For Mimi, Happy Birthday!

Looks like it has been 17 months since my last post. Our blog has certainly taken a backseat. And I am doing so now to have an easy way to post this video of my mom. It isn't even a great, or even good video...but it is the best we could do in the moment. And Mom, I think you will appreciate--in some capacity---how raw it is. Love you.

Pics for Daddy

Well...obviously much has changed since our last post...
Eli is obviously here (Elijah August Simmons). For those who do not know, he came on 9-9-2009, weighing 7.6, 20 inches long. We are all doing pretty well and loving the new addition. Samuel had a hard first couple of days home, but now seems to love Eli for the most part. The pictures below are a little random, and mainly from the past couple of days, but wanted to post them for David, who is out of town and would love a visual update.

SAM'S ABC TRAINING

Taken a couple of weeks ago, I think about 28 wks.

Samuel on the carousel...he isn't sure what to think.

Sam's Little Brother - Coming in September

Sam's First Haircut

I Love my Mama!

First cut is the deepest

Please disperse, there is nothing to see here

Halftime Break: Dum Dums!!!

Dum Dums are beginning to wear off

All Hades Breaks Loose

Ahh, Reward = rejuvenation by a refreshing fountain

Hit the dance floor, John Travolta

Bad Parenting and Grace, Part Two

24 hours later. Just a hint of what happened yesterday remains.


I am tired, need to go to bed, but also feel the need to communicate what happened in our lives today. Long story short, this morning we took Samuel to the ER because he was having trouble breathing after drinking soymilk that I accidentally gave him. The whole thing was really scary, but he seems to be okay now.
Having a child with food allergies is so mind-boggling and scary. I am very diligent, always so careful what he puts in his mouth and touches, and yet, somehow I picked up soymilk instead of his usual ricemilk from Whole Foods last night. The packaging looks identical except the obvious labeling. On top of that, after he started reacting, for some reason I was so confused and didn't trust myself...and did not give him the Epi-pen when I should have. I was afraid to give it to him, to be honest. Fortunately, God was gracious. I am so thankful that we live less than 3 miles from a hospital, David was home due to it being Good Friday, and everything else that transpired served my little man. After a couple of powerful shots, he was breathing fine despite his little body looking like a burn victim.
Despite being thankful, I also just feel sad and worn out by it all. He is allergic to all the top 8 allergens (milk, eggs, nuts (peanut and tree), wheat, soy, and fish(shellfish and other). His blood and scratch tests indicate that soy is one of the least of his concerns...and we had anaphalaxis to THAT! So I just feel sad at the severity of his allergies. Praying they go away. Until then, just glad he is sleeping soundly in the next room.

Finally! Some New Pictures!

As many of you know, Ashley is usually the one who updates our blog. Well.... a lot has happen in the last 2 months. For starters .... we are pregnant! Well, Ashley's pregnant. (12 weeks now to be precise) Wow! We couldn't be more excited. More to come soon. In the meantime, here are some new pictures of Samuel.

Bad Parenting and Grace

Samuel went to the doctor on Tuesday to discover two ear infections, but we were thankful to have found them early and now he seems hardly bothered by them. Also this week we have discovered that he can reach things much better than we thought.

He pulled my (cold) coffee from the table and poured a bit on himself. I didn't think much of it, was just glad it wasn't hot. Twenty minutes later he was covered in whelps on his neck and chest where the coffee touched his skin(from the small amount of creamer--yes dairy, but mainly soybean and cottonseed oil we think). We gave him a bath, hydrocortisone, and lots of Benadryl and he was okay.

Then this morning he drank an entire bottle of Motrin. Just a few hours earlier (at 6 am) I was bugged by David for having bought such a small bottle (which I absent-mindedly left opened on his dresser after giving to him). Samuel walked in the room where David and I were, very proudly, with the bottle turned upside down in his mouth. Ugh! Poison control said he would be okay and I was quickly glad that David had bought the little bottle.

We also discovered dum-dums this week. Samuel's new love! He woke up from a nap really hurting, so I gave him Tylenol and while we waited for it to do its job, I gave him a dum-dum. He mauled that thing for 15 minutes, no more tears or fussing, just pure bliss. He slobbered so much that I had to change his clothes afterwards.
The dum-dum. Note the slobber dripping from his left elbow.


After the Motrin episode the three of us went to the Peabody, thinking it would be fun to see the Christmas lights and the ducks. The bottom picture shows how restless Samuel was, he was slinking out of the chair as fast as possible.

Cute picture with my mom at Thanksgiving.

Shopping for lights

Good Video About Food Allergies

I often read blogs dedicated to food allergies, written by mamas whose children have them. I am not at the place where I want create my own despite how helpful theirs are to me. However, I do want to occasionally share about Samuel's food allergies. They are a constant concern of David and mine. I never knew how all-encompassing a food allergy could be, much less the many that Samuel has. I think this video does a good job at communicating some of their basics. Thought you might be interested as I find that I have the desire to educate others in hopes of protecting children with food allergies.

Early November

Halloween

More Birthday Pics

I am trapped in our bedroom while Samuel is trying to get to sleep in the closet (yes, for those of you who did not know that is where he is living these days). Anyway, here are a few random pics from S's party. My nephew took much better ones which I will soon add.
Like father like son. We found a cake mix that was free of everything that Samuel is allergic to. Not quite delicious, but we think Samuel liked it.

So, trying to feed him dinner of avocado afterwards wasn't that easy. Notice how cute this outfit is. Niki made it for him; she is amazing.


Typical Emma and Samuel pics.

Happy Birthday Samuel

Today Samuel and I met Natalie and Truman at a bookstore. It was nice to hold her tiny five-week-old as it reminded me of what life was like a year ago, and the months in between then and now.

366 days and 27 hours (of labor) ago, Samuel was born. Of course our lives quickly changed in ways we never could have imagined. It would sound sweet to say that I love him more than I imagined, but that is not true. Almost from the beginning I felt very deeply for this little man that was growing inside me and have never felt otherwise. I am thankful for this as I know it is an unusual gift of God’s grace.

I always wondered if, though I married late and subsequently had a baby later than most, I was made to be a mom. So much of childrearing is right up my alley. However, I have been surprised at how much I fail and feel awkward and ill equipped. As is typical, I have longed to be less regimented and more laid back, as I now believe the best moms are. From the very beginning my type-a personality fought to take away my joy. I spent my entire maternity leave—through tears and on my knees—looking for a way not to go back to work. I unproductively worried about sleep schedules, reflux, food allergies, and how being this kind of parent negatively affected my relationship with David…just to name a few.

And Samuel has grown into a beautiful little man in spite of myself. He is sweet and fun and always makes me proud. (Unless of course I count the many times I allow myself to wake up each night with him, despite his age and weight.) Today it has been nice to quietly celebrate God’s endurance and kindness to our small family. There is a lot to say, but at the moment all is inarticulate. So I will leave you with a few pictures. We are having a little party on Saturday, but he opened a few presents today.


This was taken early this morning when Emma gave Samuel her gift--a a baby doll, which David is really excited about.





This is actually from a week ago, but I thought it was cute. Playing on the trampoline.