Life Changes

How do you read the title of this post? Do you read "Life" as a noun and that it changes? Or do you read it as "Life-long" changes?

Well, either way you are correct. Life does change, but for this post, I will mention changes that we will be making that should be for life.

Jim and I have had concerns about Joshua's hyper behavior. We know that he's a boy, we know that he's a toddler and we know that it's common. However, we feel that we know our son better than anybody and that his constant need to move coupled with his very short temper and extreme aggression are cause for concern.

Our family doctor, during our very first visit asked, "Is he always this hyper?" and it's the first time anyone outside of Jim and I have recognized exactly what we have been concerned about. And his recommendation (mind you, this is a MD) was not, "Get that kid on meds", it was, "you need to eliminate dairy and sugar from his diet". Poor Joshua though, his two favorite foods are cheese and anything with sugar! But, he's such a smart little guy and really does understand so much for such a young child. We have been telling him that sugar and cheese are hurting his belly and that sugar is what causes him to act out and now he will tell us that he cannot have certain foods. (For example he told his Uncle Phil tonight that he can't have cake and ice cream because it has sugar in it and sugar is bad and hurts his belly).

A dear friend of ours (and a sister in the church) has been working with different diet changes with her own family and has been such a big help to me. She has been recommending a diet called the GAPS diet (Gut And Psychology Syndrome). A diet designed by a medical doctor with a degree in neurology as well as nutrition. We ordered a few books pertaining to this diet and will begin our journey as soon as the books arrive (via mail 4-6 days).

This is a very radical diet- and while the diet itself will take approximately 2 years (the time it will take to heal the gut) it really is a life-long change. I am saying very little about the diet itself as I have a LOT to learn about it.

I hope to keep a log of the changes we make as well as results we encounter.

We of course have a lot of foods in the house that we are going to try and use up (so we don't waste money)- we had a pkg of instant oatmeal (which is full of sugar) that we made for Joshua Sat. am and within an hour he was bouncing off the walls. On Sunday he had ZERO sugar and he was calm in church, he actually played quietly after church and Jim and I were able to sit on the couch and talk (without being interrupted) but then we gave Joshua a snack with cheddar cheese and within an hour he was almost uncontrollable (of course it could have been because he was excited to be with his cousins too) but I am convinced it was the cheese. At one point this evening he walked up and punched his Uncle Kyle for no reason (other than he was all hyped up and thought it was funny)???

I think the hardest part is going to be for me. I LOVE to eat out with my family. I am going to have to figure out a way to still eat with my family all while not eating the wrong foods. We're going to go through these changes a long with Joshua- I think we could all use a little help!

On the Move

It's been a while since I have written anything. Life seems to be passing by at an alarmingly fast speed! As many of you know, Jim and I went(are going through)some tough financial times. When we opened the cabinet business in 2007 we knew that it would be hard for a while, but we never imagined the economy to tank the way it did. We tried using our "credit" for saving the business, but when we stopped getting work, we had to make some very tough decisions. One of which was to include our house in the bankruptcy.

Shortly after the discharge of our bankruptcy, we tried to work with the bank to obtain a loan modification. After putting us through several months of a "trial period" (where we paid them a "good faith" payment) they came back and told us we didn't qualify. We made another big decision to hire an attorney to help us avoid foreclosure. Unfortunately, the process had already begun and less than a week of retaining an attorney we were served. LONG STORY short (well, not quite so short)... For one year now, we feel like we have not seen any result with regards to keeping the house. We have been able to work through the baby steps in the Total Money Makeover (we are on Baby Step 4- saving for retirement). And by continuing to fight for the house would essentially keep us from moving forward in our process to become financially stable. Sooooooooooo, all that to say, we have decided to let go of the house and we'll be moving.

Our move-in date to our new apartment is September 24. That gives us close to 6 weeks to slim down (our stuff,) pack and move. We are going to attempt garage sales each weekend from now until the weekend before we move. Hopefully we will sell off all our unwanted stuff (that we don't want to put in storage) and make a little moolah too.

We have a 3 year plan in place. By taking a smaller, less expensive apartment, we will be able to stash cash and in 3 years have a hefty sum of money to put towards a down payment (Dave Ramsey advocates paying cash for a house, but if you can't do that, he recommends no more than a 15 year mortgage). We trust that the Lord will bless our efforts in being better stewards of what HE has given to us, and that HE will show us when the time is right to move forward on another home.

Please pray for us as we make this change in our lives. I have no idea what kind of emotional attachment Joshua may have on this house. It's all he's ever known for almost 3 years. I know I may get weepy eyed but I can see the big picture and understand what is trying to be accomplished, Joshua doesn't understand that. I pray that he transitions like a trooper.

We have our new address and phone number and I will send out an email when we get settled in with that info. If I don't have your email and you want an update please email me at kaustin14325@yahoo.com!