Phoenix 1 year photos!

This week has been really low key. I haven't taken any photos because I have been working hard at living in each moment and really enjoying the kids. There have been a few instances where I really wish I had my camera or phone, but when I really think about it, it's really nice just being with them. 

Here are the photos that we had professionally done for Phoenix. I will be able to pick up the rest of the prints next Thursday. Hopefully I will have them mailed out by the end of next weekend, but you all know how that goes :)

She did really well. I wish our photographer was a bit better because he missed some really cute moments.

 All in all, I do like most of them!

 Enjoy!

Phoenix's 1 year check up and summer fun in winter

Since there was no school or childcare on Martin Luther King's Birthday, I took off of work to stay home with the kids. Axel R, asked Axel S. to come over and play. We headed over after breakfast for a morning filled with fun. David, Axel R.'s dad set up a rope swing off a tree that runs over the creek. I had to do some major convincing, but I finally got Axel to try. 

 I even got on the swing to show him how much fun it was. He warmed up to it and enjoyed his few minutes of swinging.

 Phoenix had fun watching the boys and climbing off and on one of their outdoor chairs.

 After the rope swing they boys zipped lined through Axel R.'s backyard.

 Axel S. warmed up to this very quickly and got fancy with his technique.

 David was a bit nervous to make sure the boys didn't hurt themselves, but luckily they both were pros at it.

 Here Axel is no hands and his legs nice and high for the landing.

 Every landing was quite smooth for Axel S. He hardly needed the "crash landing pad" that Axel R. and David set up.

Axel came down with a virus/fever after playing with Axel R. I dropped both kids off at daycare on Phoenix's birthday, the next day, only to turn around and pick them up at lunch time. I have never seen Axel so sick. He slept almost all day. He hardly walked the entire day. I picked him up to go to and from the restroom, the car, his bed, etc. He apparently was very dizzy and felt like he was going to fall over. His fever lasted about 36 hours. It broke around 2am on the 22nd, although he is still a bit run down.

Phoenix and I took care of Axel all afternoon on her birthday. She was eating some bread and was walking 2-3 steps to and from me and Axel to feed him. Axel and I were very excited to see her start walking on her own. Phoenix squealed with delight as I clapped my hands and cheered for her. She knew she was doing something special and kept walking the short distance between Axel and I. 

Here is a picture of the big girl on Wednesday morning when I dropped her off at daycare. She eats at the big kid table now and absolutely loves it! Speaking of food, Phoenix continues to do great with everything we have introduced. She is eating bananas, apples, peaches for fruit. The same three vegetables of yams, carrots and squash. For dairy she is eating yogurt and drinking milk. For grains she is eating rice cereal, oatmeal , bread (wheat with only yeast, salt and oil, homemade of course), pasta and cherrios. And last but not least she is eating ground beef for her first non dairy protein. When Pheeny wakes from her nap we are going to try egg! I am a bit nervous considering she is highly allergic to chicken and vomits for days, but the doc and everything I read reassures me the protein is different and that she should be fine with it. 

Keith and I feel so blessed with this huge burden that has been lifted from us. To have two kids who can eat almost anything is a true miracle. We still have to introduce a ton of foods to Phoenix, but it looks like the worst is behind us. Axel really only has to avoid nuts and sesame seeds. We still have to see how he does with corn and rice, but I am hopeful that he will be fine with both. 

 With all of the nice weather we continue to play outside like it is spring or early summer. Every day we have been spending 1-2 hours in the park. Phoenix absolutely loves to be outside. She loves to climb stairs and go down the slide.

 While Phoenix and I are busy going up the stairs and down the slide a hundred times, Axel spent the week working on his garden/sand art project. Here is the finished version with "landscaping" and all. He was very proud of it.

 Here is a picture of one of Axel's awesome creations. This may not look like much to you, but if you saw the thought process that went into designing this you would be amazed. To get these magnets to stay up he had to build a very sound infrastructure of other magnets to hold up the next layer. On top of that, the entire building is color coded.

 If you can see from this picture the magnets are in rows of patterns. The first row is red, green, red, green. The second row is blue, red, blue, red and so forth. He made sure that there was a pattern for the entire building. It was super impressive to me that he was so thoughtful with his building.

 I thought this was a cute picture of Phoenix playing in the park yesterday. She has changed so much in the past few weeks. When we went to the doctor on Thursday for her year check up she weighted in at 17 lbs 15 oz. That puts her at almost the 23%ile. The doctor was so excited for her huge weight gain. All of the food she has been eating for the past month has really helped!  She measure 2 feet 5.75 inches which keeps her around the 70th percentile for height!

 The biggest change over the past couple of weeks is seeing Axel and Phoenix starting to play together. Is still isn't always sweet, with one child taking a toy away from the other or knocking down their creation, but it is the beginning of what looks like a beautiful relationship.

 Phoenix absolutely loves to feed herself. I love to see her love of food. We are all so excited and feel so blessed that she can eat now without suffering!

 Yesterday, we had my best girlfriend from high school, Tiffany and her family over for dinner. Her daughter, Charlotte turns one on the 31st. We were hoping to have a little celebration for the two, but both Phoenix and Charlotte were too tired. Luckily, after Phoenix's initial meltdown at dinner, we were able to get a quick photo of the two girls after her bath, right before we put Phoenix to sleep and right before Charlotte started her meltdown :). Of course, Axel had to sneak in the picture.

We will be picking up Pheeny's one year photos this week. Check back soon to see her big girl pictures! We hope to have most of the pictures mailed out by the end of February :)

Celebrating Phoenix!

We have had a fabulous weekend celebrating Phoenix's upcoming 1 year milestone. It is hard to believe Pheeny's birthday is tomorrow, but time does fly when you are having fun.

It has been a wonderful year. She is an absolute delight. She hates being little though. She wants to do everything that the older kids do. She goes down the big slide, climbs stairs, tries to climb ladders, etc.

 She loves to be outside and dance to music. She is also quite the talker. Although she really only discriminately says dog, when she points to the dog and nana for food, she tries to repeat words we describe to her. She continues to knee walk/run as well as stand independently without support. She still wishes to have help with walking, which is fine with me.

 For Pheeny's birthday we decided to purchase the Doug and Melissa Kitchen, with pots and pans, as well as "cans of food".

 It has been hours of fun all weekend. Here is Phoenix stirring and yelling in excitement. She has been playing with our kitchen pans, utensils and storage containers for a few months now. I think she realizes she now has a set all to herself and she no longer has to fuss about the child proof cabinets not opening for her :)

Axel loves it too. They are learning how to play together more and more. It is tough for Axel to remember she is a baby and it is tough for Phoenix to communicate with Axel, but it is very cool to see them actually starting to play together. 

 Phoenix loves to ride her bike. She is still learning how to steer, but is getting the hang of it more every day.

 Here she is with her favorite dog, Louis.

 Not to change the subject, but I wanted to include this picture. Here is Axel in action doing a 100 piece puzzle by himself. He completed this while I was on an hour or so bike ride.

On Sunday we had Auntie and Uncle Ryan over for a very low key celebration. Axel made Phoenix a card that is posted behind her

 and a birthday hat that she is wearing. He also made her a picture out of play dough that is for her room. I need to still take a picture of that. It matches her sea theme and is very cute. 

 I made an oatmeal and applesauce pancake for Phoenix for her cake. I am so grateful that she is starting to tolerate more and more foods and that I could make this for her. She actually really enjoyed it.

I made her another one today and she ate the entire thing!

 We sang happy birthday to her and when I was trying to show her how to blow the candle out she got a little more than curious and put her hand right in the "fire". I felt bad for not being quick enough to stop her, but luckily it scared her more than hurt her. We were glad to see baby Braylin and Auntie and Uncle Ryan even if it was a quick visit. We are really excited for them as they move back to Sacramento this Friday. We were grateful they made the time to come over during this very busy time for them. I love this picture of the three cousins with Auntie Shannon and I.

 I am looking forward to Phoenix's one year check up this Thursday. I can't wait to see how much she has grown. We will also be preparing Axel for his enrollment into kindergarten. He has to take his first TB test and make sure his immunizations are up to date. This all has to be done before Feb 14th, so I was really glad we were going to the doctor for Phoenix to kill two birds with one stone.

In other news; here is a picture of my clever 4 year old. While I was putting Phoenix to bed earlier this week he was becoming the rubber band super hero. You have to look closely, but you will see rubber bands on his forehead, wrists, thighs, ankles and feet. Sooo funny!

 On Friday this week, Axel had a play date at a local park after school. I tried out the double burley for this first time. The kids did great! Axel was very charming holding his sister to make sure she was safe. He had so much fun that later that day he wanted to run to the grocery store in the double burley as well. It was great for me because I got a whopping 4 or 5 miles of riding that day carting the kids around. A little exercise is better than nothing :)

 Last I leave you with sibling love. Here Phoenix is feeding Axel her noodles that I was having her try. Axel continues to do great with wheat. Phoenix ate a few, but then started getting very red cheeks. I need to try again to see if it was the noodles or some other reason I am unaware of.

Axel and Phoenix Update with family photos!

We have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to put all of the wonderful details of Axel's and Pheeny's lives on the blog. Because I finally have time today I want to give a more detailed update about where the kids are at developmentally.

Phoenix's third tooth (her right front upper tooth) made its debut Christmas morning. I believe the left upper front tooth will cut through before her first birthday. This past month has been an exciting and emotional roll a coaster with food and sleep for Phoenix and Axel.

We had both kids allergy tested in mid December. The great news about Phoenix is that the only thing that she is actually "allergic" to is chicken. That means all of her vomiting and inability to handle food is strictly due to a protein intolerance to that food from an immature "gut"/ GI system. Our Allergist said to go ahead and start trying all foods, but use the same precautions of introducing 1 food every 4-7 days to see how she tolerates it. The first food that we tried was broccoli. It had been months since we tried it and I thought another vegetable would be a safe bet. Well, the first day she did great with a tablespoon mixed in to her regular squash, yam, carrot mix. The second day she started vomiting and she continued to vomit everything she ate including her neocate formula for nearly 3 days. I was very sad and discouraged and it seemed to take her a week to recover. She went to strictly formula and didn't eat solids until Christmas day. In hindsight Keith developed the flu the night of the 23rd with vomiting and the inability to hold down food as well. Because he had the flu, I am guessing that Phoenix had the flu and not a reaction to broccoli. I say that because once we got home from visiting Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce I decided to bite the bullet and have Phoenix try Cheerios. I was a little unsure because she spit up a bit on the second day even though she absolutely loved feeding her self and massaging her gums with the Cheerios. I also think that she absolutely loves using her teeth! If you watch her eat them she uses her tongue to move the cheerio to the front of her mouth and then she proceeds to chew each individual cheerio with her teeth! It has been over 10 days that she has been eating Cheerios and she is up to a full serving of 3/4 of a cup. 

Now what is even more exciting than that is I have put in a heaping teaspoon of plain whole fat yogurt into her lunch and dinner (carrots, yams and squash) for the past two days. She did have an episode of a small amount of projectile vomiting last night, but I really think that was because I added twice as much yogurt as the previous 3 meals and she didn't like the taste. She continued to eat her meal after the vomiting episode without any further issues. It is amazing that she is able to force herself to vomit. The good news is it looks like she is going to tolerate dairy!!!!! As you can see though, it is going to take awhile for her to like the taste of other foods besides her three magic foods that she has been eating for 6 months. Keith and I are excited about not having to deal with ordering her formula every few weeks. I am even more excited to think that she will be on a normal diet within the next 6 months as she gets use to other foods taste and textures. 

Because Phoenix has been eating well for 2 weeks now she is starting to sleep a lot better again. She is typically only waking once a night which is awesome. She goes to bed around 6 or 6:30pm and wakes around 6:30am. She fully transitioned to one nap since we have been home and is now taking a 1-2 hour nap around 12:30pm. It has been a VERY LONG time since Phoenix has been on a regular routine. She has been struggling for a couple of months to get rid of her morning nap. It is extremely nice to have some predictability in her schedule. This is more of a luxury for me than a necessity for her. Phoenix is a very easy going child and is super happy despite being exhausted. She always puts on a smile in front of others and doesn't fully break down and scream until she is alone with me :). This is a blessing, but difficult because others around her think she is fine. Unfortunately, they are not up all night with her as she struggles to sleep from being overly tired. The good thing for Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce is that their house is well insulated and the hours of crying in the middle of the night apparently did not effect their sleep like it did mine :)

 Phoenix is very close to walking. She can easily stand for a few minutes without support. She easily walks hand in hand. She prefers to practically run holding on to two hands but she does walk quite a bit just hand in hand. She absolutely loves to play outside. She loves the slide and can go down the slide on her stomach feet first all by herself. She climbs the stairs like a champ and is trying to also climb the ladder in the park like her big brother. I am quite thankful that she is not walking yet because I am afraid for me at how she is going to give me a run for more money by being extremely active. I will enjoy her fast knee walking for as long as she wants!

 Now, we have the same good news about food for Axel. His allergy testing looked really good. All of his allergies to everything has drastically lowered. The first food we re-introduced for Axel is wheat. He has done great! His appetite has continued to be fantastic and he has not broken out in any hives. The real test for us is Axel's sleep. In the past he has been up all night scratching himself and screaming how itchy he is because of eating a food his body was allergic to. He has actually improved his sleep drastically over the past few weeks. He has been sleeping through the night 50% of the time and on the days he does wake he is only waking once! Both Axel and I are ecstatic that he has been able to tolerate wheat. I haven't had to make any tortillas or bread since before Christmas! We have been able to find both bread and tortillas with only 5 ingredients (meaning without preservative, corn starch, soy, etc).  Life couldn't get much better for me having two kids who will be able to eat regular food and have the potential to sleep through the night. I for see a lot more time with my awesome husband in the future instead of my early retreats to bed.

In other news for Axel, he is a building machine! He received the 100 piece magnatiles from Santa. He makes the most amazing creations. I know I mentioned this before, but I really have to get some photos to show his creativity. Axel has also been building with his little Legos. He is able to build 250-300 piece Lego structures without any help. He follows the 50-70 page instructions and patiently finds each piece he needs. The first fire truck took him almost all day (about 5 hours or so). He can now put together a similar structure in just over an hour! He is amazing. These Lego kits say they are for 7-12 year olds, but they seem perfect for our 4 year old! 

Axel has also been a puzzle machine. He has four 100 piece puzzles now. He is able to do them by himself, but he doesn't like to be slow at anything. He prefers to have me help with sorting and to hand him the pieces to do the border. Once the border is done then he begs for me not to help him :) 

All in all, as you can see Phoenix and Axel are thriving! They are both an absolute joy to be around. I am so proud to have the privilege to raise such angels while we are here on Earth. I hope that I am able to instill the Lord in them as well as the values and morals He wants them to have to be the people He wants them to be. I leave you with the photo from our family get together at the Villa while we were in Chicago land. It only took a dozen tries or so, but we were able to capture almost everyone's smiling face :) Thanks Grandma Sonia for this picture and all of the great photos in this blog! We really did have an amazing Holiday season and are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends!