Got milk?

ELLIE DOES!!

Today was Ellie's dairy challenge and she passed with flying colors! After increasing amounts of milk every 15 minutes in her allergist's office, she didn't have any hives, rashes, or other problems. Yay! Starting tomorrow we can give her gradually increasing amounts of milk and other dairy products. We've decided that tomorrow will be cheese! Maybe next weekend she can pizza!

Mama explaining today's process

The first taste was just a few drops on her tongue and lips from a tongue depressor

The second taste was only 1/2 teaspoon

Hey, have you heard that it doesn't look like I'm allergic to milk?!?!

A little bit more....

and more...

...and the laste taste was 20 ml. Then we were sent to the waiting room for an hour, where Ellie ran around and we hoped for the best!

It was a very long hour.

We go back to the allergist in November for another blood test to check her egg allergy. We'll continue to do that until her allergy decreases. The allergist doesn't think that's going to be anytime soon.

But for today, we're rejoicing in this very good news and looking forward to sharing Ellie's first slice of pizza!

Today's baking project

Yesterday we made cinnamon rolls and today we made chocolate chip cookies! Ellie's favorite teacher, Miss Doreen, had a birthday this weekend so we wanted to make a special treat for snack time at school tomorrow. For Ellie's grandma in California - we'll make you these when we visit. They are much better than the cinnamon rolls and you'll never believe that they're egg and dairy free! As hard as Ellie's food allergies can be, we are very lucky to live in a time when she has so many options. Two years ago, I never would have known that all of these products existed!

Ellie got the batter out of every crevice in the beater

And when the beater was done, she moved on to the spoon. When the cookies were actually done, she ate two bites and said she was full!

22 weeks (almost!)

We are almost 22 weeks! I had another ultrasound on Wednesday to follow-up on the heart views they weren't able to get last time. The baby wasn't cooperating again and was in what the sonographer described as the worst possible position to view the heart. She's a trouble maker already! The ultrasound, which was expected to last 5-10 minutes, ended up taking 45 minutes, but they were able to get more views and felt that everything looked fine. I don't have to go back now for another month.

What I've noticed most is how different this pregnancy is than with Ellie. I'm much bigger than I was with Ellie and this baby moves around what seems like all the time (or at least much more than Ellie did). I also am still nauseous for most of the day. I am still taking the medication for the nausea so that I can function during the day, but I've been trying some other things that seem to help a little too. My OB recommended vitamin B6 a few times a day which takes a little bit of the carsick feeling away. I also saw a chiropractor last week and although I don't think it significantly helped with the morning sickness, it definitely helped with some of the general aches and pains that come with pregnancy so I'm going back next week.

Ellie has already proven herself to be a great big sister! We talk about the baby a lot and as my belly gets bigger, she's more interested in what's going on in there. The baby kicked her hand once so now she loves to put her hand on my belly and say that she felt the baby. She also lays her head on my belly and kisses it. Whenever we ask Ellie about our baby, she corrects us by saying "MY sister", with a big emphasis on the my! I wonder what she thinks about this baby who is taking an awfully long time to come out!

Decorating

Since realizing that we only have about four months until we become the parents of two little girls, we've begun to make a list of all the things we want to accomplish around the house before June. Most of the things on the list begin with "organize....". Today I accomplished part of one goal, which was to hang pictures and other art work on the walls. For Christmas my aunt and her husband sent us beautiful tiles handmade by them and they have been sitting in the box in which we received them ever since. This was not at all a reflection of how much we like them but instead of our laziness! But as of today they are hanging on the wall and look fantastic (the pictures here don't really do them justice!). Thank you, Sue Sue and Kendall!

Mama's little helper

Ellie loves to help out in the kitchen so I try to bake a special treat at least once a week with her. Something that she can help with but also enjoy. Usually I measure everything out, she pours it into the bowl, and mixes everything up (making for flour everywhere!). Today we made delicious cinnamon rolls and she loved both parts, the making and the eating!

She starts asking to eat the batter/dough the minute we begin stirring.

The best thing about the egg-free diet is no worries about raw eggs in the batter!

Our finished product!

Snow day!

Today is our first real snow storm of the year! We have about 5-6 inches on the ground now, although unfortunately it has started to rain so that snow will be covered with a thin sheet of ice in a few hours. Ellie and I couldn't wait to get outside to play!

Ellie is ready for some fun in her snowsuit and boots!

Her first fall happened quickly....

and she HATED having cold, wet hands! Oops, we forgot to put mittens on.

The solution was wearing the gloves from my coat pocket.

Where are my feet?!?!

Ellie has a book about Frosty the Snowman that we still read before bedtime a few nights a week. In it, some of the kids are making snow angels and she always points at them. Since she woke up this morning, she's been asking to go outside and "make angels". I'm not sure she realized exactly what was involved in that!

Ellie's first snow angel!

Mama's snow angel (I'm sure it made for quite a sight, watching the pregnant lady get up without disturbing her creation but also trying not to fall on her bottom!)

The cold and snow didn't have the same appeal to Ellie after we lay down in it so she was ready to go back inside in less time than it took to get ready to go out!

Come inside where it's warm, mama!

Worth it

(By LPC)

Ellie is sick.

I am sick.

We are sick, and in bed trying to take a nap. Okay, SHE is trying to take a nap, but even though her little body is fighting a virus by taking up a healthy dose of fever, and although her eyes are red and glossy, she is trapped in the body of a two-year old. This means her ever growing body and mind is loving life to it's fullest, even when she is sick. So no matter how many times I tell her to close her eyes and go to sleep, it is useless. She is so full of excitment and happiness as she wiggly lies on the bed and sings all of the songs she knows - which is a lot. She gets up and then crashes down on me. She slams her plastic doll's face into mine. She has to find "bun bun" which requires us getting up and taking the bed covers off the bed in an ernest search. She wants to lie head towards the end of the bed - wait! No! Head at the top of the bed, but with no covers. Okay, I change her mind when I tell her she is sick and needs covers - this lasts for less than sixty seconds. After an hour I feel my self starting to lose patience, but I cannot find it in me to get stern with a delightful child so full of life and joy.

I look her in the eyes and tell her, yet again, it is time for "nigh, nigh". She may not totally believe me, but her droppy red eyes certainly do. As she settles at the top of my pillow with my head below her, I can feel the rapid beat of her heart. She takes her hand and pets my head over and over - wide messy hair-pulling strokes. I look up and her eyes are closed. She is still "brushing" my hair. Suddenly her hand is still and she does her falling asleep "jerky" body movements.

It took over an hour to get her to sleep. Small price to pay for that small moment of tenderness.

I love her more than life itself.

-lpc

Is there a seal in our house?

Ellie has had a relatively healthy winter compared to the last two winters. For the past two years, Ellie generally caught a cold or some bug every 10-14 days. This meant a lot of time out of work for us. This year she has only been out a few times and the ilnesses were shorter lived than before. All of them except the croup from earlier this winter. The croup was awful. Ellie was so sick and would eat only popsicles for a couple days. No one got much sleep and she was out of school for the week. Not fun at all for anyone.

Well, it's baaaaaaacccccckkkkk!

Last night Ellie had a babysitter while Lori and I went to see a play. When we got home everything appeared to be fine and Ellie was sleeping peacefully. At 3:30 this morning I woke up to a strange sound over the monitor so I went to check it out. When I walked into Ellie's room, I heard her cough and knew instantly that either she had the croup or there was a seal in her bed. Ellie looked at me and said, "Ellie coughing. Ellie sick", which answered that question. So we whisked her outside to breathe in some very cold air, which was what we were told to do last time. It seemed to help and she settled down into bed with us with a little wheezing. This morning she seems better but has a slight fever and that glassy eyed look of a sick kid. Lucky for us, Lori was already planning to stay home with Ellie tomorrow because her day care is closed in honor of President's Day. We're just hoping this isn't as bad as last time - I'm not sure that any of the three of us could handle that again!

It's 9:05 am and it means that now it's a reasonable time to call the pediatrician without appearing to be the crazy parent!

Mama talking to the pediatrician (She told us just to wait this out and see what happens tonight. Croup usually lasts for a few nights so we'll expect coughing and wheezing again. We only have to go to the ER like last time for medication if she's having trouble breathing.)

Ellie's croup/potty training outfit - the sweatshirt and socks to keep warm but no pants to quickly pull the Pull Up down when it's time to potty!

Valentine's surprise

On Wednesday, we came home to a box of flowers sitting on our doorstep. Lori and I looked at each other and said, "I didn't do it - did you??", knowing the answer would no. When we opened the box, we found that the lovely flowers had been sent to us by Lori's dad, John. What a nice surprise! We've all been enjoying them since. Thank you, Dad/John/Grandpa!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have all had such a nice Valentine's day! Lori and I went to a chocolate party at work (I think my body was in shock for a few hours!) and Ellie had a big party at school. Last night we made delicious chocolate cupcakes for her school party (dairy and egg free, of course!). We also made treat bags with chocolate covered pretzels for Ellie's friends (again dairy free - it's amazing how much is available these days!). This morning when she woke up, she still remembered that we had made them and couldn't wait to go to school to share them. It was so fun to see her anticipating the excitement the she would have later in the day!

This evening we went to Ellie's favorite restaurant for dinner. It's a diner about a half a mile from our house where the waitresses spoil Ellie and she spends the entire time showing off how cute she is. We finished off Ellie's night by snuggling on the couch and watching the Valentine's Day episode of The Backyardigans. Now she's drifting off to sleep in a sugar induced coma :-)

We hope your Valentine's Day was just as special and spent with the ones you love!

Cupcakes and treat bags for school

This morning Ellie got to open some gifts from Mommy and Mama before breakfast.


And they were put to good use right away!



Thanks to the generosity of Mimi and Boppa and our good friend Kerry, Ellie had plenty of Valentine's finery to wear this week!

Tuesday....



Wednesday...



And we saved Elmo for today!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

20 weeks

We are at the halfway point! Yesterday we had the ultrasound and all appears to be going well. The baby was flipping positions constantly, giving the sonographer quite a challenge. The baby was moving so much that we actually have to go back next week for a follow up ultrasound to get a view of the heart that they couldn't get! There were no concerns at all - the other views of the heart and everything else looked great. Besides, we're always excited for any chance to take a peek in there.

And of course this was the deadline for Lori's decision: to find out the sex or not to find out. Friday she came home from work saying that she thought she wanted to know. Saturday she was pretty certain. Sunday it was a done deal and we were finding out. The plan was to ask the sonographer to write it down on a piece of paper so we could read it later and not find out in the doctor's office. Less than 5 minutes into the ultrasound, Lori blurted out, "I can't take it! Can you just tell us?!?!". After a little searching, the sonographer pointed to the baby's bottom while typing these words on the screen....

I'M A GIRL!

We couldn't be more thrilled and are so happy that Ellie will have a sister! We filmed Ellie seeing the ultrasound pictures for the first time and hearing this big news. You'll see she wasn't all that impressed, although at the end when she's leaning down over the pictures it's because she's giving them a hug.

Ellie's thoughts on the new baby

We've been trying to talk about the baby as much as possible to get Ellie used to this new idea. She seems to understand it more than I thought she would for 27 months old. She asks about the baby a lot, kisses my belly, tells us everything that she's going to do when the baby's born (snuggle, feed bottle, change diaper, etc.), and is insisting that the baby sleep with her.

Yesterday while we were at Babies R Us picking up a gift, I looked at the double strollers. I put Ellie in each of them to see how she would fit and we talked about where the new baby would sit. We had planned to get one where Ellie sits in the front and the baby is in the back. She however has very different ideas about the stroller! She was upset when I told her where the baby would sit and kept saying, "No baby back! Baby next to Ellie!". She's a smart one, our girl!

Poo poo in the potty!

I know, gross subject, but big excitement in our house! We've been halfheartedly introducing Ellie to potty training for the last few months. This really means that on the weekends we sometimes put her potty in the middle of the living room and let her run around without a diaper, in hopes of catching her in time to put her on the potty. She's gone "pee pee" in the potty once this way. This afternoon though Lori found her pooping in the potty all by herself and she was so proud!

Later note: Just an hour after we posted this, Ellie went pee pee, too! She was just as excited and couldn't wait to get her sticker reward. I think we'll be going diaperless tomorrow afternoon, too!

Compliment

(By JPC)

Ellie almost always notices when we have on new clothes or something that she hasn't seen us wear in a long time. She usually points at it and says, "Neeeeewwwwww!", which is what she did this morning when she saw me wearing a new maternity shirt from the clearance rack at Target (very nice for $5!). She must have forgotten though because when we came home this afternoon, she was surprised when I took off my coat. She inhaled sharply and said, "Ahhhhh, mama cute!". Such a nice thing to hear when you have a rapidly expanding waist line and constant nausea!

The fashion plate herself wearing Mrs. Potato Head's glasses

Go, Chargers....next year!

Ellie is her mommy's girl.....

Rainy Friday

(By JPC)

Ellie and I are stuck home today. It's raining outside and I have a bad cold so we're both still in our pajamas. We've gotten a lot done though....

Rain, rain, go away...

We played with Ellie's Little People set (she put the baby in time-out for hitting)...

Ellie did her dishes...

And then we did laundry...

After lunch and a nap, we made biscuits for snack time...

Unfortunately, Ellie eventually got bored with all the inside time so she packed her backpack, suitcase, and baby and hit the road...