C-A-R-R-O-T-S

sneak peak: working on our christmas card photo
ida hanging out in our new living room
homemade carrrrrrrrots
our new diggs
pooped out from getting a IV and eating
i woke up and this thing was on my arm...
barf bowls make good hats
holding onto dads finger
c.j. popping in for a visit

can you say we have been busy?

friday we took possession of our new home. we honestly can't believe it's ours and we are in a house again. mom and dad have helped immensely by bringing several loads over on the weekend. we have had jeff and a construction crew working like crazy in the basement developing it for c.j.'s new studio space. they are doing a really great job. it is going to look amazing when they are done. the appliances have been delivered, some are working some still need to be installed... i have spent days at the house unpacking box after box. when we originally moved we had the house professionally packed thinking it would need to make the long trip down the california. so, as i am unpacking, i am amazed at just how awesome things were wrapped up. i haven't found any casualties yet, nothing broken or funny.

yesterday ida had her first food trial. i have to say i was quite nervous for her, even though i thought for sure carrots would pass the test. so, the night before, i couldn't sleep, i felt like i was having mini anxiety attacks and had to take some big, deep breaths. at about 4:30 i finally was able to get to sleep. 6:30 came too soon but we got ready and got to the Medical Day Treatment clinic on time. they had an area all set up for ida, the nurses were so kind. one nurse thought i looked familiar and we determined that she took care of eli when he had RSV and was in the hospital for a week just before he turned one. what are the odds?? anyho, they set ida up with a IV {something she wasn't very happy about}, then i had to get some carrots in her. now, this was no easy feat. she gagged, she cried, she chocked, she spit it out, she wouldn't swallow, she shook her head, she was not happy. keep in mind, this was the first real exposure to "food". carrots are a strong taste and even though it was thin, it was really strange for her texture wise {i am assuming}. i got 1/2 tsp-ish into her and she konked right out. she woke up right around the 2 hour mark, when a reaction would typically happen...10 minutes passed, 20 minutes passed... 40 minutes passed... OK, this is a good sign... so the dietician wanted me to now give her double the dose {about 2 tsp} and wait and see if this would produce anything. 1/2 tsp was hard, 2 tsp's was ridiculous. it was more of the same thing, but at this point the white tissue T i was wearing from JCrew was toast, the black wool sweater over top of that had a shoulder smeared with carrots and my left boob was getting oranger and oranger {sorry mom}. the only way i could get the carrots down was to struggle to get a spoonful in then follow that with some nursing. it took about 20 minutes to get that 2 tsps down and then she was out again. this time around i was frustrated, tired, carrot stained and spent. now, it was just a waiting game. at about 2:30 i had been there about 6 hours and i thought, it was kind of like flying. you have a little chair, kind of confined to a small space, not a lot of food. i thought at the end of this flight we will either be in "carrotopia" or going down in flames. i am happy to say, carrots passed the test and we arrived safely. i had given her last dose at 12:30ish and by the time we left at 4:00 she still had no reaction. so, now over the next week we are going to continue to introduce carrots on her terms. we are going to let her touch them, smear them, taste them, feel them and get her excited about eating in a positive way because if every week is like it was this week i might go mental. eating can not be this painful.

it will all work itself out, she will be a pro by next week. on the menu: PEARS. i can't wait.