Vegan Breakfast

Here's our little eater...without hives.
Many of you know that Massimo has been getting hives with EVERYTHING he's tried (rice and oatmeal cereals and carrots)except for sweet potatoes...we think. So here he is enjoying the one thing he was safe with.
We took him to the allergist for the skin-prick test. Surprisingly, he had NO reaction to either of the cereals OR the carrots. So they went on to test him for allergies to wheat milk and soy. Nothing much of a reaction there either. So they threw eggs into the mix...dun, dun, dun. That was the one. He is young, so it isn't surprising. There is a 60-70% chance he'll outgrow that. The best possibility for that is if he is no longer exposed to eggs or egg products. Since he is nursing primarily, that means I have been put on a strict NO eggs, no peanuts and no nuts diet (going on the assumptin that he is highly likely to be allergic to nuts with our family history). As the doctor started to list off things that I could no longer eat I felt my eyes grow larger and larger. Pancakes were out, some breads, mayo, salad dressings, some ice creams and rolls, my cereal bars, cereals and favorite chocolate treats and on and on. Thus the vegan breakfast. For anyone that know about veganism, our breakfast was really nothing of the sort, but it felt like it.
So now I know that 1/2 a ripe banana mashed up is a pretty good replacement for an egg in pancakes. Next I'll try a flax seed "mush" to replace an egg. That'll have great omega-3 benefits as well.
The hope is that as Massimo gets eggs out of his system (by me getting them out of mine) his little body will calm down. That should mean less hives. He has extremely sensitive skin, so we are supposed to try and feed him w/o getting the food all over his face. Hello??! Does this doctor know anything about feeding an infant?! She said we just needed to do our best.
We are to avoid cereals and carrots until several months down the road...just in case. So pears, peaches and plain potatoes are next on the menu. Wish us luck. I didn't have any such baby food in the house, but we had a rather ripe pear so I peeled it and threw it in the processor with some H20 and he quite liked it. Tried our best to keep his face clean. Still saw one hive. Better than a face full, right? After trying a few things we'll chat w/ the allergist again and go from there.
He's our little champ!

Here is my little Sunday crew. We got some great news this Sunday...there's another cousin!!!

We went up to Ogden to see our newest little nephew Quentan Elijah Call. So peaceful! We are so grateful that he was born HERE. Heid and Steve just moved here a couple weeks ago from Illinois, hooray!

Lovin' Lazy Saturdays

I love taking the morning easy. That isn't plausible all that often, so you have to eat it up when you have the chance.

I Love to See the Temple

I decided to take these sweet little rascals of mine to the temple for the afternoon. After a stop at the distribution center and a walk around the grounds I sat down in the shade with them on this bench.
We talked a bit about the temple and how special it is. We talked about how the only way families can be together after this life is by entering into the House of the Lord to be sealed together for time and eternity and then living righteous lives until the end of this earthly journey. Then I shared my testimony with them that only way we can find true happiness in this life and the next is by being worthy to enter the temple and then doing so often.
I am pretty sure that most of my words went right over their heads, even though I tried to keep it super basic, but I am also sure that the Spirit of it all did NOT. Little Enzo was ready to head right inside that day, they were all bummed that they weren't quite old enough. ;)
May we all live to find ourselves right where we want to be, with our loved ones and our God!

Kindergarten has begun

My baby girl is growing up. We sure miss this girl back on the home front. She had a rocky first week, but she has had a few tearless days now this week. I can't believe what an adjustment this has been for the both of us. She is so very thrilled at the end of each day though. She is already chanting her school song, so cute! Go Bobcats! She's even gone so far as to alter the Cougar fight song to, "Goooooooo Bobcats!
Love you my big girl!

The Fruits of their Labor

My little gardeners have seen their labors come to fruition. They've planted and watered and now they are learning that zuchini is much better than their Daddy would have them believe. ;) For our first garden things went well enough. We loved all the green leaf lettuce that we had, but spinach wasn't doing much. The carrots are short with the garden boxes, but they are soooo much better fresh! We have just started to see the tomatoes turn red, so we are thrilled to be eating those too!