Cookie = Yummie!!!

Last night as our small group was arriving, I noticed that Heidi was very quiet and no where in sight. For this girl that could mean many things. I started looking for her and found her with a prize and a very, VERY proud look. She found a chocolate chip cookie that I made for small group and was she ever enjoying it! Her face lit up when she saw as if to say, "Oh mom! Why haven't I had this before!!!" Here are some pics with that same cookie, although she was a little aggravated that I put her down to take a picture.

She was not happy about being put down.

Oh well, I guess I will eat the cookie anyway.
Satisfied!

Other info on our little miss:

• 75, 95, and 95 - her stats from her one year check up. 75% percentile in weight, 95th percentile in head size, and 95th percentile in height. She's a big girl.
  
• She is a bit opinionated already...don't know where she gets that?


• She loves to climb. By 8 months old she was already climbing the slide we have in the playroom by herself...another proud moment for herself.


• She loves to walk the hallway (aka "the loop") with her stroller walker. She makes many laps a day and has just recently figured out how to make the turns and back up. This past weekend she did start stomping her foot and hollering when she was really stuck. It was pretty cute...we will work on the stomping of the foot.


• She adores big brother! He pounces on her (not without discipline following), but she loves it. It makes it hard to discipline because her laughter encourages more pouncing. However the mommy in me says this really could turn into something bad.


• She loves to read books and has for a long time. We rarely sit in her rocker in her room without her reaching up for books.


• She can tell you what the monkey, duck, and cow all say.


• She loves necklaces, hats, and shoes. Are these signs of a diva already? Earlier this week I was going through clothes and she was pointing out her favorites...oh my!!!


• She loves to swim and play in the bath.


• She is a cute little dancer.


• She is an absolute bundle of joy and is already melting her daddy's heart with very little effort. I am prepared to be the tough one!

I will try to be better about posting an have a lot to share. Our summer has not been a typical summer with Karl's new teaching position, so hang in there with me. Hopefully with school starting again I can get into a routine again.

Until next time...have a good day!

4 teaspoons

Today we went in for another challenge with Karl Mikal and he did great! He was given 20 mL (4 teaspoons). Next week he will be given 40 mL. WOW! God is so, so, so good!

Thank you for your prayers.

By the way, the blog about the air show below was actually posted tonight, Friday, May 14th. I started it Monday that is why the date above it says May 10th. Can anyone help me with that?

Silver Anniversary of the B1-Bomber

Two B1's center stage for the Air Show.

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Recently we went to Abilene to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the B1-Bomber at Dyess Air Force Base. This is the plane that Karl was a navigator on while he was in the Air Force. Karl took the day off Friday so that we could leave Thursday after he got off work and be there all day Friday and Saturday for the air show. We had a great time! Friday morning we got things together and headed out to the base. Karl had a great time reminiscing as he drove on base. It was also neat to see exactly where he worked while there. He was able to sit in on several briefings and hear about new ways the B1 is being used. Very neat! We were also able to go into the simulator for the B1. Karl Mikal and our nephew Luke were able to join us for this part. At first Karl Mikal was unsure, but then warmed up and sat in his daddy's lap and "flew" the plane. Luke was glad to sit in the pilot's chair and fly. He mostly enjoyed the take-off landing and flipping in the air. Unfortunately we were not able to take any pictures of the simulator (it is all top secret...in my opinion I am glad to know that our government still keeps some things secret!) I am so glad that we went. Karl was able to meet up with some old friends and catch up. It was fun! Below are some pics. Most of them are from the air show on Saturday. Enjoy!
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Karl and Karl Mikal next to a big model of the B1-Bomber.

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Luke next to another large model F-16. This one actually flies! We didn't see it fly, but heard it fire up. It was pretty impressive.

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This was the closest picture I could take of the flight simulator.
Cameras were not allowed.
. We were on base Friday when the Thunderbirds were practicing for the air show. While we waited the boys were boys and enjoyed throwing rocks. :)

. Suited up for the show. My sister sewed velcro onto the kids shirts so that they could wear some of Karl's old patches. It was fun for the kids to pick out their patches.
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I didn't plan for cold weather when I packed us up. So my kids are both wearing their pajamas under their clothes. Poor Heidi! I am sure she will not be happy with this picture on day. I told some people on the shuttle that I didn't plan for my daughter to be dressed from the 80's that day. Actually, I remember having some high tops that would have matched her outfit perfectly...same colors and even a palm tree on the side. The weather did warm up and we were able to take of the pajamas later.

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Heidi's patch went on her back. I am sure that she
would have just chewed on it the whole day otherwise. .

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Getting a closer look as one of the planes taxied down the run way..

Standing under a B1. Both of the kids were not as cooperative as usual. They were both under the weather for much of the trip..

Walking under the bomb bay of the B1.

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Taking a good look under the plane. He is so curious!

Neither of the kids liked the ear plugs we made them wear during the Thunderbird show. Karl Mikal really didn't like it, so Karl took him and hung out inside one of the planes and watched the show. Heidi didn't fuss too much, but then fell asleep. Maybe next time we can watch the show, get a few pictures, and not have fussy children. It did make me feel a little better to see a few other kids who didn't like the show either because of the noise.
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Sweet girl!

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I really like this picture.
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And this one too!

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Please remember to pray for all of our military who are currently serving and those who have served. So many of them are away from their families right now and may not even be sure when they will see family again. They do their jobs day by day and even have to do jobs commanded to them by people who were never in their shoes (yes, I have BIG opinions about that!). So please pray for our troops daily and say thank you to those who are serving and those who have served as well as their families.

More Milk

Can you believe we are almost to a teaspoon and a half? Karl Mikal is doing great with his milk therapy. Today he was challenged with 7 mL. Here is a picture from tonight when he took his dose. Several have asked if he likes the milk. Yes. Many times after getting his dose he says, "Me like that" or "That yummie Mommy" I am so glad.

At the next challenge he will be given 10 mL. That will be two teaspoons. He is really moving right along with this therapy. Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming.

Tractor Fun

I just had to put these pics on the blog. Friday I took Karl Mikal to my parents house so that Karl and I could more easily attend a marriage seminar at our church. I am picking him up Thursday. No one was sure how Karl Mikal would do, since this is the first time he has been away from us for any extended period of time. He adores my parents, but being away from Mom and Dad can still be a bit unnerving. Based on the pics below, I think he is having a great time. Just a bit of background information...I grew up on a ranch and my parents still live there. The tractors are at the top of the road and Karl Mikal asks to ride the mule (ATV) up there to see them. He has often asked to see them, but hasn't wanted to get on them until today.

He absolutely loves "driving" our cars. I can only imagine the how proud he was to sit in this drivers seat.

Being comfortable is very important!

Now, where is that keyhole?

It is good to be king!

2 months?!? Seriously!!!

I was looking at a friend's blog this week and noticed that under my name on their blog, it said 2 months! That just can't be! Has is seriously been 2 months since my last blog. My apologies to anyone that still checks us out. I will try to do better.

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Rather than blogging about what has gone on the last few months, I will instead catch you up on the milk therapy and Heidi's last photo session. I will do some "archive" blogs to fill you in on what we have been up to as I can.

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As far as the milk therapy Karl Mikal continues to progress. God has blessed us so much. We go to the allergist weekly for challenges where they up his dose. We have had to miss some weeks due to illness, coughs, wheezing, etc., but we don't consider that a set back. We feel that God is definitely in control of this therapy and are thrilled to have been so blessed this far. Below are pictures showing the sizes of the doses. He gets his dose twice a day.

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This is the diluted dose. It is 0.1 mL of milk diluted with 1 mL of water. He was given a single 0.5 mL dose of that mixture.

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This was the first whole milk dose we gave him. It was 0.1 mL. Although it doesn't look like much in that teaspoon, it felt like we were given him something toxic!

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Here we are at 0.2 mL of whole milk. These are what I call baby steps!

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This is 4 mL. WOW! This is when I began referring to it (when talking to big Karl) as the big monster!

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0.8 mL - I just couldn't believe it! Almost a whole mL!

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This was a big shocker. Look at the size of that syringe! It is huge! Here is 1 mL.

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And here is where we are now...2 mL. Almost half a teaspoon or as I have told several...almost enough to dunk a small cookie. :)

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We have had a few reactions, but nothing major and definitely no hives or swelling. The reactions have shown up as an upset tummy (either bad diapers or throw-up). Nothing too regular and nothing that tells the allergist to slow down. As I said earlier, we feel so blessed to have made it this far. God continues to stay in control of this whole therapy. Our prayer is that he will allow Karl Mikal to make it all the way through the therapy and be able to enjoy milk, ice cream, cheese, you name it! We will see what God has planned!

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As for Heidi, she is great! She is scooting all over the place. She can get up on all fours as if she is going to crawl, but then fakes us all out and goes back to her army crawl. She is pulling up on anything and everything...stable or not and gives the best smiles. Just last week she cut two bottom teeth. She is such a cutie!

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Below is a link to the last photo session of her and our family. Feel free to take a look. (Click on Heidi.) It was supposed to be a 6 month session, but due to bad weather she is actually almost 7 months old. You will need to put in Karl's e-mail address: karlgsch@aol.com and the password to view the slideshow is h-6 . Hope you enjoy! http://jboilla.photobiz.com/viewing/

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And I will try to be a better blogger! ~ Anna

Rejoice!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

Today Karl Mikal had his "RUSH" visit for the food desensitization therapy. It was a long day of 5 and a half hours in the doctors office, but so well worth it. Ever since Karl Mikal was diagnosed with his allergies we have prayed that he would overcome them and today we started that process.

On our way to the office, we started talking to Karl Mikal about where we were going and what we were going to do. We told him that we were going to the doctor and she would give him some medicine, but there would be no ow-ees. That stuck in his mind. Not only did he repeat that in the car, but when the nurse came and got us, he immediately started saying, "No ow-ees, no ow-ees." She then reassured him that there would be no ow-ees.

We had to go in at 9:00 am. By 9:15 he had his first dose of a milk/mostly water solution and our eyes were glued to him watching for any signs of a reaction. His cheek got red and warm to touch and he was playing with his tongue a little bit, but nothing too significant to keep the doctors from proceeding. Then an hour later we had the second dose and by 12:30 he was given the fourth and final dose for the visit. He did great! What an answered prayer! We had to stay in the office for 2 hours after the final dose for observation and our sweet little guy fell asleep.

So where do we go from here...each day we will give him two premeasured doses of the milk/water solution. We will watch him closely and look for signs of an allergic reaction. After one week, we will go back for a "challenge" visit. At that visit they will increase the amount of milk and we will wait one hour to look for any signs of a reaction. If no reaction, we will go home and repeat that dose in the evening and twice daily for one week. Then we will go back and do the same thing again. This will be done for about 15-20 weeks as we slowly build up his tolerance (hopefully). At anytime during the treatment we could have to stop. If he does react negatively we will step back and do the previous amount of milk and try again.

After the 15-20 weeks, we will continue on our own at home giving him milk daily for 6 months. Then we will go "cold turkey" for 1 month. At the end of the one month, we will go back in for a challenge. He will be given about a cup of milk. If there is no reaction, then we are done!

Leading up to this day was quite exciting, frightening, and overwhelming for us. Most of the time I was at peace about doing it. I knew that God was and is in control and no matter the outcome would remain in control. However, the thought of giving him something that could make him so terribly sick was extremely frightening. That is why after the first dose, neither of us (Karl or I) took our eyes off of him. I am so thankful that God did allow him to make it through today with flying colors. Thank you Lord!!!

I told my sister that we are taking baby steps and with each step forward we will praise God and with any steps back we will continue to praise Him. We ask all of you to keep Karl Mikal in your prayers. It would be so wonderful to overcome this allergy. It will be a year of baby steps and possibly some set backs. So please pray for strength for all of us, healing for Karl Mikal, and patience as we go through the therapy. Also, please pray for all the other kids we know (and don't know) with food allergies. And a loud praise to God for all the children who have successfully gone through this therapy. What a wonderful relief for those parents!

There is bonus song at the end of the Shedaisy Christmas CD that says, "How can I keep from singing?" It is about singing out to God for all that he has done and continues to do. That is how I have felt nearly all day, even when I woke up this morning. As we were in the doctors office and we would get one dose down, the song I sang in my head was the Doxology...(Praise God from whom all blessings flow...) as well as Shout Hallelujah!, and the song about blessings. The one that says, "Every blessing you pour out I turn back to praise....you give and take away... (If only John Scott were there, we would have been singing in the office.) Thank you God for loving us all so much and for taking care of my little boy!

Anna
Thank you all!