Go Away!

Will these allergies/intolerances/sensitivities or whatever damn thing it could possibly be, please just go away?

Malia had a delicious turkey meatball from TJ's last night for dinner. She ate about 6 or 7 bites, maybe half of the meatball. I got her to sleep at 7:30 p.m.

She subsequently cried(well, screamed is more like it) and then nursed at:
8:00 p.m.
10:45 p.m.
1:05 a.m.
3:20 a.m. (from here she wouldn't fall back to sleep until 5:00 a.m.)

This is the child that either sleeps through the night, or wakes ONCE to be nursed and go back to sleep. She almost never wakes more than once a night unless something is very wrong.

What was wrong last night, you ask? The meatball had soy in it, and it was her first soy in months. By this age, Olivia, who had similar food issues, was able to eat soy and was just starting to eat dairy. So I got my hopes up and tried Malia on soy. Bad bad bad idea! Poor girl was a disaster during the night and although we're all a bit of a cranky mess today, Miss M took the brunt of it. She's got nasty diapers, eczema dots on her chin and cheeks and she won't let me leave her sight without throwing a fit. And yes, this from 6 bites of a *&$@ meatball.

And I feel like the world's worst mother for giving her the dang soy in the first place and making her feel terrible. The worst part is, I don't even know how/where it hurts and it's not like I can dose her with Motrin and think it'll bring her any relief.

Ugh! I hate you dairy/soy/citrus...how you make life so difficult! All my little girl wants is to enjoy those yummy goldfish her sister gets to eat.

And I have a new respect for all you food-allergy moms that brave the birthday parties with peanut/dairy allergic kids...how do you do it when I struggle just keeping goldfish out of my baby's reach?

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

As I sing along with the Go-Gos, I recall the fabulous week we spent at the beach house up in Solimar thanks to our friends, the McCalisters. Liv and Malia lived like true beach bums, waking up to the sound of the waves crashing and heading straight out for the water. The weather was less than ideal; fog every morning and wind in the afternoons, but it didn't keep our water girls out of the ocean. Plenty of goose bumps but the laughs and shrieks assured us they weren't ready to get out just yet.

We stared out at the ocean as we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and the kids loved playing on the deck, hopping in and out of the warm kiddie pool and standing on the "stage" to perform ballet dances. During our daily beach walks, Liv collected hundreds of shells and spent her days washing and sorting through her shell collection. She found lobster tails, lots of sea snail shells and even a completely closed clam or oyster shell, with the animal still inside. And Malia did her best to win the sand-eating contest, of which she earned top prize, every time.

And although it's hard to believe, we were able to grudgingly convince some friends to join us for a few hours at the shore. Candice and the boys came out for dinner along with Grandma Yolie and Sandy; Livy loved sharing her temporary beach home with Luke and Jake, and it looks like the Imbler boys enjoyed their time as well http://mytwoblondeboys.blogspot.com/


Uncle Jon joined us for a few games of horseshoes and some kayaking, and later that afternoon our happy-hour friends Amy and Tracy and their husbands and kids came out for a happy hour bbq. Liv had a blast with Kate and Hayley and the girls ran wild, eating junk food and heading into the ocean fully clothed after dinner.

A perfect ending to a perfect beach retreat...

Daddy's Day

I have two sleeping children so I find my fingers itching to get on here and catch up on topics I've been meaning to blog about for weeks. I've got Pandora playing one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs and I'm soaking up the silence of the house...I live for these breaks nowadays.

Paul woke up to coffee, donuts (the breakfast of champions) and the first artistic thing I've accomplished for him in quite awhile...possibly since our dating days?? I had so much fun snapping pictures of the girls and watching them be playful with and imitate one another...I probably enjoyed making this banner more than Daddy enjoyed getting it. It is still hanging above our kitchen counter as I don't have the heart to take it down. Maybe it'll happen when Christmas decorations go up, which would be about now if I lived in a department store.

And Daddy's LOVE-ly girls...

Parade people

Well, my youngest daughter and my husband are evidently parade people. When Amgen gave Paul and his coworkers the week of the Fourth of July off, I'd imagine this is exactly what they expected their workers to be accomplishing.

Not only did Paul get into the Fourth of July spirit by preparing this Tall Ship masterpiece, but the girls were equally enthused to be celebrating and parading about town. Well, at least one of the girls was thrilled; the other was not so excited to receive so much attention in her red, white and blue galleon on parade day. Olivia was far more interested in helping Daddy get the float ready, while Malia was more than happy to oblige parade viewers with her smiles, shrieks and giddy bouncing off of her seat. The girl ate up the attention and keeping her in her seat and off the ship's mast, (please refrain from pole dancing commentary, it has been duly noted), was Olivia's main objective. With swimming at Uncle Scott and Auntie Kellie's pool in the afternoon and some fireworks at a spectacular viewpoint from Candice's house, the Mowads celebrated the Fourth thoroughly.

And as you'd imagine, Paul's brain has already begun to work through plans for an even greater Push 'Em-Pull 'Em parade "float" for next year...

Summer Lovin'

We've been enjoying the bounty of summer fruit. We've been blueberry picking in Somis and hitting up the local Farmer's Markets in Ventura and Oxnard and getting the most sweet, juicy peaches, pluots and apricots (not to mention some addictively yummy homemade hummus). My girls are in fruit heaven...as is my fruit-lovin' husband.

Here's Liv giving blueberry picking some serious contemplation and attention.

And here is what Liv enjoyed doing after we brought home our delicious round of summer fruit from Farmer's Market. Note the lid to the hummus which was disappearing rapidly as Livy arranged her fruit masterpiece.