Been away for a while

A lot has been going on in my life and head with our little bug. We have been enjoying time on my parents boat and the kids are quite the fish in the water! Mike and I do not know where they get this! Okay maybe a tiny bit from me, but I think it's from mikes dad who loved canoes and my dad of course who is a boater and water skier.

We have discovered that our little guy is highly allergic to the life jacket that is considered like wet suit material. His face breaks out terribly in hives, so back to the drawing board because he LOVES the water.

 

On another note found two restaurants that have been AMAZING about my son's food allergies! PF CHANGS and CHIPOLTE.

Pf changs:

We ordered to go and they were so amazing took the order then had me go over it again and his allergies with the manager who directly went over it with the chef. He had a successful meal and loved it! No reactions! If you know how our life has been, you would know it is amazing to make it thru a meal without a reaction.

Props to the customer service they were amazing! They are rated very highly with how they handle their procedures for allergies. They met my husband at the door and knew of the allergies and marked all of my sons food with orange stickers indicating it and also prepared his entirely separately.

Chipolte:

Amazing customer service we went and they made everyone wait behind us until his order was completely made to avoid any cross contamination, they changed gloves, opened fresh ingredients and washes all the counters and the manager made his meal.

He even checked on us twice to make sure we were satisfied and that he was okay. He even gave us a free meal next time we come in.

Thanks for making my family feel out of the bubble for a night!

 

On another note been back to the allergist for a large amount of testing for 16 different foods. They did this because he was reacting quite frequently to who knows what at that point. The good news is he is able to have coconut! We were thrilled. They did not perform the rest of the tree nuts yet. We were shocked to find he is allergic too all fish and shellfish. Chicken also showed up but was small, so they asked us to trial it for two weeks and keep a diary. We are entering day three and so far so good!

Prayer is what gets us thru and also our sweet boy who does not let it define him. We have our moments of tears and frustration for him that he cannot enjoy the little things sometimes but we try to go on without letting it stop us.

Another thing we have been doing is taking an adventure into the canning world. We are trying to elimate any ingredients for freshness etc. we have done dill and sweet pickles which they love and no reactions!

 

We have also been buying local at there farmers markets and buying local grass fed beef and chicken and it tastes amazing and is so much better for us. This has changed our health as a family for the better for sure.

Thank you for joining sorry it's been so long!

 

 

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Buy Local!

This weekend we went to our local market in Cazenovia, NY to get some of the local grass fed organic beef and grass fed soy free chickens.

My son has still been reacting and now the allergist is going to do more testing next week. The gut feeling is pork.

We have done quite a bit of research and after talking with our allergist we decided to give local grass fed meat a try.

We bought grass fed beef steaks and grass fed soy free chickens that were also raised locally. The cost is much higher for a whole chicken it was $20 and a half chicken $11.59 the beef was for two small steaks $40.

We are willing to try anything at this point for our child and thru our research have found that it helps kids with multiple allergies due to the local control of it.

I was disappointed to find wegmans does not have the ability to tell you what their organic meat is fed or what farms they come from. They tell you they are organic and from PA but that's all they know.

I don't know about you, but I like to know where my meat is coming from!

We will let you know how it tastes!

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Mother's kiss become potentially dangerous?

While putting my son down for nap he says "momma sleep" and points to his pillow and leans into give me many kisses on the cheek. As he does this, I lean in to give him many kisses also. I realize for a moment how I don't get to just kiss him when I want to anymore. I have to think did I eat anything before that could harm him? Have to think how unfair that is, that I cannot just kiss him innocently anymore.

 

I hope those days continue forever where he wants to cuddle and kiss momma and I pray he grows out of all this so we can enjoy the little moments just that much more.

 

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Happy birthday to me!

Tonight we celebrated my birthday 30 years...little did I ever dream I would be a mom to two glorious boys at 30 & have a child with multiple food allergies. I wouldn't change any of it though I love every part of my life. Thank you to all for the birthday wishes. Here is a glimpse into my dinner last evening

 

 

 

 

 

• Marinated pork tenderloin (orange juice, cilantro, lime juice of two likes, salt, pepper and olive oil baked for one hour at 425
• Rice
• Green beans
• Baked beans
• Dessert: homemade chocolate chip ice cream (2cups whole organic milk, 2 cups heavy cream, splash of vanilla extract, one full bag of mini enjoy life chocolate chips)
• Cake: chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting allergy free

Frosting was excellent here is the link to the website of the company I used:

http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/products/frosting.php

 

 

 

Cake is the wacky cake I have made before eggless, wheat free, nut free, soy free, dairy free if you use the cup 4 cup flour that is the green package.

 

 

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First dinner out! @Brix!

Tonight the family decided to go out to eat. Since we have found out about the multiple allergies six to be exact, we haven't felt safe to eat out. In fact we have had a huge fear about it. Well tonight we took the plunge!

We went to a place called Brix in cortland,ny that has a gluten free pizza that we have heard from my sister is pretty good. So here's what I did to try to keep him as safe as possible:

• Called ahead and asked them to tell me what was in their crust, cheese & sauce for their gluten free pizza
• The chef and owner called me back within 10minutes to let me know the ingredients of the crust.
• I pushed a bit but politely, because you will find your child's life is more important then worrying about being nice. He had said I'm sure the sauce and cheese are fine. I asked him nicely to find out a for sure by looking up the ingredients for the sauce and cheese, which he did.
• When we got there the staff was remarkable and wonderful. They went above and beyond and my son pretty much had his own waiter. They cleaned the booths down cushions and table tops, cleaned the high chair like I have never seen done and alerted the staff. They also wrote down the allergies when I got there for the chef so he could check once more the ingredients. AMAZING service.
• We sat at two booths there were 11 of us. My family was also great extended family that is. The kids also were great. Because we were going to order gluten free pizza and wheat pizzas at the tables, we separated into the two tables so that no one eating wheat would be near my son. My family went above and beyond to make him feel safe by washing their hands and faces immediately after eating and the kids not older than 8, were so good about not touching my son or the high chair.
• The staff even brought out the ingredients to have me double check the ingredients as well.
• They have a oven dedicated to gluten free which is also amazing
• We were able to go out to a social gathering and not only attend but actually feel a part of it. My happiness was through the roof and so was my relief, because my son was included and he loved loved the pizza and so did mommy and daddy.
• The best part of the night was no reaction! What a successful night. This is huge to take the first step of eating out, and to experience this was awesome.

If you are in the area you need to check this place out and go give them your business worth the drive and beautiful town with awesome shops!

 

 

 

Here is the web link for their website! http://brixpubaria.com

 

The food was amazing and prices were very reasonable. Let me know what you think and go enjoy a allergy free meal with ease!

 

 

 

 

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Left out: please learn to yes go out of your way to include my child

Please think about how it must feel to live every second of every day having to worry your child may have a reaction to something they are allergic to....let alone I have to worry like many others about not just one allergen they may come into contact with, but six.

Please realize my child deserves to be a child just like yours and will have to deal enough with popularity and fitting in without all this

Please realize it is becoming a epidemic, so educate yourself

Please realize there are little lives at stake when you complain that your child has been put into a peanut free classroom for example

Please realize you have no idea what it's like to walk in our shoes as mothers of allergic children

Please go out of your way to include my child. Feeling left out stinks, I will let you know first hand.

Why can't you all realize that this is not a game of fair or unfair. I hear all the time being a school nurse that well my child doesn't have allergies so why should they have to go without? Really!? I used to and still now that I have my own child with allergies say the same thing. My response is always this " why should anyone have to worry for a moment that they could loose their life?" That should be the worry not whether your non allergic child has to go without for one moment of their whole life.

Here's another favorite: your child's snack is not working out because the other kids want what he's having.

My respons for this while being in a school setting both self and the professional side is the same. "This is simple, too bad they are upset. We have to keep this child safe and they go without more than the other children know and welcome to the new world of allergies being a huge epidemic. You tell the other kids that life is not fair and that we all have to eat what is safe for us.

A third that angered me as a school nurse is parties: well before my child was diagnosed with allergies this instance fired me up. There was a school party for a holiday in a preschool setting and the parents were planning the party. A child who was there half day who had the allergens was going to miss the party because they purposely planned it in an afternoon when the child wouldn't be there so they could have ice cream. Really.....?

My response to this: how about we plan a party when your child is not there? How about you grow up and be the example a parent should be and teach what sharing, giving and taking means and have something other than ice cream.

Please seriously just educate yourselves and realize this is not a fad or a diet or a lifestyle choice for my child and many others, this is their only way they will live safely. To eliminate these poisons to their bodies. Get it? It's never been a choice so stop punishing these kids!

 

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Birthday party ideas

The kids birthdays are drawing near....what do you guys do with food allergies when it relates to birthday parties?

Here are some ideas so far for us....pick a theme...Legos and balloons and bubbles....our children's birthdays are two years apart by only three days so for guests we try to do one party. (Explains the two themes)

Wacky cake is going to be the cake but my sister and mother are going to assist me in making a lego cake of some sort. Also will try to make a balloon shaped one as well.

Frosting?! Have not quite figured that out yet still need to do my research on this

Food: think I am going to do chicken on the grill and salt potatoes and corn on the cob

Treat bags: little toys non food related

 

It is possible to have a party without the allergens....I was so afraid for so long about tackling this but I know now it is possible and I shouldn't be afraid or dread it.

My allergic son will be so happy having balloons!

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