To KayKay

Dear Kaitlyn,
I miss you so much! Today mommy took me to Chick-fil-A and I really hoped you were going to be there. I also asked mommy if you could come over and watch Dora sometime. We drove by your old house today and I pointed it out to mommy. She keeps telling me that you don't live there anymore, but I forget sometimes.
I miss you soooooo much. Hopefully we can see each other soon!
Love,
NaNa

Wild Child

Matt has decided that Gabby's personality is a lot like her hair...we never know what it is going to do!

The Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo again a few weeks ago when Matt's parents were in. They had a lot of fun. This week it has been really cool in low 70's and the day we went to the zoo it was like 95 degrees! Naomi and Gabs loved all the animals but Nana says the giraffes were her favorite. They had a lot of fun and we are looking forward to going again when Gabby gets a little older.

Naomi and daddy checking out the elephants.Gabby getting really excited about the giraffes.

Naomi feeding her new friend
The fam in front of the big elephant.
Naomi and Matt on the carosal. She was too afraid to get on anything so they sat on a swan bench.
I will put up some pretty pictures on the photo site soon.

Apples

My friends and I recently had a conversation about the Pottery Barn Catalog being completely unrealistic. One of the reasons being because no one actually keeps bowls full of real fruit out for decoration.

A few days after that conversation I went to visit another friend (in DC) and look what I found :)

Lori, this is for Rhett!

Hungry Girls

One Saturday morning I was making biscuits. The girls could hardly wait to eat them. They both wanted to watch them cook. Seriously, they act like I starve them!?! 

15 month check-up! 25 Pounds!

15 month stats:

25.2 lbs (75 % percentile)

31 inches (75% percentile)

I can't remember her head circumference but it was 50 % percentile.

The doctor said her weight/height were perfect and that not to worry so much about her crazy eating habits:)

Here is Gabs doing what she does best!

Naomi Update!

I took Naomi to the allergy doctor today. We went for a number of reasons but the main one being that she gets these crazy reactions to bug bites, from biting insects like mosquitos.

-On the bug biting-He called it a localized response. He said in a small percentage of children (like 10%), they get these crazy, huge, swollen, oozy reactions to a simple bite. He said this however is not an allergic reaction but a systemic response. Good news except there is not a whole lot to do about it. He said to immediately give her an antihistamine as soon as I see a bite develop. He said that they are very commonly misdiagnosed as cellulitis since they look exactly the same. The distinguishing factor is the time. If the huge swelling comes inside 24 hours after the bite, it is just a response and if it gets huge within 36-48 hrs later it probably is infected. This is when antibiotics should be given. He also gave us a local antibiotic to apply to hopefully prevent the bites from becoming infected from the possible staph that might be on her skin. He does not recommend doing the stinging bug skin testing yet. He said once she does eventually get stuck if she does actually get hives from it then maybe we would go ahead and do the testing. He said your first response is never antiphylatic because your body has never been exposed. It is only the 2nd, 10th, 100th time that breathing problems start to develop.

-On the strawberries- He said that in all his years of doing this he has only had one child with a true allergy to strawberries. He said there is actually a decent number of small children (I forget the number) that have what they call a lectin response. Lectin being found in strawberries and in smaller quantities in raspberries and blueberries. Naomi always gets the bumps on her face if she gets near a strawberry and if she eats a lot of the other berries. He said that she will probably grow out it by school age and until then to just keep avoiding them as I have been. He did do a skin test on her for it just in case and it was negative! He also said that kids with this also usually have the "ranch response." It is a made up name but that a lot of children are also sensitive to ranch dressing, tomatoes (or products) and something else. Naomi always gets a rash if something is left on her face too long.

-Asthma- We talked a lot about how Naomi gets these horrible constant coughs in the winter, especially at night time. He said that she probably does have a seasonal asthma that we are going to try and control with just an inhaler. If this does not work then we will add back the Singular.

He was very informative and a great doctor. She goes back to see him in December for a follow up on the asthma.

Below is a picture of Naomi's hand 2 days after one of her bites and a day after antibiotics!

All alone in the city!

Matt and had a great time in DC! It really was a lot of fun. I missed the girls terribly but it was nice to have a few days just with Matt and one all to myself. Matt passed his interview that we went there for. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

1. Matt and I (the night we got there before his interview)

2. The White House

3. Wyoming statue thing at the World War II memorial (I thought it was appropriate to take a picture since Matt is serving on the USS Wyoming!)

4. Washington Monument ( I had forgotten just how huge it was...it really is impressive!)

5. Good ole Abe! It was a long long walk to him, but he was worth it! 

I went all over DC myself, while Matt was at his interview. I had to look at maps, navigate around the metro, and even stop and ask a few locals directions. It was crazy but super fun...at least until it started pouring down rain!

I will put more pretty pictures of DC up on my photo blog!

Off to DC

Matt and I are getting ready to go to DC without the girls!!! This will be my first time ever leaving them overnight (except for when I had Gabby and Naomi had to stay at home without me!)  I am excited to be able to spend some time with Matt, and I even might go explore the city by myself. But I am also so nervous and scared about leaving my girls. I know that they are in good hands but I am just worried about myself. I already miss them like crazy and we have not even left for the airport. Just keep us in your prayers, for fun and safety. We are flying home on Sept 11th, which I know is not that big of a deal, but of course just makes me more nervous! 

Body Art

A few weeks ago I got some cool whip and added food coloring to it to make paint for the girls. I made three colors: pink, teal, and purple. The girls had a lot of fun. Of course Gabby realized in like 3 seconds that it was edible and ate all of her paint in like 5 minutes. Naomi actually thought it would be fun to paint her arms. Silly girls!