Goggles

Levi's first goggles came in the mail yesterday. He's very excited!

June happenings

Hello Nannie and Mama! :)

Life is rolling along over here. We had a really wonderful visit with Mama earlier this month, though it was way too short.

During Mama's visit, Jon and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary with a one-night trip to La Jolla. Jon always picks the BEST little trips for us! We stayed at the La Valencia hotel. If you click on the link, the first picture is basically the view from our room!--we were unexpectedly upgraded to a spacious suite with a gorgeous view. We had a lovely time walking around the cute downtown, window shopping, and eating some good meals (sushi for dinner, a delicious breakfast at Cody's, and artisan pizza for lunch).

While we were gone, the children had a FANTASTIC time with Mimi. (In fact, after Jon and I got home, at least one of the kids asked if Daddy and Mama could go on another trip, please.) They each picked a couple of "surprises" Mimi had planned, including swimming in the spa after dinner (after they figured out that "going in the hot tub" did NOT mean taking a bath), going to the Spectrum, eating at Chipotle, riding scooters and bikes while Mimi sprayed the hose, and generally just having the most fun possible.

Mama pointed out a cool benefit we've gotten out of homeschooling, especially the past couple of months when Lucy hasn't been in preschool: the three children often play together. That doesn't sound like much, but having all three kids together--all the time--has created a comfortable dynamic that wouldn't be there if one or more child was in school for most of the day. They do still fight (some days a lot), but they also play games that include all three kids a lot. I like that.

GAPS diet update

I've been dragging my feet lately when it comes to blog posting! I've been meaning to post about our progress and my changing philosophy on the GAPS diet.

After Lucy was in the hospital last month (and there was a possibility that the GAPS diet made her symptoms more likely to occur), I decided to back off 100% adherence to GAPS and reevaluate what's good about it and what I want to move away from.

The good:

• Going on GAPS has greatly broadened Nate's diet and improved his eating habits. 
• Whole foods meals--almost nothing processed
• No sugar--and no ketchup addiction for Nate! Eliminating sugar alone definitely helped with hyper behaviors.
• Helps me stay away from the "easy fix" meals like peanut butter and jelly on gluten-free bread EVERY day for lunch for Nate

The bad:

• Completely eliminating all grains, including super healthy ones like quinoa
• No wiggle room for occasional off-diet treats

My updated philosophy has been to stick with the good stuff from the diet--whole foods meals, no sugar, no easy fix meals every day--but back away from the extremes. I've added quinoa into the daily rotation (the boys don't care for it, so I've been mixing soaked/cooked quinoa into other things like the breakfast sausage I make). I am not making every single dish for every single meal from scratch (today the kids had Trader Joe's packaged roasted seaweed as part of lunch). On Sundays after church, we get In-n-Out meat patties for the kids and one order of fries so they can each have a handful. Fruit is still a between-meals snack, separate from other foods, since it is digested differently. I'm not making Nate drink broth with every meal anymore. I feel like adhering to the GAPS diet with total dedication for three months was a good thing, and now it's time to back away, holding on to the great things we've taken from it.

School

As I mentioned briefly, Lucy got into Journey School! We got the call a couple of weeks ago that she'd moved up the waiting list from number 10 all the way into the class. That means that Nate is now number 1 on the 2nd grade waiting list.

Lucy and I went to a brief meeting with several of the kindergarten teachers. They asked me about Lucy's temperament, eating and sleeping habits, likes and dislikes, etc. They do this for all the children and take the information into account when dividing the classes; they try to balance the classrooms this way. I'll be very interested to see if Lucy's "home personality" comes out in the classroom. Although the teachers exchanged smiles remembering other "shy in public, crazy at home" students who reveal their "home personalities" by October or November, I tend to think that won't happen with Lucy. I think she'll save up all her tantrums and craziness for the car ride home from school each day. :)

One of the reasons I didn't post right away with the good news about making it into the school is that I've been struggling with some indecision. I do believe this is a good decision for us, but I can't help feeling guilty for giving up on homeschooling. And there are some things that are so nice about homeschooling that I know we'll miss. (For example, we've gone to the pool several times in the past couple of weeks by 11:00 or 12:00--when the kids would normally still have several hours of school left. Another "nice about homeschooling thing" we'll miss is the flexibility, especially with travel: my sister Lucy is getting married in September--yay!!!!--and homeschooling would have meant we could travel to Virginia for however long we needed/wanted. Being in Journey School will mean the children will have to go to VA for the shortest trip possible.) So, like I said, I'm still wavering. I don't think I want to homeschool; I'm just mourning the loss of the great things about it. (I think.)   :)

Video games

I know video games are supposedly "bad" for kids--fries their brains and all--but I've been loving them. The kids play them really nicely together, which is more than can be said for many, many other activities. This morning, I overheard Nate and Levi playing Mariokart (a car racing game) together. Nate helps Levi by telling him which buttons to push, and then he cheers him on. It's so cute how excited they get when Levi gets something other than last place. (Nate, having finished the race first out of the ten cars, cheers Levi on until he finishes. Then they celebrate: "Levi, you got ninth place! Yayyyyy!") We also love the Wii Sports games (bowling is the favorite, I think) and the dancing game we have. Since we have two remotes, the kids do really well rotating turns and cheering the others on when it isn't their turn.

If/when Nate and Lucy attend Journey School in the fall (side note: Lucy got in to the class! And Nate is #1 on the waiting list! Separate post about that soon), we'll have to reconsider our video game policies (because Journey School recommends/asks for no screen time during the week--which I think I would follow moderately). But for now, I love it.

Popsicles

The kids have been loving my homemade popsicles. I just make extra juice in the juicer in the mornings and put the extra into the popsicle molds to freeze. Today's creation: apple and carrot juice with frozen raspberries.

Boots in the bath

Levi tonight.

Photobooth fun

The Photobooth program on our Mac is really fun. Here are a few pictures from a couple of months ago. I'm pretty sure Nate has taken hundreds of himself on the "kids" profile on the computer.

A boy and his bike

Last week, I found a balance bike (a bike without pedals that helps kids learn how to balance on a bike before they go to a "real bike," never needing training wheels) on Craiglist for Levi. It took him about 2 days to figure it out, and now he is in love. He thanks God for his bike when he prays ("Dear Father, thank you for this food. And thank you for my bike. And thank you for dying on the cross for our sins. In Jesus' name, Amen.").

Here he is on the second day:

Here he is on the third day:

Within minutes of this video, Levi rode his bike head on into a tree while avoiding a car that was pulling out of a parking space. Thank goodness he was wearing a helmet, because he made contact pretty hard! It also splintered the front part of the bike pretty badly. I thought it was beyond repair, but Jon was able to fix it the next day. Levi was very, very happy.

Nate is 7

Happy birthday, wonderful boy! Nate is 7 today and is turning into a "big kid." He has matured and grown up a lot in the last few months.

He is so sweet and excited when opening his presents and always thanks the giver. One of the things I love most about him is his enthusiasm! Nate is also smart, happy, and responsible. We love you, Nate!

Anthro purse hanger

After I made a new purse recently (I really like it), I wanted a place to hang it (instead of keeping it on the floor by the computer, where it gets stepped on). I couldn't find anything I really liked at a good price. So, inspired by this picture,

I got a few Anthropologie knobs, spray painted some scrap wood, and put this together:

I like it!

Home!

We are home! Lucy was discharged from the hospital around 5:00 p.m. yesterday, so we were all home in time for dinner. Everything feels back to normal!

None of the tests at the hospital really showed anything, but we do have a metabolic specialist to see in the next few weeks. My general feeling is that there MAY be something underlying or, as we've always thought, Lucy "just gets stomach viruses really bad," and then the GAPS diet made it more pronounced this time for some reason.

Hospital... again

Well, Lucy has ended up in the hospital again. She began throwing up Tuesday morning with what seemed like a stomach virus. By Tuesday late afternoon, when the Zofran I'd given her still wasn't helping, we thought about taking her in to the ER. A nurse practitioner friend said we could give her another Zofran (this was about 7:30) and see if that helped. When it didn't, we decided to take Lucy in. They admitted her and gave her IV fluids and IV Zofran overnight. They ran her CO2 levels, which measure blood toxicity (I think). In a healthy person, the number should be in the 20s. Back when Lucy was admitted to the hospital in February, her number was 12. Tuesday night, the number was 6. This was very concerning to the doctors. Today they did a couple of tests (x-rays and ultrasound) to try to figure out what the underlying issue is. Obviously, there is something more going on here so that her little body can't cope with stomach issues. The doctors don't know if it's an intestinal issue, a metabolic issue, a brain issue, or something else. The ultrasound and x-rays didn't show anything abnormal. Tomorrow they're going to do a small bowel follow-through (or something like that), which will show her digestive process to see if anything is out of whack there.

By late this afternoon, Lucy herself had perked up, ate some food, and was acting pretty good, all things considered.

It's definitely hard coordinating "life" with a child in the hospital--figuring out care for the boys, Jon needing to get in to work for a while, etc. But homeschooling definitely makes it easier (no drop-offs or pick-ups to worry about).

Though this is a stressful time, I do feel God's hand at work. After this past weekend, which was the annual women's retreat with church, I was feeling so encouraged, motivated, and joyful. I believe Satan wanted to attack that in any way possible! However, I think God was working yesterday while Lucy was sick. Normally, when one of our kids is sick I waver back and forth when deciding whether to bring him/her to the hospital. It's so hard to decide when is the point that they're "bad" enough to need to go in.... and then I convince myself they're doing a little better and we should wait until the next day to decide. However, THIS time was not like that. This time, yesterday evening, even when her symptoms were no different from times before, it was so clear: we're taking her in. Thank you, God.

Baby hummingbirds

Our neighbor has a hummingbird nest in a potted tree on her front patio. We've looked at the eggs a couple of times recently and have been waiting for them to hatch. They hatched over the weekend!

Dentist

The children and I went to the dentist a couple of weeks back; this was Levi's first visit. He did a great job telling the dentist all about himself (age, favorite color, favorite toy--cars, etc.). Lucy and Nate were great cheerleaders, too.

Another Levi video

I just can't help myself. His cuteness kills me.

Hummingbirds

We got a hummingbird feeder over the weekend, and one bird found it last night when we were eating dinner. After dinner, Levi was calling for more, telling them the feeder was there.


At the beginning of the video, he's looking at Jon and asking him not to watch (Levi doesn't like people watching him do cute stuff lately)--he tells him he should watch the Clippers game instead.

Happy Easter

I had to wait until after church today to try to get a picture of the children. It was unsuccessful.

The kids sang a song in church--Levi included. Levi is holding the hand of another little boy, Marshall, who was scared/sad, and Levi had been asked to help him.

Tonight, on the way home from Ray and Colleen's house, Lucy was excited because she got a stuffed bunny rabbit. "It's my Easter rabbit!" she exclaimed. Levi had also gotten a toy. "Yeah!" he answered. "And I got my Easter gun!"

GAPS progress

This update is mostly about me! :)

I hit a wall one or two weeks ago where I was really missing my old way of much-less-restricted (yet still generally healthy) eating. I've been feeling frustrated that I haven't seen the results I wanted for myself (clear skin, big boost in energy) even though I've followed the diet to a T. I decided to cheat with a chai tea latte from Starbucks two days in a row, but I paid for it with two more days of upset stomach! After two months without a gram of sugar crossing my lips, a coffee cup full of it was too much. That probably wasn't the smartest "first cheat."

On a seemingly unrelated note, I have been feeling very "out of it" and foggy lately: someone will ask me a question, and my mind is blank. I will think of the answer 5 minutes later or something. I just haven't felt like myself. I mentioned this to Dr. Abell when Nate and I were there for Nate's appointment this week, and Dr. Abell said my brain fog is from lack of carbohydrates! What?! So I bought some quinoa and millet pronto after that appointment and had some quinoa for lunch yesterday and today.

Our lunch today: salmon patties for the kids, quinoa and tomatoes for me (and broth for Nate and me). I would have added avocado for all of us if I'd had a ripe one.

I talked with Dr. Abell about the severity of the diet, especially the complete removal of grains. He agrees it isn't a long-term solution, and we decided I will slowly introduce healthy grains (quinoa, millet, and amarynth) with the children in a couple of weeks, after they've been on full GAPS for over a month (and intro+GAPS for over two months). This definitely isn't following GAPS protocol, but I feel like doing two+ months of "hardcore" GAPS is better than nothing, and introducing those few grains while still doing the other GAPS stuff (broth, cod liver oil, probiotics, fat-full meats and oils, eggs, fermented foods) is still very healthy--and will hopefully still achieve the results we're after (though maybe more slowly).

Oh--I did make the most delicious smoothie for dessert last night! I juiced an apple, some pineapple, and a bit of orange (I love our juicer!) and added that to the blender with frozen bananas, frozen mangos, half an avocado, a few Tbs of coconut oil, three raw eggs, and a few pineapple slices. It was a filling treat.

Lucy is 5

Happy birthday to Lucy! Lucy is growing into a compassionate, spunky, humorous little girl. She loves to dance and be silly at home but likes to be quiet and reserved when we're out. I think "quality time" is one of her love languages; she always wants to be with me and/or doing something together.