Two years?? REALLY?!

I cannot believe I haven't posted here in OVER TWO YEARS! I love blogging...how did this happen?? Oh wait...I know... I've been a little busy. Here's was going down in Momma Kit town lately: FIVE YEARS <3 Mike and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on May 17th. It's hard to believe we've made it so far in our relationship in that short amount of time, and it's even harder to believe how quickly it flew by. Up, down, in, out, good, bad... he's my best friend and the one who makes me feel whole. At the end of the day, no matter how bad the day was, I hang on to that. And that is why we've made it nine and a half years...because even on bad days, I love him enough to last us both a lifetime, and I'm pretty sure he loves me too ;o) END OF THEIR YEAR, BEGINNING OF MINE The girls are done with their school year as of yesterday. This would normally be so very exciting to me...I mean, I LOVE summer vacation, and I've been blessed to be able to spend summers playing outside, making popsicles and going to the lake with my girls. But this year, I'll be in my first, hellish semester of nursing school. Don't get me wrong, I am REALLY excited to take this next step toward beginning my career. I am NOT excited, however, to be in school all day Monday through Thursday, and to have countless hours of homework every night. I mean, they gave us a boat load before our semester even began...I can't imagine how bad it's going to be once we're actually in class! So I'm very nervous, and I was worried about them having a horrible summer with an absent-ish mother and a father whose prime-time for work is the warmer months. Luckily, one of my friends who has a daughter in Hannah's class offered to babysit for me over the summer. She lives on a lake, so the girls won't have to miss out on that, and my kids love her kids. I think it's going to work out very well! It makes me sad that the days of being able to spend all this free time with my little ones is over. I mean, they just grow up SO FAST. But I'm excited for what it means for our family, and for what the future will hold for us! It's been a long road getting here...I took at the very least 8 credit hours per semester for the past two years. It's been rough. I haven't had much time for doing the things that I need to do, much less the things that I love. I guess it has made me appreciate the time I do have with my kids, my husband, my family and friends even more than I did before, so that's a silver lining. But those times are fewer and further between now than they used to be, which makes me a little sad that I didn't appreciate them much more when they were more available to me. But...you live, you learn, you keep trucking. Or as Hannah likes to say, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." Pretty wise, that kid... The girls had a great school year. Hannah started the year reading at a 3rd grade reading level and ended reading at a 5th grade level! Let me tell you, I am one proud momma! She's so smart...maybe a little too smart. She gets bored and distracted easily in class. We've been kicking around the idea of a new school after next year because we're worried she's not being challenged enough to keep her present in class. But we'll see how third grade goes, and perhaps with the new challenges she'll find she enjoys it more. Hayley's first year of preschool (which FLEW by, by the way) was a wonderful experience for her. She made friends, learned colors and shapes, learned how to write letters and can even *almost* write her name! I know, some of you may be thinking, "why haven't YOU taught her all that??" Well, my friends...I am the world's WORST teacher. I interact very well with small children, but giving them instructions? Forget it. I can't figure out how to get through to them that way. I guess some people have it and some just don't! Anyway, overall, a GREAT school year! MY LIFE WITHOUT WHEAT As most of you probably know, I gave up gluten in march of 2012. At the time it was experimental...I was having some pretty severe GERD-associated pain, and my interstitial cystitis was making me miserable. The doctor referred me to a GI doc, from whom I never received a phone call to set up an appointment. And my doctor told me I'd have to take nexium or prilosec to control the GERD. Every single day. For the rest of my life. And Elmiron for my bladder, which btw is around $400 a month when you don't have insurance. AND Elavil, to control my bladder spasms, plus tylenol whenever they got bad but NEVER motrin because of the GERD. And I'm thinking, I'm twenty-seven-freaking-years-old! Girls in their twenties should NOT be on a pill regimen!! It was getting ridiculous. My joint pain was getting worse all the time, and I was working out on a daily basis which was just aggravating everything. So finally, I started reading. My girl Shannan had given up gluten a few months prior and saw a world of difference. (For those of you who don't know, gluten is a protein found in wheat and some various other grains that some people react negatively to due to our inability to process it. Turns out we weren't designed to eat it, and that could well be the reason things like IBS and GERD are diagnosed on a daily basis.) In my research, I discovered studies that had linked gluten to my bladder disease. REALLY?!?!? A study in Texas showed that when all patients were taken off their pills AND taken off gluten, they saw a significant reduction in their symptoms...some even had them disappear! I've felt like I had a bladder infection non-stop since I was 18...an end to that would be a dream come true. I read more....GI issues, ADHD, Autism, peripheral neuropathy, psoriasis...all conditions caused or aggravated by this demon known as gluten. So I figured, what the hell. I'll try getting rid of it for a week. Within two days, my stomach pain disappeared. Within four days, my bladder pain was GONE. And by the time a week had gone by, I had almost zero joint pain and I had lost five pounds, bringing me much closer to my healthy goal weight. Having been off it now for about 15 months, I can honestly say it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. Do I miss it sometimes? Abso-freaking-lutely! But I'm learning to cook and bake in new ways that aren't harmful to my body. My goal is to eventually have my girls off of it too. My husband...well...he'll never give it up. But it would be irresponsible of me to not share this knowledge with my family. And with me being intolerant, there's a good chance that they will be too. Wish me luck ;-) LAST CHAPTER OF THE NOVEL, I PROMISE... Are you still with me? THIS is what happens when I don't blog regularly. Geesh... The last thing I'll write about is family, then ya'll can get back to your own corner of the world...if you even made it this far. My aunt;s funeral was yesterday. I'll be honest, I didn't know her as well as I used to. When I was younger my family was SO close. When I got older, well...they fell apart. It makes me so incredibly sad that this happened before my babies came along. They'll never know how awesome my family was at one time, only that we don't get together like daddy's family does. After the funeral, as they were loading Aunt Jackie into the hearse, I looked around at everyone, and I felt a deep, painful ache in my heart. My God I missed them. My dad's girlfriend and I don't get along. We've never gotten along. I'll not list the reasons here, nor go into detail about our final falling out, but she's driven quite the wedge in the relationship I used to have with my dad. My cousins, who are much older and (some of them) way cooler than me, used to be my idols. As I looked at them I realized, they are nearly strangers to me now. My kids wouldn't know them from Adam, and I have no idea what's going on in their lives, what their kids are up to, nothing.. It made me feel so incredibly sad. So I promised myself, things will change. And I'll try to reconnect with them and get to know them and love them again the way I used to. I've always loved them of course...they're my family. But I remember cookouts and Christmas parties, being so excited to see them when they arrived, crying when it was time to go...it hurts me that we lost that. And I'm hoping, with some dedication and some time, we can get back there again. Funny how funerals can make you really analyze your life, isn't it? Well, I suppose I should probably make some lunch and get back on my homework. The next blog will be less blah blah blah and more the way I used to blog, I promise! I just thought perhaps I should fill you in on the major goings-on in the Landskroener household :o)