And the journey continues.

May 27th we drove to Dallas to Children's Medical for an appointment for Jeremiah with a GI doctor, Dr. Ramirez. Whom we absolutely love by the way.  Our appointment lasted about an hour and we came home with a game plan that included prevacid, a nutritional supplement, speech therapy, and an Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) with a biopsy. On June 23rd, we went to Dallas again for his EGD and biopsy. Every thing about the appointment went amazing. We got to Children's at 6:30am for our pre-op. He was in a pre-op room by 7am and we were able to meet and talk with everyone who was going to be involved. It made me feel so much better about the whole thing! At 8:45 they gave him some 'happy drug' and wheeled him away from us to be put under and have the EGD done. At 9:15 we met with the doctor and at 9:45 we were able to comfort our screaming child who was very confused about where he was and how he felt. Besides a sore throat and a little throwing up blood, Jer did great. That afternoon he was back to his silly self.

The doctor told us that everything looked normal during the procedure, but they did 12 biopsies: 4 from the esophagus, 4 from the stomach and 4 from the small intestine. The doctor herself called me this morning (June 29) to talk about the results. Basically, the biopsies showed that he had allergies. Lots of them. We have been withholding milk and soy for a little over a month now (see last post). But not worrying about anything else. So, we are going back to the allergist to get tested for more things but for now we are withholding milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and maybe wheat. She didn't see anything that indicated Celiac's disease. She was going to call the allergist we've seen here in Tyler.  She also increased the supplement he is on, called Peptamen Jr.

Today I feel a little defeated.  I know that we will be fine and I will be able to provide my child with the nutrients and food he needs, but it won't be easy all the time.  And it certainly won't be cheap. I think that Kelle Hampton (kellehampton.com) sums up my feelings best, "I love them so deeply, so fiercely, so wholly that the thought of them not being okay is more painful than that of my own well-being."

It's been a hard week but I am confident that God is good. And we will know joy and peace.

Entire family together for Chris' graduation

Jeremiah meeting his cousin Micah.

Learning to play cornhole with Uncle John.

Enjoy a fire with Papaw.

The Lovetts came to visit and Jeremiah loved Reese.

We made some playdough one day and Jer loved it!

Have a good weekend!

Thus begins a new journey...

I'm not really sure where to begin this story.  I was your typical mom who was super excited to begin solid foods with Jeremiah. I had dreamed of a baby cooker to make all my own baby food, organic and healthy! But reality set in. When Jeremiah was 6 months old, we were not even in our own place. We were blessed to stay with a wonderful couple and were moving back and forth between Kentucky and Tyler. So, the baby cooker moved to the back of my mind.  I bought Jeremiah all sorts of organic baby foods at a great sale and began to map out which ones we would try first. Oh how fun this would be, I thought.  Well, Jeremiah wasn't so convinced. For the next 6 months, we tried, again and again, unsuccessfully to get him to eat something, anything.  Around 8 months I finished nursing and we switched to formula, which seemed to make him dislike food even more. Around 12 months, we tried to switch to whole milk. At this point Jeremiah began throwing up every day.  EVERY single day.  It was terrible. And not just a little bit, it always seemed to be everything he'd eaten all day. So our doctor suggested Soy Milk. No change. So after some research we decided to switch to Enriched Rice Milk. At this point, Jeremiah became a little more interested in food, but only a few staples...such as peanut butter crackers and cheerios.  Did I say staples? Our eating battle continued and Jeremiah began to lose weight. Finally, our doctor gave us a referral to an allergist. We went last Thursday and the doctor confirmed, it was a milk and soy allergy. So great...no edename and no milk? That would be too easy. He can have no casein, milk, cheese, whey, butter, etc, and no soy, soy oil, etc. We got these two handy little cards to use at the grocery to check ingredients...and I'll tell you, milk and soy are in A LOT!  We go to a GI specialist on Friday to make sure there is nothing else going on in his little belly.  And thus begins a new journey, a journey of learning a lot about foods and keeping our son as healthy as he can be. 

Now for some pictures ;)

He's so great. We are so blessed.

I'm not good at consistency.

But I love to blog. But lately life has gotten too much in the way and I've opted for a bubble bath instead of computer time when I have a moment by myself. I'm married to the best man in the world. He gives me the time I need every day to recharge and to relax. And he does dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking, whatever I am overwhelmed with that day. I love him.
 
We enjoyed spending Easter at church and then with the Ghrist family. What a great family. As Jeremiah gets older, we see more and more of his personality coming out. He has such a tender heart and really enjoys sharing and playing with friends.  I'm also watching a friend's baby right now and he is so sweet to the baby, always covering him with his blanket and making him laugh. Of course, he doesn't quite understand that he can't share his basketball yet, but he still tries by setting it on Ashton's lap.  On Easter, we put some eggs out in the yard for him to find and put in a basket. It was amusing. Jeremiah does not like to be dirty or be in grass. So, he would go get two eggs, one for each hand, and walk back to the pavement. He was not about putting them in the basket or gathering all of them. 

Easter Sunday

Little man on Easter

Jeremiah hunting for eggs.

We also dyed eggs with him this year. We gave him full control and he loved it, breaking every single egg as he emphatically dipped them into the dye.  Here is a link to our video if you haven't seen it:

Easter eggs

And a picture.

Love our colorful the pavement is.

We also went to the zoo and played outside a lot. It has been so warm here. Jeremiah loves to blow bubbles and draw with chalk. But not get in the grass, of course.

Bubbles!

 

Such a great dad!

Notice Jer's hand trying to avoid touching the sand.

And thank you to everyone who has been praying for our boy. His blood work came back normal this week, and we are so grateful.  We still go to see the allergist and the GI specialist later this month, but we are feeling like we are moving in the right directions and are hopeful we will soon have answers for his medical issues. God is good, all the time.

This weekend Joel's parents came to visit.  We decided it was necessary to visit the infamous Azalea trail around Tyler.  We parked and walked over a mile as we looked at the lovely flowers and enjoyed our time together.  Jeremiah has become an adorable little walker who has no problem walking quickly away from us without even a look behind him. It is quite amusing.

Jeremiah picked up a little stick that looked peculiarly like a cigar and put it is his mouth as if he knew exactly what he was doing. :)

Sunday after church, we ventured to the lake to sit around in the grass and enjoy the beautiful weather. Jeremiah enjoyed picking some flowers, exploring the grass, and being thrown high into the air by his daddy.

It was wonderful.

Friendship.

 Most of us can remember our first friend. Maybe the one we played with in Sunday School or our next door neighbor. I had six bridesmaids in my wedding and every one of them was a childhood friend. I love that, I love that Jeremiah could be making his best friends right now.  Rowan is one of those friends. I met Rowan's mom, Shelly, in MOPS, and we have been friends ever since. Our boys love to play together. Actually, it's more like Jeremiah follows Rowan everywhere he goes. It's pretty amusing.  I am just feeling blessed today, blessed to have friends like Shelly and Rowan in our lives.

Enjoy the pictures!

Have a great weekend!

Home Sweet Home.

Joel, Jeremiah and I loaded up in the car when Joel got off work last Wednesday and headed to Kentucky. We arrived, as usual, right around 5 a.m.  As tired as we remained throughout the week, we had such an amazing time. The point of the trip was to be there as my best friend, since 6th grade, and her husband welcomed their baby girl, Reese, to the world. The OB had told her she wouldn't make it through the weekend and we were really hoping for a St. Patrick's Day baby! But alas, Reese had other plans.  We walked about 30 miles, ate a lot of spicy food, tried the pineapple approach, and a few other things, but still no baby.  Our plans to leave Monday quickly went out the door when we found out Sam would be induced at 6 a.m. Monday morning.  Even though Reese didn't come until 1 p.m. Monday, we had the sweetest weekend, just sitting around with friends, enjoying both of our families, and going to church only to sit in the lobby and catch up with dear friends. 

Mimi Bunge

Papa Bunge

Grandma Mostad

Grandpa Mostad

Aaron and Sam the night before Reese was born.

Jeremiah enjoyed his first Thin Mint!

Jeremiah loved Mimi's swing!

And then on Monday, March 21st, sweet baby Reese joined this world at 6lbs 13 oz and 20 in long. She is beautiful. Sam was amazing throughout labor and birth and Reese came at 12:57 p.m. It was so special to be at the hospital waiting for the news!

Jeremiah was very excited to meet his future wife, he even did his new "gasp" sound. It was really funny!

And that is all for now.