California Style

For 5 years before I moved back to Arkansas, I lived in So.Cal...4 of those years were spent in college at Biola, and the 5th year as a grad student in Rosemead School of Psyc (doctoral program of Biola).

Most that hear me talk of Biola and my time there, follow up our conversation with "You should seriously be a recruiter for that school!"

I love it that much.

I've already told Jason if he ever gets a call from them and they are interested in hiring him as the Bball coach, he not ask my permission...just give them a definite "Can we be there tomorrow?"...and maybe "Do you have an opening in the recruiting office?".

I have some amazing memories of my time there that stem from even more amazing friendships. When I moved back there were some things that I definitely missed! It's funny because some of things have actually appeared now here in NWA which bring great delight to my Biolian heart.

Anyway, today at Sam's, I discovered another one of "those things" that they're recently started carrying and I got all giddy:

Yes. The best gummy's in the WHOLE world...and they come in a 5lb bag (in Cali, only Ralph's carried this bad boy bag!).

It got me thinking about the things I loved in California and I thought I'd share some of them.
**Disclaimer** Most of these (I realized after the fact) have to do with food. :)

1. Trader Joe's: lots of healthy, unique options, and super cheap - but great quality - wine. And only a few miles down the road.

2. Albertson's: Right across the street from Biola and for some reason I just LOVED this grocery store and so badly wish we had one! They had the best bakery items and great prices on everything.



3. Bristol Farms (I know - I seriously have THREE grocery stores on my list): This one is FANTASTIC and provides the ultra grocery shopping experience. If you see one, you must try it!

Okay. I'm done with grocery stores.

4. Baja Fresh: This is one of those better-fast-food places that had the most amazing shrimp salad. Super fresh ingredients and really you can't go wrong with anything you order.

5. Miyagi's: This place was my first real sushi experience. They claim to have the most sushi combinations (not sure how broad that claim is), and the place has a few different levels right in the heart of Sunset Blvd. It turns into a dance place at night and sometimes they have karaoke (my lil sis can tell you that story sometime). We went here a lot (it seemed).

6. Wahoo's Fish Tacos: Love. This. Place. This was my first fish taco experience and I feel like anytime I have seen one since on a menu, I order it. This one's down on Huntington Beach and if you're ever there, you must try one.

And while we're on the Huntington subject, here's the next...

7. Running Huntington to Newport Beach: This was a long run day and I would do it every now and then. There's a boardwalk between both beaches so no, it wasn't hardcore on the sand! I would park at Huntington (closest to Biola), and run to Newport and back. The reward? The most AMAZING farmer's market you've ever experienced on the beach in Huntington on Saturdays. It's massive and consists of Cali and Mexico farmers with all their goods.

8. 1000 Steps at Laguna Beach: My friends and I went camping on the beach numerous times and we always went to the same spot in Laguna called 1000 steps. You park on the street and the steps are kind of hidden, and when you find them, it's a long way down (but and even longer way up - ha):

But those steps lead you here:

9. Skid Row (Downtown LA): This is one of the saddest places I've seen. It's 10 blocks of approximately 10K homeless people. It's the police's attempt to congregate these people to one location where they can legally sleep in boxes lining the streets and be somewhat confined to these 10 blocks. And it's a only a few exits of the 101 away from some of the richest places in LA.  I went here often. Me and Jana worked on one of the blocks at a church with kids one year, and then I would frequently re-visit, talk with people, and bring things I didn't want/need to give away down there. I loved going down there. If you visited me out there, you know that because I took you :)

10. Francis Chan: What a fantastic man of God and dynamic speaker! He spoke in chapel at Biola at least twice a year and the place was packed when he came...always.

11. And then there was my church, Rock Harbor: I struggled with leaving this one the most. I still listen to podcasts from there. I fell deeper in love with Jesus those years of attending this church. I was the first time I was giddy excited about going to church and heart sick when it was over. I had never experienced church like that and it was such an amazing experience to have the Holy Spirit work in my life through that church. It's funny because when I moved to Siloam and started attending CCF, 2 pastors left CCF while I was there to go be pastors at Rock Harbor - crazy!

Thanks for indulging in my nostalgia with me. :)

Gluten Free, Shall We?

I've had some tummy troubles for a while now and they seem to be worsening over the past few months. What are the symptoms?
Extreme bloat sets in around dinner time and is out of control after dinner. We're talking, my stomach extends to look like I'm 5 months pregnant and it's super uncomfortable. Sometimes I can't even stand up straight.
This has been going on for years in different extremities.
I can remember this happening after dinner at a restaurant when I was in 7th grade. An adult on our trip told me to do a certain stretch, and I've been doing that stretch ever since when this happens. It brings some relief (sometimes). And then in college I had the same issues, but it seems like since I've had kids, it's almost become a nightly thing. I asked Jason a few days ago how many nights he thinks I have this and he said it feels like every night now now.

So what have I tried?
I did a mild cleanse thinking that might help.
I have cut back on salt intake.
I took a diuretic.
I started a pro-biotic a few weeks ago.

None of these worked. None.

So yesterday I got the idea to cut out gluten. I have some friends who are gluten-free eaters and I've heard of numerous talk about how simply cutting out gluten solved their tummy issues. I know I'm not allergic to gluten, but I wondered if maybe I had a sensitivity to it?

Worth a try.

So yesterday was the first day I did it, and MIRACLE. People I had zero tummy issues last night and woke up feeling great (as far as tummy goes).
I'm gonna do the gluten-free thing for at least three days and then maybe eat it again in a few days and see if there's a difference. Just a little experimenting.

And for me, cutting out gluten really isn't a hard thing. It's by no means a "low-carb" thing, so I think it's doable.
Plus, if we're going Italian and I want some pasta, I'll eat it still (and just know that night I'll be uncomfortable).

But just wanted to share because I'm excited and hopeful this helps!

******BTW, Lincoln woke up this morning and went straight to the potty and peed first thing! And his diaper from overnight was almost completely dry!!!! :) He's doing so great now!!!!

UPDATE!!!

DISCLOSURE: This is about the potty again. So feel free to skip if this reading doesn't pertain to you. :)

We have progress...major progress!!!

After my last potty post where I was beside myself begging for advice and frustrated, I woke up Saturday to a different tune from Lincoln!

Saturday was the day we had set for celebration at Chuck E. Cheese for his hard work on the potty. Though I'll confess, I was hesitant to take him cause I felt like there was no progress, but we decided to go ahead as planned because he was working hard and it wasn't fun for him all the time.

And then on Saturday morning, before we were to go (by which he was nuclear excited!), he asked me to go poop, then about 20 minutes later asked me to go pee! He then went 3 times while at CEC, and never had an accident all day!!!!

Then today, he came in while we were getting ready for church and told me he had to poop...then told me later this morning that he had to pee...again - 2 days in a row!!!!! He went at church in his class and has had zero accidents so far today as well!

If that wasn't enough, as a bonus, today he was mad when he had to wear a pull-up to church because he wanted to wear his "undies"...this was a first as he has been begging to only wear diapers for the past week!

So just like that, we took a huge step in the right direction! I feel super encouraged about this.

In all honesty, I would have stopped trying to train him last week, except I really don't wanna start doing it in the middle of basketball season b/c we just aren't home that much at all. My goal is to have him rolling pretty well by the time season starts.

Thanks so much for all the encouragement!!!!!!! :)

And here's a pic I took with my phone from CEC:

Dinner Woes

When Jason and I got married in 2007, we both quickly realized that we ate completely different. We even drank different!
We had two pitchers in the fridge - one of his lemonade he would make and one of mine.
Mine was crystal light...his was a mixture of pure lemon juice, water, and (it seemed) 5 bags of sugar (it was an insane amount of sugar!). He claimed he didn't like my lemonade and I wasn't about to take up drinking sugar water with a dazzle of lemon!

Before we had kids, we would often eat at the same time, but eat different things. I liked the vegetables, he liked the potatoes.

Jason always claimed he hated all vegetables except corn (which some would not consider a good veggie), and at the time I felt like that ruled out 90% of the recipes I cooked from!

But through that year I was able to find some things we both liked...and that included changes on my part as well. For instance hamburger meat: I had never bought this (much less cooked it) in my life before I married Jason!

But I discovered a lean option to ground beef, and also discovered Jason liked it too, as long as it was not hamburgers. So this opened up more dinner options instantly.

And now, folks, I wanna fast-forward you to present: In this week alone, Jason has GLADLY eaten asparagus (this is now his favorite), a salad (this is AMAZING), and green beans mixed with other veggies I cooked in a small crockpot (he went back for seconds on these).
Not only did he eats these...he now enjoys them.

And as for the lemonade? He hasn't made the sugar water now for at least a year. He now loves crystal light...we literally go through 2 liters/day.

So though coming up with recipes and meal planning isn't my strong suit, I have a hearty rotation now of things we both enjoy, and I'm willing to try new things just like I get him to do.

Oh. Except frying things.

I never have and I refuse to. Fried porkchops is his favorite meal, but I leave that for his mother when we go visit! 

I do cook his second favorite - chicken fettuccine every now and then.

Need Your Advice

I'm frustrated. And advice is WELCOME.

I feel like I do a pretty good job of getting babies on sleep patterns and getting them to sleep good and that stuff SLEEP related...but when it comes to the potty I. AM. LOST.

So here's what we're doing. Since Monday, he has only worn undies during the day, and diapers at nap/night time. One of those days, I put a pull-up on him cause we made a trip to Siloam to watch some basketball.

I take him to the potty every 20 minutes or so.

I praise him.

The mornings are usually better. Sometimes with zero accidents. But I feel like it's because I take him so often. I don't think he cares if his pants are wet. And the kid also pee's like 20 times a day!

After naps are when we can literally go through every pair of undies he has - literally.

He gets tired of having to stop playing to go to the potty every 20 minutes and this can frustrate him, but if I don't take him, he'll pee on himself.

He knows he's only suppose to pee in the potty and can tell you that, but seriously has no problem going in his pants and I only discover it if I see it.

So we've finished day 5 and I honestly think he's the same as he was on day 1.

So tips PLEASE. And is this normal?

I Promise I'll Stop Talking About Poop Soon

You have my word.

Buuutttttttttttttttttttttt....

Lincoln's been doing it in the potty like none other;

And Noah did it at the pool in his swim diaper. Have you ever experienced poop in a swim diaper after a swim? I hope you never have to.

But we only had one accident with Lincoln today! Granted, he did wear pull-ups when we went and watched basketball games (and he went once in those).

I was actually frustrated today because I thought yesterday would be bad, today would be significantly better, and tomorrow he'd be trained. That's how it was sleep training him...why not be that way this time, right?

Apparently I am not right.

In fact 2 friends (kindly) laughed at me when I shared this philosophy tonight.

So when did your little one actually start telling you they need to go and then holding it till you got there? The only reason we had 1 accident today was because I took him every 20 minutes!

And I'm serious. I will stop talking about this soon. :)

Oh the Potty

I'm gonna log the "no-diapers-by-friday" progress from yesterday. I would call it "Day 1" but come on - we all know this is my third time to try this in the past 7 months, and, well - another "Day 1" post probably sounds like a joke now (boy-who-cried-wolf sort of thing).

But in all seriousness...I'm serious this time.

So, yesterday's progress?
If you would have asked me last night I'd have told you it was no progress.

I lost count of how many times he peed his pants, and then when we ran out of undies and just had shorts on him, he decided to poop his pants with nothing significant to catch it - yeah. I'll just stop there on that one.

But TODAY (ta-da!) we have had no accidents thus far and have had a successful #2 in the potty!

A few have asked my tips/secrets??

Well, I have none. I actually feel like I'm probably doing this all wrong. Never read a book. Never made him watch a video. Never bought all these rewards and made a big plan for it. In fact, I pretty much decided on a whim it was time. Actually I decided when I paid $14 for his pack of diapers 2 days ago.

I have talked to a few friends over the past year, but that's about it. We use undies and the big potty (backwards). He has yet to ask me on his own. I make him go about every 20 minutes. I'm waiting for the golden day when he says "Mommy, I need to go potty!"

We'll see. I predict we go through all his undies yet again today (not-so-high-expectations will never let you down).

Now off to the pool!!!