I think it is time for another...

I think it's time for another...BABY GATE! What did you think I was going to say?!?! ;)

Our wild man, Stokes, has decided that stairs are his new thing. He loves to crawl up them now. And I'm not just talking about 1 stair. He will go up 6 or 7 stairs! MaSha told me that he went all the way up and all the way down when we were in Phoenix the other weekend and he has not stopped climbing since.

We have a baby gate at the top of the stairs and intended to have one at the bottom as well, but ran into technical difficulties when trying to install the gate we bought for the bottom. It didn't work out and we returned the gate and decided we would revisit it at a later time. That time is apparently now.

Stokes navigates the stairs really well, but I've been careful to always be nearby and watching him closely when he starts climbing. I'm nervous that I won't be paying close enough attention or to leave the area for a minute at some point and he will climb up and fall. Scary!!

Just look at this little stinker!

I think he's daring me to come after him!

The look of concentration

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Making his way back down

Meanwhile...

Ryan chillin' on the chair

Sweet boy

William on the move

Hangin' out with his bud, General

He's adorable

A breakthrough

A break through the gums, that is! All of my boys now have top teeth! One of Ryan's teeth on the top just broke through. It's very bittersweet because he had the cutest and sweetest gummy smile and that will be a distant memory soon. I've only seen 1 top tooth breakthrough for now, but I know the second one isn't far behind. I tried to snap a close-up picture and found it to be a little challenging. Here are my best takes.

Can you see it?!?!? It's on his right side.

Sweet little smile with a hint of a top tooth

Here's what Ryan thinks about his mom taking pictures
of his new tooth.

Another angle - I see another that will come in soon!

2 bottom teeth

Stokes has 8 teeth - 4 on top and 4 on bottom - and they've been in for a while now. They've grown quite a bit over the last few weeks. They start out as just a tiny little speck of white peeking through the gums and then in no time they are like real, full-blown teeth.

4 top teeth

4 bottom teeth

Smiley boy showing off those pearly whites!

William now has 6 teeth, with the 6th tooth just barely breaking through at this point. His teeth are bigger than Stokes', which fits since Stokes seems to be smaller all over! These teeth are going to be some chompers!

4 on top - it's hard to see the 4th one, but it's on the left side

2 on bottom

Allergies

Stokes has shown a few signs that he might have some sort of allergy. Every now and then, his cheeks and the area right around his mouth will break out in a red rash. Thomas actually is the more observant parent and noticed that it happened a few times when we gave him eggs. I called his pediatrician and got a referral to an allergist.

We just went to his appointment last Friday and they did a skin test. They basically gently prick him with a saline (the control to make sure his skin isn't overreacting), a histamine (to make sure his skin will react) and then they tested for milk and eggs. We didn't think he had a milk allergy since he gets regular whole milk in a sippy cup now and has been on a milk based formula for a long time, but thought we may as well test it while we were there.

Within a few minutes we had our answer. He is allergic to eggs. His doctor said that there is an 85% chance that he'll grow out of it by the time he's 8, and possibly much sooner. We'll test again in 6 months, but until then we have to avoid all eggs and things that contain eggs. I'm going to have to be a food label reader for the first time in my life! Avoiding eggs will cut down on the number of good breakfast options I though of or have given them in the past. It's typical that I will give them Cheerios, fruit and yogurt. I've tried grits before a while back and they didn't love them, but I tried them again this morning.  Stokes and William seemed to like them okay, but Ryan was not impressed. Leave me a comment if you have some good breakfast ideas, sans eggs! ;)

Picture taken at the allergist's office. You can see the minimal
reaction to the milk (M) and saline (S) pricks. The histamine (H)
had the most severe reaction and the egg (E) was fairly mild,
but indicated that he does have an allergy.

The aftermath...

Enough time had passed and the reactions had basically
disappeared.

A weekend in the desert

Thomas and I had a weekend getaway in Phoenix, AZ last weekend. This was the first time we have both been away for a whole weekend since we had the boys. I'm going to be honest. I was a little nervous to leave them for an entire weekend - actually, it was an extended weekend...Friday EARLY (like 5:50 AM flight early) through Monday night after their bedtime. Thankfully, we had our wonderful family members, MaSha and Thomas's Aunt Fifi, that were willing to come down and stay with the boys and keep them for us so we could get away.  I knew the boys were in great hands with those two, but it was still a little hard for me to leave them.

The reason we chose to go to Phoenix was because Thomas had some business there.  He decided that since his flight was paid for, he could fly out early and use some airline points to get me a ticket to join him. We went to Scottsdale first and spent some time walking around through Old Town Scottsdale and had some good meals around town. One night, we had dinner out in Cave Creek, which is about 45 min. drive time away from Scottsdale and got to see the landscape on our drive. For my last day in Arizona, we changed hotels and went to stay at The Buttes, which is a beautiful resort that is built inside a mountain. While we were there, we hung out at the pool all day, which was awesome!

We checked in on the boys each day and got great reports from MaSha and Fifi. I'm sure they were both glad to see me when I got back on Monday night! They were ready to get home and get back into their regular routine. Much love and appreciation for both of you!

Lunch at Rehab Burger Therapy

Old Town Scottsdale

The Rusty Spur Saloon

Do you like the barstools?

Scenery on drive to Cave Creek

El Encanto, Thomas's very favorite Mexican restaurant

 



The Buttes

Our on-premise mini-hike

View of the resort

The pool

Dinner on the last night at Top of the Rock at the resort

Airing our dirty laundry

Here it is!

L to R: Stokes, Ryan and William

Missing her

Today marks 9 years since my Mom passed away. I will never forget that day. Now that I'm a mom, think about my own Mom every single day and oftentimes think about what our lives would be like if she were around. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she would be absolutely OBSESSED with her grandkids, my boys as well as my niece, Kaitlyn. Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to meet any of them, or my husband.

I cannot even put into words an accurate description of her. She was my confidant, mentor, and best friend. She was a phenomenal mother. She instilled in me a love of reading; she taught me the golden rule - treat others as you would want to be treated, and reminded me regularly - to whom much is given, much is expected. What a amazing teacher of life.

Regardless of age, there are times you just want your mom. When I don't feel well, when I need some advice, when I want some comfort that only a mother can provide, my heart aches for her. I want to put my arms around her. Nothing, I repeat, nothing makes you want your mom more than having a baby, or in my case, babies. I needed her when I found out there were three in there. I needed her when I was scared and unsure I could handle my pregnancy. I needed her when I was in the hospital on bed rest. I really needed her after the boys were born and were in the NICU fighting for their lives. I really, really needed her when my precious miracles came home. If she, my very biggest cheerleader, had been with my through all of those ups and downs, I think I would have been more confident and a lot less scared. I think I could have handled everything with more grace. My attitude would have been better. It's hard to explain, but it helps just to know that you have that person in your corner. I know she was with me through everything, and still is, but I wish she was here on earth with me.

She was a breast cancer survivor and she and I participated together in several Race for the Cure events before she passed away. Since her death, I put together a team in her honor for Race for the Cure for 7 years, until the boys were born last year. Since her close friends and I have become champions for the fight against breast cancer in her honor, a lot of people assume she lost her fight against breast cancer. I don't always correct the assumption. It's just easier that way. But the truth is that she also battled depression and ultimately took her own life. I have so many regrets and constantly think that she would have so much to live for now - specifically 4 "so muches" - her grandkids. I wonder had any of them had been born before 10/11/05, would she be around now? There are so many "what ifs" but I cannot change what has happened. The fact remains that the world lost one of the greats.


This post is dedicated to my mother, Robbie Van Pelt. I miss her each and every single day.

I love this one because it's like she's looking down on me

Me, my Mom and my sister, Anne

Anne, Mom and me in NYC

Mom and Anne

Mom and me and my college graduation

Me and my Mom at Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure