An Eventful Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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!