Boy have we had a busy few weeks!

*This week we saw this:

Nash's comment was, "How stupid do you think I am?!  I DID NOT do this!"  Pretty sure it was Caleb's attempt to get Nash in trouble because Nash was trying to do what mom told him to and that involved telling Caleb what to do and Caleb didn't like it.  Nice try kid.  Better luck next time.  And yes, that is dry erase marker on my wall.  Thank heavens for Norwex cleaning paste is all I can say!

*I took Samantha and her friend Lizbeth to the Nutcracker over Thanksgiving.  It was our first time ever to go see it.  I've wanted to take Sam for years and this year she pestered me until I remembered to buy tickets.  It was lots of fun to watch and I think she thought it was even more fun because she recognized several of the teachers from the Cache Valley School of Ballet dancing in it.

*Samantha is down and out with Patella Bursitis for the next two weeks.  No dancing, lifting, twisting, kneeling, or heavy lifting.  Today I caught her at the computer with her head phones on watching her dance videos from her choreography class and she was writing out beats and steps.  Poor child is going to think she's died without dance for two weeks.  She still thinks I'm putting her under some sort of cruel and unusual punishment for making her go to each class and sit on the sidelines to watch.  Sorry kid, you'll thank me later.  Maybe.  Another unfortunate consequence of this injury is that since she is suppose to be off her leg as much as possible, I will be driving her to school every day until Christmas break.  I will also have the pleasure of picking her up the two days a week I'm done teaching by noon.  Hopefully she will follow the dr.'s orders to a T and she'll be back dancing in January.  Otherwise I'm afraid we'll have one very sad and angry pre teen at our place.

*Nash's basketball team is still getting creamed at every game.  This weekend they lost 30-4.  On the upside, Nash finally got a little aggressive.  For example; he clothes lined a kid!  And, he grabbed at the ball and held on like it was his and he wanted it!  Yes, proud mom moment!  I've been telling him for awhile that he needs to play church ball for a bit in order to see what I mean about you don't have to be nice when you play basketball.  It's ok to try and take the ball from the other kids!  With him finally showing a little aggression I'll say I "MOMENTARILY" considered signing him up for the Jr. Jazz season.  And then I remembered that they play that out in NORTH LOGAN and I'm in HYRUM and I really, really, really, don't want to drive to North Logan more than the three days a week I'm already doing it.  Guess we'll wait it out and see.  Only 2 games left for the season.

*Nash had another robotics competition while Travis was home.  We went all the way down to Ogden for this one.  Nash's team had their STEM project done and they were in the top 5 the whole day.  Going into finals they were in 2nd place.  They had an overall win in the bag.  Nash drove the first 30 seconds and his partner drove the final 30 seconds.  As the final buzzer rang their robot slid off the ramp.  This cost them 1st place.  They ended up tying for 7th as a result.  It was a heart breaker.  However, they did win the overall design award for the competition and were pretty excited about that.  They are ready to crush the competition on Feb. 6th at their next competition.

*We've been back to the Wellness Clinic for retesting.  ALL of the bars are now GREEN!  His overall number that was 601 before, is now up to 937.  This means that his body is balanced and we can proceed with the NAET testing (Nambudripad's Allergen Elimination Technique).  I've received a thick book and a workbook on this testing.  I am suppose to read the book and the workbook is to help while we do the allergen testing.  This testing is much more in depth than the testing that he's had done at the Allergy Clinic twice already.  My understanding so far about how this testing works is: when we go in he will get a treatment (not sure what that treatment is) and then there will be specific foods that he won't be allowed to eat OR touch for the next 24 hours.  Based on his response then we can proceed to the next set of allergens to test for.  I was told that he can pretty much always eat white rice (except when testing grains) and he can pretty much always eat french fries.  Should be interesting to say the least.  I think there may be a few times he eats nothing but french fries for 24 hours.  I think the sugars test will be the most difficult of all for the poor kid.  However, I have faith in this.  Why?  Because after just 3 weeks of the various drops he had been prescribed he was already up a pound and a half.  It took 3 yrs for him to gain the last 5 lbs he's gained.  This is not a cheap route to go, but I know it's going to be worth it in the end!

*Thanksgiving was fun.  We ate dinner at Travis's parents house.  We haven't had dinner out there in about six years so it was a nice change of pace.  Travis got to be home for Thanksgiving (he left the Tuesday after).    He will be home for Christmas as well.  However, once he leaves on Dec. 29th he will be gone for 3 weeks.  The only upside is that when he comes home at the end of January he will get to be home for 3 weeks.  Why the change?  It's to offset the schedule he has been on.  His alternate wants to get holidays home this next yr and in order to do that they have to essentially switch places.

*The kids had their Christmas piano recital this past Friday.  They did a really good job.  I was worried about the boys and their duet but all the work they did with Travis while he was home paid off.  It's nice having a husband who plays guitar and can sit by the piano and play along with them until they get it figured out.  The duet went off without a hitch.  Sam was mad at herself because she messed up her duet with her teacher and they stopped and started again so she wouldn't mess the whole thing up - her hands were in the wrong spot.  

*Brookelyn has finished up dance class until January.  I got to sit and watch her final class.  I finally figured out why she tells me class is boring and she hates it.  They didn't learn a single dance - all they did was ballet basics practice.  Brooke loves tap and loves to actually dance.  This class was very challenging for her because of that.  I asked her if she wanted to quit dance until next fall when I can sign her up at a regular studio or if she wants to keep going with ballet.  When she realized how long she'd have to go without dance she decided to stick it out with her ballet class.  Good girl. :)

*Caleb has his Christmas choir concert coming up on Dec. 16th.  They did an amazing job at the Veteran's Day concert they did so I can't wait to hear the Christmas concert!

*We managed to put our Christmas tree up while Travis was home!

*Our friend, Scott, has been on vacation in Europe for about three months.  I talked to him when he first went over and told him how much Sam loves collecting snow globes.  This week we got a package in the mail.  Sam got three new snow globes and the music for a music box, Brookelyn got a new Matroshka, the boys got a pirate German lego set and some dinosaurs to excavate.  They were all pretty darn excited and I can't say as I blame them.

*I've been working with the boys and their reading to make sure they've been writing down what they are suppose to for school.  Nash is participating in Read Across America this year.  His goal is to read 35 books by the end of the school year.  So far he's read 20.  Books have to be a minimum of 80 pages.  If they are over 300 pages they count as two books.  Many of his books have been over the 300 page mark and have counted as two books.  I found out though that he hasn't been turning in the book reports he's suppose to write if there isn't an RC test for the book.  The kid needed to write 10 book reports!  He was not a happy camper.  I think he's about caught up now though.  Caleb set a goal for himself at the beginning of the school year that he wanted to read 100 books this year.  So far he's filled up his entire book in a bag chart and has had to ask for a new folder.  I've literally only written down about 1/3 - 1/4 of the books he's actually read.  We got to school 30 minutes early on Friday and he started doing his tests.  He had 13 Geronimo Stilton books that he had finished and hadn't tested on yet.  When I left him he had 129 RC points (they earn so many points for each reading test they take - depends on kind of book and how many pages it has).  I'm pretty sure he's at least 1/2 way to his 100 books goal and that he's going to have more RC points than any other 2nd grader.  Any suggestions on chapter books for a 2nd grader that reads on a 4th grade level would be great.  He blows through an A to Z Mystery and a Magic Tree House book in about 1 - 1.5 hrs.

*So, you can see why I'm so terrible at keeping my blog up to date recently.  My dang kids just keep me too dang busy!  We have fun though, even when it gets crazy busy.

Check Up with Peterson Wellness Clinic

Tonight we back back to the Peterson Wellness Clinic to visit with Janalee & see how Caleb was responding to the peroxide drops.  Let me just say this: If ever there was magic in medicine, this is it!

Caleb had both his right and left hands retested using the Meridian Stress Assessment.  Originally, his results looked like this (red means his body is stressed and out of balance on that meridian, yellow means his body is stressed but working to correct the problem & green means that he is balanced & has no problem in that area):

Both hands

Both feet

Overall (we were told on our first visit that it's fine to have something show up in boxes 1, 2 or 3.  You dont' want anything in 4, 5, or 6.  Apparently, Caleb's body has missed that memo.)

Janalee did NOT retest his feet tonight.  That will be done in 3 weeks when we go back for a full recheck.  However, she told me that based on the results she got tonight, EVERYTHING on that first picture is now GREEN.  This is EXCELLENT news!  She said that if he continues to improve like that that when he comes back in 3 weeks we will be able to go ahead with the other form of testing (NTSE?? I think) and get down to the nitty gritty of things & see what allergies he has that are real, legit allergies.

The other thing I talked with Janalee about tonight is that last week I noticed several small scabs on the crown of his head.  They were almost in a perfect circle.  I didn't know if it was a result of the testing, a reaction to the peroxide drops or, if it was something else altogether.  She asked if he has eczema & I told her yes.  She said that it's possible it's an outbreak of eczema and he's releasing toxins, etc., through it.  After she retested his hands and checked to see if his dose of the peroxide drops needed to be changed (yep, down from 2 drops 2x day to 2 drops 1 x a day) she tried some histamine drops with him.  She said that those should help with the itching on his head.  She also said that it should help any time he has an eczema outbreak or anything similar to that.

All in all, I'm very happy with his results so far.  He seems to have more energy.  I don't know if it's a result of his body coming more into balance or if it's something else.  I think he finally realizes that the eating problem is now a serious issue and he seems to take it a little more seriously.  I do worry that soon he will quit eating the go gurt & the string cheese (4//6 of his last home lunches the go gurt & string cheese have come home untouched).  I do feel like we are making some headway though.

I did spend about an hour on the phone with the dietician the other night.  I don't feel like he addressed any of my questions.  His only real change to any of the suggestions he had made to Travis was that if he can't tolerate the milk to give him Carnation Good Start instead.  He didn't ever really say why he feels like giving my under weight child empty calories is a good idea.  I guess he feels like any calories are better than no calories at this point.  And, to some degree I agree.  However, my concern is that Brookelyn is watching Caleb very close these days and she's beginning to pick up on some of his characteristics and mannerisims.  I'm not ok with teaching her at this age -at any age really- that if she doesn't like what's in front of her all she has to do is drink chocolate milk instead.  Chocolate milk is not a cure all or an answer to everything, especially when the child in question is actually allergic to milk!  I understand the dietician has Caleb's best interst in mind, but if I don't advocate for him and what I know to be bset for him, no one will.  I spend the most time with him and I know him better than anyone else, so I have a pretty good idea of what he is and isn't willing to do/try.  I know we need to be open to new things/ideas, but sometimes, you have to choose your battles.

And, on another positive note, LeGrand Johnson (or maybe Hyrum City) FINALLY (after a mere 6 weeks of no action and 4 weeks of me calling and making a pain of myself) came out and "fixed" the mess they created when they "fixed" our road.  There is no longer (for now anyway) a 4-6" drop off into my driveway - hallelujah!

Caleb goes to the Peterson Wellness Clinic

This past Thursday (29th) we went to the Peterson Wellness Clinic.  I wasn't too sure what to expect when we got there.  We saw a nice lady named Janalee.  We were taken back to Janalee's office.  I explained what has been going on.  I told her I had brought copies of Caleb's allergy testing (both times).  She said something I thought was interesting.  She said that often times when allergy testing that if you haven't eaten certain foods for a specific amount of time prior to the allergy test that they won't show up at all.  Considering that the first time Caleb was allergy tested he showed a positive allergy test to cow's milk we had eliminated a vast majoirty of dairy from his diet - not all dairy, but lots.  The second time he was allergy tested cow's milk didn't show up.  We thought he had perhaps outgrown it.  However, I have since discovered that if he does over do it with the cow's milk products, he goes right back to the same symptoms he had before (lots of congestion which eventually turns to sinus infection and leads to antibiotics, etc).

She had Caleb take of his shoes & socks and sit up on a stool.  She took one of his hands and sprayed it with water and then placed a copper tube of sorts in his hand.  She used another copper "thing" to test his Meridians.  This meant that she got her end of the copper wet and then placed it on a specific point on one of Caleb's hands (the one not holding the copper tube) or one of his feet).  There were 60 different points to test between his two feet and both his hands.  Out of the 60 areas, he is off balance in 46 areas.  I can't say I'm surprised.  The 2 worst areas were digestion & cellular metabolism.

After she finished testing his Meridans, she went back and did some testing to see what his body would respond best to for treatment.  She found that, for now, his body responds best to a 100% peroxide drop.  Janalee explained that he needs to take 2 of the peroxide drops 2 times a day until we go back.  We go back one week after the first appointment to make sure the drops are doing their thing.  Then we go back another week after that to test the drops again.  Then we will wait 2 weeks & go back for a retest on his Meridians to see if they have improved.

This is not going to be an inexpensive path to treatment.  However, I am feeling good about this and I think we have a good shot at remedying some of the underlying issues he is having.  Janalee explained that one of his numbers needs to be over 900 in order to be considered balanced.  Caleb is currently at 601.  We obviously have a ways to go.  She said that once his numbers are over 900 then we should consider re allergy testing him and seeing if he still has any true allergies giving him fits.  She was glad to hear that we are already having him see a chiropractor regularly.

Travis told the boys I had taken Caleb to a witch doctor.  Turd.   Witch dr. or not, if she can help my son to become healthy, I don't care!  We've been doing the drops twice a day and he's been really good about it.  Hopefully he will keep being good about all the dr. visits & he will keep doing what they say!

Samantha's trip to the chiropractor

Well, we got Sam's xrays back today.  I looked at this first one and went, "Hmm..  She's as crooked as her mom!"  The chirpractor said that her bones haven't fused so she's going to get more heighth to her.  He said that it's typical for kids who are growing to be lopsided so he isn't super worried about that right now.  She is, however, 28 mm to the left.  I was 16 mm to the left the first time I went about 6 yrs ago.

Here's the side view of her neck.  This one doesn't have the purple marks on it to show where she should be.  Suffice it to say that although this doesn't look super bad, it's not great.  The GOOD thing I did notice is that the spacing between her discs is even and there is no brain stem smashing!

This is a side view of her torso.  The pencil line there should actually go through the pelvic bone.  It's marked as being 7 mm off.

 This is the best view of her neck.  The purple line that's a little more straight shows the curvature now.  The purple one that arcs back shows where the arc of her neck should be!  He's rather concerned about this.  He wants her coming once a week (her brothers are 3 times a week) and he wants her doing neck stretches each night.

I can say that I'm happy I had all three xrayed when I did.  There were multiple issues going on that need to be fixed and since they've been spotted this early we should be able to get them fixed without too much trauma.  I was talking to Dr. Fullmer today because Sam jokingly told him we forgot to mention Nash is pregnant before he had his xrays (he had an ultrasound on his bladder & kidneys recently).  It was after this comment from Sam that I was telling him about how Nash still pees the bed nightly if he doesn't take his medication.  I told him which medication he's on and how much and how long he's been taking it.  He said that today he adjusted the L1, which is where he would need adjusted for that exact problem.  He said that it moved a lot.  I told him we should make a note to be sure and adjust that each time I'm bringing him in seeing how we are going to be there so often for awhile.  Dr. Fullmer said he would make a note of it in his chart.  He said that the adjustment should help to send the signal to his brain that his bladder is full so HOPEFULLY he'll recognize it and we can avert the bed wetting and PERHAPS cut out the medication.  I would be thrilled.  Not nearly as thrilled Nash, but thrilled none the less!

Nash's Chiropractor X Rays

Well, this kid has a gap too, but it isn't nearly as bad as his brother's.  There is however, something more ooncerning here.

The angle at which Nash's neck sits is way too steep.  His neck also curves opposite of the way it's suppose to.  If you look at the photo carefully you can see two lines that are drawn on the xray.  The first line (the steep one) indicates the angle at which his neck is now.  The second line is where the angle of his neck should be.  Even this isn't the most important thing we learned today though.

Nash's C1 is not being smooshed into his brain stem like Caleb's (good news).  However, because of the angle at which his neck sits, his C2 is pushed into the back of C3.  AND since his C2 is oversized it sits on top of C3 quite a bit.  If this is not treated it will cause degenerative bone issues in the C2 and C3 later on.  

GOOD TIMES AT THE BOWN HOUSE TODAY!

Considering what we've learned by having xrays of the boys done I went ahead and took Sam back in this afternoon (Nash's appointment was this morning) in order to have new xrays done on her.  She has had xrays before (the boys haven't) and we've never been alerted to a problem like either of the boys have had show up.  (That's good news.)  But, just to be on the safe side, I wanted to have her looked at again knowing that her brothers have issues with their C1-C3 area.  We will get her xrays back on Tuesday.  Until further notice the boys will be visiting the chiropractor 2-3 times a week.  Here's to many visits with our friend, the chiropractor!