I Am A Child Of God

I was trying to pack for Blythe this weekend and Tawny wasn't cooperating so I asked Brayden to keep Tawny happy. This is what he came up with

Happy Belated Easter

Talk about a silver lining. In the midst of all the chaos this week, my kids came to the rescue. I had just given them a bath when the phone rang. When I got back Brayden had put bunny ears on both him and Tawny and they were just sitting there playing. It was so cute! They're really starting to be best buds.

Ready, Set, Go!

Let's see...

• Brayden has a fever and is throwing up
• Tawny has an ear infection
• I spent the weekend in Vegas for a family funeral, which means I am completely behind on housework, laundry, etc
• I ignored my work last week (my real job) and it's coming back to bite me
• I have a church activity at my house on Thursday and I don't even know what we're doing yet. (it's for 8-11 yr old girls and they are a tough crowd)
• Greg's birthday is on Thursday. I guess I should start thinking about what to get him
• My brother gets back from his mission on Wednesday and I'm supposed to be back in Vegas (which is hours away).

Look at what I have to look forward to. Most of it's my own fault for postponing it, but it doesn't make it any more fun. Guess I just need to jump right in....

Shamu, Shamu!

We went to Sea world last Saturday and had so much fun! My mom and Grandma Sharlene came too. Thanks for all your help. It started out a little rocky with Brayden. We went to the Shamu show and before the show began there was this pretty intense music. I didn't think anything of it until Brayden turn around with tears in his eyes and said "Mommy, let's just go home please." I convinced him to stay around until shamu came out and as soon as the first whale jumped out of the water he was hooked. All this week he has been walking around the house, making the sign with for splashing his hands and saying "Shamu, Shamu". This is what the trainers had the audience do to get the whales to splash and Brayden thought it was pretty exciting. It was all uphill from there. Here are some of his favorite animals:

"doflins"

Eels or "water snakes"

"Bad Fish"
"Look mommy, a papa penguin"
And here are some cute family photos since very rarely are there pics of Greg or me.

Brayden insisted that this hat fit Tawny perfect.

Photo Op

My mom made this dress for me when I was a baby and I thought it would be cute to have some pics of Tawny in it too. I took way more pictures than I was intending too, but she's just so cute! And thanks mom for saving the dress all these years.

Peek-a-Boo!!I'm Outta Here!

Success!

I gave Brayden homemade bread, grilled chicken and corn for dinner and after he finished he said, "Thank you for the yummy dinner. It was sooo good!" Maybe he's not going to starve after all!

I realized it has been a few weeks since I posted any pictures of Tawny. She changes so fast! Her hair is growing so fast and if possible she's a little chunkier. I love her big thighs. I think she got them from her mommy. Why are they so cute on her, but not on me? It seems like a double standard if you ask me. Here are the pics....

What Do I Feed the Poor Kid??

We had the last appointment with the allergist for Brayden this week. At least for the next few months. For those of you who don't know, he went into anaphylactic shock in December when he ate some peanut butter. I also knew he couldn't have eggs in very high doses. But there was something else that was making him sick and I couldn't figure out what it was. Sometimes he would get a rash around his mouth, or tell me his mouth was itchy or even throw up. So we decided to get him tested. We had to go through three rounds of scratch testing, where they scratch his back and put different common allergens into the scratch to see how they react. I only remembered the camera the last day, which he had the mildest and least amount of reactions but you get the idea.

Even though it was such an awful experience, I am glad we did it. We found out he is allergic to A LOT of food, plus quite a few environmental allergies. Here's a list of the worst (our allergist didn't even worry about the mild reactions because he's so young and there were bigger problems to deal with): milk, egg, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. He's also allergic to pretty much all grasses and trees, dust, mold, and pretty much all pets.

So now we need to find out which of the above food is making him sick. We know nuts and eggs, but I think the hidden culprit is the soy, which is in pretty much everything! If you don't believe me, start reading your labels. The allergist recommended cutting out all the above foods for 6-8 weeks,then reintroducing one at time every other week and keeping a journal of his symptoms. Sound like fun doesn't it? It may seem a little dramatic but I have already noticed a difference and it's only been a 5 days.

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to feed the poor kid. Pretty much everything he likes is off limits. But he is doing so well. He really hasn't fought me on anything, which really surprised me. In fact, I made him some bread today ( nearly all bread from the store has soy) and he asked me if it had soy or eggs before he would eat it. He's already checking up on me. I'm going to have to cook from scratch a lot more often. So if any of you have any recipes with no soy, eggs or milk, please send them my way!

Life as a Mommy

So on Saturday I managed to get peed on, pooped on and thrown up on. Don't you wish you were me? The first two were Tawny, but the last was Brayden and I think it is a story that bears repeating.

Greg had to work Saturday morning and then had to help some people move in the afternoon. So in an attempt to break up the day's monotony I took the kids to Costco. (mistake#1). While we were there they had samples and Brayden wanted to eat some of them, so I let him. (mistake#2). Most of you know that Brayden has some serious food allergies. I thought I was careful about what he ate, but I guess I wasn't careful enough. On the way home he told me his tummy hurt and his mouth itched, which is a sure sign he ate something he shouldn't have. So we walk in the door, he runs into his room and throws up everywhere (bed, wall, floor and toys). He freaks out and runs into the dining room where I am. I didn't know what had happened at this point, but he's crying so I bent down to talk to him (mistake#3). He threw up all over me...I mean everywhere. But it doesn't end there. He wanted to help clean up the mess, so he ran into my bedroom to grab a towel and threw up in there too. Then while I was getting him in the shower he threw up in the bathroom. How can such a small boy make such a big mess? He felt fine after that but I had some serious cleaning up to do. He felt so bad and kept saying "I so sorry for the big mess. You need big hugs?" As a matter of fact I do...as long as there's no throwing up involved.