McKinney Clan

Our New Blog

2011-07-29T22:33:00.000-04:00

With changes going on around the McKinney house, I thought it was time to start a new blog, because I have so much extra time...hehehe. It is in the beginning stages so bear with me while I add pictures, make updates, and changes.
http://mckinney6.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU

2011-07-04T15:34:00.000-04:00

I often blog about all things controversial and how my beliefs and opinions seem to be so different from the majority. Reading through past blog posts, I also noticed that I have mentioned a few times about lack of support from family and friends. I want to dedicate this post to the amazing support from some of my family and friends! My husband hasn't always agreed with me but he has always supported me when I want to try things to help our children. He has attempted to eat foods that don't look edible, helped with supplements, and, financial, always put the kids needs first, even if that meant making other sacrifices. Thank you babe, you have no idea how much your support means! My mom has stood by my side from the beginning doing everything she can to support me. She always makes sure she has food in the house that the kids can eat when we visit and will even drive an hour to a grocery store that has certain foods. She has tried to educate herself as much as possible to understand me and my beliefs. She has never judged me, questioned me, or complained about the choices I make for my kids. She will choke down a gluten, casein, soy, corn free brownie at my kids birthday parties with a smile on her face. Thank you Mom! My grandma, Ella Mae, has always supported me too. She shares my blog with her friends and always lets me know that I'm doing the right things for my kids. She even attempted a gluten free recipe for her infamous dumplings. Thank you Grandma! Then I have about a handful of really close girlfriends who are very loyal to me. I'm not going to name them but they know who they are. They are the ones who may or may not agree with me but support me. They listen, question, encourage, and support me. My life wouldn't be quit complete without them. Thank you ladies! I really don't know what I do with all these wonderful people in my life. I am so thankful and blessed! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Clean Eating on Vacation

2011-06-26T23:49:00.000-04:00

I can't believe two weeks has gone by since my last post! We have been so busy around here. We've enjoyed swimming with the Dunigan's every week, playing outside, going to the library, dance class for Ella, the zoo, and all the crazy activities at home. We also spent a lot of time planning for our family vacation to Panama City.
It is still important to us to avoid certain foods when we travel so we have to plan, plan, plan. It was even more crucial this year because my gym, PR Fitness (http://prfitnessblog.blogspot.com/) , started their Whole 30 Challenge (http://whole9life.com/2010/05/whole-30-v2/), the Monday of our vacation! Basically, I can eat meat, veggies, fruit, some nuts, and seeds but that is about it...for 30 days. I did not realize how out of balance my body was until the sugar withdrawal symptoms started! (More on that)
We always stay somewhere with a full kitchen and we found a great resort this year with a spacious condo. Before we left we bought and made all our food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. We decided to eat out for dinner each night. The kids were GREAT! They had an awesome time! On the other hand, this pregnant momma, was a hot mess. I'm kind of glad I went through all the crazy symptoms while on vacation because I was on the beach or at the pool in front of a bunch of people. I had to keep it together. My head pounded like it has never pounded before for 3 days straight! I felt very fatigued and was so irritable (just ask my husband, he'll tell you). :-) Going out to eat for dinner was pure torture and a true test of my willpower and strength to say "no" to some very tempting foods. Finally on the 4th day, I had a mild headache and was starting to get some energy back. Now on day 7, I feel like myself again. It just goes to show what sugar and the wrong carbs can do to our bodies...crazy! We did let the kids splurge on too much sugar and gluten but we kept them away from corn and peanuts.
I've already gotten some remarks and comments about doing the Whole 30 Challenge. People think that because I'm pregnant I shouldn't be so restrictive. I think that because I'm pregnant I should be restrictive. I remember with Haiden eating whatever the heck I wanted and my pregnancy was often an excuse. "I'm pregnant so I'll eat the entire sleeve of Oreos!" I ate the most processed, disgusting food with him and have a ton of regret. With Ella, I wasn't much better. I still consumed my sodas, loved my ice cream, and ate about a cup of peanut butter everyday! Finally, after going through hell with Haiden and Ella's health I realized how important it was for me to take better care of myself when I am pregnant. With Mason, I did much better. I stuck to water and orange juice, lots of fruits and veggies, but still enjoyed a cookie every once and awhile...okay maybe everyday. It is obvious that I have a hard time making healthy babies since they can't handle and dispose of all the chemical in vaccines and our environment. It is my priority to make sure this baby is just as healthy as Mason was when he was born, if not more so. I am doing everything I know to do to make sure of that. I will continue to eat mainly organic meats, fruits, and veggies. I will continue to only drink water. I will continue to work out. I will continue to take clean vitamins. I will continue to reduce my exposure to chemicals. I will continue to make myself the strongest I can be to have a drug free child birth. So if that means doing the Whole 30 Challenge and eating Paleo, then I will!

Okay, I'll step down from my soapbox now and share a few picture from our summer so far. :-)

Haiden and Ella have become quite the puzzle masters. (Granny, Haiden loves this puzzle you got him!)

Painting outside! Why not, that why we get to pain on the concrete too!

Mason loves playing with his rice and beans. He fills up bowls and measuring cups, mixes it all together, hides letters, and makes me "taco soup"!

Haiden also has "home school" time everyday when Ella and Mason take a nap. He reads from a chapter book for 30 minutes, completes a speech activity each day that his awesome speech teacher from White Lick sent home, and complete two activities each day that his awesome general education teacher from White Lick sent home for the summer. He also loves to do the Brain Quest questions which I think is great! His motivator? When he is finished he get to play with this best friend, our neighbor, Tate!
For Ella, I do these awesome Preschool Packs that I got from this website,
http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/PreschoolPacks.html. She loves it!
For Mason and all the kids, I love this blog, http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/. She has really helped me tune in to my crafty side with the kids and they love all the new things I show them.

Can you hear them yelling, "Florida!"

Haiden loved the ocean until day 3. I saw some fish, freaked out, and scared him to death.

Princess playing in the sand.

Mason loved the beach!

On our way home from Florida I finished the book, The Vaccine Epidemic. It is a must read for any parent who wants to know their rights and understand the dangers of vaccines. I have more of that to share in future blog posts! Until then, I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mason

2011-06-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

Mason,
My how you've grown this past year! You went from a babbling, wobbly walker to a talking runner. You make me laugh all day and you test my consistency all day too. You love your big sister and brother so much and try so hard to keep up with them and follow their lead. About 5 months ago you started to show interest in using the potty but you could walk around with a poopy diaper and not ever care. Your favorite place to be is outside. Daddy built a huge sandbox this spring and you could sit in there forever just digging and playing with the sand toys. You also love to pick up bugs, squish them, laugh, and throw them down. You could also let me push you on the swing for hours. You love to eat! You eat more than most grown ups I know but you won't put anything green in your mouth. Within the last 3 months your speech has exploded and it is so fun to finally hear what goes on in your little mind. My favorite expression of yours is "Oh man!" when something doesn't go your way. At home you are so expressive, loud, and outgoing but when you get around strangers you become shy, quiet, and keep close to mommy. It's okay though, mommy likes that. You also love books, coloring with markers, trains, cars, blocks, painting, and swimming. Every night I rock you before bed and we sing "Rock A Bye Mason" and "You Are My Sunshine". You continue to be so healthy and strong and remind me everyday that the choices I have made are the best! You aren't going to be the baby of the family much longer since you have a new brother or sister on the way but you will always be my baby boy. Mommy, Daddy, Ella, and Haiden love you so much Mase-man!

Unavoidably Unsafe

2011-06-07T14:35:00.000-04:00

I've been back from the Autism One conference in Chicago for about a week and I'm still on a high! Before I left I was down and out about autism, vaccine injury, diet, and anyone understanding me anymore. I was sick of having to explain myself over and over and over again to family and friends who just think I'm crazy and cast negative judgement towards me as a mother. Now that I'm back I'm more confident than ever in my parenting and the choices I've made for my children! There were thousands of other parents who experienced the same issues I have, watched the same things happen as I have, and were helping their children get better. Ever since Haiden's diagnoses and our road to recovery I've felt that I'm suppose to do something with this experience. Maybe it was to just tell our story so that maybe I can save one other child but I have a drive to do more.
Even though I was crazy busy photographing the conference I did get to sit in and listen to speakers I wanted to hear. I learned so much from Law Day with Mary Holland that I had to share!
1. Did you know that the U.S. law states that vaccines are "unavoidably unsafe"? Hmmm, bet your not going to hear any doctor tell you that?!
2. There is a Vaccine Injury Court that has no due process, no jury, and no cross examination. Sounds fair to me! (Insert sarcasm)
3. There is a 1986 Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that has compensated over 2,500 families since 1990. In order to be compensated you have to go through Vaccine Injury Court which is almost impossible. You also have to have hard core evidence. How many of you are taking before and after pictures/videos of your children when they get shots?
4. There are over 11,000 cases awaiting Vaccine Injury Court.
Now, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a lawyer, and I know little about politics but to me this is worrisome. If vaccines were so safe, and it is okay to give our children over 30 doses of vaccines by 3 years of age, then why does the U.S. law state that vaccines are "unavoidably unsafe"? Why is there a Vaccine Injury Court? Why is there a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program? Why are there so many cases awaiting to be heard in Vaccine Injury Court?
When vaccines where first considered effective living conditions were much different. There wasn't proper trash removal, there wasn't proper transportation of food, there weren't waste treatment plants like today, and sanitation standards were different. History has shown that diseases come and go even without vaccines.
There aren't any studies that shows the health of unvaccinated vs. vaccinated children. There aren't any studies that show what can happen to our children when they have 30 doses of vaccines. All our government keeps doing is adding more and more vaccines to the vaccine schedule. All I keep hearing about is how Autism, ADHD, ADD, and allergies have increased by 400%!
Now, there are some of you out there who will say, "Well there have been studies that show there is no link between autism and vaccines." Let me tell you what is wrong with those studies. For one, they were funded by the vaccine makers themselves so there is a HUGE conflict of interest. For two, they only tested one vaccine (MMR) and one vaccine ingredient (thimerisol). You have no idea what all those chemicals can do to your child. You want to see what they are injecting your child with? Take a look here, straight from the CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf.
Also, the government is currently paying millions of your tax dollars to 83 known, and I emphasis known, families who have children with vaccine injury and autism. http://video.foxnews.com/v/4687300/.
Like I said, I know little about politics but I feel like the only way changes are going to be made is if we go to the people who can change the law. The Canary Party was launched two weeks ago and I am getting involved. I feel that I can help make a difference and save other children. If you are interested or would like more information, I encourage you to visit, www.canaryparty.org.

Dr. Wakefield and I. I respect this man even more now that I had the chance to meet and talk with him!

AutismOne

2011-05-21T14:08:00.001-04:00

I have received all my information and duties for the AutismOne conference in Chicago this week! Everything is planned out, well almost everything, and I have a ton of emotions going a hundred miles per hour! I am super excited to attend an event with thousands of other professionals, parents, grandparents, doctors, teachers, and advocates who "get it"! I'm thrilled that I get to photograph this event and all the amazing speakers, vendors, and activities. I can't wait to learn new information about the latest research, therapies, treatments, laws, supplements, and foods! I want to jump up and down when I think about all the advocates, doctors, and authors who are leading this great movement of "Recovery Is Possible" and how I get to meet and photograph them! For me this is like attending the Grammies and meeting all the artist, or attending the Academy Awards and meeting all the actors and actresses, or a huge sporting event and meeting all the athletes. It may sound silly to you but to me these are my heroes and the people I look up to the most. Why? Because they fight for what they believe in! They know that autism is not a brain disorder that can't be healed, they know that there are reasons why there has been a 400% increase in autism and they are fighting to be heard! These are the kind of people I love. They never give up, they fight for these kids, and they don't let anything or anyone stand in their way.
I have never been away from my children for 5 nights and 5 days so this makes my heart sink but I know that I have an awesome opportunity in front of me. My mom is coming up to help take care of the kids and I know they will love every minute of it. I've told them several times that Mommy is going away for awhile but as soon as I mention "Grandma" they light up! I'm very thankful for my husband's support because we parent so well together and I hate anytime he has to be gone overnight.
I can't wait to share my experience when I get back!

http://www.autismone.org/content/autismonegeneration-rescue-2011-conference

A bunch of ramblings and my kids

2011-05-10T15:07:00.001-04:00

I often think about things I can blog about. I have a lot on my mind and a lot that I want to share but get caught up in the business of life. Here are a few things I've been meaning to blog about but haven't:

1. Ella and Mason's IGG food allergy test that came back positive for peanut and corn but negative for egg and dairy.
2. Paul Thorson, who conducted the study showing there is no link between autism and vaccines, was indicted on fraud. Didn't hear about that one on your prime time news did you? http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2011/04/13/dane-indicted-for-defrauding-cdc.html
3. Labels. Everyone seems to get upset about labeling children and how they don't want to put a label on their child. No one seems to get upset about labeling their child High Ability, Gifted and Talented, Athletic, Top of the Class, Musically Inclined. A label doesn't define who your child is, it opens the door to a ton of resources.
4. How the government is paying out millions of dollars to children with autism that have been vaccine injured and the truth is about to explode. Don't believe me? Take a look, http://video.foxnews.com/v/4685191/probe-to-reveal-link-between-vaccine-settlements-and-autism.
5. Our average weekly grocery bill of $300! Trying to find a balance with eating healthy, organic food but not spending our mortgage each month in groceries!

Instead of going on about everything that is negative, I'll continue this post with all things positive...my 3 kids!

Haiden is doing AWESOME and we couldn't be more proud of him! I can't believe he is finishing up his 1st grade year. We had open house at his school last week and it was so fun to see the progress he has made over the year. He has been playing soccer for about 4 weeks now and loves his team. The kids all seem to get along great and they really play well together. We are trying to give him more responsibilities because for so long he hasn't had any real chores. ( I know, completely my fault.) He isn't a big fan but does it anyway, we only get a couple eye rolls and sighs. :) He is still completely obsessed with basketball and wants to play it and/or watch it 24/7!

Ella is still Princess Ella but there has been a lot less crying and fewer breakdowns. As I mentioned above, we found out, through an IGG blood test, she has a food sensitivity to peanuts and corn. Never in a million years would I have thought this! I always thought it was dairy and eggs. I've also adjusted my parenting style with her and it has made a world of difference. :) You know the saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? Well it is so true, Ella and I are so much alike that we were butting heads constantly. I'm really working hard to be more patient, understanding, soft spoken, and sympathetic with her and it seems to be making a huge difference. She loves all things babies, dress up, and girly right now but she can run with the big boys, loves soccer, and doesn't mind getting dirty.

Mason is slowly moving from a sweet baby to a defiant toddler. I knew this time was coming but I'm really not ready for it. He tests the word "consistent" to no end! Mason has also been in speech the past 6 weeks which I was a little hesitant to share. Partially, because to me, I had done everything right this time so why was he so hard to understand? Why was he getting so frustrated when he talked? Why did he seem to have low muscle tone in his mouth? I know how important early intervention is so I contacted our wonderful First Steps coordinator, Becky, who is also our neighbor and someone I really look up to. So maybe I fibbed a little bit on his evaluation but he qualified and we got a fabulous speech therapist who was also Ella's speech therapist. (On a side note, did you know that the APA has lowered their standards and that by the age of two years, children should be saying 10 words?! When Ella was 2 years old the standard was 20 words. So according to our pediatrician Mason didn't need speech because he already had 10 words at 18 months...crazy!) Within two sessions, Mason's vocabulary seemed to double and we were able to understand him more. Now he is saying 2-3 words phrases, communicates all his wants and needs, and even throws in a few extra hilarious "Mason sayings". For example, he tells me daily who all in our house has a wee-wee, he tells me when he needs "privacy", he has called me a poop head, and when I push him on the swing he tells me he wants to go high like a super hero. :)

For Mother's Day we spent the morning at Eagle Creek Park. Brian took a few pictures of me and the kidos.

Baby #4 at 15 weeks!

What's in your prenatal vitamin

2011-04-22T13:33:00.000-04:00

We are thrilled to be expecting our 4th child! Of course I have my worries and I am doing everything possible to make this the most healthy pregnancy I can. Currently I participate in CrossFit at PR Fitness (http://www.prfitness.net/) two days a week, yoga one day a week, and I try to swim once a week. I feel like we eat really healthy around here but I'm trying to stay away from sugar which is really hard for me. Sugar is my drug. :)
All expectant moms know that it is important to take our prenatal vitamins. So as soon as I found out we were pregnant I called my doctor to call in my prenatal vitamins. Now that I've become an obsessive label reader the first thing I did when I picked up my vitamins was read the labels. I was disgusted!!!

Here is the list of ingredients in the tablets: acaia gum, blue 2, croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, magnesium stearate, maltodextrin, microcrystalline cellulose, polydextrose, red 40, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, triacetin, yellow 6
What better way to help a developing baby grow than load it up on preservatives, fillers, binders, and food dye! I don't allow this stuff in the food we eat so I wouldn't dare put it into my body through a "vitamin". The softgel DHA vitamin only says at least 275 mg of DHA and EPA and other omega 3-fatty acids, gelatin, glycerin. For one, I have no idea where these omegas came from and two, I have no idea the potency.
When I called my OB's office to ask for vitamins without all this junk, they had no idea!
So I called up our dietitian, Staci Small, from The Wellness Philosophy for some advice. (http://www.thewellnessphilosophy.com/) Lucky for me she is pregnant as well and was able to give me some great prenatal vitamins that are vegetable based.

These things are loaded with nutrients but don't contain any fillers, binders, preservatives, or dye. On the far left are the Pure Encapsulation PreNatal Nutrients, next is vitamin D3, then Kirkman Labs Pro-Bio Gold probiotic, and on the far right fish oil loaded with 600 mg of DHA and EPA from a well respected company.
It feels so much better knowing my baby is getting the best!
So pregnant mommies, what is in your prenatal vitamins?

Autism Action

2011-04-07T13:49:00.000-04:00

April is Autism Awareness Month and I think it is awesome that an entire month has been dedicated to autism but we are fully aware by now! We are aware that autism is growing at an alarming rate. We are aware that 1 in 110 children and 1 in 74 boys will be diagnosed with autism. We are aware at the emotional and financial devastation this causes children and families. It is time for some Autism Action! There is a growing group of parents that "get it" and are taking action to recover, cure, prevent autism in their child/children but unfortunately there are so many others who still trust the "professionals". I finally "got it" and will continue to spread the word no matter what. I've lost friends, I have family who thinks I'm crazy, but I have a healthy son who no longer demonstrates "autistic characteristics"! We love you Haiden!

Gardening Time

2011-03-20T14:55:00.001-04:00

We try every week to stay within a budget when we go grocery shopping but rarely do. Eating all organic can get expensive but to us it is totally worth it. One way to save money on our organic fruits and vegetables is to grow them ourselves. Last year we expanded our garden to 9ft x 13ft and we were able to get an adequate amount of produce. Over the weekend my wonderful hubby expanded our garden to 9ft x 33ft! We plan on growing all organic corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes, broccoli, cucumbers, asparagus, kale, spinach, and strawberries. We also have a pear tree and a cherry tree. Today we did a little gardening project with Ella and should have pumpkins in the fall!

You can see the old garden gated and how far out Brian extended our new garden.

We found this awesome pumpkin gardening kit at Lowe's.

She is ready to plant her pumpkin seeds!

Of course Mason wanted to help. Haiden is away for the weekend but he isn't much of a gardener.

Adding organic soil.

Helping Daddy put the pumpkin seeds in the soil.

Watering the seeds.

Our pumpkin plants will live here until May when we can transplant them outdoors.

Can't wait to show you our garden once we have all of produce planted and growing!

The Email

2011-03-09T14:35:00.000-05:00

Here is an email I received from Haiden's special education teacher.

Hi Abby,

Haiden did such a nice job at the play today. I love when he is proud of himself... that confidence continues to grow! It was so cute to see your little group of kids sitting around you for the play! They were so good! The reason for this email is to share that the whole special ed team at WL feels that if you were interested or ready for Haiden to head back to his home school, we are all in agreement that he is ready. We are basing this on the level of sp ed support he needs to be successful. He has done so well in every facet, everyone has readily agreed that he could return to Eagle if that is what you would like for him. This is not a decision you need to make right away but if Haiden attending Eagle in 2nd grade is a goal, I need to start some transitioning discussions. Let me know your thoughts.

Maria

I could barely finish reading the email because my eyes were filled with tears. This was something we really wanted for Haiden and we are thrilled that it is happening so fast!

Happy 7th Birthday Haiden

2011-02-24T22:27:00.000-05:00

Dear Haiden,
Wow! I cannot believe that you are 7 years old already! I was always told by my parents that time flies by but I never really understood what that meant until I had my own children. You are an AMAZING boy Haiden!
Right now you love anything sports and have an insane talent for sport statistics. This past fall you loved watching Notre Dame football on Saturdays and Colts football on Sundays with Daddy. You remember the score to just about every NFL football game and know most of the starters and their numbers. You also know their win/lose record without thinking twice about it. Now, your new passion is basketball and you love anything basketball. For Christmas we bought a "real" basketball hoop that hangs on a door downstairs. You spend hours shooting hoops and have gotten very good at it. You really like watching IU basketball on TV.
In school you are a superb student! You always have good behavior and seem to have many friends. In fact, several of your classmates with be at your birthday party this weekend. You are reading chapter books already and working your way through division. You also have a photographic memory. There will be times that we are reading together and you will look at a paragraph, look away, and "read" that paragraph to me. The first time you did it I was beyond shocked and asked you to do it again.
At home you are very patient with Ella and Mason and I know it is not always easy being the oldest. I appreciate all of your help and how good you are with your little brother and sister.
Seven years ago I never knew how much you would change my life. You have made me such a better person and everyday I try to be the best mommy I can be!
I love you to infinity!
XOXO,
Mom

He is such a goofball!

Preventing ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder, and Autism

2011-02-22T14:51:00.002-05:00

The following post is my opinion.

Most expecting or new parents only want the best for their child. As a parent we experience all kinds of worries and fears. When I was pregnant with Haiden I always had an overwhelming fear about autism. At the time I was student teaching and working with some autistic children so I just thought that was why I worried all the time. I thought I read all the books, I thought I did all the research, I talked to my OB, I talked to Haiden's pediatrician. I thought I was doing everything I could to have a healthy baby. Little did I know, I didn't have a clue.
I know so much more now but i wish I knew then what I know now. I came across this great website called the Autism Research Institute. They believe that autism is preventable and that autism is treatable. I believe that too because my family has experienced it. Here is a great link to all the ways you can prevent autism in your child, http://www.autism.com/fam_preventing_autism_now.asp. A lot of it is controversial but after living it, I know that it works. I didn't do any of these things with Haiden and he had autism. I did a few of these things with Ella and she would most likely get an ADHD diagnoses if we weren't doing the Brain Balance program (http://www.chironeuroindy.com/). I did almost all of these things with Mason and he is a "typically" developing child.
If you are pregnant or the mother of a young child, please, please, please read this article. It could change your life and your child's life. Some of it may sound extreme but, after recovering a child from autism, I can tell you it isn't nearly as extreme as what you will have to go through if you have a child with ADHD, Sensory Integrations Disorder, or autism.
Please know I post this information because I care. I know the devastation, the heartache, the stress, the anger, the guilt, and the helpless that comes from not educating myself.

Brain Balance and Yoga

2011-01-25T14:55:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned in previous post that we feel Haiden is in a really good place. He seems like a typical child with some quirks that only we notice. Now that we are comfortable with Haiden's progress we have been focusing on Ella and her emotional needs. She is pretty unpredictable and can make or break just about anything we are doing. So we have started her on the Brain Balance Program and I have very high hopes! We went last Friday for an evaluation and the findings were very interesting. For example, she could track objects with her right eye but not her left. Instead of trying to explain it all to you I'm attaching two links if you are interested. I would also recommend the book that goes along with the program called Disconnected Kids.

http://www.chironeuroindy.com/

http://brainbalanceindy.com/

I also started doing Yoga with the kids. Haiden likes to do it every once in awhile but Ella wants to do it about 5 times a day. She loves it! Some friends of ours got us the book Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child by Nancy Williams. (Actually, our friend's sister is Nancy Williams...pretty cool!)

Ella demonstrating one of her yoga moves before bedtime. :)

Haiden demonstrating the "table" move.

Life with three kids continues to be crazy. I'm having a hard time balancing being a mom, wife, starting a photography business, babysitting two days a week, and running. My husband has been so supportive and I wouldn't be able to stay sane without him!

Gluten, Dairy, Egg Free Cupcakes

2011-01-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have found my new favorite Gluten, Dairy, Egg Free brand! Cherrybrook Kitchen is great and they also make pancake mix, cookie mix, and frosting! The kids were so excited when I told them that we were going to cupcakes!

Someone licked the batter!

Here is the cupcake before we put icing on it.

Cherrybrook Kitchen frosting

The kids wanted to frost their own cupcakes.

Mason wasn't too sure about it so Daddy helped him.

The kids loved the cupcakes and were a little upset that I only let them have one. :)

Juicing!

2011-01-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

There are so many health benefits to juicing. Check out some of them here http://www.bestofjuicing.com/. Luckily Ella and Mason LOVE when I juice. Haiden, on the other hand, is not a big fan of it. I didn't start making juice until Haiden was six years old so he knew that there was a difference between the homemade juice and the store bought juice. Do you really believe that the store bought juice is "100% fruit juice"? I sure hope not! If so, you need to educate yourself a lot about the food you are putting in front of your children!

My little Mason likes to sneak a few orange slices.

Brian bought me this juicer about a year ago at Kohl's for $100. It is one of the lower end models but works great!

My little princess likes to take all the seeds out of the apples before I put them through the juicer.

Voila! Here is a carrot, apple, and orange juice! We call it "I Love Juicy"!

Mason taking down his second cup.

The only bad thing about making homemade juice is that is stains the cups a little bit but to me a little stain is totally worth it!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T13:29:00.002-05:00

We are having a wonderful Christmas and hope you and your family are doing the same! We attended Christmas Eve church service, put reindeer food in the yard for Santa's reindeer, made homemade popcorn out of non-GMO corn kernels, and watched Polar Express. When the kids woke up this morning they were overcome with excitement. I made gfcfef pancakes with honey and then the kids opened up their gifts. They spent the morning playing and we plan on staying in our pajamas all day and watching Christmas movies. Our Christmas dinner is going to consist of baked ham, gfcfef mac and cheese (this is a first so I'll have to let you know how it turns out), roasted potatoes, and broccoli.

Why Mason Is Healthier

2010-12-13T22:19:00.005-05:00

It is almost embarrassing to say but I feel like I finally did things the right way with Mason. By the time I was pregnant with Mason, I was fitting all the pieces together with Haiden and Ella. So instead of typing a long story about all the things I did differently, I thought I'd make a list. Here it goes:
1. Only drank water
2. Didn't take any medicines (not even Tylenol)
3. Ate very well (So maybe the cookies at Marsh bakery don't count, but that was the worse thing I ate.)
4. Didn't vaccinate (Educate yourself people!)
5. Breastfed until he self weaned at 14 months (I never thought I'd be one of "those" people, but I totally am!)
6. Made all my own organic baby food
That's it! Here are the differences:
1. No colic
2. No jaundice
3. No major illness until two weeks ago (had a 24 hour bug).
4. Has met all developmental milestones
He lights up my life!

Saving Ella

2010-12-07T10:29:00.004-05:00

Now that we have Haiden in a good place, it is time to focus on our little princess, Ella. I've mentioned it before and I'll say it again, I believe Ella was also damaged by vaccines. By the time Ella was born, we thought Haiden was damaged by having too many vaccines at once, not realizing that I didn't make strong babies, and that my kids couldn't handle ANY vaccines. I remember the day I went into the hospital to have Ella and the nurse asking me if I wanted her to have the Hep B vaccine. I had an unsettling feeling about it and told the nurse my fears. She said, "If you get the Hep B now, then that will be one less at her 6 week appointment." I thought, "Yea, that's true" and signed the consent form. A signature I'll regret for the rest of my life.

By 48 hours of age, jaundice had set in and she had to stay in the hospital an extra day and was sent home with a billy blanket. By 2 weeks of age she had RSV. By 4 weeks of age she had her first ear infection and was on her first round of antibiotics. By 8 weeks of age she had her second ear infection and had her second round of antibiotics. At her well baby visit I agreed to one, just one, vaccine. Two days later she stopped breathing twice, was in the hospital, and sent home with an apnea monitor. (If this would of happened in her sleep instead of my arms, she could of died and it would of been called SIDS.) I still hadn't put it all together and didn't realize the vaccines were causing all these traumatic illnesses so at her 3 month visit I agreed to one, just one more, vaccine. Four days later, Christmas Eve, she was throwing up all day, and we spent Christmas Eve in the hospital because she was dehydrated. Oh, and she had another ear infection. At four months of age she had her fourth ear infection and was put on more antibiotics. At five months of age she had her fifth ear infection and at six months of age she had her sixth ear infection. She also had a constant runny nose and "colds". I finally realized that her little immune system had been destroyed and felt that vaccines contributed to that so I stopped after 4 vaccines and I am forever grateful that I did. After a constant runny nose and colds for six months, Ella was no longer sick but the damage was done.

By now she had been diagnosed with hypotonia (low muscle tone) and still couldn't roll over. (The same girl that was holding her head up on her own at two weeks, all of a sudden had low muscle tone.) I contacted First Steps and physical therapy was started within two weeks. She started to make huge improvements but once we started "real" food, she would throw up or gag. I contacted First Step again and occupational therapy was started within two weeks. Soon we started Craniosacral Therapy and Ella stopped gagging and throwing up. By now she was dismissed from Physical Therapy too. At 18 months of age, when speech was not progressing, I had a speech evaluation and speech therapy was started shortly after. We also put Ella on a gluten/casein free diet. Within a month her language skyrocketed and she hasn't stopped talking since.

Like I said, the damage was done. Being born with a weak immune system, then having vaccines destroy it, not breastfeeding (which I regret giving that up), then antibiotics that strip all good bacteria away from your gut (which 80% of your immune system is in your belly) equals a huge yeast problem also known as leaky gut. A lot of "doctors" won't recognize leaky gut or yeast overgrowth as a real illness but my real homeopathy doctors do. Having yeast overgrowth and leaky gut can lead to a lot of emotional problems which is were we are at with Ella.

She is so smart, loving, helpful, independent, and has the best sense of humor but also so unpredictable. She can be happy one minute and the smallest issue can make her little world fall apart. It is also not easy being the middle child and only girl in the family so we've really been working on behavior modification. She gets a ton of one on one time with mommy or daddy and when she starts to break down we now remove ourselves from the situation instead of removing her. After almost a year of behavior issues with her, last week, was the best week ever! The only change I made was her breakfast and I can't figure out if that has something to do with it or not. Instead of gfcf/egg free waffles or pancakes with honey or real maple syrup, we had organic sausage or bacon with fruit. The change was awesome! The entire household felt less tense and more relaxed. (My husband actually wanted to be home.) Well, I haven't been able to go to the store to get more sausage and fruit so yesterday and today she had waffles with honey. Yesterday was totally exhausting and I felt like we took 10 steps backwards. After an amazing week last week, what in the world happened?! Could it be the food? I guess we will see.

Below is a picture from this past weekend playing out in the snow. She had so much fun!

Haiden's PT Conference

2010-12-04T14:00:00.003-05:00

In November we had Haiden's parent/teacher conference and I am so proud to share it with you! On the conference form Haiden's teacher, Mrs. Beard (whom I love), wrote "Haiden just lights up the room. He has such a neat personality. He has a lot to offer!"
She went on to add that "he begins work promptly, stays on task, is willing to ask for help, takes pride in his independent work, demonstrates good handwriting (thank you hours and hours of O.T.), follows directions promptly, demonstrates good self control, assumes responsibility between school and home, gets along well with others, is courteous and has a positive attitude, and cooperates with supervising adults." The only negative comment was that "Haiden will sometimes talk off subject." This comment didn't surprise me at all. That boy is able to turn any conversation into a conversation about football! I am so proud of my little man! He has always been such a fighter and he has fought his way out of autism! Never give up hope!

Trying to Stay Ahead

2010-11-30T15:05:00.003-05:00

Between taking care of three little ones, babysitting two other little ones, drum lessons, gymnastics, my photography business, taking care of the house, cooking on a special diet, the holidays, and keeping up with the day to day tasks of life, I've been neglecting my blog! There has been a lot going on in our house that I want to share so bear with me the next few weeks as I try to catch up! In the meantime, here is a picture of my beautiful children at Grandpa Dean and Grandma Jeanne's house!

My Favorite Green Smoothie

2010-11-10T21:25:00.002-05:00

When we were on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (and didn't know that Haiden was sensitive to almonds), I spent a lot of time at Georgetown Market buying almonds and cashews in bulk. I feel in love with this store because they have a juice bar. My favorite drink from there is called Tine Dream. Since I am unable to make the trip as much I decided to try my own version of the Tine Dream. I was pretty darn proud when it tasted just like the one they make at Georgetown! What I love most about this drink is that the kids even like it, especially my anti-anything-green guy...Mason. Put organic spinach, organic bananas, frozen peaches in a food processor or blender and start blending. Add coconut milk kefir (loaded with probiotics) and apple juice. Enjoy!

So, so yummy!!!! If you decide to try this please let me know what you think.

Fall Fun

2010-11-09T21:28:00.003-05:00

What's been going on with the McKinney's this past month?
Haiden lost his first tooth! He was so excited too! For a sensory kid, I was shocked. He has been wiggling it around for weeks and then came up to me and asked if I would pull it. I grabbed a tissue, counted to three, and pulled. His eyes got really big and he was a little freaked out by the blood but no tears. We went on a trip to Stony Creek Farm in Noblesville. This place is great and if you are looking for a family friendly pumpkin patch with lots of activities for kids, this is it!

They had a tractor for the kids to play on,

a maze made out of straw bales,

and a giant jumping pillow that Haiden loved.

They also had a hay rides, a kid friendly haunted house, food, a pumpkin train, and zip lining!

When we carved our pumpkin I got this picture of Haiden and just loved it!

Mason helping carve his first pumpkin.

Ella helped out too. Even though she didn't like the smell and wouldn't touch the "goop" inside, she liked helping scoop it out.

So just a few years ago this would of made Haiden throw up. Now he is being a comedian.

We then took the kids trick or treating. This can be difficult because we know they are going to get a bunch of junk that they can't have, so my husband and I take care of that problem :)

I can't believe we are into our 2nd week of November already! We will be heading back home to Tell City for Thanksgiving and I can't wait to visit with family and friends.

I'm also excited to share a new green smoothie that I made and the kids even liked it!

My Grandpa

2010-11-01T14:02:00.002-04:00

My Grandpa went to a better place last week. Although our hearts are broken and we miss him dearly, we have so many wonderful memories. It has been difficult explaining everything to the kids. Ella and Mason are too young to understand but Haiden is just at that age where he understands but is really confused. With Haiden being so literal and seeing me a wreck, he has had a hard time. I told him that Gramps is with God but when he saw Gramps at the visitation he said, "You told me Gramps was with God so why is he sleeping in that bed?" Before I could think of an answer Haiden said, "Oh, is he dreaming that he is with God?" I said, "Yes."

I was able to speak at Grandpa's service and I am so happy that I did. Below is what I said:

There are not enough words to describe one of the greatest men I have ever known. My grandpa had so many admirable qualities. He was a strong man, very giving, caring, helpful, gentle, hard working, loving, courageous, full of wisdom, and a man of God. He always made us want to be better without even saying a word. Though I think he was most proud of being called a devoted husband, a father, a grandpa, and Gramps. He loved his family unconditionally and always put his family first. We were his world and he always let us know that. I am so grateful for the wonderful memories he made. From our trips to Florida, sporting events, plays, holidays, birthday parties, or just hanging out, he was always there. We will always hold these memories in our hearts. While trying to find comfort in Grandpa's passing I found this poem. As I was reading it I knew it was what Grandpa would say now that he is with the Lord.

You can shed tears that I am gone but please smile because I have lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that I'll come back but please open your eyes and see all that I left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see me but please be full of the love we shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday but please be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember me and only that I'm gone but please cherish my memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back but please do what I'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

Grandpa we will miss you so much. Thank you for always being there, thank you for the cherished memories, thank you for being the best Grandpa in the world.

It's the Little Things

2010-10-14T13:02:00.002-04:00

One of the many perks of being a stay-at-home mom is that I am able to have lunch with Haiden at his school! With Ella in preschool two days a week, Mason and I went to lunch with our big man. I walked out of there with a huge smile on my face for many reasons.
1. As Haiden was walking with his class he saw me, turned to his classmate, and said, "Hey look, there is my mom! Hi Mom, I am so happy you are eating lunch with me today. Oh, and there is my little brother, Mason."
2. As they walked into the cafeteria, two of his classmates yelled, "Haiden, Haiden, sit with me!"
3. While sitting at the table Haiden was having a "typical" conversation with his peers!
4. When it was time to go Haiden was in a hurry to be with his friends and took off. He then turned back around and said, "Hey, I want to give you a hug."
There were so many things about this short 30 minutes that made my heart swell. The fact that he has formed meaningful relationships with peers is HUGE! The fact that he keeps conversations going back and forth and on topic is even more HUGE!
Haiden has no idea the leaps and gains he has made in the past 4 years, but I do and that is why I am crazy obsessive about educating people on autism recovery. It's possible folks!

GFCFSF Afternoon Snack

2010-10-01T22:03:00.003-04:00

A favorite snack for my kids! We just call it trail mix.

Puffed rice, GF Envirokidz cereal, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, dairy free chocolate chips

Happy Birthday Princess!!!!

2010-09-28T22:11:00.004-04:00

My baby girl turned 3 this past weekend! A huge Thank You to Liza Gardner for making this fabulous cake!

Daddy's girl

Mommy's Princess

She felt a little shy when everyone sang Happy Birthday!

"Ella, how old are you?"

"I'm THREE!!!!!!"

She loves her bike from Grandma and Grandpa Kleeman and her helmet from Granny and Gramps!!! Just yesterday as she was riding her bike for the 3rd time that day she stopped, turned around, and said, "Mommy, I just love Grandma!"

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa McKinney

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa Kleeman

Dear Ella,

I can't believe that you are already 3 years old! After 2 years of being sick most of the time, you had a year of perfect health! You have such a fun personality and are full of life! You are also a little mommy and love to help out around the house and with your baby brother. Mommy and Daddy can't get anything by you because you are always very attentive to everyone around you. You love to play with your babies, color, draw, dress up, ride your new bike, and play with your brothers. You also started preschool this year and you love it! Your teachers tell me that you are a very sweet girl and such a good listener. You have the best laugh in the world and I love when you are happy! I can tell by your strong personality that you will probably get whatever you want in life. Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Salad of the Year

2010-09-24T14:17:00.002-04:00

I have a favorite salad that I eat almost everyday for lunch! The best thing about my kale salad is that is it HUGE, filling, and without feta cheese only 300 calories! Plus it is loaded with vitamins and minerals. Organic kale, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, red onion, cucumber, tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt. Delicious!

So my family is getting pretty tired of eating the same thing week after week and with our busy schedule it is very hard to cook from scratch every night. So this week we tried something new and I think it was a hit.
I found these Alphatots at Whole Foods and the kids thought they were great! There is only 4 ingredients too.

Then I made a Swiss Steak in the crock pot. I used organic tomato sauce, organic worcheshire sauce, and about a tablespoon of brown sugar. Mixed it all up and put in the crock pot with an organic round steak from Moody Meats.

Voila! A new, easy, and tasty dinner.

Of course I had to add this picture because he is just too darn cute. He is now walking without support and is so proud of himself!

Allergy Elimination

2010-09-14T14:18:00.003-04:00

We are taking a homeopathic approach to helping our little princess! We have found a wonderful chiropractor here in Brownsburg who does allergy elimination using the Bioset method. So yesterday was our first visit and we found out she is allergic to eggs, sugar, chicken, and dogs! I was shocked! I thought it was dairy and food dyes but I was wrong. It doesn't help that we have a 100lb lab but the good thing is we don't have to find him a new home. With allergy elimination the belief is that with treatment they are able to remove the allergy. She still may have a sensitivity but not a full blown allergy. We also found out that she has a yeast problem but I had that feeling this entire time. It was recommended that Ella take the supplement Yeast Redux. Have any of my biomed friends tried this? Did it work? They also recommended a yeast free diet which will be torture for our little princess.
I get so angry thinking how all of this could of been prevented. The warning sign was there after she received the Hep B shot when she was only 24 hours old. Unfortunately we were just making the connection between vaccines and injury with Haiden. I thought I was doing a positive thing by spreading the vaccines out but I really wish I would of known then what I know now. She never would of been injected with all of those toxins!
This is such a controversial topic and so many people cringe over it but it needs to be talked about. I'm 28 years old and by the time I was 3 years old I had 10 vaccines. Today a 3 year old will have almost 30 vaccines! What research is being done to see if this is safe? What kind of information is being taken from the mother to see if her child could be at risk? Was the mother a breastfed child? Was the mother on a bunch of antibiotics growing up? What kind of toxins has the mother been exposed to? All these things need to be talked about!

Kido Update

2010-09-09T14:02:00.006-04:00

Mr. Cool! Now that Haiden is playing football he thinks he is a tough guy. While I was taking his pictures he said he couldn't smile because he had his football jersey on. :)
Other than the boat load of homework each night, 1st grade is going great! Haiden loves school and loves learning. When he gets home from school we do homework (which is a juggling act with two other little ones) and then he likes to go play in his room. I think he is just destressing from the day and likes to be left alone for awhile...don't we all. He has three neighborhood boys that he plays with almost every day. I love it! They play for hours and I think they would stay the night if we let them. Keep it up Haiden! We are incredibly proud of you!

Oh Princess Ella, how you control the mood in this house. When I picked her up from preschool this week her teacher said, "She is just the sweetest thing!" Wait a minute are we talking about the same child? :) As long as she is good in school, then I can handle her being a little terror at home. Although, I think I have FINALLY made a connection to her bi-polar like behavior. We have tried to removed all artificial coloring from the kids diet but sometimes we slip. I never thought much about it until I knowingly (I know, stupid) gave her something that was artificially colored. The next day she was a hot mess! So I told myself that I was going to make sure she didn't get anything that had artificial coloring. It seemed like last Wednesday and Thursday were rough but then she was AWESOME until yesterday (Wednesday). Well I found out that every time the kids go potty at preschool, they get a skittle! Ella's teacher told me that Ella was going to the bathroom 4-5 times in the morning and she thought it was just to get a skittle! I didn't think this would be an issue because we send in all her food but I guess I was wrong. So as she was a hot mess all morning today I blamed the skittles. :)

My little Mason man! You are wearing your momma out now that you are a climbing maniac! We can't turn our backs or he will be on top of the dining room table, climbing up the couch, throwing himself off the couch, in a drawer, in the trash, pulling dirt out of the potted plants, pulling all the toilet paper off the roll, getting all the glass tuperware out and banging it on the tile, turning the TV on and off, splashing in the dog's water, trying to eat the dog food, climbing on the brick fireplace, pulling the gate down to get up the stairs, trying to slide under the gate at the top of the stairs, climbing in the toybox, and flushing the toilet over and over.

This week he has also started walking so we are in trouble. :)

My life is filled with so much joy because of these 3 amazing children!

Mason's First Haircut

2010-08-29T21:58:00.003-04:00

With Haiden and Ella recently having their first day of school, I thought I should add another first...Mason's first haircut. I loved his long, curly hair but it was getting a little out of control. Now he looks like a little boy, not my baby, but he will always be my baby :)

He continues to be amazing! Never sick, always engaged, and meeting milestones. Our only child without immunizations but yet our healthiest.

Ella's 1st Day of Preschool

2010-08-27T14:48:00.002-04:00

Ella started preschool this week! I had mixed emotions about this. I was happy for her and this next step in her life but I was terrified that she would get kicked out. :) (Those of you who know Ella, know this could happen.) I pictured a lot of crying, refusing to listen, not playing with other children, and a phone call from her teachers. Despite my fears, Ella was "awesome". (Yes, awesome is in quotes because that is what Ms. Shannon said.) I am one proud momma!

First Day of School

2010-08-20T13:45:00.002-04:00

Doesn't he look thrilled? The look says it all. This is how he felt about going back to school. The good news, he had a HUGE smile on his face when he got off the bus and has had an awesome first week! Still not happy. He did tell me that he felt nervous.

I got a little smile.

But it didn't last.

We feel very blessed! Haiden has an amazing teacher, Mrs. Beard, and we are looking forward to a successful school year! He has been telling us about kids he sits with at lunch and plays with on recess...this is huge for Haiden!

Football

2010-08-17T14:41:00.002-04:00

Our football obsessed son is now playing football! Those of you who have followed my blog or personally know Haiden, know that he is a football maniac! He memorizes lineups, scores, and plays. :) Football is really good for his attention because he has to always be paying attention to the coaches in order to know what is going on. (This has been a real test for him.) I was nervous about him playing since he is small but after his game, I feel much better! He always makes me so proud! Look at that stud!

Go get 'em #21!

It is hard to see but he is blocking #11.

He thought is was so cool that he was so sweaty after his game. :)

Educate Before You Vacinate

2010-08-04T23:05:00.001-04:00

If you care about your health and the health of your children then you will read this
http://gfcfautismomma.blogspot.com/.

Diet Comeback

2010-07-29T22:20:00.005-04:00

Well we have been home for a week and I can already tell a difference in our little man. It amazes me how much food can affect a person. Although, I'll admit, I did enjoy eating junk for a couple of weeks but it feels good to be home eating healthy again.
Vacation was an absolute blast! I loved getting to spend so much time with my family since we don't get to see them a lot. Thank you Mom and Larry for such an amazing vacation!Getting ready to go to the beach!
Ella keeps saying that she wants to play golf golf golf a.k.a putt putt golf

Riding go carts!

I think Haiden made it around the go cart track once. He had such a hard time trying drive, steer, push the gas, push the brake. Needless to say, he didn't like it :)
So after 5 years of hating the water...Haiden is finally swimming! I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years and have always loved the water so it has been difficult for me to see my child absolutely terrified of water. Last summer I told myself that I wasn't going to push it anymore and that I would teach him to swim on his own time. I am so glad that I back off because now he loves to swim. In fact, he said that was his favorite part of vacation!

BIG MISTAKE!!!

2010-07-22T14:06:00.002-04:00

We have been vacationing for the past two weeks and strayed from our diet...BIG MISTAKE! After the first few days I didn't notice much of a difference in Haiden but now, almost 12 days in, even Grandma has noticed a difference! My talkative, outgoing, spunky little guy is now quiet, withdrawn, and disconnected. We have had a great time on vacation but I am ready to get back home and start our detox diet! For people who don't believe in what we are doing to help Haiden, just follow along as we get our little guy out of this funk! Food = Medicine!

Tacos, IMA, and Football...already?

2010-06-24T21:23:00.003-04:00

Taco Night! Thanks to Food for Life tortillas and Daiya cheese, we can have gluten free, casein free, egg free, soy free tacos! I like to sneak in some chopped organic spinach and black beans.

Top with organic grilled chicken and Daiya cheddar cheese.

Cook in the skillet with a bit of olive oil and voila!

The past week has been filled with play dates, trips to the library, gymnastics, drum lessons, swimming, doing puzzles (Haiden's newest obsession), coloring, reading books, turning our couch into Jump-N-Play, watching movies, playing doctor (Ella's new favorite make believe activity), going to the park, and visiting the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art). Whew, and I don't think that is all! I love the IMA and they now have 100 acres of outdoor art. We didn't get to see all 100 acres but here are a few pictures of what we did see. (And yes, I planned their outfits.)

Someone wasn't too thrilled with taking this picture. Can you tell who it was? (Mom, didn't I have that similar pouty face?) :)

Anytime I turn the camera on Mason gives me a HUGE smile.

Two weeks ago we signed Haiden up for football. Tonight we went to pick up his gear. This is big stuff folks. When we got there and signed in they confirmed he was in the Rookie Tackle League (up to 80lbs), then they weighed him (a whopping 48lbs), then I said a little prayer that went a little something like...Dear Lord, please don't let my baby get hurt. Then he got pants, fitted for shoulder pads, and then fitted for a helmet. We were informed that the "draft" would take place in a few weeks and our coach would notify us. Then we will start practicing the last week of July, there's no playing around here, which consists of 2 weekly practices and a weekend game. Oh what have we gotten ourselves into?! Haiden could barely carry his gear out to the car :)

Gluten Free, Casein Free, Egg Free, Soy Free Pizza

2010-06-18T21:13:00.004-04:00

We can have Friday pizza night again! Thanks to Namaste pizza crust, organic pizza sauce, and Daiya cheese, our kidos can enjoy a gluten/casein/egg/soy free pizza! Our little guy had pizza for the first time recently. Can you tell he really liked it?

Playing peek-a-boo and smearing pizza sauce all over his face.

A fantastic find at Target? Oh yes! These are Ella's Kitchen Organic Baby Food pouches. (Ella thinks they are all hers since it has her name on it.) These are great for when we are out and about and Mason needs a little snack.

Our little princess before gymnastics!

Haiden started drum lessons this week and loves it! He is looking forward to going back next week. He did so well at his lesson!

2010-06-09T15:33:00.003-04:00

We've had an eventful two weeks here in the McKinney house! Now that Haiden is on summer break, we are even busier (I didn't think that could be possible.) During Ella and Mason's nap (which use to be my quiet "me" time) Haiden and I read books, do math activities, puzzles, and play games. I do take about 20 minutes during nap time and let him watch TV so I can warm up for Round 2, lol. Even though he is very independent and plays well on his own, he wants to talk to me all the time...all day long. I just remind myself that it wasn't that long ago that his main form of communication was grunting, yelling, and crying. I have to laugh sometimes...we worked so hard to get him to talk and now he won't stop :). I should say he worked so hard to talk! Another BIG event that we celebrated was Mason's 1st birthday! I can't believe my little man is already one! (Time for another one, right honey? hehe) This past year has just flown by way too fast. He now says Dada, Mama, done, and signs more. He is cruising along furniture, throwing things (not always a ball), climbing up stairs, waving bye, giving high fives, dancing, and singing (aka yelling just to hear himself yell). The past year he has had 3 illnesses (compared to Haiden and Ella's 12) consisting of a runny nose and cough. (I think two of those illnesses were from me eating cheese and him teething. He already has 8 teeth!) Oh and have I mentioned no vaccinations?! He is such a healthy boy!

No, this is not an organic, gluten free, casein free, egg free cake. About 12 hours after eating this cake he got a runny nose. Food sensitivity? Not for sure but I do not think my kids are ever going to handle cows milk, which is just fine. There are plenty of other ways to get the calcium they need.

He loved it! I wonder if he was thinking, "Why in the world do I only get to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains? This stuff is great!"

He just melts my heart!

I can't leave out my little princess!

Ella started gymnastics and loves it. It is also a fun Mommy and Ella time. We also found out that maybe all of her emotional breakdowns are from sleep deprivation! Her tonsils touch her little hangy thing (I know, there is a medical term for it) in the back of her throat. So our doctor thinks she may have sleep apnea. It makes sense, she wakes up a lot during the night. We have an appointment the first of July with our ENT and are hoping to get some answers.

I also want to give a shout out to my husband! He got a promotion at work and I am so proud of him! We are so blessed!

Rookie Run

2010-05-27T13:08:00.003-04:00

While waiting at the start line, Haiden broke out the moves as the song "I Like To Move It' blared over the loud speaker. A few years ago he would of had his hands over his ears.
Look how far ahead my little man is! Go Haiden Go! Yes, I was that parent...yelling and cheering.
He even had enough energy to wave at me! Go Buddy! Keep it up! Yay!!!
After his race wearing his medal proudly!

My little man always amazes me! Before autism recovery he would of never been able to go downtown, leave his mommy, and compete in a race. Now after autism recovery, he went downtown, left his mommy, and competed in his first race.

Garden, Smoothies, and Products

2010-05-24T12:16:00.004-04:00

Now that my kidos have all natural, organic body care products, it is time for me! Here is my Tom's deodorant that is aluminum free and Burt Bees Toothpaste.

Mason's all natural toothpaste.
Our Shampoo and Conditioner that is sulfate free.
An awesome find at Whole Foods! Here is some superfood goodness that I now put into our smoothies.
I love our garden and watching it grow! Here is some green peppers and tomatoes that my hubby planted.
Our broccoli is growing!
Look at that cabbage!!

A super, good for you lunch! Kale sauteed in olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt topped with grilled chicken, tomato, and craisins.
Mason in his new sling trying to get my smoothie. He loves smoothies!
Kale, banana, strawberry, blueberry, rice milk, Amazing Grass Green Superfood smoothie.
I love this sling! I can put my little man on my back while I cook!
Getting ready to make a superfood smoothie!

Haiden's Kindergarten Graduation Solo

2010-05-16T22:02:00.004-04:00

Friends

2010-05-13T14:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Haiden wanted to ask our neighbors, Cassidy (7 years old) and Tate (5 years old), to come over and play. He usually just walks across the street, knocks on the door, and ask if they can play. Since they have been playing together every single day this week I thought I would call their mom, Chelsea, first. When Chelsea asked the kids if they wanted to play I could hear "Yay! I do, I do!" with a ton of excitement in their voices. I had to hold back the tears. Just a few years ago one of my biggest fears was that Haiden would not be able to form meaningful relationships. Not only does he want these relationships, he can do it! They played together and we had Tate stay with us for dinner while his sister had a hair appointment. Now, one of my biggest fears is gone and Haiden has two really good friends!

Diet Whoas

2010-05-11T13:28:00.003-04:00

Wow! It has been way to long since I've posted. We have been super busy, as always, around here.

I previously mentioned that Haiden was able to take digestive enzymes then eat whatever he wanted with no side effects. Well, I was wrong. We started to notice his eczema coming back and his attention span becoming shorter. Of course, I panicked and started analyzing everything he has eaten. Even though the digestive enzymes help some, I don't think it is our "cure". What can I say, we tried.

P.S. Vaccines, I still greatly dislike you!

On a side note, I ran my first half marathon this weekend and am hoping to be walking normal soon!

Here are my precious blessings! I thank the good Lord everyday for my three amazing children.

From Now On

2010-04-25T13:54:00.003-04:00

From now on my blog will be about day to day life with our 3 amazing children. I truly believe Haiden is recovered because we are managing his PDD-NOS with diet, supplements, and an overall healthier lifestyle.

Speaking of diet, I will also continue to post any new recipes we find or come up with. We have been eating a lot of the same thing lately so it is about time for some new recipes :).

Haiden has been doing EXTREMELY well at school and we are counting down the days to the end of his Kindergarten year. He has started his 3rd soccer season and makes us proud every game. He works hard and has a great attitude. Below is a picture of him after scoring his first goal of the season.

Our little princess, Ella, continues to be just that...a princess. It seems that in the past 6 months she has all of a sudden grown up into a little girl. She is still very strong willed and stubborn but makes us laugh everyday. She loves helping me out around the house and playing with her babies. She reminds me so much of me. I know, we are in trouble :).

Our little Mason man is also growing up way too fast! He is pulling himself to stand up and getting into everything. He sure does know how to get his way too.

I have been receiving several emails and messages from other moms who are recovering their child from autism or have just started this journey. I enjoy hearing from parents who feel inspired by Haiden's story because that has been my hope for this blog. So Thank You biomedical parents for sharing your stories! A better life is possible!

Four Years Ago

2010-04-12T21:11:00.002-04:00

Dear Haiden,

Four years ago you were sick all the time. Four years ago you had rashes all over your body. Four years ago you couldn't communicate your wants and needs. Four years ago you couldn't transition from one activity to another without a meltdown. Four years ago you didn't want to play with other children. Four years ago you didn't know how to play with toys. Four years ago you wouldn't touch certain things because you couldn't stand how they felt. Four years ago your little world was a very scary place. Four years ago they said you had autism. Four years ago we said you were awesome and deserved a better life. So four years ago we started our biomedical journey.
Today you are healthy. Today you don't have rashes all over your body. Today you talk to us all the time about your wants, needs, likes, dislikes, thoughts, and dreams. Today you go place to place with ease and enjoy going to parks, school, the store, grandparents, and friends houses. Today you have a lot of friends that you love to play with. Today you love music, sports, trains, running, pretending, and playing. Today you will get messy and care less about it. Today you are a very happy little boy. Today we were told that you would be in the general education classroom for 1st grade. Today we still think you are awesome. And today I can say, "You have recovered from autism!"
Mommy and Daddy love you so much! We are so proud of how hard you have fought through all of this. You have no idea how many lives you changed.
Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Home Grown Goodness

2010-04-05T22:49:00.003-04:00

We have been super busy around the McKinney house! Enjoying this wonderful spring weather, keeping the kidos entertained over Haiden's Spring Break, the start of soccer season, launching my new website, starting our garden (thanks to my wonderful hubby), celebrating Easter, and all the other daily tasks of life with 3 little blessings.
Haiden has also started taking vitamins and supplements again. He is taking Kirkman multivitamins, Kirkman probiotics, amino acids, oil of oregano, calcium, and digestive enzymes. The digestive enzymes have been AMAZING! Even though I believe that eating whole foods is vital to our children's health, every once in a while it would be nice to not worry about what he is eating. With these enzymes, that has been possible!

Here are some pics of our garden! This is just the start. So far my hubby planted herbs, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and strawberries.

Here are our herbs; thyme, cilantro, basil, and rosemary. Do you have a garden? What have you planted?

Ready for Basketball

2010-03-26T13:31:00.002-04:00

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

2010-03-23T11:56:00.002-04:00

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

2010-03-15T20:39:00.004-04:00

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

2010-03-08T12:22:00.003-05:00

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

2010-03-07T20:20:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-04T13:35:00.002-05:00

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.

Diet, Play, and Diapers!

2010-02-26T22:28:00.004-05:00

You like the title of this post? Well we have had so much going on this past week in the McKinney house that I had to share.
First off, this wonderful diet (sense the sarcasm?). Since starting the SCD Haiden has regressed at school. He has been very, very sensitive and crying over just about everything that doesn't go his way. Now there are several factors that could play into this so I'm not for sure if it is just the diet, a combination of things, or Haiden figuring out how to get his way:). We started the diet, then Haiden got the flu, then he had several snow days. So I called our DAN doctor and she recommended stopping all nuts, adding rice back in, and focus on being GFCF/soy free/egg free. Seriously? Ahh, this is all getting pretty exhausting. Though being told that we could eat rice made me want to jump up and down! So I really had my hopes up that we would be able to fully heal Haiden's belly and eventually eat anything we wanted. Now, I think maybe this is just how we are suppose to eat. Honestly, the thought of eating something that comes out of a cow's boob really freaks me out. When I think about it Haiden has made tremendous gains in the past three years! Maybe this is his full recovery? He is healthy, he doesn't have bowel issues anymore, he leads a pretty "normal" life, he sleeps good, he eats good, he is so happy, and he enjoys life. Maybe he will always be a quirky little guy. If so, I can fully accept that. He is an amazing kid! I just can't live with myself unless I know that I did everything possible (safe of course) for him.

Here are some pics of a few things we have been eating this week.

Fish Tacos! Rice tortilla, grilled tilapia, brown rice, black beans, avocado and cumin dressing http://www.choosingraw.com/raw-foods-tutorial-the-raw-cocktail-party/Homemade Hummus! Just put dried chick peas (soak overnight then cook in filtered water for 3 hours), roasted red pepper, garlic cloves, basil, salt and pepper into the food processor.Then you will have a delicious hummus without any preservatives. You can do so much with hummus. I like to put them on rice wraps, dip with veggies, dip with butternut chips, and dip with rice chips.

We went to Haiden's school play performance this week! It was so adorable! The play was called Humpty Dumpty and Haiden was the King's Messenger!

I have always wanted to use cloth diapers but just didn't have the guts to do it...until now! I received my order from Toasty Baby (http://www.toastybaby.com/) today and couldn't wait to put my babies in their new diapers.

Ella is potty trained but she still wears a diaper during nap time and through the night. She loves her new cloth diapers and didn't want to take it off after her nap. Can you tell she just woke up?

Mason was army crawling towards the pile of new diapers.

He is such a handsome little guy!!

My Baby Isn't A Baby Anymore

2010-02-24T13:56:00.003-05:00

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TO HAIDEN! Yes, my little man is not so little. I can't believe he is already 6 years old. Where has the time gone? I remember my Dad always talking about how time goes so fast and I would always think yea, yea, yea. Well Dad, I know what you mean now.

Haiden is an amazing little man and has come so far! http://mckinneyclan3.blogspot.com/2009/04/in-beginning.html

He has taught me so much about life and being a mother. The most important lesson I've learned from Haiden is to always trust my God given motherly instinct.

As I think about Haiden, I think about all of his great characteristics. He is such a sweet boy, very caring, and very in tuned with others feelings. He shares other pain and their joys. He says, "I love you Mommy." at least once a day. He is obedient and respectful. He has a smile that can light up the entire room. He loves anything football, music, and racing. He is extremely intelligent. He is a great soccer player. He likes things to be structured but doesn't mind a messy room. He is a champ when it comes to all this diet stuff. He likes it when we all end our prayers with Amen at the same time. He isn't a baby anymore and it is hard to watch him grow but I know, I just know that he is going to do more great things!

We have a birthday tradition at our house. The morning of their birthdays we decorate their chair with balloons, hang up a HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign, put candles in their breakfast, and sing Happy Birthday. Haiden was so excited! (Yes, he does have a swim shirt on. Just another one of his quirks that I love.)

Reading his card to us. He thought it was so cool that his presents were from Mommy, Daddy, Ella, and Mason.

His reaction to one of his presents. We got him the Madden football game for his Wii. Did I mention he loves football?

Juicing and Healthy Child

2010-02-22T21:48:00.004-05:00

My fabulous hubby came home last weekend with a juicer! I was so excited as Haiden tried to carry it in to the house...so cute. I've been wanting a juicer for awhile because there are soooo many health benefits to juicing (http://www.bestofjuicing.com/). I love taking the kids to Georgetown Market to get juice from their juice bar but it is pricey. So now I can make their own juice at home!

Our first juice was carrots, apples, and lemons aka "I Love Juicy".

The kids enjoying their juice!

I also wanted to share a great website I have discovered, www.healthychild.org. Do you know what your furniture is made of? Do you know what your mattress is made of? Do you know what your kids toys are made of? Did you know some of these things could actually be making you sick? I strongly encourage you to visit and explore the Healthy Child website because small changes can make a huge difference!

Dr. Andrew Wakefield

2010-02-16T12:39:00.002-05:00

You may or may not have heard of Dr. Andrew Wakefield. If you have, then you have heard his name on the news or you are an autism parent fighting for your child. If you have not, then I promise you, eventually you will.
In recent weeks the media, led by pharma companies, have portrayed Dr. Wakefield in a very negative way. You see Dr. Wakefield has completed the only study every comparing vaccinated to unvaccinated subjects. His first phase of the study was just published three weeks ago. You can check it out here,
http://fourteenstudies.org/pdf/primates_hep_b.pdf. His findings are very disturbing and damaging to the pharma companies.
So if you haven't figured it out yet, the pharma companies DO NOT have your best interest in mind. Don't believe me? Check out this web map of how the people leading the "Vaccinate Everyone For Everything" campaign are all related, http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/.
I share this with you because I don't want you or another child to have to suffer from the effects vaccines can cause. We've been there, it is heartbreaking and devastating. http://mckinneyclan3.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-do-you-think-about-vaccines.html.
Some people argue that if we do not vaccinate then we are exposing our children to disease. My answer for that, "Not true!" See for yourself, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=4889894&id=69667273997.

Super Food Goodness

2010-02-11T13:21:00.003-05:00

It has been yet another busy week in the McKinney house. Haiden missed two days of school due to the snow. While he was home I was so proud of him. For the first time, he kept himself entertained and busy. In the past he would play for about 10 minutes, wonder around the house, lay on the couch, then go play the same thing he was playing before. These two days at home he just played, and played, and played with several different things! It was so much fun to see. It is the small gains that keep me motivated with biomedical treatment.
Another thing I've been paying closer attention to is his caloric intake. Thanks to dietitian Staci Small (http://thewellnessphilosophy.blogspot.com/), who has been helping me through Facebook, Haiden isn't nearly as tired and fatigued. I am constantly offering Haiden food to make sure he gets at least 1200 calories a day.
So most moms know that once you become a mom you all of a sudden are last on your list of people and things to take care of. I have been that mom. Now that we are on this new diet I have a new passion for health. I've been eating the best I've ever eaten my entire life and I've also started running, thanks to my wonderful friend Karin. A part of taking care of myself has meant no more Reece's Peanut Buttercups...darn. Luckily I stumbled upon a vegan recipe for homemade almond buttercups http://www.greenandcrunchy.org/2009/11/homemade-vegan-chia-seed-almond-butter-cups/...heaven! Of course I had to give them a try.

I used 4 Boom Choco Boom bars that I found at Georgetown Market, (I did a little dance when I saw these.), almond butter, chia seeds, and flax seeds.
Here is my end result! Absolutely fabulous!

Vegan spaghetti! Okay, so you may be getting the clue that I'm a wanna be vegan and so far this week I have been. For supper I made this dish that is very easy. For the rest of the family I added sauteed chicken and shrimp. To make it bake spaghetti squash at 350 for 1 hour. Saute asparagus and zucchini with some olive oil and garlic until tender. In a separate skillet you may saute chicken, shrimp, oil, basil, oregano, and salt until done. Then add your favorite spaghetti sauce or, like we did, my hubby's homemade spaghetti sauce (will add that recipe soon). Put over a bed of spaghetti squash and voila! Enjoy!

Haiden's new favorite snack, kale chips. Yes, I know, doesn't sound that good but OMG, I did not expect the flavor these things have...delicious! I just cut the kale off the stems, tossed in olive oil and sea salt, baked at 300 for 20 minutes. You should give it a try.

Haiden enjoying his kale chips. (Ella wasn't a fan.)

Here is my big man dancing after the Colts scored a touchdown. We let Haiden stay up to watch the Super Bowl since he is a football fanatic. Unfortunately his little heart was broken when they didn't win. I just love this picture of him. He looks so good!

Weekend Meal Prep

2010-02-07T15:20:00.005-05:00

Brian and I spent Friday night and most of Saturday morning making some SCD food for the week ahead. All of these recipes are on PecanBread's website http://www.pecanbread.com/p/recipes1.html
Butternut chip!

Carrot Chips!

Cashew Butter Muffins (Haiden's favorite)

Almond Flour Cookies

Larabars! These are so good. I got the recipe off of Green and Crunchies blog http://www.greenandcrunchy.org/

We also made pear sauce, fruit leather, and spaghetti sauce.

The kids are all doing well. Haiden is finally back to school after being out a week due to the flu. He is very pumped for the Super Bowl tonight and will probably be able to give you a play by play of the game tomorrow if you want. Ella continues to be my little diva. She has made incredible gains in her speech and is such a little lady. My baby Mason is getting so big! He is up on all four's rocking back and forth, sitting up by himself, waving, and trying to clap his hands.

SCD Recipes

2010-02-04T12:54:00.002-05:00

Decided to share some foods we've been eating...all the time...
Here is grilled tilapia with a pineapple salsa, broccoli, and spinach salad. For the salsa I just simmer pineapple, black beans, red pepper, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice. The salad is spinach, blueberries, and pecans.

Stuffed bell peppers. I actually found this recipe at Allrecipes.com. Here is the link,http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Peppers-with-Turkey-and-Vegetables/Detail.aspx

My new obsession...SMOOTHIES! I love making smoothies packed with super foods. I usually just throw a bunch of fruit, spinach, and chia seeds in the food processor and blend...voila!

I finally made pancakes that actually look like pancakes! I used almond flour, pear sauce (my new favorite egg replacer), baking soda, and honey.

And the Diet Continues...

2010-02-03T21:48:00.003-05:00

To say that I am frustrated with the SC Diet is an understatement! As I try to find recipes and blogs for ideas I am finding that we can't do the SCD and here is why; the SCD allows eggs, butter, and cheese but we can't have eggs, butter, and cheese due to Haiden's food sensitivities. So I'm on a mission to heal my son's gut with our own diet! A diet full of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and beans. I'm going to call it the H.H. diet (Haiden's Hope). So if you have any delicious recipes with any of those foods please share!

We Have Been Hit By The Flu

2010-02-01T11:44:00.002-05:00

Oh no....run...gasp...go get your flu shot! NO THANK YOU! Haiden has been hit by the flu and he is going to be okay! No flu shots, just a lot of TLC, R&R, fluids, vitamins, and some cough medicine. Last Wednesday Haiden began to complain that he didn't feel very well. On Thursday he came down with a fever and cough. This flu bug has continued but he is slowly getting better. The major downside to all of this is we broke his diet. I tried to treat his cough with homeopathy treatment but it didn't work so at 1am in the morning I went to CVS and bought him some cough medicine. Have you ever seen what is in these meds? Take a look next time, you'll be shocked. At the time I really didn't know what else to do since he wasn't able to sleep, I just wanted him to have some relief. The good news is that we haven't noticed any bad side effects! He is still our sweet, intelligent, happy, football obsessed, rigid little boy :)

Speech free and slight set back

2010-01-26T10:32:00.002-05:00

Ella has been dismissed from speech!!!!! Here is her dismissal report: Ella McKinney received speech therapy services in her home since 8-26-09. Ella has met the outcome statement on the IFSP. "Family would like for her to be able to communicate so that she doesn't get frustrated and so that others can understand her." Ella is able to complete the verbal expression items for her age level (27-30) months on the "Rosetti Infant Toddler Language Scale". Ella is stimulable on the sound substitutions meaning that when given visual and oral cues she is able to correctly produce speech sounds. She has increased the number of words and length of utterances that she produces spontaneously (without a cue or prompt). I recommend that she be dismissed from speech and language services. Take that vaccines!!
On another note it seems that Haiden isn't doing as well at school as we had thought. I talked with his teacher on Friday and she is very concerned with Haiden and his energy level. She said that he seems very fatigued and just not as focused. Of course, this came as a surprise to me since he is doing so well at home and seems even more focused. So we decided to see how this week goes and take it from there. I talked to his DAN doctor and she thinks he may be getting sick. At first I thought she was crazy because he didn't have any signs of being sick. But guess who was up coughing and sneezing last night? Yep, Mr. Haiden. Yesterday I started him back on his multivitamin and this morning he drank some freshly squeezed orange juice to get some vitamin C in him. Hopefully this will help. Like I told his teacher, we are all dying for some carbs around here :).

SCD Update

2010-01-21T20:49:00.002-05:00

We are now into our fourth week on the SC diet and seeing some positive things in Haiden and Ella. Haiden continues to do well at school and home. He hasn't had any cognition issues and seems much more focused. After school he has been telling me about his day without any prompts and gives more details when I ask questions. Even though he is still obsessed with football and his Wii, he has been playing with other toys more. I've started him back on his calcium supplement and probiotic. Ella has had a very good week and for those of you who know Ella, you know that we haven't had 4 good days in a row since last Spring. We got her test results back for food allergies and everything came back normal. I was surprised since after we started GFCF her speech exploded. I think her yeast issues are causing some malabsorption problems which is why she responded so well to GFCF even though the IG panel came back normal. This week I was able to go to my Mom 2 Mom group and she stayed in the daycare...YEAH! They didn't have to bring her back! We also went to our small group for the first time and she went upstairs with the other kids! Her belly is still slightly bloated but I am trying to limit honey and fruit intake to help keep the yeast down. I think her yeast issues cause fatigue and when she gets fatigued she starts melting down so I'm trying to be more in tuned with her. She is such a smart girl and I need to remember that she is only 2 years old.

Ella enjoying a bowl of "ice cream" which is frozen bananas and coconut oil pureed.

This was Haiden's reaction to the ice cream. He said, "It tastes good but it is too cold." Haiden has always been very sensitive to temperature and doesn't like anything really cold or really hot.

What's in your fridge?

2010-01-15T21:38:00.005-05:00

I follow a vegan mom's blog not because I'm vegan but because she is so organized and offers awesome ideas. Recently she had a post about what is in her refrigerator, http://www.greenandcrunchy.org/2009/11/whats-in-your-fridge/. I was so jealous when I saw all the organic and fresh food in her fridge. Well since we have started the SCD, my fridge has never looked more...healthy. So what's in your fridge?

On the top left, pears and green beans. On the top right, pineapple and spinach. In the middle are oranges and zucchini. On the bottom are asparagus and peppers.

On the top are my homemade nut flours and nut butters. Below that are organic eggs, blueberries, and strawberries. In our deli compartment are SCD legal cheeses. On the bottom are grapes and broccoli.

I loved how colorful are counter was looking so I had to take a pic. From left to right is a butternut squash, pineapple, tomatoes, garlic, pears, apples, and bananas.

So I've been kind of obsessed with dehydrating fruits and veggies lately. Here are some dried zucchini chips. This is about 1/4 of the batch because it didn't turn out too well. Next time I'm going to do things a little different.

Here are some nut flour cookies. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Dried strawberries and pears.

More dried strawberries.

Dried apples with cinnamon.

I am slowly getting better with the SCD. I'm learning how to manage my time more wisely in the kitchen and I don't feel like I'm constantly cooking everyday...only a little bit. Haiden continues to do great! Ella continues to boggle our brains everyday. Her little belly isn't so little anymore and has bloated back up to where it was before the diet. She is still very emotional and unpredictable. I took her this week to have blood work done that was ordered back in November. It is to check her vitamin and mineral levels and food sensitivities. I've been putting it off for two reasons, 1) They tried to do the blood work in the doctor's office and couldn't find a vein. It was a traumatic experience for me so I can only imagine what it was like for her and 2) I was hoping the SCD would fix everything and we would know what foods she is sensitive to. So we went to the hospital to have it done and they were able to find a vein and get what they needed. We should find out the results in a few weeks.

On another note, Mason continues to be a healthy, thriving baby. My children definitely have a genetic predisposition to ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) and I believe that environmental toxins (vaccines being one of them) trigger the ASD. My kidos are proof of this. Haiden had 21 vaccines in 15 months, was sick all the time, didn't hit milestones, allergies, severe bowel problems, PDD-NOS diagnoses at the age of 2. Ella had 4 vaccines in 9 months, was sick all the time, stopped breathing on two occasions, wasn't meeting milestones, difficulty eating, now has dark circles under her eyes, bloated belly, very emotional. Mason, no vaccines, no illnesses, hitting every milestone...oh and gives us high 5's! I just encourage everyone to investigate before they vaccinate!

Here are some pics of our healthy little boy

HOMEMADE PART 2

2010-01-10T21:01:00.005-05:00

I've decided to make my own cashew flour, cashew butter, walnut flour, and walnut butter. We took a trip to Georgetown market to buy organic raw cashews and almonds. (The jar in the background is full of baked pecans. I mixed them with honey, cinnamon, and ghee then baked at 350 for about 15 minutes. Such a delicious snack.) On a side note, I couldn't have done all of this with out the help of my husband. Thank you babe!We bought 3.5. lbs of cashews and 2.5 lbs of walnuts. They were around $4.19 per pound.

The final product. For the cashew and walnut flour I just but the nuts in a food processor until they are finely grounded. For the cashew butter I boiled the nuts until they floated, roasted them in the oven for about 2 hours, put in the food processor, added coconut oil and sea salt. For the walnut butter, I roasted them in the oven for about an hour, put in the food processor, added olive oil, and kosher salt. All of these have to be refrigerated and can last up to 6 months.

My flours!

In a previous post I mentioned that I wanted to have a chemical free house so today I made my own cleaning products. Here is the link that had all of the formulas, http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm.
Here are my three little angels in their NON flame resistant p.j's!

HOMEMADE

2010-01-10T20:27:00.005-05:00

We are now through Week 2 of the SCD and it continues to be a learning experience. Haiden is doing AWESOME on the diet. He seems more focused and has been wanting to be more involved in things around the house. Ella, on the other hand, continues to be a puzzle I try to put together everyday. Last week I thought I had finally found her sensitivity but now I'm not so sure. I thought maybe she was sensitive to phenols. Some people can't process phenols correctly and can have bloated bellies, dark circles under the eyes, and behavior problems. High phenol foods are bananas, apples, and red grapes...some of Ella's favorite foods. I've removed these from her diet and thought it made a difference for a few days but it hasn't been consistent. Her belly has gone down but it is still slightly bloated. She has also been battling diarrhea for the past 3 days. We may have introduced nuts too soon and that could be causing her some problems. Like I said, I rack my brain everyday trying to figure out her unexplained meltdowns, dark circles under her eyes, and bloated belly. Any thoughts or ideas from autism mommies would be greatly appreciated!

With the SCD, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and wanted to share a few recipes.

Some homemade organic almond flour chicken nuggets, homemade ketchup, and green beans

Organic chicken with sauteed spinach, fresh garlic, fresh lemon juice, sauteed tomatoes, basil, and oregano

Organic dried apples! Cut and squeeze with fresh lemons, sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook in the oven on 170 degrees for 8 hours. I'm going to try strawberries this week!

Organic pork loin with roasted tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and fresh garlic plus sauteed asparagus!Fruit leather aka fruit roll up. I put strawberries, blueberries, spinach, and honey in the food processor. Then I pour it onto parchment paper that is on a cookie sheet. I cook it in the oven at 170 degrees for 4-5 hours! The kids love it!

Homemade fruit roll up!

Must Read

2010-01-08T13:24:00.002-05:00

I have joined a few Facebook groups recently that focus on vaccine injury and recovery. A lady by the name of Melissa Saunders posted this poem and it truly touched my heart. I am so glad we aren't going though this anymore but I remember the helpless, hopeless, lost feelings Haiden, Brian, and I went through. I am still very angry that he received 21 vaccines by 15 months old but I am taking that anger to try and educate other moms. I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through what Haiden has gone through. It isn't fair!
This Journey…
I read the books, I went to classes
I ate good food, and drank 8 glasses.
I took it easy, as my belly grew
I did it all…All for You!
I felt you move, I felt you kick
I forgave you when you made me sick :)
I loved you more with each passing day
I couldn't wait ‘til you were here to stay.
Well that day came, and I’ll never forget
As that’s the day my world was lit.
Your eyes so bright, your hair so fine
Couldn’t be more proud to call you Mine!
As the weeks flew by, so did the months…And before I knew it, you had turned ONE!
Up ‘til then, you progressed so well
But that all changed, and you went down hill.
My beautiful boy, as smart as can be
Regressed into Autism after your vaccines
I never questioned, I had no clue
What this needle could actually do.
Now you struggle, with everyday tasks
The simple things, you cannot ask.
It’s taken your words, the one’s you once had
And turned them to screaming, driving you mad!
At times I just lay here, and can’t help but cry
I question God, wondering why?
But the answer’s clear, so plain to see
The people I trusted, had deceived me.
They all should hang their heads in shame
Admit the truth and take the blame.
They know the danger, but turn away
And continue to injure our kids each day.
But I’ve chosen to put, my anger aside
Along with my hopes and dreams that’s died.
And focus on making more parents aware
Share our story, cuz the proof’s right there!
Although I hate to see you like this
You have fulfilled my life with eternal bliss
We’ll always take, this journey together
And I promise to love you, forever and ever!
XOXO Mom

Chemical Free

2010-01-07T13:55:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to go chemical free in our house for while now. Our kids soap and toothpaste already are and our multipurpose cleaner and washing detergent is chemical free as well but as I was thinking about all the other products I use on a weekly basis, it was pretty scary. The thing that freaked me out the most was my kids pajamas. Almost all of their pj's are flame resistant which means they have been soaked in a very toxic chemical. So this week they have been sleeping in their sweats and t-shirts until I can buy them new pj's. Other things around the house are the plug-in air fresheners, dishwasher detergent, dish soap, hand soap, lip balm, face wash, body wash, floor cleaner, soft scrub, toilet bowl cleaner, and oven cleaner. When you think of it, this house is full of toxins. Now there are some things I can't change like our carpet and dry wall. (Yes, those are full of toxic chemicals that off gas throughout your house.) So I have been researching ways to make my own green, clean, chemical free cleaning products. I have found some really good resources and look forward to having a less toxic house. If you have any advice or suggestions, I would love to hear from you!

SCD Food

2010-01-03T21:48:00.003-05:00

We have almost made it through Week 1 on SCD and only 51 more weeks to go...Holy Moly! It has been a very interesting and enlightening week for our entire family. I'm starting to see some positive things in both Haiden and Ella. Haiden wanted to play doctor with me today and he did an awesome job pretending. Yesterday he wanted to help me make nut butter brownies. Also the eczema on his head is almost gone! Ella is wearing "panties" and going on the big girl potty! I am amazed because just last week she didn't have any interest at all. Ella still has a runny nose and started coughing today. I'm not for sure if these are still die off symptoms or she is starting to get a cold. We have been eating a ton of fruit, veggies, and meats! I've posted some pictures of our delicious dinner we had tonight and other treats the kids are enjoying.

Organic fillet mignon with sauteed onions, green, yellow, orange,and red peppers!

The kids had organic fillet mignon with green beans, carrots, and broccoli. After they cleaned their plates, the kids enjoyed their new favorite dessert...almond nut butter brownies.

These are so easy to make! It consist of almond nut butter, honey, baking soda, and gelatin as an egg replacer.
Ella enjoying her nut butter brownies! Can't you hear her? She is saying "Cheessseee!"

A delicious new favorite snack...carrot chips! Slice the carrots and cook in canola oil, crunchy with a salty sweet taste...yummy! Butternut squash chips, another new favorite snack. Just peel and thinly slice the neck of a butternut squash, toss in canola oil, lightly salt with kosher salt, bake until crispy!

Haiden and Ella enjoying their butternut squash chips aka "french fry chips"

Haiden watching football and eating "french fry chips".

Oh What A Week

2010-01-01T21:17:00.002-05:00

So we have almost made it through the week on the SCD! It has been a tough week but well worth it. Haiden is doing much better and hasn't had any die off symptoms since Thursday. He was pretty sick the first few days but is starting to feel better. Ella is still having die off symptoms but they aren't as severe as they were in the beginning of the week. We are doing Epsom salt baths every other day to help with the detox.
I've been spending the majority of my time in the kitchen since I make everything from scratch. It is time consuming but I also enjoy knowing that my kids are eating so healthy and healing their guts! They are trying new foods too. I've been making butternut squash chips and almond butter brownies. Today I made almond butter caramel and fruit leather. I've been using unflavored gelatin as an egg replacer and it works great! I wish I would of taken pictures to post but I'll have to do that with the next batch. Here is the link to some yummy new SCD recipes that are allowed in the beginning of the diet,http://www.pecanbread.com/new/recipes.html.
I haven't noticed any major behavior changes in the kids yet. Ella's belly is about a third of the size it was. I weighed her yesterday and she still weighs 30lbs so her belly has just been bloated for so long...poor baby girl. Before the diet I could put Ella in a 2T shirt in the morning and by evening her belly was hanging out. She has been wearing 2T shirts the past 3 days and her belly isn't hanging out anymore!
As for me, I am feeling so much better! I'm back to my pre Ella weight and Brian has lost weight too, woo hoo! The diet isn't meant for weight loss but it has done wonders for us :).
Our little Mason man has been hitting some new milestones. He is babbling like crazy, trying to get up on all 4 legs, and sitting up by himself for short periods of time!
As we start 2010 I look back at how blessed I have been. Even though there have been bumps in the road I consider my life to be PERFECT! I am blessed with the most amazing husband and three wonderful children. My friends and family are amazing and even though I miss not getting to see everyone everyday they are always in my heart. I love my life and hope 2010 is as amazing as 2009! God Bless and Happy New Year!

Day 1 and 2 of SCD

2009-12-29T21:37:00.000-05:00

For those of you not familiar with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) it can get kind of complicated and I would bore you with all of the details. (If you are interested I have links under Great Links that are informative resources. ) My family started the SCD in hopes of fully recovering Haiden from PDD-NOS and helping out daughter with her yeast issues. It has been a very long two days! Day 1 wasn't too bad, I was just starving and the kids were sick of eating the same thing all day. Haiden has a good understanding of what and why we are doing this but Ella thinks we are just depriving her of all her favorite foods. Today, well, today was an incredibly rough day. Haiden woke up with an upset belly and wouldn't eat. Ella woke up very emotional and refused to eat. By lunch time, Haiden was doing much better and ate a hamburger but Ella refused to eat until dinner time. Most of the day was spent with the kids laying around the house and Ella crying. They both felt warm but I never took their temperature. I felt very fatigued so I know they didn't feel good. Tomorrow we will be able to add some more foods and hopefully things will get better. Some family and friends may think I'm crazy for doing such drastic things but I have a child recovering from autism and I will doing anything (safe of course) to help him out of this! As for Ella, she has obvious yeast issues that are impeding her physical and emotional well being and if I can make her better, I will!

Crazy Christmas

2009-12-28T13:23:00.004-05:00

We spent Christmas this year in good ole Tell City! Although it was exhausting, I loved seeing all of my family and friends! There were several meltdowns from Ella and a few "autistic" moments from Haiden but all in all we had a fabulous time. Haiden did very well not speaking his mind when opening a gift. He showed appreciation for everything and tried not to compare the number of gifts he got with other family members. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family!

My mom and Mason. She was an enormous help and we couldn't of made it through the holidays without her! I love you Mom!

Christmas at my Dad's house.

Christmas at Brian's parents. The picture sums it all up! That is my niece and nephew, Amaya and Levi.Christmas at my mom's house. My mom, grandma (Granny), and grandpa (Gramps).

My step-brother got my little brother a tool belt with baby gear since he is going to be a daddy in May. I thought this was such a neat idea.

My brother and his girlfriend, Chelsea, let me take some pictures of them. Thanks guys!

By the way, my brother had his tonsils taken out last week!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Good News

2009-12-19T21:22:00.005-05:00

Good News! We have our Haiden back! I have stopped the B-12 shots and all supplements, he also had a session of craniosacral therapy today. I'm going with my instinct on this one. After Christmas we will be starting the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in hopes to heal our guts and strengthen our immune systems.

On a side note, my fabulous husband gave me an early Christmas present, a new Nikon camera! (Actually it was suppose to be a surprise but I ruined it.) Anyways, I've decided to pursue my interest in photography and attempt to turn it into a small side job! (I know Mom...you are probably thinking I am crazy.) I have a lot to learn but I am having so much fun taking a bunch of pictures of the kidos while I practice trying to get different shots. I've posted a few pics below. Please let me know what you think. I love comments! Also, if you want to be my guinea pig we can set up a time and you can get a bunch of free pictures!

Set Back

2009-12-16T21:39:00.002-05:00

Last Friday we started Haiden on a new B-12 shot. On his previous B-12 shot he started acting, well, kind of weird. So Friday night while he was sleeping I gave him his new B-12 shot in hopes of helping his cognition and language skills. Since then Haiden has made drastic changes and they haven't been good changes. He started acting (there's not a nice way to say it) weird. At school on Monday he had his first negative note sent home since the beginning of the school year. At home he started becoming defiant and acting loony. He had dark circles under his eyes, pale skin, and bright red ears. On Monday night I still hadn't made a connection and after he went to sleep he got his second B-12 shot. Again on Tuesday he had another rough day at school and home. I started to think that there could be a connection between his B-12 shot and the change in behavior and appearance. Well today he comes home from school with another negative note. He was disrespectful, refused to do tasks, kept chewing on his shoe laces, and spinning on his head. Now if you know Haiden, you know that is not our child. He is a very respectful and compliant child. He has his quirks but chewing on things and spinning aren't his quirks. I called our DAN doctor, Mary Lou Hulseman, and they said the B-12 shots could definitely be causing the odd behavior! So I've stopped the shots and now I'm hoping to get back on track! Oh the trials and tribulations of autism recovery.

Fine Motor and Creativity

2009-12-13T14:19:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned in a previous post that Haiden has really improved with his fine motor and creativity skills. Before Kindergarten he hated to color and would just scribble the entire paper with one color. Now he loves to color! Mrs. West has done a wonderful job teaching Haiden how to color, this is something I took for granted. I never thought he would needed to be taught how to color a picture but for kidos on the spectrum this is very true. The picture of Mickey Mouse on the top is a picture he colored in the Spring of 2009. The picture of the skateboard he colored a few weeks ago.

DAN Doctor Visit

2009-12-05T20:51:00.003-05:00

We had an appointment with Haiden's DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctor, Mary Lou Hulseman. I love our appointments with her because she makes me feel so good about everything we are doing. Helping Haiden recover from autism has been a rough journey especially when the majority of the medical community doesn't agree with our approach. It is so nice to go to a doctor who supports us 100% and validates my beliefs. I could spend hours talking to Dr. Hulseman about vaccines, environmental toxins, and how the CDC is so corrupt. Like I've said before, she is the only doctor I currently trust and everything she has recommended has helped Haiden.

Before each visit we have to complete a ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist). Before we started the biomedical treatment Haiden's score was a 61. (The higher the score, the more "impaired" the individual.) Last May, after doing biomedical treatment for one year, Haiden scored a 24! Last week, Haiden's ATEC score was a 13! THIRTEEN! I wanted to jump up and down, scream, run around, celebrate! People this stuff is real! It is possible to recover and/or improve your child's physical and emotional health! This should be on the NBC nightly new, 20/20, and 60 minutes! Unfortunately it is still controversial and the majority of the public believe and trust their doctors who tell them that Autism Recover is a bunch of bull. In fact, our former GI doctor at Riley told us just that! I am so glad I trusted my instinct instead of him!

So our next steps for Haiden are to

1. start a supplement called cytozyme to help his adrenal fatigue

2. try a different type of B12 shot

3. Begin the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet)

4. check vitamin A and D, cysteine, sulfate and packed red cell test, urine OAT

5. treat lead toxicity

6. add proEFA for motor planning

We continue down our road to recovery!

Of course I couldn't add a post without pictures of my little angels.

Off Topic but Embarrassing

2009-12-02T13:32:00.005-05:00

With the holidays approaching I decided it was time to have a toy clean out. I explained to the kids (only Haiden really understood) that we were going to give away some of our toys to kids who don't have toys. Haiden decided he wanted to keep his toys and didn't think he needed to give any toys away. After much coaxing and encouragement, Haiden agreed that giving to those less fortunate is a very thoughtful thing to do. So I brought all the toys downstairs into the playroom to organize and decide what to keep and what to give away then....I wanted to crawl under a rock and cry!

Not only did I feel overwhelmed by the mess but I felt embarrassed. Do my kids really need this much stuff? Having three kids means having three different age ranges of toys but that is still no excuse for all of their stuff. So I went to work and 2 hours later we had 7 trash bags full of toys to give away.

Disclaimer to Parents and Grandparents: I am so sorry if you see toys that you have bought!

And the end result! You can see the floor again!

An Eventful Week

2009-11-23T13:39:00.004-05:00

It was another eventful week in the McKinney house with speech therapy, library class, Mom to Mom group, Family Day at Haiden's school, and the IU football game. By the way, have I mentioned how much I love my Mom to Mom group? It is so uplifting to be surrounded by christian women who share a lot of the same values and support!

We received Ella's three month progress report for speech from her speech therapist. It stated, "When I met Ella she had many vocalizations but a very limited number of meaningful verbalization's. She was using 6-8 words that were intelligible and a few other words that were unintelligible if you did not know the context. On 11/9/09 Ella was verbally saying 98-100 words spontaneously. Ella is always attentive, pleasant, and willing to participate during the sessions. She has great eye contact and uses a lot of facial expressions. Ella has made wonderful progress in expanding her vocabulary base." You don't get those kinds of results with just speech therapy!

Haiden had Family Day at his school last week and I forgot my camera! They made these cute Indian hats and sang several songs to the parents. Everything was going so well until we did the family project. For the project we had to make a turkey out of an apple, toothpicks, and marshmallows. Ella was absolutely devastated that she couldn't eat the marshmallows so she made quit the scene. Haiden did so well and I was so proud of him! Keep it up bubby, you are going to beat this!!! I just know it!
Haiden let Ella have the turkey we made. As you can see she is very proud!

Mason laying on the floor playing with his toes. This is how he always starts out.

And this is how he usually ends up! He continues to melt mommy's heart.

We took all the kids tailgating for the IU/Purdue football game! I took Ella and Mason home around game time and Brian took Haiden to the game. Thank you to our friends Steve and Stacie Haak for bringing Brian and Haiden home! A side note: Lesson #258 in parenting- not a good idea to take a 5, 2, and 5 month old tailgating. You live and learn I guess. They had a blast but Brian and I were beyond exhausted!

Tailgating before the IU/Purdue game. Rosser, Brian, Ely, and Steve.

Haiden played football for about 2 hours straight while at the tailgate! Thank you Drew for playing football with Haiden, he loved it. Our friends Tony and Sarah Pappano have a 4 year old son, Anthony, that also played football with Haiden. They had a blast!

Daddy's little boy!

A Great Read

2009-11-15T22:24:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share this post by a mom whose blog I follow called Yesterday I Hated Autism. Very motivating!
http://alterna-mom.blogspot.com/2009/10/yesterday-i-hated-autism.html

Conference and My Favorite Things

2009-11-15T21:51:00.003-05:00

I had Haiden's parent/teacher conference and I couldn't of imagined it going any better! So I have to brag. Academically, Haiden has mastered all Kindergarten skills and is doing 1st and 2nd grade Language Arts and Math. Socially, his teacher said he has made tremendous gains. When he is in a tough situation he uses all the skills that have been taught to him. I am so proud of Haiden and so thankful for the wonderful staff at White Lick Elementary!

So my mom bought me a wonderful book called The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook and I love it! The book explains why these kids can't have certain foods and what happens to their bodies when they do. It also has over 100 recipes that are coded so I know right away if it has a forbidden food in it. I made some pumpkin bread and pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins that were gluten/casein/egg/soy free. I have to say they were delicious! While I was making the bread and muffins I was looking at all the substitutes and thinking how some of these things have become my favorite ingredients. If I didn't have these substitute items then my kidos wouldn't be able to have as much "normal" food. It also helps in social situations. For example, the Sabelhauses invited us over for dinner and I wanted to bring an ice cream cake for Brian's birthday. Since Haiden and Ella can't have ice cream cake, I brought their muffins. When it was time for cake they ate their muffins with no fuss. Little things like that are so nice!

Brian was not too thrilled that I wanted him to blow out candles on his ice cream cake! Happy big 3-0 babe!

Here are the gluten/casein/egg/soy free pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins made with rice flour, potatoe flour, tapioca starch, GFCF chocolate chips, pumpkin puree, sugar, egg replacer, and rice milk

Some of my favorite substitute ingredients. Rice milk, gluten/casein free bread crumbs, egg replacer, DeBoles rice noodles, casein free rice cheese, coconut milk yogurt.

Our DAN Doctor Visit

2009-11-12T13:03:00.003-05:00

Last Spring I asked our DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctor, Dr. Mary Lou Hulseman, if she would be willing to see Ella. Even though Ella isn't autistic, she has had many delays and throws insane tantrums and well on her way to an ADHD diagnoses. Dr. Hulseman agreed and we were able to sit down with her and start a plan of action for our little princess last week. Dr. Hulseman cringed when she reviewed Ella's first year of life and all of her illnesses. She thought it was interesting that Ella's most serious illnesses occurred a few days after a vaccination. I think all of our family remember the Christmas Eve in the ER, that was 4 days after receiving a vaccination. If we would of continued the recommended vaccination schedule, Ella would be long gone. Dr. Hulseman is the only doctor in this entire world that I currently trust so her opinion and plan of action is very important to me.
Now some people may think that I need to stop blaming the vaccines and realize it could be a genetic issue. Well to those people you are right and wrong. After a ton of research and conformation from Dr. Hulseman, here is what has happened to Haiden and Ella. I do not have a strong immune system, poor gut flora, and yeast overgrowth therefore I didn't pass on good gut flora and too much yeast to my children which then results in a weakened immune system. (About 85% of our immune system is in our gut.) So then Haiden and Ella received the Hep B vaccine when they were less than 24 hours old. Their little bodies were unable to get rid of the toxins from the vaccine due to a weak immune system so they started getting very sick. They continued to get sick, vaccinated, and put on antibiotics. The antibiotics ripped any good gut flora out and their bodies couldn't fight off the yeast overgrowth. The yeast overgrowth results in a leaky gut. Once you have a leaky gut all kinds of scary things can happen with attention, mood, and the ability to communicate. This is the vicious cycle that is happening to our babies and we are losing them to autism, ADHD, OCD, and ODD.
So with Mason, we aren't vaccinating him (until he is 14 when the immune system is fully developed) and we are starting him on a probiotic. He is our only healthy baby and our only baby to meet milestones on time!
Now back to our plan of action with Ella. Dr. Hulseman wants blood, stool, and urine test to confirm some things but she believes Ella definitely has an overgrowth of yeast. Like I said before this results in a leaky gut which wrecks havoc on the body. The good new is that this is fixable but the bad news is it isn't easy. We have to put Ella on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. We are all going to go on the diet because it will benefit Haiden as well. Basically we have to starve all of the bad bacteria and yeast in the gut so it dies off and their bellies can heal. No more carbs, sugar, or starches. (All of Ella's favorite foods).
Dr. Hulseman has wanted me to put Haiden on this diet for about six months but I have put it off. She believes if we do the diet for one year then Haiden and Ella's guts will heal to where they can eat gluten, casein, soy, and egg again. I put this diet off partially due to the fact that we had Mason and it has been pretty crazy around here. Also, I didn't feel educated enough so I was very uncomfortable. So my new goal is to become an SCD expert and we are all starting this diet after the holidays. Wish us luck!

A Lot of News

2009-11-04T14:39:00.005-05:00

Well it has been way too long since I've been able to update our blog. Our internet is now working so I have so much to catch up on.
Haiden has had a wonderful two weeks. He has been doing great in school handling social situations and continues to be my little prince charming at home. He made up a song for Mason that goes to the tune Daydream Believer. He loves to sing to Mason and try to get him to smile. Soccer season is now over and Haiden is ready for the spring season to begin.
Ella continues to make improvements as well. She has been repeating everything, saying two and three word phrases, and a lot of spontaneous speech. She also continues to be a handful at home but makes me laugh everyday.
Mason has been meeting some new milestones. He can now roll over from belly to back and back to belly. He has been making new sounds and has three teeth coming in. He also found his feet this week. We started him on solids this week and he still isn't quite sure what to do with it.
The kidos have been keeping me very busy. We go to the library once a week and I've joined a moms group at our church. The moms group is amazing and I absolutely love it! It is also a good time for Ella to be around other kids her age. Brian got me a membership to the gym so after the kids are in bed I head to the gym. I have to drag myself there and I really don't look forward to it at all but once I'm there I feel so much better.
Brian has been keeping busy with work. He has been working extra long hours lately but we are so proud of him. He does a wonderful job providing for a family of 5!
I want to give a huge THANKS to my mom. She watched Ella and Mason so we could take Haiden to the IU football game and she came up for Grandparents Day at Haiden's school. Also my grandparents celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary and my grandpa celebrated his 84th birthday! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Granny and Gramps got Mason this adorable pumpkin sleeper. He wore it to the Haunted House at the museum. We took the kids there on Halloween day when they have the friendly hours. The lights are on and all the characters hand out treats as you walk through the haunted house. The kids had so much fun!

Getting ready to go Trick or Treating! Haiden was the blue Power Ranger (He has never seen the show but he wanted the costume). Ella was a princess and Mason went as a pumpkin.

Haiden is showing off his perfect week. He earned all his magnets on his responsibility chart.

My little pumpkin at the Zoo Boo. Two weeks ago we took the kids to the Zoo Boo with our friends the Tuttles. The kids get to dress up in their costumes and the Zoo has all kinds of fun activities.

Mr. Haiden at the Zoo Boo.

She even poses! Our little princess at the Zoo Boo.

Brian and I took Haiden to the IU football game. He can probably give you a play by play of the game.

My AMAZING kids! I am so blessed!

Oh yes I did! I had to.

Granny and Gramps got Mason this exersaucer which he loves. Thank you Granny and Gramps!

Motor Planning

2009-10-15T14:48:00.002-04:00

If you watch Haiden run around, play soccer, play golf, or jump off furniture you would never know how much work it is for him. Haiden struggles with motor planning everyday. We take for granted how easy it is to brush our teeth, tie our shoes, button our shirts, take a shower, write our name, and eat with utensils. For Haiden, theses tasks take a lot of concentration and effort. The more independent he becomes the more I notice the little struggles. It can be very frustrating when our 2 year old is able to wash and dry herself but our 5 year old can't. So my energy is now focused on helping Haiden improve in this area. I've read that some supplements like good fats can really help. Are there any other parents struggling with this as well? I would love your feedback!

Welcome Baby Levi

2009-10-11T21:33:00.003-04:00

Brian's sister, Katie, had her little boy! Levi Leonard Edwards was born on September 29th. We went to Tell City for Wes and Marissa Davis's wedding reception and got to spend time with Katie and Levi.

Little Princess got caught trying to eat playdoh. She has been gluten and casein free for about 2 weeks. Playdoh has wheat in it so kids who crave gluten sometimes try to eat playdoh. Plus she is a typical 2 year old exploring her world. She fell down our entire flight of stairs this week. We had to take a trip to the doctor and then a CAT scan. Everything turned out okay, just a bloody nose, swollen lip, and terrified mom. I put the gate back up on the stairs and I find myself being even more protective of her. She is doing so well. She repeats almost everything we say and her spontaneous speech has just exploded. We can finally understand her! She is still a hand full but she has the best personality. This week we started our Fall Theme using Hubbards Cuppard curriculum. I love being able to still teach and stay at home with my kids.

The weather has been rainy and dreary this past week so after Haiden got home from school I made a fort in the dining room. Haiden and Ella thought it was pretty cool. Haiden put almost all the toys from the playroom into his fort, he then realized he was going to have to put them all back.

At Haiden's soccer game last week a little girl in his general education Kindergarten class saw him. She came running up to him and he did so well talking with her. She then grabbed his hand and started warming up with him. It was so cute! Haiden continues to do amazingly well. We went to his Open House this past week and I am so proud of him. He is doing 1st and 2nd grade work!

Our little Mason man! As you can see in this picture he drools nonstop. He has also found his thumb, continues to "talk", and has almost rolled over on several occasions. We are going to start introducing purees soon. He just turned 4 months but is already in 9 month clothes.

Groceries, Groceries, Groceries!

2009-10-05T12:43:00.005-04:00

A few months ago Brian and I sat down to look at our monthly expenses. We were both blown away when we realized how much money we spend on groceries a month. We decided we could save a ton of money if we cut back, well then we realized a few things.
1. We have two kids in diapers.
2. We have two kids on a GF/CF/EF/SF (Gluten free/casein free/egg free/soy free) diet which is expensive.
3. We only buy meat from a local organic butcher shop.
4. We have a dog who requires special dog food.
Each month we shop at not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, but 6 grocery stores. Yes, you heard it, SIX! Why, you may ask. Let me break it down for you.
Wal-Mart we get Brian's milk since the rest of us don't drink milk, bread for Brian and I that we have to hide from Ella since she freaks out when she sees it, eggs for me since no one eats them, cheese for Brian and I that we also have to hide from Ella, and some produce.
Marsh is the store we get most of our produce from and our Dietz and Watson lunch meat. (Dietz and Watson products are organic, free of nitrates, and free of MSG.)
Moody Meats is the local butcher shot that has an organic farm. We get all our meat from them.
Costco is where we go to buy some bulk items like diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, organic peanut butter (we buy this in bulk since I'm a peanut butter addict), and organic corn chips (we buy this in bulk since Haiden is a corn chip addict).
Whole Foods is a store we couldn't live without. They have things you can't find at most grocery stores. For example they have the kids GF/CF/EF/SF pretzels, cookies, and noodles. They also have aspartame free chewing gum, nitrate free organic hot dogs, rice cheese (yes, sounds disgusting but the kids love it), tapioca bread, and Hero Nutritional vitamins.
Georgetown Market is a lot like Whole Foods and I love this store just as much. They have yogurt made out of coconut milk, organic ketchup, potato flour, brown rice tortillas, and a better kind of toothpaste that doesn't have a warning about swallowing on the label.
So when it comes down to it, we really aren't able to save as much as we would like. I started clipping coupons and price comparing which has helped a bit. In the long run though my family is healthier for it!

Investigate Before You Vaccinate!

2009-09-27T22:55:00.002-04:00

Many of you who have read my blog from the beginning know that Haiden was injured from so many vaccines in such a short period of time. I truly believe that all of his sicknesses, developmental delays, and autism diagnoses was a result of all the toxins and poisons in vaccines. He received the flu shot when he was 2 years old and that is when he truly slipped out of our world and into his own. After that shot we lost our baby to autism. It is scary to think what would of happened to Ella if we continued her vaccines. She only had her first 4 month vaccines. We only allowed one shot at a time and they were spread out within a 6 month time period. Ella was constantly sick as well, stopped breathing on two occasions, and delayed developmentally. Once we stopped her vaccines, her health improved and so did her development. After a ton of research and making the connection between my children's "issues" and vaccines, we decided not to vaccinate Mason. He is our only baby that has been healthy and so far is hitting every developmental milestone.
With all of the H1N1 hesteria in the media it scares me so much to think about all of the children who could possibly be damaged by the H1N1 vaccine and flu shots. Haiden's school sent home emails, letters, and consent forms because our county health department will be offereing free flu shots at school! OUTRAGEOUS!!! The FDA released the vaccine inserts last week for the H1N1 vaccines. The vaccine contains 24-25 mcg (micrograms) of Thimerosal, a mercury derivative. The EPA says that the safety limit for mercury is .1 mcg per kg of weight per day, which means this vaccine is safe if you weigh 550 lbs! The Thimerosal free nasal spray, which is only offered to people over 5 years of age, warns that one of the side effects is...the flu.

Life Is Good!

2009-09-27T22:39:00.004-04:00

My little Mason man! He is such a joy! We are truly blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby.

Something I thought I'd never see Haiden enjoy doing! Recently Haiden has been wanting to draw and color, I was shocked. He never wanted to color and hated drawing before Kindergarten. I received an email from Haiden's teacher this week stating he will be in the general ed. Kindergarten class all day by the end of the nine weeks! We are so proud of Haiden and ecstatic with his progress. He has been doing 1st and 2nd grade Math, reading at a very rapid pace, and utilizing problem solving skills in social situations. He is such an amazing little boy!

Ella turned two on Saturday and I can't believe it! Of course she was the life of her party and had us laughing the entire time. In the picture she was getting ready to blow out her candle, she thought that was so neat.

We have been working on potty training this past week. Ella went on the big girl potty several times although the last two times she cried. I don't think she is quit ready so we are taking it slow.

My AMAZING Husband

2009-09-21T14:42:00.002-04:00

On Fridays, I usually try to go to the store during the day but this past Friday I took Mason and Ella to the zoo instead. Brian offered to go to the store Friday evening and I gratefully accepted. When he got back he had a new toaster, monster size bag of chocolate chips, the sweetest card ever, and a gift card so I can buy some new clothes! Our toaster has been struggling the past couple of weeks and I wanted a new one so bad and I love to melt chocolate chips with peanut butter. (I know, it is my weakness!) Almost everyday I wear sweats because I don't have many clothes that fit. And after a long week and busy week Brian made me feel so appreciated for everything I try to do! He is such an amazing guy!

Best Week Yet

2009-09-21T12:42:00.006-04:00

Haiden and Ella were digging for fossils at the museum.

Haiden wanted to get his picture with Rex!

Ella thought she was pretty cool in the race car at the museum.

Mason's first time at the Children's Museum!

All the kids in bed with us Saturday morning. Haiden was pretending to sleep.

Ella on the way home from the zoo. She fell asleep with food in her mouth.

Ella at the zoo! She was a little timid of the sharks.

On Friday I took Mason and Ella to the zoo with our friends, the Tuttle's. Chad and Michelle Tuttle have a daughter that is Haiden's age and a daughter that is Ella's age. Chad and Brian coach soccer together. We feel very blessed that our lives have crossed paths. We always have such a good time with them.

Haiden and Ella love eating popcorn on the floor after bath time.

Haiden had his best week yet at school! He did great in the general education Kindergarten class, had no problems with the boys on the playground, and used his words instead of tears! I think he is holding it together all day at school and falling apart at home. I guess using the term "falling apart" is a little drastic but we have noticed some regression at home. I continue to worry about his memory, receptive language, and attention skills but they have seemed to be declining even more the past week. I emailed his teacher to see if he is getting any foods or candy that he shouldn't and I stopped the B12 shots. I have also stopped his Nystatin (antifungal), B6, and magnesium. I just want to step back and evaluate what could be going on.

Ella continues to be a little diva! She is doing well with her speech and said "up" instead of "pu" for the first time. She also counted to 3 this week and sang her ABC's but you can't understand the letters :). Everyday she tests me to see if I'm going to be consistent. I've never struggled so much to be consistent before but I keep telling myself, "better to do it now."

Little Mason, oh he melts my heart! He wakes up every morning smiling and happy. He is starting to roll his body side to side and loves to coo!

Update on the Kidos!

2009-09-14T13:18:00.006-04:00

On Sunday, I took Haiden to the circus at Conseco Fieldhouse. After it was over I asked him what he favorite thing about the circus was. He said, "The fire on the TV!" Wow, I could of saved a lot of money :).

While my mom was up Brian and I were able to go out and celebrate our anniversary downtown.

Haiden scored two goals in his soccer game! Go Blue Thunder!

He is trying to sit up!

My mom came up over the weekend. I always enjoy her visits!

I found Haiden jumping from the stairs onto the couch!

Ella laid down next to Mason and he got hold of her hair.

I make Homemade Zucchini Chicken Nuggets that the kids love. It's a way to sneak in some veggies!

Haiden continues to do well in Kindergarten. He has some difficulty with peers on recess but this has improved. Haiden is a very sensitive child and doesn't always stick up for himself. He was put in time out last week for pushing another boy on the playground. It is sad to say but I was glad he pushed back. Other kids notice "weaker" kids and tend to target them. I think Haiden has become a target for some other boys. The teachers are now aware and keeping an extra eye on these other boys. They are also helping Haiden "use his words" instead of tears to deal with these other students. In the classroom Haiden is doing great! Mrs. Deatline, the general ed. kindergarten teacher, emailed me and said she really enjoys having Haiden in her class. He comes home singing new songs and showing us things he has learned. We started B12 shots last week so we hope to notice improvements in expressive and receptive language skills. If these skills improve then his social skills should also improve. Just talking to Haiden he seems like a "normal" 5 year old but he starts to have difficulty when he has to problem solve situations verbally. He continues to be a very loving, funny, and sweet boy!

Little Miss Ella. Oh, where do I start? She continues to make improvement with her speech but has a long way to go. She is so smart and knows exactly what she is saying but we don't always understand. I cannot imagine how frustrating this has to be. Ella has such a strong personality. Everyday she makes me laugh and almost everyday she is sent to time out. She is such a fun, outgoing, hilarious, strong willed, stubborn, caring, and loving little girl!

Mason seems to get bigger everyday. He "talks" and smiles at me all the time! He is so amazingly healthy and such a joy to have. He is now sleeping 9 hours at night! Mason also likes to be held so I don't get much done around the house. (I'm holding his as I type.) I think this is God's way of telling me to enjoy it since we will not be having any more children.

I'm So Lucky!

2009-09-07T20:59:00.004-04:00

This past week Brian and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Well we weren't really able to celebrate because Brian had to work but my mom is coming up this weekend so we can go out and celebrate. I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband. I know I've said that before but words cannot explain how I feel. Brian is such a wonderful husband and Daddy! He is always helping me out with things around the house and the kids. Even after a long day of work he comes home and starts doing things to help out. He usually, okay almost always, cooks dinner. (He is a really good cook. When I cook something the kids look at it like, "What in the world is this?") I am so proud of Brian and how hard he works to provide for our family. He has always known that I wanted to stay at home with the kids and he did everything he could to make that happen. I feel so blessed because my life is perfect!

Haiden going into Gen. Ed. Kindergarten class! YEAH!

2009-09-07T20:44:00.005-04:00

We had yet another fun, eventful week! I met some new moms at Ella's library class and it was nice to talk to other moms with toddlers. Tomorrow is her last library class until October and I am going to miss it. Ella continues to grow in her speech development. She is saying words more clearer and saying a lot of new words.
Haiden had a wonderful week at school. I had a meeting with his teacher, a Kindergarten teacher, and the principal this week. On Wednesday Haiden will start going to the General Education Kindergarten class in the afternoons! I am so excited for him! His gen. ed. teacher, Mrs. Deatline, seems great and I'm so proud of how far Haiden has come. He is making such amazing progress! Mrs. West, special ed. teacher, thinks Haiden will be in the Gen. Ed. Kindergarten class all day by the end of the nine week grading period! Such good news!
We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We had some friends over for a cookout and had such a nice time!

Haiden wanted to hold Mason and Ella wanted to be in the picture too. I thought this was too cute!

Our theme for this week was cats, the number 3, and the letter C. Don't you love Ella's painting? It was a complete mess but she had so much fun.

Ella getting a manicure and pedicure from Mommy. She loves it!

My handsome little man is getting so big!

This is a homemade slaw that was so good. I shredded cabbage and carrots, topped it with honey roasted walnuts, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.

A healthy, wonderful, and delicious salad that I wanted to share. The ingredients are spinach, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, and walnuts. For the dressing I use olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Yummy!

Never A Dull Moment

2009-08-30T21:50:00.007-04:00

Mason enjoying a nice day outside! He has been "talking" so much this week!

Ella loved the marshmallows! She was devastated when Brian and Haiden started a marshmallows fight. She was running around picking up the marshmallows and stuffing them in her mouth. I laughed so hard!

We had a great day on Sunday. We went to the library, played soccer, football, gold, roasted marshmallows, and had a marshmallows fight!

Our theme for this week was Jungle, the number 2, the color green, and the letter B. Since Haiden and Ella weren't feeling well this week we didn't get to do all of the activities.

Ella painting her elephant green.

Haiden and Ella were not feeling well so I made a pallet on the couch. My mom always did this when I was sick and I remember how much I liked it.

On Monday, I took Ella and Mason up to my school to visit my former co-workers. I had so much fun seeing everyone and miss them so much! On our way home I received a call from Haiden's school that he had a fever and needed to be picked up. Once I got there the nurse told me he had to "stay home for 24 hours especially with the H1N1 pandemic." She wanted to talk to me about the vaccine and I let her know that we didn't vaccinate. When Haiden returned back to school I had a letter in his folder requesting his immunization records. I proudly went upstairs, got Dr. Hulseman's letter, and put it in his backpack! Our poor guy was not feeling well and had a headache with a fever. He battled this on and off for two days but was able to go back to school on Wednesday. Ella also started showing signs that she wasn't feeling well. At night she couldn't sleep and she was very fussy. We thought her molars were coming in and causing her some pain but when she woke up Wednesday morning she had a ton of drainage coming out of her right ear. Our ped couldn't get her in so I took her to the minute clinic which needs to be called the hour clinic. After an hour and a half we finally made it out of there. I had all three kids with me and we only made a few scenes. The doctor could tell my nerves were wearing thin and as we left she said, "Things do get easier." On Saturday Haiden had a soccer game! We had a big talk about how he just needs to have fun and not worry about scoring. He scored 2 goals so he was excited!

What A Week!

2009-08-23T21:57:00.007-04:00

Haiden warming up before his first soccer game of the season.

Ella looking at the cows at Trader's Point Creamery. She didn't want to get too close. I think she enjoyed the rooster more than the cows.

Cutting out squares with Play-doh. She loved it! It was her entertainment for 30 minutes.

Some of the thing we did this week from the Prepatory Curriculum! Even when I'm not working I still love to teach!

Our big man smiling. He is always smiling and "talking" to us!

We have had a very busy and exciting week. Haiden made it through his first day of Kindergarten. He doesn't like being there for "seven hours!" but he is slowly doing better with being away. On the first day of school he got upset and told his teacher "it is time for me to go home and see my mom." He loves PE and Music but doesn't really care for the "other stuff." Mrs. West, Haiden's teacher, will be going into the general ed. Kindergarten classes this week to determine what class will be best for Haiden. They will be slowly integrating him into the general education class, YEAH!!
I had a fun week at home with Ella and Mason while Haiden was at school. I am doing a Preparatory Curriculum from Letter of the Week with Ella! The theme this week was Cows. We did several activities including reading several books about cows, watching a movie about dairy farming (don't think I'll ever drink milk again), playing with toy cows, singing Old McDonald, pretending to be a cow (bet you wish you saw that one), learning what a square is and making a cow out of black and white squares, cutting squares out of play-doh, finding squares around the house, learning about the number 1, adding 1 sticker into the counting book, counting to 1, coloring a picture of the number 1, learning about the letter A, coloring a picture of the letter A, finding A's around the house, and going to Trader's Point Creamery. Mason would join in the activities, hang out, or sleep! He is such a good baby.

On Saturday we had our family pictures taken and it was almost a disaster but we made it through. Ella was freaked out by the wacky photographer, Mason kept trying to curl up in a ball, and Haiden was so excited and distracted that he kept making funny faces and wanted to touch everything! Haiden also had his first soccer game with the next age division. This division is much tougher than the spring division and Haiden was in tears because he didn't score a goal. I explained to him that it didn't matter if he scored, he just needed to have fun. He didn't buy it.

Haiden's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-17T20:18:00.007-04:00

One very proud Daddy!

I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten. Where has the time gone?

Ella really wanted to be in the pictures. Haiden is such a good big brother.

Ready for the first day of Kindergarten!

Haiden started Kindergarten today! We are very fortunate to live in Brownsburg because of there school corporation. Brownsburg is the only public school in the state that has a program for kids on the spectrum. Maria West, Haiden's teacher, runs the Bridge program. She is amazing! The program is very abstract and works towards meeting the goals of each individual. They have social skills lessons each morning and use a lot of hands on, visual learning. Haiden is starting out in a separate classroom, which I still have mixed emotions about, but he will gradually be placed into the general education Kindergarten class. He was exhausted after his first day. It didn't help that he was at his dad's this weekend and didn't get much sleep. Now that he is home I know he will get the proper rest and his needs will be met. It amazes me how far Haiden has come. Just two years ago Haiden couldn't communicate appropriately, he couldn't transition without a meltdown, he played with the same toy over and over, he didn't really want to interact with peers, he had trouble with his fine motor skills, and his sensory issues were still a huge problem. Now he doesn't stop talking and we have appropriate conversations, he transitions without a problem, he plays with a variety of toys, he loves to play with other kids, he can write his name, draw, and cut with scissors, and he has learned how to handle his sensory issues! Biomedical treatment, therapy, and developmental preschool has saved our son and given him a chance to be a normal little boy!

The Past 9 Weeks

2009-08-16T21:19:00.002-04:00

The past nine weeks have been a roller coaster to say the least. There have been new challenges, lots of laughs, some tears, and a lot of self reflecting. Some days have been more challenging than others. Like the day Ella screamed all day. The day Mason spit up on me, peed on me, and pooped on me before lunch. The days Haiden talked non-stop about Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. The days I didn't eat or use the restroom until 2:00. The days I made lunch while holding Mason, talking to Haiden, and tried to interpret what Ella was saying all at the same time. The days I questioned my ability to be a good mother. Then there were the days that made me realize how blessed I am. Like the days Haiden tells me, "Mommy, I love you infinity." The days Ella gives me hugs and kisses. The days Mason's naps occur the same time I try to fix lunch, clean the house, and play with Haiden and Ella. The days I took the kids to the park. The days we went on playdates. The days we went to the library. The days Ella and Haiden just laughed and played with each other. The days Haiden watches Mason and tells him how much he loves him. The days Ella helps me with laundry, washing bottles, and emptying the dishwasher. The days Haiden has very interesting conversations with me. The days I am able to clean the house. The day I was able to mow the back yard while all three kidos played. The day Mason first smiled at me. The day Mason first cooed. The days when Ella says new words. The days I play dress up with the kids. The day I painted Ella's toes for the first time. The days Haiden helps me with everything. The day I was able to fix dinner for Brian instead of Brian always having to fix dinner for me. The days I see my kids eyes light up. The days when I am able to hold me three angels. Every challenging moment has been worth it because I have the most amazing children and husband in the world!

Our Little Man

2009-08-14T21:34:00.002-04:00

Mason had his 8 week well baby visit this week. He already weighs 14 lbs. 8 oz. and is 24 1/2 inches long! He is such a healthy, happy baby. The past two weeks he has been smiling at us and started cooing recently. (He is my first one to coo.) We are also finally getting sleep. Mason has been sleeping 7 hours at night! At his well baby visit I encountered the vaccine issue with his ped. She informed me of her concerns of us not vaccinating Mason and stopping vaccinations with Ella. I informed her that Mason is my first healthy, happy baby and I am not going to jeopardize that. Many people may look down upon me for not vaccinating my children. Those people are misinformed and unaware of how corrupt our vaccine program is and how dangerous vaccines actually are. I truly believe that all of the vaccine injuries are going to catch up with the medical community. The newest data shows that 1 in 100 children are diagnosed with autism. If you included children who had autism but are recovered, the statistic is 1 in 63! I just encourage parents to become informed and I am going to continue to protect my children.

The Tell City Adventure

2009-08-13T12:54:00.005-04:00

While in Tell City we were constantly on the go and up late. Needless to say the kids were exhausted.

Haiden took this picture of Ella!

Haiden also took this picture of Mason.

Last Wednesday I took the kids down to Tell City for the Switzerfest. About 5 hours later, we finally arrived at our desination. (It should only take 3 hours.) There was a lot of screaming, two stops, and road construction but we made it! We visited with family and friends and had a wonderful time!