Happy 1st Birthday Love Bug!

Today is Love Bug's 1st Birthday!

Though he may have the flu, he enjoyed a day at home with mommy all to himself.  It's been awhile since Love Bug and I had a day all to ourself.  It was a wonderful day and we had a lot of fun.  He's feeling so much better so we got to play a lot.  

We opened presents from Grammy and Papa and Roo. 

Mommy spent most of the day baking and decorating his dinosaur cake.  I didn't turn out exactly how I pictured but it was still really cute.  It was fun watching Love Bug eat the cake and then discover the icing.  He didn't eat or drink much today so the fact that he had a few bites of cake and licked some of the icing off his fingers was good.

I made the cake pretty healthy.  It still had regular sugar in it, but I substituted apple sauce for the oil and it turned out great.  You couldn't taste the difference and it was still really moist. Best of all, the cake and icing were dairy, nut, egg and all Love Bug allergy free so he could enjoy it.  I love this recipe and have been using it for a long time, it was a hand me down from Grandma, and I was even more excited to make a few of my own changes to it.  The icing was made with dairy free margarine so it didn't hold up as well as regular butter, but I felt better serving margarine icing to the family than Crisco so not holding up great is ok.

We had a fun day and all enjoyed signing happy birthday and celebrating Love Bug's 1st birthday!

And This Little Piggy....

We took Love Bug to the doctor today because he spiked a fever on Monday at Kristin's.  He's been on antibiotic for his ear infection for about a week so it was really odd that he spiked the fever.  What was worse was that he was grabbing his head and his ear and acting like he was in dire pain.  Definitely a 10 on a 10 scale.  

Daddy and I both went, which was really nice, especially since he's been so fussy.  They asked if we wanted to swab his nose for the flu and we reluctantly said yes, because we really thought he had an ear infection in his right ear in addition to the left ear.

Dr. Bradshaw came in the the room and let us know gently that his flu test was very positive.  We were shocked.   She did a very thorough examination of him, asked us a lot of questions and we agreed that though he had an infection in the right ear now as well, that he was in such pain because he probably had a massive headache from the flu.  Poor baby, he was even breaking her heart.

She prescribed Tamiflu and said it should work within 24 hours and really help get that headache better.  She answered all our questions and took her time and showed genuine concern for him.  Daddy commented that he was very glad mommy found a new doctor for the kiddos.

After a nap in the car after the appointment Love Bug has been acting much more like himself.  Hopefully he'll be back to himself for his birthday tomorrow.

We're not sure how he got the flu or how long he's had it for but we're hoping we're on the road to recovery.

Puppy Scarf

Ah, mommy earned a puppy scarf in the middle of the night.  What is a puppy scarf you ask.  Pure love and warmth from Baxter.  He has this way of wrapping his body around your neck and head and keeping you warm.  And they don't come free.

What does one do to earn a puppy scarf?  Love Bug was crying off and on over the course of a few hours last night.  I got daddy up and we went in and gave him some Motrin, gave him some love and put him back to sleep.  It was right around 0300, so it was early.

We got back in bed and I guess Baxter approved of our caring for Love Bug and mommy was rewarded with a puppy scarf.  Unfortunately, I had to move him to a different spot in bed.  When he's wrapped around you that way it makes it hard to hear and I needed to listen for Love Bug.  

Hopefully I'll earn one again sometime this winter.  Until then, we've been enjoying a Baxter free bed for a couple of months now.

Happy Halloween

Roo was so excited for Halloween this year.  We've asked him for several weeks what he wants to be for Halloween and he's said Elmo every time.  We were even able to get him to try on his Elmo costume the other night.  We thought he'd be feeling well enough today to go to a few houses and trick or treat but we just didn't feel comfortable letting him go out while he is still getting better.  One group of trick or treaters came by early before we turned all the lights off and as soon as Roo saw the kids with the same pumpkin for holding candy that he had, he dumped everything out of his pumpkin as fast as possible and said trick or treat so I would give him lollipops at the same time as the other kids.  Good thing we had some lollipops to hand out!

Last weekend he and I went to the pumpkin patch at Westmoreland Berry farm.  When we got there we ran into one of the little girls that goes to the sitter with Roo and her family.  We had a lot of fun going on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch and picking out pumpkins.  Both Roo and his friend picked out 'baby pumpkins,' or little green not really ready to pick yet pumpkins, but they couldn't be more thrilled with them.  After we picked our pumpkins and paid for them, we had strawberry sundaes, fed the goats, which were actually full, and played on the swings and slides.  When it was time to go, I told Roo to make his last slide a good one, he did, and got muddy from head to toe, but he loved it, and we were riding in Daddy's new truck so it was even funnier.  Oh, and notice, no more Crocs!  Thanks to Kristin for getting Roo to finally wear 'big boy' shoes!

Love Bug still wasn't feeling great today, so Daddy took him for a little ride and Roo and I carved pumpkins.  The first one we carved a big smiley face into and the second one Roo colored smiley face onto the pumpkin.  Roo was very excited about his artwork!

Even though the boys have been feeling great, they've been having a blast playing with each other the last few days.  Roo has been giving Love Bug lots of hugs and love and Love Bug is entertained by Roo's antics.

Hopefully the boys will be back to normal tomorrow and we can sneak by some friends houses in their costumes so they can do a little trick or treating.  Love Bug is going as a pumpkin.  But for now, we've got the lights turned off and Baxter gated in, hopefully no more trick or treaters for the night.

This Little Piggy...

We've had a lot of swine flu going around in our area and I've been doing my best to make phone calls to see if we can get vaccinated.  The local health department had flu mist available on Tuesday, so Roo, daddy and I went and got our flu mist.  They let daddy and I get it because Love Bug is allergic to egg and can't get it, at least not without allergy testing for it, and since there's such a shortage of vaccine, the allergist isn't sure if they'll even get it in for testing.  Roo did great getting his mist but came down with a bit of a cold the next evening.  He's got a cough, runny nose and low grade fever.  I took him to the doctor today just to make sure it wasn't bronchitis or anything else before we start the weekend.  The did a swab of his nose and it came back positive for the flu, but the doctor was not at all surprised since he had the mist and even said that she wasn't able to catch the nurse fast enough to tell her not to swab him as she figured it would come back positive.  I spoke with the doctor and we agreed that he there was no need for Tamaflu and that he's probably just having a reaction to the mist and he should be better by tomorrow, in time to go trick or treating.  She did say that the few kids that have been able to get the mist have been having this reaction and when I asked if I made the right decision about getting the mist, she said that she's a huge fan of the flu mist in general and that the flu is so much worse than what he has that I should second guess myself at all.  The really helped take away a ton of mom guilt I was having.  Roo was acting a lot more like himself this evening so that was great.

At the same time, Love Bug got an ear infection in his left ear.  Just a little itty bitty baby one, but enough to make him very cranky and tug on his ear.  He doesn't seem to have the pain tolerance Roo does, but then again, he's been such a trooper for all of his allergy stuff, it's ok if he gets a little sensitive about and ear infection.  This ear infection coincides perfectly with the appearance of tooth number 5.  If his first 4 teeth are a sign of how he teeths, he probably has his next 4 coming at the same time as well.  I'm sure that's no fun.  A little Motrin seems to really help.

So mommy and daddy are all out of sick leave but we could have asked for better timing for them to get sick, since they got sick at the same time.  And we were talking about it, Roo hasn't been sick since he had walking pneumonia in May of 2008.  Not bad for a little guy!  

Let's hope they're both feeling well for Love Bug's birthday party next weekend!  

The Longest Mile

Well, the longest almost 6/10 of a mile...Today we went hiking in Shenandoah National Park.  It was a beautiful day, the air was crisp, the leaves were turning and the boys were amazing.  We hopped in the car around 830 this morning and went for a hike around 1100 and arrived at home around 330.  The boys were so good in the car in both directions and even slept on the way home.  

We hiked a trail that was 6/10 of a mile to a waterfall, but Roo was way more interested in picking every acorn and rock he found, so it took a while to get moving on the trail.  We found a little stream on the hike and decided to stop there and hang out since we weren't making it very far very quickly.  Roo had fun stepping in the really cold water and Love Bug enjoyed a little snack.  

We bought a baby carrier backpack from someone at work and carried Love Bug in it and though he didn't like the process of getting in and out of it, he loved it and it was really handy to use as a high chair for a snack.  

It was fun getting out and going on a day trip and was even better because for the first time Roo let Love Bug sleep!  

Pictures Updated

I've updated some pictures on a few posts from the last couple of weeks, including the baby dinosaur backpack and froggie flip flops.  Enjoy!

Where Did the Sun Go?

This morning when I was getting Roo and Love Bug ready to go and we were walking out the door, Roo asked me where the sun had gone.  It occurred to me that he, as far as he can remember, hasn't actually been outside in the morning when it's dark out.  I told him that the sun went night night and that when he and Love Bug go to bed time that the sun goes to bed time too.  My response was logical enough that he was satisfied with the answer.  

Little Patriot's Fans

On Sunday's we've been having fun dressing the boys in their Patriot's jersey's.  Dada brought them back with him after going to Maine a few weeks ago.  We have fun strolling around in stores with them wearing their jersey's.  And we think they're pretty cute too!