One of my most favorite things in the world. Sweet warm baby softly snoring snuggled up tight to his #PapaBear. He scooted closer and closer to Papa until Papa commented on it, then matter of factly responded “it’s called a nap” and konked right out. 😄😍 #tribe #blog http://ift.tt/2ggAfrk

Proof I’m married to the cutest guy EVER 😍😍 #tribe #blog http://ift.tt/2bat55j

Our Song

Well, I think Jeff found “our song”… doesn’t every couple have one?
And, for those of you who know us personally, Yes, it’s a Jeff-n-Shannon type song!
It’s called “Both of Us’ll Feel the Blast” and it’s by a band called Waterdeep that we just discovered. We both really like the sound of the band; we haven’t listened to all their stuff yet, but we’ve enjoyed what we have listened to. For the adventurous (or curious) among you, you can go here and listen to #9. Enjoy!

Jeff’s Allergies

Well, after several years of knowing that Jeff has food allergies, and trying to pinpoint just what it is that triggers his reactions with elimination diets, we finally got him tested. NO WONDER we couldn’t pinpoint it!! First he had a test that measured his histamine response to 40 foods. That is the type of food allergy that usually comes to mind first. He had a reaction to 7 of them. Then he had another test that measures a different type of immune system response(IgG, for those of you who are familiar with this stuff). Out of the 96 things he was tested for, he is allergic to 17 of them!
It is such a relief to finally know what is triggering this and how we can avoid it! The testing labs even did most of the thinking for us and gave many lists of things he can have, as well as a 4-day rotation diet plan, as after his system is purged of the allergens, he will be able to reintroduce them into his diet in small increments, and as long as he doesn’t eat them too often for his body to handle, (hence the 4 day rotation) he can have some of them.
At first, it was a bit discouraging, looking at the list, our first question was “What CAN you eat??!?”, but it’s been a couple of weeks now, and he’s feeling so much better having those foods out of his system, and we’ve been exploring and experimenting and finding things that he can eat that are actually yummy too.
So, for those who are curious, here’s his list of things he’s allergic to:

Corn, Soy, Wheat, Carrots, Oysters, Hazelnuts, Brazil Nuts
Those are the ones he has a histamine response to.

The IgG allergens are:

Milk, Eggs, Oats, Baker’s Yeast, Brewer’s Yeast, Yogurt, Cheddar Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Swiss Cheese, Garlic, Gluten, Mustard, Oranges, Peanuts, Soy, Tomatoes, Wheat.

Soy & Wheat he reacts to both ways. And, some of those allergies prohibit other foods… For example, the yeast allergies mean he has to avoid sweetners (sugar, honey, maple syrup, fruit juices) as well as avoid vinegar.
But like I said, we’re so glad to finally know, and be able to get him feeling better! And there is a hidden bonus here… the perfect excuse to get away from processed foods!! Yay!!