A day at the farm

So we met Ava and Ellas second cousins today at the farm/water park. Last time we had been Ava was beyond scared of the animals freely walking around that were bigger than she was, but this year, this year was going to be different.

That was until we walked in the gate and she saw those damn goats walking around. I have never seen a child climb up a mothers leg so fast. With a little coaxing - and a 5.00 pony ride she did warm up a little to the other animals.

Wait a minute, you want me to do what with this food?

"Fine, I'll ask Daddy then." I'll be seeing this face again.

I'm doing it!!! I'm doing it!!!

Wait a minute, 2 of you, at the same time?

Back to one, this I can handle.

All in all the kids had a blast. Well everyone except for Ella. she spent the time either in my arms or like this:

She looks like she is having fun, right? Soon enough Ella, soon enough. You'll be running after your sister in no time. And I can't wait.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th everyone! I wish the weather was a little nicer, but it looks as though the rain has stopped, so that's a good sign! Dave had to work at 12:00 today so we hit a parade this morning before her had to leave. When he gets out tonight we are going to go to the fireworks with some friends and their kids, should be fun! Here are some pictures from the parade today.

Hope everyone has a great holiday! Be safe!

I'm BACK!!!

Ok, so that was quite the hiatus, but things were super crazy, they still are but a few people have been asking for updates - so we are back!

The girls are amazing. They are really starting to interact a lot now and Ava gets mad that Ella can't come play with her. She just adores her little sister. I am so excited to watch them grow together they just get cuter and cuter interacting with each other each day.

We just got a giant wooden swing set so our days are spent in the yard on the swing set and it the pool.

The girls both have ear infections now (Ella has a double and Ava has 1) so we have been spending some time cuddling in bed or on the couch watching the dreaded Max + Ruby.

Here are some pictures of the little ones....Ella is 6 months and Ava is 25 months!! They are from Hampton, some around the house and some from Ella's first taste of cereal.


* Ava LOVES the beach!*


* She is the happiest baby!*


*We left our mark!*


*Watching her sister play in the water*


*Daddy and Ava*


*What is this?*


*Give me MORE!*


*You're not going fast enough, Mom!*


*Oh now YOU want a turn to!*

Happy Mother's Day :)

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Of course Dave is working, well when isn't he working. Thankfully my mom has devised a plan to have the guys cook us dinner and clean up tonight so I am all for that. I do find it odd that Dave is so busy at work today, seriously who let's their husband play golf on Mother's Day?

Well I am off to spend time with my girls. One of which is going to be 2 in 5 days. :(

Domonique...er...Ava

Did I forget to mention Ava is taking gymnastics? And she starts dance this week! Holy cuteness!

Chillin like a Villon

Look at this girl. How can you not just want to squeeze her! Ella is such a great baby. We always said Ava was amazing and we were going to be in so much trouble once # 2 came along. Amazingly #2 is BETTER that #1, but shhhh don't tell Ava that.

So this is what Ella wants to do every waking moment. All she wants to do is sit. Or stand. Lying down is for babies says Ella, for she needs to be vertical at all times or you will deal with the wrath of Ella. Heaven forbid Ava may need something and Ella may have to sit in her bouncy or swing. That just won't do for her.

Ava on the other hand wants to be outside. All the time. Which is fine - when the weather is cooperating. Being May in MA you think we would have a little more clue as to what is going on, but yet here it is May 4th, rainy and 40 degrees. But since we love the park - how about my favorite park picture.

No words....just pictures.

Ok, I'll type a little. Heather came over today and I figured it was a great time to "attempt" to take some shots of the girls. It certainly wasn't easy, but we did get some super cute shots!

Where has the time gone?

I know I know....way to keep this thing updated, but between the move, Ava and Ella my life has gone upside down! I'll try and do better, I promise.

But now, in 16 days my baby....my little little baby is going to be 2. Please pass the brown paper bag, I need to work on some deep breathing. And in the middle of this middle panic attack, I realize that not only is my baby going to be 2, my other baby is.....4 months old.

I know this happens, kids grow up. But I wish it would just slow down.....a little.

Here are some then and now pictures of both girls!

Ava:

(Minutes Old)

(23.5 months old)

Ella:

(Minutes Old)

(4 Months Old)

Ava practices her colors

So this was taken from my camera so the quality is awful but it is super cute! And ignore my annoying voice.

Hope you all had a great Easter!

Trying to post a video

Yes it is only 2 seconds long and it was taken from my camera, but I want to see if I can do this. And so you call all hear the cuteness that is Ava.

And she is saying "Play Shrek" for those who can't understand. She is obsessed with her Shrek computer game.

Skin Tests Results

My dear god I hope to NEVER have to go through that again, but unfortunately we will be doing it again....with both girls :( I have NEVER heard a cry like that come out of Ava and I pray I never have to hear it again. 56 needles in your back all at the same time would make me scream, never mind a poor 2 year old.

So here are Ava's results. She was tested for 56 common allergens (all food). She reacted strongly (9's) to both milk and salmon. She reacted to white potato, beef and casein also. Those were all 7's. The white potato and beef were surprising since she eats tacos and chips all the time without a problem.

So nuts and eggs are a go. Of course the allergist wants us to wait until 3 to introduce both, but she showed no allergy on both the skin test and the RAST blood test. And we were told that between 2-3 is the prime time for a child to outgrow an allergy so here is hoping she outgrows the milk! The allergist believes she will outgrow it as most children will have outgrown it by 5. Here is hoping. Unfortunately she will not outgrow the fish allergy. Both my sister and I have the same allergy, so it wasn't surprising at all to say the least :) Ava will be res-tested at 3 to see where she is at and poor Ella will be tested at 1 since she has already tested positive for the milk protein allergy.

Ella had her 2 ( really 3) month appointment this week. She is a peanut like little Ava. Ella actually only weighs one ounce more than Ava at the same age. And Ella started out with 2 pounds on Ava! But Ella is tall, I mean really tall.....24.5 inches already!!! Ava was only 21 inches at this age. Ella did great with her shots ( and so did I!) she is perfect and getting cuter everyday!

Here are some new pictures of my little princesses.

Ava thought the floor needed to be washed.....

So she decided to give me motivation to do so. Need I say more!

And the results are IN!!!!!

So Ava's blood work (RAST) has come back. She has NO allergy to tree nuts, peanuts or eggs!!! Dr. Sidari said that the RAST is about 92% accurate and the scratch test is about 94% so our next step is to have the scratch test done. If that also comes back negative she should be fine, although having her RAST come back negative was a great break for us! It opens up so much more food for my little one. Now she just needs to outgrow this milk allergy........

I am not very good at waiting.

God I am so impatient. Every phone call I jump thinking it is going to be from the allergist. I am just dying to know. Ava not being allergic to eggs or nuts opens up SUCH a new food network for us. And takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I just pray she has n other allergies and she outgrows this milk one. As bad as it sounds I am SO jealous of those parents that can feed their child anything. they can go to McDonalds or Burger king. the child can have cakes and cookies and brownies. I want Ava to be able to have all that. I want to go a day without reading a label, or go to someones house and not have to worry if their child was eating cheese and then touched a toy. It's awful. And it's just not fair to Ava. And now Ella.

So I wait. I wait for the good news we so need.

And so we wait....

So Ava had the much awaited allergist appointment on Friday. they called to confirm on Thursday and informed me this was just a consult and that we would be doing the testing at another appointment. As you can imagine I was not impressed as we had been waiting for SO long to have this done.

Well we get to our appointment (and I took both kids alone because they weren't going to do anything) and meet with the Dr. He talked a whole lot of nonsense and decided we should RAST test her for peanuts, tree nuts and eggs. (The RAST test is a blood test, which is also how we diagnosed Ava's milk allergy) He said pending the results, we will also back them up with skin tests to really make sure. We are PRAYING she has no more allergies. Eggs and nuts opens up a whole bunch of new foods we can introduce to her. You don't realize how many things were "processed" in a place that has these things. *Fingers Crossed*

So, I have to take Ava to the lab to have blood work done. And I have Ella with me, who the sweetest, easiest baby she is has decided at this point and time, she is going to cry. and not just cry.....scream.

I am holding poor Ava down on my lap so they can do her blood and she is screaming "No mommy no!" I have Ella screaming on the floor in her carrier. It was a nightmare.

So now we wait....we should have the results in about a week.

Here is a picture of Ava proudly displaying her "boo-boo"

16 and OH NO!

Seriously, what the hell was that? Did that really happen? Was it a bad dream? I was so hoping to wake up at some point. But it's true, my beloved Pats lost. They had the cutest cheerleader cheering them on too!

God she looked so adorable, and of course she had practiced her "touchdown" dance all day. Too bad she didn't get to use it much.....

We had Heather's birthday yesterday......the big 19. Well, she will be tomorrow. She had a special helper blow out the candles with her.

And just because.....the always adorable Miss Ella. This is my favorite picture of her!

Let's try this again

So after many people asked what happened to my blog, I thought it may be time to start it back up again. You know, because I don't have enough other things I could be doing! So here goes, we will give this another shot!

The girls are both doing well. Really, really well. It is amazing to see the two of them together and Ella can't even do anything! Ava just thinks she is the neatest thing and is such a big helper. Trying to take a picture of the two of them together though.....that's another story. Don't mind Ava's blue lips, she was eating her bride....a blue lollipop. Lollipops usually work great. Obviously not this time. *Note to self, lollipops are for AFTER picture time* And yes, they are wearing matching outfits. I am just as ashamed as you .

Poor Ella knows, this is not going to be good.

Really, not good. Why don't you just sop now mom.

Ava wants to know why I am touching "her"

baby.

And I give up. Ava has declared we are

ALL DONE!

So I promise, I am going to *try* and keep up with this. Really, I am. :)