Andy + Christine = 10 Years!

This past weekend Andy and I celebrated our 10 Year Anniversary! Well, not wedding, but since our first date! I can not believe it has been that long! That makes us only 18 and 19 when we first met. Wow.

So we got a night out on our own. My mom kept Brayden overnight (YAY!) for us so we could get out. We went out to Dave & Buster's for dinner and some fun games. It was a great time. And of course, we used our tickets to win some toys for Brayden. One (a dinosaur) that he is absolutely terrified of...lol. But there wasn't much to pick from for his age. We actually got home pretty early and watched a movie. Then...the best part! BED! (get your mind out of the gutter...haha) We got to SLEEP! All night long! All by ourselves with no little feet kicking and no sitting up to yell Choo-Choo at 4am. No waking up at 7am wanting to "eat Eat EAT!!" It was glorious!

Here's a fun picture of us from a LONG time ago...

Carter's Tagless Clothes Recall

I don't know if you have read about this yet or not, but I recently saw an article about it on a chat board I frequent and checked it out. Many of you know that Brayden has had issues lately with extremely sensitive skin. So I figured it was worth looking into. I sent an email to the address on the website and they sent me back a response asking me to call and 800 number. I called this morning, and they took my information and are sending me a prepaid postage sticker to send everything back. They only asked me if he had any sort of reaction and I was truthful and just explained that he has sensitive skin and I'd rather be safe than sorry. No other questions except how many articles approximately was I sending. I told them around 30, I believe and was told my sticker would be mailed later today. I will receive a FULL REFUND for all of the clothes that are returned in the form of a check. My thinking is that even if Brayden doesn't have a reaction, do I want to use these again on my future children and possibly risk it when it's too late to return them? Or even give them to someone else who would possibly have to deal with a reaction? So why not get the refund and you can alway purchase more. Especially since most of the clothes I'm sending don't even fit Brayden anymore! And we had a TON of these clothes! Here's the link to the site. http://www.carters.com/Corporate/tagless_message.aspx

Here We Go Steelers...

Here We Go!!!

Totally Unexpected!!

About a week ago, I was upstairs, putting away clothes or something and Brayden was up there with me. He was dragging around his little potty so I asked him if he wanted to pee in the potty. He immediately nodded yes, so I figure, what the heck? I strip him down and set him on the potty. What do you think...he pees!!! Probably within 2 minutes of sitting there! I thought it was a fluke. So that night, before bath, I ask him again...Do you want to pee on the potty? Again, yes and he sits down and pees!! I'm completely shocked. And truthfully, not at all prepared to put in the time and effort to start potty-training. He's only 20 months old! And he can't pull his own pants on or off...or talk for that matter...haha. But he loves to sit on the potty now! For the past week, about 3 or 4 times a day, I will ask him and up he goes. I know he has the right idea now because you can tell he's actually trying to go when he's sitting there.

So this has been an unexpected surprise! But how can I argue? Of course, I know we are a LONG way from out of diapers, but it doesn't hurt!

He's Daddy's Boy...

Daddy has him started training for sports early! And he loves it!!

Some Exciting News!

We have some exciting news in our house! No, it's not what you think...and it's probably not nearly as exciting to most of you as it is to us...haha. But if you have ever dealt with the situation, you will find it exciting too!

We are officially 1-WEEK BINKY FREE!! They are completely gone from our house and never to return to Brayden's mouth (or hands, or forehead.) He was driving me completely crazy with them. Between him chanting Binky, Binky, Binky constantly; having to have no less than 3 with him at all times, and being woken up repeatedly at night by him screaming binky while having to search under my pillow, thru the covers, etc. to find at least 2 for him (yes, he sleeps in our bed most nights, another story, another challenge.) I was way past done dealing with the binky situation.

So last Sunday morning, we woke up and left the binkys in bed. When he started asking for them (about 10 minutes after breakfast) we just told him they were all gone. He knows what all gone means, so he dropped it for awhile. Surprisingly, he hardly mentioned it again all day! He went down for his nap easily and again at bedtime. He seems to only ask the most when we get in the car, and even that has stopped. So we have made it a whole week and are so excited to finally be done with them!

Doctor Appointment Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that we were able to see the Pediatric Dermatologist yesterday and everything with Brayden looks good! He does have dermographism. But she said it's most likely that the reason for his hives/breakout/sensitivity is most likely due to a virus he had that caused it to come out. Unfortunately, we won't be able to say he won't get that virus or another one that will cause the same reaction, but it's nothing serious. Especially since he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. While his skin is still showing alot of sensitivity, it is alot better than it was last week already. And they put him on some medication that should help even more. He will be taking Zyrtec every morning and Ataraz every night for at least a month to help control it. Hopefully this will take care of everything and clear it up for good!

Just a Note...

For those of you who are following or interested, we were able to get Brayden a doctor appointment for this Friday at 2:00pm with the pediatric dermatologist. I was amazed we were able to get in that quickly. But then, it makes me wonder if we got in quickly because he might have something of concern...hmmmm. Anyways, I will update after the appointment and let you know how it goes!!

Happy Hump Day!

It Could Be Worse

Today we went to the pediatrician for a check-up on a problem I have been noticing with Brayden. A few weeks ago he started breaking out in hives. We saw then doctor then, and it was decided it was a reaction to a virus he had. Well, the hives haven't exactly gone away. While he isn't getting the full-blown hives he was having for a couple of days, he is still having some skin issues. Lately, it seems like whenever and wherever we touch him, he gets a red spot. It only lasts for about 10-15 minutes, but it didn't seem right to me. I'm not talking a small red spot, like a scratch. I mean if I wipe his nose with a tissue, it looks like I slapped him across the face. And after a bath at night, he looks like he was beat up. My mom came over the other day and asked where he got the black eye. Nope, just from where he rubbed his face. And it wasn't going away. Sometimes they look like welts it's so bad.

So today it was back to the pediatrician for the third time in a month. We go in and are waiting for the doctor. I explain to the nurse what's going on. She's looking like she has no idea what I mean, but she says, "We'll just note this as a skin condition." Then the doctor comes in. She looks him over. I take a wipe out and wipe his nose and face. He turns all shades of bright red, but is happy as can be, running around the room. She leaves the room and we wait. And wait. Finally she comes back with a huge book. Now, when your kid has an ear infection or virus, they don't bring a big book in for you to look thru. So I'm worried. Plus, this is the same doctor we had at our very first appointment. The one where I was told he had a thyroid issue by saying he could grow up mentally ill. Yeah, that doctor...so I'm already on edge.

Apparently, he could possibly have something called dermographism. She wasn't entirely sure, because from what I understand, it is pretty rare. Also, we aren't sure if it is something that is short term or long term. But we have the number for a pediatric dermatologist that I will be calling tomorrow to make an appointment with.

The bottom line is, while it isn't pretty, it also doesn't seem to be hurting him. He's not itching the spots or even noticing them. So we'll just hope that this is more on the short term side and hopefully gone soon. But if not, it could be alot worse...

Thinking of Friends...

We have had a few occurances happen with our friends/family that I think are worth mentioning...

First, my cousin, Mike (Kelly's brother) became a Daddy again to twin baby girls on 12/23/08! While they were born very early (around 28 weeks) and only weigh about 2 pounds each, from what I have heard, they are all doing great and as soon as I get some new pictures, I will be sure to post them!

Second, I want to send some prayers out to our great friend Tammy and her family. Her sister recently lost her full-term baby girl and I can't imagine how very horrible that must be. So if you could, take a second to say a prayer and support to her and her family during this very difficult time.

Happy New Year!!

I told you, I'm still working backwards...lol

Our new year's eve was one of the best ones I have had. We had a great time hanging out with our closest friends at home. We ordered in some wings, got some pizzas, had some yummy desserts and lots of wine and champagne! There were about 10 of us (can you believe it? a small group with Andy around...haha) and we watched a boring super exciting movie, watched the ball drop and played some Taboo! Overall, a really fun night!

Brayden hung out at my mom's and they both fell asleep before midnight...boooo....

Let's Back it Up a Little

Ok, I've been slacking again. So we're gonna go back a little ways and catch up. So pretend this post is from 12/25/08!

Merry Christmas! lol

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. Brayden woke up diarrea and hive free that day and we started the day at home, opening presents. I got a really nice and warm black wool dressy coat and Andy got a nice, dressy bracelet. And Brayden got toys...lots and lots of toys. My mom came over to take the pictures while we opened. After we finished presents at home and took a little time to get ready for the day, we headed over to my Mom's (2 doors down) to visit with my Grandma, brother, sister-in-law and niece. We had a yummy brunch and opened more presents. At this point, Brayden was done and he went down for a nap while the rest of us got to spend some time together.

Then it was off to Andy's parents for the rest of the day. We had a nice, relaxing dinner with his whole family and then spent the rest of the evening opening gifts.

We were all so spoiled! We got lots of gift cards...we could probably eat out for months! And Brayden got so many toys. We haven't even opened them all! I have put away at least 5 of the big ones for him for later when he starts to get tired of these ones. So far, his favorites seem to be the kitchen he got from my mom and the Fold-N-Go Train that we got him.

Overall, it was just a wonderful, happy day spent with family and friends. We are so very blessed.