Kaitlyn is potty training! She has been very interested in using the potty for a while but mom and dad finally gave her one to try. She did it! Now she is using almost all of the time during the day. She is such a big girl now and as her brother, I am extremely proud to invite her into the big kid group. She has earned it.

Oh man this week has been a boring one. Dad has been working some crazy hours trying to fix a very serious problem all by himself. The other day he didn't get home until 1:30am. He went back in a few hours later. Last night he was home for dinner so that was good. We like when he helps get us ready for bedtime and brush our teeth.

Grandma came over to pickup a small gift that our Mom and Dad made for her. It was a charm bracelet with a bunch of old rock stars on it. Those guys looked funny but she sure liked it. I don't know what she sees in those guys. We are much better at playing the guitar than they are. She's strange I tell ya.

Kaitlyn can't think of anything else we've been up to so that's gonna be it for the week. Have a good weekend.

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Wow talk about big news. Kaitlyn just used the potty for the first time on her first try. Lately she has been taking her diaper off and kind of being a nuisance about it. Every time I turn around she is running around naked. Now we know why. She is preparing herself for potty training. Our mom gave her a try at it just a bit ago because she seemed ready. She seems to really understand because earlier she had her diaper off and when she had to pee she grabbed a wipe and placed it ready to catch the mess. She is a smarty little girl. Now the battle begins for the toilet.

Well let's see what else we did this week... Did you see the pictures of us bowling? Talk about fun! It was really fun and we want to go back everyday! Kaitlyn squished her fingers a few times so that wasn't too fun but I think she had a lot of fun rolling the ball down the ramp and into the pins. We couldn't print out our scores but I think I won by a few points.

Oh big news. We have been doing mild testing with Kaitlyn and her egg allergy. Her numbers were always so low for this allergy so we decided to give her a bit on her leg at first. Then we gave her a bit the other day on a plate and she seemed to do OK. This weekend we are going to have our first really real french toast. It's is going to be really exciting. If she is no longer allergic to eggs, that would really open us up to a bunch of new recipes. We can't wait!

We headed back to the library to drop off some movies and pick up a few new ones. Kaitlyn picked out a Muppets movie and she really seems to like it. We have always been big fans of Disney but maybe the Muppets will be fun to watch too. The library that we go to has chickens, roosters and peacocks too. We like watching the birds just roam around like they run the place.

That's gonna wrap it up. Big high 5 for Kaitlyn because she really is a big girl now. She will be following the tradition and going out this weekend to pick out her very own undies. I think she is going to go with princess because she really likes them all. Have a good weekend everyone. No more diapers, here we come!

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When I returned home from work yesterday I told the kids that we had somewhere special to take them. We didn't tell them where it was but we explained that we would need to be wearing other shoes. Rylan is very picky about his shoes so that quickly turned into a bad situation. We pressed onwards and when we arrived at the bowling alley, Rylan was asking if it was a shoe store. When we opened the doors and head in, he was just thrilled to be at his first bowling alley.

We got settled in and Rylan decided to be OK with his new bowling shoes. We had no idea just how cute he was going to look. Each of them had their own ball and Kaitlyn found a ball that was just small enough for her to carry around. She looked super cute with a ball bigger than her head. They took turns bowling but it didn't take long before the fun went sour. Kaitlyn had not had a nap yet and after a few balls rolling over her fingers, she wasn't too happy.

Overall though they definitely seemed to enjoy the new event and we will be heading back soon. Definitely the highlight was after Rylan would roll the ball down the ramp, he would dance around like he just won the lottery. We aren't sure where exactly he learned a victory dance from but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

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If you have ever wondered just how hot it can get in Arizona, especially in a sitting car, this gives you a good idea. Over the weekend the kids helped make cookies and we baked them in the van. It took a bit over 3 hours and while the cookie batter wasn't super tasty, the kids loved them. They had a blast helping with all the steps needed, especially the part where they got to eat what they made. Of course I forgot to take a picture of them enjoying the cookies.

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Boy has it been hot lately. I think we had hit up to 116F at one point this week.

This week we had a chance to see the doctor for Kaitlyn's 2 year checkup. As expected she is doing great. Mom and dad thought it was funny because Kaitlyn is always very fussy at the checkups and won't let anyone touch her or even look at her. This time, however, there was a guy nurse and she seemed to really like him. They were high-fiving and she even let him lay her out to get her height. It was pretty darn amazing.

Last night we headed out to the grocery store. Among other things we picked up some Cocoa Pebbles cereal. Mom and dad looked it over and everything appeared safe but this morning when Kaitlyn and I were eating it, mom noticed some hives on Kaitlyn's stomach. It must have had some allergy in it that wasn't on the box. Needless to say, we will not be eating Cocoa Pebbles any longer.

Last night we also headed over to the library. Mom had a chance to look for some vegan and cake cookbooks while we picked out a few movies to rent. We always forget just how many movies there are to choose from. And then all of those books? How can you read them all? Dad sure would have a lot of work to do.

Speaking of dad. He made us a very special setup the other day. He set us up an area that was like a grocery store. We put all of our foods on the table and then using the shopping cart we shopped! When we were ready we put the things on another table and we rang them up like at the store. We beeped everything and then put them in bags. To make it even cooler we had fake money to play with too. Just yesterday our Dad surprised us by bringing in fake money with our faces on it. It was just too crazy!

We need to get ready for a summer party at our Aunt Jenette's house tomorrow. Mom is making a bunch of cupcakes and Dad is making macaroni salad. At least we know the cupcakes are going to be tasty. Sorry Dad.

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Kaitlyn had her third allergy testing last Thursday and we are seeing huge improvements. The first time we did testing, she was said to be allergic to soy, milk (whole), milk (casein), eggs and peanuts. While it sounds difficult, it has been a very manageable process to avoid these foods in and out of the house. We were excited to do her latest testing and we are very pleased with the findings. She has no noticable allergy to soy or milk (casein). Her numbers for all of the other allergies have dropped and possibly the most important one is the peanut allergy. Her numbers dropped by 75% which is very impressive. Statistics will tell you that only 20% of children outgrow their peanut allergy so this is a huge improvement over a years time. The doctor appears very hopeful that she will outgrow all of her allergies within a year or two. It was great news.

Here is a photo taken from the camera phone while at her latest testing. It shows just how things are. The numbers on her back relate to specific allergens. We had a chance to choose which specific items we wanted to test for which is why the numbers are so scattered. The red allergy bumps are quite difficult to see and that is a great thing. Her back was just covered in bumps the first time. The testing is painless unless done wrong. Kaitlyn just giggled through the entire process.

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Well of course the best thing about this week was Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday. We all had a great time and she enjoyed all of her gifts. On her actual birthday we celebrated with cupcakes and card opening. She is a lucky girl and we are all looking forward to the next party, mine!

This year we learned that some of the local places that were doing fireworks in the past, were not going to be able to. We headed out and found the place that everyone else went as well. It was a massive massive crowd. We parked the car and watched the fireworks for a few minutes before we got bored. We headed back home to beat the crowd of cars leaving.

All over the weekend we had a chance to hang out with our mom's family. Some of them drove in from Texas so they could come to Kaitlyn's birthday party. It was a real treat. We really enjoy having time with them while they are here because they really know how to make us laugh.

We headed over to the allergist yesterday to have Kaitlyn retested. While her allergies still remain, there is definite improvement. She is no longer allergic to casein, which is one of the many proteins within milk. Not being allergic to this does allow us to try some new soy cheeses which would be neat. Her test did show that she still has an allergy to milk, peanuts and eggs. The numbers for these tests definitely showed improvements and the doctor feels confident that she is on the right path of getting rid of all of these allergies. Her biggest decrease in numbers was her peanut allergy. She jumped from a 10 to a 3 which basically means that she is not reacting to it as much. This is great great news as typically that one is deemed the most dangerous.

It's going to be a hot one this weekend. I think originally it said up to 116F. That's even too hot for us! We love going outside to play with chalk but 116F is a doozy! Have a fun and safe weekend.

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It been over a year now since we learned that Kaitlyn had food allergies. As a family we decided that it was in our best interest to keep all contaminated foods out of the home. We have been successful at keeping Kaitlyn safe both at home and abroud. Due to milk and egg allergies, we have even turned to the vegan side. (Word of advice for those newly introduced to food allergies, hunt vegan recipes rather than allergy ones as they are sure to taste better.)

Now that Kaitlyn is 2 years old we've been thinking about having her retested. It is not uncommon that around 2-3 years of age, that many kids will outgrow some of their allergies, her most severe being dairy. This was further sped up when we discovered after leaving the mall last weekend that she had a good chunk of milk chocolate sitting on her foot, with no apparent reaction. We are of course hopeful that she has grown out of her allergies as we want her to live a normal allergy free life. We know that this may not happen though and are prepared to stay with the massive amount of safe recipes that we have gathered. If she does grow out of these allergies it seems that it will equally interesting transitioning back than it was when we first heard the news. We will know today what the allergy verdict is. Regardless of the outcome, I know that I will continue fighting for food allergy awareness because I see how ignored and uninformed people are about the dangers.

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Kaitlyn's birthday party on Saturday was a huge hit. We worked through the heat and had a very succesful dog themed birthday party. Kaitlyn's mom made the cake and I cooked up the dogs. The heat eventually took its toll and we took most of the gifts home for further opening. Thank you everyone that was able to come and put up with the weather. We really appreciate it.

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