C has grown so much

C has grown so much, I can hardly believe it. He's 3 3/4 now, and is 43 inches tall. He's about 37 pounds or so, although it's not the same twice. He eats a lot for such a little kid. He can eat a whole cantelope himself in a couple of hours, which is more than I could do. He has taken to eating for breakfast the following combination: a one-egg omelet with cheese on it, a turkey dog (eaten like sausage), and homemade frozen yogurt (we call it ice cream). He also ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich this morning. He seems to be able to handle rye sourdough bread -- too bad it's like $5.00 for a quarter of a loaf at the health food store! Regular bread makes him wet his pants, due to the gluten in it. But at least I can buy bread instead of having to make it from cashew butter like I was doing (he can't stand that because it requires the use of the food processor, which is too noisy for him).

Anyway, he is so strong, and so helpful around the house. He likes to put away laundry in the dresser drawers. Any excuse to run from room to room, really.

More later...

Looking for Longleaf

This sounds interesting: Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest . This book is on my brother's wishlist. It's about how the longleaf pine forest is basically extinct. Yet another victim of progress. If I had a few extra hours, I might take a peek at it. Maybe I'll put it on hold at the library! Any light reading in your wishlist, bro? What about a nice copy of Randy Travis Platinum Collection or Dangerous Man by Trace Adkins?

Omaha Steaks: grain fed steaks

Omaha Steaks
So, Omaha Steaks is what we get every year from some relatives. They are very much grain fed, which makes them fattier and more tender, and much less healthy. What about Niman Ranch beef instead? Is it any more healthy? It sure is a LOT more expensive! No hormones, no antibiotics, and traditionally raised, so it is over $100 for just 5 flank steaks. Wow! And these cows are still not fully grass fed, so their fat is still low in the healthy omega 3 fatty acids that make grass fed beef healthier. If this is what there is, I'll just have beans, thank you!

Might as well say that we may or may not get some of these steaks in the mail for Christmas this year. We have gotten them every year for several years from some relatives of Bill's, but there is a bit of a problem going on between his mom and them, so I'm wondering what will happen. He never calls them because he's so uncomfortable with it all. Every family has its oddities, of course. It's just too bad that Chris is in the middle of it all (and Bill as well, really). Why can't people just get along?

It snowed!

Finally getting around to posting: it snowed here last week, and it even stayed on the ground here for a couple of days. And out farther, it was still on the ground yesterday! Isn't that cool? We got about two inches, but only about half an inch stuck to the ground. The car got all two inches on it. I should have taken photos, but we need a new camera battery. Anyway, we had some fun cleaning off the car and made some snowballs. Not really enough for a snowman/person. Bill went in to work anyway, and was one of the only ones there. Microsoft was closed! Those folks are spoiled in some ways, although they also work insane hours many times.

Hope you all are having a wonderful winter!

celiac disease -- whatever happened to the old cure for it?

This is in regard to the Wikipedia entry for Celiac disease, which states, "At this time no medication will prevent damage, nor prevent the body from attacking the gut when gluten is present. The disease is controlled by strict adherence to a gluten-free diet, which allows the intestines to heal and resolves all symptoms in the vast majority of cases..."
It contradicts itself later, however, by stating. "Even while on a diet, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is decreased in people with coeliac disease. Some have persisting digestive symptoms or dermatitis herpetiformis, mouth ulcers, osteoporosis and fractures." (there is more, too, but you get the point. I'm amazed that mainstream medicine still stands by this, despites lots of doubts about what really causes celiac disease and what can be done about it.

There is an alternative diet to the gluten free diet, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (TM), which restricts not only gluten containing grains such as wheat, rye, and barley, but also all grains (including rice and corn) and most complex carbohydrates including potatoes, most beans (including soy and pinto), and other starchy vegetables and all sweeteners except for honey and saccharine. This diet is based on the idea that the gut is damaged by an imbalance of intestinal flora, and that the unfriendly flora must be starved off by depriving them of food. The diet only allows carbohydrates that are monosaccharides such as those in fruits, sweet vegetables such as squash, non-starchy veggies such as broccoli and zucchini, and honey. All fermentable carbohydrates are removed from the diet to allow the gut to rest and heal. This diet was first developed to treat celiac disease, but fell out of favor because of its difficulty to maintain and further studies that pointed to gluten, a protein, rather than starch, as the culprit in celiac.

There is a small minority of people who believe that celiac disease, irritable bowel disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and even perhaps autism, are all caused by carbohydrate intolerance rather than gluten intolerance. This is because only monosaccarides can be digested completely by the human digestive system and absorbed properly. All other carbohydrates cause problems, particularly if there is intestinal damage such as that caused by coeliac disease. The complex carbohydrates, disaccharides and polysaccharides, are not properly digested in the stomach, and go on to feed unfriendly intestinal flora such as Candida albicans, which in turn cause more intestinal damage. Thus, this vicious cycle causes increasing damage to the intestines and an out of control imbalance of intestinal microflora.

It turns out humans never really were meant to be eating starches, especially in the huge quantities most modern diets -- not just the US diet, but most around the world (other than traditional Arctic people and a few other isolated groups). It was less than 10,000 years ago that humans started to live settled enough and farm enough that they could grow large quantities of crops, including grains. Before that, most humans ate meat, fruit, vegetables, some tubers and a few grains gathered a few weeks a year, doled out very frugally throughout the year. And only a thousand or so more years before that were we regularly cooking our foods, so we really couldn't eat grains or tubers. Many people's bodies have adapted to this new diet, but many have not, and celiac disease is just one sign that it's an ill-suited diet.

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet(TM) solves this problem. It does not restrict protein foods such as meats, and allows some beans, such as lentils and navy beans once healing is well under way. It includes dairy, although in cases where dairy is not tolerated it can be excluded as well. This diet was developed in the early 20th Century, and was commonly used as recently as the 1950s to treat Celiac disease. (Haas SV and Haas MP: Management of celiac disease, p x. J B Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1951)

What did we do today? What should we have done?

Often, right before he goes to sleep, ds will ask me, "what did we do today?" He likes to hear about what we did, maybe because he finds it comforting, maybe because he forgets. Anyway, today, it felt like "what did I do today?" or "what should we have done today" because we had kind of a lousy day. It's raining, ds had a tantrum, we didn't really do much fun stuff. I feel like a bad mommy for not doing more fun stuff with ds. I feel like he's using his DVD player for a replacement mommy.
Today started out like many days. I made breakfast, almond flour porrige (which ds asked for and used to eat). He refused to eat it, and only ate an apple. He is a very picky eater, by the way. Anyway, we went to my doctor's office for my cranial sacral therapy appointment (he had some goat milk yogurt in the waiting room), then we stopped at a supplements store for cod liver oil. DS got a raw vegan energy bar, which he devoured. When we got home, he had a tantrum. Was it the energy bar on basically an empty stomach? Going to the doctor's office (where he watched his DVD player while I got my treatment)? Was it something else? Well, he ended up falling asleep, which is not something he usually does anymore. He had been running around at the doctor's office in the waiting room, and one of the receptionists said "I wish I had his energy." Little did they know it was being hyper. And that he would collapse a short while later.
Why won't he eat better? Why does he ask for food that he then doesn't eat? Why does he eat so many sweets? Well, it's the candida, duh! But why can't we kick it? Why does a kid have to go through this? Why can't he be healthy? I am so tired of these worries. I don't know what to do.

Probiotics are cool

What don't probiotics do? It would seem nothing! They help with many things, including digestion of oxalates (in many things such as most veggies and nuts), which helps with mineral absorbtion. They help digest carbohydrates. They fight yeast infections. They help absorbtion of other nutrients. They are just so cool. How do you get them? Naturally fermented foods are the best sources, like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut (homemade without vinegar), and other similar foods. There are plenty of pills and powders, too, but they are usually less effective. Some people are very allergic to dairy, and have to take extra precaustions in finding fermented foods or probiotic supplements they can handle. I am fairly reactive to cow's milk dairy, although goat's milk yogurt doesn't seem to be a problem for me, fortunately. I didn't like goat's milk yogurt until I got fresh goat's milk. I prefer it raw, if possible, but it is very expensive. It's almost $9.00 for half a gallon. I would love to have my own goats to milk so I could save a bit, but then that would be a lot of work. Not to mention the land for them would be pricey, at least around here. See why I call this my ramblings :=?
Here are some links:
http://www.natren.com/pages/natashart2.asp
http://www.natren.com/pages/baby.html
http://www.wildfermentation.com
http://www.healingcrow.com/ferfun/ferfun.html
http://www.natren.com/pages/natashart3.asp
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir-faq.html#alternatekefir
http://www.merc-buyers.com/FS-microorganisms.htm
http://www.victusinc.com/Enterales/Reuteri/Probiotics.htm


More later! I am needed to get ds ready for bed.

Jokes about congress I've gotten in my inbox

I got an email the other day with these jokes about congress, apparently related to the Tom Foley fiasco:

Q:Why don't members of congress need bookmarks?

A: They bend over the pages

Q. What is the difference between Congress and the Library of Congress?
A. At the Library of Congress, you aren't allowed to lick the pages.

This was from a church email list, by the way. But it was a Unitarian church group, and in Washington state. tee hee.

The rains are here! Is this 50 days and 50 nights or what?

So, it's the second week of November, and it's been raining nearly constantly for over a week, I think, and is supposed to rain every day for the next two weeks or so at least. See: http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USWA0395.html Oh, and it's supposed to get colder, too! There are flooded basements, flooded rivers, and even some cancelled schools. Sure, this is the Seattle area, known for its rainy weather, but this is ridiculous! I lived in Northern California, which does get a winter rainy season although it's shorter and drier, but it did not prepare me for this thing of days and days going by without any dry days. And for such a rainy place, it really doesn't have a lot of things to do with kids that are indoors. Sure, towns have recreation centers with some periods of indoor play, but they are for toddlers mostly. Oh, wait, that's right, most kids over two are in daycare or school now, so their parents don't have to take them to the park. No wonder! Yet another problem with being a homeschooler (sort of) in a world where school is starting younger and younger.
I don't like the extremely dry air in places like Tucson, AZ http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USAZ0247.html but envy them their sun and warmth. I would like the warm and the sun without the incredibly dry air or the unbearably hot summers. Is ther such a place? I'd like the humidity to be about 50% all year, with a variation of temperature from about 55 degrees in the winter to about 85 degrees in the summer, with a long warm spring and fall. Sigh. Rain isn't all bad, it's just when that's all there is that it gets to be a downer. It would be nice to have some sun every once in awhile. Even just an hour a day, sheesh!

World On Fire

$5,000 could cover the cost of hair and make-up for one day on set in LA or pay for one year’s schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan. Sarah McLachlan does the math and encourages you to join her.

Walk Slowly, Live Wildly

Walk Slowly, Live Wildly
What an interesting blog. Sara and her family have moved into a tiny one bedroom apartment from a big house, and downsized majorly. I couldn't do what she did, especially since she's still got parents to hold onto some of her stuff (the benefits of having kids young -- living grandparents!). But the way she makes her little place look -- wow! That I want. I want to create a livable, beautiful home with functional but nice looking furniture. I want to be able to create a home that I would post pictures of on the web, and invite people over! I want a nice place, and her blog makes it abundantly clear it doesn't have to be huge to be nice and homey.

Supplements

Thought I would list the supplements I'm taking:
sodium ascorbate, about 6 grams a day
5 HTP (am going to stop on that for a bit to see if ds's mood gets better -- he's been bossy and angry a lot, and I'm thinking it might be what he's getting in my breastmilk, even though he hardly nurses)
L-Tyrosine
St. John's Wort
bioflavanoids
sodium ascorbate
Vital 10 diary free Probiotics from Klaire Labs
homeopathic candida
selenium (need to get more of this)
energy electrolytes (minerals)
Dolomite (need to get more of this)
Calcium by Garden of Life
Thropps enzymes -- two diferent kinds, one is Ultra-Zyme Pro and the other is a combination with grape seed extract
Candida Yeast Management enzymes by Nutraceutical Sciences Institute
Homeopathic single remedies: sepia 200K and ignatia amara 200K

Five Love Languages

Five Love Languages

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Quality Time
with a secondary love language being
Acts of Service.

Complete set of results

Quality Time:		9
Acts of Service:		8
Physical Touch:		7
Words of Affirmation:		5
Receiving Gifts:		1

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Some treats are all tricks -- chocolate and child slave labor

So, it turns out most of the chocolate candy we eat was produced using the work of children, who are unpaid and exploited, in Africa. I had already known that most chocolate is contaminated with lead (even organic) from processing it, and that it's usually loaded with pesticides, sugar, and soy (which gives me migraines). In fact, I had figured with all the nastiness in it, that it's hard to say whether the additives, the lead, the pesticides, or what give me migraines unless I tried pure raw cacao and saw whether it gave me migraine. Anyway, now it turns out that there is a new Nestle boycott (on top of the ongoing boycott of Nestle for its formula advertising, which is still in violation of the World Health Organization guidelines and ethics in general) because they, among others, are using forced child labor to harvest their chocolate.
So this Halloween, if you must give out chocolate, make sure it's fair trade chocolate!
http://store.gxonlinestore.org/trickortreatkit.html
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/retailers.html
http://www.ethiscore.org/report.aspx?id=214970&free=true
Does anyone know if there is any raw, organic lead-free cacao that is also fair trade?

Pirate Papa: A Journal of Anarcho-Green D(o).I(t).Y(ourself). Parenting

Pirate Papa: A Journal of Anarcho-Green D(o).I(t).Y(ourself). Parenting
What a cool site! All kinds of things, all kinds of information. I like the look of it, too! Check it out!
I love to hear about other parents who are doing things differently. Not following the herd. Thinking for themselves.

Is your life waiting?

I am just getting started on this book, Excuse me your life is waiting and I am slighly sceptical, yet intrigued. The gist of the book is that negative feelings and thoughts attract more negative feelings and thoughts, as well as negative people and negative events. She's saying that we get negative things, such as poverty, illness, and accidents, due to negative vibrations we send out when we feel negative feelings (such as despair, loneliness, jealousy, rage, etc). That we create our own reality, including all the things that happen to us. We are magnets, and if we are negatively charged, we attract negative things. That would mean all my negative thoughts, which are profuse (as you may see from my other posts), are making my life a living hell. Hmm, maybe? What about a depressed person such as myself, who can't help but feel negatively? Is that person doomed to a terrible life? How would one turn it around? I will read more and get back to you on that.

What's for Dinner? Eating the NT Way: Gingered Chicken Breasts

Found a blog with some yummy-sounding recipes in the style of Nourishing Traditions. Many are egg- and dairy-free that I've seen so far. Pretty cool!
What's for Dinner? Eating the NT Way: Gingered Chicken Breasts

Mama's got milk

This is so cool. From a friend's blog:
To the tune of “Baby Got Back”! (written by ?)

I like milk breasts and I cannot lie
You other babies can’t deny
That when a mom walks in with an itty bitty waist and
Two round things in your face
You get THURSSSSSS-TEE
Cuz you notice her bra is stuffed
she’s deep in double d’s she wearing
Im hooked and I can’t stop staring
OH MOMMA I wanna get witcha
And drink your juicy pitchers
Enfamil tried to lure me
But only momma’s milk makes me WAY healthy!

Ooo boobie’s smooth skin
It always makes me grin,
So feed me, feed me,
Cause you know it makes me happy
I see ‘em bouncin’
With at least six ounces
It’s sweet.
This treat!
Sit down mom, pull up a seat!
I’m tired of magazines,
Sayin formula is the thing
Ask the average baby and they’ll say, “Snap!
Give it to me straight from the tap!”

So, Mommas (yeah!)
Mommas (yeah!)
Can you NIP without any drama?
(HELL YEAH!)
Then nurse ‘em, nurse ‘em, nurse ‘em, nurse ‘em,
Nurse your precious babes

Momma’s got milk!
(Mom’s sweet face over big full boobies)
Momma’s got milk!
(Mom’s sweet face over big full boobies)

I like ‘em round and big
I’m like a little baby pig
I just can’t help my self,
I’m eatin’ like an animal
Bottles can’t hold a candle
I wanna get that booju and slurp,
Slurp it up slurp slurp
I ain’t talking ’bout Playtex
Cause silicone nips are made for chumps
I like ‘em real big and juicy
So give me your big bubbles
Boobies don’t give me trouble
Rarely do I get a gas bubble
I’m lookin’ at TLC’s baby shows
Oh would you look at that…Oh, NO!
You can keep that mooju.
I’ll keep on stickin’ with booju.
A word to all you new mommas.
It’s no trauma
It’s not a big drama
I gotta be straight,
Your baby can nurse
Til the break of dawn
Now you’ve got it goin’ on
Similac won’t like this song
Cause they count on you to try it and quit it,
But you know those breasts make milk
It’s not wrong. You’re strong
Let’s get that lactating on

So babies (squee!)
Babies (squee!)
Do you wanna have your thirst sated?
Momma undo your bra, whip it out,
You make this baby shout

Momma’s got milk!
(Mom’s sweet face over big full boobies)
Momma’s got milk!
(Mom’s sweet face over big full boobies)

Yeah mommas.
When it comes to breastfeeding?
Size ain’t got nothin’ to do with your ability.
Bs? Cs? Double Ds?
You’ve got all your baby needs.

So they gave you a “success bag”
Complete with a Nestle tag
But don’t think that you always need
To get some free swag
Leave that sample up on the shelf
You can make it yourself
You can have some wine and sushi,
Your babe can have your milk!
Some docs wanna play that hard role
And tell you to supplement.
Momma toss it! Leave it!
The trashman can retrieve it!
So the security guard says, “Stop that!”
Well, I ain’t down with that.
Cause my boobs are full
And this baby needs feeding,
It’s his needs that I’ll be meetin’
Some knuckleheads tried to be snide,
But the law is on my side.
I’m not feeding her in the restroom.
So stop with your doom and gloom.

So momma if your babe needs food
Go ahead and do what’s good.
Sit down and feed that baby there
And let your milkies flow
Momma’s got milk!

Anxiety makes the world into a hurricane

I have anxiety. I don't know if you call it general anxiety disorder, or what, but it's anxiety that comes and goes, and generally makes my life miserable. I often feel as though nothing is right, that everything is wrong. I'm anxious about going out, I'm anxious about staying in. I'm anxious about spending money, I'm anxious about not buying anything. I'm anxious about making phone calls, but not talking on the phone leaves me isolated, particularly as I'm a stay-at-home mom who often literally stays at home all day. I'm anxious about the mess my home is in, but my brain is so scrambled I don't know where to begin to clean it. I hate it.
Why anxiety?
I know for me the anxiety is at least partially biological in cause, although the exact biology of it isn't clear to me. Candida, which I know I have, can cause anxiety, as can die-off when on an anti-candida diet (which I'm tiptoing on the edges of -- I cheat -- by eating fruit, honey, or carrots, just a little bit each day, probably enough to keep the candida alive but also just enough to keep from totally losing it). I know my anxiety is probably at least partially inherited from my mom, as she seemed like a pretty anxious person, always on the go and rarely relaxed unless she was reading a book. Whether I inhertited her candida and nutritional problems or her genetic problems is not clear though, as both can come to a person from their mother. And gut issues, and nutrition, are definitely tied up with mood and other mental problems.
What to do about it?
I used to be on Prozac, and it helped both my anxiety and my depression, but it made me feel like crap. I was tired all the time, needed coffee just to get going, often took naps in the middle of the day (yes, even at work), and slept 11 hours per night on weekends. I have been trying various homeopathic remedies, including gelsemium sempervirons, staphysagria, sepia, natrum muriaticum, and thuja, but none has resolved it. I just have a drawer full of little vials of these round pellets. The diet that I've been on for almost a year, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, has helped many who had gut issues, but it doesn't seem to have done much for me beyond helping me to lose some weight. I'm guessing that the candida are just too strong for it, and I will have to do something else.
And the torch is passed
My son definitely has separation anxiety, and is generally very high needs, so I'm pretty sure my problems have been passed on to him, whether through gut flora and nutrition problems he got in utero and/or during and after birth (candida from the birth canal and candida and missing nutrients in my breastmilk), or through just being around an anxious and depressed mom. I was thinking today how few memories I have of having real fun with him, and how few memories I have of having real fun with my mom, and it saddened me. How can I right this? I don't want him to grow up to be anxious and depressed like I am. I want him to be happy, healthy, and full of joy and love. What do I do to change things?
Rant
All I really want to do now is eat regular food again, like cereal and milk and pie and such. Give me a pill that will let me be healthy on a whole foods diet that isn't so limited, please! I can't even go camping because of a) the anxiety and b) the fact that the diet I'm on requires me not to use any canned or processed foods, which means I have to cook every meal -- not easy on a campstove with a few tiny camping pots. I can't enjoy life and I'm sick of it. Help me, please! I am tempted to chuck the whole thing, ask to be put on Prozac or St John's Wort or something, and eat at Denny's!

Tired all the time? Could it be Adrenal Fatigue?

Do you think you may have adrenal fatigue? I think I may have it, although for me it would probably be more of a downstream consequence of PCOS and candida. In general, if you are tired all the time and have to drink a lot of coffee, caffeinated tea or other stimulants just to get by, you probably have adrenal fatigue. This is what this website says:

Adrenal Fatigue affects an estimated 80% of people living in industrialized countries at one time or another in their lives, yet it has been ignored and largely untreated by the medical community. As a physician in private practice, the number of patients I can work with is limited so, in order to reach the many individuals who suffer from this problem and help them regain their health and vitality, I wrote the book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

Here are some more links to info about it:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/gettingdiagnosed/l/bl_quiz_adrena1.htm
http://www.lammd.com/A3R_brief_in_doc_format/adrenal_fatigue.cfm