Breakfast with Santa!

I love our town.  Period.  ;)

Halloween 2013

 The boys enjoyed trick-or-treating this year in the neighborhood!

Turkey Chili Taco Soup

It's been a really long time since I've posted a recipe, but with fall here, I'm reminded of my favorite recipe which I discovered last year!  I love this soup.  We all do (minus Ryan who only eats four meals). 

Here is the recipe straight from SkinnyTaste.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/02/turkey-chili-taco-soup.html#more

Turning 33. Nothing Special...Except for These Sweet Kids

Brain Balance--The Home Program

Last week, we started the home program portion of our 12-week journey.  I have a binder that houses a ton of exercises, forms, nutrition guidelines, and answers. Two to three times a day, there are a series of exercises and other random things that we complete.  This includes things to help remedy his primitive reflexes and things to strengthen his limited skills.

Tyler's evaluation determined that he is right brain hemisphere weak. The Brain Balance program is based off a pyramid approach.  At the bottom of the pyramid are primitive reflexes that we are born with.  It is believed that if those reflexes don't disappear as we grow older that it affects our sensory motor, cognitive, and academic performance.  So, the first thing they did was test Tyler for eight basic primitive reflexes that all babies are born with.  He still had every single one. So, we are working to fix those reflexes at home while the center works to strengthen his right brain hemisphere through sensory and cognitive activities designed specifically for Tyler. When kids have a weaker hemisphere, the two hemispheres are literally not even which causes a disconnect between them.  By strengthening the weaker hemisphere, it allows the two to make connections.

One of the many primitive reflex exercises we do pertains to his palmer (grasp) reflex. This reflex develops in utero. The common evidence of this reflex being present is "grasping". In early stages of neonatal development, this reflex is also related to feeding (Babkin response). This reflex is elicited by suckling and kneading in time with the suckling response.

Retention symptoms past 3 months of age include:

• Poor handwriting with a noticeable difficulty getting things out on paper
• Poor fine motor skills and manual dexterity
• Verbal articulation problems
• General postural problems that cause a slump when sitting
• Possibly jumbles up letters as they write them down on paper

So, we have a simple exercise with this stress ball where Tyler holds the ball with his right hand and squeezes it by bringing his fingers to the ball and back down.

 Another example is the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ASTNR).  This reflex begins about 18 weeks after conception and should be present at birth. This reflex appears to assist the babies movement and participation in the birthing process. After birth the reflex continues and plays an important part in the development of hand eye coordination, object and distance perception. By the middle of the first year of life this is normally accomplished and the ATNR, being no longer required, should be integrated. 

In early months, after hand-eye co-ordination is established, the ATNR locks vision on to anything which catches the attention. If the ATNR is retained beyond 6 months of age the following can be possible;

• Hand-eye co-ordination (this can be both related to movement with hand and eye in sport as well as handwriting concerns)
• Inability to cross over the mid line of the body
• Problems with written performance and the child will find oral performances much easier
• Visual tracking problems
• Ambidexterity (inability to determine a dominant hand past the correct age)
• Proprioception and inability to judge distances.
• Adults can also have chronic shoulder problems and/or neck problems

 To help remedy this, Tyler does a few different exercises, and the "reverse lizard" is one of them.

 Finally, another example is the symmetrical tonic neck reflex.  Retention of this reflex affects gross motor skills. Children are more injury prone, clumsy, and may find it difficult to coordinate their upper and lower body together.  Exercise may not be enjoyed but once corrected, we commonly see an eagerness to exercise and an improved performance running and swimming.

 Tyler does the cat position where he lifts his head up and down slowly while maintaining a flat back.

Fitting all the exercises (there are many more than these three shown) in 2-3 times a day is really hard on our schedule.  We've put jiu jitsu on hold because he will be doing a lot over the next 12 weeks.

We will be starting the center program on Monday, followed by our nutrition counseling and testing.  Here we go!

Family Pictures 2013

A few weekends ago we got family pictures taken.  I can count on one hand (specifically one finger) how many times I've had family pictures taken.  And the main reason is because I never wanted to be in the pictures.  Thirty pounds lighter and a boost of self-esteem goes a long way!

Tyler Update!

Here's a little update with where we are with Tyler since many have asked.  Tyler's EEG came back normal, so that's good!  If you remember, we were getting evaluated two places:  Brain Balance Center and through a neuropsychologist.  We completed the evaluations with Brain Balance and had his evaluation meeting last week.  The range of information we learned about Tyler in a two-hour meeting was phenomenal.  It literally felt like all the puzzle pieces we had scattered through the years came together to form a gigantic puzzle.  

Tyler had his neuropsychological testing done.  It was a 3 hour formal testing which ultimately would help diagnose him if that's what the end result is.  We will have a results meeting for that on October 17.  That meeting could bring on other meetings or appointments. I'm not entirely sure what the outcome will be.  My guess is that they will say he has ADHD and possibly something else.  They could always suggest another neurology visit to rule out other things, but at this point I don't feel like that's likely.

So, knowing what we know, we've decided to move forward with a decision on how to help Tyler.  I enrolled him in Brain Balance.  He will start the center program on October 7.  He will go Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 5-6 pm.  Josh will be able to take him all but three times a month which is when I'll have to leave work early to take him.  This is a 12 week program with the possibility of extended time if needed.  There is a substantial home program that we will start tomorrow.  I have a binder and a DVD to review!  Life is about to get REAL fast.  Did I mention we cut TV and video games during the week now too?  This program limits screen time to 1 1/2 hrs a day.  So, I'm saying this so my neighbors know to tell Tyler "no" if he sneaks over and asks to play video games for extended amount of hours :)  And, since nutrition is a large part of this, he had a blood draw last Wednesday after school to test for food sensitivities.  I will be so interested to see those results!  He's been gluten free for almost two months now.  It will be interesting to see if gluten is even on his severe list.

Thanks for everyone's questions, concern, help, and understanding during this stressful time.  It's not only been stressful because of what we've seen and dealt with in Tyler but also because of the timing, countless appointments, evaluations, and money we've invested!  And it's not over yet! 

I have really huge hopes for Tyler at Brain Balance.  We've learned of many friends whose kids have gone there, and the first thing out of their mouths is always, "You have no idea.  It's like witnessing a different child."

If you are interested, My Carolina Today has been doing a segment on Brain Balance.  This was their final segment which was aired yesterday.
http://www.wncn.com/category/255111/my-carolina-today

Our Journey During the Past 3 Months

I THINK I'm ready to write out everything that's been going on for the past three months.  But because there is so much, I'm not entirely sure where to start.  So, I'll start by saying that everything is just fine.  We are all healthy...kind of.  

The story starts here:

Tyler has always been the kid to run and jump on the couches, hang upside down/change positions while watching TV, scream at the top of his lungs while playing, and have a hard time sitting still when it came time to focus.  We’ve always chalked it up to being a boy.   This is what young boys do, right? As a young kid, he would have terrible outbursts and tantrums when in trouble.  Many of you even got to witness them.  He would flail his arms and rock back in forth at school and at home.  The only way we could calm him down was to bear hug him until he calmed down.  He has mostly outgrown this, but occasionally he will do this when he gets really upset. 

His preschool teachers always noted that Tyler was a little socially awkward.  He would play on his own a lot (which we always considered normal at his age).  He would bump into kids on purpose in line.  

Tyler has also struggled with his speech from an early age.  We never really knew what he was saying for years which was frustrating for him and us.  We'd joke that Tyler would have his own little conversations in his own little language with the Mickey figurines he cherished so much.  But the lack of communication between us was a burden on everyone and his development.  Finally, we had him evaluated and he was accepted for speech services through the school system at 5 ½.  He continues to receive speech therapy in school to date.  

At the beginning of July, I noticed some regression with Tyler’s behavior.  One evening while sitting on his bed before bedtime, I recall him trying to tell me something.  However, the words and thoughts were just not coming out.  He has always been a slow talker.  It's obvious that he thinks a lot before words come out.  You can usually see him thinking before he answers or says something.  However, this evening nothing was coming out at the typical "Tyler speed."  And what pieces came out were very sporadic.  I also noticed some strange stuttering.  It wasn’t the typical stuttering I think of.  It was more repeating sounds at the end of his sentences.  For example, “I want to go swimming…ing…ing.” 

At the same time as the speech, Tyler started putting his hands in his mouth.  This literally happened over night.  It progressed fast from just sucking on his fingers to licking up his arms.  He does this 24/7.  When asked why he does it, he says he just has to put everything in his mouth.  He gets ulcers in his mouth which are probably due to his hands being in there.

In addition to the above, we had noticed some different behavior with Tyler.  He seemed more moody or frustrated.  He was tired.  I had mentioned several times to my mother and husband that something just didn’t seem right.  He wasn’t responding to simple instructions.  For example, one day I told him to go upstairs and brush his teeth.  We both had eye contact, and he repeated the instructions.  I watched him go upstairs and walk the opposite way to do something else.  He didn’t process what I was saying. There are many examples of this.  Josh and I spent a good chunk of the summer yelling at him, figuring he was being defiant and picking up weird habits.  And of course, we blamed it on having no schedule during the summer.  But as summer closed, we started to do some research, started private speech once a week, and realized that this might not be something he is doing on purpose.  We've cut gluten, artificial sweeteners and dyes completely out of his diet in an attempt to see if something was triggering this in his brain. 

My biggest fear was that school would start and he'd have trouble.  And it's already starting.  I reached out to his teacher during the first week and without telling her specific symptoms told her that we had noticed some things over the summer and we want her to feel comfortable telling us if she sees something herself in the classroom.  She immediately responded saying that she has to repeat things many times to Tyler.  One example is on the first day she wrote on the board and told him verbally to put his school supplies away.  When I noticed them in his book bag after two days, I asked him why they were still in there.  He told me he wasn't supposed to take them out and then got really upset.  A simple instruction just didn't register with him.  After checking back in with her a week later, she relayed to us that he was not able to turn in anything at school.  He wasn't processing instructions, and he couldn't stay on task. Actually, the email was more descriptive than I'm typing now, but it still upsets me to read those words even though I'm grateful his teacher is so open with us.

Tyler tells me frequently that he cannot focus.  He says he feels tired and that his brain is on fire. We had to do a poster project that was all about him over a weekend, and it was all I could do to get him to tell me something he liked to do. Now that "real homework" has started, we spend an extended about of time getting him to write one sentence.  His handwriting has worsened, but I want to think that's because he's been out of school for the summer and needs to get back into the swing of things.  Things are just not the same as they were.  I ran into his first grade teacher who was shocked to hear what had been going on.

So, what have we been doing?  Well, what haven't we been doing.  

I feel like we've been on a roller coaster since the last week of August.  Aside from starting private speech therapy and changing his diet, we've done more things involving doctors, specialists, and centers.  Originally, I had scheduled for him to have an Occupational Therapy evaluation for Sensory Processing Disorder.  However, I ended up cancelling that appointment in order to start in a different direction.   

On September 9, we had a neurology appointment with a local office who's highly recommended.  Based on our discussions and her observations, she has recommended the following:  an EEG scheduled 9/17 to rule out seizures; neuropsychological testing scheduled 9/26 to help form a diagnosis (if any), and a follow-up visit to discuss results.  She is concerned that anxiety might have triggered a lot of this.  So, of course now we are trying to pinpoint what anxiety he is having.

On our own, we researched a placed called Brain Balance (which we have a location around the corner from us), and we're in the middle of cognitive and sensory evaluations.  Based on his evaluations at this center, we would consider enrolling him in an after-school program where they work to strenghten the weaker brain hemisphere that's not functioning as well by doing specific exercises.  This, coupled with a nutritional plan, has led me to be interested in this center.  

 Are we still sane?  

Well, it depends on the day.  I spend my already chaotic days on the phone with his school, therapists, doctors, counselors trying to keep people in the loop.  I schedule appointments it seems like every other day.  I spend much of my day confused, annoyed, depressed, but then thankful that things aren't worse than they could be.  I don't like labels at all.  I don't want my son having a label of ADHD or a "sensory child."  I also don't want my kid to pop a pill every day (although I'm not shunning anyone who chooses this treatment).  It's just not my first choice.  I don't like watching Tyler cry in frustration at homework or see him with him licking his hands and arms because "he has to put everything in his mouth."  I don't like having to repeat simple instructions over and over again and walk him up to make sure it happens because if not, he will simply forget after 30 seconds.  I lack patience a lot.  I cry a lot.  I've been moody a lot.  I feel broke.  Josh, who naturally internalizes things, is probably about to lose his shit any day now.  (many jokes here).  

But more importantly, how is Tyler?

My answer to this is a confused one.  Part of me wants to say that he really doesn't grasp what's going on with all the appointments and the discussions that we try to not have in front of him.  Remember this is the same child who didn't ask us where we were going on our surprise 10 hour drive to Disney World.  But at the same time, he is not his easy, carefree self.  He is often moody and very emotional.  He breaks down at homework time.  He gets angrier with his brother.  And he is tired.  

Really up until this point, everything has been about research and gathering information.  And now that we have a bazillion appointments scheduled, I just really want to know how to help Tyler in the meantime.  My entire September will be spent transporting him to appointments and follow-ups.   We just want answers, and then we get the privilege of making a decision about how to move forward.  

 I'm grateful to have support of many friends and family members along this journey.  The only reason I'm choosing to share this with an expanded group of people is to ask for prayers, advice, and any stories that might help alleviate any stress.  

Now that I've shared this much, I will certainly update here as we find out answers.   Stay tuned.

Tyler's First Day of SECOND Grade!

How is this possible?  Second grade already!  Tyler has been in serious need of some structure ever since summer started, so we all welcomed this first day of school!  He was so excited knowing his class is on the second floor!  He had a great first day and even has some friends he already knows in his class.  Plus, it doesn't hurt that the principal's daughter is in the class too! ;) 

His teacher seems fantastic and was highly spoken of.  She is the lead teacher and has a Master's of Education and Business!  I knew she was hard core when she handed me her business card! 

Reflections From the Mamma

It seems almost surreal that July is over and August is beginning tomorrow.  Tyler will start second grade this year, and soon we will have his teacher assignments.  As much as I value the year-round schedule in our city, I'm somewhat glad to have him in a traditional school where he gets the same kind of summer vacation that I grew up having. 

Ryan transitioned into his three-year-old classroom so gracefully that it has taken me by surprise.  Even being out an entire week and coming back to a new classroom, he doesn't throw a fit when I leave in the morning.  We have our little routine:  hug, kiss, and push me out the door! 

As fall approaches, I start to question how busy I really want to be.  I love fall.  It is my favorite time of year.  Last year, I was overly consumed with photography sessions to the point that I couldn't sleep at night.  I said I'd never do that again.  But here I am again faced with the same potential problem.  With over 50 clients and for me to do this part-time in addition to a full-time job, I start to wonder how I can feasibly do that.  Believe me, I'm grateful for my successes, but I start to worry that I'm missing out on other things. 

And then there is Isagenix--the program I literally can't shut up about.  My experience with Isagenix has been life changing.  Not only have I lost a ridiculous amount of weight and inches, but I feel healthier than any other point in my life.  I've had one friend who's tried to tell me for years how eating clean and watching labels affects your well being and health.  I now understand her point.  To think that last year this time, I weighed nearly 30 pounds heavier is crazy to me.  And 18 of that is from June.  Yes, I know it sounds insane and too fast.  But it is only the result of making healthier choices.  My body has responded pretty quickly to ridding toxins (aspartame, caffeine, artificial flavoring, etc).  I love how this fits in my life and schedule.

July in Pictures!

Riding in the Fourth of July Children's Parade

 

The idea of Josh in order to haul things up the street for a 4th cookout!

Poor Curtis had to be shoved between two kids for 3 hrs on the way home from the beach!

Tyler went to Camp Kanata for a week and loved it!

Wacky Wednesday at camp--Christmas in July!

Yes, this happened.

Some house rules were needed!

Paddleboating!

local park :)

no caption needed ;)

Not how I planned my nice relaxing bath to end!  Surprise!

Still Losing!

And went shopping in my best friend's "skinny closet!" 

Tyler's First Brazillian Jiu Jitsu Tournament

After eight weeks, Tyler finally got his cast off.  He went through a long arm cast, two small casts, and a waterproof removable cast.  As a result of being in a cast, he had to be out of jiu jitsu for that duration which was a shame because right when he had to leave, he was about to test for a yellow belt :(  But, he will get there soon!

Josh mentioned that the academy was doing a fundraiser tournament yesterday and wanted to sign Tyler up.  Me, being the typical mother, didn't see the reason considering he'd been out for eight weeks and only had one lesson before competing.  But it was an internal tournament and was low key.  So, after a private lesson to catch up, we decided it would be a good experience for Tyler.  He was so excited about starting back and doing the tournament!

They broke the team members up by weight and age the best they could.  Tyler was in a team of three kids with whom he competed against.  The winner of the first two would compete against Tyler.  That first match, he tapped out and lost.  I think he was confused and thought it was practice!  So, we explained that he had to try harder, so the next time he competed against another person and won!  The third and final match was against a boy who weighed 85 pounds!!!  My little shrimp weighs 65 pounds!  He put up a great and long fight, but he ultimately lost. 

So, overall he won third...out of three ;)  But we are proud that he won one match! 

 

Beach 2013!

We just returned from another year's beach trip at Ocean Isle.  This is our second year going to this beach, and we really do enjoy the location!  We stayed at the same huge house as last year which is great for all 16 of us!

Ryan loved the ocean this year--different from a year ago!  He loved to kick the waves, and by the second day was trying to go deeper and deeper into the water!  He also loved the pool equally and with his floats on could manage around the pool by himself!

Cousin, Garrett, playing with Ryan!

Cool dude!

Playing in the ocean!

Daddy and his boys

Ocean fun with mommy!

Playing in the sand

Red Mohawk!

Daddy and Ryan

Mommy love

Tyler also enjoyed both the ocean and pool, although he is probably always going to love the pool more!  He is our pool boy!  While he had to wear a removeable waterproof cast during the trip, it didn't phase him one bit!  Aside from a few awkward sunburns, he had a great time!

Surfer boy!

Helping Ryan "jump the waves!"

A rare calm moment captured

Of course, every year we go to the beach is the result of my grandmother's generosity.  She pays (and has paid since before I was born) for our entire family to go for a week!

Here is our family!

The boys and I also played putt putt--a first for Ryan!  While slightly challenging, they had fun :)

Each morning, I went for a run/walk.  I made it out five mornings! 

We had a great time!