Change is not always bad, but it is always different.

Well, life as we knew it seems to be drastically changing as far as our eating goes. The last time I blogged about our diet, I noted that we were dairy free. We are doing rather well with our new milks. We are currently drinking rice milk and coconut milk. Most of the family likes rice milk, but a few of us prefer the coconut milk instead. I personally love coconut milk! It is very yummy, especially since I know that dairy makes me angry, as a reaction. We have since tried tomatoes and an organic golden delicious apple. Both of these tests were rather unsuccessful. I was really surprised by my reaction. Both fruits that I have tried that were stage 2 affected me the same way. Both the apple and the cranberries that I tried made me sad and feel depressed. I didn't initially realize that it was a reaction when I tried the cranberries, until I got the opinions of others that had the same type of reactions to different foods. I had this same reaction to the apple. Very odd, but maybe this is why depression has been something that I have struggled with for a lot of my life. My youngest daughter had the same reaction to the apple that I had. It was odd to say the least. I think that we are going to hold off on any more stage 2 foods for awhile. We are all tired of the let down that happens when we all react. It is very disappointing.

Our lists of things that we avoid seems to be growing. We avoid dairy, malted barley, molasses, corn syrup, nitrites, MSG, tomatoes, apples, and sulfites(because of my extreme allergy to sulfa-which is related to sulfites). There are a few things that we believe are sensitivities, but we still need to retest to be sure. Those things include honey, maple syrup, grapefruit, and kiwi. Chocolate/cocoa seems to also be causing some issues for the majority of us too, which is frustrating. We are avoiding these sensitivities for the time being. We are still on stage one as I am sure you could imagine from our growing list of stage one issues. We are just hoping that someday we can go more than 3-4 days without anyone reacting. It has happened yet, since before Christmas. And even before Christmas about 5 days was the longest amount without any reactions. I guess when you have 6 sensitive people in a family, it is easy for someone to be reacting all the time. I haven't been faithful about charting like I was before we left.

I can say that with dairy and tomatoes out...many of my favorite recipes are out. One of my favorite types of food is/was Mexican food. I haven't quite figured out how to fix that, but I am not going to worry about things that I can't change right now. But what I will tell you, is that we have discovered some new recipes that we really do like. Our favorite recipe is probably White Chicken Chili. It isn't the same as regular chili which we loved, but tastes really good.

We are currently testing out benzoates. We have been doing this for nearly 1 week. Cinnamon is something that caused issues for one of the kids. So, we are testing all of the benzoates to see if any of the others cause the same problems. So far, I am not seeing a huge difference in anyone. But we will keep on this for another week or so and see what happens. I will be ready for this test to end. Some of the common benzoates that are found naturally in food are in broccoli, cauliflower, peas, ripe black olives, cinnamon, green grapes(S2), purple plums(S2), cranberries(which I reacted to-S2), and blueberries(S2). We are really missing broccoli and cauliflower, so hopeful there will not be a reaction when we reintroduce. Benzoates can also be found as a preservative in many foods and beauty products. It is generally listed as paraben or another type of .....ben in beauty products. It can be listed as benzoic acid, but usually contains the ben somewhere in the word.

I am sure all of what we are doing sounds a little crazy to most. I would have to agree it does sound crazy. The thing is that I am doing this for my child who has such a hard time focusing and it has been such a benefit for all of us, including myself. I know everyday that I am not doing this in my strength, but in the strength of the Lord, for without HIM.....I wouldn't be able to do this. Some days, it is extremely frustrating. But other days, it is extremely rewarding to see how avoiding some specific food can change your whole life and that I actually have control over my anger and frustration. I am not generally a yeller, but boy when I am reacting...watch out! I am human just like the rest of you and I make mistakes just like everyone else. I just want what is best for my family and it seems as though this road is working for us.

We are in the process of looking into some different supplements to help, but I have to be able to convince my needle shy child to be prepared for that road....before we can walk down it. We have been talking, but she doesn't like doctors to begin with....and most visits are not simple. I am just praying that soon she will have the peace to be able to go and be brave. We need base levels, before we begin any sort of supplementation.

The last few months have been pretty amazing. We went to California for Christmas and returned home a few days after the new year. We pulled the three other kids out of private school before Christmas, and I am currently home-schooling all of the kids now. It has been an interesting journey and we are just trying to figure out what works best for each of them and get into some sort of schedule. I know that the kids love being home. The kids have been able to meet some great kids in our home-schooling group that meets at our church. They are getting more involved and have been spending quite a bit of time with them. We are pleased as these friendships are important, especially through the preteen/teen years. I also attended a great meeting last night with a home-school group through the base. It was really nice to meet all the neat moms and hear about what things were working for their families. I really like hearing about what works and doesn't work for others, especially when you haven't found that magic formula. I know that everything takes time and I am not working on my time, but on God's time. I am being patient and trying to just push through things.

I know that without the support of some great friends and family, life wouldn't be the same. I appreciate all of the prayers and words of support that you have given me. They mean the world to me!

I am thinking of starting a new blog that will be linked to this one, but it will be more of our journey with homeschooling and more family oriented. I like blogging, because it allows me the opportunity to express myself and put everything into words that sometimes just floats around in my head for long periods of time. By writing things down, it frees up space in my head. So there you have it, I blog to make more room. Maybe it is stuff that I want to share, but calling everyone that I would want to share with....just isn't practical these days. So, this is my mode of messaging all at one time. Comments are welcome, please leave me comments if you like. I like feedback. Well, I will close for now. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to come check out what is happening with us. Be blessed!!!

~Jenielle