just a few from yesterday

Tree nut allergy

We found out this week Dylan is very allergic to cashews and pistachios. This means he is likely allergic to all tree nuts or has a good chance of developing the allergy to all tree nuts. He is not allergic to peanuts as of yet. Peanuts are a legume and not the same as a tree nut. The allergist wants Dylan to still eat peanut butter to build up a tolerance to peanuts. Hopefully that will prevent a allergy to them as well.

So this diagnoses means a life style change for the whole family. We had to remove everything with even a trace of tree nuts from our house. I spent at least twice the amount of time in the grocery store reading every.single.label. Even a trace of tree nuts could be life threatning. Just because his reactions have not been life threatening yet does not mean the next time will not be. His body is building up antibodies against tree nuts when he eats them . The more he gets exposed to them the worse it could get. Very scary! We have to carry a Epi-pen with us now. If we know for sure he eats a cashew or pistachio we have to give him a shot. Even if he is acting fine and has no symptoms. A reaction can happen very fast...ok one minute and in big trouble the next. If we give him a Epi-pen shot we have to head to the ER to get him checked out.

This makes eating out a little harder. We won't be going out very often now. I'm still learning as much as I can about this tree nut allergy. If you have any advise or info please email me or leave a comment.

We are on our way to Pentwater for a week of camping in our new camper. Very exciting for us! This is our first camping trip!! The boys can't wait to get to Pentwater.

*Another question everyone keeps asking is if Noah also has the tree nut allergy. We do not know for sure yet but we do not think he does. Dylan has had hives many times over the past year. Nothing bad until reciently. Noah has never had hives. I only took Dylan to the allergist this week. I wanted him seen ASAP and took the first available appointment. There was only room to see Dylan. Noah will not be getting tree nuts because there is too much of a risk for Dylan. A tiny amount is just as bad as eating the whole nut! *

Check back soon I'll post pics while we are camping! Can't wait to use my new 35mm/2f lens!!

A Sneak Peek....

Believe it or not this is just a sneak peek!! These are some of my favorite pictures I have ever taken! I still have a lot more to edit and Kristi has a bunch too. She let me use her 35mm lens today. I am now convinced I need a better lens instead of a new camera. What a huge difference I see in my pictures. Leave me a comment please and tell me what you think please...
(BTW Noah is in white and Dylan in blue.)

Adam and the boys

Here's another one I got tonight on our walk before we went for ice cream.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

We took the boys out for ice cream tonight. Of coarse, I couldn't help myself and snapped about 25 pictures of them eating their ice cream cones. LOL! Here are my favorites....

Oops! Noah dropped his on the ground just after we sat down. He was very upset. I can't believe I am admitting to this but I picked it up and wiped the top layer off with a napkin and gave it back to him. Gross, huh?

sugar rush kicked in!

All done and time to clean up.

Saturday our friend Scott came over with his Bob Cat to help Adam in the yard. There were some large projects that were much easier and faster to do with his help. Adam has been working on building a rock wall. He finished it yesterday and it looks great!!!

When they were done moving all the dirt around the boys got to go for a ride. They were SO happy it made their day. Here's some pictures of them driving the Bob Cat. Scott even let them use the controls to slowly move up and down the driveway and raise and lower it. Big excitement for a 2 year old!

Here is a picture of the rock wall. This gives us a little more room in our driveway to turn around. It can be tricky getting out of here sometimes!

Scott will be back this week sometime to build stairs off our doorwall in the back!! Can't wait to be able to walk outside from the dining room. We plan on finishing a patio too this summer.