Hope You're Having a Better Christmas Than This...

Little Man didn't really appreciate the wonder of visiting Santa this weekend.

From the Mouths of Babes

Some recent gems from the mouths of my sweet kiddos...

The other night Hubby and Little Miss were coming home from a quick run to the store. Little Miss was entertaining herself in the backseat, sweetly singing, "God, we worship you...You are the one who loves me...You are the one who shows me how to love me..." She suddenly stopped and said to Hubby matter-of-factly, "I think that's from Barbie."

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I had Christmas music playing one night this week as I was making dinner. Little Man was dancing vigorously in the living room, then suddenly appeared in the door of the kitchen, out of breath, and reported, "Mine yike dat song."

"You like that song?" I asked, making sure I understood his toddlerese.

"Yup" he stated, then abruptly turned and ran back to the living room to continue dancing.

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This morning Little Miss and Little Man were finishing up lunch when I overheard the following, which was obviously the end of a very deep discussion:

Little Miss: "...that's when I was 2 and you weren't born yet. You were still in heaven and God was making you. Do you remember that?"

Little Man: "Yup"

Little Miss: "And then I came and got you and God sent you to Mommy and Daddy and me. And you brought me my Elmo backpack*. Do you remember that?"

Little Man: "Yup"

Little Miss: "That was fun."

Little Man: "Yup"

*(The Elmo backpack was a gift we gave Little Miss when Little Man was born...we told her it was from her new baby brother.)

Thanksgiving Highlights

Here are some photo highlights of our Thanksgiving festivities:

Nanee and the cousins decorating "turkey" cookies.

They didn't exactly look like turkeys, but it sure was fun!

Even Little Man got to enjoy his organic, allergen-free cookie
(with a little allergen-free icing)..YUM!!

Baby Zoe...not really a baby anymore!

Hubby enjoying a few minutes with Zoe.

Little Man and me are ready for turkey dinner!

Zoe playing on Mommy's lap.

"G" with all the kids.

Little Miss snuggling with PaPa.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are getting ready to hit the road for grandma's house in a few short hours, so I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. For those we are unable to be with this year, we will miss you deeply. We pray everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his
righteousness and will sing praise to the name of
the LORD Most High."

-Psalm 7:17

The Fun of Fall

It's been a little crazy...selling our house, moving, dealing with sickness, and juggling "regular" life in the process...but we've managed to also squeeze in some great family fun this Fall, and I wanted to share some of it with you.

We didn't get to sent everyone Halloween greetings,
but our little bride and Tigger had a great time scavenging for candy!

Lots of opportunities for candy at Daddy's work!

Little Tigger had so much fun going cube to cube in search of loot.

Grandpa and his princess bride.

Grandma and Tigger.

It was a long day...

...for everyone

Mommy and the kiddos at our church's October 31st party (yes, I'm dressed like a pirate).

The great weather prompted a trip to one of our favorite getaway places...Silver Dollar City.

Daddy and Little Man ride the caterpillars.

Little Miss's favorite ride...the flying elephants.

Little Miss writes a letter to Santa at his workshop.
(It was a little hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it was 84 degrees outside!)

I guess Christmas lights bring out the best in all of us. :)

The Last Hoorah of Summer

It seems a bit ridiculous to post highlights from our "summer" vacation the week before Thanksgiving. However, I did promise pictures from our trip and I intend to keep that promise (even if it is two months later!).

So, here is a BRIEF photo highlight of our trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. (I highly recommend a visit there for any history buff...it's entirely fascinating!)

Happy Birthday, Little Man (yes, another party!)...and Cousin ZoBug!

And Happy Birthday, PaPa...the big 6-0!

Little Miss helps grind cornmeal at the historic Jamestown Settlement.

Nanee taking a snack break with Little Man a Baby Zoe.

Hubby and Little Man aboard a replica of one of the colonial ships at the Jamestown Settlement.

Hubby and me at dinner in Colonial Williamsburg.

Little Man and PaPa eagerly anticipating the train at the Yankee Candle Factory.

Princess Cousin Kate-Kate.

The boys having a good wrestle.

We had a great time with Nanee & PaPa, Aunt Carmen and the cousins, and Aunt Mimi. It was a long trip for us, but worth every moment to share these memories with our family. There's so much more we could share and so many more pictures to show off, but we'll leave more for another time... :)

Where to begin...

I sat down the other day to blog since it's been well over a month now, and I got completely overwhelmed. There's so much to catch up on I don't know where to begin. I definitely want to share pics of our amazing vacation to Colonial Williamsburg (as well as updates of Baby Zoe and all the cousins).

And of course, I wanted to share the good news that we sold our house after only three weeks on the market. Then there's the frustration of not finding a new house (at least not the one we want for the price we can afford), the sinking realization that we have to find a place to live in a few short weeks, and the slow resignation (on my part) to the fact that that place will be a temporary duplex, which is smaller than our already too-small house.

Maybe some day soon I'll blog about all those things...and all the lessons that God is teaching me along the way. But for now, I want to focus on something else that has been consuming my almost-every waking moment...my son's food allergies.

We've known for a little over a year that Little Man had a peanut allergy. It came as quite a shock, and provided to be a HUGE exercise in education and self-control for me as I come from a long line of peanut-butter-lovers. (My dad has been known to add the staple to such things as hamburgers and hot dogs!)

Just when I thought I finally had the routine down--checking labels, quizzing restaurant personnel, informing caregivers, sticking brightly-colored "Allergy Alert!" stickers all over him before putting him in the church nursery, hiding and sneaking bites of contraband PB here and there...the stakes got drastically higher.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the allergist with a simple question concerning vaccination and ended up finding out that, in addition to peanuts, Little Man is also allergic to egg and soy. Well, this provided a whole new level of education, adjustment, and more than a little stress to my life. I've known a few other moms who have struggled with food allergies in their families, but I had NO IDEA the level of stress it can cause. I have an all-new appreciation and empathy for families who deal with any type of food allergy or intolerance.

I've only begun my research, so I'm sure there is much I still do not know. But I wanted to take some time to list a few things I've discovered in the last few weeks. I hope this will be helpful to any who have, or know someone who has, food allergies.

1. Soy, soybean oil, and soy lecithin is in almost EVERY processed or prepackaged food (even organic or all-natural foods since soybeans are a natural food).
2. Some sources say soybean oil and soy lecithin do not contain the protein that causes an allergic reaction and therefore are safe. However, our allergist maintains that those ingredients can and do cause a reaction. We choose to avoid them to be safe.
3. I have yet to find a bread, tortilla, or wrap that does not contain soybean oil. I did find a whole wheat pita bread that seems to be safe.
4. It is important to check the ingredients on EVERYTHING! (I found soy listed on my cornstarch, and my friend found it as an ingredient in her flour!)
5. Some sources maintain that only raw egg contains the protein that causes allergic reaction (because heating the egg changes the protein). While Little Man has never reacted to anything with an egg cooked or baked into it, our allergist recommended avoiding it as it can cause a reaction.
6. You can use the following substitute for 1 egg in any baking recipe: combing 2 Tbsp flour, 2 Tbsp water, 1/2 tsp baking powder. (I have used this in muffins and didn't notice a difference!)
7. You can also substitute 1 Tbs of flax seed and 3 Tbs of water for 1 egg in any baking recipe. (I have not tried this yet, but found the recommendation on the side of the flax seed box.)
8. Children will likely outgrow many food allergies, including soy and egg by the time they are in preschool. The chances of outgrowing a peanut allergy is much lower.
9. Those with a peanut allergy should also avoid tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.), even if they do not test as reactive to those allergens, because most plants process them together and there is a high risk of cross-contamination.
10. Soynut butter is a good substitute for peanut butter for those with peanut allergies. We used it for awhile until Little Man developed the soy allergy. (Yes, apparently they can develop an allergy to a food they've not reacted to previously.) Sunflower nut butter is also recommended as a substitute as it is not processed with nuts and therefore no risk of cross contamination. (However, the only brand I've found so far is manufactured in a plant that processes soybeans!)

I'll share more as I learn. Right now I'm working on "tweaking" some of our favorite recipes to be Little-Man-friendly and will post some once they've been tested and approved. :)

If you know someone who has food allergies, I recommend the the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network web site. It's a wealth of information. If you have food allergies, what tips and tricks have you learned along the way? I'd love to hear from you!