Yes Lord Yes Lord Yes Yes Lord

Josh repeatedly asked me if I knew the "Yes Lord" song. No, I didn't. "But it is my favorite song about Jesus." It was obvious that he was singing the chorus of a song, so I googled the chorus and found the song on YouTube - Trading My Sorrows by Darrell Evans. Now instead of asking if I know the song, Josh asks if I can play the song again, and again, and again. I'm not complaining. I love seeing him dance and sing "Yes Lord." What an awesome song to have in his heart. The last 10 seconds of the video are the best, IMO.

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

Kip will be 14 months at the end of this week. The "Kip Diet" will be about 12.5 months old then too. Yes, the Kip diet continues.

Since Kip's food sensitivities did not magically improve at 12 months, he has begun seeing specialists to hopefully help identify what he can and cannot eat (and therefore what I can and cannot eat). He is quite the trooper.

So far, three doctors have confirmed that Kip either has FPIES or EE. Whichever one we land on doesn't change the plan of action much. Since his reactions are delayed, traditional allergy testing doesn't produce positive results. The next step is to go down to Houston for a 3rd round of allergy testing, which we will do in April. So far, his blood and skin tests have all been normal or negative of any allergy, which is exactly what we expected with his diagnosis. This 3rd round of testing, called patch testing, is specifically for delayed reactions and will hopefully provide some useful information. I did read a journal article saying that a small percentage of kids don't test positive even with this specialized testing. What a bummer that would be! The test results will hopefully suggest which foods to trial him on and which ones to continue excluding from our diets. Of course, I have a list of 20 something problematic foods and we'll only be able to test 6 or 7 of them during our (possibly first?) stay in Houston.

It has been wonderfully encouraging to talk with the specialists. They have confirmed that continuing the Kip diet is the best thing possible. In fact, according to the GI specialist, the Kip diet has prevented Kip from having to undergo endoscopy and take medications. It is priceless to be told that you are not crazy by someone with an MD after their name. Kip has also expanded his menu up to 5 items: rice, sweet potato, avocado, squash, and carrots. He sure isn't lacking for Vitamin A! Months ago, he seemed to react to rice and avocado, so we're hopeful that means he will continue to outgrow his sensitivity to the other culprit foods. All it takes is patience, prayer, and lots of turkey, rice, and avocado. Yum.

Sweet Valentines

I recently read that 4.5 years of age marks the rise of potty talk. This has proven to be true at our house. Josh does all he can to work "bathroom words" into completely unrelated conversation. For instance, when a car passes, instead of asking if I saw the back of the car, he'll ask if I saw the car's bottom. Ha-ha, so funny - NOT!

Fortunately, he still gives his mom kisses with that potty mouth - and compliments too. Brian has joked that Josh has a bit of an Oedipus complex, but Josh has been ramping up the charm lately with constant compliments. Here's a conversation from last Thursday:

Josh and I were talking about what heaven looks like.

J: Will Heaven be prettier than Earth?

M: Yes, better than we expect or imagine.

J: But not prettier than you.

M: Ya think?

J: Yeah, I know. You are the prettiest thing in the universe.

As sweet as it is (and possibly blasphemy) these recurring conversations fast forward my thoughts to Josh as a young adult. Though Josh is risk adverse when it comes to physical activity, when he invests emotionally, he is all in. Oh, how easily some girl will crush his heart. I will be so mad.

The picture is of the boys on Valentine's Day. My grandma made their heart shirts. Josh picked out the fabric months ago. When we took it to the counter to be cut, the fabric store employee asked Josh what hearts mean. He said, "Love." She then asked him who he loved and he grabbed my hand, looked up at me, and sweetly said, "my mom."

This year, the boys surprised me with flowers (I was pretty sure the delivery driver had the wrong house), a heart necklace, and a necklace holder that Josh and Brian built (for free) at Lowe's on Saturday. My expectations (which were along the lines of some sweet potato fries from Terra Burger) were definitely exceeded. Thanks guys!

OK. The next post will not be all lovey dovey. I promise.