Little Miracles

I don't mean this to be a health update blog, but I needed to document two little miracles in our family that have made my heart lighter.
#1 Asher's improved skin. After 2 months of trying different things, our pediatrician had no more ideas to help Asher's skin - eczema all over and severe cradle cap. She referred us to an awesome pediatric dermatologist and 4 prescriptions and 48 hours later the little man looks 100 times better. Here he is about 2 weeks ago, eating rice cereal for the first time with his crusty, oozing head:

And then, yesterday. Clear head, no red itchy patches all over:

The best part is that he feels so much better. Huge relief. He still is not mobile (that is fine with me) but he used to wiggle his way to the corner of his crib at night so that he could rub his head on the side. So sad. He also doesn't have to wear socks on his hands anymore to keep him from scratching.
#2: K-K-K-Cadie. Little miss started speech therapy this month and has made huge strides. During her second session she pronounced her name correctly for the first time ever. And this week she found her "g." It is awesome to see her excited as she figures out her sounds and I hope it will give her more confidence in communicating with her friends at school.

My little miracles.

The view from almost four feet up

The update: we are all happy and seem to have a good routine going on. We haven't done anything blog worthy for a little bit as most of our down time has been spent being down or recuperating. The new day-care germs have had their way with the Toman household to to the tune of 8 Dr.'s visits in the month of January. Despite our sickness, we are all happy and things are working out well with the new job. Cadie loves her new "school" and the first thing out of her mouth when anyone asks how she likes it is "I sleep there!" Which is partly untrue as she would rather keep playing than rest during nap time and thus she doesn't often actually sleep. But that is the part of school that is most fascinating to her.
Cadie got a camera hand-me-down for Christmas and I recently downloaded the pictures. The majority are blurry or of the ground (and there is a series of lip/inside mouth shots) but I thought I'd share a few of the gems. It is fun to see life from her point of view.

Paige visits

Aunt Paige came to visit - to meet Asher and to help out with our transition to a working mom. It was awesome to have her here. We didn't do much do to the craziness of a first week at work, but we did hit our favorite eats including DK diner for breakfast (morning - just got out of bed hair/faces).

Check out the size of those apple fritters:

Paige worked her magic with the kids and often had a sleeping (YAY!) baby in her arms.

We finally got some snow. C was so excited that she had to put all her snow clothes on to go play in it. That lasted about 15 minutes as we gathered all the snow we could to make a snow man:

Paige is fabulous. We wish we could have her here full time but alas she has her own life...

We chose a daycare over in-home babysitter this time around for the kids for a few reasons, the biggest one is that Cadie really enjoys school and being with other kids. We really feel blessed to have a new day care open up close to us that is nut-free (big relief) and just felt right. The kids have been there one work week now (3 full days) and they are doing great. C loves her teachers and doesn't want to leave at the end of the day and Asher doesn't know any different. Drop-offs in the morning have been tough for me though. Here is C on her first day of "new school."

Work days are long - the whole family is out of the house by 7:30 and we get home around 5:30. We are ALL ready for bed shortly after. I'm in need of good dinner ideas for these days - something fast that the 4 year old will eat, and did I mention that it needs to be nut, dairy and soy free? 

  

For the Grandparents

Kid update:
Asher had his 4 month appointment this week. Stats: 26 in (80%, same as C at this age), 14 lb. 13 oz. (40%, 1 lb. 2 oz. LIGHTER than miss C at this age).

We believe he is allergic to cow's milk and soy - most of his symptoms have gone away or been reduced since I have stopped eating soy, but we have had a few bad days. Hopefully they were because of hidden milk/soy and I won't need to eliminate any other foods. He will be tested again at 12 months, we hope he will grow out of this. Still a really mellow and happy kid despite all the stomach/digestion and skin issues.
He loves sticking as many fingers in his mouth as possible. Still a good eater, not a good sleeper.

Cadie loves him to pieces which is not always a good thing, but is a great big sister. And here is what happens when miss independence gets dressed by herself. "But mom, they match! See, they all have stripes."

Christmas photos

Well- I tried to get a good family photo but either they were not focused right or one of us was doing something strange. I did, however, document some real sibling love. Hope you enjoy as much as I did while I was snapping away (trying not to laugh too hard):

Lucky Thirteen!

13 years! Can you believe it has taken me that long to scan in one of our wedding photos? Yes, we were married so long ago that digital pictures were not a common thing.

Married even before color photographs :) If you think we look young, you should see the pictures of my siblings in our wedding album - Paige was just a pre-teen.
I just have to say that I am one spectacularly lucky lady. Eric was and is still the man of my dreams.

Changes

We had suspected it for about a month but this week got test results back that confirmed that Asher has a cow milk protein allergy. This is not lactose intolerance and is something that we think Cadie had and grew out of. Our pediatrician said that most kids grow out of this by 18 months but for at least the next 9 months I will be on a dairy-free diet. Good thing there are a lot of vegan alternatives available at the grocery store (milk, butter, cupcakes, ice cream). I will not be cooking Christmas cookies this year. Sorry neighbors. Hopefully Asher will have less stomach issues and sleep better (PLEASE). He really is a mellow dude though - except when it is time to eat:

Cadie had a Christmas performance at preschool. It was her last day as she is going to start day-care three days a week in January. We will miss Ms. Nicole and the fun kids. I'm excited for the new structure and classes she will have - yoga, music, math, reading, spanish. She loves learning new things and is really soaking up so much right now. I am nervous about the full-day aspect. 

We are also saying goodbye to Ms. Irene and ballet and tap classes. Maybe we will start up again next fall but for now it is time to take a little break. I'm trying to simplify life as I think things will be a little chaotic when I start my new position in January.

I start work as an assistant professor at OSU January 3rd. I teach fluid mechanics in civil engineering right away and then I teach a forestry class in the Spring. I'll be taking on graduate students and trying to get research going quickly. This is a 3-year contract appointment (non-tenure track) and so I had the flexibility of choosing part-time. I'm excited but nervous about the kids. Wish us luck!

She's Four and More

Look who is FOUR! 

Birthday donuts:

 

We have had a busy, but happy, few weeks. I keep looking around me and wanting to freeze time, or at least freeze these little moments in my mind. Maybe it is because I know that changes are coming, I want to hold on to every little minute. On Sunday I just sat and held my sleeping baby and watched Cadie play without thinking of my lists and projects. It was awesome. Why is it so difficult to enjoy the little things?

Eric had a work trip to Kuwait (yes, seriously) and so my parents and brother Tim came out to visit and help with the kids. Eric surprised us all by coming home early -on Cadie's birthday! - and he was able to join us on our overnight trip to Kirtland (church history) and Amish country. While the family was here we had Asher blessed at our church. Here is the little man on blessing day:

We celebrated the little girl's birthday with family and it was great! At four years old Cadie is 39.9 lbs, and 44.5 inches tall. Her pediatrician said she is "off the charts" in height - above the 97th percentile. She grew 4 inches in the last year. At this rate she will be as tall as me (E) at age 9. Opa and Oma Myers and the birthday girl: 

Our little cabin outside of Berlin, Ohio:

The Myers clan left before Thanksgiving so we celebrated the holiday a little early. Yum. Even greater that we were invited to a friends home for the real holiday so we got to pig out twice.

 Eric in Kuwait!