Looks Good in Polka Dots

K3 woke from her nap crying and covered in vomit.  Let the fun begin.  At five she isn’t quite to the point of being able to make it to the bathroom before the geyser erupts.  Episode one resulted in a covered kid, Mom, bed, floor and a trail on several other surfaces as we ran for the bathroom.   In nearly eight years of Mothering I have never delt with this amount of vomit.   I put the kiddo into a warm bath to get rid of the stench and the sticky, matted mess that is her hair.   A little while later, she decided that maybe a little food and drink would be okay.   1/2 a banana and a couple ounces of Hanson’s Cherry Vanilla Natural Soda later and we started again.  Luckily, I had the foresight to bring out a throw-up pan (one of the many green, square basins that came home from the hospital with TeenGirl).  I don’t know where this comes from… she didn’t consume nearly as much as what came back up. 

Guess we will have several unused tickets to K2’s Nutcracker Ballet tonight… I am not about to risk taking a sick kid.  K1 isn’t feeling so hot either, although I haven’t yet determined if that is just to get attention.  So, Daddy will be staying home with pukey, my tummy hurts and little critter (she hasn’t yet figured out the meaning of “behave” and I have to be backstage to help with costumes).

About 30 minutes into the Ballet, I get a text from Daddy… it says “we are okay, wanted to let you know she’s puking again”.  Fabulous. 

We had a bit of a disagreement about the method of dealing with this.  I went to school to be a nurse and while I haven’t finished that particular program, I do have a lot of training under my belt.  Not to mention that I have been a Mom to multiple children for many years, a foster parent, a host family for exchange students and a Nanny for many years before that.  I’ve got the basic knowledge of caring for sickies under my belt.

Daddy felt we shouldn’t give her anything to drink or eat as it was coming right back up.  I beg to differ.  Food is definitely optional at this point, however keeping some liquids going in is essential.  I got out the medicine dropper and started giving her 1 tsp of water every 15 minutes or so.  Enough to wet her mouth, but not so much as to cause a rebellion in her belly.   I look at it this way… if I am sick, do I not drink anything?  Ummmmm…. no.  Generally, I sip on water or 7-Up.  It helps get rid of the ickey taste in ones mouth.

We made it through the night with no more vomit.  She actually slept pretty much through the night.  This morning, I made GF waffles with applesauce and cinnamon baked in… she had a 1/4 section with a little pat of soy margarine and powdered sugar and a few sips of water.  After about an hour, she got another 1/4 section in.  So far we are doing okay.  She’s snuggly and sleepy.  Let’s hope we are done puking. 

Wondering… who will start next?

K2 has a nasty, snotty nose.  Other than that she is good to go.   K4 is onery as ever, has had the look of getting sick for a few days but it hasn’t turned into much… YET!  And of course, K1 is wimpy and saying he doesn’t feel so good.  

Praying I don’t get this crap!  I have to work at 5 am tomorrow and don’t have time for sickness… not to mention the little fact of needing to take care of the sick kiddos.

TeenGirl has stayed in at Grandma’s since her treatment on Wednesday.  We didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be home alone on Thursday and Friday while I worked.  She had a severe headache for a day or so and felt a bit punky… looks to be doing better now.  At least until Wednesday when she goes back for treatment #2.   It’s probably just as well that she won’t be home until this evening… hopefully she won’t get this pukiness on top of everything else.

Is tomorrow Monday already?  Where the heck did my weekend go?

Let’s face it, y’all think my life is pretty darn spiffy.  Afterall, I am am witty (well, sort of anyway),  good looking (who says a Mom of 4 + TeenGirl can’t be HOT?), have GREAT hair, a pretty good job, one fabulous husband and some pretty remarkable (naughty, obnoxious, mouthy, loving, cute, adorable) children.

The reality is… (insert drum roll, or other appropriate, impending doom soundtrack here)… there are days I want to pull my hair out and SCREAM at the top of my (large capacity) lungs.

My Mother, the woman who gave me life.  The reason I exist, the person I learned how to be a Mom from (via the things she did RIGHT and the mistakes she made)… yes, that imperfect, wonderful, loving woman is DIEING.  I hate this disease.  I have spent HOURS upon hours on the phone and email with PEOPLE WHO DON’T CARE, trying to figure out Medicaid, Disability Services, Social Security, Home Health Care, etc…

TeenGirl is starting a treatment called Rituximab today.  It’s kind of like chemo… only different.  She will go in once a week for four weeks and have a drip infusion through her central line.  Sounds like a hoot.  Let’s hope she doesn’t have side effects like chemo.  I don’t like it.  Our medical team (which consists of no less than 20 incredibly intelligent people) are convinced this is our best option.  So, we march on.

 Did I mention those kids drove me batty yesterday?  Oh, yes they did.  All I asked was for decent behavior for an hour while I put together the PTC bulletin board after school.  Heaven forbid that they could play quietly in the hallway.  Evidently, once school is out… we forget all the rules about not running (or yelling and screaming) in the halls.  By the time we loaded up for the seven minute drive home I was ready to lock them in their rooms. 

 Instead, they washed dishes and put laundry away (while wanting to play XBox, Ummmm…. I think NOT!).

I asked TeenGirl to throw some Taquitos and Tots in the oven so I could dash to Target to pick up her meds (which we forget to refill and she has therefore been PUKING from withdrawal).

Did I mention hubby was passed over for his (well deserved) promotion?  Yep, so he was in a stellar mood as well.  The promotion will happen.  Maybe in a month… definitely within six.  He wanted it now.  ‘Nuff said.

The Holidays are a great time for cookie mixes in a jar.  I have altered some of our favorite recipes to be GF so that we can share the joys of a GF diet with our loved ones.  I do recommend using real eggs in these mixes if you can, however they turn out well with replacements.  You can make your own with 2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp Olive Oil and 2 tsp baking powder for each egg or you can also use 1/4 c tofu or about 3 Tbsp applesauce for each egg.  The Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are dairy free, so if you use them and use a soy margarine, this mix is GFCF!

 Basic Cookie Mix

1 3/4 C. GF Flour Blend (See Below)

3/4 tsp. Kosher Salt

3/4 tsp. Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Soda

3/4 C. Packed light brown sugar

1/2 C. Organic evaporated cane sugar

1 1/2 C. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (See sub alternatives below)

Mix GF flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and then pour into clean 1 quart jar. Next, layer on the brown sugar, then the chocolate chips (or replacement) then top with the cane sugar.  Seal the jar and decorate as desired.  Include the following instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Beat together 3/4 cup softened soy margarine, 1 egg (or replacement)  and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in mixer bowl until creamed. Add cookie mix.  Blend well, be sure there are no lumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased INSULATED baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 1-2 minutes prior to moving to cooling racks.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

GF Flour Blend- Makes 8 Cups (approx.)

This is a perfect, slightly sweet blend to use for cookies

1 cup chickpea flour

6 cups sorghum flour

1 cup sweet rice flour

Substitutions for Cookie Mix

Replace Chocolate Chips with- 1 1/2 C. Dried Blueberries or Cranberries

Decrease Chocolate Chips to 3/4 C and add 3/4 Banana Chips

Add 1/2 C. Nuts of your choice to mix

Also fun- process dried strawberries into a fine powder, layer 3/4 C. in place of chocolate chips.  If you want to get REALLY crazy, you can also add a layer of dried blueberries or banana chips!

Depending on your requirements, you may also want to sub Sunspire Chocolate Drops for the chips.

Happy Baking!

I have been pondering the question of what makes an appopriate gift for my children’s teachers and care givers.  The teachers are easier than the daycare provider.  Teachers do not expect large gifts and for the most part would be embarrassed to receive them.  We usually opt for something small and personal.  Especially with five kids at home.  K3 is in Kingergarten where she has three Teachers… and then in the afternoon she goes to an enrichment program where she has three more Teachers.  Yep, six Teachers all for my five year old.  Then we have the three Teachers who do the first/second grade rotation (now the count is nine) and little critter’s babysitter.  That’s 10 people to get a holiday gift for.  Now, if TeenGirl expects to add her teachers into the mix, we are talking crazy.  We already have a gaggle of girlfriends to get gifts for.  Then comes the question of PTC.  I am the VP… soon to be the full fledge Prez… our Executive Committee consists of four (3 Mom’s and the current Prez/Teacher).  Shouldn’t they get a little something?  And what about the Principal… the Office Staff?  Holy Krikes!  I think there is smoke coming from my ears (or my credit card).  Obviously, we have to draw the line somewhere.  I certaintly CANNOT give holiday gifts to 17 people just in my children’s school.  Maybe we will stick with a nice greeting card and a candy cane for all those special people.  That said, we will definitely be getting a NICE gift for the babysitter.  Afterall, she is more than a sitter, she has become a friend… she is the person who spends nearly 7 hours a day with my little critter.  And critter ADORES her.  Sometimes I think she likes her better than me.   We will also be getting a little gift for all the kids Teachers and probably limiting it to a card and candy for the Teaching Assistants/Helpers. Perhaps I will bust out the baking mix in a jar recipes and whip out a plethora of yummy looking creations to gift.  More on that later.

Supplements are a vital part of ensuring a well-balanced diet in a child with food allergies.  Diseases like Celiac’s actually interferes with the absorbtion of much needed vitamins and minerals.  Other dietary restrictions, such as those for ADHD and Autism (GF or GFCF diets) may be lacking some of the needed vitamins.  There is also the questions of whether these diseases could be caused from vitamin/mineral deficiencies.  For now, K3 is taking the following supplements to help ensure a balance in her Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Milk and Whey Free diet.  We also restrict anything that is artificial, so all the supplements we use have no artifical colors, preservatives or flavors.

L’il Critters  Gummy Vites- 2 a day (Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Supplement)

L’il Critters Immune C plus Zinc and Echinechea- 1 a day (unless showing signs of illness, then up it to 2)

L’il Critters Calcium plus D- 2 a day (this is equal calcium to one serving milk, we may go up based on an evaluation of how much calcium she is getting in the milk replacements we use)

Nordic Naturals DHA Jr.  (Fish Oil/Omega 3) 4 capsules a day

We will be trying some other varieties of Omega 3 when this bottle is gone.  I have found several alternatives (even a Vegan Omega 3 for kids) in the Fred Meyer Nutrition Center.  I find it’s easier to go sit on the aisle floor and read the bottles than to try to compare them online.  I need to see what the product looks like.  Afterall, I am expecting a 5 year old to eat it!

TeenGirl became seriously and mysteriously ill over the summer.  She has spent about 8 weeks as an inpatient at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital since July 5, 2007.

The reason, you ask?  Wish we knew. 

There have been many theories.  The first was TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome).  Not so strange for a 14 year old girl.  Not so scary either… we thought, if that’s it, give her some medicine and get her home.  It wasn’t TSS.  That would have been too simple.

TeenGirl has an entire team of Medical Professionals stumped.  No one can figure out what is wrong with her.  She looks auto-immune, but she doesn’t test positive.  Interesting.

Symptoms?  Lots of ‘em.

Headaches which occurred with more frequency over a couple of months, irregular (and close together) menses, lethargy, sinus congestion, generalized depression/ neuological decline, fevers, elevated white blood cell count, severe anemia, fainting spells.  Later on she developed a rash over her entire body- a skin biopsy didn’t show anything abnormal. 

On her first admittance to the hospital, she was given 5 units of blood products to counter-act the anemia, by now she has had so many units of blood products, I have lost count. She had kidney failure which took weeks to correct.   There have been specialists of every kind involved in her care, tests on her blood, biopsies of her bone marrow, kidneys and skin, a spinal tap.  You name it, she was tested for it.  Cancer, although an intial concern, was ruled out early on.  She didn’t “present” like a kid with Cancer.  I had to laugh at that… evidently, she didn’t “present” like anything.   Now, 5 months after her initial hospilization, she is out of immediate danger, but we still have NO answers.  What caused this to begin with?  How will we stop it?  She is currently having APHERESIS (a treatment that replaces the plasma in her blood with donor plasma) and taking some many medications it makes our heads spin.  The most recent medication addition is CellCept.  She is also on steroids which has caused ugly fat deposits all over her face and upper back, they also make her cheeks permanently pink and often leave her feeling ill.  I have days when I wonder if the medications aren’t keeping her sick!  Maybe we should stop them all and see how she does before we go onto a new, more aggressive treatment.  (Now they are talking about a Chemotherapy often used for Lupus patients).  The Doctors are sure she has Lupus, and will one day test positive for it.  

TeenGirl started her freshman year in High School in September.  She misses more school than she is there for.  Lucky for us, she is on a medical 504 which allows her to take half her classes online and doesn’t hold her absences against her.   We make the 1 hour drive each way to the Children’s Hospital at least once a week, although it’s often 3 times in one week.   Now, we are beyond searching for an answer.  Maybe we won’t ever know what disease this is.  As long as its under control, I can accept that.  Really.  I can.

My Mom, Cheryl, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in September of ‘06.  We knew it was ALS before the Doctors did.

Moms early symptoms weren’t ones we even connected to the disease until much later.  She thought it was allergies or asthma.  Just some relatively minor breathing/wheezing issues that cropped up in the Springtime of 2005.  Mom was at my house everyday during that time as she was helping care for my kiddos.  During the Summer months we noticed a slight droop on the left side of Mom’s face.  It affected her smile more than anything.  Her speech took on a slight lisp.  It was an annoyance, but nothing terrible.  The Doctor ruled out a stroke and thought she had Bells Palsy, which usually heals itself within 18 months.  Well, she didn’t get better and continued to get worse.  The choking started… at first, it was only when drinking, especially carbonated beverages.  Overtime, we had to be careful that she only ate soft foods.  Her speech continued to get worse, but I could still understand her.  The first Neurologist we saw ran some more tests, all Mom’s motor skills were good.  She ordered an MRI… looked me in the eyes and said “if her MRI comes back clear, I’m not going to worry about her”.  Her MRI was clear, of course it was.  ALS doesn’t show up on an MRI.  Six months later, we were back in that same Neurologists office and she wanted to know why I hadn’t taken Mom to the emergency room (she was writing all the time now as we couldn’t understand her speech at all).  I was angry, she was the Doctor who told me she wasn’t worried.  And what, I might ask, would an emergency do for someone who couldn’t talk?  We already had all the emergency situations ruled out.  When we left the office that day, she told me that she was referring us to a Neuro in Portland.  I was given the name but NO other information.  I don’t take these things lightly and had a STRONG dislike for this Doctor, as did my Mom.  We let it drop because we didn’t want anyone saying we had an issue because of her race (I am the most NON-Racist persone that exists,  I do not tolerate mistreatment or idiodicy from anyone).  Once home, I quickly did some research on the specialist we were going to see.  Of course, our suspicions panned out.  The new Doctor headed up a center for ALS research. We were going to be diagnosed.  With a couple of weeks the official diagnosis had been made.  Even though we knew this was coming, it was like a sledge-hammer landed when the words were spoken.   Two years ago, my Mother could do all the normal things we expect to do at not quite 50 years old.  She was caring for her grandchildren, walking, reading, playing with her dog and cat, driving a car, eating and drinking REAL food… Today she is in a wheelchair fulltime.  She cannot speak at all.  She has use of her hands, although they are also starting to lose function.  Even her neck is starting to become weak, requiring a brace to hold her head upright.  She has a PEG tube for nutrition, someone must take her to the bathroom and even help her roll over in bed.  My Mom turned 50 in June.  This is a devastating disease that has robbed her of all the things she should be able to enjoy.   It has forced TeenGirl to be raised by her sister and stolen my children’s Grandma.  It isn’t fair, it is reality.  We can scream about the unfairness of it, or we can accept that this is one thing we cannot change and we can do everything possible to make it easier for Mom.  That’s the only choice we have.

I often start things and seldom get around to finishing them.  It’s like I lose interest if I can’t wrap the project up in two hours time.   This includes numerous handmade baby quilts, scrapbooks of four kids, excerpts from the book I’m GOING to write…

Maybe it’s just me… maybe it’s because I have 4 (healthy) kids, a teen sister with an immune disorder, a mother with ALS, a dog, a cat, a fulltime job and a remarkable husband. 

Perhaps it’s because I have an issue with follow through.  Or I lack the patience.  I could possibly blame it on not having my own office space to keep all these “projects” in.

 Maybe it’s because I have so many *great* ideas that I just cannot bottled them up. 

Today my mission is to finish the baby quilt for my co-worker whose baby was born 10 weeks early… she is 5 weeks old now and I only have one final side of the blanket to go. 

Perhaps I should start taking some of my daughter’s fish oil… maybe I could be more focused that way!

We woke to no power this morning.  Evidently the storm that is brewing knocked a tree over on the lines just down the street.  A call to the power company claimed we would be back up and running in about 2 hours… we knew better!  We got dressed and headed out after no showers and waterless toothbrushing (we have a well… no power=no water!).  We stopped briefly at McDonalds and let the kiddos play while we enjoyed biscuit sandwiches and iced hazlenut coffees.  The kids munched on apple slices and sipped water between crazy rounds up and down the slide (they had bowls of Panda Puff’s at home). Costco was first on our list of places to stop.  I was amazed to find several foods that Kenzie could have.  We found chicken taquitos by Delimex, organic whole frozen green beans, organic flash frozen blueberries, 12 -32oz containers of vanilla soymilk, organic free range chicken broth,  Aidel’s Apple/Chicken Sausages, Ground Beef, Ind. packed fresh chicken breasts, fruit leathers, natural juice boxes, a huge bag of Mission corn chips (actually labeled Gluten-Free!)… the list goes on.  $207.00 (all food products) later, we were on our way to the truck. Evidently we lacked our normal forethought while leaving the house this morning and took the truck, as we had the whole troop with us.  Arriving back at the truck, we realized that we had the task of fitting 6 bodies and several boxes of groceries inside the cab.  Using the bed wasn’t an option unless we wanted soaked, soggy groceries!  We decided to take the crew home to stay with TeenGirl while Daddy and I finished our rounds.  On the way back up our road, the power company guys said they were almost done and the power would be back on soon (I momentarily thought I should bring them some hot coffee, then realized I couldn’t!).  I left TeenGirl with instructions on what to feed the kiddos for lunch and ventured back into the storm, this time a bit wiser…we took the Prius.  Oregon Dad needs some new Free’s, so we stopped at the Nike Employee Store next.  This always leads to trouble (at least on the pocket book).  One shoe crisis later, (Oregon Dad sees one of his shoes on display and wonders how the heck that passed quality control… whips out the AMEX and takes the pair home so he can read someone the riot act) and we are on our way again.  Whole foods is the last stop of the day.  This turned into a several hour ordeal as (obviously new GF parents) we wandered down every aisle… scouring the shelves for any item that was labeled Gluten Free.  There was a bit of trauma as we discovered that many gluten free items we wanted to buy (such as Annie’s Rice Pasta and Cheese) contained Whey… which is one of Kenzie’s most reactive foods.  At one point, our cart contained no less than 10 little bags of flours…then we located the baking mixes and opted to try a couple of those first.  The tortillas we found look tasty, the bread appears hard and not so fabulous.  I was pleased to find snack bars, animal crackers, chocolate chip cookies and plain pastas.  I wish that Whole Foods would lump all their GF products in one section, instead of intermingling them with all the other products, as it took us longer to figure out what to buy.  I can’t help but wonder what we may have missed.  I did locate some wheat free soy sauce, which makes me incredibly happy.  Kenzie loves rice and she loves it even more with soy sauce.  I also stumbled upon some packets of gravy mix (on the VERY bottom shelf!) and some fabulous peanut sauce (being sampled in the store). Just as we were wrapping up our shopping excursion and heading to the check out I received an email on my Blackberry Pearl from another GF Mom.  She had some great suggestions for finding foods and told me they survive dinnertime by sticking with fresh, whole meats and lots of fruits and veggies.  I fear my biggest struggle will be packing lunches and snacks for Kindergarten.  I admit, there are concerns about Kenzie actually eating the peanut butter sandwiches on rice bread.  Here are some of the items we ended up with:

Rice Dream (Chocolate and Plain)— the chocolate has a recipe for chocolate rice pudding on it, however it calls for a package of pudding and whipped topping, so I have to look for subs first!

Food For Life Brown Rice Fruit Juice Sweetened Bread

Food For LIfe Brown Rice Tortillas

Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce

OrganicVille Non Dairy Ranch Organic Dressing

Natures Path Organic Corn Lakes (labeled GLUTEN FREE, others contain Barley Malt… not sure if that’s okay?)

Enjoy Life snack bars in cocoa loco and caramel apple (Free of all common allergens)

KinniKritters Animal Cookies

DeBoles Rice Spirals and Penne Pastas

365 Gluten Free Corn Bread Mix

365 Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix

Arrowhead Mills GF All Purpose Baking Mix

Envirokidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and Gorilla Munch Cereals

Bob’s Red Mill Cornstarch

Tater Tots

GF Freezer Waffles

And soooooooooooooo much more!

Our grocery total today?  $316.00!  Ouch!  And that doesn’t include the Nike Store damage. 

We are sure Kenzie has ADHD.  We also feel that her diet can control it… so we do not see a traditional doctor for it.  We will NOT medicate.  Members of our family have all answered 14 questions (Does my child have ADHD), coming up with 10-11 yes answers. The rule of thumb is 8 or more indicate ADHD.  Our Naturopath Doctor has recommended fish oil in addition to removing the foods she is reactive to and adding other vitamin supplements.

I have been doing some research about using fish oil for ADHD and found several good articles.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Fish-Oil-for-ADD-or-ADHD-Is-there-a-Positive-Health-Connection-between-Fish-Oil-and-ADD-or-ADHD?&id=631243

http://www.mercola.com/2006/jul/4/fish_oil_treats_adhd_better_than_ritalin.htm

http://www.mercola.com/2002/jul/20/adhd.htm

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400011

For now, we have started on Nordic Naturals DHA Junior.  Kenzie doesn’t like the taste, but at $27 a bottle, we will use this one up before we switch to something else.