Peach's sixth birthday party (a week late)

We finally celebrated Peach's birthday with some of her friends.

We had a good mix from new friends and friends from the past. And by the time you throw in our own kiddos, we had quite the crowd.

She wanted a "Beach Party" and I didn't know exactly how I'd pull this off. And honestly I didn't give it much thought since she mentioned this to me several months ago. Like before summer stuff was even hitting the shelves. Then, earlier this summer my Family Fun magazine came and they featured a "beach party." I stole some ideas and created, what I hope, was a great party for my big girl.

We bought six bags of sand and dumped them onto our paint tarp. I set up several beach toys (that I found on the cheap once "Back to school" stuff hit the shelves") in the sand and several little chairs around the sand. We also set up three pools around the sand. Of course they were welcome to play on our swing set, and of course, they did! And lastly, I found a photo poser (I don't know what these things are truly called) to hang up. They all jumped in to take a picture in it.

They played in the sand and water, did their version of cannon balls, and pushed each other in the swings.

Then it was time for hot dogs, chips, fruit kabobs and blue "ocean" drink. They also took several swings at the beach ball pinata. We let it go for a few rounds, and then we helped the candy fall out!

The birthday girl opened her presents. She was given very nice toys, games, and art supplies. She was smiling the whole time. She enjoyed having the gift giver stand next to her as she opened their gift. I took pictures of each kiddo with Peach--and I think it'll help me when it comes time to write the thank you notes (SMILE)!

And what party is complete without singing "happy birthday?" We gobbled up these tasty cupcakes as well--they were allergy-friendly chocolate cupcakes with (non-allergy-friendly) strawberry frosting.

Peach really wanted umbrellas on her cupcakes, and I thought they should be "shading" teddy bears (I've seen it done before). I was wondering if the chocolate and strawberry would go together--but I gotta hand it to Ms. Peach, it's pretty tasty!

Being the sweet girls that she is, she thanked us for the party. That always makes us feel that our hard work was worth it. And of course, we think she's very well-deserving! After all, she's given us six wonderful years!

More Allergies--Different Girls

Well, we had our "skin prick and blood draw"  visit with our allergist today. Brownie and Bug were the poor victims this time.

We did the blood draw first, and Matt and I used all of our might to hold them down while one nurse drew their blood and another nurse helped us hold the child down. I hate, Hate, HATE holding my children down. I feel like I'm betraying them-- at least if I look at it from their eyes. I just imagine how I'd feel if the person I trusted the most was forcing me into pain. So I try to prep them for it as we're headed to the appointment. I explain what's going to happen right before it does. But all of this, of course, doesn't help with the pain factor. But I sure hope it helps them feel as if I didn't actually betray their trust.

Anyway, after the blood draw they were allowed to eat--a good thing since this was a fasting blood draw. Once the food was down, the skin prick test happened. We did Brownie first, only because neither girl wanted to go first but Brownie was picked since Bug went first on the blood draw.

The test takes about 1-2 minutes to do, all the while my baby is sitting across my lap leaning into a hug with me so that her back is exposed. The whole time her little body is cringing in pain and her screams escalate at the point of the pricks. I hate this part too. God, how I HATE this part.

Of course, having Bug witness her sister's test/torture was probably a horrible idea, but it happened. While we waited for the doctor to read her skin test results, we sent daddy and Bug into another room to do her testing. I stayed with Brownie and held her while we waited for the reading to take place.

Oh my, the sounds coming out of my baby's mouth from the next room over were even worse than the ones form the baby sitting on my lap. And they continued until the doctor came to read her test results (about 15-20 minutes of screaming). This test can make you itch like crazy, and from the looks on Bug's back it appeared she had 100 mosquito bites all over. I knew the news wouldn't be awesome (like I'd hoped)!

So, Brownie's results were revealed first and they are as follows:
Definite food allergies: Eggs and tomoatoes
Other allergies to animals and stuff outside (molds were pretty bad, grasses, pollens and trees)
She received her first allergy shot today.

Bug's results were revealed next and are as follows:
Definite food allergies: Eggs, milk, oats, hazelnut, grapes, mushrooms and pork.
She also has "outside" allergies resembling her sisters', so she also received her first allergy shot.

Poor Bug has eaten oatmeal (with milk and oats, of course) nearly everyday for quite some time. She also loves grapes and consumes them quite frequently. We've already made meals eliminating these ingredients for these girls, and were hoping to see some results fast!

That's all the allergy talk for now. We go back in early October to receive our IgG test results for Bug and Brownie. I'm hoping it can't be much worse, but I won't be holding my breath!

Allergies!

I've been slow with getting this post up for several reasons--mainly I was avoiding the subject and also I've had little time for blogging. But it's high time I get our Boo Allergies for Boushka post up.

It was about an eight month process, but we finally figured out what is going on with our Boushka girl. She's had some things occur in her life that just made me question... things--sorry, I hate to use that word, but it fits here.

Ever since she was hospitalized (for a disease she was vaccinated for) and had yeast overgrowth in her gut, I've questioned so much about medicine, disease, vaccines, doctors, the government... oops, slippery slope! I won't go into any politics for now, but I was baffled by the controversy surrounding yeast overgrowth. I just wanted answers, and I was never setting out to push buttons.

After she was released from the hospital, her "condition" (the yeast and her illness because a vaccine didn't work) stayed on my mind. A few weeks later we had our 5th child and dealt with all the stresses that come from that. A couple months later we took Boushka in for her 24 month check up and she was pretty healthy. She hadn't grown much and was still struggling to put on weight from being sick a few months back. And on our way out the door, I mentioned to our doctor that Boushka was still having bowel issues.

She asked if she was ever treated for the bacteria that was also a problem during her hospital stay, and I said no. Our doctor was quite shocked (we were at a hospital where she doesn't have practice rights so she didn't get heavily involved with our case at that time) that we weren't given antibiotics, but I told her I thought it was because of the yeast problem. She went ahead and gave us some antibiotic to see if it would clear up the problem, and then she also referred us to a specialist at a childrens hospital. I didn't like the idea of either, but I gave her the medicine to see if it'd help her and I tried to call the hospital.

We'd been to this hospital before for Brownie, ironically enough, for a GI problem. We did not leave very happy campers, so I really didn't want to go back to this place--at least not to the same department where we blew a bunch of money for a doctor to basically recommend a different formula.

But I went against my gut and made our appointment for the CH for a few weeks out. Well, this is where the hand of God stepped in and slapped me on the head saying Use your common sense, girl! That's why I gave it to you!

There were tornadoes foretasted for the day we were supposed to go to the CH. Mind you, this was three days after tornadoes had hit our town and two days after the Joplin tornadoes. So I totally chickened out and refused to travel on a highway, during tornado breakouts, to a place I didn't really trust.

Fast forward another few weeks and I'm calling my friend to talk about allergies. I'd been thinking about all of Boushka's symptoms (red eyes, swollen eyes, "allergy shiners," eczema, horrible tantrums, the yeast...) and concluded that I could probably find help for this "stuff" plaguing my daughter. By talking with my friend (who had gone through all of this plus more with her own son) I knew I needed to call the allergist. So I did and had an appointment in min June.

We went and I discussed, in detail, all of the things I've already mentioned in this post. Her hospitalization. The yeast. Her eyes. Her mood. Everything. He checked out her ears, nose, mouth, lungs, and heart and determined she probably had a decent list of allergies. So we set up an appointment for her to get tested.

Lord, I was dreading that appointment because it involved many needles for my baby--not to mention answers I wasn't ready to deal with. So we did a blood draw to test for IgG food allergies and the typical skin prick test to test for IgE allergies. The IgE allergies occur immediately after ingestion or inhalation, whereas the IgG allergies cause delayed reactions. These delayed reactions can happen a few hours up to a few days later, but they can also help to explain several "mysterious" conditions.

I say "mysterious" because conventional medicine likes to put a general label on a collection of similar symptoms and then give you a pill to help ease the symptoms--think irritable bowl syndrome, colic, GERD, chronic fatigue, migraines, eczema, asthma, joint pain.... and the list goes on and on. The build up of IgG allergies can bring on several symptoms, but all you have to do is acknowldge and avoid what you are allergic to--and that's just what we did with Boushka.

We received her IgE test results right away and it turns out she's pretty allergic to "outside." Molds, pollen, grass, trees, fungus--if it grows she's allergic to it. Luckily, the only food that showed up on the immediate reaction list was tomatoes. We then had to wait a month to get the results from her blood draw to determine what her IgG allergies were.


So the day after we came back from Minnesota, we went back to the doctor and found out that Boushka has an array of allergies--35 to be exact. And I thought it was hard to eliminate all things with tomato... HA! Try adding gluten, soy, rice, dairy( cheese and milk--so sad), corn, peanut, cashew, egg whites and yolks, oats, several fruits and a few vegetables. And when I say gluten--that means so much more than just gluten. If you've never had to venture into the gluten-free (GF) world, you'd never believe the amount of foods that contain gluten. Also, I've determined that the Golden-Child of the GF diet is rice. Well, since we can't have rice, that also means that everything pre-made or pre-packaged for the GF diet we can't have. Because EVERYTHING GF from granola bars, to pastsa, to tortillas and cheese has RICE in it.


SIGH..............


I curse rice!


Oh well, I've become quite educated by going through this with our daughter. And really, I can't complain when I have a healthier girl on my hands. Since eliminating our allergens, both the IgG's and the IgE's, I am happy to report that our daughter will actually eat now. Before, she would pick at her food, or only eat the junk like pizza or cookies, that we occasionally allowed. Now, we can't get her full enough. And in the past month she's put on half a pound. WOW. It took her six months to gain the pound she lost in the hospital--but in one month she can gain half a pound???? Obviously this diet is working.


Another way I can tell it's working is because her other symptoms are diminishing. She still gets the eye symptoms, but that's because she's working up to a maintenance dose on her allergy shots and we're in the height of allergy season. But her digestion, eczema, and behavior problems are getting getter. Actually, I haven't seen any eczema at all in the last few weeks.


We got another confirmation just a couple of weeks ago. On her allergin list, "brown rice" is listed. So naturally, against my health conscious self, I wondered if she can have white rice. I hated to think of giving that to her, but since it truly is the superstar of GF goods, I would give it a shot every once in a while if it was indeed deemed okay to eat. So I called and spoke with a nurse who said it was okay.


I rejoiced. Like, seriously rejoiced.


We went out to our favorite Japanese Steakhouse that night where I questioned everything and requested allergy-free everything. They accommodated by using no soy, no sesame (yes, she's allergic to that too), no egg in her rice, etc. So basically she had a big bowl of steamed white rice and plain chicken. She wasn't all that thrilled--despite my looking like a nutso requesting all the specific needs we had! She had some, but we boxed up the rest to take home. And she ate some of those left overs the next day.


Immediately--like the morning after we went out for dinner--Boushka girl was raging in her fits again. Her diapers were back to horrible--and things just started falling apart left and right for her. I asked her doctor the next time we were in to see him about the white vs. brown rice issue, and he said to NOT give her any rice at all. A little peeved at the situation, I politely said okay, thank you and went on about my business. Lesson learned--1)Only ask the doctor these type of questions and 2)Know and recognize the symptoms--then avoid the food!


I have tons more to share about how the diet is going, what improvements we've seen, how we're dealing with the stress of cooking now.... but it's high time I hit the hay. Because tomorrow we have to leave by 7:30 with Bug and Brownie to do the same round of testing. By this time tomorrow, I'll know their IgE's, and I'll hopefully be reporting very little about that tomorrow!

Happy birthday Peach!

I'm a little late with this, but that's better than never. 

Friday morning a newly turned 6 yr old Peach rushed down the stairs to the breakfast table. I know it's not much, but this little decorating sent her over the moon (and you can't see the only Happy Birthday sign I could find in our basement hanging on the windows--it was Elmo themed... lol)!

 She didn't even really pay attention to the words on the balloon that said It's a Girl. She was just excited to see a pink balloon. And a Happy Birthday centerpiece. And cards. And a goody bag.

 Insert some joke about the blind leading the blind here!

Apparently Peach and Brownie were both stunned at their discovery! The table was ready for a birthday girl!

Peach opened her card from us and was thrilled it was in the shape of a six.

Would you just look at that beautiful face... HAHAHA!

I like to give the birthday girl a few little treats just to start their day off bright. Not that I need to buy their love, but I find simple little things that they never really get (only because I don't allow them--think silly bands, Oreos and face tattoos) and stuff a little bag with them.

After breakfast, Peach went on to school. Daddy, Brownie and I all surprised her at lunch time with pizza, bread sticks and raspberry lemonade. My hands were very full, so no pictures were taken (bummer). But suffice it to say my girl was SURPRISED! And for her school treat, she requested No-Bake cookies. So that's what she got.

Once she came home from school it was time to get ready for her birthday dinner. She requested BFD (or Breakfast for Dinner) complete with sweet nests,

fresh fruit,

and hash browns (not photographed). We even had two kinds of juice (which is a treat around these parts).

And as a girl after my own heart, she requested No-bake cookies instead of cake. That was nice since it cut down on my work load (and I had no extra time that day), and I could change four ingredients so that Boushka could eat them as well (I'll tell this story in a post coming soon).

Then we moved to the living room for presents. Gram, Papa, Uncle Todd, our girls and we were there to watch (Grammy had called to say that she was sick and we could hopefully celebrate the next day).

We got her a wood jewelry making kit, a KU t-shirt (pictured below) and a pedicure with me. She really wanted that pedicure with me and I was totally happy to oblige (kind of a mother-daughter dream of mine).

Gram, Papa and UT hooked her up with some stylish red boots (which match several new outfits she got earlier in the week), some new clothes, and smurf toys!

UT and the girls settled in for an intense game on the wii. Then we got a call from Aunt Nancy wishing Peach a happy birthday! Since it was nearing bed time, I called my sister to see if she was going to call. Not that I thought she forgot the big day, but I know she's busy and I wanted to make sure she got the call in before bed. When she answered she said she'd call back in 20 mins.

In her new KU shirt showing off her bike from Grammy!

A short while later, everybody packed up and went home and we were getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. I think my words were something like "Please don't talk long with that salesman," to my husband. Then my mouth dropped open--it was my sister.

That stinker decided to pay us a surprise visit all the way from GA. My mom had only known about the surprise for 24 hours, so her "sick" excuse was just so she could pick up my sister from the airport. Needless to say, we were all thrilled and so happy. And Peach was just too excited for words.

I can't believe my baby girl is six-years old. These have certainly been the best six years of my life. And I  hope her short six years have been filled with happiness, love, and support. I pray everyday that she knows she is loved unconditionally. And not a single day passes in which I don't thank God for this wonderful and precious gift.

We all love you, Kernel Peachy Poo!

A Big Week

Well, I suppose at this stage in life things just don't ever slow down. And even when they do, we usually use any extra time to sleep. But I'm not here to talk about sleep, I'm actually here to introduce you to my Pre-K Brownie and my Pre(-Pre) K Bug (I say Pre-Pre-K because she'll actually be in Pre-K next year, anyway...)

Aren't they stunning? I just adore those sweet faces. And I'm so proud of them for being such big girls this year. There were no tears. There was only excitement for the new school year.

Brownie is going 5 mornings a week this year. When we enrolled 6 months ago, the director told us that there was no room in the "Transition" classroom, so Brownie would be with other 4's in the M-Thursday morning room. Then about two weeks before school started, the director called and asked if we'd still like to be in the transition class because one person went on to kindergarten. I should've anticipated her answer, but I asked her anway. And of course, Brownie jumped at that chance. This is the class Peach was in last year and we just adore our teacher. So of course, Brownie wanted to be like Big Sis and take the transition class.

I was excited for Brownie to be with the "big leagues," but about a day or two before school started it dawned on me that I would no longer have my baby at home in the morning (which as I'm sure many of you know, the morning is the time of day SAHMs actually get out and get things done or go on playdates, etc). I just got used to the idea of Peach being gone all day in kindergarten, and now I'm having to get used to the idea of my second-born being gone every morning. That's like old school kindergarten (at least around these parts--they do full day now).  But after half a week at our new schedule, I can say we are all adjusting happily!

And Bug... oh she's great! She loves school. She has the same teacher that Brownie had for two years in a row. One thing I can say for sure is that we are blessed with well-qualified and very loving preschool teachers. We have never had a bad or even somewhat discouraging experience at or preschool.

But back to Bugsy--she has already done her homework for the week. She had to answer a couple questions about herself and here they are:

Favorite Food: Pizza (duh, mom)

Favorite color: Pink and purple (the girl couldn't pick just one)


I sure do appreciate how parents are slowly brought into the whole homework arena. I can't even begin to imagine what we'll do when we have a 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 1st grader. But for now, I'm happy to help with these little assignments (SMILE)!

HAPPY SCHOOL YEAR!

Scrunchie is 6 Months old

So we are celebrating (okay, really it's just me because I'm the momma and this is what we do) Scrunchie turning 6 months old.

For the first time in her life, she tried some baby food this week. Just 5 days before she turned 6 months old,

this little peanut ate food. I wasn't really planning on it, but it just sort of happened on August 23rd. Around dinner time to be exact.

The pictures that follow simply capture that big moment in her life. A moment that I'm so lucky to be a part of.

Lately, I've just been in awe of how fast all these little people of mine are growing up. I know she's only eating solids for the first time, but there's just been so much change at our house lately.

And if you're familiar with me or my blog, I'm sure you're well aware of how much I loathe change--even though I really don't!

But this post isn't about me...

It's about his talented little gem!

And of course, all the new milestones she's hitting.

Scrunchie girl, you have enjoyed eating since the moment I met you.

And now I've taught you to read.

We wanted you to be so superior to your peers someday, so we bought you a "learn to read program" off the television....

Okay, just kidding. I laugh at those advertisements and really---I just wanted to get some "Back to School" looking photos of you.

And I also wanted to get your picture in a tu-tu. You need your tu-tu picture on our mantle just like the other four girls!

By the age of 6 months, you've traveled across the state line (thankfully in your parents' van), visited a BIG zoo, tried apples, sat for a few minutes at a time, and are now rolling all over the place (before you didn't even really care to be on your belly much. And even though you've been able to roll for quite some time, you just cried to be picked up instead. I don't know who would pick you up instead of making you learn to roll over if you were upset... {{SMILE}}).

Though you have sad times, like when you can't eat, can't sleep or just want to be held

You really do have a sweet demeanor. You are ornery as all get out. You make a Scrunchie face when you are being lifted in the air, when somebody makes a face at you, or even when we simply smile at you. You're easy to make happy (most of the time)!

And don't even get me started on your sisters. Are they ever doting. They adore you and everything you do. Not a single one of them complains about you or is bothered by you. In fact they all just love you to pieces, and it's very evident. But I think there's a special bond between you and Brownie. Oddly enough, you two look quite a bit alike.

But more importantly, she just loves you so much. Brownie is always asking about you, wanting to hold you, and shows extra interest in everything you do. She pays attention to every little thing you do. And in her eyes, you can do no wrong. I think this girl has even more patients with you than I do sometimes.

 

My oh my, are you one blessed little girl.

 

You are babbling and squealing a lot. And we love to hear you "talk!"

I don't know your official weight and height, but you've continued to grow...  A LOT! 

We'll get your official stats on Tuesday at the doctor's office for your 6 month check up, but for now I am just putting away many of your 3-6 month clothing because it won't hold your sweet baby pudge!

You still nurse quite frequently during the day, and you seem to have cut down on the amount of formula you need to supplement that growing tummy! This has only happened in the last week or so.

 

You have been trying to give up some nap time too. I'm not a fan, and neither are you. Because you only wind up cranky. If given the chance, you'll go down for a 10am nap--about an hour to hour and a half long. Then  you'll take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. And depending on how well your PM nap went, you'll go to bed around 7-8. And then we hear you on the monitor crying for love and food anywhere between 1-3 times per night.

 

Just so you know, I think we're all a fan of the one time per night! Although I do love a good quiet snuggle, I would prefer them at 3PM and not 3AM. But for now, I'll take what I can get.

I love you to pieces, Scrunchie. You are everything beautiful about this world, everything dreams are made of, and everything good. Thank you for reminding us daily just how tender and innocent of a miracle you are. May you forever feel and be as blessed and I am!