yep

i will be carrying an epipen around with me from now on. 

we found out yesterday that elliot is indeed allergic to cashews ... and almonds and walnuts too.  finding out he is allergic to almonds was a surprise because he's had almonds and been fine.  the dr said it's probably a very minor allergy but that it is still a good idea to steer clear of them from now on. 
the nice thing is he is not allergic to peanuts.  so he can still have peanut butter and other things made with peanuts.  oh and when you get an epipen they also give you a practice epipen without any needle or medication in it.  i practiced it on myself and now i have a nice bruise on my thigh. :)

we're all hoping that the epipen stays in my purse and we will never need to use it, but it's nice knowing we have it just in case. 

cashew allergy

last night we gave elliot a cashew on dr.'s orders to see if he was really allergic to cashews or if the funny reaction he had as a 3 yr old was just an eye irritation.  elliot ate a little less than half a cashew.  right after he complained that his throat hurt and his tummy ached.  i thought maybe he was just making this up or imagining it because he kind of expected something to happen.  i told him he was ok because he wasn't reacting the way he did years before, which was itchy eyes and sneezing.  well, sure enough, half an hour later he came to me and said he was itching and he had developed hives!  poor kid.  we stuck him in a soothing bath and the dr said to give him benadryl.  it helped after a while and luckily although he did start sneezing and have itchy eyes and stuffy nose, his breathing was not affected.  so we are headed to the allergist next week.  i'm really curious to see how severe his allergy is and if he is allergic to anything else.  he's eaten a gazillion peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so luckily peanuts do not affect him.  it was a sad situation last night, but i'm sure glad he is ok.  how strange to be allergic to just cashews, but i guess it actually isn't that uncommon.  so if you are around elliot, please keep the cashews at a distance.  thanks :)

haircut...

elliot had a decent amount of hair when he was a baby and toddler.  sam was pretty much bald until he was two.  

calder has had the most hair.  i've loved it, but it was getting a little bit too long to keep it from looking crazy all the time, so we decided to cut it.

    here are a few shots to give you a good idea of how it looks now.

he sure is handsome, but i miss those baby curls already.  kind of regretting cutting it so soon, but it's done and really it does look nice.  i love this boy.  we had a lot of fun giggling and running around the house this morning while i took a bunch of pictures of him.  it's been a good day :)

new look

i have given my blog a new look and want to know....what do you think?

pure joy

highs and lows

today's highs and lows

highs

jeffrey getting up early to help sam with homework we forgot to do, so i didn't have to.
calder sleeping in until 10am.
going to eat lunch with both of my boys at their school during their lunch time.
seeing how much my boys love seeing me show up at their school.
seeing how much they love calder.

lows

not taking a nap.
the gray sky.
being unmotivated to clean the bathrooms.


i'd say the highs definitely outweigh the lows today. : )

trick or treat

the cutest dragon we've ever seen. i love this picture because calder loves morgan. seriously he does. he's always walking up to her in hopes that she'll hold him. he pushes me away sometimes when i go to take him back. she's nearly in her 9th month of pregnancy and she still holds him. i think they have a special bond. we're excited to meet her new baby boy next month!

zombie man. did i mention how much i love this zombie?

darth vador....(elliot)

ninja master with his friend from kindergarten. i love how excited these little kids get when they see their friends. it's so cute.

all in all halloween was lots of fun. we went to the ward trunk or treat which was a blast and we got to go to a friend's house for another halloween party. the weather wasn't too bad either thank goodness. i remember trick or treating in snow or pouring rain numerous times as a kid in utah. i love how long fall lasts here in indiana. i'm so grateful for good friends too. it always makes holidays a lot more fun.

i had to add 2 more photos of calder.

one of calder's favorite places to play is in the kitchen in the tupperware cupboard. he's such a funny kid.

checking out an ambulance


he's such a cutie. running around everywhere and making all sort of cute sounds. i'm loving it.

quick trip

my brother eric had a convention in columbus last week, so we took a quick jaunt down to columbus to see him and have dinner with him. It was totally worth the drive. eric is always so much fun to be with. he loves my boys so much. there is something about seeing people love your children and making them feel special. we sure miss the old days when we used to drive up from ny to boston nearly every other weekend to see eric and sarah. it was a bummer that we couldn't see sarah and the kids too, but we'll take what we can get. luckily i got to chat with sarah on the phone the next day :) here are some pictures of us hanging out in eric's hotel room after dinner.




thanks for making time for us eric! we love you.