Towards the end of June I also had my back scratch test for allergies. It was a tricky test because they apply the strips on a Monday, then you return both Wednesday and Friday to read the results. And did I mention that you can't get your back wet the entire time? Yuck, especially with all this heat!! The doctor attached more than 70 allergens to my back. They outlined everything with pen in case things rubbed or got distorted. I debated posting this photo, but the process was so interesting to me, so here it is. As you can see, I've still got a lot of baby weight to lose.
So each rectangular area was a white strip that had allergens on it. They taped these to my back on Monday and I wore them on there until I went in on Wednesday. They removed the strips and read any early results. Then they sent me home to see if any new reactions started with the strips off. Then I went back on Friday for the final read. I'd heard it was a very itchy test. It was mildly itchy, but not too bad for me. The positive sites were definitely itchy, so if you were allergic to lots of stuff it would probably be pretty uncomfortable.
And guess what, we had a lucky winner!!! I'm VERY allergic to Benzocaine! On Wednesday, that site was already bubbling and blistery.
Benzocaine is a topical anesthetic. The doctor started reading a list of items it is in (stuff like Orajel or Hemorrhoid cream). I started getting excited because I remembered the spray they gave me in the hospital but I couldn't remember the name. I texted Ryan and he replied that it was Dermoplast. I gave the doctor the name of it, and turns out that Dermoplast is 20% Benzocaine!!! Answers!!! It was so thrilling and exciting to know what caused the reaction! And now I can know what to avoid in the future. I almost skipped down the hallway after the appointment. I was so happy. The doctor was really happy too. I had two other good reactions and two other trace reactions to the items. There is a scale to measure. So the Benzocaine caused the most severe reaction and got a certain number, the others were less. The weird thing is that two weeks later I was in Utah swimming and had an itch on my back. When I was changing, I looked in the mirror, thinking it was a mosquito bite, and it was a very clear little square! So I called the Dermatologist's office and emailed in the pictures. I was still in Utah, but we made an appointment for me to come back in when I got home. I was mainly worried that it was a totally new reaction.
When I went back, they checked the photo and the site with all the photos they took of my back. They determined it wasn't a new reaction, but rather one of the "trace" reactions had developed into something more. Apparently there can be delayed reactions and the doctor said this was the longest delay he had ever seen.
The doctor gave me a printout of everything I tested positive for and a list of common items that these things exist in. I can also go on a certain website and type in one of the substances to get a complete list. It was all just fascinating to me! Isn't modern medicine wonderful! Now I can continue to live without wondering if I'm allergic to every little thing.
School started again this week, so I guess it's time to catch up posting about our fun summer. We actually had a short summer this year because the school district wants to be on a schedule where the kids finish the term before Christmas break. That means they need to start in mid-August. Next year, we'll also get out early, in May, I think. But it made this summer about two weeks shorter than normal as they adjusted.
In June we swam a LOT. It was very hot. If I remember correctly, Vegas had its longest consecutive run of 110 degree days or higher since the 1960s or something. Hot, hot, hot. Honestly, I didn't mind it so much. We ran any necessary errands in the morning and then just swam. Once or twice I thought it might be fun to go somewhere in the afternoon and I almost always regretted it. You get so overheated just going in and out of the car in that heat! But if we got our stuff done in the morning and hung out at home during the worst of it, then it seemed okay. I also have to say that our house is a good 5+ degrees cooler than the rest of Las Vegas. It's a little up on the hill and feels not nearly as hot sometimes.
After experiencing our first full summer in Las Vegas with our own pool I can definitely say that having a pool is the best thing EVER!!! People who say they don't want a pool are crazy, in my humble opinion. We really didn't get the cabin fever we've gotten other years because we could always go out in the pool. On really hot days, I would think back how in the old house we would have just been cooped up the whole day. But here, the girls still might get two, three, four hours of active play in the water. I love having a pool so much!! To be fair, our house is a lot bigger too, which definitely helped us from getting cabin fever as bad too.
I don't know if I've mentioned it on the blog, but our ward has a couple of extremely wealthy families in it. The Relief Society held a little swim day at one of the houses to mark the beginning of summer. This one pool was incredible.
These pictures are out of order - but let's not forget that June's preschool had a little water party for the very last day of school. She really liked Ms. Braun and Ms. T, I think she will like her new preschool even more. Three days a week with five other little girls. She starts in two weeks.
At the beginning June, Willa had another piano recital. She got another trophy for passing her Musicianship Level 2 exams - both written and playing. She had to identify and play more major and minor scales and pentascales. The written portion was quite tricky, especially for a six year old! And she got a second trophy for using her talent to serve (she played the opening prelude for Primary one week), and they also get a medal at each recital. These are all very precious items to her.
Rebecca had a birthday and we got to celebrate at Dan and Melinda's new house! They bought a house around the corner from us. And while they aren't technically "moving" they are enjoying time at the second home now and then and we enjoy having them close.
Love this picture of Brandon and Lars.
One of the extremely hot afternoons I dragged the girls out and shouldn't have. We wanted to try out a new Shaved Ice place and decided to stop by the library too. It was too much. Then the Shaved Ice was very good, but not kid friendly - meaning the coconut flavor actually had bits of coconut in it. So then, to make up for that disappointment and because it was so hot, we threw that away and got an ice cream cone there, but Willa also didn't like that flavor... It was a hot and disappointing afternoon despite the smiles.
I was counting down the days until school was out. Willa loved, loved, loved kindergarten this year once she adjusted to the long day. I loved it for her, but was more than ready to have some lazy mornings and to not have to pack her a lunch each day. One of the last days as we were throwing a lunch together at the last minute, I believe I just packed her one of those little packages of powder donuts for her main item in the lunch box, ha ha.
Mrs. Chevalier was a first year teacher, but she was really excellent. It was widely known that her kindergarten class was the best behaved. The room mom was telling me she thought it was because Mrs. Chevalier was very good about having strict boundaries and way more organized than the other teachers. Since I wasn't able to be in the classroom very much (you can't bring other children with you when you volunteer) I really don't know. But what I did know of her, I really liked. She kept everyone updated with Class Dojo and we had little interactions at pick-up every day. I felt like she really loved the kids and they could feel it.
For the kindergarten ceremony, the classes first met in the gym and sang a few songs all together. Willa was very into the actions and loved being up there. Then, they divided up and went back to their own classrooms with the parents. It was extremely crowded, but also fun to just have our own little kindergarten class together. They sang "We're All In This Together" and it was freaking adorable. You could tell they had worked on it for a long time and all the kids had the lyrics and actions down pat. Actually, a few weeks earlier in piano, her teacher was letting her choose a fun song and Willa picked that one. I wondered how she even knew what that song was, but it was because they had been practicing it for a long time as a surprise. She looked so cute and adorable and she was so excited to sing it. But now, whenever I bring it up she says she's embarrassed. I wanted to show her the video clip to show her how much I loved it and she started crying and telling me to turn it off! I guess the shyness is still there underneath her big kindergarten self. So tender! But, since she doesn't read this blog or know it exists, I figured that I might post it here for everyone to see. It really is soooo cute.
The teacher then handed out awards. Willa got something for finishing all her sight words this year. And she got the "You Could Teach This Class" award. I don't know if I should interpret that as she's bossy, or just really smart, ha ha. She's very concerned about following the rules and wanting others to follow the rules! But she has told me that sometimes when the teacher is busy, she'll have Willa test the other kids on their sight words.
Kinder graduation was actually the second to last day of school. Here's some pictures from the last day. They got to have free dress, so that was exciting!
These are the ladies who help with drop off in the morning. They are so nice and were so excited to see Lars after he was born!
Willa really wanted to have a pool party, so I emailed all the parents in the class and said that we'd love to host a very low-key and informal party on the last day of school. I said that siblings were welcome, but that it couldn't be a drop-off party. Each kid needed to have a parent or guardian with them because I didn't want anyone to drown! We have about ten kids from the class plus all their siblings. It was a lot of fun! I provided watermelon and chips and everyone else brought lots more food to share. It was a perfect way to end the school year.
Dragon Dancers
The week previous to graduation, Willa had her dance recital at the school. They have a dance group called Dragon Dancers and it was a free after school activity that she REALLY wanted to do. It was almost the entire Winter/Spring semester on Thursday afternoons. She stayed after school for it and I picked her up at 4:30. It was a LONG day for her and by the end, she was ready to be done. I think Thursday was generally a tiring day, she complained about it a lot and said they had a lot of specials that day. But, when it came time for the performance she was a star and loved it so much that she is begging to do it again in the fall. We'll see about that, I just don't like having her gone so long. It was very cute (well, what we could see was cute, it was extremely crowded and we were in the back) and the theme was Candyland. She was a Lollipop. She really loved her make up and the purple lipstick!
We love our darling girl. I can't believe kindergarten is over. It feels like a magic phase of childhood is gone. I also can't believe that first grade starts in two week!!
Lars was two months old on June 8th. That morning, I realized he was wearing the same outfit as in the one month photo, so I hurried to take a picture for comparison. Then later that day, I wanted to take another photo of him post-bath because he's just so much cuter after I've washed his hair.
He is still such a good and sweet baby. He will lay under his play yard and just smile at the blinking lights and kick his legs. Sometimes he's under there quite a while when I'm making dinner or trying to get the girls ready for something, poor baby. He loves to smile and talk and will hold your eyes quite a while smiling and cooing. Baby cooing is just about the sweetest thing ever, it just melts my heart every time.
He's starting to love his sissies - not so much when they want to hold him, but more when they lean over his bouncy chair or carseat and try to smile and talk to them. It's so nice having Willa be a little older, though! This past week he really wanted to be held at one point but I just couldn't, so I sat Willa down and had her hold him while I ran around like a crazy person doing whatever needed to be done. I've tried baby-wearing him sometimes with mixed results. He really doesn't like his face held in with the wrap, but he's not quite ready to be front facing yet. If I tie it tightly, he gets mad, if I loosen it, then he feels a little unstable and gets mad. I might need to watch some Youtube videos to bring me up to speed on this all. The other reason I'm not huge into it is because it always puts babies to sleep - and if they are going to sleep, I'd rather they do it off of me so I can have a little space. I'm definitely in favor of baby-wearing whenever going out somewhere with a stroller would be super annoying. Ryan's also picked up a ton of slack in the kitchen as far as cleaning up at night and unloading the dishwasher in the morning, so that's helped a lot too.
I thought he was so big at two months, but looking back at this photo he was so much smaller than he is now! You can see how much he's grown into this outfit from one month to two months, though.
And again, this little onesie looks loose on him here and I feel like he's busting out of it now! He's really still small - I think I'm just used to my girls staying REALLY small, so he seems like a much bigger baby.
I couldn't resist these photos. I'd just fed him one morning and he pooped all the way through and up his back so I stripped off all his clothes and wrap him quickly in a blanket. When I set him down in the bouncy chair is was full of huge smiles! I guess getting his morning BM out really put him in a good mood, ha ha :).
At his two month check up, he was 21 inches long and 13 lbs 2 oz. He was the 75th percentile for weight and head size and the 25th for height. If you remember, he was in the 90's at his one month visit. What changed? A human error in the office! When I was looking at his growth chart, I noticed they had marked him as a Female. I pointed it out to the doctor this time and they fixed it in the system. So he'd be in the 90th percentile if he was a girl, but just the 75th if he was a boy.
His baby acne has pretty much cleared up, and I've been putting Aquafor on a few spots of baby eczema on his face and it's clearing up too. June and Willa were infants in Houston's climate so it's new for me having a baby in this dry air. The doctor also pointed out a few common chafing spots for "big boys" and their rolls, ha ha.
Shannon, Claire, and Scarlett flew out when Lars was about three weeks to meet him. I'm so glad they got to come when he had all his newborn littleness! They are true baby lovers and snuggled him good. They flew in Friday night and just hung out at the house all day Saturday and flew out that evening. It was so nice, the cousins played, swam, fought, played, and swam again. Perfect.
Shannon introduced me to this Kickee Pants brand and Lars is wearing a romper she got him. It's super soft, super thin organic cotton. Perfect for feeling every single squishy baby roll under the fabric.
I can't believe these are the only photos I got! I know I have more somewhere of Claire and Scarlett holding Lars, but I can't find them on my computer right now. We love our cousins!
I was looking through photos and realized I missed posting about a lot of fun things. Rebecca and Shannon were so sweet to throw me a baby shower for Lars. They, of course, threw the ultimate bash when I was pregnant with Willa. This time, Shannon had the fantastic, amazing, awesome idea to hold it at a mani-pedi salon.
I was about 34 weeks pregnant, I think, and getting very big. Shannon and Scarlett flew in for the event and at the last moment I decided to bring Willa and June along too. I'm SO glad I did. They had no idea what a mani-pedi was or what to expect. They were beyond thrilled and loved it so so so much. Willa asked if she could come back a lot more, and Shannon said, "Of course, you just ask your Aunt Rebecca and she'll take you whenever you want to go." Ha ha, but really - it's the truth.
I love these two cousins together! They are only three months apart.
Okay, so it's not the most flattering picture of me - but I'm hugely pregnant!
My mom and sister came down for it and I invited a few friends from my old ward, my new ward, and other places in between.
The girls were very helpful at the present unwrapping portion of the party. Actually, the salon was trying to boot us out because they were opening for general customers in just a few minutes. We probably should've scrapped the public opening of gifts. People were very nice and sweet with their presents for Lars.
We finished it off by taking a dip in our still chilly pool. At this point, it was still March and the weather was very nice and temperate. But we've found if we keep the solar cover on for enough sunny consecutive days it can warm the pool up to a survivable level. The problem with springtime is that the wind is constantly blowing the cover off :).
This was last sunday after he got blessed in church. His social smiling is really on point hear days andhe pulled out all the stops for Aunt Becca.
This baby is the yummiest, sweetest thing ever even if his baby acne took over his beautiful face for a bit. Lars continues to be a calm, mild baby. I've noticed as I cut out more and more dairy and also chocolate :( that he is even more calm and sleeps even better!
He's growing so fast that my mind can't keep up with it. He's definitely growing bigger/faster than the girls did (or at least that I can remember). I put him in a little three month outfit and found that it was a little snug in the belly and chunky leg department, but fit just right in the shoulders, ha ha. He just feels heavy and looks so big to me!
His acne is starting to clear up and to me he looks even more like the girls. Actually, he probably looks like himself, but all three of their very similar baby features are starting to blur together and he looks even more like my third girl at times - especially when I get him out of the bath and wrap him in June's old pink hooded towel 😂. Poor little boy. But he looks very sweet in his boy clothings too. Here are just a few pictures.
Chillaxin' with Uncle Brandon
Alyson sent this adorable knit outfit as a blessing contender. It came in second place and I'm still second guessing myself about it because he wore it yesterday and looked soooo adorable!!
