aller-GEEZ!!!

So both Keidis and Kaya have always been stuffy, snore terribly, and have constantly drippy noses ... Kaya gets "allergy shiners" - dark bags under her eyes - and Keidis gets wicked eczema.  The MD told us to put them on allergy meds for 6 months and see what happens ... FORGET THAT!!! I asked about determining specific allergens and he said he was sure it was environmental or airborne (dust, grass etc) ... I have heard around the block that it could be digestive, so I took them to a naturopath.  We left the appointment with a list of foods to avoid for each of them  and we will see what this does ... it feels much better to me than medicating them for the rest of their lives. The issue is that this is really going to be a ton of work - it is inconvenient and expensive!  Here is the list:

Kaya - corn, oranges, soy, peanuts

Keidis - oranges, eggs, corn, milk, apples, peanuts - and 3 biggies ~ cheese, wheat, lettuce! 

you read right, he reacts to lettuce ... normally with a 3-year-old, this wouldn't be an issue, but Keidis eats salad hand over fist ~ he chooses salad over pizza and fries EVERY time!

So I am now on a quest to find foods and recipes ... if you have any good wheat-free websites or bread recipes, or deal with this on your own, I would love any and all suggestions.  

We have figured out that we will continue making salads with chard, beet greens, kale, and spinach.  We will move to rice noodles, crackers, and flour sometimes.  We will use almonds instead of peanuts for all that sort of thing.  As a family, we are just going to cut out cheese period (except goat feta).  Our plan is to make these changes all together, so that we are just eating what everyone can eat. Mike and I will be tested in the next 2 weeks so we can make a FAMILY lifestyle change :)

so that is my current stress ~ although I am relieved at this point to be doing something productive that doesn't involve medicine every day.