Chaos

No...this is not a preschool day...
My friend Heather has 5 children under the age 4...all of which have come to her in the past 2 years(she had officially adopted 2 & are working to adopt the other 3)...all VERY VERY close in age. She has a little 4 year old girl & then FOUR BOYS that range from 18months-3 years old.

Friday they had to go to court & I offered to take her 4 boys. Add in my 15 month old & 3 yr old & I felt like I was running a daycare all day on Friday!

Lets just say this picture was taken during the 5 minutes of "quiet time" we had during the 7 hours I had the boys. Those boys ate & played & ate & pooped & ate & played & fought & pooped & fought & played
and...WORE ME OUT!!!

**My friend Debbie & her daughter Becca came over around lunch time & helped me keep my sanity & helped out, which was so nice...Thank you Debbie!

As I was playing with these boys(read...trying to avoid broken bones) in between multiple diaper changes...I couldn't help but think of their future. A couple of years ago, they didn't have a promising future, but now they have been placed in a loving home...with parents that love each of them individually. My day was crazy and I will admit I was grateful to relax when they were gone. But I can hardly complain when I think of their parents & the hard work these 5 children must be. Heather had to wait 12 + years to become a mother, but now she has a house full & even though it must be INSANE in their home, she is AMAZING with them. She is such a great example to me.

There are days when I feel like I don't have 1 minute to myself.
Or when I feel like all of our hard earned money only pays for diapers and wipes.
There are times when I feel like I'd give a limb if I didn't have to do another load of laundry in my life.

But days like Friday...as chaotic as it was.

Remind me of how grateful I am to
be a mother.

Wrestling 101

Need to learn some new wrestling moves?

Come on over to our house...every night around 7:30pm & you are sure to see quite a match!

I love my boys!!!

Top 8 Allergies...

I get these email updates from Babycenter.com a couple of times a month on different topics & things to help my "3 year old" & my "14 month old"...more often than not, I delete them...but every now and then I read them & they are interesting & sometimes even helpful. I received one today & the subject line was "The top 8 food allergy threats for your toddler".

I clicked on the link & it said this:

Which foods is my child most likely to be allergic to?

Expert Answers

The BabyCenter Editorial Team

More than 160 foods have been found to cause allergies. Approximately 6 percent of young children and 3 to 4 percent of adults in the United States have a food allergy.

Here are the top eight food allergens identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If your child does have a food allergy, it's most likely to be to one or more of these. They account for 90 percent of food allergies in the United States.

• Milk
• Eggs
• Peanuts
• Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, wal­nuts, pecans)
• Soybeans
• Wheat
• Fish
• Shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp)

Stefano Luccioli, M.D., senior medical advisor in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS), says the lists of top allergens in other countries may differ because people eat different foods. For example, Luccioli says, "In Europe there is a high prevalence of allergies to mustard and celery."

Learn more about children and food allergies and how a food allergy is different from a food intolerance, such as lactose intolerance.

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Well Ryler is allergice to milk, has a reaction to eggs, allergic to Soy(which is in EVERYTHING!) & if that were not enough...our Pediatrician called today to let us know that he is also allergic to peanut. That is half of the list!

I have yet to even test the shellfish...so hopefully he can avoid any fish allergy, but not at the rate he is going! Poor kid!

The Dr. recommended we go see an Allergist for further testing, information...so we'll see what new information that brings...

Kitchen Pictures

We are DONE with our little kitchen nook...(ALMOST)
I still want to replace the ceiling fan, paint the cabinets WHITE, hang some things on the walls...but we are getting CLOSE! If you want to attempt this in your house & want to know HOW we did this, go HERE for more instructions. We didn't really know what we were doing, but it wasn't hard! If you try it somewhere in your house, I'd LOVE to see pictures!
Good luck!

Kitchen when we bought the house...

kitchen for the last several months...

kitchen since Saturday...

Thanks to my husband, we got it ALMOST all of the way done on Saturday. If he didn't have to leave for Stake Priesthood at 4pm, we would have finished. We just have some caulking left & 1 more coat of white paint, but we already love how it turned out!

Board & Batten

THANKS TO THIS GUY...

I mean THIS GUY...

We are making lots of progress in the kitchen!

I can't wait to see it finished!

A couple of Artists...

This may not seem like a big deal, but when I saw Parker actually drawing stick people on the white board yesterday...I got so excited!
He usually just takes one color & scribbles on the entire board until it is a solid mass of blue.
But, he was actually DRAWING...

He drew "Daddy, Mommy & Parker"
With a head & 2 eyes & ears & hair & a mouth & arms & feet & even shoes...
I was very impressed!

Me & my sister Heidi were lounging on the bean bag chair, watching Parker create this masterpiece & must have sparked something in me to do something artistic myself. I turned to Heidi & said, "I'm going to paint my kitchen...want to help?"

I have been begging Matt to do our kitchen nook for awhile(I have been dying to do THIS Board & Batten project) & he always has an excuse why we can't do it. Well, he dropped his phone a couple of days ago & it cost us a pretty penny to buy a new one, so I decided to act, while I had some leverage;)

So, we just got up & started painting, stopping only to send this quick pic to Matt on his phone...

He wasn't mad...
of course.
He didn't even have to help paint!

Heidi & I finished 2 coats of paint(white on the bottom, green on the top) before Ryler woke up from his nap & now I have this weekend to put up the wood!

I can't wait to see this project finished!!!

Why wait for Halloween?

On Monday night for FHE we had a FUN Late Valentine's Party!
It was a full blown Carnival...Valentine Style!

My cute boys eating the Mexican Potluck...

My niece Mia getting her face painted...

My nephew Powell, playing one of the many Valentine games...

Cute Gemma & Cute Hallie...

Bouncy Castle & all...

Cute Cousins...
(not sure what Parker is doing, but Mia looks adorable)

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen?
(too lazy to take away the red eyes...sorry)

Parker dualing with his balloon sword...

It was SO much fun! We do something different every month & this was a 1st! I loved it, I think we need to do it every February! They had a "Guess how many Valentine's are in the container" game, my aunt Susan brought everybody a cute stuffed Valentine's teddy bear, a ton of games, yummy food & GREAT company!!!

Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's!!!

Grandma Little One

Parker refers to his 2 grandmas as
"Grandma Little One"
&
"Grandma Big One"
He isn't trying to be offensive, but my mom is just tall & Matt's mom is short...so that is the what he has come up with in his 3 year old brain.

We think it is quite funny:)

So...Grandma "Little One" had a birthday on Monday & we celebrated on Sunday night with a delicious dinner & cake & pie!

The weather was GORGEOUS, so we got to eat outside...

Grandma & the only granddaugther, Talia:)
Looks like it is staying that way too! My sis-in-law Heidi is pregnant with GrandSON #4!

Cute boys, playing at Grandpa & Grandma's house...

Cute Talia & Parker!
I love watching these 2 play together:)

and NO...in case you were wondering,
my boys never wear shirts!


I'm not going to tell you her age...but I'm going to share 5 + 1 things about my mother-in-law ;-)

1. She is EXTREMELY talented...the "can do everything" type of talented, that makes you wish you had 1/10th of the ability she has in her pinky toe.
2. She makes a delicious Sunday Dinner! No matter what she makes, it is devoured quickly!. She jokes that she rotates a handful of meals, but I'd take any one of those in the handful...as they are all yummy!
3. She is the best homemade gift giver around! I will miss something if I try to name all of the homemade gifts she has given us, but I have LOVED...every single one! She puts so much thought into her gifts & I appreciate it so much.
4. She thinks about other people's feelings before she speaks. Coming from a family that doesn't do this very often, I appreciate this about her & love her concern for others.
5. She raised 5 incredible children! There is one in particular that stands out in my mind. She did good on the other 4, but she must have put a little extra elbow grease into Matt, because he turned out so amazing! I will be forever thankful to her for the man that he is today!
And Plus 1. No, lets call it 5.1. She has a strong testimony of the gospel. I'm grateful for the example she is to my children. She has served in a variety of church callings & always goes above & beyond. She supports her husband in the Bishopric, which is a calling all by itself. She loves the Lord & in turn, loves & serves those around her.

Happy Birthday Grandma Little One! We Love You!!!

Allergy Test Results

Look!
He found something bigger than his head:)

We got Ryler's blood test results...

This is what the Doctor said:
"They rate the allergy on a scale from 0-5. Zero means there is no allergy, but there still could be a sensitivity to the food. So watch for a reaction as you try the foods that you think he has reacted to in the past. If they are a 1, they usually outgrow the allergy & if they are a 2-5, there is a Concern for that specific allergy."

Ryler tested 0 for Eggs & Wheat (Hooray!)
a 1 for Cow's Milk & Dairy Products (Hopefully he will outgrow it!)
2 for Soy (what? I've been giving him soy milk for months???)
& they forgot to test him for peanuts(are you kidding?)

So...they definitely could have been worse. We are grateful he is low on the scale & will HOPEFULLY outgrow his allergies. Even though he is not allergic to eggs, that is one that we will have to try & see if he is sensitive to, because last time he had eggs, he had a reaction. Peanut is also a possibility, but since they forgot to test...I guess I will try it & see what happens.

The SOY was the biggest surprise, since when about 5 months ago, I noticed his milk allergy...I switched him to Soy milk! I feel like the worst mom in the word! He is MORE allergic to soy than to milk! How was I supposed to know?? He did get better when I made the switch, so that is what I was going off of & was thoroughly confused when I got the results.

I'm so glad to finally KNOW what the allergy is though. He continued to react off and on, so that is why we finally did the blood work. I didn't know WHAT he was reacting to, I figured it was something like wheat that is in a variety of things that you wouldn't know about, unless you checked the labels.

Well..it is SOY
& soy is in SO MANY THINGS!

Go ahead, check the labels.
I made a little snack bag for church on Sunday & then quickly checked the labels on what I had packed.
Graham Crackers...have soy
Cereal...have soy
Goldfish...have soy
Snack bag cancelled.

He has been off of Soy Milk & anything with Soy in it since Saturday & he is doing so much better! I'm so glad to have pin pointed the problem & I'm sure he is too!

So...many of you have already asked, WHAT IN THE WORLD is he supposed to drink?
The Doctor has told me to put him on Rice Milk.
Fortunately, Ryler seems to like it just fine, but it has barely any nutrition, so the doctor gave me a list of things to give him to get the calcium and protein he needs.

So...there are the results...for now.
My cousin Marie suggested I get the prick test, because it is MUCH MORE accurate, so I think we will do that in the near future. I will post if anything comes back different.

Valentine's Party @ the Park

I had a handful of cousins that came into town for my Grandma's funeral, so on Saturday we all got together for a little Valentine's party. (Several of the kids had to miss their Valentine's party at school for the funeral, so this was our attempt to make it up to them & it was just a good excuse to get together & visit)

Decorating Valentine's Bags...

My sister Heidi decorated Ryler instead of a bag...

It was so great to visit with my cousins & enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather we are currently having!!!

Girls in the House!

I'm usually outnumbered in our house, so when I got the chance to watch my 2 nieces...I was excited to even things up a bit in our house!

Too bad we don't have any girl toys:(
They didn't seem to mind & pulled out the Halloween costumes & played "dress up"

And before they went home, we dug through my preschool treasure box & found some GIRLY items that the girls got to pick & take home:) They looked so cute with their sunglasses, necklaces & rings!

Thanks for playing Girls!!!

Funeral

I was able to put together my Granny's life video to show at the viewing/funeral luncheon, so I spent every spare minute of my week working on that. It was fun to be able to look back at all of the fun pictures & think about the memories I have with her. I loved seeing pictures that I had never seen before, from when she was younger. It was a good week, reflecting on what a wonderful woman she was. I will miss her smiling face at every family get together, but she lived a long, happy life & I am so grateful for the example she was in my life.


I do NOT like viewings...
At all.

But, I sucked it up, brought the video to show & went.

PS. I want a closed casket...if I die before Matt, he KNOWS that is my dying wish.

So...I occupied myself with taking cute pictures of my kids...

The funeral was very nice. A sweet celebration of the life she lived.
I laughed, I cried...I'm sure it went exactly the way Granny would have wanted it.

Granny

My Grandma passed away this morning & I just want to say how grateful I am that she was such a big part of my life. We have had a LOT of laughs together...she was always the life of the party!

I know she is doing heel clicks in heaven right now, so happy to be reunited with her 1st husband who passed away years ago & with my Grandpa, who she married later in her life.
I love her so much & am happy to be reflecting on so many wonderful memories today...

"I love you Granny!!!"

Splish Splash, My Boys Love Their Baths

I LOVE
how my boys could spend an hour every night in the tub...
and
I also hate
how my boys can spend an hour every night in the tub.

There is only so much I can do sitting on top of the toilet seat for an hour.

But they love it...

and I love seeing such happy smiles on their faces...

So, if an hour is what you want...

an hour is what you will get!

P.S. In the last pic, you can kinda see Ryler's FOUR molars that popped through in the past couple of weeks! I think he is ready for steak! :)

P.S.S. Don't you just want to squeeze Ryler's cheeks & plant a big kiss on his forehead?

Allergic???

Took Ry in to get his blood drawn to test for allergies to wheat, soy, milk, eggs & peanuts.
We should have the results next week. We are hoping he just has a SENSITIVITY to dairy & isn't actually allergic. We will see...

I couldn't watch them put a little baby IV in his arm. I just held him and turned away as he cried.
It was probably harder for me, than him.
Here he is after, with a runny nose from crying & a sucker for being a good boy:)

I was worried about taking both kids, but Parker really wanted to go & he was such a great helper!