How Many Doctors Appointments in 1 Week?

Last week we played a game called "how many doctors appointments can we go to in 1 week." Bug had his well baby scheduled for one morning and before the appointment I took him for a foot xray since he limps on it on occasion and complains that it hurts. Since we've gotten him a new pair of shoes this has happened a lot less but we figured we might as well take him just to make sure we don't miss anything. That ultimately broke our "no more than one appointment per day" for Bug rule, so by the time we got to his well baby he was done. The major topic of discussion at his well baby was his eating habits and how he gets his nutrition. He's a pretty small little guy and still uses a soy supplement, that he gets through his bottle for a significant portion of his nutrition. The ped suggested we see an eating specialist to see if they can help us get him off the bottle and on a more normal toddler diet.

Later in the week Bug had an appointment with the allergist to get his flu shot testing and flu shot. Since we hadn't done any SPT in a year, we did a pretty full panel of foods and cat/dog on Bug's back. We waited for that and the 1st flu shot test to be done and as we were waiting I could tell that some of his food allergies were still really bad, if not worse, at least according to the skin testing results. The good news was that his flu shot test came back negative but since his egg allergy was out of this world, we still needed to do the interdermal tests, fun! So we waited for those and Bug didn't like that at all, especially since he could see it all on his arm. Those came back negative as well and he was given the full dose of the flu shot all at once and we had to wait a half hour before we could go. The good news for the food allergies was that there weren't really any new ones, the bad news was that none of them really went away and we still continue to get negative results on some foods on his skin but positive on his blood work, so we'll learn more when he has his RAST testing done and sees Dr. Wood this winter. Here's to hoping we get even just 1 food back!

And even later this week, I took bug to the ENT because he had drainage over the weekend and was still complaining that his ear really hurt. And since neither the ped or the allergist could see if the tube was still in and said his ear still looked infected even with the ear drops, off to the ENT we went. And the result was great, the tube was still there and the infection was clearing up nicely.

While we were at the ENT, Daddy went to the doctor because he wasn't feeling well. Turns out he has a sinus infection and got medicine for that and should be much less grumpy.

And then to seal the deal on Doctor Week, we took Roo to the ped on Saturday because his cough didn't sound good. And though we thought we could be wasting our time going since he didn't sound that bad by Saturday, she said that his throat looked like there was major drainage and decided to give him a round of antibiotics.

Guess Bug and I will get sick this week!

Bug's 2nd Birthday Party

Last year Bug was sick with H1N1 for his birthday party so we decided to have a larger party than we normally have for Bug's 2nd birthday. Also, instead of baking his cake this year like I normally do, I found an allergy friendly baker that was local enough and ordered his dairy, egg, nut and other allergen free cake from there. The bakery is called The Lemonade Bakery, and everyone, especially Bug, really enjoyed the cake. We also made a few appetizers to put out and everyone enjoyed those as well and were sometimes surprised to hear that everything was allergy friendly.

Before the party started we decided to give Bug his big present from us. This is the first really big present he's gotten from us and he loved it! I know I can drive real cars, but that Jeep Rubicon looks like so much fun! And he really loved being a passenger in the truck as well!

And just before our first guests arrived, Grandma and Grandpa gave Bug his very own red wagon! Roo has a red wagon that he got from them for his 2nd birthday and Bug was so excited to get one of his own!

After everyone arrived and we all hung out for a bit we eventually had the yummy cake. Bug loved when we sang happy birthday to him and kept trying to reach for the fire on the candle. He was really cute blowing out his candle too.

After cake Bug opened his presents. It was hard to keep his attention after each new gift and he loved each of them. He loves dancing to Rock n Roll Elmo and can be found most nights dancing to the songs before bed.

He really loved the new drill. Little did the gift giver of the drill know that Bug loves drilling his teeth! That drill accompanied us to the doctor's office later that week and helped the time pass nicely.

The Toy Story race track was also one of Bug's favorite gifts! The shake and go cars are really fun to watch speed around the track, and the house, and the boys play with it every night; thanks Grammy and Papa!

Bug also go a couple of his own really big Tonka trucks from Uncle Matt. We're hoping to keep the trucks inside through the winter since the boys have so much fun racing them around the house!

And, the loudest present ever, was actually one that Roo and I picked out, not knowing it would be so loud. The push lawn mower, that Bug loves so much, is so so so loud! This may be the perfect gift to give to all my friends and their kids ;)

Bug got a ton of great presents from everyone and loves all his new toys!

We had a wonderful day celebrating Bug's 2nd birthday and we were so glad that he was well this year and could enjoy the celebration! We had so much extra cake that I froze a bunch of it and, ssshhh, don't tell daddy, I let them have cake for breakfast the next day! It was so much fun having everyone over to the house and it was a great day!

Happy 2nd Birthday Bug

Bug is 2 today! It's hard to believe our little baby is 2. We suprised him with cupcakes after we enjoyed spagetti night; a family favorite.

He loved the cupcakes and really loved when we all sang happy birthday to him; he did his little dance to the song, just adorable!

Happy 2nd Birthday Buggie, we love you :)

Roo's 1st Field Trip

Roo's preschool took a fun fall field trip to Belvedere Plantation. This was our first time going as it costs a bit more than going to Westmoreland Berry Farm thought it has a ton of fun activities. We met up with his class in the morning and it was a big cooler at the farm than at home so it was good Roo had his jacket. He was in a little bit of a shy mood so he mostly stayed around me as his classmates arrived and we waited for the field trip to begin.

The class took a class picture before going into the farm.

Once we got into the farm we made our way over to the tractor that takes everyone to the pumpkin patch. We each got a pumpkin and I let Roo pick my pumpkin which we agreed would be for Bug. He had a lot of fun picking the pumpkins and even found some pretty blue flowers in the patch.

After the patch the class did several different activities including going to a small petting zoo. Roo loved petting and feeding the animals!

After that the kids headed to a hug hay barn to play on rope swings. Though Roo doesn't have an food allergies we discovered this summer that he's very allergic to hay. As soon as we walked in it was clear that this hay barn was not a great idea. I felt terrible for pulling him from the field trip, but it was the last activity and he really wanted to go to lunch anyway. His teachers understood and we headed off for lunch.

Since I was already being a little mean, I decided to take a very short detour so we could get our flu shots. Roo was great and said he'd get his first. He didn't cry but exclaimed to the nice nurse that she hurt him! I got mine and then we headed of to Pho for lunch. We had a great time and headed home afterwards so we could relax after our busy day!

Closet Auger/Snake...Huh?

So, what in the world am I talking about? A closet auger or a closet snake, what is that? Well, it's only the most amazing invention ever. See, with two little boys in our house, there's no telling what they'll do. And their most recent story is about an apple the stuck in the toilet. This actually happened a couple of weeks back. The toilet still wasn't perfect after lots of effort to fix it and finally this week, we had to close the bathroom. That's when Grandma emailed her sister to figure out if there was a less expensive option than installing the new toilet we purchased. Lo and behold, the closet auger! Thanks to Aunt Carol and the rest of the Bloob family for suggesting this wonderful piece of equipment. With it, daddy was able to totally unclog the toilet. We are now happy to report that the bathroom has reopened for business! And yes Grandpa, I think it's really funny that you suggested we keep the new toilet and put it in the playhouse outside...but we're still going to return it!

Oh, and for the record, I still don't believe that they actually put an apple in the toilet because they only had slices of apple not a whole apple, but Roo's sticking with that story so we will too!

Fun With the Grandkids

Last weekend daddy and I went to my 10 year reunion at W&M. We had a blast catching up with everyone and for the first time ever, enjoyed a little time away from the kids overnight. Grandma and grandpa watched the boys for the weekend. I checked in a few times via text message and then called after the kids went to bed to see how the day went. When we got home on Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa gave us a full report of all the silly things the kids did. One of my favorites was when Grandma and Grandpa were trying to figure out why it was "raining" from the play set outside. Well, that was another example of Roo needing to go. The kids were really well behaved, Roo was a good helper, Bug napped like a champ and Grandma and Grandpa had a blast playing with the kids and didn't seem worse for the wear. It was also fun during the week when the kids would randomly do something new and burst out in laughter and say that it was something that Grandma and Grandpa taught them. It was great to get away for a weekend and I'm sure I forgot to mention some of the funny things the kids did but I can always add them to this. Daddy and I are thinking quarterly nights away could be a fun thing to do! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for watching the kids for the weekend!

Pumpkining

We went to the pumpkin patch at Westmoreland Berry Farm yesterday.

We got there in the morning so it wasn't crowded yet at all. In fact, we were on the first tractor ride to patch for the day.

Before we went down to the pumpkins Roo and Bug had fun feeding the goat on the airwalk.

The boys ran around and played on the tractor's trailer before going to the pumpkin patch.

It was really windy on the tractor ride and Bug just cuddled in. In fact, I carried him around the patch as we picked out our pumpkins.

After we took the tractor back to the shop we let the boys run around and play for a bit.

I got some fresh brocolli for Roo and he's super excited to eat it. It was nice to get there before the crowds so we didn't have to rush or push through people to do anything. The store smelled like fall so we got a few more apples that I'll make apple pie with, yum!

We all had a really great time and are happy to welcome fall!

And Speaking of Speaking With His Teachers...

The October material that came home from preschool today made us aware that this month is animal awareness month. They'll be learning more about pets and animals and have a service project to bring in supplies for animals at the local animal shelter. And while I think this is wonderful, Roo is really missing Baxter. The last few days he's brought his huge stuffed dog downstairs and groomed it. No joke, he lovingly brushes the dogs hair (creating balls of "fur" everywhere on the carpet). And he's also been asking why he's the only one who doesn't have a dog. I'll have to let the teachers know that Baxter moved out and he's really sad about it. We're all really missing B!

I'll Need to Explain That One to His Teachers....

Every Thursday at preschool is show and tell. Some weeks the kids are supposed to bring in something that has to do with the letter of the week. Last week they could bring in anything. Roo decided to bring in a little Matchbox police car.

When I asked him how showing his car was at school he replied "my friends all said it would be ok."

And it only took me about a second to realize why his friends would say this. Remember on vacation when Roo hit the panic button on the alarm system and the nice police officer talked with him? Well, ever since then he's gotten it into his head that we're all going to go to jail!

Yeah, so I can just picture him telling his friends and teachers about a police man taking us all to jail or maybe he just said mommy or daddy or some other version that would sound like it needs way more explanation! Yikes!

Guess I need to explain that one to his teachers!