Adobo & Fries

Since our car accident we've been struggling to get into the holiday spirit this year. Thanksgiving was a bust since the first half was spent still in the hospital and our decorations for Christmas have been minimal due to lingering pain and energy restrictions.  One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking treats for our neighbors and I was determined to still get that done this year. I made three different types of cookies and a special Thank You pie for my friend who stayed with us all night in the ER. Both my husband and Eli helped (and Orion laid on the rug beneath our feet) so it was truly a family affair this year. My back hurts and my kitchen is a disaster but it was more than worth it. I made my delivery rounds today, dropping off the goodies. To our next door neighbors who put up with our barky dog, who lend us tools and who are always up for a good over the fence chat, to our elderly neighbor across the street who lost her husband this year just to give her som

The outpouring of help and support and prayers we received post-accident has been incredible. From dear friends who came to pick up Eli at the scene of the accident and keep him safe, to neighbors bringing food, to other moms who offered to drive Eli to school when I couldn't...the list goes on and on. I truly could not have gotten through the first 10 days post-accident without a village. It was honestly a village I didn't know I had. We have only lived in our town a few years. I'm not one to make friends easily. I have an anxiety disorder and struggle with putting myself out there and making small talk. Its hard for me to ask for help and I feel awkward accepting it. Unfortunately not being able to walk easily and being unable to drive for a week put me in a position where help was a necessity. When offers to help poured in I couldn't always say "no thank you, we are fine". Sometimes I had to say yes and take them up on their offers.  I'm shocked

My apologies for the absence. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was my husband's 40th birthday. We were in the car (including our 4 year old son) driving to his birthday dinner when all of a sudden we were hit from behind. We were stopped at a stop sign behind another car and were hit with such force that we bounced between the two cars several times. Thankfully Eli was unharmed. His car seat kept him safe and sound and he had no injuries. My husband and I didn't fare quite as well. I had several bruises and neck and back injuries, as did my husband. After we were hit I leapt out of the car, losing my shoe in the process to get to my son. I asked him if he was ok but he wouldn't speak. I got him out of his car seat and then collapsed with him in my arms on the side of the road in complete hysterics. He was fine, just scared. The police came quickly and were able to give me oxygen (I think I had a stress-induced asthma attack). The EMT's arrived and my husband was ta

I took the first step today towards trying to get healthier. I've gained quite a bit of weight over the years and I can feel how low my energy is and how much of a struggle it is to do simple things. I NEED to regain my strength and energy. In the past I've enjoyed walking and yoga, so I'm trying to incorporate those into my day again. After preschool drop off today I popped in my Leslie Sansone Walk DVD. I borrowed it from the library a few years ago and it was one of the first workout DVDs I connected with and never felt like it was "too hard" or unattainable. I got my own copy as a Christmas gift last year (after strongly hinting for it) but when the behavior issues with Eli were at their worst in the Spring I stopped taking care of myself at all and it sat unplayed in my DVD player until today. It felt good to get moving this morning, but I was surprised at how sore I was getting even with the easiest walk. I lost a LOT of strength and endurance this pa

We survived allergy testing. Eli was a champ and did as well as can be expected. The test ended up being pretty painful because he had a few very large reactions. He is HIGHLY allergic to trees and cats. The allergist said the tree reaction was the worst he's seen in a 4 year old EVER. He is going to come up with a treatment plan after the Winter so we can start pre-treating him before the trees "wake up" for Spring. I'm feeling ok with the results. The allergist feels as though the tree allergy is directly linked to his asthma issues so I'm happy to have found a correlation there. The mystery rashes Eli gets are still unknown so an auto-immune issue could still be at play, but the new cream from his dermatologist has been working well so I think we will take a hiatus from doctors until after the holidays and then re-evaluate what we want to do, if anything. Although I'm happy to have some answers, I don't feel settled at all. Between being high need

At 8 weeks old I put a lotion labeled "natural" on Eli and he instantly broke out in a nasty chemical burn. As s new mom I was heartbroken that I had hurt my baby and that was just the beginning after this we noticed he started getting unexplained rashes and hives. At our pediatrician's advice we changed laundry detergents and I took it upon myself to rid my house of  toxic cleaning products and chemicals. We stabilized for a short while but started realizing that whenever anyone else held Eli he would break out in a rash. I was struggling in those early days and it complicated things that nobody but my husband or I could ever touch the baby. If my parents came to visit they would have to shower using my "safe" products and wear clothes that I had washed in our detergent and even then Eli would get a rash at the simplest of things. My dad would eat Doritos and give him a kiss and he would have hives in the shape of a kiss on his forehead. We sought the help of