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Locked doors and hyperactivity

This is how we spent the majority of the early afternoon yesterday. Ayden locked the door going up to mine and Corey's bedroom. We were never given a key from the landlord so Corey had to work his magic. Ayden says it was an accident but his face in this shot tells me otherwise.

http://moms.today.com/_news/2011/03/29/6369981-why-some-moms-have-banned-artificial-food-dyes-from-their-kids-diets

The above link is from an article on TODAYMoms that discusses that artificial coloring in foods have been found to cause hyperactivity in children. When we moved to Michigan and I was actually able to give more attention to my dear boy, I was noticing a direct link to him eating and him having horrible behavior. He couldn't sit still in his seat, couldn't focus, unresponsive to me trying to redirect him, etc. I started testing out different foods and how he was reacting to them and I concluded it was anything that contained artificial additives that turned my sweet child to a monster. We have now gone organic on our foods (a little more pricy, but if you shop around to your local stores, you can find ways around paying outrageous prices...it just takes a little work and investigating). I look forward to the day when all foods contain natural ingredients.

That is it for my post today. Corey is off work today so we have lots planned. Love until next time.

New Adult Institute Class at Christ Church. Let's be challenged.

Long awaited Spring

Today is day two of the sun shining in Grand Rapids and the temperature reaching a grand high of 45 degrees. I am extremely ready for the spring weather and so is Ayden. Yesterday you would have thought it was 70 degrees outside for that kid as he played quite hard for over 3 hours in our backyard (some of which was with the sweet neighbor kids). He keeps asking when he can run in the sprinkler and when the flowers are going to come up. He is such an outdoor boy like his mom and dad. :) He has been getting stronger at riding his bike, which is exciting for me because one of my fondest childhood memories was riding my bike around the block thousands of times. Yesterday we went around the block four times, stopping a few times to pet the neighbor's cat. It is simple times in my day like these that I am thankful to have the time with him, to have a yard, and a friendly/safe neighborhood. Today it is on to Ayden practicing writing his letters, probably more out-door play, and wrapping up our day at the Y swimming.

In closing, today I am dedicating my prayers to the people in Japan that they might find God in the midst of this suffering and trust him as their rock and strength. My heart breaks for what has happened and since I can't just jump a plane right now to help with clean up, I feel prayer is my way to contribute to helping.

Rest

I know, I haven't posted on this thing since our grand move to Grand Rapids. It has been nearly four months Corey and I have been married and in our new home. We have loved every moment of our new life as a family. I have been able to stay at home with Ayden full time, which helped with the transition and has given me some much needed rest from the previous years of stress. Our four years apart was an extremely painful and dark time for Corey and myself but today we thank God for it because it made us stronger in our walk with Him, in our marriage, and in our parenting. I honestly don't know how much I will keep up with this blog but I will do my best for the sake of my family in Maryland.
Much love.