This is just too good not to do

I saw this over at Barb's and it was just too good not to do:

In your entire life, have you ever...

gone on a blind date? No, but I've been several really bad dates with people I barely knew.

skipped school? In high school, NO! I was too scared to do that. In college, OH MY YES! In my theatre class I missed so many classes that I'd miss tests because I didn't know about them. I still managed to pull a "C".

watched someone die? Thankfully, no.

been to Canada? Yes, the Falls and Toronto to see Phantom of the Opera. Oh that is my FAVORITE musical.

been to Mexico? Not yet.

been to Florida? Yes. And we'll be going back in a few weeks :)

been on a plane? Yes.And please know that I'm afraid to fly.

been lost? Many, many times. My first job out of college was working for a company that sold Cannon copier and fax machines. I drove around and "trained" people how to use them. I was always lost. And most of the time in not so nice areas.

been on the opposite side of the country? Yes. Vegas and LA Ex.

gone to Washington, DC? Yes.

swam in the ocean? Many times and can't wait to do it again in a few weeks.

had your booze taken away by the cops? UM, yes....

lettered in a high school sport? No, but I won a bronze medal for speech in our states Academic Decathlon.

cried yourself to sleep? Yes.

played cops and robbers? Yes, I have a younger brother.

played dolls? YES!

recently colored with crayons? Yes.

sang Karaoke? Oh.My.Word. YES! Oh too many times. And I can't sing. But it was fun.

paid for a meal with coins only? Yes, in college.

done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yes, and I think I did that yesterday :)

cheated on an exam? Yes. In French. The teacher was clueless and I taped the answers to her desk. I'm not proud of it, and to this day I only remember French swear words.

made prank phone calls? YES! Way before caller ID. Poor Joseph Frisino. I had such a crush on him in 7th grade.

laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? Sadly, yes

caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes.

danced in the rain? Yes.

written a letter to Santa Claus? Yes I have. For myself (when a child) and for my kids.

been kissed under the mistletoe? Yes, by my Hubby.

watched the sunrise with someone you care about? Not yet :)

been arrested? Not exactly, but I've seen the back of a police car and I'm totally not proud of it. 17 was a very trying year for my parents. Sorry mom and dad.

blown bubbles? Just yesterday.

gone ice-skating. Once, but I've blocked that out.

been skinny dipping outdoors? No.

had a nickname? Yes, Jen, Jenny, J.

been to Africa? No but I've been to Australia. I'm looking forward to going to Africa. We'll do that, but when the kids are on their own.

eaten cookies for dinner? Yes, and dipped them in fat free Cool Whip.

been on TV? Yes. I did an internship at our local cable company and ended up on "community access" several times (no, it wasn't Wayne's World :D). And I was on the news once. A robbery and police chase happened by where I used to work (heart of the hood) and we all went outside to watch (like total MORONS!). There was gun fire and one of the cars crashed into the fence of my employer and we ended up on the news. You'd think the gun shots would have sent us inside, but sadly, no. What were we thinking?

stolen any traffic signs? No.

been in a car accident? Yes. 2. One was my fault and only my car was involved. Again, it was in the hood where I worked so the police weren't interested in it. I never got cited. And once on the freeway on the way to work. I was rear ended and pushed under another car. It took a 2 years to recover from that pain. I did wear a neck brace for a short period of time and people would buy me shots when I'd go out to watch me try and shoot them (I was 25).

What is your....

mother's name? Patricia

favorite drink? Diet Root beer

favorite alcohol? Red wine, or anything with Absolut vodka (Absolut-ly!).

birthplace? Willoughby, Ohio.

favorite vacation spot? Maui, hands down!

favorite salad dressing? Bleu cheese.

favorite pie? Pumpkin

favorite number? 4

favorite movie? Sense and Sensibility and Gone With The Wind.

favorite holiday? Christmas.

favorite food? Pizza and McDonald's Fries.

favorite day of the week? All of them!

favorite brand of body wash? Dr. Bonners Castile Soap. It's not actually body wash, but I LOVE it. You can check it out here.

favorite toothpaste? Crest whitening.

favorite smell? Lilac, Lavender, Peppermint, and my babies.


Do you have any...

tattoos? Um, OK. I have one. I got it in Vegas at Las Vegas Tattoo when I was 26. It's a heart with a flower and on my upper right hip (boo*ty). Don't ask. Yes, I was sober.

body piercings? Ears.


Do you drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door.

What do you do to relax? Take a long, hot bath.

How do you see yourself in 10 years? Being a wife and mother. Raising my 2 beautiful boys and trying to be the best wife that I can be.

OK, now you know all my little secrets. If you do this please let me know.

Fat "loss" Friday

Dang, again I have NO FAT LOSS! OK, I realize that I lost 2 pounds last week so maybe I'm stalled a little. But I really tried. I've been doing WW.com and religiously entering in my foods. I even started adding points for wine. Not that I drink A LOT of wine, but I have 2 crazy boys so on occasion I have a glass of wine (or 2). At 28 years old, I never counted "adult beverages" in my points. NEVER. Now at 38, I think things are different. I feel like my body is betraying me. BLAH!
BUT, even though I complain that I haven't lost any weight, I feel a TON better. Oh yes I do. I'm eating so much better.
My lunches are salads and depending on how hungry I am, I'll throw in a Progresso "0 point" soup (like vegetable rice, YUM). And my salads aren't just salads. They are total yum.

Salad of Friday

2-3 cups of mixed Italian greens
6 slices of cucumber
1 heirloom tomato (small) diced
6 baby mushrooms
onion (there is no limit here. I LOVE onion - sorry about the breath though)
1 oz basil and red pepper goat cheese (oh this is so good)
1 tsp. flax seed oil
1-2 tbs. white balsamic vinegar
pepper

I had this salad for lunch today and it was delish! Leave off the onion and add in one small diced apple for a different version.

I exercised this week too:

Mon. 6-8 of mulching
Tues. 3 fast miles with Leslie Sansone (I just love her)
Wed. high impact aerobic DVD (gotten from Weight Watchers)
Thurs. 2 fast miles with Leslie Sansone

I hoping to run outside tomorrow. I just have to get up early enough.

Even though I didn't lose anything this week, I'm still happy with how I feel.

The latest food allergy carnival

The latest food allergy carnival can be found
here over at Rational Jenn's. There is some really awesome and helpful information posted. Head on over and check it out!

The Little Man gets his groove on

Last night our food allergy group hosted a concert with food allergy musician Kyle Dine. Kyle has an CD out called "You Must be Nuts", and he teaches kids about their food allergies through the music and through his show. It was really cute the Little Man had a great time. Older Boy, not so much, but he's six and going through a "stage".

The Little Man eating raisins and waiting for the show to start:



Older Boy trying not to complain:



Kyle with Epi Man and Epi Man Jr.:



The Little Man shaking his b*ooty:



Get down, son. Sorry, you must have gotten your "moves" from your Mommy:



Kyle:



Stop! Don't feed me, I have food allergies:



Everyone had fun:







There were also some vendors there and many were based around food allergies. I did feel badly for the Little Man. Most of the stuff there he was still allergic to (it either had wheat or eggs) and the one thing he could have, I wouldn't let him. They had samples of his favorite chocolate from Chocolate Emporium. But they were in bowls where everyone reached in and helped themselves. I can't be sure that no one had wheat on there hands and therefore might cross contaminate the chocolate, so I had to tell him he couldn't have any. Luckily I found a few pieces in my purse or he might have thrown a fit on that one. I feel badly that he can't even eat anything at a food allergy concert. It makes me sad for him.
The food aside, it was a rockin' good time. If you have a chance to see Kyle preform, I highly recommend it. All the little kids had a great time, and I think the parents did too.

It was quite the weekend

As promised our 10 yards of mulch arrived Friday afternoon. We spent Friday night prepping the beds.
Saturday morning was T-ball and then we returned home to start mulching. We probably mulched about 4 hours on Saturday. We got the bulk of it done, but we still needed to do the trees, which Hubby had to dig out around the trees because the grass is taking over the mulched area and I needed to plant the 5 billion flats of flowers and vegetables that I bought (note to self, next year buy less).
Sunday was church and then off the Thomas the Tank Engine. My calendar said "Thomas" in the May 25th box. I bought these tickets back in February/early March and marked the day on the calender. I went to put the tickets in my purse Saturday night and the tickets said "Day Out With Thomas - May 18". I almost threw up. How could I get the day wrong? I was totally sick. We missed our train ride. We decided that we would go anyway since there are a lot of other activities to do, and you only need the tickets to ride the train. Our original tickets were for 12:30 pm so we arrived a week late at 11:30 am. I went to see if there was anything they could do to help me since I ROYALLY screwed up and they gave us new tickets for the correct day and they didn't even charge me. THANK YOU Thomas people. You made my boys VERY happy. The only problem was, the only tickets they had were for 3:30 pm (remember it's only 11:30 am) but we decided to make a day of it anyway.

The Little Man decked out in his Thomas gear:



Boys playing trains:



Older Boy inside the Lego Thomas:



Thomas Duplo's:



Thomas and friends stampers:



And our food allergy pit fall - Pasta (choo choo wheels) to make necklaces. Obviously we skipped that activity:



Sir Topham Hat:



Older Boy participating in the "sing along". Nice hat:



Here comes Thomas:



Riding the train:



The boys and Thomas:



We were there for over 4 hours (thanks to my mistake) but the boys had a blast.

Yesterday we mulched and planted for another 6-8 hours. I swear I need a vacation from this weekend! But we had a blast and the outside looks great. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Fat loss Friday

Happy Friday! Just checking in with the fat loss this week. I lost 2 pounds. So that means I lost the one pound I gained last week plus another.
I've been following weightwatchers.com and entering in all my foods and really trying to keep track of every bite.
I've also worked out some this week:

Tues: Gilad hips, buns and thighs toning DVD - 20 min.
Wed: 3 Mile Fast Walk with Leslie Sansone - 45 minutes
Thus: 3 Mile Fast Walk with Leslie Sansone - 45 minutes
Fri: Yoga Body Burn with Denise Austin - 20 min. fat burn and 10 min. abs.

We'll be moving 10 yards of mulch this weekend so I'll be considering that exercise too!

I guess with everything I'm doing I'm slightly disappointed that only 2 pounds came off this week. I know a 1-2 pound weight loss is supposed to be healthy but I was really hoping that something more would happen. We'll see what happens next week. Hopefully another 2 pounds~that's the goal.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!

A public service announcement

TIP OF THE DAY: When running errands and one of the stops involves picking up 10 25# bags of Moo Nure please remember to make that your LAST stop. Or you'll be stuck driving around town in the "Stink" mobile like me. There's nothing like a car full of cr@p to make you wish it were 70 degrees today instead of 48 degrees. There was no way to drive around with all the windows down in this cold weather with the Little Man in the car. The Little Man was less than pleased with the smell too.

Second tip of the day (it's a two parter):
Remember to bring garden gloves so that you can pick up these lovely bags. My bags weren't so clean as the ones in the above picture. It was raining and my bags were covered in watery Moo Nure (GAG!). The second part of the tip is to remember NOT to wear a white polo, khaki pants, and a light khaki jacket when doing something like this. It really shows the Moo Nure when you get it on you.

Thank you to the really nice man that took pity on me and helped me get 6 of the 10 bags in my car.

I have changed my clothes, but for some reason I can STILL smell the Moo Nure 2 hours later. I hope that smell didn't attach itself to my hair. I still have to go to the grocery store and I'd hate to get known as "The Cow Lady". And in case you were wondering, the Moo Nure is no longer in my car, the car has been vacuumed, Febreezed, and hopefully de-funked. The groceries won't get contaminated (GAG!).

Thank you Dr. S for talking me off the ledge

So I got the Little Man's RAST numbers in the mail today. Everything was status quo except that he was now showing positive for Rice (1-.42), Buckwheat (1-.38) and Oat (4-18.40). OMG! Please don't take rice away from me! I called the allergist to confirm that the rice and buckwheat were false positives. Luckily, he agreed with me that they probably were. Then he said to me what he always says to me "If he's eating it and not showing any reaction then let him have it". OK, Thank You! He said that the Little Man's eczema is probably causing his system to "Over Flow" and that is causing the false positives. Ok, I buy that. He also said that when you see things like <100 for wheat that's the one that should frighten you. And trust me, it does.
The oat is a slightly different story. A 4 can be significant or it can mean nothing. The only way to know for sure is to challenge it. He eats oat. But only in Mother's Cocoa Bumpers which he doesn't eat very much anymore. I think we'll pass on the challenge. It's just as easy to avoid oat as it is the wheat (6-<100), rye (6-< 100) and barley (5-97.30). He also showed for casein (3-3.72), egg white (3-13.80), egg yolk (3-5.85), milk (2-2.50), almond (1-.59), Brazil nut (2-.72), hazelnut (2-2.26), peanut (1-.70). Then there were various EA's And SA's. Of course dog was a 4-24.50 and cat a 3-3.96 so that dashed the kids hope of getting a fun pet they can cuddle with.
We may not be getting a dog anytime soon, but at least I still have rice! For that I am thankful!!!

Disappointment

I spoke with the Little Man's allergist about his recent
RAST test today. His numbers are all pretty much the same. He hasn't outgrown anything this year. I don't have the exact numbers, but the doctor is going to mail them to me. He did say that he's still showing for milk, egg, peanut and tree nut and his grain numbers (wheat, rye and barley) are over 100. He's also allergic to mold, dust, dust mite, spring grasses, and his dog and cat numbers are significant. Although I'm truly disappointed, I'm not surprised. We did not have any major reactions this year (yay!) but we did have some mystery reactions from various substrates when we were out in public so I knew he was still allergic to SOMETHING. His grain numbers were around 100 last year so I didn't expect him to outgrow that and his reaction to his egg challenge two years ago was anaphylactic so I didn't really expect him to outgrow that (yet!). But I was hinging all my hope on milk. Maybe next year will be his year. If I can find a bright side, it's that he's not having any mystery reactions to something new. At least we know how to handle the things he is allergic to.
I do have to say though that his reaction when I told him broke my heart. He got the sad pouty face and jumped in my arms and said "Mommy, I really hate my allergies". Me too son, me too.

One thing I did today even before I spoke to the doctor was to order a bunch of allergy friendly dry and shelf stable things from Allergy Grocer (AKA Miss Robens) to ship off to our hotel in Disney. If you have food allergies and you haven't checked them out, you really should. They have a wide variety of products and the absolute BEST thing about them is that they've done all the leg work about cross contamination for us. Most products will list what type of dedicated plant they are produced in, what kind of dedicated lines are used, if there is an allergen in the plant and if there are any cross contamination concerns. I LOVE THAT! It saves me a phone call to the manufacturer and in turn saves me time. Their prices are reasonable too.
The stuff I ordered today will get added to the stuff I buy here and sent down to Florida so that we have safe food in our hotel for the Little Man. I know that Disney is the happiest place on earth and that they cater to food allergy kids (I've e-mailed and spoken to them) but I'm totally type-A and I don't go ANYWHERE without my own safe food for the Little Man.

So I think I said this last year, but keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that NEXT YEAR will be the Little Man's year to outgrow something. I'm sad about it, but deep down in my heart I know that we are lucky to have a happy, healthy little boy and for that I am grateful.

It's a big Friday night for the Little Man

The Little Man went over to wish our neighbor a happy birthday (she's 13 today - hard to believe because I still think of her as that little 6 year old that she was when we moved in):



He must have worked some magic:



Because ALL the girls had to come over and check him out:



He'll be BEGGING for a Friday night like this in about 10 years.

Question of the day?

Q: How do you know that you are a food allergy mom with PMS?

A: A mother at your sons gym class whips out pistachio's in the waiting area for her kids snack and you have an overwhelming urge to stab her in the rump with an EPI pen. She did ask if any of the kids sitting there were allergic to nuts (my son was in the gym and not in the room, and since it's apparently not a nut free gym, I didn't feel it was my place to say anything), and then she preceded to let her kids cover all the toys with nut residue from their hands.

So you are aware of nut allergies but you feel nuts are a good snack to bring to a children's gym? Thanks lady. We appreciate your concern.

Just a little something to think about

I have no idea if GMO's are bad for us or not. I would like to know if they are in my food though. I'd like the choice of whether or not to serve them to my family.

This Burger King could use some more food allergy training

We don't usually eat dinner out or bring dinner in, especially not for the Little Man. But today was tiring and stressful (lets just say it involved a second mammogram, possible breast cancer, but today we got the all clear) so my husband decided to take pity on me and pick up Burger King because the Little Man can eat their fries. They are free of his allergens and they use dedicated fryers.
Like always, my husband went in, told them about the food allergies and asked them if the fries were kept separate from everything else. They (the employee and the manager) assured him it was safe. So I'm pouring them on a plate for the Little Man and this is what I see:


(sorry the picture is so bad, but like I said, I'm tired)

Yep, it's an onion ring. A big ol' wheat filled onion ring. Thank heavens I poured them out and just didn't give him the box.
Someone at that Burger King could use some food allergy training. The Little Man was sad.

FAAN and Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy

The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network has come up with 5 things that need to be implemented/improved to ensure our food allergic children/family members safety.

Number 1 is so critical. Every school in EVERY CITY and every school within EACH SCHOOL SYSTEM handles things differently and there are currently no set standards for keeping our children safe when they are out of our home environment. Sending my son to school is one of the scariest things I've had to think about. Last week I wrote about the doughnut incident at my sons preschool. This week I've been informed that they will be making "ants on hill" in class tomorrow. This involves 3 year olds using pudding, crushed graham crackers, and raisins. I'm not overly comfortable with this even though I'll send in safe ingredients for my son. Tomorrow is the last day of school for him. We've gone all year without a food craft. Why tomorrow? I may not be able to stop the food crafts, but it would really make me feel a lot better if I knew that the teachers had a complete understanding of how to keep my son safe. Specific guidelines and universal plan would be a nice first step.

The “Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy” initiative calls for:
1. School Guidelines: The development of guidelines for assuring the safety of food-allergic children in school is necessary to keep the 2.2-million school-age children with food allergies safe. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act (S. 1232/H.R. 2063) calls for these guidelines to be developed, and the House of Representatives has already passed this legislation. Therefore, the Senate should move swiftly to pass the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act.
2. Food Allergy Information: There is a critical need for enhanced public information on food allergy, such as an information clearinghouse to provide guidance to the public and health care professionals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should create a National Information Center on Food Allergies.
3. Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergies: Currently, there is no consistent agreement on how to identify and treat food allergy reactions. Too often, patients go from physician to physician seeking a diagnosis and receive incomplete information and guidance on allergen avoidance, the severity of the disease, and the need to carry epinephrine at all times.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases should move forward with the development of food allergy diagnosis and management guidelines and work with private-sector organizations to assure broad distribution to health care professionals.
4. Research: Expanded research on food allergy and anaphylaxis is necessary to understand why the prevalence of food allergy is increasing, as well as how to prevent and treat food allergies. Congress should increase funding for food allergy research by $50 million over the The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network ~ (800) 929-4040 ~ www.foodallergy.org next five years. Annual increases of $10 million each year for five years should be invested in basic and clinical research on food allergy and anaphylaxis, as recommended by the NIH Expert Panel on Food Allergy Research.
5. Improved Allergen Labeling: Since strict avoidance of food allergens is the only way to prevent a reaction, food-allergic consumers are heavily reliant on the information presented to them on food labels. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 improved some facets of allergen labeling, but the new law did not regulate the use of precautionary allergen statements, ranging from “May Contain” to “Processed in a Facility” to “Made on Shared Equipment.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should move to regulate the wording, use, and definition of precautionary allergen statements to further improve allergen labeling.
To read the complete “Five Steps Forward for Food Allergy” and see a list of supporters, visit FAAN’s website, www.foodallergy.org. The website also has information on Food Allergy Awareness Week, food allergy legislation, and food allergy in general.
ABOUT FAAN
Founded in 1991, the Food Allergy &; Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is the world leader in information about food allergy, a potentially fatal condition that afflicts approximately 12 million Americans, or one out of every 25. A nonprofit organization based in Fairfax, Va., FAAN has 30,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and 62 other countries. It is dedicated to increasing public awareness of food allergy and its consequences, to educating people about the condition, and to advancing research on behalf of all those affected by it. FAAN provides information and educational resources about food allergy to patients, their families, schools, health professionals, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, and government officials. For more information, please visit FAAN at www.foodallergy.org, www.faankids.org, and
www.faanteen.org.

R.I.P.

Rest in peace Fishy Fishy. You were with us for exactly 3 years, which is actually pretty good for a Beta fish. You were our "starter" pet and hung around a lot longer than we all thought you would. We'll miss seeing you swim around in your little bowl.
We've sent you off to the ocean of eternal rest.

Food allergy week - How this all began

I'm reposting my original post from last year:


In Honor of Food Allergy Awareness Week, this is our story of how we found out about the Little Mans Allergies:

When my youngest son was born he was the most beautiful baby, and no I'm not biased. He had a full head of hair that was highlighted just perfectly. All the nurses had a crush on him. In the hospital, he didn't seem to bre*st feed well (but neither did my older son), so the Pediatrician had me supplement with formula right away. This time we wouldn't wait for the weight loss to occur. By the time we got home, he started having eczema (but so did my older son. He wore a scabby, bloody mustache for almost 2 years). After a few weeks, he seemed to cry a lot, but it was different than the colic that my older son had. This child seemed to cry all the time and especially when he was eating. He would literally throw fits when I was trying to bre*st feed. The Pediatrician sent us off to a Pediatric GI specialist (and also because the baby had severe constipation) who diagnosed the baby with reflux and switched him to Alimentum for supplementing and told me to continue to bre*st feed. At our 2 week follow up with the GI doc the eczema was horrible, I had mastitis from lack of bre*st feeding and the baby was crabbier than ever and weaning himself more to the bottle. He almost refused the bre*st feeding at all. The GI doc switched us to Neocate and dressed me down because I was contemplating giving up on bre*st feeding all together. I'd like to find this doctor today and give her a piece of my mind, but she's so arrogant, I doubt it would matter at all. At no time during this ordeal did anyone mention food allergies or eliminating anything from my diet to try and help with the eczema, reflux, and looking back, clearly these food allergic symptoms that the baby was having. So we switched to Neocate and the baby weaned himself completely and things got a bit better. He had numerous sinus and ear infections his first year of life and ended up on the nebulizer with albuterol by six months of age. When we started solids we started slowly. He ate mostly just rice cereal and fruits. He liked the veggies and that was good, so we stuck with that for a while. I never did Cheerios with him. I couldn't remember when you were supposed to start that and it just never seemed right. We moved on to meats and he really liked those. During all of the food trials we did, he continued to have ear infections and had the most difficult temperament. He would wake up from a nap and just scream at the top of his lungs for 1-2 hours and nothing I did would console him. He also never slept through the night and would wake 2-3 times. He was always in so much pain from the constant ear infections that I think the screaming just became part of his personality. He certainly wasn't an easy baby. We continued on the Neocate (at $500.00 a month for formula) and any time the Pediatrician would tell me it was ok to try a new food I would. We seemed to be moving very slowly. Still, no one ever mentioned food allergies to me and not having a family history of it, it was in the back of my mind, but that is where it stayed. He would have eczema flair ups, but they were never as bad as the older boy. Never bloody so I took that as a good sign. Then, at one of our Ped appointments she circled the Mixed Grain Cereal on the food list. I should have questioned this. I never gave Mixed Grain Cereal to the older son, and I thought it was odd. I think she made a mistake. But, I bought it. And Friday May 5 2005, four days before he was 10 months old, I made him a bowl of Mixed Grain Cereal for lunch. I didn’t know what “mixed grain” was so I read the ingredients and the first 3 were wheat, rice and oat (he had rice and oat before). He loved it. I think he could have eaten the whole bowl if I would have let him. I also gave him a jar of Gerber Chicken and Vegetable Dinner for the first time. He hadn’t had that before either, but he had eaten all of the ingredients listed in the jar except for onion so in my blissful non allergy mom thinking, I figured it was ok.
The older son and I were playing with the baby on the floor about 20 minutes after his lunch and he became overly fussy. He was crying non stop again and nothing we did would console him. I remember the older boy asking me “What is wrong with him now Mom”? At this point I was totally frustrated. He had just gotten over an ear infection and here we were having a nice time and now he was throwing one of his fits again for no reason. To be honest, I was a little mad at him. I thought maybe he was a little tired so I put him down for a nap. As soon as I closed the door, I could hear the crying escalating. And it wasn’t his normal cry. I opened the door to see what the problem was and his nose was running like someone turned on a faucet. I couldn’t wipe it away it because it was coming out so quickly. He was also puffy and very red. I took him to my room and put in a Baby Einstein video which was the only thing that would calm him down when he was in a mood, and he was getting worse and starting to choke on the phlegm. I knew in my heart that this was bad and that he was having an allergic reaction to something. I scooped him up and ran downstairs to call the Ped. I should have called 911, but I was afraid that I was over reacting and that I would just be bothering them for nothing (how dumb was I?). While on the phone with the nurse, he started to projectile vomit. They had me rush him in. I called my parents and told them to meet me at the doctor “because the baby might be sick”, but of course by the tone of my voice, my mother knew it was more. By the time we got there he was one big swollen hive. When I took him in the following Monday for a recheck the nurse admitted to me that she had never seen a baby look that bad and she prayed for him all weekend. The doctor sent us to the ER, where they gave him a shot of EPI and some Orapred. We also stayed over night incase he had a biphasic reaction. We were given a RX for the EPI pen and showed a video on how to use it, the names of some allergists and sent on our way. I was never as scared as I was the day we brought him home. What would I feed him? What did he react to? Almost every system was affected so it took a good month or two for it to calm down. We ended up in the ER one more time after that because we thought his intestines were blocked by the phlegm. At the allergist they ran skin tests and RAST tests and determined that he was allergic to wheat (in the mixed grain cereal), rye, barley, egg, and peanut. We retested for milk again a month later and that came back positive at that time. So that is how our food allergy odyssey began.

The beginning of food allergy week

This is the start of food allergy awareness week and we'll be starting with a product review here at Our Story.

The nice people at ZenSoy sent us some of their soy pudding to sample. They sent us packs of chocolate, banana, chocolate /vanilla swirl, and vanilla.



I've tried to make safe pudding for my son in the past and it just never turned out quite right. Most of the time it ended up being pudding "soup". So needless to say, my son has never had pudding.
The Little Man was SO excited when the package came and he couldn't wait to try the pudding.



The first flavor he tried was banana:



He loved it and was so happy to have his own, safe pudding.
We've tried all the flavors so far and his favorite is Vanilla (mine too!)

ZenSoy - is the first refrigerated organic soy pudding in the
country
* Packaged in single-serve snack cups
* Chocolate, Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl, Banana and Vanilla flavors

According to ZenSoy, they are a family-owned company that makes a wide assortment of
nationally-available, certified organic soy milks and soy puddings. Made
from whole organic soybeans, all ZenSoy foods are 100 percent vegan and
certified kosher. In addition, all ZenSoy foods are gluten-free, dairy-free
(no eggs, milk or casein), and nut-free.

So after taste-testing the pudding (and loving it) I started to think of some other uses for it.

How about some "Worms in dirt"?



1 cup of chocolate ZenSoy pudding
3 Tbs. of soy whipped topping
3-4 crushed frozen KinniToos chocolate sandwich cookies
Safe gummy worms

Mix the pudding, soy whipped topping, and 1/2 the crushed cookies together and place in a cup. Add the remaining crushed cookies on top and finish with gummy worms.

The Little Man has never had anything like this before so he was a little hesitant to try it, but I can tell you from experience that it was totally yummy!



And we also made frozen ZenSoy pudding pops:

These were awesome!!!



He's already requested more! I think this will be a wonderful summer treat for us. It's totally delicious and safe for everyone.

I can't wait to see what other fun things I can come up with for the pudding.

So we are giving ZenSoy pudding 2 BIG thumbs up!! It's delicious, safe, and a wonderful addition to our allergy friendly foods list. We also give 2 thumbs up to their soy milk. We love that they have the "Soy on the go" size of soy milk. It makes it so much easier for us to take it on road trips.
Thank you so much ZenSoy for sending us the pudding and for making my little guy smile.

Enjoy Life Foods and reading labels (ALWAYS!)

Enjoy Life® Foods Urges Using Extra Vigilance When Reading Food Labels
Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 11-17, 2008

SCHILLER PARK, IL, May 8, 2008 – A single, innocent parent oversight resulting in a child’s anaphylactic reaction to one of its allergy-friendly foods recently prompted one company to voluntarily strengthen the food allergy labeling on all of its products.

“As the U.S. leader in allergy-friendly AND gluten-free foods, we take very seriously our responsibility to our customers,” says Scott Mandell, President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Enjoy Life Foods. “So we want to do everything in our power to ensure that what happened with that child doesn’t happen again,” he adds.

Although Enjoy Life Foods’ labels and ingredient statements are fully compliant with FDA allergy labeling regulations (The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA)), the parent apparently misinterpreted the “allergy-free” symbol on the front of its package and failed to read carefully the ingredient statement and package information to determine whether or not his child could eat the product safely.

So, the company redesigned the proprietary symbol on the front of its packages to be even more explicit and to minimize the risk of any potential confusion on the part of its consumers. The old symbol said “allergy-free” and “free of all common allergens.” The new, strengthened symbol says “allergy-friendly” and “free of the eight common allergens.” In both cases, the packaging directs consumers to read the side or back panel where it is clearly indicated what the product does and does not contain and that it is made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free facility.

Enjoy Life Foods has partnered with AllergyMoms.com and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) – as part of Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 11-17) -- to urge people with food allergies and other special dietary needs to use extra caution when making food purchases. Food Allergy Awareness Week was created in 1997 by FAAN to raise awareness of food allergies and their consequences.

“Reading ingredient labels and avoiding certain foods is the cornerstone of managing food allergies,” says Anne Muñoz-Furlong, Founder and CEO of FAAN. “We applaud companies like Enjoy Life Foods who take a proactive approach in making ingredients easy to read for the 12 million Americans who have food allergies.”

“Most experienced parents of kids with food allergies know the importance of reading ingredient statements carefully,” says Gina Clowes, founder of the popular AllergyMoms.com blog. “But as more and more kids are diagnosed with food allergies, less experienced parents may think a term like ‘allergy-free’ is enough,” she adds.



So Clowes suggests the following tips for consumers buying allergy-friendly products:

· Have an unbreakable rule: no label = no thank you. Never eat a food that does not have a label.
· Always carefully read ingredient statements. Different versions of the same food can have different ingredients (for example, chewy Spree candy contains egg white while original Spree does not).
· Know that different sizes of the same foods can contain different ingredients. (For example, some “mini” versions of Laffy Taffy do not contain egg, but the large size does contain egg.)
· Don’t rely on common sense to determine if foods are safe. Tuna and flavored water can contain dairy, egg rolls and chili can contain peanut butter, licorice and soy sauce can contain wheat, and the list goes on.
· Take all precautionary warnings seriously. Manufacturers use different statements to warn consumers like “may contain” or “processed in a facility with.” However, the language used does not indicate the level of risk.
· Know that precautionary warnings are voluntary. If a product does not have a warning, it does not mean that the product is free of cross contamination. When in doubt, call the company to find out where and how the product was processed.
· Don’t play ingredient roulette. Even if you or your child once ate a product with a warning, that does not mean the next batch will be safe.
· Beware of hidden allergens. Potent allergens like sesame and mustard can hide behind the words “natural flavors” or “spices.”
· Know where the food is made. Seek out products that say they are made in a "dedicated peanut-free, nut-free, soy-free or allergy-free facility," depending on your diet restriction. This provides even further assurance of the food's safety.

Enjoy Life Foods currently has 21 delicious products including allergy-friendly AND gluten-free soft-baked cookies, snack bars, granola, trail mixes, bagels and semi-sweet chocolate chips. All Enjoy Life products are free of the eight most common allergens[1][1] and made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free bakery. They are also certified gluten-free (by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization), and are all-natural, trans fat-free and Kosher. More than 80 percent of Enjoy Life’s products are vegan with the exception of three products[2][2] that are vegetarian because they contain honey.

About Enjoy Life Foods
Enjoy Life Natural Brands, LLC (d/b/a Enjoy Life Foods, LLC (ELF)) was founded in 2001 with the mission of making great-tasting allergy-friendly foods that most everyone can eat freely. The company launched the Enjoy Life brand in 2002 with a broad product line that is free of the eight most common allergens and gluten-free. To meet the needs of a rapidly growing consumer base, in 2004 the company acquired Perky’s™, a line of gluten- and nut-free cereals. Today, ELF offers 26 different Enjoy Life and Perky’s products that are sold in natural food and select grocery stores throughout the United States and Canada. Visit www.enjoylifefoods.com and www.perkysnaturalfoods.com for store locations and more. In September 2007, Enjoy Life Foods was named to Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held businesses in the U.S. For more information, visit www.enjoylifenb.com.

# # #

The above is a press release that I received from Enjoy Life Foods. Yes, they are free of the most common allergens (top 8) but it is not free of ingredients. So you MUST always read the label. This is such an important point to hammer home. Things like dairy free cheese isn't actually dairy free. If you read the label on most "dairy free" cheese you will find either casein or whey which are both from milk. Even if you check a label and it was safe a week ago, read the label again every time you purchase the same product. Manufacturing conditions or ingredients can change and you won't know it unless you read it. ALWAYS CHECK!! It's THAT important. If you're ever in doubt, call the manufacturer. Most manufacturers I've spoken with have been more than helpful. Just yesterday I called Jenny-O Turkey because I bought some turkey burgers that have "turkey, natural flavors" listed on the label. The woman was so nice and she informed me that all that the "natural flavors" were was rosemary. I doesn't hurt to call and it only takes a minute. Never take a chance. Know exactly what you or your child are eating.

The start of T-ball 2008

Today was older boys first T-ball practice which opens the 2008 season. Hubby is coaching (I will not comment on that - lol) this year. Our community sports program is completely unorganized and messed up. So we've been trying to figure out what's going on for the season the past several weeks and still don't have everything nailed down yet. The first game is next Saturday. We still don't have a practice schedule and the shirts just came in and were able to be picked up today. I went and picked them up for Hubby since it was at the same time as practice started. It was me and all of the baseball coaches. Those baseball coaches are real serious about the game. They were strategizing and trying to one up each other while we waited in line. They were actually real goons. I'm not looking forward to the boys moving up to play baseball. You'd think that actual talent scouts were coming to look at the players. And trust me, they're not.

But anyway, I picked up our stuff and took it out to practice where I was to drop it off and return home to work out. When I got there I was informed that I needed to stay the whole time to hand out shirts after the practice to each player. Ok, I'll miss my workout but I'm a team player.

I had the Little Man with me and because I didn't plan on staying I didn't have anything with me to entertain him. I had no toys, no chairs, no snacks, etc. I had NOTHING for him to do. But he amused himself. I was talking to another parent when I heard "Boys, don't do that", and I turned around to see him and his cohort in crime wearing batting helmets and hitting each other in the head with bats. Well, at least they were smart enough to put the helmets on.

And apparently I wasn't needed to hand out shirts after all. So I missed my workout for nothing. Sigh....

Fat loss Friday - The Saturday edition

Things got so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to post.

This week I lost: .5 pounds. Ok, so I'm not thrilled with it, but it's better than when the scale told me I gained 2 pounds on Tuesday. Geeze, what's a girl got to do to lose a little weight?
This wasn't the best exercise week for me. I have a cold and doing cardio made my lungs burn. So I'm glad I found
Namaste Yoga which shows on FitTv. It allowed me to work out without having to be in severe pain while doing it. I really enjoyed doing the Yoga and it renewed my love of it. I forgot that Yoga can be a workout. I hope to continue adding it to my workout routine.

Dialog from our house

Scene: 3 men going out the door mother's day shopping:

Hubby: "What should we get Mom for Mother's Day"?
Little Man: "A Harley Davidson".
Older Boy: "No, I know but I'll tell you in the car".
Little Man: "How about a Barbie Cycle"?
Older Boy: "How about a knuckle sandwich"?
Little Man: "YEA, that's what I'm talkin' about"!

Lots of laughter door closes, mother shudders.


All I asked for was time with my family where no one is fighting or yelling. Or I have an evil head cold, so a quiet day in bed watching reruns of America's Next Top Model while dad watches the kids sounds pretty good. YEA, that's what I'M talkin' about.

A date with our allergist

Yep, today was the day! Our yearly allergist visit. And it went well. It usually does. We had no major reactions this year , only minor "mystery" reactions from things like shopping carts or the bench at Famous Footwear (go figure on that one). His asthma seems relatively under control and we can even stop giving him some of his meds once summer comes. I asked about getting a letter so that we can carry the Little Man's epi's and Benadryl on the plane to Disney. He said he'll put something together and get it in the mail to me (so I can check that off my list). The only other thing I brought up to him was "alternative treatment" for food allergies. Twice now someone has mentioned to me that they "know someone who has a child that was anaphylactic to ________ and went through alternative treatment and was completely cured". My mind says that this is all hooey and it's a scheme to take money from desperate parents. But my "mothers heart" wants my child to be cured so badly that I'm willing to spend the money. I'm not willing to challenge the food allergies if I do though. He's so severe it's not as if they say "He's cured of wheat" I'm going to go out and buy him a box of doughnuts. The doctor said "I'm not against it. It won't work, but I'm not against it. You thought I'd tell you it's all garbage didn't you? I wouldn't say that. But he will outgrow his food allergies when his body is ready to outgrow his food allergies. And anyone who says it works probably already outgrew their food allergies before or during the alternative treatment. But if you try it, just don't challenge it. Not without seeing me first". I was surprised that he didn't laugh in my face. He's the kind of doctor that would do that. I like him because he's no nonsense and says things matter of fact and without "prettying them up". But he can come off as harsh at times. But I like that. My sons life is at risk and if I'm doing something wrong let me know it. Don't coddle me, rough me up a bit if that's what it takes. But it usually doesn't.

So after the appointment we went and got the his yearly
RAST test. He was such a trooper. They couldn't find a vein in the first arm (Bugs Bunny) so they had to move to the second arm which actually gave them a better vein (Daffy Duck).



He didn't cry. He's getting to be such a big boy. So in about a week we should have our results. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayers that numbers go down.

Although the RAST test went well, traffic was a total BEAR!!! It took me forever to get back to the freeway. We had to pass a Papa John's to get to the lab and then back to the freeway. There were 100's of people trying to get their 23 cent pizzas. I was SHOCKED! The police were directing traffic but not on the road, but in and out of the actual Papa John's building. It was complete mayhem. We don't have a Papa Johns by us or I would have picked some up.

Sometimes they do listen to us

A few weeks ago I was outside doing yardwork when the little neighbor girl came over to play with the boys. This was fine. Even when I couldn't actually see them, I could hear them. Then all of a sudden I saw the them running across the neighbors lawn to go play at her house. Again, I couldn't see them, but I could hear them.
The neighbors are awesome! They are really nice people and I trust them to watch my kids. But after about 30 seconds I thought, the Little Man doesn't have his EPI pen. We live on 3-3.5 acre lots so our yards are pretty big. I could run pretty quickly if I had to. But what if they went inside? Hmmmm..... Our neighbors know about the Little Man's allergies and would never give him anything to eat without asking. They check with me every time before they give him a juice box. And I've shown the mom how to use the EPI. But I still considered taking the EPI over to them. At this point, all three kids came running back.
Later that evening I had a talk with the Little Man and explained to him that whenever he went next door or over to any neighbors house he needed to make sure to take his EPI with him. He was never to leave home without it. He nodded his head at me, but I wasn't really sure that his 3 year old mind grasped what I was telling him. Well it must have sunk in.
Yesterday the same neighbors came over to see if he could play and I said yes. And before he left he said "Oh mom, don't forget to give me my EPI". He took it with him and gave it to the mom and he remembered to bring it home with him. I'm so proud of him that he's learning to be responsible for his safety.

$100.00 Target gift card

Oh my, it's a great contest from the Blogged In Network! It's a $100.00 Target gift card that you could win and I always seem to spend at least $100.00 everytime I just drive by Target.
Just click here:



and check it out~

The dreaded doughnuts

Today was "Dad's Day" at the Little Man's school. So my Hubby took him to school and they did all kinds of fun things like finger painting and played with trains and sang songs. Then it came time for snack time. They had fruit and doughnut holes. And they gave my son a plate of fruit and doughnut holes. My husband said that both he and the Little Man stood next to the table and stared at the plate of food. The Little Man knew he was allergic to the doughnuts and said so and wouldn't eat them, but my husband isn't sure that had he not removed the plate that the Little Man wouldn't have eaten the cross contaminated fruit next to the doughnuts (because three year olds know they are allergic to wheat but cross contamination is a much harder issue to grasp). My husband got him a clean plate and then started asking questions about the fruit. "Is this just fruit"? "Is there anything on it"? "Did anyone touch it after touching the doughnuts"? The teachers assured him that it was fine for the Little Man (and his comfort level with the fruit wasn't all that strong) and then a light bulb went off over their heads. OH YEA, the Little Man is allergic to the doughnuts! They apologized profusely and said that in the excitement of the day they had forgotten about the doughnuts and the Little Man's allergies. My Hubby was PIS_ED! But to his credit he didn't make a scene. Excitement of the day? Like finger painting is so much more exciting than a life threatening food allergy? How do you "forget" something like that? As the teacher was standing there apologizing and telling some story about something she read about someone having an airborne allergy my Hubby said he wanted to pelt her with the doughnut holes. He then preceded to tell her that the "story" she read about airborne allergies is true and that his cousin went into anaphylaxis just from the "smell" of his mother making nutroll in the house hours before. These things are REAL people! They aren't stories and people could die. And my son could get really sick or worse from touching doughnut holes or eating fruit that was touching doughnut holes. We have 3 days of school left for the Little Man. And I'll be glad when it's over. Clearly next year they will need a refresher course for dealing with food allergies. I had a certain comfort level with the school. And if they served the doughnuts and just gave my son fruit then I would have been ok with that. But how many other times have they "forgotten" that I don't know about? What other "exciting" things were going on at that school that made my sons allergies slip their minds?
And really, they couldn't have picked a different snack besides doughnut holes??? I guess I should be thankful they didn't dip them in egg and roll them in peanuts too.

We're bad parents

What is that child eating?



Why it's Circus Peanuts.

(I saw over at Peanut Free Mama that they didn't contain peanuts and what do you know? They don't contain wheat/gluten, dairy, tree nuts, or eggs either and they are made on dedicated equipment - who knew?)

And where is he eating that Circus Peanut? In the bathtub of course! Where do you eat your Circus Peanuts?

He loved them, but they tasted nasty to me. I can't believed I loved these as a child. YUCK!

Fat loss Friday and some rants (because I can and because I need to)

Ok, let's start with the fat loss. I'm going by my scale and I'm going by this morning. I lost one pound. Nothing earth shattering and frankly, it's rather disappointing because I really tried hard this week, but hey, at least I didn't gain.

Goal for next week:
4 days of exercise (counting tomorrow) and a 2 pound weight loss.

Now for the rants:

1. Let's start with the scale at yesterdays doctors appointment. When I got on it, it has me weighing exactly the same as I did a few weeks ago when I was there. Now according to my scale I lost weight. Yes, I weigh myself on my scale first thing in the morning and totally nud*e, but according to my scale I lost a few pounds and that SHOULD show up on the doctors scale. I HATE THAT SCALE. For 6 years now that scale always increases my weight by 5-6 pounds and when I've complained about it, they say "Oh no, we've had it calibrated". I've had 2 different scales since I've started going there. You tell me who's right.

2. Now let's move on to the nurse at the doctors office. So I get on the scale and she gets my weight and in a very loud voice says "Oh Look, You Weigh 1_0"(I'm not going to give you the weight or you may be able to deduce my actual weight). It was almost 20 pounds lower than what I weigh and way lower than I want to weigh. I just gave her a dirty look and she said "I did that for the kids benefit. They'll go home and give Daddy that number". Well, I don't think he's dumb enough to buy that number and it's not like the actual number is THAT bad. I mean, it is within the governments healthy weight range for my height. That just really put me off. Was she trying to tell me that I'm a fat lard and her number was much better? Geeze, way to make me feel bad.

3. Last rant: Don't you hate when you go to the doctor for something and they say "Hmmmm, I've never seen that before"? That doesn't give me much faith in the treatment she suggested. Remember this post from April 5th about being itchy. I'm still itchy and have been since then. Apparently it wasn't a virus that made me itchy and now it's turned into some sort of rash (that the Dr. has never seen before). She *thinks* it's some kind of allergic dermatitis triggered by an allergic reaction to betadine (I had a mole removed.) But I can tell you for sure it's NOT hives. So I'm supposed to take Claritin and use a steroid lotion. So far not so good. It's not helping. One of the moms at the Little Mans gym is a dermatologist so I was going to the shameless "free diagnosis" thing today and whip my shirt up at the gym class and say "Hey, can you tell me what this is?" but she wasn't there today (bummer). So if it's not better by Monday, I'm just going to call her office and make an actual appointment. Let's just hope they don't want to weigh me. I don't think I can handle any more humiliation.