Saturday, September 29, 2012

A Life Full of Change

     It has been quite some time since I last blogged, and I am shocked that I have found the time even now.  So much has happened since my last post that I do not even know where to start!  We moved into a new home, Josh got braces, Josh switched schools, we sold our old house, and we had a baby...sure it may not seem like a lot, but for this family it has been nothing but a life full of change.
     In the beginning of August we closed on our new house, but the chaos seemed to start months before that with packing and organizing and cleaning, all while still trying to keep to our routine and schedule.  Needless to say this was not very easy, but with the move things would only get more complicated.  Expecting a baby at the end of September only put more pressure on the need to get things organized and done efficiently, as well as for the sake of the other two kids whose lives were being scrambled.   Moving day came and seemed to last for weeks, but with a lot of endless, exhausting days and nights of pushing ourselves to get things together we did it, and soon the kids seemed to be settling in.  But that was not the only obstacle of change we were dealing with.  Josh was very skeptical about having to go to a new school so we made sure to focus our attention on him and make sure that all of the change and chaos was not too much for him.  We went on a tour of his new school and that really seemed to help settle some of his anxiety, he actually walked away from the tour saying he really liked the school and was looking forward to going there!!!  We could not have been happier.  
     On top of a new house and new school, Josh also got braces, which to be honest we were dreading.  We thought for sure he was going to have a hard time because of his nerves, but again he surprised us with how well he adjusted to them and how he handled the discomfort and pain that comes with braces.  He was a total rock-star and we were so proud of how he handled getting them on and how he continues to deal with them on a daily basis!  
     So we covered the new house, the new school, and the braces...and then came baby!!!  We are so excited to welcome our new little man to the family, Lucas Alexander!  Josh's little brother decided to come 2 weeks early and was born on September 14th.  Josh and Emily fell in love at first site, and have been amazing bigger siblings since he was born.  We have definitely had to deal with some adjustment issues with the kids, but they really have been very loving and welcoming to their new little brother.
     And that is what I have been up to since my last post...a busy, chaotic life that has been full of change and adjustments!  We made it through all this change in one piece too, even though there were moments of doubt and pure frustration, we did it!  My family is amazing and my kids are wonderful, they continue to amaze me everyday and honestly I would not change a single thing about my life.  Our life is rarely simple and easy, it is most times stressful and full of chaos, but we work hard, try to be  the best people we can, and love each other unconditionally which makes everyday, every hour, every minute of our life amazing!  Amidst our life full of change we hold tight and look forward to the ride :)

 

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Challenge of Changes

When you have a child with Asperger's you sometimes, if not most of the time, come to fear the word 'Change' and what it means for your family.  From before we even found out that Josh had Asperger's we had experienced many frustrating times when our plans changed or when we tried to surprise him with something special.  For quite some time before Josh was diagnosed we just chalked his tantrums and meltdowns up to him acting like a spoiled brat.  We could not have been more wrong.  Josh, and kids like Josh, function best with routine and planning.  Surprises are a thing of the past for us and planning anything and everything we do or plan to do is a must.  It keeps things running smoothly and helps Josh from over thinking everything and not being able to handle the changes.

 Before starting this diet, we stuck to routines and planning at all times.  We were always very strict about making sure we did not change any plans on Josh and became very cautious about telling him anything until we were 100% certain our plans were set in stone.  We refrained from trying to surprise him, with ANYTHING!  Surprises always came back to bite us in the butt.  Unfortunately learning to live this way is not always the easiest task.  Life happens, things naturally change, schedules have to be altered, babies are born, moves take place, schools change, and etc!  Starting and sticking to this diet helped to make this task a lot easier.

 When we started this diet one of the aspects of Josh's personality we saw a big change in was how he dealt with change and stressful situations.  Josh suddenly was able to make certain decisions rather quickly without over thinking them or playing out every scenario in his head.  After we started the diet a lot had begun to change for us.  We were expecting a new addition to our family, we were rearranging the house, we had gotten a new car, and were working very hard to make this diet as successful as we possibly could.  Although these changes might seem insignificant to some families they were huge for ours.  Surprisingly Josh dealt with all of this very, very well.  We still found it in our best interest to keep him on some sort of schedule/routine, but for the first time ever there was flexibility.  We were able to be more lenient with time restrictions and completed tasks.  We were also able to give him options and choices without overwhelming him.  It was so nice, especially because our hands were very full with a new baby! There were even mornings that got away from us and we slept in on school days, but Josh didn't panic like he used to, he handled it like a champ, just going with the flow.  All these changes we were seeing in him could not have come at a better time, it had made expanding our family less worrisome and we looked forward to seeing how else this diet would help our amazing son and the positive affects it would continue to have on our family.

It has now been a year since we started this diet, and even more changes our occurring.  We are expecting yet another addition to the family, selling our house, buying a new one, switching schools, and Josh is getting braces.  These are big changes and there are a lot of them, but they no longer overwhelm us like they used to in the past.  They are just a part of life and we welcome these changes knowing that we can handle them together, as a family.  This change in attitude has been one of the most astounding changes we have seen in Josh and are so thankful for this diet and all the positive outcomes we have seen because of it.  I don't think I will ever be able to say enough good things about this diet and the amazing changes it has made for not only our son, but our family as well!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Quick and Easy Shopping

When we first started the GFCF diet we were overwhelmed with the whole shopping experience.  We struggled with where to find the foods we needed as well as planning quick and easy or last minute meals.  Having done this for a year now we have been able to figure out which stores have what we need, what items are an absolute must to have in our house at all times, and when in need (which is often with 2 kids, crazy schedules, and a growing belly) the places to find items for last minute meals. 

At first, after starting the GFCF diet believe that every type of food we needed for our son would have to come from a specialty food store.  We were almost certain we had never seen any gluten free or casein free items in our local grocery stores, but we had never had to notice them before as well.  In the beginning we did shop at ONLY the specialty food stores, such as Trader Joes and Lil's Dietary Specialty Shop located in Chicago.  Both are fabulous stores that we continue to shop at still today, but both also proved to be obstacles on occasion.  Trader Joes is located in Orland Park, which is about a 25 minute ride and Lil's has earlier hours than we sometimes need.  We definitely need to work on being more organized and scheduled but that is another story, lol!  So, we learned to stock up big time and probably over-shopped for quite some time.  Eventually, as schedules got rearranged and life happened and babies came along, this was not so easy to do.  We began to do some research and check out products at the local grocery store.  They definitely did not have many options to choose from, (which is getting better with time) but they did carry more items than we had thought.  For instance our Jewel branch has a whole gluten free section, so we just make sure to cross reference each item for casein.  We also discovered that Target carries Vans waffles, taco seasonings, Annie's natural fruit snacks, and others.  There is a local grocery store nearby as well, County Fair, that carries all different kinds of safe meat, pastas, breakfast sausages, muffins, and other snacks.  It is our go-to grocer most of the time.  Eventually we started to look beyond just the items that were labeled GFCF and start checking into items that used to be part of our everyday meals.  That is when we stumbled upon the website GFCFdiet.com.  It has and still is an amazing resource for us, they list products by category that are safe to have.  They do make you aware that you should always check with the companies that manufacture these products in case something changes.  We found a ton of items on their list that we never even knew were safe for our son, it truly has been a huge help to us when we have last minute shopping or our planning a meal later in the day when our only option of a store is our local grocer.  So check GFCFdiet.com, you can also find them on Facebook.  I am also going to include a list of items that we find helpful to have in the house at all times, most if not all, should be able to be found at your local grocer, so happy shopping :)

Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce
McCormick Onion Powder
McCormick Garlic Powder
McCormick Vanilla
Hunt's Ketchup
Hellmann's Mayonnaise
Tamari  Sauce (found in the oriental aisle)
Fritos
Tostitos
Snyders Gluten free pretzels
A1 Steak Sauce
Mission yellow corn tortillas
Newman's Own Mild Salsa
Wish-Bone Italian Dressing
Brianna's The New American Dressing
Welchs Concord Grape Jelly
Hershey's Syrup Original
V8 Splash Juice (we stick to the Tropical Blend to avoid red dyes)
Simply Orange Juice
Enjoy Life Chocolate
Earth Balance Buttery Spread
Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
Rice Chex
Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch granola bars
Betty Crocker Gluten free mixes
couscous
quinoa
Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Chips
Pepsi/Sprite (which we only use for special occasions)
Mug Root Beer
Annie's Fruit Snacks
Olive oil
Sesame oil
 Rice Milk
Almond Milk

Along with these, other safe items include:  eggs, fruit, veggies, and filler-free meats!  Happy eating :)

    

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The Gluten and Allergen Free Expo

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I attended our very first Gluten and Allergen Free Expo in Chicago.  We told Josh he would be coming with us and he was very against it, telling us he would rather play with his friends than come with us and walk around all day.  Regardless, he was told he was coming with us!  Much to our surprise, halfway through the walk through he was thanking us for bringing him and was super pumped to find all these new foods and brands we either never knew existed or never knew he could have.  It was by far one of the best experiences we had as a family.  Having started this diet about a year ago, we have really searched high and low to find a variety of foods to stock for Josh, and have put in a lot of time and energy in the process.  The GFAF Expo saved us a lot of time and energy by placing all these products and foods in one place for us to browse through.  There was no research and reading reviews, no running to three different stores to find what we needed, and no spending money on a product we were not sure Josh would approve of.  We ate our way through the expo (which this preggo certainly didn't mind), got a ton of great coupons (which are hard to find with these foods), and discovered a bunch of new foods that all of us really enjoyed.  Companies whose brands we were familiar with were there, but we discovered other products that they had available that we were completely unaware of, along with companies we did not even know existed!

Having gotten to experience this AFTER going through what seemed to be a not so easy transition to this diet, was definitely an eye opener.  When we first eliminated the gluten and casein from Josh's diet, as well as our own, all we knew was that clean meats, fruits, and veggies were safe.  We had to do a lot of research to find out what kinds of cereals, breads, chips, sauces, desserts, juices and drinks were safe.  Along with that, we also had to find what medicines were safe as well as shampoos, soaps, lotions, toothpaste, and lip balms. When you think of diet changes, you only think of things you eat and drink, you do not give any thought to the fact that gluten, more so than casein, is present in other products as well.  Products that when you touch them can be absorbed into your body through your skin.  The changes you have to make when committing to this diet change your entire lifestyle, which is never an easy thing to do.  There were times when we were discouraged and annoyed and felt like giving up.  There were times we just wanted to go back to our old lifestyle, but we told ourselves we had to stick to this, that we had to be committed to this change for Josh!  We needed to find something that worked for him, something that helped him to feel safe and comfortable in his own skin.  Well needless to say, this difficult lifestyle change did just that...almost 1 year later and Josh is a totally different kid!  All the hard work, all the research, all the trial and error, the financial burden that the diet brings with it...all worth it!  It may have not been easy getting where we are today, but I have learned  that when you want something bad enough, you do anything you need to do to get it.  Today Josh still has Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD, but his symptoms are lessened greatly and on most days Asperger's is not even something that seems to slow him down.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

In November of 2009, my husband and I had just received a diagnosis for our 7 year old son, whom we had been struggling with for quite some time.  The diagnosis was ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome.  We had recently been married 4 months prior to the diagnosis and were expecting a baby in early August.  We definitely had a lot going on, but it felt as if our world had come to a complete stop. I could not believe that this was happening, all I could think about was how we were so not prepared for this.  How would we help him, what could we do, and what did all of this mean for my little boy, and for my soon-to-be expanded family?  I was overcome with grief and sadness for some time, and struggled to understand how I and we would deal with this!  After a few days of walking around in a daze and coming to terms with what all this meant, I began to do some research.  I tried to educate myself the best I could, what exactly was Asperger's, were there any causes, was there a cure, what helped this syndrome, what made it worse??  I had so many questions and was overwhelmed with the information that was sitting at my fingertips! 
Prior to getting married I had earned a bachelors degree in English Education, and I had recalled learning about Autism and other spectrum disorders.  I knew there were certain medications that were shown to help as well as other drug-free methods that had been explored.  Again, all this information was extremely overwhelming and I felt lost.  One of the books I had encountered along the way to educating myself had mentioned a special diet that required specific foods to be cut out of the diet completely.  This very much intrigued me, the fact that there could possibly be a way to help my son that did not include medicating him in any way.  Unfortunately my husband was not very fond of the idea and it was causing even more tension in our house so that became the end of that.  Instead we scheduled an appointment with our pediatrician and started our son on a very low dose of Ritalin.  The Ritalin seemed to work for some time, his focus was better and he was more attentive at school.  But we were still having daily meltdowns and after a couple of weeks the Ritalin didn't even seem to help with focus and attention.  We were feeling lost and overwhelmed again!  On top of dealing with this we had a baby girl we had welcomed to the home and the stress of worrying about how the meltdowns and freakouts would affect her was just as stressful!  So we stayed committed to finding the right dose of medication for our son and started him in therapy every other week.  We listened to everybody's advice and tried everything we could possibly think of.  Everything that is, except the diet I had read about. 
It had now been over a year since the diagnosis and being consistent with medication and therapy and things were not getting any better.  I refused to keep increasing the dosage of Ritalin and was at the end of my rope with all of this.  In April of 2011 I mentioned the diet to my husband again and this time showed him all the research I had found on it.  He was exhausted from trying to figure this out as well, he just wanted to help our son in any way possible, so he told me to make an appointment with the doctor and discuss the diet with her.  I did just that, and our pediatrician supported our decision to try this out 100%.  She said she had seen many people that had a lot of success with the diet, but that we needed to prepare ourselves for the amount of work and dedication it took to be this successful. It has been a year later and my son has been drug free and this diet has changed our lives!!!!!  So, I started this blog hoping we could help change the lives of others the same way this has changed ours...