Happy Birthday, Annie!

It doesn't seem possible, but our Annie turned 1 on Wednesday. We had a low key dinner with both sets of grandparents and our friends the Kastanis', followed by cake and ice cream. Annie had an absolute blast and she and Ryan both loved all the new toys.

As an added bonus, Annie got to have her Grammy and Papa here from Monday night until this morning.

Some things Annie can do at age 1:

~take 2 steps

~climb on and off of the couches

~NOT climb out of her crib! (a victory for me since Ryan was already climbing out of his before this point.)

Happy Birthday, Annie! We love you so much!

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great Halloween. On the night before we went to our friends, the Hicken's, for a fun Halloween party. Ryan loved running around with all of the other kids--he is such a little social butterfly. On Halloween night we went to a few houses in our neighborhood then over to Grandma & Grandpa's. We couldn't get Little Miss Annie's Minnie ears to stay on, but she was cute nonetheless.

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween, too!

Pumpkin Patch!

Last night for Family Home Evening we took the kiddos to the Pumpkin Patch. Last year we went to Schnepf Farms, but it was a little much for kids as little as ours. This time we went to a patch really close to our house, and Ryan had a great time! He got to decorate his own little pumpkin, go on a hay ride and of course play with all of the pumpkins. This year Ryan is obsessed with pumpkins, so he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Annie Update

First of all, Annie is doing great.

On the 14th, she went in for an endoscopy and a sigmoidoscopy. From our very first appointment with the GI doctor, I had been very pro-endoscopy, so we were very glad to finally be getting something done.

A week and a half before the procedures, I stopped nursing because I felt like I needed to know how much Annie was actually eating. It was a little scary to discover that she was only eating 14 ounces of formula a day, but at least I had a baseline so I could see if and when we started making any progress.

Anyway, on the day of the procedure, Annie ate 20 ounces of formula. Initially I thought it was a fluke, because the day before she could only eat juice and jello and I figured she was starving. However over the next few days see continued to eat 20 ounces a day, and after a few days, worked her way up to 32 ounces a day, which is where she should be.

The biopsy results showed that she has acid reflux and she is on medication to help heal her esophogus. We haven't been back to see the GI doctor yet, but Annie's pediatrician thinks that she may have had some kind of blockage that got cleared out with the endoscopy.

Regardless of what happened, she is definitely on the mend. Yesterday I took her to get weighed and in 7 days she gained 8 ounces!

She has always been a happy, active baby but I have been amazed at the increase of energy she's had in the last week or so. Thanks to all of our friends and family for their concern and prayers for our little Annie bear.

Where We've Been

So I realize I haven't posted in a couple of months, but it's been crazy. After San Diego we had a couple of average weeks, then Bryan got sick. If you don't know Bryan, he rarely gets sick, and even when he's sick, he never misses work. Well, on more than one occasion he went in late and came home early. On his third doctor's visit within two weeks, he got tested for everything from swine flu to Valley Fever. Luckily, all of the tests came back negative. Everything pointed toward a virus, and after about 6 weeks, he got back to feeling like normal.

In the midst of that, Annie went from falling further down the growth chart at every well visit to loosing weight. Her doctor sent us back to the GI doctor, and we are currently trying to figure out what is going on. We are both currently off of all milk, dairy, egg and soy products because they think she may have an allergic condition in her esophogus and those are the most common allergens. Two weeks after her initial GI visit she has only gained 1 ounce, and we are eagerly awaiting her next visit to see what they are going to do. It's very unsettling, and I worry about it way more than I should, but we're going through the process and doing a lot of praying in the mean time.

Last week we did get to go on our annual vacation, a week in Newport Beach which was wonderful as usual. Pictures to come shortly :)

San Diego

When Ryan saw Bob, he ran right up and gave him a hug!

Getting ready to ride the train at Balboa Park

Ryan and Rachel playing soccer in the park

Miss Annie, being her sweet self

A couple of weeks ago we did our annual long weekend in San Diego. It was absolutely wonderful to get out of the 115 degree heat and enjoy some time outside! So here's the Cliff Notes version of our trip:

Drive to San Diego. Go to Legoland. Go to Sea Life. Go to Rockin' Baja Lobster. Go to bed. Do a session at the San Diego temple. Go to Balboa Park. Ride the train in Balboa Park. Watch Ryan and Rachel play soccer in Balboa Park. Relax at the hotel. Eat super delicious pasta at Bella Pizza. Buy San Diego t-shirts. Buy salt water taffy. Walk around Old Towne. Pack. Drive home.

Ryan is Two!

I can hardly believe it, but this past week Ryan turned two! We had a super fun day that started when Ryan woke up to a ceiling full of helium balloons. He loves balloons and just kept saying, "Wow! Wow!" That afternoon we went to McDonald's for lunch and he got to play in the Toddler Zone for over an hour until he brought me his shoes and was ready to go. That night we went to Amazing Jake's with Bryan's parents and Sabrina. We had dinner and cake, and Ryan and Bryan rode some rides and we all played some games. All in all it was a pretty perfect day, and if I were two, I think I wouldn't have been pretty happy.

Happy Birthday, Ryan. We love you so much, little buddy!

Crafty, Crafty

Anyone who knew me before I had kids knows I was domestically challenged. I think it's funny, though, how things can change. Sunday at church the people behind us had this cool little tote bag for their kids' coloring books and crayons. I decided to look online and see if I could find instructions to make something similar, and this is what I came up with. Ryan is currently obsessed with Cars, so I was excited to find this cute fabric. It's lined in bright yellow and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the final product. It just goes to show that you really can do anything you set out to.

So Cute!

So this picture may not seem worthy of a blog post, but I think the story is too cute. Annie was on the floor playing with her little stuffed cow (thanks, Aunt Sabrina) while Bryan and Ryan were watching TV. Next thing you know, she had gotten the cow under her head and was facing the TV, so it totally looked like she was completely comfy, watching whatever show was on at the time. And don't you just love that smile and those eyes? I'm so glad I have a little girl :)

Under Construction

So I've had a few people ask for pictures of the construction. I didn't think to take before pictures, but it was just a single car garage bay with a normal old garage door before.

Today we have the house painters here, and the wallboard for the interior is supposed to go up by this weekend. Last night we went and looked at carpet and paint colors, and we're pretty close on those things. The other big thing we're waiting on is our bid for the new A/C units and the accompanying work. Overall I'm really pleased with the progress and am very much looking forward to the extra space!

Looking at the new room from the front of the house.

Looking from the laundry room toward the window.

Looking from the window toward the laundry room (the laundry room door will be coming off, and there is a new entryway built that you can't see through the insulation. That's where the door to the garage will go.).