Celiac disease: Living the gluten free life

 For a couple of years now I have been researching celiac disease, I myself do not have it but my husband does and his mother as well. It's a very difficult disease to live with at first but it does get easier. Some of my tips for anyone suffering from this disease would be this

• Research,research,research
  
• Study your food labels Very well!
• Join a celiac disease forum. (this helps with finding out the latest news on the disease)
• Learn how to bake and cook. (if your not the greatest at it.)

 I do the cooking and baking in my home, so my husband is pretty lucky when it comes to cooking a gluten free meal. It's difficult finding products that taste "normal" and it can get pretty expensive trying out different brands to find the ones you like.

Here is a top list of some of our favorite brands that might really help anyone starting out

Pasta

•   Schar
•   Mrs.Leepers 
•   Barkat
•   Ancient harvest-quinoa
•   Ener-G
•   Sam Mills

Bread

• Schar
• Udi's
• gluten free pantry(bread mix)

Cake,cookies and pancakes

• Betty crocker gluten free products
• Pamelas products

That's really all the definite brands that are favorites right now, but that list will still be growing and I will add to it.
 Now on to restaurants! It's always a risk eating out, you stand the chance of cross contamination..You should always do your research before eating at a restaurant. I always look online at the food allergen info on the menu's. Below I have listed some restaurants that a great for gluten free food. Again there is no guarantee that you will not be cross contaminated. It is also a good idea to limit the times you do eat out a month.


Restaurants


Old Spaghetti Factory(GF pasta)
Maggiano's(must call ahead to ensure they have GF pasta available)
Uno Chicago Grill (GF pizza)
Olive Garden(GF pasta)
Mellow Mushroom(GF pizza)

Be sure the server at the restaurant is knowledgeable about celiac disease, if you mention it to them and they look at you like they have no idea what you are saying,ask for a manager or better yet just choose not to eat at that restaurant.

SLEEP?

 So I have been a little busy the past couple weeks being deprived of sleep and my sanity! Jensynn is teething and it really felt like a nightmare of no sleep and a forever endless screaming baby! I decided to try my wellements gripe water for some relief for him and I both. The results within a day were a calmer more happy baby. I also would like to try the natural teething tablets, I think the key of these products working is the  chamomile in them. I also tried some chamomile tea last night for bedtime, it was an organic chamomile tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar. Either I was just a lot more tired than I realized or this stuff really does the trick. I felt very relaxed and calm before I drifted off. So now I am really interested in trying herbal remedies and aroma therapy.


A girl named Loni (ljewkes)on my youtube channel first got me interested by trying out herbs and aroma therapy and I thought, hey if it is working for her it will probably work for me. So that's where I'm at right now in the journey through mommyhood I look forward to trying new natural ways of coping with stress and natural ways of helping my little man to feel better. If anyone has and suggestions on products please let me know!

First impressions of being a stay at home mom

 OK, one word, paradigm shifting! If your not a parent yet Imagine this if you will, parenting is like taking care of this little thing that is attached to you, that no matter how tired you are or how busy you are you have to stop everything you doing to meet the needs of this " little creature" To sum it up, yea that's how it goes.

  
I want to tell my story of being a parent and my struggles! Being pregnant with Jensynn was one of the most difficult things I think I will ever do, but also the best thing ever! It was a little more difficult for me because I have a bad back"herniated L5 S1 disc" and I have depression and anxiety. I was lucky that I was able to take zoloft and for zoloft to have worked for me, otherwise I think I might of went into preterm labor from being stressed out! I remember spending a lot of time crying while i was pregnant and in pain from my back, then later on came the carpal tunnel in my hands which ended up leaving my fingers numb even up to a little over a month after Jensynn was born. When he was born it was crazy, it was like it wasn't real!?
 As Jensynn got older I found myself starting to feel more and more depressed and anxious,the older he got the more i noticed the increase in crying spells. it was happy to see him growing and changing and sad at the same time because I am slowly losing my little baby boy and I can't help but imagine him older, as a five year old and not needing mommy anymore.
 Jensynn is 3 months old and 9 days shy of being 4 months now. I have insomnia so bad, maybe it's from worrying about him too much, I find that i get about 24 hours of sleep total through the week. imagine trying to keep the house cleaned up, and remember when you have last showered and find time for yourself, besides when you put the baby down for bed at night or just simply remembering things.
 I does get a little depressing watching my husband get away when he goes to work. he doesn't have to answer to the calls of the baby while he is at work and doesn't have to worry about being able to fall asleep before the baby to get sleep, or have the constant questioning in the back of your mind as to if maybe you can take a bath before the baby wakes up before you get some sleep.
 Being a mom means you will always have that attachment like your baby is still physically attached to you, that being said whether some believe it or not stay at home moms do have a 24/7 job physically and emotionally. You may not always be physically on the clock but you are emotionally/mentally

 It is worth every sleepless night,all of the pain it took and every tear I have cried 

My first ever blog!

 Hey everyone, I just wanted to start out by saying this is my first ever blog! I'm so excited to get started! Some of the stuff I will probably mainly talk about is life as a mom, my son Jensynn, product reviews,cosmetics,cooking, gaming and anxiety and depression. 
  I would love to be able to make some new friends that are mommies as well! Thanks for checking out my blog!