PolkaDotMommy (Jamie)- Mom, Wife, Daughter, Sister, PTC President, Caretaker, Weakness- Coach Handbags and Complicated Coffee.
Oregon Dad- Husband, Father, Favorite Catch Phrase- “I don’t watch THAT much Football!”, Developer of shoes for little feet, loves to travel.
K-Man/K1- (Kyler) 8 year old son- sometimes whiny, often funny, loves LEGOS and HOTWHEELS. Currently determined to be a zoologist who specializes in the care of Penguins.
K2- (Kaylee) 8 year old girl- bossy, snuggly, in love with American Girl and her cats. Has a mouth that outshines normal orthodontia and is estimated to cost us close to 30k by the time she is 19.
K3- (Kenzie) 6 year old girl- our GF girl, fearless, can put a puzzle together in seconds. The only one brave enough to attempt (and excel) at rock climbing, has decided to give up Ballet next year for Soccer.
Little Critter or K4- (Kelsey) 3 year old girl- the baby, or rather “big girl”, loves to run around with her big sisters and brother, often gets hurt in the process. Often fools people into believing she is about 18 months because she is tiny… consistently astounds with her climbing, running, jumping, disobeying abilities. Recently diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder among other issues. Possibly on the Autism spectrum… so much too learn and do!
TeenGirl- 15 year old teen sister/surrogate daughter/ aunt to the K’s . Came down with some mysterious auto-immune like disease over the summer and has since spent more than 12 weeks at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital with a medical team trying to determine what exactly is going on. No answers… lots of medications… transfusions… Aphersis. Looks to be on the road to recovery, hopefully remission will be lifelong. (Official Diagnoses- Autoimmune TTP or Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.)
PALS Mom- Jamie’s Mother, 51 years old with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease) Bulbar On-set. Diagnosis September 2006. Full loss of all motor function with the exception of head turn/nod and her right thumb still has a tiny amount of movement. She received a tracheostomy in May 2008 and is on the ventilator at night time currently.
Peanut- Black and White Kitty adopted from the animal shelter… we were told P was a BOY cat, when he went back to be fixed so we could officially adopt him, we found out P is actually a GIRL cat. K2 is thrilled. Oregon Dad is devastated and refuses to acknowledge the cat is female. P joined Dakota in Heaven. It was a very difficult time for the kids (and parents).
Athena- Short haired Tortie adopted from the shelter. Very loving and friendly. Often found snoozing on Mom and Dad’s bed… where she isn’t “allowed”.
Dakota- Huge, mixed breed dog adopted from the animal shelter 14 years ago. She is on her last legs and we are trying to prepare for the devastation of losing her. (Dakota went to Heaven on April 4th, 2008 )
Earthquake- New St. Bernard Pup. Stole our hearts the day he came home. Deserving of his own blog.
Our vehicle of choice- Toyota Prius (for the daily commute and everything else!).
Our vehicle of necessity- Dodge 2500 (to haul everyone and everything as needed and survive our country living during bad weather). Still trying to convince Oregon Dad that the new Caravans are manly enough… and more practical for our family. 
The Dodge is for sale, if you know anyone in Oregon and interested… email me at polkadotmommy @ gmail dot com.
Family Motto- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Cliche’ I know) & Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible (We stole this from the school systems! Why? Because it’s a good one.)
Garbage can- half empty, Recycling containers- overflowing.
Favorite Magazine reads- MacLife, SEED, Living Without, Family Fun.
Recommended Book List- The Bible by GOD The Father, GOD The Son, GOD the Holy Spirit, GoingPublic The Book by Dave & Kelli Pritchard, Freakonomics by Steven Levite and Stephen Dubner, The Teenage Book of Manners Please by Fred Hartley, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris, A Woman’s Walk With God by Elizabeth George.
Favorite TV- (we aren’t THAT counter-culture!) Football, Anthony Bourdain, Alton Brown, TLC, Animal Planet, The History Channel.
Must Haves- Vermont Soap Butter Bar, California Baby Shampoo and Cleansers, Nordic Naturals DHA Jr. , Fair Trade Coffee Like Peace, Wholesome Sweetners Fair Trade Sugar, Ecos Natural Laundry Detergent.
Struggles- Balancing our ideals with REALITY. Understanding that we want to do OUR part to preserve the planet and produce healthy, well adjusted children, KNOWING what is within our grasp to do and ACCEPTING what we cannot change. MAINTAINING our standards even in diversity, ADJUSTING to change as life gives it to us. GRASPING what it means to be counter-culture, while maintaining a BALANCE so that our children UNDERSTAND what it means to make RESPONSIBLE decisions. Remaining ACTIVE in all aspects of our children’s lives without becoming suffocating, TEACHING by example. BEING the people we want our children to become.
8 Comments
January 11, 2008 at 9:56 am
Hey! I read the food allergy page. This sounds a lot like my son Pat. He had failure to thrive at 5 months due to the formula. I couldn’t breastfeed because I didn’t produce enough milk. At first I thought it was because I didn’t feed him enough but turns out I don’t have milk producing boobies! Then he did fine until he was 2. At 2 he started to have huge anger outbursts and behavior issues. Finally at 4 I came across some information about how food can cause behavior issues. I did a little experiment. I changed his milk to soy and got rid of all the high fructose products. Now he is 7 and doing much better. Much like your daughter he is very fidgety. He’s always messy!
Everyone said he was a problem child. I knew differently! He is still hyper and throws huge tantrums. Instead of them being every day, they are once or twice a month.
We need to measure our children in the good they do and not in their faults! Doctors tend to do just that. That’s why I don’t listen to them unless it is absolutely necessary!
Thank you for sharing her story. It lets me know I’m not alone!
October 16, 2008 at 9:51 am
I noticed that you don’t say where you’re from (and I certainly understand if you don’t want anyone to know), but since Dad is “oregon dad” I was wondering if you live anywhere near me. I am in Bend Oregon. Also wanted to let you know I am adding you to my blogroll, you are one of my new favorites.
November 20, 2008 at 9:01 am
Oh, I love complicated coffee. It sometimes have to remake it if it is not perfect. How can we be so alike, but so different? Neat.
November 20, 2008 at 3:14 pm
@Eileen… that’s why we get along!!! It’s amazing what happens when people respect differing opinions even when we don’t agree!
And we have a ton in common it appears!
December 7, 2008 at 10:02 am
Is the whole family gluten free. You mention teengirl has autoimmune TTP. Have you read this? “Increased risk of immune thrombocytopenic purpura among inpatients with coeliac disease.” http://tiny.cc/a5snK 18365906 PubMed If you do a PubMed search there are other papaers that say there is no correlation, but those with TTP often have elevated antigliadin antibodies.
Congratulations on figuring out the food connection to illness when your children are young. My sons were in their 20’s when I finally discovered what gluten was doing to us.
December 8, 2008 at 12:03 am
We got our cat from a shelter when she was 10 weeks old. They said she was a boy, and we named her Larry. We kept watching for the boy bits to show up, and had a neuter appointment scheduled for four months out. Turned out that he is a she. But her name is still Larry.
February 11, 2009 at 5:07 pm
You may have already come across the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, but if not it could be very helpful for your wee girl needing the enemas. My husband’s Celiac manifested with the opposite problem, but he improved from day one on this diet, and if K4 is on the ASD spectrum, she may also be helped with it. There is a website for parents with ASD children on SCD called http://www.pecanbread.com.
The main website for the diet is http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info (named after Elaine Gottschall’s book) and another one whose address I don’t recall, for the Gottschall Center, which is also about the diet and children with autism. Most people don’t make the connection between “gut problems” and “mental symptoms”, but Elaine Gottschall did. Hence the diet eventually being tried for ASD disorders, in addition to the original Celiac, Crohns, Colitis, IBD patients. Best of luck and health to you all.
March 8, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Very informative blog. I’m doing some research on organic, whole grain and gluten free foods, as well as lifestyles that require people to stick to such diets. It looks like these adjustments have really helped with your family life, and that you’re a great resource for other people going through similar experiences.