Eventful Weekend

I can't believe it's already Monday. The weekend flew by. We started the weekend by spending all day looking for a homeschool desk for Isaiah. We couldn't find one ('the one') we liked. Well we were headed to church and while driving there Hope let out a massive scream and started to cry hysterically. So I told Ryan 'pull over the car something isn't right.' Well when I went to the backseat I discovered a little baby girl with the left side of her face covered in hives and red bloches! Isaiah had been drinking a carton of chocolate milk and must have flung the straw or something at her. So I went to get her out of the carseat and she was burning up. I gave her benadryl (to prevent the anaphylaxis) and just held her for awhile till she calmed down and the hives went away. We obviously weren't going to church now, so we headed home while I sat in the backseat with Hope to make sure she didn't stop breathing or something from all her lovely allergies! So when we got home she was still burning up, so I told Ryan off to Urgent Care we go. My dad and stepmom were so nice to watch Isaiah over night for us, so we didn't have to drag him to urgent care. Well by the time we got there she had 101 degree fever and was covered in snot!!! Well we, suprisingly, were not there for long. Her official diagnosis was a Very Bad Ear Infection, With lots of fluid and LOTS of congestion. So off to walgreens to fill the prescription and finally to bed at almost midnight....only to wake up every hour for the rest of the night with Hope. My poor little girl! Then I woke up Sunday and I had to go grocery shopping because it was the only day I had and we were left eating crumbs if not! After grocery shopping we headed to my dad's house in the mountains for some R&R and to pick up Isaiah of course! We were sitting outside and I gave Hope some crackers and she stuck one on the table and then back in her mouth and then my brother says, "did she have those red spots on her face before?" Yes, ladies and gentleman another allergic reaction. There was dried yogurt on the table and Hope stuck her cracker in it right before she put it in her mouth. So we watched her for a little bit because I didn't want to give her anymore drugs. She was already on motrin and antibiotics. So her spots went away and we ate dinner. We were cleaning up and Ryan brings Hope in and she is getting hives again all over her face. So I thought we will watch her.....nope, within seconds her face started to swell and very quickly get covered in red bloches and hives. So she got a little dose of Benadryl and then was slowly back to normal. My gosh people....three reactions in 24hrs. AHHHH! Well we ended the night playing some Wii Mario Kart and Hope crashed out in my arms! My poor baby girl, Please pray she outgrows this! So I put a few pics of the weekend.
~Isaiah wanted to eat by himself in this chair, he was exhausted from being spoiled rotten all weekend!~
~My dad finally got to hold and play with Hope after it took her forever to warm up to him~
~Take two of the cuteness~
~The boys(Ryan, Craig, and Mark) playing Mario Kart on the Wii~
~This is how Hope woke up Sunday morning...Her left eye stuck half shut and her nose was covered/closed with boogies....But she is still smiling! One day she will kill me for posting this pic!~
Here's to a week of no more allergic reactions and healthy kiddos!

First Day of Kindergarten

So the Homeschooling began! Yesterday was our first day of Kindergarten! I was a nervous wreck...I know Kindergarten how tough can it be....I guess I am just worried about failing. It went very well though. It took us only 40min and Isaiah was a great student. We learned about the bible, the letter 'I' and the sound it makes, colors, and the numbers 1-3. He already knows the colors and numbers so that was a piece of cake! I am sure it will get tougher, but by God's grace I will succeed! I am just really looking forward to the field trips! J/K Here are a few pictures of Isaiah today at his "desk" (temporarily until we get him a new one). I was a bad mom and forgot to take a picture of him yesterday...the official first day of kindergarten. Please forgive me!

Watching Alex

So I started watching my nephew Alex last week. Let me tell you getting up at 6am every morning is not fun, but he is a joy to watch. Hope had a LITTLE adjustment, getting use to Alex getting Mama's attention. They are so cute together. She watches his every move, she has to always see him. And for her naps...she waits till she exhausts herself from watching his every move before she falls asleep! Isaiah has been a great big help too! It's actually been a lot easier than I thought, however I am sure that will change when Alex becomes mobile! I took them out last week because I had a DR appt and then to meet my dad...let me tell you how people looked at me and the things they said to me. Their jaws dropped when I said "their 9 1/2 mos apart". Then I would wait a minute and then tell them that he's not mine. All around it is a "fun and yes challenging-at-times experience." Here is a little picture of how difficult Alex is to take care of!

Saturday August 16th

So this weekend Ryan's brother Kenny and his family were in town. We went to see Nana and Papa's new house and visit with Kenny and the fam. The new house is absolutely beautiful. So much room for the kids to run around and a beautiful backyard for Isaiah to exhaust himself in. It is just magnificent! We had a delicious meal of steak, baked potatoe, rolls, salad, and the most delicious sauteed mushrooms (and I don't like mushrooms). Nana and Julie always outdo themselves cooking. It's always delicious. I really should come over earlier, so they can teach me their secrets! (I was too busy sleeping from working the night before...really who needs sleep) Ryan's mom found the boys' old Heman and thundercat toys, so Isaiah and Nana had fun washing them off in the backyard and then we ALL played with them. Brings back so many memories! To think Isaiah is playing with Ryan's old action figures!!!! Oh and they also found the boys' old baseball cards, so Isaiah will get those later too. I think their was a little controversy on where exactly some of them went. We are convinced that Nana and Papa sold them to buy the new house......Just Kidding! Jackson and Hope loved talking to each other....of course that was after Hope stopped screaming....she really needs to learn how to make a better impression! J/K And of course we ended the night watching Michael Phelps swim for his eighth Gold Medal....It was so awesome. I think all of us were on the edge of our seats! All around we had an awesome time. Of course, that's how it is at The Merkel Fam! But we did miss Ted and Cassie :( I think we may need to go on a road trip to visit OKC, OK!

Ryan holding his handsome nephew/godson Jackson
My beautiful girl, Hope, crawling all over the floor! She took four steps for the first time Sat. !!!
Julie holding Jackson who is chewing on an Old School BatMan toy!
Isaiah (in Kenny's old Nebraska Huskers sweater) cleaning off the toys with Nana
Papa and "the boys" playing with the old action figures. BTW...Check out Jackson's slippers...Love em'
Can't wait to see Kenny, Julie and Jackson again. Miss you already!

Happy Birthday Mama!

So today is my mama's birthday. She is an absolutely wonderful mama, grammy, and friend. She has a nack for always making the tough times turn to fun times and for always making me laugh. I love my mama so much! She is our little angel, she can always "save the day" when we need her. She is beautiful, strong, smart, fun, lovable, and just AWESOME! Happy Birthday Mom! YOU ROCK! Here is to a gezillion, bajillion, catrillion more years with my Mama and my friend. I love you Mom!
We went to dinner at Trombino's to celebrate! Here are a few pics:
Isaiah always seems to "help" open EVERYONE's bday gifts!

My mom, meme, grandpa, and silly faced Isaiah! "He's shy" Yeah right
The whole clan (starting with Nicole on the left and going around) Nicole, mom, meme, grandpa, Mark (hiding...he loves pictures), Uncle Larry, Aunt Lena holding Alex, Bob, Carol, and Isaiah
Proud Grammy holding Hope (who by the way let the whole restaurant know she was there)
Mom holding up Our (Mark , Nicole, me and Ryan) gift. We are going to get a family picture and pay for her to get some prints
After Dinner everyone was feeling a little goofy, Meme, grandpa showin a little chest, and Isaiah with his Mr. Potatoe head glasses

Happy 1st Birthday Hope!

Today is Hope's 1st Birthday! I can't believe how fast the year has gone. Last year at this time I was checking into the hospital to have a C-Section because my blood pressure was way too high and then at 10:14am Hope Marie Merkel was born. She was 7lbs 1oz and now she is 19 1/2lbs. She spent one week in the NICU (which seemed like a month) and now she is a healthy little girl roaming around the house and getting into everything. She isn't walking yet, but that is prefectly fine with me! She is a little cuddler. She loves to be loved and she is definetly a princess. She knows how to get your attention too, She screams and then when you look at her she just smiles and puts her little hand next to her cheek, and then you can't help but smile at her. We are so very blessed!

Yesterday we had a little party for her. My stepmom made an absolutely beautiful doll cake. Milk and egg free of course! Although nervous mom here had the Epi-Pen in her hand just in case. Hope loved the cake. Of course, she didn't know what to do with it at first, but once we gave her a lick she wanted more. Here is a little slide show of the party. By the way- Isaiah liked "present time" way more than Hope. She did however like the wrapping paper.

Slideshow of Hope's Birthday Party

Allegic Reactions

So My beautiful baby girl had her second allergic reaction this week. Everyone keeps asking me "what does it look like, what do we look for?", So I took a picture of it with my phone. Poor girl, she didn't even see it coming. Isaiah had been eating a sandwich which he was dipping in ranch dressing, well I guess he didn't clean his hands well enough. He walked up to her and rubbed her cheek and told her, "Hope you are soooo cute!" Poor guy he was just trying to be nice. I wish kids were born knowing what food had eggs and milk in it. We are still on a teaching process. I am just thankful that the EpiPen didn't have to be used. However, She was zonked out the rest of the day from Benadryl! I just pray everyday that she grow out of this. I can't imagine what would have happened had she actually ingested it! AHHHH! Oh and she is also allergic to mango.....along with Milk, Eggs, and Kiwi. The list just keeps growing!
See those horrible red spots with hives (growing by the second) inside them. And her poor cheek just swelled up!
So one afternoon things in the house got real quiet....this is how I found Hope. Isaiah said, "Mom, I just wanted her to play with me, so I got her and put her on my bed and gave her toys....I think she likes it....She's fine Mom!" I just don't know how she didn't scream when he picked her up, she always screams!!!!
Isaiah put all his animals downstairs and sat in the middle of them and said, "Mom, this is my family...would you like to meet them." So cute! I just love the things he says.

Swimming

The kids went swimming in the little wading pool today! They absolutely had a blast. Here are a few pictures!

I don't know how to rotate the picture, so you'll just have to tilt your head to the side! So sorry!
She's much happier in the pool than on the water playmat!
Isaiah is so excited because Hope is starting to play with him now!
Can you tell she is teething!!! Everything goes in the mouth!
Summer is flying by and the kids are getting so big! I just thought I would post these pictures before I forgot! Isaiah is being extra lovey this week. He has been walking around the house giving everyone hugs and kissing Hope's owies! Hope is walking around when we hold just one of her hands now. She'll be off and running before we know it. Also we found out she is allergic to Kiwi. So now we have an egg allergic, milk allergic, raspberry allergic, and kiwi allergic daughter! Any advice???

Summer Fun

I bought the kids a water playmat for the backyard and we took it out this weekend for the first time. Isaiah absolutely loved it. Hope not so much...she put one foot in and screamed. I think the whole block heard her. Aparently she likes the toasty bathwater much better! Isaiah probably would have played in there all night except we started to flood Grammy's lawn, so I thought we should probably turn it off. So much for us obeying the watering guidelines (Yes, we have watering guidelines here in the desert...drought land.) I don't think mom will have to water her lawn for the next month or at least till we bust out the playmat again.

Ryan held her up in the air and she put her hands way up and smiled, but that was ya know the milisecond before the flash went off! They never do the cute stuff again once you bring out the camera.
Here is my mom and Isaiah watching the fireworks. My brother was kind enough to save some fireworks since I didn't get to see them on the 4th. Although it was his birthday, so I don't think he saved them just for me, but it's nice to think that. They were all legal of course..hehehehe!
Yesterday, Isaiah hit his chin on the coffee table. I just couldn't resist taking a picture of his little face. But it's all better now...after Lightening Mcqueen ice pack and SpiderMan bandaids of course! What happen to just needing "mama kisses." He is growing up too fast.