Zoey's Birthday Party

We celebrated Miss Zo on Sunday, Valentine's Day.  Our families and close friends were so kind to come to my in-laws house and celebrate with us.  Zoey was so excited to have her friends Phin and Hailey there to play with.  I'm sooo glad she has such great friends who she loves.

This year I let her pick her party and she wanted a Minnie Mouse party.  My mother-in-law did such a cute job with the decorations.  (My mom was still trying to recover from my sister's wedding two days prior).  I decided we'd do salad and a soup bar with breadsticks.  I made a chicken noodle soup, my mom made a taco soup, my sister-in-law did Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocci soup (yum!) and my mother-in-law did a vegetable beef.  We had way too much food - like always - but we made good work of it.  I don't think anybody left hungry!  

Zoey had a blast opening all her presents and was spoiled rotten.  She also loved handing out little Valentines and mini-bubbles as party favors.  The kids also went and played in the teepee and had a tea party.  Zoey did great at blowing out the candle on her Minnie cake and even ate some cake this year!  She said he didn't like the Elmo cupcakes from last year's party but she didn't even try it so...

It was a great party and I just love celebrating my little Zo Zo.  She's getting so big and grown up, I can't believe she's 3!  Read the other post I did on her for more details on what my little threenager is up to.

Zoey - 3 Years Old

WOW - my baby girl is 3!  It's been a crazy ride as she's really come into her own.  She is so loving and thoughtful, and also a handful and makes me want to pull my hair out.  At 3, Zoey:

- Wears size 5 diapers

- Is not much bigger than her little brother

- Wears size 3T but is moving into 4T

- Wears size 7 shoes

- Is super independent.  She has to brush her own teeth, wash it off, put it away, etc. She also likes to open the doors, climb in her own car seat, sometimes even buckle it up. 

- She frequently comes up and tells me she loves me. 

- Is REALLY good at ignoring

- Is testing boundaries (AHHHHH!)

- Is a good helper

- Loves vegetables (broccoli, celery, cucumbers, carrots), ice cream, cheeseburgers, strawberries, chips and Mac and cheese

- She's starting to branch out her diet a little after a LONG time of eating the same things

- Loves princesses and had a great time at Disneyland

- Loves to watch Cinderella, Nemo, Little Mermaid, Alvin & the Chipmunks (ugh), Minions, Christmas movies

 - The shows she likes are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sofia the First, Daniel Tiger, Bubble Guppies, Peppa Pig

- Loves to read books.  We always has to read books and do a story and song before bed.

- Has given up on naps lately and it's really crappy for mommy

- Goes to bed at 8 p.m. now that there are no naps

- Get really ornery or bounces off the walls without a nap

- Can be found singing Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman and sometimes she'll make up her own lyrics to fit her situation

- Loves to sing and dance, especially to Let it Go

- Loves to do "ballet" and will put on her tutu and wings and dance around

-Loves, loves, LOVES her baby brother

- Loves to play at McDonalds and Chik-fil-a

- Has the most darling friends and is a great playmate and friend to them

- Is too smart for her own good.  I'm excited for her to start preschool this Fall.

 - Is hysterical and says the funniest things

- Has the cutest personality.  Gets a lot of comments that she needs one (sarcastically)

- Is getting more adventurous, going down big slides, wandering off on her own, etc.

- Calls a harmonica a hamakaka

- Is starting to ask WHY? About everything

- Calls a merry-go-round a merry-ground

- Calls Bobby pins body pins

- Saw her uncle's wedding announcement and said, "Mom, look at their beautiful teeth, they are smiling at me."

- Is obsessed with Grumpy dwarf right now and walks around with her arms crossed and a grumpy scowl trying not to laugh.  I took a picture of her and she growled CHEESE to me.  It was hysterical.

- We were driving and she saw a homeless man on the street corner and said, "Mom, look at that beautiful man."  He walked over to a car and she asked where he went and I told her four times to go to get money.  Finally she's like, "I don't see any Mommy."  I told her money NOT mommy and she was like, "OHHHH!" And laughed hysterically.

She is so fun and frustrating and cute and manipulative and funny and thoughtful and I am the luckiest mommy to have her in my life.

Zoey's Birthday Celebrations

We started Zoey's birthday celebrations early and her and I went on a little date to see Kung Fu Panda at the theater.  She liked it alright, it was ok for me.  Then we took her to Red Robin.  She ordered her favorite - a cheeseburger with extra pickles.  She even drank the pickle juice that was in the little cup. We told them it was her birthday and they brought her a little sundae.  She told all the staff there that it was her birthday and that she was going to have a pickle cake.  Wha-?  Even after her birthday she told people she got a pickle cake.  I don't know where that came from.

Sunday we had her party and that was a post in and of itself.

Monday was President's Day so we headed to Provo with my in-laws to visit my brother- and sister-in-law and go to the Provo City Center open house.  We figured it was a holiday, but a small one, so we'd sneak in since Dallin and my father-in-law had the day off.  My brother-in-law literally lives 1/2 a block from the temple, a one minute walk.  They were so nice to watch Connor for us and we walked over.  We had seen one random sign by the parking lot that said No Standby Available Today but we thought we'd try anyway.  Bad idea.  When we rounded the corner it was 1000 times worse than Disneyland.  The WHOLE parking lot was full of people weaving and weaving through a massive line.

We walked to the workers and they said without tickets the wait was over three hours long and encouraged us to come back another day.  I guess all of the kids were out of school that day and everyone and their dog decided it'd be a good day to go.  There was no way we were waiting in that line with Zoey.  Come to find out, the line without tickets ended up being over 4 hours long and with tickets - still over two hours long.  Well, we weren't going to wait in the line and we probably weren't going to come back so my dear, sweet, husband said to follow him.  Next thing I know we're at the front of the line scrambling to find booties and we're in the temple.  It was beautiful to walk through and I'm glad we got to show Zoey, especially since she's obsessed with temples.  I was surprised that they didn't show more on the tour but I think they're trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible.  The celestial room was also a lot smaller than most.  Zoey was so good to leave the marshmallows (booties) on her feet.

Afterward we went to lunch with my in-laws and my stomach gave me huge issues.  But we survived and made it home alright.  I think Zoey had a great birthday and is already asking when her next birthday party is.  I wish there was a way to teach a three-year-old the concept of time.

Becky's Wedding

My baby sister is married.  It was a whirlwind but she's a wife now.  She got married in the Ogden Temple on Friday, February 12.  We took Zoey to Cookie Cutters in the morning to get her hair braided and they even wet it to bring out her natural curl and sprayed glitter in it.  She looked so cute.

We had a luncheon at Joy Luck in Bountiful after the ceremony and the reception was at the JSMB downtown.  It felt like a lot of travel but I'm glad we didn't have to go to San Diego for the wedding, as was the original plan.  It was much nicer to stay close to home with the kids.

Her colors were navy and cranberry.  Her reception was actually in the exact same room where Dallin and I had our reception.  Whose bright idea was it to put a fountain (actually TWO) outside reception rooms?  It was a nightmare with a toddler who was constantly up to her elbows splashing in it.  The whole day was just so much work with two kids.  It was constant diaper changings and feelings and corralling and chasing.  There was so much stimulation, Connor didn't even take a nap.

Zoey had such a fun time on the dance floor pretending to be a ballerina thought.  My new brother-on-law is half Tongan so it was a fun and different reception.  In Tongan culture, the oldest sister has a lot of responsibility so I had to give a speech.  GULP.  Which I wrote the night before because I kinda forgot.  Yikes.  But it went great.  Supposedly the oldest sister gets to name the first born child of the couple also, but they already told me I don't get to do that.  I'm relieved.

But they had a whole program after the reception line with singing and dancing.  The dancers were thronged with people putting dollar bills in their dresses which they gave to the couple.  The little girls, including mine, loved picking up the money.  Zoey tried to throw it at Becky and it ended up just raining dollar bills.  It was adorable.  We left as soon as it was over to get two over-tired kids in bed.  Now we get to do it all over again in three weeks at my brother's wedding!

Connor - 6 Months

How has a half a year already gone by?  My baby is growing, growing, growing!

At 6 months, Connor:

- Drinks 6-8 oz.

- Has his 2 bottom teeth!

- Rolls all over the place

- Had his first ear infection and antibiotic...

- And subsequent trip to Instacare for an allergic reaction to the Amoxicilin (hives all over on his last dose)

- Wears size 3 diapers

- Is sleeping better now that the teeth are in

- Has pretty much grown out of 12 month clothes and is moving onto 18 month clothing

- Had to get suctioned out at the doctor's office

- At the doctor's office the nurse held him while I used the restroom and she said the consensus was that he is adorable...and a tank!  No one believed that he was only 5 months old - she had he has the hands of a 2-year-old

- He's 23 lbs. 

- Has started rice cereal and I've never seen anyone so excited for something so nasty!  He almost pulls the spoon into his mouth.

- Likes to sit in his Bumbo

- Is a jumping machine in his little jumper

- Takes a small morning nap and a little longer afternoon one and sometimes a small one right before bed time.

- Still thinks Zoey is hysterical but will squeal at her and cry if she's doing something he doesn't like.

- Will take a binky when he sleeps

- Loves to hold onto hair

- Got his first haircut.  He looks so handsome.  He now has less hair than when he was born.
- Will grab my face and give me a kiss, especially when I ask for it.  I know he understands me!

Connor's First Allergic Reaction

Part of Connor's sleeplessness was a sickness he developed.  After fighting a cold for a week my mom told me to take him in because he just wasn't getting better and his cough was sounding worse.  We got into not our regular doc and said he kind of had a bronchio-something and a borderline ear infection.  He gave me Amoxicilin to start treating it then the nurses there had the pleasure of suctioning him out with this machine.  They told me they got TONS of boogers out.  They also recommended the Nose Frida where I can suck out the boogers with my mouth.  I was so apprehensive because I'd heard of this and it sounded DISGUSTING but it actually hasn't been too bad and has helped a lot.

So I started him on his 10 day course of Amoxicilin and we finished the 10 days but he had ONE dose left so I gave it to him because it said to finish all the medicine on the bottle.  Later that afternoon I noticed a few hives on his face and called him nurse mom to ask her opinion.  She said to call the doc and by the time they'd called me back the hives were gone.  So they said to hold off on the Benadryl and go to Instacare of they got worse since it was near closing time.

I was feeling kinda bad because I'd noticed a weird red mark in his diaper area a few days before but didn't much of it because it went away and an allergic reaction or hives never crossed my mind, especially in that area.

Well, a couple hours later I changed his diaper and noticed how red his chest was and his side was horrible.  So I called my mom (who was in the midst of my sister's wedding details) and she rushed over.  I was trying to finish up dinner that I was taking into my visiting teacher and it was all just chaotic and stressful.  Especially after the nurse told me to watch him close and just make sure he keeps breathing.  Thanks.  My mom had made me nervous because she said it's really rare for babies to have an allergic reaction, especially after the first time on a medication.  But the doctor said it is super common and they're starting to think that penicillin allergies are actually allergies to what they mix it with and not actual penicillin but nobody is going to test that and just err on the side of caution.  They said a reaction can start with the first dose or happen up to a week after the last dose.  Connor's reaction happened on his very last dose.

We got to Instacare after I dropped off dinner and the hives were starting to fade but I showed them the pictures of my poor baby.  They confirmed the allergic reaction and gave him a steroid shot and told me to give him Benadryl when I needed to.   So I gave him quite a few doses, inconsistently, only when he needed them and 48 hours after his last dose he had the worst outbreak of hives I'd seen.  The doctor's office said to give him Benadryl consistently for the next few days and that it could take up to a week to get out of his system!  Poor Connor!

After a couple days on the Benadryl I laid off of it and he's been ok every since.  A few days later he had his 6-month well baby check-up and his ear was still infected so they prescribed him Cefdinir (which is EXPENSIVE) to combat it.  It's a distant cousin to Penicillin so I was on edge giving it to him but he's handled it ok except that it's destroyed his gut (just like the Amoxicilin did) and we've been dealing with explosive diaherrea for almost three weeks now.  But his ear has cleared up just in time for him to get another cold so I'm hoping it doesn't turn into ANOTHER infection.  The red marks in the photos are all the places he had hives.  :(