A tribute to Madison

Madison lost a tooth! Say what? I know right... the little spit fire just turned 5, and to tell you the truth I didn't even know she had a loose tooth. Weird right? But apparently while she was at school she felt like she had a rock in her mouth, spit it out and voila... a tooth. Well I'm not sure if losing a tooth early means she will have a gap for a long time, or what but looks like yet another fairy will be coming to our house..... :)


 Have I told you about the "sleeping fairy"? We had a sleeping fairy visit our house for awhile leaving behind small little tokens when she stayed in her bed all night.... It was successful for awhile, but lost it's edge... and we still get smashed by a tiny 5 year old some nights in our bed.... So we are still working on it. Maybe it is the whole Christmas time, Santa and tooth fairy and the sleeping fairy... but man, I'm having a hard time keeping everyone straight.. LOL Does anyone else have all kinds of fairies and magic people visiting their house and have problems keeping it straight?


Anyways I was taking a picture of Madi and her toothless wonder and I just have to share..... she has really become such a fun, great kid. I have vented many times on this blog about how stubborn or obstinate she can be, and we have had our fair share of struggles.... but I tell you what, she has changed. I can even tell you the day it started. On Sunday, November 23rd she had a fantastic day at church, no whining, listed and did what she was asked... and since that Sunday she has been so great! Don't get me wrong, she is still 5 and feels very entitled to things she wants or feel she "needs" and can throw a stink about it if she doesn't get her way, but that is all it is... a little stink and she is done and moves on. So what happened on that Sunday that made this difference? So glad you asked... let me tell you... but this story goes farther back than just that Sunday, so I am going to do my best to explain.

I have been changing how Madi (and therefore the rest of us) eats for awhile, we were cutting back on all kinds of things like wheat and dairy, and of course we don't give her any artificial dyes.... but I hadn't eliminated anything to a celiac sort of avoiding wheat/gluten... And we have been on this Journey a LONG time... We started making changes back in 2012... BUT in October of this year, I made another change, and it has been the best change yet. I started doing the 21 day fix from beachbody, and basically it is eating more of the things you should and making better choices and eating a well balanced diet. This program helped me plan out what my family was eating, and we really began cutting out processed foods and really eating more fresh foods... I have loved it.. I can't even tell you how much I have loved it. It makes me smile inside and out... I loved it so much I became a beachbody coach to 1. keep myself accountable and continue doing it, and 2. to share the wealth!! This change is helping my family eat better, and we can all tell a difference.... This leads up to that Sunday... I decided to not let Madi eat the goldfish that are usually the snack during her class, and I packed her raisins instead... or grapes... i can't remember. (Don't get me wrong... goldfhish are great, I let Mason eat them... I don't judge against people that eat them.. they are delicious and I don't think less of anyone who feeds their children yummy little fish shaped snacks) Anyways that was (to the best of my knowledge) the only gluten she was eating during the week ... I don't know if it really can make that big of difference, she probably gets 1/3 C. of goldfish... but that was the day miss Madi become nice. LOL.... that is an exaggeration... but seriously as a parent I can tell you, and other mothers I'm sure you know we see changes in our kids that no one else will notice... we know them like no one else does... and whether or not it was the goldfish... something changed and she is happier and easier to mother. For example in the mornings we get ready for preschool... every M-F........ AND every M-F it was the same story... eating breakfast, something happens she becomes emotional/panicky about something, usually ends up freaking out and crying which then leads to not being able to get dressed on her own, which then leads to more freaking out because now she will be late, which leads to being hungry and cranky because she can't calm down to eat breakfast, which leads to angry/ fed up mother who doesn't help the situation by projecting (like how I don't call it yelling;) ) frustrated words at the child who is already having a rough time.... seriously this happened 95% of the time... but that was all I knew... that is how it has been and so I didn't know children could get dressed on their own, eat breakfast, brush their teeth and not freak out about something like the wrong pants being in the dirty clothes, or that Murphy the dog died and hasn't come back, or that the pancake was cut the wrong way and now it is ruined..... BUT it is no longer like that.... honestly we have 95% good mornings where she gets up and gets dressed and does what she needs to, and if she needs help she is feeling good enough and calm enough to just ask.... and we go to school and walk in happy and smiling... I DIDN'T KNOW IT COULD BE THAT EASY..... So this is a tribute to my Madison for putting up with me all 5 years.... could it really have been that her body was fighting and reacting to a substance it just didn't know how to process?? I think it is more than just cutting out goldfish I really do... we are eating less processed and more fruits and veggies... not much comes from packages... and I think that has a lot to do with it... but symbolically those goldfish were the last fish to fry for us... (pun intended) ha ha!

So I am grateful for my daughter who now can be happy and feel good which makes her so much easier to be around.... I am so thankful for Beachbody and my coach Keisha who helped push me over my wavering commitment ledge... It isn't "cool" to eat like we do, it isn't "fun" and it is hard to be "that parent", it is frustrating to have to check in at school daily to make sure Madi has good food to eat... it sure as hell isn't easy and it is a LOT of work.... but it is getting easier and it is so worth it to me and my family. It is worth it to me to make this change... and if I have 95% of my days where Madi and I are both smiling as she goes to school, I will keep doing it.

People ask me why I eat this way... and this is why, because I love my daughter and always have... but now I love and enjoy being her mom, and that for a long time was really hard.

Buckle down because it's familpy picture time!!

 I received my cd with all our family pictures on it! Well obviously not ALL of them, but the ones that were worth keeping! I was pretty excited about it! It was the first time we had ever had a family photo shoot with just our family with a professional photographer. Looking back on it now I would change 2 things: 1. I would bring little treats that make no mess for the kiddos... like tic tacs or something and 2. I would put Madi in pants. :)
Mason was such a stinker.... there was a lake and TONS of geese and ducks and he wanted NOTHING to do with sitting for pictures. We were constantly chasing him down to pull him back for pictures... And therefore he wasn't the happiest in the pics. And Madison, I should have known better than to put her in a dress... she doesn't have much interest in keeping her undies from showing... so we had a hard time keeping her sitting without seeing up her dress. But otherwise I was happy with how they turned out and I think we got some keepers. :) E-Marie photography was awesome and She did a great job of trying to keep our kids attention(that is no small feat if you have ever met my kids) And you can find out more info on her and her business by going to here. So all of these pictures are copyrighted so make sure and give credit to eMarie photography if you share them, and link it back to her website which is e-mariephoto.com. :) Now sit back and enjoy because there are like 78.... and then please let me know your favorites... because now I have to job of deciding which ones to print and hang up. :) Because lets be honest 78 pictures of us in my house hanging up is a lil' overkill. ;)