Sunday 31 August 2014

Our 1st Family Photo Shoot..

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Friday 29 August 2014

Jiedyn's #BookWeek Costume..


What do you think guys?
Pin it!
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Sunday 24 August 2014

Nevaeh's New Diet..

Nevaeh is currently 4 days into her new diet. After being diagnosed 5 days ago with Fructose Malaborption she is now on the low FODMAP diet. The first few days after her diagnosis I was over whelmed, stressed and very tired. I researched and made it my priority to reach out to others with FM. I joined two facebook support groups within Australia and discovered two other Mum's in the area whose children are on the low FODMAP diet. The group was amazing in providing me info, directing me to an app for my phone and sharing recipes etc. On the third day I broke. Her new diet requirements look like this..
I went shopping and was completely overwhelmed with how restricted she was. While there is now quite a large range of Gluten Free products most have milk solids in them. Both Aldi and Coles don't have much in their ranges although I did get luckier at Foodworks but at a price. I bought around 25 items for $130. Savory things that I found that didn't have milk or wheat in them, let me down by having onion or garlic powder which are both out.. The bread she needs is close to $7 a loaf of about 10 slices. She only likes it toasted. While it's tasteless the texture is what she doesn't like. It's hard. Banana's were a maybe but she seems to be eating them okay which is a win for us. Today I bought a deep freezer to start making my own sauces, soups, lunchbox snacks, bread and bread rolls. Everything has to be made from scratch. Nevaeh is embracing the change quite well while I'm still hoping to wake up to this all being a very bad dream. I am however thankful to the people who have stepped forward to help and support me and my family so early after her diagnosis. Thank you all. My Dad surprisingly has been an amazing support also. So thankful for him in our lives. While this is just the beginning I'm excited to be able to give my child her needs. To see her smiling and pain free. She has changed so much already. That in itself is a blessing..


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Tuesday 19 August 2014

Finally! A Diagnosis.

Dear Readers,

 Earlier today my 5 year old daughter was diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption. She has been getting symptoms for around a year now and after blood tests, x-rays and ultra sounds showing nothing we had to wait 6 months to see a Pediatrician. Today was the day. As we walked out of the pediatrician office today with a name for whats been causing her so much pain I'm overwhelmed and uneducated on the subject of her new diet requirements. Just wondering if there was anyone in my area suffering with the same thing Fructose Malabsorption who can help me get to know the needs of my daughter or if any of you guys know many Australian webpage lists of diet requirements, recipes, do's and don'ts.. We have been referred to a dietitian but it's not yet known when we'll be seeing her and I would like to know how to best start her new diet.

Thanks so much.
Mel.

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Thursday 14 August 2014

The Road to Healthy Eating..

Just yesterday while checking out a few videos on Faith It I stumbled upon an amazing (life changing) video. This is a rare occurrence for me to be spending time watching online videos but for this reason it was worth it. This video really rocked my world. Its no secret that my daughter has an eating disorder. She constantly wants to eat, gets a sore belly during and after she eats and never gets the 'full' feeling. While some changes have been made reality is that we still eat junk food far too often than we should be. Wednesday's have become our fish and chips night as Nevaeh finishes Kindergarten at 5pm. This in our usual start-dinner-time so they're bellies are hungry. Looking for a quick fix the local fish and chip shop owners have gotten to know us this year due to our weekly Wednesday visits. I also buy take away sometimes twice a week on top of that. Check out the video here..



So after looking up the website http://www.strong4life.com/ and starting to read a few of their articles I was awoken to the fact that I need to create a healthly lifestyle for my kids, and with all this new knowledge I can. With our weekly shop just around the corner I began writing down the list they have on their site. I added things and took off what I know my children definitely wouldn't eat and jotted down some tips on the back. I did our weekly shop and got majority of the list.

Last night I made a chicken stir fry using all fresh ingredients. I substituted white rice for brown and to my surprise the kids actually ate it! We have also swapped all our bread and biscuits to wholegrain and this week have bought a few varieties of nuts to munch on.

What shocked me more was how much it cost to stock our fridge and pantry. My weekly shop is generally around $80, where as yesterday it was $120. For $40 more we're on our way to better health with plenty of good nutritious food.

We are doing one thing at a time with an aim to..

a. Make Half Your Plate Veggies And Fruits
b. Be Active For 60 Minutes
c. Limit Screen Time To One Hour
d. Drink More Water And Limit Sugary Drinks

So far water is the in thing and I'm encouraging more fruit and veggies. Brown rice is also checked off but the kids are not so keen for the multi-grain bread yet with both of them taking white bread to school today. After the last 6 sliced of white bread are through it's onto the good stuff! Also in their lunchboxes today were strawberries, banana, multi-grain crackers and pretzels. Also sugary spreads are out with chicken meat in.

While we still have a long way to go, I'm excited to be making the change. I'd hate to think that I was the reason my children become obese one day..

Thank you Strong4Life for the wake up call!
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Monday 11 August 2014

Our One Night Getaway!


Our one night family adventure to Warrnambool was exactly what we all needed. Staying one night only we managed to fit so much into a day and a half. Here's what we did in the order of when we did it..

DAY 1 - SATURDAY
Dad picked us up at 8am
Got lost on the way there.
Went to Logan's Beach Whale Nursery
Went whale watching.

Had Lunch at Lake Pertobe.
The kids had a twenty minute play on the Adventure Playground.
I checked us in to the Big4 Hopkins River Holiday Park.
We went to Gateway Plaza to buy dinner and snacks for later.
We pumped bait where the Hopkins River meets the sea.
We went back to where we were staying.
We sat down and unpacked a few things.
The kids watched a bit of TV.
They then rode the bikes/go karts around the park twice.
We then played Mini Golf.
The kids made some friends.
They went to jump on the Jumping Pillow.
Dad and I had a few drinks and had a game of Mini Golf.
Dad went fishing before it got dark.
The kids and I went in the heated pool and spa.
We went back to our villa for showers.
We had hot dogs for dinner.
The kids watched Pirates of the Caribbean.
Dad caught two fish.
Nevaeh and I went to bed early.
Dad and Jie stayed up eating lollies.

DAY 2 - SUNDAY

Nevaeh woke us all up.
We layed in bed chatting for an hour.
Jie loved the bikes.
Nevaeh loved the spa.
We got up and got dressed.
The kids had cornflakes for breakfast.
I stripped the beds and cleaned the cabin.
We checked out at 10am.
We made our way to the Hopkins River Falls.



The kids loved the falls.
We made our way home.
We didn't want to leave.
We got home at around 1pm.

All in all we all had an amazing time together. Most of all I was impressed with how much effort Dad put into making memories with me and the kids. He did a half an hours worth of fishing by himself and the rest of the time he was with us. I love spending this time with him and having my kids looking up to him just as I did at their ages. It was so special and unlike any of our previous trips. Definitely the best so far!!

Would also just like to thanks and highly recommend the Big4 Hopkins River Holiday Park. The staff were wonderful and full of fun which makes all the difference when staying at their park. You can really tell they love there jobs and generally want their visitors to have an amazing time in which we did. Thanks again you guys!!
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