County Fair Time!

Last week was our county fair and we were there four of the five days...the only reason we missed one day was because of rain! Eli had a blast! Monday night was the tractor pull. If you know my boy at all you know that tractors are his favorite things and have been since he could choose. Our family came too, I'm not sure if they were there to watch the tractors or to watch Eli watch them, but it was great none the less!


Eli and Grampy Jon - this was his reaction to the first tractor that pulled.


Eli, Grampy Jon and Grammy Kathy watching how far the tractor went.


Eli's favorite tractor!



Daddy, Eli (and Ian in the corner) watching the pull.


Ian sleeping in Grammy's arms.


Eli cheering on the tractor.


Eli staying warm with Grampy Jon.


Eli and Grampy Eddie.

The tractor pull was definately his favorite fair activity, but we also visited all the animals, went to the motocross races and watched the demolition derby....again, this is why my blog is titled Braving Boyhood --- these aren't things that I did for me, well in a way it was...because I got to see that sparkle in Eli's eyes, the smile on his face and the joy in his step on the way to the fair!

Ian's Nine Month Well Baby Visit

We had Ian's well baby visit today and now I have a lot weighing on my mind. First off, he actually lost weight from his six month visit and has dropped to the 10th percentile. At four months he was at the 75th percentile. The doctor doesn't want me to stress to much (easier said than done) and says that if he isn't up to the 25th percentile in October that we will have to figure out why he isn't gaining weight. In the next breath he said that many babies plateau around this time right before a growth spurt at around 12 months.
We talked about his "reaction" that he had while on amoxicillin and our doctor has agreed to try it again with a dye free medication. I am wanting to make sure that he is truly allergic to penicillin. Ian broke his eye teeth through a few days after the rash appeared and I want to try the dye free medication to rule out an allergy to the dye.
And last but not least, we have been referred to an optometrist. Ian's left eye is "medially deviating" (leaning inwards basically...a lazy eye). This was mentioned at our six month check with the decision to see if it corrected itself, but it hasn't, so next Wednesday we have an appointment with an optometrist. That should be fun... I can barely get the boy's diaper changed, so I can't even imagine the testing they are going to need to do!
Have a great weekend!

Joe's Off to Camp

On Sunday we dropped Joe off for a week long camp. He is attending Camp Courageous, a wonderful camp that specializes in children with special needs. I was in tears dropping Joe off. He is so lucky that we have a camp like this near us (it was two hours away from home), as some of the campers drove almost eight hours to get there. Joe attended camp there last year and has been talking about his return non-stop the last few weeks. He was most excited about the zip line and shooting with bow and arrow. I get to pick him up on Friday and I can't wait to hear about all of the fun things he did.
Joe and his camp counselors:

On the drive to camp:

It's Cold!

I can't believe, that on the 18th of July, that I am posting that it is cold here... but it is! We had a record low of 49 degrees last night. We usually average 68 for the low temp and 83 for the high temp, so yesterday our high temp was what the average low temp is! There are two benefits that I see right now of this cool weather though: the air conditioner if off and that is saving us money on our energy bill and this cloudy, cool, overcast day gives me the perfect opportunity to curl up in my down comforter and take a lovely nap this afternoon!

"But You Said We Would Freeze"

Background: It is 68 degrees and windy here today. The conversation between Eli and I follows.
Eli: "Mom, can we go to the pool?"
Me: "No Eli, it is too cold out, we would freeze."
Eli: "Are the cops going to be at the pool?"
Me: "I don't think so, why?"
Eli: "Because you said we would freeze."

Ian Feeding Himself Spaghetti and Who's Who Update!

First I wanted to let everyone know I edited the post on Who's Who. Second, Ian has been screaming when I am feeding him and he wants to do it himself, so last night was the night. We were having spaghetti and he wasn't eating just trying to grab the spoon each time I brought it close to his mouth...so I gave him the plate and spoon and let him go to town! It went better than I thought!

New Hairdo!

I have over the last few months progressively been getting my hair cut shorter each time I go for a "trim". Well, it is now as short as I can get it, but I love it! So quick and easy and it makes me feel so cute!

You Know You're Sleepy When....

....you fall asleep with your hand in the bag of cookies while sitting up!

Who's Who? - Bathtime

Eli at eight months:


Ian at eight months:

Can you guess which boy is which??

Fourth of July

We had a great time camping at Hannen Lake with my in-laws and some other family. We got there Friday morning and enjoyed a great day there. A town nearby was celebrating their sesquicentennial, so we headed to town for an antique tractor show (all for Eli and Grampy), went to a park to play on their equipment and enjoyed a fireworks show that evening. It started to sprinkle during the fireworks, but we enjoyed them from the truck!

Saturday was a rainy, yucky day....we ended up going to an outlet mall nearby. It ended up clearing up around supper time and we were able to grill steaks and enjoy the campfire.

Sunday was a beautiful day and we loved it! We were able to enjoy some time on the paddle boat, Joe did some fishing and we headed home.

Ready for pic overload??

Four Year Anniversary!

Scott and I have been married four years today! It is amazing to think that four years ago we started our family by uniting our lives in marriage and now there are five of us living in our home. God has truly blessed us! We are camping with the family for the fourth of July and will be going out to dinner Monday night to celebrate. Next year we are going to plan a little weekend get away for just us for our five year anniversary. We were married on my parent's farm, it was a beautiful day, a wonderful ceremony with family and friends and the beginning of an amazing journey!

Allergic Reaction to Amoxicillin?

Last night Ian broke out from head to toe with a red, speckley rash. I was sure it was a reaction to the amoxicillin he has been on for his ear infection. I called our physician this morning and he agrees about the reaction, said to give benadryl every six hours and come in Friday morning if the rash is still there. As I always do when something is going on with the boys, I started checking out things on the internet. I think that he may be having a reaction to the dye in the medicine rather than an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin itself. Anyone have any experience with this??? Here are a few pictures of the rash....not the best pictures, but it gives you an idea what it looks like.