B12

     For about three years now, I have been sneaking up to my son's room at night and sticking him with a needle. For most of that time I have just hated doing it. Now it is so routine, I get more upset when I can't do it, like if we accidentally run out, or if he isn't asleep enough to stay still enough, even after the numbing cream. The reason being that he is doing so very well, and changing the therapy routine can really throw things off. No B12 can mean emotional melt downs the next day. It can mean climbing under desks at school.
    I describe our routine to others as "B12 by injection." The pharmacy that I order it from calls it methylcobal. Every month I spend about $35 dollars on it, and I have it delivered to our door, because the pharmacy we get it from is over an hour away. It comes in a small Styrofoam cooler, which is still really big for how tiny the little bottle is. The bottle is about 1 inch tall. I always have to remember to order syringes, because once I forgot, and I found out that Rite-Aid will not sell them to me. Duh.
   I have to keep on a schedule with giving it to him. Every third night, about 20 minutes after bedtime, he is usually in a deep enough sleep that I can put a tiny circle of numbing cream on the injection site and he won't roll over on it. I then go downstairs and set a timer for 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes, I draw the dose up myself, because it is cheaper than getting the syringes pre-filled. I go up to his room, wipe off the numbing cream, and administer the injection just how his doctor's nurse taught me. He does not even know that I do this. If any of you were wondering if I was crazy, why yes, yes I am. I stick my son with needles in the dark.

Carly

What a gift this girl has been given. She is a voice to the world through her typing although she has no verbal voice of her own. How amazing and wonderful that she has the ability and willingness to share and help others. See the YouTube video here

No Bake Carob Bar

It makes me laugh to look back and see how much I have changed. The title of this food alone would have been enough to make me leery not too long ago. It is free of all of our allergens, except that it does have the 1/2 cup sugar that we are sensitive to, so I am trying to save this one for really special occasions. Right now my son is on a yeast protocol diet to get the yeast in his gut under control, (translation: no sugar or fruit juice on the diet,) but he would probably like these on this birthday in March. I have honestly never had anything so rich and chocolaty that was not chocolate. Maybe more experimenting will yield a more naturally sweetened version.


No Bake Carob Bar

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (slightly rounded) carob powder
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups gluten free oats

Melt oil and sunflower seed butter together in saucepan. Stir in carob powder and sugar. Dissolve and cook, stirring, to thicken. Remove from heat and mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into 8 by 8 inch dish and chill for 1 hour or so until they are cool and look "dry." 

New Year's Resolutions

     My New Year's resolution is basically the same every year. It is always to be happy with who I am, but to not be content or settle, because I can improve myself in ways that help me function as a person and in ways that help my family. Included on the list are "mini resolutions,' such as more study, meditation, and prayer. Others are connected to health; being more active, and eating more whole foods. One thing my journey with my sweet little Eli has taught me is that the body dictates how the mind feels and functions. Taking care of Eli requires constant strategy for behavior plans, memory for all the daily supplements, and mental endurance for all the "why" questions! (He seems to currently be going through the question asking stage he largely missed when he was 4.)

     As far as the health resolutions go, I have already loaded up on some valuable tools. One is Zumba for the Wii. The other is an ebook that I came across by Kim Wilson called, "Good and Easy Eats." This book is unique in so many wonderful ways. All the recipes included are gluten free and vegan, meaning that there are no pesky dairy products that need substituting. All the recipes included focus on whole foods. Not only that, but Kim teaches you WHY whole foods are better. There are so many tools included, such as menu planning and links to online rescources. The recipes included are versitile enough that a family could eat exclusively out of this book with its simple recipes.

     Oh and I almost forgot to mention another reason I am loving this book: The recipes are simple! They even use minimal amounts of kitchen utilsels and dishes to prepare, which makes my life easier and my goals more attainable. I would recommend taking a look at this ebook. It is only about $5, which is not much of a risk compared to buying a hard copy and paying shipping, and then waiting for it in the mail. "Good and Easy Eats" is generally delivered to your email box within 24 hours.

I am so excited for what 2012 will bring. Good food, more peace, and more energy. WhooHoo!

Quote of Joseph Smith

I think it is fitting that Joseph Smith's birthday is right around Christmas. This snippet is only part of a longer quote and a beautiful message of important instruction. I think of this part of the quote when I think of autism and it's challenges. It reminds me of the little light that my son has always had in his eyes, even when his condition was at its most challenging states. I am so glad for the chance to help his mind grow and to see his little light shine.

“We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect...."

My Day

It seems like it was just months ago since I wrote a similar post about myself for my special day, but it has really been a whole year! Today I am writing afew little things just about just myself, you know, the part of this blog I usually forget about.

I have become very interested in vegan, whole foods cooking over the last year. I was introduced to the idea by a friend years ago, but didn't think it was practical on a gluten free and other things free diet that I do. I watched the movie, Forks Over Knives, (which I loved and would totally recommend,) and have connected with some resources that will make doing more of it very doable. I will be sharing more on this topic in the near future.

  I graduated with an Assiociates Degree in Graphic Design from BYU Idaho in 2002 and have just started designing professionally this year. Adobe Illustrator is the same, I find. It just now is more user friendly than ever, and it has some cool new features. The same with Photoshop. I think the program I went through is college is serving me well.

My sewing machine has been good at saving me money. I am making a Christmas gift for Little Bear and I am currently resizing a couch cover for our large, overstuffed couch, and covering the large throw pillows, too. All that suede is kind of retro looking to me, so I am thinking of throwing some vintage panel made of some printed fabric I've got. Now just wait while I find those old stretcher bars and the staple gun...

Now that I have become the owner of a beautiful palace home and now live above ground, I am the owner of houseplants. I love my plants, and they have now survived for months. They have not shriveled up and died from lack of light. Yay!

I am now the mom of two boys, my favorite 6 year old, and my little bear. This has changed me in lots of ways, and it has mostly all for the better. Now I need to go get some sleep. :)

(My day is on the 13th, but blogger thought it was the 12th when I posted it. How funny!)

1st Grade, Continued

Here is my post about our experience earlier in the school year--1st Grade.

Eli is now fully mainstreamed. I managed to make it in again after several weeks to volunteer in his class last Friday. It was really illuminating. Illuminating, meaning that some of my positive assumptions about a situation turn out to be false, leaving me feeling... um, disillusioned.

For one, I believed that Eli was at grade level in most areas, because of testing last year and his special ed teacher's excitement about how he has been doing academically this year. This has turned out not to be true, the teacher of the mainstreaming class tells me. If he was at grade level in reading, math, and writing before, he has fallen behind.

Also, although he is part of the typical 1st grade class and is usually a non disruptive addition, he does not participate in independent academic activities. He does not do solitary read. He looks at the pictures. He does not do anything productive during "centers" time, which is a student directed activity in this new class. His teacher cannot sit behind him and make sure he is on task. She has 20 other kids.

It looks like my quest continues. My challenge is to create a situation where Eli can suceed, and then help him to meet the challenge. His mainstreaming teacher and I both agree that he is better off in her class, rather than the special ed class, even if things just continue the way that they are. At the same time, my feelings are that mainstreaming has been too much change for him, too quickly, and I am faced with the fact that he is really not fully ready for it yet. At the same time, I know that going back to the old class is not an option.

I have been discussing with the teacher getting Eli an adult aide to help him during his more challenging parts of the day. I know that legally I can push for this, in fact my own mother got my brother an aide for his class when he needed it. But in this situation, what is reasonable for me to ask and what does he really need? The economy is doing crazy things to the schools, and I want so much for my son to be able to do what he needs to on his own.

We are still weighing all this and still looking into options for his future education as well.