The Nutcracker

The weekend of Lauren's birthday, we went to The Nutcracker at the performing arts center downtown. It was a fun girls' day- just the grandmas and us. Lauren LOVED the ballet and is still talking about it. I really need to get her into a dance class- she would have a ball.

Santa

Also in North Dakota we had an unplanned Santa visit. He happened to be at a store we went to, and Lauren just had to see him. She loved him and was not afraid one bit!

North Dakota Wedding

Last month we went to a wedding in Fargo- here is a cute family shot. Lauren had a blast and was outgoing and chatty with everyone. She made fast friends with other kids at the wedding and learned to play "tag". She was infatuated with the bride and tried to hog all of the dances with her. She ran up to her and Jamie's (bride) dress and said "I love this dress! Can I have one?" As you can see Lauren wore a fancy dress of her own.  We also got together with a bunch of Jeff's North Dakota buddies and their kids- we had pizza and beer by the hotel pool while the kids played together. It was a fun trip!

Tebow the Christ Like Bronco - KS1075

Tebow Mania

Tebow mania is cracking me up. Check out this story about some high school kids getting suspended for "Tebowing" in school. Facebook is blowing up with pictures of people "Tebowing" all over the world. And my personal favorite- all of the radio spoof songs, "Tebow the Christ-like Bronco" is a personal favorite. I am not a fan of Tebow or of the Bronco's but I am certainly loving all of the frenzy- it cracks me up!

I see it!

People are always saying how Lauren looks just like me. Well, quite frankly, I think they are nuts! (apologies to you who have said it...). I think, no way! She is a gorgeous child, all blonde and blue eyed, I see no resemblance. Well, this picture hit me in the gut- I see it! How lucky am I to bear resemblance to this beautiful girl. I am teary-eyed and flattered beyond belief (and printing this out for a frame...)

Number 3

Pictures from Lauren's actual birthday. This pretty shirt was sent to her by my good friend Laurie, who's mother actually made it. You cannot tell in the picture, but the number 3 is made from fuzzy, soft material- super cute. And the color and polka dots match perfectly with Lauren's tutu that she has to wear on special occasions (well, its either the tutu or Snow White Dress always).

Last night I was emotional putting my baby girl to bed, the last night I would kiss my sweet two-year-old. Jeff and Lauren didn't get it, but I was struck by it all. 3 years old!! I will never kiss that sweet two-year-old face again. Life just flies by, and when you have a child it is incredible how it changes. I love to see her grow and learn and become her own person, but I hate that it means her approaching independence. Seriously, this child is going to be an adult and live on her own one day- how can that be? I am her mother, I need to protect her from the world and kiss and hug her every day. Funny that I laughed at my own mom for having similar thoughts.....

She woke up happy, I was singing to her... and she learned "I am three years old" chorus to happy birthday. She dressed in this fabulous outfit and we brought rainbow colored (left-over frosting from the colorful butterfly cake) cupcakes to her preschool.  We has tacos for dinner at her request and she opened her gifts from us. We have a bike for her in the garage and a huge gold bow for it, but with all of the snow and sub-zero weather we opted to give her a $5 watch I had for xmas instead, along with a couple other little things. Great choice! The bike would have been sad with no where to ride it, and she is so proud of the watch. She is very conscious of our watches and even wants to buy me a new one for xmas (i dont need it).  And like the true lefty that she is, she proudly stuck out her right hand for the watch.

Anyway, we made some movies today and tons of memories- so blessed to have Lauren in our lives. 3 years ago today life changed for us, and I couldnt be more thankful. 

Lauren's 3rd Birthday Party

The cake! Despite swearing I would never work with fondant again..... turned out pretty good, I think.

Best attempt at a group photo

End of the night.... second piece of cake. What a great day!

Oreo Cake

My mom sent us these cake pans that make the outsides of an oreo cookie, then you put frosting in the middle and voila! We are going to a dinner party tonight with friends (and lots of kids) and this is what we are bringing. Perfect! My mom sends the best care packages! Thanks mom!

Dinner with my sweeties

Halloween Extravaganza!

We have had a long, unforgetable Halloween weekend! Lauren had the most amazing Trick-or-treating experience with friends,  and went to Halloween festivities all weekend. I will have to post a bunch to get you up to speed!

We even got a sitter and went out Saturday night. Exhausted, but so happy....

My Sweetie

I got my haircut and colored last night and didn't make it home until after Lauren was in bed asleep. When she woke up this morning she looked at me and said "Oh so gorgeous!". She cracks me up, but it made my day! I love that girl!

Carving Pumpkins

Last weekend we made our Jack-O-Lanterns. Lauren was not afraid to dig in and pull out the guts. She helped us sort out the seeds and we roasted them  - she didn't like them though. The next day, the squirrels started to eat Casey's so we had to douse them in tobasco and cayenne powder.

Butterfly

Sneak peak of her Halloween costume... She picked it out and wanted to be the monarch over the pink or blue butterflies- I love it! So cute. Wait till you see the whole thing all put together.

Pumpkin Festival #2

A few shots we got at the pumpkin festival before her leg was injured and we ended up in urgent care.

 Pony Rides- of course her favorite thing in the whole wide world! She was so excited, her horsey's name was blackey. And below are shots of the notorious bouncy pillow before she hurt her leg.

10 year Anniversary

Last month we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary~ we got a sitter and went to the GABF. Totally a  Jeff and Nicole date- we are who we are, and beer is a shared interest. Jeff had a nasty cold, so we only stayed till 830, but it was fun to hang out together as grown-ups. I love these pictures, I just was having trouble with my scanner and haven't been able to share them- they had a free photo booth at the convention. We've had our ups, we have had our downs- but through it all we love each other and make a great team. Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Dreams Deflated

Allergy testing today- she tolerated the baked-in milk but the cheese was a no-go. She had a large hive to the skin test for the cheese so we were not able to do the challenge. She did eat a cupcake made with milk and butter, but since she cannot have baked-in eggs, I am not really sure if we made any progress.

On a funny note- Jeff thought that if she tolerated "baked-in" milk she could eat nachos, lasagne, scalloped potatoes etc. He thought baked-in meant "heated" or "melted/ warmed-up." He asked the allergist who actually laughed at him because I think he thought he was joking. Poor guy, was planning a lunch of cheesy bratwurst.

Peanut Allergy GONE!

If you aren't into reading about Lauren's food allergies- skip this post. I want to document it for myself, it has been a journey.

So, I will start at the beginning. At 9 months of age Lauren was tested by her pediatrician and had an allergy to egg and dairy, nothing to peanuts. But we were wary because of my allergy to peanuts and the fact that she had not yet been exposed (you cannot have titers against something you haven't had a chance to build immunity to). We followed her doctor's advice and treated her as if she were peanut allergic until we had repeat testing when she was older. We brought her to an allergist in May when she was about 2 1/2 yrs old to have the peanut testing done and evaluate if she was outgrowing her other food allergies. I went to the appointment totally expecting good news. Upon meeting with the allergist (prior to the testing) he lifted my hopes higher, and anticipated she would be eating eggs and dairy in no time. Well, it did not go well. I was crushed when I saw not only the egg and dairy tests reacting, but also the peanut. There it was - my huge fear unfolding before my eyes. So, the egg and dairy are kid allergies most people grow out of. The peanut it not- you typically have it forever and it can threaten your life. I actually have about 3 draft posts about that day, that I just couldnt bring myself to post. I actually didn't even tell many people about it- it was hard for me to talk about. My daughter had inherited an awful and potentially dangerous food allergy from me. So that is what I have been living with since May....

Incidentally, I did not like the allergist that we saw, and refused to do follow-up testing with him. (Mark Ebadi, MD- not a fan). So I promptly got on the waiting list at Children's for Lauren to see an allergist there- Excellent choice!

Fast forward to October.... I brought her to the allergist and they wanted to draw blood and repeat a few of the skin tests. I wasn't keen on drawing blood, but thanks to EMLA (numbing cream) it was a breeze. She tolerated the skin tests without issue, and they gave her a giant bear (a Build-a-bear) as a gift. The peanut and all of the nut tests were absolutely negative!! She sat perfectly still and watched the blood draw and said "that is cool!" when the pulled the blood tube off the butterfly needle and popped a new one on. She wanted to know if that was her blood coming out- and also thought that was cool when I told her it was. When we were done, I asked if that was usually how blood draws went with a 2 year old, and I got a resounding NO! from all three people in the room. OK, so she is a rock star! The blood tests were a good idea, because they showed she is completely not allergic to nuts and we brought her back a couple days later to eat peanut butter with no problems! Her dairy allergy levels were also getting pretty low, so this Thursday she is doing a challenge at the hospital with baked-in milk and *maybe* cheese. I asked pretty please about the cheese, and they are considering a skin test first and then maybe a bite of cheese!!!! Jeff and I really have our hopes up about that one- keep your fingers crossed.

So there it is- all of the emotions of the last few months spewed out and gone- we are free of the peanut allergy once and for all (well, for Lauren anyway!!).

Her leg is fine!

So, long story but in the end Lauren's leg is fine. There are some nuances when it comes to fractures in young children Lauren's age- so they had her in the splint as a precaution despite her negative Xray. But after a few days it gradually got better and she can not only walk on it, but is running as well. Whew! I am glad that all worked out OK, dealing with an immobile 2 1/2 year old was a huge challenge, and we only did it for a day.

Winter is coming

Here are the last (probably) of the tomatoes from our garden~ we picked them this weekend. Oh, how I will miss them....

Pumpkin Festival

Didn't go as well as last year, turns out that the jumpy castle has a height limit and rules (no flips/ summersaults) for a reason. Lauren was taken out by a 10-12 year old boy who was doing flips amongst the young children. We ended up leaving right away for the ER and not even getting our pumpkins- she was so disappointed!! Jury is still out if it is broken or not- she is in a temporary cast until tomorrow when we see the pediatrician. She was unable to walk or put weight on it, but the ER didn't see an obvious brake on XRay. Praying that she will not need a cast, just one-day of carrying her around was enough for all of us!!

Whoopie Pie

Lauren and I made Whoopie pies- pretty easy to make and Oh so fun!

Recipe:
Devil's food cake- I have a  recipe from Jeff's grandma that is my personal favorite (modified for Lauren's allergies). Of course you could make this from a box mix as well. I messed up and substituted too many "eggs" with flax and they turned out totally fine.

Spray a cookie sheet or baking stone with non-stick spray. Take a tablespoon of batter and drop it on the sheet, then spead it into a round shape mound with the back of the spoon. The more uniform in shape and size your mounds turn out, the easier the next part will be. My recipe made 24 mounds (12 pies). Bake about 12-15 minutes until the spring back when touched and a toothpick comes out clean. (my baking times are not that accurate- since I make so many substitutions and bake at altitude- just check yours and figure out your own times). Allow to cool on the baking stone for a few minutes then transefer carefully to a cooling rack. I allowed them to cool completely while Lauren napped. If they are not cool enough, I imagine frosting will be a mess.
Next, flip over half of the pie pieces and drop about a tablespoon of frosting in the middle, and spread it out with a knife almost to the edges. I used jar frosting because it is dairy-free and  I have not perfected this one yet.  Match each "bottom" with a similar sized top and press together until the frosting oozes all the way to the edges. Lauren loved helping with this part. It got messy, but who cares?
Final step- put sprinkles in a bowl and roll the sides of the pies until the frosting was coated in sprinkles. This part was all Lauren- she did a great job!
Viola! Ready to eat! I stored them in a tightly sealed tupperware, if you refrigerate them remember to warm to room temp prior to eating - the frosting is better when it is melty and not too stiff.

Life is all about licking the bowl....

Stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life....

Hiking

We took a family hike for Jeff's birthday- Lauren called it camping. That works!

Salsa Garden

Our garden consists mainly of salsa ingredients. We grow GALLONs of tomatoes, and way too many peppers. There was basil, but I could hardly get at it since the tomatoes got so big. Yummers!

Recipe:
Tomatoes- LOTS of them. Hand chopped, please.
1 bunch winter onions
1 onion chopped.
Jalapenos- many if you can handle the heat.
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2-3 limes squeezed for the juice
2-3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt.

Peach Tart (pop tart?)

Jeff isn't a big cake fan- so for his birthday Lauren and I made him a peach tart with the tasting Colorado peaches that we got at the farmers market. She is always a big help and today was no exception. While it was baking we watched it in the oven and she kept calling it a pop-tart. Really child? I peeled and sliced all of those peaches and I get the credit of a pop tart?? I went light on the sugar because I like it a bit sour, Jeff was a fan and Lauren had a shudder that reminded me of her baby days eating fresh peaches- too cute!
I forgot to take a picture - it turned out cute!
Happy Birthday Jeff! He turned the BIG 4-0!! Our celebration was of course low-key. I had thoughts of planning a bash to surprise him, but following repeated warnings to do no such thing, I abided and we went to dinner together as a family. Just for the record- I do NOT like to celebrate low key. When I turn 40, I want a big ole stink made about it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I did it! My first attempt at dairy-free, egg-free chocolate chip cookies, and they are delicious. I found some dairy-free chocolate chunks at target, and away we went. Jeff and I baked them together after Lauren went to bed- yummy! Here is my recipe, adapted from the toll-house recipe and adjusted for high altitude and food allergies:
Chocolate Chip Cookies at 5280 feet, dairy-free and egg-free

2 1/2 c flour (2 1/4 c at sealevel)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c shortening
2/3 c sugar (3/4 c at sealevel)
2/3 c brown sugar (3/4 c flatlanders)
2 Tbsp milled flaxseed
6 Tbsp water
12 oz dairy-free chocolate chips or chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine first 3 dry ingredients and set aside.
3. Using mixer, cream together the shortening and both types of sugar. Then add the flax and water.
4. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until well blended.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Form into round little balls with your hands, and arrange on a baking sheet. ( rolling them makes perfect round cookies).
7. Bake 10-15 minutes, I sometimes need to bake even longer. The flax seems to make them take longer than with eggs. Once my baking stones warm up, they bake a lot faster, the first batch was almost 20 minutes.
8. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy with a glass of soy milk!

Sick!

Casey has a urinary tract infection and started antibiotics yesterday. Lauren has had a cold for 2 weeks and her cough started to sound pretty scary the last couple days. Today it is really bad, so we went to the pediatrician. She has mycoplasma pneumonia- walking pneumonia, so now she is on antibiotics too! Both of them dont really seem too sick - other than Lauren's horrendous sounding cough (the singing movie was taken last night, if that is any indication of her "illness")- but MAN! For a family who tries to never take medication, we are going through some drugs this week!

My American Idol

The girl loves to sing and dance- what can I say?

Zoo Trip

The zoo is about 10 minutes from our house, and we bought a family membership this summer- great investment! Some random cute shots of Lauren. (Seriously- could she be any cuter???)

Waiting at the Vet....

Aren't they cute? We found out poor Casey will need surgery again for his bladder stones..... poor little buddy...

Dinger

they both have their belly sticking out under their shirts!

The Joint Commission

The Joint Commision is in the joint. They are the major accrediting body for hospitals and they strike fear in the hearts of healthcare workers all around. Our survey started today and I already spent some quality time with the surveyors. It is kinda like the FBI and the IRS spending a week at your home and asking a million questions.... i have a headache.....

Birthday Parties!

Lauren was invited to a 3rd birthday party at "Pump it Up" which is a place filled with jumping castles and slides and such. What a blast! They ended the party with pizza, cupcakes and ice cream- all of which she could not eat. I brought her a Cliff kids bar and a dairy/egg-free cupcake and she was fine with it.  She is still talking about Garrett's birthday party...

Taste of Colorado

Although we always work on Labor Day weekend, we try to make it down to the Taste of Colorado. On Friday afternoon Lauren and I walked down there and waited for daddy to meet up with us. He never made it (ended up working till after I was in bed) but we had a blast- it was dead and we hit all of the kid stuff. She made crafts, watched puppet shows, ate corn on the cob and played at the lego-land.  This was also where she rode in the hamster ball thing. We had hoped to ride the rides, but they didn't start until Saturday. On Monday we headed back down there after Jeff got off work and tried again. All of the fun rides had ridiculous height restrictions and she could only ride the (overpriced) kiddie rides. She had a blast! She also played carnival games and won a stuffed frog and a turtle.

so serious...

Thelma and Louise
Lauren and Evelyn became fast friends while driving a Hummer

Candy Apple
Didnt know what this was, but she loved it. Not too many dairy-free options to choose from, this seemed the healthier fair food option versus cotton candy. It is an apple dipped in cherry lollipop- a big hit with a 2 year old.