Vitamin D, Exercise, and a Heart Full of Joy

I walk almost every day.  I walk in the sun, so I get Vitamin D and I get exercise.  I think this may be the reason that all of my kids have been sick, but I have stayed well.  I have had a few slight symptoms and some fatigue, as if my body were indeed fighting something off, but my kids have been outright sick over the past four weeks.

First it was my younger three, with the youngest, unvaccinated child, being the least sick, having the fewest symptoms and the shortest duration of symptoms.  Coincidence? Then we had a break for a few days and the oldest two children got sick.  They were absolutely wiped out.  It has been nearly two weeks without having the help of my older two with chores and childcare.  My eight year old has graduated to big kid status, and she is very proud of herself, so this has been a good thing, all in all.

My heart is so full of joy as I realize all of the things I have to be thankful for.  Things just get better and better all the time!

This past week I realized that the urgency that my 3rd and 4th children had with needing to go to the restroom is gone, and has been for a while.  We can drive across town and back without having to make an emergency stop.  They can actually hold it for a bit when asked, but often, they do not even have the strong urge to go.  Amazing!

I also found that these same two children are having more dry beds in the mornings, meaning fewer nighttime accidents.  In fact, this morning I had absolutely NO laundry to do!  Amazing!

Last week our three year old finally decided it was time to start using the potty and wear underwear.  He is putting pee and poo in the potty everyday, and to top it all off, his poos are normal, brown, fully digested poos (little brown logs), which is a first, as his poos have always been a sloppy, undigested mess, hence my procrastination to spend any time working on potty training, as the messes are just too messy to deal with.  That was a really long sentence.  I hope it made sense.  Also, this week he decided to start using the big potty, instead of the little potty seat.  Praise the Lord!

Our five year old discovered the Hooked on Phonics curriculum, as I have been rearranging things to prepare for next year's schooling.  (I am turning the two bedrooms into study rooms during the day for the two big kids, so they can concentrate better when they need to get away from the chaos of living with so many younger siblings.)  So, CKS is flying through the curriculum and is having a blast earning new books and stickers everyday.  SSS, our three year old, also wants to learn to read, so he is learning his letter sounds with ABC the KEY and loving it.  Every time he learns all of the sounds a letter can say, he earns a new letter bag, which I created for him.  He is so proud.  He knows the four sounds that "a" says, and he knows the sound that "b" says.  I'm so proud of my boys!

My youngest three have been taking ISR swim lessons for the past 4-5 weeks.  My eight year old graduated in 4 weeks after she passed her test of swim-float-swim in winter clothes.  My boys are close to testing in summer clothes.  They can both swim and roll to a float.  They can both float and roll to a swim.  They need a little more time to put it all together and get themselves to the edge or the steps.  They were really scared at first, but now they love it and they are so very proud of themselves.  Our non-GAPS selves celebrate their hard work in the pool with an ice-cream treat everyday.  They love that!  Bonus: washing their hair, or any part of their body, is no longer a struggle because they love the water now and they are not afraid to get water in their ears or on their faces.  WooHoo!

I also noticed that there are absolutely NO traces of autism left in my 4th child!  His eye contact is brilliant.  He loves to look at me and tell me all kinds of amazing things that only a five year old could come up with.  He figures things out!  He also cares deeply for others.  I asked him to sign a card for his favorite babysitter, who was graduating, and he asked me what kinds of things she liked.  I told him animals and horses.  He decided to draw her a picture of a horse.  I quote, he said, "I love drawing what other people like."  Is that not the coolest thing ever!!!  I just do NOT take these things for granted anymore!

Along the same lines, our oldest, who fit the Asperger's Syndrome description quite well for years, is now volunteering his time to help others.  He helps me with the little ones and with chores, cheerfully when asked, and sometimes he even offers when he notices that I could use some help.  This past week, his sister was sicker than him and he asked her if he could get her something.  He did this regularly.  This coming from the same kid who, as a little guy, pulled his sister's finger out of the VCR causing her skin to be peeled back creating a large gash gushing lots of blood, put his hands over his ears and screamed for me to make her stop crying because it was too loud and it hurt his ears.  Now, he sees when others are hurting or are in need.  Now, he figures things out and acts appropriately, more often than not.  Amazing!  Praise God!!!

I also noticed that when the kids were sick, they were mentally fine.  My older girl used to get really anxious and she would look pained and miserable as she pushed her legs against the couch cushions.  She needed to push against something.  She needed that tactile input to help put her at ease.  I noticed that she handled being sick with a positive attitude.  All of the kids were fine, sick, but fine.  Praise the Lord!  Yet another sign that we have been healed.

I continue to praise God for an amazing pregnancy.  I am now 27 weeks pregnant and I am not having all of the strong, even painful, Braxton Hicks contractions that I had with all of my other pregnancies.  I also am not suffering from other common pregnancy ailments.  I have varicose veins, but they no longer cause me pain or trouble.  They may gross people out, but they do not bother me, all glory to my Heavenly Father, who has heard my prayer and relieved me from the pain.

Because of all of the sickness, my house is a wreck, but I am not.  That is amazing!

There may be more, but that is all of the big stuff.  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!!  Praise the Lord!!!  He is worthy of our praise!  He is love, and my love for Him just grows and grows and grows, as I learn to trust in Him.  My heart is full of joy!