HALF WAY!!!!

Today marks the beginning of my 20th week of this little surprise.

20 weeks.

Half way to 40.

Woohoo!

It seems as though it's flown by, and then again it seems like I've been pregnant forever.

And then, I think that I have only 20 more weeks to be pregnant ever. 

Only 20 more weeks for my front row seat of one of the greatest miracles that God lets us have a hand in.

So, here's some interesting tidbits of information Numero Tres:

1.  I still get very gaggy.  Riding in the car over the weekend (on our trip down memory lane), brushing my teeth, nasal rinsing, and certain smells (like eggs cooking and old people smell) will quickly put me over the edge.  My gag reflex seems to have missed the memo that we are in the second trimester.

2.  I have no gut feeling as to the sex of this baby.  None whatsoever.  With A, I knew right away.  Seriously....the second line showed up, and I thought, "I'm pregnant and it's a boy."  With C, I knew when I saw his face profile at the ultrasound.  Up until that point, I actually thought he was a girl...but when I saw his face...I knew.  Right now, I have no feeling one way or the other (but we all know that I'm ok with that!).  This is most certainly the pregnancy of surprises.

3.  I'm craving fruit.  Lots of it.  Right now, I'm in LOVE with apples.  I still love cantaloupe, but the past few trips to our grocery store have left me with a grody selection...so I moved on to apples.  And strawberries.  Thank goodness they (the strawberries) are in season, and I'm going picking next week!  Whoot!

4.  I've gained 5 pounds.  This is WAY less than I gained with A. at this point (24), and more than I gained with C. at this point (2).  But I talked over my nutrition with my Dr. and my starting weight and lower weight-gain goals, and we're all on the same page.  My last appointment went so well that the Dr. gave me an ok to start walking and doing yoga/pilates as long as it doesn't start my contractions up again.  So far, prenatal pilates seem to work pretty well.

5.  I'm not as tired this time around.  I do get tired, don't get me wrong...but with both boys I needed WAY more sleep than I do now.  I was horribly exhausted all the time with the boys, and pulling myself out of bed every morning was an amazing feat.  Now, I'm wide awake at 6:30 (not quite jumping out of bed, but not dreading moving either). I'm thinking that the fact that my body isn't reacting to gluten this time around may have a wee little bitty bit to do with that lack of overwhelming fatigue.

Half way.

20 more weeks. 

(give or take a week or two....)

I'm excited to see what surprises God has in store for us with this little one!

Hump Day

I have a pregnancy related post in mind for tomorrow,

and since miscellany works well for me,

I'm going to do it a day early.

Yes, with pictures.

I've been having more fun with my DSLR lately.

I love toying with it.  And light.  And my lenses.

I have my eye on a new pretty lens....but it's costly.  Sigh.

Here's some of my favorites from last Friday's field day:

More field day pictures:

The Sack race

This is just after the guy said "Go." 

The boys were taking their first steps over the line trying to figure out how to run in the sacks.

Boys are not necessarily graceful, and right after I shot this one, about half of the boys bit the dust.

A. took third in this race.

I was shocked for three reasons:

1.  I'm not athletically inclined, so the super competitive nature of these things and any winning is not in my blood.

2.  A. seems to have inherited my "not-so-graceful" gene.  However, he never fell once.

3.  My boy is huge for his age.  The fact that he can run in one of those small sacks and not fall is a feat within itself.

Look at the lady behind the line telling A. he's about to get third place.  :)

This is the long 200 m race.

You know, the one I told you about last week?

This is the start where he was to the far left of the runners.

They condensed them so fast that he got crammed into a pack and was tripped.

And got ran over by a few kids....but who's holding grudges?!?!?

ahem....anyway.

I'm just heartbroken for him.  He was really looking forward to this race.

Here he is after the final turn.

He's "kicking in his turbo-boosters." (his words)

He's in the top third.

He ran with integrity.

I'm proud of my son for his behavior that day (as opposed to other days....when I'm not so proud....).  He was a good sportsman, he competed with integrity, and while he placed twice, he never seemed crazy-winner boastful, and still cheered his friends on.  He even made friends with a boy from another school (who consequently beats all the boys at all the sports- which would cause me to despise him if I were competing against him).

Other than that:

• I had the chance to catch up with my dear friend, Karen, this morning.  Time flies with her.  I love chatting with her.

• This post from Michelle is one of my favorites.  It made me laugh out loud for a few reasons: #1- there are some conversations I recognize and #2 - I'm glad I'm not the only one who has crazy texting conversations.  :)

• I have a minor sunburn from Friday's field day.  And realized today I'm peeling.  This grosses me out.

• Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Blazing. Freezing. Hot. Cold. This is the current weather pattern in Michigan.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if D. got called out to plow on the 4th of July.

• Our envelopes were short(er) this month.  I was seriously beating myself up trying to figure out where I messed up.  Then, I realized that we have 5 weeks this month.  Including two holidays (Mother's Day and Memorial Day).  And then I calmed down and am working on making rice and beans yummy until Friday.

• I have discovered the secret to keeping my puppy happy and quiet all day long: an empty peanut butter jar. (phone pic...sorry)

• I could use a nap.

• I could use a GNO.

• Summer break starts this Friday.  I'm both grateful and apprehensive.  I'm happy to spend more time with the boys, and I'm grateful to forget about the school schedule (and 2 hours spent a day in driving and extra $140 a month in gas and early mornings), but I'm apprehensive because I want to keep my productivity level high with work while not creating couch potatoes or having the boys killing each other.  Or me loosing my mind.  I'm hoping for an intentionally fun summer.

• I'm continuously amazed by how much allergies affect everything else.  Sleep, breathing, stomach woes, balance, ability to concentrate....

• And guess what arrived about a half hour ago:

DEMO DEMO DEMO!!!

Weekend recap- phoning it in

Memorial weekend- 2012.

It was a family fun-filled weekend.

It was blissful.

We're staring down the gauntlet of a summer filled with LOTS of manual labor,

so this was our last(ish...but not if I have anything to say about it) summer-fling.

Yes, I'm aware that Memorial Day starts summer festivities....

....however, we Love Shack inhabitants have work to do.

Anyway, while I had grandiose plans to present a bevy of photographic evidence that fun was had in the PMD family, there was tragedy.

Tragedy = grabbing the camera, and making sure the battery was charged....

....but forgetting to reinsert the SD card from last week's upload.

Crisis (sort of) averted when I remembered that my camera has an itty-bitty primal camera...

...so all hope was not lost.

However, since I am nursing a little baby-brain, I forgot to take some pictures.

So....here's the cliff's notes version of our weekend.

Friday night pizza movie night.

(minus the movie....plus the games and dress up.)

On Saturday (very early) morning, D and A went up to our friend's river cottage to do some work.

D. donated some labor time to our silent auction, and the owners got one of his 2-hour chunks.

So, while he worked that morning,

C and I slept in, slowly ate breakfast, packed everything up, ran to the store, grabbed the dog, and headed up.

We arrived at noon, and he was still working, but A. was grateful for the distraction.

We unpacked and waited for D to get done working, and by 3pm, we were golden for some family time.

The owners were nice enough to offer the house for the rest of the weekend.

Although we didn't stay the whole weekend, it was a nice get-away.

The boys were doing the target-practice game.

We found a BB gun, and a 5-section Styrofoam plate.

Each section had a point amount on it.

D. won.

But C. thought it was AWESOME to be one of the big boys.

There is only about a handful of people on this Earth that will understand what the next two pictures are.

Or where they are.

And even fewer will understand what they mean to me.

Needless to say, there was a portion of Saturday afternoon that was thick with nostalgia.

Back at the river house, we ate dinner and started a fire.

And enjoyed our first batch of s'mores this season.

Complete with Hershey's candy bars confiscated

from the boys' Halloween stash and frozen for the last 7 months.

Funny aside:  the boys had three bedrooms from which to choose for slumbering.  All three bedrooms featured bunk beds.  Two boys, six beds.  Guess what?  They chose to SHARE one bed...a top bunk.  I thought for sure they'd want to separate into different rooms....it was an interesting observation.

D. and I enjoyed the fire pit far into the evening.

Sunday morning, I enjoyed a sweet cup of coffee on the deck.

Quiet solitude.

D and A took Ally out for a morning walk, and C. was still sleeping.

Oh, blissful silence. (you know, other than the sound of nature)

Quite possibly best cup of coffee ever.

Monday, we were home enjoying the local (now open) attractions.

There is a fountain not far from our house that I took the boys to while D. continued working on dismantling the house.

Not pictured:

Nap #1

Steaks on the grill

Nap #2

Walk #1

Nap #3

Sprinkler fun for the boys

Playing with Nick

Nap #4

Loads of laundry

Watching "We bought a Zoo" with the boys

Organizing/ seasonal change over of clothing

A fantastic husband who reattached the A/C to cool his wifey down.

Nap #5

Standing Long Jump

  

5QF....late Friday edition

Normally I post this early on Friday.  I like to get my blog posts in while I'm refreshed and rejuvenated from the previous night's sleep....


.....BWAHAHAHA!

Nevermind....


Anyway, I am later in posting due to a field day with A's school.  I drove this morning to the field day, and then hung out and cheered my kiddo on before bringing him home for a half (ish) day.  His last run was at 1:10 pm.

He placed twice!  But ended up learning a valuable life lesson on the long run.

Lesson:  Watch out for other kid's feet tripping you from behind.

Homeboy went down hard.  Not only did he gown down, but once he hit the ground three other kids ran on top of him.

But what did my son do?

He got up and started running again. 

He was now in the back of the group, and by the time the race ended, he placed in the top 1/3.

I was proud of him for not giving up, but I knew....I KNEW....he had been looking forward to this race all year.  Every time he talked about it, he would jump on my treadmill to "train."  I knew he was devastated when he fell....but he didn't give up.  I was heartbroken for him....but my mama's heart is proud of his diligence.

I also had some fun with my continuous-click feature on my DSLR....so, there's lots of pics to come.  :)

Oh, and I have blisters and a minor sunburn...even though I put on 40 SPF.....pregnancy hormones anyone?

( I don't normally burn...at all, I just brown. 

Thanks, dad, for the pigmented end of the gene pool)

Ok...on with the questions!




1. Are you a napper?


I used to not be.  But then I got knocked up.  And now I am....occasionally.  I'd love to get one every afternoon, but I'm usually going on every 4 days. 

The other day, I told D that I was going to run to the store "real quick."  I went to sit down for a minute to talk to the boys and konked out.  D. comes upstairs 20 (?) minutes later and just started laughing.

Growing people is seriously hard business.  :)

2. What was your favorite subject in school? Most hated?

Favorite subject in school....probably art.  I loved art.  I always looked forward to going.

Most hated.....history.  I found it entirely boring.  It wasn't until I got into college and started taking the (required) courses about details of history that I found it interesting.  For example, the political stories behind the civil war..... or the REAL ideals of the revolutionary war (which, for your information, is used wrong today when people talk about 'separation of church and state.'  It was originally intended to mean no government sponsored churches (i.e. Church of England- which was manipulated by the government).  It's not intended to separate the church from everything....quite the contrary.)

  Anyway, I guess I'm not into generalities.

3. Did you have the something old new borrowed and blue at your wedding? What were they?

My old was a handkerchief that I found when I was cleaning out my grandmother's trailer after she passed away.  I asked if I could keep it, and I tied it to the back of my bouquet.

New- everything I had on...but I really counted the pearl earrings with diamond accents that my mom's friend had made for me at the jade-and-pearl-market in Hong Kong.  You pick every pearl out individually, and they mount them for you.  They were beautiful.

Borrowed - my mother had a cross of her father's that I loved.  He was a pastor, and passed away when she was 14 (50 years ago today, as a matter of fact).  She had it, and let me carry it up the aisle.  His cross was also tied to the back of my bouquet.  I love that a part of him was there.

Blue- there was a part of my garter belt that had a tinge of blue in it.

11 years later, and I can still remember many details of that day!

4. What one thing are you determined to do this summer

Teach C. to tie his shoes.  And perhaps ride a two wheeler.  But since the latter involves running, and my current state doesn't allow for that....that's going to fall under the "daddy" column.

5. Ice cream or Popsicles?

Ice cream, Ice cream, Ice cream!

 

I actually asked this question because I had a conversation with a lady the other day who stated that she could live without ice cream her whole life, but couldn't go a day without popsicles.  I can only imagine the look on my face...she's a crazy lady!

 

I found the BEST ice cream flavor....it's Chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered cappuccino chips and a stream of marshmallow running through it.  Oh. my. yum.

 
 
 
 
Big plans for the weekend? 
 
We do!  Kinda....but REALLY hoping for some quality family time with my three favorite guys.  :)

Thursday Miscellany in pictures

Thursday Miscellany seems to work well for me.  :)

So, here we go!

Today was our last (ever) meeting with our Bright Beginnings lady, Miss Kathy.

We did a 5 year old Ages & Stages Questionnaire- and even though C. isn't quite 5 yet,

he passed with flying colors.

We won't be seeing her for #3 simply because there's a LONG waiting list of families waiting for home visits.

So, we're going to let her use her services on first-time families instead of us old-hats.

She and her husband have become regular customers of D's business, so we'll still see them around.

She gave C. a little see-ya later present.

We'll have lots of fun this summer fine-tuning our "listening ears."

Last night, C. and I finished planting our garden.

Back to front:

tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, red bell peppers and bush beans.

Aside from the 1/2 quart of strawberries in the fridge, this is the only fresh fruit I have left in the house.

This is an emergency in my book!

Our finished concrete pad.

I cannot tell you how much cleaner the stairs (in inside the doorway!) are since this pad was installed on Saturday.

I can't wait until the entire driveway is done!

(Answer to your question:  4 years from now)

Ally waiting for me to return inside from taking the above picture.

She's a little Houdini who is getting off her chain.

She loves to run.

This is currently the bane of my existence.

She's lucky she's so cute.

C. was upset that Ally got on the table and ate all the peanut butter out of his cup.

He was making a funny face while crying.

He also rocks when he's tired, nervous, or upset.

So, here....he's crying and upset.

It's an interesting picture, no?

Also note:  he dressed himself this morning.

A (close to) record high day today, and my boy comes down in (too short) jeans and a turtle neck.

Then he got over the peanut-butter-incident-of-May 24, and decided to place some pretzel rods above his ears.

"Mommy, take a picture of me!"

Ok.

This deserves a picture. 

Our basement floor clean. (and vacuumed, I might add!)

The couch void of laundry waiting to be folded.

(It's folded, in a laundry basket waiting to be brought upstairs. hehe!)

Never mind the pile of clothing on the lateral file waiting to be ironed.

Hey....it's progress.

This is my summer strategy for good behavior.

I picked up these jars at Wal-Mart of $3.97 each.

(by the way, the EXACT same jar is $5.99 at Meijer!)

I wrote chores and fun activities on the back of post-it notes so the sticky side would keep

the papers folded neatly.

Pink ones have chores such as:  sweep the kitchen and bathroom floors, dust the furniture in your bedroom, clean the toilets, vacuum the basement, pick up rocks in the yard and bring them to the rock pile, clean out the van, etc.

Our Summer Fun jar will be used as rewards for good behavior and ideas for days we have a free day.  Ideas were taken from this post, my MOPS newsletter (thanks, Ingrid!), and my own imagination.

Some items cost money, some don't.

Blue papers are indoor activities (for rainy days, or lazy days...(calling a spade a spade)).

Green papers are more active and require a nice day out.

Either way, I'm hoping for a fun, memorable summer with the boys.

I wanted to post this.

C. drew this at school during "free time."

I asked him to tell me about it.

He said,

"I drew a picture of Heaven.  See?  Jesus is in blue in the middle, it's very colorful there,

and the streets have gold."

Sigh.

Then....last night I caught A. in a(nother) lie.

I grounded him from all screens for 2 days, and I laid out some sentences for him to write this morning.

When I got out of the shower this morning, he left this in the bathroom for me to find.

(Coincidentally...he wrote it on the BACK of C's Heaven picture- above).

What did I think when I read that?

He used the possessive apostrophe appropriately.

Although we need to work on the correct spelling of "poop*."

And last, (but not least!!!)

I'm at 19 weeks today!

Almost half way done with this pregnancy.  :)

My Dr's appt on Monday went swimmingly, and he upped my weight lifting status since there's been no drama for the last 4 weeks.  I can now lift 20 pounds...max.

Strawberry picking, here we come!

The ultrasound appointment has been set for a few weeks from now-

the boys are EXCITED to go with me.

Sorry for the quality of the picture-

C. has been taking them, and as noted above, he's got an "issue" being still. 

*sorry I talked about poop on my blog.  A. started it.

So...you've decided to go gluten free (or at least thinking about it)....Now what?!?!

As I've said before, my big mouth is finally paying off! 

I've had now ten (TEN!) people approach me about going gluten free.

I'm so grateful that the past (almost) three years has now led me to being able to help others transition into better health.

In three years, I've attended a lot of discussions about gluten and its affects on the body.  In addition, my wellness Dr. is also gluten free, and has done (EXTENSIVE) research on affects of gluten- all the way back to studying mummies in Europe.  It's amazing to hear all this research, and I just soak it up like a sponge.

D's cousin has recently gone gluten free after her Rheumatologist recommended a gluten free diet in order to avoid heavier meds.  Guess what- in a few months, she's already noticed a difference.

So, if you have ANY digestive disorders, ANY inflammatory diseases, or ANY autoimmune diseases, a gluten free diet CAN HELP YOU. 

It's your choice.

Here's my check-in after 2 years...you can see how it's changed my life.


But staring down the gauntlet of gluten free eating can be daunting, I know.

"How do I get started?!?!?!"  That's what I hear most often.

Here's my top 10 list of getting started.  It's not really as hard as one would think.

1.  Educate yourself.  What is gluten?  (wheat, rye, barley, and (some)oats...although I don't have an issue with oats).  True Celiac's need to eat gluten free oats because they're guaranteed to be grown in a field MORE than 7 miles away from the nearest wheat field.  I'm not that sensitive.  Find some books.  I went to the library and checked out every book on the shelf about gluten.  This is my ultimate favorite:

Source: gfreediet.com via Sandy on Pinterest

Elizabeth Hasselbeck is a self-diagnosed Celiac.  She takes you through her diagnosis journey, and is the ultimate cheerleader to a G-free diet.  In addition, there's an entire page dedicated to gluten free check out candy.  :)  She gives you pointers for living g-free, and gives you great useful strategies for living g-free.  This is the book I reference most when talking about G-free diets and getting started.  It's an easy read too.


2.  Give it 30 days.  It takes 4 days for the gluten to leave your digestive tract.  And the villi in your intestines will start to repair themselves after 10.  After 30, your villi should be (mostly) healed.  Your cravings for gluten free items will diminish by this time.  If you want to try gluten then, you could- just to see how you react.  This is what I did....and whoa, nelly.....did I react.  It was enough to make me never look back.  And the longer I'm off gluten, the better I feel every day.  You can do anything for 30 days, right?!?!?

3.  Create a menu for two weeks.  Then repeat it.  You're at 28 days....just 2 days short of your 30 day goal.  Not to hard, right?  Some of my favorite g-free dinners include the bacon wrapped chicken breast (use g-free bacon!), and the Just Joan Casserole.  There...there's 2 recipes for you that are easy-peasy and yummy too....Next try Spaghetti (with either spaghetti squash or brown rice noodles- I like Prego Natural sauce...that's gfree!), grilled chicken breast, tacos (use corn shells and Mrs. Dash Fiesta spices), and steak.  There's four more.  Find some breakfast foods that you can rotate through ( I go between eggs and an Herbalife protein shake), and some favorite lunch ideas (I love salads or deviled eggs for lunch!), rotate through them...and before you know it, you're at 30 days.  I PROMISE you'll notice a difference at the end of 30 days.

4.  Snacks.  Yes, this deserves a number of its own.  If you're a snacker (which I am), it's important to have some gfree snacks on hand. When I first started, I always had 10 different snacks on hand.  If I have the good choices on hand, I know I will stick to the g free diet.  Here's some of my favorites:

• Costco White corn tortilla chips and Organic corn and black bean salsa
• Hummus (make sure it's gluten free!) with cucumbers
• Apple slices with all natural peanut butter (sprinkled with sea salt for flavor)
• carrot sticks with Marzetti Ranch dressing to dip
• protein bar (not all of these are gluten free...I prefer Herbalife Vanilla Almond, but there are a few others in the store that are.)
• Kraft Tomato Basil (or Jalapeno) Cheese sticks
• Quaker rice cakes (some flavors are not gluten free- be careful!) with natural peanut butter and natural strawberry preserves.
• All natural Kettle Corn
• Hormel mini-pepperoni
• Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt parfait w/ fresh strawberries and homemade granola (recipe forthcoming)
• Protein crackers (recipe and tutorial forth coming as well)
• A handful of almonds and walnuts
• Special treat for special occasions:  bryers natural ice cream
• Special treat for special occasions:  strawberry shortcake made with gfree Bisquick.

5.  Go get some aloe juice and probiotics.  If you're having a reaction to gluten, chances are at 100% that your gut is out of whack.  Way out.  Did you know that 80% of your immune system is in your digestive tract?!?!?  Yeah...let's get this immune system back up and running at full throttle.  Aloe juice heals from the inside out- you need to make sure you're getting pharmacy grade- other brands can really water it down.  Again, I prefer Herbalife...but you can find equal brands at the health food store.  Probiotics will also help you establish a flora balance in your gut.  This will also help you actually digest the nutrients in your food- rather than eliminating them through ..... ahem....waste.  Be careful, not all probiotics are gluten free.  Ask a pharmacist to help you find one that's good.

6.  Be prepared to be assertive, but also expect to be insignificant.  If you're eating out with friends, don't be afraid to ask to go to a restaurant that you know has a gluten free menu.  Make sure the server KNOWS you are gluten free- so the chef knows to use a separate fryer or grill.  When dining at friend's houses....this is where things get tricky.  They either 1) don't try to do anything g-free 2) Try to do g-free and fail miserably or 3) Try g-free and are wildly successful. 

Of course, I LOVE the #3 friends. 

The #1's really don't hang with us too much anymore- perhaps I'm too high maintenance? (I don't prefer to suck on a half-rotten grapefruit while everyone else eats lasagna, and I don't prefer to sit there while you tell me how awkward it is for YOU- cause it was a total walk-in-the-park for me).

and #2...well, those are dangerous.  Sure, grilled pineapple is gluten free....but the teryaki sauce you just slathered on it is most certainly NOT.  Sure, you purchased the gluten free brownie mix for $5.99/box, but the frosting you put on there is not gluten free (some are, by the way). 

Pot luck dinners are my favorite- I'll bring something that's safe for me to eat and I know at least one thing will be good. 

Otherwise, I have a protein bar in my purse at all times just to tide me over until we're home and around safe food.  You will hurt feelings by not eating some things people will prepare for you, and you will get your feelings hurt.  But, your health is worth it.

7.  Determine how much you're willing to increase your grocery budget.  Yep, gluten free items are and can be very expensive.  Our grocery budget is VERY finite.  I decided that we were only going to spend an additional $25 a month.  That limited my choices in the gluten free aisle.  But...hey, that's ok!  Honestly, most of the substitutes are very high in carbs (this is where I'd love to talk to you about insulin and glucagon and the affect it has on our bodies....but that's another post for another day)....and I really need to focus on my protein intake anyway!  And guess what?!?!?  All basic produce and fresh foods are naturally gluten free.  I've made friends with fresh produce, and I love that area of the store.  :)

8.  Watch the "sneakers".  The things I would assume were safe, but had gluten in them (note:  not all of them have gluten in them, but they are red flags for me to REALLY read labels closely!)....These include:  spice mixes, drinks, sauces, soups, salad dressings, anything with caramel coloring, medicines, blue cheese, beer, alcohol, pop, anything that's flavored, and some gums.

9.  Get comfortable in the kitchen.  If you don't cook, you better learn.  Quickly.  Otherwise, be prepared to spend a lot of money and gain a lot of weight on high carb foods.  Get in your kitchen....  find some recipes online.  The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen has a whole gluten free section.  Gluten free girl has a blog (as well as a book) that has been helpful.  You'll find what works for you.  Me?  I choose not to have 12 different kinds of flour in my kitchen.  I purchase King Arthur's Multi-purpose flour and Xathan Gum.  In addition, I've picked up brown rice flour and almond meal that I keep in the freezer.  That's it.  Figure out what works for you and stick to it.

10.  Find a support group!!!  My first 30 days I did essentially solo.  It was so isolating, and I was absolutely miserable.  Sure, D. was supportive of figuring out what was wrong with me....but he also didn't want to spend more money, and didn't want to deal with the hassle of it either.  But, in those 3 years, he's discovered the wife that smiles again, who has energy again, who has started to loose weight, and has regained fertility that we didn't know existed.  ;)  He's actually seeing people's behaviors and noticing people he knows and loves that could benefit from a gluten free diet!  Anyway, there will be friends and family members who are 100% in your corner.  Encouraging, accommodating,  and helpful.  Hang onto them.  They are the priceless ones.  I'm happy to encourage you through it!  Let me know how I can help!