Eggs, Eggs, Eggs....

This post is especially for new Moms with children under 12 months old and those who haven't had kids yet. This morning I woke up all excited to make scramble eggs for Carlysle. For those who don't have kids yet there are some foods that you can't give a child until they are a year old to avoid food allergies. Eggs is one of them. Well since Carlysle will be 1 tomorrow I thought it would fun to skip her normal oatmeal and banana. It was going great....she loved the eggs...of course. Then I noticed her chin was breaking out. I called Joey and he said just to keep an eye on it. Well it seemed to go away. So later we were in the den playing with her new toys and she looked up at me and I literally jumped and said "Whoa, that's not good". I know, not good for a girl's ego. It was literally like the scene from "Hitch" where Will Smith swells up from shellfish. I took her to her room to change her diaper and check out the rest of her. When I removed her pants I freaked. She was covered in hives and a rash.....at the same time her eyes were swelling, her nose was HUGE, and her face matched the hot pink onesie she was wearing. I called Joey and he said put in the car and bring her up here.

I took her to Joey's office having had no shower and looking quite scary. Which was really my last concern but no one wants to go see all of their husband's co-workers fresh out of bed. Anyway, I could tell by Joey's non-freaking out, calm voice that he didn't think it was that bad. I could also tell b/c I waited in the hall for him forever. Children were walking by staring at Carlysle in horror. Their parents were having to turn them away like "Look Away, Look Away". When Joey walked out into the hall, his mouth dropped. He finally said, "now I know why you were so upset."

So all the nurses were also freaking out. In fact, different ones kept coming in the room saying I heard about Carlysle's rash and had to come see it. Great. Everyone said it was quite impressive. When she does it, she does it right. So she had to get steroids and is going to see an allergist in the morning. We have to confirm it was the eggs b/c.....I also gave her strawberries. I should have just chased that down with a little honey and some peanuts.

So I did take a few pictures before I left the house but looking back they don't show it very well and by the time I got to the hospital it was 10 times worse....I promise.

Birthday Cake - Round 2

Well, we tried the birthday cake again after the party and it was much more successful.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zczg9EfKM7c

Carlysle's 1st Birthday Party

This post is long.......sorry......

Well, we made it through Carlysle's first birthday party! I didn't cry once (probably b/c I cried at least 50 times in the days leading up to the party). We were so blessed to have so many of our family and friends celebrate with us. Well that's the way Joey and I felt....I think Carlysle was a little overwhelmed. She couldn't quite figure out why everyone was staring at her while sitting in front of her was a large blob of icing with a fire on the top of it. I was really shocked that she didn't dig right in the cake. Everytime I have had a piece of cake she has reached over and smashed her little hand right in it. She did however do exactly that later that night.

This video is in pieces b/c I can only upload so many minutes to youtube at once.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8Ua8DL_qUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY2AA0EeFa0

Here is some video of me opening Carlysle's presents.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cEslQIRlnI

To Betsy

I would like to take this time to apologize to Betsy Marchant for my slackness. She recently informed me that I need to update my blog more often. Once again I failed her and waited too long to update. I got too involved in planning Carlysle's 1st birthday party which I mistakenly thought was going to be featured on MTV. Glad I didn't buy her that car!

I promise to do better!!!

Sharing a popsicle with Daddy

Here is some cute video of Carlysle sharing a popsicle with her Daddy. Yeah, we like to start her on the healthy stuff early....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1kTFhgsDxw

New Swing

My child has a serious obsession with swinging. It may have to do with the endless hours she spent in her baby swing as an infant when Mommy and Daddy needed quiet time. She already clearly understands the word "swing". I learned this by accident one day when I mentioned something about going to swing and then proceeded to do some laundry. A temper tantrum immediately followed. At first I had no idea why.....maybe I was sorting wrong? I mean she does have a few extra pink (previously white) shirts but was it really worth all the drama. As I was contemplating why this was such a big deal and the fact that Joey doesn't seem to mind his new blue (previously white) shirts, I realized maybe she actually knew the word "swing". Sure enough when I repeated it she stopped crying, sat up smiling and starting doing her flapping arms dance she does when she's excited, mad, annoyed, etc.

Unfortunately, we do not have a tree with a limb low enough for a swing to hang on. So Papa Joe, being the handyman that he is, built one for Carlysle for her birthday. She loves it! It is so nice to just go outside at home and swing in my pajamas.....because pajamas are apparently frowned upon at the park. Thank you Mimi and Papa Joe for an awesome birthday present.