HaleyEven though the countdown is on, this weekend we took a much-needed break from all the house prepping and spent our days outside. With Daddy gone all day on Friday, we spent the afternoon at the local park reveling in the clear blue skies and anticipating warmer weather.
Those warmer temperatures came in on Saturday, and James and I snuck in CrossFit workouts in the morning before letting the kids loose in our backyard.
During naptime, I spent my time attempting allergy-friendly baking, substituting flaxseed meal for eggs, coconut milk for cow’s milk, seed meals for nut meals and vegan spread and ghee for butter.
I’ve got a long way to go before sharing any recipes that are free from the top 8 allergens, but I’m giving myself an A for effort. Though I’m making all this for Beau, as luck would have it, Scarlett loved the vegan Chocolate Chip mini loaves and James Michael loved the vegan Lemon Squares.
And Beau? He was just happy eating spoonfuls of Sunbutter.
On Sunday, we drove up to Red Top Mountain and spent the middle of the day hiking the 4-mile Iron Hill Trail–one of my absolute favorite trails in Georgia because it winds around Lake Allatoona and it’s fairly flat, which is more manageable with the kids.
We normally bring the double stroller, but this time we decided to use baby carriers. I alternated carrying Scarlett on my back and my front using my Lillebaby carrier, and James wore the Ergo Baby carrier because we knew that Beau wouldn’t last the full 4 miles. He did great and made it two miles before hitching a ride. Of course, James Michael said his feet hurt a hitched a couple short rides on Daddy the last two miles, making the cargo load just over 70 pounds. But Daddy didn’t complain, even though he completed the CrossFit Open 16.1 WOD the day before.
With the weather warming up, I had been craving a hike–for both my body and my spirit. Walking through the tree-arched paths along the glistening water on a blue-sky day refreshed my Mama spirit, which has been weighted down by thoughts of diagnoses and treatments and special diets. It gave me a chance to see my kids being kids in nature and reminded me that a diagnosis doesn’t define a person (or even that person’s Mama). It reminded me to take deep, fresh breaths and conquer one day at a time. Because life isn’t measured by all the things that hold you back. Life is measured by what you do despite all the setbacks.
