Levi's two week experiment...

Levi still isn't fully better after being off dairy and soy. While we have slipped and sometimes he has gotten dairy or soy (you can tell when he's had either, it isn't pretty) he still hasn't gotten 100% "normal".

We are going to do a 2 week experiment of taken out all gluten, dairy, and soy from his diet.
I'll be tracking his progress or lack there of at his blog, http://glutendairysoyfreetoddler.blogspot.com/.
You'll be able to see what he ate, his activity level, and of course his bowels daily.

We hope this helps him some while we wait for him to see a ped. GI.

In the trailer, on the bike

We've been biking almost daily. The kids love it and I love the cool air blowing against my skin.
Tonight after bath time I loaded them up and we went riding with a friend. As I was airing up the tires before we left, she snapped a few photos.

Getting adjusted..

My living room has looked like this for almost a week now since the man has been home. We come home to sleep and that's about it. The house was a huge mess. My wonderful husband cleaned it for me while I took a nap. He even did laundry! Sometimes he amazes me.

This little guy is finally out of the hospital. He still has lots of Dr.'s appts. ahead of him and tests to be done. I am trying to get used to writing down everything that goes into his mouth. Sometimes it can be a challenge since Annabelle feeds him without me knowing it. This little girl is well, a little girl. She loves being back home were she can play with all 10 pairs of shoes she has, not to mention the purses, necklaces, and yes stickers.

While the man was getting ready for work this morning, Annabelle and I ran to the store real quick. We got all this from Food Lion for $1.86...total savings, $23.21

Our CVS trip from the other day. I ended up spending about $10. More than I wanted too, but I needed the infant Tylenol.

All in all, I am trying to get back on a routine. The kids are loving being home. Which is a good thing, because generally they just want to go, go, go....wonder where they get that from.

The sleeping children...

Last night the kids stayed up a little late. That meant lots of silliness and rolling around.

Finally asleep, and in his bed!

Mommy's Helper??

At least after taking them all out....


She did put them all back in..

What a good little girl.

Why???

Why is it that you have to teach a child to sit still, but running to the nearest puddle of water and splashing comes natural? Without shoes on and in your socks?



At least she is having fun....

The culprit!

The Offender:




The Crimes:

Took all the Kleenex out of the box (it was a large box!) and dumped a bunch of rolls to roll coins.

Took a roll of toilet paper and shredded it outside. along with some toys, laundry soap, and a big yellow piece of paper. In her defense, I put the mop there.

Knocked over the vacuum cleaner, spilled a cup of fruit loops, brought some (clean) diapers into the living room, and a dog leash.

Dumped two boxes of soap over the patio and they landed here, by the water hose....and yes, they are still there this morning. ;)

I spent about 4 hours yesterday cleaning our whole house, finally got finished about 2 p.m. The little girl woke up from her nap and within an two hours had the place looking like this! When she was outside I thought she was playing since I heard her toy, had no idea she had toilet paper and soap out there. I was quietly reading a book in the living room.

The living room got destroyed when I was making dinner. Had no idea until I heard "CRASH" I went in there to find it like that and the vacuum fallen over. The Kleenex issue happened when I was checking my e-mail....I thought she was in her room playing..so much for thinking!

Mommy Lesson #1

This is what happens when your toddler gets quite for 5 minutes! I guess she thought the towels looked better on the floor. Perhaps this is why I feel like the house doesn't stay clean?







This is where the towels SHOULD be! Hmmm....

This is after mommy spent 10 minutes cleaning up her mess. This is what they looked like before her "5 minutes of quite time". Of course when I asked her what she was doing, she said"Ahh ker aii jkk gee errr" hands in motion and everything.

Lesson learned, if your toddler is quite, there is a GOOD reason! And probably means he/she is into something he/she shouldn't be. Annabelle is always trying to re-arrange things in our house to suite her needs. I don't think she likes the way I have it. Oh, the joys of having a daughter! I hear boys don't care how the towels are put away.

Child Activities

Since Annabelle is getting older we are adjusting our schedule to make more time for child activities. Something that we have done since she was 3 months was let her watch a reading video. She loves this and we do it every morning just after breakfast. After that's done with she has about an hour to play before I put her back down for a mid morning nap. She is getting better about playing by herself during this time, so I can either clean up our breakfast dishes and get lunch somewhat started. She will sleep from about 9:30 to 11:30 and then its time for lunch. After lunch I have nothing planned. So its just free playtime. She is acting like she wants more structure during this part of her day. My struggle is what do you do with a 13 month old child? We play together with her toys, but there is only so long I can sit on the floor, and sometimes its hard to get back up.
I plan to start reviewing her ABC's daily with the ABC bible memory book.
We have tried "coloring" and she seems to want to bang the crayons together more than "color".
Any ideas for activities?