Reintroduction Time

This week we began reintroducing lactose into Tommy's diet. Tommy's diet has been gluten free, lactose free, and very low sugar for the past year, simply because his intestines needed time to heal and those foods are hard to digest. We followed this diet plan because it worked very well for some friends who also adopted from Uganda and whose kids had problems similar to Tommy's. The diet helped a great deal, but it hasn't completely solved Tommy's issues. Things got so bad over this last trip to California that I told the doctor I wanted to move forward with testing for actual food allergies/intolerances.
In order to do that, we have to reintroduce both lactose and gluten. Right now Tommy is doing very well, so if he has a severe lactose intolerance we should be able to tell in the next few weeks. Lactose intolerance is not something we are particularly worried about because all humans have a lactose intolerance. If you don't believe me try this experiment: drink a gallon of milk in one sitting. The results will be ugly. This week we have started Tommy off with cheeses and yogurt, both of which are low in lactose. So far he is doing fine. This is a huge blessing, because if this continues it means I don't have to make his yogurt anymore. I probably still will when I have time, but I don't always have time. I am hoping milk goes over well, but I probably won't try giving him that until mid-next week when his carton of Lactaid runs out. At $4 a half-gallon he is going to finish it (yes, that's $8 a gallon- imagine what that will run us when he is a teenager). I would prefer not to find out!

Butter is Better

Over the past year we have tried numerous lotions, creams, and oils on Tommy's skin. Many have worked wonderfully, and others not at all, but I found that most of the creams that worked the best were filled with lots of chemicals that I would prefer Tommy not put on his body or in his mouth. And yes, invariably each day some lotion gets into his mouth. Many of the lotions actually have a sweet taste (yes, I've tried them because I wondered why he was so compelled to shovel them into his mouth) that encourages snacking. Yuck.

Another mom who had adopted from Uganda shared that she had been making her own lotions from raw shea butter. I figured I could do it too. But I put it off. It turns out you have to order five pounds of the stuff ($$) and then you have to get other natural ingredients and combine them, and eventually it all seemed a little too daunting to me. Finally, after months of contemplating this (and combating a recent outbreak of rash on Tommy's stomach and neck) I bit the bullet and ordered five pounds of raw shea butter. It set me back almost fifty bucks. Ouch. Especially compared to a bottle of lotion.

However, since the package arrived I have become a convert. First, it smells wonderful. Very nutty. Second, you can actually just chip off a little piece (it is a solid at room temperature) and rub it straight on skin. The body heat melts the butter, and you get moisturized. This does take longer than a lotion application though, and I don't like to waste time in the morning. So, I searched the internet and found a recipe for whipped shea body butter that did not require too many odd ingredients. Then I modified it even more to use things I had around the house. I also cut out a few of the steps, because I couldn't find my double boiler and I was feeling too lazy to search for it. I've found that most things that "require" a double boiler can actually be done in a microwave, as long as you watch very carefully and stir often. We've been using the body butter I whipped up for almost a week, with fantastic results. Tommy's skin looks great, and we've only had to apply it once a day. It is a bit oily on my skin, but with the dry air of winter coming that won't be an issue for long. This only used up about six ounces of the shea butter, so I imagine I will be making a lot more of this in the coming months. This recipe made a good amount of lotion from 6oz of raw butter. I'm not entirely sure how long it will last, but I think at least three weeks.

My recipe/technique for whipped shea body butter:

6oz raw shea butter (apparently there are different colors...mine is an off-white)

4 oz oil. I used a combo of olive, vitamin e, and another body oil (proprietary blend, now that I have intellectual property lawyer reading my blog I can't be too careful).

1 tsp cornstarch

Place the shea in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt slightly (I did 30 seconds, but my microwave is weak), stir. Repeat until the shea is liquid. Stir in the oil. Add cornstarch. Place in a chilled-mixer bowl, place in stand mixer and whip until thick and fluffy. I let mine go for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Put a small supply in an airtight container and store at room temp, place the bulk in the fridge to keep it fresh.

Identity Crisis

Over the course of the day Tommy announced:

"I am a pirate!"

"I am a big guy!"

"I am a cowboy!"

"I am god!"

Clearly, we need to work on his theology...

The Last Family Breakfast - EVER

In the time between my engagement to Jeff and our wedding my family had a number of "the last family (Christmas, Vacation, Easter, fill in the blank) ever." Towards the end some of "the last" events were increasingly ridiculous and the melodrama surrounding these events quickly became a joking matter.

Since we are rarely all together these days, when we had the opportunity the day before Kev's wedding to have a immediate family-only event (plus Tommy) we designated it "The last family breakfast." I usually wouldn't post pictures of myself first thing in the morning on the internet, but I am pretty far from the camera in all the photos so I decided it was okay. Other family members may disagree, but by the time they read this it will be too late.

Mom made the from scratch wheat waffles we all love and real (as opposed to microwaved) bacon.

Tommy had some yummy gf Trader Joe's waffles.

See, we aren't too shabby looking.

Reading Prize!

Today Tommy and I went to the library for the first story time and play group of the fall. We probably spend more time at the library than at any other activity, excluding church of course. We are regulars. Library rats, if you will. You may recall that our obsession with reading was especially strong this summer, because Tommy discovered the joy of summer reading programs and more importantly, the reading prize. I did the adult reading program as well, and between the two of us we earned two family dinners at Chipotle (love those free taco coupons), a water bottle (broken now), and way too many finger puppets, color-in puzzles, and plastic sharks. This was all in our quest to win second place in the family reading program and earn ourselves a one year pass to the children's museum. Usually Tommy and I only aim for numero uno. In this case we made an exception because first place was an overnight stay at a Holiday Inn with an indoor water park. Tommy is probably too young to fully appreciate an indoor water park, and I find them incredibly repulsive (this is a direct result of being forced to swim in the disgusting overly warm and small YMCA kiddie pool as a child). Hence, aiming for number two.

The reading contest ended in early August. Since we didn't hear anything I assumed we hadn't won. I was a little dissapointed because I thought we had read enough, but mostly I just felt bad because I knew Tommy had read more than anyone else in his age category (by far), which meant that I hadn't done the necessary work to boost our team average. I tried. I really tried. But, my dissertation had to come first, and so I didn't read as much as I could have. Don't get me wrong, Jeff and I don't watch much TV during the summer so I did do quite a bit of reading. A lot really. Just clearly not enough.

Imagine my surprise when today during play time one of the library staff came up to me and said "So, did anyone ever tell you that you won second place in the summer read family contest?"

Um, no, they didn't.

"Oh, you did. I added up all the minutes myself. They just haven't told you because the prizes are missing. Our director moved her office over the summer and they got misplaced. We are looking for them. The first place family keeps bugging us about them."

It's a little hard to get excited about winning a prize that you might not receive because it is lost. I am still a little excited. After all, a win is a win. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain it to Tommy though. He might be too young to understand that family pride is more important that actual material benefits (that's for you, Em).

The Rehearsal

The big event of this trip home was Kevin and Colleen's wedding. This particular marriage has been in the works for many, many years, so some of us were a bit anxious to make Colleen an official member of the family. Girl's like Colleen are rare, so when you have the opportunity to add one to your family you have to act quickly before someone else does. Thank goodness that Kevin agreed with us on this one.

Here are some pics of the rehearsal. There were quite a few people in the wedding party, so it was the most complicated wedding I have ever been in. Wedding pics to come as soon as I can steal some off of FB. I was too busy bridesmaiding and chasing Tommy to take any.

The happy couple. See that face? That's my brother.

Bret and I practice very hard and it pays off.

The rest of the Hamilton children. I babysat these kids, and now, they are super old and so am I.

Kevin and Colleen explain that instead of wedding favors they will be making a donation to Tommy's orphanage. Yes, we love them and they are awesome.

Funny story, Tommy learned how to "sword fight" with forks at the rehearsal dinner, and I am told the woman on my left is to thank (or blame) for this development...yes, the woman the people of St. Andrew's entrust their children's spiritual development to actually teaches them to fight with their silverware. I do what I can to expose the truth.

Tommy and Uncle Kevin

Adamson House

Well, Tommy and I are having another crazy trip home. In between the wedding, more Disneyland trips, and me (finally) cleaning out the closet in my room at my parent's house we managed to have a bit of fun. In regards to the closet, yes, I know I left seven years ago, but in my defense it is all childhood stuff that I didn't need at the time (or now) and it was all stuffed somewhat nicely in a closet. Now that pile of stuff has been cut in half and is stuffed even more creatively into one small space. Also, I am pretty sure that my Dad still has his old artwork, teeth, etc at his mom's house so I'm sure I come by this urge to save honestly. And I am proud to report that I have not saved any of my old teeth.

Anyway, back to the point of my post, we went to the Adamson house with my Mom, Grandma, and Jeff's Mom. It is in Malibu and definitely worth the trip if you enjoy historic/artistic homes. The home is part of a state park, but run by volunteers who were not the most friendly to children. Thus I was quite thankful when Tommy fell asleep right before our tour started and slept almost until the end. He actually really liked the part of the house he got to see- a boy's room decorated with tile painted with nautical scenes which Tommy took to be pirate's ships, the fountains, and the pool and pool house.

We also had a yummy lunch in Malibu and then drove back home through LA so that we could see the house Grandma Janie grew up in (and a few other random detours).