Food Allergy Update

We just had our yearly appointment with the allergist to check the statuses on the food allergies here in our house.

This year, we did a blood draw on Nathan so we could actually see how allergic he is. Last year, we just did the skin test which is just a positive/negative on if a person is allergic.

The results from the blood test are mostly the same as they've been in the past. He is still highly allergic to milk protein, egg, and peanuts. Eating even a small amount of these foods will lead to anaphylactic shock.

Due to the severity of these allergies, the odds of him outgrowing them are very slim. Usually 80% of kids will outgrow a milk and egg allergy. However, since Nathan is SO allergic and is showing no signs of getting better at the age of 4, he will likely be allergic to these for life. A peanut allergy is also an allergy for life.

However, there was a slight improvement on his tree nut allergy. Tree nuts are all the nuts that come from trees: almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc. He is only moderately allergic to tree nuts. The allergist said there is a possibly he may someday outgrow this allergy since his allergy is only a moderate one.

Moving on to Elizabeth. She had an allergic reaction about a month ago while eating a sunbutter and jelly sandwich. I was pretty sure she was allergic to sunflower seeds. She was covered in hives.

The skin test confirmed it. She is allergic to sunflower seeds.

Ironic isn't it? I give Nathan sunbutter and jelly sandwiches and he loves them. We can't have peanut butter in the house due to the severity of the allergy.

However, now Elizabeth is allergic to sunbutter!! The allergist said it would probably be safe to give Elizabeth almond butter because Nathan doesn't have a severe allergy to almonds.

The allergist said that Elizabeth's severe eczema could be due to other kinds of seeds. We didn't test for other seeds, but the allergist said that a seed allergy could be causing this! So we'll cut out the hummus for Elizabeth. There is tahini in there which is a seed. We also have to keep her away from poppyseed and mustard.

The allergist also recommended giving the kids bleach baths to help kill the staph bacteria that like to live on skin with eczema. So a few times a week, we are supposed to put a little bleach in the tub. The allergist said it should help with the red rashiness.

That's the update for now! We'll see what new allergies pop up for Elizabeth as she tries more and more foods. I'm guessing it's not just seeds!

Nathan and Laura's Day of Fun

Nathan's birthday is coming up in 2 weeks.

Laura decided that her gift to him this year would be a "Day of Fun."

A few days ago, they set out on their day of fun.

First, they went shopping at "The Party Palace" to pick out plates and napkins for Nathan's birthday party. He picked out large equipment tractors.

After that, they went jumping at a place called "Sky High." It's just a huge room full of trampolines. There are even trampolines on the walls!

Then, they went to Riverfront Park. They rode on the carousel and Nathan got to smash a penny. Nathan also went down the big red wagon slide. They had a picnic there in the park.

After lunch, they were supposed to go see "Winnie the Pooh" in the movie theatre. It would be Nathan's first trip to the movie theatre! However, the movie was already not playing at the theatre Laura was going to take him too. And the movie had only been out 2 weeks!

Nathan was kind of bummed. We checked at another theatre and they were still playing the movie, but only in the mornings.

SO, Aunt Laura even came back the next morning to take Nathan to see "Winnie the Pooh." We popped out own popcorn at home since Nathan obviously can't have the popcorn at the theatre.

Nathan enjoyed seeing his first movie. He really likes Tigger and is always going around saying, "Hi, I'm Tigger. T-I-double gg-ER." It's really cute.

On the way home, they stopped at the Splash Pad. It was a really hot day so Nathan had fun running around in the water.

Thank you Aunt Laura for spending TWO days of fun with Nathan. I hope he never forgets what fun he had for his 4th birthday with Aunt Laura!

Nathan quote of the day

Jeremy: "Hey, if you don't come over here, I can't put your shoes on."

Nathan: "And you can't fly a kite if there's no wind."

Aunt Laura has fun things at her house!

Aunt Laura has many fun things to do at her house!


Pushing scooters

Riding bikes

Riding scooters

Auntie Laura has a long paved path in front of her house that is ideal for bike riding!

There are cute babies in mirrors.

There are fun rocks to throw and plants to play with!

We also went to the Liberty Lake park and splash pad. Nathan had a lot of fun in the water while Elizabeth slept in the car.

Visit to Grandma Pam's

We went to see Grandma Pam! She has a lot of great places for kids to play.


We all rode around on the lawnmower! Elizabeth and I rode in the wagon.

More lawnmower fun!

Picking out rocks to throw in Grandma's pond

Throwing rocks in Grandma's pond.

Elizabeth relaxing in the wagon.

Playing near Grandma's stream.

Visits to Papa Ray and Kim's

We had a fun time visiting Papa Ray and Kim in Yakima!


Nathan and Dad played in the small pool. Nathan practiced blowing his bubbles and had a GREAT time.


Nathan had a fun time driving Papa Ray's lawnmower.

Elizabeth wore her pretty pink flowered dress!

Smashing bubbles

Playing with bubbles

Playing with some of the fun toys

Trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine

"A Day Out with Thomas" came to North Bend this year. Of course we had to take Nathan. He was SO excited to go to Sodor. He thought the car trip to get there was rather long though.

We parked at Snoqualmie Middle School and a bus came and took us over to the event. Nathan got so excited when he saw Thomas parked on the tracks. He started clapping and was kind of jumping up and down.

We partook in all kinds of events before we took the ride on Thomas. There were lots of Thomas toys, lots of trains going around, stamps, jumpy castle, etc. When it was time to ride on Thomas, we got on the train and Nathan wanted to sit all the way up at the front right behind Thomas. He also wanted to make sure that HE gave the tickets to the conductor.

The train ride took us to Snoqualmie falls and back. Nathan sat right behind Thomas the whole way!


Riding on a car with Dad


Posing in front of Thomas

Hugs on Thomas

Nathan had to sit/stand right behind Thomas!

Happy smiles riding on Thomas

Playing with Thomas toys

Posing with Mom and Dad

Posing with Sir Topham Hatt. Nathan was a bit nervous about this huge Hatt!

Visits in Royal City

Here are some photos from our recent trip to visit Grandparents. These are pictures from our trip to Royal. I didn't get any photos of Nathan helping Papa farm, but he helped pull apart pipes and load gravel!


Uncle Brian came the Royal parade with us!


Bowling at Lainee's birthday party.


We went to the parade at Summerfest! They loved watching the parade and Nathan enjoyed picking up the candy.


We celebrated my 31st birthday. Nathan blew out the candles for me!

Car rides are tiring!

June/July videos

 

4th of July

On the 4th of July, Laura and I took the kids to the local 4th of July festival. There was pretty much only one thing there for kids and that was the jumpy castle! Luckily, we got there early and there were no other kids yet. Nathan and Elizabeth had the whole jumpy castle to themselves!

When Jeremy got home from work that night, he took Nathan to see the local fireworks show down at the middle school. They lit the pack of sparklers for Nathan. Then, the big fireworks show started, and Nathan said he wanted to go home. So they saw about 5 minutes of the big show. Oh well. Maybe next year Nathan will want to stay longer!

New fort

Jeremy is building the kids a fort out of the pine trees we cut down! He's building it back in our little forest of trees. It's right next to the fire pit so that should be fun!

July videos