Help this study reach 1,000 participants!

I've written on this blog before about our family's participation in the Children's Memorial Food Allergy Study. I also feel a sense of obligation to encourage others to sign up, too, because they need 1,000 participants to make the whole thing worthwhile. (Well, that's not how they put it - I'm sure there's a more technical statistical term for it.) Anyway, I had been meaning to do something but finally today just got around to sending an email to certain friends attempting to drum up support. So I figured while I was at it that I would post some of the same information on this blog. (The info below is from the AllergyMoms.com website.)

According to a recent survey, 86% of all U.S. clinical trials fail to recruit
the required number of participants on time. Never have there been so many
studies of promising therapies for food allergies-but without qualified
participants, this life-saving research cannot move forward. By participating in
a clinical trial, your family will contribute directly to the search for better
treatments and a cure.

Of course, participating in a research study is
an important commitment. You're sure to have questions about the therapy being
tested, the medical exams you'll need to take, the demands on your time, safety
issues, and more.

To learn more, check out the following resources,
which provide information on current food allergy clinical trials, how these
studies work, questions to ask if you're thinking of participating, and more.

FAI
www.faiusa.org/clinicaltrials

FAAN
www.foodallergy.org/page/research-activities

To learn more about the specific study our family participates in, go to: http://www.childrensmrc.org/allergy/study/

I Heart Faces: "I Heart Desserts"

The theme this week at the i heart faces photography website is desserts.

No birthdays to speak of in our household, but these cupcakes do represent a special occasion: Georgia's first time ever helping to decorate (and eat!) homemade cupcakes since her egg challenge in January. (For those following along, her tolerance of baked eggs continues to go well, and today she even ate the first pancake of her life at the ripe old age of 2 years, 8 months, and 2 days. Well, she had a few bites, anyway. Despite her excitement about trying the pancake, she didn't really dig in.)

Anyway, the cupcakes above are what happens when you click on a parenting website searching for new ways to handle your two year old's behavior and instead come away with said website's "best of" cake and frosting recipes.

Recipes available here.

More dessert photos to be found here: