Snow, teeth, and eczema :)

Aren't we a cute little family on our farm? haha Jarred's brother took some pictures for us a few weeks ago for our Christmas card - this isn't the one we chose for our card, but I still really like it! The mistyness in the background ALMOST feels like snow! Speaking of snow...I've heard from a few people that it's supposed to be a snowy winter and although I won't have work "snow days" I am really excited to get snowed in and watch movies and drink warm tea in my pjs.

This morning Emma was chewing on my finger and I felt something sharp as I pulled it out of her mouth. I couldn't believe it when I further examined the situation and realized...my little baby has cut her first tooth! She's been drooling like a faucet and putting everything in her mouth for a few months but she hasn't been fussy at all so it was very unexpected! How in the world did she get old enough for this already!?!?

Over the past few weeks I've been noticing that she has what looks to be some mild eczema on her sweet little body. It's really dry, rough and occasionally gets red. I've been trying to figure out if it's because of the dairy I've been having, because of our hard water, or just how her skin is. Seriously, getting different opinions and advice from various doctor's is confusing and frustrating so I finally decided to get in contact with a friend of mine who has 4 kids and has been through it all with allergies (airborne nut allergies, a kid with an allergy to almost all foods, etc.) to get some wisdom from her. Her advice was to cut out all dairy until she is older (like 2) while her digestive tract is still strengthening and growing. Not to bathe her in soap, pat her dry so the moisture stays on her skin and then lube her up with Aquaphor. My natural inclination was to feel discouraged but she encouraged me to remember that it could be MUCH worse - cancer, developmental delays, all kinds of things. I CAN DEAL with a milk allergy. God knew all of these things and chose me for this job of raising Emma. It was refreshing to be reminded that I can do this, it's not the end of the world and God will give me everything I need to do it.