And She Rides!

Earlier this spring Shelby figured out how to pump her legs to make the swing go. One child challenge mastered, what would be next? Well she decided it would be bike riding! A few weeks ago while I was at Bible Study and Nate was in charge, Shelby decided she no longer wanted the training wheels on her bike. So she got down the tool box and tried every tool until she found the one that worked and took the training wheels off. Since her bike sits so low to the ground, we didn't really have to walk along with her. If she felt like she was falling all she had to do was put her feet down. She had practiced a few times. She has pretty good balance but she had a hard time keeping the wheels straight and she would head right into the grass. Sunday night after we came back from a walk, she got on the bike and basically took off! She is still a little shaky but I think she has it down. Here is a little video.

Morgan's Medical Mess

I recently mentioned to Morgan's pediatrician my concerns about some possible allergies she may have to nuts and eggs based on how her body reacts when she eats them. I do not like walnuts or pecans, so we don't have them in our house too often. Nate's step mom makes these muffins with nuts and Morgan had tried them 2 times and had the same reaction. After only taking a small nibble, she will gag and vomit and her face turns blotchy. I hate to think about what would happen if she actually ate the entire muffin! If she has uncooked eggs from licking the beaters for a cake mix, her face will turn blotchy but she will not vomit. So at her 3 year well checkup she had blood drawn and her pediatrician set her up with a pediatric allergist. The results of her blood work were: egg yolks - mild, egg whites - medium, tree nuts - high. So the only kind of nut she can eat is peanuts. Even though she seems to be alright eating almonds, she could develop an allergy to any kind of tree nut or those other nuts could be made in the same area as the pecan or walnut so she should stay away from them. Her allergy isn't so bad that she can't be around the nuts, she just can't eat them. But, if someone eats them they should wash their hands before they touch her and should not kiss her right away. She can eat eggs as long as they are cooked. So eating the cooked cake or pancakes is fine, just no more licking the beaters. So on top of the nebulizer for the asthma, we are now carrying the epipen and benadryl. I said to her allergist, "So I guess I shouldn't consider downsizing my purse any time soon." And he said, "No. I think all moms should carry large purses." Fun stuff. I guess I should be thankful she doesn't have any more problems than she does.

Birthday Party!!

We had a double birthday party for the girls last weekend. Although the temps were a little cool, we were lucky to have the rain stay away. The over 3 inches of rain we got on the Wednesday before did cause our basement to leak which prevented us from using that space for sleeping. But we made it work. The only bad part about the party was daddy couldn't attend because his baseball team was still playing. But I think having their cousins in town to play with made up for his absence. There was a lot of squeeling, a little crying and arguing but mostly fun was had by all. Here are a few pictures.

Little Mommy

I have been meaning to post something on here about Morgan and her baby dolls. She loves babies and usually spends most of her day playing with them. She has an American Girl Bitty Baby doll whose name changes daily. Most of the time she calls her Babydoll. If she does give her other names, it is never the same two days in a row. She also has Ruthie, an American Girl doll who she does call Ruthie. Another doll she received as a Christmas gift she named Cobbles. And recently she has rediscovered the little doll she received for her first birthday. Her name changes daily as well. It is fun to sit back and watch her care for the babies and lift them up on her shoulder to pat them on the back. She is very gentle with them like you would be with a real baby. But the funniest thing she does is rate everything by whether or not the baby will like it. If I pick out clothes for her that she doesn't like she says, "But my baby doesn't like this." If I pick out something she likes she says, "My baby is going to like this." If she has to go somewhere she doesn't want to go she says, "But my baby doesn't want to go". And I say, "Then she can stay home!" And so on......

Last Day of Pre-School

Today was Shelby's last day of pre-school. I don't think she quite understands the concept. The fact that she will not attend school with most of those kids ever again or maybe even run into them. And only running into Ms. Judy or Ms. Casey by chance. Tomorrow we are supposed to wrap up the year with a family picnic in the park with her class. Not sure if the park will dry out. It is only 12:30 and not done raining and we have already gotten over 3 inches of rain! It looks like she has grown from the first day back in September to the last day.

Photo Frustrations

The first year of Shelby's life I took her to Sears for her baby pictures. It really was not an enjoyable experience for me. The Portrait Innovations studio was new in town when Morgan was born & Shelby turned 2, so we started to go there. I really had not had any problems with them and was pleased with my service...... until last Saturday. It was the first time I seriously thought I really should look into hiring my friend Kimberly to take our pictures. I have thought about it off and on and just haven't pursued it, but after Saturday I really wished I had. That place was so busy you start to feel like you are wasting their time if you stop to unfold the dress hem or fix the hair or whatever. And then when you sit down to review your pictures & purchase, you hardly have time to think! Then I come out of there wondering if I even ordered enough pictures and as I found out I didn't get the right size! And all I can think about is I have to look at the pictures for a year! I did get some ok ones and some of the things I didn't like were my fault (like hair bows, etc.). Here a few of the not so bad ones. Enjoy. (Sorry for the sideways layout. I could not get them corrected).

#5 For Shelby Girl!

Today was Shelby's fifth birthday. It's crazy how fast time flies. I think she has been waiting for this day since her birthday was over last year! She gets so excited. I am glad both of my kids get to celebrate their actual birthday during the school year and not just a 1/2 birthday. The only problem is they have to wait until practically the end of the school year. I think Shelby's was the last birthday that will be celebrated at preschool this year. We started the celebrating yesterday by going to a musical based on the book Pinkalicious. Shelby has that book and it seems right now all she sees is pink. Aunt Ashley came for the weekend to help me with the girls at the musical since Nate had baseball. On Saturday we were walking through Hobby Lobby and Shelby would squeal every time she saw a display full of pink. A. Ashley, who prefers the color black over pink, wondered if she had a radar for anything pink?!? We started the morning off with a pancake breakfast. A few traditions I grew up with in my family was a stack of pancakes with a candle in it. We also tried to successfully smear butter on the birthday kid's nose. I have carried over the candle in the pancakes but not the butter on the nose! After breakfast she opened her presents. Two days in a row she told me I was the greatest mom! WOW!! She loved everything. After presents it was off to school where she walked in with a huge smile on her face. Her teacher that greets at the door knew how much she was looking forward to today so she really made a big deal about it. After school we surprised her with picking up one of her favorite classmates and heading to McD's for Happy Meals. They played at our house for hours and many changes of dress up clothes! And Morgan did her best to keep up with them both. I think she will sleep good tonight and tomorrow will be waking up to the sound of Disney Music on her new castle alarm clock!