8/31 - Randomness (art, food, bikes)

I want to update about food stuff first. Aiden must be going through a growing spurt because the kid is eating food is mass quantities and of things that are not even close to his favorites. He is still enjoying making his menus every week and making the lunches too. I need to get a little better with the timing of making his lunches because sometimes we don't have quite enough time at night and he has a breakdown over it. 

When we moved in to this house we decided we were going to make things more accessible for the kids so that they would have the opportunity to be more independent. We did just that and it's working out quite awesome. First of all, we gave the kids their own space in a cabinet. I bought a bin from walmart and it's full of cereal bowls, snack cups, and regular drinking cups (see upper right picture). In the pantry, we also gave the boys their own shelf. It has all their snack foods on it (see far left upper picture). I've taken everything out of the bags/boxes they come in and have put them in containers which the boys can easily open and close. I didn't do this at first but found the food getting stale rather fast from little hands not fully closing bags. What you cannot see is that also in pantry to the right of the boys shelve, there is also a 1/4 cup measuring cup. This helps them know how much to take and also makes sure they are not just sticking their hands in the container and touching all the food. I must say it is so awesome for me and for them that when it's snack time or they are hungry, they can get it themselves. They've also had to put their dishes away but we have also changed a policy since moving. We get one cup a day. They know to put their cups on the counter and the rest of their dishes go in the sink and the one cup a day rule is helping a ton on not having 6 glasses to wash by the end of the day. In the middle picture on the left, we also have a snack bin. This is a special bin and is typically used for on-the-go snacks. If we are running out the door and will need a snack (and I haven't already gotten something together), they can reach in and choose something. Some of it is pre-packaged store bought stuff but some of it is snack items I've just placed in small baggies (dried fruit and nuts, homemade fruit leathers, etc). Aiden picking the items in his lunch is going great and he's coming home almost everyday with everything eaten - even the veggies that he normally won't touch at home. And yes he actually eats them and doesn't throw them away :) Allowing them to be more food independent has been a great decision for our family.

Here is little Eli walking to the van one day after I picked him up from daycare. He just got off the playground which is why he is all sweaty. His daycare is going well and he really likes his teacher, Mrs. Chari. He has even found a friend in class that he pals around with now.

I don't know why I like this picture of Eli sleeping so much. There is just something so cute about sleeping his and it looks like he just feel asleep while pondering something with his hand under his chin like that. He has been napping great at daycare (2 hrs everyday) and the little stinker hasn't taken a nap for me in weeks ... until today. God knew I so needed to rest myself I think.










I love how much fun the boys can have with a random wardrobe box. Aiden has become so creative with things like this from all his therapy and crazy stuff he did with Mrs. Rusty.





Lowe's has been making characters from the movie Planes this month and we have made both of them. They have been the hardest things we've built from any of the workshops.











Eli really likes electronics. Too much for my liking. That said, I have been beyond exhausted lately (more on that in the next post) and some times I just have to let things go. At least he is forced to play educational games for the most part. Here he is with a Leapfrog handheld game a former neighbor gave us.




The boys have really enjoyed having Bronco around. Aiden enjoys playing with him and helping walk him. Aiden just threw the toy down to the master bedroom area and he's watching Bronco bring it back. Eli loves to love on Bronco like Bronco is a stuffed animal and Bronco hasn't exactly taken to that just yet. Sometimes the boys gang up on Bronco because they are trying to do something crazy to/with him. They are slowly learning that Bronco doesn't play chase or tag or like to wear blankets.

Eli went to the ENT last week to get his left ear checked out. His 2nd set of tubes fell out of his right ear months ago but is left ear has really been bothering him lately. The dr looked at it and then he had a hearing test last week. He did much better on the hearing test than before (yeah) and they gave him these ear plugs to see if that helps with the pain he experiences with water. He wore it in the bathtub so now I just need to find the time to take him to the pool. [Man I love that little dimple]

About 1.5 weeks ago I bought a trampoline off Craigs List. It's slightly larger than the mini-tramp I was thinking it was but it's great. The boys love it. Especially Eli!!! They both enjoy jumping on it but Eli goes on that thing multiple times a day without me suggesting it. 

This collage below is from a few weeks ago. We decided to do some painting. You can see Eli and Nana in the upper left. Eli was using water colors but he's not so great at cleaning off the brush before he goes to the next color and that drives me a little crazy. Aiden decided to use the bingo markers (so he won't get dirty) and he actually did really good trying to draw things. He normally just makes shapes and then is done but he made a truck (middle left) and in the upper right he was working on an ice cream cone. I just love how he sticks his little tongue out when he is really focusing. Eli then switched to a different kind of paint and decided to paint with brushes that had texture/design (bottom right picture). Eli just loves painting and would probably do it everyday if I let him. 

This week was a big week for me. I started teaching in the classroom again. I'm teaching at Jacksonville University 3 days a week. It takes me about an hr to get there but that is because of the way I go. JU is NE compared to where I live so the shortest way it to take I-10 across the water but as you can see in the map below, there are 3 red dots already on that path. That route would take me about 1.5 hrs to get through all the traffic (without traffic it takes 45 min) so I just bypass it all by adding some mileage and going up and around on I-295 (the big yellow circle). It adds mileage but there is no traffic and accidents so at least it's moving and also consistent which is important for me to make my 9am class to teach. I am teaching Sport Specific Conditioning and am loving it. The ride home is much quicker than to work as well. My mom is helping out a ton with the boys this semester so that I can teach which is great. On the three days I go in, I get all the boys stuff ready and breakfast on the table and then head out and she get them to the bus stop and daycare. I'm so thankful she is willing to help out this much so that I can get back in the classroom.

I've had lots of medical stuff going on lately but try and make it home in time for Aiden to get off the bus. After I got Eli home the other day I made a bike obstacle course. I made one a few days earlier and  the boys really enjoyed it. It rained that same day and erased all the chalk marks so we made a new track the other day. It had rained a little earlier but most of the sidewalk and driveway was dry enough to use chalk. They love following the arrow around and it makes it more purposeful for them than just riding around in the circles. I've just ordered some more cones because they really like weaving in and out of them.

I had to include this last collage for Rusty. I went grocery shopping this morning and this is what I found when I got back. Aiden had created a target on the wipe board easel and gave everything a point value (the small purple circles around the outside are worth zero pts) and then he was using his arm thing that shoots out discs that he got for his birthday to try and hit the target. He would watch where they would hit at and then put a check-mark by the corresponding number. After he used up all the discs (4 or 5 I think), he would then go to the other side of the easel which is a chalkboard and then write down all his point values (see middle right picture). After he wrote down all those, he got the calculator and added up all his points (I taught him how to use the calculator a few weeks ago). Welcome to Aiden's world of math. This is what he enjoys doing. :)

We ended off the evening tonight playing Tell Tale and Aiden was actually having fun doing it. Eli loves to make up stories but Aiden is usually too scared/nervous and won't speak up. Tonight he was speaking loudly and not even concerned about if his stories made sense which I LOVED!! He is making such huge strides in some areas right now.

12/26 - Christmas Eve and Day

So I spoke too soon. I finished the last blog saying how everyone was fine. I should have known better. Aiden got sick on Christmas night, BJ got sick yesterday afternoon, and I started getting sick last night. Boo on the rotovirus. So let me back up some and tell you how the few days around Christmas were. On the 23rd, I took Eli to urgent care. Aiden stayed home and got to help make cookies!! It was a great therapy exercise for him because it took lots of finger/hand strength to push out the icing. He had quite a bit of fun doing it.

After rest time, Eli started feeling much better. He even went out in the snow for the first time. He wasn't a big fan of having to get all dressed up in a snow suit but he played outside for a little bit. When I say little bit, I mean enough for me to take 2-3 pictures. He said it was too cold and wanted to go back inside.

Aiden on the other hand was having a great time. He saw Kassie shoveling snow earlier in the day and wanted to try his hand at it. He finally found a shovel he could maneuver and use. He also got to try out the real sled with Kassie.

Daddy didn't want to come play in the snow with us because he still wasn't feeling that great. 

Here in the Hoyt House in Iowa, they do the opening of presents on Christmas Eve after brunch. That said, we played around during the morning of Christmas Eve and the boys had some fun taking pictures with my camera and the cool christmas picture apps.

It was so good to see Eli back to his old self. He was full of spunk and energy.

They boys loved handing out presents to everyone.

They were both great little helpers. They were excited to open their presents and it looked like a bomb went off in the living room with all their stuff scattered everywhere.

Here is a cute picture of Brad and his mom. We gave her this mousepad for Christmas. It was Aiden's handprint at school that he (and his teacher) turned into a peacock. I really thought she would like and appreciate it (and she did).

We went to bed late on Christmas Eve because the boys were having so much fun playing with their toys. On Christmas morning, we went upstairs and the boys saw that Santa had visited!! They were pretty exciting and opened their present that he left before their stockings. Aiden got a breakaway truck and Eli got a dancing/rhythm microphone LeapFrog thing. They were both pretty excited. 

Aiden started a picture for Nana after he had some breakfast and also played with his stencils.

Eli was determined to be naked the entire day. He and Uncle Rueben watched Cars 2 for a bit.

After a long day filled with lots of playing, we tried to get some energy out of the boys before bedtime. Aiden was dancing around and Eli and I were playing with his new toy. It has a freeze dance game on it that he finds highly entertaining. 

Brad was feeling better and was playing and wrestling with the boys. I love this picture below Aiden is about to whollap Brad with the pillow. It's been about a month since we have stopped cow's milk and Aiden had made some HUGE strides. Coincidence or not, I don't know but am so grateful for the progress. Eli was finally feeling good to and having a great time playing.

Aiden even danced around the living room half naked for a while.

 

Brad thought it would be fun to wrestle with his sister so he is actually sitting on top of her. It's fun to watch them interact.

Minus the rotovirus, it's been a pretty good trip. The past couple days have been rough with dividing time between sick kids and/or parents or letting someone get rest/sleep who didn't get any the night before because they were sick or taking care of sick kids. The Hoyt family loves to play games but it's hard for Brad and I to stay up too late since the boys get up so early. At this point, I'm exhausted and not feeling great and haven't even felt like I've seen Brad that much. I'm hoping for a few healthy quite days in Alabama before Brad goes back to work. It's been great to visit with the Hoyt family and get to play in the snow a bit though. I'll post one more blog tomorrow to finish up our Iowa trip.

11/12 - Some Food Changes

So I've been researching some stuff over the past few weeks and have scared our family into a different direction.
1. No more sugar-substitute foods. It's the real thing or nothing. No more diet or low sugar or low calorie. I was never open minded enough before to even contemplate this but wow, my eyes are open now. No more Splenda and aspartame (among a few others).
2. No more dairy!!!! I know. That's crazy. I love milk, cheese, and ice cream (frozen yogurt actually). This has been the hardest by far, to give up. After reading more research on the area of milk, I freaked out Brad and I and now no one in the house can have any kind of milk product. It's a huge change for us but the research out there is just too scary to be trying to drink it. We are the only species that tries to drink another species milk. You can read on one of the 2 links below if you want more information.

Link to a fairly long article about the negative affects of milk:

http://josquin.tripod.com/milk.htm

Link to a shorter article about milk and addresses the common myths many people have heard about milk:

http://lorton.patch.com/articles/milk-it-does-nobody-good

These adjustments left me starving for a few days because I didn't know what I could eat!! Haha. OK. So I went to the library and checked out a few books. I made my own granola and muffins (made from almond meal, not white or wheat flour). We are looking for a dehydrator now so we can make our own dried fruit and beef/turkey jerky so we have some more snack options.

After reading the library books I checked out and some other stuff on the web, we decided looking into the Paleo way of eating might be right for us (hard, but healthier than what we have been doing). So, I got a book and this is it:

We are not trying to lose weight. We are trying to allow ourselves to feel better and have more energy. The more I read about kids and milk and eating foods with preservatives in them, the more I get scared that I am just setting myself up for health problems and my children. I love them and don't want to doom them chronic sickness. In the real Paleo method of eating, you are not allowed to have any grains (nope, not even whole grains). However, based on the research that I have done, I feel comfortable allowing us to continue to consume some grains but we are trying to make them healthier ones. We had roasted butternut squash the other night along with some kale chips I made. Squash = yummy; Kale chips = we'll try those again in a week or two :)

We even bought a book that explains to the boys what we are doing and how we are chaining our eating patterns right now. We are doing this as a family for 6 weeks and then we will reassess how we are feeling.

The boys are doing just fine with Almond Milk but they are struggling to try and find a non-dairy yogurt that is okay. I've tried an almond milk based yogurt and the consistency/texture is much different and neither of the boys liked it. I also tried goat's milk yogurt (at least it is similar in make-up to human milk and supposed to be much easier to digest) but they don't really like that either. We are trying to find replacements for their most common foods and it's going pretty well so far. Aiden and I are likely to see the most benefit from this non-dairy change but Eli could as well. Asthma and eczema are both related to dairy consumption (along with chronic ear problems from all the mucus milk makes you produce) so we'll see. We are just keeping an open mind and trying to find something that works for our family and allows us to feel a bit better. We'll keep you updated.