Vacation Day

Two weeks ago, Bill had a post call day that landed on a Friday.  Post call means that he was on a 28+ hour "call" the day and night prior.  He takes about 7 calls a month.  If he has a bad call and doesn't get much, if any, sleep, the post call day is meant for sleeping.  If he has a good call and was able to sleep overnight, then it's basically a free day off.  On the chance he had a good call, I took a vacation day.  He got a little less than 4 hours of sleep that night but we stuck to our plans anyway.  We had a fun outdoor lunch at L'Albatros where we shared a three course meal and had some bubbly to really make it feel like a mini-vacation. 

After lunch, we took a stroll through the art museum before heading home and taking naps!  Hey, when the girls are at school, we go wild let me tell ya.  That night our next door neighbors invited us over for delicious steaks on the grill where we shared two more bottles of wine (one sparkling - bubbles make everything better) and a bottle of zinfandel port.  It was such a beautiful and relaxing day and truly felt like we were on vacation.  I think we need to take days like that more often!

Memorial Day Weekend

Here I go playing catch up.  It's what I do best.  My dad was here over Memorial Day weekend and we were able to go watch the parade go right by our neighborhood.  Audrey loved running out to get all of the candy they were throwing.

The Peanut Curse

I don't know what it is but there's definitely something in our blood that is causing our offspring to have problems.  At Vivian's 1 year checkup, we had her tested for a peanut allergy as a precaution since Audrey has one.  I didn't think much of it.  In fact, I completely forgot about it until yesterday when I realized we never got the results.  It didn't really matter though because I was 100% sure that it would be negative.  I should have known something was up when Viv's doctor returned my call today and not a nurse.  I was absolutely stunned when she told me that Vivian is allergic and is already a Class 4 out of 6.  Same as Audrey.  I almost started crying while I was still on the phone with the doctor but kept it together until we hung up.  Then I sobbed and then got mad.  Again, same reaction I had with Audrey's news.  The only bright side is that now the girls are on equal food footing and I don't need to monitor separate meals or worry if they steal each other's food.  They can eat the same things and I can breathe freely.   The doctor mentioned getting both girls tested again in a few years and possibly having them participate in medically supervised food challenges where they are fed tiny, tiny amounts of peanut.  I'm not getting my hopes up because we know that Audrey's allergy only got worse so I'm assuming the same will be true in a few years.  But anyway, with no history of food allergies for me or Bill, I have no clue what has caused this in our girls and it makes me really sad and really angry.  Just one more thing for momma to worry about I guess.  :(

12 Month Stats

Vivian had her 1 year checkup this week.  She's 19 lbs 7.5 oz which is 50th percentile!  We're not used to having someone with a little meat on their bones!  Audrey was 18 lbs 6.5 oz.  It's only a pound difference but somehow, Audrey was always so small.  Vivian is already wearing clothes that Audrey was wearing at 18 months.  For height, Vivian is 28.5".  Audrey was 28.3" so they're basically the same.

The doctor said Vivian is doing very well and hopes to see her walking and talking within the next 3 months.  We believe that Vivian CAN walk, she just doesn't want to.  :)  The doctor also said that we really need to get transitioned over to table foods.  We still rely heavily on the jarred baby foods but Vivian seems to enjoy almost everything we offer her - even fish.  She's on the regular meal plan now at school so maybe we just need to get with the program.  She's on to whole milk now which means I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  {cough} I mean, which means that it's really great for her.  And she's a master of the sippy cup already.

I'll leave you with a little cuteness....okay a TON of cuteness for your day:

Parties

If May was any indication of what our future will be like, Bill and I are going to be exhausted all the time.  In addition to Audrey's weekly swimming lesson and one dinner out with friends, we attended 5 parties in back to back weekends. 

The first weekend, right after swimming we went to a birthday party for one of Audrey's classmates who was turning 4.  The party was held at Chuck E. Cheese (or as Audrey calls it Chuckin' Cheese).  I have always imagined (remembered?) Chuck E. Cheese as a horrible, awful germ-filled pizza place with a creepy human-sized mouse band that sang.  I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised.  It was very clean and modern.  I actually kind of missed the creepy band because in it's place was just video screens of different music videos.  What mattered is that Audrey had a blast.  The kids were all given tokens to play the arcade games with so she ran around with her friends and tried out all of the different games.

Find Audrey!

Right from that party, we went to another birthday party for a girl turning 1 from Vivian's class.  Bill works with the girl's mom and knew a lot of the people attending.

After that party, we barely made it home in time to greet our babysitter who was watching the girls while Bill and I went out to dinner with our next door neighbors.  We went to one of our favorite places in town and had a 5 course tasting menu. 

Then the second weekend, again right after swimming we went to a birthday party for another one of Audrey's classmates.  They had a bounce house so Audrey was so excited.  The boy's parents both went to Northwestern and were there the same years as Bill so we really hit it off with them.

In the bounce house:

I have no idea where this file came from but it looks like my phone took all of the pictures of Audrey in the bounce house and made this motion picture!  Weird!

Vivian LOVED this little slide!

And then promptly fell asleep (check out her tattoo!):

Wearing a mask she decorated:

From that party we went over to one of Bill's co-worker's houses for a cookout.  Kids were invited so Audrey had some playmates.  The next morning, Bill was at work so I took the girls to ANOTHER birthday party for a neighbor girl.  It was held at a really great playground that Audrey likes so I was able to sit with Viv while Audrey ran around with the other kids.

 We sat outside with our neighbors later that day and I got this pic:

Seriously, if this is how busy life is going to be, I'm going to need to find a good energy source!!

Vivian's (actual) 1st Birthday

Didn't think I'd really let Vivian's real birthday go by without taking a ton more pictures now, did you??  We even had another little cake for her!

And just for a fun comparison of looks - here's Audrey in this same outfit for her 1st birthday:

Back to Viv:

 Wearing the crown they made for her at school:

 The remaining photos crack me up.  We're singing "Happy Birthday" to her in the first couple where she's smiling.  Then she gets into the cake and her apprehension quickly changes into all out hysterics.

Notice that the cake has already been moved...

Happy 1st Birthday, Vivian!!