Update on My Wedding Ring

Last year I lost the diamond in my wedding ring.

It was very sad. I've spent the last year trying to figure out how to replace it. (Actually I've spent two anniversaries without it, including our tenth)

For a while, I wore a CZ ring I bought from overstock, but it looked cheap, got scratched up, and didn't fit well.

My hope was to find a lab-grown diamond at a great discount. I don't want to buy a regular replacement diamond because of the ecological and human costs associated with mining diamonds. (Heard the term blood diamonds?)

Well this week I found out that lab-grown diamonds are only about 10% less than their mined counterparts (at least in colorless, colored diamonds are cheaper than their counterparts but that's because pink and yellow diamonds are so rare, they're $60k a carat). This was disappointing, but at least I figured it out before I bought a CZ (diamond simulant?) from Diamond Nexus thinking it was lab-grown diamond. It's not. The DN website doesn't say anything about CZs but I found it on another site. They do say that the "synthetic diamond" have to be cold set like a ruby because they're not made out of carbon. That should have been my first clue.

So, I don't want a CZ, I don't really want another gemstone (I had toyed with the idea of a pink sapphire) because the hardness level is much lower for other gemstones. The garnet in another ring I have is pretty scratched up.

I'm down to

1. Buy another new diamond, which I don't really want to do morally or cost-wise.

2. Buy a used diamond which is less expensive and gives my conscience a break.

3. Get a plain wedding band like Mark's and call it good.

What would you do?

Ups and Downs

After waking up with some neck pain from my Zumba classes yesterday, I wanted to relax a little today so I went to my parents house with the boys and we hung out in their hot tub.

It was a beautiful, almost chilly morning (62 degrees), with a sunny clear sky. Perfect conditions for enjoying a jacuzzi. I floated around, with my legs hanging over the side of the tub and my head resting on floating ring. My boys were bored so they used cups to pour water over my belly, my knees, my arms, parts of me that were sticking out of the water. It felt soooo good. Almost like a spa treatment. I was basking in the sun, with perfect warm water and a cool breeze, relaxing and thinking, "I love my job." The boys were playing happily and then. . .

Finn dumps a cup of water on my face. Yep, he tried to drown me.

I sat up, sputtering thinking of all the bacteria in the hot tub water painfully invading my sinuses. "I'll get a sinus infection tomorrow, I just know it."

But seriously, I had to laugh.

"Back to reality!" I thought.

For some reason, it's the highs and lows that come back to back that remind me why mothering is so unpredictable and yet so worthwhile.

Life-Like Statue

When I was in Boston a few weeks ago for the Exponent retreat, I walked around a beautiful park in the downtown area. I can't remember what it's called, but I snapped a photo of this slightly inappropriate statue because it reminded me of my boys.

Sure enough, as soon as I got home the boys were playing like they always do in their underwear (remember it's hot in Arizona) and I took a few shots that look pretty similar to this statue. Kind of ironic, isn't it?

Re-introducing: Dairy!

Remember when I said this diet wasn't doing anything? Perhaps my tolerance level for my children was low because it was fall break, but today we made a big discovery.

We'd introduced bread on Friday and have had it a little here and there since then.

But today I gave the kids a LOT OF DAIRY at lunch time.

Remember they've been off it for 8 or 9 days.

Menu:

Breakfast: Oatmeal, Toast with sunflower butter and honey

Snack: Fruit

Lunch:

1-2 cups of milk

cottage cheese stuffed tomatoes (yogurt for Asher)

grilled cheese

Dinner;

Pinto beans

Corn on the cob

Peaches

In the book I've been reading, "Is This Your Child?" the description of reintroducing diary says that the child feels a stomachache and has a headache. Imagine my surprise when about 45 min after lunch Jaxon says, "I feel nauseous and I have a headache." THEN after I got back from teaching Zumba I told Jaxon to stop playing his Wii game because we were going to walk the babysitter home.

He just collapsed on the floor. I haven't seen THAT behavior for oh, about a week.

Jaxon also talked about not feeling as happy, and said he couldn't think of what to do to be more happy, as though his mood had taken a dive and he couldn't pull himself up.

Finn was also extra active, angry, aggressive, and loud. (The babysitter said she had to tackle him to get him to bed tonight)

Asher (the one who doesn't care that much for dairy to begin with) was surprisingly unchanged by the dairy.

Did I mention what Jaxon said when he saw the milk I brought home?

"Organic milk! I've missed you. I haven't seen you for so long."

Oh, and Finn asked for milk almost every day of our diet.

So, now we will have Finn and Jaxon on a dairy-free diet. How do I do that? Do I have to take the rest of the family off as well?

I'm curious about how the rest of the food reintroduction will go as well. I guess I reintroduced corn tonight since I served corn on the cob. I'll have to try it again tomorrow to see how it goes.

Allergy Diet Day 7 and Jaxon's Surgery

Jaxon's surgery went fine today. Totally uneventful, even easy. In fact, we got some good lines out of him because of it.

When he woke up at 5:45 AM the first thing he said was, "Well, port, it's been nice knowin' ya."

After his surgery I told him he could have any food that he wanted (besides, how am I supposed to gauge his behavior based on his diet after he's had a body full of anesthesia?) He picked grilled cheese, so that's what we all had for lunch.

Breakfast: oatmeal for Finn and Asher, Jaxon nothing, Mark and I shared an omelet in a crepe with fresh fruit

Dinner: Pinto beans, applesauce, and cut up red bell peppers.

I'm going to reintroduce dairy tomorrow and see how the kids do (I know they had cheese today but it was very little).

Allergy Diet Day 6

Jaxon heads into surgery tomorrow to get his port-a-cath removed. He's had it for 7 years to get medicine for hemophilia into his veins easily. Now that we can poke his veins in his arms and hands he doesn't need it anymore. Training wheels are officially off tomorrow.

But that means the diet is probably not going to stick, which is fine because I don't think I've seen any difference in behavior, which is disappointing, although I like the home-cooked healthy (for the most part) meals. I'm going to resolve to do more cooking and stick to my menu.

Menu-

Breakfast: Oatmeals and apples (again!)

Lunch: Chicken rolled in crushed potato chips and baked and served with toothpicks. Also green beans and fresh veggies with hummus

Dinner: Seasoned pan-grilled mahi-mahi, Spanish rice, and home-baked sweet potato fries. Also, sliced heirloom tomatoes on the side.

Dessert: ICE CREAM (for me and Mark. The stress broke me and I have now begun eating for emotional reasons)

Did I mention that I broke (or sprained) my pinkie toe yesterday? I'm limping a little and it was a blessing that there was a woman auditioning to teach Zumba in my class today so I only had to teach half. It's swollen and purple. Totally lame. Also lucky that the studio I teach at is closed for the October break so I didn't teach tonight.

Allergy Diet Day 5

We're starting to get used to this diet. I'm focused more on what we can eat than what we can't. I guess my attitude has changed since I ate at the Hemophilia Association yesterday and had a baja taco from Baja Fresh (yeah, the tortillas were a no-no).

Menu:
Breakfast- Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon
Lunch- Leftovers
Dinner- Rice Pasta with spaghetti sauce
Snack- Brown Rice cakes with sunflower butter and honey, also lots of fruits and veggies

Behavior:
Kids- I don't see any change in their behavior or physical signs of allergies. Jaxon's reading on Monday was probably just to get away from the swarm of younger children at Leslie's house. I'm not seeing more focus, happier kids (well maybe Finn is a little less angry, I'll have to pay closer attention).
They are still getting up waaaay to early. Before 5:30 today, so now it's 11 AM and they're down for naps.

Me- I'm still finding myself more emotional than usual (which could be unrelated). I've also lost 3 lbs which is good or bad depending on whom you ask.
Mark- Has lost 2 lbs, but he hasn't commented on any other issues.

Side effects: I noticed that Finn had a rash on his chin after dinner. Then I remembered that he always gets that when he eats pasta sauce because he must have a slight allergy to tomatoes. How ironic.

Here are photos from Jaxon's first cub scout Pack Meeting. He's very excited to be in scouts and got initiated by bobbing for apples.

Here's the first time I've taken the kids for story time at the library. I had Ella that day and she did not like the idea of sitting down for 30 min. We were in the front on the side, so the kids found the most comfortable position. (Jaxon was in school) Keep in mind that all the other children are sitting up. . .
It's pretty funny.

The Daddy Mountain

Our kids read the book, The Daddy Mountain and have started using their daddy as a mountain. It's their pre-bedtime calistenics. I'm not sure who gets more exercise, the boys or Mark.

Allergy Diet Days 3 and 4

Sunday:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and Peaches

Lunch: Tilapia fillets with mango salsa and honey-roasted potatoes

Dinner: Chicken and Indian rice, with veggies and a fruit smoothie

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal (Asher asked for it!) or whole grain rice cereal with unsweetened almond milk

Lunch: DRIVE THRU! Wendy's baked potatoes (plain) with organic chili and Wendy's apple, chicken salad with homemade dressing (red wine vinegar, honey, and olive oil)

Dinner: Crock-pot cooked organic whole chicken with potatoes, carrots, and celery and salad with strawberries and pomegranate seeds.

Dessert: Stuffed Pears (Jaxon had two!)

Behavior:

Sunday was pretty bad. Finn was crazy at church, but he's been short on sleep because he's been getting up early. I was pretty emotional and fell asleep at church (which I don't remember doing since college). I think this was our roughest day so far.

Today was better for everyone. We had a playgroup with friends and Mark was off of work. I found Jaxon reading a book on his own twice today, which is really unusual for him. Finn was a back to his regular self, but still asking for milk. Jaxon's eye circles appeared better at lunch but by dinner they were darker again.

Side Effects:

Pleasant- We sit down and eat together as a family THREE TIMES A DAY! It is wonderful to have this time together. The diet isn't really that bad since we've found a lot of choices for eating (except breakfast which is my favorite meal).

Not-so-pleasant- Lots of cooking and TONS OF DISHES. We've run the dishwasher almost twice a day.

Allergy Diet Day 2

We spent a few hours at Rail Fair at the train park today and the kids were relatively well behaved, if over-excited and not listening. At least we dressed them in matching clothes so we could spot them easily.

Breakfast: Oatmeal and peaches, Spinach smoothie

Snack: Tahini cookies, apple, nuts and raisins

Lunch: Chicken, white rice, green beans, organic refried black beans, fresh fruit

Dinner: Organic chicken nuggets (probably not on the diet, but Mark made dinner while I was teaching Zumba) and applesauce for the kids, Sushi for us.

Behavior:

After the train park the kids were crazy, fighting and whining. They ate pretty well for lunch and dinner but still ask for milk and aren't fond of the snacks they're offered.

I would say their behavior in general is sub-par. It could be a symptom of withdrawal from these foods, but it could also be that they're hungry most of the time since they don't like what I'm giving them.

I had a headache throughout the day, but since I cheated at dinner (some sushi had cream cheese and I had red bean ice cream for dessert). I wonder if the soy sauce could be part of my problem (soy and msg, I believe). We aren't on a no soy diet, but I avoid it mostly anyway because of research showing it's bad effects.

Mark seemed fine, he's not super into the diet and ordered Coke with dinner.

I bought quinoa noodles to serve with sauce but just read the label that they're corn and quinoa. :( Bummer, I'll have to buy some rice noodles instead because my kids won't go for the spaghetti squash substitution.

Allergy Diet: Day 1

Today we started a Multiple Food Elimination Diet. It's day one of seven.

Here's what we're not eating, the top 8 allergy foods, I believe.
Wheat
Corn
Eggs
Dairy
Sugar
Food Coloring/ Preservatives
Chocolate
Citrus

The goal is to see if the children's behavior or allergy symptoms improve by day 7. IF there is improvement, then I will reintroduce one allergy food at a time and watch how they respond.

I have to say that dairy is by far the hardest for me to give up. Well all of us probably.

Menu:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with peaches and honey, also tea with honey

Lunch: Carrots and hummus, organic refried beans (in a bowl), fruit, and juice (I bought juice because I was taking away milk and everything else)

Snack: Tahini cookies

Dinner: Carribbean Brown Rice and Beans (thanks Em!) and Spinach Salad with Strawberries

I pulled out all the good stuff today. I can't wait to see how tomorrow goes. :( The kids didn't really eat dinner, but I did cook it in a crockpot, so it was a little mushy. . .

We were all pretty grouchy today but I wasn't sure if it was bedcause of the diet or because the Gods of Urine were angry at us and I spent all day cleaning out the kid's infusion cabinet b/c Jaxon peed on it in the middle of the night.

Jaxon: Half day, had a cookie and popcorn so no diet until afternoon. Typical behavior, went to bed with melatonin

Asher: Asked for milk and nutella and bread. Mostly ate fruit and juice, a few carrots. Lounged on the couch all day complaining of a small cut on his finger (hope it's not infected)

Finn: Extra grouchy today, lots of yelling and fighting. Good thing hot sauce is on the diet :)

Me: Grouchy (maybe it's me not the food?) and nervous about if the kids will eat anything in the next 7 days. Cravings for me aren't so bad, though.

Mark: Thrilled with a new computer to watch football and beef jerky. Easy to please.

I'm keeping track of this mostly for me, so don't feel the need to comment unless you want to or have a great recipe to share!

My goal for this experiment is to see if there are 1 or 2 items we could eliminate in our diet to see big results. If that is not the case, then this will have been an experiment in child torture and perhaps healthy eating.