Dear Hailey,
This week has been a rough week. I finally realized that there may be something medically going on with you and I threw in the towel. You've been having pale and loose stools on and off for quite some time. A nurse friend told me about an poop app developed by John's Hopkins and after a quick diagnosis, I learned that you may be sensitive to gluten. I'm really afraid to use the C word because if you are diagnosed with that, you won't ever be able to really enjoy things like doughnuts and soft, buttery rolls from Bush's. (With a sensitivity, there is a slight chance that you will grow out of it.) The past week, you've been waking up in the middle of the night, screaming in pain. And since you are also on a nursing strike, it's been a rough few nights. I finally figured out that giving you a small dose of ibuprofen will help you sleep longer, but doing so, so you can sleep better just goes against every mommy instinct that I have.
So we tried cutting out gluten and we were successful for about 3 days. You slept through the night on the second and third night and your poops started to look pretty normal. I didn't think I would see results that quickly, so in the back of my mind, there's still a part of me that thinks that you've just been exposed to lots of bugs this season and you are just constantly sick.
So then on the third day, you grabbed a piece of Nathan's cornbread at his cowboy breakfast at school and chowed down on it. You seemed to devour it and asked for more. I let you have a few more bites and then that evening, you started to have diarrhea again.
Another culprit is fruit. We always have lots of fruit in the house and you always see Nathan and Hannah eating fruit. You even know the signs for strawberries, blueberries, apple and grapes...with the exception of apples (which you usually spit out) all of these fruits cause you to have extreme diaper rash. So, I've been standing firm on saying no to the above fruits and basically giving you pears and bananas for now.
We went to the doctor yesterday and we got some blood work done to see if you have...Celiacs disease. We will find out in a couple of days. In the meantime, I'm sticking with avoiding gluten and we are on the search for Hailey approved snacks.
It's been exactly 1 week since the last time I nursed you. For awhile you still preferred my breast milk over cow milk, but last night, it seemed like you now prefer cow's milk. So this is how it ends. The almost 18 months of me providing nourishment for your little body is about to be over. I'm still pumping about 3 ounces, twice a day for you, but at this point, I'm just waiting for me to be emotionally ready to stop.
Ok, so enough with all this emotional stuff. Let's get to the exciting stuff!
Dear Kids,
Let's start with where we left off. Nathan woke up the next morning feeling completely better. Hannah was still sick, so only Nathan went on to compete in the martial arts tournament. Nathan, you earned 1st place in performing your elements and 1st place in sparring! We got doughnuts afterwards and brought some back to Hannah, which was all it took for her to be ok with sitting out from the action.
The next morning we went to a birthday party in the neighborhood. It's so cool to know that there is a community for us to preserve our Chinese heritage right in our neighborhood. You guys spoke Chinese, ate Chinese food, and most importantly listened to other people (besides me) speak Chinese.
Hailey was pretty much just interested in corn and strawberries...which I now regret giving to you.
Hannah, you are into princesses, crafts, and singing. In the afternoons, all you want to do is make a craft with me. So together, we made these princess sticks.
The weather has been so nice and the oak levels have been tolerable. So we've been spending as much time outside as possible. One afternoon, you insisted on wearing you skates to pick up Nathan. I suspected that you would give up half way and throw a temper tantrum, but with some encouragement along the way (including me saying things like, show those big kids how well you can skate!) We made it and you ended up skating all around the perimeter of the school.
You girls both love snacks. If any of you hear any rustling in the pantry, I will immediately hear a
pitter pattering of bare feet to the kitchen. And for a brief moment, I obtain rock-star status as you both gaze hungrily towards my direction.
This past week was a week of rodeos. Hannah, your school kicked it off with your school's rodeo. You missed it last year due to sickness, so you were super excited to be able to participate this year.
They even had a cool backdrop for photographs!
You helped design the vest. You told me you wanted lots of long fringe, so I hope I delivered.
The next day, Nathan's school put on the most adorable cowboy show and we have most of it in video, but here's a snapshot of the cutest little cowpokes in SW Austin.
Afterwards there was a cowboy breakfast of cornbread and beans. As you can see, Hailey is eyeing the cornbread.
Then on Saturday, it was the start of the Austin Rodeo, so we continued our family tradition (after a hiatus last year) of attending the Rodeo rumble.
Nathan you started off so strong, but then around the first turn, you slid and had an epic fall. But I am so proud of you for standing back up and walking to the finish line.
There was a petting zoo that you all enjoyed a lot. Hailey, you were perfectly fine with observing the animals from far away. You were not excited at all about petting any of them.
Charged with the task of finding the softest animal, both of you went to town and pet all of the animals.
except for maybe the camel.
And clearly, Hailey was NOT a fan of the camel at all.
There was also a milking demonstration where we learned how cows have 4 stomachs. Nathan got to help out in the demonstration.
We also saw pic races (not pictured) and then we walked around the livestock pens to look at all the different animals.
Around lunch time we got hungry and Nathan, now that you can read, you were pretty quick to make a suggestion for what to have for lunch. Jumbo corndogs it is!
We also splurged and introduced you guys to the deliciousness of funnel cakes. Hailey, you had a few bites too.
On Sunday, we had an impromptu play date in the afternoon at the wildflower center. The weather has been perfect, so we spent the afternoon swinging, climbing trees, and laughing with friends.
The bluebonnets were also pretty amazing, so I snapped a shot of Hailey in a patch. You older kids were not as enthusiastic, so I didn't push.
Now that our house is less cluttered (generally) I've been trying to add touches to make it seem more like a home. I've also been working on our back yard and now that everything is cleaned up and weeded, it's time to add some special touches too. I've always wanted to build a fairy garden, and for my birthday, one of my friends gave me a stash of random crafting items and in there were a few miniature items and so with spring break being this week, we decided to break ground on our fairy garden. So far we have 2 houses and a bridge.
Today we went to the Thinkery and got there early before it opened. Who knew spring break traffic would be so amazing! Nathan, I really enjoyed watching you come up with things to do, being inventive and creative. Hannah, you were also very independent, going off on your own, exploring all the things and trying everything out. And Hailey, I loved watching you just interact with everything around you, taking it all in. I thought it would've been a very stressful morning, but it wasn't too bad.
I was able to convince you guys to go to Kura sushi for lunch and Hailey, you gifted me with 20 minutes of a peaceful lunch by falling asleep in the car and transferring to the carrier without waking up. We then went to 99 ranch market to pick up a few things and then went home.
The rest of the week is lined up with more adventures and then next weekend, Grandma and Grandpa will be visiting!
So Daddy took a picture of this. Apparently you both accidentally released my birthday balloon and it got stuck. I used it as an opportunity to teach how to let go of events that could make us angry. While I was giving Hailey a bath, you two came up with this set-up to retrieve the balloon and guess what? It worked!
Well, I'm going to bed. I'll keep you all posted on the results of Hailey's blood work. Please keep her in your prayers as we try to figure out this mystery.
Love,
Mommy
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