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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Elijah Neal {11 months}

I can't believe that my little E-ster will be a big one year old in just one short month! This blows my mind. Watching your children grow is such a huge reminder of how fast life passes by...that is one reason why I like to document as much of their lives as possible.  It's only a matter of time and they will no longer be under mine and Jordan's wings.  It's going to be a wonderful gift to be able to share these blogs with them one day, but it will also be a gift to me and Jordan to be able to read them and watch all the videos and look back at all the pictures. 

So....with that said...here is what Elijah has been up to this past month....

On February 13th, he officially started walking! He had been taking steps by himself for weeks but on this particular day something clicked with him and he just took off....and hasn't stopped since!

He is sleeping so much better now too...He goes down between 8 and 9 and wakes up for a bottle at about 5 and dozes back off til 7:30.  I never thought we would get to this point. Eli has taught me this about babies: Sometimes, no matter what you do, they won't do what you want them to do...and no number of books that you read, planning or scheduling will change that for some babies. That's just how it is!

What else?

Eli has turned into a cute little red head...I don't know if it's going to stay but I think it's pretty darn cute.

He also talks a lot! He is saying things that sound like....momma....da-da...bubba...buh-bye...and hey (he says "hey" really loud) He also puts Jordan's cell phone up to his ear and it almost sounds like he is saying "hello"....

Eli also has the shrillest scream that I have ever heard...and he's very dramatic.

Did I mention that he eats a lot? Anything and everything! I've definitely caught him digging food out of the trash can a few times...ewwww, I know!

Here's some pics of my sweet 11 month old in action today (it was warm so they got to strip down and play outside!):








Friday, February 17, 2012

Journey with Josiah {3}

So do you remember the hair analysis that we sent off for Josiah back around Christmas time? Well, we have had some hold ups and set backs (which were mostly my fault) but we finally have the results.   I will start with the results from Josiah's health appraisal comprehensive which came in the form of a bargraph.  And with this bargraph, the desired goal is to be at 0% for each area.

1. Gastro Intestinal:

A Hypoacidity 20%
B Small Intestine Exocrine Pancreas 20%
C Gastric Dysfunction 17%
D Colon 27%

2. Detox Metabolism:

A Liver/Gallbladder 11%
B Hypothryoid 0%

3. Immune Function

A Adrenal Dysfunction 22%
B Hypoimmune 6%
C Hyperimmune 7%

4. Cardiovascular

A Anemia 5%
B Hypertension 0%
C Heart 0%
D Circulation 17%

5. Glucose Tolerance

A Hypocglycemia 0%
B Hyperglycemia 0%

6. Pulmonary

A Lungs 0%

7. Urological

A Kidney/Bladder 11%

8. Male

A Prostate 0%
B Reproduction/Genital Health 0%

9. Female (none of these applied to Josiah so I won't list them

10. Musculoskeletal

A Bone Integrity 0%
B Muscle 0%
C Connective Tissue 0%
D Neurological 53%!?!?!?!?!


So what does all this mean? And why is his neurgological system so off kilter?

Well I'll better be able to explain the neurological part after I breakdown the findings from the actual hair analysis. (See below) As far as the other areas that are "off"....well, you start at the top with the gastro intestinal. This is where bad health usually starts because our gastro intestines is the first part of our body to receive what we consume. There are many things that can negatively effect this....Lack of protein, vitamins and minerals...disbiosis (when healthy flora disappears)...toxins in our system...and especially what we eat and do not eat.  Once our gastro intestinal system starts to go down hill, the rest of our body will follow.  Sometimes quickly and sometimes over the course of many years.  This is where so many diseases and other ailments begin...in the gastro intestines.  So from here, it is a domino effect...as you can see from the percentages above, the problems that started in Josiah's gastro intestines has negatively affected almost every other area of his body....especially the neurological. which I explain in further detail on down the post.
So we found out a lot from the hair analysis!

One thing that I was thrilled about was that his Calcium levels were exactly where they needed to be which is called homeostasis.  I was so happy to find this out because I had been a little worried about him being defecient in Calcium since we have taken him off of dairy.  What people do not realize is that Calcium is in just about everything that we eat. However, our health books in school, the media and advertisting have absolutely engrained it in us that we have to have milk to get the adequate amount of Calcium that we need.  This is so far from the truth.  In fact, milk actually acts like a toxin in our body.  (But that's a post for another day...I'm starting to feel myself get off on a soap box here.)

However, on a much less positive note, Josiah is deficient in just about all the other nutrient minerals...some by not much...others by a lot.  (Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, Copper, Manganese, Zinc, Chromium, Selenium, and Phosophorus) Okay, so before you hand me the bad mommy award, let me just point out that Josiah is the pickiest/most stubborn eater that you will ever come in contact with.  It's a curse I tell ya! I guess I'm going to have to get more creative with ways to get these nutrients in his body.  Oh, and I feel another soap box coming on here but I will refrain.  Just go read this article written by Josiah's doctor on the reason why going out and buying a multivitamin or any vitamin for that matter is not the answer. But here is the short version: No one should ever take store bought multivitamins because taking a vitamin that you are not deficient in can cause an excess of that vitamin which can adversely affect the body.  You see, every single mineral in the body has an effect on every other mineral in the body. For example, here is the chain reaction that occurs when a person takes an iron supplement:

Sodium goes up....Magnesium goes down...Calcium goes down....Potassium goes up...Nitrogen goes down....Copper goes down...Zinc does down...Manganese goes up.

So what do you do when you are low on Iron or any other mineral for that matter?

Have a test ran (in Josiah's case, it was a hair analysis) and find out exactly what you are deficient in.  If it is Iron, don't just run to your nearest drug store and buy some Iron Supplements.  Find a doctor like Josiah's who will give you Iron in the right ratio with other minerals.  These doctors are few and far in between but luckily Dr. Smith does most of her stuff over the phone...she can be your doctor too and you can get away with never having to go to her office. (If you're interested just let me know and I will give you more info)

 Okay, so back to the hair analysis....the big big big thing for me was finding out the level of toxic metals that Josiah had in his body. And sure enough he has a large amount of Aluminum in him.  Since Josiah has not been exposed to Aluminum through soda cans, anti-perspirants, Aluminum foil or cookware with Aluminum very much at all, I am almost positive that the amount of Aluminum in him is from the vaccines that he has had. This amount of Aluminum could very well explain Josiah's lack of verbal communication and even behavior difficulties seeing as how Aluminum negatively affects brain functioning. So remember how his neurological findings above were at 53% when it should be at 0%? Dr. Smith thinks that the Aluminum has a lot to do with this.

So where do we go from here?

Tomorrow (2/18/2012) Josiah will be starting a Therapeutic Supplement Program of Care. This includes all the whole food supplements listed below:

1. Detoxosode- which he will take for one month to rid his body not only of the Aluminum, but all the other toxins, viruses and germs that he has encountered since birth and anything harmful that I might have passed to him through the placenta before he was born. So pretty much it will return his body to homeostasis.

2. Adaptosode- this is to further help his brain functioning/nervous system

3. Seacure- one other thing that was revealed about Josiah through this test was that not only is he deficient in protein, his body does not break down protein properly.  Remember this post? Do you remember how I said that I suspected that Josiah could not breakdown the protein in milk (casein) or wheat (gluten)? Well this test revealed that I was right! So it looks like we took the right step in putting him on the GFCF diet. So anyway, Seacure is an already broken down protein that Josiah will be taking orally and will go straight to his cells.  I'm really excited about this one!

4. Multizyme- simply put, this is just enzymes to help him metabolize correctly. (giving 100% organic apple juice and pineapples helps with this too)

5. Organically Bound Minerals- this is your healthy version of a multivitamin that doesn't cause the chain reaction in minerals that I mentioned above.

6. Trace Minerals- B12- this contains all the trace minerals with an emphasis on B12.


So you may be wondering how I'm going to get my picky little eater who gags when he takes tylenol to take all this...This was a concern of mine too.  Fortunately, the Detoxosode and Adaptosode are pretty much tasteless and can be mixed with juice or water.  The other four supplements are in pill or capsule forms and can be dissolved in a very small amount of water overnight and then mixed with juice.  Easy enough!

Oh, how I am so thankful to God for bringing me to Dr. Smith.  This truly is a fallen, horrible world that we live in.  So horrible that sometimes our little ones bear the brunt of it for reasons that we can't always explain.  But our Lord is so gracious to us and provides us with hope, love, healing, salvation...you name it.  I'm so excited to watch the Lord heal Josiah's body through Dr. Smith...to get his body functioning the way He intended it too.  Josiah really is an awesome little boy and I can't even begin to explain my love for him.  So....here we go...on our journey of healing...

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Valentine's Day {2012}

We had such a blast on Valentine's Day this year. In the past, I've been guilty of "just getting through" Valentine's Day without puking at all the mushy-gushy posts on facebook.  I guess my way of thinking was that I show love to my loved ones on a daily basis and I don't need the world telling me that I have to "do it up big" on a certain day.  But this year, I chose to look at Valentine's Day from a different angle. I chose to focus on the Father's love for me and the blessings of a wonderful, handsome husband and two beautiful boys that he has given me to love. And it was a wonderful day indeed.

Amongst the plans for the day was to dress in matching clothing and eat at Pizza Hut for lunch...the boys really enjoyed this since they had not had PH since we started the gluten free diet:





When we got back home, it was time to open presents:




Josiah has a thing for penguins so we decided to add to his collection.  Happy Feet now has a baby brother... or sister...still trying to figure that one out...



We got Eli a little stuffed monkey but he was more interested in the bag and tissue paper:



And then it was mommy and daddy's turn...I got a pair of cowgirl boots and a scentsy burner and Jordan got a wii game,wii accessories and a dress shirt:




After we laid the boys down for their afternoon naps, we got to work making them cupcakes to surprise them with when they woke up:




They REALLY enjoyed them:



Eli enjoyed them so much that he required a sink bath:




And for dinner we had this (oh, and that is grape juice in the glasses before you start thinking that we are hitting the bottle):




No words can express how much love I have for my family.  I am so incredibly blessed by God.




"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:1-13