Happy Birthday, Caleb!!

Well, I'm a little bit behind!  Caleb had his 11th birthday on Monday!  Mondays are really busy days for us, as we are doing last-minute things for Rivendell on Tuesday, but we managed to squeeze in some celebrating.  Caleb wanted chicken salad on croissants for his birthday lunch.  I got the croissants on Sunday from Sams, but I didn't get the chicken salad made up.  I had to leave at 12:00 to take Micah to Bethesda for an allergy appointment, so I made up the dressing but Caleb had to cut up the chicken, celery and grapes for his own birthday lunch.  Good thing he likes cooking!

Micha's appointment took forever, but finally it was done, I rushed home, then rushed over to the McC's house to pick up Nathan from his Spanish III class, and then rushed back home to make his birthdya dinner.  Caleb really loves this sausage roll, which is sausage mixed with some other things in a puff pastry sheet shell.  The recipe calls for one puff pastry sheet and 1/2 pound of sausage.  We are now up to quadrupling the recipe, LOL--4 puff pastry sheets and 2 pounds of sausage.  Finally we had a bit left over!

After dinner we ate ice cream and opened presents.  Caleb got a short-sleeve underarmor-type shirt, which he's been wanting, as well as an Avengers t-shirt.  He also got the new VeggieTale movie, The League of Incredible Vegetables, which everyone has enjoyed. He also got a little Star Wars lego set.

Now you notice I didn't say anything about cake.  I knew a cake was going to be hard--I didn't have any time, and besides, I have gestational diabetes and can't eat any of it anyway!  But Sunday night I hosted the moms from our elementary co-op at our house for a spaghetti dinner.  This meant we spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday afternoon furiously cleaning the main floor of our house, which had somehow gotten incredibly cluttered, if you can imagine.  We did stuff we usually don't do for Rivendell, like clean off the hearth, and move piles of books from the floor and various tables onto actual bookshelves.   Exhausting! 

For the actual dinner I made 2 crockpots of spaghetti sauce.  I didn't know how much we would need, especially since I was feeding my family as well.  We would have been okay with just one crockpot, but we would have had no leftovers (some of which I froze.  Yay!).  I made too many noodles, though.  We only needed 6 pounds, not 8.  The other moms, of which there were 22, brought salads, bread, drinks, and desserts.

We had a great meeting, but no one ate the desserts!  And the moms didn't want to take them home . . . so we were the beneficiaries of 2 plates of cookies, a lemon bundt cake, a pan of pumpkin spice bars with yummy cream cheese frosting, and a ton of cupcakes, covered with sprinkles!  Perfect!  So Caleb got cupcakes for his birthday, as well as a smorgasbord of of desserts to choose from, just for variety!  Nathan asked if we could have a moms' meeting the night before his birthday so that he would also have a huge selection of desserts at his disposal!  At Rivendell the next day I declared open season on all the desserts, so they were all gone by the end of the day, LOL. 

I still owe Caleb a birthday cake though.  I had told him he could decorate one himself however he wanted, although he still hadn't decided on what exactly he wanted his cake to be, so maybe it is just fine to postpone!  The important thing is that now Caleb is 11 years old!  Happy birthday, Caleb!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I have so much to be thankful for. We only have 3 more Thanksgivings with everyone all still living at home, most likely, so I've been reflecting lately on how thankful I am for these busy years, and for how much fun we have at home with everyone here.

This picture was taken as Bob was still carving the turkey, so it looks like we had an uneventful meal of delicious food. In reality, we had a more exciting afternoon. It actually started last night when we went to a Thanksgiving dinner at our church. The meal was part of a weekly outreach that our church has to Hispanic students at a local high school, a taste of a traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Church members brought various dishes. We brought dressing, cranberry salad, and apple pie squares for 25. It was fun! Nathan reported that he could understand a lot of the Spanish.

There was a lot of food left over, and our pastor's family was going out of town, so we were all encouraged to take some of the left-overs. There was a little bit of my dressing left over, but not enough for us all to eat today, so I decided to take some of this other dressing. I didn't eat any of this dressing, but it looked pretty similar to mine, and I didn't think another thing about it, which turned out to be a colossal mistake.

I had a not-too-stressed morning cooking, since I had already made the cranberry salad (I saved enough for us out of what I made for the potluck), the mashed potatoes, and the dressing. We had brined the turkey Wednesday night, and we decided to try cooking it with the convection oven. It was WONDERFUL! We cooked it with the breast down, and it was so moist and juicy--delicious! And even though it was a 25 pound bird, it only took 3 hours to cook. I also made sweet potato casserole, rolls, and garlic green beans. It all came together, and we were ready to eat around 2:00.

As I was dishing out plates, and we were all getting ready to pray, Caleb started holding his throat and saying he didn't feel well, like he had eaten something he was allergic to. I asked him what he had eaten, and he said nothing, so I started thinking about what else could be irritating his throat. I gave him a Benedryl when it became obvious he was getting more uncomfortable, but I still couldn't figure out what had happened. After a few more minutes of complaining, I went upstairs to get his Albuterol and Flovent for his puffer. As I was getting it, I heard Nathan ask Caleb if he had eaten any dressing. It turned out he had nibbled on some. It also turned out to have chopped walnuts in it, which was what Nathan had discovered when he looked at it carefully. Argh!! Walnuts are Caleb's biggest allergen on his prick tests! His throat was feeling more swollen, so I got out the Epi-pen, but Caleb got all agitated and didn't want me to give it. I felt like his panicking was making everything worse, so I told him to just calm down, and I wouldn't inject him. Bob took him off to the ER, which is only a few miles away, where they gave him a shot of epinepherine, LOL.

So Thanksgiving dinner ended up being a bit of a let-down for us all. Jonathan and the girls really didn't eat much at all, I think because it's hard to see someone else have an allergic reaction like that. I finally did eat after Bob and Caleb left, but my plate was pretty cold, and it was hard to enjoy it, since I was feeling so incredibly guilty for not thoroughly checking the dressing. And poor Bob and Caleb--they didn't get to eat until they got back, hours later!

We did have the McCs come over for dessert, and they were still here when Bob and Caleb came back. The kids all watched "Cars 2" while the adults visited, so that was a nice quiet activity for Caleb, poor guy. I was very glad to have them over, because I think otherwise I really would have obsessed about being careless.

And obviously I have gotten complacent. Ironically, at the dinner and at most potlucks, Caleb only eats my stuff, or things he is sure are safe. But since I was the one bringing home the other dressing, and serving both dressings in the same bowl, he didn't think about being careful here in his own house! We actually have quite a few people with nut allergies in our church, so it really didn't occur to me that there would be chopped walnuts hiding in anything. I guess I figured that nuts would either be really obvious, like in the pecan pies, or that there would be a sign, like at other church potlucks where people have brought dishes with nuts. To be honest, I just really didn't think about allergens at all, which was a huge mistake. Since Caleb outgrew his milk allergy last year, I've gotten careless because nuts are in general so much easier to avoid, and have so much more publicity than milk allergies. But clearly I still need to be really conscious, so today I am really, really thankful for ER doctors.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!!

Caleb is 10 years old--ready for his very own ID card! His birthday was yesterday, but we started the celebration Friday night at Bible study. He picked a sports theme cake, with lots of little cakes. Although the cake was difficult to make, it took a ton of time because I had to make up a lot of different icing colors and pipe a bunch of little lines! All that time spent drawing soccer balls in high school came in handy finally.

Friday was a very busy day already because we took a field trip with Rivendell downtown to the National Gallery of Art. The older boys had a tour of Renaissance art. The docent who led it did a good job--my boys enjoyed it more than the one last year. They looked at a lot of religious art, and it was very interesting to see the style and the colors change over the years. The younger kids had a tour about how to look at pieces of art. This tour was led by the wife of Nathan's football coach from last year, so it was a surprise to see her again! Caleb and Jonathan had a good time.

Here are the older boys looking appropriately contemplative and wise.

We continued the celebration of Caleb last night. He chose sausage roll for his birthday dinner (I quadrupled the recipe, and we finally had a little bit left over!), along with sweet potatoes, wild rice, and stir-fried green beans (3 pounds!). Then we had some leftover cake and more ice cream. Bob was at a men's retreat with our church Friday night, so we wanted him to try some cake too! Then Caleb opened presents. He has wanted a watch and some slippers, so we got him those, along with 2 UnderArmor-knock-off long-sleeve t-shirts that he has also been wanting. He loves them and says they are "so comfortable". My parents got him the Narnia DVD "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", and Bob's folks gave him a Bionicle thing--oops, I stand corrected-- a "Hero Factory villian". Apparently there are no more Bionicles, just these Bionicle-like creatures who coincidentally are made by the (former) makers of Bionicles.

So all in all, it was a fun birthday for Caleb, who is glad to now be in double digits! We are so thankful for Caleb, and for all he adds to our family!

Anticlimactic Allergy Appointment

This morning Caleb and I trekked back over to Walter Reed for another follow-up allergy appointment (after his big anaphylactic scare before Christmas). This time we brought samples of all the food he was eating at lunchtime--pepperoni pizza from this local restaurant, fresh pineapple and grapes, and decaf Folgers coffee. I thought he was going to eat them in an oral challenge-type thing, but as it turned out, the doctor just wanted to use those things to prick Caleb's back. So the tech made a slurry of the dry coffee, and for everything else just stuck the pricker in the food, then stuck it in Caleb's back. Caleb had prick tests done back in July, on his forearm, and he was a basket case! He moaned, wailed, and otherwise carried on. I am thrilled to say that this time he just laid there and read a comic book! Yay!

And he didn't show any positive reactions to anything, which was not that surprising. He had a tiny wheal by the pineapple prick, but it evidently wasn't big enough to be called a positive reaction. But he's had all those food many times before without any problems. He has had mild reactions to fresh pineapple before, but only when he's had a ton of it in the previous days. So I think my theory of him being sensitized by the exposure to his friend's pets the day before the reaction is probably the best one, and I expect it is the pineapple that was the culprit.

So with no positive reactions, the doc sent up over to the lab to do a blood draw for a RAST test. We'll see if anything shows up there, and based on the results, they will bring Caleb back in for an oral challenge. Hmmm . . . I really don't know if I want to make yet another big trip out to Walter Reed in the next few weeks! But we'll keep on avoiding fresh pineapple for a little while more, I guess.

One interesting thing was this pediatric doctor who was shadowing our allergy doc. He was seriously the tallest man I have ever seen in person--he had to duck to go through doorways! Our allergist is not a short man by any means--probably 6'1" I would say. He almost came up to this other doctor's shoulders! When we were sitting in the waiting room before our appointment, I heard some tech asking who "Doctor So-and-so" was. "You can't miss him. He's the really tall guy in the black navy uniform" was the response. And as soon as I saw him, I realized he was obviously the guy being discussed! Definitely not someone who blends into a crowd of uniforms!

Allergy Follow-up

Back on Dec. 22 Caleb had a scary allergic reaction, and we never could pinpoint what caused it. He had a follow-up appointment at Walter Reed this afternoon. We saw a different doctor, as well as his resident (intern? I always get mixed up, LOL). They were both extremely nice, and they went and consulted with the doctor we saw the last time, who set up Caleb's milk challenge, as well, so we had many minds considering this problem! They all agreed it was pretty unlikely that it was the coffee.

In thinking over the situation the past few weeks, I came up with a few more differences that might have made a difference. For one, Caleb ate a slice of pepperoni pizza that was left-over for lunch that day. We had gotten it from a local restaurant the night before, but he had only eaten pineapple/ham pizza that night. Also, Caleb ate the last of a fruit salad with lunch. The salad only had fresh pineapple and grapes to begin with, and by the time Caleb ate it, there were only grapes left. But they would have been sitting in pineapple juice, and he has had issues with fresh pineapple before. Nothing like this reaction, of course, and only when he ate a lot of it on subsequent days, but still . . . he is a little sensitive to pineapple. Maybe, combined with the increased sensitivity from the dog and cats he was exposed to all day the day before, it was enough to trigger a big reaction?

So we have an appointment for Feb. 28, and we are supposed to bring in some fresh pineapple/grape fruit salad, a slice of pepperoni pizza from that same restaurant, and some of the Folger's coffee, like he was drinking that day. They will do some skin tests and have him eat the stuff and see if there is any reaction. I'm thinking there won't be, and we'll just have to be content to not know exactly what the problem is. But who knows--maybe something will show up.

Another Unsolved Mystery

We had a bit of a scare today with Caleb. He had an allergic reaction to something, and we really can not figure out to what he reacted. He had his usual cereal and soy millk for breakfast, and then for lunch he had left-overs--things we have had the past few nights, and with which he has had no problems. He had a slice of pizza, as well as a "chicken packet", which is basically chicken and celery mixed with a little bit of cream cheese and baked in a crescent roll with bread crumbs on the outside. Both things have milk products, but he's had a lot of stuff since he passed his milk challenge, and he has had zero problems whatsoever. The only thing somewhat unusual was that he had some coffee (Folgers decaf) during the course of the morning. He's had coffee before though, and not had any problems.

So at around 1:00, he came to me and asked if his eyes were swelling up. I told him they looked red. He also said his throat was hurting. A little while later, his eyes were definitely more puffy and watery, and he said the "lump" in his throat was bigger, making it hard to swallow. I gave him a chewable benedryl pill, figuring it was an allergic reaction. He took a second pill not long after, and he laid on the couch for a few minutes. I had a chiropractor appointment at 2:15, so I was preparing to leave and drop Nathan and Luke off at the L's on my way, so they could play Wii with Amanda. I kept checking on Caleb, but the benedryl were not really stopping the reaction at all. His eyes were really puffy and red, with bumps around them and his mouth. More worrisome, the lump in his throat was getting bigger, and he was having trouble swallowing, along with some wheezing. Fortunately, Bob was home, so he ran Caleb over to the closest ER, which is about 5 minutes away. We didn't give him the epi-pen, but I was prepared to. If the hospital wasn't so close, we definitely would have.

They got him right in and gave him an epiphenephrine breathing treatment, as well as starting a steroid IV drip. Then we all started trying to figure out what possibly could have been the problem. The weird thing is that the reaction didn't start with him eating something. There was no tingly mouth, or any other warning symptom. Pecan is one of his highest allergens, and he accidentally ate a bite of a cookie with pecan in it back in August, but he right away had a tingling tongue, so he didn't eat any more, and he took a benedryl. That stopped the reaction pretty immediately, and all he had was a bit of an upset stomach. This was such a more violent reaction, and to have it come on just out of the clear blue sky was very unsettling, to say the least.

One other possible factor is that yesterday he spent the day at a friend's house. The friend has 2 cats and a dog, all of which Caleb is allergic to. Last night he told me he needed his inhalers because he was wheezy, and he had to take them twice. He does have a pattern of having more severe food reactions whenever he is having some environmental reaction--like he's already sensitized, so everything is worse. Still, this was a lot worse . . . and with no clear trigger. Scary.

Anyway, he is doing fine right now. We have to make an appointment at Bethesda tomorrow (and hopefully get the ER visit cleared with his PCM and Tricare), so we'll see if they have any insights. I'm not holding my breath though! We're praying for no more excitement tonight, LOL. He looks fine, albeit very pale, with circles under his eyes! Here he is showing off his IV bandages.

In other news, this is the first picture on our new camera! Our other camera, which we got 5 years ago this month, has been having some problems, so we knew it was about time to get another one. I really wanted another Canon PowerShot, since our last one is so easy to use and has been remarkably faithful. So that's what we got--a PowerShot SD 1300. Last night I got it out of the box and charged up the battery so we'd be all ready for Christmas. It works fine, and it is nice that I am already familiar with the buttons!

Caleb's Birthday Weekend

Caleb turned 9 early Friday morning! We've been celebrating all weekend! My parents went to a retirement ceremony down in the Norfolk area, and they drove up here Friday night, just in time for cake and ice cream. We also had the McC's and the P's, both from our Bible study, over to join the party. Normally we would just bring the cake to Bible study, but we didn't actually have Bible study that night, so we had to make our own party!

Caleb wanted a "jersey" cake, like the Pittsburgh Penguins cake I made for Jonathan and Nathan back in June. Caleb, however, roots for the Anaheim Ducks (rather randomly, I might add, since we don't even know anyone who lives in Anaheim, LOL), so he wanted a Ducks jersey. I am fine with jersey cakes--they are not hard at all to shape or even decorate. I think it's funny that I seem to have "series" of cakes--first the Lego Star Wars series (crossing light sabers, A-wing fighter, R2D2, clone trooper, pilot clone trooper, and Anakin), then a brief Bionicle series (put to an end by my refusing to make any more, LOL--Vezok and Toa Gali), and also a "military" series (B-2, USS Nimitz, F-22, and a tank before I started blogging), as well as a few odd cakes before we moved to VA (cowboy boot, construction hard hat, space shuttle, dolphin, and pirate ship). Out of all of these options, jerseys are by far the easiest!

I decorated the cake Friday afternoon. I didn't quite get done before Faith woke up from her nap. She helped herself to what was left of the black (chocolate) frosting. She was quite a fan! The boys said she looked like her Uncle Dan, who has a goatee, LOL. I'm sure he is flattered.

Caleb got some fun presents. He got this Lego set from Bob's parents, and some 39 Clues books, plus a cool activity book about ancient Egypt from my parents. He also got a set of juggling balls from the McC's, and he has been diligently trying to make that all work. We needed Ed L's expertise, but unfortunately they were in OK, which is why we didn't have Bible study in the first place! It was a very fun evening, and I think Caleb had a really good birthdya celebration!

We continued celebrating Saturday, when we had Caleb's actual birthday dinner. He requested this sausage roll I make, and we also had fresh stir-fried garlic green beans, broccoli slaw salad, and some pineapple and grapes.

My parents are leaving tomorrow, and we are all sad to see them go, since this was such a quick trip. But we are thankful they came at all, since it was kind of a spur of the moment, last minute decision to drive out for the retirement ceremony and Caleb's birthday! It made Caleb's birthday really special to have them here to celebrate!

Huge News!

Caleb PASSED his milk challenge today!!! How exciting!!

So we got up bright and early, leaving our house at 6:15. We could have left at least 20 minutes later because we got there to Walter Reed by 7:15--there was absolutely no traffic! But you never know-the traffic reports I heard while driving said there had been accidents on the BW Parkway as well 270 that tied things up, so that could have happened on 495 as well. Better early than stuck! Once we parked in the garage, I laid back and closed my eyes for 20 minutes while Caleb chattered on about every single thing that passed through his brain, LOL. Oh well, it was somewhat restful!

We got into the clinic, and he received his first "dose" of milk, just 10 cc, at 8:15. I brought chocolate milk, thinking that he might like the taste of that better than regular milk, which he has never had. He squirted the first dose in from a syringe, and nothing happened. He got a progressivly larger amount every 15 minutes until he had 5 doses (a total of about 8 ounces). Before each dose the doctor and the resident who was with her would check his vitals, skin, and mucous membranes. Everything kept looking good! Caleb did his schoolwork in between doses, and I talked with the doctor and resident, who stuck around the whole time, or read.

Finally, 15 minutes after the last dose, we went out to the waiting room, where we had to sit for 2 hours to make sure no late reaction developed. The whole time Caleb had been sneezy and snuffly, but he was like that when we started. It's the crazy ragweed! He and Nathan have been having a hard time with it, for Caleb mainly because he's been unable to take his Zyrtec for the past week as he prepared for this challenge. I and the doctor also were a little apprehensive that his sneezing would mask a true reaction, but he never got worse or seemed to sneeze more or anything. Several people had asked me why I didn't move the trial until after ragweed season was over. I figured that if he passed now, then we could truly know that he had outgrown the allergy. Any other time, and I would have wondered. His seasonal allergies have always tended to make him more sensitive to his food allergy triggers, so I didn't want him to pass in, say, November, but then have problems in March with milk when the pollen count started to rise!

Waiting the 2 hours was the hardest thing for Caleb! Once he finished his schoolwork, he was fidgety and not really interested in reading. We had a snack, but I was ready to go home too, LOL. Eventually we were cleared to go, and Caleb was cleared to have milk! We finally got home around 12:30, so it was definitely a long day.

I still am having a hard time grasping his being free to have milk! Dealing with his food allergies has been a way of life since he was 7 months old. I remember coming home crying from his first allergy appointment, where he had tested positive to wheat, eggs, milk, and peanuts--everything they tested him for except soy--and thinking, "No one will marry him!" He never really reacted to wheat, so we added that back in first, at about 18 months. By 3 he had outgrown his egg allergy, and I thought that really made life easier! But when he hadn't outgrown any of the nut allergies or even shown any signs of outgrowing the milk one by 5, I had pretty much assumed they was there for life. I really never dreamed it was possible that he would outgrow the milk allergy! He's 8 1/2!

I think it will be a big adjustment for him too. When you have never at all eaten anything remotely cheesy, and in fact you know that it (used to) make you very sick and wheezy, then . . . it is a little bit hard to want to try these formerly forbidden foods. He was okay with the milk, but I think it was because it was almost like taking medicine--all measured out in a syringe or medicine cup. I offered him an M&M from my trail mix (only almonds, no peanuts!), and he was quite hesitant to try it. Finally, in the car when we were almost home he decided to try it. I asked him why he was so hesitant, and he said, "I'm just really afraid I'll react." I told him that he had already had WAY more milk than was in an M&M, but he was not totally convinced, LOL. He eventually did eat it, but he was not all that impressed. "I like Skittles a lot better." LOL!

Also, he's grown up only eating soy substitutes for things--like soy ice cream and soy yogurt. I am not a huge fan of either (well, especially soy yogurt), but he loves them! It's all he's every known! And they taste NOTHING like stuff made with milk! So I think it will be a challenge for him to get used to eating cheesy/milky stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if I don't have to separate stuff out for himstill, at least for a little while, as he makes the transition. Actually we really don't eat all that much stuff with dairy in it anymore, so it will be more the odd soup and casserole recipe that I still use. Wow, I will be able to look at cookbooks with a fresh eye! Going out will be where it is the nicest. Not having to worry about where milk is hidden is going to be huge. Like I said, I still can't wrap my mind around it! I'm sure I'll still be saying, "You can't have that, Caleb" just out of habit!

After our big and early morning, I came home and collapsed in bed for a nap! I was so exhausted! I think it will be an early night for Caleb too. He kept waking up in the middle of the night. I remember him coming into our room at 4:00 and me telling him to go back to bed, that I had my alarm set! He was a little anxious for the whole thing to be over and done with!

The reason I am having all this time to type out this long post is that Bob took all 7 kids to Nathan's football practice, and I am alone in the house! Yes, he is a saint. I love the sound of silence. But instead of screwing around on the computer, I should be doing something productive . . .

Potentially Exciting News on the Allergy Front

Caleb had an allergy appointment on July 27 where he had a skin test, as well as a blood RAST test. Although he was still very sensitive to the tree nuts (esp. walnuts) and peanuts, he hardly reacted at all to the milk. So we were waiting for the results of his bloodwork. The doctor called, and his levels have dropped from Jan. 08, when he was last tested! His milk RAST score was 1.27 back then, and only 0.54 in July! Since it has dropped and is fairly low (lower than <.35 would be best, though) and since he hardly reacted to the skin test, we are going to do a milk challenge! That's where we bring in a serving of milk to the clinic, he drinks a tiny amount, he is observed, he drinks some more 15 minutes later, he is observed, he drinks some more . . . you get the picture. After he drinks 5 doses of milk (providing he hasn't reacted to any of them), then he is watched for another 2 hours just to make sure he doesn't react later. If not . . . then he passes, and he is considered to have outgrown his allergy!

Now I know he still has a really good chance of reacting--about 50/50 with that RAST score, the doctor said. Frankly, I can't really wrap my mind around the possibility of Caleb not being allergic to milk. That has driven my cooking for 8 years now! With him gone this week, we are having a real "Dairy Fest", making all the recipes I used to make but haven't made in years. I can't imagine being able to cook whatever I want and not having to worry about adapting recipes for him, or taking stuff out, or whatever. If he has outgrown the allergy, he probably still won't like cheese and milk, LOL. Oh well. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, if we need to.

The more immediate bridge to cross is: how on earth are we going to get to Walter Reed at 8:00 in the morning on Aug. 25?!?! That just seems like an absolute impossibility! Caleb and I will have to leave by 6:00, I think.

So the possibility is there for exciting news. Actually, it is exciting to realize that Caleb's milk allergy has decreased enough that we are even trying this! I'm not sure how his other numbers compare to his previous test, but I don't think they are getting much lower. For the record, this time his walnut number was 10.3, his pecan number was 8.79, and his peanut number was 6.37. That pretty much matches the size of the wheals for his skin test too, as far as comparing the 3 allergies. I'll let you know what happens! Pray for no accidents or bad weather on the morning of Aug. 25!

Allergy Appointment

Caleb had an allergy appointment this afternoon. Just to refresh everyone's memory, Caleb hit the allergy jackpot in our family. He started having terrible eczema when he was just 4 months old, he had his first allergic reaction to food when he was about 6 months old, when his face broke out in hives after chewing on my fork after I had eaten some coffee cake at my parents' house (coffee cake had both milk and walnuts). When he was 8 months old, he tested positive for allergies to milk, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and eggs--everything they tested him for except soy! Fortunately he never reacted to wheat, so we started giving him that again at 18 months, and he outgrew his egg allergy by 3 (whew!). But everything else has stayed. The only tree nuts he is allergic to are pecans and walnuts. He can have pistachios, almonds, and cashews. He's never had hazelnuts or been tested for them. His last skin testing was done . . . several years ago. I actually just spent much fruitless time going back through old blog posts trying to figure out when it was, but I never could find anything about it. Hmmmm. Anyhow, he was still very allergic to all his food triggers, as well as about every tree but cedar, and also grasses, dust mites, and cats.

Caleb's eczema has thankfully pretty much gone away, but he does still have seasonal allergies. As I posted here, his asthma is doing much better as well. I feel like we are really regulating it well, but also that his body is sort of maturing out of it. So all in all, Caleb's allergies and issues are not taking up so much of our time and energy anymore!

But I have been wondering about his food allergies, and where exactly he stood on those. I had asked for an allergy referral last June, but the doctor (who we had never seen before and haven't seen since!) said Caleb didn't need to see one, so he wasn't going to give the referral. Grrr. I was going to make an appointment with a different doctor, but then we thought we were moving, and I ended up doing nothing. But thepulmonary lady gave us a referral, although I had to schedule the appointment at Walter Reed, which is quite a hike in for us.

Caleb has had 2 incidents lately. One was actually a non-incident. After Bible study one Friday several weeks (months?) ago, Caleb wanted to eat some caramel popcorn balls someone else had brought. My caramel popcorn recipe doesn't use milk, so I told him to go ahead, and I'd make sure it was okay. I never did ask (whoops!), but the lady later told me how easy it was to make these delicious caramel balls. You melt caramels--which I know have milk in them! But Caleb NEVER had any sort of reaction! Wow!

The other thing happened last weekend when we were in PA for the family reunion. Sunday afternoon when we were over at Bob's parents' house, Bob's mom offered me a "pecan cookie" They were in a tub from a grocery store, and they looked a lot like little star sugar cookies with icing. I ate one, and then she took them outside, where the menfolk were all playing cards. I hollered out the door, "Caleb can't have those!" but as it turns out no one heard me. A little while later Caleb appears inside, pale and looking sick. He had eaten a cookie (does no one but me READ the labels?!?!), and his tongue was all tingly. I quickly gave him a benedryl, but he had eaten a whole (bite-size) cookie, so I wasn't sure that would be enough. Obviously we have epi-pens, so I was ready, but thankfully he was just really nauseous. He never did throw up, however. I did have to give him one more benedryl though. So really it was a much more mild reaction to pecans then he has had in the past.

I related all this to the allergist, and we also discussed his seasonal allergies. Although he is suffering a lot less, he takes Zyrtec year-round. The doctor was encouraging us to try allergy shots for his allergies. That sounded worth pursuing at some point, but Caleb is in no way, shape, or form ready for 22 weeks of weekly shots, and then monthly shots for 3-5 years. And I am not ready to drive to Bethesda for them!

The doctor just did a small panel of skin tests on his arm--milk, pecan, walnut, and peanut. Caleb was not stoic, to make an understatement. He quivered and moaned and had big tears rolling down his cheeks--before the tech even touched his arm! Then while we were waiting the 15 minutes to interpret the results, he really carried on in the hallway, with more moaning, groaning, and tears. Good grief. I really don't have a lot of sympathy for him, esp. in a hospital where there are many, many wounded veterans facing much more serious pain and problems. So I told him to suck it up, and eventually he did calm down a bit--after drawing tons of attention from other random patients waiting!

So the results were: walnut had a huge wheal--several cms. Peanut was the next largest, but I think it was smaller than it was last time. Pecan had a medium-sized wheal--which made me glad it was a pecan cookie he ingested, as opposed to a walnut one! But the big surprise was that milk was a very, very small wheal! The doctor sent us off for a blood test (you can imagine how thrilled Caleb was at that, but he managed to get through that as well), so we should have those results in 2-3 weeks. If his blood levels are lower than they were in Jan. 08, which is when he last had those tested, then the doctor was going to recommend bringing him in for a milk challenge. I am just not sure he has outgrown this allergy, so I'm not getting my hopes up. But he is obviously a whole lot less senstivie, and that is wonderful news!

Pulmonary Follow-Up

Yesterday afternoon we took Caleb back to Bethesda for a follow-up appointment at the pediatric pulmonary. Back in September, we had our first appointment , which was the miraculous one where they called US to make the appointment! Nevery happens!

So we took Caleb off his Singulair the end of December, and he has been fine since. He did have some rough times in March and April, which is when he usually suffers, and he did have to have his inhaler for a few weeks. To be honest, however, Luke was the one who really suffered this spring allergy season. He was dramatically allergic to some tree or something, and after being outside for any length of time, his eyes would itch and swell up. In contrast, Caleb seemed just fine!

Caleb's lung function was checked again yesterday, and all his readings were greater than the predicted 100% value, so he is breathing really well. The doctor did say his nasal linings were still swollen a bit, even after using Flonase daily, so it's probably a good thing he's on it. He's stay on the Zyrtec, and when he has problems, like I'm predicting starting late August, he'll go on his Flovent inhaler twice a day.

The doctor asked when he had last seen an allergist. I told her I had tried to get a referral last June, but the doctor I saw then totally blew me off and said Caleb didn't need to see one. I was going to go back and try another doctor, but I never got around to it, LOL. I really think he is getting less sensitive to milk, but his pecan/walnut allergy is still the biggie. Not sure about peanuts. So I would like to see the allergist! This doctor wrote a referral, so I'll call about that on Monday. And she also wrote new prescriptions for all his meds, so we're set for awhile. Yay!

I was so proud of all the kids. When we were shown back into the exam room, I left Nathan, Luke, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace there, while Caleb, Faith and I went into the room for the lung capacity testing. When we got back into the room, the doctor was already in there, and she told me how impressed she was to walk in and see Nathan reading a book to the others, who were all sitting there quietly! So nice to hear and think back upon when everyone is running around, fussing and bickering, LOL.

Again, I have been so pleased with the pediatric clinic at Bethesda (well, not the one guy who wouldn't give me the allergy referral, but he was the only one! And he wasn't active duty!). And I am so pleased to hear how well Caleb is doing! I would say that there are still some emotional issues that haven't been completely resolved by being off the Singulair (although some of those might just have become habits), but all the physical stomach/muscle pain, shaking, etc. have gone away, praise the Lord.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Caleb turned 8 on Thursday! He got to bring Laffy Taffy candy for the kids in his Classical Conversation class, which he really enjoyed. He also got to pick his dinner, and again he picked "tuna pockets", which makes me laugh, since that is something I make when I am stretched for time and need something easy! Hey, it's a favorite. We had garlic stir-fried green beans too.

We gave him a Redskins jersey, which he was really thrilled with. We all know the Redskins aren't very good this year, but he really wanted a jersey of some kind, and well, Redskins ones are what they sell around here, so he was quite happy.

He requested an F-22 cake, which I made today and we took to Bible study tonight. It went together fairly easily, although I was worried about the tail fins, since they are at an angle. As it turned out, I should have secured them with skewers because the left one did topple once we got to the L's house. Oh well. We put a toothpick in so we could take pictures there! Can anyone guess what I used for the nose antenna? It's not a pretzel, since I didn't have any little sticks, only huge pretzel rods. It's a . . . .

. . . piece of dry spaghetti! It worked out just fine!

The reason the frosting is all mottled is that the real planes are painted in 2-tone gray like that. Radar-deflecting and all, you know. We got out several books from the library, even some specifically about the F-22, so I know of what I speak, LOL.


At home, Caleb laid out how he wanted his candles to be positioned. He had the clever idea to put 2 sticking out from the engines, like afterburners. It did make for a cool effect!

Happy birthday, Caleb! I hope this next year is a wonderful one for you!!

Pulmonologist

When I started typing the post last night, I actually had a point, but I rambled on and forgot all about it. The reason I was so tired was actually what I had MEANT to write about. We left to drive to Bethesda yesterday morning at 9:45, and we got back home after 2:00.

Let me back up a bit before I actually talk about the appointment. Caleb (almost 8) is our one child with food allergies (milk, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans) and asthma. He has been taking Singulair since he was almost 1, and he also takes Flonase and Zyrtec. He has Albuterol and Flovent for his puffer, but he only uses that when he is wheezing, and he has hardly needed that the past year. He basically has 2 bad seasons (he has a lot of seasonal and environmental allergies)--March through May, and August through the first frost. His wheezing has been very well-controlled these past few years, and he really has hardly used his puffer. He did have one incident on New Year's Day where we had to take him to the ER because he couldn't breathe, but they decided he had pneumonia and put him on antibiotics as well as doing breathing treatments.

Over the past year, however, I have noticed some alarming personality changes in Caleb. He has always been such a happy little boy, and he has just become so very whiny and emotionally fragile. Everything has become a big deal, with lots of tears and drama. Also, he has just lost some zest for life or something. Everything is "blah". He is rarely as enthusiastic about anything like he used to be. It's not that he has a bad attitude neccessarily; it's more that he's just not excited about it. He's not depressed or anything, but I would describe him as glum, more and more. Also, he ahs had some physical complaints--his tummy hurts sometimes, and some mornings he complains about how his muscles hurt and are shaky. It's weird, and it doesn't seem to be a low blood sugar thing.

My best friend Amy's son also has allergies and has taken Singulair for a long time. This past year she also had some similar concerns about her son's behavior and personality, as well as some physical problems, and after doing some research, she took him off Singulair. His symptoms have dramatically improved. I did some reading as well, and there was a thread on the Well-Trained Mind Board dealing with people whose children had problems with Singulair. So I had been thinking that I would take Caleb off it maybe in October. I made an appointment back in June I think to try to get a referral to the allergy clinic, since it's been over a year since he's been seen there, but the doctor I saw didn't think I needed one, and he blew off my concerns about the Singulair. I was going to make an appointment with another doctor, but then we got busy traveling, having company, traveling some more, etc. . . . and it never happened.

Imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago someone from Bethesda called to schedule an appointment for Caleb to be seen to check his lung function! The appointment was yesterday, and it started with him blowing into various tubes and machines, something he has never done, even though he's been diagnosed with asthma since he was maybe 2. The guy running the test told us his lung function was very good, and he also gave us a new spacer and told us that Caleb should always use it, even as an adult, because when you spray an inhaler directly into your mouth, it goes into a lot of surrounding tissues, but not as much gets breathed into your lungs. Interesting!

Then we got to see the doctor, an actual pulmonologist. She spent a very long time with us, asking a lot of detailed questions. It turns out that when Caleb went to the ER on New Year's Day, the doctor put in his records that he wasn't sure if his symptoms were all caused by pneumonia, or if his asthma had contributed, so that had gotten him red-flagged to be put on this special asthma list and be checked up on now. She said that it was unclear whether Caleb had "intermittent" asthma, or if he had "persistant" asthma that was just very well-controlled, since he has never been off his medicine. She wants me to try taking him off his meds in November, and then come back in to see her so she can test his lung function and see what is actually happening in there without anything.

I told her all my concerns about Singulair. She told me that the studies have not found any relationship between Singulair and suicide, and that most people reporting side effects like personality changes have reported them after a short period of time on the drug. But she said that there really jsut hasn't been enough studies done, and if I have noticed stuff, then it is a good idea to see what happens off the meds. Also, she said that Singulair is no longer the first-line drug recommended for persistent asthma. Most kids take an inhaled steroid like Flovent daily, which Caleb has never done. I asked her about the side effects of steroids, and she said that they were less than with Singulair, and very rare. So if he still needs something, then maybe we'll go with Flovent instead of Singulair.

So it was a very good appointment, and she was so nice and helpful. She also said that if we did move to Guam, she would make sure we have a 3-month supply of all his medicines to bridge the gap of getting over there and getting settled in before having to see a doctor there for new prescriptions. Wow, it's so amazing when the Lord just works out something like this for us! I still can't believe Bethesda called US to make this appointment! An answer to prayer--at Bible study last night, I was flipping through my little prayer request notebook, and I noticed I had asked for prayer for wisdom about what to do for Caleb on August 21, about a week before she called!

Happy New Year!

Another year, another trip to the hospital . . . At least we ended 2008 on a good note, at the annual party at the L's house. Maybe I'll be able to post some pictures later on today. We counted down at 9:00, which was good, since I was so tired from our day at Bethesda (no sinus infection for Nathan yet anyways--just lots of sinus congestion and pressure). Grace was obviously feeling better, even laughing, something we haven't seen since before Christmas Eve! Caleb, however, was not doing so well. He kept complaining and whining through the evening.

We finally got home and got everyone to bed around 10:30, with me following shortly behind. This morning Caleb was up a little after 7:00 crying and complaining that it hurt to breathe. He didn't sound terribly wheezy, but I gave him his inhaler anyway. He was still upset and obviously hurting, so Bob took him into the Bethesda ER. It turns out that he has pneumonia! He is on antibiotics, as well as some prednisone because the doctor said he was wheezing. He also had a breathing treament there. We're supposed to follow-up with an appointment either tomorrow or Monday. I know the peds clinic is booked up for tomorrow, so I guess it will have to be Monday. Then we will trudge back to Bethesda Tuesday afternoon for my OB appointment, plus an appointment for Anna, Jonathan, and Caleb (although I'm thinking it won't happen for him) so they can get the 6 month booster shots they need. I'm trying not to get too stressed out thinking about all the driving, parking, and waiting . . . We are certainly starting off 2009 with a bang!

Just like in cartoons!

Our homeschool co-op had their Christmas skating party yesterday morning. Almost as soon as he had started around the ice for the very first time, Caleb fell forward and totally landed on his face, which gave him this lovely goose egg. I had just finished putting Jonathan's skates on and was going to take a picture or 2, if I could see the boys, when a group of girls came over to tell me that Caleb was hurt! He was crying, but it really was just like a cartoon--this huge egg sticking straight out from the middle of his forehead! A staff member got some ice, so we iced it for awhile. I had a bottle of infant motrin in the diaper bag, so I poured that down his throat. The lump went down pretty quickly. Obviously he looks like he's doing just fine here, and he did indeed get right back out there and skate the rest of the time. He's a trooper! To be honest, we've had our fair share of goose eggs, so I wasn't that concerned. I'd much rather deal with a goose egg than a broken bone!!

Nathan and Luke had a great time. They whizzed around, playing games with their friends, and having a ball. Jonathan went around a few times by himself, clutching the side of the rink, but mainly he went with Nathan or Amanda to hold onto. The girls and I froze on the metal bleachers by the rink, LOL.

After everyone skated for a little more than an hour, we had a pizza party. I was a bit concerned, since this would be the first time I had pizza since starting to check my blood sugar. I had 1 1/2 pieces of cheese pizza, a handful of chips, and a rice krispie treat. As soon as we got home, I hopped on the treadmill again (I walked 40 minutes that morning) for another 25 minutes, and when I checked my levels after 2 hours, they were 108. Yay! So far so good with the levels. I've been pleased. We'll see how Christmas goes, however . . . I forsee a lot of exercising, LOL.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!!

We celebrated Caleb's 7th birthday today! We just celebrated as a family, which was still fun. Caleb asked for a Bionicle cake in the shape of "Toa Gali", whom he had received as an early present from Grandma and Grandpa G, before they left Monday. I discovered that I am a lot less motivated when no one else besides our family is going to see a cake, LOL. It didn't help matters any that while I was making dinner, Grace took a knife to the side of the cake, knocking off whatever the round thing in front is supposed to be--some sort of eye replacement?

Here is another picture of the cake, but I could never really get a good shot of it. Obviously my graham crackers wings or whatever those gray pokey things off the helmet are supposed to be are way too short, and I only had royal blue icing gel. I needed navy blue or something. Plus, the actual mask on the left is too small for you to see what the face actually looks like! You'll just have to trust that there are these weird eye parts on the one side. I think I'm done with Bionicle cakes. They just are not that satisfying!

Here is Caleb with his presents! We got him the Veggietales Pirates movie, and we bought him another Bionicle with money from Bob's folks. He was obviously very happy! After cake and ice cream we all went downstairs wand watched the movie. It was really good! They have seen it over at the L's house during Bible study. Anna is quite the "Rock Monster" dancer!

For Caleb's birthday dinner, he again requested tuna pockets and pierogies, that easy convenience meal. He told me that next year he was going to request fish sticks! LOL! Soon he'll be asking for sandwiches, or maybe bowls of cereal! We did have a nice day though--Johanna and her kids stopped by this afternoon. She brought us their baby swing, since they are done with it. Let me tell you, it is much nicer that any swing we have ever had! This baby will be living the good life in it! The boys had a great time running around with her boys, and the girls admired her cute baby girl, Olivia. Johanna and I just relaxed and talked, which was very nice!

Last night, Caleb enjoyed hearing about how I started having contractions with him while I was making dinner (some sort of fish). I was mindful of my mom's experience with me, where she too had made fish for dinner the night she had me, and she tasted fish the whole time. I only ate a little bit of the fish, so I wasn't bothered! We went to the hospital around 9:00 or so, and Caleb was born at 1:10. He was a big baby--9 pounds, 5 ounces--almost 2 pounds heavier than Luke, my lightest! I could tell he was bigger when I was pushing, LOL. Interestingly, his birth was the last time I went into labor on my own. I was 2 weeks overdue and induced with Jonathan, I was 5 cm dilated but not in natural labor with Anna, so I was induced, and with Grace, I had that paranoid doctor who induced me a few days before my due date just because she was worried. I am hopeful this one will not have to be induced, but I'm not holding my breath!

Caleb is such a fun boy to have in our family! He has a beautiful smile and a caring heart. He is a wonderful big brother for Anna and Grace. He loves to write me notes (creatively spelled!) and draw pictures for me. We're so thankful he's been in our family for 7 years!

Funny Caleb Story

One of my friends from co-op called yesterday afternoon. She wanted to discuss a First Lego League team, which I think Nathan and Luke would really enjoy. She was also Caleb and Jonathan's teacher at co-op on Tuesday, and she had a funny story to tell about Caleb. She was talking (the subject this unit is "Jewish Feasts"), and she noticed that Caleb was leaning over and smelling the hair of the little girl in front of him! She caught his eye, and he sat back and grinned, obviously not at all bothered that she had caught him. Then, a few seconds later, he leaned forward and took another big whiff. What a goose! I'm not sure what this all means. Although Lisa didn't specify, I think I can guess who the little girl is--Taylor, who was also in his class last year, and who he hung around with on the playground during soccer saeson while we waited for the later practice to finish up. She's a sweetie. I guess her hair smells really nice too! This must be what happens when you grow up with only older brothers, and ones who could care less about taking regular baths. I certainly haven't noticed anyone burying thier noses in Nathan and Luke's hair and breathing deeply! LOL!

Teething Troubles

Grace and Caleb are both teething. Grace is getting in 2 more teeth on the top, and this means that she has a runny nose, a killer diaper rash that is just now starting to clear, lots of droll, and extra crabbiness.

Caleb's bottom 2 grown-up teeth are coming in, and this means he has turned into, I don't know, a moth. Or maybe a silverfish. Or just a plain old beaver. Whatever. He is chewing holes in all his shirts. It is driving. me. crazy. He came to the dinner table several nights ago, and I stared in horror at his shirt. It looked like the sleeves had turned into Swiss cheese !! There must have been 10 little holes on each sleeve, plus the hem was so frayed and gnawed! I asked him what on earth happened, and he couldn't really give me a straight answer, but when I went to the computer after dinner, there was green thread all around the computer chair! Good grief!! I pass down all the shirts, so really he is chewing up Jonathan's shirts, which made me even more displeased. So I put him on long-sleeve probation, and he is having to wear short-sleeve shirts until further notice. I still let him wear his jacket, although he was chewing on that last night as well. Grrrrr. Dan and Melinda got Grace some lovely little teething rings for Christmas. I'm thinking of tying them around Caleb's wrists. And I guess I will be looking for used 4/5 shirts at the consignment sales next fall. These ones we currently have are headed for the garbage can, I'm afraid.

Anna's Milk Challenge

This morning Anna had her milk challenge test at Bethesda at 8:00. Anna, Caleb, and I rolled out of here at 6:45 because we weren't sure how traffic would be on the Beltway. There were no accidents, and we made it there at 7:30. Drives like that make me think I should have had Grace at Bethesda--but then I'll hear about some accident tying up the Beltway for hours, and I know I'll again be so glad I didn't bother with it, LOL.

Anna drank her first bit of milk at 8:00, followed by increasingly more milk every 15 minutes until 9:30. I was worried that she wouldn't like the taste of regular milk, since she's never had it, but she did just fine. After her last drink, we still had to wait in the same little room until 10:30, just to make sure she wouldn't have a delayed reaction. Over the course of the morning, we watched 1 1/2 hours of the Wiggles (more than any person should have to watch at one time, LOL!), as well as a half hour of Blue's Clues, and then finally a half hour of blessed quiet where I read them books. Funny how techs never believe that really, it's fine to not have the TV on; we can entertain ourselves! We also had some fruit snacks, graham crackers, and laffy taffy. Pretty special! Nothing every happened to Anna, so at 10:30, we were allowed to walk around the hospital for another hour, just to make SURE sure that she wasn't having a delayed reaction. This was where Caleb came in. (Were you wondering why he was tagging along at such an ungodly hour?!)

When I talked to the allergist at Anna's appointment a few weeks ago, we also talked about Caleb. The allergist looked him up and decided he wanted a few blood tests run on him--blood tests that would have to be done at the lab at Bethesda because he didn't think the lab at the little Fairfax Clinic would be able to do them. I didn't want to drag everyone up there a different time to go to the lab, so I decided Caleb would just come with Anna and me and get it done then. And he could help me entertain Anna!

Caleb was not thrilled with the idea of having his blood srawn, but he was very brave and only cried softly a little bit. Afterward he and Anna both got a lollipop, which made both of them very happy. Aftr waiting just a little bit more, we were cleared to go home a little after 11:30--with only one child with milk allergies. I still can't believe it!

While we were at Bethesda, Bob was holding down the fort back home with everyone else. Nathan and Luke were very motivated to finish their schoolwork in a timely manner, since Bob said they would play Phase 10 after they finished. The best news was that Grace took breast milk in a sippy cup! I was so happy to hear that! Obviously things went just fine without me here at home, and I must be totally honest and say that I enjoyed the break from Gracie, who has just been so needy since she's been sick! And I LOVED having the break from nursing, LOL.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

Today Caleb is 6 years old! We brought a cake to Bible study Friday to celebrate. Although this cake may resemble the lego clone trooper cake I made for Nathan in June, it is actually quite different, for this is a PILOT clone trooper, of course. I'm sure you noted that. Caleb was so funny while I decorated the cake Friday afternoon. He is such a little encourager, and he kept saying, "Thank you for making my cake, Mommy, so that I didn't have to", as if when I am tired of making cakes, the kids are on their own, LOL!

Today is his actual birthday, so he got to pick lunch (hot dogs, corn, baked beans, and pears), as well as dinner. For dinner he chose tuna pockets, pierogies, and a crunchy tossed salad with chow mein noodles. I thought that was kind of a funny meal, since tuna pockets are something I usually make when it's 4:30, I'm tired, and I realize we have to eat in 45 minutes, LOL. Nothing fancy or special there! I must say I was glad he didn't pick an elaborate meal, so I should just count my blessings. Still, I hope he doesn't come home from college wishing for my tuna pockets over all my other meals!

This has been a big year for Caleb. He started riding his bike without training wheels, he became a big brother once again, he learned to read (he's doing really well now, yay!), he lost his first tooth. He's definitely not a little boy anymore! He has really taken an interest in cooking, so Nathan has been giving him "lessons" whenever he makes something. Caleb loves to carry Grace around when she gets fussy, so he is a huge help there. He is also her designated "car steward", and he has responsibility for putting in her pacifier, giving her toys, and otherwise keeping her occupied in the car. He really is doing a great job at this!

When I was expecting Caleb and we went in for the 20 week ultrasound, I was a bit disappointed that it appeared to be another boy. I mean, I already had 2 of them--why did we need another one?! Also, we knew several families with 2 boys and then 2 girls, so somehow I had just assumed that we would follow that path as well. I am so glad we had Caleb instead of a girl! He's such a special part of our family, and I can't imagine not having his dimpled smile to look at each day!

(For the record, let me state that was the only time I was disappointed at an ultrasound, and it didn't last long. When I got pregnant with Jonathan, I wanted it to be another boy, since they would be pretty close in age. Plus, I just figured God wanted me to be a mom to boys, and I was fine with that! Of course, once I was all settled and content with having all boys, I started having girls . . . LOL!)