our cozy home.
Loving (most of the time) marriage.
Fabulous community.
And a future looking brighter and brighter each day.