An American Girl in a Chinese World

After everything we were doing I expected immediate change. I thought/ wanted Luke to be healed in weeks if not days. This was one of the hardest struggles for me. If Luke wasn't getting better I felt as if the whole process was worthless. These were lies. I fought those lies with truth. Everyone in our family is learning valuable lessons and skills from this. Our bodies are benefitting from this. This is a process, it takes time. It Takes Time! we had to slowly introduce foods so that we could see how his body would react When the 8th week came I wish I could tell you that he was a completely healed and happy. He wasn't healed and he was still two. (terrible twos is no lie) What I can share with you is this: 1. His drool had almost completely stopped 2. His stools were loose but not diarrhea 3. He was eating every meal and his stomach didn't hurt 4. He ate veggies, fruit, and meat and no longer was a picky eater 5. He wasn't complaining about not...

Why the whole family? There was a lot behind that decision. My main reason was because I knew from reading the book, that the bacteria that Luke had was from me. Whatever bacteria I had I was passing onto my kids. I also struggled with anxiety, fatigue and dealing with postpartum depression from Lanie. I knew I could benefit from it.  Lucy struggled with gross motor delays as a baby and vestibular integration issues. Lucy was also still dealing with sensory issues when getting overwhelmed. She would benefit from the diet. Lanie was breastfeeding and already showing signs of gross motor delays. Jeremy was dealing with fatigue, not sleeping well, stomach pains, acid reflux and frequent migraines. He was the wild card. I wasn't sure how he would feel about changing his diet. He is typically not a fan of diets. However, I knew that I couldn't do it without him and his support. Then there is just the obvious, it was easier. I didn't want to be making...

meal prep   We set a date. We prepped. We even made a trip to Shanghai, to indulge in Taco Bell. It was go time. Two days before the start day we talked with the kids and explained that things were going to change. Not only was their diet going to change, but our routines had to as well. No eating out, no Chinese food, and no school snack for Lucy. I gave Lucy some verses to help her when she was discouraged and we prayed that the Father would give us strength.  We started documenting each day, but then stopped. After day two, we didn't want to remember what we were going through.  Day One: I am not sure if you have heard of the term "Die-off", but its no joke! Our bodies were starting to detox. With absolutely no sugar, no grains, no gluten there was nothing for the bad bacteria to feed off. We were only drinking chicken stock and eating boil chicken. Our bodies ached. The kids were crying, because I mean... who really wants to drink soup for breakfast? I ...

chicken feet A Whole chicken?!  I prefer the chicken neatly packaged. When the farmer delivered the chickens to my house, you can imagine my surprise! It was a legit chicken! Thankfully, the farmer was nice enough to boil the feathers off, because I am pretty sure I would have given up right then and there! With two whole chickens stiffening up from rigor mortis in my hand, I did what any mom would do. "Lucy, wanna help Mama?" We looked on youtube. Watched a few videos and felt confident that we could prepare our chickens. Lucy was game. She was all about pulling out the organs and she learned about anatomy!  Me- "Alright, now we need to take out the lungs."  Lucy- "Yeah, that lady said the lungs were hard to get off. Come on out little stinkers. Mama, what is a lung?" Not sure what I would have done had Lucy not been there to pull out the organs. Thankfully, I have grown up some since and can now gut a chicken all by myself. ;)...

some of the essentials Mixed emotions swirled in my head. This makes so much sense. This is going to help. This is insane! Who in their right mind would ever willingly do this?! To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. Even if I did manage the will power and the self-control to attempt this venture, how could I actually find everything needed? organic eggs and ghee The GAPS diet.  The book describes how our gut is designed and goes into detail about the bacteria that lives inside it. There are many chapters explaining how the imbalance of bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria can cause inflammation in the gut lining. The gut lining plays an essential part, therefore if it is leaking or weakened, can cause many other problems, including inflammation of the brain. The book mentions how autism, ADHD, and depression can actually be related to this gut originating problem. The big picture about the diet is this: take out anything that may attack or be diffi...

I just knew something was off. It wasn't like there was an obvious something wrong. It was the little things. - He cried a lot more and emotionally unstable - His poops weren't normal - His stomach hurt a lot - He whined and wasn't happy - He quit eating most meals - He was becoming less coordinated and struggled with balance - He couldn't stand being wet or dirty - He drooled a TON - He didn't seem to be the same boy he once was - His speech wasn't clear it was getting worse I first focused on his stool. It seemed odd to me that he had never had a solid stool. But, the tests came back that he didn't have a parasite and that he didn't seem to have an infection. I then looked into milk and gluten allergies. After cutting them out for almost 2 months, I didn't see any difference. It didn't seem to be a food allergy. During this time I kept having this feeling that it was urgent. I then decided to go have his hearing and vision ch...

You would have thought Lucy had won the lottery with the excitement she had while dancing and shaking with joy last night. After mentioning that we would be going to the play place with a friend in the morning she couldn’t handle the anticipation. We put her to bed at her usual 7:00 and she didn’t go to bed until 10:00. I remember that feeling as a kid. Too excited to sleep. Now a day , even if I am very excited, I am so exhausted, that I have no trouble sleeping.   Do you remember the last time you experienced that kind of joy or excitement?   I love watching Lucy’s pure joy! She holds nothing back; she has a full body reaction and doesn’t care what others are thinking about, she is just super excited. She even includes those around her. “ Momma! “Thank you” *jumps* “Love you” *Hug*…*Kiss* “Daddy too! Love you…miss you…come too…yay! “Baby Yuke”*squeezes his hand* “ so fun!” This reminded me of the time king David was dancing in 2 Samuel 6.  ...

Grocery Shopping. It’s a must but it is also known as “Asking for toddler meltdowns”.   I am sure you are all too familiar with the scenario.   There I was already having had to take glass honey jars, packets of guacamole dip, and some odd looking meat from Lucy’s “helping” hands while trying to gather that weeks groceries. With my patience dwindling and Luke unfortunately waking up, we headed to check out. Cash registers are my worst nightmare. Its not the fact that they take my money, but the fact that they have candy, toys, gum and magazines with perfect looking people! Luke starts crying. Lucy wants everything on the shelf, and I just want to be home already. We made it through the checkout process, with the help of sticker from the cashier, just didn’t make it out of the store. As we were walking out an older gentleman kindly looked at Luke and said “Hi, precious.”.   Lucy being a little possessive of her baby brother, yells “NO! MY brother!” The kind man ...

Ever gone around digging plastic and cardboard out of peoples trash? Me either. Here, its a daily thing. People from the neighborhood will collect it, keep it, and then take a large load to a recycle center. Then that center, takes a larger load somewhere else. See below: When people ask if Chinese recycle, I don't know how to respond. As individuals, they don't separate their trash, but others will go through it. So its kind of a yes/no. Jeremy and I separate our plastic and cardboard until we have a large amount, then dump it next to our outdoor can. We run inside to watch and count how long it will take the neighborhood ladies to come and fight over it. Watching someone dig through mine and others trash was hard to deal with and odd at first. However, now I see it as a good hobby for those who are retired. They are helping save the environment and earning a little extra money.

Talk about two totally different ideas of beauty. I was surprised when I first got to Nanjing when someone came up to me, rubbed my arm, and explained that she wished her skin was as white as mine. I didn't know if I should be offended, are you calling me pale? I then proceeded to ask about why she would like to have white skin? She said that the whiter the skin the prettier. After learning that, these things started to make more sense: Whitening lotion, face wash and make-up Using umbrellas...when its not raining sun shades for your hands when driving the scooter Coming from a culture where you actually lay in beds that make you darker, this was a different way of seeing beauty.

Have you ever been walking down the fresh vegetable aisle looking through the produce and out of the corner of your eye you see some movement? No, not a cart or a fruit fly,  but a free crab roaming the store! Yes, it does make you jump and sometimes scream. China grocery stores were/ and still are one of the hardest cultural things to get used to. Mainly their fresh water foods. Its not like they are in their own area, but right next to the fruit. I am not a creature type person, so they move... and I am grossed out. One of the cool things that I have come to appreciate is that most grocery stores are 2-3 levels. I love having a designated floor for certain items. It is also nice to not have so many people all on one floor. They have escalators with grooves in them, specifically designed for the cart wheels to lock into place. Pretty nifty!

I still find it funny to have boxes delivered to our house on scooters! Its amazing how many boxes the Chinese can pile on a bike or a scooter and travel the roads without tipping over! Here is a picture of a traveling shoe salesmen's bike! 

I heard before coming here that  China was a gift giving culture. I wasn't sure what that meant exactly. The people were just extra generous? They had more holidays? It wasn't until last semester that I began to get a bigger picture of the meaning. Every time students come over, they come with fruit to give us. When our neighbors had a baby, they gave everyone in our stairwell a gift box announcing the birth of their child. I caught on to those traditions and did the same if I went to someones house. However, this past Christmas I got deeper into the gift-giving saga,  more than I was ready for. I took our fruit lady a bottle of wine and a scarf. To me it meant, "Merry Christmas, this is what we do in America" To her it meant " We are friends and now I owe you a gift." I had no idea they felt obligated to give something back. The next day as I went to buy my apples, she had a bag of gifts ready to give me. Lucy got a "cool" hat and some goodies. ...

It has been forever since blogging and I think it is time to start it up again. What better a way to kick off my blog, than to do a post a day for a month?! I am going to try to give you a look into our lives here in Nanjing. The differences, similarities, and unique experiences we have everyday. I hope you enjoy!  Day One: My Electric bike! This beauty is how Lucy and I get around. Grocery shopping here requires a different technique than in the states. You can't buy a lot all at once, you can only buy what you can take home. So this is a picture of how much I was able to bring home from the vegetable market, egg lady, and fruit stand.

Stationery Card View the entire collection of cards.

You know what happens when you are riding the scooter and it starts raining: You get wet! Unless you are Chinese and are prepared, and get out your handy bike poncho, we now have two!