Our couch, the jungle gym.

It is going to be a sweet day when we go to someone's home & the kids start climbing all over the couch. It is their 'favorite' toy. Seriously. They can climb on & off of it for hours.

Why?

Daddy started a game called 'Baby Loco'. This game consists of the kids getting on the window sill behind the couch, flinging themselves over the back & Daddy throwing them to the ground. Course, there is a pillow down there for the kids to fall on. They go crazy doing this!

Since the inception of Baby Loco, the kids now try to find anything that will help get them over the couch. Sometimes it is 1 of their chairs, other times it is a stool but most often, it is the little round table. It's too much like a mini-ladder & perfect for little feet.

Here is a series of photos of the girls playing on the couch. Lord, help us.

The Zoo...our 1st family fieldtrip!

It took a weekend of planning, a day of packing & lots of double checking things but we finally went out as a family to the zoo. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day or better company. Adrienne, Jack, & Lizzie met us up there. Honestly, I don't know if we would have enjoyed it quite as much w/o them there. I think this should be an annual event (hint, hint, wink, wink...A).

What we weren't planning for was 10 gazillion schools to also come. I thought for sure that they wouldn't come out on a Monday & right before state testing. Do-oh. I was way off. WAY.OFF.

But, that didn't stop us from getting to see all the big, beautiful animals. Not at all. It started w/ the seals. They were the coolest! Then we went on to the giraffes, elephants, tigers, bears, & lions. The kids were absolutely FASCINATED by the creatures. They knew the animals b/c we have been discussing them & watching videos before bed.

Of all the moments, & I'm telling you there were A.LOT. of moments, the best was when Ian saw the elephant. His face, priceless. He wouldn't stop making his elephant sound. Not for a long time. He may not be able to say elephant but he sure can tell us all about it!

I'm not going to bore you w/ all the animal pics, except for one. This was our trip.

Daddy getting tickets. A special thanks to Miss Jane for giving us 2 adult passes for free entrance!


Daddy w/ the kids & the seals right behind them.


The crew! Adrienne & Jack were fantastic when it came to dealing w/ our kids & jumped right in to help.


The 1 animal shot I am going to share w/ you. Isn't he gorgeous!?!


Our monkey backpack/harnesses really came in handy & gave the kids an opportunity to walk around.


Our 1 & only family pic. I love it! Hook 'em Horns!


Our kids actually sat still long enough to get some group shots. Isn't Miss Lizzie a doll? She was so well behaved. We were completely impressed & had a blast w/ our friends.



We ended the day eating, our 1st time ever to eat out w/ the kids. No high chairs, nu-thin. The kids did pretty darn well!



PS ~ The only thing forgotten was me putting on deodorant. How embarrassing! Thank God I didn't stink, haha!

Hives it is...or should I say "was".

After the many comments & talking to the nurse, the conclusion is that Ian had an allergic reaction to something he likely ingested. Now, what that 'something' is, we may never know. I have narrowed it down to 2 possible things, 1) bad deli turkey slices, or 2) hackberry tree berry.

I'm not even sure about the latter of the 2 but if we were outside & he found one, it may be that he ate it. I read up on them & they don't seem to be poisonous. The nurse believes we may never know for sure.

The good? The Benadryl cleared it up so quickly that the nurse said it was a mild reaction. Um. Did you see the pics? That doesn't look mild to me but then again, I've never experienced an allergic reaction to ANYTHING. Never seen hives. Didn't know what was happening yesterday when I saw his leg & butt cheeks. All I know is that I called my mom & told her I didn't think I had the stomach to be a mommy anymore.

That's how upsetting it was to me. Fear of the unknown. Especially w/ Ian. I am glad to report, I have owned my mommy-ness & do think I am good one, albeit a bit skittish at times.

Thank you all for your comments!

Allergic reaction to something...need opinions!

We went outside today but I didn't notice anything until after the kids woke up from their nap. I know there are a ton of you out there reading this & just may have some insight as to what happened to Ian today.

Here is a picture of what I saw when they woke up & I went to change his diaper.



Here you can see a couple on the back of his calves. Not nearly as severe as the one on his thigh.



Needless to say, I freaked out. I know Benadryl has a window of opportunity to work, right? Don't know how long that window is but I started praying that it would do the trick. After I took the pics, I drew a line around the affected area.

It was slightly raised, not much. There was definitely a red ring around the outermost part, which you can see in the pictures & then went white as it went inward. The affected area was warm to the touch. He also had 2 round areas, symmetrical, on each butt cheek. NO. I didn't take pics of those. This is enough to embarrass the lad as it is.

With an hour of the Benadryl, it was all gone. Nothing to point to where the affected area was except for my pen marks. Not even so much as a dot for a bite mark.

The mystery...what in the world caused this?!?

I don't think it was mosquitoes. Although Ian is sensitive to mosquito bites, it has never looked like that. No where near. My neighbor suggested fleas or chiggers, maybe ants. The thing is that this was definitely in an area covered by clothing, clothing & diapers, or socks & braces so I'm even wondering if it happened outside.

Anyone have any ideas out there? I would LOVE to figure it out b/c obviously he had an allergic reaction to it. HELP!

Sewing for my girls & their dolls :)

So, I have an addiction. It's called sewing. I like to find patterns & sew cute stuff for my girls. With the leftover fabric, I'm sewing their babies clothes too. This shirring top I made was a bit of a disaster. The instructions, although good, wouldn't work all that well w/ my big gun sewing machine. Betty Brother doesn't like elastic thread. Not at all.

Thankfully Sally Singer doesn't mind it so much. I still haven't gotten the hang of it. I need more practice. But for now, the girls have a cute top to start with & their dolls match them.



Can you see the babies tucked under Sofi's arms? She was dancing w/ them! So cute!


Now, I need to figure out something for Ian. Maybe cute shorts? He's getting jipped!

Planting our Victory Garden

I've always wanted to have a green thumb & grow a garden. I'm no expert & can't say that I'm really any good at it but I try. I've never tried to grow anything that would result in us eating any of the products but this year, I have decided to tackle my dream. Why not?

There seems to be a resurgence of victory gardens & I'm joining the movement. Cheesy, maybe. Worth the trouble, we'll have to see. The fun we had putting the plants in our new garden, worth it again & again & again.

See, I decided to make this a family event. Why? B/c I want my kids to start learning about the world in general, starting in our backyard. Off to Home Depot I went. I bought a few veggies, nothing too crazy, being that it is our 1st garden. Then we go the kids ready for outside. Lots of mosquito repellent now that the heat has arrived.

Meme, Abu, Oma & Katy were over hanging out when we started the project. The kids were so excited!


They each wanted their own tool & loved the wheelbarrow.


Sofi was hard at work, helping me.





The kids really got in to it, crouching down like Mommy & putting plants in the ground.


One of our cherry tomato plants.


Some lettuce!


Our cucumber plant, 1 of 4.


The finished product!


We will hopefully be growing the following:

1. Tomatoes (regular & cherry)
2. Onions (sweet white & yellow)
3. Cucumbers
4. Bottleneck yellow squash
5. Lettuce (regular & Romaine)
6. Banana peppers
7. Carrots
8. Pumpkin

I promise to show the "fruits" of our labor!

Pink Eye & a Fever

That's what's going on in this house. No time for anything as Ian seems to be SUPER clingy. I couldn't even eat today until my inlaws came over. Seriously. That bad.

It all started 2 days ago. Ian's eye was watering, chalked it up to allergies or a scratch b/c only God really knows, right. Sunday rolls around & by mid-morning, he had gook coming out of his eye. Not really yellow or green but gook all the same. We suspected pink eye & called the nurse hoping they would call in the antibiotic drops but NOOOOO. They made us come in.

All to be told it was pink eye. Then today at about 11, I noticed he felt warm. Took his temp & it was 100.6. Low grade fever. Wonder if he picked something up at the pedi's office yesterday since they MADE us go in. Yeah. I'm pissed.

Thankfully it has only gotten up to 100.6 & quickly lowered w/ each dose of Tylenol. It sucks. Pink eye & fever. I'm hoping it passes quickly b/c momma is going to be waking up every 4 hrs to check on Mr. Ian.

Oh, & let's not forget about Miss Crankypants, Sofi. Since she is in the throws of cutting her bottom 2-yr molars, life is grand. BUT, I rather stop everything & cuddle her or Ian or Gabi than anything else.