Merry merry

Merry Christmas! It's that time of year again, and I love it! Especially with a 31/2 year old. Elf on the Shelf, Christmas lights, the tree, he loves it all.  I find him on the couch in the front room in front of the tree at night when he should be in bed.  Christmas songs aren't nearly as annoying, either! ;-)
Tonight we went to Hudson Gardens to see the lights and go in a horse drawn wagon ride with Mimi and Papa. It was great. And here are the pics!

Off The Sauce

Alright, I am gluten free (AGAIN)! Or as Grayson learned to say at dinner "off the sauce".  You know he is going to go to school and announce mommy is off the sauce. His teachers are going to think I am a raging alchoholic or something. Nope, just a gluten-aholic. Pretty sure that is a word, don't bother looking it up.

Tonight we had stir-fry with my favorite rice noodles. It was delicious, if I do say so myself.  Grayson even tried a bite - that's big time.  Ryan ate so much he had hiccups and had to leave the table to "stretch his esophagus". That's the sign of a good meal right there!
I first went gluten free in 2005 and it was a pain. in. the. ass. No one knew what it was, and I was new to cooking so I had a really hard time.  I know people think of it as a fad diet now, but I love that.  Every restaraunt has a menu, the grocery store has a ton of products, and it's just so much easier. Plus, I am much better in the kitchen now, so I am pretty good at making something GF even if it wasn't originally. 
Now I have a few friends, an Aunt and a cousin who are gluten free as well, so that always helps to have buddies around.  I don't really love Elizabeth Hasselback (I think that is her name - the blonde one on the view), but she is GF too! All the cool kids are.

Wish me luck!

Happy Monday

Well, we are two hours into our "nap".  Quotes are used because there is no such thing as a nap here anymore! Don't take the Binkey away if you don't have to. It WILL ruin your life.

Anyway, happy Monday! We had a great time Saturday night at the rapids game  with Ryan's co-workers. It was the first time I was meeting people from his office, so I was a teensy bit nervous. No need though,they were great! They have kids Grayson's age so he had a great time! This is what a kid staying up late, eating m&ms, drinking juice, ad playing with mascots looks like:

I had an injection Friday morning and it went ok. I really like my  doctor, and the nurses at Rose couldn't be better. They are so nice, and good at what they do. Here is what I look like - not so perky! Maybe I should have had m&ms before I snapped a pic!

Actually, I kind of look like I am dying there. Maybe next time I will put on some makeup! Jeeze.

I was feeling fantastic until Saturday evening. I felt a snap in my back and had such intense pain I saw spots for awhile. It is more controlled today, but still there. Maybe I need to have the right side done as well? Ryan took very good care of me all weekend. He is the best, and I am lucky to have  him.  Especially since he never tells me to put on makeup, even when I look like that!

;-)

That's my weekend in a nutshell, Happy Monday!

Craft Room Progress

Here is a look at my craft room in progress:

Next week my mom is coming over to help finish painting the top of the walls since I am not good on a ladder.  Yay for Mom!

What do you think of the color? Better than the orange?

How to Really Love a Child

I stole this from RockstarRonan. That story literally changed me. Such a moving, beautiful, heartbreaking story. It truly affected me. I need to remember the things it made me feel and make changes in my way of thinking/feeling/acting. Why is change so hard? Ever wonder that? I do, and I know I am not the only one. Why is change such a big deal for us? It's like we are programmed not to like it.
Anywho, I thought I would post this - I am testing out my skillz, yo! Blogging is much more difficult than I thought. I think I need a class just to figure out the little stuff. Crap! Does this mean I am getting old?! I feel like it might. Yep, I am getting old. Better start changing fast, I am not getting any younger...
-KJ

How Cute is This Kid?!

Grayson and I were walking around Breckenridge in August while Daddy was on a hike. We had a ton of fun doing things like riding the hotel shuttle, going on a free chair lift, checking out hot firemen, eating frozen yogurt at 10:30 in the morning, and posing with statues around town.  Now if that isn't a good time, I don't know what is! I never knew riding buses could be such a fun thing, but this kid loves it. And that's not a faux hawk, I swear!!!!

Then, we told Daddy we did nothing fun so he wouldn't feel sad about missing it - we lied.

Look Ma! I am on a bus!

Look Ma! A statue!

Look Ma! I am on a Gondola!

Dear God, What Have I Done?

I decided taking away Grayson's binkey was a brilliant idea. My husband has been pushing it for awhile, so the last time he mentioned it,  I was like "let's do this".   I should have been "we are not doing this".  I mean unless hysteria is your thing, taking away binkey was just a dumb idea. We went from a sleeper that wakes up every hour or two and just and wants to say hello, to a hysterical, sobbing, out of control, tired toddler. Oh joy. 

Right now it's nap time, or what USED to be nap time. Now it's just that super annoying couple of hours I spend trying to get Gray to sleep when we all know it's not happening - probably ever again. The worst part is that it's my own damn fault. AAAAAAHHHHHH!

I even made sprinkles pancakes this morning and even that couldn't stop the crying.  You know what did stop it, though?  When he found a binkey under the kitchen table, and said "look, a binkey! A BINKEY MOM!".  Oh, shit!!!! Back to square one.

So why did I do this again?

Here are my lovely pancakes though! See how chapped his poor cheeks are from crying? Poor kid!