dum dum dum....the results...

11:14 PM

We made the drive a couple of weeks ago to see Dr. Mary Morris of Allergy Associates to have Avery evaluated. They tested her for numerous inhaled allergies and also did a blood test for food allergies. She tested "strong" to the 6 inhaled allergies she was tested for (dust mites, cats, dogs, and 3 molds).

We just today received her blood lab results for the food allergens.

  • She is still allergic to milk, at a Level III. She has been a level III since she was 4 months old, so at least it hasn't gotten worse!
  • She is also still allergic to eggs, at a Level IV. She has been at this level since she was 18 months old.
  • The big blow was her reaction to peanuts. We have known since she was 3 1/2 that she had an allergy to it, but it had always tested to be smaller than her milk and egg. Well, her reaction from this test showed that her allergy to egg is at a Level VI, and her reaction number was higher than the number that the test goes up to (which is 100).
Not news at all that we wanted to hear, but we're okay. Avery is still okay, and she will be just fine. Hubby and I are talking about what we want to do to make this work for our family, and what precautions that we are going to take. We are also trying to figure out if she should 'wear' her epi-pen shot at all times too. We're not worried so much about her at home because we can control what she is in contact with. But at school, it's fair game as to what she will touch. {sigh...}

What is different about the place we went, is their approach to allergies. It's not just something that you have to live and suffer with. They have been giving their patients allergy drops (sublingual immunotherapy) for over 40 years to help allergy sufferers LIVE with their allergies, and to even minimize and eliminate them! So, we're giving it a try...what do we have to loose, right?

Avery will be taking 2 allergy drops 3 times a day for probably 3-5 years starting today. One bottle is her inhaled allergens and the other bottle is for her food allergens. These drops have small amounts of what she is allergic to in them, and over time the drops will grow in their strength as she builds up immunity to them. The doctor was not able to add peanut to her drops, as she wants to give the first dose to Avery while she is being observed in the clinic. We will be returning in 4 months and maybe, just maybe, some of these allergies have decreased....{positive thinking!}

We do know one thing...God is sovereign. This is not an accident....this is how Avery was designed by God. This is the plan for her life, and that gives us comfort. Knowing that our Heavenly Father has Avery and this big yucky allergy problem in the palm of His hand...comforting and scary at the same time...He is in control, not Dr. Mary, and definitely not me....

9:48 PM

it's been a whole week since I have updated here...

life seems to get in the way, and at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is blog...

anyhow, a re-cap for those who care {hi nana dianne and nana judy!!!}

This past week I suffered from viral vertigo. It was down right awful, and I wish I could say it's gone. It comes and goes, but thankfully it's not terrible, and I have medication I can take for it. I got very behind in my work though, so I am trying to catch up this week! :)

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Avery lost her 4th tooth on Sunday afternoon! It was just hanging there for about a week and she wouldn't pull it. I sat on her and wouldn't get up until it was gone...it took about 15 minutes of screaming and bargaining, but it's out!


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I ordered the girls each a wig for their costumes. Liv is shown here modeling her Ariel costume... she loves being dressed up!


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I have been spending a lot of time on etsy.com looking through all of the clothing that people make. I got a little inspired to try my hand at something. Well, here is what I have made in the last couple of days. It's not finished at all, but it is what it is. I don't have a sewing machine, so every hem is sewed by hand....maybe I should ask for a sewing machine one of these years???



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We should be hearing from Avery's allergist this week with her plan of action. We're checking the mail everyday in anticipation of a letter!

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Liv's new meal time prayer is : "Mama Dada num num bop shake your booty"... isn't that nice?

another package in the mail!

7:07 PM

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE doing trades with blog design clients?
Man oh man....it is just the best!

Today, another package from "The Sassy Ruffle" came for Avery!!!

We received 2 outfits that are just adorable!!!!


Mommy and Avery love it!!!


And, here is the 2nd dress!


I just LOVE the square neck line!


And look at the cute little detail on the bottom....love it!


Liv had to get in on the action too!

so i remember.....

4:58 PM

Liv had the mother of all melt-downs today.

It was her first temper tantrum, and I pray that it will be her last (although I know it won't)...

This one lasted at least 45 minutes, and all began because she couldn't ride home from church in daddy's car and that she didn't get to give him another hug before we left church....

This too shall pass, I know, but good grief....those 45 minutes were just awful.....

big day!

9:25 AM

It's not even 9:30 in the morning, and already it's been a big day! Avery lost her 3rd tooth this morning! She complained about it being "annoying", so I told her to wiggle it some more, and try pulling it out. Well, she did it! No pain, no tears....just excitement! That's what I'm talking about! :)

She also has 2 other loose ones right now, so were counting down till the next tooth comes out! I am not anxious at all for her top ones to come out...then we will officially be in that "awkward" stage. :(


Liv was feeling left out with all the excitement, so she posed for a morning photo too!

Olivia's 1st day of preschool

4:37 PM

my sweet baby Liv started preschool today. She woke up this morning saying "Ya ya...me gool day!" (translation: "Avery I go to school today!")

She ate up her breakfast, let me dress her up and curl her hair, brushed her teeth, and was ready to leave for school!




Avery was so excited for her too! I think she wishes she could have not gone to her school, and gone with Liv to preschool!


Here is lil miss independent walking into the school building!


the backpack we ordered came Monday in the mail, and it's almost as big as she is! Oh well!


We waited outside her classroom, and she met a new friend!


Everyday when she comes, she takes her fish,


and then when the classroom door opens up...
she puts it in the fish bowl so everyone knows she's at school!



I stayed with her for a couple minutes. I helped her find her cubby, hang her stuff up, and then asked her if it was okay that Mommy left. She gave me a hug and kiss and said "bye"....sigh, what a big girl...


Little does she know that I stayed and watched her whole class in the observation room. I watched her paint, play with bubbles, not get upset when another little girl took her chair from her, and then took her doll from her....she did just wonderfully! She even went potty there too!

After school was done, I met her outside....my heart melted as this is what I saw...."Mommy!"








and that was followed by a big, big hug.....my sweet baby Liv is now in school....

Here was her report for the day....


We will be going on Mondays and Wednesday mornings, and she couldn't be more excited!

weekend getaway to Nana and Bapa's house...

9:12 PM

The girls (Piper included) left home on Friday afternoon for a weekend trip to Nana Dianne and Bapa Craig's house. It was a 5.5 hour drive, and boy was it l-o-n-g. The girls and Piper did fantastic, but it didn't make it any shorter of a drive....boo hoo....

After we got there, we went to the local McDonalds for a healthy supper and sanitized play in the play place!

After that long drive, the girls were very happy to be able to be playing and jumping around!

Avery spent most of the time climbing this pole. She did get all the way to the top! That girl has some upper body strength!

(did I mention that Liv didn't have any potty accidents at all on our trip? Not in the car, not at night, and not even at Nana and Bapa's house! GO LIV!!!)


On Saturday we went on a short trip to Wisconsin Dells. I have such fond memories of going there multiple times a summer. I hadn't been there for at least 12 years. How fun it was to go back and reminisce.

Our first stop of the day was the outlet malls. I could have stayed there all day shopping! I am going there next year for back to school shopping for sure! I hit up stores for the girls, and finished stocking their closets!

After that, we ate at the famous "Monk's Bar and Grill" for lunch. It was amazing! Just like I remembered. Growing up, we always would eat at Monk's as a family when we went to the Dells.




We also walked the downtown street and also did some go-carting. A great fun day! Next time hubby and I have a little getaway, we are going there for sure! So much fun!!!

Sunday, Nana and Bapa took us to an apple orchard! We got to pick our very own apples, and they even bought us (me) some apple cider that I am LOVING!


















We stopped and saw the Lock and Dam at the Mississippi River, and went on a roller coaster of a drive on some back roads. The rolling hills and bluffs are so beautiful. I didn't realize how pretty it was when I was growing up there, but man oh man....compared to where I live now....it's like comparing Bush to Obama.... :)

We also went and visited my sweet Grandma Vicki as well. She was in such a wonderful mood, and not as "sleepy and sad" as she has been the past couple of years. She loved seeing the girls, and we loved seeing her! She was making funny faces at us, babbling, laughing, tapping her feet to music, burping, humming, and she even said some words like "Well, would you look at...", and "They're so....". It was a wonderful visit and so good to see her!





We LOVE you Grandma Vicki!!!



Monday was Avery's appointment at the allergy doctor which was the reason for our visit in the first place. It was wonderful, and I am so glad that we went. Dr. Mary was sweet, caring and smart. Avery had to have multiple tests, and here below is a photo of her skin test.


They injected 6 different airborne allergens into her skin and measured the reaction of them. Unfortunately, she tested "strong" for all of them, and "severe" for an outside mold. She did test "moderately strong" for dogs, but if we work on keeping Piper bathed and clean, we are fine with keeping her. Avery also had her blood drawn to test for all of her food allergies, and those results we will know in 2 weeks. I am looking forward to seeing the results, and begin in treating her and getting her better.... After those results, I will share a little more about the doctor we are seeing, and how we are going to try and "treat" these allergies she has!

Liv begins school in the morning, so we are looking forward to a fun filled day tomorrow!!!

something i read tonight

9:33 PM

...it's hard to understand what goes through the mind of a parent of a child with food allergies (like Avery). I was looking online tonight, and found the following quote....I couldn't say it better myself...

"When you come to grips with the fact that your child could die from eating the wrong food, or perhaps even being exposed to it, the dreams of your child having a normal childhood seem to go up in smoke. At first, all you can think about is how you will keep them safe. As a parent, your life totally changes when you're told that your child should never be without their epi-pen. But as you become acclimated to life with allergies, you realize that allergic kids want to engage with life as much as any other kids. As allergy parents, one of our most important jobs is balancing safety with normalcy."

on our way...

1:00 PM

We are leaving today for Nana Dianne and Bapa Craig's house. I have never driven this long (5.5 hours) alone with the 2 girls, plus Piper. It will be a very long drive, and I am not looking forward to it in the slightest.

We are, however, very excited for the reason we are going. Avery is going to see a allergy specialist that is located near Nana and Bapa's house. The appointment is Monday, and we have such high expectations. Hopefully this will be a very educational appointment and we will feel like there is some hope for her!

Have a wonderful weekend!

another one bites the dust...

3:03 PM

I signed up Olivia about a year ago for a preschool here in town that is supposed to be phenomenal. She was #16 on the waiting list, so I just figured that she wouldn't get in until she was 10. I got a call yesterday that told me there was a last minute cancellation in a classroom, and it was available to her! After much discussion (that's a nice way to put it), we decided to give it a go!

I took Liv and Avery over last night and we took a tour. The preschool is located on the campus of the university in our town. It's a teaching preschool/kindergarten, so there is one main teacher, and then 4 "student teachers" that will be in her room as well. There is also an observation room that parents can sit in during the class period to watch their children (without the kids knowing.)

This morning was open house. It all feels like such a blur, and I can't believe that we're doing it. This was to be my last year at home with my baby girl. It is only 2 mornings a week, so it's basically like a "glorified play time" with out mommy. It will be wonderful for her, and it will help her so much in her speech and also her separation issues from mommy...

so, without further ado, here is preschool open house, brought to you by Livie!



Here is her teacher. They call her "Teacher Carrie"...that's going to take some getting used to.

She loved exploring her new classroom...

she even got to get a bit messy with clay!

this is the playground...it's brand spakin-new and it's really neat!

here is one of the "student teachers" helping Liv into a house!

this is the other side of the playground....sooo cool!


Liv took many many laps around the road in her fun trike!




we are very excited for Liv to get to go to "gool", as she calls it. Now, I just need to find the perfect backpack for her! :)


p.s.....I just got her this adorable backpack on ebay...super cheap, just the way I LOVE it!


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