Sharing

Ever since Charlotte came along Adeline has been having a really difficult time sharing. Okay, I will admit, she wasn't the best sharer to begin with, but thing got worse when Charlotte arrived. We've been working on this sharing thing any chance that we get and she is starting to get really good. The other night she decided that she should share her stickers. It's a good thing Charlotte doesn't have much hair yet!

Adeline is 2

Well, not really. But we had her party early so that our family could come. She ended up getting sick right before everyone showed up, but she had a pretty good time anyway. She loves trains so we had a train theme. The cake:Eating a cupcake. I was a little disappointed - I was hoping that she would make a big mess and I would get the cake pictures that I missed last year. But she didn't want to eat the train.
Opening presents:
Yay! I got markers! Just wait until Mom's not looking and we'll see if I still color on the paper...

She loves her new bike!

A call for recipes!

Charlotte has been diagnosed with a milk-soy protein intolerance (MSPI). Her body does not process the proteins found in milk or soy properly. Unfortunately these proteins pass through breast milk, so anything that I eat with these ingredients goes straight to her. About 12 hours after I eat something with an offending ingredient Charlotte starts SCREAMING in pain. Not just a cry, but an all-out, arching her back, tightening her stomach, pain scream. Nothing seems to comfort her except walking around being held (and even that doesn't always work). 24 hours later she gets blood and mucus in her stools. She gets very congested and gets a rough rash over her face and chest. As long as I don't eat anymore of the bad proteins, her symptoms go away in about 3 days, but it is not a very fun 3 days.

We have two options... #1 - cut out ALL milk and soy products from my diet, or #2 - put her on special formula. The special formula costs about $40 a can, so we opted for solution #1. The good news is that she should outgrow this allergy around the age of 1. The bad news is, I can't have chocolate for a year!

We have run into a few problems. First of all, giving up chocolate was one of the easiest part of my new diet. EVERYTHING has either milk or soy in it!!! Take a look in your pantry and you'll notice about 90% of your food has milk or soy (watch out for hidden forms also like casein or lechtin). So EVERYTHING has to be cooked from scratch. Second, I didn't realize how much cheese we ate. Every single one of our meals had either tofu or cheese. After a week of trying to cut the tofu or cheese out of my meal and serve the regular stuff to Sean and Addie I was STARVING! So I went back to eating meat. The rest of the family is no longer vegetarian either because I won't cook two meals every night. This has been really hard on Sean and I. I hate cooking it, raw meat really gives me the heeby-jeebies. I have also forgotten how to cook meat. I didn't think that was possible, but every time I cooked chicken my house would fill with smoke!! My friend, Candace, came to visit and told me that I was cooking it at too high of a temperature. Ooops.

*******So here is where I need your help!!!!*******
I need some new recipes! I am tired of eating the same 4 meals over and over again! Here are the requirements:
1. It can't contain ANY milk or soy ingredients.
2. It has to be easy. The easier the better, I have two kids under two, I don't have a whole lot of time to spend in the kitchen.
3. It preferably tastes good.

I'm not sure how much information you can put in a comment. But you can email them to me if you prefer, april.conaway@gmail.com Thanks in advance!!

They share everything

The other day I put Charlotte down for her nap and Addie wanted to stay and play in her room. Charlotte is a good sleeper, so I let Addie play while I went to go clean the living room. A few minutes later I hear Addie scream, "Elp (help)! Mommy! Addie stuck!! Elp, elp!! Elp, Mommy!!" I run into Charlotte's room and see this:And do I help her out of the swing? No. I tell her, "Hang on, let Mommy get the camera!"

A post for Justin

Because we love you!

Getting bigger

Addie's Hair

She has enough that we can actually put it in pigtails!!

And this is what happens when we go more than one day without washing it!

Tagged

1. I played on a co-ed hockey team in high school. I was one of only two "co"s in a league of many "ed"s.

2. I have kissed the Stanley Cup.

3. I routinely whoop Sean at Boggle.

4. I don't like the cream center of Oreos.

5. I have a really hard time judging height. People fall into 3 categories: taller than me, REALLY taller than me (usually 6'3" and above), and the select few who are shorter than me.

6. I like to floss. I think my teeth look nicer after I floss.