Six Months Old

Ephraim was six months old yesterday. It is hard to believe - half a year! This picture was taken last night. We had such a busy day to end a busy week that I almost forgot to take a picture of him!

Let me update on his allergies... he had his gastroenterologist appointment last week, on Valentine's day. There was less blood in his stool than before I came off of nuts, eggs, and shellfish. So he is improving. The doctor spent a long time with us. He explained that with Ephraim's kind of allergies the intestine becomes inflamed, causing pain, irritability, bleeding, vomiting, and diarrhea. He basically just gave me information about his allergies. It was informative, that's about it. Nothing has changed as far as what I can eat. I took a stool sample this week and will get one more this coming week to send in. If the blood is better in those, then Ephraim can start on some rice cereal. If that goes okay then he can start some baby food. I still have to be very cautious and read all labels. At 11 & 1/2 months, they will do a challenge test to see if he can handle the milk proteins. The doctor said that 85% of children can at that point. We are praying Ephraim will be over his allergies by then!

We got Ellie signed up for soccer this week. She is very excited! She is still in gymnastics, too, so she is keeping busy. I have been working on getting her room painted - "Tinkerbell Green". I just have the trim left to do. It is very green, but, that is her favorite color!

Scott had an appointment with the foot doctor Wednesday. He is actually wearing two shoes now! He is out of the big boot and quite happy about it. He has also been approved to ride a bike as long as he doesn't use clip in pedals. He has to wait one more month before he can resume running.

I have had what I think was a stomach virus. In the past month, I have also had a cold, and what I really believe was a mild case of the flu. I used to never get sick. We have actually all been sick except Ellie. Scott says she's just a carrier. She brings home all the sickness from daycare but never gets anything herself. I'm just glad one of us is healthy! We didn't realize how blessed we've been with her health until Ephraim came along, bless his little heart.

That's all for our family update. I usually don't post stuff like this, but... anyone that knows me well knows that I love Gymboree. They are having a baby sale right now and doing Gymbucks. Also there was a mailer with a 20% off coupon (if you didn't get one you can almost always find Gymboree coupons on Ebay). And with almost all their coupons you can use them twice - once online and in the store. Just remember if you are going to use it in the store first to write down the number off of it if you plan to later use it online. All these things make for some really good deals at the Gymboree! Spring lines and the Easter line is out. All very cute, as always. And yes, I did shop there today in case you were wondering!