No Nuts! And I'm not talking about crazy people! Although feel free to leave those out too!

For about 7 years (2000 - 2007) I was a vegetarian. I ate dairy and eggs but no meat at all. Living in Oklahoma this drove a lot of people crazy. I mean come on...BEEF IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER! I tried really hard to get protein where I could. Most of my protein came from eggs, cheese, soy, beans and rice, and NUTS. Tons of nuts! I loved a good PB&J, and I do believe that Scott lived on peanut butter for a good 10 years of his life. I would eat cashews and almonds for a snack almost daily. Scott's favorite snack in the whole world is a good trail mix. Just thinking about these foods, my mouth is watering.

Fast forward to March 8, 2007 at 9:36 pm. My little precious bundle of screaming joy was born. Paxton was rushed to the NICU immediately because he wasn't breathing very well. After the longest 14 hours of my life until that point, he came to be with his momma and daddy doing just fine. Apparently he had what they call "lazy white boy syndrome." Since he looked just like Scott I was so happy to know he did get some of my genes (I too can get lazy from time to time!). I was so excited to breast feed and was convinced I was going to have such an easy go at it considering Paxton latched on immediately. So we go home and in an effort to be the best breast feeding mother in the world I am eating tons of protein, ie, dairy and nuts, and nursing around the clock. And that is no exaggeration. If Paxton wasn't nursing he was screaming. And I don't do screaming baby very well so that means he was nursing all the time. Since the screaming never EVER stopped I thought maybe he was starving or something. Like my milk wasn't enough to fill him up. When he was 3 weeks old I gave him a bottle of formula. This resulted in several hours of vomiting and a trip to the ER. Good times! So I keep nursing and eating my protein and Paxton keeps screaming bloody murder for the majority of 2 solid months. Being a first time mom I have absolutely no clue what to do. I vaguely remember ordering colic remedies off the Internet at 3 in the morning while sitting on the bathroom floor with the tub water running (this was the only thing that would calm him down a bit). In the midst of my constant google searches for "colicky baby" I come across info that links milk protein to colic. So I cut all dairy out of my diet and up my nut intake to make sure I get my protein in. This helped a little but not completely. I was advised by my pediatrician to stop nursing for 2 days and give him Nutramagin formula to see if that helped. Two days later we had a different child. This was all it took for me to realize that nursing was not helping him, but upsetting his tummy so bad. Obviously, I quit nursing and switched to this special formula right away.

Fast forward to Paxton's first birthday. What I am fast forwarding past is severe exczema, wheezing, and several respiratory infections. I knew he had problems with milk but also knew there was such a broad spectrum of problems he could have. I wanted him to have allergy testing, but most doctors are hesitant to order this type of testing on a 1 year old. I had a hunch for some reason that he was allergic to nuts. One day I took a little bit of peanut butter and rubbed it on his cheek. And what do you know...HIVES. This was enough for our pediatrician to order the tests and sure enough he's severely allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts. All that peanut butter I was eating in an effort to make my little buddy grow up big and strong was making him sick!

We haven't had nuts in our house in over 3 years. We avoid nuts like the plague. My parents and sister have even gone nut free to avoid any form of cross contamination. (This is just one reason they are awesome!!) It is hard to eat out. It is hard to travel. It is hard to go to a birthday party. And the list goes on. But we manage and try our best to make it as normal as possible. I make some mean peanut-free vegan baked goods these days. If you're ever in the mood for a good vegan muffin let me know! We take Paxton to the allergist next week and I pray that he has outgrown some of his allergies. Although if he has not I won't be sad. It is just one thing that makes him who he is and I love him just that way.

On a side note, Scott and I were talking about what we want to do on our first vacation sans children in 5 years. This is how the list went, in no particular order:

1. Lay on the beach

2. Sleep sleep sleep!

3. Eat bags and bags of reese's peanut butter cups, peanut butter and jelly, and snickers.

Doesn't that sound romantic! :)

My Baby Girl's Birthday!

Unbelievably, my sweet sweet Charlotte is 1 year old!!! She was the most pleasant surprise I have ever received, and I couldn't imagine life without her. Although I don't feel like I will ever forget one adorable moment I know I will, so here are some things I want to remember forever about Charlotte this first year of her life.

* Charlotte was so long and skinny when she was born I remember looking at her and saying out loud, "She is never going to be chunky like the boys were." That was the misstatement of the year! Charlotte day one, 8 pounds 8 ounces. Charlotte day 365, 27 pounds 1 ounce. Chubbiest baby girl ever! And I love every fold on that soft body!

* Charlotte absolutely loves her brothers so much! Paxton and Porter's knock knock jokes are not wasted on her. She is their biggest fan.

* Rolling over at 3 months, crawling at 6 months, pulling up at 7 months, walking at 10 months. Always on the move!

* She LOVES to dance! Seriously since she was little little little she would start dancing every time she would hear music. And the girl's got some rhythm!

* Never took an ounce of formula never ate any baby food. Favorite foods: yogurt, pasta, cheese (we think she may be French!)

* LOVES baby dolls and all things girl. She will carry around her baby dolls and hug them and kiss them all day long. She rocks them and burps them. She carries around a purse and a credit card all day some days (this, of course, is adorable to me, however Scott finds it a bit disturbing :D ). She loves shoes, especially her gold sandals with jewels on them.

* Loves other children. Maybe a little too much. In other words, she likes to hug and pinch and squeeze and kiss other kids so much she might scare them a little!

* Big talker. At one she says; mama, dada, mema, papa, bubba, Porter, baby, night night, book, shoes, poo poo, and the list goes on.

* Already a little bit sassy, if you will! If Charlotte isn't interested in something she does what we call the "wave off." She will throw her hands up in the most dramatic fashion and wave them back and forth and back and forth with this "I SAID NO" look on her face. She also has what we call her "WWF Smackdown" where she stretches her arms out in front of her and makes fists and shakes her whole body and yells as loud as she can. Unfortunately, this is all too effective. That's what happens when you are the third child in 3 years. You learn to get your way!

* Very observant. She watches her big brothers like a hawk. Then repeats everything they do. This is good when it comes to things like brushing her teeth and spitting in the sink. This is bad when it comes to climbing onto the coffee table and jumping to the couch.

Charlotte has always been my little shadow. She has gone everywhere with me since the day she was born. The longest Charlotte has ever been away from her momma to date is the 12 hours we were at the hospital when Paxton had his surgery. The umbilical cord has yet to be cut, but I like it that way. She will grow into a little girl and eventually a teenager who isn't all that interested in being with her mother from sun up to sun down, so I am thankful for this first year of togetherness. She is the sweetest baby girl and we all adore her more than words can express. I watch her play with her brothers and praise God for the sweet baby girl that was brought into our lives June 8, 2010. I could go on forever and it would never be enough to express the way we feel for this little angel. We love her like crazy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE KATE!

Stay-At-Home-Mom

I was about to write in the "About Me" section when creating my blog. I typed and deleted and typed and deleted. I am writing this blog in the hopes that my children will read this some day when they have children and have a better insight into what our life was like when they were little. I just didn't know what to say "About Me." So I thought I would start here...I'm a stay-at-home mom. This title is very broad, but here is how it has worked out so far.

When Paxton was born I had a job that I really liked. I worked with one of my best friends, got paid well, and had a good amount of responsibility. But, oh, that precious little face of his (and the constant screaming that kept me up all night long) was not going to allow me to go back to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave. Scott and I decided that I would stay home for a least a year and then re-evaluate the situation. That year has now turned into four and a half years and counting. Largely due to the fact that A.) I love it and, B.) At the year mark I was pregnant with Porter.

You know that phrase, "Over worked and Under paid." I think that term was coined for stay-at-home moms! But of course I wouldn't trade it for the world. Over the years we have gotten into a pretty good daytime routine around here. (I say "daytime routine" because we still don't have the nighttime thing down quite yet, but that is another blog post all together!) And here is the Reader's Digest version. Breakfast, morning activity, lunch, nap, afternoon activity, grocery store, cook dinner, eat dinner, play with daddy, bath, bed, repeat. This seems to be very enjoyable to everyone in my family. We go to the park, zoo, pool, splash park, Aquarium, arcade, painting station, etc. You name it, we do it. We read, color, bake, and do crafts. This is how it works MOST of the time. We also stay in our jammies some days and watch movies and play video games. We don't cook or clean or do anything educational or important. We just veg. The part about being a stay-at-home mom that is amazing is being with my kids all day every day. They are my best friends and I never have to miss a moment. I have never missed a first of anything. I've never not been there to dry a tear or to share in joy. This is why I do it, and this is why I love it. And now I am not ashamed to admit that I now have no concept of what happens in the outside world most days. This leads me to the not so glamorous part of me being a stay-at-home mom.

I once knew a very very wise woman who said, "I want to stay at home with my baby more that anything in the world. I also want people to still find me interesting." This new mother was looking to me to tell her that people would still find her interesting. That she wouldn't find herself watching Sesame Street even if there weren't kids in the room. That she would still be up on current events and just as worldly as before. Instead I told her the truth, "You will digress!" In a bad way. But also what you are good at will change. You will become a better cook. You will know more about things like dinosaurs and farm animals, and how to whip up dinner in 30 minutes and make it taste awesome, and all of the free entertainment your town has to offer. You will know less about current music, current events, and things of that nature. It's just the facts. You will read comments on Facebook (always from people who don't have kids) that say, "Man feeling really lazy today. Wish I was a stay at home mom so I could lay around and watch movies all day," and you will try and remember the last time you watched a movie from start to finish. But at the end of the day it is all worth it. I think a whole week had passed before I even knew Michael Jackson had died...no lie. But who cares. I'll get all caught up some day. Like in 18 years or so.

Obviously, being a stay-at-home mom isn't everything that defines me, therefore the "About Me" postings are To Be Continued, but this is a good starting point. I love it. It's not ALL of who I am, but it is one of the best parts "About Me." Does it always bring out the best in me...NO. I get overwhelmed, overjoyed, exhilarated, exhausted, happy, and scared all is the same 30 seconds. It's fulfilling and challenging and it works for our family perfectly. I love this part "About Me."

I joined the Blogwagon

I wish I had a really interesting, individual reason for starting a blog. Like, "Everyone read my blog because you will learn things here that are very important to your life, and if you don't you will be the only one who isn't in the know!" But truthfully, I am starting this blog because I feel the need to get with the digital age.

I have kept baby books for my children. Paxton's being high high quality, Porter's being high quality, and Charlotte, well we haven't taken any pictures of Charlotte so she doesn't have one yet! :) And I also kept a hand written journal for my children for about a year. I thought there would be something so fascinating and special about the journal being in my own horrible handwriting that would elicit some emotional response from my children one day. That the fact that I took the time to write it all down would mean something to them. Then I noticed that Paxton uses my computer just as much and just as well as I do, and I realized that I need to get with the times! The blog is where it's at!

The moral of this story is, you will find nothing all that interesting in this blog unless you are:

A) Part of my family and think my children are as absolutely fabulous as I do;

B) You are one of my awesome friends and you read this knowing good and well that you have already heard the stories I am blogging about on the phone that very day;

C) You have a child with food allergies and are interested in finding and sharing new recipes for the peanut, milk, and egg allergic child;

D) You, like me, are a voyeur and anything and everything about other peoples lives is somewhat intriguing!

Now let's see if I can keep up with the blog world and spice this place up a bit!