Good morning!  I am a mom of 2 amazing (yet very crazy) boys and love every minute of it.  I have a husband who works very hard so that I may stay home.  For that I am very grateful.  We live a very modest life, small house, we don't need fancy cars or flashy clothes.  

Let me give you a little back ground on why I am writing this.  Almost 4 years ago I gave birth to the cutest, most perfect little boy.  We were living on cloud nine.  My husband had started a new job not long before delivery and had to work a lot.  He was there through delivery and the next day but had to go back to work right away - there was no room for taking anymore time off.  Dillon was a little jaundice so after I was discharged, he had to stay an extra night.  I have so much respect for NICU parents,  it was so hard to leave knowing my baby had to stay.  Fortunately he was able to come home the next afternoon and breastfed like a champ.  It was after being home for 8 weeks that we noticed he was very fussy, hated the car seat, and literally ate every hour maybe could go 2 hours that something was wrong.  His poop was horrendous- the smell made you gag.  Then we noticed he had blood in his diaper.  As a first time mom I panicked -I couldn't imagine what was wrong with my little boy.  We rushed to the pediatrician where they took a stool sample confirmed it was blood (even thought it was very visible in his diaper) so they sent us off to the ER.  I was crying, trying to tell my husband over the phone where we were going and what was going on.  This trip they didn't know anything but ran a few tests, sent us home.  Flash forward another week.  Still the same but the blood is increasing and so are my hormones.  Now we were admitted to Arnold Palmer, where we stayed for just under a week.  I am still breastfeeding every hour maybe every 2, and not sleeping at this point.  My husband was working all day, then came and stayed with us until he was exhausted.  After running every test they could think of and lots of blood work they told me it was probably a food allergy and for me to do the elimination diet.  I ate nothing but vegetables, plain chicken, and black beans for almost 2 weeks.  When he didn't improve and still was having the same issues, we met our now amazing gastroenterologist.  D is now 9 weeks old and he has having a scope done on his belly.  As a parent, having to hand your child over to the nurses and doctors to take them back for anesthesia and a procedure was extremely tough.  Knowing that this would give us answers helped a little but it was still very emotional.  So after those crazy few weeks, we finally knew he had multiple food allergies and was immediately started on Neocate (an amino acid hypo allergenic) formula with a little rice cereal.  
Phew.  We were finding relief and prayers were answered.  It was not even 24 hours and we saw a change in D.  He was happy again.  We were getting smiles, he was going longer than an hour or two between feedings, and his body was more relaxed.  What I learned was that no matter what I would have cut out, it would not have been enough.  His body was so inflamed the only way he could sooth the pain was to eat, which would end up hurting him again.  It was a viscous cycle. 

Flash forward to now.  He is a thriving almost 4 year old that still is very sensitive to any milk protein or dairy products.  We also have an allergist who monitors his immunoglobulins (antibodies in the blood).  His are low which is part of the intolerance/ allergy to milk.  It make it harder for him to fight infections or the common cold.  

We welcomes our second son just over a year ago.  He breastfed for just over a year and we were so happy - thought we were in the clear with him.  Wow were we wrong.  It was 2 weeks ago when he had his scope done (again by our amazing gastroenterologist) and found similar inflammation.  Only he didn't have blood in his stool, he had sores in his belly.  This is why he had stopped eating.  Everything was painful for him to ingest except milk.  We drink vanilla almond milk and they kids love it.  For the next 5 weeks we will be dairy, egg, soy, and wheat free.  When we changed and took those major allergens out of N's diet, wow we had our boy back!  He is eating everything and twice as much.  Our little guy is growing and thriving again.  

I wanted to share our story and struggles and crazy life to hopefully help other parents going through this.  We have undergone so many tests, changes, and trials its rediculous.  I will also be posting different kid (and husband because he is sometimes pickier than the boys) approved recipes and meals!  

Thanks for stopping by :)

Rachel