My new second job...

...to spend all of my time looking, searching, and trying to find things that my picky toddler will and can eat. I had an appointment with a dietitian at Vanderbilt today and I have to be honest, as I was leaving my heart sunk knowing that my life until this point will never be the same. I now have to enter the "allergy free" zone. Gone are the days when I can not even think twice about that cookie I am giving Connor, gone are the days when I can say, "Sure son you can have the cereal, Nutri Grain bar, toast, chocolate, chicken nuggets...the list goes on and on and on. I am so discouraged and frustrated about what my new life as a mother with a child with allergies means. I have so much to learn about this and my head is starting to spin. I am worried about how I will do what seems like a full time job of preparing meals, searching for food that he can eat (nut, milk, egg and WHEAT free). To be honest I thought that before today we might be able to go on living life as we knew it being semi normal just avoiding milk, eggs and nuts. I didnt really worry about the wheat since Connor has never reacted to it. Then talking to the allergist made me more aware that by giving him these things (even though he doesnt have a reaction) might be doing things on the inside that I am not even aware of. She compared it to someone having a heart attack. That person might be doing things for years and years without a reaction, but after having a heart attack wished they could go back and prepare to try to avoid it. It made sense. She also asked me about Connors bowel movements again and when I told her that he has always had loose stools she just shook her head like "yeah, I thought so." I have been bombarded the last few weeks with every ones opinions about allergies and I have to say that some I semi-agree with, and others I just shrug my shoulders and go on. I think that until you are in the situation with your own child, you dont know what you would do. Some people have said that they probably have allergies too but were never tested and seem to be just fine. Well that is all great, but I know that Connor has allergies because I have had warning sign after warning sign that he does. He has also been tested and I cant ignore that. Before I didnt think too much about these allergies because Connor had seemed to outgrow them a bit. Then I thought maybe the reason he was more tolerant to milk at age 2 is because I avoided it for a full year. The advice has been that I should avoid these things now, get tested in a year again and see where we stand. I am dreading going through the grocery store aisles and seeing the price tags! Not to mention the time it is going to take to figure all of this out. I say all of this not so that you will be sympathetic in any way, but basically just to reach out a hand to anyone else out there who is in the same boat, and anyone who might have some advice for me. I have a friend who is also going through this at the very same time and I have to say that it is helpful just to hear that she is struggling in the same way (not that I would wish this on anyone). Her son has the exact same allergies so I am hoping we can learn this together. God did remind me of something today as I was standing in line waiting for the valet to get my car at Vanderbilt (I would never have done this if it wasnt the only option and completely free). A lady pushing a stroller with a disabled child about Connors age went by and I thought to myself, "Oh, how blessed I am." I am completely thankful that this is the only ailment that I am facing with Connor. It will be hard but I can handle it.

We're back!

A few things that I learned while on my Disney vacation...

1. Dont always assume that it is going to be a miserable 10 hour trip just because you have a 2 1/2 year old. Connor was great and the car ride went by surprisingly fast since we broke it up between night/day.

2. Dont always believe the Birnbaum Guide to Disney...getting to the parks early during the busy season to beat the crowds didnt seem to help with the lines. It was CRAZY busy. Anyone who thinks we are in a recession should visit WDW!

3. Disregard the fact that you are walking 500 miles a day and losing all of your water weight by sweating constantly...you will gain at least 5 pounds just from eating all of the fattening park food. And to make matters worse for the price you would pay for a burger or chicken nuggets you could have had that steak at Outback!

4. When driving up to the fast food window to order, your husband might order in the very best Tennessee, redneck, country accent he can muster. It is only funny the first time...

5. You must let your two year old press the buttons in the "alligator" (elevator) every time you enter.

6. When the weather channel says that it is going to be 98 degrees, go ahead and add on 5 degrees to that. It was so stinking HOT the whole time, but we didnt let it slow us down. Oh and dont even think about wearing that super cute outfit and spending the extra 30 in the morning on makeup and hair. (...and no I didnt do this. I learned my lesson last year but I saw a few people that had to have been miserable.) As you will see in the pictures we were mostly in hats, visors and sporting a few sweat rings on our shirts. Now those will make for some great frame worthy pics dont ya think?!

7. Tip for the Non Cash Carrying family...just because you are out of the parks and on your way home doesnt mean that FL is finished asking you for $$. The toll roads are there and WILL take checks. Who knew!? (and yes this happened to us...a $2.50 check for a toll. Only had $1.50 in quarters. I know, I know it is ridiculous but we use our debit card for EVERYTHING!)

8. Seeing Disney through a childs eyes is worth every penny. It is like that commercial. Tickets, hotel room, food, souvenirs...cha ching$...walking miles through the crowds in a theme park in the sweltering heat...waiting 30 minutes just to ride "Its a Small World"...seeing your 2 year old have the time of his life...PRICELESS!

9. Just because you come home doesnt mean you are done with the Mick. I am now on my second episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse since Connor woke up from his nap just a little while ago as we speak.

We truly had a great time this year at Disney. It was amazing the world of difference a year for Connor. He loved the characters! He got so excited when we would see one and even gave them a kiss a hug each and every time. We had two character meals this time and it was so much fun! Connor got to see each and every one of his favorite characters and got a pic with them all. On the first day we went to Magic Kingdom and went through Mickey's house. Connor made note of how messy his kitchen was. It was set up to look that way on purpose with paint on the floor, dirty dishes in the sink and everything in disarray. Well a few days later we had dinner and Mickey was there and he told him that he needed to get a broom to clean up his messy house! Hilarious! Thats my boy...I knew I had to rub off on him at some point. We did all of the parks with Magic Kingdom being our very favorite. We spent almost all of our time in Fantasyland which is where all of the rides for Connor are. Brad and I did a few rides on our own separately since Connor couldnt and it was pretty cool how they have the "baby swap" as an option. Without it, it wouldnt have been possible with Connor. I have included some pictures to see in case you dont want to watch the long video montage. Believe it or not this is not even all of my pictures. I took so, so many!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Nonna!

Tomorrow is Nonna's birthday, but since it is such a busy week with getting ready to go on vacation and working, went spent the day with her on Saturday to celebrate. We had a great day just spending time outside, had a great lunch, and birthday cupcakes. I love that we have such a well rounded families. Connor loves going to both places. At Nonna and Grandy's house he loves helping in the garden, going to the farm to see the cows and riding the tractor, and playing with all of our toys from mine and Brett's childhood. At Grannie and Pop's he loves to fish, and play in Pop's boat, visit with Kaitlyn, and play outside with Grannie. He gets exposed to a little bit of it all.

This was Brett's tractor when he was Connor's age. Pawpaw gave it to him, so Connor calls it Pawpaw's tractor. He of course always follows it up by saying that "Pawpaw is in heaven."

Connor got a "going to hot/humid Florida for a week" haircut from Nonna. It looks so cute but is makes me sad because he looks so different and like such a little boy!




Helping Nonna blow out her candles. Gigi's cupcakes...YUMM! No, not my grandmother that Connor calls Gigi ( I wish! ) We have a Gigi's Cupcakes in Spring Hill and I thought I would try them out. To our Gigi- We wish you could have been there!

Happy Birthday Nonna!

Ok, so when you look at this picture try not to focus on my very handsome son for a minute and look at the vintage 1980's Power wheel that still works!! Yes, you heard it right. My parents saved my brothers power wheel three wheeler and actually found a fixer upper guy who gave my Dad a lifetime supply of batteries for it. Looks like it might just run forever! Sometimes the foot pedal gets stuck but for the most part it is just like a new one. It even has metal parts! Ha!
Can you imagine looking at these beautiful horses in your backyard? Mom and Dad are fortunate to have a horse farm behind their house. Connor loves to see the horses each time we go.

Picking his first vegetable of the year! Cucumbers...Yummy!

Helping Nonna and Grandy pick.

Now the following pictures were taken at my house.

This is the new landscaping that we did in the front yard this spring. I wanted to take some pictures of my flowers in bloom and was able to capture some shots of my lawn keeper who was hard at work as you can see!

Connor is a little obsessed with lawn mowers. I cant wait to tell him about this when it is actually his time to start helping out with the mowing. I am sure it wont be quite as exciting then. Ha!

Finally some much needed answers!

We had another appointment with the allergist today after receiving Connor's blood results on Tuesday and being totally confused, I thought we had better consult with him this week so I could put all of this to rest. Brad has accused me of being a little over concerned, but I told him that he didnt go to the first appointment and see how concerned the doctor was. I went from wanting to know the exact allergies Connor had and concerned, to really concerned when we found out how many things he reacted to. When the nurse called on Tuesday and gave me the results, I was totally confused because it showed a few things that the skin test did not. They only tested him for several food items (mostly the ones that he has had a problem with) but also several others that I and the allergist thought were a little unnecessary. The blood test showed that Connor is allergic to (in order of severity):

Peanut (all tree nuts)
Egg
Milk
Wheat
Tomato
Corn
Soybean
Oranges
Apples

My initial reaction was "apples and oranges?" What in the world is this kid supposed to drink? That was before I talked to the allergist today. He looked at the results and basically said that Connors allergies to the tomato, corn, soybean, oranges, and apples was very mild and considered it safe to feed these to him. We have decided that we will go back to Soy Milk, which is a huge relief for me because this is what Connor had until he was 2 anyway. He likes it, so that should be an easy transition. He has gotten a little addicted to chocolate milk and it has been hard this week because he will ask me for it and I have to tell him no. It breaks my heart because he doesnt understand why. The doctor told us to totally avoid the top 4 allergies: Nuts, Eggs, Milk, and Wheat. I learned that food allergies and environmental allergies are totally different. Unlike environmental allergies you cant treat food allergies with shots or any other way. The only thing you can do is avoid it, which is supposed to help you grow out of the allergy to it. He has high hopes that he will outgrow most of this, except for maybe the nut allergy. His nut and egg allergy is severe so we must avoid these at all costs! This would be why Connor vomited one day after being given scrambled eggs. He said this was an anaphylactic reaction. Scary! He also told me to have the epipen at all times, which we have but I am sure there have been times when we have been without it so I must get better at that.) He advised us not to keep nuts in the house. This is bad news for my husband who is an addict to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I guess we will have to hide this on the high shelf from now on. He also said that he doesnt think we need to do the drops next year and that we will probably just wait to do shots at age 4. The nasal spray has really helped Connor and I have not seen any signs of a runny nose all week! He told us that Connor's immunoglobulin E level was 473.1 and the normal range is 12.o! I kind of freaked, but he said that it was very normal for a child with eczema. His itching hasnt improved this week, but I think this will always be a constant battle that we deal with. He said that Connor was at increased risk of asthma with all of his allergies so we have to keep an eye out for that. I pray that doesnt happen!

Sorry this is a little bit of information overload, but now you will know how I feel! LOL I know several of you have expressed concern and have been praying and I want to thank you for that! It means so much to us!

Four wheelers, tractors, and a pool day!

We had a fun filled weekend and since Connor had such a rough week we took him to two of his favorite hangouts lately...the pool and the farm! On Saturday we went to the farm to check out Brett's new toy, a four wheeler. I didn't think that Connor would go near it since he doesn't like things with loud motors, but he really surprised me and even went on a ride with Daddy! He also rode the tractor which is a first since it is a very loud one and he has never wanted to go near it, just look at it. He got to ride with Grandy and Nonna while they took it to put in the barn. That afternoon we had a cookout at Grandma's house but I didn't get any pictures of us there.

On Sunday we went to the pool for the first time this year. I wasn't sure how this would go either since Connor has been having a blast in the water in his pool at home, but didn't like the big pool last year. He really surprised us! He really had a good time, especially when we would take him to the big pool and throw him in the air! He slipped trying to get in the kiddie pool and went in face first so I am sure next time he will be a bit more timid in there. We had a great time and unfortunately for us, Brad and I didn't wear sunscreen and got a bit baked. It wasn't very hot and it didn't seem like we were getting as much sun as we did. Lets just say we have been keeping the aloe by the bed. I told Brad that at least we got our base tan before we go to Florida! Ha!

A day at Harvey Park

Yesterday after getting Connor's blood work (which went great by the way!) we went to Harvey Park. I told Connor that we would go to the playground or to the pool (his choice) for being such a good boy at the doctors office. I really couldn't believe it! Connor did not flinch or cry while having 3 tubes of blood taken! I definitely think this was a God thing. I prayed that He would take away his fears and my prayers and those of you who lifted him up were answered! Two nurses came in to assist probably because they knew it would be a disaster doing this with a two year old and they were completely amazed. They said that he is the best child they have ever seen and that is comparing him to the older kids too. Connor was more interested in how it worked, looking back and forth at his arm and the tube that was collecting his blood. Hilarious! I was so proud of him! We wont know the results for a couple of days. Connor wanted to go to the park so off we went! After watching him I have decided that he is my little observer. Sometimes he is much more interested in just watching people than he is playing. I wonder who he takes after...this is very much like me! The day couldn't have been more perfect! The weather was great, no humidity at all. There were a handful of cars there when we arrived and when we left an hour later it was completely full. Since he was so good we came home and went swimming too and then went to our favorite Friday lunch spot, Old School! It was a perfect day.

He was watching some older boys play baseball and really wanted to play! My Dad will be so proud!

See what I mean...he was really into watching these girls. Should I be worried already?
Someone brought this Batman big wheel and Connor really wanted to ride it. He stared at it for a long time until I finally persuaded him to go slide.

A fun week with my little man!

This week our beloved Ms. Betty is in Nicaragua on a mission trip, so with no childcare I had to stay at home...what a shame. LOL I have had so much fun spending time with Connor. It has been extra nice just to do things at a leisurely pace since things have been so hectic and crazy the past few months. Our house is finally in order after the hardwoods and kitchen were redone. A few minor things need to be done to be completely finished but the major things are complete. We have been playing outside in the kiddie pool and Connor is loving it this year. He is taking to the water much better than last summer. He seems to get a little more daring each and every year. Here are some pictures of him from Tuesday.

Today we did something that was not so much fun. We finally went to see an allergist since Connor has been battling a sinus infection for quite some time. The antibiotics finally cured him but the doctor and I thought it was about time we got some answers on his allergies once and for all. We got some good news and some bad news. Really it was a lot of bad news. The good news is that we now know what Connor is allergic to. The bad news is that he is allergic to EVERYTHING and there really isnt any thing we can really do to treat it until he is 3 or maybe 4 depending on what route we take. Seriously, there were only 3 things that he had a negative reaction to. His back had the biggest red whelps all over it and it was almost as unbearable for me watching him go through the skin test as it was for him going through it. He pretty much screamed for 20 minutes straight as they pricked and prodded him and then had to sit there for 15 minutes to see what kind of reaction he had. I had to restrain him so he couldnt itch or touch his back. Here are all of the things he is allergic to (half of them are things I cant pronounce)

Milk, Egg White (severe), Egg Yolk (severe), Corn, Soy Bean, Peanut (severe), Histamine, Cats, Dogs, DM Mix ??, Horse, Elm, Willow, Birch, Tag Elder, Oak, Pecan, Hickory, Walnut, Pine, Sycamore, Ash, Maple, Box Elder, Bermuda, Johnson, Perennial Rye, Timothy, Ragwood Mix, Mugwt Sage, Lambs Qtr, Kochia, Russn Thistle, Sorrel, and Chaetomiun

I really liked the doctor, he was one of those who doesn't sugar coat anything and gives it to you straight up. When he walked into the room after the test was over he looked me in the eyes and said, "He is going to have a pretty rough go of it." This wasn't good news to hear but I am trying to look at the bright side of things. At least it isn't a fatal disease or something that requires surgery, etc. He told me that there aren't alot of options for Connor since he is so young and allergic to so many things. He put him on a nasal spray to use every day of the year, along with Zyrtec which we have been using. He said he couldn't get the preferred allergy shots until he is 4 or 5. Since his allergies are so severe it would be more like 4. He said that we could do the allergy drops under the tongue starting at 3, but almost never administers those until children are at least 4. He said that in Connors case he would definitely start at age 3. He doesnt prefer the allergy drops over the shots but in Connors case would start something like the drops so we can start treatment a year earlier. The other bad news is that they aren't covered by insurance and can be very costly. At least $100 a month if not more. He told me to stop giving Connor milk and start giving a calcium fortified orange juice. This is going to be bad especially since Connor would prefer chocolate milk over anything else. Corn is also one of his favorite foods and one of the only vegetables he will eat. Please pray for us as we try and decide how to treat this and what we will feed him from day to day. I felt like things got so much better when he turned 2 and now we are starting all over again. I guess I will have to bring out the diaper bag again and pack it with foods and drinks anytime we go anywhere. Our hope is that Connor will outgrow this and eventually be able to live outside of his little bubble. Tomorrow we have to go and have blood work done so that they can see the severity of each allergy. We both thought that Connor had been through enough today, however I am dreading tomorrow like the plague. As soon as we see a doctor he starts crying and that was before today. I cant imagine what tomorrow is going to be like. Please say a prayer for our little boy!