Author: Jenny Irvine

Mr. Smiles Turns “2”!

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 Mr. Smiles is the big “2”!! He has been such a joy over the past two years. He is all boy; full of spunk, a little monkey, a heart of gold, and guaranteed to light up a room with his personality and smile! He can count to 3, say almost anything, plays pretend like the best of them, loves babies, balls, trains, boats, motorcycles, riding his bike, and just being a boy! There is never a dull moment when he is around and I feel so blessed to be his Momma!

Being a summer baby the cake this year was a homemade gluten free pound cake complete with fresh strawberries and raspberries from our back yard! Yummy! We also enjoyed some orange flavored  cupcakes with a dairy free frosting at Mr.Smiles birthday celebration with Nonna and Papa this past weekend. Yes, despite our diet changes over here I’m happy to report a successful “sweet eating birthday” 🙂 whew!

 Our rough, tough little boy received a lawn mower from our Grand-neighbors…I thought that Mr.Smiles was going to take it to bed with him he was so excited! In fact he loved it so much it had to sit at the table with him while we sang “Happy Birthday”. Yes, he almost passed up cake ….and this boy can eat!

Then there was the Duplo lego table from Mommy and Daddy…another big hit. Well, that was until big sister K.Bear started bossing him around a bit and trying to ‘take over’ that’s when I was able to capture the ‘sour puss’ welcome to “terrible 2’s face” complete with hair pulling. Ha! I foresee some sibling squabbles in my near future. Hey, we all survived….bring on the fun or should I say “time out’s”, “discipline”, and “consequences for ones actions”.

Gluten and Dairy Free Pound Cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup Earth Balance Butter melted
4 Organic Eggs (room temp)
4 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
3 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
1 cup Almond milk

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 12-cup Bundt® or 10-inch angel food cake (tube) pan; sprinkle with gluten-free flour blend. Set aside.

Combine sugar and melted butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla; beat until well mixed.

Stir together gluten-free flour blend, baking powder, and xanthan gum in small bowl. Gradually add flour blend mixture alternately with milk substitute to butter mixture, beating at low speed until well mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan.

*Recipe has been altered from original Landolakes Recipe

Parenting is certainly not easy but truth is I wouldn’t change a thing!

Why Gluten Free?

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We are going on 1 month of gluten free living and I couldn’t be happier with the results! I never talked much about the struggles we would encounter in our day with little Miss K.Bear. Not because I was trying to “hide” anything but simply put it was our “normal”. K.Bear has always been our spunky, ‘spirited’, strong willed, and just ‘more’ everything child. She is super bright, cute, funny, and a “little mommy” at heart. K.Bear has never “really” slept through the night (yes, she will be 4 in August) that means very little sleep for Mommy! She always seemed to “fly off the handle” at the blink of an eye and I truly couldn’t do anything right at times! She nearly potty trained herself at just over a year old…normal? She has been my tiny little ball of ‘spunk’ for years!

None the less, I am her mother and God blessed us with this beautiful baby girl….we trudge along…what is a mother to do? Things were getting worse by the day and I was quickly reaching a breaking point.  “Night waking” and “night tantrums” 2-3 times a week at 1:00/2:00 in the morning for nearly a year has been the norm. I would literally get up at that time out of “routine” and pray she would sleep through “it” tonight. Taking her to the van (yes, in the cold) to “shock” her out of “it” (while, this was certainly not a cure it did help a little). Exhausting, draining, emotional, and confusing…I was riding a K.Bear roller coaster!!

The bottom fell out; it was Saturday night (tantrum…hit 1:00AM lasting 30-45 minutes…in a freezing van) back to bed for some sleep…normal?!?

Sunday…a tired, exhausted child is never fun to deal with….the day seemed to be going “as usual” a cranky moment here, some play, and some more whining… nothing really out of the ordinary for a Sunday afternoon. K.bear requested a snack before dinner (animal crackers) so I proceeded to give her some while I prepped dinner. The initial requested immediately turned into I want more (mind you she hadn’t even eaten one yet!) …rolling on the floor because I only have her 2 more in the bowl (it is dinner time after all)…and I quickly watched my child “lose it”…for 2 1/2 hours!! She never recovered….

and there began our gluten free journey!

I share our story with you in hopes of helping others in a similar situation. This is just a ‘glimpse’ of the puzzle I began to piece together…and look forward to sharing so much more with you in the near future!

Happy Belated Easter

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Time is flying by over here…Currently, I am 20.5 weeks pregnant with baby # 4 (its a boy). Yes, Mr. Smiles is going to have a little buddy to wrestle with.
We have had some major diet changes over here: We are currently a “Gluten Free and Dairy (almost) free house) more on that to come!
K. Bear is riding a “big girl” bike like a champ and going to do quite well as a big sister to two little guys! Pumpkin is rocking the house with school reading at a 2nd/3rd grade reading level and delighting us with her love for knowledge. Mr.Smiles is full of energy and spunk. “Boys will be boy’s” I’m pretty sure if I looked at his toes close enough I would see suction cups on his toes…because that kid can climb anything!
Did you know if you plant jelly beans …you would get

 Suckers!!!

 Thank you to my kiddos for keeping me on my toes everyday and teaching me to savor the moment!