Monday, May 5, 2008

If it's not one thing it's another!

I have always wanted to be a mom. As a young child I knew this, I carried my dolls with me everywhere, I went to the neighbors house to help hold the baby, and play with the kids. I babysat forever, I would let the neighbor kids come over to play just because I loved kids so much, I lived with a family for a few years taking care of the kids, and couldn't wait for the day that I had my own. I have always wanted to adopt children, I had dreams of going to Africa to help the children and take them toys, so yeah, I was obviously obsessed with caring for kids. My point here, although it may sound strange, I thought I had a purpose...which was to take care of the needy kids in the world. Then we find out we are having Will, which was scary and exciting all at the same time. We have this beautiful baby boy who is just perfect. We love him so much I convince Matt we should have another soon after :) It didn't take much! So then we find out we are having another baby and we are thrilled. We finally found out we were having a girl a couple months after our 4 month check up because they couldn't tell then and we where so excited that we would have one of each! Matt was very excited he was going to have a little girl too. Daddy's little girl, and that she is :) So of course we then find out later in the pregnancy that something is 'wrong' with Kaela to then find out she has a form of dwarfism...so from here, we know what happens...we have a beautiful little girl. Most of you know this was very hard for the month or two before she was born and the few months after, but has gotten much easier as we've watched her grow. So up to the point that I'm trying to make in this post....we are getting used to all the doc. apts for Kaela, and dealing with the fact that we are going to have to deal with a lot of things that we never imagined dealing with and then last week we find out Will has a peanut allergy. Oh the joys of parenthood, right? It's really not about us, it's something the kids are going to have to deal with FOREVER, so of course it's much worse for them then us, but for now Matt and I are the ones who have to 'handle' the situation. We now have to read labels of all foods, get rid of the peanut butter, nuts, etc. It's a pretty serious allergy. We have to have an EpiPen with him in case he has a bad reaction. There's a lot that goes into it. I have a good friend who's son is very allergic and I know what she's had to go through. It seems to be worse when they start school because it's not a controlled area anymore. The classroom has to be peanut free, but the school isn't, which means they have to eat at a special table with only people who have a hot lunch. So it's just another THING to deal with. He loves M&M's- but no more of those. Have you ever read labels? It's surprising the things that say, may contain peanuts, or processed in a facility with peanuts. Although plain M&M's do not have peanuts, they re-melt the chocolate they use from the peanut M&M's to use on the plain ones; therefore, the chocolate may have touched peanuts, meaning Will can not eat them. Just having peanut butter touch his skin makes him break out all over. Anyway- that's what we are currently dealing with. We still have to get his blood work to find out what his level of allergy is. We are of course hoping it is mild and stays that way. So my point in talking about how much I loved kids and wanted to help kids around the world, I think I have come to learn that I may have that purpose still, but it's with my own kids :) I say this with a smile on my face and can truly laugh about it..because I think this was the plan all along :) Instead of going around the world to do it, I'm supposed to sit in my living room and do it :) I wouldn't trade it for anything.
So that's the exciting news :) We had a fun filled weekend at Greenfield Village for Day Out With Thomas. They dress the train up to look like Thomas, and Will just LOVED it. He was so cute on the train saying 'Choo Choo.' Grandma and Grandpa Laurin came with us which was lots of fun. They had lots of fun Thomas events around the village too, so I think we will have to make this an annual thing until Will outgrows it and maybe Kaela too!






I cleaned out Kaela's closet and dresser this weekend which filled 2 bins! Talk about way too many clothes for a 10 month old! Will's closet is the same way. Apparently I love to shop...a little too much :) But I get great deals at the outlets and the after season sales for the next year at name brand stores...Her growth is starting to slow down I think, so I don't think this will happen as often, but we will see. I will leave you with some cute pics of Kaela happy as can be even after having to get shots that day! She's such a trooper. (Plus I was the bad mom that neglected to take any good pics of her at Thomas Day...sorry Ka!)

8 comments:

Kim said...

I am taking Preston to Thomas in June with my friend Emily and her son Seamus. Seriously Will and Preston are like twins with their likes and dislikes.
I am so sorry to hear of Will's peanut allergy! I know it seems so stressful. Your post was so great Sarah-you have a purpose-but with your own-what a great line!
Kaela of course is ADORABLE in those new pics.
Thank you for sharing a love for shopping too! Right now Children's Place is having a great sale online!

Anonymous said...

You sure do have the right attitude !! Yep...it will always be something but like in the movie "Parenthood"...the old grandma tells how she liked the rollercoaster and not the merry-go-round. It is obvious that you know how to enjoy "the ride" of being parents. We are all learning from your example. LOVE AUNT SHELL

The Johnson Family 5 said...

It's kind of funny how you never pictured this to be your life, but in some weird way it's OK that this is your life. I wouldn't trade Cole for all the money in the world, just like you wouldn't trade you beautiful children! Sorry to hear about another hurdle you have to cross. You have a strong and supportive family which will help you in everything you are faced with.
Totally feeling you with the clothes issue! I desperately need to go through Cole's closet and drawers and remove ALL the clothes that don't fit him anymore (there are a lot).
Your kids are both SUPER cute!!! Best of luck getting Will's results back! I'll keep my fingers crossed they are mild allergies!

Anonymous said...

We all must do the same things at the same time, or at least the same thoughts. As it gets warmer here in the Northeast, JD is growing like a weed. For the first time in his life, pants are too short...let's go shopping together!!!!

Love the pics of the kids...too cute.

Lisa said...

It's amazing how life throws the curve balls and all of us just manage to catch them...even when we thought for sure we'd fail. I think the Thomas trip looks like a blast. Hang in there on the peanut issue and in no time flat, you'll be experts. You'll know if there's peanut oil in an item...without even seeing the ingredients....you'll just sense it. : )You've got good gut instincts and that carries you very far.

The Johnson Family 5 said...

My friend just listed these cute shirts on an etsy site and really well priced! Just them out...
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5880261

-Katie

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You can post a link to mine on yours if you want to. I will post a link to yours on mine. Keep up the good posts.

Rachliedel said...

I love the picture of William on Matt's lap. He looks so excited- it's adorable. The pic of Kaela laying on her back on the couch with a little bandaid on her leg is sooo cute!! They both keep getting cuter and cuter.