Gluten Free Info for Lucas and I

I have had a lot of requests for info on my gluten free diet lately so I wanted to put something together for friends and family who are interested in helping out when Nathan arrives. Lucas also finally had his celiac testing done and he does have the gene for the disease, so we have to keep him on a gluten free diet as well. Poor Ryan is the minority in our house now!

Here is some basic information:


First of all, here is what we CAN eat:

• Fresh meats, fish and poultry (not breaded, batter-coated or marinated)
• Most dairy products (check yogurts and dairy drinks for other ingredients)
  
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Rice (except for rice pilaf or most boxed rice mixes)
  
• Potatoes
• Gluten free flours (rice, soy, corn, potato)
• Gluten free pasta such as rice pasta sold at Lassens, trader joes, and other health food stores
• Corn - corn tortillas, corn chips, polenta
• Beans and Legumes
  

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We cannot eat wheat, rye, oats or barley. There are many forms of these grains and they are listed below.

• Wheat
• Barley
• Rye
• Farina
• Graham flour
• Semolina
• Durham
• Bulgur
• Kamut
• Kasha
• Matzo meal
• Oats
  
• Spelt (a form of wheat)
• Triticale

Wheat is the tricky ingredient here, it can be found in many foods that you would not suspect it. Here are the common foods to avoid:

• Breads
• Cereals
• Crackers
• Croutons
• Pasta
• Cookies
• Cakes and pies
• Soups
• Gravies
• Sauces (including soy sauce)
• Salad dressings
• Beer
• Candy
• Imitation meat or seafood
• Processed luncheon meats
• Self-basting poultry

Gluten can also be hidden in many food additives and other items, here are a few more things to avoid:

• Food additives, such as malt or malt flavoring, modified food starch, hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  
• Medications and vitamins that use gluten as a binding agent
• Lipstick and lip balms
• Toothpaste
• Postage stamps
• Play dough

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For more info.....

On what local restaurants have gluten free food:
http://www.venturaceliac.org/restaurants.htm

On the gluten free diet:
http://www.celiac.org/

Boys....

This is just for fun... a moment I had to capture on camera.

Here is what happened: Lucas dumped the cat food into his water table... I fished it all out and dumped the water. Lucas watched Ruffy eat the cat food off the ground, and then decided he was going to do the same thing, soooooo..... he laid down on the ground and started slurping the water off the cement. For a split second I was going to grab him and bring him inside, but sometimes you have to just let go and let boys be boys.. so I grabbed the camera and enjoyed the moment. (I also made a mental note to start buying gluten free cat food.)

Check out the reflections in the water. You can actually see his expressions better that way.

33 Weeks

Here I am at 33 weeks with Nathan. This picture was in the last blog but I wanted to show it here too, since I'm not too crazy about the bare belly shots below.
I feel huge, have been having lots of contractions, and our last two ultrasounds have shown that Nathan is significantly bigger than average right now. I'm hoping this is just a miss-measurement because I am not wanting to deliver a 9 or 10 pound baby. We'll see what my doctor has to say on Friday...

Here is the belly picture for 33 weeks, and just for fun, compare to the one below that was taken at 39 weeks when I was pregnant with Lucas. Not much different, eh?

The Big List is Done

Yesterday I finished the last of my organization projects.... the last on my "before Nathan arrives" list. I went to the office to wipe it off my whiteboard (yes, I'm that nerdy) for some instant gratification, and then I kind of freaked out a little. Ryan walked by and I told him "I'm done with my list! What do I do now?" He told me to sit down. Sit down? Is that really possible? I'm about 33 weeks pregnant and the nesting instinct is so intense right now that I'm about ready to go reorganize the kitchen pantry and cupboards even though they are absolutely fine how they are. For the last, oh 18 weeks or so Lucas and I have been working on all kinds of random household projects together. We spend most afternoons going through things, cleaning, sorting, and organizing. What are we going to do with our afternoons now? I guess we are just going to play!

Nathan's room is almost done. We just have to get a few things on the walls and get the babyproofing done. There's a few things in the attic still to come down, a few things to wash and put back together, but for the most part.... it's ready for his arrival.

Still, I feel just a bit unsettled. I need to come up with more projects! Everything left involves sitting..... yes... SITTING! At my computer, at the desk, at the table, you get the idea. So, I guess for the next 4-7 weeks I will be doing filing, scrapbooking, blogging, menu planning, reading, and twiddling my thumbs while I wait for this little monkey to arrive.

Model in the Making?

Is he a future Calvin Klein model? Or just a regular boy lounging in his underwear with his power tools and football?

Lucas loves his new "big boy" underwear. He gets upset when we try to put on a diaper these days...
We are still a long way from being potty trained, but for now he gets to go diaper free a few times a day.

Check out those legs!

29 weeks

Saturday was the 29 week mark, I've been in the third trimester for a couple weeks now, and I'm definitely feeling it! This baby can shift my whole belly side to side, up and down, and he loves those sharp kicks in my ribs. I feel huge, but I know I'm just gonna get bigger.... for 11 more weeks!

The July heat has not been fun. Normally I love hot weather (well, hot for Ventura weather) but it is not the greatest feeling when pregnant. With Lucas I was at this stage in November/December, and leaving our window open all night long so the room would stay at 62 degrees, and we had air conditioning. This time, no air conditioning, July, ugh. Oh well, only a little while longer to go!

What am I going to do with Lucas when Nathan comes along???? Hmmmm.... one possible solution is below. What do you think?

Awwww, poor baby, he doesn't know what is coming his way in a couple more months!

Nathan's Room

Here is the start to Nathan's room.....

I picked out some fabrics awhile ago, now I just have to get sewing. The blue one is for new cushions on the glider chair and also is going to be combined with the bird fabric for a quilt and little lovey blanket. I am thinking of making a car seat cover out of the bird fabric too. The yellow monkey flannel is going to just be some fun little burp cloths and maybe a small blanket. The white monkey print is a sheet from babies r us that we are using in the crib, and the cream colored terry cloth is going to be for some changing table covers.
Here is the crib we got at Ikea, it has a drawer underneath for storage, and we also got the canopy from Ikea too, couldn't resist since it fits with our animal theme, and it has leaves along the sides.
We found this red dresser that fits in great with the colors of the room, lots of space for little boy clothes! I picked out the round boxes as well, and we loved the green rug we found for the floor. Again, all Ikea.
And here is the changing table, it is portable, it folds up, and it has lots of pockets for all the baby supplies. We got the little hamper on the side as well. I'm going to make covers for it so I'm not sure how much of the black will show when it's all done.
And here's the glider we found on Craigslist! It's in great shape, I am just making some new cushion covers for it. We got the giant leaf at Ikea, the room is going to be like a jungle when we're done with it!