If you are looking for a beautiful place to take your family for a short vacation, long vacation, or staycation, Vail, Colorado could be just the place you are looking for!  The kids and I (along with the help of my mother) took a quick trip up into the beautiful mountains of Colorado.  The boys had an appointment with a new biomedical doctor and we decided to go up a day early and see what the town had to offer!  

Wow, impressed doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this beautiful little ski town!  I am glad to have found a new doctor in a place as lovely as this is.  Finding a gluten free restaurant wasn’t even an issue; every place we went had gluten free options on their menu.  The air was crisp, the environment clean, and the people were so very kind.

We stayed at the Marriott and had the weather been just a tad bit cooler we would have enjoyed smore’s and hot chocolate in front of our very own fireplace!  Instead, we traded in our cool weather activities for a swim in the HEATED pool, Jacuzzi, and beautiful ride up the mountain on the gondola.  The hotel offered the best buffet breakfast we have ever had!  The food was great; reasonably price (for a mountain town) and kids under 3 eat free! 

Walking around downtown Vail was a success!  The boys were able to enjoy the outdoor air, run around a bit, and peek in a few of the magnificent shops!  So, if you have any free time coming up and need a place to sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery, you need to set your GPS for Vail, Colorado!


 

Having a doctor you like and can trust is the most important thing (in my opinion) for a parent raising a child with autism.  We recently lost our DAN (also biomedical) doctor and I remained in denial for as long as I could be.  However, as time went on, my child slowly drifted downhill…and so began the dreaded search.  

Reaching out to my readers helped a lot.  I am so thankful for everyone’s feedback and suggestions.  I wish I could step outside the box every now and again and try different forms of treatment, but I am a girl who likes to stick with what works for as long as it works.  With that being said, y’all know that the IQS has been my machine of choice since I was introduced to it, so our new doctor would need to be familiar with and use if for Jaxon’s treatment.  

Luckily, the IQS is still being used by a few doctors in Colorado!  We met with a new doctor two weeks ago, and just in time.  School was starting and I needed Jaxon to 1) sleep through the night again 2) calm down long enough to focus on his school work 3) detox all the gluten and “junk” he ate this summer and 4) just an overall check of his body.  The doctor was great, he was able to go over the symptoms Jaxon was having and put him on the least amount of supplements possible to achieve our desired results. He agreed to go a little more “in depth” at our next appointment and see if we can’t get some answers about some of the long term issues that have been bothering Jaxon.  

I plan to visit all the remainder of the IQS providers in the next few months so I will keep you posted. My husband asked me why I want to keep checking out other doctors if I have already found a good one and all I could tell him was that it took us quite a few doctors to find the perfect one the first time and I wouldn’t settle until I was sure I found “the one” this time too.

Jaxon is starting his third week in online school and he i  loving it!  I have found that it takes us less time than I thought it would and that he is picking things up very quickly.  Of course having some time to myself (while he is at school) would be lovely…his success and love o  education is more important.  

For those of you wondering what a day of online learning is like, I will break it down for you.  We begin our day with calendar time, followed by attendance, daily language review (a you tube type video with his teacher) and then assignments in math, science, social studies, reading, writing, language arts, and spelling.  Jaxon spends about 3 hours doing schoolwork and has the rest of the day to spend time enjoying being a kid.  He still reads every night, practices his site words and spelling words, and does his daily 30 minutes of physical activity, but he doesn’t have to spend 8 hours a day away from home trying as hard as he can to sit still, focusing, and listening in a classroom that is full of distraction.  

Our online school works on a Monday – Thursday agenda and we are able to use the weekend if we need to make up assignments.  Jaxon meets with his teacher, reading group, and ESE teacher via “Go to meeting” and he meets with his speech therapist via Skype…isn’t technology amazing!  He still sees an outside (private) Speech Therapist and Occupational Therapist, but is able to keep his IEP current and up to date. For now, online learning seems to be “just what the doctor ordered”…but check back in a couple months and I will let you know if I am still sane!

Is it just me, or do you check your calendar multiple times a day?  I literally have to look at my calendar in the morning, afternoon, and evening…and then again before bed every day!  The boys are so busy right now, and we haven’t even added fall sports yet!  I feel like more of a taxi driver than a parent right now!  I can’t even imagine what it is going to be like when Owen gets older, I am definitely going to have to get involved in a carpool system by then.

But seriously, how do you juggle everything?  Especially when you have things overlap that are both very important appointments?  I know that some super-mommy out there has this all figured out and I need her to chime in here!  For now, I am relying on friends and family to help out when I am in a crunch.  I’m sure things will get a little easier (we are just in the first 2 weeks of school) if I give it a little time and thought.  Anyway, for the time being, I will put on a hat and a simile and enjoy the ride. 

Wow, where has the week gone?  We started out the week in Frisco checking out a potential biomedical doctor, and went right into online school with Jaxon on Tuesday!  Today is the first day that I have had time to sit down and even look at my computer!  However, with all the craziness we have survived through in the past few days, I will be able to tell you all about our new adventures!  

Jaxon is loving his online school arrangement, and why wouldn’t he…he has the BEST teacher in the world (yes, I am biased).  We have made it through three days of 1st/2nd grade and he is still willing to show up tomorrow.  I will post a separate article about our school adventure soon!

Our new doctor, Dr. Justin Pollack, is great!  I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing it is to get on the IQS again.  That machine is amazing and I really suggest everyone check it out.  You can find a practitioner near you at http://bioset.authorfriendly.com/pages/findapractitioner/ .  All three of the boys saw Dr. Pollack, and I know for sure that Owen was ten times better before we even left his office.  Again…more in another post!

Well, tomorrow is Friday…and the week is over!  This weekend I hope to catch up on a little sleep (a girl can dream right?) and get organized for next week (yes, another dream).  My husband flies out next Friday and we are all excited to see him.  We have some fun family activities lined up but the boys are especially looking forward to a little prank they have planned for him, stay tuned!!

Thanks for continuing to follow along our journey.  I hope to have lots of new and exciting posts in the near future!

Have a great weekend!

Hey y'all! We have had a busy weekend and it isn't over yet! My brother and Vanessa came down this weekend to meet Mr. Owen Monkey, so we have been busy socializing (and not blogging).

Tomorrow the boys and I (and grandma, of course) will head to Frisco for our Monday appointment with our new biomedical doctor!! I will be sure to take some beautiful mountain pictures to share with everyone and you will definitely be hearing all about our appointment!! See you on Tuesday!

When life hands you lemons…make lemonade (or take shots of tequila, or make margaritas)…but for me, I am going to try and make my own version of Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade, one of my favorite drinks! 

Since beginning my GFCF diet, I have found that many of my favorite foods and drinks are off limits.  I kind of knew this going into the diet, but you do what you have to for your children.  In fact, I have been asked by a couple people “why don’t you just put him on formula”?  Well, I don’t want to start a war on my own blog, so just say, “no thank you, not until I try everything possible to give him the what I feel is best”…and let it go at that.  After all, it is a mother’s choice as to what to feed her child.  I’m sure there are formula’s out there that are a great choice for some children, but I still feel that breast milk is what is best for Owen, especially with his digestive problems. 

In the wee hours of the morning I have found a few items that I am happy to say are GFCF and are on my list of food to try (some have already been tried).  I will let you know as I come across more and more tasty allergy free items! 

Please continue to pass along recipes and your favorite tasty treats, GFCF, of course.

Wolgang Puck Organic Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Wolfgang Puck Organic Tomato Bisque Soup
Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Bell and Evans Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets
Chex Vanilla Cereal
Glutino Pretzel Sticks
Corn Tortilla's With Homemade Salsa

**As always, don't forget to check your labels, ingredients and allergens can change at any time**

I’m sure it was inevitable that this day would come.  My entire family has had digestive issues and food intolerances so why would I be any different.  I scheduled an appointment with our biomedical doctor in hopes of finding the perfect digestive enzyme for Owen so that his “spitting” would come to an end.  Well, the news wasn’t good…not only was he not digesting dairy, he is also not properly digesting gluten.  Ok, ok, “can we take an enzyme for that”…”um, no, well, sort of…you can take an enzyme for the gluten intolerance but you must completely eliminate dairy from your diet!” EEEKKK, I am a HUGE dairy person! 

The doctor decided to go ahead and check my digestion while we were set up on the computer, just to see if anything unusual was going on….holy smokes batman… do we have a problem.  My digestive system is working even less than Owens, no wonder the little guy is spitting up so much!  There aren’t any digestive enzymes that will balance out gluten OR dairy in my system so I am actually eliminating BOTH.  I know I can do it, I have to do it…It has been a few years since we did the gluten and dairy free diet with Jaxon, but a little research and I’m sure I will be back on track! 

So, my question to y’all…what are some of your favorite GFCF recipes or website…PLEASE share!!

Oh, and the WORST part...I have to throw out another 500 OUNCES of breastmilk...this is going to break my heart, so much hard work wasted :(

Three times in a row now I have been blessed with “spitters”.  To this day, I am 99% convinced that the “spitting” is due to the inability to properly digest the protein in dairy…with all three boys.  Has anyone ever had this problem?  If so, what did you do to fix/deal with it? 

Jaxon started the trend with his projectile spitting and back then we just did what the doctor recommended and “did a lot of laundry” for a while and then finally put him on Zantac until he outgrew it. 

By the time Carter came along we were well into our love for “natural” or “homeopathic” medicine and went a different route.  At each feeding I would rub a little probiotic and digestive enzyme in his mouth.  Each time I ate I would take the same digestive enzyme and a probiotic at bedtime.  Within four or five day Carter’s days as a “spittter” were long gone…as were my days of endless laundry!

As luck would have it, Owen has been “spitting” for about 3 weeks now.  I tried my regular digestive enzymes (which I am ashamed to admit I had not been taking) but not only did they NOT help Owen, they made me sick!  We now have an appointment scheduled with Jaxon’s biomedical doctor on Monday to try and find an enzyme that will work for both of us. 

Jaxon didn’t have any digestive enzymes (we weren’t on that track yet) and BioSet Sugar/Starch Digestion worked great for Carter, mixed with a little infant probiotics (not sure what brand).  I am anxious to see what will work for Owen and would love any recommendation you might have.  Our doctor has a computer system that will test the products before we try them so we know what is compatible with our digestive systems. 


Thanks in advance for the recommendations! 

Just so it is clear, Owen does not sleep on his stomach at night.  I lay him on his tummy during the day when I am sitting next to him to make sure he doesn't put his face down.  It is actually the only time he sleeps more than 1.5 to 2 hours straight. 

My husband is leaving in just over a month to go on his fourth deployment so the boys and I are living in Colorado while he is gone.  This deployment is a lot shorter than the previous ones so it doesn’t seem so bad. I’m not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that we are all getting fairly used to these deployments coming our way every couple of years.  I will do my best to “buck up”and deal with it while he is gone.  Of course having my parents and many friends around sure makes it a lot easier.

Today Carter and I went out to his new school to “get acquainted” with it.  Of all the people in our family, Carter has always been the most out going, laid back, open to change” person of all.  Well, all that ended today.  He was not a happy camper.  He did not hesitate to tell me that he did not like his school and that he “really really only liked his old school”…his words exactly.  I hate that he is going in with such a negative attitude but am hopeful that he will quickly make friends and like his new school. 
 
Jaxon, on the other hand, is very excited about his new school.  I’m sure it’s because he is doing online school this year and will be doing all of his work AT HOME!  I’m not sure I know what I have gotten myself into, but we are going to give it our best shot!  Classroom distractions seemed to be his biggest issue last year so hopefully working from home will be a great experience for him (and me too).  After all, I am a well educated mother, how hard can it be (wink wink)!

I look forward to blogging about all the exciting adventures we will have over the next six months, and hopefully I can get some good tips and feedback from those of you who have had an online school experience.  

Have a great weekend!