Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Sorry Wisconsin, I'm not a Cheese Head

Let’s start this post off with a cute little photo of Lucy - my latest favorite as a matter of fact.















We went up to Ely, Minnesota to visit with friends (thus the reason I haven't posted anything in a few weeks). Lucy didn’t care much for her life vest, so that excluded any and all water events. Other than that, she was a little angel the entire time.

Now, onto my latest topic of obsession: Baby Allergies and more specifically, the allergies of my baby.

Lucy has been suffering from allergies, but since the introduction of Zyrtec into her diet, she is a different (much happier) being. The eye rubbing has diminished, the purple circles under her eyes are just about gone, and that rash she’s had on the trunk of her body, PRETTY MUCH HER ENTIRE LIFE, has miraculously disappeared. All this talk that babies can’t have allergies until their 2 years old is a crock. I have living proof that they can and do. I know she is allergic to dairy, and I’ve long suspected she’s allergic to soy (but she drinks soy formula because she can’t drink the dairy, and the non dairy, non soy formula we discovered when she was 7 months old tastes like burnt sour milk, so soy formula it unfortunately is). Add spring time environmental allergies, a little teething, and wow, you’ve got yourself one pissed off baby. I (heart) Zyrtec.

Yesterday she had her 9 month well baby visit. The visit with Dr. Doc was short and sweet, capped off with only one little shot, versus the 4 she had been getting at each visit. Dr. Doc told me to go ahead and give Lucy some cheese or yogurt, to which I quickly questioned, since we suspect she is allergic to dairy. She told me she would probably be fine, since those types of dairy have been processed (and since when is this a good thing), unlike milk. In the back of my mind, I knew this didn’t sound like a fun thing to do, but, I hung my thoughts on the reliable doctor-told-me-so excuse. How quickly I forgot that Dr. Doc would not be in the house to assist me should this eating experiment go wrong.

Lucy snarfed down that cheese faster than I’ve seen her eat anything as of yet. Dinner was a hit! We found something Lucy liked! Her body must know what she can and can not eat!

Fast forward 1 hour later.

Lucy pukes all over herself – hair, pj’s, and our lovely white turned dirty white rug. Hives start to appear on her back and shoulders. She’s lethargic, obviously unhappy and laying in her bed moaning. I call the doctor hotline, the very nice triage nurse asks me questions all while Lucy is screaming into the phone. She decides it’s NOT the shot she got earlier in the day, but not quite sure if it is the cheese. I KNOW it’s the cheese, but am rest assured she’ll be okay. She even tells me to feed her yogurt next time instead of cheese, because that might be okay. Yeah, like I’m EVER feeding her dairy again? Lucy vomits again, this time getting me again and the couch. I call Ken and tell him to get his overtime working ass home.

It seems as soon as she got all that nasty cheese out of her system, she was fine. One laundry basket full of clothes, towels and baby pajamas, one stained couch and two puke puddles on the rug later, all is back to normal.

No Diary for you miss Lucy. And all I can think of, what would this little episode have been like had she not been on Zyrtec (an antihistamine), already? Once again. I (heart) Zyrtec.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

New Revised Definition of a Hike

Now that we are done with the house work, we have time for fun things, like spending 3 hours spreading mulch all in and around our yard. To celebrate the completion of another project, we took off the afternoon and went hiking. As usual, Lucy was a champ and loved every minute of the hike. She wore herself out and actually fell asleep while drinking her bottle before bed. Those of you who have ever been around during bedtime know the rarity and joyousness of this small gift.

Back by popular demand - more photos of Lucy!


Lucy in motion




Monday, June 12, 2006

I'm gonna get you suckas

In the beginning...


The moment you all (mom and dad) have been waiting for...the final unveiling of the newly painted house (from 4 angles, no less). But first, let's look back just a wee bit on that day we first bought this house, way back in April of 2004. Whenever I see that picture of us standing next to the 'for sale' sign, I just think - ignorant suckers. We had no idea the mess we had just bought. Look at those smiles on our faces. Just be glad I didn't have a blog way back then, because it would be full of blood, sweat and tearful stories. This house has been completely renovated - that includes 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 kitchen and everything else in between. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. We are 'done' for now. No more big projects, no more PAINTING. We've probably gone through about 50 gallons of paint on this beast. The 2 main floors are completed, as well as the outside. We'll do some more landscaping here and there, and someday, and that someday isn't soon, we'll finish the basement. But for now, we will enjoy the fruits of all our labor on the back porch and enjoy the summer (and fall and winter and spring) away.

Drum roll....
















Shutters custom ordered by me, custom constructed by Ken.

















That's our garage. I know, it looks like a play house, but we can actually fit 2 cars and all of our 'stuff' in there.

















Our garden is on the left. That's the porch where you'll find us drunk.

















And that's just the outside. The inside is full of ghastly before and stunning after photos too!