What's New

I've finally mastered the art of grocery shopping on my own with two kids! No more do I have to wait until Keith gets home from work! No longer do I have to rely on my mom to watch one

or more of the boys! Last week I put Isaac in the part of the cart where kids normally sit and I put Josiah, in his carseat, in the big part of the cart and just piled groceries up all around them and underneath. This week I just pulled a second cart along behind me. I'm just so glad to be a little more independent, just a little less reliant on other people.

Isaac had his allergy testing on Tuesday this week. Ever since I first fed him baby oatmeal when he was just 5 months old or so, he always broke out into hives with any kind of oats. Then other times it seemed like he got hives for no reason. He's also had eczema since he was about 6 weeks old, and just very dry skin in general. Then on our way home from Michigan after Thanksgiving we stopped at Panera for breakfast bagels. Isaac took a couple of bites of his sesame bagel and his lips swelled up. This is what led us to the allergist in the first place. It turns out Isaac is allergic to oats, peanuts, eggs, sesame, dustmites, cats, and possibly dogs. The very good news is that his allergies are not life threatening. He just gets itchy! Also, because he has never cared for peanut butter or eggs, they should be fairly easy to avoid. I just have to start paying more attention to ingredient lists for "hidden" eggs. The ironic thing is, because of his eczema, I've used Aveeno bath cream and lotion on his skin all along, and Aveeno has oatmeal in it! So we've switched to Cetaphil for cleansing and Vanicream for moisturizing.

After his doctor appointment, Isaac and I went to my mom's for the day, as she was already watching Josiah anyway for me. The boys napped there and I just hung out. I finished reading Jon & Kate Plus 8's book Multiple Blessings while I was there.

Wednesday was the only day this week we didn't go anywhere. I did my workout during the boys' naps. Actually, i don't think Isaac napped that day, he more or less played in his crib for two hours. Then I made chili and cornbread. My good friend Dana came over for dinner and brought a bottle of vino! We talked until about 8:30pm. Keith was very helpful with the boys so I could visit with my friend.

I wasn't planning on doing much Thursday (yesterday), but my dad, true to form, started telling me all that he wanted to get my mom for Christmas. This is his subtle way of asking me to do his Christmas shopping for him. So, I had to go to my parents again. Fortunately, my mom did let me go shopping while the boys napped at her house. I finished Keith's Christmas shopping and bought the stocking stuffers. I also took care of one thing on my dad's list for my mom. We had dinner plans with some friends, so I had to go back to my parents to get the kids and then head back out to Monroeville. Fortunately, again, my mom offered to watch Josiah so I just had to take Isaac out. We met our friends Jason & Mabry at Mad Mex. Isaac flirted with every girl that walked by. He has his carrot and celery sticks dripping with ranch dressing hanging out of his mouth as he leaned over to say "hey baby" to a little girl on his way to the potty with her mommy. He also said hello to the manager on duty. What a boy. Oh yeah, funny thing about my Isaac...we ordered him a nice kiddy burrito. Kids' meals come with carrot & celery sticks with dressing as well as a nice dessert of a small brownie with vanilla ice cream. What do you think he ate all night? Nothing but the carrots and celery. Wouldn't touch the burrito, brownie, or ice cream. So characteristic of him and his eating habits. I love it.

This morning Isaac had his toddler gym class at 9:30. True to form, I was late getting out the door. Again. Thankfully, my mother does watch Josiah for me during this class as I have to be in the gym with Isaac helping him and supervising him. This gym class is really cool and a really rich learning experience I think. He gets to be out with other kids his age, he has learned to climb a ladder in this class, and there's about 5 min. when the kids sit in a circle and do a quick activity. Of course, Isaac is totally not interested in this part of the class. I have to hold him down to get him to stay in the circle. But it's good for him to start getting exposure to this kind of class environment.

After picking Josiah up at my mom's we came home, had lunch, I did dishes, and then after some playing it was nap time. I have my homemade pasta sauce on the stove, I'm about to go make the meatballs, and I can't wait for Little House on the Prairie to come on in 7 minutes!