Grace's new journey: Part 1

Our one-of-a-kind Grace has always had her own unique way of doing life. We have tried every traditional and non-traditional approach that we have known of to try to help her "feel more comfortable in her own skin." In June, you may recall, we discovered she has many food allergies. Since that time we have puzzled over "food allergies" and what is the cause of them thinking there has to be a fix beyond just eliminating the food. Furthermore, the conference I attended last week talked about the neurochemistry of placing a child on a stimulant and the permanent damage it can cause by pre-teen/teenhood. As we obviously want what is best for Grace, but also want the family to be able to feel safe and comfortable, we have remained open minded to options other than Ritalin.

In chatting with a good friend about this dilemma, she shared an interesting story. Her son has struggled with extreme eczema since birth. He is now 6 and she has tried every traditional and non-traditional approach she has known. In the process she has become quite the expert in food issues, digestion, how food affects eczema, etc. She recently had enlisted the assistance of a Biochemist who ran labs on her son and suggested some specific supplements based on the results of his specific biochemistry.

My husband and I were excited that after 6 weeks her son's eczema had completely cleared up for weeks - for the first time in his life! We wondered if this woman could also help Grace. I completed the 1 hour free phone consultation and we decided to move forward. We figured that even if it didn't work we needed to know that we have not left any stone unturned in our quest to help Grace.

We were dismayed and saddened (even more so than when we got the "allergy" results) to find out what the labs revealed about Grace's body. Grace apparently has significant issues with her kidney's and liver not processing toxins (which explains her frenzied behavior if she is toxic) , she is not digesting any food adequately (which explains her not gaining ANY weight in 18 months and ALWAYS being hungry and having chronic diarrhea), and several other issues such as her losing calcium, her potassium and Vit C being very low (she is always the first to get sick in our home), etc.

This information was consistent with what I learned about at the conference on how early stress and prenatal "stuff" affects the organs functioning, etc. To have this confirmed by someone totally not related to the conference via these labs seemed like confirmation that we are headed in the right direction to getting her some foundational help. However, we are very aware that this falls outside of "traditional" medicine and are moving forward skeptically optimistic.

The Biochemist suggested interventions of dietary changes and supplements. We are learning about food that I have not heard of before. I had to call my friend to ask her what Hominy is - since Grace is supposed to eat that 2 times a week. We have lots and lots of green leafy veggies in our house now - expanding our traditional 5 veggies that we normally eat lol! I learned how to make a "green drink" from spinach, celery, and pineapple juice. Sounds appetizing for a 5 year old, right ?!?!?! She has never liked meat and is now on a vegetarian diet - so she likes that a lot:) I am in the process of figuring out the "must eat every day, must eat 3x a week, etc" menu to make sure she is getting the balance of everything she needs.

The Biochemist is very skeptical about "food allergies" and suggests that once her body is able to digest/break down food properly that she will probably not have any negative reactions to food anymore. In fact, we have already reintroduced tomatoes with no adverse effects. The things that her body reacted to in the food allergy test were directly related to the things the Biochemist found were not working right in her body. We are still to keep her off of dairy (although she tolerates raw milk great!) until she is doing better though.

All in all, if nothing gets better with her behavior, we have introduced more healthy food into the house and I will grow my culinary skills:) Hominy, cooking with millet and a variety of grains other than just grinding whole wheat, making green drinks and home made almond milk will diversify our family:) At the moment I am trying to figure out how to get her to eat Asparagus 2x a week. And, if Grace could finally feel comfortable in her own skin...well...my husband and I are trying to wrap our minds around what that could look like...just imagine!!!!

Oh, and if anyone has a Juicer, or knows of someone who wants to sell a juicer, or knows of where to get one reasonably priced - we need one!

Texas Trip: family fun!

We enjoyed our trip to Texas! The kids got to do fun things every day and my husband so was wonderful with keeping them moving and playing while I sat in class day day every day:) They attended the zoo, a museum, Lego Land, a long horn steer stampede, the Botanical Gardens, a Mustang Makeover horse event, and plenty of swimming:)

Food: We had a big breakfast provided by the hotel every morning. It was a great start to the day! Supper was provided 3 nights - we really liked the Texan tacos:) I ate like a queen at the conference. The top restaurant in Fort Worth catered the food. We had all kinds of unique food like Tamales, delicious hot chocolate bread pudding served in a corn husk, cheddar grits with jalapenos, and then basic delicious food like grilled chicken and pork chops. Of course everything had plenty of peppers and spice to made it very tasty!

Sleep: Not much for anyone...moving on:)

The conference was amazing! I will be posted on what I learned in various posts. There was so much information I need to integrate it in my own brain and try to articulate it here in smaller chunks:) I have begun implementing it already here at home with good results so far:) Kids who come from hard places process and learn and react so incredibly different than kids without early trauma. I will admit that I did not always understand that and have some trepidation about sharing what I have learned with others who will dismiss this information...to the detriment of the children...

I am so passionate about adoption and about parenting. I am brain storming and praying about how God wants me to share this information with others and be a more active part of Orphan Ministry.

For some reason my pictures of the trip are not uploading so they will be on facebook if anyone wants to see them;)

JJ Update

JJ on his 1st birthday playing with his $50 present we got for $10 for being at the right place at the right time!!!!JJ loves to play with his big sister (and drag out all of my bowls) lol!

I thought this was such a cute birthday picture of him!!

It has been an interesting couple of months with JJ. He has been fever free for almost a month now. We started liquid Vitamin C around that time (continuing the daily Claritin) and are pleased that this is the longest since May that he has been fever free while not on an antibiotic.

Eating...JJ just does not have a big appetite. He may drink 4-5 oz once in awhile, but usually he will drink a couple of oz and then want to play. He is highly distractable at this age (of course!!) so noise and activity gets him off task. That means that we spend a lot of time "reminding" him that he needs to finish the bottle or the meal. At his 12 month checkup he was almost 25% under the growth chart. The physician gave us 3 months to get his weight up or we will need to do blood work, etc to see what might be going on. When he gets sick he loses his appetite completely and loses a lb in a week - making the battle longer. His mom and full bio sister are also tiny so I suspect genetics are a lot to play in it.

On 9/9 we had a 4 week weight - he has gained 1 lb! He also grew 2 inches...WOW! We suspected he was getting taller since he hits his head on the table when he tried to walk under it now:)

But, aside from those things, JJ is the most adorable, precious, amazing, charming, silly, funny, sweet, curious, smart;) , , , , My vocabulary cannot even begin to think of the appropriate adjectives to describe who he is and how much we totally delight in him. He is such a gift from God and he always makes me smile. I could not possibly be more in love with him than I am.

State Fair!

State Fair highlights!!!! Superman and Faith entered a cinnamon roll eating contest...Superman WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was so excited and won some neat prizes:) He has always liked to eat fast and we usually have to slow him down...it came in handy today lol!
I just hope Miss Grace continues to like being in the FRONT seat of the police car lol!
We enjoyed the Jeremy Camp concert. JJ and I stood in the back and he walked around charming all of the people walking by:)
Buddy enjoyed the John Deere booth the best...boys and their toys!!

We enjoyed our time at the State Fair yesterday and getting to know some new friends better whom Beautiful will play Basketball with this year on a home school team. There were only two downsides...
1) We had not put tennis shoes on the kids since May - yep - they have grown! Faith was so uncomfortable 1/2 way through the day:( We need to buy new shoes lol!

2) The kids loved the "walking tree" last year. This year were "walking vines." The girls have talked about it for weeks and all day yesterday they asked and asked where they were. Beautiful saw them as she was walking around with her friends but despite our best efforts the rest of us couldn't find them.

Oh...and...Buddy got a PURPLE on his shoulder mount white tail deer mount:)

Good family memories:)