Eczema Update

Davis' eczema looks great! To me anyways. He still has dry patches on his feet that he will occasionally scratch but it's totally manageable even without moisturizing. I'm excited for him to have this relief since he was so miserable before. I can't tell you what has "worked" in alleviating his rash but I do believe the biggest change has been getting rid of our cat! At exactly the same time our beloved cat Dirt McGirt went to live with my sister we "fell off the diet wagon" as they say :) We all enjoyed our holidays by not being so strict in our food choices and yet Davis' skin continued to improve! If removing the cat dander from our house is all it takes for him to have healthy skin I will be ecstatic!! Especially since we continue to eat poorly :( Grayson's skin never really responded to the elimination diet and his rash has lessened slightly but continues to come and go. On a "bad day" his neck is covered with red puffy areas that itch and the skin on his cheeks crack like river beds, even when moisturized. He's a happy baby none the less and I'm optimistic that as we continue to remove the lingering cat dander from our house and try a few different homeopathic remedies we'll be able to "desensitize" his system. It's a work in progress for sure.

Here are a few pictures of Grayson being cute :) He pulls himself up to standing now!

Videos of other people's children

We invited Jenny's family over for dinner Saturday night and after dinner the kids were watching Animusic videos. Her youngest child Van was dancing so cute I just had to record it! Some say dancing is all in the hips but I'd say it's all in the left arm :)



Today I was watching my neighbor's daughter Izzy and she found one of our toys hilarious. I promise you this toy has never brought any of my kids this kind of joy :) I admit this video is kind of long but she's just so cute :)

Adventures with Food :)

This Morning:
This is Grayson's preferred method of eating oatmeal:


I love this picture, he's so "busted" :) He got into his brother's oatmeal. The older kids keep forgetting how mobile he is!




It's a good thing he's so cute cause seriously, look at that MESS!! This is after I got him dressed for the day!





Last Night:
Davis wanted to pour water on his dinner, I told him that I don't think that'd be a good idea since it would make it yucky. This is the conversation that followed:
Davis: I like yucky things to eat.
Leah: Like banana peels?
Davis: Yeah.
Leah (under her breath and shaking her head): Disgusting.

This kind of stuff just makes me SMILE :)

Happy Birthday Meema!

Happy Birthday!! We love you!!

**Davis was "being shy". He did give birthday kisses though so he obviously loves his Meema :)**

Sew Fun

I've been so consumed with all the things that go along with having a new baby, plus all the things that go along with buying a new house (looking online, looking in person, applying for a mortgage, etc) I had forgotten how much I like to sew! I don't think I've spent any quality time with my sewing machine since before Grayson's birth...8 whole months... if not longer. Well, I busted it out yesterday and started finishing projects that have been patiently waiting for a long time.

This quilt I started when Amber's first son was born, October 2003!! It feels good to finish something! And be creative :)




This particular baby blanket doesn't have a home:

Maybe Jenny will have a boy :)

Happy Birthday Kadee!!

We love you Kadee and hope your day is special!!


These are the only kind of birthday kisses I approve of :)



Sorry the first second of each video was cut off...my camera's dumb.

A Little Self Esteem Boost

If you're ever feeling plain Jane and dream of looking like... insert random celebrity name here... then you need to pop on over to this site. They have pictures of celebrities (in the portfolio) that show them before and after they were "touched up" as they say in the business :) Seriously, some of the before pictures are SCARY!! Well, maybe just normal :)

Bedtimes and Bribery

For some reason Davis hasn't wanted to sleep in his bed at bedtime.
Mom: "Davis it's time to go get in your bed."
Davis: "How about this, you let me sleep right here (pointing to the hallway) and I'll let you get me a drink! How about that!?!"
LOL! Genius!
There's usually a battle of wits at bedtime and he ends up in his bed only to come into our room at some point in the night. Not to mention the one night I did let him sleep in the hallway fully intending on putting him in his bed when he was asleep but every time I got out of bed Gray woke up and I was afraid he'd crawl off the bed if I left. I felt a little bad, did I mention our hallway is cold, hard tile? Yeah, I know, bad mommy. This story only gets worse. In a moment of desperation a few nights ago I bribed my children with $1 toys to stay in their beds all night.
The Deal: They got to snuggle with their toys in their beds but if they came into my room during the night I had to take them away.
It worked...for one night, but for that one night I slept amazing. Well, amazing might be overstating it a bit, I do have an 8 month old in the bed with me who insists on nursing all night, but I slept better :) Well, the next night Davis comes into my room around 3 am and we converse:
Davis: "Can I snuggle with you?"
Mom: "I'll have to take away your toy"
Davis: "I want you to."
I have no answer, he wins, we snuggle, I take the toy back, he still loves me. **sigh**

I <3 Musicals

What happened to me!?! I used to be so edgy :) Okay, that's totally a joke but it does surprise me how much I've grown to love musicals in my old age. I'm happy to watch High School Musical on repeat, I thought Enchanted was totally adorable, and last night I stayed up late watching Hairspray! I was laughing out loud the whole movie!!!! I had heard from a few people that it wasn't that great so I hadn't rushed out to watch it but I totally loved it!!

A few of my favorite lines:
"Without that show I have nothing" "Having nothing builds character!"
"This is just so afro-tastic!"
"You don't call, you just disappear and now you're all mashed up against a crooner!"
"If you want animal dropping shaped german chocolates this store is for you"
"Oh no, your hair's deflated" "Let it. It was just a symbol of my conformity to the man."
"I can't sleep, I can't eat." "You can't eat? Well, come on in and worry with us. I'll make you some pork."

Leah and Davis liked it too, as well at HSM and Enchanted btw. Leah drew this picture in her notebook and told me "This is a picture of Tracy dancing". Does she have a future as an artist? I like to think so :)

Old School

These are 5 of my fondest memories of Leah, the 5 year old:

5. Leah was super great at mimicking us and would remember everything, especially if it was set to a tune. She was about 18 months when she could sing "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella without me ever having taught her.
4. She has always been rather timid and if she doesn't want to do something there's nothing you can do to make her. Her great-grandma "GG" once said "Leah has always known who she is" which I think is a great compliment!
3. When Davis was born she instantly loved him. Right after he was born, while he was being weighed, she kept telling everyone "that's baby Davis, that's baby Davis" over and over.
2. She's always been quite content to play by herself, even when she was a toddler. I'd be busy in another room and when I'd go check on her she'd have her ponies and figurines spread out on the floor in pairs since they were "friends". She still enjoys her alone time even though she has her brother now.
1. Leah was born during the first week of my last semester of college. My fondest memory is trying to study organic chemistry while nursing her. It was hard to focus she was so darn cute!

L.O.V.E.

Leah experienced the pinnacle of girly experiences today... her Grandma Cindy took her shopping at the mall!! They returned with a new dress, matching hair tie, two necklaces and Disney princess rings. Man she's spoiled :) Her Grandma said she asked her if she'd ever been to the mall to which Leah replied "I don't think my mom knows where it is", ha ha. Upon returning Leah was excited to show me her new dress and tell me they rode the stairs that move all by themselves :) Oh, it is love :)

Happy Birthday Leah!!

Leah turned 5 today! Besides having a heart attack (when did my baby get so old!?!) we also had a Hello Kitty PARTY!! I had my friend Keri come and do balloon animals and such, she's a professional, and she made me a crown fit for a queen which I love :) Overall Leah was pretty happy because she "got lots of stuff". <-- she gets that from her dad :) And I was happy because I got to buy a Nothing Bundt Cake. Yum Yum!

This is so funny :)

One of the greatest things about the internet is the random things you can find that make you laugh. I almost peed my pants when I watched this :)