A Disneyland Christmas

BJ's parents were generous enough to fly the whole family to California (accomodations included). We had a ton of fun, though I didn't get enough pics because my camera situation is still meager. Disneyland was ridiculously busy on Christmas day and we actually got gridlocked a couple of times trying to walk through the park.
It was pure craziness. To give you an idea, on a typical day, they have 10,000 visitors, but this year on Christmas day they had 70,000. It was C-R-A-Z-Y!!! I have to give big kudo's to the park employees. They were extremely patient and accomodating while a lot of the patrons were ridiculously rude and mean.
(BJ strikes a pose while taking Livi's second ride on the carousel--yes it's quite the pose)
Some highlights for me,
The Tower of Terror--not too scary, not too big of a drop, but long enough to be fun. Just enough of a thrill for me.
Watching my kids have so much fun~ BJ and I really wanted to make it their time because, that's why we were there in the first place and, of course, we love them.
We took the kids to California Adventure and did all of the rides at "a bugs life" (Both kids like almost all of them). Then we were able to catch the pixar parade. Livi's favorite ride was "Monster's Inc." (ride through the story).
Both loved the "Small world ride", they had it all Christmassy with jingle bells and deck the halls intertwined in the regular song so it wasn't so bad as far as getting stuck in your head.
As you can see, Livi met 3 of the princesses. She didn't understand why we were waiting in line, but I knew she'd be so sad if we didn't do it and I wasn't about to pay $40 a plate to go see them at a burger joint.
As soon as we rounded the corner and saw Belle she was awestruck. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She loves to take my phone and scroll back and forth through the pics of it all. She looked terrible, but how do you keep a 3 year old cute for a whole hot day at an amusement park? If anyone has the answer I'm dying to know!
We did Christmas Day on Christmas Eve. We figured, the kids weren't going to know the difference this year, so it worked out nicely. Our kids got sick the week before we left and Ethan decided that morning would be a nice day to wrap it up with a few rounds of vomit. He was okay shortly after.
Grandparents are the bomb. Here's my mother in-law on a walk with the girls. E bear is the only grandson--for now.
Here's Grandpa playing in the fountain at the condos with the girls. I'm so glad the kids had so much fun with grandparents and cousins while we were there. My husband was so wonderful helping me with everything in and out of the park.
Here he is carefully trying to get rid of the cheesecake (keeping it away from Ethan and anything that could touch him). He'll hate that I put this one on here. He took care of the kids while I had to shop and make food for everyone. As long as I can cook for everyone I can keep Ethan from feeling left out, you know? He's starting to wonder why he can't eat the same thing other people eat. Thank heaven's we don't have to deal with it very often, though.
(Of course we had to stop at the beach in L.A. Livi couldn't get enough of the sand. She was perfectly content.)



Every time I think of our trip I think of how much I love BJ. He really is the best. I love everything about him, but most of all I love how much he loves me. He is always so willing to lend a helping hand and a word of validation and comfort. I'm the luckiest woman alive. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great one.

Snow Storm

Okay this was forever ago, but I still wanted to get up the pics. BJ and I had to buy a few things when we moved into this house, namely a lawn mower and a weed wacker.
Our weed wacker is one that you can get several attachments for and we decided to get a leaf blower with it. They told us that it also worked really well for snow.
So, here are some pictures of my adorable husband "snow blowing" with the leaf blower. It really does do a fair job, although he said he'd rather shovel first and then blow the rest off. If we did that, it worked great.
Now, why didn't we get our cement clear this year? I would totally do it if I had someone to stay inside with the kids, and BJ works literally around the clock. We honestly just couldn't get to it. So, here is the one and probably only proof that we really did try.

It worked great getting the snow off of the car.

I was surprised to see how well it cleared the cement, too. I believe it was a worthy purchase.

Lights at Temple Square

Thanksgiving ended with a bang as we headed to the Lights at Temple Square. It seems they are getting fewer, but it's still spectacular.
All of us (in the western U.S. that is)Marianne, Becky, Me, Ethan, Livi, Dan, and my Mom. BJ was working, of course.
This is my brother's girlfriend, Jen and my sis Marianne.
Aunt Becky, E-bear, and Mommy huddled in the cold. He still loves to be swaddled.
I love extra hands! It's tiring carrying my little monster around. It's a good thing he's so cuddly! This was a cool spot by the Assembly Hall where they lit all the trees with amber lights.



Livi didn't mind being bundled up, either.



The shot's a little dark, but we were glad to be there and it shows! I love my family.

Gingerbread and giggles

I love relaxing with everyone at home. Here are some random pics around the house over Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
First our Gingerbread house making party.
Olivia couldn't stop eating all of the candy. My sister, Becky couldn't stop laughing.
It was a great time!
Do you see the love here?
Pure and utter cuteness!
Livi reading the Prince of Egypt (well at least her own interpretation)
Peek-A-Boo!!!

What a fun week we had.

Thanksgiving (now that Christmas is over)

Yes, I'm finally getting around to posting about Thanksgiving. This is the only pic of me here and it's terrible so gobble it up!
My Mom and sister, Marianne are presenting the beautiful BBQ'd turkey smoked to perfection! (seriously, the best tasting Turkey EVER.)
Mom prepping the electric knife to carve up the goodness that is Turkey. We didn't have enough left over. I'm not kidding. Just enough for our yearly Thanksgiving casserol (all leftovers layered in one delicious mass.) But none for sandwiches! We're going to do another one.
My brother, Dan is the best gravy maker around. Perfection every time. I love that we all work together in the kitchen. Nobody isn't a part of the meal.
Olivia enjoying her thanksgiving dinner.
Ethan had several helpings of everything. I guess it was pretty good! (AND it was all allergy free!)
Dan was teaching Livi how to play a game on his phone. I'm glad he loves my kids so much.
"Olivia, How was your Thanksgiving? A huge success? Your mother must be so proud it being her first time hosting and all."

Another anaphylactic reaction

I hope you enjoy the cute pics of Ethan in the hospital. These were all taken just before they released him. I'm not really of a frame of mind to take pics of him when his face is all swollen and he's rashy, etc. If there is a next time (please no!) I will try to take some so you can see how scary it really is.

This time we don't know what caused it. I made some chicken nuggets (homemade) and used a new seasoning that we'd had in the cupboard. I don't know why I didn't throw it out because we'd used it grilling and it probably got cross contaminated with dairy. BJ was home from work for dinner and was just about to head back out when he went to give Ethan a kiss and saw his face and lips were swelling, his chin and cheeks were bright red and he had hives all over.

He called to me asking what I'd put in dinner and I came out of the bathroom with Olivia to see what was going on. His hands were also red, swollen and covered in hives. He was doing okay, so we weren't in panic mode, but I went to get his EpiPen and had BJ hold him down while I stabbed him in the leg with it.

BJ called into work and stayed home with Olivia. I went to the ER down the street and when they got ready to transport us down to primary children's the fire chief came in to see how Ethan was doing. We were in good company. They all knew who we were after the fire chief informed them. One of the guys used to work at NSL with Charlie and quit after he died. Now he's full time fire/paramedic instead of all three. He also enjoys a game of X-Box with BJ most days, (eye's rolling--j/k). It was nice to see that brotherhood in action again. I don't mention it as often as I should, but that brotherhood of law enforcement really does extend to firefighters and paramedics as well. All are considered first responders. Besides our blood family, we couldn't ask for a better second family. :) The nursins staff at Primary's all fell in love with my little guy. He is quite the charmer.

We had him tested with the seasoning at the NAET doc who said that he was allergic to MSG and modified food starch. We'll see how things go. He also told us that Ethan is clear of eggs and we can try to challenge it now. I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm willing to try! We were going to go to the allergist today to see if they could test the seasoning as well, but the snow prevented me from going down there. We'll try to get in next week. This is very exciting, though! We can't imagine life anymore with eggs for breakfast or baking with eggs. This would open up so many possiblities if it works. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers spoken for us!