EarWig

IS THIS YOUR EAR? If you are related to either Ben or myself, please go have a look in the mirror and see if, in fact, your ear looks like the ear above. This ear does not look like the other WigEars, see?

Z's

Ben'sand mineSo, please, blood relatives only. Have a look. Let us know. Thanks.

German Dinner Bread
This is called German Dinner Bread because my German friend, Alexa, gave it to me and because in Germany they tend to eat a larger, hot lunch and something simple for dinner, like bread. For several days now we've been trying this method and I love not having to pull together a big meal at the end of the day when I'm tired AND I am starting to agree with Alexa, I eat fewer daytime snacks when I have a hot meal for lunch. Ben comes home for lunch most days, so we're able to make this lifestyle change. For several evenings now we have enjoyed this UBER-healthy and yummy bread. I only have a bread machine recipe, but I'm sure you could make it without one. Thank you, Alexa!

1 1/4 cup warm water
2 Tbsp Oil
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1.5 tsp Salt
1 3/4 c. white flour
1 c. ground flax meal
1 c. graham flour
1 package yeast or 1T. bulk yeast
1 c. raisins
1 c. nuts (I used walnuts)

I set it for the 1.5 lb loaf, for whole wheat bread, light setting. Takes about 3.5 hours in my machine.

WigTunes

If you notice a funny purple box at the bottom of WigLife, it might be the new PlayList player that I added so I can share my favorite tunes with you. Out of respect for my mother and grandparents I set it so it does not automatically start when you visit this website. So, you'll have to scroll down and push play if you want to hear. I plan to add songs when I'm inspired. So, far, I'm only inspired with one. It's by Enter The Worship Circle. If you haven't visited their site or bought their music, you really should. You can buy most albums for $8 on mp3. For you LeTourneau alums out there, these are the guys who used to be 100 Portraits! We're still in love with their music.

Winter Wigginess

I was tagged by one of my college roommates, Stephanie, to share the fourth picture in the fourth album in my collection of pictures on my computer. I tag no one as usual. The above was taken by my Dad when he was visiting in June of 2007. So, Z was only one year old here. He looks so little to me here!

Juju Update!
The history. Juju has had nasal congestion at night since she was one week old. As we weren't sure what caused this we had her checked out by an Ear, Nose & Throat doc who used a fibre-optic scope up her nose to make sure everything was OK. More recently a different doc had blood drawn so that we could check out what she might be allergic to, perhaps in my diet, as she is breast-fed. I've been abstaining from most foods that are typical allergens (wheat, dairy, nuts, eggs, citrus fruits and beef). Evidently, the blood allergy test cannot detect allergies to foods you haven't had an allergic reaction to recently. So, my diet likely skewed the test results for the foods I had been avoiding.

Two bummers and a praise. They didn't test for many things because they couldn't draw much blood due to her being only 4 months old. The only two things on the list that she had been exposed to were soy and dust mites. Both were negative so that's happy. I was really frustrated that eggs, wheat and nuts weren't on the test list, but since I wasn't eating them anyways, they would have likely been negative.

The plan. Last week I reintroduced beef. This week I'm reintroducing wheat into my diet. Next week, I think I'll eat an egg and see what happens. At some point I might try and reintroduce dairy, but previous experiences convince me that she has at least an intolerance to dairy. We have good nights and bad nights, but she's loud enough we've had to move out of the family bed so the boys can sleep.

In other news, Juju is officially a thumb sucker! She has even found her thumb in her sleep on occasion. Big brother continues to be an absolute love to her and kisses her and nuzzles with her.

Learn to Drive!

I've been wanting to explore the issue of two way stops for a while now. We have a two way stop outside our house, as we live on a corner. There are constant accidents happening at this intersection. Part of the reason is because once upon a time our intersection was a four way stop and people forget that it's changed now. Part of the reason, though, is also because of the Modern Mayberry way of dealing with two way stops. It's called "waving". No one knows who has the right of way and therefore accidents happen. Was she waving me to go, or was that a thank you wave? I don't know! Personally, I'd rather not be waved at, I'd rather know what the rule is and follow it. Of course, it was be ideal if everyone knew the rule.

So, here it is! The written law was quite indiscernable, so the following is the best answer I could find on the internet* about who has the right of way at two way stops :

The person who arrives first has the right of way, assuming BOTH people actually have a stop sign...The other 2 directions, that do not have a stop obviously have the right of way. Otherwise, it is the first to arrive.
If both arrive at the same time, it depends on who allows who to go, but typically the person going straight will be given the right of way. Once that first car has gone, the person turning left then has the right of way over anyone following the first car straight through.

* Please check your local area's laws to know what is legal in your area.

10 Things I NEVER post on WigLife

1. Really, really bad pictures of myself like the one above.
2. The truth about how my kitchen counter top has NEVER once been as clean as this since Juju was born.
3. Embarrassing moments, like the time, not so long ago, I regifted something to a friend in front of the friend who gave it to us because I didn't remember who gave it to us. It was kinda like a bad dream, only real. Yeah, couldn't bring myself to share about that.
   
4. Excruciating details of my life like how I have this owey on my left ring-finger knuckle from being a clutz when I was shaving the other day.
5. Politics and how I am so right about my views on it! I'll talk about it anywhere else but here, just ask!
   
6. Recipes for meals that I've never made like Springtime Asparagus Quiche.
7. Inside jokes between myself and others, by the way, "Nice teeth!"
8. Personal flaws, such as how I can't stop biting the skin on my fingers when it's dry and I'm stressed or how I can't seem to avoid reading the headlines on the gossip mags in the check-out line.
   
9. My testimony, though I have a feeling it won't be long before I do. I'm terrified to unveil how ugly my life was before I gave it over to Christ.
   
10. Oh, and I would NEVER, EVER post about.....wait a second!!!!
    

WigFood

Above is a picture Ben snuck of how we get Z to eat these days. Between being picky and easily distracted we have a hard time getting him to sit down for long. He eats a lot of buns with nutella or jam on them. I recently had success in getting him to eat hot dogs while I read him books from Mo Willems' Pigeon series. The pigeon loves hot dogs, which cracks Z up. Today, he ate carrots and grapes for me while he head banged to Daddy's music (Stavesacre), so music is another help.

We aren't pushing potty training anymore. We figure at some point he'll be ready and he'll let us know. Meanwhile, we just suggest it every few days and have a go at "trying" on the pot, usually to no avail. Lately when he's pooping, if we come near, he gives us the "hand", like "Stop right there". Today instead of the hand I gota verbal, "You go!" Definitely leave the boy alone when he's pooping.

Becca's Favorite Things

These are two of my favorite things lately. I'm still on that avoid all major allergens diet, until we know more from Juju's allergy test results in two weeks. I'm hoping she's not allergic to wheat, that's been hard to cut out. Well, I am positive that dairy is one of the culprits though, so that leaves me without chocolate as long as I'm nursing her. So, the above have been my chocolate fixes. They have no milk in them and you can use them with RICE MILK! Yay! The left works best as hot cocoa, the right is best cold. Honestly, I would never buy the one on the right if I could have Ovaltine, but as of now, it's all I can find to mix in cold rice milk that is sweet and chocolatey. Don't mix it up with GV's Hot Chocolate mix which does have milk in it! The Ghiradelli mix is good whether you're going dairy free or not. Yummm....

Here's a few other things I CAN eat on my crazy diet that avoids most major allergens except soy:

• Beans and rice with miso and spices
  
• Veggie Stir-fry
• Turkey and rice vegetable soup
• Chicken Mole and beans in corn tortillas
• Chicken tacos with no cheese or sour cream
  
• Yams (everyday for lunch)
• Coconut chicken without almonds
• Pad Thai, without shrimp, eggs or nuts
• Any steamed vegetable (raw causes her too much gas)
  
• Oatmeal or other cooked grains
  
• Certain wheat-free granolas found in the organic cereal section
• Toasted Brown rice bread with soy nut butter and honey or jam
  
• Rice chips to snack on (the Sesame Seaweed are my favorite!)
  
• Corn tortillas with salsa or guacamole
  
• Power Balls made with Soy Nut butter and sans nuts or choc. chips

I really eat well, in fact the only thing I miss is my Ezekiel bread, which has sprouted wheat in it, so I'm avoiding it for now. I LOVE my Earth Balance spread (original not whipped) and almost chose that for my favorite thing, but the chocolate won. I really don't know what I'll do if she's allergic to soy as all my favorite condiments are soy based: soy sauce, Earth Balance, and miso.

We went for a walk in the snow the other day to the library and Juju fell asleep.

Both kids had vaseline on their cheeks, I learned that from my mother-in-law, thanks, Mom!

January Joy

This is the book that I am currently reading with Ben. It is SO very good. If you have a male child OR are involved as a teacher in any way, including Sunday school, I recommend you read this book. I promise to give a full book report when I'm finished, as of now, I'm only half way through and can only fully explain the problems not the solutions. Very inspiring and well written. Right now Ben's Aunt Val and his sister, Debbi are both reading this with us. Why not join us!?!

We joined our church on Sunday. It's taken us 10 years to commit to a church. Our last membership was at Alpine Presbyterian church in Longview, Texas. Such good people there. We've been a part of some really nice churches up here, but mostly due to our own baggage we haven't committed until now. Here's the link to our new church! We've been attending since August and feel it's just the right fit for us.

Juju has been struggling since she was one week old with nasal congestion at night. We've taken her to one ENT doctor who put a fiber optic rhinoscope up her nose and told us for no small fee that she has bugars ("bogies" for my English friends). I have been off dairy since October and as of a few weeks ago have been eating an allergen free diet which closely resembles the macrobiotic diet. I basically eat beans, rice, veggies and poultry. This helps avoid the main allergens: wheat, eggs, dairy. My one vice is soy. We took her to a different ENT doc this morning who agreed to have her tested for allergies. Thankfully, they can do this through blood work and not have to torture her with a prick test. Unfortunately, it takes three weeks to get the results. So, hopefully in three weeks we'll know what exactly she's allergic to and what I'm allowed to eat. I think some of her allergies might be non-food related like dust mites. From trial and error she is definitely intolerant or allergic to dairy though.

Web World

I was recently in the market for a swim suit. Turns out cheap ones from WalMart only last a couple of years before they fall apart. In Googling "modest swimwear", I found Lime Ricki's website. It was hands down the BEST in selection of super trendy modest swimwear. Do check out their selection. Oh, and use the coupon code: jenswim09 for a 10% off discount.

Modern Day Mayberry

About ten years ago when we had first moved to this town I decided to stop for gas at a small station that was privately run and owned. The owner came out and I asked if he took checks as I noticed they didn't take credit or debit cards. He became rather grumpy and as if he was doing me a favor said he'd let me use a check if I let him see the balance in my ledger. I was a little shocked, but reluctantly allowed him and he reluctantly filled my tank. I never went back there again.