Day 2 Epcot

We had a shorter day today, started early again! It was hot, very sunny and i felt tired, sore in my hands. Early is the way to beat crowds. We eat breakfast in our room, then head out! @ Epcot there isn't a whole lot to do for toddlers, and is personally one of my least favorite parks.....except this time! Nemo was our first ride, then we looked around in the aquarium tanks, then went for turtle talk with crush! D loved it! We saw a short dolphin presentation then went to babycare center, changed diapers, fed B then onto the world showcase. First stop was Mexico for lunch! we ate at la cantina counter service. Derek and D shared carne nachos, I got an order of guacamole and chips with a side of black beans and rice. Again the manager came out and talked to me told me what I could order off the menu and was very helpful. I am happy with rice and beans everyday!!! Dreycin was amused with a squirrel who was eating his chips right to the side of us and the seagulls that kept coming over to try and steal food! We then rode the Viking boat ride in Norway, went back to Mexico to meet Donald duck & hear the mariachi band, and to ride the Mexican boat ride. They have these kidcot stops where you can have your child pick up a Duffy the Disney bear on a stick and color it from each country but D was acting like it was a sword so he wasn't into it. We walked to the rest of the countries, and I absolutely loved the landscaped greenery of the Disney characters. Dreycin ate his first Mickey mouse ice cream in America! He banged in the drums at the outpost, played some maracas and other noisemakers! Then they were both out! We decided to call it a day, I stopped at sunshine seasons to pick up some food that another vegan had written about....I'll take food anytime anywhere! Food, it's why Epcot this time was better in my eyes, and also seeing D so happy! Anyways, I ate tabuleh pin wheels and veggie sushi! Derek and I shared, and I also got some rocky mountain caramel popcorn! No allergens except soy, which I have slowly determined that B does not have reactions to! I also want to add that we have not had any blood in stool :)))) we took advantage to also window shop with two sleeping boys! I have to say that lil B has been a huge trooper, he has done so well, and is always smiling! Back to the hotel, we laid around for 3 or so hours being lazy then for ready to go to downtown Disney for dinner. Again I had done my research and ther were only a few options. We decided on fresh a peel, it was the first place we saw plus BABYCAKeS is here too! Which is a vegan based desserts company out of NYC! Derek and I both ate the veggie burger, mine was in a lettuce wrap though, and next door to fresh a peel was pollo campero and there were some yuca fries and sweet plantains that were allergen friendly I got too. Dessert was awesome, I shared with lil D a red velvet cupcake and a cookie crunch donut! We decided to walk more, went to the Lego store saw displays of toy story an snow white! Walked some more, browsed the stores, enjoyed a nice breeze! Tomorrow is animal kingdom! Then Thursday we will go back to Magic Kingdom to visit D's favorite rides and a few things we missed! I'm looking forward to going to main street bakery to get divvies cookies and chocolate tofutti ice cream.

Drive & Day 1 WDW

Our drive went great! We began our 4.5hr trip at nap time, 1pm. We got to Orlando at 630, went to chipotle(yummy, one of our fav food places) and then Super Target! We read that it was gonna rain on mon and tues. so Derek lil D and I got ponchos, plus Lil D a target brand of crocs for splashing in puddles! We also got a clear rectangle plastic table cloth for the double stroller! Way cheaper and it worked!!!! Our first day was at Magic Kingdom! It's been great so far, or magical I guess! Last night we stayed at buena vista palace in downtown Disney! We were on the 26th floor and could see Epcot fireworks from our room! This morning we got up, checked out and went to MK! We got a really good start, and rode alot of rides! First was Peter pan, then it's a small world, adventures of pooh, the mad tea party teacups. That was all before noon, D was a trooper! We had lunch at cosmic ray's. Both Derek and I had the veggie burger, mine was without the bun and they made my fries in a separate deep fryer because I let them know I was a vegetarian that did not eat dairy or eggs. The bun had eggs. The service was amazing when they found out the boys and I had allergies! A manager came and talked to us, made me feel very confidant about dining out. After lunch we went to mickey's 3d movie, which D did not like. We followed that with buzz lightyear ride and before heading to check in at French Quarter we caught the Mickey Dream along show, which D lOVEd! We ran into a minor bump checking in, all the computers systems were down for all of Disney and they had to manually check in everyone, it took two hours! We got to room I unpacked everyone everything for the week, and we literally had no time to relax like we had planned and had to get ready to go back to magical kingdom for dinner at the crystal palace with Pooh and friends! Well, the rain had held out but as soon as we got to the park it was pouring. Well since we had a reservation it was too late to cancel, so out came the ponchos, umbrella, and plastic table cloth cover! Our Joovy held up excellent in rainwith our plastic cover! The kids stayed dry and could see out so they were ok! We got to the crystal palace and we were too early....so we walked around and took advantage that the baby care center was right around the corner, changed diapers etc. During this time they had started the electrical parade and we caught glimpses here & there but didn't want to fight the crowd for a spot! We went back at our reservation time, I let them know about my allergies and they said they would send the chef. Took a little while, but she came and took me through the buffet line telling me what dishes qualified as vegan! I had alot more choices than I thought, BREAD rolls, vegetables, fruit, Cous Cous, edamame salad, brocoli, veggie pasta, ratatouille, rice, winter veggie medley, corn and peas. It was wonderful and filling. For dessert I had a vegan brownie and tofutti ice cream!!! Freaking amazing!!! While we were eating we caught glimpses of the fireworks Wishes show at the castle, it was pretty cool to watch from the restaurant! But the best experience was seeing the boys reactions to the characters! Dreycin loved on them, B did too and was actually cracking up laughing when he would touch them! It was the highlight of the evening! Pictures to come! After dinner we decided to walk around the park in adventure land and frontier land! Derek took D up to the Swiss Family treehouse, D and I rode Aladdins's magic carpet ride! Totally random occurrence on the monorail was meeting a woman from Columbia, we start talking about our boys and she asked me if I was breastfeeding, bc she was still BF'ing her 7month old boy she then proceeded to tell me her journey, which sounded exactly like our story. Her son too had blood in his stools, she too had to cut out dairy, and proteins. Totally weird, and here we are going back and forth in Spanish about our drama. I think eventually Derek figured out what we were talking about, but he could tell it was intense! At the end we exchanged phone numbers, they (her & husband) invited us to their house next time we come to Orlando. There is a reason for everything, and at that moment it felt so wonderful to have someone to talk to it about! We talked about the foods we ate, what brands, etc! her son has not had any blood in a while, and they have recently started solids here and there but mainly still breastfeeding. We both agreed that breastfeeding was the only option and
Shared the same idea of sacrifice for our children. Makes me want to cry thinking about our stories, and just running into this person at Disney World! How ironic!

159

I have not seen 150's since 2007! Last night we tried baked radish chips, Lil D and I ate most ourselves! Another great find on pinterest I believe! We also ate a whole baking sheet full of kale! I think trying all these new veggies is boosting my metabolism. One of my favorites still is bok choy, and it's a anti inflammatory food according to Dr Oz! Along with berries! Packing, getting ready to head out tomorrow!! Dreycin keeps telling everyone we see "I'm going to Disney World!!!" it's the cutest thing ever! I can't wait to see his reactions this entire week!

WDW

Here we come, baby, 2yr old and a crap load of stuff in our car! With our taxes we paid off my car, most of the motorcycle, and decided to take advantage of being so close to Walt Disney World and take a trip. They are running a special until this september called Salute to the troops, were we get a 1wk pass for $138!! Plus we dont pay for B or D! Derek is probably going to be gone for the next two months to his new MOS school...and then Farewell Albany (most likely)!!!!! So next week you will get to hear and see how I ate at WDW, plus see my kids having an awesome time. I have found so many helpful blogs of people who have been to WDW that were vegan! Again, thankfully someone has done it before me!

Meatless meditation

Im not committed to being a vegan just quite yet, but after watching two very captivating movies on dairy and meat consumption in the US, it's got me leaning towards a plant based diet. 1 reason I can't say I'm vegan is that I still love to add honey to my teas, and baking/cooking with honey. Honey is an animal by product which in veganism is a no-no! And who says that 1x a month I won't grill me up, well have Derek grill me a nice juicy bison burger! I can give up meat for a majority of my life, but I can't say I won't break the rules every know and again. If your American eating ass hasn't seen Forks over Knives, food inc, or Food Matters, you need to watch it NoW. Before cancer and disease overtake your life. We watched all these movies on netflix. I even have Derek willing to give up meat, I mean after all he at the age of 31 has already been diagnosed with hypertension and needs change. So far we have had no dairy milk in our house since about November, we do not ise butter or eat ice cream. We use earth balance, and so delicious coconut ice cream. The only thing Derek says will be tough for him is cheese, and maybe coffee creamer. We'll see. This also means Dreycin will not be eating meat either, bring on the beans baby. For the last month or so, i cook up a 1lb bag of beans every week in the crockpot and that is a major food in our meals for the week. We ALL, almost everyday have a rice bowl(think qdoba or chipotle) daily. I even got Dreycin to eat Kale this week!!!!!!
After watching these movies two quotes have really resonated with me
1. Let thy food be thy medicine (hippocrates)
2. You need to eat to live, not live to eat.
I look at this whole experience with Bronson differently now, I feel as if maybe he has saved my life and my family's life. As for the blood in the stool, it's happened 2x since the beginning of February. I'm letting go and letting God. Bronson is happy, healthy, growing, and weighs a little over 20lbs!!!
I also had another first today, a mediation class. Mediation is supposed to be good for the soul, immune system, and overall health. I figure I needed to learn to "shut down" my
mind. I am the person that always has lists in my mind, did i do this I need to do that, oh I forgot to......I mean what person doesn't do that. The difference with other people from me is that with lupus I need to steer clear from stress, so my awesome yogi teacher was offering a 3hr workshop and I decided to sign up. Over the last few days I was getting kind of worried that I wasn't going to be able to meditate or sit still for that long, and I didn't have to. We were taught about mediation in a circle on the floor on our yoga mats with blankets, blocks, then we started to practice what we learned. I did pretty well for my first time, and this will also be a must for my current lifestyle. Overall your capability to be "in the presence" is required. That was a struggle for me, having thoughts about the kids at home, oh my hip hurts, I need to go pee! No matter what I did the thoughts tried to find a way into my mediation. My goal is to find a mantra that speaks to me, that will have meaning for my daily life. And of course to be able to mediate for longer than 10seconds without some thought of my crazy lists invading my me time!!!!

Here are some pics of D, my valentines day magazine choices, and a few cute photos I saw floating around on FB :)

5yr plan

Today I got the mirena. I didn't feel a thing, I was paying more attention to holding B's hand as he was starting to make a fuss right when Doc came in. They recommend getting it placed toward end of cycle and that's what I did. I chose the mirena because it's low dose estrogen and won't affect my lupus, it may end up helping it actually. Usually about 5-7days prior to my cycle my body aches in all my major joints, I think it is telling me ok C your period is coming and we don't like it! Well this said mirena is supposed to completely diminish cycles, which may diminish my monthly agonizing joint pains :) although this time/month wasnt as bad but I have also been wearing my new baltic amber necklace which for many centuries is said to be a natural anti inflammatory and analgesic? So anyways....no pills, no condoms, no spermicide, no diaphragm, no nuva rings, no implanon.....ive tried them all! also we are pretty sure we are done having kids, so this was reassurance for us. I was told I may have minor cramping, nothing as of tonight. I was a little run down, but maybe that's expected?!!? I'll be going back in a month to trim the string and make sure it is placed correctly.

Vegan cooking class & Vday

I had an amazing vegan cooking experience with my awesome yoga teacher. She has been a vegan for 18years, and is an inspiration to me in my food journey. Since this was her first cooking class in Albany, and I was her only student it was a nice relaxing atmosphere, and she gave me helpful hints and additional recipes!!! We made French bread with olive tapenade, whole wheat pasta with "faux" italian sausage, veggies and marinara, broccoli rabe, and (drumroll) VEgAN tiramisu!!!! All of it was so delicious! I was stuffed, and didn't even realize I wasn't eating meat. It was nice to be away from the family, enjoying and doing something for me!!!! I'm looking forward to my 1stmeditation class this coming saturday!!(same teacher)

Valentines day was pretty quiet, D and I had made Derek a cute valentine with the boys handprints and stickers and hearts everywhere on it. We went to playgroup and I made hearts shaped out of organic strawberries :) I went to yoga when derek got home, then afterwards we made heart shaped pizzas (we have to make separate since the boys still eat cheese) with italian seasoned ground turkey. My pizza almost was ruined as it tried to slide off my plate onto the floor, but my hubs and I saved it. And let me tell you that was the closest thing I have had to pizza since last September. The crust was a frozen whole wheat whole foods brand and it was delicious!!!! For dessert we had sliced bananas with sunflower seed butter and melted chocolate on them! Derek had also made me allergen friendly chocolate chip cookies while I was at yoga! We finished it by watching morning glory on Netflix :)

Under the weather & growth spurt

This week has been rough, after our busy week last week. It all started after we went to playgroup, I was very tired and sluggish that evening. And then wednesday I started to feel bad, and by that night I had a temp, felt queasy and had chills. I laid on the couch all night after Derek got home. at one point that night my temp was 102.6?? Thursday I went to the doc and they said they didnt know if it was the Flu or a sinus infection. So they sent me home on bedrest and to stay away from kids.....yea right as if that was gonna work. I still had to take care of B & D, I mean no one does it better than mom right? I slept after the dr for like 4hrs. I felt a little better thru the weekend, like only a small train had hit me. B decided that he would go through his growth spurt a little earlier than 6mos, I had noticed this week he had stopped sleeping through the night and then last night he woke up every 1hr. AWESOME...because I really needed rest to get better for my entire family. Just goes to tell you that there is no perfect timing for anything! At least Dreycin is napping again....whew and our growth spurt is done! B slept from 11-730 last night! Back to normal, except now Derek is under the weather, ahhhh the never ending cycle of sniffles and laundry!!!!!

Vegan cupcake yumminess

I made some vegan vanilla cupcakes with a faux cream cheese icing and Derek has reminded 5zillion times to write it down! I found it on all recipes, and icing I goggled :) the secret, well key ingredient for the icing was Spectrum organic shortening made from palm oil! sorry no pics, but maybe next time. I just never got around to it!
My next dessert is going to be coconut flour muffins which I found on pinterest!
Today we went to doc for Dreycin I was a little concerned about his ongoing congestion and runny nose, thought maybe it was bc of environmental allergies until he started tugging, digging, and poking objects in his R ear! I just knew it had to do with tubes. So the doc did see the tube kind of dislodged in ear drum, which she thinks it may be getting ready to fall out. But nonetheless it may be uncomfortable for him, and may be fluid buildup AGAIN if it's not working properly. So here we go on Monday to another dr's appt. I swear if I was working I would have already been fired for the amount of doc appts these boys & I have!!!!!

Here's a few pics of my recent food finds & D eating hibachi!

More allergy testing

So today I went in for allergy testing, the same doc that saw the boys saw me. Even though he primarily sees children, he took me on due to my lupus, previous gazillion allergies, and asthma hx. it was nice to find out that I outgrew all my food childhood allergies, except carrots! Not a big fan anyways! But that didn't explain why I'm still breaking out in hives after I eat. The doctor suspects I have oral allergy syndrome. It is where pollen lands on fruits/veggies that are grown in gardens and then you have reaction due to your allergy of pollen! And the doc said my environmental allergies are pretty severe if not worse from just 2007. Just so happens I have severe allergy to all types of pollen, molds, grasses and most trees(except a few including pecan). So the whole OA syndrome sounds pretty logical to me. Dr said that typically when he sees allergies this bad he recommends allergy shots, but there have been a few studies in which the lupus is flared, and outcome is not beneficial. The problem with my allergies and having lupus is that my immune system is constantly having to fight, which makes me weaker fatigued, etc. he also checked my asthma, which is manageable with a rescue inhaler <1x a month. I do believe I outgrew my asthma too, until we moved to Georgia I had to maybe take my inhaler when weather changed, cats dogs I'm severely allergic to if around, so 2x per year if that? When we did the prick test they had to stop before my time was up because the outside allergen hives were welting up and combining. Plus I was itching so bad. They did 99 pricks combined on both my arms. Tonight I still have hives on my arms. I also have felt very tired today, didn't even go to yoga because I just felt drained. Guess my immune system went into ultra shock today! Am Defn glad I went, and will now be taking Flonase everyday for the rest of my life! My homework is to eventually due yet another elimination diet that links trees, grasses, and pollens to fruits and vegetables.....per dr orders. He knows I'm on a hypoallergenic RO diet right now for Lil B, so it will be a while. He says that the RO diet is best for me anyways due to lupus & allergies.will be interesting when I can try OAS.

Pics are open faced bison burger with daiya on pita, and baked cauliflower mixed in olive oil salt pepper and paprika! It was ssssooooo good! And then me and B man trying out the ring sling in a hip hold :) won't be doing that much my hip has already been bothering me a lot!