Four!!!

Drew when he was a wee one--yes, this is Drew,not Miles--I know my children are clones.
My little Drew celebrated his 4th birthday today! We started it off with the ward Christmas breakfast (one of the many disadvantages of having your birthday right before Christmas I guess.) Then we went to Lowes to do the weekly building project which the kids really enjoy doing on Saturdays. We went home and he opened his presents--among his favorites were his soccer ball and soccer net as to which he spent the remainder of the afternoon playing soccer in the backyard. (yes, it was in the 60's today!-Gotta love Vegas!) He also got one of those multi-cereal packs with all the sugar cereal.--you know, those little guys with froot loops, honey smacks, cocoa krispies and frosted flakes-that was a coveted gift! Then by his choice, we went to Mcdonalds for a happy meal and to play in the playland.(His favorite) and then to see "The Frog Prince".
It's hard to believe he is growing up so fast. Here are a few things about Drew that you gotta love.
1. He is the sweetest boy-so sensitive and he is my buddy and hopefully forever!
2. He is mister talkey talk.--The questions never stop!
3. He LOVES Little Miles and is always giving out kisses to him.
4. He really is the cutest thing ever with the cutest personality. -He was tagged by a talent scout not too long ago--she wants him to come in and do commercials for Macys.
5. He's really into Dinasour Train, Kryto the Superdog, and Calliou. He also loves a good bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and loves his Oreos. And he knows all 50 states in alphabetical order.
We love you Dewey! Happy 4th to you!

6 month Miles-stones

Today my little Miles is 6 months old. What a little Ham he is. Isn't he cute? He is defenitly the baby, and the hardest baby I've had.
#1 He refuses to take a bink--all 3 of my others have religiously until we have to call the binky fairy to come get it--but not Miles, he has tried 12 different types, and prefers the boob and sometimes the thumb.
2. He is a horrible sleeper--although he slept through the night 5 times in a row last week, which was a first and a miracle in itself, he has been the lightest and shortest sleeper.
3. He gags on baby food--the only thing he likes is a piece of banana or watermelon in his mesh feeder. Rice cereal and baby bananas and applesauce are for the birds.
4. He loves to be kissed and hugged.
5. He loves to take baths.
6. He adores Drew.
7. He's wearing 6-12 month clothes--but more closely 9-12 month. (he weighs 20 lbs easy!)
8. Mode of transportation--rolling.
9. Almost sitting by himself.
10. Spitting image of Maggie when she was a baby.
11. Nicknamed Milo and Melos by Owen and Drew calls him "Little Miles"
We sure do love our little Miles!

12 year celebration at the Venitian

Owen and I had our 1 week late celebration of our 12 years of marriage at the Venitian Hotel last night. (our actual anniversary was on the 6th, but Owen was OOT)
I have never been a fan of the whole Vegas scene, but I'm starting to discover some fun things to do at the different hotels. Our first adventure was a romantic gondola ride through the canals as our gondola driver sang italian opera to us.
kissing under the bridge for good luck
Then we went and had NY Deli sandwiches and chocolate cake--i didn't get a pic of that, but it was sure tasty! After dinner we did the unthinkable, and went to Madame Tussade's Wax Museum. We got some bang up pics and everyone looked very real--except Michael Jackson and it really felt like they were staring at you. I NEVER thought I'd ever go to a wax museum with Owen--so not his thing,but we actually had a really good time taking funny pics with all of them. When we got home I showed the kids the pics of all the movie stars we met, but it didn't fool Maggie--she said,"mom, your standing next to a bunch of plastic people." smart girl. Happy 12 to us!
Owen and Hef
me and my man!
good times with Cameron
Dental exam for Mr. Roker
Hey baby!

slightly embarrasing, but pretty dang funny!

I wasn't going to blog about this, but it's turned into the standing joke between Owen and I. A couple of weeks ago, Owen and i had our bedroom door locked. Yes, there is now a visual. OF course there is always someone banging on the door, and this time it was Maggie. She said, "what are you guys doing in there? Are you kissing naked and touching hair?" We about died laughing! Ok, so you know, we have NEVER been caught in the act, and for all I know, Maggie doesn't know about that stuff. So, when is it time to have the birds and the bees talk? They always say to get to your kids before they hear it at school. Could she have possibly already heard about it? She is in 3rd grade, but man, I think she's still way too young to hear about this stuff! I'm soooooo not ready for all this growing up stuff!

Drew's allergy update

If you care to read--i know it's long--Most everyone knows that my little Drew has multiple food allergies. He was first diagnosed at 11 months old, but they believe that he had them since birth. His list is long from milk, eggs, soy, nuts of all kinds and sesame. About a year and a half ago, he outgrew wheat and barley opening the door for good ol bread and cheerios. He has seen 4 different allergists now and this new one here in Vegas said on our first visit that there was a strong possibility that he may not be allergic to anything. He didn't believe the multiple skin tests he had and couldn't believe that he had never had a blood test which i guess is more accurate. I wasn't going to get my hopes up, because deep down I knew he really was allergic to all that stuff. After his blood test, we found out that yes, we were right, and that his peanut was off the charts. I guess normal levels are around 0.3 and he was 65. Most of the nuts were high, and his milk was 25 but his egg was 3. So, I was saddened for him..to think that he will probably never outgrow his peanut allergy and be able to taste the most delicious thing on the planet "reeses peanut butter cups"
Today we decided to do an egg challenge since his levels were pretty low.(we do this at the allergist office in case of emergency) The bad part is that i had to feed him straight eggs. The smell alone isn't very enticing. He had 3 bites of scrambeled eggs and then barfed all over the floor.--which then proceeded to a rash on his face. Well, so much for that! We gave him benadryl, and predisone, and in 2 weeks we will do a baked goods egg challenge which is basically like a cake or cookies with eggs. His allergist seems to think that he should be fine on this one. We shall see. For now, we'll stick to the usual..oatmeal, fruits and veggies. Drew is really a good sport with this thing--i guess it's because it's all he's known and so he's used to it. He never fights me on foods when he can't have them--he knows that they'll give him a stomach ache and it just isn't worth it.

I'm all Halloweened OUT!!!

This past week has been nuts o crazy! I'm so glad Halloween is over! Now all i have to do is figure out how I'm going to get rid of all that Halloween candy my kids got--there is NO WAY they are eating all of that! But, it is their most prized possession--they carry their bags around wherever they go, and they keep dumping it out, and counting, sorting it into catagories, and trading.
last Tuesday started out with Drew's party at school. He picked out his costume--he is a MEAN tiger.
Maggie had her school party on Wednesday--Maggie is all about blood and guts, so we had to do scary again(last year she was a skeleton, and the year before she was a vampire)--lets just say we wrapped her 4 different times, but she sure did get lots of compliments!
Audrey had her party on Thursday--we had a costume battle this year. She really wanted to be the vampire that Maggie was in 1st grade--except for they said no wigs or make up at school, plus the dress was a little big on her--I told her she would show up in an oversized black dress, and noone would know what she was--she comprimised with Dorothy-
And little Miles was my little superbaby! Isn't he the cutest!
I made these cute lollipop cookies for Maggies class and the school bake walk
We had the ward Trunk or treat, the school trunk or treat/carnival, and then to top it off, we went to Utah this weekend because the kids didn't have school on Friday or Monday(Nevada day-whatever that is) and we went to my moms ward trunk or treat and then went neighborhood trick or treating and saw this Joseph Smith pumpkin on one of the doorsteps
So, now we're home and the decorations are coming down and man am I glad! I told the kids next year it's going to be one trick or treating we do not need to do everything--they disagree.

Co-op? Pure Brilliance!

What is Co-op? Well, when I got to Vegas, the women in the ward asked me if I wanted to be in Co-op. Here's how it works: Everyone starts out with 30 tickets--half are 1 hour and half are 1/2 hour. Each day there are 2 different people signed up to baby-sit. one from 9-12, and 1 from 12-3. The person who is baby-sitting can decide how many she wants to baby-sit that day. You have the option to take your kids to her house for that time period. For every child you take over and for each hour that they are there, you give the babysitter a ticket. For example, if I took Drew to Shauna's house from 12-3, I would owe her 3 tickets. IF I took both my kids, i would owen her 6 tickets. And maybe i would only need her for 2 hours so then i would owe her 4. During this time frame, the babysitter feeds a good snack provided by her to the child so when mom comes to pick up, they don't have to go home and feed them.
This is true brilliance! Why did we not do this in Philly? No money needed, just equal trades. We have a 4 month calendar and there is someone everyday in the morning and afternoon. SO if you have a Dr.'s appt, or want to volunteer in your child's classroom, or maybe you want to go to the store --alone!!! OR maybe you just want some ME time and you go home and take a nap.--I've used it to clean my house before and i got it done sooo much faster! ANd if you're ever running out of tickets, you can just eamil everyone to see if someone doesn't want their shift because you need tickets! This really would have been a life saver in Philly! All those wic appointments and trips to the medicaid office--man this totally would have saved me!