Allergic to What?!

We went to the doc today for Erin's allergy testing results. She tested negative for any kind of environmental stuff, like pollen and ragweed and normal stuff. Then we got to the basic food allergies. Sheesh. It's a scale of one to six (severe) and the doc said he raises his eyebrows at a 3. Well, Erin got a high 4 for eggs, a 4 for wheat and a high 3 for milk. The best way to decide what exactly is causing her respiratory distress is to have a 2 week hiatus from the offending element, then introduce it in its purest form and look for a reaction, first in the morning, then in the afternoon. For the sake of time, we decided to combine all the elements in our hiatus.
So, in short, for 2 weeks, we are doing without eggs, wheat and milk. Poor Erin. Then I got the doctor's sheets on all the different ingredient names for all of this and the basics of what we can't have. No dairy. No butter. No bread or anything with flour in it. No noodles (!). Nothing breaded. No eggs or anything with eggs in it. Baked goods. Breakfast. Sheesh. So we are down to meat, veggies and fruits. Or anything weird that we can find at the whole foods store, though has anyone seen anything that doesn't have whole wheat this or 5-grain that?? Come on! No goldfish! No chicken nuggets! No toast! No cheese! No pizza!
It's like being on that Adkin's diet, sort of. Thank the Lord that we can have rice and potatoes (french fries). So we have two kinds of rice milk in the fridge (soy milk is nasty; sorry, but have you tasted it?!), lots of fruit and hopefully some applesauce for night-time meds that usually get stuck in milk.
So tonight's dinner is bunless hamburgers, veggies and fruit. Breakfast is grits or oatmeal, after I check the label to make sure there's no wheat products in there...argh! Lunch? No clue. We'll figure something out.
In the meantime, does anyone else have any ideas? We can use all the help we can get.
Either way, it will be worth it. Getting rid of this horrible 7 month cough and wheezing will be SO worth it.

Country Boy Videos

These two videos wouldn't fit in the original post.
For hints, Ian is wearing a black cowboy hat and a plaid long-sleeved shirt. In the country boy video, he is standing in the back right corner and is hard to spot. In "Buffalo Gals" he is standing right in the middle, though the lighting is bad. He was on the sides, so my HC got right up in there with the camera. Gotta love his dancing, either way. Some of the boys got pretty rowdy up there, so we were proud that Ian stuck it out and remembered his moves. :)
Sheesh, it's so hard to think that school is out in 3 weeks.

Country Boy

Today was a pretty good day. I got a pretty neat new haircut that will require a flat iron (another reason why more accidents happen in the bathroom). I was told that I look 5 years younger, which is a pretty big deal if you are still under 30. So I got a demonstration from my new hair stylist (Gwenda, God bless you) and I now know how to duplicate it. It's pretty easy too, even for a lazy hair person like me. Ian likes it, anyway. He's been telling me I need a haircut for a week or so. My HC is just happy that I didn't get bangs. The things you never knew... We went to Ian's class program and it was so cute. All the kids were decked out in their cowboy/girl finest. There were plenty of doting parents and big bottoms blocking cameras. Erin was fussy the entire time since it was a special occasion and couldn't be persuaded to nap. She got quieter when the program started. Talk about excess cuteness! The principal started it off, telling us to take plenty of pictures because after we blinked a couple of times, the kids would be walking across the same stage to get their high school diploma. There were a lot of tissues at this point. After all the singing, they did awards. Ian got the "Brightest Smile" award. Naturally, my HC thought he should have gotten something more along the lines of "Gifted Genius" but I explained to him that they didn't want the other kids to feel inferior [wink, wink]. The last thing was the slide show. Every child's baby, toddler and now pictures were shown. We went to the cafeteria for refreshments, but the line was all the way through the cafeteria, around and out the door, so we decided to say our goodbyes and head to "McSongit" as Ian calls it. Of course, they only wanted the apple juice slushes, but at least my HC and I got the leftovers (woo hoo!)

Pink

The wind is still relentless, though it's finally gone down from the 30 mph gusts that have been tearing at everything. Now if we can just get rid of all the coughing...that would be nice. Ian seems to be doing better, though the cough is still there, a little.
Now it's Erin's turn again, to hack and hack, a dry then a wet cough that makes her choke and gag and wake up and cry. Last night was not a good night. Now I am just sitting here listening to the coughing/gagging. We were hoping that the allergy doctor would figure out a way to fix this. We're hoping the blood tests will yield treatable results. It's strange that you get so used to being sick all the time that it starts being normal. Then you realize that not everyone else makes weekly and bi-weekly visits to the doctor and pharmacy. I think those offices have our numbers on speed dial. The pharmacy knows us by our prescriptions and just may get a picture of the kids at Christmas. Not really, but it's comparable to being so familiar to the Chinese takeout place where you call and they say "The usual?"
It still stinks that our camera is malfunctioning because I got some prime shots of Erin after she decided to decorate her arm and legs with pink marker.
I think she knew she was naughty because she brought me the marker when she was finished. The cap, too. I scolded her like she expected and then she kept saying "stuck, stuck!" Ian was scandalized. "Ooooh, Mommy! Look what Erin do to her!"
I told them that it probably wouldn't come off (though Erin tried with wet wipes). The worst part is that some of it came off in the tub and now she has faint pink marks, like she's been scratched. It looks like she's recovering from being dragged through the briar patch. Except it was a marker and not a pen, so the lines are thicker. Anyway, it's obvious enough that you want to inform everyone of it before they decide to call a social worker on you.
Big fun tomorrow. I am trying a new hair stylist, the praise leader from church. She is so busy by herself that she doesn't often take new clients, so I am relieved. Or I will be relieved if I leave her studio without a bowl cut, a puffball or a mullet, which seems to be the specialty around here. For females, anyway.
Ian's pre-k program is also tomorrow. He has to dress up like a cowboy (please, no guns or spurs). He will receive a blue bandana when he gets there. I know there are songs involved because he's been singing a garbled version of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" that took me a while to translate from "Mommy, do you know that song, "Tha-Gadda-ma-Kutchy Boy?" He looked a little confused and then happy when he understood the real words to the title (I can't help him with the rest of the song, unfortunately). I think he inherited that skill from me. Though I have JD, my very knowledgeable step-dad, to thank for revealing, after 20 years, the real words to "Take On Me," even though there is one line still in dispute.
We'll try for some camera phone pics, and maybe some video. Cross those fingers! And pray that God sends us a camera that works.

How Does My Garden Grow?

With blister, sunburn and aching muscles. And there's not even a guarantee that it will. But at least there's one unpleasant thing that I will be avoiding. This year, there is an abundance of WeedMat. Yay. There almost wasn't, due to the 30 mph wind gusts that kept ripping through the yard. And there might be some missing pieces tomorrow, due to the 30 mph wind gusts that will be ripping through tomorrow, but please Lord, let them stay!
Our garden this year is twice the size that it was last year, and that's not counting the hills on the other side of the yard for pumpkins, watermelons and canteloupes. Now comes the hard part....waiting for results.

We have all recovered from our illness and for those wondering, my HC never got sick. He didn't get sick the last time the stomach bug roared through either. He says he has an iron stomach. I say he's ingested so many toxins from all the soda and junk food that nothing can survive in his bloodstream. We agreed to disagree.

Yesterday was the first day of the year that it was 80 and sunny. We were tilling the garden and shovelling out rows. We all got sunburnt. Erin is fine, she just got a wee bit of red under her eyes. Ian came home with burnt arms and neck and nose. And his little lips were all chapped and cracked this morning when he woke up. I keep chasing him with Herpecin, a medicated lip balm. He doesn't mind, but he likes the other stuff better, that tastes like mint. We don't have that kind anymore. Erin ate it.
Today my HC and I got even more burnt. Tomorrow we will rest. And then it's supposed to rain for 5 or so days, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.
But in the meantime, my garden plot looks goooooooooood!

Saving Mommy

Well, Ian got better. Then on Friday night it hit Erin. She threw up plenty, though she never had the other end of it. I was just fine and dandy and so was my HC. Then after all day of the other end, everything I had ever eaten decided it wanted to make an upward appearance. And of course it wanted to happen about an hour before it was time for my HC to go to work. He was sleeping through most of it.
And everyone else? Well, they wanted to watch.
I think Erin was trying to hold my hair back at one point and Ian was just standing in the doorway with an EW! look on his face. I had keep Erin from getting too close and after I almost knocked her down (I thought I was finished), I had Ian go wake Daddy up. Of course, Ian came right back. "Daddy won't wake up," he complained. It was clearly not a good time for me to do it. I hobbled into the bedroom and scrabbled at his leg until his bleary eye cracked open. Thank God he went into alert mode right away. He entertained the kids while I had some more trips to the bathroom. He called in to go on a later shift, which gave him 2 more hours at home. He fixed supper while I lay on the couch like a dead thing.
I almost cried when he went to work, I felt so awful. But one thing saved me from utter despair.
It was Elmo.
Elmo bubbles to be exact.
Gramma and Papaw got Erin a little Elmo bubble blower for her birthday last year. Since bubbles are seasonal in our neck of the woods (?!!!), we eagerly snapped up a bottle as soon as we saw our brand. Almost every day we have been filling Elmo up and turning him on for some bubble frolic.
Unfortunately, our lame camera is not transferring pictures to the computer, so you'll just have to visualize. If I can get my HC to sit and help me, we'll figure out what's wrong with it. Until then, I am thanking God for Elmo and the distraction he afforded while I was so disgustingly sick.
Today I feel better, just TIRED and my stomach feels like something you want to poke at with a stick, wrinkle your nose and leave on the edge of a ditch.
To Ian's great disappointment, he will be going back to school tomorrow.
That's okay. As long as Elmo has batteries, the world is a friendly place.

Ew

*note: due to the sensitive nature of this post and for the protection of my readers, there will be no pictures in today's blog.

Last night was the beginning of Stomach Bug II. The first was a few years ago when Ian was a toddler. Now he is 4, and praise God he can throw up into a bowl or the toilet (or the sink; or outside), most of the time. Erin thinks the emergency puke bowl is great fun. This morning she threw some cereal into it (don't worry, it's kept rinsed out). Then some bottles of Gatorade. A couple of hot wheels. Then she wanted to lay on the ground next to it to see her reflection in the sides. Ian thinks she is quite gross. "That's a YUCKY bowl!" he keeps telling her.
Of course, the twin companion to vomit comes out the other end. Explosively at times. Unfortunately, there is no bowl for this. But we are now minus one rug (I was sleeping; my HC determined this a matter of household security and made an executive decision), several pull-ups and a couple of rolls of tp.
Meanwhile, Erin decided to do another diaper fingerpainting when we were too slow to get her from her nap. So I have seen enough body fluid and waste today to last me for quite some time. And the Pizza Rolls that we heated for supper (we were desperate and cooking was not an option) did not phase us a bit. Ian finally managed to keep some string cheese down (he insisted, I was pulling for the jell-o). It's been 2 hours so far with no gastronomical pyrotechnics and we are SO praying that it was a 24 hour bug?? Please? Please?!
We are also praying that no one else gets it (go ahead and laugh, but we can hope, can't we?).

In other news, we went to the allergy specialist on Wednesday, for Erin. We got some nasal steroids even though she is under 2. They also took a few vials of blood for testing. We go back in 2 weeks to see the results. My HC was there to hold her while they took her blood and of course, it hurt him more than it did Erin. After a medicinal Happy Meal, Erin felt better. We also got strict instructions for some earwax removal, since it was too thick to see inside her ears. I don't know about anyone else, but I have always heard that "you should Never try to clean your kids' ears out with q-tips or anything; let your doctor clean the ears. You could damage something!" Of course, I go to the doctor and get "his/her ears are too filled with wax to see anything," with a hint-hint type of look. Finally the allergy doc steered us to an OTC oil that will cause the buildup to slip out (or you can suction, if you have kids that are amenable to that [I don't]). Sheesh.
Now we have the Blue Beast (nasal aspirator) and the Tuber of Terror! But so far, I haven't been able to catch anyone long enough to use it...

Drippy Eggs--Part 2

As a little add-on to the last post, this is a pic of my new, beautiful niece, Aislynn, who has just completed her first month on the Outside (of the womb, that is). I think it's just no end of funny that the Easter Basket is bigger than she is. She's probably eyeballing all that chocolate and thinking "Just you wait, next year, I'll be all over you!"

Of course, her cousins Ian and Erin would be more than happy to help her right now with all her Easter Candy.
Upon seeing Aislynn's pictures, Ian's first response was a look of pity. Then he spoke up. "She doesn't want to be a baby. She wants to be big. She NEEDS to be big." Clearly, he's happy being 4. Erin just points and says "Baby!"

Drippy Eggs

Eastery Sunday was pouring rain and 40 degrees. We had to practically swim from the parking lot to the church. Ian and I had wet shoes and legs and Erin's face was buried into my shoulder trying to keep rain out of her eyes. It was not fun.
But I did have a chance to try to take some pictures.





For those who think it's completely necessary for kids to have their eyes open, I finally figured out how to turn off the flash. So there. At least some eyes are open.
We played Candy Land after our big Easter dinner of ham and asparagus, though Erin was only interested in the Hawaiian rolls. Erin got an Aqua Doodle and she loves it. This is a wonderful thing, since she has adorned almost every surface of the house with ink, crayon and/or colored pencil. Erin also got a coloring book, an Elmo movie and a book to read. Ian got a HotWheel, a Matchbox play scene and a book on Outer Space. There was a little candy involved and a small chocolate bunny, but we are overflowing with candy from the egg hunts we went to. These pictures have disappeared from the camera due to a mysterious removal of the battery (bad picture maybe?). Oh well.
Tonight we are having Hawaiian pizza with leftover ham. MMMmmmmmmm!!!!

Bunny Ears

Today was Easter Fun Day at school. Everyone had to bring 6 candy-filled eggs, their Easter Basket and a happy smile (due to the cancellation of naptime for holiday festivities). Ian complied. He returned home with an insane sugar high, a little crankiness (happy smile suspended after the end of cancelled naptime), and these cute little ears.

Immediately, the kids sat down to examine the loot and open those filled eggs. Daddy added a little bug juice in case Erin felt deprived at being too young to go to school.







What is that on Ian's shirt? It goes with the cock-eyed ears...










Awwwww, it's a little bunny tail!!! And it came off about 2 seconds after the picture was taken. "I don't wanna wear the tail anymore, okay? I frow it in the trash."




Meanwhile, someone else was more than happy to play with Ian's discards, candy included...

First Haircut

We've been sick a lot this past winter. Erin has been sick all except for about a week, and that's adding the days together. With all the runny noses and smearing and drool from teething and other messes, there have been a lot of unidentified masses in her hair, especially the part that gets in her face. We do a barrette or a pony tail almost every day, but at night, her hair gets in her face. It really aggravates her, and you can tell from all the impatient swipes to get it out of her eyes and accompanying huffs and noises. Gramma has suggested several times that we cut the poor thing's hair so she can get it out of her face.
After having to pry out a dried boogie last night and almost just cutting it out, I asked my HC again and he FINALLY gave the go ahead. He might change his mind after he sees it...


Ian said it looked beautiful. I say that it's really hard to cut a one year old's hair, especially around the face and ESPECIALLY when it's curly! It's growing on me. But she does remind me of a picture of my mom and her sisters when they were little mites. Now she looks more like Gramma than ever! Don't worry, I saved a little bit of curl for the Memory Box. Now I have to wonder, what am I going to do with all these barrettes??

A Windy Hunt

Today was the annual town Egg Hunt at the park. After a lot of restless pacing, waiting and nagging, it was finally time. We walked, because parking is usually crazy, at least for our town. We joined the crowd, complete with pit bulls on leashes (who, I'm sure, were looking at the crowds of children and thinking of snack time).
We got our goody bags and our pictures with the Easter Bunny (how many kids will have nightmares tonight??) and then waited at the starting line with the other mercenary parents and understandably ill-tempered children 4 and under who didn't get why they
had to stand and stare at the eggs for 10 minutes instead of snatching them up.
We were herded along the edges of the field. It was 2 minutes and counting. Then someone started a familiar dance. "I gotta PEE!" ??? He started to run off toward the fence. He was stopped by my HC. He told me to take him to the bathroom. The bathroom was a tiny mirage at the other end of the park. "But he'll miss the hunt," I protested. Ian squirmed and danced and held his pants. My HC crouched down and looked him in the eye. Erin bopped him on the head a few times ("Up up!"). "Ian," he said, "can you hold it?" Ian was faced with the inconceivable possibility of missing the hunt. Before he had time to answer,
the shout had sounded. The Hunt had started.

They had a great time and we got a lot of eggs, since we were at the end of the craziness (mostly parents).

Gramma and Papaw sent a little box to us and a taste of the steel drum concert (the island lollipops). They were a hit (and a dribble).