Big Week!

This has been a big week for us... for some exciting and challenging reasons.... but you gotta document life..... no matter what the circumstances!  First, we officially have a crawler at our house!  One of Zack's "to do" items tomorrow is to install the gate downstairs!  Maddox is loving his new ability to move on his hands and knees!  Also this week, I started back to work..... on my goodness.... I forgot in 7 short weeks just how hard the work week is!  I feel like I never see the kids and when I do I am so tense and trying to hurry to get dinner on the table and baths knocked out so we can have a few minutes of "downtime" as a family before bedtime!  I know we are going to figure out a better balance of work and family life but we haven't found it yet.... so therefore life is kicking my butt!  Something else that is kicking my butt is my three year old and his ever-changing personality. He has the sweetest personality one minute and the next he is either refusing to share with his younger brother or crying hysterically because I put one of his toys in timeout or something trivial like that.  I have never been the most patient person... this child is testing the little bits of patience I have.  I continue to pray for God to give me strength... if you are reading this.... please say a prayer for me too!  Tonight, Zack wanted him to eat a bite of carrot... it was one of those sweet carrots that they make at a Japanese restaurant (we got take out tonight... as a reward for surviving the work week!)....Zack fed Zander a bite of the carrots (Zander said he didn't want to try it on his own)..... Zander starts crying because he "can't like that" (his exact words!) and Zack pretty much tells him he needs to chew it up.  (It was a tough love moment).  After Zander starts chewing.. he immediately starts laughing.... yep from crying to laughing in 60 seconds and exclaims "I like it!  I like it!"  This change in personality has happened multiple times a day over the last few months.  This parenting thing is hard!  Finally, to one of the biggest parts of the week, and that is our chunky monkey/ eating machine has an allergy to milk and eggs!  So the kid that would eat anything you put in front of him is now going to be limited to what he can eat.  How crazy is that?!  I had suspected an allergy for awhile and couldn't figure out if it was milk or egg or both based on foods we had tried and reactions he had.  It looks like he has both!  He got to have all those marks on his back to figure it out as well!  I had them try peanuts just because I was curious and there was no reaction at all... so that is good!  We go next week for blood work to determine if his egg allergy is raw egg or egg cooked into things (apparently there are two types of egg allergies based on how much heat is added to the egg).  We are praying it is the egg only type of allergy because what I have realized in the few days since I found this out, is that milk and eggs are in a lot of things!  We don't believe the milk allergy is as severe but it will be interesting to see what happens around the one year mark when we transition from breastmilk to cow's milk.... or maybe soy or almond milk depending!   Please say a prayer for our sweet Maddox.  We have to carry an EpiPen around just in case there might be a severe reaction.  The only reactions so far have been mild and mainly in the form of hives or a rash.  We are praying the EpiPen is just precautionary and we never have to use it.  Likewise, we are praying that he outgrows these allergies so he can enjoy all the foods he so desperately WANTS to eat (unlike his slightly more picky-eating big brother!)  Also, pray for the boys' daycare teachers as they start back at "school".  I pray they are able to work with each boy to meet their needs and encourage/strengthen their development.  I also pray that in a room full of kids that if Maddox has an allergic reaction to any food that proper steps will be taken to ensure his health at all times.  The boys are at a great place for "school". I am excited to hear how they like their teachers and classmates in the upcoming weeks!  Until my next post, I am including a picture of my boys after church last Sunday and a picture of Maddox and me while we were waiting at the allergy doctor's office.  Finally, I had to include a picture from Jim Gaffigan... we were on the third row!  We went as a group of 6 (three couples) and it was so much fun to spend time together and LAUGH! :)