a girl and her daddy... and her "pop"

i really liked this one of she and kenny. he is out of focus, but she isn't, so oh well... no chance of shooting this one on the right settings anytime soon so we'll go with this...every time i place a photo order from the lab i use, they send a tootsie roll in the box with the order. and it is HEAVEN time for aislyn. i hope tootsie rolls don't have eggs. man you can get this girl to do anything if you have a "pop" waiting for her on the other side. except pee in the toilet...

75 recipes with only corn and rice...

WE GOT CORN! it passed! there was no red mark! we have to trial it slowly, but STILL. that's huge. also we got one other thing to pass, we THINK. either milk or soy, probably soy. there may have been a slight mix up with which patch was which. so we ran a prick test which only takes 15 minutes to read, and soy came back negative and milk positive on that one. (the patch results were opposite, but like i said, they may have been mixed up). SO.. we get to try a teensy bit of soymilk tomorrow and wait for a reaction. that would be fabulous. his back took a BEATING, but oddly enough, it didn't seem to bother him at all. he was highly allergic to wheat and egg, so that's a bummer, but i really expected that. but i didn't expect to get two negatives! praise God, we're praying the tests were right and he handles the foods well. so, in the pic, the five squares are where all the patches were (the three to the left were the positives, you can see the circles) and the markings were where the prick test was. so sad, huh. but man, he just doesn't care. he's so happy. thanks for the prayers.

patch testing

so.. on monday, our allergist put 5 different foods (corn, milk, soy, wheat, egg) on grayson's back, in tiny wells with tape on them and tomorrow we get to have them taken off. they measure the red area, thus determining an allergy and/or degree of allergy. PLEASE PRAY that we get something that's negative. this is basically to disprove the RAST test (blood test). so we'll see. I WANT TO GIVE HIM CORN TOMORROW!!!! how cool would that be... a very nice change from tasteless brown rice. but luckily, my sweet boy LOVES his brown rice. he's so cute with a rice cake in hand. you would SERIOUSLY think that it was ice cream. sweet boy.

a very chill 4th

quite the change from the last few years....kenny's grandma katie came over and we grilled out and did our own fireworks, aislyn had been talking about them all day. katie brought over a giant watermelon and i THINK aislyn may have eaten half of it...WITH great grandma's help of course...grayson seemed to like the fireworks ALOT. he would point and yell, happily, each time kenny set one off. aislyn was a BIG fan of the sparklers. but when she's done, she's done, and she'll just drop them wherever they fall, and run. its kinda scary.grayson's new thing is rocks. putting them in his mouth, over and over, no matter how many times i pull them out, tell him no, he keeps doing it. this is him thinking about when i will look away so he can eat one. and just LOOK at those curls on his head. i'm so excited he might have fun curly hair like his daddy!this is him eating one.this is him looking at the one on the ground that he would like to eat next.thanks grandma katie for joining us for our low key fourth! we'll bring out the big guns again next year and set the cul de sac on fire as is the norm.. OH, the random kid on the side- they walked over to see our fireworks. all four of them.

fishin' for the frenchies on the fourth...

my sister in law, currently is in france to recreate her american wedding to my french brother in law. she has been begging for some new pics to share with our french family SO we went to shady lakes today to fish with the kids so we'd have something to post! first of all, to our french family, we miss you dearly! we wish so much that we were there. however, i will not take two toddlers to france, and i have an irrational fear of flying that has only gotten worse since having kids. i will get over it. just not today. i hear drugs help.

so, a bit about the post. let me first say, when you ask aislyn if she wants to catch a fish, this is what she does, as if you are about to throw one at her..
these are a few of our little man, he's getting so big. and cuter by the second. by the way, update on his allergist appointment this week. they were going to do food patch testing on his back, however, he didn't have a spot that was clear from eczema, so we have to wait until we can clear his back. we'll try again monday and we'll find out on wednesday if we can add any foods!!!
and princess aislyn, also getting bigger by the second. and SASSIER, which i hear from mom and dad that she comes by it honest. she and kenny looked absolutely adorable just sittin' on a log, fishin' away. she loved it that daddy was letting her hold the reel. pole. or whatever the heck its called. clearly i go fishing often.

and by the end of the day (and by day, i mean the 30 minutes that we were there), we had caught nothing. however, this kid did.

and he asked about 5 times if i would take his picture.

anyway, we miss all of you over there in france terribly and hope that you'll come back for a visit soon! kenny says happy independence day to you! we are about to have some chickenpork and chickenchicken with great grandma, and then set off some illegal fireworks. :) (oh, barbara, you'll have to explain to the french the chickenpork thing- aislyn thinks everything should be chicken so we have to trick her).

HAPPY FOURTH! AND HAPPY RE-WEDDING!! La mariage- is that right?

BONJOUR!

twinkle

twinkle twinkle little star as sung by aislyn at 2.5 years old.

"twinkle twinkle yiddle star
how i whatchu whatchu are
how i whatchu whatchu are
how i whatchu whatchu are
twinkle twinkle yiddle star
how i whatchu whatchu are."

just wanted to remember that.

OH, and my favorite thing she says:

"oh mommy! there's a yiddle yadybug!! i yuv yadybugs!" (its usually a spider or something awful by the way)

i definitely want to remember that...

uncomfortable much?

for some reason, i could never imagine why, these images make kenny's stomach turn. i guess its the realization that someday, our daughter will want to ride away with a boy. in a car. or on a motorcycle. i think they're cute for now... these kids are two peas in a pod , and MAN, alyssa, do we have some fun pictures for the table at their wedding, should they end up together one day...

happy birthday daddy!!!

today is my daddy's birthday, and we want to wish him a VERY happy one!! and enjoy it dad, cuz tomorrow is.... SOUTH BEACH DIET TIME!!! whoo hoo!!! ALSO.. my parent's 35 year anniversary was a week ago today and i forgot to post something. i am so proud of my mom and dad for stickin with it their whole lives. they have been such an example to my brothers and i of what marriage is supposed to look like. it can be hard, believe me, but God uses it to make us more holy, thats His plan. thanks mom and dad for not giving up.

my boy

i did grayson's one year shoot this week and wanted to post a couple of my favorites. :) little munchkin. i can't believe he's one!!! i just adore him... oh, and if you're wondering what he's holding? its a brown rice cake!! he can actually have a snack now! it tastes like cardboard, but he LOVES them. and i love it that he loves them. :)

our doctor is smart! and nice!

by the GRACE of God, we have had an amazing month!! i mean, when you think of all we have been able to accomplish medically with grayson just in three weeks, it is crazy. when our pediatrician told us that we would need to see the doc at UNMChildren's back at the beginning of may, our appointment was not scheduled until the END of july. THREE months from then. well, somehow God worked that out and we got to see him on june 2nd, just four weeks later. when the doc said he wanted to do the biopsy, it usually takes one month to schedule that in, but grayson was scheduled for june 5th, just THREE DAYS after we met the doctor! after his results came back negative, the unm doc referred us to the allergist to go from there. that appointment was scheduled for SEPTEMBER 30th! are you KIDDING me? i was so sad because i can't really do successful food trials without the help of a doctor, so i wasn't sure what i was going to do about that one. BUT, yesterday afternoon, this dr's office called and said "hey, um, we have you down for sept 30th. however, we have a cancellation in the morning..." OH MY GOSH I WILL TAKE IT. can you believe that? so since june 2nd, we have had three MAJOR appointments which would normally take about 6 months to complete! thank you LORD!!

so our appointment went GREAT! we love the doctor. he is SO proactive, (just like you said he'd be cobi and jen!) so, first , we clear up the sinus infection i had no idea he had, and then we start the food testing! he'll be eating in no time! he's doing good with rice this week, i think. i never can tell. all i know is that he has a snack to munch on (100% pure brown rice cakes) and i've never seen him happier!

anyway, just wanted you to know that i am feeling so hopeful about all this stuff! yea for good doctors!! yea yea yea!!

update on little cash

i wrote last week about my friends micah and jeremiah's son cash. here is a little update from daddy... and a couple pics.

"hey, everyone! just wanted to let you guys know how everything is going withus. cash is now two weeks and 3 days old and he is doing really well. he isnow 1 lb. 8 oz. & 15.5" long (he was born at 12.5). everyday is a bitdifferent, he has days where he does real well and makes a lot of progress.he still has those days that aren't real great either, but it's all part ofthe process. micah got to hold him for the first time today! they say that that is reallygood for him and for her too. his big brother is pretty stoked on him, he'snot afraid of the tubes and wires. he touches him lightly and talks to himtoo. I think jameson still wanted to name him optimus prime, but cash willhave to do. as always, we thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts!"

keep prayin' for this little guy~

sweet angel baby

you would have been 6 and half months now little sydney. i have been thinking of you alot this week. as i went through your memorial service pics last night to get them ready for your mommy, i remembered feeling your life inside your mommy's belly, even just hours before Jesus took you home. and then i remember holding you sweet girl. it was almost more than i could handle. but i had to be strong for your mommy and daddy. they love you so much little girl! as i thought some more, i couldn't help but imagine the what if's. what if you were here, you'd be sitting up by now maybe. grayson would LOVE to come and snug up to you, smack you in the face probably trying to love on you! you would be trying to hard to crawl and chase him around. or maybe you'd be trying to run from him! your mommy and i would sit in the backyard and put you in the kiddie pool in one of aislyn's hand me down swimsuits (that probably would have been one of braidyn's hand me down swimsuits!). we would laugh at how much beautiful dark hair you had, and how you already would have grayson beat in the hair department! your mommy and daddy would start working on your words with you. ma-ma. da-da. bub-ba. and liam would definitely be teaching you a thing or two about the drums. and about george. and about Jesus too. your daddy would swing you SO high in the swing while your mommy would yell at him. :)

but this wasn't God's plan. its hard to be ok with that sometimes, as we mourn that He took you home. but He doesn't have a plan b, as i've learned as i talk with your mommy. it was always His plan for you to live in your mommy for 7 months and then to go back to heaven with Jesus. but i have to say sweet girl, i have learned alot from your short existence here on earth. you have taught me that even my own babies are not my own. they are on loan from Jesus. God has used your short life to teach me about the generosity of strangers, through funds raised for grayson (he would have been your betrothed :)), to help him with his allergies. some of those people never would have met your mommy if it hadn't been for you! i am learning more and more every day what an amazing writer your mommy is! she has taught me more about my Jesus through her grief. the list goes on baby girl. i haven't really ever posted about you, because i've never really known what to say or how to say it. but since you've been on my heart this week, i will take the opportunity. i am excited to meet and know you one day sydney grace. love to you dear baby. i sure do miss you.

happy first birthday QUINCY!!!

my very best friend from early highschool has a little munchkin who turns one today! just wanted to wish you a happy first quincy!!!

me and my daddy

this is my daddy. i could not possible have been given a better father. thanks dad for teaching me about Jesus. thanks for teaching me that your home is where your family is. thanks for teaching me that riches are in your heart and in your heaven and not in your pocket. thanks for teaching me about unconditional love. and for teaching me that lifting weights with free weights is never a good idea. :) and for teaching me how to deal with scary situations, even though i still worry too much. and for teaching me that the left blinker blinks faster than the right one, so that blind people know which way they are turning. and thanks for being such an amazing papa to my kids. i love you so so much. happy father's day daddy. :)

a few from yesterday...

this is the new water table that tati and nono got grayson for his birthday! yes, thats water on his face and not awful blisters or something... he NEVER smiles for the camera, so i had to post this one, even though its not a very good shot.

um, who is that 15 year old over there on the left?