Mommy's Potpourri

As the new year is upon us once again, I find myself craving ... rest. Just a year of breathing and settling and adjusting to the blessings God has so graciously given. This is what I am hoping and praying for. Here is a snapshot of the last 5 years.  2008 - Got engaged, married, and moved from PA to MA (that all happened in the last month and a half of the year... haha) 2009 - got pregnant and gave birth to Anthony, moved to Woonsocket 2010 - Became members of Grace Harbor Church, got pregnant with Luke, moved to Providence 2011 - gave birth to Lukie 2012 - got pregnant with Ethan 2013 - gave birth to Ethan, bought a house and moved Busy, right? I am not bold enough to declare my own plans as set in stone, but it would certainly be wonderful to have a year of growing in to our life. :)

     The Johnson family is in the midst of another transition! We bought a house, and move in in just a few days. Let me just say, the whole "buying a house" thing is really really not a very relaxing experience. But it is over now, so thank God.      Really, I thank God. He has definitely used the process to show me that I am not just impatient when it has to do with my children, but that I am just basically an impatient person. Those of you who know me are probably thinking, 'WOW. Are you just figuring this out?' Well, yes. Yes I am. Haha. It has been an interesting roller-coaster ride that I never want to go on ever again. :)      So what is the house like? Right now it is 3 bedrooms, and there is a nice dry basement that has potential to be finished sometime in the future.  It is cozy. People will probably think we are crazy because our culture's standards for a family of 5 is waaaay above what we think (know) we actually need. The kitchen needs work. But it

     Oh boy. Just got some crazy news from the pediatrician. We finally got Luke tested (blood) for food allergies. I don't know what has taken us so long to do this. His older brother has a slew of food allergies, (eggs, peanuts, treenuts, fish, shellfish) all of which would cause a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction. Our plan of management has been strict avoidance. Nothing with those allergens enter the house.      This has worked well for us. Luke has not reacted to anything ever, so we assumed he either: A- was allergic to eggs, peanuts, treenuts, fish or shellfish, or B- had no food allergies. Because of other factors usually present in food allergic kids, (eczema and asthma) not being present in Lukie, I actually let myself begin to believe he had no food allergies. Oh, hello Denial! How you doin'?       Well, we finally got around to getting an actual blood test done and the results are a little confusing. First off, he is very allergic to eggs. But he also

     Last week, to celebrate the official start of Autumn we took a little nature walk at a nearby park. I just love this park because there is so much space, that I don't worry about the kids running too far ahead of me.   My little Luke especially loves that I am not constantly asking him to 'wait' or 'come back'. He is ever the explorer.        Our mission was to observe nature in the beginning of Autumn, and collect things we find on the ground.       We had a really fun time exploring. Anthony spotted some lilypads, but to his mild disappointment, no frogs. We saw a squirrel in a tree making a really weird noise that I had no idea squirrels were even capable of making. We came to the conclusion that he may have been sick, or singing us a song. Lukie made friends with a couple of ducks. We observed the very dark gray skies, and predicted that it would begin raining sometime during the day. Not even 5 minutes later, we

     Oh man. I cannot believe I have passed these by in the store so many times. They are kind of strange looking and always caught my eye, but I had no idea what to do with them. Do you peel them? Do you cook them? Do you slice them and put them on a sandwich? I didn't know, and to be honest I was intimidated by these little green guys. One day when they were on sale, I got brave and scooped some up. Then I went home and googled : How do you cook a tomatillo?  Image from Wikipedia        I was relieved to find that they are used primarily in Mexican cuisine (I used my superb knowledge of the Spanish language to deduce as much while in the store).   This was good news for me because Mexican food is usually very allergen friendly, and not too difficult for me -admittedly a culinary novice, to make.        The first recipe I made was salsa with roasted tomatillos, onion, and garlic. Very similar to the recipe found here:  Chef Rick Bayless- Roasted Tomatillo Salsa      

Let me just say that Lukie has such a helpful little heart. He loves to do helpful little tasks. I, mommy of 3, take full advanta--er-- encourage his helpful character by giving him a super-special helper task just for him. I have been asking him to throw diapers away in the trash can. He is so cute. He gets all excited, takes the diaper and scurries off. How many diapers does it take before I, mommy of 3, realize that my sweet & helpful toddler has been throwing dirty diapers away in his dresser drawer instead of the trash can? 7. A poopy one from yesterday tipped me off. 

Listening skills come in handy in every area of your life. Especially motherhood. In the baby-stage, you learn your baby's cry. You can pick out your little one's whimper while sitting in the back row of the church sanctuary down the hall. Supposedly some mommies can tell what their baby needs based on what the cry sounds like. I am on my third little babe, and still have not been able to do that. All of his cries sound exactly the same to me. I kind of think people who say they can tell the difference, are just super-confident guessers. But if you think you really can, then more power to ya. I still don't believe you. Exercising your listening skills in the toddler stage is super-fun. You can always listen for a second, and tell what (in general) they are in to.  If I hear the water running, I am bringing a towel to whatever sink Luke is in. The clanging of the silverware, I just need to make sure he is in the "safe" drawer and somehow did not climb on to the

     Tuesday night I went over to a friends' house and watched part one of a webinar about mothering. I don't remember what it was called (if I don't write stuff like that down, there is no hope for me recalling the details later) but it was helpful.      One of the parts that resonated with me was when she mentioned understanding your childrens' God-given personalities. And after understanding them, learning how to cultivate them.      I should say that my son Anthony is not a difficult child. He is an outgoing, smart, relatively obedient and sweet little boy. Even though this is true, there are times I have thought to myself, "I just don't understand him. I don't get it. Why does he need to talk so much? And constantly? And why is he so particular about things? Why does he get so upset if I do something in a different order than he is expecting?" There are days that we just do not connect, because I feel like I cannot get in to his headspace.  

     Well, things have calmed down in a lot of ways, which frees me up to blog. Something I really enjoy doing. There will be another element to this blog, as I figure out how to navigate the exciting and overwhelming world of food allergies.       My oldest is diagnosed with severe food allergies, and now my 8 month old baby is showing signs of the same things. We are managing severe food allergies to eggs, peanuts, tree-nuts, fish and shellfish. I have eliminated milk from my diet and it is helping the baby immensely. I strongly suspect he has a severe allergy to milk.      So our house has been turned upside-down by food allergies yet again. I had grown used to using milk products as a crutch for making sure my boys got enough of their nutrients. It is likely we will have to transition to a milk free home sooner rather than later. I have already cut it from my diet, and must say that I feel pretty good. I do miss cheese and ice cream though.      So basically we are now eating al