Snow, Snow, and More Snow

We've lived in Colorado long enough to know better then to get our hopes up for spring in March. But seriously. I think we've had our share of snow this winter and we're definitely ready to trade in our snow boots for flip flops (remind me of this when I'm complaining of a sweltering summer in August...)! Here's how this storm went:

Aah...a lovely spring rain

Oh brother. Here comes the snow just a short hour later

Serious snowfall about two hours later

Full on blizzard!

Very sad broken tree branch in our yard the next morning under a foot of snow

So, while we're waiting for our tulips to appear along with other signs of spring we decided to do a project with rocks. We hurried out to collect a few before the snow came and talked about smooth vs. bumpy, round vs. flat, etc.

And then we had to wash them of course because rocks are very dirty

And then they had to be rinsed

And then they dried during nap time

And then the painting began

Rock painting is very serious business

Morgan is good at holding the paint jars...he can't be trusted with the real stuff yet even though he'd really like to try!

Our finished products. They turned out great even though this picture doesn't do them justice. We also talked about light colors and dark colors.

Ok, finally. I'll end with yet a few more snow pictures...

Jacoby taking the shoveling into his own hands

The cutest little one-year old ever!

First Days of Spring

There's nothing like starting off spring with another 12 inches of snow! As typical of Colorado, we woke up on Friday to heavy snowfall, wind, and more winter. Sigh. I was one of only 4 people who came in to work on Friday. But we made the most of it and were outside playing on Saturday and...

Jacoby went skiing with Daddy today! We had a great time. We drove up to Eldora which is more of a local mountain and got them passes for the family area. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't too crowded, so Jacoby began what will be the first of many ski lessons to come with Daddy, our in-house ski adviser. They tackled the dreaded tow-bar with no problems and snow-plowed down the little slope in style. Jacoby did great and seemed to enjoy himself. Justin brought up his old ski gear, which includes skis that are about 20 feet long and were lucky to even fit in the Subaru, so he definitely wasn't going too fast. Morgan and I hung out at the bottom of the run and played in the car until the skiers called it a day and needed a snack. I think Justin is going to get a ski pass next year for both him and Jacoby (skiing is cheap if you're under 5 years of age!), so we're looking forward to doing more of this next year. When we got home, Jacoby asked if we could go ski jumping! (:

Both boys are doing great. Morgan is trekking all around and anywhere he can't walk/crawl to he manages to climb to. On his birthday he somehow broke our gate, so we've been going gate-less for the past couple of weeks with no problems. He's a pro at turning around and sliding down the stairs and has recently shown interest in starting to walk down. He's also beginning to use his voice and words more. The word of the week was "cracker" and anytime we mentioned a snack or cheerios he would start repeating "cracker, cracker, cracker" over and over.

Jacoby is busy learning and pretending to be a garbage man collecting trash. He's turned our coat closet into a garbage truck complete with a cab that he sits in as his little imagination takes him down the street to collect trash. All toy and book bins around the house are susceptible to being dumped in the garbage truck. Jacoby has also taken an interest in learning where our smoke detector is and what happens if there is smoke in the house. During one of our evening conversations he told me that when he gets "really, really, really tall" he's going to be able to put out fires.

Here are a few pictures and a video of our latest snow adventures:

Abundant Blessings...Abundant Busy-ness!

**The settings on the YouTube videos have been adjusted so they won't say that they're private now!**

Oh my, where to even begin with all that's been going on around here! We had a wonderful time celebrating Morgan's first birthday last week and happily welcomed Grandma Pam & Grandpa Bill for the weekend. We celebrated Justin's birthday on Friday. He enjoyed skiing up in the Colorado high country with Grandpa Bill for the day and they fortunately came back in one piece.

Now that I've been parenting a whole three years and am truly seasoned (just kidding), you would think I would have learned a thing or two by now about scheduling with children. However, I managed to schedule the boys' picture session to document years 1 and 3 in the morning on Friday and their well-checks with Dr. Booth later that same afternoon! I do not recommend this. It was total craziness and Grandma Pam and I were completely worn out by the end of the day. But we did manage to celebrate Daddy's birthday with homemade pizzas and a banana split cake. I also had one of his high school basketball videos converted to a DVD which turned out pretty cool.

On Saturday, we headed to the zoo for Morgan's special day. It was a lovely day to be outside in Colorado and we enjoyed seeing many of the animals. The gorillas were of particular interest to Jacoby and they were outside where we could watch them for awhile. During naps Grandma Pam and I put Morgan's Elmo cake together which was a lot of fun. I got brave and decided to try out using fondant for a new experiment. It's really fun to work with! When the boys got up we played with some new presents, enjoyed a spaghetti dinner (which both boys love), and then had our big sing-along and cake feast. All Morgan wanted was to get his paws on the cute Elmo on his cake, so he was very happy when that time finally came and he also seemed to enjoy trying out the cake. Then it was off to baths and bedtime! We officially have a preschooler and a toddler in the house now!

Along with our birthday extravaganza, we've also had to fit in two allergy appointments, our first blood draw, and a well-check appointment for both boys with the pediatrician! So here's the medical side note of this post. Both boys are healthy and made it through their well check with flying colors. Dr. Booth did notice that Jacoby hasn't grown in height since the beginning of December. Since we were going to be getting blood drawn for his allergies, she added more lab work to the order so we could check for insulin and thyroid issues. So, Monday morning we headed to the lab for our first blood draw. The phlebotomists were not friendly or even remotely pleased that they had to work with us, but I just kept my fingers crossed that they would be successful--I'll take competent over friendliness at this point! And fortunately, they only had to poke him once and were quite speedy considering they needed 6 tubes worth (that's probably kind of gross for readers...sorry). Jacoby did extremely well for his first time (and so did Mommy, just in case any of you were wondering about the family fainter) and was particularly excited about the apple juice he got to have after the ordeal was over. We heard on Tuesday that Jacoby's lab work came back normal which is a huge blessing. We're just waiting to hear back on the allergy portion of the tests.

Morgan was tested for allergies on Monday and he tested positive for egg and cat/dog allergies. So far, peanuts, nuts, and seeds are negative but he'll be retested at 2 years to see if anything has changed. So, that's another blessing for us and I've been working with the school yet again to make sure he's going to be safe during meal times. I've quickly learned that avoiding foods by far takes the least amount of effort--the communication piece with those who have to interact with our boys is no doubt the most time-consuming and exhausting for me. But the school has been wonderful in working with us and our allergy situation. And I thought I'd share a couple of cute quotes from Jacoby that we've heard recently regarding his allergies. We were in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and Jacoby says "Mommy, I'm not allergic to Easter eggs" as we stroll down the Easter aisle--this coming from a little boy who loved hunting for Easter eggs last year. On a different occasion, Mommy calls Morgan a "little nut" and Jacoby replies "Mommy, I'm not allergic to Morgan nuts" (note to self...find a new nickname for the second child!). (:

The boys had a terrific time with Grandma Pam this week. They spent a lot of time playing outside since we've been having beautiful weather, went on walks, worked on projects in the house, watched garbage trucks, played trains and trucks, and a host of other activities. We're really going to miss her! The boys enjoyed an early morning ride to the airport at 6:15 am today! Its been a huge blessing to have an extra pair of hands around this past week for all of the appointments we've had and to give Justin extra study time to finish up finals.

Morgan's 1st Birthday Cake

A Very Happy Birthday Boy

Reading the visual dictionary with Grandma Pam

Hanging out with Grandma Pam

Our new calendar! We're learning the days of the week, the date and month, and talking about the weather and different holidays. It's felt and completely old school which I like...it reminds me of Sunday school!

Happy Birthday Morgan Ethan!

Morgan's First Year Facts & Figures

Due Date: March 22, 2009

Birth Date: March 4, 2009, 12:58 pm
Birth Stats: 8 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 inches
Current Stats: Stay tuned!

Likes:

Daddy, Daddy, & more Daddy, playing with Jacoby, chasing Jacoby, taking baths with Jacoby, "borrowing" Jacoby's things, playing "going on a bear hunt" with Jacoby, climbing the stairs, sliding down the stairs, riding in the wagon with Jacoby, being outside, eating fruit, Elmo, books, "helping" with the dishwasher, playing peek-a-boo, clapping & waving, dancing, emptying Kleenex boxes, smiling for the camera

Dislikes:

being redirected, not being able to climb the stairs, learning how to share and take turns, not being able to do the same things as Jacoby

First Year Accomplishments:
breathing without oxygen, smiling, rolling, laughing, sitting, waving, clapping, playing "so big" & peek-a-boo, crawling, standing, cruising, climbing, walking, saying "ball", "uh-oh", "down", "night night", "all done", "no", feeding himself, riding in the sled and playing in the snow, traveling to MT, flying in an airplane, growing 6 teeth

Daddy's Reflections on Morgan:
Daddy loves the explorer that Morgan is turning out to be.

Mommy's Reflections on Morgan:

This little tyke has kept us on our toes from the very moment he arrived! Morgan is playful, smart, curious, fearless, a tad reckless, and very fun. I've been thinking that one of the special blessings Jacoby has had in his life is that he made us parents and we also got to share two special years with him as a family of three. For Morgan, he's been able to share his first year with Jacoby and begin building the special relationship brothers have. I've been amazed that the foundation for sibling friendship can start so young! Jacoby's been looking out for Morgan since we brought him home, and if Morgan is in his "trouble-finding" mode, Jacoby is always quick to ask if Morgan can have a second chance. They are extremely blessed to have each other and we look forward to watching their relationship grow over many years to come. Morgan makes all of us laugh and smile each day. He's got an intense personality wrapped up in a little body and sometimes his temper gets the better of him, but he is always eager to start over and try again. We love this little guy and look forward to year 2 with him!

Birth Day in the NICU

1 Day New

6 Weeks

3 Months

6 Months

1 Year Old

Allergy Update

This is a crazy week of birthdays, pediatrician and allergy appointments, a picture appointment, and a visit from Grandma Pam & Grandpa Bill. But for now, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee while the boys nap and thought I'd post a quick update on Jacoby's allergies.

Overall, I think we've been doing great with managing the allergies and life has gone on fairly normally for us. We made it through the holidays without any problems and our families were very gracious to us as we learned how to navigate eating in situations outside of our home.

Last Thursday we had a bit of a close call at school. When I arrived to pick Jacoby up the afternoon teacher expressed concern that Jacoby had napped for 3 hours (very unusual under normal circumstances!) and then was quite lethargic when he woke up and didn't want to participate in the activities or have a snack. I happened to glance up at the board where they post the daily class information and noticed that they served fish sandwiches for lunch. After a few questions, it was clear that Jacoby was served the fish instead of an alternative. Bummer. So, I took him home and we gave him Benadryl just as a precaution. I wasn't angry but instead was so relieved that the reaction hadn't been more than what it was, especially since we weren't really sure how he'd react to fish since that was a surprise allergy. Anyways, I spent most of that night and the following morning trying to figure out how I should respond. Thankfully, Jacoby's lead teacher called me the next morning and she was very upset over what had happened and claimed full responsibility for the miscommunication among the subs. They were taking steps to ensure that everyone who comes into the class be made well aware of the food issues among the students and she had also informed the school directors about the incident. We had a long conversation, and I felt good about their response. I'm going to be more mindful of the menus, and we also agreed that I would provide them with a stash of treats for Jacoby to have when birthday/celebration treats are brought in by other parents. She was generally upset and concerned about Jacoby. They have developed a good relationship, and she actually picked him to observe and use as part of a project she's doing for school this semester (she's getting her degree in early childhood ed).

Today Jacoby and I went in for a follow-up appointment with our allergist. Jacoby was tested for 3 more items: coconut (not technically classified as a tree nut yet, but just wanted to be safe), apricot, and beets. Sure enough, we're adding beets and apricot and other stone fruit (like peaches, cherries, etc.) to the allergy list. We've learned that when environmental allergies are in play like what Jacoby has, there is sometimes a cross-allergy with stone fruit! Wierd. He did great at the appointment, and I was able to ask her a lot of questions. Our next task is to get blood work done to confirm allergies, make sure we haven't missed any, and look for indicators that might suggest he'll be outgrowing some, etc. It also provides a lot of information on what's going on in his system.

I take Morgan in next week to be tested for dairy before we start feeding him those things. So far, he's handled cheese just fine but I haven't braved anything else until we're cleared. Keep your fingers crossed for us!