Wow!

I went on a little vacation and came back to 17 followers and many, many comments! Thank you everyone, it means a lot to me to have some readers. It also makes me nervous - I never expected more than maybe 3 or 4 followers and out of my two blogs I have never received as many comments as I did on my "Just curious" post!

I am a stay at home mom to three young kids and once upon a time I was a Registered Dental Hygienist. I struggle from day to day at my "job" of being a mom but I am also so very grateful that I am home with them. Some days I dream of going back to work and making almost 6 figures so that we can fix up our house the way we would like, travel, and buy things we like. But then someone else would be raising my kids and I would be miserable knowing I was missing it all. After all, my kids are my world. They are the reason for everything I do and I never realized how important it would be to me to stay home until my first child was born almost 6 years ago.
I am what I consider a very nice person. I have a hard time with people who are thoughtless, rude, mean, ignorant, entitled, etc. I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve. Sometimes I am grumpy...I don't know why I'm admitting this but I just am. I think it must be because occasionally it gets to me that I've given up "everything" that made me me to do what I do and now I don't have the energy to take care of myself. I'm chubby, frumpy, rarely wear makeup and am most often sporting a pony tail. Don't get me wrong - I know this is only temporary and that it's all worth it...does it get to anyone else sometimes? Am I the only one? See, it's this type of thing that I stress about admitting because I fear what people will think. I dislike the thought that people will say, "Jeez, she's so lucky to be home...why is she complaining?" I definitely feel lucky, fortunate, and blessed. Ugh, I'm going around in circles so I'll just stop.
My interests are baking and cooking. We are a gluten and dairy free family. We also don't eat much soy and my oldest son can't tolerate any citrus. I can't tolerate yeast, eggs or molasses. But, we do fine and eat VERY well. I'm pretty proud of how far we've come with our diet! I suffered for 16 years with joint pain, intestinal upset, chronic pain, headaches, depression, trigger finger, muscle pain, fatigue, etc. before I finally found out about 4 years ago that all it was was gluten and dairy. Cutting them out has made a dramatic improvement on my life, and that of my family too! Informing people about the prevalence of Celiac disease and gluten intolerance is one of my many passions. In fact, everything that I am an advocate of is something I've done "wrong" in the past and now that I know better, I don't want others to suffer the same way I have.

Here's a list of my convictions:
Gluten/dairy intolerance
Anti-MGM advocacy
Breastfeeding
Democratic party - health care for all, alternative energy sources, etc.
Out of hospital birth
Positive discipline (although I admit I am not always perfect at this - I still take a weekly class with my kids that helps me stratagize ways to handle different situations).
Cloth diapering
Non or selective vaccination
Being green and earth friendly

I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. I often try alternative treatments before western medicine. For example, I have treated 3 ear infections in my oldest son with garlic drops and never had to take him into the doctor! I prefer hip-hop music although you'd never know it by looking at me with my sweat pants and wool cardigan! I'm a home-body. I love my pajamas, slippers and a cuddly blanket. I am a sucker for t.v. I love Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, The Middle, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and The Office. I love reading and quiet time but I just can't ever seem to find enough of that! And lastly, I love pregnancy, birth and babies. I'm often asked if we are done having kids and I just can't answer that now. I recently got rid of almost all of our baby stuff but both my husband and I aren't sure what the future holds for our family. Maybe I'll just become a doula, birth assistant or a Midwife someday. Who knows?

I don't post as often as I'd like to but when I do find the time I will do my best to blog respectfully, informatively, and I hope that even if everyone doesn't agree with everything I write that you might find something I say empowering or educational. Or maybe it will just make you smile and laugh which would be okay too.

Hugs to you all! I know I always appreciate hugs from friends and wish for them more often. Thank you for being part of my VILLAGE!