Baby Makes 5! Update on Life Right Now.

It's been awhile!  Life has been full of sleeplessness and joy since I last wrote a blog post. Little Lady surprised us a few days early and was born at midnight on March 17, ringing in St. Patty's Day. She's such a joy and "easy" baby. I put easy in quotes because no baby is truly easy. However, she's thankfully sleeping, eating and doing everything she should do as a newborn!  

Little Guy and Little Gal are thankfully absolutely thrilled with their new little sister, and they have been loving her so beautifully.

I'm still on maternity leave from work, and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it. If you have kids, you know maternity leave is NOT vacation, but it's certainly a nice change to focus on my kids and family instead of being on the computer all day.

We've been very busy these past few weeks with Easter, Little Guy's 8th birthday, his First Communion, volunteering at school, Field Day, baseball games and practices, swimming lessons, and just taking care of the 3 kiddos!

So, I've taken a break from the computer, blog and social media in general, but I'm slowly getting back online!

Don't forget to check Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for fun updates, new allergy friendly products, and recipes that I'll be sharing soon!

Exciting News! Party of 5 Coming Soon.

I don't frequently share very personal information on social media. It's just my nature and I like to keep some personal things, well, personal. Yes, I have a blog, but the purpose of it is to share food allergy friendly and healthy  recipes and ideas, and also to connect with the "communities" that I'm interested in and feel like I can contribute to - like the food allergy, healthy living and parenting communities! I mean, this blog is all about a healthy balance of food, family and fun...with a food allergy twist, right?

But it's time to get personal. We have some exciting news!

We're soon going to be a PARTY OF 5! Baby #3 is due in a little over one week! 

We just took this very unplanned photo over the weekend when Grammy was visiting. It's certainly not perfect, but it's us! In all our messy house/just back from soccer/non-brushed hair glory :)

My black shirt makes it hard to see my very large baby bump, but it's definitely there!

And since I've been answering pregnancy and baby questions in person for the past few months, I thought I'd answer a few burning questions here with my blogger friends too!

Do you know if it's a boy or girl?
No! We are doing it the old fashioned way this time. We found out gender with both Little Guy and Little Gal. This time we are keeping it a surprise for all, including us!

Do you have names picked out yet?
Yes! But we keep those to ourselves until baby is born! The kiddos don't even know yet!

How are you feeling?
The first trimester is the hardest for me since I feel so sick all the time. The rest of the pregnancy was fine, and mainly just tiring due to restless legs syndrome I tend to have during pregnancy. Otherwise, things have been going well until these last 2 weeks where I've had major right side back pain. I haven't had back pain before with my two previous babes. Hoping it will go away when baby is born!

Are you eating any differently with this pregnancy based on food allergy research?
I definitely try to rotate foods more often during pregnancy (i.e. - I eat peanut butter (at work since we don't keep it in the house), but I don't eat it every day during my whole pregnancy).

Will you give baby peanuts early on as the new research shows?
Yes, I will most likely give baby-to-be food allergens earlier on based on food allergy research. However, I'll first get baby skin tested at the allergist around 3 - 4 months to see "what we're dealing with" as the allergist says. We did it this way with Little Gal, so I'm hoping it works out well with the new baby too.

With Little Guy, I couldn't even give him certain allergens early on since he reacted to my breast milk after I ate peanuts and dairy products around 4 months. He would get full body hives after breastfeeding around this age. His pediatrician told me to change my laundry detergent. When he still kept getting hives I went to an allergist, and the rest is history. That's how we first found out Little Guy had multiple food allergies.

Are the kids excited?
YES! They are going to be a wonderful older siblings. Having a new baby in the house is going to be a learning curve for all of us, but I'm praying that we'll all be able to live peacefully and happily together and thoroughly enjoy each other!

We'd appreciate your prayers as we wait in anticipation for baby-to-be! I will update the blog and social media when baby is here!

The Food Allergy Mom Who Didn’t Know About an EpiPen

“Food Allergy Mom” connotes a woman who knows the ins and outs, ups and downs of food allergies. Do you know someone like this? Are YOU her?

Yep, I'm a food allergy mom...and this is what life usually looks like for us!

She’s probably done research on food allergies since her child was diagnosed with them as a baby.  She’s a member of every food allergy group like KFA, FAACT and FARE. She’s part of all of the food allergy Facebook groups, and she regularly comments and shares information. 

You might see her standing in the aisles of grocery stores examining labels, or calling the manufacturer on the spot to ask questions. She may do a little jump of joy when she finds her store is now stocking a food allergy friendly product.  

She’s prepared with her Chef card at every restaurant. She knows how to whip up dairy free icing for her child’s dairy-free and egg-free cupcakes at 11pm the night before. She pins new food allergy recipes every week on Pinterest. She is constantly coming up with new creations in the kitchen.  Basically, she’s on top of it.

You know her. You may even be her.

Still, there are other Food Allergy Moms who care JUST as much, but they don’t have the information or resources they need about food allergies. 

MY Mom (Grandma!) met a woman like this on a trip to the Poconos. Grandma was talking to a waitress in a restaurant and Grandma casually brought up food allergies (Grandma is always thinking of her grandkids!). 

The waitress revealed that her school aged daughter has severe food allergies. The waitress mentioned the difficulty they have had in managing them, especially in school. 

As she and Grandma kept talking, the waitress revealed something rather shocking….

She didn’t know about EpiPens. 

Yes, please read that again.  She had never heard of EpiPens.

She said her doctor had never mentioned it to her or her daughter. I imagine a big part of the problem may be related to health insurance. It may also be that she lives in a rural area and her doctor is not well versed in food allergies.

My mom encouraged her to get a set of EpiPens for her daughter. She gave her my blog name and KFA’s website to start. We just hope this woman decided to seek out more info on her own. 

I have thought about what else we could have done to inform and educate this food allergy mom about keeping her daughter safe. It just shows that there’s still work to be done to educate others about food allergies. 

As Food Allergy Parents (Dads, Grandparents and family members too of course!), we still need to remember that not everyone is living the same food allergy journey.  

Even though Food Allergy Awareness Month and the #tealtakeover is almost over, we must remember to continue to:

• Spread food allergy awareness and information, one person at a time. Through daily in person and online interactions. This is even true for those of us who think we know a lot about food allergies. There’s still so much to learn.

• Advocate. Sign those online petitions, call and email your government representatives, and make your support known for new food allergy legislation! I recently did this for PA’s School Bus Epinephrine Legislation. Many times, it only takes 20 minutes or less to do these things.

• Support food allergy groups like FARE, FAACT and Kids with Food Allergies. Volunteer in some way or provide financial support.

• Support food allergy friendly companies like SunButter and Enjoy Life (these are only two of our favorites)! We rely on these brands for easy and accessible food allergy friendly foods. What are your favorites?

• Support food allergy research. For example, make sure to take any surveys that come your way. If you have the opportunity, take part in clinical trials.

• Don’t keep food allergies to yourself. I’ve heard of many parents who are almost embarrassed to tell school officials about their child’s food allergies.  This is UNSAFE and it makes it difficult on the rest of us. Food allergies shouldn’t remain hidden. It’s safer when others know about your or your child’s food allergy, and the food allergy action plan.

What have you done this month (or recently) to spread the word about food allergies? However big or small? (Small efforts add up to big ones!)

There are so many unsung heroes in the food allergy community - we want to hear from you!

Are You the Parent of a Helicopter Sibling?

I wrote this post a few months ago, but it's still a bit of a problem in our family. Is a Helicopter Sibling a problem in your family? How do YOU deal with it?

Little Gal and Little Guy during a rare relaxed and peaceful moment together!

Here's the situation:

Younger Sibling - Is trying to do something that might be a little "no-no" but not a big deal (i.e. - playing in the kitchen cabinets and making a mess everywhere with the Tupperware containers).

Mama - Is watching but doesn't stop Little Sibling because it's not a real problem and Mama is busy in the kitchen making meatballs! At least Little Sibling is occupied!

Older Sibling - Notices Little Sibling doing something she shouldn't. Immediately steps in and tells Little Sibling to stop.

Younger Sibling - Doesn't stop.

Older Sibling - Does everything he can to make her stop (i.e. - pulls everything away from her), despite Mama telling him that Little Sibling is okay doing what she's doing.

Younger Sibling - Gets frustrated and angry with Older Sibling and screams.

Older Sibling - Gets frustrated with everyone and screams.

Mama - Doesn't scream (yet), but wants to just crawl in the cabinet and take a nap with hands over ears. Instead, she puts down the raw meat she was handling and washes her hands while the Siblings begin to battle it out. She breaks up the fight by distracting them with cookies. 

Thank goodness for cookies.

This is just one example of the Helicopter Sibling battles we've faced with two little ones age 2 and 4.

So, it makes me wonder: 

Is being a Helicopter sibling really a bad thing? Yes, it's annoying right now, but isn't being a responsible and protective brother a good thing?

I'll never forget how proud I was of Little Guy at a friend's picnic. I was standing about 15 feet away, talking to another parent and watching the kids out of the corner of my eye. Little Guy was driving a little play jeep in our friends' backyard with 3 other kids inside. Two of them were in the "trunk" of the jeep with a door that easily opened in the back. 

Once all the kids were loaded in, Little Guy made sure to turn around and tell the other little kids to "hold on tight" before he pressed on the "gas". No other adults were anywhere near them, so I know he thought of it all by himself.  It made me proud to know that he was looking out for the kids' safety and had enough sense to tell them to hold on! I feel like he learned this from having a younger sibling and knowing how to keep her safe.

Is his responsible personality nature vs nurture?  Have we taught him to be a helicopter sibling?

We've definitely asked him to look after or help with his little sister in one way or another. From the day she was born, we wanted to instill a sense of love and respect for his sister. We wanted to encourage him to help with her needs as a baby and keep her safe. That's what big brothers are for, right!?  However, I wonder if we went too far in asking him to be her "protector".

How do we deal with this?  How do we teach Older Sibling to continue being responsible and watch out for his sister, but NOT be a helicopter sibling?

So far, this is what we've said:

Thank you for trying to help, but you are not the parent, Mommy and Daddy are the parents. Please don't worry about your sister when she's (include activity in which he's parenting over!).

And so far, I think it's worked pretty well. He realizes what he's doing and usually steps back. However, we still have daily instances where he just doesn't leave her alone!

Do you have a helicopter sibling in your house? How have you handled it?