Whats new

Whats new around our house in nothing much. We are swimming and that's about it this summer. The kids are glad to be on summer vacation but I think they miss school more then they will admit. We have been lucky this summer and Jeremy is home every weekend and that has been great! Fire pits and smores are plentiful! We are so excited for the fourth of July coming this weekend and can't wait for a weekend with family and friends!
I am finally 12 weeks along and feeling really good! My belly shot out a few weeks ago but thankfully has not continued to grow at such a rapid rate :) Although I am certain it is too early I swear I have felt definite baby flutter 3 times in the last week. I am seeing my doctor every week and I will see a specialist in a couple weeks to hopefully find out that the baby has a healthy strong cord and is a healthy strong baby. I also hope to get a peak at the gender while we are at it! :) Jeremy, the gender prediction man, has made his prediction for a boy. I have only seen him wrong once and am having fun window shopping and picking out all the fun baby stuff!This is a pic of the baby and it's likeness to Gazoo on the Flinstones :)

Banana Pancakes

My first try at from scratch banana pancakes was a success! They honestly turned out pretty good. We had them with butter and maple syrup. I also tried them with peanut butter and maple syrup and that was amazing. The recipe web site suggested using strawberry syrup, but ours was long out dated so we made due with what we had.

Things You'll Need

• 2 Eggs
• 2 C Flour
• 2 C Milk
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 4 Tbsp Oil
• 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Bananas

I used 1 1/2 bananas. Mix it all together and fry ;)

Today I feel -random

• Way too irritable for my own good. Like flipping off random people on the road or facebook. A sure sign to me that this baby must be a girl. Way to much sassyness going on in one body!
• Guilty for feeling sick and tired and laying on the couch to much.
• Embarrassed because my house is a total mess and I'm blogging not cleaning. (in my defense I am also playing with Emma while I blog)
  
• Excited and fat as my belly takes on the early "is she pregnant or is that a beer belly" look.
• Blessed to feel so nauseous!
• Smiley when I hear Emma walking around singing "mommys having my baby, mommys having my baby" in her sweet little opera voice ;)
  
• Motivated to make banana pancakes in the morning. I hope they turn out!
• Stoked because I found an incredible deal on prescription sunglasses. And since I hate wearing my contacts, this is a much needed pair of sunglasses!
  
• Frustrated because the closest old navy is 40 minutes away.
• Overall, blesses and so happy :)
  

Eczema

Jacks blood test results came back negative for all food allergies! That is great news! However it doesn't explain all the eczema he suffers from. I finally figured out if I use a very mild, fragrance free, extra moisturizing soap and lotion and lotion him up twice a day I can keep it under control...kinda. On the advice of my sister I decided to give Nature Rich products a try. I was pretty skeptical, but started soaking him in the mineral bath, washing him from head to toe in the moisturizing soap, and using the moisturizing lotion. I am happy to report that after one week of use, he is almost completely eczema free. I am shocked how well it worked! I highly recommend it to anyone. I use it on Emma too (she has no skin problems) and her skin is SO SOFT!!!! It is unreal. I say try it...... tell me what you think! :)

Dairy Free Report

So Jack goes dairy free was much easier said then done. He was fine with it for the first few days and then the novelty wore off and it was just one big pain in his little butt! He was not having it when the weather suddenly got warm and he wanted to eat ice cream and have dinner at his friends house and eat like a normal little kid. So, I assessed the situation. My main reasons for trying this diet were for his behavior and the sever eczema he suffers from. Neither seemed any better. I took him to a specialist in Omaha who basically told me that due to all the allergies and pollutants in the world everyone is going to turn into hermaphrodites and the human race will extinguish its self. That is a little much for me. He would also have my 7 year old little boy eating nothing but organic grown from the earth diet. NOT HAPPENING! Jack would rather starve then eat anything from the earth besides, apples, bananas, grapes and carrots. He is a picky little man. Sad to say but he gets it from me. Needless to say Jack is back on a normal kid diet and just fine. When his blood test results come back and I know for sure what he is allergic to things might change. But for now we are managing his eczema with a new soap and lotion (made from the earth you know!!) and starting some allergy medicine and some other vitamin supplements. I will report back in a few weeks when we know if these things seem to be working.
I have a whole new respect for people who have food allergies!

Jack Goes Dairy Free

When Jack was a new baby he cried his little face off. Since I was allergic to milk and my mom was allergic to milk it was a no brainier to me that he was allergic to milk. I would put him on soy formula and wait the magic "you'll see a new baby in 3 days or it's not the problem" no new baby in 3 days. Moved on to many different formulas and never saw a new baby. SO....I finally stopped switching the poor kid around and accepted he was just colicky. Then when he was about 6 months old he developed both eczema and asthma. All while crying his sweet little face off. By the time he was 3 he seemed to have out grown the asthma and crying. But it turned in to busy little boy. VERY BUSY. Couldn't sit still, can't keep his hands to him self, loud, and hyper. He was fine through preschool and the first semester of kindergarten. But then we were constantly struggling with his hyper, impulsive, busy little boy ways. He has struggled with it all this year too. I have known deep down that he is allergic to dairy for years, but I didn't want to take him off dairy because I just wanted him to be a normal kid. Last year I started to really consider it when I learned that a dairy allergy can cause behavioral issues similar to ADHA. But I still wasn't convinced. After another year of issues I decided to talk to the doctor. But we had to see the PA. Who was OVER EAGER to hand out a prescrip for ADHD meds. After thinking about it all day and finding out that is cost over $300 a month and in big bold letters on the drug web site the first side effect I saw was SUDDEN DEATH I decided, maybe being dairy free was a better place to start. I'm not into SUDDEN DEATH. So I dove in head first to the dairy free way. It is not as bad as I thought it would be. It is more work at the store and slightly more expensive, but if it helps my sweet little man, then it is well worth it!!!
First I went to hyvee. I got a few bags of PLAIN chips, nothing with any kind of flavoring you know! Soy chocolate milk, soy yogurt, dairy free bread, apple sauce, fruit chews, and oatmeal bars. Just the basics for packing a lunch and having breakfast in the morning. Then this morning I hit the health food store for some more stuff. There is not much to choose from and unfortunately we have a very small store here, but I was able to find him some cheese, rice crispy bars, butter, and ice cream sandwiches. I also picked up a DHA supplement that is supposed to be good for helping kids stay focused. I went to walmart this evening to do our normal grocery shopping and was able to find a few more things for him. All in all I really feel like he is going to be fine. He is eating almost all the same things he normally loves just in a different variety.Here is what a dairy free lunch looks like. Peanut butter and Jelly on a dairy free bun (Jack loves anything on a bun) but of course the little jerks at school made fun of the bun, but I told Jack to tell them to zip it he loves buns!!!!!!!!!! original pringles, apple sauce, a fruit roll up and a juice.
See that seems super normal right???

March 30 Blog Challenge

A PICTURE:
On this very last blog challenge post, I am at a loss, I have no idea what to post a picture of.
I decided on a picture I have thought of in my head for a long time, I am not quite sure what I really want it to look like, and I am pretty sure I will never get it, simply because I am not really into tattoos. I think they are cute, but they are PERMANENT and that is what holds me back.
I want angel wings on my foot for the babies. One pink wing for Elizabeth and one blue wing for Thomas. Something like this....