Allergic to West Texas!

Today, we experienced one of the worst things we could put our child through.  Farrah had to have an allergy test done this morning.  I know there are so many children who are going through issues that are so much worse then allergy testing.  We have been blessed with a very healthy little girl and we are so thankful for that!  So today was hard and it gave me a greater understanding for the parents that are walking a path with their children who have health issues.

When Farrah was about two weeks old she started having allergy problems.  Since she was so young there was nothing we could do but wait til she turned two months.  At two months old, Farrah was put on a special allergy medication.  All was great for a while and then she started having more problems.  Long story short, Farrah is on three different allergy medicines and when they work they are great, but when her allergies are bad the medicine is no use. 

Our pediatrician recommended an allergy test for Farrah.  We were glad to finally have this option...Farrah had to wait til she was at least two years old before she could get tested.  She has been miserable for months, pretty much all summer.  I knew she had some outdoor allergies but I didn't know which ones. 

Today, we had her allergy testing and we were "prepared" for what everyone had told us.  We quickly figured out that we were in fact not prepared!  They tested for 37 allergies and she tested positive to 30 different allergies.  We had no idea she was that allergic!  This poor girl never told us how miserable she was! 

Today, our doctor explained that Farrah would need to come in weekly for allergy shots for the next 6-9 months to get into the maintain phase.  After we reach the maintain phase she will have an allergy shot every 3-6 months for the next 5-8 years.  The idea is that hopefully after 5 years she will become immune to these allergies and won't have to have anymore allergy shots. 

Here is a picture of when the test had started.....

Here is the after.....

 

 

Farrah was such a trooper!  She was so uncomfortable and shed a lot of tears.  I was thankful James came with me today.  He had to hold her hands down so she couldn't scratch her back.  I was also glad I thought ahead, I brought one of her favorite books to read her and her lovie.  I'm glad we had this test done even though she was in pain.  Now we can start treating these allergies and Farrah can live a life without feeling so miserable.  

Summer fun!

I've not been able to write all the posts I had planned all summer so here are the clip notes of our summer.  I promise I will be better about this in the future!  I can't believe school starts in a couple of weeks...kinda glad to have a schedule back! 

The thing we've done the most this summer is swim!  I enrolled Farrah into two different swimming lessons this summer.  I am so glad I did this!  The first session, Farrah learned to get comfortable with the water again and just played and had fun.  The second session she really learned some good techniques on swimming.

Farrah was also a flower girl for the first time!  She was so precious and I was so proud of her!  She walked down that aisle like a pro.....her daddy doesn't want to see her walking down an aisle for another 25 years...haha! 

I went on a mission trip to my favorite country in the world, Czech Rep!  I had the honor of taking my niece, Quinn, on her very first mission trip.  It was so fun seeing the world through her eyes.  James and I can't give our nieces and nephews lavish gifts so our gift for them is hopefully the love for other nations and God's people. 

We've played a lot at the parks...such great and cheap entertainment!

We had a dance party at Church on the Rock's family fun night!  These girls are so much fun and this is only half of them.  We are surrounded by little girls and it is so much fun!

My mom and I surprised my sister with her favorite musical, The Sound Of Music, at the outdoor Moonlight Musical for her birthday.  So much fun!!

We've spent a lot of time outside just playing!  Farrah is the happiest outside.....just like her momma!  I think if we could live outside we would. 

We've had a great and busy summer.  It's also been one of the hardest summer's I've had.  I really feel like God is stretching me and closing doors that I so desperately want open.  Change is not always easy but it is always good! 

I've really learned to slow down this summer and just enjoy family.  I've also learned that I really have no control over anything but myself and my actions.  Now the challenge is teaching that lesson to Farrah...haha! 

Playroom makeover!

Ever since we moved in our house 2 years ago, I've always had the idea to make our front bedroom a playroom.  What took me so long was finding the right color to paint this room.  This room is a playroom/office so it couldn't be to girly and I didn't want it to grown up either. 

After looking at color after color I finally decided to paint the room grey.  I had the hardest time finding the perfect grey because everything I tried was either silver or had a blue undertone and I just didn't like it.  After finding the perfect grey I was inspired and did the whole room in a day.

I had ordered some prints off of Zulily for the playroom half and recycled some other wall art I already had.  For the office side I used the art I've gotten over the years from Prague. 

I also recycled an old coffee table that I bought years ago at a garage sale.  My parents used this table for years and were done with it so I brought it back home.  It was sitting in my parents garage on its side and it just screamed at me saying "dress-up closet!"  I painted it black and added a "wallpaper" to the inside and it turned out so stinkin cute!  Farrah thinks it the best thing ever...haha! 

Here's the before...

Here's the after...

Farrah loved having her very own playroom but she has discovered she also has to clean that playroom....haha!  She's getting quite good about keeping it clean. 

I found these little chairs at Garden Ridge and they are so fun!  Farrah loves to sit and color and play "school" at this table and chairs.  I've really enjoyed playing with her and seeing her imagination take off! 

Two projects down....one more to go!