Oh! The Power of “Magic Sprinkles”….

I have one of the pickiest eaters in the world!  That is a really bad thing when you already don’t eat anything with Gluten, red meat, fish, eggs, milk, or added dye.   My son’s food preferences are limited to chicken nuggets, waffles, peanut butter sandwiches, chips, french fries, and “ham cheese burgers” aka cheeseburgers.  If I’m lucky, I can get him to eat mashed potatoes, apples, or a ham and cheese sandwich.  He NEVER eats pasta or anything green.

Well, groceries are running low, and it’s too hot to put anything in the oven.  I really didn’t want sandwiches for dinner though.  So, I decided that I would try Quinoa noodles (like spaghetti) with a 4 cheese tomato sauce.  I really didn’t think my son would eat it, but I wanted to give it a try.  I figured that maybe if he was able to “make” his dinner, that he would be more willing to eat it.  So I handed him is plate and the parmesan cheese, which we commonly refer to as “magic sprinkles”.  He proceeded to dump a good 3-4 tablespoons worth on his 1/2 cup of spaghetti.  And he ate ALL of it… then asked for a 2nd bowl…. cried when there wasn’t enough for a 3rd.

Yes, I know that was way too much cheese for a boy with bowel issues and milk allergies… but I got him to eat something new.  That’s the first step.  We can limit the cheese next time.  But this may have opened the door into a whole new world of foods… just so long as there are “magic sprinkles”.  🙂

Starting again…

So, over the last few months, I have really neglected my blog.  😦  Not that I didn’t think about writing, it’s just one of those things that was left behind because life got in the way.  But, here’s my promise, mostly to myself, to keep trying to update and keep writing.  I know that I have alot of information stored inside me and it wants to come out!!!

Anyways, since my last post, I got the results for my son’s “allergy” test.  Surprise, surprise… negative.  Oh well… we’ve been g-free for 96 days and counting.  🙂  I still think that this is the best possible thing that we could have done.  It may not be a perfect solution, but it works.  And I still don’t have doctor approval!  What should we do to celebrate our 100th day of being gluten free?  Any ideas?

I am still working on getting my son into a preschool.  I found one right down the road from me… less than a block away.  He is on the list, but I am still not sure it’s the best option for us.  It might be too expensive and they don’t offer scholarships.  BUT, they do take him too and from the public school for speech therapy AND they will follow the g-free diet.  I’ll have to get him an IEP to guarantee it, but to have support from them already is a good start.  Now I just gotta come up with some creative ways to get the money.  We’ll see.

I also got crafty and organized all of my scrapbooking stickers… and I have ALOT of stickers.  My sister thinks I’m crazy, but then again, I never claimed to be sane.  🙂  Now if only I can get the rest of my room organized!

Did I mention that hubby is gone again?  Maybe that’s why I am so busy lately… That OR the fact that I am now the new ombudsman for his ship.  In other words, I am an “information and resource expert”… anyone wanna disagree that this might be the most fitting job for me ever!!?!  This means that I had to step down from my FRG position though.  I’ll miss being a part of that organization, but I’ll still be able to hang out with the girls on occasion.  🙂  In fact, we went to the sushi bar on Saturday for karaoke night and then a few of them came over for a playdate last night.  I made tacos and they were YUMMY!  I made the taco seasoning myself instead of using a package.  I’m so happy that everyone liked it.

I also went to a gluten-free allergy workshop last week and met some wonderful people.  It’s so good to know that there are others out there doing this diet for the same reasons that I am.  I also learned that others are even more drastic and going gluten-free, casein-free, and soy free.  And sometimes egg free.   I thought it was hard going g-free and limiting my son’s dairy intake (because he is lactose intolerant).  I’ve also been limiting soy because I read somewhere that it might be harmful to our reproductive systems.  (I’ll have to find the article again.)  Either way, it’s good to have a support system in this kind of diet.  It’s hard to do it alone.  I’m so appreciative to those of you that are always sending me articles and blogs about the diet… and I love that all of my family is starting to read labels more.  I get calls at least once a week with that “did you know..?” tidbit of information.  🙂  Thanks guys!

I can’t think of anything else right now, but I will post again if I think of something.  🙂  I will be updating my “Recommended Websites” and “Recommended Reading” soon… hopefully today.

Listening to:  “Wait for me” – Theory of a Deadman  (I heard it on my friend’s blog and I LOVE IT!… Check out Gaile’s blog here —>  http://anotherdeployment.blogspot.com/)

Back to normal…

Well, hubby has been home for 2 weeks now.  He went back to work on Friday, and has duty today.  I love having him home, but I am happy that he is back to work.  He needs something to do.. he is getting fidgety.  LOL.  We had a really nice Easter holiday.  I made a ham, and a couple of side dishes.  Everything was very tasty.

Our son’s birthday was on Thursday.  We didn’t really celebrate knowing that we were having a party on Saturday.  We had some ice cream though, on some GF cones!  I found them at Whole Foods…. “Let’s Do… Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones.”  For his party, I made a Betty Crocker GF Devil’s Food Cake.  My first attempt failed… only because I forgot to add water to the batter.  😦  Second attempt worked perfectly.  I made a double batch, so it would fit better in a 9×13 cake pan.  Frosted it with Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting.  Then added a cornstarch print of his favorite characters.  (The lady at “Do It With Icing” helped me with that one… doitwithicing.com.)  We had lots of fun… lots of food, some games, a pinata, and tons of presents!  And best of all… they liked my cake!  🙂

My next project is to try to get my son into preschool… one that is suited to his needs.  I want a school that will respect our wishes for him to be Gluten Free… even without a Celiac diagnosis.  He also needs some speech therapy and help with his ADHD.

Speaking of Celiac…. I talked to my son’s GI doctor the other day.  She called me to tell me that all of his test results came back negative.  No Celiac Disease, no Hirschsprung’s Disease.  I mentioned to her that we had gone Gluten Free on March 17th, and she immediately came back with an “I told you it wouldn’t work” kind of attitude.  That was until I told her that within 6 days of going g-free my son’s bowel movements were completely regular and that he was going to the bathroom at least once a day… sometimes 3 times a day.  (He has NEVER gone even once a day…. not since he was 9 months old.)  She was baffled… said she was gonna check his tests herself.  Then she asked if we could do one more blood test.  This time she would do a genetic test for Celiac, and an allergy panel for wheat.  (I had been told previously that wheat wasn’t an allergy that had GI reactions… Stupid doctors!)  Well, we had the tests done on Wednesday, and we should hear back later this week.  Doesn’t matter what the tests say… we are still staying G-free.  Not only has this diet DRASTICALLY improved my son’s GI health, but his behavior has gotten better.  I can’t see any reason to go back to feeding him that “poison”.

Anyways… I have added a page to my blog.  This is my list of recommended websites.  Mostly coupon websites, but also pages/blogs to learn how to manage spending.  There are also some blogs in there about living G-free.  Of course, I will update it as I find more info that I like.  I am also gonna be adding some sites for my crafty friends… and maybe some for those that are getting married or having babies.  🙂

I think that’s all I have for today.  Gonna work on my “book” for a little while and do some crafts with my boy.  🙂

Oh, and for you WoW players…. I am finally “Insane”!  🙂

He’s home!

So, my hubby is home now… for a little while at least.  We have already slipped back into our normal routine…. and I am loving it!  He is okay with the gluten-free transition too.  I think I made it pretty easy for him.  My whole kitchen is g-free, so he can feed our son anything that is in there.  And he has a box of snacks outside the kitchen that he can have for himself after our son goes to bed.  Even Grandma liked most of the g-free foods that I had available.  Nobody really likes the bread though, so I am still on a quest to find some stuff that is more normal.  Husband and I made a cake last night, a trial for our son’s upcoming birthday.  We made the G-free Betty Crocker Devil’s Food cake.  Husband ate it, and liked it.  (He won’t eat anything that he doesn’t like.  LOL)  I don’t like cake, but I ate it anyway…. tasted pretty close to the real thing.

Can’t really think of anything else that is important enough to mention…. except that I finally remembered to fill out my census.  Now, let’s see how long it takes for me to actually put it in the mailbox.  LOL

Counting down….

My husband comes home in a few days.  I am so excited… I have waited 8 months for him!  I am just keeping myself busy, trying to pass the time.  I’ve got a list of errands to run tomorrow, including a meeting with a dietitian.  I think we are gonna talk about possible supplements that we should be taking, and more advice on this g-free lifestyle.

Went to Outback Steakhouse today for dinner.  They have a gluten-free menu!  (Much smaller than the normal menu, but it also has hints on how to order your food to make sure it is g-free.)  My son and I both got a chicken entree with mashed potatoes… and ice cream sundaes for dessert!  We also went to a few different grocery stores in search of more g-free foods… didn’t find much.  I honestly expected Trader Joe’s to be bigger though… the one near us is tiny and they didn’t have anything that really stood out to me.  I know that alot of foods aren’t clearly labeled “GLUTEN FREE”, so I will have to do some more research.  Thinking of making myself a binder with sections for different foods and condiments.  Like “BBQ Sauce” and list all of those that I know are g-free… and maybe a list of those that aren’t.  Then when I go to the grocery store, I can just grab and go.  Plus, if we find something that we really don’t like, we can just cross it off!  🙂  Guess I just gave myself a new project to work on…….

Awesome GF snack list

Found a really good list of GF snacks and candy today.  Of course, I will verify everything on the list, but this looks like it’s going to be the perfect list to send to the grandparents.  Easter is coming up, and this list with help them ALOT!

Click to access Gluten-Free-Candy-List.pdf

There is only one thing on this list that rubs me the wrong way and makes me want to double verify everything… It says that McDonald’s french fries are safe.  But even McDonald’s says that they aren’t!

Click to access ingredientslist.pdf

So, I am off to verify the list…. I’ll let y’all know if I find any other errors!

Why Gluten-Free?

I know I am going to be asked this a thousand and one times, so I might as well put it all out there.

Over the last few years, my son has had alot of medical issues. When he was born, we found out that he had a heart condition (Pulmonary Valve Stenosis).  At 12 months old, he started having ear infections.. he had 14 within a year!  This prevented him from hearing properly, and thus delayed his speech.  So at 26 months old, he had tubes put in.  He also had sleep apnea, so we had his adenoids removed.  He’s also had bowel issues for as long as I can remember… his medical records say that he’s been treated for chronic constipation since he was 9 months old.  These problems have only gotten worse, to the point where he only goes to the bathroom every 7-10 days (with the assistance of massive amounts of laxatives).  He has 3 of the 5 types of ADHD… ranging moderate to severe.  I finally caved and let the docs put him on Adderall, but that only made him depressed.  He also has anxiety and OCD, so they wanted to prescribe an anti-depressant as well.  (I refused, and took him off of the Adderall.)  In addition to all of this, I believe that he has Asperger’s Syndrome (but the docs won’t diagnose him yet).

Now that you have seen all that… remember that he is only 3 years old.  And I am one tired Mama.  Focusing on his 3 major issues (ADHD, Autistic-traits, and bowel issues),  the only thing I can think of to do is to remove the gluten.  It is suggested that a gluten-free diet can help alleviate the symptoms of Autism and ADHD.  My son’s bowel issues also seem to be similar to Celiac Disease (we’ve had his tested, waiting on the biopsy results).  The only treatment for Celiac Disease is a gluten-free diet.  So, it only makes sense to me to try this.  Nothing else has worked so far, and nobody is giving me any answers.  I can’t just sit here everyday and watch my son bounce off the walls… and I can’t tell you how many times I have cried with him when the pain in his stomach is too much to bear.  So, to me, this is the only way.  At least I am doing SOMETHING!

My friend and I have had many discussions about how there is no pr0-active treatment for some of my son’s symptoms… but I am definitely not the type of person who will just sit and wait for it to get worse.  So I am gonna do this diet and see if it helps, but if you know of something better that I could do… Speak up!

9 years!

My husband and I have been together for 9 years as of today.  Again, I feel like I am at a loss of words to describe how I am feeling about this.  I mean, it doesn’t feel like that long, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve been with him for forever!   Also, with Homecoming being in just a few days, I have been looking back on the last 8 months, thinking about the things I have done to pass the time.  Time just seemed to drag by very slowly, but now that it’s almost over, I remember his departure like it was yesterday.  Why is this!?  Oh well, the point is that he is almost home, and I can’t wait to see him!

Listening to:  “Come What May” from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack

Hello world!

Wow!  Now that I have a blog, maybe I need to think of something clever to say.  LOL