Christmas Pics

K loves his cousin B. He had so much fun dragging her around...she is such a good sport.

Uncle S helping K with his train puzzle.

Grandma S. is so special.

Yay, more presents.

It's been crazy here!

Well, I haven't blogged in over a week. It has been crazy around here. I have had family in town since Tuesday and it has been wonderful. I have enjoyed my five brothers , my sister-in-laws, and my two little nieces. K has loved having so many people around! I have to say, I haven't taken any pictures and I am so disappointed cause we have done so much. We all bundled up and went sledding one day. K LOVED it....especially when he went down the hill with his uncles. We built a humongous snowman in my parents back yard. Everyone helped...it is pretty hilarious seeing 7 grown men, 4 grown women and 3 little kids out in a small back yard building an 8 foot snowman...and I have no pictures to show for it. Oh well, my bros took some...if they send them to me then I will try to post a few.
We actually already opened all our presents cause one of my brothers had to leave today. K got soo many train things. He was so excited! It has been crazy but so great to be with family.
Well, till next time. I hope you all have a blessed holiday with your friends and families!!!

Wordless Wednesday

My Twin Brother!

Frosty

Thanks to K's aunt and uncle for the beautiful snowman sweater! He looks so handsome in it. Although, it is virtually impossible to get a non-silly picture with K!!

Allergies and Anxiety

I don't know if any of the people that read this blog have children with allergies, and I understand there is a fair amount of anxiety in raising young children in general...in fact, one person told me that the first 10 years of your child's life you worry about their physical health and the second 10 years of your child's life you worry about their emotional/spiritual health....I can understand that statement!
Anxiety over allergies is exasperated during the holidays...before I get to that let me start at the beginning. When K was a few days old we noticed he was struggling with the formula he was on so we switched to soy formula. After a few days of that his whole face broke out and he started pooping lime green. We thought "hey, maybe he is allergic to this" and we switched his formula again...and his face cleared up and his poop was of normal color! After that he started having eczema....and of course our pediatrician told us that along with eczema often comes allergies and asthma...well, we are 3 for 3. God's hand of protection has been all over K though. When he was about 1 I was making PB Balls and I touched his hands...he broke out in hives immediately...again I thought "hmmm, he may be allergic to peanuts!". Then, right before his 15 month check up I gave him a little bit of an egg...he got realy sick and threw up..."hmmm, allergic". So I didn't have him get his MMR shot at 15 months because it is made with egg.
We are, however, trusting the Lord that K will outgrow these things, as that can happen and does happen.
In the last few months we have had him tested and sure enough he is allergic to eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, beef, sunflower oil, sesame seeds, dogs and several spring trees! Needless to say we have totally changed our diet as everything that you buy processed runs the risk of having an allergen in it! This has been good for M and I...we needed a dietary make-over! Although, it is difficult cause I always have to pack his food, think about what he is eating and pray there are no adverse effects.
I get anxious around the holidays because there are allergens everywhere (mostly peanuts and nuts)...not in our home...we don't allow most of the things he is allergic to in our house. We figure it is the ONE totally safe place. I know he will eventually get to an age of understanding his body and will not just grab food without asking if it is ok to eat...but, until then I often live in a state of paranoia!
I also think about down the road to Kindergarten...I always thought I'd send him to our local Christian school, but what a nervous wreck I will be worrying about the food other kids bring to school...and the birthday parties...he can't eat most cake because there are eggs in it! Will I have to make him his own cupcake to bring on the days birthdays are being celebrated...will I have to make him eat by himself so that he doesn't touch or smell a peanut? Should I home school him because of his allergies? I know, I know I am getting paranoid...but these are the things I think about. A lot of people don't get the seriousness of allergies....and I understand, cause I never did! But I have been to the ER once with a serious allergic reaction and it is scary!
I have to say though...in all of my anxious thoughts I KNOW that the Lord is using this in my life cause I need to TRUST HIM so much more. He is K's ULTIMATE protector and a part of me has to let go...I also know that I need to put things into perspective...so many children have it so much worse...the Lord is teaching me to be thankful that there are ways to combat allergies and asthma. God is so faithful to bring things in our lives that shape and mold us into who he wants us to be! Thank you Lord!
A verse I cling to these days is a very familiar one....but I am gonna write it anyways!
Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
PS...You may be wondering what brought this all on...K broke out in hives tonight. He is fine, it just brought up my silly fears and anxiety!

SNOW

Christmas Pics

So...today I had on my to-do list to take pictures of K for a Christmas card. I didn't realize how hard it would actually be. I did get quite a few and I think I even got some that are good enough to use on a card...hopefully. In order to get him to cooperate I had to let him do things he isn't normally allowed to do....hopefully, it won't totally confuse him! I let him play with a few ornaments on the tree and let him sit on our coffee table and play with the candle.

Here are some of the pics I won't be using!

Brr...it's cold.

We all went to help Grammy and Papa pick out a Christmas tree..K loved it, but it was soooo cold!

Remembering

I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving. However, the last two years at Thanksgiving time I tend to think mostly about God's faithfulness to us in allowing us to be a family by giving us K.
Two years ago we were pursuing an adoption in Guatemala...we had gotten all our paperwork done and it was approved two years ago today....we also got a random phone call from a lady who works with a ministry (this ministry helped orchestrate K's adoption)...she just wanted to ask what we were doing for Thanksgiving ( I think she wanted to know if we were going to be around!). We really didn't think too much about the phone call... because we had had other calls that didn't amount to anything.
SO....again, without the fingerprints in our dossier for the Guatemalan adoption we would have never had the paperwork we needed to adopt K...who knew that within a week our lives would change forever and the Lord would give us answers and give us our sweet boy!

Decorations

I know...I am crazy...I already have my Christmas decorations up! I have good reason though...first, it just makes me cheery to see my favorite decorations up and 2nd we bought K a train to go around the Christmas tree for his birthday. His bday is a few days after Thanksgiving and we wanted to get the train set up the night before....and I didn't want to put the train and tree up the same night! Anyways, we had pizza delivered the other night...and you should have seen the look on the delivery guy's face!

I have had this ornament since 1983...my church used to make all the kids these when they were little...and so here I am!

I love my nativity set...and more importantly K loves it. He has loved looking and listening as I describe what Christmas is truly about. He really loves making the animal sounds too!

My Sweet Boy!

Well, we made it through our day....for those of you that didn't know K had to go get his flu shot today. You may think, no big deal, a lot of kids get the flu shot. Well, for K these things are a bigger deal because he has A LOT of allergies. He is allergic to egg, for one...which is why the flu shot is a bigger deal (flu shots are made with an egg solution). We had to be at the allergist by 8:30am and they did a flu challenge on him. They first had to do scratch tests, which is where they put egg on his skin as well as part of the flu solution...and two other things. He reacted majorly to the egg...which was no surprise because we knew already that he has an egg allergy. However, there didn't seem to be a reaction to the flu solution. Praise the Lord. So..he got a little of the shot injected into one leg and then we waited and waited to make sure there was no reaction...there wasn't...so he got the rest of it in his other leg...and we waited and waited.....and no reaction!! We were able to go home by NOON. I am so happy because we debated about giving him the flu vaccine, but, with his asthma we felt it is important to get him as protected as possible. I have to say...going to the dollar store to buy cheap toys helped tremendously!
So...our next major appointment is his MMR challenge...but not till January!


He really is a champ. He has been to soo many doctors and hates going, but he somehow gets through it and is resilient. He took a 2 hour nap and has been so good...he will remind me now and again that he has boo-boos on his legs, and I kiss them...what a sweet boy!

Ketchup, anyone?

K LOVES ketchup...I started giving it to him to help him eat better....and it worked, but now he dips everything in it...veggies, fruit, sandwhiches, and the normal things too of course!

Here he is eating lunch....with lots of ketchup!

My Guys

I wanted to post these before...but didn't have enough time. These were taken before church last Sunday...I love that they match and that you can tell K is saying "cheese".
I love them.

Proud Daddy

I love this pic!