Happy Halloween!

Lauren is a pink poodle- she cannot wait to see all the trick-or-treaters! She just loves watching kids, so Saturday night should be so much fun- I can hardly wait!!

Road trip advice

Wednesday is the big day! We embark on a 750 mile roadtrip with the little petunia.  Oh gosh! Anyone have advice how to keep our almost 11 month old happy in the car for that long? I am not open to turning her carseat around- she is rear facing as long as the seat will hold her. My thoughts so far are to sit back with her and sing songs, read books and try to play. Also, planning on scoping out fast food restaurants with play areas (the viral cesspools that they are...). Also- we are splitting it into 2 days and staying at a hotel with a pool to wear her out a bit. What other advice can you offer?? Please comment and give me tips (besides chugging a bottle of wine on the trip.... i dont think that is legal...) I am a bit nervous about how this will go!

Tasty Breakfast

Lauren and I are enjoying some yummy blueberry waffles this morning.The company Van's All Natural has a bunch of waffles that are organic and egg and dairy free. They also have gluten free options. Yummy and safe for Lauren- what more could I ask for?

Noisy toys

So, I have been against noisy toys for Lauren. I felt like they didn't leave enough to the imagination, are annoying, and potentially harmful to their hearing. So, Lauren does not have any of these battery operated noisy toys- and neither does her daycare, so they are relatively new to her. Well, 2 weeks ago when I went to visit my friend Anne in Chicago, Lauren discovered the lure of noisy toys- and she LOVES them! She especially liked this busy ball popper and the busy ball-tivity center. So, I caved and bought her the ball popper- and she loves it! I had to put a band-aid over the speaker, cuz the volume is way too loud. I guess the ball-tivity center might make her xmas wish list.

Lauren's first Halloween

I want to do scrapbooking again

I have a hard time finding the balance. I dont have enough time in the day, and I feel like rush, rush, rush and the months fly by. I had all these big plans for Lauren's scrapbooks, but I am so far behind! Behind on everything, it seems. How do people do it?? I just feel like I have time to work, feed us all, do a load of dishes and laundry, and spend a few minutes on facebook (the time suck-hole) or blogging or on the internet. I suppose what I really need is a bigger house so I can keep my scrapbooking stuff out- and not put it away each day. Open to tips...

Snow storm

We are having a big snowstorm in Denver today- we have gotten almost a foot of snow, and can expect about 3-6 more inches. We bundled Lauren up and set her out in the snow. Poor baby doesn't have any snow boots yet, so I put my wool socks over her socks and shoes for an added layer. She is so darn cute!!

She Moves!

These pictures were taken by Kalima, Lauren's daycare teacher. They were posted on the wall outside of her classroom door for the longest time, and always make me smile. When they took them down I snatched them and scanned them in to share- such funny action shots!

Allergy Issues

This allergy stuff is getting old. Lauren has a severe allergy to milk protein and eggs. By severe allergy, we are not talking just lactose intolerance but true hives, swelling and scary reaction. Her pediatrician was concerned enough to draw labs at 9 months, and confirmed a very high IgE level against milk and eggs- he claimed to actually be surprised/ impressed by how high her levels are. This was one of my big fears all along- I did not want to pass my crazy food allergies on to Lauren. I tried to be so careful about introducing new foods. She did not have a single drop of formula until she was 10 months old and her pediatrician said I had to try formula because my milk was probably contaminated with milk and eggs. And alas, she still has these allergies.

She gets these allergies from me- I was very allergic to milk until I was a teenager, and my brother was similar. And I have a very seriously peanut allergy as well. I have been very worried for her about passing on the peanut allergy, it is too soon to tell, though. She did not have IgE against peanut yet, but she has not yet been exposed to it. We are going to put that off as long as possible.

Dealing with the allergies has been really tricky and frustrating, I actually was fortunate enough to run accross some blogging friends who are in the exact same situation. I really looked to blogging for a way to share my life with far-away family and friends, but now I see it is so much more. There are many women out there with kids with similar allergies who blog recipes and advice about how they cope in these situations- I am so thankful to find these women and I hope to one day have the experience and insight to add some info too. A couple of the bloggers that I am looking at are Boys rule my life and milk allergy mom. This is where I found a recipe for a birthday cake for Lauren that does not use milk or eggs- yipee!