Allergy Mom Thoughts Yet Again

So this weekend starts our journey of having 2 children with food allergies. Embry was officially diagnosed with dairy allergy last week which actually was a relief. We've treated him as if he was dairy allergic for awhile but when he tested negative a few months ago, I was frustrated. I had eliminated dairy from my diet early in his life which seemed to make a huge difference in his fussiness. He became completely non-fussy and every time I ate something with dairy, he would scream out as if in pain. Then when we introduced milk based formula, he would throw up immediately which is exactly what Ashton did when he was a baby. So he's been on soy and done fine. I tried to feed him cereal with milk formula once and he broke out around the mouth so I knew that it wasn't just a milk intolerance he was facing. Anyway, when he tested highly positive last week, I felt like I wasn't crazy finally! OUr allergist who is becoming a good friend was actually surprised and told me he was so sorry and he was curious when I told him I knew all along. He just acted so much like Ashton when he was a baby and his skin is so sensitive that we had to change to chlorine free diapers just like Ashton. And, I really feel like God is allowing Ashton to have a buddy now. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal on the way home when I kept telling him, "Now Embry can't eat the things you can't eat." I guess it's because Embry is so young that he doesn't eat all that we eat yet anyway. And, we all eat the same thing Ashton eats so he doesn't feel left out at our home anyway. But when we went to ChickfilA after the appointment, and I realized I had forgotten Embry's spoon for his food, Ashton said, "He could eat part of my bun" which was so sweet and Embry liked his first ChickfilA bun!
Some day when Collin reads this, I want him to know he had his first Happy Meal this weekend. I hate McDonalds so we never go, and can't with Ashton anyway, but Wes took Collin to the hardware store on SAturday and then out to McDonald's. Just now as I was carefully packing Ashton's lunch  for school in all his specific containers with his labels that my mom had printed with his allergies, Wes was telling me how crazy it was to walk into a restaurant and know your child can have anything on the menu, get your food and sit down and eat it without worrying about what's been on the table or his chair before you sat down and wiping off everything or making sure his fry doesn't touch the tray or asking the person to change their gloves and pray they actually do change their gloves and watch like a hawk to make sure they don't scowl at you when you ask them. These are the things we have to do when we occasionally eat out. But Collin enjoyed his time alone with daddy and his chocolate milk and fries from McDonalds. Wes said he didn't care much for the cheeseburger (that's my boy!) but he loved his transformer he got as a toy!!Oh, and Ashton got a new train leappad game at home with me while they were out if you were worried he felt left out! (He is engrossed in the leap pad lately he got from my parents.) And little Embry...had his first hempmilk today and seemed to like it. I feel sad as I pack up your epipen tonight and pray over it that it never has to used but also thank God for it. Dear God, please protect my babies.

December Photos Take 2!

 

More late December photos but I still wanted to share... I had so much fun at Ashton's school Christmas party. I took the day off to share it with him and to supervise the food of course. His room mothers were accommodating to all my picky allergy mom requests and he was able to enjoy the same food as everyone else which I loved!

 

 

 

 

Wes got to come over between his classes too-man, these two look alike!

Ashton's wonderful teacher Ms Wood who we are so very thankful for!!

A random beautiful sunset one night that Wes was able to photo!

Our first family Christmas party at my mom's parents. My grandmother set out her Christmas village with three stools for the greatgrankids! It was so sweet and they LOVED it.

Embry's first Christmas present from cousin Maddie

Sweet Maddie with the bow I made her at kate's shower...more to come later on that!

Embry's first truck!

Best photo we could get of the 4 great grands

Christmas party #2 with the Moore side of the family! Here's my great grandaddy who loves all his boys!

Embry starting to enjoy all these presents!

Denny helping Collin open a playdough truck

My mom and Aunt Jeannie

Only photo I got of my three boys! They're serious about their new toys!

Love this one!! Ashton loves his new binoculars!

Every child's first Christmas photo. He looks annoyed doesn't he?!

Day #5 the day after Christmas when Wes' parents came to visit

Playing with Grandma

After Christmas my brother came up with his girlfriend Catherine. He made the mistake of sticking his head in the boys' supertunnel in the basement and bumped heads with Collin. Tying to be the cool uncle gets your injured!

The boys loved Catherine and wanted her to read their bedtime story!

Some photos from my New year's eve with my three boys while Wes was with his band at the Ourback bowl.

I won't lie. It was a LONG 4 days and I did it last weekend as well but at least I get to look at these sweet faces!

My fun New year's dates!

December Photos Take One!

 

These first photos are from a day we spent with our friends at the Railway Museum! There were 6 boys, 3 mommies, and one baby girl! Had a blastand some trains were decorated for Christmas which made us happy! Here's a new model train exhibit there as well.

 

And the babies...

We had lunch and went to a nearby park afterwards. It was such a fun day!!

Caden

James

Kate and Amanda with babies

Later that day, Embry got his first haircut! He did great and looked like such a little man when he was done!! This photo shows well his poor little draining eye from his blocked tearduct.

The Cow is retiring...

Today is the last day I will nurse Embry (or anyone-haha) again. When I started nursing Ashton, I never thought I would ever be sentimental about stopping (see human cow post), but the day I quit for all three has been sad. It's a blessing to be able to nurse them I have learned as I have had friends who really struggled nursing and I've been heartbroken with them. It just is not an easy thing, but it can be so emotional. It's rewarding to know that your child can get nourishment from you and it can be a source of comfort when no one else can comfort them. This has been the case with all three of my kids. I've used comfort nursing when they have an injury or get shots at the doctor or are scared. I remember Ashton's first Christmas he was so worn out and overwhelmed by all the people. The only thing that finally calmed him down was taking him to another room and nursing him. That is a satisfying, good- mother feeling. When your baby falls asleep and holds your hand while you nurse him, your heart feels so full.When you get home from work and haven't been with them all day, it's good to know you can take those moments to bond with them. But there are the not so good moments too. I struggled in the beginning with each one in different ways and always loved my lactation ladies at the hospital who were so helpful. With Embry, nursing dramatically changed my diet! I gave up my favorite milk, yogurt, ice cream and all foods with dairy for him. A whole summer without Coldstone!! And the pumping...and pumping...and pumping!!! This pump has been my good friend for several years now! I have joked so much with friends about the name, Pump in style! I would spare no money in buying her again if I needed her! She's been the source of laughter between girlfriends and what's kept my babies nourished when I was not able to be with them at work. She's been to beaches and relative's homes and hotels and seen my office more days than I could ever count. Collin calls her "the doggie" because of the whir sound that sounds like a dog barking.  So these are my thoughts as a chapter in life comes to a close. I'm sure one day they'll be so grossed out to learn this, but I'm so thankful I was able to share this experience with all three of my sons for the first 9-10 months of their lives.

Lately...Pictures to come soon!

Please pray for my teenage cousin Taylor who was in a car accident 2 nights ago. He is in a drug induced coma and has a shunt from what I understand. His birthday was last week and I always remember it because it is the same day as our anniversary. Last weekend, Wes and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!! It still has not sunk in that we have been married that long. I made him a slideshow that one day I hope to post through youtube but for now here are some wedding pics I have finally scanned. I hope to post Christmas pics soon too. It's been crazy around here since Wes was out of town after Christmas (sigh-crazy mama alone with three boys for 4 days!!! and a big thank you to my mom who spent the night one night to help keep me sane!) and we have had a myriad of doctor's appts and I realized this week I am about 30-40 hours lacking on medical ed for my license which expires next month so nightly I have been staying up studying. The doctor I work with is teasing me for being a slacker. It is so unlike me to let something like that happen but just shows what a whirlwind we are in over here in Sugar Hill!! It was very nice last weekend to have almost 24 hours alone with my husband to SLEEP and reflect on the past 10 years. (thanks to his parents!) 

On the mommy side of things, here are some things that have made us all laugh lately:
Ashton is getting so big. It seems like his vocab was adult like since birth and the other day he even said, "Mommy I want to tell you something that happened today, which I have already told daddy about." He is also starting to learn to tell time which is amazing to me! He can spell out words and will be reading soon I think!
He is a bigger helper to me daily. He now watches Embry a lot when I need to help Collin or run to the bathroom. It's so nice to ask him to keep Embry out of trouble. Today I was feeding Embry while Collin was going potty so Ashton was able to keep a continual supply of books coming to Collin while trying to poop! How nice! I am trying this week to put Collin on the potty more and saying prayers it is easier than Ashton because I just don't have the time to devote to it with Embry now too. Please pray with me!!

Ashton is also very competitive which we are using to our advantage. He wants to hurry and beat collin with everything, buckling up, getting into the bathtub, running to wash hands. It's helpful because he has been notoriously slow at everything his whole life since he is so meticulous. Now we just play "beat me" for everything!

Collin's vocab although still adorable and babylike has exploded and he can say just about anything now, but still with such a cute lisp. Yesterday he told me, "mommy, I am not going to eat the bottom of the banana (meaning the black spot) because it's poop!"
This boy is obsessed with poop and all things bathroom! He just laughs and laughs. The only problem is, he isn't really that in to going to the bathroom! He still is obssessed with Embry and always providing him with toys and asking if he's "ok mommy?" and feeding him. If I walk away from the table, I catch him feeding Embry puffs!

Embry is into everything and still a delight. He can say "mama and dada and good, good good and yeah! now. He waves and pulls up and cruises and CLIMBS. He's fast as lightning but always joyful. My prayer is that he would keep that joy his entire life. He takes everything in and seems like he just truly loves being here. Please pray for him because he is going to have tear duct surgery soon. We have been hoping his eye would clear up but the eye doctor we met with this week said it was time to do something about it before he gets older.

So as I think about my sweet boys, I truly cannot imagine what my aunt and uncle are going through seeing their own son lying in a hospital bed... unsure of the future. Please pray for them and for God's healing and strength.