Update on the Milk Allergy

It's been several months since we've given Noelle anything with milk, and Chris and I had been wanting to try it out again. This past Saturday was when we decided to go for it, that way Chris would be home to help me if there were messes to clean up. To make a long story short, she is still allergic. Here's what happened Saturday:

We tried giving her yogurt with breakfast, and she screamed bloody-murder and wouldn't even try it! We even got a bite into her mouth while she was screaming, thinking she would like it if she tried it, and she just screamed more and spit it out. Strike one. Then we thought we'd mix some regular milk in with her rice milk. No such luck...she made a horrible face like we had just given her castor oil or something. (Not that I've ever tried that stuff.) Strike two. At this point, we didn't know what to do, so I sent Chris to the store for a particular brand of rice cereal that has whey protein in it, and also some ice cream. By now, we're pretty sure that Noelle thought something was up, and she got very suspicious every time we put her in the high chair. Poor girl. What finally did the trick was mixing the cereal with some applesauce. She ate about 1 or 2 tablespoons worth of the cereal, and within 15 minutes she threw up and started breaking out in hives. We gave her benadryl and all ended up fine. Luckily, this was the only time she got sick. But she is definitely still allergic! This was one of the quickest reactions that she's had and the first time that I've noticed the rash...so that was really a bummer, especially since she didn't have much of the milk product at all.

Our next step is to try to introduce soy to her again. There are many things on the market that are good substitutions for milk & milk products, but most of them are soy based. We have suspected an intolerance or allergy to soy in the past, but her symptoms were not quite as obvious or as severe as her milk allergy, and may have been caused by other things.

On top of that, she's become a pretty picky eater and hardly ever wants to try anything new. She's even gotten to where she won't eat some of the foods she used to like. She still eats nutritious stuff, there's just not a huge variety. This has been pretty hard for me to deal with, even though I know this is something that is completely normal in toddlers.

Well, that's the latest update on us. Sorry there aren't any pictures to go along with this one, but I don't think you would have wanted any pertaining to this event, anyway. :-)

We're in the "No" phase

Wow...2 days in a row. Go me! Although there aren't any cute pictures today.

OK, so Noelle just started saying "no" all the time starting today. (Man this has been a trying week!!) The bad thing is she says "no" when she means "no" or "yes". That is making things a little difficult for me to figure out. Just wanted to vent for a moment! I'm hoping that when she wakes up from her nap, she will have forgotten this habit. :-)

And now we resume our bi-monthly posting

For those of you who were enjoying the daily posting, I hope you didn't get used to it. Nick and Amanda were able to check the blog daily while they were away, and so we put pictures of their precious daughter so that they'd see her each day. I will try to get better at posting more often, though. We'll see how long that lasts.

Now...onto the weather. Most of you may not know that I (Sarah) originally went to A&M to become a meteorologist. This was not a week I would have wanted to be one. Friday was 80 something degrees, and it was forecasted to be just as warm on Saturday. Well, the high ended up only being 40 something. Since then, we've had forecasts for freezing rain, regular rain, below freezing, heavy fog and above freezing temps! I really have pity on these people because it's just a hard thing to get right. And speaking of freezing rain...that's like the worst weather ever. It's not even pretty like snow, and you can't make a snowman out of it. It's just a hassle...and I'm even a person that likes really dreary weather.

Since we haven't posted in a long time, we actually forgot to post these pictures that were taken Thanksgiving weekend. Now this is some freezing precipitation that is fun!

On another note...Lately, Noelle has become obsessed with shoes! Today she insisted on putting some sandals on (over some socks)! I let her, just to avoid a meltdown (you will see what I mean below). She also loves putting on our shoes and has started to actually walk with them on.

The last couple of days, our household has looked a lot like this. My theory is that Noelle is getting 38 teeth all at once. (I can technically only confirm 2...but this is bad!!!)

One last random thing. This morning I went to Wal-Mart and I saw a whole flock of seagulls in the parking lot. I do not think I've ever seen a seagull in Abilene. It was about 31 degrees at this point, and they looked really out of place. That was a totally random thing to see.

OK...night night!

Our Last Day with Lucy

Today we dropped Lucy off with her grandparents until Nick & Amanda get home. She was so thrilled to see her Nony (I think that's what they call Nick's mom.) Anyway, she ran up to her and gave her a great big hug and then put her head on her shoulder...it was so sweet!

I only got a couple of pictures today. The story behind this one is funny. Once I gave the girls their lunches, I stayed in the kitchen packing up Lucy's food, etc. I look over, and Lucy had gotten a hold of Noelle's tray and had pulled over the whole high chair so that they could "share." The high chair has wheels, but that's still a lot of strength for such a little girl!

We had a great time with her. It was so awesome to see how God answered our prayers for this week. Both girls slept between 30 minutes and an hour later in the morning. We never had to get up with them in the middle of the night. They took naps at the same time, and most of them were way longer than normal. Plus they had a lot of fun playing together! Lucy did say "Mama" and "Papa", but she never seemed upset and even got a chance to talk to them on the phone. It was a great week for us!

Please continue to pray for Nick & Amanda...they'll be flying in tomorrow!

More Lucy & Noelle Pics

We have continued to have a great time with Lucy. Today my friend Shana came over and helped me by playing and reading to the girls most of the morning and afternoon. That was a huge blessing to me! We had so much fun, and the girls enjoyed having an extra lap to sit in.

Who knew that an ottoman could be so much fun?

It looks like Lucy will enjoy gymnastics. Watch out 2020 Olympics!

One thing I have enjoyed this week is getting to play "beauty shop." Both girls have liked getting their hair blown dry.

Miss Shana brought both of the girls a Christmas bear. Apparently, we made them sit a little too long.

Lucy & Noelle (Part 2)

We have continued to have a lot of fun keeping Lucy. It's so cool that Noelle has already had her first sleepover! :-) We wanted to post a few pictures in case her parents got a chance to look at our blog and see what she's been up to.

They've had a great time playing together.

Lucy has also been excited about our dog, although I think Hannah is underwhelmed that there is another toddler in the house.

Here's Lucy ready to go to shopping!

And finally, here is something new that Noelle has started to do as she waits for her dinner. Hopefully she won't pass this on to Lucy.

**Warning** - Make sure that your speakers are not turned up too high.

Lucy & Noelle

Some of our close friends, Nick and Amanda, are in the process of applying with the IMB to work in the missionfield overseas. This week they are at their candidate conference in Virginia. They will be in lots of meetings, interviews, etc. for the remainder of the week. Please spend time in prayer for them that they will clearly hear from God, have quality time together, and be protected from any attacks that satan might throw at them throughout the week.

While Nick and Amanda are in Virginia, Noelle is enjoying playing with their daughter Lucy. Here are some pictures from breakfast, as well as pre/post bathtime.