A day at the park

These pictures are from a walk at the park. Spring Break had great weather, so we took advantage if being outside. Our walk was fun. Max rode his bike and Maddie rode a tricycle that we help push. They loved feeding the ducks and spitting turtles in the pond. We even took Tyson so we got in the water too. Both kids picked flowers for me. So sweet! Maddie placed them in my hair so I could look like Rapunzel. Sweet girl!

THEME OF THE MONTH: Kids dressing themselves
Maddie prefers to dress like a princess and wear her "dancing slippers"

Max is actually doing a great job of dressing himself. He does like to combine shirts and boots, which is cute.

Allergy update

Today I took my sweet boy for a four year old follow up on his food allergies. I went in today hoping that maybe he had outgrown his peanut allergy. He has no desire to eat a peanut or peanut butter, but still. He was hesitant about going to the doctor, he said he didn't want shots. (We still haven't gone for our 4 year old shots!) But we went and Dr. Zambrano was nice as always and Max cooperated. Then the nurse came in withe the prick sticks, yikes! I let Max sit straddled on my lap as they did a series of pricks on his back of different tree nuts. It was terrible, he hated it. I felt horrible, but I did my best to keep him still and calm. I failed! When they were done we waited to see the reaction. At first I didn't see much of a reaction, but then the bumps started to show. A few test spots had satellite bumps too. He was really uncomfortable and itchy. His reactions were so bad he was breaking out in hives on his stomach and arms. I asked for help and if we could give him an antihistamine sooner. They explained that it need to run its course for NINE more minutes. Longest 9 minutes ever!!

Long story short, they measured their readings and it showed that he is severely allergic to peanuts, pecans, pistachios and cashews. He was not allergic to almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts. Dr. Zambrano said to avoid nuts if at all possible due to cross contamination. Having a child with severe food allergies is hard, but I know we will get through it. The rest of the day he picked what he wanted to do and was much happier. On the menu: the park, chick fil a and playing with his friends. :)

And he got a pretty cool toy harmonica for enduring the prick test. 

Max is FOUR!

Birthdays are for celebrating another year of life and since I became a mom it always takes me back to their actual "birth" day.  Max's birthday was nerve-wracking but exciting. Nothing went as planned that day. Most of our family was at the hospital that day, but I really only remember bits and pieces. My fist night with Max was a blur, but the next day.....I was filled with love....and I have been ever since!!

Max's 4th birthday was pretty awesome. When he woke up I surprised him with a ship and Jake & the Neverland Pirates figurines. He was pretty excited! I read him his card, but he didn't pay much attention to my sappy words. I'll save the card for him though :)

I wanted to make a special breakfast, so I made chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes. They were pretty good, but the kids just wanted Eggos!! Go figure!! Here is a picture of them pretty grossed out at the thought of eating it.

We went to the gym as usual and the got to play with friends. After we went to a yummy burger  joint named Husky's. We went with the playgroup. The kids had a blast playing with friends, especially their BFF Leah. We went to keep the party going over at Andrea and Leah's after to decorate cupcakes. We let Max pick dinner that night and he picked.......Chick Fil A. It was a great day and Max was so well behaved this day which was icing on the cake!

Here they are running around in their Mario shirts

Maddie loves birthdays!! LOL

Today I took cupcakes to Max's school to celebrate with friends. He loves me coming to the school and I love to see him and all his friends. The kids usually get to wear a birthday hat on their big day, but Ms. Sarra said Max doesn't like to wear the hats. So she made him a birthday bracelet.

About Max at Four:

He goes to pre-school 2 days a week and he is a great student. He listens to his teachers and is a good friend. He likes to role play in the kitchen, play blocks and practice using his scissors. He likes talking about his friends and always talks about going to their houses. He can write is name, and sometimes writes it like a mirror image. He still loves CARS, but now is really into Super Mario Bros. and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He loves running and playing chase. He has a pretty good appetite lately, but can still be picky sometimes. He listens pretty well, but sometimes will go to time out. Him and his sister are either playing well or fighting  but they love each other very much. He also likes to play on the iPad. He and Shawn are really spending time together doing "guy" stuff. Max will literally spend all day outside helping Shawn with projects or running or running to home depot. Of course he loves having me tuck him in at night. I love the night time because he loves to cuddle and be sweet. He wants me to read "The Magic School Bus At the Waterworks" every single night and requests that I sing "Twinkly, Twinkle Little Star". He is such a sweet little boy, we love him so much and are blessed to see him grow everyday!

Maddie moo moo

This girl is a mess!! Love her to pieces and here are a few reasons why:


She's so cute, you really can't resist kissing those gorgeous cheeks or touching your precious black curls AND she loves to accessorize.

She's a diva, she is sassy and she's in the midst of terrible two's. We have constant meltdowns and she visits time out about everyday, but when it's over she's SO apologetic and remorseful. Can't resist it!

She's a great sleeper. She asks for her pacifier and puts herself to sleep many times (she still takes her paci and probably will till 3 like Max).

Reason #237

She's a great eater! Lately she is obsessing ove sugar, so I'm trying to keep it under control. But she loves spaghetti, chicken, broccoli, corn, nuggets, french fries, and fruit.

She's an active little girl. She loves to run, jump, dance and keep up with her brother

She helps herself to fruit before I can put it away.....

She prefers to wear headbands, princess outfits and heels at all times. #LOVE

Perfect day for a baptism

Today was a special day for our family, we baptized Raymon Joseph, aka baby RJ. The ceremony went relatively smoothly  We had both our kids with us. The whole time I was concerned that Maddie would give me trouble because it was her nap time and she is uber-needy. But they surprised us and cooperated. And really if there is a place where it's not a big deal to hear crying/whiny kids, it's a baptism. There was lots of that going on, that no one really even noticed our kids. ;) It was a beautiful ceremony followed by a nice lunch. We love the Berbel family and are honored to be godparents to baby RJ and Olivia.

Sibling love

Tonight I'm playing catch up with my blog. My Tia Memi asked me the other day "How can you stand how cute they are? I'd want to kiss them all the time" Haha! Well truth is, when they aren't driving me up the wall, they are killing me with cuteness. I love when I catch them being sweet to one another without anyone looking. We made sure to get captain style seats in our car to give them each their space, but look what I saw on our way to school the other day. My precious babies holding hands!

So on to the fighting....Max got this bear for his first Christmas. He never played with it or even really liked it. It usually sat in a box or the floor. Fast forward a year or two and Maddie loves it. She wants to sleep with it, take it on trips, etc. Well, Mommy, being the genius that I am, must have mentioned that the bear was actually Max's. That started a big struggle of them crying over said bear. So another genius move I decided to take them to Build-A-Bear to make their own bear and stop fighting over Max's Christmas bear. Max got a camo bear with digital camo gear and he named him Rambo. Maddie got a super soft brown bear and dressed her as Cinderella and named her Cinderelly. They loved their bears and they cost us a pretty penny! Problem solved right?? Not so much. That night there was another epic fight over the Christmas bear. Honestly it's getting better, so I'll keep you posted. Gotta love kids and their personalities!!

One thing they both love is Mario Bros. I found this shirt for Max and he was so excited. And so was little sister. I tried to talk her into a cuter girly shirt, but she wanted nothing to do with it. It was cute though, she paired it with a tutu and a red bow.

So....

I haven't blogged all year!! That's so unlike me, but life has been a little busier than normal. I started working part time at the kids school. It's usually only 12 hours a week, but the preparation to make it all work smoothly is harder than I thought. Max has been great with it. He loves having me there. He is so sweet. When he sees me, his eyes light up. He always wanted to hug me, touch me, etc, but I told him at school I'm "working" so he needs to focus and listen to his teacher. It worked, now he usually just give me a wave or blows me a kiss. I'm known as "Max's mom", and I love that! Maddie's adjustment wasn't so smooth  but it has gotten much better. I love working at the church, I'm meeting great people and most of all it works so well for us right now. I see it as training for when/if I ever go back to teaching in public schools!!