A Change is a Comin'

For anyone who didn't already know, we are adding to our family this year. Somewhere around December 4th we will welcome a baby boy to our little fam! We are So excited and Grace is already talking about her little brother.

In an ideal world there would be a lot that happens before this little baby comes, such as Grace being potty trained, giving up her paci, sleeping in a big bed, listening and obeying everything her parents ask her to do (I said ideal), rearranging the upstairs bedrooms, getting new flooring downstairs and buying lotsa fun boy items. Probably 2 things on this list will get done. Oh well, everything in good time. For now we are just excited/nervous to have found out that we are having a boy! Hopefully I can figure out this boy business, but Dave is already looking forward to having a sports buddy.

On another note, here are a couple of shots from our trip up north this summer.

The big 2

I guess it is about time for me to write about Grace's 2nd birthday on April 3rd! Like any other mom, I can't believe another year has flown by. Everyday I am grateful that we have Grace, she is a true joy in our home. She is curious, silly, shy and a major girly girl. She has become even more particular about her clothes, shoes and hair. Lately she won't go out of the house without her sunglasses, purse and necklace. Yes, I buy her these things, but she has her own special love for them!
Grace had a great time on her birthday! Her cousins Cameron and Joshua and my parents were in town, which made the day even better. With family in town, we basically celebrated all week! On her actual bday we went to Jumpin' Jacks (a place with a bunch of blow up toys and slides). She also enjoyed opening her presents, helping me make her cake and eating lots of cake and ice cream. I made her a dairy free, egg free, nut free chocolate pudding cake and she ate it with vanilla soy ice cream.
At her 2 yr check up she weighed 33lbs and is 37.5 inches tall. We also had an allergy check up last week where we found out that her egg and nut allergy levels have gone down significantly, but that her milk allergy levels have risen significantly. This means that she doesn't have a very good chance of growing out of her milk allergy, but she still has a chance, right? I can only hope that at some point in her life there will be a good way of desensitizing her to these allergens. For now, we adapt:)

enjoying the fam

We enjoyed a week of jumping, swimming, going to the park, McDonald's, Easter and of course very good home cooked food with my family 2 weeks ago! I really love it when my family comes to visit and the house is all too quiet when they are gone. My parents brought along my two nephews for the trip, so they were great playmates for Grace. She was well entertained for a week solid and still talks about them everyday.

Triumph

Today we had a moment I wasn't sure would happen.

Grace ate her first chocolate chip cookie.

Ok, this sounds silly I know, but I was really excited! We found out officially when Grace turned one last year that she is allergic to milk and eggs and needs to stay away from nuts. This isn't a make your tummy sore intolerance, this is a hives all over body, throw up kind of allergy. We are blessed that she has not yet had an anaphalactic reaction, but worry that it could happen. So now you see why a simple chocolate chip cookie was such a big deal for us! I found a recipe for a dairy, egg and nut free cookie over at Food Allergy Mama. These are not nasty cookies that leave you feeling like something is missing, they are good. I look forward to having these on hand so Grace won't feel left out when other kids are eating treats she can't have.

It is days like this that make me think that if Grace never grows out of this allergy, she still can enjoy food, which makes me really happy.