Caroline's birthday and Jack's allergies

This post is for all the family out there that has recently asked us the question, "What does Caroline want for her birthday?". Well, here are just a couple of things. And by the way, party info will be coming out before long. Chances are, it will just be some kind of electronic invitation. There's just no time right now to actually write and mail them all!


Here are a few ideas for her:

1. We do have a college account set up for the kids. Money for that is always great. That will be so appreciated in the future.

2. If you do any clothes, she has plenty of winter/long sleeve stuff right now. I would suggest spring/summer things. She is wearing a solid 12 month size right now (and not sure for how much longer!). So if you do summer stuff, 18 months is probably safer.

3. She loves Jack's cars, but gets mad when I won't let her chew on them. I don't know if they make any girlie cars?

4. Any books that your girls have enjoyed? Board books are good too.

5. No stuffed animals or things of that type of material. With Jack's new allergies, we are really getting rid of those kinds of things and we ask that people not give them to the kids. We just can't keep them! Dust mites love them!

6. Between both kids, we really have GOBS of toys. We are trying to keep things as de-cluttered as we can. So if you really want to get toys, maybe something she can grow into. We've got bunches of things for this current age. I know, no fun, but just trying to keep things simple around here!


Those are just suggestions for those that have been asking lately.



Jack update:

We took Jack to an allergist a few weeks back. We found out that he is pretty allergic to cats, dogs, and dust. So, what does this mean?


Dust: We have to wash bed sheets once a week in hot water. Please, please, please...don't buy any stuffed animals for the kids. We can't keep them! Apparently, they are a great place for dustmites to live.


Cats/Dogs: Yes, this is a hard one. He can be around them, but we are going to keep him from petting, touching, be breathed on, etc by the animals. I said try. I know he is a 3 year old boy and this is going to be hard. We do have to ask though that if we stay at your place, please just try to limit how much the animal is in the room that Jack would be sleeping in. The doctor said that is one of the most important things about our travels. We will have to keep him medicated with claritin when we know we are going to be around animals.


We are hoping he won't get any worse and have to have shots. They would not start those until he is 5 though. The more exposure he has to these irritants, the worse the allergy could get. There is a slight chance he could grow out of them, but the doctor was rather doubtful since he is already so young with such a strong reaction. We don't want him getting worse for fear of asthma!