26.13

My first 5K - 26 minutes, 13 seconds. Mike let me beat him - he ran with me and finished 26:14; no doubt he would have finished much faster but he ran with me the entire race. Sweet, isn't he?!

Stats

Hannah and Griff had their 3 year old check-ups yesterday.  They are perfect and right on schedule  :-)  Interestingly enough, Griff is just about exactly the size Abby was at 3; Hannah is bigger!  

Griff

38 1/2" tall; 33.8 lbs

Hannah

39 1/4 "tall; 35.4 lbs

Abby - at 3 years old

38 1/2" tall; 32 lbs

Our California Friends

Our favorite Californians came by last night for their annual August visit. They have family in the area, and every August they come by for a pizza dinner.  Three years ago they were here the night Hannah and Griff decided to make their early arrival!  Below is a picture of all the kids together.  They had a blast playing together. Abby was very sad to see them go, and asked if next time they could all spend the night. :-)

Now We Know

The extreme sensitivity to the smell of peanut butter (which she was made to endure at least a couple of times of week, as peanut butter and banana on whole wheat is one of my favorites); throwing up on the airplane after the flight attendant passed out the free peanuts (the smell was a bit overwhelming); running from grandpa as he passed out the drumstick ice cream treats, and then throwing up after mom and dad convinced her to just try a bite.......

Miss Abby has a "severe peanut allergy", to quote her pediatrician.  So....no more peanuts in the Newman house (or peanut butter - wawawa), and no more cajoling her to try just a bite.  Do you know how horrible I feel? How could it take me 6 years before asking the doctor about her "intolerance" to peanut butter?  

Abby had her 6 year check up the other day - she's perfect in all other respects (!) - and we were talking about her seasonal allergies.  We've never had her tested, but it is obvious she has allergies.  Her doctor recommended a blood test so we could get a definitive answer on her allergies, and I thought that sounded like a good idea.  As I was walking out of the exam room, I said, as an after-thought, "you know, she really doesn't seem to tolerate peanut butter. Do you think we should test for an allergy?"  Dr. said sure, but I'm sure she's fine if she hasn't exhibited any symptoms or signs. 

Ha. Not fine. Severe allergy. Turns out vomiting is a sign, as is her constant "get it away from me" reaction. So now we know, and we also now carry around an EpiPen.  We also know she is allergic to:  Oak, Maple, Cottonwood, Grass, Thistle, Ragweed and Dust and Dust Mites (lovely).  Yes, Hannah and Griff will be tested when they go in next week for their 3 year check-up. However, given they LOVE apples and peanut butter, it's doubtful they have a peanut allergy....I am betting they have some seasonal ones, though.  

It's never a dull moment around here!

Fairy Birthday Party Fun

Abby had her kids birthday party today - 10 little girls running around the house for a couple of hours!  The original plan was to have them outside the entire time, however the 95 degree temps pulled us in after a 1/2 hour or so.  They are a great group of girls and a lot of fun.  We made fairies and decorated fairy houses after running around the yard collecting flowers, grass, rocks, etc to use for the houses.  After the crafts we opened some presents and then moved onto really yummy unicorn decorated cake. It was a fun couple of hours, but I'm glad we are done with the birthday celebrations!

Enjoy the pictures!

"Mom, no more pictures of me, PLEASE!"

Illinois Fun

We had a great visit to IL last week to visit G&G Newman.  The kids did great in the car - the 6 hour ride only took us 8 hours total :-) 

The highlight of the visit for everyone was the surprise Grandma Newman had planned - horseback riding for the kids.  Abby could not have been more excited.  We kept the surprise from her until the very last minute. The horseback riding was at a family ranch, and in order to get there, you had to turn down a country road that had mile-high corn on either side. As we were getting close, I asked Abby what she thought we were doing and she seriously said, "Picking corn?".  Which actually wasn't a bad guess given we were in central IL, home of corn detasseling! Anyway, all the kids had a great time riding the horses and have asked many times to go back!

We also celebrated everyone's birthdays while we were there.  Lots of presents and cake and celebrating.....and of course we went to the park and pool a few times as well.  It was hard to say good-bye to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Trish and Uncle Tim, but hopefully we'll see them all again soon!

Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Birthday Hannah & Griff!

3 years old!  It's hard to believe they went from 3 and 4 pound babies to 35 pound 3 year olds! The other day I was looking at pictures of them from when they were in the hospital. They hardly look like the same kids.  It's been a whirlwind three years....and I know this is only the beginning with these two!

The day started off with an unplanned trip to the doctor. Griff woke with a very stiff neck, so bad that he was crying and holding his neck for the two hours before we could get into the doctor. He didn't even want to open his presents. The doctor checked him out and confirmed nothing else was going on with him and just prescribed more motrin.  He finally started acting like himself after waking from his nap. By the time Mike got home for dinner and we surprised them both with another gift, he was good as new....and the cake DEFINITELY made him feel better!

Enjoy the birthday pictures!

P.S. I have a TON of pictures from our great visit to IL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Newman. I'm going through and editing them now; once I'm done, I'll post some favorites.  

Happy Birthday, Abby!

6 years old! ACK, how did she get so old so fast??!!  We started the day celebrating with donuts and presents. Tonight we'll have Abby's dinner of choice - Mac-n-Cheese (!) - followed by cake and ice cream. We are celebrating with family this weekend and can't wait!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Be Like Mike

I've been replaced by Mike as the coolest person Griff knows......Griff wants to be wherever Mike is, doing whatever Mike is.....as shown in the below picture. As soon as Mike said he was mowing the lawn, Griff was too......He followed him around the entire backyard :-)