Deleting

Due to the amount of response I've had from my last post about going private, or I should say lack of response, I have made the decision to delete this blog, it will be gone in approximately 1 week from now. I thought we had quite a few readers due to the amount of hits I see weekly on the counter, but apparently most are from people I do not know. I have many reasons, but the biggest one is that I just don't have the time to keep up with it, my girls and husband are more important than sitting on my computer. Sorry... it just doesn't seem worth my time to continue the blog.

Going Private

Due to the incredible number of weirdos out there, our family blog will be going private. I will leave it open for a short while in hopes that everyone that reads the blog will see this. If you want to be added to the reader's list, please send me an email to amy.munson@clearwire.net and I will send you an invite. Put "family blog" in the subject so it doesn't get lost in the massive amounts of spam and forwarded emails I get daily. Also, if you have the email address of someone you know who would like to be added, please pass that on to me too.

By the way... if neither Mich or I won't be able to figure out who you are by your email address, please let me know who you are or I won't send an invite. :-)

Here Fishy Fishy!

The girls had their first experience in a pool that is bigger than a little wading pool. Audree was so excited to get in, but changed her mind once she was in and couldn't touch the bottom. We had her in a little floaty thing the entire time and as long as someone was at least touching it, she was OK. She can't wait to go back though! Izabelle had a different take on the water, she's my little fishy. She was sitting in a little blow-up crab made for infants that had a sun shade on it, too fun! Anyway, she kicked her legs the entire time and thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Izabelle is now sitting by herself. She's getting so big! Of course she still has a rolly-poly back side so you have to watch her, but she's been playing several minutes at a time without toppling over. She's enjoying her new found freedom and even loves sitting upright in her highchair instead of leaning against the back of it, though it makes feeding her a challenge as she's ALWAYS moving.

Life and other fun stuff...

Where has the week gone?? I think I only got a chance once this entire week to have time to play with both girls by myself, kind of sad. :-( I'm still trying to figure out how that happened, other than life happening, naps, lunch, house cleaning, errands, weekly appointments, daddy's games and mommy's concert... We had fun though, Audree and Izabelle got to play in the sprinklers before the day got too hot, we had a blast. :-)

Baby Belle is almost 5 months old already! Wow! Time is going by so fast. She got her first tooth on July 3rd (Friday), the second followed a few days later on Wednesday and then Thursday she rolled over for the first time. Talk about a busy week! :-) She finally slept through the night for the first time in a couple of months last night.. woohoo!! Maybe the teeth are going to take a break for a bit. She's working on sitting by herself now and is starting to master scooting around on her back while she's on the floor. It's fun to watch. I walked into the kitchen for 2 minutes this morning to make breakfast for the girls while she and Audree were watching cartoons and came back to find her on the other side of the room. How funny! Izabelle has also said her first word, at least that's what I'm gonna claim! Hehe! She's been saying momma for about 2 weeks. I love it! :-)

Audree is getting bigger every day! Some of the things she comes up with are so fun. We're finally seeing some progress in potty training, I think she's finally starting to catch on, she's gone 3 times without any prompting from mommy or daddy this week and I finally got her to use a toilet outside of the house today without her little seat..YAH!! Of course she's still really stubborn about it, but we just keep plugging along and are trying to make it fun without bribing her too much.

Ok, before i call it a night I wanted to point something out that I'm noticing from many people that's starting to bug me a little bit and I guess the only way to put it is that many individuals have been playing favorites with the girls, particularly Audree, and this is probly the best place for me to say it. One of the biggest things that I see is that someone will buy a trinket or toy or make something for Audree, not necessarily for any reason, but nothing for Izabelle. I can see the reasoning behind it, as Izzy is still very little and it's not like we need toys for her since she gets all her sister's hand-me-downs right now, she doesn't have her own room yet, and she doesn't know the difference yet, but look at it from either mine or Audree's perspective. Audree sees she is getting a toy and she sees that her sister is not, from my perspective she is being favored over Izabelle. I guess my question is why? Izabelle loves playing with toys too, in fact she is a very busy girl and working on those motor skills all the time. Please don't favor one of our girls over the other, it's not fair. If you're going to get something for one of the girls, please don't forget about the other, with the exception of birthdays, of course... and definitely age appropriate please!! :-) ...... if you have done this, please don't think you need to appologize, all I ask is that it be fixed.

Good new and bad news....

I took Audree in for her 6 month checkup with the allergist this week. I had two requests, I wanted her retested, though they usually only do that once a year, and I wanted a rescue inhaler for her asthma since it's a pain to lug around the nebulizer all the time and there isn't always an outlet available when we are out and about. They did both... now I just have to get Audree used to the inhaler, it's a little tricky for a 2yr old. We'll still use the nebulizer though, it helps calm her down because she has to sit down and wait for the medicine. The doctor did not feel it was necessary to have her retested for things like wheat and soy since she is eating them without a problem, and nuts were pointless since most people never get rid of a nut allergy and we haven't had her treated for nuts yet, so they retested eggs and dairy. There was nothing subtle about those reactions! The whelp for dairy was over an inch across and eggs was a little more than half that, they were just as big as they were at her last test. The doctor stressed I was not to give her dairy, eggs or nuts... well, duh! So good news is that nothing has changed, but the bad news is that nothing has changed with our severe allergies.

I did not feel it necessary to take Izabelle in to be tested at this point. She's had a few allergy elimination appointments and been treated for grains, dairy, soy and minerals, cheese will be next. She is doing great, her skin is not showing evidence of an allergy, rarely spits up anymore, unless I have chocolate and I have been enjoying icecream and other baked goods with eggs in them.

So glad that summer is finally here. We are enjoying our time outside and loving having a backyard with GRASS!!! It's taking a while, but the backyard is finally filling in and we don't have to go to the park to play, though it is nice since we won't have a swing set/big toy this year...thinking next year.

Time flies!!

My little Belle is 3 months old already! My goodness! She's growing and changing so fast. My once grumpy baby is smiling and talking so much more. I've heard comments that since we had her treated for colic that she is a completely different baby... and I would have to agree. I have to disagree with those that say colic is not caused by food allergies or intolerances! I've seen proof with my own eyes... and ears! She is now only grumpy when she's tired, hungry, messy, hot or over stimulated and now likes to be cuddled by mommy, which I am enjoying. She still doesn't like cuddling with anyone else, but I guess that's one of the benefits of being mommy. I did not have the chance to cuddle with Audree like this since I was working and away from her 9-10 hours a day. It was no fun feeding her and getting her dressed in the morning, dropping her off with whomever would be watching her for the day, then picking her up only to put her to bed when we got home. I'm thankful I can stay home with my girls and watch the little changes that take place.

We had another visit for Izabelle for allergy elimination today. I was unable to get her into the Dr. due to a major power failure in his office, but when I spoke to him on the phone, we came to the conclusion that she most likely has thrush for the 2nd time. Poor thing has been refusing to nurse, but would suck down a bottle really fast and I was not going to fight it any more. We got her some meds to take care of this round, but I also took her to see Tess and YES, she can treat for thrush/yeast problems. Hooray! Hopefully we'll never see it again. I also had her double check a few other things for me. The treatment for dairy was probly 80% successful, she is ok with all dairy except cheese. I was almost jumping up and down in the office when I found that out!! (I will be jumping up and down when Audree is cleared of dairy. )We'll work on cheese soon for Izzy. She also tested problematic to soy... soy will be next unless the canker sores don't go away when the thrush does, then we'll work on that instead, unless it's just because she's teething, I wonder if the canker sores are from her teething meds. Did you know they can treat the herpes virus? That seems incredible that these treatments can do so much!

If anyone is interested in the treatments we've been doing for us girls, Tess does have a website and you can look around for yourself. http://www.bioenergeticsclinic.com/

We've been enjoying the warmer weather around here. Hope everyone had a good memorial weekend! We were mostly busy at home. Audree and I spent the afternoon Sunday planting soon to be pretty flowers. She even planted her own "flowers." She grabbed one of the weeds in the grass and put it in a pot of dirt, she wants me to water it every day so it'll grow big and tall. I'm gonna throw some flower seeds in there just for the fun of it so her "flowers" will grow.

Audree is still so excited to have her little sister around, she's not an old toy yet. She has been such a big help. Since Audree was little I have sung Jesus Loves me to her, at bed time and to calm her down and it still works quite well when she's upset. Audree has picked up on that and when Izabelle is upset she sings Jesus Loves Me to Izabelle, it is so sweet. Too bad Izzy doesn't think so yet.

I have a new favorite recipe website. If you didn't think it was possible to make baked goods without dairy and eggs, think again! Check out http://www.vegweb.com/ I have so far made pancakes and a yummy pasta salad off this site and plan to try a lot more! I think my next adventure will be cinnamon rolls... ooohhh... doesn't that sound yummy?!?!

We are off for our first camping trip of the year with Amy's parents and Sis' family tomorrow.. actually we're going for Amy's great Aunt & Uncle's 50th anniversary party, but decided to turn it into a camping weekend. Looking forward to our Fuher family tradition of glow-stick wars!! It's usually guys against girls and if you saw us playing, you'd think we were on something... hahaha. I think the only rule last year was that you couldn't take the pregnant one down... I don't have that excuse this year though. You'd be amazed at all the fun you can have with a couple hundred glow-sticks!

CNN Article...

I wanted to put this in my post last night, but it was late and I forgot.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/24/teddys.struggle/index.html

This article sounds very similar to what we and a couple others I know deal with every day. Several of my friends who's children have multiple severe food allergies said this was probably one of the best articles they've read in a long time. I know many people try to understand what we deal with and try to relate, but unless you've had a child with severe food and/or environmental allergies to every day common things (for us add asthma on top of that) there's no way you can really understand our struggles.

Unlike the family in this article, we very rarely eat something that Audree cannot. We started making separate meals for the three of us, but it's so much easier not to. I'm always asked what we eat, we eat mostly whole foods and make things ourselves with some easy substitutions. It always amazes me that when we go to the grocery store, with the exception of frozen fruits, veggies and meats, very rarely do we buy anything that is refrigerated or frozen. Even if and when she does grow out of her allergies and we can add more things to our weekly menus, we will not add the convenience foods back into our diet. A homemade pasta salad, though takes a few minutes more to make, tastes so much better and is healthier than something you can get out of a box. :-)

We try to avoid Audree's allergens as much as humanly possibly, but we cannot put her in a bubble, so sometimes accidental contact happens, though not a good thing. Occasional hives, though you don't think it would be a problem, really are. With each contact the allergy can get worse and the possibility that something that touches the hands or arms can so very easily get into eyes or mouth or nose, especially with a young child.

I'm very thankful we found a NAET practitioner in our area. She saved us a recent trip to the emergency room when the pollen counts were at their highest while the flowers were falling off the trees. I was unable to gain control of Audree's asthma with her breathing treatments and benedryl. Audree was in for a total of 4 treatments for seasonal allergies (flowers, trees, grass and weeds), we've only given her 2 breathing treatments since and neither were related to seasonal allergies. We still have more to work on such as dust, smoke, all animal dander, mold, etc, that can be detrimental to an asthma sufferer, but it's nice to know that we can take care of these things without chemicals.

We have another allergy check coming up next month and I am very anxious for the results. Audree's treatments with "Dr. Tess" have been very sporadic lately, but I'm hoping we'll have more good news. I also have an appointment for baby Izabelle to have some testing done at the same time. Due to the fact that Audree's allergies are mostly genetic, we've been told by multiple doctors that Izabelle could have similar problems. Before we start introducing foods to her, I'd like to know where we stand. I have no intention of introducing foods to her early, but would like to know before we start.

I also have added a couple of books to my reading list. In the research I've done on the Internet and exchange of information from other mom's with multiple allergy children, it appears as though some of the problem with allergies is a high level of toxic metals in our systems along with vitamin and mineral deficiencies. It's not a fast and easy fix, but if it works, I'm all for it.

Thank goodness for rechargeable batteries!!!

Yes, finally getting in another post. With two little munchkins now, my time is not spent updating the blog, but spending my time with them. I'm sure everyone can understand that. We're all doing well and thankful that the major seasonal change from winter to spring is over... we all got hit with those horrible allergies this year right after we got over the flu. Hopefully everyone else made it through this year without getting sick!

Izabelle is now 10 weeks old... where does time go? She's changing every day and getting so big! Looking at the differences between Izy and Audree at this age, the girls are almost complete opposites. Izabelle is my grumpy baby. Those that are around when she's throwing her fits usually think there's something horribly wrong, but that's just Izabelle. She loves to talk and once in a while I almost get a giggle from her, won't be too long and she'll be giggling and laughing. My favorite coversations with her are when she's just finished eating, I call it our after breakfast/lunch/dinner talks.

Izabelle is still a new toy for Audree and Izy doesn't mind most of the time. Audree's first question most mornings, "is Izabelle awake?" It's fun to see Audree try to play with her and Izabelle talk back. I've found Audree reading her books on many occasions and bringing her lots of toys to play with. I'm sure Audree will be in heaven when Izabelle can participate in the play... won't be long!

For those of you that have infants that may be having problems with colic, reflux or just don't do well laying flat to sleep, we've recently found something called an Amby Baby bed. We may check into it later when Izabelle grows out of her swing. We currently have a baby swing that is more like a papa-san than the old traditional swing and Izabelle absolutely loves it and sleeps so much better when she is in it. She's been sleeping through the night since she was 3 weeks old when we let her start sleeping in that because she was very congested and she likes the movement of it rocking (thank goodness for rechargeable batteries!!!) The Amby Baby has a similar sleep position (a hammock) which is also supposed to simulate movement in the womb. It's very cool and is like an all-directional swing that even bounces because it hangs from a spring.

Adjusting well...

We've had our little princess for almost 4 weeks now, time flies fast! We're adjusting well, Izabelle is starting to be more alert and we're enjoying her being awake more during the day now.

Not a whole lot to report, the entire family is sick so we're hanging low right now. We very much appreciate all the offers for help or requests for visits, but as I've said, I'd prefer if everyone stays away until the four of us are better. I'm not necessarily saying this because I don't want you to get sick, though that is a very good reason. We caught that nasty flu going around and it is extremely contagious. I'm asking that everyone wait because anybody could unknowingly be carrying something and re-expose our little girls to something and make them or us worse. This flu is horrible. Audree already has a compromised immune system due to her asthma and allergies and Izabelle, well, she's just tiny! I'm not trying to be mean by saying no to visitors or help, but I'm thinking about my family first... I know most people can understand that. We are doing fine right now and taking care of everything we need, so please don't be upset that we don't want/need help right now, we are not children anymore, but adults with our own children.

Baby Belle is here!

Izabelle Grace Munson made her debut appearance at 9:52 am on February 23, 2009. She is a gorgeous little girl, looks almost exactly like her older sister, weighing in at 7lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long. We're a little delayed at leaving the hospital, but everything is good and after almost 3 days, we are finally going home.

Audree is excited that her little sister is here and so excited to finally play with her... I think she's going to be a great help!

Nothing yet...

For those of you that have been checking here to see if we have a new addition, sorry, our new baby girl has not made her appearance yet. We thought she'd be here about a week ago, even the doctor did, but apparently she is enjoying her comfy little water bed. Will post something after she arrives....hopefully it won't be too much longer......

Mommy's Turn!

Audree and Mommy went for another appointment to the allergy elimination specialist, mommy's first, in order to treat me and attempt to prevent allergies in little one. I'm not sure if everyone has the same problem, but I also tested problematic for the first four items.... eggs, calcium, vitamin B complex and sugars. I'm interested to see how Mich does when Audree and I are all finished up. I was treated for eggs today, a little more in-depth than treatments for a baby or toddler.... never knew I had a problem with eggs or chicken..hmmm. I'm debating on whether or not to double up on my treatments for the next 6 weeks and resume Audree's in March after baby's born or just do one for each of us each week or what....unfortunately nothing is free and my treatments will cost more than hers. We'll see.... Audree was given a booster treatment for milk and her normal treatments have taken a temporarily different route to treat her for those things that cause her asthma to go crazy as it seems her pet allergies are getting worse... doesn't matter how long ago the pet was around. Since cats are the worst, we started with cats today. I imagine next time, as long as her treatment for cats hold, will be dogs. I also plan to ask for treatments for grass, trees, mold and dust mites. With spring on it's way, I'm hoping we'll stop the attacks before they can start!!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, very busy. I hope you all had a great one too! Of course Audree made out like a bandit!! But I wouldn't have expected anything else... she is very loved and everyone loves to spoil her. :-)

Everything with baby is coming along wonderfully....though I'm absolutely exhausted by the time we get Audree down for bed. Thank goodness for Mich!! Dr. says everything is on target, I'm very lucky or just smarter this time and very little swelling in my ankles so far, if any at all and keeping the false contractions in check. I go in next week for another checkup, then up to every week or twice a week depending on how things are progressing. Audree loves going with us to the appointments. She gets to hear the baby's heart beat and enjoys playing with the Dr's chair and other fun stuff while we wait.