Hunger Rash

Kyrie gets a weird rash above and below her right eye and also on right side of her head when she eats certain foods. She has the biggest problems with fruit and otter pops. The rash develops within taking 3-4 bites, and fades within minutes after she's done eating. I mentioned it to her Dr. during her 6 month check-up, and took a jar of food to show him and he said he'd never seen anything like it. He said it wasn't anything to worry about, but he wanted me to make a list of everything she ate and mark whether she reacted or not with each food she ate. So I called him back with the results and he checked with a pediatrician allergist, and I was told I needed to stop feeding her the foods that make her react and to get her right in to be tested. So yesterday I took her in and the Dr. said since she was reacting to fruit and the reaction sets on so quickly, he was really worried about her having an allergy to nuts (which can be really scary). So she got poked all over her back, and was tested for the most common types of food allergies, and fruit. She did so good during the testing other than she wasn't too happy about having to be on her belly. And the results....she is allergy free! Yea, she is such a picky eater I was worried about what I would do if I had to eliminate foods that she will eat! The Dr. said she must have a non-typical reaction for some unknown reason, and it may be because her little body is still considered immature, and she may or may not out grow this. Chris's explanation all along has been that it's just a little hunger rash!

Half Birthday!

What a CUTIE!!! Kyrie is now 6 months old! She is so loved. Chris and I, of course, love her so much. I cherish every minute I get with her. And her brothers absolutely adore her. They are both so cute with her. I love to see the exchange between them. Kyrie is one lucky girl to have brothers like them. She adds so much to our family and I'm so thankful we have her. What a blessing she is, believe me, I could go on and on about how wonderful she is. She is so special, and words just can't describe how I feel about her. She has always been fun, but she is getting funner and funner all the time. She is also getting bigger and bigger, especially now that she has caught on to what food is all about. This last week she has finally accepted food, at least some of it and her little body is packing it all in. She has really filled out this week. She is now rolling all over the place, loves to play with her toes and be gently bounced on the trampoline. She loves to feel the textures of EVERYTHING and is constantly scratching to feel and hear the sound things make. She is so happy! And I am so spoiled!

catch up

I haven't been able to post much about our summer so far. I can't believe how fast time goes by and how busy we have been. We haven't had big plans for this summer, but I was hoping to get a bunch of small projects done, and thought for sure I'd have time, but where do I find time? I've also promised swimming parties for the boys, and we haven't had time for that, but I've been using the stormy weather for an excuse on that one! One of the things I was looking forward to this summer was our 10 year class reunion. I wasn't too excited about going until last summer we ran into Reuben Martinez, a classmate. It was so fun to see him that it got both Chris and I excited about seeing other classmates. We headed over to Utah a week early with Chris having hopes of helping on his grandma's farm. But the weather again changed the plans. It was a good weekend to go though - my grandparents were also visiting so we also were able to see them.

My grandparents with some of us grandkids/great-grandkids

We had a lot of fun at the reunion. On Friday night we went to dinner and it was so good to be able to see everyone and hear what they are up to. We had lots of time to visit. I was really hoping more people would've showed up though! Katie worked so hard planning and preparing and I couldn't believe how few of us were there. I didn't have many close friends in school, but I was still hoping to see everyone! But it was good to see those who were there and I'm glad I went!

Katie had the Brigham pool reserved for awhile on Saturday for all the families.

The weather looked threatening, but the storm held off until we were done.

The boys loved this slide! Dusty went down it himself several times until the lifeguard told him he couldn't go down with his arm bands on. He tried it once without them and I thought he was going to drown! The water coming off the slide had just enough pressure to keep pushing his little body down and he couldn't get his face out of the water. Luckily Chris was able to get there to assist him. The lifeguard that was right there at the end of the slide didn't even pay enough attention to see it happen.

While we were there we also got to do a little fishing at the Malad river. Dusty can get the line out in the water better than I can. He is a good little fisherman. He is getting braver by the minute, he even picked up a worm! Believe me, this is a big deal for our Dusty Boy!

Kyrie's first fish! She tried to hold it, but I wouldn't let her. I know my daughter, and I know where that fish would've gone. It could've also been her first taste of fish!

I don't know who caught the biggest fish, Sara or Hayden.

Dusty's fish. He cast the line out and reeled it in all by himself. Grandpa went down to the edge of the water and helped him unhook it.

And here is Hayden with his big fish. He was so excited!

Dusty was playing with the girls and they wanted to play dress-up, so of course he played too, what a good sport! He said he was the dad. I saw him and instantly ran to get my camera. It was so hard not to burst out laughing! But I knew if I laughed he would've taken it right off, and I wouldn't have these cherished pictures! Chris would probably prefer it that way.

In this picture he is sporting 1 high heel. What a good looking guy!

Will I ever have a reason to blackmail?

And here is Hayden's dress-up, he is by the way, a princess!

And here is all four of them!

Kyrie was such a good sport during the photoshoot. I can't believe all that poky grass didn't bother her.

And last of all.....

... Dusty has finished his second year of soccer. This year he actually knew what to do and he wasn't afraid of the ball! I couldn't believe the difference in how he played from just 1 year ago! This year we also loved the coaches, especially the assistant coach. It's always fun to have your daddy coach!

9 Years!

Today is mine and Chris's 9 year wedding anniversary! The weird thing is though, last weekend we had our 10 year class reunion and a friend had asked how long we had been together. We have been a big part of each others lives for 14 years now - that's half our lifetime! Thanks for the many fun years babe! Happy Anniversary, I love you!

WARNING - tornado!

Chris had to work today, so I headed off to church with the three kids by myself. Today is the first time I have attempted that - 3 kids at church without the help of Chris. I made it! On our way home I was talking to Chris on the phone and he told me that there was a severe weather warning until 5:30. Soon after we got home he called again telling me to head down to the basement with the kids, from the shop he could see a tornado. He called about 10 minutes later, saying we were probably OK to stay out of the basement, and that the funnel cloud had pulled back up. Then oh maybe 20 minutes after that a siren started blaring. There is an alarm system that goes off every couple of weeks saying "this is a test", only this time it wasn't a test! We are so close to where the alarm is announced that sometimes it is hard to tell what it is saying, but I heard, "take cover". So we headed back down to the basement. I was trying to figure out the best place for us to be and realized that even though we have a lot of year supply items, we were not really prepared! The kids didn't have anything warm to wear, or even shoes! I have lots of diapers downstairs for Kyrie, but all much too big. We didn't have a flashlight, which we didn't need during daylight, but what if it went through the night hours? I noticed our sleeping bags to keep us warm. We also have food, water, first aid items, toilet paper, wipes, and several other items that I guess we'd be okay. I grabbed a little mattress that we have down there and put it by us for protection. Chris came home and grabbed our 72 hour kits out of the garage and my laptop. Dusty was really scared, so we tried to distract him. I didn't have my camera, so you'll just have to imagine our safety headquarters. We pulled out the cardboard table, set the laptop on it and put in a movie. We pulled out the coolers for the kids to sit on, then out came the plastic spoons, pudding cups, vanilla wafers, and capri sun drinks. The fun had just started when we heard, "the emergency is now over". Whew! I'm greatful that this happened. I felt so unprepared that there is a lot more that I want to do to prepare, including making a list of things that we might need that I don't have in our 72 hr kits, but that I could quickly grab if we had time. At the moment of the emergency all I could think of was finding the safest spot in our basement, and then once we were down there I started thinking of all the things I wish we had with us. It's amazing the faith that children have, our 4 year old Hayden kept on saying, "We will be okay, the Holy Ghost is real". I guess he remembers hearing that the Holy Ghost can help keep us safe. During this experience we also learned that our window well had become home to a HUGE black widow spider. I pulled out the spectracide and now 1 1/2 cans later (just to be extra sure) that spider is a gone-er!

Artwork

We have some new artwork at my house. It's kinda hard to see the drawing on this picture, but it is there, and it is also on my couch cushion!

And here is a picture of the artist. Upon finding the artwork, I questioned the boys and didn't get any confessions, which leaves me to guess who the creator is - and I guessed Hayden. (Dusty has done things like this, but he also will admit to doing so.) But I wanted to make sure that it really was Hayden so that I could have a talk with him about both drawing on things and about honesty. So - I said something about when you have a picture to draw, you need to make sure it is on paper....and Hayden got upset and said, "Whoever sits right there is going to ruin my drawing!" I knew it, it was him! So then he got the talk. My house had has quite the eventful summer already, and the kids have only been out of school for 2 weeks. We also have artwork on my bedspread and pillowcases (compliments of Dusty) and holes cut into the upstairs couch (compliments of Hayden and the kitchen scissors.) I have now found a new place for all of the crafty supplies and they can now only be used at the table. Dusty loves to create and he is usually all over the house inventing, drawing, cutting, gluing, taping and writing. He will now have to keep his creativity limited to one area!

Ky's favorite toy

It hasn't been long since Ky has even shown an interest in toys - a couple of weeks maybe. She still has had a hard time picking things up and keeping them in her hands. A couple of days ago I watched her practice using her hands as she watched herself - she would pass her binki from one hand to the other. She'd hold it in one hand and watch as she'd move it to the other hand and then that hand would take it and then she watch it again as she moved it back over - back and forth, over and over again. It was so cute! It was like the moment she realized what her hands are all about. Ever since then she has been a lot better with her hands. Last night she kept eyeballing Haydens laptop. The little orange mouse looked like fun. I had her on my lap, and put the computer on her lap and opened up the screen and talk about excitement! There were so many different buttons she couldn't decide which one to go after. Her arms were moving around so fast trying to get them all. Chris and I laughed and laughed at her. She loved that computer! She has never played with a toy for so long. She played with it for probably a half hour before I decided to put her down off my lap to get the camera for some pictures.

Hayden might have to fight for a chance to play with his laptop. She is really into this thing!