The revised battle plan

I took Paulo to my naturapath for her opinion on the management of his allergies. She looked at his report from his skin test and her eyebrows shot up, yes, my son is allergic to 3 out of 4 seasons, plus indoor allergies as well. Lovely I know. We're managing the allergies well right now with daily Claritin and daily Nasonex but frankly I'd rather not be responsible for keeping both of those companies in the black. Plus I'm not crazy about dosing my kid 75% of his life. So, that's why we went to Kelly, to see what else we can do to support his little body.

Here's my new plan for my son:

1. Increase Vitamin C to 1000 mg twice a day (unless his tum tumbly objects)
2. Increase his Omega 3 to 1000 mg, he had been taking about 700
3. Adding in a homeopathic grass and weed mix, 10 drops under his tongue up to 3 times a day, or more if his symptoms are bad-like after his infamous tuck and roll afternoon. This basically introduces some of the things that his immune system over reacts to on a daily basis to calm down those reactions.
4. Adding quercetin, 1/4 tsp twice daily, mixed in juice or applesauce. This stuff is bright yellow! It does not mix well into juice, but mixed ok into the applesauce this morning, Paulo's not crazy about it. Says it tastes funny.
5. I will also be adding a general immune system booster, Kelly is getting back to me with the name of her preferred brand-they were in the process of reformulating the taste.

Some other non ingested things we're doing is to continue, and increase, the use of the neti pot. He really hates the neti pot but it does help. His right side nostril is completely plugged up. Kelly looked at his ears yesterday and they are red and look like they're pulled back due to the sinus pressure, basically if he catches a cold right now he will get another ear infection. So, we are going to neti pot the snot out. She gave me a good tip, use it in the shower. That worked pretty well last night. We'll do it again tonight...and tomorrow...and the next night. We are also going to keep using the warming sock treatment. After his shower and jammies when he's all toasty and warm I put cold, wet, socks on his feet then cover them with warm, dry, wool socks and put him to bed. The idea being that the body works hard to warm up the feet and so it pulls the blood flow down and relieves some of the nasal congestion. It's actually very pleasant, Paulo was already a fan of that treatment, he was happy to do it last night. Makes up for the neti pot torture....a little.

We will also continue with our ban on dairy products because he already makes too much mucus, we don't need to add more in the form of milk. And I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or not but when I eliminated milk he started sleeping through the night consistently.

It's seriously a battle plan! It's me against the allergens! Doing battle to keep my baby healthy! If we can manage his allergies then I know we can reduce his colds and infections. And if he stays healthy then I stay happy, we all stay happy.

Kitchen experimenting

I'm not "officially" on my cleanse anymore but that two week period definitely altered the way I cook. Poor Rene, he misses the nightly serving of meat. He knows better than to complain, for the most part. But occasionally he whimpers when we're having a vegetarian night. Don't get me wrong, I still cook meat, just not every single night like I used to. I can't help but think that will lower my grocery bill-although the increased organic produce definitely offsets the savings of buying less flesh.

I've impressed myself a couple of times this week. I made a very simple basil pesto sauce to toss with whole wheat penne the other night. It was a sauce a vampire would fear...and with only three cloves of garlic! Paulo wasn't crazy about it, but he tried it-twice. He ate his noodles with just Parmesan cheese.

Last night though was good! I really liked last nights dish. I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa with 1/2 cup of bulger-they conveniently cook in the same ratio of water to grain and in the same amount of time! I sauteed the white part of a leek and added some frozen diced sweet potato and let that cook up for a while. Then added 1/2 of a zucchini diced up, very small, and thinly sliced mushrooms. Finally I added some left over steamed carrots sliced thin. Basically I was trying to clear out as much of my veggie drawer as I could! When the veggies were ready I dumped the grain mix into the pan and mixed everything up. To that whole tasty mix I added the lemon dijon sauce I, and Paulo, LOVE. Some halved grape tomatoes and a bit of goat cheese on top and voila! Dinner is served! For my carnivores I did add some of the left over Easter ham, I figured two meatless nights in a row might result in mutiny.

The truth is I love to cook. If I feed you I love you. That's what it boils down to for me, it's how I show love. I'm enjoying the expansion of my cooking repertoire. The challenge of trying to find new and exciting ways to present healthy, whole, real food to my family, it's become a bit of an obsession.

I started reading Robyn Openshaw's 12 steps from www.greensmoothiegirl.com. Love her! She's filled with great information and you can really tell how much she loves sharing it with people. Seems like she truly hopes that the changes we can all make will result in us feeling as great as she and her family does. I've had green smoothies for the past two days now, and I'm hooked! Still trying to experiment and find a ratio of greens to fruit that is palatable for Paulo-he's not sold on the smoothies, but he is enjoying his fresh juice and doesn't complain when I slip kale or collard greens in with his apples and kiwi.

Making a few changes, that admittedly do take some prep time, has made a huge difference in my energy level. I'm off caffeine-I can have a cup of black coffee if I want to but I don't need to. I'm off soda, I haven't had one since I started my two week plan last month. I have not heard the whisper of the candy bowl in a while. I feel like I manage stress better, although I know I have to be more protective of my sleep, when I'm tired I am a mess! And as a total added bonus I'm losing weight, without really trying. I've spent YEARS obsessing about calories, fat grams, proteins, carbs and obsessing about work outs with little result for my effort. Now without thinking about any of those things but simply focusing on fresh, whole, mostly raw foods (my daily goal is 60% raw) the stubborn last few pounds are slipping off. It's encouraging. It reassures me that I am on a good path to take care of my body. And only if I take good care of me can I take good care of my family.

My Easter visit

I will preface this to say that I have always believed in life after death, reincarnation and spirits. I grew up in a haunted house. Doors opened on their own. Things moved. A sibling saw the spirits of two young children. The usual haunting sort of things.

My Mother first visited me two days after she died nearly four years ago. I was home alone with Paulo-who had just turned 2-I was doing laundry while Paulo watched some good old Thomas the Tank Engine. While I was in the laundry room he was a few feet away from me in the upstairs family room. After a few minutes of sorting, folding and swapping out the laundry I heard the volume on the stereo go up significantly. I left the room and scolded, albeit gently, my toddler and told him not to touch the knobs on the stereo. He looked at me blankly and continued with his Thomas fix. I went back into the laundry room and again the volume went up. This time I will admit I scolded a little more vigorously. However I did notice that when I left the laundry room Paulo was on the couch and not next to the stereo unit, but really, toddlers are remarkably fast so I was not surprised by his stealth! What happened next raised the hair on my arms. I was walking away from the family room, laundry basket in hand, and the volume shot up a 3rd time, I turned to see my child sitting quietly on the couch having not moved a muscle. Out loud I told my Mother, OK, I get it, and I heard her voice in my mind telling me to stop feeling sorry for myself. Typical Sharon style.

The second visit was a year or so after her death. Paulo and I were in the car driving in for him to go to school and me to go to work, and I was overcome by a sensation of floating. Now, I'm behind the wheel of a car, this is not a good time for an out of body experience, thankfully it didn't last long. This time the message was that she was worried about my Father.

Last Mother's Day we were getting ready to leave for brunch. Dimitri and Rene were upstairs. Paulo was hanging out under my feet while I put on my lipstick in the downstairs bathroom. There's only four of us in our family and all four were accounted for. While in the bathroom Paulo and I heard his Toy Story RC start to move around. He shouted, "who's playing with my car!?" He can be a bit possessive! He and I left the bathroom at the exact same time and walked into the living room to be greeted by....no one. But all the same RC was moving back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Paulo was thrilled and shouted that RC was ALIVE! Just like the movie!! I...was a little freaked out. I felt though that it was a simple hello, I'm thinking of you visit. No serious message conveyed. Just a hello.

On this past Easter Sunday my boys were all upstairs. Rene and Dimitri were saving the world from aliens on Halo. Paulo had planted himself in the guest room to read some books. I....was working. It was a holiday but there were still groceries to be cleaned, chopped and prepped and things to be put away. I picked up a handful of things that had been improperly discarded on my kitchen counter and walked toward the den to put them away. I paused at the stairs to yell upstairs to check on Paulo. I wanted to be sure he wasn't sitting there watching Rene and Dimitri blow up alien creatures, after all, I'd like to sleep at night not be up with a nightmare stricken child! Satisfied he was not watching the grisly game I turned around to see RC move out from his parking place and turn a corner....pointing directly at me. Again, every single hair on my body stood up. I felt this odd sensation of energy moving up and down my body. I immediately had the sense of being embraced by my Mother. When it was over I was filled with a sense of loss, a renewed sense of mourning, it was a painful reminder of all the things I've missed out on since my Mother died. But there was also a reminder that love does not die when the physical body gives out, that I find reassuring and comforting. I welcome her visits. She's also visited through dreams but I find her waking visits to be a true blessing.

It's an age old question isn't it? What happens when we die? What happens to the soul when the body can no longer serve as a vessel for spiritual growth? What are we here for anyway? I hope that my Mother is simply healing right now. Healing her soul before she comes back down to Earth for another go round. Learning from her mistakes. Processing her successes. Growing. And when her soul is ready it will make the trek back into physical form and continue its spiritual journey. Good luck on your next go round Mom, perhaps we will cross paths again.

Disappointed

Paulo has a field trip on Thursday. I'm very excited for him but disappointed not to be taking part myself. My little boy is taking the bus with his classmates down to NW Children's Theater to see a play. I wanted to share his first live theater experience with him but the other Mommys beat me to it and all the chaperon spots are filled. I know there will be many other plays in our future, plus I believe some of his own work to be done on stage, but still I'm bummed to miss out on this first one.

And to be honest I am resentful! I resent not being able to stay at home with him and therefore never have to hesitate to volunteer in the classroom or on field trips. But I do have to hesitate. I have to weigh the positives of sharing that experience with the stress it causes when I miss a day both in terms of catching up on work and dealing with cranky Rene. He does not appreciate my absences. He kind of understands...sort of...maybe on a good day....but he is not 100% supportive of me taking time off to be involved with our son's school.

On a positive note I did find 29x34 khakis for Dimitri, but I also did have to order them online. Apparently pants for skinny tall boys must all be ordered on line. Good to know.

My new challenge

Finding pants for my teenage son. Now, shopping for pants should not be a challenge but it is. Why you ask? Because Dimitri is a bean pole. He's 6' tall but has a 29" waist. So he needs 29x34 pants. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find pants for a tall SKINNY boy?! To find a 34 length the waist is 32 or 34 itself. He'd swim in them. To find the 29 waist means the length is 30, he doesn't need capris! If I need to find pants for my "husky" son no problem, those we have in stores in abundance but because my kid is thin I have to special order them online. I did find some at Gap online, I'm going to call the store first to make sure they are on the shelves. I also found some online at Macy's and Nordstrom, but again, are they on the shelves? Don't know yet.

The reason I started searching is that he needs khakis for Golf tournaments. I brought home three pairs of khakis on Saturday, all three have to go back, they were 29x32. I was hoping by some miracle that they would work, but I got shot down. So, back to the drawing board, and the mall-which I hate. I despise the mall. The crowds, the noise, the cluttered displays, all of it gives me a headache. But since I won't have my boy walking the Golf course in high waters I'm not left with many other choices. In the meantime, I'll keep feeding him in the hopes that he can gain a tiny bit around that skinny waist of his!

Changing tastes

I'm proud of my adventurous drinkers today! I bought a juicer last weekend. I love it, it's my new obsession. Paulo and I have had fresh juice every morning this week. This was the first morning Dimitri was home with me, so this was his introduction to my new toy.

Now, we started off small. Apple juice, some freshly squeezed lemonade, basically fruits. But I've been sneaking in more greens into Paulo's as the week goes on. Mostly leafy greens like romaine which are pretty easy on the palate. Yesterday though I made myself green juice. I juiced collard greens with two kiwi and three carrots. Sounds gross huh? It is so good! The kiwi gives it a nice tartness, the carrots give the sweet and the greens give all the good things our bodies need desperately. It does look murky though, I wasn't sure Paulo would try it. But yesterday he tried a sip and didn't grimace, actually admitted it was good. So today he got his own glass of green juice, and he drank it! Dimitri was treated to the same glass o'goodness. I'm proud of them both first for being willing to try something new and second for drinking something that is so good for them.

I feel like it's a bit of an uphill battle though because their tastebuds have been programmed to sweet. It will take time I think for them to truly accept and look to non sugary drinks as their first choice. It'll be easier for Paulo, because he's so much younger, but with 14 years of sweetened drinks under his belt it'll be more of a challenge for Dimitri. But he's willing, and that's half the battle. I spend a lot of time discussing nutrition with (at?) him. I only hope that 50% of what I say really sinks in so that when he's out in the big, bad world and faced with making his own choices about food he'll be armed with a solid education and will make the right choices. You are what you eat, if you eat crap you feel like crap. If you fuel your body with good, clean, nutritious food then you will be strong and energetic and ready to take on the world.

So, if you have a juicer try this:

4-5 leaves of collard greens
2 kiwi, skin removed
3 carrots

And feel free to leave your favorite green juice recipe here!

I just got my produce delivery yesterday, there were beets in it....we're trying those this weekend! I'll give the skinny on how that adventure goes!

The Bunny is coming, ready or not!

Easter is Sunday...seriously?! This Sunday!? Ugh I am so not prepared this year!

The baskets are still in storage in the garage.

The eggs are still white.

I just a few minutes ago got back from buying a few pieces of candy and some trinkets for Paulo. Dimitri, being a jaded teen, will receive some Itunes money-plus candy, you never outgrow candy!

But, I am not prepared for this holiday at all.

Normally by this time I've had a gang of Paulo's buddies over to dye eggs. I've at least put out a couple of Spring/Bunny decorations. The shopping is complete. This year though it's like March sneaked away leaving me shocked to find that it is April 1st and that Easter is only 3 days away.

This seems to be a common experience though. My sister, some of my girlfriends, all of us were caught with our baskets down. Looking back over the first quarter of the year though it's not hard to see why I've been caught unprepared. We've been far too busy and far too sick. If it wasn't an ear infection it was a sinus infection. If it wasn't a sinus infection it was Rene's two week throat fiasco. If we all managed to be healthy, by some miracle, then we were out too much on the weekends. Not nearly enough down time this year.

This month is not shaping up any better though. Paulo's got a birthday party this weekend. We have Easter brunch at my brother and sister in law's-looking forward to that! We have hair cuts and lunch dates and dinner plans...oh my...plus Paulo's birthday party(s). Yikes! I'm looking forward to May already!! Wait, May won't be much different than April....Calgon take me away!