you and me, me and you, both of us together

                                          Hannah and Jax (Nathaniel) prancing through a field

Dad's New Home at Silverado

On Saturday, April 6,Dad was placed in Silverado memory care facility in Escondido. This has been really hard for everyone involved, but seems to be the best solution since both my mother and his caregiver were no longer able to manage him well. Here's some pictures of recent visits.

advice

LEGO

by nathaniel :) lego 2012! copy it lub.lego.com/en-us/videos/?icmp=COUSVideoVLYearInBricks# and

Our New GAPS Diet Adventure

In January, I read an article on Mercola.com about the connection between gut disorders and numerous brain symptoms such as learning disorders, mental health issues, and autism. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/29/probiotics-for-good-digestive-health.aspx I was astonished to learn there was a connection. Our lives have been marked, over the years, by serious digestive disorders such as IBS, Crohn's Disease, diarrhea, Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, and Acid Reflux. And,... our lives have been marked by four children with dyslexia, one severe, two with speech issues such as stuttering and pronunciation issues, at least one with high-functioning autism and asperger's, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, and mental health issues ranging from obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, trichotillomania, disassociative disorder, Tourette syndrome in at least three.

In the article, Dr. Mercola talks about a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome. The author of this book used Primal Defense and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to heal her son of autism! Well, I have heard of both of those! The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is the diet that Jordan Rubin used to get well in addition to Primal Defense. I have essentially been on this diet for ten years, but never wanted to impose the diet upon my family because of its prohibition of grains and sugar. It wasn't until reading this article and the book, that I realized that our family is definitely a GAPS family.

People get dysbiosis from receiving too many antibiotics that kill off their good bacteria. When a mother who has intestinal dysbiosis, like myself, gives birth, her children are innoculated with the bacteria that the mother has. So if the balance of bad bacteria outweighs the good, as in dysbiosis, then the child gets that as well. This sets them up for a lifetime of dysbiosis and the whole host of problems seen in the GAPS syndrome.

In dysbiosis, grains and sugars are not properly digested because of the damaged intestinal lining. These undigested foods become food for the pathogenic bacteria. The bad bacteria proliferate, and give off poisonous substances that damage the intestinal lining and the brain. The GAPS diet eliminates these, and provides gut healing foods. Strong probiotics are also used to help move out the bad bacteria causing symptoms. Unfortunately, I have learned, that it is impossible to completely overcome dysbiosis, and when probiotics are stopped, and bad foods are eaten again, the problems will come back with a vengeance.

I believe our problem is complicated by some nasty parasites as well that also spew poison, suck blood and food from us, and incredibly hard for some of us to eradicate.

We are going to begin the new diet on March 11, 2013. For the last couple months I have been trying to use up all the items that are not on the diet. These are all grains and starches and all disaccharide sugars such white sugar. From now on we will have only meats, 24 hour fermented dairy, vegetables, fruits, nuts and honey as a sweetener. I have also spent the last two months stocking up on all the food we will need which are things like nut flours to make breads, fruit juices, bones for making soup, dried fruits and legal snack bars. I have been learning to make a new kind of kefir, saurkraut, dried fruit, and numerous other things.

I know it will be very hard. The food will be hard to get used to, and the die-off from the probiotic will be difficult as well. But from my background of understanding on this, I really think it might work for us. May God help us!

Jack's Pond, part 2

There was one last plant we learned about before we went home from Jack's Pond....

Jack's Pond

Today, our family had a lovely time visiting Jack's Pond! Here are some native plants that we saw along the way:

Artemisia californica, also known as California sagebrush.

Timothy correctly identified this aromatic plant as a plant that Native Americans used to make tea. It was also used as a spice in foods. We have a small specimen growing in our front yard and I love to smell it!

Heteromeles arbutifolia, also known as Toyon, Christmas berry or California holly.

This plant grew in large bushes all around the park. They were very lovely and would make a wonderful addition to a yard. Native Americans also used to eat the berries of this plant. I suppose many other people thought they were nice plants as well, because there is a special law protecting it! According to Wikipedia, "In the 1920s, collecting toyon branches for Christmas became so popular in Los Angeles, California that the State of California passed a law forbidding collecting on public land or on any land not owned by the person picking the plant without the landowner's written permission (CA Penal Code § 384a)." It's a good thing we didn't try to take any home!

Mimulus aurantiacus, the Sticky monkey-flower.

We can tell you from experience that the Stick Monkey-flower is, indeed, very sticky.

Opuntia occidentalis, also known as a Prickly pear.

The thick flat structure you see pictured is called a "cladode". It looks like a leaf, and indeed it carries out photosynthesis like a leaf, but it is actually part of the stem!

Xylococcus bicolor, also known as a Mission manzanita.

This is a lovely member of the chaparral plant species. Apparently, coyotes will eat it's berries. I didn't even know coyotes ate berries.

Marah macrocarpus, also known as manroot, wild cucumber, or "Old man in the ground".

Timothy identified this one as well, I would not have noticed it if he hadn't! This is a very strange plant; vines grow from a large, bulbous central root which can weigh over 200 pounds. It grows large spiny fruits, but it is poisonous.

My family may want to look at the list of plants that grow at Jack's Pond to see if you can remember any other plants we saw!