Happy Halloween

We had an eventful week. We started out last week with a visit to the local apple orchard. On Friday we planned to go and visit but due the rain we were unable to make it. Luckily on Sunday it stopped raining long enough for us to go and see all they had to offer. Brody had a great time looking at the animals, riding in the enchanted pumpkin and picking apples. Then we celebrated Halloween! The original plan was for Brody to be a puppy - I had bought the costume about 2 months ago. On Friday we attempted to put him in his costume around 4:30pm and found out that the tag does not always reflect the actual size that will fit in the costume! It was way to small!!!! Knowing that I was starting to lose it Jim drove us into Greenville to attempt to find a costume one hour before Trick or Treating. We tried three stores and found 1 costume that fit and was acceptable to me! So instead of a puppy we had a little Tigger! Brody turned out really cute and he loved riding around to the neighbors in his car!

Brody picking his first apple

It ended up being a lot colder than we thought - luckily we had a hat in the car and an extra blanket for Brody

I thought Brody looked so cute in his hat and jacket!

Our first family ride in the enchanted pumpkin!

We thought it would be fun to take his picture in front of this sign every year

Couldn't resist putting the nittany lion hat on him!

All ready for trick or treating!

Yesterday Brody went for his 1 year visit to the doctor. He is doing really well except that his head continues to grow. So we will try to reschedule the MRI just to make sure that nothing is wrong. It is highly unlikely because he is developing well but we would hate to miss something when we have the ability to find out. He is about 22 lbs and 30 inches long - pretty much staying in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.

Getting better at self feeding with a utensil (but look at this hands!!!)

I'm ONE!

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone on what happened at the allergist. My parents came on Wednesday night so that they could assist at the 4 HOUR visit to the allergist! Jim left for Pennsylvania that morning so we were on our own! At the beginning of the visit the doctor was already prepping me for getting rid of my cats (which for those of you who know me will know that would be impossible! They were my babies before Brody). I tried to not focus on that as we began the testing on Brody - he was such a CHAMP! He barely cried as they did about 15 spot tests on his back and then had to lay on me for another 10 minutes so his skin had time to react to the allergen...to my surprise they all came back NEGATIVE! They wanted to be sure about the cat and dust allergy so they then had to give him a TB like test where they injected the allergens right under his skin - he once again was very brave! These also came back negative so the doctor made the conclusion that the majority of his symptoms are caused by Asthma - which is likely due to the RSV he had back in April. I was relieved to have some answers and that we changed his regimen a lot which made me feel like we were doing something to make him better. He is now on two inhalers (using a spacer, which decreases our treatments from 20 minutes to about 2 minutes!), singulair (for asthma/allergies) and zyrtec as needed. The doctor said that although he did not react to any of the allergens he could still have some mild allergies and that during his time of distress the zyrtec may still help him. I think that he is actually getting better...it is a little hard to tell because this is also prime cold season so he has a slight cough but he no longer makes noises while he is breathing. I think we may finally be on to something!!!

While Jim was gone for the weekend Brody and I went to visit my friend Barb and her family. Brody had a great time playing with all of their toys and interacting with Skylar (3) and Sydney (6 months). It was nice to get to catch up with her.

Brody enjoyed the DVD player on our 3 hour ride to Barb's House

We thought we would torment Jim with a picture on Saturday before the game!

Big Sister Skylar

This is Sydney - isn't she so cute?? Maybe she will be our future daughter-in-law!

Barb gave Brody a drum set for his birthday and it was a hit!!

Since Brody has turned one it seems like he is already starting to enter the terrible twos! He has started having a definite mind of his own and thinks that it is very unfair if he cannot do what he wants to do. On Sunday I took some pictures of him during his off moments so that Jim could see the joyful time I had as a single parent! Just when you think you can't take any more he goes and does something really cute or comes and gives you a hug and your heart just melts and you realize things are just not that bad!

On Tuesday night Brody was in the kitchen helping me....make a mess!
Brody fell at Daycare this week and ended up with this big bruise on his cheek! I am sure there are many more of these to come!

Birthday Pictures Continued

This was Brody's present from Grandma and Grandpa - he loves it!!!

Brody enjoyed his birthday cupcake!

Grandpa and Neal babysat a few weekends ago and sent these pictures...

Then nap time...

ONE YEAR!

The birthday boy!!!

Oh what a year! I just looked back at the postings I had a year ago this week - they were interesting to read - going from thinking that I had 20 some days left of my pregnancy to having Brody a few days later! It is so hard to believe that it has been a whole year already! I found myself thinking so much about last year this week - missing being pregnant and having this brand new baby (I am sure a year ago I would have never thought I would be saying that). We have moved from the every 2 hour (sometimes 1 hour feedings) to having Brody sleep for 12 hours straight at night. It is really hard not to feel like his birthday yesterday was a goodbye to his baby years - he just seems so much older!

We had a great weekend! It started off with Friday night being my mom's birthday and my dad surprised her with a party at a local restaurant. Jim, Brody and I arrived early to decorate the tables and get everything set up. My brother showed up shortly after and then 20 of mom's friends and our family members. She was so surprised! It was a great night - topping everything off is that Brody reached out for her when he saw her (of course melting her heart!). On Saturday my brother, mom and dad took Brody to The Country Mill which is an orchard/pumpkin patch that we went to as kids so he could pick out a pumpkin (pictures of that trip are still to come - I haven't gotten them from my dad yet). Jim and I spent the day getting ready for Brody's 1st Birthday - it was actually a really productive day without having to chase around a little one while you tried to clean the house. On Sunday, we spent the morning watching Brody explore his presents (he wasn't too interested in opening them but liked to play with them). My mom and dad bought him a little car that we can push him around in (he was in love with it!), my brother bought him some very nice clothes and a sports all in one toy (he is becoming a little basketball player), Jim's parents sent him a certificate to name a star, clothes, books and a savings bond and Jim and I bought him a chair for the living room and a blowup football trainer (I think Jim has hopes of a little Penn Stater!). He was a very spoiled boy with additional gifts in the afternoon!The day turned out to be beautiful! Near 80 degrees and sunny - who would have guessed on the 12th of October! We had some of our family over and our neighbors and had a great time catching up with everyone. Brody did a great job with his cupcake! I was a little surprised that he even tried to eat it. We ended the party with him going off for a nap and the adults all having a chance to talk. It really was a great day!

The Surprise!

The birthday girl!

Jim bought Brody some balloons

The ladies at day care made him a very cute sign!

I never imagined that it would have been such a beautiful day! It was just like last year (we went into the hospital with the weather in the 70s and came out in the 50s!)

The football trainer (Brody loved it!)

Cupcakes!!!

Brody's Special Cupcake!

Today Brody stayed home because his Day care was closed for an education day so it was a morning of relaxing and then I had to head off to work for a few hours. We went for two walks with his car today - he is so funny honking the horn as we go around the neighborhood!

Uncle Neal's toy is a hit!

One thing Brody has learned in his 1st year is how to pose for the camera!

We have a big week this week - Jim will be leaving for Pennsylvania to go to a Penn State football game with his brothers and Brody and I will be heading to the allergist on Thursday to hopefully find out more about his breathing issues. My mom and dad are going to come on Wednesday night to help me out because we are likely to be at the allergist for 2-3 hours! Then this weekend Brody and I are going to head off to visit my friend Barb and her two girls for the night.

I hope everyone has a great week! I will keep you updated to what we find out from the allergist and add some more of my dad's pictures when I get them (he took over 100 in two days!) I'm sure there will be some good ones!!

Fifty One Weeks

He is a little boy!

Fifty One Weeks! Only 7 more days until my little baby is one!!! I can't believe how fast this year has gone...I seriously can remember being in labor like it was yesterday! Some days I really miss being home with him last fall - it is true that you only remember the good memories. Because I do know that there were days when I just didn't know what to do with myself because I had no adults to talk to! Now I think I could easily stay home with Brody because he interacts with us so much and entertains himself so you can actually get a few things done. I told Jim that it was amazing to me how much we can now get done in one day - this morning we ran some errands, painted the garage door, mowed the lawn, edged the driveway, made a real dinner, vacuumed, prepared squash for tomorrow (trying something new) and now Jim is preparing beef for beef jerky and I am sitting here updating the blog - who knew only one year later we would be back to living a somewhat normal life!

Sometimes I just can't help but watch him sleep at night!

Since I last updated the blog I went on my first "girls weekend" to go wine tasting in southwest Michigan. I had a lot of fun and Jim enjoyed his time with Brody. He ended up taking him to get his haircut - which I did not know about before I left! It did turn out really cute - but he looks like a little boy now. We also went camping again last weekend - it was a beautiful weekend and we had a great time. There was a small festival going on in the town we went to (Cedar Springs Red Flannel Days) so we decided to go to the children's parade. We all got set up in our lawn chairs, watched the parade from start to finish in 3 minutes and then headed down to the petting zoo (it was pretty funny how small the parade was but the kids enjoyed it).

They had a llama at the petting zoo!

Jim thought it was a good idea to have a 5 year old drive Brody around in her new F150 (this is why boys need their dads)!

In the last week Brody found out how to stand. Last Sunday when we got back from camping Jim and I were in the living room with him and looked up and saw him standing at his toys....we couldn't believe it! But before we could get a picture he had fallen down and did not attempt to stand again. By Tuesday he was standing in his crib at daycare and refusing to take naps. Wednesday night he stood for me again but Jim was gone to a football game. Finally on Friday night he really started standing a lot and this weekend we ended up rearranging the living room so that he would be barricaded in - it made it a lot easier to keep track of him and he had a huge area to play in.

Brody Standing (for the first time on film!)

Just hanging around!

We are getting ready for Brody's 1st Birthday Party next Sunday. We decided not to do anything too big since he won't really know what is going on. I will make sure to post pictures next week.

Overall, Brody is doing well with his breathing - we are now doing nebulizer treatments two times a day with an inhaled steroid. He will be going to see the allergist in about 2 weeks where I am guessing he will be tested for allergies and asthma (to confirm his diagnosis and make sure he is on the best therapy).

Hope everyone is having a great start to Fall!

Here is a video of Brody when he was first learning how to use the walker (or is it jumper?)