Together

Three years old is a hard year.  I remember thinking with Emma that whoever came up with “the terrible twos” hadn’t had a three year old yet.  Having TWO three year olds has definitely been a challenge.  But as we get closer to the end of the three year old year I’ve realized the one thing that has been easier about having two three year olds.  They play together.  Isaac and Grace really like to be together and they have so much fun together.  Sure they squabble and fight at times, but most of the time they get along great.  Those times when they are playing happily make the difficult three year old moments easier to bear.  How lucky are twins to always have somebody to talk and laugh with.

To wrestle with.

To snuggle with.

To hold hands in Costco with.

To go on “abentures” with.

To read books with.

They always have to be reading their own books while they listen to story time.

To get creative with and be silly with, or to just simply play with.

Playing zoo

“Fishing” with Daddy’s exercise bands.

To share a treat with.

To do jobs with.

Don’t worry, after I took this picture I taught them to NOT put the clean silverware on the floor.

To even get into mischief with.

Or to share a chair with.

We really hope we can nurture their special twin relationship and that they will always be friends.  Well, maybe we shouldn’t nurture it too much since they are convinced they are going to marry each other in the temple.  Someday we are going to have to break it to them that it’s just not possible!

Even though this three year old year has had it’s hard points, at least we’ve been able to weather it together!

Weekend with Lanna

My dear friend Lanna came all the way from Minnesota for a weekend getaway.  Not sure how much of a getaway it was when she was getting away to MY three children, but they weren’t hers so I guess it was a vacation nonetheless!  It was so fun to spend a few days with Lanna.  We miss the Palmer’s.  The first day she was here was a little crazy with Isaac’s allergic reaction, but we did get away that evening.  The next morning we did some shopping and took the OHSU tram to see Sandy, Lanna’s mother-in-law. 

Sandy and Lanna spent the afternoon together and they came back to our house with Reed for dinner.  It was a fun evening catching up with Reed and Sandy.  Later that night Lanna and I got to work on a craft, just like old times.  We made super cute button bracelets.  Oh how I remember all the crafting and scrapbooking we did together when Emma and Dallin were babies.  Time has flown, but it’s nice to know we can still get together and pick up from where we last left. 

Lanna and I spent the next day at the coast.  We went to Cannon Beach and hit all the cute little shops that you don’t go into with kids.  It was so nice to lazily stroll and just look.  We even found the perfect flavor of salt water taffy (or toffee) for Lanna—Dr. Pepper. 

We ate at Mo’s and then walked the beach.  It was a beautiful day at the coast.  We sat on a blanket and talked and took pictures.

On the way home we did even more shopping.  It was a great day!  She went to church with us the next day before she had to head back home that afternoon.

It was such a good weekend.  It was even a mini-vacation for me.  It went too fast though, we need to do it again soon!  Unfortunately we both ended up with an unwelcome souvenir from our weekend.   We were both awakened at almost the exact same time on Monday morning with food poisoning.  We were miserable all that day, she in Minnesota, me in Oregon.  Thank you Mo’s! 

Ambulance Ride for Isaac

N was the letter for the first day of preschool and the kids got to taste some nuts.  The mom in charge that day asked us ahead of time if any of the kids were allergic to nuts.  None of us are allergic to anything and Isaac and Grace eat peanut butter on a regular basis, and we like nuts, so the possibility of an allergy didn’t even concern me.  In fact I remember thinking when she emailed us what a good idea it was check and that I probably wouldn’t have even thought about doing that.  When I picked them up from preschool Isaac was not feeling well and had just vomited.  I didn’t suspect an allergy and we just figured he was sick.  My friend Lanna was in town and my mom was going to watch the twins while Lanna and I had a fun afternoon.  I figured my mom wouldn’t want to watch a sick boy so I called Lee on our way home to see if he could by any chance work from home for the rest of the day.  He said he could and left right then to go home.  I am so glad he did.  When we got home Isaac was pretty miserable and said all he wanted to do was lay down in his bed.  I put him down and we waited for Lee to get home.  I could hear Isaac moaning and thrashing around in his bed so I went up to check on him.  His body was covered in hives!  That’s when I realized he must be having an allergic reaction.  Lee got home about then so we gave Isaac some Benadryl and Lanna and started to get ready to leave.  But then the hives started spreading, very fast, to his neck and face and he was holding his mouth really funny.  We started to get a little worried so I called the doctor.  The doctor said to take him immediately to the ER.   We live much closer to an urgent care clinic than to an ER so we decided to go there first knowing they could give him a shot of epinephrine if needed.  Lee and I hurried him to the clinic.  As we pulled up Isaac asked us if he could have a blessing.  He couldn’t pronounce his S’s at all, so we got really worried at that point, he was definitely swelling up.  Lee walked in holding Isaac and we told the front desk what was going on.  They immediately took Lee and Isaac back but asked me to stay to get him checked in.  About 30 seconds later a doctor came up and asked another worker about the procedure for calling 911.  I asked if that was for Isaac and the lady helping me said “yes, I think so.”  That’s when a little bit of panic set in!  I couldn’t believe they were making me sit there to do paperwork!  They finally took me back just after they gave him an epi-pen shot and just before the firefighters got there.  He didn’t look good and he was upset about the shot.  The doctor and the firefighters agreed that we needed to get him to the hospital.  The epinephrine works very fast, but it wears off fairly quickly and if it didn’t do the job then the swelling could quickly come back, so he needed to get to a hospital for monitoring.  They had me sit on the stretcher, they put Isaac in my lap, and they strapped us both in for a ride to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland.  Lee rode in the van behind us.  About half way to the hospital Isaac started perking up.   The epinephrine had done the job and he was doing much better.  He was smiling again and asking a ton of questions of the awesome firefighter who was in the back with us.  He even smiled for a picture.  You can still see some swelling in his cheeks, but he isn’t nearly as red and the swelling was much better.

At the hospital he quickly improved even more, but he wasn’t as happy at the hospital as he was in the ambulance.  He wouldn’t talk to the nurses and he didn’t like the pulse monitor on his finger.  Granny and Grandpa were at the hospital with us and Lee and Grandpa finally gave Isaac the blessing he had been asking for.  We stayed at the hospital for several hours until they were confident the reaction was done.  They turned on the TV for Isaac which kept him occupied and they gave him stickers and two books to take home.  He was well taken care of.  We learned that that he had a pretty severe reaction.  Any time a reaction involves more than one body system, such as Isaac’s stomach upset and the hives and swelling, that indicates a serious response in the body.  We were blessed that it wasn’t worse than it was and that we were able to get him the epinephrine quickly.

When we finally left the hospital Isaac was pooped and fell asleep pretty quickly.  When we got home he gave one of his new books and a sticker to Grace, he wanted to share his prizes!  He’s such a sweet boy.  Let me tell you, he got lots of hugs and kisses that day.  We realized how quick things can take a turn for the worse and how precious our little ones are.  We are so glad that we found out about this allergy when we could get help quickly, that Lee was able to be with us, my parents were there for support, and that Lanna was there to take care of Grace and be home for Emma and even get dinner going.   And our fun afternoon was not totally lost.  Once we knew Isaac was ok Lanna and I went to a movie and out for dessert that evening.  We were very blessed. 

Isaac wouldn’t let us take off his hospital bracelet for several days after his ambulance ride.  He claimed that it gave him special powers and helped him to be brave.   A little later we took a trip to the allergist to find out what nut made him sick.  He had a scratch test done and it was determined very quickly that he is allergic to cashews and pistachios.  The cashew was the culprit that day.  Bummer, those are good nuts!  The allergist confirmed that he had a severe reaction and the ambulance ride was definitely called for.  Now we are prepared and know what to do if he comes in contact with either of those nuts.  Isaac also is very adamant that he won’t eat nuts again.  That is fine, it’s probably safer that way!  A few weeks later we went to the fire station to drop off some treats and a thank you to the firefighters.  They took such good care of us and were so kind to Isaac.

Unfortunately right when we got to the fire station there was a call and we were told that the firemen that helped us in the ambulance went out on the call.  So we talked to the fire chief, dropped off our stuff, and the kids got stickers.  As we were leaving the fireman who was in the back with us came running out.  He was there after all and was so happy to see us.  We talked for quite a while and he remembered how brave Isaac was when he put in the IV.  We couldn’t have been more impressed with the Canby Firefighters.

Isaac was pretty impressed too.  He played firefighter for the rest of that day.  He would make a pretty handsome firefighter…as long as he stays away from cashews and pistachios!

Preschoolers

Isaac and Grace were SO excited to start going to preschool with a few of their friends. 

Can’t you just see their excitement?

Part of their excitement was using the new backpacks they picked out. 

This is the cutest group of kids, and I am glad that the other two have great mom’s to teach my kids!  We are only doing it one day a week, but that is perfect for us.   Isaac and Grace have had a blast so far. 

The first day ended in a little bit of an adventure for Isaac that will be another post, but besides that they had a great first day and are even more excited for the preschool days to come.