In God We Trust
July 4, 2011
Holidays around our house make me nervous. It seems Claire usually doesn’t have the best days at holiday time. Mainly because these days are surrounded by activity and far from routine. She gets extra tired, extra hot and extra close to seizure activity. So, today is no different. We walk on eggshells and hover over Claire to spy the slightest change in her behavior.
But then I decide to trust.
Trust God and lean completely on Him. Independence day reminds me how dependent I am on God. I have a peace of mind knowing He is in control of our days. Even holidays. This helps me enjoy the celebration and see the joy in every moment life offers.
To live a full rich life I have to say,
Goodbye nervous holidays…Hello Butter
Butter Days are Better Days
June 25, 2011
Days of butter are going well especially since Claire is doing better!
We are on week six already and only one big seizure. She had three seizures the week before we started the diet. So that is quite an improvement. There have been a few days that I am suspicious of her having seizures we don’t see. The only way to know if her brain is having those “unseen” seizures is an EEG. We will have another one in October after three months of the diet.
Until then we are enjoying these butter days, oh I mean better days.
Another plus is the addition of Breyers Low Carb Vanilla ice cream. I had the dietician put the nutritional facts into are ketocalculator and this was the result….
While she enjoyed this new treat, I don’t think it replaces her good old cone from pre- diet days. Notice the grit in this concoction? Well to get the proper ration I had to add fats. And you guessed it…chunks of butter and macadamia nuts. Like I said not her usual ice cream treat. I will have to fine tune the ratio for next time.
One more diet treat we have really fallen in love with is the avocado.
It is a ketogenic dream carb. I love it not only because it tastes so good, but also because it is the perfect fat to carb ratio. This means I don’t need to add one single drop of cream or butter to this wonderful fruit, or is it a vegetable?
I don’t know for sure what class of food it falls into all that I know is that it is easy. I cut one up and weigh it so that I know how many calories it is and put it on a plate! Like I said its a dream food for those on the ketogenic diet.
Claire calls it her “cado” (rhymes with motto) She likes to use the word my now when she is talking about her food. Where’ s my “cado”, where’s my chicken and sauce are just a few examples of “her food”.
And can I just say I am becoming some what of a master chef in the ketogenic kitchen? I have never bought so much healthy food in one grocery store trip. Today I just knew people were looking into my cart and thinking “wow, what a healthy family that must be?” I even had salmon in my shopping cart. Along with lettuce,cucumbers, cilantro, tomatoes, onions,green peppers, bananas, and of course avocados!
We didn’t need butter today. We have a good supply always on hand since it is after all the staple of her diet.
Goodbye shopping carts full of junk food…Hello Butter!
Quietly He Rocks
June 18, 2011
The quiet strength of his soul whispering as he stood
sentinel at her bedside. Her life as fragile as his faith
strong. The moments unknown he never faltered, faithful
father surrendering his heart to a will not his own.
God’s plan. Softly he stood by her with a heart of hope,
gently touching souls. His faith strong made a fragile life
begin to bloom. Days passed as their hearts melted together in love.
She being nourished by more than medicine could give.
Peaceful joy becoming tangible as his quiet strength continued
to whisper her well. Three weeks of uncertainty until a
father holding his daughter came home. A quiet strength
whispering her soul strong, the most solid foundation
his love could build… a husband who truly rocks.
© 2011 hellobutter
Butter Birthday Bliss
June 13, 2011
Our first birthday party on the ketogenic diet was a success. I think it was even better than previous parties because I was not focused on food preparation. Instead, we had a tea party for Claire. It was perfect since the food consisted of mini versions of quiche, cheesecake, & eclairs all from the GFS store. Easy, take out of the box & make pretty on a plate.
Claire was happy with her chocolate cupcake made from a recipe on the myketocal website and figured portions on the ketocalculator. I don’t think it was the best cake she has ever had, but I think for my first try it wasn’t too bad. I used finely shredded coconut instead if coconut flour, I think it was a little too gritty.
Birthday cake on the ketogenic diet
She is allowed herbal tea, but we haven’t found a flavor she likes. I’ve even tried apple tea to replace the apple juice she loved so much. She has been happy with drinking water and just one diet caffeine free pop a day.
We are still missing ice cream and she does not like the frozen cream with fruit that she is allowed. So we have replaced ice cream with plain shaved ice. I do use sugar-free syrup occasionally to make it more of a flavored treat. But we try to limit artificial sweeteners, especially if she has had her diet pop.
Our family loves a good spread at a good party, but we really didn’t miss the food. We just enjoyed the being together to celebrate another year of God’s blessings in the life of our amazing miracle girl.
We keep asking Claire ” how old are you” and she grins her big sparkling smile and says “I’m four…where did three and a half go?” so today we say…
Goodbye three and a half…Hello Butter
Sugar- Free Summer
June 8, 2011
Another school year has flown by and here comes summer!
It will be an interesting sugar-free summer. I know this because I am really missing ice cream. I have not perfected the home-made ice cream that Claire can have,but will have to soon. Ice cream is one tradition we can not do without!
The day before her diet,one last real treat!
A smile to melt my heart!
So the kids have completed another year of learning and so have I…
What I’ve learned so far about the ketogenic diet:
1. The astounding ability that children have to adapt to any situation. Claire can be happy no matter what life throws her.
2. Routine is better than chaos. The diet is most effective when maintained as a daily routine. The kitchen now has open & closed hours.
3. The ketogenic diet changes how one thinks of food. I am amazed that such small portions of food are enough to fuel the body.
4. Faith and butter are key to balanced living onsuch a strict diet therapy.
5.Positive attitude is everything. It’s hard to be sad when you are happy!
6. Giving up sweet sugar treats is hard. But the reward is living a richer life. We enjoy simple sugar-free pleasures. A strawberry tastes so much sweeter when your taste buds have forgotten what sugar is.
7. Butter days can be better days. Meaning,make the most of what you’ve been given.
8. And last but not least, God’s plan is the best plan. Trust Him and your life will be butter…oh I mean better!
Goodbye school days & ice cream…Hello Butter!
Friday Funday!
June 3, 2011
Before diet days, we knew Fridays as “Pizza Friday”, but now it would be too hard for Claire to see us gorging on pizza. There is a recipe for “keto pizza” that she would probably enjoy,but it would be a small amount. And as I have said before, the word more breaks my heart.
Sooo, we are re-inventing Fridays. They are now known as Friday Funday 🙂
Since we are trying to focus on life, and not food, I thought Friday Funday would help. I will be posting something fun we have done and sharing pictures. I would love for every one who visits this page to share some fun activities you enjoy too.
Here’s what we did today…
This shop was full of FUN finds
Claire at the Curio Shop
Yardsale find! Claire loves it 🙂
Goodbye Pizza Friday…Hello Butter
Is It Working?
May 31, 2011
A good day! Her purse doubles as a hat,funny girl!
Today officially marks two weeks since Claire started the Ketogenic Diet.
The big question on my mind is, does it work?
There have been a few days it seemed we had a new and improved version of the Claire we all know and love. She seemed brighter, quicker and just really “with it”. The picture above is an example of this. Just playing and being a comedian. A normal toddler life.
Then just when I was starting to sigh a breath of relief…she had a seizure on Sunday night. I gave her klonopin under her tongue as soon as she started. I also gave her P.M. meds a little early. I think this helped keep the seizure from getting worse.
I may have jumped the gun with my optimism. Her good days were so good that I thought her seizure medication should be lowered. It seemed to me that the diet was working, because the side effects of her seizure meds were getting worse.
So, is the diet working to help control her seizures?…yes. I think so far, so good.
But, is it to soon to wean her off her meds?… sadly,yes.
Claire has taught me how to be a more patient person, this diet will be no different.
Patience to let her body adjust to all the changes taking place.
Patience to find the right diet routine.
And patience to remain still.
I can not rush ahead to a place she is not ready to be. Hope and faith will be my guide as we patiently continue this journey.
Will the diet eventually work well enough to wean her off at least one of her medications? Only time will tell. Until then…
Goodbye impatience…Hello Butter
Stay the Course
May 27, 2011
- Stay the Course,God has You
I want to take a moment to praise God today for His faithfulness.
This diet is not only for Claire to have a better seizure free
life, but for our whole family to remember to focus on the important things in life.(by the way, it’s not food)
I can slowly spin out of balance, just like an overloaded washing machine. I talk a lot to God, so I know the familiar unbalanced sway and can correct it before completely spinning out of control. He has a gentle whisper that calms my heart. With out my daily quiet time with my Jesus, I can easily cave to the overloaded “washer” spin out of balance life.
So with all that being said, I am listening to the whispers. I can do this because God has this.
We can take this change and better our lives mostly because we are even more dependent on God to get us through all the highs and lows that a dieting family has to go through.
Is anyone else too overloaded? Is your spin cycle about to become unbalanced? Take a breath, stay the course, God has you.
Goodbye unbalanced…Hello Butter!
See Claire Eat
May 24, 2011
I have weighed, measured, mixed, molded and whisked more food these past few days than I have my entire life. Now that doesn’t mean Claire is eating a lot. She is only allowed 1500 calories a day. But, in order for her to eat the small portions of food, all of the above happens.
The rest of my family has been neglected in the preparing of any morsel of food. Mainly because they can’t be eating a plate full of food around Claire. So, they have been hiding and scarfing when they can.
I hope after I get a routine down, I can figure out a way we may be able to eat meals in a more normal way. Right now its just all about getting Claire to eat.
I even molded butter into flowers today. She liked this creativity, but finished her meal like all the others with that one word…more.
Hello butter,crackers & cheese
Yes,that meal lacks color. Notice butter shaped flowers? We were trying for a little more variety. I made the crackers with almond meal,macadamia nuts,egg white,and olive oil. They are considered a fat in this meal,keeping the 3:1 ratio of fat to protein/carbs. and calories were 363.
Next is a staple meal with lots of lettuce. She likes as much food as possible,so lettuce is a good way to make it appear like a “bigger” meal.
Chicken,lettuce,ranch dressing and last but not least...butter!
Her smiling face always lifts my spirits,especially when I am stressing over her
- My Hello Butter Girl. Always smiling!
Sweet Blessings
More
May 21, 2011
The word “more” is becoming a word that is breaking my heart. This diet is not for the faint of heart.
The five days at Children’s hospital were a flurry of activity and loads of information. As always,Claire spreads her contagious joy to everyone she meets. We logged a lot of miles in the wagon, seen a Cinderella ballet and even attended a Hawaiian luau. The child life specialists there are the best! They are very good at entertaining the kids.
Some pictures of days 1-5 posted below.
Now on day 6 we are back to the real word!
As soon as we entered the kitchen she spied a loaf of bread that some one forgot to hide. Her mood is very irritable, to say the least.
More.
More faith.
More love.
More patience.
But not,
More chicken.
Hello Butter.
Hello Butter 