I keep meaning to get on here, but with my Sis and her kids here it's been kind of hard. Give me the weekend - I'll get some pictures up Sunday since I should have some peace and quiet for a few moments.

But luckily we're all having a blast together. Tomorrow we're off to Storybook Land. Fun-fun!

I just had to share my newest find. I love when companies put the positive spotlight on food allergies. Don't get me wrong, there are not many positives to having a food allergy, but with so much negative press, having it pop up with a positive or even just an every-day-reality-type spin on it is a breath of fresh air. I get excited to see even the smallest company or article giving food allergies some positive attention. So it's even better when larger and well established companies jump in.

Recently, Kayla discovered American Girl. Since then she has created a wishlist of wants from their catalog. The other night I received an e-mail from a close friend who's daughter is also into American Girl. American Girl has come out with a new lunch box set for the dolls. As with all their stuff, it's an adorable set, but what makes it so special to me is not the cute sandwich on the croissant or the box of raisins or apple sauce cup. It's not even the adorable lunchbox cooler. But it's the "littlest" thing - this set of 4 stickers...



Kayla gives all her dolls and stuffed animals allergies. The cat is allergic to mice, the dog is allergic to bones. And since she knows I am allergic to cats, she feeds her cat stuffed animals special food so "Mommy will be safe", and so on and so forth. So this will absolutely make her day! A friend of mine is getting this for her and I can't wait!

I don't even have this yet and I left a review for the product praising American Girl for their thought and attention to kids who live with food allergies. Even their product description is heart warming.

"A sheet of allergy stickers your girl can use to help her doll stay safe while she snacks"

It is through products like these that our jobs as food allergy parents do and will get easier. For us it's a fact of life and I for one am thrilled to be able to give Kayla something that will help her to feel, as Gina put it, like "One of the Gang".

Thank you American Girl!

We headed out to our township fireworks yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that although there were a lot of people there was enough space and it was not cramped or crowded. The girls had room to run around and play and be goofy. The fireworks, which we were told would go off at dusk, didn't start until 9:45p.m. Alysa was begging to go home even before they started. But they were great and the girls were in awe!

Shortly after we got there we got to see 4 parachuters jump out of a plane. Later on when Alysa saw another plane she asked if more would jump. I can see this may be a running theme in our house now.



You will note the glow sticks in Alysa's hand. These were "given" to us when we arrived. You'll note how fed up I am with taxes with this translation (my actual thoughts at the time)...

Attendant - "Would you like some glow sticks for the kids? They were provided by the Township"

My Internal Translation - "Would you like your kids to have a glow stick that you, bought for this event?"

Thankfully the kids loved their glow sticks - Alysa actually slept with hers. :)

It's been super busy around here and it will just get worse with my Sister and kids arriving tonight for 3 1/2+ weeks. We're so excited to see them but with that and Kayla's party, etc it has been and will continue to be hectic around our house.

But I can never be too busy to stop and reflect on this day, the birth of our great country and the freedoms conceived by our founders. This year will be the first we will take the girls to see the fireworks. We will try to find a place not amongst the crowds, but where we can get a good view. Kayla is not big on loud noises, so being too close will not make her a happy camper. They are very excited to go, so it should be a nice night and it's a picture perfect spring day - sunny and 81 with a nice cool breeze and very low humidity.

This day is even more important now as our freedoms are slowly being stripped away by our ever-increasing-in-power government and elected officials. With every new government mandate and law, we have less control over our lives and the lives of our children. We are being told not to live for ourselves and the values, we, as individuals hold dear, but to live for others. This is not what I wish for myself or my children or any individual in our great nation. It is because of this that I am excited to be joining my Dad in Washington DC on September 12, 2009 for the National Taxpayer Protest. It will be my first protest and I know it will feel good to do something to help get the word out that the path this country is headed down is disappointing and unacceptable!!!

I hope everyone enjoys the festivities today. Please take the time to remember what made this country so great to begin with - Individual Rights - the right to pursue our own dreams and not the dreams of others!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Alysa had her follow-up sleep study back in May the night before Memorial Day. It literally came up quickly as in 2 days notice. I called Friday to schedule it for June and was told they had an opening that Sunday. So I took it. Two weeks ago, I talked to the sleep doctor and was thrilled to hear that her sleep apnea is GONE! She stopped breathing a max of 1 time per hour, which he said is borderline normal and her oxygen saturation level never dropped below 98% (last time it dropped to 84%!!!). He's THRILLED that she is eating so well and off Prevacid. He was actually surprised at how well she's doing.

This morning actually, she woke up at 8:45 and was BEGGING to eat b/c she was SO hungry. Music to my ears. :) She devoured 2 pieces of sausage, 3/4 of an egg and a whole banana. I had to give her the sausage before the egg was done because she was begging for food. She has never done that before. Dinners are still her worse meal, but she's slowly picking up some new foods. Ham is currently her "favorite", well immediately after chips and dip. :)

Here are some pics of her at the sleep study.

I have been MIA this past week from traveling and just the chaos of life. Last week we took the girls to their favorite amusement park and then I was in Rhode Island for my cousin's high school graduation for a long weekend. It was a great time and my Aunt was wonderful and made everything (including her party) dairy free, so not only could Kayla come but I could relax.

I will work on getting a better update and pictures up in the next few days. But in the mean time, Kayla was thrilled to come home to her flowers in bloom!

I will say there is truly a month for everything! Thank you to Janeen for not only adding me to the list of dairy-free blogs, but for letting me know about this every important month of Dairy Alternative Month.

Kate DeBevois from the Philadelphia Wellness Examiner wrote an article about it and included links to some milk free sites. Some on her list are new to me, so I’m excited to check them out.

I’ll take a page out of Janeen’s book and post some more of my favorite milk-free websites.

Sarah
Amy
Go Dairy Free (yes, even though I know she is listed in the article – I love her site and book)
Milk Allergy Companion
Chocolate Emporium
Amanda’s Own
Cherry Brook Kitchens
Enjoy Life Foods
Divvies
Tofutti - I can still have my chips and dip!!!
Silk - yogurts and “milk”

We’re “lucky” in that dairy, although it’s can be very hard to shop dairy-free (many many bizarre and “regular” things contain dairy), it is one of the easiest if not the easiest food to substitute for. Many of you who have been to my house know that I can serve foods that would fool anyone into believing it was made with dairy and not without. So I will now go and enjoy the rest of Dairy Alternative Month even if I do still miss cheese every day of my life.