Happy 29th Birthday Brian!

The highlight of our week was celebrating Brian's birthday. Annelise has pretty much had an obsession with pretending to be "WALL-E" ever since we let her watch the movie, so when I took the kids to Target to pick up last minute stuff for Brian's birthday Annelise made sure we bought the WALL-E cupcake liners and toothpicks in the baking aisle when she saw them.
The cupcakes were safe for the kids too, so Brian and I had takeout food for dinner and while we ate the kids ate their chocolate cupcakes. Here we are enjoying food we didn't cook and lots of chocolate...

Saturday Grilling

We bought Brian's birthday present a little early this year (our new charcoal grill) and have enjoyed grilling for the past four Saturdays now. I gave Brian a book on grilling for christmas and he has used it now to make some very tasty stuff! So far he has tried hamburgers, chicken, brats, and steak. This weekend we bought Brian a few additional accessories he will need to continue grilling us yummy food.

My climbing monkey

In the last few weeks most of my energy has been focused on keeping Nathan alive. He learned to climb and is not nearly as cautious as Annelise was as a baby. Lately he enjoys climbing onto couches, using toys to climb onto the toy shelves, and climbing up onto the kitchen table. Our eating area now usually looks like this...

Trip to the Sandbox

Annelise has been begging me to take her to the volleyball courts to play in the sand, so today we finally went. When we got there we spent probably two minutes in the sand because Annelise didn't like the sand in her flip flops and Nathan was upset because he couldn't get out of it. Fortunately there is also a park next to the sand, so we played a little too.

Not a fan of sand.

A fan of playground equipment.

Quiet Time

During the afternoon when Nathan naps we have "quiet time". Generally Annelise also falls asleep during this time. Lately she has taken a liking to the bench in the entryway for this purpose. This is how I found her this afternoon.

Food Allergy Tests

Yesterday we had our big day at the allergist. Nathan and Annelise were both skin and blood tested. The skin tests came back pretty much as a thought they would. Annelise is VERY allergic to milk and eggs. Nathan also tested positive for allergies to milk and eggs, but his were extremely mild in comparison to Annelise. So for now, neither one of them can eat these items or anything that has them in them. The good news though....Annelise was tested for peanut allergies and ate some in the office and Nothing Happened!!!!!!! Once the blood test results come back we were given the green light to let her start eating peanut butter. I am relieved to at least not have to worry about a peanut allergy since this one can be the most serious. The most amazing part of the whole visit is that they both lasted there for three hours (thanks to all the toys they had) and neither one cried during their blood draws. They were both so brave!
After the long morning in the office we picked up Brian at work since he was only a few minutes away and went to lunch. We bought the kids McDonald's french fries and then ate at the Panda Garden. A great way to end our morning out!

Sunbeams update

Well I thought I had food allergies under control at church, but this past Sunday actually got worse. I think I need to speed up my allergy preparedness now that Annelise is involved in more things. During the lesson this week the class had a special visitor who shared a little message and then gave each child a hershey kiss. I knew Anneliese couldn't eat it because of the milk but she begged me and I was not prepared with substitute candy. So I gave her maybe a 1/4 of the little hershey kiss. She ate it and looked fine, but within a minute complained that her mouth hurt. So I took her to get some water, found Brian and gave her some Benadryl and then took her back to class. The class ended a few minutes later at which time Annelise threw up all over the carpet and herself. We cleaned up the mess and drove home. I brought her into the house and she threw up again in the kitchen. So glad it wasn't the van! So tomorrow is the big day when Nathan and Annelise both get allergy tested. Reports to follow...

Sunbeams

This year I am teaching Annelise's church class of 3-4 year olds. We had our first class together last week and the kids did great. I am off today to teach them again and I am prepared this time with extra diaper wipes to wipe down the table in the classroom to prevent another allergic reaction to Annelise during the lesson.

Laundry

I think I've done an unusually large amount of laundry this week. I'm never quite sure though because as soon as I'm done I turn around and there is more. So today I did three loads, ironed five shirts, and am hoping that I don't see any more laundry until Monday. All I'm hoping for is that the kids make it two nights without accidents. Really though, I love having a washer and dryer. I can see our time together is only going to increase this year as our family grows and I don't think I could live without them.

Its A.....

GIRL! Yesterday Brian took the day off from work to help me get to the 20 week ultrasound with the kids. The sonographer was even nice enough to let them all come in the room. She let Annelise put the gel on my belly and the three of them lasted long enough to find out we're having a girl and then they left for the waiting room (mainly due to Nathan who couldn't stay still). Annelise is very excited to have a sister and we are excited for another girl too! This is the first time I have been given a 4-D picture of the baby.

Outside Fun

Today was just right for playing outside and doing the art project I was saving for Annelise and was afraid to do inside because of Nathan. Here they are painting the big box our new grill came in. They both loved it and spent a long time in the bathtub afterwards.