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You have been warned, this may be a blog post in which I whine. Sorry.

Things have been crazy since last week and finding out Owen's allergies. I had to do a complete overhaul of his foods, what he eats and drinks. We decided to go with Coconut Milk. I was a mess because he hadn't really had any coconut yet, and with finding out all these 'allergies' I was worried he could be allergic. Totally random and stupid of me to think that. I know. I know the Commissary doesn't carry SoDelicious Coconut Milk, and I thought I saw it at Walmart, so we started our journey to find something for my poor boy to drink. Walmart did not have it. Next was Safeway. They did have the milk, almost $4 for a half gallon. Then I saw Silk had coconut milk as well, and after reading the label Silk turned out to have more calories, more carbs and proteins then the SoDelicious. So I grabbed that, it was $3.79 for a half gallon. Next was to find the yogurt. Owen loved his soy stuff, I was hoping they had the coconut. After searching I found some, only one flavor, and $1.99 a pop. Oh well, grabbed one of those to try. The boys were a mess in the store. I was frazzled trying to find this stuff, reading the labels while Owen was up and down in the cart, Landon was complaining and whining to eat or have a drink. UGH. 

I talked with a friend at Dyess about the allergy stuff. Her son, a month older than Landon, has a TON of allergies. She helped me with some snacks and things for kids. It's called EnjoyLife. They have a ton of snacks and stuff for people with the most common allergies. So I was on a mission to find that stuff. On their website they said Target had it, and Safeway. Well, Safeway failed me, they did not. So the next day Owen and I were all around town, pricing coconut milk and yogurts and trying to find this Enjoy Life stuff. Target doesn't carry any of the stuff. Thanks Target. Next was whole foods. They did have the Enjoy Life stuff, and a bunch of things. I grabbed some granola bars. They also had the coconut yogurt so I grabbed some of those. They had ALL the flavors, so that was nice. 

Luckily Owen likes the coconut stuff and DID NOT have a reaction. YAY!

We also got a call from his Dr's with a referral, the next day. We had an appointment at the Air Force Academy on Tuesday. (Yesterday) I was SO happy. 

I also made a trip one night to the Commissary when Greg was home to check out stuff there. They do not have his yogurt, I knew that. They also did not have the milk. BUT, then I spotted the Silk coconut milk, YAY. They too also had a TON of the Enjoy Life foods. That made me so happy. Things were starting to look up.

And now on to Landon. We finally got his referral. 

Of course the Dr could not schedule an appointment because they did not have it yet. Gahhhh. So to Tricare we went. I had to sign for them to release his 'notes' to the Dr. (This was Thursday night) So Friday I called. They still didn't have it. I called Monday, they still didn't have it.  I called again in the afternoon. The lady was super nice, and informed me the Doctor doesn't see patients for headaches, and the Dr doesn't see children. WTH? I had been on the phone with these people SEVERAL times, they took his date of birth EVERY TIME. No one told me this. NO wonder they didn't have his stuff. They wouldn't see him. I was about to go back to Tricare, but it was nasty weather. I was so fed up. I have Landon's follow up appointment with his PCM on Tuesday next week. We've been keeping his food journal and headache journal. He's had a few, nothing major. That is some what relieving. He's been doing great, and being such a helper with Owen. He is SO concerned about all this allergy talk. Poor guy. Such a great brother. 

I cried. I cried when I found out about the soy. I felt terrible. No wonder he wouldn't sleep. No wonder he was fussy. It all just fell in to place. I was worried about him eating. I was worried about what I could feed him. That's a mother's job, to worry. I hate it. 

Luckily his skin is CLEAR, he is taking to the coconut stuff great, he is EATING, and SLEEPING. 

Well, he was sleeping. He is up again a lot the past few nights. But we've passed around a little cold. I think it's from that. He is NO LONGER full of gas, going #2 3-4 times a day, and loose ones. He seems much more content, and that is great news. 

I've learned I've just got to make stuff from scratch. I started with pumpkin bread and muffins. He LOVED them, and so did all the rest of us.

Yesterday was his appointment with the Allergist at the Academy. Turns out he is pretty allergic to milk, and eggs. The rest are very low, and with blood work I guess it's 50/50. He said with the soy he is probably just really sensitive to it, and it's not a true allergy. WHEW. But I am NOT putting him back on Soy. With the nuts, he wasn't concerned. He said since we eat it, and he's been around it with no reaction then he should be ok. We should refrain from feeding him any nut products til he is 3. Yikes. He will re-do the bloodwork when he is 3. So another year and a half. Unless something else happens. He also put in a RX for an Epi pen just in case we have any adverse reactions or episodes. I left feeling relieved. So as hard as it was to take it all in, as bad as I felt, and how horrible I thought it all was, things are looking up, and are pretty good. I feel a sense of relief now to have answers. And I don't feel so worried as I did last week. 

I've been collecting coupons for his yogurts, today they were $2.19 at King Soopers. YIKES. I drove all the way there, and needed them, so I grabbed two and some of Owen's favorite cookies. I guess I am going to stick with Whole Foods for his yogurts. 

I had about a million things to do today. All in different parts of town. It was icy and snowy out, not to mention cold. Getting a toddler in and out of a car it is a pain, especially since I have to take his jacket off and on each time, since it's so big. 

I only got two things done. I spent the morning cleaning and moping around the house. Pity party for one. I'm just having one of those days. Owen didn't sleep well. Landon's been calling me at night because of bad dreams, and Greg's been snoring because of his cold. No sleep wears on you. It's worn me down. The stress of everything has worn me down. The worrying. 

I would like to go some where tropical and lay on a nice hot beach, with a book, and a drink with an umbrella, no kids. 

Allergy Test Results

Well, I finally called the clinic for Owen's allergy test results. They were supposed to call me. It's been almost two weeks, figured I'd give them a ring. Glad I did.

Now, let me talk about mommy instincts and mommy gut feelings. I get those a lot. Especially over certain things. For some reason it's over food allergies with Owen. Once Owen reacted to the yogurt the way he did, it always made me very cautious about new things.Some may say worry wart. Some may say over protective. Some may say crazy.

Well, we got the results today. Not what I was expecting. Owen is allergic to the following:

Dairy (she said milk)

SOY

EGG

PEANUT

OHHHHH my goodness. I about threw up and started crying? What what? SOY? He has three cups of soy milk a day, soy yogurt, not to mention soy is in EVERYTHING! 

I was totally not expecting anything but the milk. Not expecting it at all..

One thing it does explain. The sleep. We stopped formula at about 12-13 months. He started to sleep terrible at about 13 months. I wonder if it's the soy? We've seen NO reaction to the soy. But, you don't have to see one to have one. It totally could be messing up my poor babies insides. Makes total sense. 

I don't really give him eggs. He's had a flu shot, which has egg in it, no reaction. He's yet to have anything nut related due to his age. So....

Now my thing is is milk. The nurse said to try coconut milk. They have great coconut yogurts, ice creams, and tons of stuff with coconut in it. I just hope and pray he isn't allergic to coconut. I'm not going to lie, I am scared to death to give him something new. SCARED. Having allergies is a very scary thing. I never really realized it til having a child with allergies. 

So now we wait. We wait for a referral to see an allergist. I hope we get it quick. Because I want to know how severe his allergies are. I eat peanut butter with an apple almost daily. Landon has PB&J almost daily for lunch. 

I guess my mother instincts were right. I was not overreacting or crazy. It was my gut telling me to take it slow with everything. I'm so glad I listened to it.

Snow Shoeing

On Sunday we rented some snow shoes, got some maps and headed in to the Rocky Mountain National Park to hike in our snow shoes. We had NO idea what to expect. None. It was a BEAUTIFUL drive in to the park. 

Unfortunately it was windy, and cold. But we didn't let that stop us. 

You have to pay $20 to get in to the RMNP. It's good for a week, or you can get a pass for $40 a year. There was lots of damage from the floods in September of 2013. They seemed to be working hard to get it all back together. So sad. 

We started about 9,475 feet in elevation, and the Nymph Lake was at 9,705' in elevation. 

That may mean nothing to you. But the higher up you are, the less oxygen, and it was cold, which feels like even LESS oxygen. Luckily we are all acclimated to the elevation and it didn't bother any of us. At one point I gave Landon a piggy back, probably up the steepest part of the trail, my heart was POUNDING, but it only lasted a second. 

The trails were completely snow packed. You did necessarily need the snow shoes, but they were amazing. No slipping, and really helped. I now want to get my own pair!

I did not have snow pants. But my legs were fine in the jeans. Landon had his snow bibs, but was too shy to change in the parking lot. He too was fine. It's just best to have those for if you get snow on your pants, or you fall in the snow. Then you get wet.....

Landon really LOVED hopping through the fresh powder over the packed stuff. 

Owen was TIRED and ready for a nap. We could not stop or he would scream and cry. Landon kept having to stop to catch his breath, from running through the snow, or just to get a drink. One point his back hurt him. You know, typical kid complaints. 

The path was narrow at points, you'd have to move aside for those coming. There was some points that had good drops to the side. It was windy. And it was cold. When we finally made it to Nymph Lake, it was FREEZING. Mainly because of the wind. 

Landon wanted to walk and stomp on the frozen lake. Made me a nervous wreck. I didn't know how frozen it was........

On the way down, after feeling like I yelled at Landon the whole time, we took off his snow shoes, and let him go. He was SO much happier. 

We also checked out Bear Lake, that was right near the parking lot. You can walk all the way around it, but the wind, again, was howling through there and it was extremely cold and snow was blowing all in your face. No thanks. I snapped a few pictures and then we left. 

It was so much fun. Greg and I were saying if it was just him and I we would have kept going. I would love to go back. I want to see what it's like in the summer time. 

So now we are home from our awesome weekend. It's nice to be home. But I miss all the mountains, the snow, the wildlife, the slow paced life, no traffic and tranquility. I want to go back!

Estes Park Exploring

We could not WAIT for the sun to come up to see what it looked like around here. We could not wait to get ready and go check out everything. 

We were not 100% sure what we were going to do. It's cold here, even though the weather is nice this weekend, we are in the mountains, lots of shade and snow packed ground. We did know that we wanted to go sledding. We found a store where you could rent everything under the sun. So we drove around Estes to look at everything, and then stopped at the store. 

Estes Park is located about 65 miles from Denver, and 30+ miles from Boulder. It's at the start to the Rocky Mountain National Park. RMNP. There is a TON of things to do here.

It is surrounded by tons of snow capped and covered peaks. There are hundreds of hiking trails.

There are jeep tours, ATV rentals, white water rafting, rock climbing, cross country skiing, sledding and tubing, bike trails, hiking trails, fishing, ice fishing, snow shoeing, boating, horseback riding, camping, shopping, eating, animals galore, like these Elk that were on the side of the road.

There is also The Stanley Hotel. This is where Stephen King wrote the book, The Shinning. He was staying here recovering from alcoholism and found it to be haunted and wrote the book. 

I guess Ghost Hunters was here as well to do what they do. Pretty cool. But I'd never go there, You?

Here is our cabin from the stream. We are on the top floor. 

After exploring and driving around we had lunch and put Owen down for a nap. Greg too.

After nap we went to walk around downtown. They had a ton of little shops. There was also a Whisky Festival going on, You can taste the different whisky, there was food and little fires. They had a kid area where you could ride pony's and ice skate. But this was our view when we walked out of our cabin:

We checked out all the stores, got some fresh Taffy that is AMAZING and bought the boys a small toy at the toy shop. 

We went to a local BBQ joint for dinner and it was SO darn good. I'm not a huge fan of BBQ, I like it, but it's nothing I crave or beg to go to. I actually wouldn't mind going back tonight for dinner. I got a half chicken with fries and coleslaw, it also came with bread and cornbread. Greg got pulled pork, brisket, baked beans and fries. Landon got a grilled cheese and fries. It was SO SO good. A small place, packed from wall to wall. It is a place that reminds me of Diners Drive In's and Dives.

Now we are getting ready to go snowshoeing. We got all the gear, going to feed the baby and head out! 

Estes Park

Where we will be hanging out and exploring the next few days:

We got a three bedroom cabin for the weekend. We have a full size kitchen, a living room with gas fireplace, a nice balcony and pretty views. 

Oh, and yummy donuts for breakfast. There was a doughnut shop around the corner that Greg went to. Oh my. Some of the best doughnuts we've had in a while. 

And now we are headed out to explore some. Not sure what we are going to do. There's a Winterfestival here we are going to check out, and then look around down town. We aren't sure about hiking. We are going to ask around and figure out a good family kid friendly place and maybe do that tomorrow. There are lots of restaurants that look YUMMY. Can't wait to go play.