this could work

We have officially started our "Soy Free Challenge"! Making pretty much everything from scratch is actually a lot of fun. I have found a joy in cooking and baking that I didn't have 10 years ago when we first got married. I used to see other people making things homemade and I would think, "I could never do that, it takes to much time and planning." Well it does take planning and a little more time, but I really enjoy it. Things taste SO much better too!
I was really proud of Aaron last night. We were invited to eat out with another couple this weekend. He stayed completely on board with the diet, saying that he and I would plan ahead and make sure whatever we ate was still soy free. It would have been so much easier to just shrug it off and say, "well it's only one meal." If we did that though, we would never be fully detoxed of soy, because there is always something that comes up that you could potentially justify.
So my job tomorrow is to call a few restaurants and find out if there is anything we can get soy free. I'll let you know how it goes!

Prepairing for a new year!

Wow! It' been a while since I've been on here! I don't know if anyone actually reads this, but I thought I would put in a new entry. (Every once in a while I get a bug in me that wants to express itself by writing). This year has been a very new chapter for us.
Both boys are potty trained! Truitt is now in preschool. He is loving it! He has learned to write his name and all the letters through M so far. Upon returning from winter break, he will work his way through the rest of the alphabet and learn to write his last name. Ephraim gets some one on one time with mom while Tru is in school. He is excited for when he will get to experience this fun thing called "school". The boys are continuing to crack me up with all the funny things they say. Example:
Ephraim:"Mom, can we touch wild turkey?"
Me: "No."
Truitt: "Ephraim, you can only touch wild animals if you are a wild person."

Aaron just finished a semester of physics. It was a rough semester. Between estimating for his company (aka working around 50 hours a week) and physics home work and a family and church...well it's a lot to fit in to one week.

I am still working for the big green giant (note: Not the jolly green giant, I mean the one that deals with coffee). I was in a book club this year, and really enjoyed reading some different books that I would not have chosen if left to my own devices.

We are excited to see what this next year holds. Truitt will finish preschool, and start Kindergarten. Ephraim will start preschool. I can't believe my boys are both going to be in school!
Starting January 1st our household will try a little experiment. Due to Aaron's allergy we will be a soy free family for one month, maybe two. We have been gradually making this change, but because of some really bad heartburn Aaron's been having, we will be cutting it out completely. We are going to get it out of his system, then try to introduce it after a month and see how he reacts. I am hoping, it fixes his severe heartburn. I am planning on chronicling everything here on this blog....hopefully...well let's be honest I haven't done a great job of keeping it updated as is. :(
So here's to the new year! A new year of new changes and better health!

So yeah it's been a while! Sorry

It's been a while since I blogged, but it's sometimes like that with kids. I'm happy to report that Truitt is pooping and peeing in the toilet full time now! Truitt and Ephraim keep us in a constant state of entertainment. Some of the statements that come out of their mouths often have us in stitches. On the other hand if we are not laughing, we are disciplining. It amazes me that a 3 1/2 year old can know how to lie. Ephraim is starting to count, he can get up to 10 pretty well. He it still a very picky eater, although we did find some cheese that is naturally lactose free, so we don't have to exclude cheese from all his meals now. Both boys like listening to music. We have a couple They Might Be Giants kids albums. They also like Queen, The Who, and Muse. (we do censer what songs they listen to, just so you know) Truitt usually likes songs that have a strong guitar lead, and Ephraim likes a good strong drum beat.
Aaron is trying to decide between a physics class or an art class for next semester. I think is is glad that Calc. 3 is almost done, or maybe he is just ready for a little break.
As for me, well I've really gotten in to reading as of late. So far this year I have read 13 books (most of them over 500 pages), which if you know my previous track record with reading, you would know that this is really good. I am currently trying to read some of the classics, so I am reading Dracula now and am almost done. I will read The Voyage of The Dawn Treader next, because I would like to read it before seeing it in theater.
I will try to post more often again, but if I don't get to it again until after the Holidays....
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Progress report

I am happy to report that after several long months, Truitt is very close to being potty trained!!!! He pretty much stays dry all day, with the exception of a couple accidents here and there, and he still won't poop in the toilet, but we are getting closer. Even Ephraim is getting in on the act! He is starting to make the connection of what if feels like when he pees and poops and is willing to sit on the toilet. Aaron is in Calculus 3 this semester. He just got a 99% on his first test! He is discovering what specific major he wants, which is good. He had decided on industrial design, which if you know Aaron, this major really fits him.

update

Wow I can't believe it's August! In a week Ephraim will be 2 years old! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the time goes by. Ephraim's vocabulary has really taken off. He quickly went from knowing a few words to putting together 4 word sentences. In 2 weeks my parents will be here to celebrate Ephraim's birthday (and my b-day too). I'm very excited to see them for a few days.
Truitt is still working on potty training. He's getting closer. We are going to start alphabet books soon (that is if mommy can get on the ball cutting out pictures).
Aaron starts school the last week of August, but right before that we have his 10 year class reunion. They are doing a float trip. I really hope this one is a better experience than my last float trip. Well our A/C went out yesterday, so I need to call someone to come out and fix it. I guess I better get on that.

I think it's working...

Ever since we started using the cloth diapers Truitt has become more aware of when he pees. Just in the last few days he has been asking to sit on the toilet to try to pee! This is very exciting. Every time he pees in the toilet he gets to put a Spiderman sticker on his chart (believe me this is a BIG deal). He is still afraid to poop in the toilet. I don't get why, but I've heard that this is a common thing.
Ephraim will be getting a big boy bed some time in the next week. This is a big deal to him, because we are able to lay on Truitt's bed a cuddle with him, but we can't climb in the crib with Ephraim, so this makes him sad. (Although, Aaron did risk climbing in with him one night, thankfully nothing broke.)
I am currently attempting to, little by little change, organize and generally make the house look better. For the first time ever I also started a garden this year. I found out that I won't get anything from my strawberries, or blueberries this year, but I'm looking forward to having a plethora of yummy brightly colored berries next year. My eggplants are growing but not yielding veggies yet. My tomatoes are doing well. Nothing else has come up yet (granted I planted everything else a little late).
Aaron has been working on his C++ class. It is a summer course, so that means they pack 12 weeks worth of learning into 8 weeks. Poor guy he works on it every night and he enjoys it, but it is a lot of work.

A New Journey

We are embarking on yet another new adventure. This weekend we bought all the items needed to switch our boys (and any future kids we may have) to cloth diapers! It's quite the investment to start, but with in 6 months they will pay for themselves. I know what you may be thinking. "But your boys are 3 and 2 isn't it a little late to start cloth diapers?" Well thus far Truitt has not been interested in going potty in the toilet. I asked him why and he said he just didn't want to. I had done some reading that kids in cloth diapers tend to potty train faster, because they can feel the wet against their skin. Aaron and I talked and we thought that it might help him to make that connection of I felt this, and then I peed and now I'm wet, so when I feel this I must need to pee. It's only day 2 and Truitt has been really good so far about telling us when he feels wet. But enough about that on to other updates:
Truitt had his 3rd birthday! We gave him a Spiderman party. He had SO much fun. It was great to see his eyes light up when he saw the balloons and Spiderman cake!
Ephraim is almost 22 months. It seems like he learns a new word everyday. He is really into Curious George and Bob the Builder lately. We got the newer Curious George move from Netflix a couple weeks ago, and I had more fun watching him than the movie. He was g-l-u-e-d!
Aaron just finished Calculus 2. He said it was pretty hard, but he really enjoyed it.
I'm working hard at Starbucks and trying to get the house more organized. Making small updates to the little things around the house, makes a big difference.
I'll keep you all updated on how the cloth diaper thing goes.