Gearin' Up

We've been doing our elimination diet with peanuts.  I let Three choose because it gave her a sense of control and helped her to be more on board, so to speak.  Of course this is my theory...  It seems to have worked.  At least her being on board.  What isn't working is going without peanuts.  We've been doing without just fine, but she is still sick.  My neighbor pointed out to me, 'How can you tell how affected she is by peanuts if she is still eating wheat and eggs?'  Hmmm.  Good point.  That being said, I don't really want to get rid of wheat, eggs, peanuts and dairy for an entire month.  

For the past couple of weeks, I've been s-l-o-w-l-y gearing up for our 'big month'.  I decided that for our family, in order to make this work, I would need to have an entire month of meals planned.  As in breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and treats.  Dishes that were already 'approved' by the tastebuds of those (or the majority of those-let's be realistic) who would be eating them.  During this 'gearing up' phase, I've tried a couple new recipes (i.e.  GFCF egg free pancakes.  Who would've ever known that this was a possibility.  Not I!!  Not only were they edible, they tasted more like a crepe, oddly enough as they were lacking eggs, but had the appearance of a fluffy pancake), tweaked a couple of my own recipes (had to buy GF oats vs. regular oats), and wondered if this was really all necessary and if I was going to be capable of making this happen.

After watching my kids miss out on activities they enjoy because of stomach aches, being asked how they got black eyes (they get deep, dark bags under their eyes when they aren't well.  These went away for a couple of months after going CF, but have been on the comeback), and realizing that our stomach's hurt way more than they should (after eating the GFCF egg free pancakes, the girls each told me that their stomach's didn't hurt.  I also noticed this!  My stomach and theirs always hurts after eating pancakes/waffles/french toast, and many other foods.  I thought everyone's did and that it was because of all the sugary syrup. Evidently, this is not the case and we were pleasantly surprised that we didn't hurt after eating!), and of course, prayer, I think I'm almost ready.  I'm going to have to be way more organized and plan way ahead (something that has gone to the way side since bringing the boys'-namely BoyTwo-home). 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Funny story:

BoyOne: 'mom!  I need ten slushies for school tomorrow and I have only six.'

me, wondering how he is suddenly in some food type of class: 'slushies?!' 

BoyOne: 'come help me!'

I walked into the kitchen where he sat at the computer preparing a SLIDE SHOW (power point, actually), not a slushy.  hahahahaha

BoyOne is working on a project on a greek goddess, who happens to be a virgin.  This is specifically mentioned in her bio.

BoyOne: 'What is this word 'virgin'?'

me: 'it means that she hasn't had sex.'  it's best to be blunt so that he understands.

One, as she quickly walks over to me: 'Have you had 'the talk' with him already?!'  haha.  I am often asked how One handled being dethroned from being the eldest in the family.  She's handled it just fine because while she is not the oldest chronologically, she is still the oldest.  And they get along really well.  They had a rough first few months, but after we dealt with that one head on, things have been great.  They are good buddies and we love spending time with them after the littles have all gone to bed.

Example.  The other day when I left the kids alone (littles in bed) to meet some friends for dinner:

BoyOne: 'One, can I have drink?'

One: 'Sure!'

BoyOne: 'One, I play game?'

One: 'Sure!'

BoyOne: 'One, I so big tired.  I go to bed?'

One: 'Sure!'

but then she calls me because now she's the only one awake in the house and she's 'freaking herself out'.  Her words, not mine:)

Love that kid.  He's such a blessing.  All of them are.

Tomorrow is BoyTwo's IEP meeting.  An IEP is an individual education plan in which specific accommodations are listed to enhance the qualified students 'free and appropriate public education', aka FAPE.  It is a legally binding document that requires the school that the child is attending to comply to the accommodations.  I mention the legal aspect of things only because that saved us two and a half years ago when we moved up here.  I'm excited.  I am really hoping that this is a good thing for him.  Speaking of BoyTwo, in my head, I'm planning a post about all of the progress he's made in the past 16 months and the things that we've done in our home that have really helped him and us.  And I'll get right on that as soon as I can get the 'month of meals' finalized:)

stay tuned...