Jaxon - Wheat trial

When we went to The Children's Hospital in Denver to see Dr. Furuta last November we were given an action plan to try rice, then wheat prior to Jaxon's next scope. We started with rice and he shows no external or as far as we can tell internal signs of reaction at all. No rash, no upset tummy, no vomiting, no dysphagia, nothing. He has fallen in love with Thai food, especially PadThai and Yellow Curry over rice. So now we are supposed to trial wheat and I am freaked out! Wheat is a very common problem for many people. I don't even know what I should start with. Do I just give him a regular piece of wheat bread? It is so against everything we have been doing for the last 4 years that I am having a hard time convincing myself that we should move forward. I'm a chicken.

Yet, if he can have wheat that would open up a whole new world of food to him. Is it really possible he has outgrown his allergy to whatever caused his initial reaction? Could my baby actually eat like a normal person eventually. Our last two restricted foods to trial after wheat are dairy and eggs.

I need to be brave and just do it. Jaxon hears us talk about trialing wheat and even though I am not sure he fully understands what we mean he is begging to try wheat. Here we go...

Hiking on Empty

We have been hiking a lot recently. It makes me feel good to get up, have a plan, do it, have a sense of accomplishment the rest of the day, then wake up sore the next morning. I guess I got a little too ambitious. On Friday morning we did a 6 mile easy hike with all the boys, Johnny carrying Garrett on his back. Then Saturday morning I was so eager to hike the Claremont Loop. Its only 5 miles and we did it last week for the first time, but within the first two miles it has a 1000 foot elevation change. The boys whine some times but for the most part they did really well the first time. Wes jumps in and out of the stroller almost constantly and Jaxon begs to ride in the stroller most of the time, but overall not bad for such young hikers.

Saturday morning I met a group of friends and my sister and her husband for the hike. We had a late start and it was hot. I forgot to eat because I was busy getting the kids all ready and Johnny was at a training class. I grabbed one bite of eggs as I ran out the door. It was hot and I was carrying a 25lb baby on my back. I made it almost 2 miles up before I felt like I was on empty. It was such a strange feeling. I had nothing for my body to run on, and we ran out of water. The water was in the bottom of the stroller, which was swiftly pushed up the mountain by my brother-in-law Kevin, flip flops and all. My poor sister Jeanine was carrying her baby Tobin on her chest and for about a half mile, Garrett on her back because I was so weak!

A quick call to Kevin and he came back for us. After eating some high protein snacks and sitting in the shade for a while I felt great and we went back down. All in all I did 4/5 miles, but still feel like it bested me. I hate feeling bested by a stinkin trail! We are going to do it again this week so I can overcome my current feeling of hatred for that trail!

Its a strange thing to relearn how my body works. Because of the type of surgery I had (a Vertical Gastric Sleeve) the hormone produced by my stomach to tell my brain I am hungry is gone. I have to eat on a schedule or I forget to eat at all. I think I have learned my lesson and won't forget anymore.

But, I have lost 60 pounds in 2 1/2 months so I am not at all disappointed with the results thus far...especially when I slipped on a skirt without even unzipping it for church today. I couldn't have dreamed of stuffing myself into that skirt 3 months ago.

Midgets

We were running into Target for two quick things the other day when we saw a dwarf aka midget walking in with a group of friends. To preempt any rude comments my boys might make when we saw her in the store I explained to my boys why she was small and made sure they understood that everyone is different and it was not something to make fun of or make rude comments about. Boy did that backfire!

Apparently the word midget is just as funny to little boys as the words pee and poo. They started chanting "midget, midget, midget" and giggling every time. As the chanting grew louder and my boys became more wild I became more and more embarrassed. I knew this woman was somewhere in the store and despite my best efforts to quiet my heathens they would not stop.

Luckily it was a quick trip and we never ran into her in the store. No doubt she probably heard us across the store, but I can secretly hope and pray she didn't.

Easter 2012

Easter this year was simple but nice. We went to too many egg hunts! We started off the Easter week dying eggs for family night. They were smashed and eaten (sometimes shell and all) within minutes of this picture. We also watched Jesus the Christ and talked about the real meaning of Easter. Daniel figured out that the Easter Bunny is not real. Is 6 too early for that? Now he is questioning Santa...

All the boys participated in and loved the egg hunt at Jaxon's preschool. Wesley was absolutly in love with the Easter bunny who just so happened to really be his Nursery leader at church.

We went out to Hemet with my parents, sister Diana and niece Junu for a nice egg hunt and carnival, but then headed back to Ontario for Easter Sunday.

Can you tell what the highlight of Garrett's first egg hunt was?

We had a nice little old lady in our ward come over for Easter dinner so she wouldn't be alone. We talked to our boys for a long time before picking her up about what was appropriate to say in front of her and what was off limits. It went really well except for a few things. Wesley was excited to steal the tennis balls off the bottom of her walker and she couldn't get in and out of our car without being picked-up (which she was not too happy about), nor could she get up the stairs into our humble abode. We ended up eating outside on a folding table sitting in camping chairs. We were also out of propane in our main tanks, so we ended up cooking the entire ham, potatoes, asparagus, etc. on the BBQ outside! Oh the memories...

Garrett's Surgery

Garrett is going to have surgery on April 24th. He breaths like an old man and has since he was born. We have been to the doctor about constant breathing issues and ear infections for months and months. He has been on 5 different antibiotics for the same ear infection since January. It never goes away. All the antibiotics do is give him a terrible diaper rash and constant blow outs. Not fun. He is going to have ear tubes put in and his adenoids removed. Now that I know what we need to do to fix the issue I feel like we can't get him in soon enough. Too bad we have to go all the way down to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, but our ENT is Doctor Pransky and he is well worth the drive!

Walking

We have been literally walking off some pounds the last few weeks. Monday we went on our second 6 mile hike. I think Johnny burned more calories than I did this time...carrying half our offspring on his back!

For some reason the climb at the end was much more difficult this trip. Is it supposed to get harder before it gets easier? Next week we are going to try a five mile climb up a mountain in Claremont, CA. We leave early in the morning and get back in time to drop Daniel off at Kindergarten (he is on a late morning schedule). I thought the walking would exhaust him but actually he seems to have more energy, as do we all. I am signed up to do the 5K Mach One Mud Run in Corona, CA the beginning of June. Anyone want to sign up to do the Jurassic Classic Mud Run in Hemet with me on May 19th? I need a buddy!

I've lost an entire Jaxon!

Jaxon is 50 pounds. When he climbs on my lap I always think he is huge! He is too big to lift and too big to let him climb all over me like he did when he was little. I am grateful he is just the right size for his age and his body. We have come along way from my poor little failure to thrive baby!

I got on the scale this morning and passed the 50 pound mark. I have lost just over 50 pounds in 8 weeks. That is an entire 4 year old child. Hurray! I'm not on my computer now but I will post pictures later!..not of me of course, but of Jaxon! haha