I won the "LETS GET A DOG" battle, but not the way I wanted to

Dogs. UGH... sorry dog lovers. The idea of having a dog around, does not sound fun to me AT ALL!! Since the boys seem to LOVE dogs lately, The Boss has been trying to convince me, that eventually we NEED to have a dog. "Boys MUST have a dog," he says. Who will take care of it? "The boys," he says... yeah right. Cleaning up animal hair that will be ALL OVER my house... this is the one I have a hard time getting past. I guess since I didn't grow up with dogs, I really do not feel a need to ever have one. The Boss persists. How will I win this one?

Switch topics for a moment:

As some of you may or may not know, just over a month ago, we learned the hard way... the VERY hard way, that Big brother is EXTREMELY allergic to Cashews. After a rush to the emergency room in Tracy, an ambulance transfer to Children's Hospital, another emergency room, another ambulance transfer to a different Children's Hospital location, an overnight stay, a crap load of medication, IVs, a trip to our pediatrician the day after, and some blood work, we discovered he is not only SEVERELY allergic to Cashews, but EVEN MORE allergic to Pistachios, and mildly allergic to Almonds and Hazel Nut. So.....

Since that episode, I have probably been slightly paranoid when it comes to Big Brother. Every time he coughed or sneezed, or even rubbed his eyes, I wondered if he was again, having an allergic reaction. Lately, Big brother has been coughing a lot. Especially in the middle of the night. It seemed like he would get a cough reaction after he ate sometimes, so we made an appointment with an allergist to see if we could nail down any other allergies (food and other) Big Brother may have.

So yesterday Big Brother got about 20 FABULOUS skin tests. While I know it was necessary, nothing pulls at your heart more than seeing your child in pain, screaming, clutching to you, with tears streaming down their face. I hope we never have to do THAT again. Well.... Big brother has no other known food allergies. Which is a huge relief. Reading the labels on everything to avoid the nuts has been overwhelming enough. So what has been causing these coughing episodes?

Dogs.

Cats.

Dry Grass.

Did I ever mention the women who last lived in this house had a dog? Did you also know that we seriously live in the windiest place in California? Ugh... the allergist said his allergic reaction is EXTREMELY strong to the dogs and cats. She also said he probably does have asthma, but only as a trigger to his allergies. Thus the coughing when he has been around a dog, a cat, or outside windy MH. My poor child is inheriting the WORST things from me!! I too, am allergic to dogs and cats (mildly to dogs, but pretty bad with cats), but I can usually control it by not touching them, and taking something before I know I am going to be around them, and using an inhaler (which is always TOTALLY cool). Kids aren't so easy.

Well, I guess we won't be getting a dog. Mom yells, "WHOO-HOO!!!!" But this is NOT how I wanted to win this battle. Poor Big Brother. He LOVES dogs. And while I know it won't kill him to be around one once in a while, I also know how annoying it can be to be sneezing and coughing at some one's house, rubbing your eyes, and feeling itchy, due to a dog or cat, and then as a result having a hard time breathing. So, we will try as hard as we can to keep him away. But the mean mom has already had to come out. Yesterday, after hearing some barking at Grammy Pammy's house, I had to tell an anxiously excited Big brother, that he couldn't go pet Kona (GG's Dog). Mean Mom. But now, with the help of Zyrtec, and albuterol using a nebulizer (which as you can imagine is going REALLY WELL... right), but hopefully, we can have a happier, cough-free Big Brother. Mom really doesn't like to win like this. So while we will always have a DOG-FREE home, it has not come without a price. One I would rather not have to pay.

(Big brother asking me to sing a song with him before he goes to bed)

(Mama's Boy trying to grab my camera before I can get a good picture of him.)

(The Boys sitting on the bed. Mama's Boy LOVES to climb on Big brother's bed, and of course Big Brother wants to kick him off. We are working on sharing.)

(I just LOVE my little Mama;s Boy. He has become SO MUCH FUN, the older he gets. He always manages to surprise me, which is the complete opposite of Big brother, who is totally predictable. I just love his sweet little face.)

This past weekend we celebrated Grandma D 65th Birthday. It was a weekend event, staying the night in Modesto, going out to dinner, and throwing a surprise party. We were SOOOO tired when we got home (to top it off, Big Brother threw up in the car on the way home), but it was TONS of FUN!

Happy Birthday Grandma D!!

(Mama's Boy and Mom on Grandma's swing)

(Mama's Boy giving Daddy some loves... not really... he is our fiesty one!)

(Grandma blowing out her 65 candles)

(Big brother and Tyler at Grandma's party)

(The Boss, his brother Chris, and Grandma)

(Mama's Boy and Daddy at the party. That was a long night for poor Mama;s Boy.)

Coeur d'Alene

This last week I took a trip to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with my friend Anne, to visit our friend Jamie, who has lived there for several years now. Every time Jamie would come down to visit in California, we would have our kids, and a limited time to chat and hang out. So we decided to take a "girls only" trip to visit her.

It was SO MUCH FUN! First of all... Coeur d'Alene is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved every minute of the scenery. The weather was perfect, it was nice and fresh outside, the people were nice, and absolutely everything you looked at was green and gorgeous. If you are EVER looking for an out-doorsy getaway... go here!!

We had a blast just hanging out at Jamie's house watching old high school videos and (like total nerds), listening to old choir CDs. We talked and talked and talked. We went out to a few restaurants and did a little downtown shopping, along with a great little hike around the lake. Aaron took care of the boys for 5 days while I was gone, and while I know it was a LOT of work, I think they had fun... I know I did!

So thanks honey for stepping up and allowing me to have a fun blast from the past. My house was spot-less clean (vacuumed and mopped... that was a new one), the laundry was completely done, and I was greeted at the airport with beautiful flowers. While it is always nice to get a way, nothing makes me happier than coming home to my sweet little family. Even after looking at all the pictures and videos of "way back then" and talking about all the fun we had and of course, how skinny and flawless we all looked compared to now... I wouldn't go back for a million bucks. I feel so blessed and am so happy with my wonderful husband and darling children, I just can't imagine life without them. Well... I guess I wouldn't mind getting the figure back from high school... but that's it.

Here we are on our hike around the lake in Coeur d'Alene. The water looked so refreshing and clear.

Jamie and Anne

Jamie and I

Anne and I

Dinner at Cedars. A fabulous steak house that floats on the lake. I know you can't see the water, but it was beautiful!

Having fun at Jamie's Grandma's Ranch. She lives in a beautiful cabin about 35 miles outside Coeur d'Alene, with horses, dogs, chickens, goats. Someone even brought her a baby deer whose mother had been run over, so she bottle fed it goats milk and now it lives outside her house and she feeds her everyday... is that not crazy?! It was really pretty.

A little behind... and "It's a Girl!"

Summer has been so dang BUSY for us!! Sorry I haven't been a good blogger... and I don't make any promises to get better. But here is a review of the last month.

The Boss and I went to see WICKED in San Francisco. It was FABULOUS FABULOUS FABULOUS!!!! Thanks honey for a great birthday gift. There is something terribly romantic about getting dressed up and going to the city to see a show with your hubby! I recommend it for EVERYONE!

In Brentwood we have this wonderful thing called... fruit picking! I took the boys and Big Brother especially had SO MUCH FUN! These are some pictures of Big Brother and his best friend Ethan picking cherries... at the BEST cherry farm EVER... MAGGIORE FARMS.

Happy Father's Day DAD!! We have the BEST Daddy EVER! And while the boys weren't too cooperative for pictures, we had a fun day with Dad. More than anything our boys LOVE to wrestle with Daddy. I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful husband who (so far) is the most AMAZING Father. I know little Queen Bee is just going to melt his heart! I am also grateful for my Dad. He always came to everything we did and he still does. Most of all, I love what an amazing Grandpa he is. Our boys LOVE their Grandpa and I have no doubt, that Grandpa would do ANYTHING for his grand kids.

Happy graduation! Duni graduated from High School and we are so proud of her. She was able to sing a song at the ceremony with DIVA and JAG. They did an amazing job! Although we were so late we didn't get seats... the boys did pretty well and the after party was really fun. Congrats Duni... we know you'll do BIG things!

And the 4th of July was a TON of FUN! We went to the little Community parade, where The Boss helped out with security, then we went to the picnic party that followed where I sang the National Anthem. the boys LOVED the little parade. Then we went to Modesto for a BBQ and fireworks. I know you can't tell from the pictures, but Mama's Boy LOVED the fireworks. He just sat on my lap and kept saying "whoooaaa". Big Brother loved watching them too. But he didn't want to sit on any one's lap. He wanted to sit in a chair all by himself. Its so funny how quickly they become independent. It was a fabulous 4th!

This is Mama's Boy's new favorite thing to do. It totally irritates me... but I think it is SO funny. We love our him!

And if you haven't already heard... we are having a GIRL! Both the boys LOVE saying. Although I'm pretty sure they don't get it. We are super excited!!