"She's like my mom...away from home."

I asked Trinity if she liked her new teacher and that is what she said....*heart melts*. THAT is how your teacher is supposed to make you feel...safe, loved, nurtured, protected...anything less is unexceptable in my book, so you can only imagine how pleased I was to hear her say that about her teacher today!

So, flashback to this morning....it started off with a pancake breakfast. Trinity was dissapointed to learn that her favorite red ballerina slipper shoes were now one size to small "Mama, my shoes shrank!" I had to explain that her feet grew....AGAIN. She quickly recovered, and picked out an equally adorable pair of favorite shoes. *girls*

I drew a little heart in her hand, and she did in mine, just so we could remember each other during our long day apart...it helped to ease my seperation from her, as I looked at it about 100-ish times today.

We made sure to get all of her things together, her lunch, her backpack etc. and walked to school. I thought for sure she would start getting nervous...but nope, she didn't skip a beat on the way there. We met at the basketball courts then walked her into her class, she sat next to another little girl that was visibly upset, and all I could think of was Trinity last year...I reminded T that it was important to help those kiddos that missed their mama's, and she said "I know, be kind." We gave our last BIG kisses, and then left...no tears, no fighting. She is a Kindergartener.

...and, I love how when we took this picture of her and Tristan, they were holding hands...

Today seemed like an exceptionally long day without her here, at first, I wasn't sure what to do with myself...

...but quickly moved on to doing more productive things to keep busy. We constructed the "Congrats" sign, baked a cake, cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, decorated the house...

I was so happy though when it was 2:30! We walked to the school and brought Hoppy with us to greet her. She had a smile ear to ear when she saw us. I had butterflies...is that weird or what.

I asked her teacher how she did today, and her reply was wonderful. "She is an amazing little girl, very patient and loving...you are doing a great job with her." What a great thing to hear, and we praised Trinity for it.

On the way home she told us about her new friends, how she had lots of fun, didn't cry at all and couldn't wait to return tomorrow. It was really heartwarming to see her face when she discovered the balloons and sign that we worked so hard on.

She loved it....and the cake and milk was nice too!

This was a WONDERFUL day, no more worries about this and that...we are just enjoying all the amazing firsts that she is experiencing and are greatful to have such a loving teacher and an awesome kiddo! Yay school, and YAY Trinity...you did it kid!

Jitters

I am getting the Kindergarten Jitters...NOT Trinity, but me. I am super excited and happy for this new juncture in our lives, but, I am also hesitant in trusting a public establishment in raising my child. I know, I know...melodramamama...but hear me out here. Everything that we have ever done for our kiddos is in their best interest, in protecting them from the harshness that is sometimes our world and not being there with her for 8 hours of her day....that's a tough pill to swallow. What if kids are mean? What if she picks up bad habits? What if she gets lost on her trip to the bathroom? What if she doesn't eat her lunch? What if she gets hurt at the playground? WHAT IF? I want to put a GPS tracking device on her backpack and instruct her to WEAR IT AT ALL TIMES! I contemplated sneaking her walkie talkies in there and telling her to make sure they are hidden....maybe I will just sit outside her classroom??? AH, the trials and tribulations of becoming a parent of a school aged child....and it only gets better from here. So, say a little something for ME tomorrow...I might get sent to the principals office if I'm not careful.

Mmmm, your house smells good

Remember when I posted about making your own natural cleaning kit? Well, I wanted to share my little secret to a yummy smelling house...I have 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 bunny, 2 bearded dragons and 2 very messy fish. My house can get stinky if I am not super careful. SOOO, before you go and spray Lysol or some other pollutant in your breating space, remember, you will breath that in! Why not do what we do, and it's super fun to let the kiddies in on the mixture. We go to Sprouts (you can pick them up at any natural food store though) and purchase a bottle of essential oil in our favorite smell, this oil will last you months, a little does go a long way. I place 4-6 drops in a sprayer with water and mist sofas, bed linens, carpets (takes the place of Feebreeze). You can also burn these oils in your oil burner, mix them with your natural cleaners, and put a little on a cotton ball and dab on your lamp lightbulbs...they scent the entire room in minutes. We currently are using Lemongrass, and I LOVE IT! Sooo, give it a try, there are TONS of great mmmm smells out there, and if you find a good one that you love, share it with me.

Saturday Morning Flashbacks

Not that we are watching TV all that often, but, whatever happened to the really good Saturday Morning Cartoons??? With all the retro-revival that is happening in our society these days, you would think that they would have a readily available channel that plays our favorites from way back when. Well, to start my own public access of sorts, I am going to showcase two intros of my favorite shows each week...these are shows that I counted the hours until Saturday came to watch...some were weekly favorites, afterschool enjoyment, but mainly, they were just awesome. I hope you enjoy these and if you remember a few of your favs, keep your eyes peeled for their intros! *remember to pause music on blog first!*

Because Shannon would kill me if I didn't list it first...The Transformers


...And because it was my favorite!! JEM!

I can see clearly now....

It has been a little over a week since Tristan and I have been on our very strict and NON forgiving GFCF Diet...and I gotta tell you, we are seeing a remarkable difference in him. He is much more calm, focused, trying to talk more, trying to sign more, asking for help instead of getting upset beyond control. For the first time EVER in his life, he is listening and completing 2 step tasks, such as "Go to the couch and lay down" or "Go in your room and get your ball" he is understanding when we ask him to wait a minute. Usually when I give him something to eat or drink, I repeat "Can you say Thank you?" and he will ramble some two syllable idea of what he thinks "thank you" sounds like....well, today, he says very clearly, without prompting "TAY TOO" I was floored....to the point of tears. We are so excited for what the future holds for him, and can't wait to share more mini victories with all of you.

Meet the teacher night

Trinity had her Open House last night and she got to meet her teacher. We were so thrilled when we received a letter from her new teacher in the mail a few days ago welcoming her to class. The teacher comes highly recommended and was Teacher of Year for 2009...she also has a child that has special needs, so, she understands the sibling dynamic that Trinity is faced with. Trin LOVES her, and, we do too.

She has their day planned out so well, they have centers that change every 15-20 mins so the kiddos are constantly busy and engaged. The school focus is on the virtues, RESPECT, KINDNESS, TRUST, HONESTY and more...all things we strive to instill in our kids. The best part about this schoolyear is that we are right across the street from the school, our dog is being trained to walk her to the cafeteria and then run home, so, in time, when they are both comfortable enough, we can send him out *with us waiting down the street of course* to drop her off at school.

Monday is the first day, and we have some fun stuff planned. We have been telling her a story now for 3 days about a little puppy *named Trinity* that has her first day of school...we make up all these fun adventures that she experiences, and Trin helps us with the story. We are planning a "YOU DID IT" welcome home party family party for her, nothing big, just us, some streamers, balloons and a banner we made to hang outside of the house. When she gets off of school, and we are walking home, it will be the first thing that she sees. We are going to make all her fav foods and just really let her know how proud we are of her. You only go to Kindergarten once, it is the start of your first FORMAL years in school, and one to be remembered, I can't wait to give her a memory that she will remember for years and years. *I will be sure to post pictures later*

Fake Shop Friday

So, I fake shopped another one of my FAV shops Urban Outfitters....raging consumerism tells me to buy, buy, buy...but, luckily, I am broke and don't have the need for most of this stuff, but, I wanted to share my cart with you anyway, ENJOY!

Holy hell....I think I got 2 hours of sleep last night....

Seriously. It's like we have a newborn again...he is up like every 30 mins to an hour. Last night, I had to pin myself in the living room because he was sneeking out of his room, sleep walking really, and going into the fridge. The living room is the halfway point to the fridge, so, I was acting as "Guard" and the sofa was my post. Ah, man...I am beat.

We are having withdrawal...

It's time to get technical...Tristan is on what is called a GF/CF diet, short for Gluten Free / Casein Free. I have been receiving lots of questions about Tristan and this diet that we have him on. Hopefully, some of this will help you out, and this is also allowing me a second to talk about our withdrawal from dairy....I will tell you, withdrawal is a real thing, opiates hide inside casein, the main dairy protein. As casein molecules are digested, they break apart to release tiny opiate molecules, called casomorphins (NOTE: MORPINS...as in the same thing found in MORPHINE). One of these compounds has about one-tenth the opiate strength of morphine. The especially addicting power of cheese may be due to the fact that the process of cheese-making removes water, lactose and whey proteins so that casein is super concentrated thus injecting the consumer with a power packed punch of euphoria...but, the effects are short lived whereas the residual damage remains. The peptides from gluten on the other hand, [gliadorphin] and casein [casomorphin] are important because they react with opiate receptors in the brain, thus mimicking the effects of opiate drugs like heroin and morphine. So, in a sense, autistic children, which are particulary sensitive, are walking through this world in a drug like state...it's my job as a mom to help clean him up, and....though this withdrawal REALLY, REALLY sucks...the aftermath will be so divine.

Now, back to our withdrawal issues...last Thursday, our DAN! Doctor put both Tristan and I on a STRICT Gluten Free/Casein Free diet (since T still nurses at night, if I eat ANYTHING with gluten/casein, he will be exposed) and...well, we are having withdrawals. It sucks. Tristan is a mess, crying uncontrollably, screaming at the top of his lungs, squinting his eyes, trying to make himself vomit by forcing his hands down his throat, and tonight, for the first time ever...he bit me. I cried for a straight hour, not because it hurt physically, moreso because of how it made my heart hurt. I know that right now, he is unclear, his body is going through this withrdrawal and cleanse, but, it still hurts.

Now, having gone through this before when we removed Gluten from his diet, I know the good, the bad and the in between. The bad news: This diet, for the first month or two, may make you crazy. The good news: This feeling will go away and it will become second nature to your life. Not only that, but I know that he will gain so much more clarity and his tummy troubles should lessen up too...which, that alone is worth it's weight in gold really. To those who thought that gluten hides in everything (which it does), casein is even worse....casein and caseinates are used as extenders, tenderizers, nutritional fortifers, and texturizers, therefore can be found in products other than foods....*YAY!!!!!* it's in everything from meat tenderizers, baking sodas, toothpastes, teething tablets to sausages, soups, stews, high-protein beverage powders, fortified cereals, infant formula, nutrition bars and bakery glazes to name just a few. So, for fun one day *not really "weeee, this is fun!" kinda fun* but, if you have a minute one day, pretend to be one of the millions of people affected by Celiac, Autism, IBS, Krohns and more...flip to the back of the ingredients, and look for some of the key words we have to search for:

GLUTEN

-Atta
-Bulgur
-Couscous
-Durum
-Einkorn
-Emmer
-Enriched/white/whole wheat flour
-Farina
-Gluten
-Graham flour
-high gluten/protein flour
-Kamut
-Seitan
-Semolina
-Spelt (dinkel, farro)
-Triticale (a cross between wheat and rye)
-Triticum aestivum Wheat bran/flour/germ/starch
-Modified Food Starch (this one is my favorite LOL, it hides in EVERYTHING...it's a type of filler, so, it's often found in hotdogs, hamburgers, drinks *SOBE Life Water has MFS in it...who would have thought!*
***And to top it off, we have to avoid anything with the statement claiming to be processed in a facility that manufactures products with wheat, or traces of wheat....

CASEIN
-Milk solids ("curds")
-Whey
-Casein (sodium caseinate, most commonly)
-Lactose (sodium lactylate, frequently)
-Lactalbumin and other names that begin with lact
-Galactose (a lactose by-product)
-Protein (often "high protein" or "protein enriched" version of another ingredient, such as wheat) The added protein in foods (particularly "high energy" foods) is often milk protein.
-Caramel coloring. Many kinds of caramel coloring use lactose, a milk sugar, to help get that rich color.
-Recaldent, this ingredient, found in some Trident brand chewing gums, is milk-derived.
-Fruit flavored Tums contain undisclosed dairy.
-"natural ingredients", some of these may contain dairy products or byproducts, so, if I see this, I have to call the manufacturer (an 800 number is usually listed on the packaging) for further information. And the obvious:
milk,
butter,
cheese,
yogurt...

I guess some of you that are not familiar with this diet may be wondering why in the hell am I "doing this" to him....here is why... the GF/CF diet helps an estimated 85% of the children that are on the spectrum in improving everything about their learning disabilities and overall well being. When I say improvement, I mean with their speech, better bowel movements than before, better sleep patterns, happier demeanor, less stimming behaviors, less in a fog / daze look and more ready to learn than ever before. Tristan's attention to task is 100% better when he has a clean diet, so...this is our next step to take him above that...to open him up to learning all that he can.

Please pray that we can make these next few months...I know that it is bad before it gets better..but, this is day 3, and I am feeling it.

LOVING this weather....

FINALLY, a much needed break from the everyday super sunshine and body baking heat. Don't get me wrong, for those reading that are not in AZ, it's still ridiculous hot...but, at least we have a bit of overcast and rain...it actually rained this morning, not the usual nighttime rain and vampire evaporation when the sun hits it.

The Food Industries Dirty Little Secrets

I care about where my food comes from, I didn't always...but, times, they are a changin' and I think we all need to make an effort to eat healthier. We buy locally, shop organically, and investigate what we are eating. Reading labels may at first, seem like a major pain in the ass, but once you are armed with the power of understanding, it is super easy, and empowering. The more you learn about your food, the more you understand about nutrition and lead a healthier lifestyle. WE have the power to change how the industry is dealing food to us...how the FDA shells out crap that we eat everyday...we need to change what we are feeding to our children, GOOD LOCAL foods should be first choice, not an option. Chipotle is hosting a free showing of Food Inc. and if you are interested in seeing it, you can find out where it is showing here.

And for those interested in shopping locally, Farmers Markets are the way to go, no stress heading through the supermarket aisles, no rush of shoppers....just good food and good people...it's a joy to go shopping, and it's fun for the kids too.

Oh, if I had money...."Fake Shop Friday"

I battle with the idea of usefullness, want, need, overabundance, and lack...I wonder, "do I NEED this?" "how usefull is it?" and then....there are these fleeting moments where I just GRAB and GO! Now, I haven't had ANY of these moments in a long ass time, and that is due to lack of funds. BUT, I love to "fake shop" online. Have you ever done it? I'm sure you have...you know, where you go to your favorite website, put all your wonderful little finds into your shopping cart, and leave...it's like window shopping, online. Well, today, I fake shopped at my favorite store, Anthro, and this is what I "bought" Enjoy...

Tomorrow is the beginning of something great....

Tomorrow we go to our first appointment with Tristan's DAN! Doctor. I am excited, it marks the beginning of biomedical intervention for Tristan, and a chance to finally gain some much needed clarity into his endless allergies and ailments. We have wanted to do this for sometime, but illnesses and finances have prohibited it, finally, we have some time, no illnesses, still no money but, we are making it work...it's worth it.

I am not searching for a miracle, and I know that biomedical interventions very rarely show overnight success...we are ready to make the prolonged efforts that it is going to take to help Tristan. MANY parents are reporting a 95% success rate with several of the treatments...can you imagine if we were part of that 95%??? What if in a few years from now, Autism will have just been a distant vivid memory for us? What if Tristan gains clarity enough to be able to hold a conversation? To make friends? To grow up and get married....I worry about these things, not every day, but every so often. As a mother, it's always in your mind to want what is best for your children, and when you have a child with special needs, the future is even more unclear. So, if you have a second or two tomorrow, say a little something for us, we really want to help Tristan recover, and this is our first step.

i.love.him.

I know, it's so cliche, girl meets new boy in school, she falls instantly head over heels in love with him, they date in high school, continue on to college, live together, get a dog, get engaged, get married, have babies, move, life changes, etc., so on and so forth...and then, after all that life has thrown at them, and 15 years of memories, she is still head over heels in love. I adore my Shannon. I love him more than anything, even vanilla ice cream. I think he is the most amazing person that I have ever met, and having him home this past week really rekindled that adoration for him...he cares so much for us, for Trinity and Tristan, and our marriage, our friendship. He is funny, incredibly funny...and he constantly has me in stitches. I love him, and am so happy to have met him....

Loving this picture

I am...and before you go and heckle me about using it in the california post...I will tell you, I don't care...I love it. Incidentally, it is VERY similiar to a picture taken of my brother in good old 1976, *note to self, find picture of D and post it here* I think what I find most alluring in this picture is the sense of oldness that it evokes * yes, I am aware that "oldness" isn't a grammatically correct word, but just go with it* it's a moment captured that is innocent, unedited and pure. His hair is almost always in his face, and yet, in the attempts to capture the "perfect picture" I brush it out of his face, and then here, I fall in love with the ONE picture where it's the opposite of my quest.