Sick for Christmas

A few days after Ty's birthday Jace came down with a terrible case of the flu which was then passed from person to person for the remainder of the holiday up through New Years day.  Brooke was the ONLY one spared because she was the only one to get a flu shot.  It was very frustrating because I signed the paper for Jace to get a flu shot at school but he forgot to turn it in so he didn't get one.  I will NEVER again forget to get flu shots for the family in years to come. Ty came down with it the day before Christmas Eve.  We tried to ease the symptoms by letting him watch Curious George and resting all day in a steam tent.  We warned Nani & Grandpa but they love us too much to miss out on Christmas with the kids.  :)  Thanks to Grandpa we got King Crab Legs, our Christmas Eve tradition that we haven't been able to afford the last few years.   It was DELICIOUS!!  Baby Jenni woke up with a fever on Christmas morning.  She was listless and just wanted to snuggle which isn't like her at all.  The kids still had fun opening their presents and seeing what Santa brought.  Brooke was beyond excited to get her American girl doll, Kit, that she's been dreaming about.  She got a doll bed and matching clothes for herself and Kit from Grandparents too.  It was a bit of a change to just get nuts, fruit and organic candy canes in the stockings this year.  That was a bit of a disappointment.  Santa better step it up a notch next year.  :)  Grandpa helped Ty set up the Choo Choo Train set that he got and that entertained him all day.  Jace enjoyed getting some GFCF cookies and charged up his remote control car all day.

I was shocked beyond belief when I opened up my present from Nani & Grandpa and it was  KitchenAid Mixer.  I have been wanting one of those since Craig and I got married 11 years ago.  It was a very pleasant surprise.  I will put it to good use as soon as everyone gets better.

After being up most of the night with Jenni and having her fever reach 104 we took her into Instacare the next morning and got some Tamiflu that kicked the flu to the curb.  I couldn't believe how expensive it was though.  $50.00 with insurance per bottle.  Totally worth it to have a healthy baby back though.  She really scared us.  Ty got a bottle too and it helped his symptoms significantly.  

Nani & Grandpa took Brooke back with them to Oklahoma City for the week and Craig and I took turns being sick as well. Nani & Grandpa ended up getting the flu as well even though they did have flu shots.  Apparently it was one of the worst years for the flu ever.  It certainly ruined our holiday.

Christmas Cookies

I thought it might be tricky making Christmas cookies with our new food restrictions but we found this recipe online and gave it a try.  Brooke and Ty had fun rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes into Christmas trees, candy canes, Stars, and gingerbread men then decorating them with Enjoy Life Allergy free chocolate chips.

 Ingredients:
1/2 C butter (or dairy substitute)
1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C agave
1 egg
3/4 C molasses
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp guar gum (or xanthum gum)
1 1/2 C tapioca flour
2 1/2 - 3 C rice flour


Directions:
Cream butter until fluffy. Add and beat in applesauce, agave, egg, molasses and vinegar. Gently mix in the other dry ingredients. I save the flours for last - mixing in the tapioca first because it's light and tends to fly. Then I add as much rice flour as I need to make a moist - but not sticky! - dough.

Divide it and wrap it into flat discs in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Ty turns 3!!

 We started the morning off with puff pancakes and then moved onto a party at Chucky Cheese.  Ty had so much fun playing all the driving games with daddy.  Parker and his family came too then we all went out to lunch at Chewy's for Mexican food.

When we got home we decorated and had Ty's giant chocolate cake and he got to open presents.  He got LOTS of cars which he was excited about.  Mostly he was really excited about his 'Chocate cakes".  Probably because we've been eating so healthy lately that we haven't had many treats around so it really was special.  I made the cake out of a Gluten Free mix and made a Depression/ Crazy/Wacky Cake out of it. They are allergy free. .. no dairy, eggs, or wheat. The frosting was made out of coconut cream, sugar, and cocoa.  It was a hit.  I liked it as much as regular cake and Ty absolutely LOVED it so that was good.  He loved his presents, especially his shiny new red car, and is happy to be 3.  Wish us luck with potty training.

Allergies = What to Eat?

 Craig has had HORRIBLE seasonal allergies since moving to Arkansas so since we are nearing the end of the year we wanted to get allergy testing done for him and the kids.  We met our deductible this year with Jenni being born so we only pay 20% out of pocket for all appointments until Dec. 31st, then we start all over next year and $5,500.00 is a lot to pay out of pocket as a deductible before insurance starts helping.... just saying.

Craig found out he is allergic to practically everything outside here.  :(  Trees, grass, weeds etc.  He's also allergic to dust mites, cats & dogs.  Since Jace has had pretty significant seasonal allergies as well and since he has been sick so much lately I wanted to have him tested as well as Ty who has had a mysterious rash of tiny raised bumps on his arms, legs, and sometimes face since moving here as well.

What I found out:  after doing the skin prick test we found out that Jace has significant seasonal allergies to trees, grass, weeds,etc.  He's also allergic to dust mites and cats.  AND he's allergic to WHEAT & DAIRY and had a false positive for Pork.  Say what?!?  Food allergies??  Ty tested positive for Dairy allergy as well.  Since we had 2 kids that were testing positive for dairy allergies they recommended having the girls tested as well.  Brooke had a false positive for dairy and Jenni tested positive for dairy and her histamine test was out of control bad.  It blistered and caused hives all over her body.  What do I do now??  The food that I normally feed my kids they are allergic to.  I kind of wanted to cry.

Nani had given me a book to read about the brain called "Magnificent Mind at Any Age" and it had recommended exercise, healthier eating/ high protein/ low carb diet/ supplements & eliminating sugar, & artificial flavoring/ Food dyes for better behavior in kids.  Jace's behavior was terrible and we needed answers.  So we had already cut out most processed sugars and food dyes and now I have to cut out dairy and wheat??  OVERWHELMED is exactly how I felt.  I researched as much as I could about food allergies, histamine intolerance, and gut issues and started looking up GFCF recipes on Pinterest.  Good thing Paleo is all the rage right now so there are lots of fun recipes available online that fit our families needs.  It's super hard changing your diet.  Luckily Jace has been very cooperative with everything which was completely unexpected.  In January we are starting an Elimination Diet to try and figure out what foods he is having problems with because it appears that doing an elimination diet is Gold Standard in testing for food allergies.  Skin prick tests/ blood tests can be wrong up to 60% of the time.  Those are large odds.  I'm hoping we get the answers we've been searching for and are able to help heal Jace from the inside out.  :)  In the mean time I will try to figure out what to feed my family.

Ty helped me cook today.  He prepared a sauteed banana.  :)

Everyday Moments... this Fall.

September, October, & November in a Nutshell...