A New Day

This morning we got the call from the doctor with the results of Tyler's allergy tests. As the doctor began speaking I was getting more and more nervous...just give me the results! Is he still allergic to wheat and oats? Well, he went through the entire list - dogs, cats, pollen, grass, trees, cockroaches - yuck, eggs, dairy, peanuts, shellfish, strawberries - no allergies. Then he said it - wheat, oat - no allergies. REALLY? Are you sure??? We were just getting the hang of this whole no wheat, no oat for our little boy who loves nothing more than wheat and oat products. I'd found creative ways to mask his food to look like ours and to know what to bring to restaurants so that he felt he was like us. HURRAY! It's over.

Then came the other news...he has a class 1 allergy to his most favorite, cannot live without for even a moment, food - MILK. WHAT??? REALLY, again? Luckily it is very mild and at this point we don't have to do anything different, other than be aware of this allergy. He should hopefully outgrow this too. I don't know what I'll have to do if I have to take it away from him!

So, as a celebration for today's exciting news, we took Tyler to a restaurant where he could be just like us! We went to Chi-Chi's, a local pizzeria/Italian restaurant in town. Tyler dove into the rolls. There was so much excitement on his face. Those sitting near us thought we must be nuts as we took his picture and took videos of him devouring his bread.

We then ordered him his own cheese pizza. Of course, that is not what he wanted. He wanted Mom and Dad's pasta. So that is what we he had. Lots of bread. Lots of pasta. and Lots of FUN!

As parents, you never know what challenges or hurdles you may have to face with your little one. We are SO lucky that our challenge/hurdle with Tyler was a relatively mild case of allergy to wheat and oat. We are just so fortunate that he is so healthy and happy. He has a whole new world of food awaiting him now...and our grocery bill will definitely go down with this new allergy test result!

Fancy Cakes

This past weekend we celebrated Collin's grandpa's 93rd birthday. Originally I thought we would go out to dinner. When we decided to have dinner at home I had to figure out something to do for a dessert very quickly. A few weeks ago when cleaning out my cookbook cabinet I found some recipes for 12 minute cakes. I thought this would be a perfect time to try them out! YUM!!!

I made two different kinds on Saturday. The first was a gluten free strawberry cake and the second was a chocolate raspberry cake. They are SO simple to make!

On Sunday, we were invited to a friends house and I was asked to bring dessert. So I decided it was time to make another 12 minute cake! I was on a roll! Their favorite dessert is cookies and cream anything so I searched for a good simple cake recipe. I headed to the store trying to figure out how I was going to use this simple recipe to make the cake and then I found a solution!

All three cakes turned out fantastic (if I do say so myself) and they are SO easy if you have the proper pan. Here are the recipes.

Gluten Free (or regular) Strawberry Cake
Mix together 3 eggs
and 1 can of strawberry (or any substitute) pie filling then mix in
1 box of Gluten free white (or regular white) cake mix
Spray a stoneware (like Pampered Chef's fluted bundt pan) with Pam with flour/Pam for baking
Put it in the MICROWAVE for 12 minutes!
Cool for 5 minutes then invert on a plate and serve. YUM, YUM, YUM!!!!!!!!

The Chocolate Raspberry cake is the same, just substitute chocolate cake mix and raspberry pie filling.

The possibilities are endless!

For the Cookies and Cream cake I used the same recipe but for the pie filling I found a Cookies and Cream Jello mix. I added 2 cups of milk to the Jello mix, then added the 3 eggs. Then I added a white cake mix to it. Popped it in the MICROWAVE for 12 minutes and tada! It was delicious too!

If you decide to make these for yourself and you invert it and the cake is loose, put it back in the pan and back in the microwave for a few minutes. It works every time.

Next time I'll take some pictures! Enjoy!

Family Photo Day

We decided that we needed to do two year old pictures of Tyler and thought it'd be nice to get some of the whole family. We found a new photographer and booked a session. Tyler had lots of fun! Here are some cute photos from the day. I couldn't choose just one!

My Brave Boy

Almost a year ago I had Tyler tested for food allergies. We had to go to the children's lab and have them draw blood for the tests. Tyler was so brave. He is currently allergic to wheat and oats which is very frustrating when all he wants is Cheerios and goldfish and bread! We have found lots of good alternatives but I'm hoping he'll grow out of this soon.

Today we went to have the tests redone to see if there were any chances in his allergies. He was so brave sitting on my lap. This time he seemed to know what was coming and flinched a little. His vein in his left arm was so tiny and the blood was just not flowing. After about three minutes we had to stop with that vein. I held him in my arms and he was crying. It's so hard to watch that and to have to hold your child down for something like this. (Something I've had to experience too many times between having blood drawn and x-rays.) We then had to try again using the vein in his hand. Poor kiddo! He was so good, being patient. Although it hurt, he still said "Thank you" on our way out and was thrilled to be rewarded with a dum dum. What did I ever do without those dum dums?

I'm so proud of my little boy. He was so brave today and I'm so lucky that we don't have to do this often!

Check out his color coordinating bandage. He had another on his upper arm. Poor Kiddo!

Left overs

I let Tyler have some left over cake the other day. He is so darn cute! I'm so biased I'm sure...but really...check it out!

Art Class

We are still going to Gymboree after almost two years. Today we did a make up class by taking an art class with the fabulous Miss Amanda! Now that Tyler is 2 we could try out Art II. There were three boys in the class and both of them were close to 3 years old so Tyler was definitely a little behind them. We started by playing with Playdoh and using cutting tools. Tyler really liked this. He also showed his love of smelling Playdoh. Yes, he loves to smell it and is so cute with his little "mmm" after each sniff.

We then talked about transportation and used plastic cars to "drive/paint" tracks on our paper. Tyler refused to wear the smock. There are bigger battles to be had I suppose. With a little help from me, this is how it turned out!

Then we sat and talked about shapes by reading a shape book by Dayle Ann Dodds called The Shape of Things. Tyler was somewhat interested in this part. I just liked the book because it was written by a Dodds! We then got to glue a car and it's parts and other shapes together. Tyler loved the gluing part! We followed up by dot painting with dotting painters.

It was a really fun class. For his first experience with glue and dot painters, I think he did pretty well. Mental note for next time...wear icky art clothes so I don't worry about the paint ending up all over me. I thought of it for him, just not me! Next time!

2 Year Check Up

Today was Tyler's 2 year well baby check up with Dr. Yen! He was so good. He ran right into the room and gave the doctor a high five as he passed him in the hallway. Here are his 2 year old stats:

Height: 34.5 inches (51 percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs (37 percentile)
Head circumference: 19.5 inches (71 percentile)

He's growing so much! He then got two shots. The first one didn't phase him. The second one he took a deep breathe and then I thought there would be a loud cry. Instead there was a little whisper whimper which he let out for about a millisecond and then it was done. He got a lollipop and was ready to go!

In the car, he asked me for a train ride. Since he was so brave at the doctor, I obliged. We hit the mall on the way home. He ran to the train and then ran right on without me. I figured we'd give it a try. This was the first time he went on the train alone - well, not exactly alone as his baby accompanied him, but the first time without Mommy or Daddy!

I say it all the time but my big boy is growing up. I doubt he'll ask me again to ride the train with him. It was such a short-lived time where he needed me to do things by his side. I'm so proud of him though!

Big 2nd Birthday Celebration - Elmo Style!

Saturday morning arrived! It was the big day! I had been planning for a few weeks now and everything was falling into place. The house was nicely decorated. The Elmo cake was baked. The rest of the cupcakes were ordered and just needed to be picked up, along with the balloons! Everything was great!

Tyler woke up and helped me finish up his Elmo cake. He loved watching and tried to stick his fingers in a few times. He was so excited when it finally was his turn to get into that cake.

Watching Elmo come alive in cake form

Smile!

The finished product...yes, I really made this! It's so much easier than you think it would be!

 He then took a long nap and we got the final details of the party ready to go. Amazingly, he slept for over 3 hours and I had to wake him up as his first party guests arrived. Luckily he was in a good mood!

Dressed and ready to go - Got his 2 shirt and Elmo new sneakers on!

We set up the bounce house. The kids had a blast. Here are some photos from different times during the party when the kids were bouncing all over!

Then, Tyler discovered his birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma Schoenfeld and us - a roller coaster. While I don't have any still pictures of this (I don't know why not) I do have three VERY quick videos.  Just look at that smile. Do you think he loves his present or what?

And then the biggest surprise of the day happened! I'll let the pictures tell the story.

He realizes who is at the door!

LOOK!!!

The kids just loved Elmo. I was so excited I was able to find him. He visited for about 30 minutes and then hit the road.

The party continued in the backyard with lots of fun. There were ten kids plus Tyler and lots of grandparents, a great great Aunt, and lots of moms and dads!

Grandma Judy and Great Great Aunt Mollie

Dez dressed for the weather - Grandma Judy dressed as if it was going to snow. Crazy Grandma!

Lots of socializing

We ended the party with the cake. We ordered vanilla and raspberry cupcakes and chocolate and raspberry cupcakes for the adults. We got some really cute Elmo cupcakes for the kids. They loved it!

This face says it all!

The party ended and we opened up his presents. He loved this and had a good helper in Emma!

It was an amazing day! Tyler had so much fun. We were all so tired on Sunday. Day light savings didn't help that at all but we had no plans and could recuperate all day. So now we have a 2 year old. He celebrated in style and is growing right before our very eyes! Happy Birthday Boo! We love you so much!