Ready for Basketball

In the Fall/Winter Haiden is obsessed with football, now that it is spring Haiden's new obsession...basketball! After school he wanted to play basketball outside so I told him he needed to put some play clothes on. The picture above is how he dressed himself. The "sweatband" is his sister's headband :). I love my quirky little man.

So I've been wanting to address the topic of "people try to fix their autistic kids" for some time. No way am I trying to "fix" or "change" Haiden. There is so much I love about who he is with or without autism. For one, he is insanely intelligent and currently doing the 2nd grade curriculum in Kindergarten. He has an amazing ear for music and loves the Dave Matthews Band. His ability to remember anything that has to do with numbers amazes me. He thinks everything should be fair and will fight for it. He rejoices in other peoples success. I could go on and on about Haiden and all of his wonderful qualities.
The reason I started our recovery journey was because I was not okay with Haiden being sick all the time. I wasn't okay with Haiden being in pain all the time. I wasn't okay with Haiden having rashes all over his body. I wasn't okay with Haiden getting frustrated because he couldn't communicate. I wasn't okay with Haiden freaking out due to sensory overload. And I wasn't okay with Haiden not being able to form relationships.
I am happy to say that he is no longer sick, no longer in pain, no longer has rashes, communicates well, deals with his sensory needs more appropriately, and has friends.
As long as Haiden is healthy and happy he can be as quirky as he wants to be.

Gluten, Casein, Egg, Soy, Corn Free

Yep, that is what defines our diet now. Back to the good ole gluten/casein/egg/soy/corn free diet (GFCFEFSF). After 2 months on the SCD we finally realized that Haiden has a sensitivity to almonds and bananas. He was eating a heaping amount of these two foods...almond flour pancakes, 2-3 bananas a day for snacks, almond butter brownies, and almond milk. So the constant crying and emotional issues at school have ended...thank you Lord! A part of me is saddened by all of this because I truly felt that the SCD was going to heal Haiden's belly to where we would no longer have to do a special diet. I've also realized that even if we didn't have to do this diet, it is still a lot healthier. Of course we don't eat processed foods, foods with artificial sugar (aspartame is deadly people), foods with artificial coloring, and foods with artificial flavoring. Thanks to Haiden our family is much healthier than the majority of Americans on the S.A.D (Standard American Diet), which is processed, fake, and pesticide filled food.
So to say I am stoked about the new reality TV series on ABC is a huge understatement! Jamie Oliver is a world renowned chef who is taking on a huge issue. Check out his website http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution and be sure to watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution this Friday at 9:00 pm on ABC.

Faith, Food, and Favorites

Every Wednesday night we host our Bible study group at our house. This past Wednesday we prayed for guidance in helping Haiden and our prayers were answered! On Saturday, Staci Small (thewellnessphilosophy.blogspot.com) who is a dietitan, invited several autism mommas to her house. I met with an amazing group of women who are using the biomedical approach to help their children with autism. I shared my concerns with Haiden's regression since starting the SCD and another mom had a similar experience. She said her son was sensitive to oxalates and would just cry. Sounded familiar. So I started researching oxalates and came across phenols and salicylates. I truly believe that our little man can not handle phenols and salicylates which is almonds and bananas to name a few. He didn't have any of these foods today and had a fabulous day so I hope we are back on track! I will keep you posted.
Below I've posted a few very easy and yummy recipes.
Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream". If you want a healthier alternative to ice cream then this dish is perfect. Just take frozen bananas and strawberries, put into a food processor, and voila!

A yummy alternative to processed, preservative filled rice crispy treats. I mixed puffed rice, raw oats, crushed pecans, and honey in a pot on low heat. Let it warm up and mix together for about 5 minutes and then pressed into a baking dish, set in the fridge for about an hour.

When Mason was ready to start eating solids I decided I wanted to make my own baby food. It is very easy, very economical, and very healthy. For this batch I put organic bananas and filtered water in a food processor. Then I cooked some organic spinach with filtered water and then pureed in the food processor. Once it is blended to Mason's liking I fill an ice cube tray and put in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Once it is frozen I store in Ziploc bags and freeze. When he is hungry I just set out the frozen cubes until thawed. (You can also zap in the microwave for a few seconds.) I found a lot of helpful information at this website, http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Here was his lunch.

My baby at supper time. He ate some organic broccoli that wasn't pureed. He basically smeared it all over his face and got a little in his mouth.

Haiden really wanted to make some lemonade in our juicer and Ella was just being silly. I juiced about 2 lemons, added filtered water, and honey.

In a previous post I had mentioned that I started making my own cleaning products. http://mckinneyclan3.blogspot.com/2010/01/homemade-part-2.html. Even though I really like being able to make my own products, I can't make everything. So here are a few of my favorite things. From left to right:

Baby Avalon Organics lotion

Burt's Bee Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash

Animal Parade Toothpaste

Dishmate Liquid dish soap

Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent

Do you have any favorite products that your family uses?

Precious Little Blessings

With beautiful weather outside, I make sure my kidos get out everyday. It is not only good for your health but also for your soul. This past weekend we walked to the library, signed Haiden up for soccer, then walked to the playground. The kids had a great time! (And of course I enjoyed taking some pics!)

Pudding and Pizza

A few new recipes! Chocolate pudding! Yes, that is right, 5 ingredients and a healthy alternative. http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2010/02/raw-vegan-chocolate-mousse-how-food.html

Homemade spinach pesto. I was craving a good pesto sauce for our GFCF/egg free/soy free pizza and came up with one of my own. Spinach, basil, walnuts, garlic, and olive oil blended together in the food processor...delicious!

The best pizza crust ever!

Pizza sauce and pepperoni.

Voila! Our GFCF/egg free/soy free pizza. Haiden doesn't like pizza sauce so I just put pepperoni on his.

Oh, the Ups and Downs of Autism Recovery

I wonder if this will ever end? Will I ever be able to feed my children food and not analyze their behavior? Before starting the SCD, this was my hope. Now, I rack my brain daily trying to figure out what is going to be the best for my children. Earlier today I pulled Haiden's old testing results out to try and calm my racing thoughts.
Basically, what it comes down to is that he doesn't absorb food correctly (leaky gut), has yeast overgrowth, and elevated levels of lead in his system. So the SCD was suppose to fix the first two issues but didn't. (We need to do chelation for his lead levels but that really freaks me out right now. More to come on that subject.) What makes the most sense is going yeast free...yikes. That is even harder than SCD but as I mentioned before we weren't really following SCD to the T since we couldn't eat all the foods that diet allowed. http://mckinneyclan3.blogspot.com/2010/02/and-diet-continues.html
So really I'm not for sure what to do. I hate that this has consumed our lives. I hate that we can't go out to dinner. I hate that my children have to take special food with them when we go to our friends. I hate autism.
But I love my children. I love helping my children. I love that my children are healthy.
So I'll stop complaining and start my next plan of action...just have to figure out what that will be.

On a side note, after threatening Haiden with his life (just kidding), he has had three great days at school. We have a smart little cookie on our hands and he knows how to work the system. We took his Wii away and told him until he can make good choices and stop crying all the time at school, he won't be able to play his new football game (yea, the one he was so excited about for his birthday.) Guess what happened the next day? A positive note home and no tears.