Oh, For the Dawg Days of Summer...

We had our last summer popsicles with neighbors last night. Elena finally got one of her very own for the first time (she normally just mooches off the moms). It was cool enough yesterday that I had her in long sleeves and jeans all day, but when the kids came out with popsicles- well, who can resist?! So, Ian McC. handed out one to each friend and they all proceeded to load up with sugar and dye coloring. Elena was in heaven with her blue rasberry.
Then, all of the sudden, we hear Maggie crying and freaking out. And justifyably so- a bee had flown onto her popsicle just as she put it in her mouth. So she feels it sting her tongue and then realizes THERE IS A BUG IN MY MOUTH! Much crying, concern from the other kids, and Benedryl followed, with the conclusion that the bees are officially out (they start stinging from about now until November) and there will be no more sugary treats outside!

Finally!

We have been going to Club Rock- a worship service for kids and parents and at neighbor's church- for about a year now. Last night was the first one of the summer. The way they teach at Club Rock is mostly through drama skits, and the music is way-cool.
So last night was the fall kick-off for Club Rock and the value this month is INITIATIVE: seeing what needs to be done AND doing it. One of the skits was with "Coach Fred" (the pastor of the church comes out in coach gear and gives some sort of monologue about the value relating it to sports). So... many of you know it has long been Elias' dream to get to be on the Club Rock stage...
Coach Fred was talking about how the Colts used to be like 6 and 10 before Coach Dungy came on staff. But that when Coach Dungy came, he saw what needed to be done and did it. He called Ian Miller (another neighbor) up on the stage (the kids all sit on the floor at the stairs of the stage). He said that if he were Coach Dungy, he would say "Ok, I need a new quarterback", and he would get someone like Ian to play quarterback. Then he picked another kid from the crowc (wearing the black shirt in the picture) and said that he would also get a new lineman to protect his new quarterback. Well, as he was talking to the little boy about being a lineman, Elias just decided he wanted to be part of the fun too, so he walked up onto the stage and stood next to Ian. The parents were all giggling.


So you see him standing next to Ian above. Well, then Coach Fred realizes what has happened and he goes over to Elias and says "And then I would need to get a tight end who could score me some touchdowns. Could you score me some touchdowns?" Elias replies sheepishly, "I don't know". Fred says "Well, he doesn't know. But I think he could!" Parents now really giggling.



So then he goes on to explain how he would get a coach for each of these new players and train them up, etc. And that they would eventually become on Superbowl Champions. Elias stays by Ian and listens.

After it was all over they went back to their spots at the bottom on the stairs for the rest of Club Rock. And when Club Rock ended Elias ran to me and hugged me and told me "I am so proud of me for going on the stage!" Needless to say, all I said was "I'm so proud of you too!" And so he had his day on the Club Rock stage- Finally!

Pictures courtesy of Jennie M. (Ian's mom) who was prepared with her camera. She emailed them to me, which is nice because I have been unable to get pics off my camera onto my computer because my computer randomly decided the drivers are no longer there. Ugh!

Jonathan Wyatt

My sister and brother in law delivered their second baby boy today, which makes me an aunt again! His name is Jonathan Wyatt and they will call him Wyatt. He was 4 weeks early, but this was a scheduled c-section from the beginning because of complications that can occur if she goes much further than 36 weeks. He is super cute and I wish I could see him in person! I am posting pics of him and Elena as a newborn below so we can all ooooh and aaaaah over their sweet chubby cheeks!

Elena

Wyatt

A Cure for the Runniness!

No, not the nose kind. Though we are dealing with that too a little this week!

The runniness I refer to is that of the Gerber Pears. Anyone else out there wonder WHY in the world are baby food pears Sooooooooooooooo runny?? Seriously, they manage to make every other fruit a texture that you can at least get a heap on a spoon and into a little mouth, but the pears are in a league of their own! And this isn't a new problem! The pears were runny 4 years ago when Elias was on baby food too!

All that to explain the little experiement Elena and I had this morning. Guess what folks? It is easier and MUCH LESS MESSY to slurp your pears through a straw! It is like her very own "my first smoothie"! Aren't we hip?

Added plus- as you can see from the pictures, slurping sludge is MUCH fun for a 13 month old!

Wrapped

You know what they say about little girls and Daddies, right? About being wrapped around her little finger?

Elena: "Daddy, can I have the keys to my very own brand new Mustang?"

Daddy: "Ok, sweetie"

Nobody panic- it's only a joke. We did not, I repeat- did NOT- buy a red mustang! :)

School Daze

Wow- What a week! Elias started school on Monday. He is going to a class called "4's Plus" for the kids who will turn 5 between August and November this year and just missed the cutoff for kindergarten. It is 4 days a week, 3 hours a day.

We all went together for the first day of school because it was a half day (isn't a 3 hour class already a half day?!), so the kids only stayed for an hour and a half. We took pictures and tried to capture the memories we will forever have of his very first day. Elias went to class more then willingly and was happy to tell me all the details of his day when I picked him up (which, by the way, is very cool because you just get in the line of minivans and the teacher brings your child right to the car!).

Over the week he has told me about lots of things:

1. His new friends include Luke, Jack (who is his new best friend, he says), McKenna, Abby, Elizabeth, Colson, Ryan, Riley, Emily, Connor, Morgan, Alexis, and Kyle

2. The following was brought for show & tell this week (each kid gets a day and can bring 3 things): a doll, a vase, a stuffed bunny, a stuffed dog, a Jeff Gordon car, a James train that Elias' cousin Jacob also has.

3. Elias gets to bring show & tell this Monday. He has chosen Mr. Pig, his Leap Pad, and a toy Hummer.

4. He got to listen to a story on headphones one day.

5. He got to play in the sand table with Jack one day.

6. He learned Matthew 28:20 "I will be with you always".

7. He practiced writing letter "C" each day.

8. He worked on a workbook each day.

9. He built a house on Thursday. (not sure what that is about!)

Anyway, it is neat that he is so verbal about what he has done each day. The teacher has a list of what activities are planned, but it is nice to hear the excitement in Elias as he tells me what he has been doing! He even sang me his new "circle time" song after the second day of class- I will post a video soon...

Is It A Toy Store?

Elias has never been to Chuck-E-Cheese. So when we recently went there for a family night, he had a lot of questions. When we pulled in the parking lot he read the sign and yelled "Yeah! Chuck-E-Cheese!!!" But when I said "What IS Chuck-E-Cheese, Elias?", he replied "A toy store?" We went inside and he soon realized what exactly he was going to get to do. "Pizza AND games!!!!" he exclaimed. We really thought he would have a great time and Elena would be along for the ride, but, as you can clearly see from the pictures, she had herself quite a good time as well! I think the horse was her favorite thing in the whole place. She does have cowboy and cowgirl genes afterall!

Sleep Baby Sleep

Last night was Elena's sleep study at the children's hospital downtown. One word: AWFUL!!! I tried to have a really positive attitude going in with her- telling her excitedly how she as going to get to "sleep in a different baby bed tonight". When they began hooking her up to everything (already an hour past her normal bedtime), I made it a game of counting the "stickers" and seeing what color would be next. But when they got to putting stuff on her head, she was not a happy girl! They "papoosed" her, which means that they wrapped her in a sheet with her arms at her sides so tight that she could not move. Still, she as able to bring her feet up and kick like a dolphin to let us know what she thought about it. Eventually she had about 10 things stuck to her face and about 10-15 in her hair on her head. All these wires were gathered together at the back of her head and her head was mummy-wrapped all the way around her hair and under her chin. Everything was fairly stable except the nose things. As soon as she was un-papoosed she proceeded to show us all that tape was no match for her. Those nose things were coming out!

I sat with her for about 10 minutes trying to get her to lay still and go to sleep. I sang, I patted, I kissed. All to no avail. So I finally left her room and went to the nurses station where they were watching her on a video screen. She found the box that all the wires were plugged into and began to pull at it, so I had to go back in a lay her down again. I left again and she cried pretty hard, but laid herself down. This was now about 9:30pm. I went to watch TV in the lounge until 11:00pm and came back to check on her.

I asked "How's she doing?" (because I was ready to go into her room and sleep on the bed next to her, but I knew I should not do this until she was really asleep). He said she was mad. She apparantly kept removing her nose things. He would wait until she was in stage 4 sleep and then try to go fix it. She would wake up and freak out because she has no idea where she is or who he is. So he would fix the nose things and leave and she would pull them out again before she would go back to sleep. He said he had been in her room 6 times or so to fix it. Apparantly this is normal, but I was incredibly frustrated because now we were 4 hours past normal bedtime and she was still not asleep! So we waited for stage 4 again and I went in to fix it. He eventually had to come in and help me, but we got it in and taped all the way across her face and she went back to sleep without pulling it out.

So I laid down around 1:00-ish and slept for an hour and then slept again from around 4:00-5:00. Then they said we were done and sent us home.

We got her all unhooked and cleaned off and came home and went to bed! What a night!!!

I really hope they were able to get enough of a normal night out of her that we get some answers as to why her pulse O2 dropped so low on the two previous home sleep studies. And I hope we never have to do that again!!!

Here are pics of her as we got her ready. I wish I had a full-front one with everything taped on. She didn't think it was very funny that I took any at all, so this is all I got...

Paint a Lawn, Get Our Lawn Mowed!

I made a deal with our 11-year-old neighbor at the beginning of the summer: I would paint him a mural in his room and he would mow our lawn all summer. He decided he wanted a football field- the view from a blimp. He wanted the field to be called "Glacier Stadium" (because of a nickname he has) and be set for the Colts and Cowboys to play. Which, for the record, has happened the last 2 years in a row and the COWBOYS have won both! :)

I finished the mural a few nights ago and here it is...

The Answer to the Age Old Question...

we have discovered the answer to the question we have all pondered at one time or another! So, what came first- the chicken or the egg? Well, in Elena's case, the egg.

Most of you know that we found out last February (through testing at the allergist) that Elena is allergic to eggs. The plan is to keep her egg-free indefinitely and hope she outgrows it. Well, I began introducing chicken into her diet a couple of weeks ago and found that she broke out in welts on her bootie each time she ate chicken. Back to the allergist we went (except this time to a much friendlier guy!) and discovered that she is also allergic to chicken now.

Her milk, tomato, and peanut tests were not positive, but were bigger and redder than the rest of her negatives. So we are praying that she not make a habit out of becoming allergic to new foods.

But at least now we know.... the egg came first!