Nominee

So my mom has nominated both myself and my sister for the Tri-cities MOM magazine makeover contest. So, why not... I think it would be a ton of
fun... A makeover/pampering and photo-shoot to be featured in the June/July issue of the Tri-Cities MOM magazine.

So this is where I need everybody's help... Vote and share with others and ask them to vote also!! The woman with the most votes wins. Voting starts April 1 and ends April 25... Not sure if you can vote more than once, but I will find out, I thought you could vote daily last year.

http://www.mommag.com/local/tri-cities/mom-makeover-contest

I'll post again when voting opens, but this should be the right link... And vote for my sis too if you can (Heather V.)

Five guys..

So I read today that Five Guys Burgers is coming to town. Never heard of them before today... So my initial thought was .. Hey cool, something new. Then I started seeing messages go back and forth between members of the local allergy group. French fries are cooked in peanut oil, you get a free box of peanuts with every order... And peanuts are everywhere. Hmm.... Looks like a place this little family will avoid! And if you come to our house immediately after eating there, you might get hosed down before you are allowed to come in... Hahaha! Just kidding! But you may be asked to come back another time after you've washed up and changed your clothes and shoes . And yes, I really do mean that. :-). Same goes with Texas Roadhouse.

For any of you that eat vegan or gluten-free or both, I'm on the hunt for new recipes. If you have any awesome recipes, (sans nuts and soy) would you send them my way? We have been eating a lot more vegan meals in our house lately... its less expensive and i was really hoping that the gluten-free sensitivity would go away, but turns out its more than a sensitivity and is really an allergy... So gluten-free is here to stay too. I'm re-learning how to bake (again). I have borrowed a ton of cookbooks from the library, on top of the dozen I own. Yesterday was the first time I've made good cookies in months, but they dried out so fast... Trying to figure out how to remedy that problem, may have to adjust the recipe a bit. I am also on the hunt for cooking/baking classes, but we live in the wrong area for the type of classes that I want to take because I've been looking for several years and never found any here that really fit what we want/need.

Have you ever felt like you lived in a fishbowl?  Well, we do right now. HA HA HA!!  The girls and I made a little aquarium that goes along with our lesson for tomorrow, sea creatures and the ocean.  A simple craft and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  Bubba thinks it's the coolest thing.. he keeps walking up to it and pointing.

 

I think we're almost all on the road to recovery finally!!  Daddy is still fighting it, but the kids' runny noses and coughs are starting to dry up.  Thank Goodness!  We're on 2+ weeks now and technically only one visit to the Dr. for Miss A's ear infection, not sure if it was related.  With a major lack of sleep I have not come down with it, PTL!!  I have been taking vitamins and supplements like crazy.. guess I'm not that crazy, huh? 

 

The good news is that we're back in school finally too... full force.  I know we don't have to keep up with anybody else's schedule, but I would like to attempt to be done for the summer so I can spend time prepping for a year of pre-school and first grade, but I'm thinking school will continue through the summer. :(  I'm thankful to finally have met someone that is doing the same cirriculum and grade level that can help me with what I'm doing because this is her 5th round of kindergarten and has 2 more to go through it, she's not local, but has been a great help already... especially since the cirriculum we've chosen can get pretty intense.

 

In the process of planning Miss A's birthday party.  She's excited and invited a handful of her friends.  We decided that the kids are getting to an age that running around hitting balloons at the adults is probly not going to be a fun party for them anymore, so I have some activities running around my brain that I've gotten the 6 yr old approval for so far. :)  Should be fun her.  The only idea still not sticking in my brain is the cake.. haven't figured that one out yet, the one I like will be pretty labor intensive and with 3 little people, school and a house to take care of, I'm not sure I want to put that much into a cake that's going to be destroyed in 5 minutes. :-)  At least I know the recipe I have works with our current restrictions and tastes good too, I hate attempting new recipes at the last minute, REALLY not fun.

#3...

Now oldest sis is complaining of a sore throat and her ear is draining again. So it's hit all 3 kids now. If you've been around them the last 1-2 weeks, I suggest you make sure to take your vitamins and get lots of rest... Not sure when we came in contact with this bug.. We really haven't been out much.

Phooey!!

Yup, now that's two kids down. Thought the girls already had it, but Apparently they didn't get this bug. ItyBity woke up with a horrendous cough right after we got Bubba cleaned up after coughing so hard he threw up... Yes, it's happened frequently. Tylenol, Vicks, honey, ice water and were hoping for a little sleep now :-(. Miss D was coughing a little before bed... Hoping and praying it passes her by.

Stay away! Stay far far away! :-). If this is the bug I've heard about, it's very contagious :-(

Never ending...

All the kids and daddy had been congested the past several days, I've had a sneaker cough... catches me off guard once in a while. Sissy's ear is getting better, its not draining like it was a few days ago, but still drainjng. Now I have a sick baby boy. I'm praying it doesn't get any worse than it is now. It breaks my heart to see a sick baby because there's nothing you can really do but give refular Tylenol/ibuprofen and snuggles and they don't understand what's going on. He's still in good spirits though. He's been running around and talking like Nothing is wrong, except when he's tired, of course. Everything is "buu"...his favorite things are bird, bear and book. :-)

Happy Dance

Just picked up A's allergy tests from the lab and for the first time there is good news! All her numbers have dropped considerably... some almost in half!! that's a big change!! Means we are doing something right. :-)

Though don't get too excited yet... her diet will NOT be changing.. She's also tested allergic, not just sensitive, to wheat, corn and soy so those will not be going back in anytime soon. So we are still serving her food free of dairy, egg, peanuts and treenuts, fish, shellfish, sesame, gluten, oats, corn, wheat, soy, etc...

I will probably request a retest in 6 months before our yearly visit to the allergist.

We have started to plan her birthday party since there is no sense in waiting for her diet to change. I have no details yet, sorry... It won't be for at least a few weeks yet because she wants to also invite her friends and I need time to plan this SuperGirl party.

Another trip to urgent care

We got there super early this morning as instructed by the nurse because she expected a crowd and we got right in. Of course we didn't see a doctor, but a nurse that didn't really seem to know what she was doing. There was no visible swelling or redness in the ear, but it hurts, plugged and draining fluid like crazy! It took me a bit to convince her its an ear infection. Then I had to explain leaky gut syndrome to her and why an oral antibiotic was a bad idea. It could have undone everything we've accomplished in the past 3 months in just 10 days. I requested the drops, which she reluctantly prescribed. They worked before, they should be fine again. No, I'm not crazy... I know what's going on with my own kid better than a grumpy nurse that is upset she had to work a holiday.

Happy newYear!!

Hope everyone has/had a good evening and wishing you many blessings for the new year!!

We are letting the girls stay up a little late, til 9 anyway... Enjoyed our Scooby Doo sundaes .... Interesting... and playing games. They're having a ball!

Been a busy day, but still trying to figure out what we did since there was nothing accomplished but a trip to the lab and Costco. We almost had another trip to urgent care (had one last night too) but they weren't accepting any more patients for the night and recommended going to the ER. Yeah... No more trips to the ER please!! Miss D has an ear infection. Took her yesterday, but the dr said her ear was fine... Today it's draining like crazy and plugged. :-(. As much as I hate those tubes, right now Im thankful for them because if it wasn't for them, she's be in a lot of pain from the pressure. So we will go to urgent care first thing in the morning. I noticed all 3 kids sounded congested at the beginning of the weekend after all our Christmas celebrations were over but thought nothing of it since it didn't get worse than a little bit of congestion and we were all exhausted. Apparently Miss D was worse than I thought... Poor baby :-(. She's being a good sport and trying not to complain much.

On a good thought though, Miss D informed me she wants to be a chef when she grows up and open a restaurant for kids with food allergies.... If she follows through with that, how cool would that be? Shes always loved to make pretend food... my favorite to date is sparkly chicken. :) That kid always surprises me when she prefers to watch cooking shows or some of those cake shows instead of cartoons or other kid movies. Maybe someday she really will be a chef :-). She loves food!

Busy busy busy...

Though not right now. :-) I have a little boy in my arms that is having some separation anxiety issues lately and wants to be held or cuddled during sleep times. Though I have a mountain of laundry to finish and my own bedroom to clean/organize, I'm enjoying the quiet time.

We had little man's 1yr checkup a few weeks ago... Can you believe he is 26 lbs already!! Littlest Miss only weighs 28!

Otherwise... we've been quite busy. I very much enjoyed the holidays this year with my 3 little monkeys. We didn't get to do everything planned, but maybe next year when they're a bit older and can help more. We had 3 Thanksgiving dinners, 3 Christmas celebrations, 3 birthday parties, the kids got to help others in need and they were so thrilled to do so, many art projects and shopping trips and got to watch mommy attempt new recipes... A few got trashed, some were ok, others great success and will be made again. Miss D was quite thrilled with some of them... To most of you who have had goodies cooked or baked with the "standard" ingredients, they may not be that great, but for someone who doesn't know the difference... The compliments coming from her could not have made me any more happy than they did... That means mommy did good! And I think they turned out pretty darn good myself! I told Daddy that my plan is to try recipes throughout the year so I'm not trying to pull things together at the last minute and try unknown recipes.

I just took Miss D down to the lab for some allergy tests that were requested by her allergist in the winter when things are not in bloom. She's still not so good with needles, but getting better. It only took 3 of us to hold her down this time :-P. should be able to pick those up Thursday.
I have yet to do the GI test requested by the naturopath to check on her leaky gut though.. Unfortunately that one is paid for up front (out of pocket) so I've put that one off a little bit, no harm in waiting.. More healing time. I have noticed a huge difference with her asthma since eliminating corn, gluten and soy and a few other foods from her diet. Instead of using her inhaler 1-6 times a day depending on activities and such, she's using it 2-3 times a week now, if that, unless she comes in contact with animals... Then its not quite as bad as it was! Hallelujah! I'm sure the pharmacy will be calling me with a reminder to pick up her new inhaler soon and we aren't even close to opening the box from the last one we got. That's amazing seeing as how a few months ago I was begging the pharmacist to fill her RX early because her medicine was almost gone. Another thing we've noticed is no tummy aches lately. Yah! We may continue with this restricted diet even after its lifted because even I noticed a difference with a limited intake of wheat/gluten. I've had too much the past few weeks and have noticed an upset digestive system for me.

Daddy goes back to work on the 2nd, I'm sure he's enjoyed a little break. Though who knows how much longer that project will last, could be 2 weeks, could roll to the next phase... Will see what happens. I plan to start back with school/business as usual on the 2nd also. We've all had a little break.. Time to get back to reality. I'm hoping we'll be done with school for summer break, but looks as though we will be working through the summer. We've had a couple long breaks and started late. I'm not feeling too bad about it though, Miss D is reading awesome right now and is figuring out math quickly! I love my little sponges!!!

Happy Birthday to my baby!

My oldest baby is officially out of the preschool years. She turns 6 tomorrow!! She's growing so fast! Has a style all get own and a Heart of gold. If it wasn't for this little girl, I wouldn't have learned, and still learning, to cook as I have.

Please remember that we are delaying her birthday party, her choice, so if you've bought a gift, just hold on to it. And please no sneaking extra gifts in under different names or purposes...remember that she is the one that wanted to do this.

It's like the old experiment... You can have 1 marshmallow now or wait and get 2 later... She wants to get 2 later :-).

Added foods

We have successfully added a couple of foods back Into sis' diet. Coconut, rice and turkey seem to be ok with her tummy. Oranges are a no, they cause welts and sores on her tongue. So that makes it a bit easier on me and gluten-free baking is getting easier... Our next test is potatoes. That will not only allow for potatoes, but potato starch is a biggie for baking too :-)

Here's a treat we look forward to all year long... We found it at Yokes yesterday :-). We are also looking forward to seeing the pumpkin spice flavor, haven't tried that one yet.

Quite a scare...

We have had quite a week around here. We have skipped school this week because mommy has not been feeling well... Finally realized that is seasonal allergies, not a cold or flu... At least I hope I never gets that far. Allergies can turn into a bacterial or viral infection because they wear your system down.

And Wednesday this week Miss A had a very severe allergic reaction to a supplement that was intended to strengthen her immune system. I will spare you the details. She ended up having to ride in an ambulance to the ER, but was unconscious for that and stayed a night in the hospital. She's doing great now, like nothing ever happened! I love how kids bounce back! Mommy and daddy haven't bounced back as quickly, but we'll be ok. :-). I have contacted the company that manufactures the supplement, we'll see how that goes...

Pictures

Here's a preview of our family pictures taken a month ago. I will get them printed for family when funds allow me to do so.

Tough decision

I've decided to put MOPS and a few other kid and mom activities on hold until the kids are older.... Don't worry, we're still doing dance. Today will be my last meeting. With other activities it just adds to things that interfere with school and I never seem to be able to finish our school week within the time period I need to or should. It also interferes with little mister's nap time and then I have super-cranky baby to deal with. He's so good when everyone else is around, but when it's just mommy and/or daddy, he lets loose and can be a real stinker. So, as much as I enjoy going, I'm done for now. In the past month, I think there have been 3 days that we didn't have to go anywhere...oy! To much go go go and the kids and I need a break from it.

What am I supposed to do with this, Mom?

We headed out to Bill's Berry Farm Friday. but forgot sis had dance class... Oops!! So we missed the pumpkin patch... So we ended up going with my Team31/mops group this morning. We had two tough weather days in both... Friday was wet, muddy and cold, today is extremely windy and muddy. We tried to make the best of it though. I would definitely recommend Bill's berry Farm for pumpkin patch over country mercantile... So fun and the family is super nice. I know where the 5 of us will be going next year! Ok.. Enough playtime... Baby boy is finally napping... Gotta get lunch going and attempt to get school done before dance class in a few hours.

Nothing new..

Just plugging along with school, taking tomorrow off for the pumpkin patch with daddy, but finishing up our week Saturday instead. Trying to find some variety in our allowable foods.. I have at least 3 recipes that are keepers even without such a strict diet

You can tell baby boy is learning to get around now with all the bruises on his poor little face. He's getting it though, can stand without assistance for 10-15 seconds as of tonight. :-)

http://youtu.be/_r9snKgnGlU

If my house wasn't baby-proofed before, it will be now! I see a walker in the near future!

Another Halloween idea..

A loves raisins! Just make sure the ingredients are raisins/grapes only!

Score!!!

check out http://www.indiecandy.com/Lollipops-s/47.htm

All the hard candy lollipops on this page are safe for our current diet, except for the "sugar-free" lollipops, which have lemon in them.  The chocolate ones should be fine too, but she's not a huge chocolate fan.  And don't worry about the "ascorbic acid" it is fruit based, not from corn. 

Yah!!!

I found 2 treats that are safe during sis' restricted diet....and I already know that they are a hit with both girls... Miss A actually squealed when I showed her, she was so thrilled!! Both are found in the health food section at Fred Meyer. These flavors and brands only!!