End of School & Appt

I can't believe this guy is now in 2nd grade! SECOND GRADE. Where did my baby go? 

He was just a little thing. Crying and all. Hated to take pictures, didn't want to get dressed for school. Wanted to play and watch cartoons. 

He's still little, but bigger! He will take pictures now with out crying and getting bent out of shape. He makes funny faces when taking pictures, and I have to tell him to smile nice.

He still HATES to get ready. He would rather be playing or watching a cartoon. Many mornings are full of bargaining and trying to buy more time.

He had a great year. I was iffy at times. Not sure about his teacher, the whole reading thing. BUT, it all turned out to be great! He excelled in reading and he really loved his teacher. All in all it was a good year.

Since we moved we are in a new district. I was going to sign him up for the new school. I just didn't have the heart to move him. Why should I? He's doing great at his current school, he knows all the kids and teacher, and it's just around the corner. So, I put in paperwork for the open enrollment, in hopes they will allow us to come back next year. We should find out a few weeks before school starts if he can go back. Fingers crossed he will be able to. 

We are excited to have Landon home for summer break and are looking forward to having lots of fun!

And Owen's appointment. Turns out, poor guy has hives. Now the DR said it's almost impossible to figure out what could cause them. They can be tricky to pin point. She said he had a low grade fever, so she was thinking it could be a virus running it's course. We upped his dose of Zyrtec, got some new creams, and will do benadryl if the hives get bad and he's uncomfortable. He already seems to be doing to better, haven't seen any since Wednesday. It sure was scary, I thought possibly hives, but with all his allergies it was nerve wracking trying to figure out what it was. SO, everything is good and Owen seems to be back to normal already! 

Allergies

Allergies. I really dislike them. They are scary, and they are a pain. I never thought I'd be a parent of a child with allergies. I am very fortunate that Owen's aren't severe. I've been around several children with allergies. I worked with several children with allergies. I thought I had sympathy for those dealing with allergies and children with allergies. I always thought to myself, "I don't know how they do it." "I can't imagine having a child with allergies (food ones at that)." I never thought I'd have to carry around an Epi pen, just in case. I never thought I'd have to have a bottle of Benadryl on me or near me at all times. 

I am a parent to a child with allergies. Not just one. Several. We are VERY blessed and fortunate that they aren't severe or anaphylactic. 

I am always on my toes, and one step ahead of Owen. Everyone in our house is very careful to not drop things on the ground, use one specific side of the sink, not to use Owen's bowls and utensils, and cleaning our messes. Food allergies are no fun. Owen is allergic to Milk, (the worse one) Eggs, Peanuts and Soy. Luckily with the soy it's an intolerance, and not so much an allergy. Thank you God, because that is a TOUGH one. We've learned to deal with it, and have been fine. The most challenging thing is eating out, or going to eat at someones house, like for a party. Also since Owen is getting older, he is starting to want things we are having, and asking for those things. It's heartbreaking when we can't let him have a little taste of my ice cream cake, or a bite of that concrete Landon and Daddy got when we went out. 

We've been lucky to not have any reactions, and when Owen had a taste of a puff that had milk on the ingredients and nothing happened. Being around these things, and nothing happens. Getting a kiss after I eat eggs, or peanut products. (Not on purpose, but it's happened.) 

Now, Tuesday we had some weird things going on. Owen fell in the garage after getting out of the car, he got a little scrape on his knee. He LOVES Band Aids now, so it was ok since he got a Mickey Band Aid. It was nap time, he was upset. I noticed some bumps on his forehead. Just figured it was from crying and being warm? Then they spread down his cheek, then to his neck and were allllllll under his chin across his neck. Panic.

So I rushed downstairs, grabbed the pens JUST IN CASE, and the Benadryl. He was upset, the bumps turned to welts. They were RED. He was scratching. I went ahead and gave him some Benadryl. He finally calmed down after a bit, and was knocked out from the meds. (Luckily, we were no where near having to use the EPI Pen, which is great, and I'm so thankful for. I have it around, " Just In Case")

This was around 1 that it all went down. Fast forward 6 hours, the meds were wearing off, and his eyes started to get swollen and watery. His nose was a faucet. He was not happy. I called the on call DR just to make sure he could have another dose, And we got the OK. 

He slept through the night and woke up happy. He seemed back to normal. Whew. We figured it was allergies in the air that set him off. Something similar happened last summer. 

Then yesterday afternoon out of the blue, welts starts to show up in random places all over his body. So I took him down stairs and took pictures with my phone. Took him back upstairs to change his diaper and clothes and they we starting to go away. So odd. Then around bed time, a few little spots started to come back. So we gave him a dose of Benadryl. 

Today he is fine. But, my mind is running 100mph. What is the world is going on. NO, we haven't changed ANYTHING. I know better. We all know better. No changes to his diet, no changes to ANYTHING. I went ahead and made an appt to get him checked and maybe see what is going on. If they can even tell. I want to see if what I am doing is right. I am hoping it's nothing food related. I hope he isn't developing an allergy to something he is eating. He still doesn't eat much. 

It's scary to have a little one with allergies. They don't tell you anything. They can't really tell you much. I just have to guess and make decisions. It's tough. I thought I had sympathy for people with allergies, or children, but I guess I didn't. It's a tough thing to deal with. And I sure do have sympathy now! Goodness.

Wish me luck as we get ready to head to his appointment later!

Pool Party's!

On Saturday the 10th we had two back to back pool parties at the pool on base! I took Landon to the first one, it was his friend, and Greg kept Owen home, fed him lunch and put him down for a nap. Once the first party was over, Landon and I rushed home, grabbed some fresh towels, got Owen and Greg, and headed back to base for the second party. This one was for a guy that Greg works with, his son, who is also Landon! He was turning 3.

The boys had a blast. Owen LOVED this little pool. LOVED it. I loved that the boys could play and I didn't have to stress out, at all!

I know, I know. Poor Owen in just a swim diaper. I had NOTHING that fit him. Poor baby. BUT, this past weekend I got him some swim trunks and shirt from The Children's Place. They were having a great sale. We are set for the rest of summer!

He was cold. But it was indoor, and it was WARM in there. We were dying since we weren't in the water. The water wasn't too too cold. 

Landon loved to be able to crawl around in the water, and play with his friends. 

Landon is doing better in the pool, but he is still my nervous and cautious one. I guess that's good. But I wish he'd be a tad more brave. I think if we keep going back, it will get better. He HATES water in his eyes. Which I don't blame him, but I mean, we are in a pool swimming, It's going to happen.

This little pool was in the party area. If you went around the corner there was a big pool. It was deep. Landon could barely touch in the shallowest part. They had two big diving boards and a slide. But, you couldn't have a life vest on to do those things. He had one on. I don't think he would have gone anyways. (This was at the first party with the older kiddos)

So, needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of the day. It was fun. I can't wait to take the boys back. There aren't too many pools around CO, it's too cold most of the year, there are the splash parks though, those are always lots of fun! I'm ready for summer!

Brotherly Love

These two boys just love each other! 

Most of the time these two get along great. Some days there is some arguing and yelling. But Owen adore's Landon. It's so funny to watch Owen mimic Landon. Weather it's spelling something, asking for something, or just playing. 

Owen is rough, so he loves to wrestle with Landon, he will tackle him and then just LAUGH! So funny.

We've been keeping busy with these boys. Landon only has 3 days of school left. He's almost a second grader. I can't believe it. This month has FLOWN by so far. We've been busy with all kinds of things going on, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop. 

Owen and Landon are pretty busy, they are mommy's boys, and love to cuddle and snuggle. They love their daddy just as much, some days they want nothing to do with me!

I hope they can continue to get along and be close. I know they will have their bickering and what not, they already do, but I hope they can stay close as they get older and when they are older. 

The excitement Owen has when he sees Landon after school, watching Landon talk to and play with Owen, and teach him, just melts my heart. I love these two! (Even though they drive me bonkers, haha!)

Bed Time

Well, since sleep is hard to come by. Or uninterrupted sleep that is. We are trying everything we can to try to make Owen's sleep habits better. 

We still have Landon's old toddler bed. So I went to the garage got it cleaned up, and found some hardware for it. We attempted to put it together, but we were short several screws and stuff. So off to Lowe's I went. I got the stuff we needed. $25 later, I was home. Turns out, the stuff didn't work. They didn't have the certain size screw we needed, but there was another style. It just wouldn't work, we couldn't tighten it. 

SO, we kinda wanted to make this a big deal, while Greg had the boys in the bath I ran to Walmart and grabbed Owen a Mickey Mouse toddler bed. 

Owen and daddy put it together. We had high hopes with the excitement. 

He LOVED to help Greg put it together. He would twist that little tool around and then proudly say, "I did it"

Once it was together we cleared a place for it. Moved a bunch of stuff around and got it ready to sleep in. Owen LOVED it. 

Landon even tried it and asked if he could sleep in it! Ha. At least someone likes to sleep, right?

So then it was bed time. Like I said, each night I have high hopes it will be a good night. Owen is tired, we had a great night, he ate great, had a nice warm bath, played, falls asleep quick and I can lay him down quick. Last night was the same. He was out by 830. And up at 930. I went in there and sat down next to him and patted his back, he went right back to sleep. SWEET! He likes the bed. 11:30, he's up again. This time pissed, screaming and crying. I didn't pick him up, just patted him, snuggled with him, he cried, and cried, and cried. He would fall asleep, to jolt himself back awake. Finally at 1, Greg took over, I was done. And by 2 Greg as bringing Owen in to our bed because he could not get him to lay in his crib without screaming. 

Bottom line: Owen just wants to be held. He just wants to be in our arms. That is it. And it stinks.

He is back in his crib, bumper back on, it centered back on the wall. He fell asleep fast, I laid him down quick, by the time I was at the door, he was crying. I picked him up for about 5 min, they layed him back down, and he was out. So fingers crossed we get him to sleep past 1130. I would totally be happy if he stayed in there til 2 or 3. Just a solid amount of sleep. The hours upon hours are so tiring!

Tomorrow is Friday, WOOHOO! It's supposed to warm up too, that is good. I am sick of the cold. I also can't help but to think, this time last week I was in Cali, and thinking about what we were doing. We had such a good time!