Best Buddies!

Stagecoach Ride!

Every third Saturday you get to ride this, pulled by horses, for FREE down Main Street.

DISNEYLAND!!!

Ivy was a little concerned about the Jungle Cruise

Always in awe

It is a small world, after all

surprisingly do-able with babies, and still super fun

waiting in lines got a little crazy

pony girl

babies on rides!

I only put this one up because I thought my hair looked amazing

most of us having fun

having fun with Uncle Nick

such a fun show

We loved going with our little family and are saving to go back next year!

Decemberrs

SNOW!!!

Nick's band at the Boardwalk!

The lead singer is pretty silly

I can't get enough of this. Just a normal day at the Smith home.

Cute little kids opening cute little presents

New Year's Eve dance party!

Some sweet moves going on

twinsies

Check out who's sitting back there!

HAPPY DAY!!!

For some reason I believed the doctor when she told me all that craziness last week. I'm sorry to worry you all because today we went to an allergist who told me that since William has hayfever, reactions through blood tests will show that Ivy has allergies. I know, it doesn't make much sense. He said that if we were to do blood tests on William, he would show that he has some other allergies even though he doesn't have any other ones. Well, I still didn't quite get it, but I did get from him that Ivy is OK. We do have to watch her with eggs still since her test was very high for that, and nuts because they're a real common problem for some, and berries since she had the worst reaction ever from strawberries. He said she can have everything else, but she'll still have some reactions, just nothing crazy. If they're more than normal, we're just supposed to give her Benadryl. He wasn't the best at giving my straight answers, but he definitely wasn't concerned with what was going on and we go back in a month to make sure everything is doing well. He also said she'll probably have eczema and asthma in the future. Talk about a false alarm! So we are happier than ever and we've already spoiled Ivy with crackers, cookies, pizza, and milk. Sorry to worry everyone, but it keeps life exciting, right?

Ivy update

Here's the latest on my firstborn: 2 weeks ago Ivy began throwing up every day and it lasted for 6 days. Yes, luckily she has plenty of meat on her bones to handle it, but still, 6 days? After about 3 days I noticed some swelling in her hands and feet, then hives on her hands, feet, and cheeks. I took her to the doctor who said, after finding me an exact match in her big book of rashes, that it was either a food allergy or a parasite. She wanted me to take out (one at a time) the most common allergy foods like milk, eggs, fish, wheat...and try to see if any one of these made a difference. I voted for it to be a parasite, though, since I don't (didn't) 100% believe in allergies. I know, allergies are obviously real. I'm just talking about doctors and parents who are quick to diagnose any and everything and then have excuses the rest of their lives or medication to make them "normal," okay? So I requested that we get some real answers, and get them much faster than changing her diet every week and seeing what happens. It turns out, there is no parasite (darn!) and yes, my child is severely allergic to: egg whites, soybeans, peanuts, and wheat. I felt like, how severe are these allergies if I have been giving her all these foods for so long and she's been fine, and then I gave her strawberries. Wow, her poor cheeks bubbled with hives not even 5 minutes after giving her strawberries yesterday. It was by far the worst reaction I'd seen yet, and I knew this was more serious that I thought. So we go back to the doctor today to get loads of more tests, info, and our new friend, the EPI(?) pen (and I'll learn how to spell it too) . Luckily Ivy has a very broad palate, but I live on wheat products, so now I have to be especially sneaky or change my diet too...Oh well, other than worrying all day every day about her, things can always be worse and I'm fully aware of that. I'm ALWAYS greatful for my many, many blessings and that I have such wonderful, healthy babies.