Deb does Dallas (June 4-6)

Andrea and I decided to blow it out for Deb's 60th birthday. We both know how amazingly blessed we are to have Deb as our "God-chosen" mother, and we wanted to show her how much she means to us by taking a whole weekend and spoiling her rotten. Andrea & I got to fully reap the benefits as well. I wish I had more pics but here is the recap:
Friday night:

Deb & Andrea arrive. We all get dressed and she thinks we are going to dinner and a movie. As soon as we got in my car, we blindfolded Deb! It was hilarious. We told her she was on a need to know basis. We rolled down the windows, honked and shouted for people to look at the birthday girl. She was so embarrassed. It was greatness! She had no idea we had a PARTY waiting for her. We rented out the entire "Painting with a Twist" studio. One of Deb's passions is to paint and she's told us how much she wants to own a Painting with a Twist franchise. So we called up her best friend from first grade, family members and some of my friends, and put together an amazing evening. We had her very favorite birthday cake from childhood, a strawberry cake with strawberry icing (from Magnolia Bakery), pizza and more wine than anyone could handle.
When we arrived at Painting with a Twist, we left Deb in car and shouted, "sit and behave" while we frantically decorated and got everyone situated. We walked Deb in and took her blindfold off and she looked around and realized where we were and freaked out! Then, we spun her around and the whole group yelled, "SURPRISE!!!" It was perfect.
We chose the painting "Three Poppies" for a very specific purpose. The three poppies represented Deb, Andrea, and I. While in Italy, we were called the "Three Goddesses of Italy" and posed for several pictures like the famous statues. We also bought leather books with the Goddesses, so it's been a recurring theme for us. "Three Poppies" is a beautiful painting!
We had a blast painting all night long. I don't think I've ever painted like that before. It was so fun and relaxing and cathartic. Here are a few pictures from our night:

Blindfolding the birthday girl

Our entire paint party

Andrea, Erin, Deb & Mel show off their works of art

Saturday:
We woke up early and headed out for the day. We had to blind Deb AGAIN and leave her in the car so we could get all of our suitcases packed. She thought we were staying at my house and that we were headed out for a shopping day. We had a "little"more action up our sleeves.
We arrived at Hotel ZaZa in downtown Dallas and immediately rushed Deb to the spa. We all three changed into robes and started an entire day of pampering. Deb had a facial, pedicure and a bathing ritual with an hour massage. ROUGH DAY, huh?
Andrea had reflexology and a massage with a pedicure.
I enjoyed a facial and a bathing ritual with an hour massage. I think it was the best massage I've ever had. Andrea had her anniversary and birthday in May and so did I, so we've been saving for months and used our holiday money to enjoy the spa experience as well. We were all so relaxed and chill. We kept the surprises coming by having the staff prepare a special lunch with roses and a chocolate cake. Words can't describe how cush, awesome, and crazy cool ZaZa was. The spa was insane. The food was killer and the company was perfection. Deb assumed we were headed back to the house after our spa services.
While Deb finished up her massage, Andrea and I ran and got the hotel room all ready to go. We blindfolded her, once again. and brought her up to our room. We had sparking apple cider, magazines, junk food and presents waiting. Oh and the room wasn't so bad either ;)
She was so surprised! It was awesome!
Later that night, we got all dressed up and had a fantastic dinner at Palomino at the Crescent.
We walked around, took pictures and had a blast just catching up. Later that night we went back to the room and talked until 2:00 in the morning. We had some tear-jerking discussions (all great!) and thanked God for our relationship. We know we have something truly special.

Sunday morning we woke up, checked out of the hotel (sadness) and went to Cafe Express for a patio lunch. We decided to cram one last event into our day, by going to the Inwood theatre and watching "Killers." I had never been to Inwood before-- we sat on couches instead of typical theatre seats. How fun! We walked around and shopped and grabbed a few prizes for the kids and then Nathan and the kids came to pick me up. I have to give Nathan huge props-- he kept the kids the whole weekend, was such a great host and took care of us girls too. Love you babe! Thanks as always for giving me breaks and time to enjoy the fam!

At the spa getting pampered

In the ZaZa lobby headed out for dinner

It was one of the best weekends of my life. Thanks to Deb and Andrea for making the drive to the big D. I love you both more than you'll ever know!

Introducing...

Sophia Noelle Worley was born June 22 at 10:12am. She weighed 7lbs, 4oz and measured 19 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and has lots of dark hair just like her big sister. Labor and delivery went well, and Jaime did it all without drugs. What a stud! The best part for us is that the Worley family asked us to be Sophie's Godparents. We are so honored to be in her life in such a special way. I was overwhelmed with emotion when I held her for the first time. It was magical. Here are two pics from Sophie's birthday:


Sophie,
You are a little miracle. It would be impossible to try and count the prayers we said for you...well before you joined us. You are a part of a wonderful family and we are so excited to watch you grow up to be a beautiful young lady!

Ketchup

I have been out of the loop lately! Things are crazy, busy here...but a good crazy.
Just a few updates:
*Alex: had her 5 year check-up and Dr. Bain said she's perfect. I still count my blessings when I hear those types of things considering where we were two years ago.
*Carson: still progressing daily-- he's imitating animals, loves puzzles and sings entire songs. He's so engaged and incredibly interactive. I am beyond thrilled with his progress.
Family: we officially have a month of GF living under our belt! I am proud of everyone in my family for being such troopers. We are doing great so far. It's a lot of time, effort and money (holy mother of gluten you should see our grocery bill), but it's worth it!
*Mel: loving my new job! I forgot how much I enjoyed working. My team is fun, laid back and very helpful. Staying very busy and learning/attempting to find the balance.
General consensus: Life is good!

VBC

Cutie girl is all ready for VBC! She is having a blast at church camp. So much fun in fact, on the way home last night she asked me, "Mommy, so this what heaven is all about? I haven't wanted to go, but if it's like camping, I think that might be a little awesome." HA! I love that she calls it camping. I tried to convince her we weren't headed to the woods with a tent. Here is a pic before we headed out today:

21 month update: Wow!

Wow, I am still in disbelief...we had such a wonderful check-up for Carson today. I've been behind on well visits because the three therapy sessions a week + chiropractor appointments + cooking everything we eat has taken hostage of our calendar.
The last time Dr. Bain (pediatrician) saw Carson it was a very sad/difficult appointment. He was 15 months old and she said, "On a scale of 1-10, he's a 9 with Autistic traits...this is a huge red flag."
As you all know, we hit the ground RUNNING. There have been days where I wonder if all of this is really worth it. It's exhausting at times and we've had a lot of days where Carson has been "lost in space"-- as if he isn't aware of his existence in space & time. I know it sounds crazy, but that is the best way I can describe it. He has also had severe sensory integration issues. They are still hanging around, but many of the behaviors are already resolved.
The past two weeks have been absolutely 100% gluten free for everyone in our home. As I mentioned he was eating wheat in the chicken (and I didn't realize it) so we changed it out and man, can we tell a difference. I don't know if we are reaping rewards from therapy, or the clean diet...I am guessing it's a bit of both.
Okay, back to the appointment. Dr. Bain watched Carson interact with me. He counted 1-5, sounded out the ABC's, said "Ready, Set, Go!" and sang two songs for her. She looked at me and said, "Who's child is this?!" She was extremely impressed with his behavior, interaction with others and his speech development. So, I had to ask her where she would put Carson on the Autism scale now. She said, "honestly a 2 or maybe 3. This is a different child. You guys are literally changing his life with what you are doing. I am so thrilled you had faith and are investing the time in changing him for the better now. I always say it is easier to prevent disease than it is to treat it." Amen! His gut is still extremely distended so we are going to test using Comprehensive Digestive analysis as we did back in January to see the progress we are making.

Stats:
Height: 35 inches, 89 percentile
Weight: 26.65 lbs., 43 percentile
Head Circumference: 19 inches, 50 percentile

Go Carson go! Here's to progress and GOOD freaking news ;) It's about time!

Here's our little chip thief

He strikes again!

All giggles & grins after our great appointment!

Mel made the news!

I wish it were for a better reason, but here's the video:

Of course I was headed to the pool with the kids so I looked lovely.
Ha!

Family results

We finally have the results for our entire family. There are two genes tested: DQ2 & DQ8.
What is the meaning of HLA DQ2/DQ8? As an autoimmune disease, Celiac Disease is the consequence of the interplay between genes and the environment (gluten). We don’t know all the necessary genes to develop CD; however, HLA DQ2 and/or DQ8 are absolutely necessary to develop the disease. Since 1/3 of the general population also have these genes, the presence of DQ2 or DQ8 does not imply that the person will develop CD, rather, that they have a genetic compatibility with CD. Conversely, the absence of DQ2/DQ8 almost certainly rules out CD.

That being said, here are our results:
*Carson tested positive for DQ2
*Alex tested positive for DQ8
*Nathan tested positive for DQ2 & DQ8
*Mel tested negative

As you read previously, it doesn't mean that any of the three will absolutely have CD, it just means that the genes are there that cause it. It's our job to eliminate the "environmental factors" so the disease is not triggered.

Our doctor believes that Nathan's type 1 diabetes is a results of repetitive exposure to gluten. I tend to agree with him. The true blessing is having this knowledge now so we can hopefully prevent these types of complications in the future for our children.

Here I have been thinking all along that I have done so well with Carson's diet. Just today, I learned that hot dogs contain gluten (a food he ate for 6 months on a daily basis) and his current staple, Sprouts rotisserie chicken, uses flour in the skin and spices that contain gluten. Ahh! Clearly, I have a lot to learn.

Thank goodness, I have access to amazing resources. I am meeting with a nutritionist and she's given me a recommended meal plan for the family. Yesterday, we met at Whole Foods and did a store tour together. Next week, we are taking a hands-on cooking class with Dr. Claudia Pillow. I am looking forward to Nathan being a part of the cooking class and learning with me. He's had such an incredible attitude and is "all in." That really helps! We are going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen together, and we are excited to learn. It helps when you have an amazing spouse :)

Last night, we explained everything to Alex. We used puppets and a lot of humor to explain how and why we can't eat wheat. She absolutely understands and seems to be on board! We are on day 3 of GF in our house! Here's to being on the road to recovery (I hope!)