My Summer Challenge!

So once again it has been a long time since my last post...LOL I really would LOVE to get on here more, but time doesn't seem to allow it.  So let's catch up!  HEALTH: My heath is doing soooo much better!  I avoided so many foods for such a long time, and I do feel better about it. Through the summer my goal is to lose my last 10lbs :) woohoo!

KIDS:  We are sort of in a limbo around here.  Our 13 year old went  home to her bio family and it has been going great!  She is the first child we have ever had that has gone back to her bio home. It was exciting to see the family reunited!   Hoping it was a learning experience for everyone involved, she is an amazing girl!  So as of today we only have in our home.  However, we should know about F&E's little brother within the next month.  We have been praying hard for him. He is almost 3 at this point, and if  we don't get him my heart will break, I have been waiting for 3 years for this little boy!   Also, there is a possibility of a 15 year old  to come our way. That is very unsure right now, but we have been praying for her as well.  Love, these kids.

SCHOOL:  Well we have just about finished our first year of homeschooling.  The homeschool learning center LMCA, that we participated in was AMAZING!  The teachers were fabulous and the kids made friends there, that I hope will be friends for many years.  It is a close knit community and was such a blessing to us.  As far as next year, our oldest is the only one returning, the 2 boys will be going to a private school.  As much as I loved having all my kids home, it was to much for me. The individual attention I felt they each needed, was more than I could divide up. It left little time for my 4 year olds. I am hoping next year I can spend more one on one quality time with them, before they are in school for real!  I spent alot of time telling them to find something to do as I was teaching the bigger kids.  I hope the way we have it set up for next year is positive for all my kids. This time is going my way to  fast!

Here is a link to LMCA!
LMCA


So for those of you that don't know, every summer for the past 3 years we shut off our home phone, cable and internet service. It works out well bc all the shows my hubby and I watch are over, and the kids don't need to watch t.v., LOL, they need to be outside.  SOOOOO this year will be no different, however I recently watched a video on FB.  I do have a smart phone, so I am still connected to the internet.  It convicted  me to get off of FB for the summer.  The video was really 100% true in my eyes.  We need to put down the electronics and TALK!!!!  I have decided I am going to get off of FB for the whole summer!  (and then we will see what happens) If you wish to keep in touch with me, I think somehow you can follow this blog.  I will try and blog more in the summer....really I will....LOL well I will need somewhere to post pics of my beautiful kids!    BLESSINGS to you all!!!


MY SUMMER CHALLENGE!! READ THIS!!!!

How many kids do you have???

We get asked this question alot!  The funny thing is I never know what to say.  We have biological children, we have adopted children, we have kids we have fostered, that were never adopted, we now have a foster child, we have a friend of one of our older foster kids who lives with us and we are fighting to adopt a brother of the two girls we adopted.  So, how many kids is that????

I know I personally consider anyone who has been placed in my home, and is searching for parents to show them unconditional love, are my kids. So, I might not have the legal papers, they might not call me mom, b/c it is to hard for them, but they are my kids, the ones that God has given to me to love.  These older kids who have been hurt and abused, they have a REALLY hard time trusting, and I can't tell you how many times I have been sworn at, deleted/blocked from facebook, all because they are not ready to be loved, they feel unworthy of it. So heartbreaking! I just sit and I pray for God to protect them and guide them. And I depend on Him to help my hurting heart as I sit and watch these precious kids, make bad choices, go down the wrong path, and do things that are even more hurtful to their lives.  I sit. I sit and I wait.  Praying and hoping that they will return, and that maybe this time they will be ready to accept the love, the love they so desperately need. I have shed A LOT of tears over these kids. My heart hurts for them.  But I sit and wait for them to come home. So that I can love on them some more. So they know someone is in their corner, someone thinks they are worth it!   If you could, maybe add my kids to  your prayer list. I would appreciate it!  

So how many kids do I have? right now I have 9, and one that we are fighting for. I love them all even when they are not here, even when they shut me out of their lives and even when they say they say they are done.  This is what my Abba, my heavenly father does to me. He loves me even in spite of my faults, and that is what I want to model to my kids.  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15;22  To Him be the Glory!

My Journey to Wellness

It all seemed to have started after the birth of my last child.  When I was pregnant with her, I was clinically depressed.  I got to the point where I stopped preparing meals for my 3 and 2 year old, they were getting cereal for dinner most nights.  My husband would come home from work, and I would basically ignore him.  I remember telling him on numerous occasions "I have nothing left for you", it was so bad I wouldn't even speak to him! I just wanted to sit in my spot on the couch and be left alone.  It was one of the worst times of my life.  

When I saw how much it was starting to affect the ability for me to care for my kids, I went to see my Dr.(I was almost in my second tri) and she put me on Zoloft, (1/2  pill).  Yes I know you shouldn't be on antidepressants while pregnant, but I did the research on it and decided, it was better for my toddlers fif I were able to take care of them and for the unborn baby to not have a mother that was crying all the time!   This was extremely hard for me, I don't even take medication for something as simple as a headache, however I did it. It took about 1-2 weeks and the change in me was drastic.  I was able to function and enjoy my kids and my pregnancy!!  I only told one person I was on zoloft, and that was my older sister.  I was embarassed because I had to take meds, I was able to pretty much hide it from everyone outside of my husband and kids. Then once on the pills I didn't have to hide my depression anymore!  When I was pregnant with F, I craved Orange Crush, Taco bell Gorditas, and fudge pop tarts...weird but some of my favorite foods growing up, I had them all weekly, which I was eating pretty healthy for the past few years so it was not normal for me too eat so crappy. 

After F was born, she was breastfed exclusively, however her babyweight didn't come off, in fact I started gaining weight.  I went to the Dr's and she of course ran some blood tests, and everything came back normal.  I stayed at this high weight for years actually.  I had myself tested by www.enterolab.com and tested postive for gluten sensitivity...BLAH!!  So, I tried Weight Watchers, (while avoiding gluten) it didn't work. (I actually tried it 3 different times in the past 3 years)  I tried atkins diet, didn't work.  My friend told me about an HCG diet, I tried it and lost around 18lbs!  I was ecstatic.  However it didn't stay off, I slowly started gaining it back in 2-3 lb intervals.  SIGH.   I then tried it again like a year later and lost 10lbs.  Once again it slowly crept back on. UGH!   So, for the third time I did the HCG diet, and lost 18 lbs again!  I kept 12 of it off for the summer, then yep it has slowly started creeping back on.  This is where I am currently. Not only does my weight stay on, but my energy level was decreasing dramatically.  I started homeschooling this year, so I just attributed it to that. But, it started to get so bad, I was crying at the thought of getting out of bed in the mornings.  I was 100% convinced my adrenal glands were depleted and running on empty.  

I started studying to be a gluten free practitioner at www.thedr.com which intorduced me to www.cyrexlabs.com , a lab that tested for other foods that can be cross reactive to gluten.   Then I got an email from a colleague who had some sort of comprehensive blood work panel, I emailed him immediately. I am always amazed at how God continually guides me, when I feel I am most lost.  I ran the comprehensive blood panel and then I had my blood tested for the gluten cross reactive foods.  Six tubes of blood later, I just waited....and waited... LOL it felt like forever but within 2 weeks I  had two of the labs back.  I FINALLY had answers!!!

Here are the first results I got:

Hard to see on this picture, but you want green, anything going to the left is "low" and to the right is "high".

Basically the gist of the bloodwork said, I am iron defiecient, low on vitamin D, slightly high insulin.  Those were the "biggies". Yup no adrenal issues at all! I was floored.  With every pregnancy the midwives(yes i delivered in a birth center, that offered NO epidurals, because really I don't like medication of any kind...lol) made fun of me b/c I had the iron levels of a man!!!  I would have NEVER even thought of iron levels. 

Well with these results, it was clear to me I am on my way to Celiac Disease.  I have the genes for CD and gluten sensitivity, my labs from enterolabs, confirmed that.  One of the first things that start going haywire in CD is malnutrition, which leads to Iron deficiency, and vitamin D is the rubber bands, that help control intestinal permeability. I couldn't wait to get my foods result back.   

Here it is:

The left hand column are foods that your body is okay with, the right hand column are the foods your body is reacting to in an inflammatry way, b/c they are mimicking my gluten allergy. the middle are on the border of being high, so if you eat them alot they will be moving to the right column. YUP, so I can eat buckwheat, soy, and potatoes. I have to avoid dairy of all kinds, grains of all kinds, rice, coffe yeast, eggs(in the middle) oats, sesame, quinoa, my body doesn't like ANY of it.  No wonder my body felt great on the HCG diet, it was void of all my allergens. So, I am starting the HCG diet again, to detox my body of all this crap.  I have purchased supplements to help heal my gut and get me back to feeling 100%.  This has been an exhausting road, and I am excited to have answers, I am just praying I have the will power to not eat all the foods that I love, because they are slowly killing me. If anyone has any questions or has experienced anything like this, message me!!!