What's in a Name?

We use them every day.  They help us identify one another.  They are nicknames, they are legally given names, they are pet names.  Some of us love our names.  Some of us wish they were different.  I, for one, love my given name and also my married name. 😊  So here on my first blog entry, I’m introducing myself to those who may not know me.  My name is Julie and I live in the great state of Texas.  Why the name “My Momma Knows Best” for my blog?  Well, yes, I am a mom, but no, I don’t always know best.  The name started out close to a decade ago now in a family fantasy football league.  I needed a way to identify myself, and being proud to be a girl playing fantasy football 🏈(woo hoo!), I decided to make my name something that identified me as such.  I was a fairly new mom at the time, and so the team name “Momma Knows Best” popped into my head, and thus it began.  I’ve used that same name for my fantasy football team ever since, and I even carried the name over to my Instagram account (you can find me there @mommaknowsbest42.  I’ll share about the 42 at some point too!)  I adapted it a bit for this new blogging adventure, as the impetus for starting this blog deals with one of my sons, so hopefully he would be willing to say "My momma knows best!" 😉Thus “My Momma Knows Best” was born! 

So why am I starting this blog?  Because as a wife and a mom, I’m always trying to do what I believe is best for my family.  Do I just pick ideas out of thin air?  Nope.  I try to first take everything to prayer.  I am proud to be a “cradle Catholic” (i.e. I've been Catholic my entire life 😇), and my faith in God is the center of my life. It’s my hope and intention that my prayer life guides my marriage, our parenting, and how we run our family.  (As an aside, I'm married to my college sweetheart, Michael. 💕  More on him sometime soon too!) God’s answers aren’t always clear to me, but I rely on His speaking to me through others in my life whom I trust, Scripture, my time in prayer, and our life experiences.  So when an opportunity to help my son recently came across my path, I took it to prayer as well and asked for God to let us know if an upcoming decision was the best for our family.

Our oldest son, Brandon, was diagnosed with a peanut allergy 🥜when he was 2.  (We later came to find out he's also allergic to most tree nuts as well as sesame.  And yes, peanuts are NOT tree nuts, a subtle difference to the casual observer but a HUGE difference to an allergy family! 😉)  I’ll share more about that story and ‘why’ we are contemplating what we are in my next post.  But we have been led to an opportunity to pursue OIT for him, or oral immunotherapy.  In a nutshell (pardon the pun 😉) , it’s the desensitization to food allergens through controlled, gradually increasing exposure to the allergen.  It’s akin to allergy shots, except for food.  The goal is to have him eating a 'maintenance dose' of peanuts (8-12) every day. 😲  It's a (relatively) newer practice, and it's not accepted as standard practice by many allergists yet.  (I'm quickly learning there is a great divide between OIT allergists and non-OIT allergists! 😬)  This blog is going to be my record of going through the OIT process with Brandon.  I’ll share what he is comfortable with me sharing, but we hope to give a glimpse into the life of a food allergy family, along with an unbiased, honest look at the process of OIT for anyone who is curious about it, contemplating it for their family, or for our family and friends who want to see how it's progressing for him.  

We are currently scheduled to begin OIT - for peanuts only - for Brandon on May 22.  (Other tree nuts may follow after we finish peanut OIT.)  Between now and then, I’ll share a bit more of our story, as well as the steps leading up to “Day 1” that have already been occurring. 

Thanks for walking along this journey with us.  I’m thankful you’ve decided to take a peek into this piece of our lives!