Life lately

I fail as a blogger! I fail! And it's not for lack of things to post about; I'm sure I could come up with something. I guess I never think that much time has passed, and then I look at the last time I posted and all of a sudden, it's two weeks ago. Sorry!

Since last I blogged, I had my second Mother's Day, which was such a sweet experience. Dresden woke me up with two cards, one from him and one from Alex, both of which were wonderful. Dresden even signed a "D" on his card for me by doing a line and a half circle like he and his daddy practiced. I love stuff like that. We went out for brunch as a family, and then I got to spend a few hours of the day having "me" time (I LOVE "me time"!), so it was perfect.

The little man on Mother's Day in his new shades...

Mr. Cool

Us on Mother's Day 2011

 I'm slightly disturbed that children's sunglasses fit my face like an adult pair would...

The week after Mother's Day, our lives changed a little bit, because Alex, while going in for a routine physical was diagnosed with an autoimmune thyroid disease, as well as gluten-intolerance. In fact, thyroid autoimmune diseases are often caused or exacerbated by gluten, so we are making a go of a gluten-free lifestyle. Well, I'm about 75%-ish gluten-free, while Alex has gone completely gf. I've been sticking to the basics so far, just making chicken and rice and other regular, naturally gluten-free foods, like the love of our lives', quinoa. LOVE that stuff. I haven't gotten brave enough to try the gluten-free baking yet, though I will very soon. I found several great gluten-free web sites, with the help of several facebook friends, and there are lots of things I want to try. I'm pretty excited about the whole endeavor; I love cooking new, interesting things, and also, it gives us as a family a renewed purpose for being completely healthy and conscious of what we eat.

Speaking of which, I am going to be brave here, and write on my blog that I have officially lost 30 pounds.  Although it could be more by now, and I still have a REALLY long way to go, I'm still pretty proud of the -30 difference, and feel more momentum and motivation to keep going than I have this whole time. Last week I accomplished my goal of 5 days of workouts, too, which was also really gratifying. I'm not brave enough to share my weight on here yet, though maybe when I'm much closer to my goal I will share exactly how far I've come. I've even given thought to a completely separate weight-loss blog, just because this health journey is kind of my focus in life right now, but that hasn't yet come to fruition. If it does, I will let y'all know. In 5 pounds, I will be back to what I was right after I lost the Dresden Weight two years ago. I have just come to accept I'm not one of those moms who will bounce back from nursing or ever have the body I had in high school/college again. I will get to where I need to be to be healthy, and celebrate the stretch marks and baby pooch as badges of honor. And that is okay.

Only two weeks, four days, until Dresden turns two! He is so cute these days, and communicates extremely well. He's also been practicing some pre-reading skills for a few weeks now; he has memorized several of his books and can say the words at the ends of the sentences when we pause and wait for him to finish them. It's pretty cool. We cut his precious locks yesterday because they had once again begun to be out of control. When we go to Colorado in two weeks, it won't be humid anymore, and so the curls will straighten out and his hair will just be in his face, so I wanted to get him a trim to avoid that. I will admit, I do prefer my "Curly Boy" to this boy who looks like he's 5 already with no hair on his head. But it grows fast, so it will be wild again in no time. Speaking of the boy who looks 5, he also acts like it too. Last night on the playground he decided he needed no help going up and down the slide, and did it over and over and over. I thought an ugly-cry on the playground might scare other children and parents, so I contained myself, but it was definitely one of those heart-wrending moments where you are so excited to see them grow, but mourn the loss of their baby-hood as well. I'm tearing up again just thinking about it. Just like I did when Mom and I were in the baby clothes section of Kohls this morning and I passed all the things he was wearing just a year and a half ago. (Stifles a sob).

The big boy coloring at his new little table that Grammy got him this weekend

Deep in concentration

Well, I think that leaves us pretty caught up. This Wednesday some ex-CHHS Theatre girls will be getting together for a playdate when Miss Alyssa comes to town for a visit from Wisconsin. I hope to capture lots of pics of our kids together. I love that we all have kids now, and yet it feels like yesterday that we were all on stage together in one role or another. Hopefully, I will feel motivated to blog about that sooner than two weeks from now, haha!

Hope y'all had a great weekend.

Love,

Cassie