ALLERGIES!!!

Allergies. They are downright awful! I have had a sinus headache for the past three days. It's all apparently due to the fact that hot weather makes grass allergies go crazy. BOO!

It turns out that when an allergic man marries an allergic woman, they make allergic children. So far, we're four of four. Our overdue allergy appointments happened this week, and they were eye-opening and frankly, not quite fun.

Monday, we tested #1 (7-year, son, Caleb) and #3 (3-year, daughter, Abigail). I had to restrain Caleb in order for the doc to do the scratch test. Turns out his allergies are moving away from food and towards airborne allergens. So, grasses, trees, molds, cats, dogs, etc. are all pretty high, while foods are lessoning. He is still allergic to nuts, eggs, oats, and a little bit to milk & soy. Abigail has a dust mite allergy.

Wednesday was #2 (5-year, son, Gideon) and #4 (16 month, daughter, Bernadette). Nobody was 'restrained,' but Gideon had a hard time sitting still because he was insanely itchy. Bernadette is allergic to dust mites and mold. Gideon on the other hand is allergic to: dust, nuts, wheat, oat, & rice.

I am at a loss for a variety of grains to feed my children. I was not made to be in the kitchen all day long, it is my least favorite room unless I am baking which is quite hard with all these allergies. We eat quinoa and love it. It is a grain, but also a complete protein, so that is a bonus. I was informed by my MIL that I can make my own corn tortillas so that I don't have to fill them with GMO crap, but that still feels daunting. I have to stay focused and keep them as allergy free as possible to preserve their lung health. We really want to get Caleb off of his asthma steroid at some point, and I don't know if that can happen even without allergies, so we keep trying and see what happens.

The next step, I guess, is to consider allergy therapy injections, but could you imagine the restraining I'd have to do then?! I can, and it's not pretty.

Well, I guess food is like decluttering. Baby steps. One small change at a time.

God help me help them!

Have a great day!