Update from the Hills

#1 - Jersey has a new home with Megan and AJ (not my AJ, but AJ Armstrong). She is living in Springfield with them and will relocate to New Orleans when they move. They picked her up on Sunday morning and it was a very sad day for Cliff and I.

#2 - AnnaJo is allergic to the cats. We need to find a super loving home for them. I'd love to be able to take Monet back one day, but it will all depend on AJ's reaction to them.

#3 - Cliff and I went to the Cardinals-Royals game in KC on Saturday. AnnaJo stayed with Cliff's cousin, Jo Jo and played with Brenner and the rest of the Hillbrenner crew on Saturday evening. Here are a few pics... Now that we know how close they live to us, we'll be visiting more often!

Crazy day for us! Allergy dr results!

AnnaJo's allergy test today was very insightful. Poor baby had a reaction to quite a bit. We will not know if she has a true allergy to these things until we eliminate them from her diet and/or eliminate her exposure to them and then reintroduce them.

Very intense Reaction to: Oranges, Soybean, Green Peas, Alternaria (mold)

Intense Reaction to: Tomatoes, Codfish, Chicken, Eggs (whole/white/yolk), Banana, Sweet Corn, Dust Mites and Cats.

Mild reaction to: Carrots, Peanuts, Apples, House Dust

No reaction to: wheat, oats, yeast, pork, beef, dairy, goats milk, dogs, and cockroaches.

Plan of action....
1 - Food allergies - avoid these foods for 2 weeks, then reintroduce one at a time to see if allergy symptoms increase. (tomatoes, oranges, codfish, chicken, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, green peas, sweet corn, banana) This means that i avoid them since I'm nursing still and she cannot have them either. This includes food that is made with those items too. No tomato sauce, and no cookies and cakes made with eggs! Eggs and Chicken will be the first thing that is reintroduced to our diets in two weeks. Eggs will be first - that way I can have cake on my birthday! :-)

2 - Environmental allergies -
cats will be finding a new home temporarily until we get her food allergies under control. They might be reintroduced later if their new owner isn't super duper attached.

Mold (the kind that is everywhere) and Dust Mites are a little harder to avoid. We'll be buying new matress covers and pillow cases and having our ducts cleaned for sure!

We are following up in 6 weeks to do another round of environmental allergen testing and to discuss the food elimination results.

3 - medication
We will be giving her nasal spray - Nasalcrom once daily in each nostril. That should be fun!

if her reaction the the environmental allergens is severe in 6 weeks, the dr may recommend allergy shots. I'll be reading up and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm hoping we don't have to!

What a day! I have a long list of food label ingredients to avoid. We'll be keeping a food diary (for both of us). And we'll all need to be very aware of her symptoms. Might be a long summer! Our follow up appt is scheduled for July 30!

So...we need to find a new owner for Jersey, Monet and Mocha. Any takers? they need loving homes where they will be spoiled.

Sad day for the Hill's

Anyone who knows us knows that we LOVE our animals just like members of the family. Priorities have changed a bit though since we brought AnnaJo home. The four-pawed members of the family have all adjusted pretty well to her, but as she becomes more mobile, things are changing a bit. She loves to watch all four of them - both the cats and both dogs. And usually things are fine. She chases them in her walker and squeals as she gets close to them. And if she hits them - watch out! She nearly comes out of the walker, just to claim her prize! Remind me of this around carnival time...she is going to LOVE bumper boats and bumper cars! Anyway, we have decided that Jersey needs to be in a home without babies. She has always done great with my nephews - they are older and a little more deliberate in their actions. She has let them wrestle her all over and just lays their and takes the abuse. However, she is very leary when AnnaJo is around and it makes me nervous to have her in the floor with Jersey at face level. For anyone who hasn't been around her...Jersey is a very loving, devoted friend. She stays off the bed, unless invited up and she likes to sleep at the foot of our bed, on the floor. She loves being around people and will follow Cliff to the end of the earth. She is a great swimmer too...she is a lot of fun to take camping! She is a house dog though...doesn't like being outside without a human being to watch. She prefers to hang out and nap most of the day...watching what happens outside, from the comfort of her own pallet. If you know of anyone who would take extra good care of her, let us know. She is a great dog and we'll want to visit her occasionally, so keep it close, please.