DH went through a social worker in the county where his adoption occurred. She is an adoption worker, but wears many more hats. If any of the states have a mutual consent registry, the social worker will check that first. Then begin the process of opening sealed records, if necessary. For DH, it was not a quick process - 4 years from beginning the process to contact. This was not the SW's top priority, and she required some prodding. DH has had contact with birthfamily for several years now, but no meetings. For DH's sister ... She started the process and within 3 weeks had met birthfamily. Some states are obviously easier than others, but I think DSS would be a good place to start, if that's who handled the adoptions. Good luck! It's quite a journey.

You did the right thing. Sending sympathetic hugs.

We use King Arthur, too. Last I checked, they label for cross contamination. We are wheat, peanut and tree nut free, too (among others)... It takes a lot of research.

BarbecueMom, I am totally stealing your menu. Yum. And Lisa in Jax, that sounds fabulous. Why, why, why have I never thought of using K-Toos in that way?? Genius. Thank you. We're going to try that, too, DS is excited. Thanks everyone! These are all great ideas, I'm checking out the website posted above, too. Yum.

:lol: I recently served an accidentally upside down roasted chicken - at a dinner for DH's French CFO, no less. Oops! It was *very* moist, and actually tasted great. I'm thrilled to read it's a valid cooking method. He'll just think it's the American way of cooking. :laugh:

I agree with this. I'm torn, too. We love this video, it's had a lot of playtime in our house - we've contributed to a few of the 8 million (?) views!

Thanks for all the great ideas! I don't have anything in particular in mind (yes, I'm behind on planning), so all of this is helpful. I'd love to hear how it all turned out, BarbecueMom. :) Oh, and yes, So Delicious is one that wrote back to be that there may be Xcontamination risk with some of DS's allergens. But we are exploring other options. It's a slow process. Thinking I might be putting a SoyaJoy machine on my Santa list! Strangely, I asked DS what he'd like most for Thanksgiving, and none of his requests really have dairy - except for pumpkin pie, which is manageable. So it may be that I just wing it with what he's requested, and we're good to go. We are going out of town, so I really only need to make food for DS (we pack his food to take to the family gathering). Thanks, all!

We have an Apple TV, and for the Super Bowl, we just airplayed it from our laptop to the Apple TV. Worked well. We use Netflix (through the Apple TV - so much easier to navigate that way than on the Wii that we used to use), and watch iTunes. We also like the new PBS station on Apple TV. Oh, and the TED talks. DH watches podcasts, too, and there are a lot of other options on the Apple TV. For Amazon streaming, we use our DVD player - it does Netflix, too, but the Apple TV is easier to navigate. (Apparently, I heart our Apple TV!) When we cancelled Direct TV (8 years ago, wow), they offered us everything but the moon.

Anyone want to share tried and true recipes? We are wheat free, dairy free, tree nut and peanut free, sesame free. A few other not-so-common allergies, too. This is our first year adding dairy-free to our list, and I'm struggling with replacing some of the favorites here. We are limited in our dairy substitutes. The only safe (not cross contaminated with other allergens) option I've found is canned coconut milk. So far, the rice milk and soy milk companies I've contacted say that there is a chance of trace amounts. Blech. But DS doesn't love coconut milk in many recipes - he says he can taste it. It would be great to get some ideas here!

No solution to offer. Just letting you know you're not alone! It is such a pain.

We don't ever make a batch of gifts to give the same thing to everyone (that sentence sounds off, you know what I mean). That always feels awkward to me. For BIL who travels a lot, for fun: coasters with maps of places he's been sealed on the top. This went over well because he's been to some really interesting, unusual places. For FIL who is diabetic but misses pumpkin pie desperately: a package filled with sugar free "jar pies" - they are tiny mason jars filled with actual pie. These were frozen, and he could take one out, heat and eat. Google "jar pies" for ideas. We've made bath bombs for young cousins - those are great in those shaped silicone ice cube trays. Felted soap for grandmothers - that one sort of flopped, no one knew what it was. Ditto for bath salts - I never felt like it was appreciated like the above.

Mine, too. It's mostly the men who cook around here. :)

I love personal, practical, handmade gifts. :) One of my all time favorites was a set of personalized towels from SIL - she used her embroidery machine to put names on. She's also done cute bags. I hope she has your idea on her list to do next! It would be easy to personalize for each family. To be fair, I grew up in the art show "circuit" and at her hey day, my mom was doing 38 shows a year up and down the east coast. Juried shows, some of the top rated nationally. So it's possible that my opinion is skewed toward handmade items due to my upbringing.

Loved all of these, but this one: :lol: That right there is the beauty of homeschooling! Stealing this one. Love that idea.

I throw them away, too.

I would rather eat toenails than clean the house. :D So we pay someone else to do the cleaning. I keep things picked up, do the daily stuff, and organize.

DS likes Crest Pro Health For Me. It is a very mild mint, marketed to Tweens - so it's not fruity flavored, but not the full mint flavor either. FWIW, DS says regular mint toothpaste burns, too.

In my area, a "secure, yet modest living" requires a minimum of $88K for a family of 4. Second to the NYC area. That's according to this. Secure meaning no one is in danger of being homeless, I suppose? But modest absolutely applies. There is no extra for non-necessities, and nothing for something like private school tuition (!) or nice vacations, or even many extras at all. That is pretty bare bones for this area. This area is such that DH recently had a very difficult time filling a starting salary position (in the $75K range) because most people simply require more than that to live. Another member here quoted that salary as a "nice second income." And she was right. It would be fine for a single person starting out, but not for someone supporting a spouse or family. I voted $75K and under as low income based on the above, but needed to clarify because I realize that's a high income in many areas. Just not here.

Can you suggest that DH be in charge of this gift, since it's his brother?

:grouphug: Glad it worked out. And... a big welcome to the No More Sears Appliances Club. I hear we are gaining membership daily.

Have you considered taking him to a board certified allergist? Not the pedi or the ENT? I would consider going that route, so you have documentation for the medical records, etc. We deal with multiple food allergies - some are life threatening, some are not (yet, they could be). Our new allergist (new as of last year) identified that DS has IgE allergies to both wheat and dairy and a few other things, though he wasn't having obvious symptoms. We tried an elimination diet and found that his asthma radically decreased while off of wheat and dairy, and the eczema disappeared. But then, asthma and eczema are closely related to allergies. Personally, I'd go to an allergist, but I like concrete answers. If you're not going to go that route, then a true elimination diet might be the way to go. Keep painstakingly detailed notes, and be vigilant that it's a good elimination diet so you get reliable results.

Bacon of the month club? I know... You said no food, but it's bacon. Bacon doesn't count, right? Watching this thread with interest... Looking for ideas for DH here, too. I am thinking of doing a skydiving experience this year. But open to more ideas. Oh, is he into family time? Last year I gave DH a picnic backpack with what we called "The Black Envelope Project." I labelled 12 black envelopes by month, and put one family activity per month in each envelope. But we do a lot of family outings, so I knew he'd like this.

Oh, what a wonderful pup! That's fantastic! What a good, good dog. My elderly aunt's dog saved her life last winter - she fell on her porch (outside) in the cold, and the dog ran to the neighbor's house. She ended up with a broken hip among other things - she almost died. But she's recovered now, and we are all grateful to her doggy.

I do. :)

I thought the same thing. :) No bulk bins for us, for that reason. If we did not worry about cross contamination with allergens, I would use bulk bins for the reasons others have listed above. I actually think it's safer with regard to contamination with BPAs etc.