I haven’t heard from anyone (via comments) since changing my blog address, and I just have to say… it’s kinda lonely over there.

Just wondering if ya’ll got the memo about the address change. If so, what are you waiting for? Show me some comment love people! No one likes talking to a wall, seriously. Oh, and resubscribe, change your links, etc etc.

Thanks

Check out my new (old) home. Switch your bookmarks/subscriptions/readers, etc.

See you over there!

Until FRIDAY late evening. Today is only Sunday.

Oh dear.

Today was our first full day of him being away (he left yesterday afternoon), and it was horrible. Isaac did absolutely everything to push buttons (including breaking my camera and/or lens by colouring on it with a highlighter [it won't focus], at which I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut, and just walk away, rather than bursting in anger). Poor Ally was pretty much her normal self, but everything she did that is normally only slightly annoying (like take a little extra effort going to sleep) was incredibly frustrating today.

I learned something today about myself. When I’m functioning on barely any sleep (about 2 hours I’d guess), I have VERY little patience. This is not good. This is not ok. Understandable, yes. Excusable? No. I need to learn to rejoice in all circumstances, and to have the patience with my children that Christ has for me (yikes!).

My conundrum is that I don’t know how I *should* respond to Isaac when he does something he shouldn’t. Deliberately disobeying. Shouting “NO” at me when I tell him to do something/stop doing something. Pushing his sister so she falls and cries.

Do I respond with yelling and anger? Push him so he falls and cries? (I know, I know). Gently say “Hey sweetie, would you please not do that?”. Give him a time-out? It seems that nothing works. I’d prefer a gentle way, with no harsh punishments (I prefer “discipline” instead of simply “punishing”). I want him to obey because of a heart connection. Is this too much to ask?

Why don’t 2-year-olds come with warning labels?

And instruction manuals?

*****

PS – He has a nasty hacking cough when lying down. It wakes him up in the night, and he then calls out for me. As if I wasn’t already awake enough with Ally…

sunset over the prairies. the view from our living room. the blurry edges of a paper cut-out snowflake hanging in our window.

Since I first began thinking about doing the GAPS Diet for our family, I’ve often been asked what I would do with the issue of hospitality. When you are on a very restrictive diet, is there a place for hospitality anymore? What would I serve people? Soup and boiled eggs? What would I do if we were invited out to someone’s house?

Before I was completely aware of the list of allowed foods on the diet, I was under the impression that it would be more or less boring/bland/un-exciting foods that I would not want to serve to anyone other than our family.

It turns out that the soup-only stage is only a few days, and you usually begin adding more foods in fairly quickly. The Intro Diet can take as short as a week, if your body tolerates the new foods at each stage. Sometimes you have to slow it down or regress… it really depends on the individual (I, for example, am regressing and taking ghee out of my diet for now, because it seems that I still can’t handle dairy, nor can Ally). For the most part though, a person would be on what they call “Full-GAPS” (as opposed to the Intro), which has a very large list of “allowed” foods, with a multitude of recipes and possibilities.

Recently, I ordered the new GAPS cookbook. Upon receiving it, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to find a TON of amazing-sounding recipes!

Check out this list (the ones I’ll be trying first for sure!)…

Guacamole, Tomato-Rosemary Soup, Hungarian Mushroom Soup, Chili, Turkey-Pecan Waldorf Salad, Taco Salad, Granola, Breakfast Casserole, Peanut-Butter Pancakes, Banana Caramel Sticky Buns, Almond-Crusted Chicken Legs, Lamb in Coconut-Curry Sauce, Cilantro-Lime Chicken, Lemon Chicken with Broccoli, Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Portobello Pizzas, Hazelnut Pizza Crust, Banana Bread, Jalapeno-Cheddar Biscuits, Baked Apples and Walnuts, Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Crust, Strawberry Shortcake, Cappuccino Cupcakes, Peanut-Butter Pie, Bourbon-Peach Ice Cream, Coconut Macaroons, Fruit Leathers, Pistachio-Date Truffles, Orange Creamsicle Milkshakes, Nut Milk Lattes… and more!!! (Can you tell I love food?!). All of these are GAPS-legal (no grains/sugar/processed ingredients, etc).

Once we’re on the Full-GAPS Diet, I don’t think it will be a problem at all to have people over and be able to cook them great food!

Going over to other peoples’ houses will present a greater challenge, but I am confident that it can be done with a combination of sharing our diet restrictions with friends who are willing to help, maybe bringing a bit of our own food, and perhaps an occasional bit of cheating once we’re well established in our healing journey.

*This post is part of “Fight Back Fridays” @ Food Renegade*

Yesterday, Chris was out all day, including from 6-8pm (bath & bedtime for our two kiddos). At 8:12pm, he walked in the door to a tired wife holding a baby that was not yet asleep. He presented me with a bouquet of gorgeous flowers, whisked the baby from my arms, and bustled in to run a candle-lit bath in our whirlpool tub. While I was in there, he got the baby to sleep, cleaned the kitchen, then came in to chat and ask about my day while I soaked.

{Coming up on 8 years of marriage… and he’s still got it!}

So thankful.

So blessed.

And a wonderful opportunity to begin this spiritual discipline in my life – Gratitude.

1* for a an incredible husband who loves me fiercely and sweetly.

2* for the gift of writing, being contemplative, and drawing closer to God through the {unlikely} avenue of *gasp* technology, ie. blogging.

3* for beauty in creation – a bouquet of flowers.

4* for a warm bath in which to relax.

5* for the avocado and banana fingerprints just below my keyboard, reminding me of sticky fingers and mischievous, sparkling, two-year-old big-brown-eyes.

6* for a baby girl who is totally enthralled with her older brother.

7* for God’s grace in my every day.

8* for a weekly Bible study on the Fruit of the Spirit, and how it can “not just change my life, but my day”.

9* for our health, and the ability to pursue even better health for our family.

10* for the gift of creativity, and the many expressions of it that I love.

***

{PS – I know it’s not Monday. I’m such a rebel .}

(organic & grass-fed) beef soup bones from a local ranch

It’s day four of our family being on the GAP Diet (Intro). I can honestly say it’s been a bit tumultuous. I was ill-prepared for the amount of die-off (where the bad bacteria that is overgrown in your gut begins to starve and die off) that would occur. I think I way underestimated just how addicted my body was to starchy foods. This, however, has also served to confirm to me how much we needed to do it (there have also been a few improvements in various ailments and concerns, which I’ll get to later).

Let me give you the rundown of the last few days:

(DAY 1) Monday, we woke up, and it almost felt like Christmas… such anticipation in the air! I jumped out of bed and took the stock pot from the fridge, full of broth and veggies, and put it on the stove to simmer. Isaac watched “trains” (a few Thomas episodes we’ve recorded from TV) to keep him distracted in the meantime. Soon enough we were sitting down to breakfast… chicken and veggie soup! Isaac actually did quite well – he ate his bowlful without complaining, and again for lunch. By suppertime, however, he seemed to wondering what the deal was. Were Mommy and Daddy losing it? Nothing but soup all day? We ended up eating every 2-3 hours that day to stay satisfied. We went to bed, feeling pretty good.

By the middle of the night, when I got up to nurse Aliza, I was feeling kind of woozy. The first time I got up (1am or so), I hardly noticed, because I’m normally a very heavy sleeper, and barely wake up to nurse, often falling asleep in the rocking chair. By 5:30am though (Day 2), the next time Aliza woke up, I was feeling quite weak and woozy. I had Chris bring me some broth, which I drank and went back to sleep for a little bit. I got up, ate some more soup, and we decided to add eggs to the diet (a little earlier than recommended, but I need to be careful about getting enough food in me because I’m nursing). A boiled egg or two, some mint tea, some more soup and broth… and I was feeling much better by noon and onwards. We continued eating lots of soup and broth.

Then the same thing happened yesterday morning (Day 3) – feeling very woozy and weak by the early morning hours, so I had Chris bring me a spoonful of peanut butter (again, it was early to be adding nuts, but I thought it would be ok). Well, apparently my body couldn’t handle nuts yet (especially not a great big spoonful on an empty stomach), because I started feeling sick, and threw everything up 10 minutes later. I was now figuring out that my body was actually intensely detoxing from the starches/grains/sugars that it was used to. I can’t remember a day in my life that has not included at least a little bit of one of those things, so this was fairly significant, which I had underestimated. Again, started feeling better by noon-ish.

Yesterday we all got out of the house and went to get a few groceries (the healthiest grocery order I’ve ever done… not a hint of sugar/processed foods, etc.), which was great. We decided to add bananas in to the diet (also a few days early), which seemed to be a great decision because we all felt great after eating one. Supper was a treat – pancakes made from winter squash, eggs, and almond butter, and fried in ghee. After several days of soup for every meal, they tasted AMAZING! We were a little doubtful that they’d actually taste good, given the simple ingredients, and considering there’s a LOT of squash in them, but they actually tasted really good. We put just a little bit of honey and cinnamon on top… mmm, heavenly!

(Day 4) Today we added a fried eggs (as opposed to boiled), and avocados. We are still eating lots of soup, broth, and meat (these will continue to be staples in our diet because of their healing properties for our guts).

This morning Aliza woke up at 6:30 (and I think she would have slept longer if she wasn’t such a wiggly-worm – she had somehow managed to get both of her legs out of her buttoned sleeper(!!), and she also has a bad hacking cough that caused her to throw up last night, twice.

I got up at 6:30am… and instead of feeling completely groggy and mentally fogged like I normally do for an hour or so after waking up, I felt alert, awake, not sleepy, and fairly energetic. I played with Aliza on the floor, changed her diaper, and got her dressed (normally I would have hardly had the energy for that until much later in the morning, or sometimes not at all, other than a diaper change, of course).

We had eggs and avocado for breakfast, with mint tea – I made breakfast, served it to my family, and worked on cleaning up until I had to put Aliza down for a nap. I’ve been feeling somewhat lethargic/woozy today, but nothing like the last couple days. I feel like there’s energy in me that has suddenly appeared that I haven’t felt in years. Energetic underneath of the lethargy, if that makes any sense at all…

***

We’re moving onward and upward to the last few stages of the Intro Diet in the next few days, and will be adding in things like cooked apples, then some soft raw veggies (like cucumber), then more far fruits and veggies, olive oil, freshly-pressed juices (if we can figure out how to do that with no food processor and no juicer), roasted meats (instead of just boiled), bread made with nut flour, baked goods with coconut or nut flour, and honey. Exciting!

I’m very, very glad to be over the first few days, and am very happy to say that we are already seeing improvement in Isaac’s behaviour, and in both kids’ sleeping (Aliza has been napping over two hours now, as I write this, and she had a 1.5 hour nap this morning). I feel more alert, with less “brain fog”, and less moody. We are all still battling constipation however, which is common at this stage. All in all, I’m encouraged, and am pushing onward, anticipating the changes to come!

We start the GAPS Intro Diet today, and I am really, really looking forward to it, and the changes it will bring!

Our breakfast (and lunch, and supper...)

I prepped today’s soup last night (the bone broth I had made several days ago). I chopped the veggies, put it all together, stuck it in the fridge, and then put it on to boil/simmer as soon as I woke up this morning.

The soup consists of chicken bone broth, onions (sauteed first in 1/4 cup or so of coconut oil), carrots, zucchini, and butternut squash. I will also add 8 or so crushed raw cloves of garlic (after it’s done cooking, as it’s healthiest in its uncooked state), and then a spoonful of my homemade sauerkraut to each bowlful, for its beneficial probiotic bacteria.

This is all we will eat today (however much we want).

Tomorrow we will hopefully move to stage 2 (depending on how our bodies react today).

(These are my constant companions these days - probably the most fascinating books I've ever read...)

Only it wasn’t such a “hurrah”…

During our time on GAPS, I will be blogging along the way. For this inaugural GAPS post, I wanted to attempt to explain a little more about what GAPS is and why we’re doing it. To do so, I’m going to use the ever-so-helpful “5 W’s” (Who, What, When, Where, and Why).

***

“All diseases begin in the gut” (Hippocrates, 460-370 BC)

WHO: Our entire family is on board. Chris, myself, and our two kidlets (The two kidlets are only 2.5 and 6mos, so they are kinda in it by default). I’m the one who has done the research and really made a case for it, however Chris is fully supportive and plans to give it 100% for himself as well. He sees and agrees with my opinion that it will benefit all four of us.

WHAT: OK, this one will take a little longer to answer. GAPS is an acronym for “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”. It is essentially natural treatment (through diet… plus detox and supplements) for a multitude of health concerns, such as:

Crohn’s Disease, Colitis, Diverticulitis, Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, chronic diarrhea, Autism, Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Schizophrenia, ADD, ADHD, Anxiety, Rheumatoid Arthritis, night-wakings, Eczema, non-anaphylactic allergies, food sensitivities, asthma, behavioural problems, learning disabilities, gas, bloating, Psoriasis, constipation, feeding difficulties (including “picky eating”), Colic, Reflux, Heartburn, Vomiting, Dyspraxia, Urinary and Fecal Incontinence, chronic ‘colds’, Malnutrition, stomach aches, stool abnormalities, and more.

In the GAPS Guide, the diet is described as follows: “GAPS is based on the premise that a healthy balance of gut bacteria serves to protect and nourish the body. When the bacterial field becomes imbalanced, one of our first lines of defence becomes ineffective. Without protection, the gut wall is open to anything that comes along: fungi, viruses, environmental toxins, parasites, etc. Also, because food depends on bacteria for its processing, when the balance is off nutrients cannot effectively be accessed, never mind distributed throughout the body”. Another very helpful description is found in this online article.

This is explained in depth in the GAPS book, and though it’s tempting to summarize the entire book for you, I’ll have to leave it there for now. If you think it all sounds like total hogwash, I challenge you to ask questions, and to follow our family as we blog about the journey. We may not have some of the more serious manifestations of GAPS, but it is my belief that we will see great improvement in our health, in multiple areas (I’ll post later more details on why I finally became convinced that this is what we had to do).

WHEN: I’ve been “planning to start soon” for the last couple of weeks. I was sort of dragging my feet a little bit, with it being such new (scary) territory for me, and having all sorts of preparations to be done. Now I’ve successfully fermented my own sauerkraut, made a big batch of chicken bone broth, and cleared out much of the GAPS-illegal foods from our fridge and cupboards. Our official target start is… this coming Monday, January 24, 2011. We will begin with the Intro Diet. Dr. NCM (Natasha Campbell-Mcbride, the author) says that most people will need to be on the diet for up to two years (the Intro lasts anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks or so).

WHERE: Everywhere. This is not a regular “diet” as most people think of the word. I’m hoping we don’t succumb to cravings and cheat… but if we do it will likely cause us to get sick, thus removing the temptation for next time! We will be on this diet for as long as it takes. We are planning to travel to Edmonton for four days for MissonFest at the end of next month, and will have to take all of our own food (no different than camping, really). We’ll be bringing a cooler and we’ll have to get creative! We’ll be staying in a hotel, but I don’t think we’ll have a fridge or anything like that.

WHY: I can’t even figure out how to start my answer to this question. It’s so complex, and I want to express everything in a way that makes sense. I think I will do a post later with more detail, but let me just outline the main things that really convinced me of our need for GAPS.

• Isaac and Aliza have both have colds basically since September. I’ve tried absolutely every natural remedy out there to get rid of them – nothing has worked.
• Isaac often wakes up from a nap or in the morning all sweaty, and crying/whining. He often seems to be waking in discomfort.
• Since he began solid food at around 6 months, Isaac has gone back and forth between constipation and diarrhea, sometimes even having diarrhea 3-4x/day.
• Isaac does not seem to respond properly to correction/discipline. I don’t think he’s delayed intellectually (not at all!), or anything along those lines. I do think he has extreme mood swings and trouble controlling his actions, in a most basic way. He often seems confused at why he has done something. I KNOW this is highly subjective, and that, obviously, he’s TWO, and all that goes along with that… but all I can say is that sometimes I get a gut feeling/mama’s intuition that something is not quite right. Behavioural issues are common among GAPS children.
• I was diagnosed by a naturopath with a plethora of food sensitivities a couple months after Ally was born. Because she was/is nursing, she is affected by those as well, which has caused her to throw up on a regular basis since she was a few weeks old. She also has not slept well other than the first few months. Until we switched her to sleeping on her tummy she would make “reflux” sounds after sleeping for a few hours. Now I believe she suffers from tummy aches and gas very often, which wakes her up many times a night.
• Ally has had a red and puffy rash around her left eye (underneath, as well as on the eyelid) for about 3 months now. When we saw our doctor last week for a check-up, she had no idea what it was, and no suggestions for treatment. I believe it will disappear after we start GAPS.
• I was diagnosed in university with mild Fibromylagia. I have many of the symptoms that go along with that – such as hyper-sensitivity to hot and cold, and to bright lights, aches/pains in the muscles, fatigue, tendencies to “the blues”, stiffness, and a general “blah” feeling.
• I’ve always tended to be constipated, especially since giving birth twice, sometimes to the point where it’s very painful to have a bowel movement.
• Chris has suffered from poor sleep for as long as I’ve known him, and longer. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea, then has since recovered from it by having his jaw moved slightly forward with a dental device and losing a bit of weight. He still does not sleep well, however, usually tending towards insomnia or sleeping but rarely feeling truly rested.
• Chris battles digestive issues as well – swinging between diarrhea and constipation, like Isaac.
• At his own admittance, Chris suffers from frequent mood swings, which he believes are also connected to an addiction to sugar and processed carbs. I would say I also experience mood swings, as does Isaac.

There are probably more that I don’t even yet realize. I do hope/expect that all or almost all of these things will go away on GAPS. I also expect to find health in new ways that we’ve not yet experienced.

Well, now that I’ve shared the 5 W’s, I can move on to blogging about our actual journey. I’ve got a couple of posts in my head already… we just received our first order of meat, I’ve ventured into sauerkraut-maker status, and I’ve made a trial-run of an (almost) GAPS-legal meal.

Onward and upward!!

My dear Isaac Aidan,

It’s been 857 days since we met. 20,568 hours. 1,234,080 minutes (plus a few by the time I’m finished writing this… especially if you keep interrupting to get me to read you more stories).

You are a precocious and exuberant two-year-old. Coming up on 2 and a half, actually. I kept meaning to write you a letter on or around your second birthday, like I did for your first. Somehow time kept slipping by, though, and here we are 4-ish months later. Perhaps it was due to little sister joining our family 6 months ago. Being a mama to two of you little monkeys is, um, busy. Nonetheless, I can’t imagine doing anything else with my days. Changing poopy diapers, making meals, playing, reading stories, kissing owies. Ah, such a glamorous life

I love listening to you talk. Looking into your big chocolate brown eyes which reflect such depth of understanding. You say such funny and sweet things – you speak in full sentences, and are very verbal for your age. You love your sister, but have a habit of sitting on her sometimes. For whatever reason though, she’s completely enthralled by you. You come into the room, flash that grin of yours her way, and she’s on top of the world. I love it.

Your most favourite things these days are trains (especially at your train table that Daddy made you for Christmas, from which you can watch the real train go by our house from the bay window in the living room!), Psalty, VeggieTales, balls, airplanes and helicopters, and wrestling with Daddy on the floor. You also love to watch us do things in the kitchen. We pull up a chair for you to stand on, and you lend your stirring skills freely. Oh, and your dancing! I *love* your dancing. Let’s just say I’m glad we’ll likely live in Africa at some point, and I hope it won’t be too late for you to get a little rhythm Haha! (Like parents, like child!).

You still suck your thumb, and soon we’ll have to help you learn to end that little habit. Right now it’s still kind of cute, though the dentist doesn’t think so You had your first dentist appointment recently when you accidentally knocked out your front tooth by running into your bed (you’ll be toothless for 4 or 5 years until the adult tooth comes in), and you were a total superstar – they did a cleaning, and you just sat there good as gold!

Just before Christmas we got you a big boy haircut. It suits you, and makes you look so grown-up. I love it, though it makes me just a little nostalgic for your disappearing babyhood. I love how you still want to cuddle every night as you fall asleep in your bed, but I know this will end one day (hopefully not any time soon).

There is so much more I could say. I’m your biggest fan (and Daddy too!), and I love you so much. I just wanted record of few of these thoughts before I blink and you’re a big grown-up kid. I’m proud of you, little man. Thankful to be your mama…

Love,

Mommy