we made it!

being teachers, we naturally try to schedule our doctor's appointments (mostly that means trey's doctors appointments since he has more doctors than john and i combined!) during our breaks from school. we had two scheduled for this week. yesterday he had his ears checked, and just as we expected, all looks great with his tubes. they seem to be working exactly as they should, and he hasn't dealt with an ear infection since september. that appointment was quick and easy, just like we'd hoped.

today was the appointment i was dreading. trey had to see an allergist. we had rescheduled this appointment from a date in november when both john and i ended up getting sick. let's just say that i'm glad we were both in good health for this appointment! we ended up spending four hours in a tiny little exam room -- that is a LONG time to try to entertain a toddler! we came prepared with snacks, books, and toys, but it still felt very long. most of it was fine - lots of talking with the doctor and nurse and a few breathing treatments for his asthma. some of it was NOT fine -- horrible, in fact! they did some allergy testing which consisted of trey laying on his stomach - john held his top half down, i held his bottom half. he had his shirt off, and they gave him 15 pricks on the back. then he had to stay in that position for 15 MINUTES to see if he had any reactions. oh my word, talk about torture! the nurse was as nice as she could be, and john and i tried to make it not so bad, but trey was mad, and boy is he STRONG! after more than 5 minutes of complete screaming, sweating, and fighting with us, he finally gave in and actually fell asleep until the nurse came in to check him a few minutes later. after he calmed down from that test, had another test which included 6 pokes in the arms...real pokes with needles. trey has had his fair share of pokes, but had no problem showing his dislike of this process! this one wasn't SO bad -- at least we could hold him and give him snuggles (and smarties!).

all in all, the testing showed allergies to only two main things - cockroaches (which we actually learned today are nearly everywhere...yuck!) and dust mites. this one wasn't too surprising as close to 90% of people with allergies are allergic to dust mites. okay, we can handle this. except for a few inconvenient things -- the basement is apparently the worst place in the house for trey to spend time, and we are currently in the process of moving trey to his big boy room in the basement. well, okay...then, per doctor's orders, removing the carpet from his room is an absolute MUST. not in the original plans, but we'll make it work. wood floors in his room might be nice, right? oh, no rugs either unless they are small enough to be washed weekly. we have to buy special "dust-mite proof" mattress and pillow covers, and all bedding must be washed weekly. hmm...a few changes, but nothing too serious i guess. oh, we also need to add a humidifier to our furnace -- why not, right? a few hundred dollars....no big deal. :)

we had come to grips with the fact that trey is what the doctors refer to as an "allergic" child, but we could never figure out where it came from. well, i think i have to take the blame. john is allergy-free, but i mentioned that i do deal with some seasonal allergies, although i've never actually been diagnosed with allergies. after spending only 10 minutes with us, the doctor said she could tell that i have allergies....and each of our children will have a 50% chance of having allergies since I do. okay, so spherocytosis...my fault. allergies...my fault too. and asthma just commonly comes with allergies, so i guess i'm responsible for that one too! so sorry trey!! hopefully, this little girl is more fortunate than trey! i'll have to take some time to assess the good traits he got from me! :)

so, all in all the appointment went well. we got lots of answers, and trey was asleep two minutes after hitting the road. and the best part is...now it's done! we have a new medication regimen, but don't have to go see the doctor again until september. until then, we have some work to do in the basement!!! :)

Christmas

It's hard to believe that Christmas is already over for another year!  It was so much fun this year watching Trey take it all in - he enjoyed every party, opening presents, and spending lots of time with family and friends!  John and I are also enjoying our Christmas Break so much -- it has been great to take some time off and get to slow down for a while!  It is also nice to be able to stay awake past 9:00 pm! :) 

We celebrated Christmas with parties for both of our immediate families, as well as both of my extended families.  We weren't able to make it to either of John's extended family parties this year, but instead got to spend some much needed time with our great friends Mark, Abby, and Nolan.  It was SO GOOD to have them here.  Our time with them is always too short, but we always have so much fun and make lots of good memories!

More than anything this year, I felt so blessed and joyful as I celebrated Christmas and reflected on the perfect gift that was given to us in the birth of Jesus.  He is the true reason why we can celebrate!

Enjoy a little glimpse into our holiday...

  

fun in the snow

well, the snow won't stop, so we figured that we might as well make the best out of it and have some fun outside! we all know that trey loves being outside, and john and i...well, not so much. however, getting to experience snow through trey's eyes has actually made me enjoy it (not a ton, but at least a little). while john was snow blowing the driveway today, i bundled trey up (seriously, it took me almost the whole time john was outside to get all of trey's gear on!), and we headed outside. as soon as i said the words "trey, would you like to go play outside?", he was down the stairs, boots in hand. he waited so patiently as i put his snow pants on , then boots, then hat, coat, and mittens. he looked like he could barely move, but he was SO happy! and once we got outside, he just took it all in. the banks on the sides of our driveway are almost as tall as he is! he had fun "snow blowing" like daddy, getting pulled on the sled, and rolling around in the snow. not too many smiles, but that is our typical trey outside...we knew he loved it because when we asked if he was ready to go inside, he shook his head and said "no, no, no, no, no". too cute. we went inside anyway, but we'll get bundled up again another time!!

trey watched john snow blow for a while, then went into the garage and grabbed his lawn mower. he wants to be just like his daddy!
getting pulled on the sled down our icy driveway!
even john had fun jumping in the snow -- look at that form!
so cute!
trey's turn...he got covered with snow and LOVED it!
his little cheeks were so pink, but he didn't care about the cold or the wind!
it's so much fun to play in the snow!!!

t-r-e-y

we have a genius on our hands... :)

snow days, painting, and pregnancy dreams

today is a good day.  every snow day is a good day, but to get a snow day on the last day before Christmas break?  almost too good to be true.  and since we are at home and snowed in, we decided that we would take advantage of it and begin painting trey's big boy bedroom downstairs.  by "we" i actually mean john...pregnant = no painting for me, but i did do all the pre-paint taping, so at least i can say that i helped!  we didn't want to jinx anything, but we did go out and get the paint last night just in case we happened to be home today.  it worked out well except that we ended up having to go to three stores instead of one like we'd hoped, and we got rear-ended on the highway.  we don't think there was any damage, but it did add some unnecessary excitement to our evening out!  i don't have photos of the painting yet -- john is actually downstairs working on it right now.  trey just went down for a nap, and i have been on mommy duty all morning keeping him away from the basement and the wet paint, so i haven't been able to document the progress.  i'll take pictures of the finished product....hopefully we (again, i mean john) can finish it this weekend!

and...i just had to share the story of my dream from last night.  when i was pregnant with trey, i would have the most vivid dreams and they would completely freak me out -- usually they were about not having things ready when he was born. (abby, didn't you dream that trey was born with a full set of teeth???  scary!)  anyway...last night i had my first vivid pregnancy dream with this baby.  first of all, i dreamed that we ended up having a boy...which truly would be wonderful except for the closet full of girl clothes we already have, and the fact that we don't have a name picked out for a boy.  we didn't have a name in my dream either, which caused the most amount of stress.  we ended up choosing a name at the hospital (berkley - not sure where that came from), but then when we got home with him we realized that we had forgotten to call everyone and announce his arrival.  i got the phone to call my bestie abby (don't you feel so special that you were first???), and i had totally forgotten what his name was.  john couldn't remember either so we called the hospital, but they had no record of his name either!  we ended up having to choose a new name (this time it was miller - not sure where that came from either), and then i woke up.  it seriously took me a few minutes to realize that i was, in fact, still pregnant with what we believe to be a little girl...whom we do have a name for!  oh, i just can't handle those dreams that just seem so real....and i still have more than two months to go!  of course when i told john about it he thought that i was crazy.  maybe it was something i ate last night....

if you live around here, enjoy the rest of your snowy day -- i know that i will enjoy mine!  oh, and just in case you're wondering, i think my pesky kidney stones might have given up.  i don't think that i've passed them, but they haven't bothered me in quite a while.  another reason to celebrate!

if you're happy and you know it

this was just too precious not to share....enjoy!

crazy little dipper boy

trey cracks us up during meal time lately. first of all, he is SO independent. he wants to do everything by himself! he actually is really good with utensils, but still, sometimes it is just easier to feed him than to let him feed himself...and a little less messy too. :)
his latest food fun is dipping. he loves to dip everything he eats. john says he gets that from me, and i must admit, i am a dipper myself. trey dips french fries in ketchup, chips in guacamole, and anything from noodles to grilled cheese to hot dogs in applesauce! one day last week, john happened to get to toddlerville to pick trey up during snack time. the teachers told him that none of the kids were really eating the snack - it happened to be cucumbers that day. john walked in to find cucumbers all over trey's face -- he couldn't stuff them in fast enough. any guesses what was served with the cucumbers? you got it...dip! if he can dip it, he'll eat it! :) we've had some fun with breakfast lately that i just had to get pictures of -- yogurt with graham crackers for dipping. the yogurt was mommy's idea, the graham crackers were trey's.


this is so good......and i am so happy!


same meal, different day. but check out his choice of footwear. he LOVES his boots and would wear them all day if we let him. hopefully his sister has better fashion sense than he does!
it went downhill as soon as he figured out how much fun it was to use the graham cracker to spread yogurt all over his tray. clean up happened shortly after this photo was taken. oh, and notice the waffle? yes, that got dipped too. :)

pink!

it took me a while to begin buying pink once we found out we were having a girl...i think i was just in such denial. no worries though....now that i've started, i am having a hard time slowing down! trey is so generous to share his closet with his soon-to-arrive sister, and we've had to shove him out of a whole section already! it is a strange adjustment - going from buying for one to buying for two, and the fact that they are different genders makes it even more confusing! it doesn't help that i am still trying to figure out this whole girl thing! i buy a dress, but then i have to think about tights and shoes and hair! with trey we can just throw on pants and a shirt and call it good...i think i may be in for quite a change. i know that john is especially nervous....he'll catch on, right??? :) anyway, we don't have a ton yet, but it is just so much fun having some pink in the house that i had to share!

this closet has never seen pink, flowers, or polka-dots before...
blankets, girlie onsies, and the most adorable little cherry swimsuit i've ever seen (i bought that before we knew we were having a girl, but was SO hoping that someday i'd get to use it)...
this has been one of my favorite purchases so far. it's for next fall (and was only $5.00!) ...can you picture it with hot pink tights and mary janes???

and this is for you abbs....another photo of the growing belly. i am 27 weeks now and am thinking that it may be time to retire the horizontal stripes. they aren't doing me any favors at this point. can you tell my prego trick? stand in front of something wider than me to make myself look (or at least feel) smaller... :)

another piece of exciting news on the baby front -- she has a name! we've had the middle name agreed upon for a long time, but i just got the okay from john on the first name last weekend. yay! i didn't even have to get super-hormonal or anything! no hints, though...you'll have to wait until march, but i think her name is perfect!!

hanging around

i thought i should probably post a short update for those of you who have been wondering about the kidney stone situation. let's just say that they are still hanging around. i can tell that they have moved because the pain is lower now, and more in front. it is much less severe than before, but still annoying because it just creeps up on me unexpectedly. i haven't needed vicodin since last thursday, so that at least eases my mind a bit.
thank you to all of you who have been praying for me, and asking me how things are going -- i appreciate your concern so much!