Quite a month!

This month, we've had two trips to the hospital with our babies. Natalie's was a couple of weeks ago when our pediatrician said "She's dehydrated and we need to admit her to the hospital." I wasn't really worried, knowing that getting her hooked up to an IV would solve that problem. I was very distressed about how sick she was though...she couldn't stop throwing up and she just kept looking up at me like "Mommy, why is this happening? Make it stop!" We cried together during the car ride. She stayed for two days and finally, after a week, got her appetite and ability to keep food down back.

Then, Saturday night, Cody woke up at 10:30 crying...screaming for us. He said his arm hurt and he was scratching like crazy. I lifted his shirt and his whole body was COVERED in hives. So many, that on his right side, under his arm and across his chest, it was just one, big, swollen mass. With the lights on, we could see that it was all over his face, arms, scalp, ears and down his legs. Now, this one, had me scared. We gave him Benadryl and after Papa Doc came to stay with Natalie, took him to the ER. This may have been over-kill, but we had no idea what had caused the reaction and worried what would happen if we did nothing and his breathing changed. So, we went and they gave him a steroid and sent us home. He woke up the next morning completely fine...and we still don't know what caused it.

Both of my babies are healthy now...PHEW!

Happily, we went to buy Cody's T-Ball gear this weekend. He got his first pair of cleats and batting gloves, a new (metal) t-ball bat, socks, pants and a bunch of practice balls. He is so happy! He wants to wear the gloves and cleats all the time. Jimmy told him that he was going to wear his shoes down, but how much damage can he really do at four years old?

Speaking of - CODY WILL BE FOUR THIS MONTH!! Wow! And let me tell you, if he only understood the concept, he'd be counting down the days. He has big plans for when he turns four - riding a motorcycle, skiing, snowboarding...every other sentence out of his mouth is "when I'm four...." Grandad freaked him out a bit the other day. He said something about Cody being four and Cody said "I'm not four. I'm three." I pointed out to Grandad, that Cody is obviously concerned that he may have missed the BIG DAY and assured him that he's not four - YET!

We've decided for his b-day to take him back to Great Wolf Lodge. He's been twice and talks about it all of the time. We were going to go sometime soon anyway, so decided that, instead of a party, we'd knock-out both birds. He doesn't know that he'll be going...we've decided to wait until the day we're going and give him a new swimsuit and a card telling him about the plans. He's going to be so excited and we can't wait!

Now, Miss Nattie - she's saying "Dada", "Ry-Ry" (Uncle Ryan), and shaking her head when we tell her no. We think she's also picked up "Hey" and she waves hello and goodbye. Oh! The best is when she blinks her eyes to show you her "pretty eyes" - taught by Nana - and dances every time she hears music. She's still giving me kisses - grabs my face with both of her hands and pulls me to her mouth - and she's started making a kissing sound. So sweet!

She loves food and smacks her mouth after every bite! She'll eat anything and we have to distract her to get her to stop eating. Still a big girl. At 9 months old, she's 28 1/2 inches and 22 pounds...still above the 90th percentile, but seeming to slow in her growth. Thank goodness, because she's been in 12 month clothing for 2 months already! We have a closet full of adorable summer outfits that will never have the tags even taken off! Boo!

Well, those are the highlights - lots to do coming up...hope we can get some sleep!