Happy Birthday Brody!

Brody at 12 months

Brody at 4 months (before we found out he had food allergies)

Brody is 1 years old today! I wanted to post a picture of what Brody looked like before we found out that he had food allergies. It stared at 4 months; the eczema on his face would get so bad that it would be open, goopy and smell like death. I honestly didn't take pictures when his face was really bad because it made me feel horrible (literally sick to my stomach). The picture above is a "good" picture of Brody's eczema.

I am thrilled to say that we do not have picutres like that any more and I don't have to worry about not taking pictures because his face looks too bad. I am thankful that we have found out what was contributing to his eczema. The eczema still flares up every once in awhile (seems more affected by environmental causes), but it is SO much more manageable and it seems to go away as quickly as it comes.

It makes me sad to think that it took us almost 7 months to find out what was causing his skin problems and fussiness (poor kid was miserable!), but I am SO THANKFUL that we did. For whatever reason, God is having me walk down this path with Brody. I have learned so much about food allergies, have been directed to some great resources in our community and have met other moms on a similar journey, which has been so encouraging. I have become and great label reader and this has made me even more aware about what I am putting in my family :)

Happy Birthday Brody!