Her Big Day...and we had cake!

Yes, it was Rebekah's big day. On Sunday we had our daughter Rebekah Simone Ouellette baptized at Ste. Marie's Parish in Manchester. It was a beautiful ceremony with the whole congregation, family and friends to celebrate.

Ethan was very excited because although he hasn't been a big fan of going to church and praying to God, (more like not enjoying the hour of having to sit still in one spot), he was looking forward to seeing his sister "bathtized" like his cousin Jack was a few weekends ago. I tried searching in vain for pictures of Ethan's baptism, unfortunately a lot of those things are still packed up from when we had the house on the market. He was confused as to why he couldn't be baptized again, and wanted Joshua to take a "bath" up there as well.

More importantly...in a 4 year olds world...there was cake. We have a friend from our church who is known as the Cake Lady. She has been making cakes out of her house for quite some time now. Before we started eating gluten free, she made Joshua's baptism cake, and we were blown away by not only the beauty of the cake, but the taste as well. Incredible! So, when we had a change in our diet, I was less than thrilled that we would have to find someone else to do it for us, or (gasp) do it myself! (For those of you who don't know, I love to bake and cook, but with everything else to do in prepartion for a party at one's own house, it's just easier to have one less thing to think about!) So, I talked to her about cross contamination etc. and told her what kind of cake mixes to use as well as discussed what goes into the frosting, and we've worked everything out. This cake was huge, four Namaste cake mixes, but knowing it wouldn't all get eaten, I was able to freeze a reasonable size of it for use at other parties. I am a planner by nature!:)

Throughout every part of the day...church...the drive to and from church...the whole morning prior to going to church after the cake was delivered...a frantic voice could be heard asking if it was time for cake yet. We have to give the kid credit, he did go through all the motions required of the big brother...

He sat for some really great pictures.

Then there was the party girl. It was tough to get her away from the protective older brother. He needed to know where she was at all times. Let me tell you, he didn't like to hear her cry. Every time she did, which was often, (hey you would too if you were wearing that beautiful yet itchy and hot gown) he would tell me it was time to change her into her princess dress.

The pink in the dress was so beautiful. I can truly appreciate this color now after having two rough and tumble boys. Plus, seeing her laying next to her "older" (by two months) cousing Jacob...aka Jack...I just can't get over how feminine and dainty she looks.

All in all it was such a beautiful day. Thank you to everyone who came to the church and back to our home later, to celebrate God's little blessing.

Rebekah, sweetheart, you are loved by so many friends and family members, but no one loves you more than Mommy, Daddy, and your two big brothers Ethan and Joshua. God Bless you little one.

BackTrack Part 2

So much to catch up, so little time. I feel like we've had so many balls up in the air, that for us to catch any one of them at anytime, would be beyond amazing.

To say that Ethan has had the works when it comes to doctor evaluations would be an understatement. Mike and I are beginning to feel like hyperchondriacs! It doesn't help either that we keep getting sent to see every kind of doctor under the sun. Good thing Ethan does so well with doctors. I think he may actually look forward to most of them. Espcially if it involves any kind of blood work. Mike went for bloodwork, and while sitting in daddy's lap became upset because he wasn't getting his blood work done...definitely not my child!!

Anyway, since December Ethan has been evaluated by Child Find (Manchester School District), a neurologist, (Dr. Woods), an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, (Dr. Spector), an Opthamologist (Dr. Morse), his primary care pedi., (Dr. Neefe) and will be seeing an Audiologist at the end of February as well!
Phew!

Let me see if I can shed some light on these visits.
We had him evaluated by Child Find to see if Ethan would qualify for a developmental preschool due to some of the behavioral, and delayed developmental issues he's been having. Long story short, they found him a delightful, intelligent, charismatic 4 year old who's learning hasn't been impeded by any kind of behavioral issues. Funny, that's not what a lot of the doctors have found, including Dr. Woods who determined that Ethan definitely had some delays that if corrected now, could help his development drastically change within the next two years! These delays include: adaptability, social/play skills, self-help skills and communication with same aged peers. She said that in the research she has been doing, his type of delays are secondary to Celiac Disease, and that it's been found that once these children have been gluten free for about two years, AND have some OT and other types of therapy in the interim, can become integrated into a regular school system, (or homeschooled).

So, we enrolled him at Our Lady of Mercy Applied Catholic Teaching Preschool. It is located in Merrimack so it will be a 20 minute drive in the morning. However, we only signed him up for the two day program. It starts in the autumn and will be on Tuesday and Thursday each week. Mike and I are very excited but very nervous about this for a couple of reasons. First of all we would very much like to homeschool, but at this time recognize the need for Ethan to be schooled in a public setting for now so that he can overcome some of these social development issues. We are nervous about this because Ethans issues include biting, hitting, spitting, etc. The last thing we want is for him to hurt other children or to have him kicked out of preschool because he is hurting the other children. He seemed to fall between the cracks, as far as we are concerned, through the school district, so that leaves us with trying to find a place for him that will help him develop socially. We pray that this school will be able to help him with this.

In the meantime, Ethan had his 4 year check up and with that came good news and not so good news. The good news, he's gained a total of 4 lbs over the course of a year. Hooray!! He is now 29 lbs.! Unbelievable. In actuality it has been more than that, because when he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease he was around the 24 lb mark and had lost 2 more pounds in the two weeks between his endoscopy and diagnosis. He grew a little bit in height as well, but not significant. The not so good news is that he failed his hearing and vision tests! In talking with his pedi. we also discussed having him evaluated by an ENT specialist for sleep apnea or other sleep related issues because Ethan has suddenly started napping for 2 hours during the day. We've noticed snoring, and more restlessness at night, so he's now scheduled for a sleep study in March. Upon xray they discovered that his adnoids are unusually large but not touching, so at this point they wouldn't recommend surgery to remove them. They will await the results of the sleep study first.

He also saw the opthamologist in Concord for his vision. We went to a specialist because I wear glasses and Mike had two eye surgeries before he was 5 years old. The pedi. just wanted to cover all the bases. (one of the reasons why I love her for my kids!) Upon walking in the exam room, Ethan took one look at the chair and for the first time ever said to the nurse, "Are you going to hurt me?" I was shocked. He's never shown any kind of sensitivity toward doctor's visits and usually looks forward to them. The only reason that I can think of as to why he said what he said is because at his pedi. appt. he had 3 immunizations and actually said "ow" when the last one was done. Hmmmm....pain threshold decreasing??
Anyway, come to find out he is extremely far sighted. I guess it's normal for kids to be farsighted, but Ethan is so extreme that they were surprised he wasn't crossed eyed yet. Typically kids will become cross eyed around 2 0r 3 yrs. old. So, for now we just keep an eye on him, (ha ha ha) to make sure he doesn't cross his eyes, and they will check him in 6 months. Most kids grow out of it. However, they checked my husband while we were in there, and he hasn't grown out of it yet, so we'll see. (oh those puns just keep coming!)

He has his audiologist appt. scheduled for the end of the month, so we'll have to get back to you on that one.

Wow, I think we are mostly caught up here. Unbelievable how much can happen in such a short period of time. At least we have come out on the otherside as a family who still loves each other and supports each other over every hurdle. God only gives us what he knows we can handle...

Boys will be Boys...Girls will be Girls

It's funny how some things are just gender specific from early on. Boys like to play in the dirt, love loud noises, and enjoy almost anything that includes destruction. Girls love to dress up...again...and again...and again, crafty projects, and enjoy anything that is, well girly.




For instance...a camera appears...and suddenly boys are all smiles...or grimaces! This picture was taken at the hospital when Rebekah's cousins came to visit. Ian and Ethan are like two peas in a pod...just one a little shorter than the other! Their mannerisms are sometimes so alike they could be mistaken for brothers.






Then you have Miss Emma. This picture says it all. She just loves getting her hands on that baby girl. Not to say that Ethan and Ian don't enjoy holding and loving the baby...they most definitely do. However, little girls just can't help being little mommies. It was very sweet.




Just so you know...Ian did get to hold the baby too.

BackTrack Part 1

I found myself going through some of the millions of pictures we have saved over just the past several weeks, and lo and behold I suddenly remembered all of the things we had done prior to Rebekah's arrival.

We weren't doing much mind you, I was much too big and tired for that, however, we did manage to capture some cute pictures of the boys before their sister came home.

Ethan has loved Rebekah since before her birth. He loved looking at and touching my belly. Never did I imagine we'd be touching our belly's together mind you, but that's exactly what happened. He sat on my lap and told me that he wanted his "Lima" (the pretend baby that lived in his belly), to kiss Rebekah. It was really tough to explain to him that Lima didn't exist in his belly and that only girls could have baby's in their belly's, but I don't think it really mattered to him. For anyone who knows Ethan, once he gets something in his head, it's really tough to get it back out again. It is what it is...and Lima was his baby. Since Rebekah was born however, we haven't heard much more about dear sweet Lima.


Another fun event that occured before Rebekah was born, was our huge cookie making frenzy. Ethan has never shown interest in baking. Basically, if he couldn't use his dump truck, John Deere equipment, or spin around while doing it...he just wasn't interested.


Surprisingly, this time, he wanted to help me make some of the most delicious cookies of all...peanut butter choc. chip! Mmmmmmmmm...yummy! We needed to make a dessert that we could travel with for Christmas, as we had family to see. I knew that dessert would be everywhere we went, and that's some of the hardest stuff for me to deal with, never mind the kids! :)

So, Ethan said he wanted to help. And he did, from start to finish, AND the best part was eating the finished product right out of the oven!

Meanwhile, brother Joshua, found it entertaining driving his brother up the wall by wearing his favorite John Deere hat. Josh has discovered the best way to get back at his brother, for now, is to touch, play with, or move Ethan's things around. It's so hard to discipline that...

Our Family

Here we are, our family of five! It still hasn't registered with us, that we now have a little girl. For the most part, at this age, they are all pretty much the same. Good thing I have lots of pinks and purples, and reds to dress her in. Although, I do keep referring to them as "my boys". What I need to learn to say now is "my kids". I can still say "my monkeys" because she is filling that role as a Ouellette quite nicely! :)

Calm vs. Chaos

I have been writing this post in my head for over a week, just haven't found the time to actually sit down and get it into the blog.

Ahh...a moment of calm. She just had her first bath before that picture, and as you know it can be quite exhausting. She loved every moment of her bath though. She is proving to be nothing like her brothers so far.

Let's see...first of all she nurses well. That's right folks, she actually does what her brothers couldn't seem to grasp for the first several months. She even managed to put her birth weight back on in the two weeks that they typically do. Unlike her brothers who took several weeks to months to gain back their birth weight. Even the pediatrician didn't know what to say other than see you in 2 months. Weird!

She also sleeps. Well, as well as a newborn can, but the other two just screamed their precious little heads off from the moment we put them in the car seat to take them home. She loves her carseat by the way, and the bouncy seat, and the mini pack and play, and the cradle...just about anything we put her in...except the swing. She isn't too keen on that yet.

So, that's where we've had the calm. The chaos however, comes from the other two twirling vortex's of energy known as Ethan and Joshua! Between Ethan's constant energy and stubborn will, and Joshua's inability to form sentences thus making every sound that comes out of his mouth a loud, grating, grunting sort of noise...it shouldn't come as any surprise that Rebekah decides to just shut down all the time. It's kind of like having the vacuum cleaner on as white noise to help the baby calm down. My boys ARE the white noise...for her anyway. I think I'd rather have the vacuum on. (At least it doesn't talk back!)

Yes, indeed. We are constantly caught somewhere between the calm and chaos. Never really sure when the scales will tip in favor of one or the other, just always trying to stay one step ahead of it. Then in the few minutes when it is calm, I can try to sit back and enjoy this wonderful job of motherhood. But when it is chaotic, I can speed dial my husband several times an hour, and while on speaker phone share with him the rest of my day.

Rebekah Simone

born on December 30 at 1:52 am. 7 lbs 4 oz and 18 inches long. Long night! But I got my tax deduction! All is well and we are all home. Thankfully Joshua had kept us somewhat in shape, for those of you who do not know. Josh still thinks it a good idea to wake up at least once during the night. So it's not such a drastic adjustment!

More pix to follow!

.mike

Gluten Free Cookie Swap

We had our very first gluten free cookie swap at our house this year. It is something we hope to do every year with the families from the R.O.C.K. group.

This year we had five families participate. It was mostly moms with children under the age of 7, but we did have one brave 12 year old come out for the fun as well.

What a blast...as you can see Ethan was elbow deep in frosting! One mom brought along all the toppings and ingredients necessary for cookie decorating. All gluten free of course, but the look on these kids little faces when they were told that EVERYTHING on the table was for them to eat...was priceless. It's a wonderful site to see such happiness on the faces of such little children over something that most of us would take for granted.

How many parties have you gone to where you looked at the table and wondered what up there was okay for you to eat? How many parties have you gone to where you wondered if what you did just eat would make you sick later? That's what these little kids (and adults) have to do everywhere they go. Except for this cookie swap. Granted we had food coloring to clean up, cookie toppings all over the floor, and 5 or 6 kids running off all of that sugar later, but it was well worth it.

One mom even brought gluten free pizza in real pizza boxes. I have to say I was thrilled to see a real pizza box in my house with pizza that we could all eat. AND the best part is this pizza was delicious the morning after as well. (I love a yummy slice of cold pizza in the morning!)

The cookies were all delicious as well, and the kids were just overwhelmed by so much yumminess within their reach. Mike and I were so happy to have held this party for not only these families, but for our children as well. Ethan and Josh had a blast, (although Josh missed the cookie decorating as it was way past his bedtime) as they were the only little boys running around with a bunch of girls. We look forward to doing more of these types of get togethers for everyone within our group. It was a wonderful way for us, the parents, to be able to compare notes on our children's health, discuss what has and hasn't worked for food ideas, and just share with each other our fears of how the outside world perceives our children with this disease. (For example schools, families, friends etc.) We know we can't put them in a bubble and protect them forever, but wouldn't it be nice?? :)

Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!!

Yes, I know, not the picture of 4 year old happiness and bliss...but as any of you know who have or had 4 year olds...it isn't always easy to get a good picture these days. Needless to say, he was all smiles after the picture!

Oh my little...I'm sorry...BIG guy has become a 4 year old. Mike and I cannot believe 4 years have passed, today, since we brought this monkey into the world!! :) We would never have guessed four years ago that we would be celebrating his birthday in John Deere style. We would never have guessed that this would be the first birthday that we celebrated completely gluten free. We're so happy though, that we've made it this far and are capable of providing him with such a wonderful day. He kept saying throughout the day how happy he was. Of course that was just before and after saying, "when will everyone get here so I can blow out the candles and eat my cake??"

For you see, this is the first cake Ethan has been able to consume after blowing out the candles. Every party we've been too, (except for his friend Zachary's a fellow Celiac) we've brought gluten free cupcakes with us so that Ethan can "have his cake and eat it too!" Never has he complained about it. He doesn't even ask to eat the "other cake" because we are always prepared. I can't tell you the level of excitement on this little guys face when he saw his gluten free cake. He talked about it all week and even mentioned a couple of times that he wanted to share it with all of his friends because he could. He just stared at this cake from the moment it arrived. No, I didn't make it. I used to make the kids cakes, and loved every minute of it. But since I found this wonderful woman through our church know as "The Cake Lady", we've had her make our cakes. This was her first gluten free cake and she was more than willing to make it specifically as it needed to be made. It was delicious.

Everything on the table was 100% gluten free. We had meatballs, chicken wings, chips and salsa, a spinach and artichoke dip, and a veggie plate. It was so nice for me to not have to worry every time I saw my children chewing on something I didn't give them. Especially with so many people around. I have to say though, that just about everyone that was present I would trust my children's diet to anyway...but I digress.

Needless to say, it was a John Deere/Thomas the Tank Engine birthday. Ethan's two passions together in one party, he didn't know which gift to play with first. I have to say that Pepe's gift was a big hit...a rather large John Deere wagon. Ethan insists that the weather is just fine to take it for a little walk outside. I insist it won't happen unless we get chains for the wheels so it can handle the snow, or Mommy is the one that gets inside for a ride!!

He just loved every gift he received so much, that he ran off wanting to play with it, not realizing he still had more gifts to open. I have to say though that I was very proud of the way he did gifts this year. Mike and I had discussed that we really wanted to make sure he slowed down, opened cards, and took the time to thank the people he received the gift from. It worked! He just enjoyed every minute of it, and that night when he went to bed I asked him what the very best part of the day was and he told me "all of it, especially the cake!"

Happy Birthday to you our little man! We love you!

Christmas Lights

Hey it's Mike. I know I know I haven't posted in a while. Sorry about that, but Michelle has been doing such a good job I did not think that I could improve upon her posts. Plus she knows how to put pictures up and I still don't. Good thing I'm the computer expert in the family!

Anyway last weekend I spent Sunday afternoon setting up our outside Christmas lights. I left Ethan and Joshua inside because being up on the roof and a ladder I did not think they could help. Plus I might fall on them, which in the end would be a bad thing. So I proceded to put up lights on the house and the bushes, and finally the moving deer (John Deere and Jane Doe as Ethan and I decided later would be their names).

So after all the lights were up I brought the boys and Michelle out to see the "official" turning on of the Christmas lights. I let Ethan push the button (we have a cool little remote) and both the boys faces were priceless. Ethan was excited that we had decorated and Joshua just giggled. Very cute they both sat there gazing for a moment taking it all in. It was worth every minute.

Ethan is getting old enough to enjoy Christmas, it's nice that he's getting older and really getting into the Christmas season.

So next weekend is the tree and the inside decorations!

I'll let you know how it goes and maybe post a picture or two.

Medicines, Doctors, and Tests

The boys had there check up with Dr. Hofley on Friday morning. It was rescheduled for that time because the doctor canceled due to illness earlier in the week. We were hoping it would work to our benefit, and that a little Thanksgiving dinner would help "buff up" our boys. No such luck.

They seem to be stuck exactly 10 lbs. apart from each other. Joshua weighed in at 18 lbs. 13 oz, and Ethan was 28 lbs. 4 oz. Okay so not exact, but close enough. They each grew slightly in the height department, but not enough to really mention. To Joshua's credit, he did have that nasty ear infection and didn't eat much for close to a week. Even now he still isn't eating much. Of course he's also a picky toddler who is now walking around everywhere burning off all of those precious calories. Ah timing.

As for Ethan the doc thinks he's hit a medicinal plateau. He's been on cyproheptadine for quite awhile now, and has most likely built up a tolerance to it. So, we are to take him off of that for a week every two months to help jump start his system. We will keep him on his Prevacid, because when we tried weaning him of that, his stomach started hurting him again. However, we have been given the okay to try weaning him off of the Pepcid. It would be nice to get rid of one of his meds. The other medicine he's on, glycolax for his stools, we have also dropped down on the dose. We were at 3 tsps a day, and now are at 2 tsps. a day. We have to help his body's musculature get used to pushing and doing what it was designed to do for waste removal. As of right now, the medicine does all the work for him, which may be why we still haven't been able to potty train him. His body doesn't know how to function properly yet, so he certainly won't be able to figure it out until it does. It's become quite clear to us what a slow process this has become. If you do the math, it means three in diapers in just a few more weeks...not exactly what we were planning...but hey such is life.

We also discussed what to do as far as any testing for the new baby. The doctor feels it would be silly at this time to do any testing on her until she is older simply because it isn't going to change what we will do with her. We plan on keeping her gluten free, so other than statistical reasons, there really isn't any point to it. Besides all Joshua had was the DNA test which was negative, and yet he's had some gluten issues. This is why I love the boys' docs. They keep it simple, and only do what is in the best interest of the child and the family. It's comforting to know my children's health is in good hands.

The good news is we don't have to go back to see her for 3 months this time. Which works out well because Ethan's 4 yr check up and Joshua's 18 mos. check up are in January, so they still get their weight checked on in between. There's always someone keeping track of where they are health wise, which is nice. It's also nice that those checks are getting fewer and farther between. What will we do with all that spare time......???:)

Last Week

Last week was a very looonnnngggg week. Between the bad weather, sick children and sick mommy, we were stuck indoors trying to make the best of it.

Joshua took the brunt of it. He had started the weekend before with a moderate fever, cough and runny nose. Plus he just wasn't sleeping...correction....he wasn't sleeping by himself. He prefered sleeping his cold away on mommy or daddy. Which I have to say it's kind of sweet to have that snuggly, very warm body on you, it's just sad that he has to be sick to be there.

Anyway, we had been in contact with the docs over the weekend because Josh just wouldn't stop pulling on his ears. We all thought it was because he is teething...two 1st molars coming in on the top...ouch! So, the doc called in some numbing ear drops. Well, let me tell you, we had a different kid that Sunday. He was smiling, laughing, eating, etc. We thought we had it licked. Well the doc still wanted us to go in on Monday to have him checked out and good thing we did. The poor kid had a double ear infection. One ear was pretty severe, the other one on its way. And due to the fact that he'd had a mild fever all weekend, and a low fever that day, they decided it best to put him on amoxicillin.

As you can see, he was a pretty sick little guy. He never sits that still in the bean bag chair to watch his favorite Veggie Tales, (A Snoodle's Tale). He's usually up dancing to the music.

It is amazing how quickly kids recover though, because even later that day, he was up walking around and playing with his brother a little more.

It wasn't until the next day that we noticed a positive change in his health. He let his brother "decorate" him for the "John Deere Festival of Lights Parade". One of Ethan's passions would be anything John Deere. He knows everything about all of it. So, needless to say he has Part 1-Part 4 of the DVD's that talk all about John Deere. On one of those DVD's they show a parade that John Deere participates in every year for Christmas called the Festival of Lights Parade. They completely cover some of their biggest tractors in lights and parade down the street in competition for first place. Well, Ethan decided that to cheer his brother up, he would decorate him for the parade. This was their "float" all decorated with cars, trucks, and peek-a-blocks. Then Ethan pushed him around. Josh got a kick out of it.

So, that brings us to Wednesday of last week. Right around the time that mommy started feeling the effects of no sleep because of sick children, 3 rd trimester woes, and her case of this head/chest cold coming on.

What is the best game that two loving children... who care only about letting their mother rest and recoup from all of this...play? None other than the very loud game I like to call Dump Truck Derby. Here are the rules...you must run as fast as you can while pushing the truck, you must be as crazy as you can while running fast and pushing the truck, you must crash into as many obstacles as you can while being crazy, running fast and pushing the truck, and most importantly you must make as much noise as your body allows you to while doing all of the above. Bonus points for knocking over or running into your little brother to make him whine or better yet, cry! The game is only over when one or both of the contestants have decided to move on to another game. Yes, it is pure chaos. Yes, it is loud and hectic, especially when the referee...mom...has to determine fair play throughout due to the younger less agile of the two playing. But, oh my goodness do they have fun. Plus, on a rainy, cloudy, yucky day, when your stuck inside, what better way to burn off some energy!!

Onto Thursday. It was a good day, but it was a sad day. We finally found a home for Moose. Thanks to many of the contacts we've had through the vets office, we were referred to the Greater Derry Humane Society. They are a no-kill group who do not have a facility which they work out of. All of the animals are kept in foster homes until a permanent loving home can be found for the animal. So, on Thursday afternoon, we drove Moose out to his foster home in Derry. They are a very nice couple, and Moose took to them right away. I knew I would be upset when it was time to go, so I was thankful that Mike was with me. As we suspected he didn't even realize we'd left him. We've been in contact a couple of times so far, and Moose is doing awesome. He's getting the exercise and attention he so despertely needed, and is making great progress in his house training. We hope to hear he'll be adopted soon, but are comforted in the fact that for now he is in a loving environment until then. It has been a sad relief to not have him around. Sad because we so desperately wanted the companionship of a dog, but a relief because other than when we were sick at the beginning of the week, we again just haven't been home. That's not a great way to raise a puppy.

On Saturday Josh and I cleaned and disinfected the inside of the house, while the other two men...Mike and Ethan...tended to winterizing the outside of the house. It was a very busy day but we were able to get a lot accomplished, since everyone was feeling a little better.

After a long week of sickness, restlessness, a serious lack of sleep, and the disheveled state of the house, it was nice to sit back and relax on Saturday night in the mostly cleaned and picked up place we call home.

Celiac Testing

Recently, a number of people have asked us what kind of testing we've had done to ourselves for Celiac Disease and why. So, here it is:

Michael:
Symptoms: Unexplained liver function issues, high blood pressure, rising cholesterol, inability to lose weight and/or keep it off, and of course his son tested positive for the disease.
Tests: Antibody test...negative for Celiac, endoscopy...negative for Celiac, hasn't had the DNA test done yet.
Results: Decided to go gluten free because it's easier to deal with in the house for meal time, and with a picky 4 yr. old. Now, he has found that if he does consume gluten, within 24-48 hours he will have moderate to severe cramping in his stomach and intestines, headache, and generally won't feel well.

Michelle:
Symptoms: Depression, episodes of unexplained constipation/diarrhea, headaches and migraines, allergies, and my son tested positive for the disease.
Tests: Antibody test...negative for Celiac, DNA test...positive I have DQ8, haven't had an endoscopy done because of pregnancy. Probably won't have it done because I have been gluten free since May of this year.
Results: Decided to go gluten free for the same reasons as my husband and have also found that when I consume gluten I will also have moderate to severe pain in my abdomen followed by very loose stools. Usually mine will happen within 24 hours though.

Ethan:
Symptoms: Unable to gain weight, wouldn't eat, complained of stomach pain, severe constipation, had the "celiac body" (big belly, no bum), started to lose weight prior to diagnosis.
Tests: Antibody test...borderline for Celiac. (We later found out that he should have been confirmed at that test because the numbers were considered at the low end of the positive for the disease) DNA test...positive he has DQ8, endoscopy...positive for Celiac.
Results: He has been gluten free since his diagnosis on February 3rd of this year. We are just beginning to see changes in his health. Still very slow weight gain, however he finally has an appetite. He's just a very active preschooler who burns off a lot of what he consumes. Due to the severe lack of nutrition for a good portion of his developmental years however, he is having some developmental delays that are now being found in many children his age who aren't diagnosed early enough...(say 12-18 months of age).

Joshua:
Symptoms: constant irritability after eating, unable to be content after a meal, slow weight gain.
Tests: DNA test...negative for the gene related to Celiac.
Results: Because of Ethan's history, we (the doctors as well as Mike and I), have decided it is in Joshua's best interests to keep him gluten free until he is 6 or 7 years old, due to the developmental milestones that children go through at these young ages. At that time we can then decide to put him on gluten for 3-4 months and see if he has any reactions as well as follow up with the rest of the tests.

Baby #3:
We'll follow the same with this child and any other children we may have as we are currently doing with Joshua.

Fortunately when it comes to our children, we have some of the best docs taking care of them. They are willing to do tests, and go the extra mile to find out what's wrong and make it better. Unfortunately, we've found, that when it comes to adults, docs aren't quite as...well...willing to test for, never mind diagnose this disease. From what I understand from other adults who are fortunate enough to find a good doc, things are changing. We just aren't so sure that we would be willing to put ourselves through a "gluten challenge" now just to get another test done. That would consist of consuming gluten for about 8-12 weeks! We already know what are bodies feel like after one meal of gluten, never mind a couple of months!

So, there it is.

R.O.C.K. Success and Thank You!

We had our very first R.O.C.K. support group meeting this past Friday. What a great night! We met so many wonderful families. I can't explain to any of you how amazing it was to see so many people going through similar issues that we have gone through. Some of the families there have been dealing with Celiac for well over 10 years. Others, like us, have only been diagnosed this year. We all have so much to learn and teach to each other. So, many children long for friends who they can share this disease with. Mike and I couldn't be more thrilled to have been able to provide this opportunity for everyone.

Mike and I will continue to organize more meetings, and events for the group and anyone else who would like to join. If interested you can always post a comment to this site, and I would be happy to give you the R.O.C.K email and website information.

As for the thank you part of this post...
Mike and I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have called us, spoke with us, and even those who posted anonymously on our last post, in support of what we are doing. It has been no easy task, and as of yet we haven't found a home for Moose. He is still being treated as a part of our family, unfortunately it does mean a lot more kennel time for him. In turn, we've seen a slight improvement in Ethan's behavior since he can have run of the house again. Even Joshua who doesn't have any developmental issues, (just low weight gain and he's on a gf diet) finally began to walk. As time goes by it will certainly be harder to give Moose away to someone, but we still both believe it will be best for him as well as us. Was it a mistake? At the time, no. How could we have known what the future would hold for us. Especially with some of the new developments in Ethan's behavior. No one could have predicted it. Had we known, we most definitely wouldn't have invested our time, hearts, and money into Moose. It wouldn't have been fair to anyone. You live you learn...time to move on.

Hard Decisions

We just love those two little faces. That day was a great day. The weather was perfect for a drive so we went up to the white mountains. Upon seeing not one single cloud in the sky, we decided to drive up Mt. Washington, something Mike and I had both done seperately, but we've never done as a family. What a sight. Breathtaking doesn't begin to describe the absolute beauty that God placed at the top of that mountain.

It was chilly and breezy and the entire time Ethan kept shivering...loudly...but between the fesh mountain air, the bright sunshine, and my family surrounding me, this picture puts everything into perspective.

We can climb any mountain that stands in our way.

The most recent mountain is one of the main reasons why I haven't been able to post lately. Other than the normal day-to-day business of life, we've run into a few mountains that have been more difficult to see around much less climb. Because of this Mike and I spent most of last night making a very difficult decision.

As most of you know, we added to our lives the insanity known as Moose our Red Bone Coon Hound. He is currently 15 weeks old, almost 4 months, and come to find out he is developmentally delayed. In other words, he should have some of his adult teeth coming in by now, and he has none. He shouldn't be having nearly as many issues with house training as he is at this point. He's incredibly smart when it comes to the obedience commands of sit, and leave it and stay...somewhat. But as of late that mountain I was telling you about has come into view.

Ethan has been...difficult to say the least. We have noticed changes in him that have become very difficult to deal with on an hour-to-hour basis, never mind day-to-day. He needs much more one-on-one time than I've been able to give him, and in combination with some new developmental stages he's going through at this time, has become very difficult to discipline. He has begun to show fears to things that have never bothered him before. For instance, he is very concerned about where the phone is at all times, and needs it to be blocked from his site if it rings. When it does ring, he yells throughout the house "mommy the phone is ringing", and if it is in reach will bring it to me immediately so I can answer it and make it stop ringing. He will even make sure it is where it belongs upstairs in our bedroom before he goes to bed at night.

Joshua is going through this same stage, except his sudden fear is for the bathtub. He can't wait to get into it, but as soon as his little feet touch the bottom, he's scrambling to get back out. These are normal stages for children to go through. We were told that Ethan may hit some of these stages now that he's feeling better, because he didn't hit them when he was supposed to like Joshua is. However, these stages are coming at a time where a soon-to-be four year olds mind has already developed. His emotions and outrages are quick and intense. They involve his whole entire body, and you can tell from the look in his eyes that he doesn't know how to stop it. We just have to squeeze his whole body tightly to ours while whispering to him to relax and breath, until it passes. Some days it is easier for me to deal with than others. Being 28 weeks pregnant and incredibly hormonal, some days I'd like to flip out like he does.

Having said all that, what could be our difficult decision, our mountain to climb? Well, we've decided that we simply cannot divide our one-on-one time between our children, one of which needs physical activity, yet less stimulation...and our developmentally delayed puppy. We need to find a new loving home for Moose.

I didn't sleep at all last night, not so much because I doubted our decision, more because I'm concerned about the damage that may or may not have been done. Every Mom out there worries at one time or another if they are doing everything right for their children. Do we discipline enough or too much? Do we yell all day every day, or do we give in to our children's every whim? Parenting is tough enough. Raising a puppy is challenging enough. Trying to do both when both need special attention and time from one person throughout the day...I just don't have it.

So, for our children's sake we will find a new home for Moose. One where he can have the attention he needs to become the best pet he can be. One where neither he nor Ethan will become so overstimulated from each other that neither one of them can behave...(urinating all over the house/throwing a major emotional meltdown) Unfortunately it won't happen in this house.

If anyone knows of a loving caring home, preferably one without young children that would love to adopt our Moose please let us know. We don't want him to just go to anyone. We love him, and will miss him in our lives, but know that he will be much better off with a family that can give him the attention he needs.

R.O.C.K.

With so many things going on in our lives...we decided to add one more. This one however will benefit not only our family but many others who are going through similar situations as ours.

R.O.C.K (Raising Our Celiac Kids) is a support group chapter that was started by Danna Korn. She is a well known author of several books including Raising Our Celiac Kids, and Living Gluten Free for Dummies. This support group is recognized nation wide, with many chapters located within states across America. However, the closest one to us is in Connecticut I believe.

We'd love to meet other families with children close in age to ours or have gone through some similar situations. So, in talking with Dr. Hofley, (the boys GI Pedi) we discovered that a support group was in desperate need. However, Dartmouth Hitchcock's CHAD department just doesn't have the manpower to organize it. Enter Mike and I. We contacted Danna Korn and for a one time registration fee of $30 we are now nationally recognized as the ROCK leaders in New Hampshire, (and New England as well).

We have set up our first meeting for November 3rd at the Dartmouth Hitchcock clinic as they will help support us with rooms for meetings, mailings, and anything else we need to help keep the support group going. The response so far has been amazing. We receive emails and phone calls every day from people who want to come and are very excited about it. The room we've reserved only holds so many people, so if we end up needing more room we'll see if we can change the room size. At the rate we're going, we may have to.

Basically the meeting's will be unstructured. We'll have a Registered Dietician who represents Elliot Hospital and Hannaford supermarkets here in Manchester. Dr. Hofley will also be there as well as the possibility of several other medical professionals. We are trying to see if Trader Joe's will supply us with lists of the gluten free food choices as well as several samples for the guests to try. After all this food isn't always cheap and for those of you with toddlers, it doesn't matter how much the food costs, you hate finding out after you bought it that it's not pleasing to your picky little eater...gluten free or not!

The meeting is open to anyone who is interested in or currently living a gluten free lifestyle. We hope to share recipes, ideas, stories, suggestions and support to one another as our children and our lives continue to change daily with regards to what we can and can't eat.

If your interested in attending any of the meetings please feel free to post a comment to a current post, and I can send you my the ROCK email and website information.

Moose

Most of you may think of the large easy going mammal that lives up in the Great North Woods of New England. Large rack of antlers, big, furry and cow like as they mosey along their way. No real predators to deter them, and of the ones we see no real concern for the passing motorists. (Hence the reason for so many being killed in the roadways!)

However, there is a new Moose in town...


...introducing Moose our (now 11 week old) Red Bone Coon Hound! He is purebred, AKC, UKC, champion lines, blah, blah, blah. More importantly he is a cute puppy who is not only a great addition to this family, but yet another challenge to my sanity!

Why would a 23 week pregnant mom of two very active boys decide to invest time, energy, (and money) into this little guy (18 lbs. now but will get to between 55-60 lbs.)????

Well, several reasons.

First, we've accepted the fact that we will be in this house until the spring at least. The house market is just dead, and we've had absolutely no bites on ours. So, my husband decided he would feel better, especially during our sometimes long winter months, if we had a dog around as an added bit of security and companionship. That's why we got the puppy now, hoping that by the time Rebekah comes along, he will at least be a potty trained, if not a well established member of our growing family.

Second, is because of Ethan. When he was about 2 or so, he got knocked over by a little dog that wasn't trying to hurt him, just play. He never forgot that, and since then has always been very nervous around any size dog. Although, he does seem to do better with larger older dogs. So, we figured what a great way to help desensitize him to his fear of dogs, but at the same time teach him to respect them as we certainly don't want him to get knocked over again.

The other great thing is that Moose and Ethan have the same energy level, temperament, and lack of impulse control. (I'm pretty sure though, that the dog will be housetrained before Ethan is potty trained). As you can see they can play together nicely. Ethan loves to play "tugger" with Moose, which is basically a game of tug-of-war. It's actually a great workout for Ethan's upper body muscle tone. He gets tired really quickly...usually about 30-45 seconds! So, it will help him to develop some of that upper body strength he needs.

They also get each other wound up, and that's when one or both of them get into trouble. The difference is that Ethan will just stomp off all offended when I tell him to stop and take a break. The dog goes under the table with his tail between his legs, leaking pee the whole way like we're going to beat him. The vet says this is normal for the runt of the litter. He had 8 brothers and sisters and was most likely low doggie on the totem pole. So, if we raise our voices he cowers. He should grow out of it once he becomes more comfortable in our family. Unlike Ethan who challenges me every step of the way, knowing my bark is a lot worse than my bite!

So, there you have it. Some people have called me crazy, insane even. Well...their right! However, my husband is sleeping better at night, my oldest is getting a good upper body workout while learning how to respect animals, my youngest is learning how to squish low to the floor to protect the belly from the "ggie" (that would be doggie), and I'm beginning to appreciate how much easier it was with just the two boys before we had the dog!!! What am I going to do when the new baby comes along???...get frustrated, cry, be aggravated, question my sanity...but most importantly love my growing family as each child, (and animal, yes we still have Kitty Spice), most blessedly deserves. After all, I'm crazy in love with all of them!

Tripp Trapp

Here is Ethan doing what he does best at the table...making a mess. Sometimes the food actually gets into his mouth, which could explain why he is still under 30 lbs...but hey what do I know.

From day one, Ethan has never been the easiest child to feed. Nursing him proved to be more difficult than the emergency c-section I had to bring him into this world!

Since then, he has been known as my "full-body extreme eater". He doesn't seem to be concerned with how messy he gets while eating, and certainly doesn't notice where all of the food goes once he is covered with...ie: the chair, the table, the floor, anyone who comes within a 2 foot radius of his "go-go-gadget arms"! You get my drift.

Well, we had gone shopping with my sister on Saturday to look at baby cribs as her and her husband are expecting their first child in October. My parents were there as well, because they wanted to purchase the crib as their baby present to them. So, off to Tiny Tot Land in Manchester. A rather crowded store with more baby stuff than Babies R Us could ever hope to carry, just not as well organized! However, we stumbled, (almost literally) over this chair that they sell there. It's made by a company called Stokke, and it's called the ZinderZeat also known as the Tripp Trapp. I've seen this seat before and come to find out it's been around for 30 plus years, mostly in Europe where it was originally sold. The company changed the name from Tripp Trapp because they found that us silly Americans weren't as willing to buy a chair for our children with this name...not sure why (hee-hee)! Anyway, they changed it to the ZinderZeat. Now that has been widely accepted in this country they are changing the name back to the Tripp Trapp.

Sorry for the back ground on the company, but it was confusing at first when I noticed the same chair with two different names.

So, I asked Ethan's therapist about this chair as it is supposed to help align the spine which is better for digestion and comfort while eating. It also helps with the fidgety child. For those of you who have witnessed my child eating a meal at the table, fidgety doesn't begin to explain his table etiquette.

Anyway, these chairs don't come cheap and after much searching we found that the price was the same where ever we looked. So, off to Tiny Tot Land to let Ethan pick out his chair. I was tempted to give him the choices of natural colors to match the kitchen table, but decided that if we truly want him to use this chair and enjoy it, I should relinquish my choices and allow him to pick his color. As you can see from below, Fire Engine Red is most definitely not one I would have gone with, but he appears to enjoy it.

How has it worked so far? Well, although he is still messy when eating, so far we haven't had as many dropped spoons, and spilled bowls. We are hoping that maybe we can give him regular cups to drink with now that he isn't squiggling around so much. As you can see it has a 5-point harness on it. Many of you may look at it as a problem on a 3 1/2 year old, but again for those of you who know him...he's fast. He can reach across the table, and jump down from his seat with lightening speed. Hence the spilled cups of milk and the dumped bowls of food. I'm hoping that the harness will only need to be used for a short period of time until he gets used to sitting on the chair to finish a meal. That's the other difference. It now takes him less time to eat his meals. It would take him forever to eat because he was constantly rearranging his body at the table to get comfortable. Now, that he is comfortable, he eats at a normal speed, and finishes what's in front of him. Granted we've only had the chair for 24 hours, but if it is any indication of what we can expect for his behavior at future meals, I will strongly recommend this chair to anyone with a child who is antsy at the table, or who is on the smaller size for most high chairs, or booster chairs. The website gives you a ton of information and it is : www.stokke.com . Check it out. Happy eating!

Brushing

Well, there are all kinds of brushing.

First we have the ever popular toothbrushing. With toddlers/preschoolers, it always becomes an olympic event. Very rarely do they hold still, remember to spit and not swallow, keep their curious tongues out of the way, and to look in our general direction so we can try to see what we are doing!

Second most popular would be hairbrushing. As most of you may have noticed in pictures, my children have buzz cuts. We have found it is a cheap, (I do them myself) and easy way to maintain cleanliness. Especially with my children. I've been known to call them "full body eaters". They really could be hosed down after each meal. Regardless of his lack of comb-able hair, Ethan does like to take my hair pick and try to brush his hair. I think he likes the feel of the pick against his skull!

Another favorite would be paintbrushing. Ethan would dip and paint with the little paint brushes all day long if I let him. Unfortunately, my house would then be all brown, (his favorite color so far) and the paper would be quite clean. He likes to express himself on other mediums, not just boring paper.

The form of brushing that I am now getting to isn't known by most people. It is used on children with SI Dysfunction as a way to give their muscles the input and stimulation they need, so that the child doesn't have to find another way to do it, which usually ends as a dysfunctional way.

We take a little surgical brush and every two hours we proceed to firmly press the bristles on Ethan's skin in an up and down motion, starting with his arm. While trying to continue to touch him we move to his back, and then to his other arm. From their we move down to one leg and then the other. If you start on skin then you need to do all skin. Otherwise you just go over the clothes, (as in long sleeve and pants). The process takes about 2-3 min. and 85% of the time, he absolutely loves it. After we've "brushed" him, we then follow up with compressions of his joints. We call them, "tens, or boom-booms" because when doing them we either count to ten while doing them, or say "boom-boom-boom" with each compression. Basically all you do is stablilize the joint on either side, for instance if your doing his wrist, you would hold his hand with one of your hands, and his forearm below the elbow with your other hand and compress the joint together about 10 times. Then you move up to the elbow, then the shoulder, then do the other arm, etc. Basically wherever there is a joint, you would want to do the compressions. Again this entire process only takes about 5 min. Or so from brushing to compressions.

So, how is it working?, you ask. Well, really well. We went to Maine this weekend to visit our friends who have 5 children...Age range 10-3months. Four boys and a girl. Needless to say, when we add in our active little guy, it becomes quite loud and active in the house. Generally fights break out in any situation such as these, but in the past it has usually been Ethan hitting, pushing, taking toys or items from the other kids, and just basically being a little....well you get the picture.

Not this weekend. Saturday we managed to remember to brush him every two hours, and despite the fact that he never napped nor did he ever have quiet time, he got along fantastically with everyone. We didn't have any incidents of hitting or any of his usual behavior. It was amazing.

Then came Sunday. Ethan had about 4-5 hours where the brushing just didn't happen, and it showed. At one point he took a piece of paper from his friend Henry who really wanted it back. Every time Henry tried to get it back, Ethan would run away from him. Henry tried asking nicely for it, Ethan just ran. Then, in an impulsive move Ethan crumpled the piece of paper into a ball right in front of Henry. Well, Henry was rightfully upset, and by the time I came in to intervene, (my hubby was out, and Joshua was being quite clingy) Ethan was in tantrum mode. I asked him to pick it up and apologize to Henry, he just kicked the paper. I told him to sit down in the chair, because he needed some time to cool off, and he took a swing at me. I picked him up to put him in the chair, and he just started hitting me, no matter what I tried to do.

While this was all happening, my friend Cheryl and I were chatting in the kitchen. As the scene played out, Cheryl looked at me and asked if he had been brushed lately. I looked at the clock and realized that he hadn't, and by the time we had the situation "under control", I knew the end result of this catastrophe was SI, not 3 yr. old behavior. What started out as a three yr. old game, ended in a SI meltdown.

So, I got him in the chair, and as I was brushing him, could see in his eyes that he was calming down, and could then listen to me. He just wasn't hearing me before, and when I touched him to get him into a seat he just reacted to his space being invaded. I could tell he felt bad, and didn't know quite what to do, so he went to Henry and apologized several times, even brought the paper back to him. After that, things went well again.

So, for those of you doubting Thomas' out there, who may believe that children shouldn't be labeled, and that those of us who do get our children treatment for SI Dysfunction may just be looking for something that isn't there, I say the proof is in the pudding...Ethan pudding that is. I don't put a patch on him that says "I have SI Dysfunction don't push my buttons". He just is. And if we can help him through it with "therapy" then so be it. Wouldn't you do whatever you had to do for the sake of your child's wellbeing too?

Boys!

Yes, the wonderful world of boys. Rough and tumble, trucks and dirt, loud noises and lots and lots of active play. Now, that our youngest boy, Joshua is more mobile (very fast crawler) we are noticing a bond between the two boys form.

Ethan has become very protective of his brother. He's always watching out for him. He loves to hold on to him, and is always willing to "carry" (drag him by the neck) him out of harm's way! Usually out of the bathroom or off the porch since those are off limits to Josh.

The other side of that of course is how quickly the tables can turn. One moment playing as nice as can be, and the next Josh has tire marks on his forehead because he dared to touch a tractor that Ethan had no intention of using until he saw Joshua go for it. Ah, siblings. Being the oldest of three girls myself, I can remember such incidents, but it's different with girls and boys. There's no pause, whining, or trying to figure out the best revenge. It's swift and harsh, whap upside the head, or a toy tossed directly at the offender. Boys don't think on it and sneak up on you later. They deal with head on, at that moment.

Which brings me to my next topic. Hugs. Ethan as I've mentioned before is in therapy for SI Dysfunction. His therapy is once a week, but for the past two weeks due to vacations and other doctor's appt.s we haven't been able to go...until today. It was so nice to touch base with Jessica, his therapist, again and make sure that my sanity is still in check. (For those of you keeping track, my sanity is never in check, but hey it's worth a try:)

One of his senses, tactile, is very much a problem for him. It's difficult for him to sort out what kinds of touch he likes. He's a very affectionate child, with me, but when it comes to others invading his personal space...lookout! It's like a cat being attacked. He becomes very defensive and irrational, and will lash out at the offender like he's the worst enemy in the world. It's in fact called sensory defensiveness, and it's the only way he knows how to deal with the stimulation at that moment. He does it most often with his dad and his best friend.

Here's an example:

This is Ethan's bestest friend in the whole entire world! These two are inseperable, they've known each other since they were only a couple of months old. When they are together it's like a whirlwind of activity. Sometimes good other times not so much. Part of that is certainly just being boys. The other part is definitely from Ethan's inability to control himself.

Jamie is the best hugger in the world. He gives you a great big squeezy kind of hug, that lasts. Ethan can't take that kind of hug, most of the time. For him it needs to be on his time and under his conditions. As you can see in the picture, Jamie was able to sneak in a little arm wrap, but within seconds, Ethan was brushing it off. However, a little later, Ethan is the one trying to give Jamie the hug. Usually it's brief and not a hard squeeze.

So, I spoke to Jessica about this, and she suggested what Jamie's mom and I already established. (See sometimes we're pretty smart moms!!) That Jamie should ask Ethan if he can have a hug, and Ethan has the option of saying No Thankyou, or Yes, a quick hug. On the reverse side of that, Ethan also needs to ask Jamie too, because if he wants his space respected he needs to do the same thing. I know sounds like a whole lot of words for two little 3 1/2 yr. olds, but we've seen it work. Jamie asked Ethan if he could have a hug, and Ethan said No thankyou. About 2 minutes later Ethan asked Jamie for a quick hug, and they did. Jamie was excited to be able to hug his friend, and Ethan was happy that his space wasn't overly invaded. They were both smiling...success.

The good thing is it gives us some insight on to how Ethan interacts with Joshua sometimes. Josh is very snuggly and will crawl up to Ethan wanting to just be next to him, and Ethan will kick him or push him away. But if you give Ethan his space, he is the one going up to Josh and giving him love and affection.

So, now is when I tell you this is my life with boys. It's all I've known for 3 1/2 years, and it has been quite the learning curve. However, we had an ultrasound this past Friday, and found out that the little one we are expecting in January will be a little girl. We are so very excited. She will be a wonderful addition to our growing family. Mike and I can't keep the smiles off of our faces everytime we think about her.

Poor thing...she's in for it!! :) But hey, who knows, maybe she'll be the one to teach these boys a thing or two!