Happy 4th

We spent the morning at the pool with Grandma Joanie, who of course got soaked by Ella.  The girls jumped in the bounce house, went swimming, got balloon animals, rode the inflatable water slide, and ate a ton.  Hannah insisted on wearing Ella's new 2T bathing suit, and it wasn't that tight.  Maybe they can just start sharing a wardrobe.  After nice long naps (well, Ella napped and Hannah sneaked my phone into her room and watched Disney Jr.), we headed to a BBQ at Aunt Sara and Unky Ian's.  The girls bounced on their trampoline, ate, and lit sparklers (big girls only).  It was such a wonderful day!

Spring Pictures with Kelly!

We had such a fun shoot with Kelly at Linden Park!  Both girls were in great moods, and the four of us just played around while Kelly caught some wonderful family moments on film.

Ella and Family Time

With Hannah in Florida, Jordan and I got a lot of special Ella time this weekend!  We hung out around the house, Jordan and Ella went for a run (Ella filled Hannah's seat with some necessities) ate out as a family of three (I forgot how easy it is!), and then on Sunday Ella and I met Ian and Lilah at the park.  Sunday night we had Uncle Mike, Aunt Lori, and cousins Larry and Dora come over for dinner since they are visiting from Denver.  Hannah, Softa and Zaydie got back just in time to join us and Aunt Sara, Unky Ian and the girls came too.  Everyone enjoyed the new swing set, and catching up.  When I unpacked Hannah's bag from Disney, I found the sweetest card from our sitter and Ella to Hannah - see below.  Our nanny is fantastic!  Every day she brings something new to do with the girls.  Today they made their own play-doh, built a fort out of a big quilt she brought, and made chocolate chip cookies.  She is amazing.

Allergy Update

Poor Ella (and Jordan) went for a skin test for Ella last week to confirm the results of the allergy blood testing.  As you can see in the picture below, everything was negative except for the control, histamine, in the lower right corner.  What a relief!!!  We will keep an epi pen on us for a year, and at that point if there are no incidents we will assume Ella was actually choking, not going into anaphylaxis.   I wish we had known about the tryptase test which can confirm that anaphylaxis had taken place if it is done within a short window after the incident.  You live and you learn, but we will be prepared if it ever happens again.  To all my mom friends that read this, request a tryptase test if you ever think your child has naphylaxis!  You can save yourself the headache and uncertainty we have been dealing with for the past two months.

 

Hot Dog Dance

Ella doing her favorite dance, the Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Hannah at Disney

Softa and Zaydie took Hannah to Disney on Wednesday, and it sounds like she is having the time of her life!  For the week leading up to the trip, she asked me everyday if tomorrow was the day she got to go meet the princesses.  When I asked her if she wanted to wear pull-ups overnight at Disney just in case, she said, "Why, will I be sleeping with the princesses?"  Here is a video Jordan took the night before she left for Disney.  Apparently Softa knocked me out as the favorite for taking her to Disney!



Here is the report from Hannah and Softa so far - they have been very busy!

Day 1: Hannah woke up at 6am ready to get going, despite landing in Orlando at 10pm the night before.  Softa and Hannah took an early morning swim, and they then headed to the Magic Kingdom.  Softa scheduled a Tinkerbell makeover for Hannah, complete with a new Tinkerbell dress.  They stayed at the park until 10pm that night to see the light parade.  Apparently a Disney employee came up to Hannah and said, "Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys are looking for you!"  Hannah responded by telling her that she wasn't actually Tinkerbell, she was Hannah.

Day 2:  Softa and Zaydie are in the process of selling their house in Orlando, so they stayed home to pack while Hannah went to Epcot with her Israeli cousins that are staying with Linda and Sid.  She got to meet Snow White, and partially slept through meeting Tigger and Pooh.   Poor Linda got stung by a bee and had to administor an Auvi-Q for herself.  Thankfully, she seems to be doing ok.

Day 3: Jordan, Ella and I got to Facetime with Softa and Hannah this morning.  I really miss her, and could tell that Ella does too.  Sounds like they have another fun day planned with Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney.  Tonight is their last night at "Disaney Woold" (Hannah's pronunciation), and I will be happy to have Hannah back home tomorrow night.  The house is so quiet with just Ella!  Ella is definitely enjoying all of the extra attention.

Pool Time

We had a great morning at the pool!  Ella is loving the water now, which is a great change from last year, and Hannah is swimming like a fish (maybe a fish missing a fin).  She can now reach the ground in the big pool, and loves that she can play in the big pool all by herself.  Baby Luke came to swim today too, so we finally got to see him.  Such a cute little (big) guy!