Friday, January 20, 2012
Finding a house
John was in Chicago all last week moving getting our condo ready for the renters to move in. This week we have been trying to find a house in Dallas. We found one in Frisco that we like. We put an application in on it today. Hopefully we will hear some good news today, because our stuff is already in Dallas sitting on the dock at the moving company. They will give us until the beginning of February and then they are bringing it. Hopefully we have a house to put it into to. This is our last chance effort or else our stuff goes in storage and we keep looking for a place.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Family
Today Kerri was off work. She came over and hung out most of the day. Brandy came by when she got off work for a little bit. It's nice having my family around a lot!
Austin is teething. BLAH... They are his bottom ones, which caused him lots of pain in the past. He still only has two bottom teeth, so I think we are in for more soon. Its weird becuase when he got his top ones in they didn't even bother him, and they are HUGE. Haha.
Yesterday Kerri and I drove to Firewheel off of George Bush to eat dinner with Kirsten. Wow, there is a big mall out there. We ate at Fish Market Grill, or something like that. We had fish tacos. Pretty good.
Austin goes in on Thursday for his 15 month appointment. I can't believe how old he is already! It sure goes by fast. AND Austin officially started walking today!!!! Woohoo!!!!
Austin is teething. BLAH... They are his bottom ones, which caused him lots of pain in the past. He still only has two bottom teeth, so I think we are in for more soon. Its weird becuase when he got his top ones in they didn't even bother him, and they are HUGE. Haha.
Yesterday Kerri and I drove to Firewheel off of George Bush to eat dinner with Kirsten. Wow, there is a big mall out there. We ate at Fish Market Grill, or something like that. We had fish tacos. Pretty good.
Austin goes in on Thursday for his 15 month appointment. I can't believe how old he is already! It sure goes by fast. AND Austin officially started walking today!!!! Woohoo!!!!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Dallas
Well weve been living in Dallas for almost 2 months. We are living with my parents right now until we sell or rent our condo in Chicago. Austin is sick with Croup right now. Its been pretty brutal on him. Thankfully I'm not here by myself watching him; since we are living with my parents and John works at home.
We are settling in pretty well. Weve been set up with a realtor down here and we are going to start looking for a rental soon. I anticipate we will move in January or February. I hope it won't be too hard on Austin, hes getting pretty used to everyone around.
The hardest part of moving so far has been changing our doctors over. I never realized how good we had it in Chicago. We LOVED our pediatrician and allergist for Austin. John and I just happened upon them. We didn't interview tons of doctors or have to visit lots. Here I feel like thats all I'm doing. I'm hoping we will like the one we meet with next Thursday.
Thats pretty much all that is going on. Looking forward to the holidays with a toddler!
We are settling in pretty well. Weve been set up with a realtor down here and we are going to start looking for a rental soon. I anticipate we will move in January or February. I hope it won't be too hard on Austin, hes getting pretty used to everyone around.
The hardest part of moving so far has been changing our doctors over. I never realized how good we had it in Chicago. We LOVED our pediatrician and allergist for Austin. John and I just happened upon them. We didn't interview tons of doctors or have to visit lots. Here I feel like thats all I'm doing. I'm hoping we will like the one we meet with next Thursday.
Thats pretty much all that is going on. Looking forward to the holidays with a toddler!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Summer so far
We have had a great Chicago summer. It has been warm and we have been able to go for walks almost every day. I know everyone in TX is jealous, but we only get 3 nice months out of the year, so I have to rub it in! I have found so many neat places in our neighborhood. I never really explored before because we were always so tired on the weekends from working so much. Now that I'm home we walk all the time. I'm actually starting to get a little tan!
In June we had family pictures taken by Lake Michigan. We took them at Museum Campus, which is where the Field Museum, Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium are. There is a GREAT view of the city from there.
Austin has started crawling and this week he is getting more adventurous. He has started to pull up on things and to try to climb on top of things. I feel like I can't take my eye off him for a second! He is also babbling more. Every day I feel like he gets to be more and more fun.
John's job is going well, although I wish he would play hooky sometimes to hang with us ;) but someone has to pay the bills.
I am loving staying home. We are wanting to try for another baby soon, but on Monday I'm having a biopsy of one of my boobs because I found a lump. I already had an ultrasound and a mammogram (SO painful) but they want to do a biopsy just to be certain. We are waiting to hear about the news from that and for the summer to end, and then hopefully another baby! We are in the process of doing some things around the house to get the condo ready to go up for sell. We only have a two bedroom, so we need to think about moving soon if we are going to have another baby.
We are going to Dallas in August and then in September Austin turns 1! Time sure flies by.
In June we had family pictures taken by Lake Michigan. We took them at Museum Campus, which is where the Field Museum, Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium are. There is a GREAT view of the city from there.
Austin has started crawling and this week he is getting more adventurous. He has started to pull up on things and to try to climb on top of things. I feel like I can't take my eye off him for a second! He is also babbling more. Every day I feel like he gets to be more and more fun.
John's job is going well, although I wish he would play hooky sometimes to hang with us ;) but someone has to pay the bills.
I am loving staying home. We are wanting to try for another baby soon, but on Monday I'm having a biopsy of one of my boobs because I found a lump. I already had an ultrasound and a mammogram (SO painful) but they want to do a biopsy just to be certain. We are waiting to hear about the news from that and for the summer to end, and then hopefully another baby! We are in the process of doing some things around the house to get the condo ready to go up for sell. We only have a two bedroom, so we need to think about moving soon if we are going to have another baby.
We are going to Dallas in August and then in September Austin turns 1! Time sure flies by.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Crawling!
Austin is FINALLY crawling. He is still slow but I'm catching him getting into everything. Its so much fun! Haha. I feel like we baby proofed, but he keeps getting into things I just didn't think about. This weekend we are having pictures of John, Austin and I taken with the Chicago skyline. I have been doing weight watchers and am down about 10 lbs. I was hoping to be smaller for these pictures, but I'm happy that I've lost as much as I have. Its a little annoying though, because my pre pregnancy clothes STILL don't fit so I had to go out and by a new pair of shorts.
I can't believe Austin will be 9 months old on Saturday! Time sure does fly.
I can't believe Austin will be 9 months old on Saturday! Time sure does fly.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Another reaction
Austin had another reaction yesterday. It wasn't a sever one and I only had to give him an antihistamine. I've been keeping a food log and we really couldn't pinpoint what had caused it. Austin crawled for the first time yesterday and it got me thinking. He will be on the move soon and we shouldn't have anything in the house that he is deathly allergic to. I feel like it is a time bomb waiting to go off. So, before John came home I threw out anything that has milk, peanut, or tree nuts. It was a lot. Every Italian dressing I have has milk in it!
When John got home he was a little shocked. I did it before he got home because I knew he would have a harder time letting go of cheese and other dairy products than I would. As most of you know I've had issues with diary since I was in college so I have had ALOT more time to deal with this than John.
Anyway, I think he agrees with me that it was the right thing, but it doesn't make it easy. So I told him from now on I will not buy anything with milk or nuts and bring it into this house. If he wants to eat it then he needs to at work or outside of the house. I told him we will find alternatives, such as coconut milk ice cream. John really likes it and the allergist told us to not include coconut as a nut. For now I think that is what we will be doing. I also told John I will let him drink up his 2% milk but then I'm not buying anymore. I guess he will have to get used to soy milk.
I decided that we had to start somewhere, so anything with soy and wheat can stay for now. Austin just gets diarrhea when he eats soy or wheat so if he did get into anything it wouldn't cause as big a reaction as the milk and nuts. We will tackle the soy and wheat another time.
When John got home he was a little shocked. I did it before he got home because I knew he would have a harder time letting go of cheese and other dairy products than I would. As most of you know I've had issues with diary since I was in college so I have had ALOT more time to deal with this than John.
Anyway, I think he agrees with me that it was the right thing, but it doesn't make it easy. So I told him from now on I will not buy anything with milk or nuts and bring it into this house. If he wants to eat it then he needs to at work or outside of the house. I told him we will find alternatives, such as coconut milk ice cream. John really likes it and the allergist told us to not include coconut as a nut. For now I think that is what we will be doing. I also told John I will let him drink up his 2% milk but then I'm not buying anymore. I guess he will have to get used to soy milk.
I decided that we had to start somewhere, so anything with soy and wheat can stay for now. Austin just gets diarrhea when he eats soy or wheat so if he did get into anything it wouldn't cause as big a reaction as the milk and nuts. We will tackle the soy and wheat another time.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Struggling with Austin's allergies
At 6 months Austin had a anaphylaxis reaction to formula (milk). We saw an Allergist and conducted and blood test. Then a couple weeks later we conducted a skin test. We knew from those two tests that Austin was definitely allergic to milk, peanuts, and tree nuts. What we didn't know was that he would also be allergic to soy and wheat.
I have been doing lots of research. Did you know there are 8 main things that someone can be deathly allergic too? Austin is deathly allergic to 3 out of the 8 and has diarrhea and bad eczema from 2 more of the 8. So basically we have to avoid 5 out of the 8. I guess I never thought about how this would affect us on an ongoing basis, but as he gets closer to a year and starts eating "table scraps" I am realizing that this is going to be a big struggle.
John tells me "he will outgrow some", which is a good way to think, but what do we do NOW?? I mean Austin won't get tested again until next March, so until then we are on strict orders for TOTAL AVOIDANCE. We can hope that he outgrows some, but then they can come back.
I'm not sure where to proceed from here. Do we rid our house of everything he is allergic too?? I don't know how to eat that way... have you ever been to a store and had to read EVERY food label on EVERY food before you put it in your cart? Its EXHAUSTING. Even if it says "Processed in a facility with _______" or "may contain ____" we cannot buy it. Milk and nuts are in random things that you would never think about, like dried fruit. The list goes on... There are tons of foods out there that are gluten free. I have looked at the labels, almost all of them contain nuts or eggs. The problem isn't what he is allergic to but the combination. You can avoid one or the other, but trying to avoid all 5 is near impossible without eating fruits, vegetables, and meats only.
How do you cook without butter? without flour? without eggs? (We are to avoid eggs for now because the doctor thinks he is allergic and we don't want to test it and end up in the ER again). Also we need avoid sesame seeds, strawberries, acid fruit, ... because these are foods that cause lots of food allergies and to be on the safe side we aren't to give them to him.
For now Austin eats mostly pureed foods, and thankfully there are lots that I can find at the store that are organic that he can eat. I just know one day soon he will want to feed himself and then I really don't know what we will do.
I went to a friends house and she was trying to give Austin some food. I know she was just being helpful but it really opened my eyes. I asked to look at the package of everything and I could tell she was getting a little annoyed with me. Her kids don't have allergies, so she doesn't understand. At one point she said "you have an epi-pen don't you? just give it to him and see what happens". I'm saying this not to put her down, but because I think lots of people feel this way. I know I used to, what is the big deal, who cares. What she doesn't realize and I never did either is that it is Life and Death. People DIE from eating things they are allergic too. Now what I have the hardest time wrapping my brain around is why can Austin die from milk, peanuts, and tree nuts; but almost everyone else in the world can eat them without a second thought.
I know I'm rambling, but I just have to get this out. Our lives will forever be changed because of this. I think some of it is good. I'm sure John and I eat too much processed food, which we will have to remove from our house because of Austin's allergies. The hard part comes when we go to someones house or we go out to eat. Its almost impossible to ensure that the restaurant takes as much care as I do to make sure Austin's food doesn't come in contact with something that we eat that could cause a reaction.
Its summer now and so many people are having birthday parities and cook outs. For now we can go becuase I can bring Austin's food and he isn't mobile. What do we do next year when he is walking around and eating things off the floor? I can't watch him at ALL times. Do we just not go??? I have a friend who's child is so allergic to peanuts if you've had peanuts within 24 hours and washed your hands and touch him, he can still have a reaction. Austin is not that bad, but my friend goes to our church. Her son will be 2 this weekend and now that he is mobile they no longer stay for pot lucks at church. Her son only has a peanut allergy. What will we do?? I mean Austin is allergic to FIVE main ingredients in things. I don't want to be anti-social but will we have to avoid social gatherings with foods for a while until Austin is old enough to understand what he can and can't eat.
I'm going crazy, as you can very well see. I'm stopping the madness now, but this is what goes through my mind constantly. Hopefully we will learn as we go and we won't have anymore ER visits.
I have been doing lots of research. Did you know there are 8 main things that someone can be deathly allergic too? Austin is deathly allergic to 3 out of the 8 and has diarrhea and bad eczema from 2 more of the 8. So basically we have to avoid 5 out of the 8. I guess I never thought about how this would affect us on an ongoing basis, but as he gets closer to a year and starts eating "table scraps" I am realizing that this is going to be a big struggle.
John tells me "he will outgrow some", which is a good way to think, but what do we do NOW?? I mean Austin won't get tested again until next March, so until then we are on strict orders for TOTAL AVOIDANCE. We can hope that he outgrows some, but then they can come back.
I'm not sure where to proceed from here. Do we rid our house of everything he is allergic too?? I don't know how to eat that way... have you ever been to a store and had to read EVERY food label on EVERY food before you put it in your cart? Its EXHAUSTING. Even if it says "Processed in a facility with _______" or "may contain ____" we cannot buy it. Milk and nuts are in random things that you would never think about, like dried fruit. The list goes on... There are tons of foods out there that are gluten free. I have looked at the labels, almost all of them contain nuts or eggs. The problem isn't what he is allergic to but the combination. You can avoid one or the other, but trying to avoid all 5 is near impossible without eating fruits, vegetables, and meats only.
How do you cook without butter? without flour? without eggs? (We are to avoid eggs for now because the doctor thinks he is allergic and we don't want to test it and end up in the ER again). Also we need avoid sesame seeds, strawberries, acid fruit, ... because these are foods that cause lots of food allergies and to be on the safe side we aren't to give them to him.
For now Austin eats mostly pureed foods, and thankfully there are lots that I can find at the store that are organic that he can eat. I just know one day soon he will want to feed himself and then I really don't know what we will do.
I went to a friends house and she was trying to give Austin some food. I know she was just being helpful but it really opened my eyes. I asked to look at the package of everything and I could tell she was getting a little annoyed with me. Her kids don't have allergies, so she doesn't understand. At one point she said "you have an epi-pen don't you? just give it to him and see what happens". I'm saying this not to put her down, but because I think lots of people feel this way. I know I used to, what is the big deal, who cares. What she doesn't realize and I never did either is that it is Life and Death. People DIE from eating things they are allergic too. Now what I have the hardest time wrapping my brain around is why can Austin die from milk, peanuts, and tree nuts; but almost everyone else in the world can eat them without a second thought.
I know I'm rambling, but I just have to get this out. Our lives will forever be changed because of this. I think some of it is good. I'm sure John and I eat too much processed food, which we will have to remove from our house because of Austin's allergies. The hard part comes when we go to someones house or we go out to eat. Its almost impossible to ensure that the restaurant takes as much care as I do to make sure Austin's food doesn't come in contact with something that we eat that could cause a reaction.
Its summer now and so many people are having birthday parities and cook outs. For now we can go becuase I can bring Austin's food and he isn't mobile. What do we do next year when he is walking around and eating things off the floor? I can't watch him at ALL times. Do we just not go??? I have a friend who's child is so allergic to peanuts if you've had peanuts within 24 hours and washed your hands and touch him, he can still have a reaction. Austin is not that bad, but my friend goes to our church. Her son will be 2 this weekend and now that he is mobile they no longer stay for pot lucks at church. Her son only has a peanut allergy. What will we do?? I mean Austin is allergic to FIVE main ingredients in things. I don't want to be anti-social but will we have to avoid social gatherings with foods for a while until Austin is old enough to understand what he can and can't eat.
I'm going crazy, as you can very well see. I'm stopping the madness now, but this is what goes through my mind constantly. Hopefully we will learn as we go and we won't have anymore ER visits.
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