Ten years ago today.

I know, I have some catching up to do.

14. Cell Phones- My cell phone is my life line. I am ALWAYS on my cell phone. We made sure to get a cell phone plan that allowed me to talk to almost everyone without using all our minutes. I don't know what we would do without a friends and family plan.

15. Free Concerts- I have never lived in a place that offers so many entertainment options. There is a free concert every Friday and Saturday night about five minutes from our house. Emory LOVES to listen to music and dance. We went last weekend and had a wonderful time.

16. Blueberries- I know it sounds crazy, but right now Emory won't eat anything but blueberries. I keep envisioning Violet from Willy Wonka. There is one grocery store that still carries fresh blueberries and we go through at least 4 pints a week.

17. The Park- We have a park/ playground within walking distance to our house. We have been everyday this week. Emory loves the slides, swings and digging in the sand. Her friend, Noah, also lives in the neighborhood and has met us there many times.

18. Boomer- I love my puppy. I know, he's three and not really a puppy anymore. He is a huge part of our family and I don't want to imagine what we would do without him. One of Emory's first words was "pup-pee".

19. Arizona Allergy Associates- I am so thankful that we found a doctor that was able to tell me what was going on with Emory. We got the final results of her allergy tests this week and it is quite a list of things to avoid. I'm just glad that we were able to find out and are able to do something about it.

20. Girls Night- Wednesday was Moms Night Out for my MOMS club. My friends are so wonderful. They came over here for a game night since Eric is out of town and I wouldn't have been able to participate otherwise.

21. Eric- We had our first date 10 years ago, today. We went to Natasha's twentieth birthday party (happy birthday) and I took my cousin, Russell, along with me. Who knew that we would fall in love, get married and have a beautiful baby. I can't imagine a better husband, father or friend. Eric, I love you.

The list goes on

You know how you forget how important something is until you go without it, well our computer has decided not to cooperate lately. It is working today so I decided to take advantage of Emory's nap time. Here is the latest installment of my Thankful List.


9. Computers and Internet- I am addicted to the computer. I'm constantly checking my email, on Facebook, editing pictures or just playing online. My computer keeps me in touch with everyone back home.


10. Christmas Shopping- I love Christmas shopping! I love picking out gifts for my nieces, nephews and Emory. I start thinking about what to get people in September. We went to Toys'r'us last night and Emory wanted EVERYTHING. She will NOT, however, get everything.



11. Hand-me-downs- We love the fact that Emory has big cousins that are willing to share their previously loved clothes and shoes. I feel bad buying brand new winter clothes for such a short amount of cold weather.


12. Diet Mt. Dew- I used to drink a gallon a day before I got pregnant. I have since switched to one a day. I enjoy it first thing in the morning the way most people drink coffee. I savor every second of it.


13. Warm weather- We are supposed to have record breaking warm weather this weekend. This means that it should be in the low eighties and sunny all weekend. Most people think I'm crazy but I could live forever without seeing snow (or temperatures below seventy).

Thankful

I've been thinking of all the things I have to be thankful for and decided to copy this list. So in no particular order of importance (just the order of how things come up), here goes.


1. Weddings and Anniversaries - We went to the wedding of our wonderful friends Andrew and Amanda last weekend. I love weddings, everyone is so happy. I wish the Slades all the best. Tuesday was my grandparents' 58th wedding anniversary and I was very happy to be there to celebrate with them. I hope they have many more happy years together.

2. Family- Different people in my family will probably make this list again as individuals, but I can't imagine life without my family. We were very lucky to be able to visit with most of our family last week. It is hard to live so far away, however, it makes visits that much more special.

3. Friends- I consider my friends (old and new) to be family. I don't know how I got so lucky to have the wonderful friends that I have.

4. Democracy- I am very happy that the election is over. That being said I am very glad to live in a country where I have a say in our government. I am very excited to see what the future has in store for our country.

5. Birthdays- Today is my Mamaw's birthday. I love to celebrate the life of someone I love. Happy Birthday Mamaw!

6. Friendly flight attendants- We had the nicest flight attendant on our flight from Knoxville to Philadelphia. She let Emory play with the demo seat belt to keep her from unbuckling her own belt during takeoff and landing. She also brought her extra crackers that no one else got to have.

7. Home- I love visiting friends and family but nothing is better than sleeping in my bed.

8. Emory- Like I said this list is not in order of importance, just the order of how things come up chronologically throughout the month. Emory is one of the best people to come into my life. She truly makes me happy.

What CAN she eat?

I love Emory's new allergist. After a ridiculous number of positives on the pediatrician's environmental allergy test, we decided to see a specialist to do her food testing. We did a skin test today and will have a blood test done tomorrow. We won't have the blood test results for about a month, but according to the skin test, she definitely has some food allergies. She tested positive for peaches, carrots, apples, potatoes, corn, chicken, beef, tree nuts, milk and egg whites. However, the doctor is most concerned about her reaction to peaches, carrots, and tree nuts. She said to remove them from her diet and to closely watch the others. I'm surprised about a few (milk, chicken, beef) and not at all surprised about others (peaches and carrots). We are to carry her Epipen at all times and watch her closely as she tries new foods. I have to say that I'm happy we did the test and can do something to make her feel better. I'm also very happy that most of these things are easily avoidable. The doctor also said that most kids outgrow their food allergies by age 5 or 6. I was so nervous about this test that I haven't slept very well this week. I was worried that either she would be allergic to everything or nothing. At least now we know and can do something to make her feel better.

October OPAM

My project for October was to make Emory's room allergen free. An allergen free bedroom in next to impossible so I did what I could. Along with cleaning the carpet and deep cleaning everything else, I removed all unnecessary fabric including bed skirt and curtains. To cover her windows I decided to paint blackout shades so that they were still decorative but easy to clean. I also, finally, made a hair bow holder for the thousands of bows the child has acquired. Her room still looks a little bare, however, her skin has been doing very well (more to come on this subject when we finish her allergy testing on Wednesday).

Finally October!

I couldn't wait for September to be over! We saw the pediatrician FIVE times in that awful month. October is starting out much better, I must say. Emory's eczema is FINALLY starting to look better. I know, you are sick of hearing about it, I feel like it is overtaking my life. I was playing online and found a site that recommended putting an oil based moisturizer on while still in the bathtub. I decided that there are a lot of crazier things that I could try, and this one seems to be working. We are going for an allergy test on Monday, hopefully, that will give us a simple solution. I just pray that it isn't something like milk or wheat, or even worse, nothing at all. I'm the kind of person that needs to know what to expect and how to fix whatever is wrong. The pediatrician also did blood work to rule out any autoimmune disorders or a thyroid problem. I truly do not believe that there is anything seriously wrong but I figured he is just being cautious.

On to better topics...

Eric took the day off work today because things are getting ready to be really busy for the next few months. His promotion officially begins this month. I love that he works for such a great company.

We took advantage of having Eric around and went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. I was surprised to see how many things there were for toddlers. Emory's two favorite things were the curtain made out of ping pong balls (think bead curtain only much, much larger) and the slide. The slide had a real staircase, not just a ladder, that Emory figured out how to go up and down by herself. Another mother said "Wow, she sure is confident!" my thought was "OMG, what have I gotten myself into?". Needless to say, Emory fell asleep on the way home.

As if we hadn't done enough for a one year old, we decided to go to the pool after nap time. Yes, we went swimming outside in October. (Have I mentioned that I love the weather here?) Emory barely let me get my cover up off before she was in the water. She reminds me of her cousin Jenna in that aspect, maybe the eczema is just the beginning of her fins starting to grow. Our pool has a beach entry so Emory can walk around in a large portion of it. Brave girl that she is however, goes to the deepest part she can walk in and dives face first trying to swim, repeatedly. I think it might be life jacket time.

I, of course, forgot to take my camera to the museum and the pool, therefore, you get to see Emory's first taco (which she LOVED), another picture of her blotchy skin and a naked bathtub picture (FYI- I already took the rubberbands out of her hair).

Tag

Courtney tagged me, so here goes.

1. My favorite snack is to eat a Hershey bar and have a big glass of cranberry juice.

2. Summer is still my favorite season. Even though it gets to 120 degrees here in the summer, I still love the season.

3. I am secretly addicted to The Girls Next Door, for the same reasons that you slow down to look at a wreck. It's awful but you just have to watch.

4. I've had to do more yard work living in the desert than I ever did in the south. I still haven't figured that one out.

5. I've watched SATC The Movie 3 times already. I drove to 2 different Targets to find the Extended Cut with Bonus Disc.

6. I never make my bed. No one can convince me that this is a necessary task, you just mess it up again.

7. I truly believe that Sprite Zero is the same as water. It has no caffeine and no calories and I hate water so I figure it's better than a lot of things I could be drinking.

I'm tagging Rebecca, Bethany, Christa, Natasha, Anna, Kembree, and Sarah (who must start a blog NOW).