Ready for Basketball

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

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

Gluten, Casein, Egg, Soy, Corn Free

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

Faith, Food, and Favorites

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

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

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

Here was his lunch.

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

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

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

Baby Avalon Organics lotion

Burt's Bee Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash

Animal Parade Toothpaste

Dishmate Liquid dish soap

Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent

Do you have any favorite products that your family uses?

Precious Little Blessings

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

Pudding and Pizza

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

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

The best pizza crust ever!

Pizza sauce and pepperoni.

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

Oh, the Ups and Downs of Autism Recovery

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

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

Diet, Play, and Diapers!

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

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

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

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

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

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.