If a tree falls...
According to the rules of insurance, if your tree falls on your neighbor's house or property, it is their problem. 
UNLESS you happened to know about a problem beforehand.  Then you are negligent. 
We had the second tree (neither of which were ours) fall on our property in a month. This time around, the tree in question had been split and hanging precariously over our yard for several weeks. We had spoken to the owners about it, but they did not do anything.  Now that the darn thing has actually come most of the way down, they are giving the impression that they had not done anything in the hopes that it would just fall on our land and become our problem.  So we will take down the limbs in our yard, but what to do about the large portions caught up in other trees and hanging from the original trunk?  I am perplexed; Patrick is angry.  The city is now involved.   We'll have to see how this ends, but I don't think that we will be having any cozy get togethers with these particular neighbors.  Frost wrote that good fences make good neighbors... he did not mention anything about trees.

Noella is looking better- it is hard to say "good" because on most kids the scabs/ crust/ redness would still look pretty bad.  For her, though, she definately looks good.  The steroids have helped tremendously.  We stopped that medication today, and we go to the allergist (thanks to the suggestions of our friend, "Dr. Fred") on Tuesday.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

In the meantime I am headed to Austin for a weekend of bachelorette fun with grad school friends.  I am going to bed early tonight, since I am already exhausted.  I know that I can hold my own with the single and wild ladies (I did make it up until 3 am recently with a particularly dangerous friend of mine)... but I also know that if I do so it will take me about a week or two to recover! 

Maybe I am taking the wrong test...
I am starting to feel as though I am in one of those silly high school/ college dreams you have right about finals time.   I did everything- went to class, did my homework, studied for hours, was well rested and fed... only to show up and find out that I am taking a test on a different subject entirely.  Maybe you studied European history and are taking a test on metaphysics.  Surprise! 
In the real world, I did everything I was supposed to- nursed, avoided processed foods, made my own foods, all introduced at the right times, etc.  Now I am trying to follow directions (at least I finally got on the course of seeing who are ready to help!) but can't seem to get direction fast enough to keep up with Noella's symptoms.  In other words: I don't know what to do.  I have no idea what the answers are, or even what they could be anymore.  I am a bit too type A to be comfortable with this experience, and I cannot imagine any parent who would not be concerned about their child's ongoing discomfort.
We have taken out all of the potential food allergens.  The dogs left yesterday to spend some summer vacation time with my parents.  Every toy has been scrubbed or washed, the floors have all been steam sanitized, the carpets have been professionally cleaned, all linens from sheets to carseat covers to shower curtains washed, you name it we have done it.  Granted, the food has been a bit over a week and the dogs have really only been gone a day and a half.  I should not (although of course I will) expect an instant reaction.   The most frustrating thing is that not only is she not getting better, but in many ways it looks like she is getting worse.  The eczema is spreading on her arms, is almost permanently on her upper thighs, and her ankles and fingers are almost constantly scratched up.
She has a stomach bug today and a fever, which made her eczema worse.  When she got up from nap, her feet were all blotchy and - now that I have seen it once- look like they are ready to erupt into blisters.  So we went to the doctor, consulted with multiple people in the practice, and agreed to put her on a short course of steroids to try to bring all of the inflamation in her body down.  Next step: an allergist.  Hopefully they can help us with finding some answers.

So, we went looking for some answers....

And this is what we got. 

She's potentially allergic (or at least sensitive) to pretty much everything.  Except cats.  Which would be good, if only we had two cats instead of two dogs.

Breaking News: Mariel Eats Soup!

 Bonus News: One Eyed Monsters Return

When I picked Mariel up from school today there was a note taped to her cubby.  It says:

Today Mariel tried veggie soup!  She said " it tastes real good.  Now I like it."

This is probably not shocking for most households.  In our house, this is big news.  The surprise of it is maybe (maybe!) equal to waking up speaking a new language or finding a pot of gold in a flower bed.  Mariel has not eaten soup in two years.  She will try pretty much any food and give it at least one "no thank you bite" before turning it down- except for soup.  She has absolutely refused to touch it since before she turned 2.   I wondered if it was genetic (my mother does not like soup either... we will have to do some research to see if this is an inherited trait)... but maybe it was just an extended phase.  Or some deep ethical opposition to soup that faded?  Oh, to know the mind of a child.

In other equally exciting news, the one eyed monsters have returned:

I love the one eyed monster drawings.  She did a series of them two weeks ago. My favorite was the one eyed monster family (a mom holding baby, dad, big sister, little sister, and brother- each with their very well centered one eye) surrounding a lopsided box.  When I asked what they were doing, she looked at me with suprise and said (because it was really perfectly clear) "Laundry, Mom.  Can't you see that they are doing laundry?"  After the one eyed monster drawings were complete she went into a scissor frenzy, which happens frequently, and before I knew it my precious drawings (which I was honestly prepared to frame) were turned into tiny shapes and shreds of paper.  So once I saw this one today I snagged it and scanned it- even if the scissors come out, I will have my own copy!

Eczema wins again.
We have gone from good  to bad to worse.  There was a wonderful 4 or 5 day period of no eczema.  I was excited, thinking maybe something that we had changed, the diet, the new regimine of creams or lotions, or even different pollens in the air, something, was working.  Instead, I think we just got lucky because in a few days the very dry skin reappeared, and then back to red patches and severe itchiness.  And now she is now covered in blisters.  They appeared Saturday morning, and I thought they were tiny inflamed bug bites.  I checked the dogs, took off all of her bedding, and finally realized that if we had flea infested house or dogs, it was likely that someone else in the household would also have at least one bite, and that the fleas might not be smart enough to only bite the parts of her skin with eczema.  It still didn't register that these were blisters until Patrick took her to daycare this morning and they immediately called and said that they needed a doctor's note to say that her blisters were not contagious.  Blisters are a common part of eczema, sadly, so it seems pretty likely that this is just something else we will have to try to figure out.  We were headed to the doctor tomorrow to do blood draws for allergy testing, so now she is home with me and we go to the doctor this afternoon.  Poor girl.
On a more amusing eczema note, I have started putting her to sleep with socks on her hands to keep the cream on and to keep her from scratching herself or chewing on her hands. I thought this would be torturous, but instead she seems to think that it is pretty funny.  She carries her sock mittens over to me and once they are on starts acting as though the are puppets, saying "Ga ga gaaa" in a silly voice and wiggling her hands over and over. 

She does not wear that hat to bed, although chances are good that she would try if I let her.  I have also tried to take pictures of her hands (where the blisters are the worst), but everytime I do so she keeps playing patty cake with the camera.  It is very effective at getting me to laugh, and her to laugh, but it does make taking pictures more challenging than usual.