Snow Day

On December 19 the kids had there first snow day of the school year 2008/2009 and their last snow day of the year 2008.

The kids were thrilled and disappointed when their last school day for 2008 was cancelled. With the threat of a major storm about to hit the area the next day the school sent a note home already on Thursday letting us know that school was cancelled for the following day and we would be informed in the morning if there would go ahead with the Christmas Program or postpone it. Although the kids were glad to have a day off school they weren’t so excited about the idea of waiting for the Christmas Program.

I woke at in the middle of the night with Matthew and there was no snow, at 7:30 I again had a peek and still nothing … we slept in and by time we woke up there was snow … and it kept coming. It was blowing and swirling and then in the afternoon the winds really picked up. The girls got a bit of the concept of what they mean by a blizzard in the Little House on the Prairie books.

It was kind of neat to not only have Rob home but to have him out of the books. We had a nice relaxing cozy day together at home … you know, one of those days where you curl up in front of the fireplace sipping a cup of hot chocolate and reading a good book. Okay, it wasn’t quite that laid back, instead we curled up with our lunch, a cup of hot tea and a watched a video. We took some time out to watch one of the DVD’s of Little House on the Prairie that the girls got from Santa. After they ate their lunch the girls wanted rollers in their hair. Originally they wanted it for their Christmas Program, then they thought it would be neat to just try it out regardless since I wasn’t so sure I could do much with their short hair. We were sucessful in making curls and it even stayed in for four days … won't say it looked the greatest by day four, but at least the effort paid off. So this is suppose to be about a snow day, but since I didn’t actually make it outside to take any pictures I guess hair pictures will have to do.














Here's a picture of Matthew outside the following day while the girls were playing and Rob was fixing the snowblower (yet again). This is the first time he has ever really been out in snow to play. I'm not sure how much he played and one look at the pictures says he wasn't all too happy ... but that could be because his hat was too small and rather annoying to see anything out of it ... it has now been packed away and we'll try something a bit bigger next time :)

Croquettes

On December 22nd the ladies of my family got together for our annual croquette making day. It would be better classified to called them bitterballen, as we make the smaller round/ball version that are nice for parties and snacks. Since this is becoming an annual event we paid close attention to detail this time, making note of all that we used and needed so that we will be even more efficient next year. After a long day of work (10:30am ~ 10pm) the end result was 770 bitterballen ... 150 each.

The dough and some ready-to-deepfry bitterballen. (Marietta took these pictures, she spent some time angling the camera different ways to come up with creative pictures ... she has a few of her mothers genes!?!?)













Dipping and rolling time. Two of us would shape the balls and roll them in breadcrumbs for their first roll. We then passed them along to the other "team" who would dip them in beaten egg and roll them again in breadcrumbs.













Since our hands were rather sticky/yukky, a straw was in order for tea time.
Hanging out waiting for the oil and deep friers to heat up (beautiful smile Jess).

Deep frying and packing them up. After making the balls we put them all through the deep friers. Then allow them to cool before we pack them into our buckets to take home and put in our freezers. By deepfrying them in advance it allows us to just take a few croquettes whenever we want and pop them in the oven or microwave ... and if we really miss the crispy outside then just a minute or so in the deep fryer again and their nice and crisp but not burnt.

So if you want to try them out you're gonna have to book a evening visit with us. Come on down for a night of visiting, chatting or playing a game.

Busy December

December tends to be a busy month for most of us, and this year was no except to the rule. It was a little too busy the first couple weeks, with a few too many appointments, some visiting, book club and society, and a few extra social events/parties, etc. I didn't take my camera to most things ... so you're in luck I won't get too long winded.

With the business of "the season" my mind often turns to thinking of those with chronic illnesses. Those who can't partake in the business because there health or that of a loved one won't allow them and especially those who are in the hospital. My mind often turns to those in the hospital throughout the year, not just at this time of year. It often crosses my mind that while I'm busy doing this or that, or enjoying and outting, holiday, beautiful day ... just going about life ... there are those stuck in the hospital where time stands still and the reality of what is going on outside stops. There are those who spends weeks there as the world keeps ticking like nothings wrong. When I spent long-term time in hospital with James I would go into "stand-still mode". I seemed to forget that time kept ticking and when we would finally arrive home again it would take me some time to realize that two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks ...etc had just passed and we were in a different season. If I look at my calendar now and count back six weeks I can't believe all that I've done in those past six week that would not have happened if we spent them in hospital ... the world outside stops when you are dealing a sickness. It didn't bother me then, I didn't care that I missed out on the things going on, I didn't care that it was suddenly the middle of summer when I still thought it was spring ... we just kept ticking and adjusting.

One thing I remember about our hospital stays was how it irritated me that during the month of December people suddenly feel this great desire to show their love and affection, to get into the "spirit of giving" ... and so the children at the hospital get showered DAILY with gifts as well as DAILY people coming in to entertain the kids, do crafts, put on shows, singing, along with more gifts, etc. We could have started a gift shop from all the items we received during our December stay. This is wonderful that people desire to do these things ... but are the kids who stay there in February or May or July any less sick or in need of attention?? We received items/gifts at other times of the year at the hospital but they were few and far inbetween and usually came from the nurses, staff, child life specialist as a reward or encouragement toy. There were shows and craft times throughout the year, but not near as much as in December and most certainly not daily. I cannot even begin to imagine what the place must be like the days before Christmas Day and Christmas Day itself.

I often think about those times now and can well imagine how busy the hospital is now ... but by the end of the week all will die down and go back to "normal". So for all of you out there who love to give/donate, or as a group want to take your time to do crafts, singing, shows, etc for the children ... think of them at the end of January, at the middle of March, at the beginning of May, during the summer ...etc. When a child is hospitalize long-term the days become very long, with the same drawn out routine each day ... the days in December are no longer then those during the rest of the year, a teddy or gift brightens a childs face any time of year.

So I think I got a bit sidetracked from what I intended to blog about ... just releasing some thought there :) Back the the not-so-regular scheduled program.

Just a couple pics of a couple December joys.

We got together one evening for a bake exhange. We each baked 5 dozen of an item and then we divided it up between all those who were partaking so that in the end we could each take home a variety of baking to enjoy.

The before goodies ... and the after variety to take home










Afterwards we did some chatting and singing of Christmas Carols ... and Laura took just a few pictures :)













On another evening we enjoyed our gift exchange with my side of the family. The kids have finally come to realize/accept/acknowledge that Santa is not really. They have been very doubtful the past year, but have been afraid to take the step to declare him false ... so we finally helped them out on their indecisiveness.

Matthew had great fun that night. At 10:30pm I finally decided to put him down to bed, even though he didnt' appear the least bit tired ... he was just having so much fun.

Marietta received a few items for her rabbit, Thumper. Some chewable toys that Thumper can crawl in and on. She was quite happy about this. As well she was thrilled to receive a collection/variety of items for making cards. Although Marietta says she likes to do crafts she does not spend very much time at home doing them. If she does get something out, or if I encourage them to get it out then she has a lot of fun, but never has the incentive on her own. The one thing she does do on her own often is make cards. She uses old cards to make new cards as well as gets ideas from other peoples cards. We had run out of old cards to use and so a collection of craft stuff, stickers, cards and envelopes, etc was very much what she needed.

Rebecca's favourite present. Rebecca has been begging for a pet for some time and has finally decided she wanted a fish. After seeing how much work it took Marietta to feed, clean, and train Thumper Rebecca decided to stick to an easier to maintain type of pet. Since Marietta had to wait until she was eight to get a pet we told Rebecca she could not have a fish(s) until her 7th birthday, but that she could request fish stuff from Santa if she was sure that's what she wanted. She was very thrilled with this present, especially since it wasn't just a large fish bowl but an actual small fish tank/aquarium. She keeps begging to get her fish but we keep reminding her that her birthday is still three months away.

Very Miscelleanous Long Overdue GENERAL Update

As I skim back through the blog I realize how sad it is that all I ever talk about is health issues. What a sad way to remember life ... I really had to try find time to write about other things as well. For whatever reason I just don't ever seem to find time at my computer anymore, so I tend to update on the things we gets asked about most often so I don't have to repeat the same thing over and over ... and then just never get around to the general life stuff that create the memories of our year. Really ... we're not obssessed with health issues and there are other things going on in our lives. So hey ... the years almost done, I better get some non-health stuff written (I'm afraid there will still be plenty more health ones too :( )

So I think I'll just back-track in picture form and fill in here and there as I think of things ... in other words ... babble and well ... this could get pretty long-winded.


Sorry Helen, I didn't mean to ignore your question from long ago after my Harvest post. You asked if there was a special way to do canning, etc. And about whether there is a seperate place we put it all. Yes there are special ways of canning and freezing. I suppose when you grow up eating it and doing it you don't think much of it and just go about doing it, but yes each thing is done a certain way ... although many the same. With canning fruits you add a sugar syrup. The norm would be to have 1 part sugar for every 4 parts water, but as time goes I have trialed out which fruits you can get away with using less sugar and how much less and still have it sweet (yes I'm a sweet tooth) and yummy. You boil the sugar mixture to melt the sugar and pour it over the fruit in the jars. The jars then go through the canner, the amount of time depends on what you are canning. I like freezing better because it's less messy and work as you don't have to go through the whole canning process. Even freezing is done different depending on what you freeze. Some foods should be blanched first (I suppose tehnically all should be), while others you can get away with just chopping and freezing raw. With time I have trialed and figured out which foods I can get away with just freezing and still maintaining the flavour and which ones turn bitter and blah without the blanching ... I must say I don't really blanch that much of my stuff. So I suppose there is a bit of learning process in the same thing... as Laura mentioned, she's just going to follow me around and learn ... the best way to learn is probably by asking someone who does it already, they'll give quick and easy tips. I'm sure there's plenty of info on the internet too. Oh, and the above picture is of pumpkin seeds, a well enjoyed treat here in the fall (for the others, I can't say I like them, but they're not hard to make).

Next are pictures from way back on Reformation Day (October 31). On this day the focus is on Halloween around here and so there is a Fun Night organized which focuses on the meaning of Reformation Day. The kid's enjoy a speech and some singing and then play games and have supper together. They look forward to this night and have a ton of fun. This year there were some different games as well which they really enjoyed. Above, Marietta is playing ring toss, she has to toss the rings on the pumpkin stems. They always have an apple bobbing contests after which they get to eat the apple for their snack. And the best part is the relay race at the end, this year we managed to find some burlap sacks so they could have a "potato sack" race at the end of the relay. Guess there were no good pics of Rebecca for this day.
















Although we don't get out as often as we would like for walks, we love to go out in the fall when the leaves are changing colour and falling. It's so beautiful to see.













These pictures are from a walk at Albion Falls, one of the girls favourite place to do.










Next we have a picture of Marietta on Book Character Day. Each year they have a day where the kids dress up as a character from a book for school and then they do book centered things that day (and that entire week) at school. Last year Marietta wore this outfit and was Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie (which I also wore when I was in Grade 6 for Book Character Day). This year she wore the same outfit but went as Cassie from Sarah, Plain and Tall, which had become her favourite book over the summer.




Unfortunately in our scurry to get out the door on time in the morning I did not get a picture of Rebecca, who is always on time and was already dressed and ready to go by time I remembered the camera. Rebecca borrowed a caterpillar costume and was the caterpillar from the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.




We still go skating every now and then. The girls aren't as thrilled about the idea anymore, but we still go occasionally and they rather do that then stay home and do nothing :) We've gotten our moneys worth out of the annual pass anyways. The girls much rather go swimming, Rob and I much rather go skating. Matthew has gotten past the age where we can get away with strapping him in the stroller and letting him watch us while we're there. So now we bundle him up and take him out on the ice. Although the staff likes to tell us that it's really not wise to carry him on our back, so far they have never cared so much as to tell us we had to take him off














Rob loves to crash out on the floor after lunch (on Saturdays) or supper and get a quick "cat-nap" in order to rejuvenate him for a few more hours of book work before the next meal or bedtime. Somewhere along the line Matthew grew into the habit of climbing all over Rob when he lays down ... something that would totally annoy me, but Rob actually likes it. He says it's like getting a massage while he rests ... I beg to differ, but hey, they're both happy so I won't complain. I'm not sure how they got sidetracked this time but somehow the girls ended up getting involved on this particular day but they all had quite the fun. Matthew thought it was absolutely great. I would have to actually put him on top of the pile, but he had no real intent to stay on the pile. In the first picture he's leaning over getting ready to roll off and the second he's laughing away as he hits the ground again. He was quite content to do this over and over, no fear in this boy and the best place to land would be on his head ... doesn't fizzle him at all.

On November 14 my mom and sister-in-law (with her kids) took the girls to the Royal Winter Fair. I had planned to go along as well and leave Matthew at a sitter, but he was sick and so I stayed home and snuggled with him for the day while they went off to have some fun. They did a lot of walking and looking and were quite tired at the end of the day ... but they had fun.

Riding horse and trying to lasoo a calf.

Well that's all my picture remind me of for now. I have more to catch up on ... but right now I'm going to go catch up on some sleep :)

From our family to yours ...

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Rob and Steph

Marietta, Rebecca, Matthew

Meet Matthew

Matthew is a 16 month old boy who loves to eat and play. Matthew loves to nibble throughout the day and thoroughly enjoys his meals. He can be found in his chair eagerly awaiting food to be spooned into his mouth. He loves to close his eyes, opening his mouth as wide as possible and lean into whereever he thinks the spoon may be coming from. Matthew enjoys eating regular amounts of food at meals times with several small snacks inbetween meals. This cute loveable little boy can be found playing very energetically throughout the day. He is full of bounce and spunk and is a typical boy who loves to climb, make a mess and get into trouble. Inbetween all this fun time Matthew enjoys a nice two hour nap to refresh himself and be ready for more fun and eating. To learn more about Matthew and his loveable character you can talk to his parents, Rob and Stephanie, who have expressed their great joy and unbeief in this totally changed child and pray that this new child is here to stay.

Yes … we have a new Matthew and to say we are enjoying him is an extreme understatement.

When our milk trial failed we had to go back to Matthew’s old formula for about 3 weeks before we saw him return to “normal” with regards to his stools and rashes. After this settled we moved forward with a challenge on soy milk. Because soy "milk" is not as well fortified as homo milk we had to put him on soy formula. This posed it’s own problems as formulas are all made from corn syrup or corn syrup solids, or other types of sugars that are no-no’s for those with Frucoste Malabsorptions. There is one soy formula, Alsoy, that’s main ingredient is corn maltodextrin (dextrose) and so this is good for those with FM. It’s third ingredient is sucrose, which could still pose problems for those with FM if they are quite sensitive. With our options limited we decided we would have to give this a try. I found a unsweetened vitamin fortified soy milk (Natura) and did some calculating in order to mix the Alsoy formula with the Nutura to make it equivilent to homo milk and therefore further reduce Matthew’s sucrose intake. We would prefer his bottles be completely free of non-friendly FM sugar so that we can better focus on his foods, but for now this will have to do.

And it is doing. It took a bit, but what an amazing change. For the first couple weeks we seen Matthew react to the soy milk in the same manner as he did with the milk, but milder. We held his bottles at ½ new formula and ½ old formula for some time with the hopes his body would be able to settle and adjust. We were very discourage at one point but so thankful for not giving up too quickly for his body did settle and after three weeks we seen his symptoms all leave. Every now and then we get this little flare up on his face, but it being winter we can’t say for sure if it’s food related or weather related. While we were holding Matthew on ½ and ½ he began to nibble all day long. He would go into his food cupboard and bring us his cereals, Baby Mum-Mum’s, rice cakes, rice crackers, GF cookies, etc.

We decided to try decrease his formula intake again and this time it went much better (our last attempt was a diaster). We have brought him from 50oz a day to 30oz a day. He still drinking more then he should be for his age (20-24oz is more in line with his age) but we’re happy with this level right now. The combination of his change in formula and his decreased formula intake has been amazing and I think not a day goes by that we don’t comment on how different he is, how much we love this new kid(not that we didn’t love him before), how we can’t believe the change, etc.

The above already describes the new boy we have. He is eating about 10 times what he used to. I don’t know if it the amount a normal child his age would eat but either way it’s plenty for him. And now I must start being more deligent on making food for him. He still likes his plain dry rice and rice noodles, but when he’s eating this much he can’t survive on that. So all in all an exciting change in our house. It has been two weeks and we still realize it could be temporary, but he’s never done this well for this long before (especially considering he has a molar coming in right now too) and so we have reason to rejoice and we pray each day that this is the answer and this is all it has been all this time and he may continue to be happy, content, healthy and growing.



When Matthew figured out how to carry the stool we had to pack it away in the closet so that he could no longer get it and reach the things on the counter. But true Matthew style ... it didn't take him long to figure out another way to get what he wanted. Not only could he now reach things, this is easier to carry as it has a handle and it's even higher then the stool, so now he can also attempt to get up onto the counter. Yes, our dear boy is full of energy and has no fear.

He Survived

Congratulation go to my hubby who survived his first semester at The College. I won’t lie and say it was easy. It sure had it’s stressful moments, especially the second week of exams, but he handled it all very well and made it through. He does not have all his marks yet to know where he sits right now … but for now he’s just relaxing and enjoying the fact that he physically survived one semester.

The kids are thrilled to have their daddy back for a few weeks … and I’m trying to adjust my thoughts so that neverending backgrounds message (“don’t bug him now, he’s too busy”) stops running for a few weeks. It’s a weird but lovely feeling to have him around more, to be able to chat more, to see him spending more time with the kids and the family and not to always think that he has to get back to his books. Mind you that does not mean he has left his books behind. He is still busy studying, but at a more relaxing pace with more interruptions, sidetracks and little chores inbetween. We had to enforce that he must take one week completely and entirely away from his books so that his poor mind can relax. He plans to do this from Christmas to New Years. It’s even great that right now he is driving while I’m “working” on his computer … quite backwards from normal where his head is usually buried in the books or flashcards while I drive.

To start of the celebration of the end of exams the students, faculty and their spouses had a potluck luncheon, a time to sit back, relax, eat and do some singing. During the past semester each Tuesday afternoon a group of guys would get together to stretch their voices a bit and put together some sounds in order to relax their minds and take some time away from those books. In keeping with all the funky odd Astrix and Obelix style subject names the student choir is better known as Cacofonix. They sounded lovely and were a nice start to some singing fellowship. And in case we hadn't eaten enough or seen enough of each other the majority of the students and their wives got together again in the evening to relax, chat, play games, socialize and just kick back. Although the guys all go to the same small school they are usually so buried in their work that they don't get the opportunity to really get to know each other, and so these opportunities provide a chance to see the more relaxed side of their collegues. As wives we get together at various times to socialize, study, do crafts, etc and this also helps us to get to know each other and support each other during these years. Oh ... and in case you're wondering .... as a farewell gesture to the guest lecturer from Holland, many students wore orange. Otherwise you would not see Rob in orange, nor in a T-shirt at the college

And the above picture is just to say that as of November 21st Rob has officially graduated from McMaster University ... he now has the piece of paper to go with all the hard work it took to get through that leg of the journey.

We have no big plans for the holidays … just to relax and enjoy our time together, with various visiting etc. … this is big enough plans for us. We hope you all (especially his fellow colleagues) enjoy this holiday season. As we relax and enjoy these festive times let us not forget the true meaning of the season, the Saviour who was born for us, that He may free us from our sins.

Four years ago we welcomed into our lives our second son, James Robert. While we no longer celebrate this day as a birthday in the normal sense this does not mean that the day does not go by without remembering the birth that did occur. So much has happened in the past four years that it seem like a lifetime ago, but as I look through the photo albums it all comes back like it was yesterday. I have to fold some wash today and while I fold wash I often pop in a video ... I look forward to watching some of James' life again today

On November 23 we took some time as family to celebrate the life of James. We set aside the day to remember the special boy who touched our lives so drastically. It was also a blessing that this day was a Sunday and so we had to opportunity to be uplifted by the preaching of the word also during this day.

Between church services we went to visit the grave site. I had been previously to see the stone but the rest of the family had not. When James passed away the girls each bought a rose in their favourite colour (blue for Mareitta, red for Rebecca) and placed them in the coffin with James. So this year the girls each bought a rose again and layed them by his stone. They already talk about how they're going to do the same next year. We wanted to add something special to the stone to say "James" and so we also placed James' favourite truck, a Leon's delivery truck on the foundation of his stone. Much thanks goes to the Leon's Customer Service Rep who took the extra effort to track down one of these little trucks for us that were used for a promotion a couple years ago.

In the evening we took some time to watch the movie Babe. James watched this movie endlessly for his last couple weeks of life. He could not talk to tell us what he found so special about it, but he only want to watch this movie and so we watched it pretty much around the clock for those two weeks and it holds a very special place in our hearts. We also took some time to look through James' memory box and talk about some of the things in there. Although the day had it's sad moments it was a nice day overall.

Many have asked how thing went during the month of November and overall I can say quite well. As the montage we posted says "not a day goes by that I don't think of you". This remains true. During the month of November this may have been more so then normal but it was not any harder then normal. And while we cried a bit extra especially on the 23rd it was not overwhelming and it was nice to take some time out to specifically remember a life that meant so much to us.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who did remember us on this day by sending us cards, emails, notes, etc. We especially loved the little notes/stories that told of peoples memories of James. It's always to special to hear other peoples perspective or memories, sometimes reminding us of things we had forgotten about and sometimes telling us things we had never heard before.

There are many, many things we learned for James. For such a small child he sure taught us a lot, but if there is one thing that we really learned it is to cherish each day we have. To slow down and take as much time as we can to enjoy our family and the treasures we have around us. What a gift and blessing our little James has been in our lives!!

Rebecca Update

We are often asked how Rebecca is doing and many times I've want to sit down and do an update ... but time keeps getting away on me. It's probably a good thing because all you'd read about is how we have no idea what's up with her and are confused. Since I'm not really sure what I'm going to write I think I'll just babble off (like I don't do that normally) various thoughts and stuff that we've been doing. Much of this might be more geared to the readers who come via searching for fructose malabsorption information. Maybe they can help, maybe I can provide some information, maybe you can provide me with some information, maybe we can all be confused together :) For the rest of you we can pretty much say we're no further ahead then we were months ago.

Previously I wrote that we were struggling with the diet with no results. We have been back and forth to the doctor numerous times as well as adjusted and changed the diet numerous time and gone for a few different tests, but we are no further ahead ... if anything we are further behind.

Shortly after I last wrote a few of Rebecca's comments made me decide it was worth putting her on a reflux medication. Rebecca would be out of bed almost every night complaining about her stomach. We made a strong point of not giving her any additional attention or special treatment during these times. We would simply tell her she knew what to do. Which was to either get a cup of water or a heat pad ... neither of which worked, but it was something for her to do. She was already sleeping in an upright position, so there were really no other things we could think of that would help her. Often I felt terrible for being so "cold" but we knew that if we let her stay up or pampered her in any way we would never know if she was truly "sick" or just soaking it for all it was worth. Yet each night she would continue to come out, even when we would tell her there was no point in coming out because there was nothing we could do (although I did like that she would come out so I could know how she was feeling). This is not to say we were completely cold, we of course would offer a sympathetic ear, hugs, etc but we simply had to remain firm to help ourselves understand as best as possible how she truly is feeling.

Given that Rebecca was complaining more at nights and a few comments about burps as well as Rebecca's constant desire to eat we thought it was worth attempting reflux med. Often Rebecca acts like she's starving, and she really thinks she is. Food is the only thing she thinks of and she drives us nuts as she wants to eat all the time. When she asks to eat she wants it immediately. She complains that her tummy hurts but I have no idea whether she's just hoping this complaint will help her to get the food she wants. Our pediatrician advised that sometimes when you have indigestion you don't want to eat at all, other times it creates this gnawing feeling that makes you think that you want to eat all the time. So we started her on Prevacid medication, which slows or prevents the production of acid in her stomach. We had peace at nights for about a week. Did the medicine actually help? or did she think that since she was now having medicine she was better and stopped complaining? Whatever the case the complaining started again. Our next visit the doctor said she was on a low dose and we could attempt to increase it before we give up on the idea. Once again we had a week of peace and then a major turnaround ... in the wrong direction.

Rebecca does not complain all the time at nights anymore, once or twice a week she may complain, but mostly that is better. Instead we are now dealing with much more daytime pain. This has been bad enough that I've kept her home in the morning for an hour or so (so great to live right by the school) until she feels a bit better, and have also needed to pick her up from school because she doesn't feel well. Considering she loves school I'm quite confident that she is not faking so she can stay home. There have been other times the teacher has told us she was crying that her tummy hurt.

We have also done more diet changes. We have been on and off wheat but continue to see no difference so now we just allow a limited amount of wheat. After months of such a restricted diet and poor bowel movements we decided that the diet might be more of the problem as she may be dealing with constipation type pains now. So after much reading and comparing I made up a new list of okay fruits and veggies ... the ones that appeared on most of the many different variations of diet lists. She was having 3 fruits and a few more veggies then that. We rotated what she gets so that she doesn't get the same fruit or vegetable (except potatoes sometimes) two days in a row. She was very excited to finally be allowed some more variation and with extra encouraging to make sure she drinks lots (she used to love drinking but now needs to be reminded to drink more) we have better bowel movements again ... but still pain :(

We were offered a paid visit to see a holistic allergist in order to better evaluate Rebecca and Matthew and help us treat and cure them. This visit has left us very confused as we're not sure how much to believe or not. According to this allergist Rebecca was pretty much allergic to everything. She had a high intolerance to all dairy, all proteins, all grains, all fruits, all nuts, some sweeteners, MSG and gluten; and a minor intolerance to all seeds, some sweetners, some vegetables, cocoa, coffee, and yeast. So that being said what in the world would she eat??? And would she not have been much more sick then just stomach pains if she was eating so many things that she shouldn't be. Through this visit they were also able to cure her of the majority of her allergies. So now she only has a intolerance to diary, some vegetables, yeast and MSG. YES, she's supposedly cured of her fructose intolerance.

I'm sure you're all thinking the same thing I was/am. I will leave this link if you want to read any more on this: BIE. I have done a lot of reading and research and have had a hard time finding information about it NOT working. I find many sites offering the service and explaining it. I have found many sites of skeptical people who have been cured by it and some who have even gone on to be a holistic allergist themselves. It is all very confusing. (Just to add to the confusion according to his testing the only allergy Matthew has is milk, which he cured. He supposedly did not have a fructose allergy, even though just two days prior to our visit Matthew tested positive for Fructose Malabsorption)

So we decided that we wouldn't know unless we tried and so we tried. We took diary and MSG out of Rebecca's diet and she is only allowed yeast occasionally. We loosened the reigns on her fructose diet allowing a few more fruits and vegetables and a bit more sugar, but keeping the rest pretty much the same. I was not going to jeopardize all that we had already done.

No improvement ... if anything worse again. We have another appointment coming up with the holistic allergist for him to clear up the rest of her intolerances. We will see what he says then. He will likely suggest it is not food that is causing her problem ... and he could very well be right.

We have changed our approach and are moving away from the food focus. It is automatic to think that food causes stomach pain, and it is still very well possible that it is causing her pain. We will not throw out her fructose diet completely, especially because she is so well trained. Rebecca is very dedicated to her diet and trying to make her stomach better. She sometimes has to remind me that I've given her something she should not have. She always asks about everything and sticks firmly to what she is allowed. She has had a difficult time and even though the diets do not help she continues to stick to it and doesn't cheat (unless mom has given her permission :)

One of the biggest side-effects or factors in Fructose Malabsorption is depression. We have watched Rebecca closely for this but felt that she was okay in this area. I remember reading about other parents struggling with this aspect of FM in their children (usually termed behavioural problems) and just skim reading it because it didn't apply to us or thinking how glad we didn't have that factor to deal with as well. There were little things throughout the summer that we took note of, but they really could just be chalked up to character or attitude and so we weren't concerned.

Over the last couple months we have begun to wonder if maybe we should be concerned. Those issues that we thought were character and attitude seemed to flare up more. Discipline seemed to make it worse and snowball the effect. She often seemed on a roller coaster ... happy and laughing one minute, sad and crying the next. She would often say she had a stomachache and now we must wonder if she truly does everytime or if she just uses it as an excuse for feeling down. She seems to take anything negative very personal, sulking and grumping. Again all things that could just be a stage or a character or simply some behaviour issues that need to be dealt with. What really made me stop and think that I had to start putting further thought into all this was one day when we sat in church and I looked down to see her crying. When I asked what was wrong she did not know, she only knew she was crying and it wouldn't stop. Maybe she simply didn't want to tell me why she was crying ... who knows. What I did realize then was that I should not ignore this until it gets extreme but instead to consider having someone experienced evaluate to see what they feel.

We also saw that the week after the anniversary of James' death she especially acted out. And now suddenly she is doing quite well and I wonder whether I should just let it all be. I am so thoroughly confused most of the time. I wonder whether I should tightened the reigns on her diet again as it could all be fructose related. There are many cases that are simply behavioural and kids act out whenever they have non-fructose friendly foods. I wonder whether the trauma of the past couple years has taken a bigger toll on her then we thought and we are now seeing more obvious symptoms of it. She still very easily breaks down for certain things related to James, her tolerance level in this area has not gotten any better. How much of this is still grief?? Or could she possibly have anxiety and therefore the stomachaches. She has never seemed like a nervous child and I think most people would say she's always been a happy-go-lucky type of kid. Rob and I used to always comment on how she was "such a kid". She enjoyed life to the fullest without a care in the world, she tuned out the big people world and just had fun. Could that have all changed or could she just have been good at seeming relaxed. So many questions ... and no answers ... yet.

So we have no idea whether she has any problems in this area but we have decided to go ahead and start the process to have her seen by a professional. Coming to face this has been a bit difficult for it's always hard for one to think that their child's mind is not functioning just so. We are so scared to be overreacting and overevaluating regular behaviour but at the same time we fear downplaying things and leaving her to suffer when there could be help available. We are constantly pray that things will settle out on their own and this will all become a thing of the past.

Well I think I'm done babbling for now. I'm sure if I let my fingers carry on I could throw out lots more confused thoughts ... but all the confused thoughts are not going to help the situation so I'll just stop there. Thank you all who have shown concern and given advice, we always appreciate it.

I must remind myself:

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." Psalm 55:22

Each weekend one of the kids from Rebecca's class gets to take home the class "mascot". This is quite the highlight for the child and Adventure Bear is appropraitely names as he gets to enjoy many different adventures at each house he goes to. Rebecca had her turn some time ago already and her and Adventure Bear had a lot of fun as they went to two birthday parties on Saturday, one being a combined party ... so three birthdays in all!