The MICE Fiasco

Yes - we have (hopefully now PAST tense) mice in our attic.  Yes, you remember correctly - our house is only 8 months old.

So one night I heard scratching and them fumbling around.  I FREAKED out.  We never had that kind of thing happen EVER since we've been married.  So I TRIED to wake the sleeping log (Brian) up.  I told him there was something in the attic.  I told him several times as the noises became more assaulting to my sanity.  It was literally 2 in the morning, and I was still curled in a fetal position, listening intently to the scratching, scurrying, and other noises I dared not envision in my mind.  Sleep fled from my mind.

My cute sleeping log, I mean husband, told me it was "JUST MY IMAGINATION"  and it was "JUST THE WIND COMING THROUGH THE VENTS- As IF!!

So, several nights later of these crazy noises, I actually was able to time waking up Brian, keeping him awake for 10 seconds, while the noise happened above our heads.

Then as I was cutting Brian's hair in our bathroom, he HEARD IT in full consciousness while I was changing settings on the razor.  AH HAH!  Now we were on the same page!

Luckily one of our friends who takes care of this stuff - pest control - came over and gave us his full expertise, to which we are eternally grateful.   He put some cool peanut butter poison that dehydrates the mouse and causes them to leave the house to look for water.  He saw evidence of mouse, tunnels in the blown insulation, droppings, and entry ways into the house. I was glad we had answers and some GREAT POISON down.

I wish that was the end of the story.  BUT ITS NOT....

So the next night, Brian was with his HS BOYS BOWLING TEAM at State Finals in St. Louis (crazy story for another post) and then ...

IT BEGAN.....

I heard the strangest animal noises of my LIFE and I began to wonder if a totally different animal was up there than I previously thought.  I heard almost human like exertion noises, sounding as if it were pushing something extrememly heavy across the attic...

followed by tapping noise...

Every once in awhile I would hear this strange whinnying noise - I FREAKED OUT!  I did not know mice made THAT noise.  I thought they only squeaked.

I began to doubt all I ever knew about mice.  Or maybe it was a opossum....or a racoon....or a squirrel...

I DIDN'T know.  It was a LONG night.  I literally prayed I would be able to sleep with freaky animal noises occurring right above my head.  I imaged with all the exertion noises I would hear, that it would chew through the ceiling or something.

The next day, I texted Brian a series of FREAKED OUT TEXTS about the horrible night it was.  And I was STILL hearing the noise.  At one point it even seemed like the noise was coming from the computer in our room..but then I looked above the computer at the ceiling and then realized it was coming from the area right ABOVE the  computer.  GREAT - it was only 5 feet away from me.  PERFECT.

I took a bath listening to the exertion noises, the tapping, and the occasional freaky whinnying.  It was a very NOT relaxing bath.  I again pictured crazy scenarios with these noises.  If that mice wouldn't eat those peanut butter things, or didn't DIE, maybe it was WAY bigger than previously thought!

Then the most EMBARRASING MOMENT OF MY LAST 12 MONTHS CAME:  I went to the computer to turn it on, and there before me was....

My daughter's BELLA SARA HORSE website was on the computer.  ONLY THE MONITOR HAD BEEN OFF AND THE VOLUME WAS UP , so I had been listening to BELLA SARA HORSE WEBSITE noises for the past 12 hours.

I was SOOOOO relieved, and also felt SO UTTERLY STUPID....but then relieved again...and the SO UTTERLY STUPID AGAIN...and then SOOOO relieved.

Happy ending - I have not heard a "mouse" since that night!  (OR A REAL MOUSE!)

UPDATE: NO CELIAC?!?!??! Pediatric Enterologist confirms....

So this debacle has taken more twists and turns than chutes and ladders!  After we thought we finally knew what was wrong with Kylie - fitting the description PERFECTLY for Celiac Disease, we got the lab results back.  NO celiac disease.

Meanwhile, we had her on the nutritional regimen - Heavy Duty Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, Vit D3 - she was doing fantastic.  I monitored her very carefully.  She was putting on weight fantastically.  She gained 1  1/2 lbs in 6 weeks -which is VERY fast for her, being as active as she is, and considering it has taken her 4 -5 months to put on EACH lb for the past year.  I began to see her cheeks getting actually CHUBBY - it felt so rewarding...

THEN, something happened.  On the same day three things occurred.  I took her in for the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella immunization), I put her on almond milk for variety, and she ran out of probiotics.  We have had on her an alternate immunization schedule, where you get the M,the other M, and the R totally separate from each other - waiting a few weeks in between.  I wasn't even thinking about that ....but....

That night and for the next 5 days were ABSOLUTEY AWFUL.  After her digestive system was performing beautifully - everything normal - she suddenly had a very adverse digestive reaction.  Everything was pure liquid.  She would wake up totally covered from head to toe - she went through 10 outfits a day - everything smelled like rotting flesh. She would have BM after BM - all pure liquid.  I was sick to my stomach.  I felt that everything she had gained was being lost.  I felt totally helpless.  Luckily after 3 days of this, one of my friends who goes to the same dr. was able to get the probiotics for me.  After one day, she became normal again.  Her appetite not quite what it was, but at least, she became normalized again.

Meanwhile we were referred to a pediatic enterologist.  I was nervous they would slap her with a steroid PX or some kind of meaningless PX - but I was wrong.  After explaining the situation, and after he looked at her, and the celiac lab results...he concluded she had a digestive bacterial infection and that the probiotics have been taking care of her.

What I DIDNT mention was that after getting treated through NAET, she can actually have wheat, dairy, yeast, gluten WITHOUT having crazy BMs.  She actually had the labwork done after being treated for those.  So, all I cared about NOW was the pediatric enterologist opinion of things as it NOW stands.

So the prognosis - she is doing fine and looks healthy.  Keep her on the probiotics, feed her a LOT (which I always have -the other day she had 4 hotdogs in 2 minutes!), give her plenty of fats - avacados, good oils (which I HAVE been),   and if she has another "episode" then I will go back, otherwards, no need.

The bad news?  She had lost 1 lb 2 ounces after the crazy post-immunization debacle.  She undid most of her gaining, so it will be an uphill battle again to pack the lbs on her.  BUT, after technically a 4th opinion on her, and with her NAET progress, I feel like we are moving forward.  She has been doing beautifully the past 2 weeks, and had been the prior 7 weeks before that.  So she had a little set back - but NOW - let the weight GAIN begin!

the MONIQUE factor...its not pretty

Yes, we are a disturbed lot.  That is what too much Christmas vacation does to someone!  The white haired lady is my mom's mom - Grandma Wright.  LOVE HER TO PIECES.  She looks so Carol Channing in this picture of her.  One of my sisters, Susan, is in one of the shots.  And Tyler and His Cousin Abby are the boy and girl in these MONIQUE FACTOR shots.  Yes, too much time, so little to do....

I have NO more excuses now!! Here are some ACTUAL pics from Christmas - don't go into shock!

Yes! I am SO excited! I bought a Canon Rebel XT from one of my photographer friends since she is upgrading. Ironically, its the same camera my dad bought 3 years ago - the same in EVERY WAY! So we had fun talking shop, and he taught us everything he knows. Some of it is STILL over my head, but I have been reading the camera manual - something I usually try to avoid because it seems boring - upon my friend's suggestion.

And I have learned alot - but I can tell I have a LOT LOT LOT left to learn. I didn't get a lens CAP in the deal...or a camera CASE, or a UV filter thing....and the viewfinder is cracked...but I got a STINKING good deal so I don't mind those things. I have been admiring pics on my friends' blogs forever LUSTING after their technique and know how. Hopefully I will be able to join the ranks! Here is Christmas at my parents house :)

DIAGNOSED: Celiac Disease for our cute Kylie

So, this is a BIG contributer to the reason I feel like I am sort of drowning in my own life! BIG BREATH:

Kylie has Celiac Disease. We took her in for her 18 month appointment to a new Pediatrician. SO MUCH BETTER than the last pediatrician who made me feel that the reason Kylie wasn't gaining weight was because I was feeding her a "low fat diet" - and I needed to put butter and oil on everything she ate.

So THIS pediatrician was great - he listened to her history, what she was allergic to, symptoms, health concerns and told me it was CELIAC DISEASE.

What is CELIAC DISEASE? I was sort of familiar with it. When I got my AMA nutritional credits, they did have a VERY DRY speaker who addressed this. Sad to say, he was so dry I tended to nod off during his presentation.

But here is what it is:

Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. If you have celiac disease and eat foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in your small intestine, causing damage to the surface of your small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients.

Eventually, the decreased absorption of nutrients (malabsorption) that occurs with celiac disease can cause vitamin deficiencies that deprive your brain, peripheral nervous system, bones, liver and other organs of vital nourishment. This can lead to other illnesses and stunted growth in children.

So this is why Kylie is 18 months old and only 19 lbs. And get the runs whever she has wheat, gluten, or dairy.

She also has to get her thyroid checked.

So if you have been reading my blog in the past year you will know that I took Tyler to an NAET specialist (allergy elimination technique) to get rid of his allergy induced asthma. He is totally better, just can't have sugar yet.

At any rate, we took Kylie the next day to the NAET doctor who is FANTASTIC. She came up positive with neuroscensory muscle testing with CELIAC DISEASE, COLITIS and that the body was rejecting the process of producing GROWTH HORMONES.

So since this thing can lead to stunted development - physically, neurologically, physiologically, it is VERY good we are finding this out now.

She is on a VERY strict No gluten, yeast, wheat, dairy diet, and no canned foods. And she has to get on very concentrated probiotics, a digestive enzyme to eat away the mucus lining in her intestinal track/stomach, and D3 vitamin to start absorbing nutrients, and a growth hormone JUMP starter. If it sounds expensive, it IS.

But I am looking through the long range lens and getting my little cutie pie better. So far she is not affected mentally or with her motor skills. She is just VERY small in stature - still below "0" on the child tracking chart for weight. For height - she is like 10%.

So I feel lucky that we have the tools to reverse this thing - to treat the components creating the antibodies in her body through NAET, and then jumpstart her immune system, digestive track, and her growth hormones.

So while it seems like a pain, I really feel like I was prepared to handle this one, especially after Tyler.

RESURFACING FOR NEW MOON

Ok, I am resurfacing in my seemingly insanely busy life (I knew it would get this way once September hit!) to blog about going to see NEW MOON tonite.

Yes, I wanted to do the whole MIDNIGHT showing thing, but it did not work out with the other girls I am going with. We have been planning to go together for ONE YEAR!! Yes - and we also plan to go NEXT YEAR to Eclipse, which just got done filming 2 weeks ago.

And I did hear officially that the NEW MOON midnight showing ALONE brought in a little over 26 million, which is a record.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being a TWI-MOM as they call us. When I teach my fitness classes, at least 2 or 3 of the classes, we will work out to the twilight or New Moon soundtracks - then I have an excuse to see who the other twi-moms are!

I am a nerd, I know, but its FUN!! CANT WAIT TO SEE THE MOVIE - 10 o clock showing BABY!!

I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF...

...I know, that is not something you admit about yourself. But as you can see from my last post, I have gotten into the whole coupon thing. AND, you might surmise that one of the reasons I have been poor to post is because I am going through what they call the "Coupon honeymoon."

Did you know there was such a thing? Well, it is true. This is what I did at MEIJER (like SuperTarget) the past two days:

14 Loaves of 100% Whole Wheat PEPPERIDGE FARMS Bread
75 Cans of soup: Cream of Chicken and Mushroom, Tomato and Chicken Noodle
12 AVACADOS
8 LBS of Honey Crisp Apples
1 Imitation Vanilla
1 Lindt Candy bar
1 container LIME JUICE

GRAND TOTAL: $11.65

Yes - I am pretty darn proud of that because its the ONLY way for me to do food storage. So w are set on bread for at least 2 months, Soup for the winter, Avacados for a week - GUACAMOLE anyone? And apples for 2 weeks - HONEY CRISP at that! YUM!

Anyway - if you break up my time into an hourly rate of what I had to do - it still was pretty darn good. If you go to Meier today - they still have the bread and soup deal :) Buy 5 cans of soup + PF bread and get $5 off next order. It rolls FOREVER. Pair it with a coupon - you will be under everytime and have to make up for the difference with some other food. LOVE IT!