MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'm so excited for Christmas!! We're heading up to Washington to stay with my folks for a whole week! We get to play with the cousins, sisters, parents, friends, etc. . . And I hear in the snow too! Can't wait!! So just a quick reminder, if you happen to be visiting the area too and want to meet up, my parents number hasn't changed, only their address.
Merry Christmas everyone, be safe and have fun:)

Whose kid is that?

Doing some Christmas shopping today, I know you're all surprised that I'm not done yet, anyway, things were going great I was finding what I needed, hooray! We had only been to one store and I thought, hey we're on a roll let's do another store and see what we can find. I had promised Damen earlier that we'd go to the park after shopping and he was in a relatively good mood. We entered the second store, it will remain nameless, and things started out rocky with Damen screaming not wanting to sit in the basket. I got him in and we were off to the toy isle. When we got there he saw a truck he wanted to play with so I obliged to let him play while I looked for something. Didn't find what I needed and decided to check the next isle over, I told Damen we had to put the truck back and move on, then the real screaming started. He started to cry about the truck, then about the car that had been next to it, and he didn't stop. So at the top of his lungs we left.
I pulled him out of the basket and he started bucking, almost out of my arms, the cashier commented, "looks like it's somebodys nap time" it was 10:30am, just to be clear. I hadn't parked near this second store so I had to haul a screaming, bucking, now hitting little boy across the parking lot. I kept my cool and calmly buckled him into the car wiped his nose and off we went, home of course.
He cried about the truck until he realized we were headed home and then he started a whole new wave of screaming about going to the park, all the way home! Again, I kept my calm and put him straight in time-out when we got home, after which he hugged me, sat on my lap and I rocked him for a few minutes while he got his final sniffs and sighs out.

What the heck was that?? I've been asking myself ALL day. Dang it, is this how it's going to be? Good thing I've got patience for small screaming children!!

Cashews a no no

In case you didn't know, Damen is allergic to Peanuts. We've kept him away from most other nuts too, just in case, but I wasn't too worried because he had a broad allergy test over a year ago and peanuts and wheat were the only things that came up. So yesterday as I was hobbling around trying to unpack and do laundry, Damen sat down for a snack and I was having some delicious cashews and decided to share. After a few minutes he was asking for more cheese and I noticed the cashews were seemingly untouched, then I noticed his face. Red, blotchy, all around his mouth, the exact same thing that happened with peanuts. I hurried and gave him a benadryl and decided to watch and wait. About an hour later he started to cry and cling to me, so I picked him up and started making lunch, then he started throwing up. When he finally finished, me, the floor, and the garbage can were covered in vomit and Darrell was running around completely oblivious. Since Damen wouldn't let me put him down and there was lots to do, I called my neighbor over to stay with him while I cleaned up.

SO pretty sure that Damen is also allergic to Cashews, great. I looked over the allergy testing they did a year ago and the only other nuts tested were Almonds and Pecans, not allergic. One of these days we'll have him tested again to check ALL nuts, until then Damen is a nut free zone!

Thanksgiving and other stuff. . .

Ok, so I'm WAY behind in the updating! The weekend before Thanksgiving, my good friend Allysia, her husband Zak and their daughter Belen came to visit. We had a great time, we saw the anticipated Twilight movie (made me homesick!), played with the kids and just enjoyed their company. This is Belen and Damen, just after they stopped holding hands, it was cute!
They left on Monday and on Tuesday we drove to Vegas for the night. Then headed up to Dustins sisters house the next day. We stopped on the way for lunch at Wingers, my all time favorite restaurant, with Christi. And now this gets exciting, twenty minutes after we arrived at Sari's house, I fell down the stairs, no surprise there, I tend to lean towards clumsy. However, the aching, bruising, swelling of my left foot left me pretty "gimpy" as the family put it, for the rest of the vacation. Thankfully, there were plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandpa to help with Damen and a very comfortable couch for me to ice/rest my foot. Turns out I broke my big toe and there's not much we can do but drug me up and tape it to the next toe over, yippee:)
Otherwise, the kids (Dustin included) had a great time! We did manage to slip away for some soccer (don't worry I was the goalie), and Damen didn't even take notice, what with all the cousins to play with! We got to see Tara and Josh's baby, Benjamin for the first time, what a cutie, so much like Damen. My sister Christi came and hung out with us too. On Saturday we went to dinner with Brian and Corinne and their daughter Whitney, old friends from our Murray living days. Corinne was due on Thanksgiving, but the little guy didn't arrive until yesterday. Later that night we met up at Temple Square to see the Christmas lights with some of the family. I forgot just how beautiful it is there.
So after the turkey and the fun we headed back, stopping in Toquerville for a visit with some old friends. Thanks again Matt and Emily for good food, fun, and breakfast! The next morning we went to visit Dustins paternal Grandma and Grandpa("great" to Damen). Then we finally headed home. Down below are some pics from the trip.

Great Grandma and Grandpa

Temple Square

Grandma and Grandpa (Dustin's parents)

Ryan and Damen jumping jumping jumping!

Benjamin

Garrick, Conner and Tyler (cousins)

Blake, Trish and Lincoln

Happy Turkey Day!

Well, we're heading out for Thanksgiving, the most food friendly holiday ever! I have too much to do today otherwise I'd update about Allysia coming to visit, Damen's almost broken leg, and a few other things. Be patient, we'll be back soon.
Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!!

To all those from Washougal

You might be a Redneck if:

Your class reunion is a keg party in the woods.

What would YOU say?

Dustin and I sing in a stake Christmas choir, (the stake is our church region consisting of about 11 congregations). So there have been about 5 rehearsals now and last night at practice we were all mixed up, not sitting by familiar people and stuff. I was sitting near the isle and this woman that I've NEVER seen at practice before, don't know her/her name, nothing, squeezes past me to an inside seat. I say "Sorry, it's a little tight through here," meaning the narrowness of the isle. She says back to me, "It's ok, we all understand how that goes," and proceeds to RUB MY BELLY as she passes me!!! At first I thought, she just rubbed my fat, that's strange, then it dawned on me, she thinks I'm PREGNANT!! Ok, so I'm pretty sure I sucked in my gut the rest of the practice and seriously contemplated lipo-suction before next Sunday when I might see this woman again. Then I thought, should I say something?? I didn't, but would you?? Just for the record, no I'm not expecting anything! Maybe this is a sign that even though I weigh the same as when I got pregnant with Damen, my tummy does not look the same and I should REALLY do something about it. Any and all opinions are welcome:)