Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween Extravaganza!

We have had a long, unforgetable Halloween weekend! Lauren had the most amazing Trick-or-treating experience with friends,  and went to Halloween festivities all weekend. I will have to post a bunch to get you up to speed!

We even got a sitter and went out Saturday night. Exhausted, but so happy....

Friday, October 28, 2011

My Sweetie

I got my haircut and colored last night and didn't make it home until after Lauren was in bed asleep. When she woke up this morning she looked at me and said "Oh so gorgeous!". She cracks me up, but it made my day! I love that girl!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Carving Pumpkins



Last weekend we made our Jack-O-Lanterns. Lauren was not afraid to dig in and pull out the guts. She helped us sort out the seeds and we roasted them  - she didn't like them though. The next day, the squirrels started to eat Casey's so we had to douse them in tobasco and cayenne powder.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Butterfly

Sneak peak of her Halloween costume... She picked it out and wanted to be the monarch over the pink or blue butterflies- I love it! So cute. Wait till you see the whole thing all put together.

Pumpkin Festival #2

A few shots we got at the pumpkin festival before her leg was injured and we ended up in urgent care.
 Pony Rides- of course her favorite thing in the whole wide world! She was so excited, her horsey's name was blackey. And below are shots of the notorious bouncy pillow before she hurt her leg.


Sunday, October 23, 2011

10 year Anniversary

Last month we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary~ we got a sitter and went to the GABF. Totally a  Jeff and Nicole date- we are who we are, and beer is a shared interest. Jeff had a nasty cold, so we only stayed till 830, but it was fun to hang out together as grown-ups. I love these pictures, I just was having trouble with my scanner and haven't been able to share them- they had a free photo booth at the convention. We've had our ups, we have had our downs- but through it all we love each other and make a great team. Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Dreams Deflated

Allergy testing today- she tolerated the baked-in milk but the cheese was a no-go. She had a large hive to the skin test for the cheese so we were not able to do the challenge. She did eat a cupcake made with milk and butter, but since she cannot have baked-in eggs, I am not really sure if we made any progress.

On a funny note- Jeff thought that if she tolerated "baked-in" milk she could eat nachos, lasagne, scalloped potatoes etc. He thought baked-in meant "heated" or "melted/ warmed-up." He asked the allergist who actually laughed at him because I think he thought he was joking. Poor guy, was planning a lunch of cheesy bratwurst.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Peanut Allergy GONE!

If you aren't into reading about Lauren's food allergies- skip this post. I want to document it for myself, it has been a journey.

So, I will start at the beginning. At 9 months of age Lauren was tested by her pediatrician and had an allergy to egg and dairy, nothing to peanuts. But we were wary because of my allergy to peanuts and the fact that she had not yet been exposed (you cannot have titers against something you haven't had a chance to build immunity to). We followed her doctor's advice and treated her as if she were peanut allergic until we had repeat testing when she was older. We brought her to an allergist in May when she was about 2 1/2 yrs old to have the peanut testing done and evaluate if she was outgrowing her other food allergies. I went to the appointment totally expecting good news. Upon meeting with the allergist (prior to the testing) he lifted my hopes higher, and anticipated she would be eating eggs and dairy in no time. Well, it did not go well. I was crushed when I saw not only the egg and dairy tests reacting, but also the peanut. There it was - my huge fear unfolding before my eyes. So, the egg and dairy are kid allergies most people grow out of. The peanut it not- you typically have it forever and it can threaten your life. I actually have about 3 draft posts about that day, that I just couldnt bring myself to post. I actually didn't even tell many people about it- it was hard for me to talk about. My daughter had inherited an awful and potentially dangerous food allergy from me. So that is what I have been living with since May....

Incidentally, I did not like the allergist that we saw, and refused to do follow-up testing with him. (Mark Ebadi, MD- not a fan). So I promptly got on the waiting list at Children's for Lauren to see an allergist there- Excellent choice!

Fast forward to October.... I brought her to the allergist and they wanted to draw blood and repeat a few of the skin tests. I wasn't keen on drawing blood, but thanks to EMLA (numbing cream) it was a breeze. She tolerated the skin tests without issue, and they gave her a giant bear (a Build-a-bear) as a gift. The peanut and all of the nut tests were absolutely negative!! She sat perfectly still and watched the blood draw and said "that is cool!" when the pulled the blood tube off the butterfly needle and popped a new one on. She wanted to know if that was her blood coming out- and also thought that was cool when I told her it was. When we were done, I asked if that was usually how blood draws went with a 2 year old, and I got a resounding NO! from all three people in the room. OK, so she is a rock star! The blood tests were a good idea, because they showed she is completely not allergic to nuts and we brought her back a couple days later to eat peanut butter with no problems! Her dairy allergy levels were also getting pretty low, so this Thursday she is doing a challenge at the hospital with baked-in milk and *maybe* cheese. I asked pretty please about the cheese, and they are considering a skin test first and then maybe a bite of cheese!!!! Jeff and I really have our hopes up about that one- keep your fingers crossed.

So there it is- all of the emotions of the last few months spewed out and gone- we are free of the peanut allergy once and for all (well, for Lauren anyway!!).

Her leg is fine!

So, long story but in the end Lauren's leg is fine. There are some nuances when it comes to fractures in young children Lauren's age- so they had her in the splint as a precaution despite her negative Xray. But after a few days it gradually got better and she can not only walk on it, but is running as well. Whew! I am glad that all worked out OK, dealing with an immobile 2 1/2 year old was a huge challenge, and we only did it for a day.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Winter is coming

Here are the last (probably) of the tomatoes from our garden~ we picked them this weekend. Oh, how I will miss them....

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Pumpkin Festival

Didn't go as well as last year, turns out that the jumpy castle has a height limit and rules (no flips/ summersaults) for a reason. Lauren was taken out by a 10-12 year old boy who was doing flips amongst the young children. We ended up leaving right away for the ER and not even getting our pumpkins- she was so disappointed!! Jury is still out if it is broken or not- she is in a temporary cast until tomorrow when we see the pediatrician. She was unable to walk or put weight on it, but the ER didn't see an obvious brake on XRay. Praying that she will not need a cast, just one-day of carrying her around was enough for all of us!!