5 on Friday: May 13, 2016

Oh, I blog?? Let's just be real honest, my posts may slow down with summer. When you live in the Midwest, we cherish our warm weather months. There are too many memories to make outside and these times definitely trump blogging. Anyhoooo.....
 

1. Miracles 

After three years of fighting the food allergy battle, Mr. Brady has gone from having multiple anaphylactic allergies to being 100% food allergy free! I couldn't believe it, and I still can't believe it! And the series and multitude of tests to confirm should have made me rest easy, but I'm a mom. ;) His physician has only seen this twice in his time of practice. Well, we will be lucky number three thank you! A year ago we were in the Emergency Room because of skin contact with peanut butter that set him into turmoil. Scary doesn't even begin to describe that moment. And here he is now, drinking milk. The peanuts haven't been introduced, and we will most definitely be cautious (as we are with everything) when we do. But oh my Lord, what a game changer for all of us. 

My Child's First Bite Of Macaroni & Cheese...c/o Big Sis!

He is fairly young to notice what he's missing but it will be so nice to not have to worry about him when we're gone, not have him sitting secluded at different tables from other kids, be able to enjoy pizza and cupcakes at birthday parties, and it will make cooking so much easier for mom dad. Oh praise Jesus, he really does work miracles.

2. Recipe For the Keeping

You all know my obsession with cauliflower. I love to steam it, use it as mashed potatoes and rice, the list goes on and on. Well, attempting cauliflower as pizza crust has been on my to-do list for a while. Last weekend we made a good it and it was wonderful! 

Not only did we make pizza but breadsticks as well. I may have even enjoyed the breadsticks more; so good!!

 

3. Mischievous 

Remember this photo? Mr Brady thought he'd draw me a"hippo" on the white table. After this, little man made a Crayola mural on his walls while in timeout. Most recently, Picasso found a permanent marker and left this.

Luckily it's inside our pantry door! Word of warning, if we visit your home, hide all writing tools!
 

4. Anywhere
Is it all children, or just mine that can fall asleep anywhere?  I am starting to think they do this because they will do anything, I mean anything to avoid have to go to bed that they become so exhausted they crash.  Tess doesn't do naps, but if we have a very eventful Saturday, it's not uncommon to see this.

And Brady has a new deal lately where pillows are unacceptable.  He wants to lay right on top of someone.  And you better believe I'm eating up these moments!

5.  Fa-fa-fa-fashion
I don't know about you guys but I'm loving so many styles lately.  Why oh why can't new items just arrive in my closet each morning?  Here's what I'm loving (via Pinterest).
Cut-Offs

I mean, they're everywhere and they're fabulous.  I have a pair of cut-off jean shorts I made myself that are my favorite.  Yet, I'd still like another pair to add to the rotation.

White Bottoms

 
White will forever be an all time favorite of mine.  It's so crisp, so clean, so classic...you know, the worst item to wear as a momma.  ;)

Rompers

I just recently pick one of these up for myself.  I'm ready for some nice weather so I can finally sport it!
Cozy Gear

 

I wear cozy athletic gear pretty much every single day.  I love how there are pieces that are "loungy" but also others that are a bit more dressy so it's even more acceptable to wear everywhere....because I do!
Sneaks

 
No explanation needed.  The best.

5 on Friday: April 22, 2016

1.  Our Allergy Boy         

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that Mr. Brady has some severe allergy issues.  We’ve adjusted our lifestyle quite drastically in the food world to make it easier on him.  Believe me that was tough!  Not utilizing dairy while cooking is pretty darn difficult.  If you’ve never done that, sit back and think of your most cooked meals.  I bet each one has some type of dairy.  Then there’s the oats, peanuts, pistachios, pumpkin, etc….

Last Spring, Brady had an anaphylactic reaction that sent him to the emergency room.  Because of that, we weren’t able to do any allergy testing for a year.  This week was his year follow-up appointment to that scare.  Brady had to have those awful pricks on his back but with those short seconds of pain we were hoping for a good report of improvement to his allergic conditions. 

The doctor returned to the room with his report.  Shockingly, amazingly, miraculously…all of Brady’s tests came back negative!  Yes, you read that correctly….negative!  The doctor has only seen this a few times in his practice, so it’s very rare, but a child can go from having multiple anaphylactic allergies to none.  He’s only seen it in the two to four year old range, which is right where B is at.  Literally, everyone was surprised. 

To confirm the results, we left for blood tests.  We should receive these detailed results by the beginning of next week.  Holy wow….how different would our lives be if this miracle is true?  We could go for ice cream as a family.  He could eat lunch at school like everyone else without having to sit at a special table.  I wouldn’t have to lose sleep over the possibility he might touch an object or a child that had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and end up in the hospital.  I wouldn’t have to worry that the epi pen was always on me wherever I go.  Oh, the list goes on and on.  We are big believers in the power of prayer so here’s hoping we receive the results we want to hear next week!

2.  Hydrangeas

I love these flowers.  They have always been a favorite of mine because of the large blooms.  I tend to only favor the white ones but really they are all quite lovely.  This week I ran to Trader Joes to pick up a few items on my way home from work (3 buck Chuck anyone) and couldn’t help but pick up some blooms. 

There’s something about fresh flowers and candles in my kitchen for spring.

3.  Fresh Air

This past weekend was absolutely beautiful.  We woke up Saturday morning and had our coffee and breakfast on the back patio and let the kids play on the play set.  

That evening we ventured to the national park just a couple miles from home to meet some cousins.  It’s so fun being close to let the kids play and get some energy out.

On Sunday, we couldn’t help but be outside all day again.  Mr. Brady has really wanted to steal, ride, Tessa's trike (which she’s upgraded to a bike anyway) so we needed to run out and purchase a helmet.  He thought he was quite the big boy!

4.  Sweaty Little Curls

My girl has gorgeous natural curls.  She went through quite a long phase of wanting to comb them out and make her hair straight like mommy’s.  Oh girl, if you only knew how much mommy wished she had your hair!  Most recently she is into liking them again which is great because they aren’t going anywhere soon!  Some days she will let me use product to make them extra curly, but most days we just let it dry naturally.  I love how the humidity and her sweating make them pop out even more. 

She was completely against me taking pictures of her the other day, but somehow I managed a couple.

5.  Early AMs

Early mornings are my favorite time of the day.  I have always and will probably always be a morning person.  I love the quiet, and I love how much I get done when I am up with the sun.  Plus, I don’t know about you other parents, but my children are like gold in the morning.  It’s definitely the time when we do most our activities because there isn’t any whining, crying, fighting, kicking, screaming….you get the point.

This morning I got the kids up early so we could travel in our jammies (well, them in their jammies) to have donuts and “coffee” together.  We were the only ones sitting in the donut shop and it was a blast having some talk time and play time with them before another full day at the clinic.  These really are the moments to remember.