My Ari amazes me every day!

Yesterday was Arianna's appointment at the allergist. She was excited because she and mommy were going on a trip together! We arrived at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester (where the twins were born) and we go to the Allergy department.

Ari was having fun playing with the toys in the lobby and then they called her name. She and Mommy went into a room with a big chair. I called it Ari's princess chair...so she loved that! The Nurse Practitioner came in and she was my age! She was GREAT! Arianna really liked her and told her about Matthew and she always gets compliments on her Cape Cod bracelet from EVERYONE - so she then said to the Nurse...it's from Grammie...not Grampa! LOL

The NP was able to listen to her lungs which sounded clear, but then she looked into her nose, throat and ears. She's on meds for an ear infection right now, but her nose and throat are all puffy and red. So she said she definitely has allergies - now lets find out which ones! She explained that most doctors will do the "scratch test" but where Ari is so little, they wanted to do blood work instead. The blood test will test all of the same allergies as the scratch test, and you can add some too...so we added Dogs, Cats, Rabbits and Tree Nuts - on top of all of the other ones they test for. So she said that we could do Nebulizer Treatments for her when she does get this cough - so we'll see how that goes. She wants to see Ari in 6 months for a follow up.

As we were checking out they asked Ari if she wanted a sticker. She said yes please and can I have one for Matthew too? So she left there with 2 princess stickers for her and 2 Diego stickers for Matthew.

So...then we headed to the lab. We got to ride in the elevator and she was having a lot of fun. I told her that this is where she and Matthew were born and she was really excited! We headed into the lab and it was her turn to get blood work done. She sat on my lap and held my hand. The lab techs were talking to her about her stickers and they stuck the needle in her arm. They had to take 5 vials of blood out of her little arm! Ari talked to the lab techs and laughed with them the entire time! Not once did she shed a tear! AMAZING!!! Once they were done taking the blood, she go her bright orange band aid and we were on our way!

We walked around the atrium of the hospital for a few minutes and were going to go in to see the babies, but where it is so secure I didn't want to bother the nurses. We then went off to CVS to pick up her prescription. Since she was SUCH a good girl, Mommy let her pick out some M&M's and of course she had to get a bag for Matthew - and she even got a candy bar for Daddy!

Off to the doctor...

I ended up staying home with the kids today! Ari has a NASTY cough that she has now had for a month! This weekend, she kept me up 2 nights from coughing, throwing up, etc. So today we brought both her and Matthew to the doc to get checked out.

Matthew doesn't have anything wrong w/him except a normal cold! Figures...wasted a 20.00 co-pay on something I already knew!

Ari on the other hand has an ear infection and BAD allergies! I asked if she thought I should bring her to an allergist to get tested and the doctor thought that was probably a good idea! So...came home and called the Allergist! Ari is able to be seen tomorrow - when does that ever happen??? She'll have her initial meeting and then get the allergy tests after that...

here's hoping we find out what's wrong with her!

Here's a picture of the kids hiding from the doctor:

We survived Irene!

This weekend we were in line for the first Hurricane in 5 years! All the hype leading up to this hurricane got everyone prepped with their Milk, Bread and water from the grocery store...literally...the shelves were bare! We didn't get hit as hard as others in the state did. Grammie doesn't have power - and they don't know when she will! There are trees down, rivers are flooded, etc. We decided to make the best of our weekend!

Vinnie and Zee invited us over for a late breakfast! Vinnie usually does this type of breakfast only on Christmas morning, but he felt since everyone was stuck in their houses - this would be the perfect time to cook up some eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, and a bunch of other stuff! We went there for breakfast - and then they came to our house for dinner! David made homemade gnocci, I made sauce and Bracciole! We had a blast! The kids hung out with Val and Ari even did some belly dancing for everyone!

Once the storm had ended - we let the kids go out in their rain boots and jackets and jump in the puddles!

Potty Training Boot Camp!

This weekend we went through Potty Training Boot Camp - or as Ari told Mummu she was going through Potty Training Poop Camp! LOL

Saturday went GREAT! I had the kids completely naked! They went pee and poop non-stop! We watched movies and had a lazy day - all while training! We were having some friends over on Saturday night, so right before their arrival I put undies on them. Matthew knew to pull his down, but as soon as Ari had undies on, she peed on the deck! ooops!

Sunday was a different story! Ari pooped in the potty and Matthew pooped in his jammies. I was able to sleep in a bit, so David didn't have them fully naked - which I've found you really need to do. When I got up, Ari and Matthew both had undies on - Ari peed on the floor twice! Oh well - we're working on it!

They are going through day 3 at Joyce and Mike's house today - so we'll see how it goes!

Our Vacation: Cape Cod 2011

We're back! We had such a great time at the cape this year!

Sunday ended up being a complete wash out! I felt like we were in a hurricane! We did what every other Cape goer did...went shopping! We hit up the Christmas Tree Shop, Cuffy's and then we went out to dinner.

The original weather forecast was not very good for the week, but Monday - Wednesday ended up being beautiful!!! We got up, had some pancakes and headed off to the beach on Monday. The kids had a blast playing in the sand and in the water. The beach we went to had a tidal pool, so the kids enjoyed playing in that, trying to catch fish and looking for shells. Monday night we ended up taking a drive to Wellfleet. Our family friends have a place down there and their son Rob was home from San Diego for a few days. I haven't seen Rob in 10 years - so that was a must! We were there for a little while, and then drove back to Chatham for some ice cream!

Tuesday was another day spent at the beach! We were there until about 3, came home and then Brian came for a visit. He brought the kids toys - they played for a bit, and then we went to dinner! I was able to get my fried clams :-)

Wednesday was our last day at the Cape. The weather was gorgeous! Mom and Steve went for a bike ride and David and I took the kids to see Chatham light house (as well as the sharks!) We could see all the seals bobbing in the water, but no shark sightings!

I'm home today - putting everything away and getting the kids back on schedule. Today will just be a lazy day. Tomorrow, the kids will be doing their 1st full day at school and I'm headed to the beach with my neighbor.

Overall this has been a GREAT vacation!