I'm having a good day.

I'm sitting here enjoying the quiet bliss of "school/nap time". The only sounds are of my ticking clock, my typing fingers and the furnace doing its job. I'm warm, comfortable and enjoying watching the snow blowing outside my window.

I'm feeling thankful. Thankful to live in a safe, peaceful country. Thankful to have my own home. Thankful for my furnace, stove, and hot water tank. (Oddly specific, no?) Thankful that my husband is employed in a job that's in-town and doing work he finds challenging and engaging. Thankful I can pay all of my bills, every month. Thankful to have a full stomach and food in the cupboards (even when it's getting close to grocery day and I have to start getting creative!). Thankful to have two beautiful, healthy, vibrant little boys. Thankful that my oldest son has amazing teachers, therapists and other supports to help him learn and grow. Thankful that my youngest son heals fast and gets over things quickly (he fell head first into the sharp edge of my headboard yesterday and is currently sporting a huge bruise and cut right between his eyes).

I woke up this morning under my warm covers, with a little body snuggled up against me. Emmett always wakes up when James' alarm goes off early in the morning, and as soon as James is down the stairs Em hops into the "big bed" to take his place. I rolled over, gave him a kiss, and the first thing he said was "Mommy, I love you." It was the very first time he said "I love you" without me saying it first.

So yeah, I'm having a pretty fantastic day. :)

We made it!

We did it...tomorrow marks 1 full month of eating gluten free! (Ok, ok, *I* haven't been totally GF, but my guys have). For the first week or two, I was skeptical. It was a lot of work, and while James reported feeling a bit better, I didn't notice much change in the kids. Then around the 2 week mark, I noticed that Emmett was much more energetic. He always seemed more lethargic than other kids his age, and I would really have to encourage him to get off the couch and be active. Now, he spends his days running loops around my kitchen, jumping and watching himself dance in the mirror. ;) His teachers at school have noticed a real increase in his energy levels too. I would also say he seems happier - he's laughing more, he runs to the school bus every afternoon, etc. I think he's just feeling better in general. Seth was never lethargic, but he's had chronic eczema since his was a small baby - at times he would have huge patches all over his legs, arms and stomach, and his elbows and ankles were always really bad. He hasn't had an "outbreak" all month, and he just has a few tiny patches on his arms that are almost gone. James says his stomach pain is gone, and it's a lot easier to get up in the morning.

Needless to say, we're staying gluten-free. It's been a real learning curve trying to menu plan, but I think I've got it down now. I'm getting pretty darn good at the baking aspect, too. (I can make rice flour sugar cookies that taste every bit as good as the real thing!!) Eating out is the most challenging part...Emmett really misses Wendy's cheeseburgers, but he's happy with just fries and a frosty, too. It's actually a good thing, because having very limited eating out options forces me to cook at home which is so much better for us.

I guess the other good news is that I think I've figured out that my guys don't actually have Celiac Disease, but "Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity". People with NCGS will test negative or inconclusive on tests for Celiac disease, but still have the symptoms and feel better off gluten. It seems like the non-celiacs have less problems with small intestine damage, malnutrition, anemia, etc, so that's good. Emmett was given some pretzels by mistake at school this week, and he didn't have any ill effects. Hopefully if we try our hardest to avoid gluten the boys won't suffer too much from any "oopses".