We had pictures taken of the kids and one of me and the kids. I loved the way they turned out and I have to admit, Mark's camera is pretty much awesome. Here are some shots of us, and I also wanted to add in some of the funny ones where we catch the kids doing some terribly cute, funny things while trying to get them to pose for pics! Enjoy!
Caitlyn is so the life of the party. Ethan is just wishing pictures were over so he could go play video games.... Lol!
Ethan
Tatum
The not quite ready pics ;)
Anyways, the pics turned out great and we finally have updated pictures to have in our home of the kids and copies we can give to family and friends.
Now on to Answers to my health issues. I know I am not out of the woods yet as far as my health is concerned. However, I did find out something shocking about my health and enlightening recently. About 2 weeks ago, I decided after some hyperactive behavior and other little weird symptoms that I would get Ethan tested by the allergist to see if he had a dairy allergy. It couldn't hurt, right? So I also decided to get Tate tested as well just in case. Ethan cried, and was so set on not doing the skin prick tests. I almost didn't have them done. Tate being brave decided to go first and it was cool because the medical assistant wrote numbers on her arms and then used the pricks to correspond with the numbers.
Then I had it done. I immediately noticed that I had 2 raised bumps that itched like mad! I know one was the control (the histamine) and I was curious to know what the other one was. The doctor paid ethan 5 bucks and then Ethan finally decided he would do the test. Well, the doctor came back in, looked at Tatum's arms and said she had no allergies! Yay! Then he came over and looked at my arm and just sat there for a few long seconds looking at the two nice, big itchy bumps on my arm. He finally said " You are very allergic to milk"! I thought I was in a dream! Say what? He said that he would stay away from butter, cheese, yogurt and milk and see if I saw any improvements. He even suggested I go paleo because of my concerns over a positive test in the celiac panel.
And finally little Ethan was examined. He was only allergic to watermelon.
So here I am, feeling a little mad and haven't had any dairy since that day. I have lost weight and do feel much better. But I find myself really missing cheese. I still have sensitivity to light from time to time, I still feel cruddy sometimes. However the cruddy times are lessening. I do think there maybe something else on top of the dairy allergy, like a hormone issue at work in my body, but at least cutting out the dairy has helped. So I am now gluten and dairy free...
I wanted to just talk about what has really touched me lately. I rarely ever get really involved in facebook pages, especially sad ones. I hate seeing others sick and suffering. However I caught wind of this little baby in PA who had congenital heart disease. I "liked" his page which is entitled "Battling For Baby Benjamin." I looked through his pictures of him in the hospital and he being only 2 months wasn't very old and he looked so innocent. I thought of Caitlyn and that's how she looked when she was in there (the first time in the NICU and then later with meningitis). I immediately felt compassion for he and his family. I started praying so hard that he would pull through. I loved his profile pic sitting on a lap looking up so sweetly, so innocently. The way babies always look. I read the posts daily, some were hopeful and exciting, but then there were days where he wouldn't do so well and it would seem very hopeless. I remember just praying that a miracle would happen. Like with Caitlyn and he would be alright. Then one day I saw on his page that he had passed away. I felt really sad. More than I should for someone I don't know. I just felt let down, and wondered why if my daughter was spared from sickness, why couldn't that little man have the same? My intuition isn't dumb, though. I always kind of knew that Heavenly Father wanted him home for something. Something his parents, family and supporters just don't understand here in this life. I feel myself tear up as I type this. Why do I care so much for someone I don't know? It's not because I am weird, even though I tell myself this often. It isn't because I am crazy, it is because Heavenly Father is trying to teach me something by this situation. He let Caitlyn stay in this mortal life right now because she still has so much work to do here. Benjamin has work to do that can only be done right now from heaven and his time here on earth is over, and it is not a sad thing because his parents will see him again one day.
I have had a hard time dealing with death lately. It doesn't discriminate. It is no respecter of persons. Death is apart of life, whether we are hours old or 100 years old and counting. I need to not fear it. But I hate excepting that one day it touches everyone in some form or another. However, it is only death from this mortal state and life begins beyond the veil.
Anyways, enough gloom and doom. I know life is happy now. In our lives it seems happy. On a very happy note, my Tate's SEP was great and I was surprised by her teacher's remarks about her. He says that she questions him about everyhting and stands up for what is right all the time. She is a little over the top about it and can could probably be nick named the "cussing police" because she won't tolerate a dirty mouth in her presence. Her teacher has been a little different this year. He has no structure and wants to keep the kids guessing. I like structure and believe me, so does Tate. So we both have had a very hard time understanding his style of teaching. However, it has been a good learning experience for Tatum. She needs to adapt to certain types of change and this is one of them. This year has zipped by, and she has one more report card til the year is over. And then it is summer time which = pool time! Yay!
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