Monster Mama

Tonight while wrestling (literally) Hannah to bed she screamed at me, "You are a Monster Momma, Go downstairs!"

I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing.

You see, it all started when Hannah moved from a crib to a big girl bed several months ago.  Pre-Big Girl Bed bedtime was a beautiful thing.  Hannah would curl up with her ba-beak and paci and would float off into dream land peacefully.  When she gained freedom we ran into problems. Suddenly she was out of her bed, tearing up her room, dragging everything out of her closet, and drawers and climbing furniture so she could "see what up there."  Lately things have gotten worse.  She now leaves her room and wanders through the upstairs.  Here are just some of the things we've found her doing:

1. Wiping her bear's bottom with an entire roll of toilet paper in the bathroom because "he went poop."
2. Sitting on top of Blaine's bed (with him sleeping in it) stacking books from his shelf all around his body.
3.  "Reading" after taking hundreds (or something like that) books off her own shelf.
4.  Slapping Blaine in the face, while he was just falling asleep.  I can assure you this did not end well for her.

Nearly every night we battle her for a good 30 minutes but most of the time it lasts an hour plus.  We put her in time out, take toys away, and put her back in her bed so many times every night I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

For the last two nights I have had a new strategy. After prayers and kisses and all that sweet stuff I leave her room once and stand outside the door.  The first time she gets out of her bed I put her back in and stand, arms crossed, next to her bed and every time she sits up or attempts to hit or kick me I gently lay her back down on her pillow.  Not only am I standing guard but I don't answer any questions she asks nor do I speak to her.  She doesn't like this... not one bit.  Here are my favorite sayings from the last few nights:

1. HG gets into downward dog position and before I can lay here down she says, "You like this Monster Mama?  Yes or No?  You like this?"
2.  Rolling around her bed, "You like this way?  Yes or No?  Answer me!"
3.  Go downstairs Monster Mama!  GOOO!
4.  Muttering to herself, "Mama is so mean to me.  Daddy holds me down.  Brother hits me.  I get out of my bed."
5.   My feet are cold.  I don't want a blanket.  My feet are cold.  I don't want a blanket.
6.  I hungry.  I need some vanilla yogurt.  No... cereal.  No... a banana.  My feet are cold.

All in all we've had more sucess with this than with anthing else we've tried.  Last night I only had to stand in there for 20 minutes and tonight it was about 25.  Not bad considering most nights we're up there for an hour or longer.  Monster Mama is on a mission... wish us luck :)

And then there is Mister.  Three years ago next week we put Blaine on a Gluten Free diet hoping to get some relief from his sleepless nights and unexplainable aggression.  After just a week on a GF diet Blaine was sleeping through the night and has since that day.  Though he still had his struggles we also noted fewer emotional outbursts and lengthly tantrums.  We've talked several times about introducing gluten back into his diet for a test-run and finally did it this last weekend.

Let's just say that today was Mister's last day on gluten... again.  Gluten free is the way to be for our Mister.

David noticed that his behavior was significantly different (worse) just a short time after consuming gluten but I was in denial mainly because I would love for him to be able to eat like everyone else.  I was looking for changes in his sleep and since we didn't have any problems the first night I was hoping and praying that we were in the clear and then last night I got my answer.  I don't know what time it was but I heard the screams - the same screams we heard so many nights when he was on gluten before.  He screamed our names and I ran to his bedroom.  He was sitting up in his bed, terrified of something but he didn't know what.  He cried and screamed and when I told him I would lay with him he calmed down but then after an hour he was not able to fall asleep so I brought him to our bed.  I thought for sure he would fall fast alseep but he didn't.  He tossed and turned and sat up and just couldn't fall asleep and then after not sleeping in at all, he was a disaster.  Exhausted and full of gluten he was an emotional mess this morning.

He enjoyed eating gluten.  He even said "Gluten is not treating me too bad," so it was hard explaining to him that it would be short lived.  He doesn't see his sleep problems and behavior like we do so he doesn't quite get why he can't eat gluten.  He always thought it was going to make his stomach sick and now he knows it doesn't... so please pray that this next transition goes well and he goes back to GF with no problems.

We have one more family day together before David goes back to work and we all get back to the grind.  And as I write this, it's almost 2013!  I can't stay up that long though so g'night :)

Blaine and his Jumpin' Jordy's card.  (The only
bounce house in our area.)

The next few pictures were taken at the Discovery
Museum in Ft. Collins, CO.

HG and her new baby "Siri"

Happy New Years! 

Seeing STARS

I've spent the last five days trying to write this post.  I wrote it and erased it, wrote more and changed it and now finally I'm just going to write and click "Publish."

D and I have been processing what we learned at the STAR Center last Thursday evening.  Well, processing and thanking God for the relief and joy we have experienced.  The staff at the STAR Center have begun to change our lives.  We are so grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to work with them.  Over four months ago, Dr. Fasci, Blaine's developmental pediatrician in Austin looked at me in her office and said, "You are moving to the best place in the country, if not the world, to help your son.  Get into the STAR Center and I'm sure they can help you."  Here we are after so many hard years, unexplainable frustration, pain, and too many tears to count and she was exactly right. 

Thursday afternoon we got -

Answers.
Explanations.
Recommendations.
Reports.
Results.
Conclusions.
Plans.

And best of all -

HOPE!

And God came through in a big way this past week.  For the first time in a long time both David and I actually breathed a sigh of relief and felt that there was someone out there that actually knew what Blaine has been dealing with, what we as a family have been coping with, and not only that but they have a plan to help.  The OT, SLP, Psychologist and Pediatrician we're working with are amazing.  Just amazing.

From here I could go into great detail but I think I'll just hit the most important things we learned.

- Blaine does have Sensory Processing Disorder.  Research shows that a very intensive Occupational Therapy and Listening Therapy program can re-train Blaine's brain and help him immensely.  He will begin with the proposed 30 sessions (3 times per week) in a few weeks.

- The pediatrician diagnosed Blaine with ADHD, Combined Type (Both inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms) and recommended medication given the severity of his behavior.  After much prayer and discussion with the doctor we are going to move forward with this recommendation.

- Testing shows that Blaine has a very high IQ - in the High/Gifted range in fact.  I started crying when she told us this not because I was surprised but because it was such a relief to hear that what we've sensed for a long time is actually true.  They told us that much of his frustration and problems come from knowing that he should be functioning at higher level, cognitively, but not being able to access the information. 

There.  I did it.  Not really how I wanted to present this very important information but these are the facts. 

Finally, I just started attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and it just so happens that we're going to be studying Genesis for the next 8 months.  Genesis is a Greek word that means "beginning."  The timing of this study and the new beginnings we're experiencing give me goose bumps.  Since July our family has been experiencing a new beginning here in Colorado and in just one meeting at the STAR center we can see a new beginning for Blaine too.  We're so excited for what's to come.

Thank you for all your prayers!

"What is that really good smell in here?"

That would be GF banana bread my sweet son. 

After dinner tonight Blaine helped me make some GF bread from our new cookbook, which we always make into mini-muffins.  They were a hit with everyone.  In fact, there were 24 mini-muffins on this rack just three minutes before this picture was taken.  (No joke.)  Some small munchkins and one large munchkin literally ate 21 of these in less than five minutes. 

I live with pigs.  (And for the record I ate two of these muffins.)

"Let's see if I can get one more in my mouth."

The best laughing picture ever!

HG is getting ready to point the finger at Daddy.

Another great laughing moment.

And it wouldn't be a complete night if Blaine didn't build something with
the couch cushions.  Here is a ramp which he rolled down probably 50 times.

Who knew one could have so much fun on a Monday night?

Bikes and Honor

Even though Mister rode a bike for the first time at GG and Papa's in Michigan we're still going to mark this day as Blaine's first day on his bike.  We spent a good 30 minutes at Toys R Us Saturday morning picking out a bike (while deflecting requests for every other toy Blaine could find and then stood there with a crying three year old because we wouldn't buy him a Spider Man doll) only to find out that our 25% off coupon was only good at the other Toys R Us.  Awesome.  David and Blaine headed over to the other Toys R Us and found Blaine's bike.

The yellow tires called his name.

I spent the day (Saturday) at three different grocery stores getting meals for the week and a variety of ingredients to make some flour mixes for some gluten free baking I plan to do.  Mimi and Pops, my in-laws, sent me this great book, Gluten Free Baking, which has some amazing recipes in it but since it requires that I make these flour mixes (with ingredients like Albumen?!?) it's taken me a while to get around to it.  I was able to get all the ingredients for two of the flour mixes and tomorrow Blaine and I are going to try our hand at some GF banana bread.

We also have plans to make some peanut blossom cookies and lemon bars tomorrow for the National Day of Service.  We're going to make these together and then go as a family to a few local fire stations and deliver some baked goods, made with lots of love, to honor and thank the first responders in our neighborhood.  Firefighters in our area have also been working overtime due to the wildfires burning in and around Austin.  Over 1400 homes have burned (and over 40,000 acres) in Bastrop alone in the last week.

Update:  Well, it's Sunday night and all of the baking (minus the GF banana bread) is done and delivered.  The good news is that I got the flour mixes done, I just didn't get around to making anything with them.  Blaine and David were very helpful as I baked today... testing all the treats I made.  Blaine was scared at first to take the cookies to the fire station (he thought the fireman were going to be in their gear with masks on) but once we arrived at the first station he realized that the fireman were just regular guys - like Daddy!  (Except, Blaine informed us, Daddy is much bigger than the firemen.)

We all had a great weekend and are looking forward to another jam-packed week.  We have four doctors appointments this week and we are celebrating a very special birthday on Thursday.  Today as we were thinking about where we were and how old we were on 9/11 David said to me, "I was 21 on 9/11... that can't be right."  To which I responded, "No, hunni you were 22 - almost 23.  That's not right."  A huge reminder that he in fact will be turning 33 this year.  I am still a young, vibrant, energetic 31 year old... well, until next month.  Ha!

And today we remembered the victims and families of 9/11.  And despite the tears we shed we found ourselves grateful that we still live in a country that has so many freedoms. We are indebted to those that have in the past, are currently and will in the future protect us as a nation.

God Bless America!

A Rainy and Gluten Free Weekend

It rained all weekend... and I loved it. Rain slows me down a bit, which I enjoy, plus Blaine was able to fully recover.  I spent a lot of time planning meals this weeked, watching cooking shows, and reading our new Gluten Free/Casein Free (GFCF) cookbook.

One thing I don't like about a Gluten Free lifestyle (besides that it is way more expensive) is that it now takes me 2-3 hours to do our grocery shopping because I have to go to two different stores to get everything
(and save a little money in the process) and I have to read all labels now.  When I plan out our weekly meals I have to make sure it is all gluten and dairy free, I have to tweak recipes that I find that aren't GFCF and actually, finding recipes to satisfy all of our tastes is difficult, so it has definitely been a learning experience. I know (I hope) it will get easier as we keep on with it.

We made a GF pizza today and it was actually really yummy. David even liked it (that's saying a lot!)  I also made a cranberry orange bread that we haven't tasted yet, but it looks tasty as well.

Blaine's school is closed tomorrow, so I'm off again with both kids.  Should be interesting.

THANK HEAVENS!  GF/Dairy Free Chocolate.  Mmmmmmm.

Blaine's pizza.  He really enjoyed making this.

David's pizza.  He also enjoyed making this.

GFCF Orange Cranberry Bread.  Mmmmm, tasty! (I hope.)

We're going GFCF

We are making a huge change over here at the Lyon home: we're going Gluten and Casein (Dairy) Free.  It's called the GFCF diet.  Basically we are going to eliminate all Gluten and Dairy from our diet.  Why, you ask?

To make a long story short, Blaine's behavior has really moved beyond the "terrible twos".  His aggressiveness, impulsivity, and oppositional defiant behavior has taken us to his pediatrician (multiple times) and finally to a child psychologist.  A few arrows point to ADHD but at his age it's hard to be 100% sure.  Regardless of the diagnosis we just want Blaine to be happy and successful and to have healthy peer relationships.  This all began around the age of 18 months and has only gotten worse with time and really we've been at the end of our rope for some time now.  Today we had an especially difficult afternoon and it seems like nothing we're doing is helping him to be more gentle, kind and considerate of others.  He can't keep his hands to himself and is hurting others along the way.  Not to mention he is bouncing off the walls 99.9% of the time.

Our friend Kari bought us this book and it is giving us some hope.  Perhaps changing Blaine's diet will move us in the right direction and help our little guy be more happy, healthy and successful.  Experts say that the first five years of a child's life are the most important and we don't want to waste any time.

This books does a pretty good job of giving background information on Gluten and Casein and why these ingredients mess some kids up.  Here are some of the symptoms of food sensitivities and intolerances that Blaine has:

- Fatigue
- Food cravings (which is generally always a Gluten or Dairy product)
- Eczema and unexplained rashes
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Constipation
- Aggression
- Difficulty sleeping
- ADHD symptoms (hyperactivity)

We have an appointment with Blaine's pediatrician on Wednesday where we are going to have him tested for Celiac Disease, which needs to be ruled out before we elminate all gluten products.

We are looking forward to starting this diet though the thought of taking on a whole new way of eating seems exptremely overhwheling to me.  Being on a GFCF diet is not exactly cheap or simple. 

I'll try to keep everyone updated on this as we move forward.