My Itchy Girl

This beautiful baby girl of mine is one itchy little thing the past couple of days.

Last winter, when she was just a few months old she developed little rashes all over her back and tummy. We took her to the Pedi. And after going over possible allergies and a couple of visits, we settled on the fact that our beautiful babe just has a mild(ish) case of Eczema.

* Let me just stop here and say that I am so beyond thankful to the Lord that such a small, small, SMALL thing is all that we have to deal with. I can't say Praise the Lord enough for the health of my family. *

Since her Eczema is mild, all we had to do was switch her over to all fragrance and dye free soap, lotion, and laundry detergent. We were just very careful about what touched her skin. I remember the doctor telling me "I know you are going to miss the "baby smell" of that pink lotion, but just remember that smell is all chemicals." :) She was trying to brace me for the fact that the Eucerin she told me to start using pretty much smelled like tree bark. hahah! (Again, such a little thing to worry about!)

My other petty complaint was that this tree bark smelling soap and its lotion cost at least triple what that sweet smelling pink stuff cost.

So, after a few days of changing over to fragrance and dye free items, London's Eczema was really pretty easily controlled. Over the summer, it seemed to go away. Once or twice I thought we were over it and tried using pretty smelling things on her, but each time we had to go back. I have found other all natural soaps that actually smell nice now.

She hasn't had a big outbreak in a loooong time (like maybe then end of last winter), but a couple of days ago, I noticed a little rash behind her knee. I didn't think too much of it, and just put the usual bedtime lotion on it. But then last night and then night before London woke up SO upset about something. Daniel and I couldn't figure it out the first night. She didn't want anything we offered her, she just was so upset. We finally calmed her down and got her back to sleep. I thought maybe she had a bad dream. Last night she woke up again with the same thing. She was just SO upset and there was NOTHING we could do for her. I told Daniel to check her rash and thats when we realized that the Eczema had really flared up. She had small little rashes all over, just like last year. So, Daniel put some more lotion on our poor baby girl and gave her a little bit of Benadryl and she calmed down and went to sleep.

I called her Pedi's office this morning to see if I should bring her in. They said she should be fine without coming in and told me to just keep her VERY moisturized and add this gem to our bedtime routine:

Its sooo thick and kind of greasy, but London didn't mind it. The nurse said to also give her a little Benadryl to help her tonight. If these don't work or it gets worse I'll take her to the Pedi and we'll figure out something else. She hasn't been bothered by it but once, after nap time, today though. So, hopefully its smooth sailing.

Thanks to my sweet hubby being on the ball (it was his idea) I also picked up an oatmill bath for our girl.

We made a spa night out of it. I ran a warm bath in my tub and let the water get good and deep. I threw a bathing suit on and hopped in with both kids and we "reeeelaxed", as Dyl says. I followed it up with massages and "mani peddis" (read finger and toenail clippings). Both of the kids seemed to enjoy it. Dylan told his Daddy "You've GOT to try one of those baths. It was GREAT!" haha! Maybe he'll love a spa as much as his Daddy and I do. Hopefully, London will too and we can do family spa days. haha!

Matchy Matchy

I LOVE matchy matchy family photos. I just do.
So, when thinking about having our family photo taken in the spring, I started thinking of what we should all wear.
I got SO excited when I cam across these for Dylan and London! I think it is PRECIOUS! Both are from Gap Kids.


I was thinking that Daniel and would wear solid blue (as close to the kids' as we can get) or white. But then I saw then dress from
Francesca's.

No really. If ever London and I needed a mother daughter outfit, this would be the case! I mean...

Ahh! I couldn't leave Daniel out of this Matchy Matchy mix though! I mean, if we are going big, lets go big. haha! I haven't found the EXACT match yet, but we are leaning the right way with this from Old Navy. PS. Express, I am so dissapointed in you, I just KNEW you would have the print I needed and you did not. Shame.

As cutesy as all of these are, I'm not sure we will go quite this Matchy. I may stick to the original plan of the kids in the Gap pieces and Daniel and I in solids. Any thoughts, ya'll?

Either way, I think I'm going to have to get the dress for myself for London and I to wear at some point!

My 100th Post is BONKERS!!

This is my one hundredth post!!!!

Today we had a Family Fun Date Night!!! We love taking the kids out to do fun activities, and try to do it pretty often. Tonight, the kids and I met Daniel in the town where he works and had dinner at Wing Stop and then took the kids to Bonkers.

Bonkers is this play place for kids with a HUGE jungle gym. I mean HUUUGE.

The kids had a BLAST. Daniel and I had planned to take turns with one of us playing in the todler area with London and the other in the main jungle gym with Dylan. I stayed with London first. She went through that toddler area like she had built it herself. Then, she decided she was much to old for this area (even though it was meant for ages 3 and under and she is only 16 mo) and ripped out into the main Gym.

It wasn't long before we found Dylan and Daniel and to our suprise little Miss Priss kept up with the her big brother like a champ. Dylan, of course is much faster than London, so he would take off and them come back to meet her when she was climbing up to the slides.

These big yellow slides were both kid's favorite part, I believe. It was so cute to watch them go down together.

The people who made this thing were so smart to have built in little rest areas!

Dylan told us that we should all live at Bonkers. Well, we would have a bed, I guess.

I told him that we couldn't move in, but we would come back to play more often. that made him happy. :)

I had planned on us staying a couple of hours, but we didn't get to stay quite as long. Both of the kids have had a cold the past week, and they seemed to be over it, but as they were getting winded they both started coughing a bit. So I thought it best to head on home. They were both pretty good about leaving early.

Dylan said he can't wait to go back! And I'm pretty sure London can't wait either. :)

It was a great night of food, family, and fun!

Growing Up and Still Little

There are days where the sudden growth of my kids is as clear as a bell. Its like the day before they were so much smaller than the present day. I know that them growing up doesn't actually happen over night, but some changes do come in what seems to be one big swoop. And my little ones both had a lot "growing up moments" today.

London has been leaning towards wanting to sit in a big chair at the kitchen table rather than her high chair. I've let her a couple times, but don't encourage it. Today she woke up from one of her naps pretty fussy. I asked her if she was hungry, only half expecting a response, and she nodded her little head up and down and said "Uhhh HUH!" So I took her into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. She pointed to the fruit drawer and said "Bite!" I asked her if she wanted an apple and she nodded her head and said "Uhhh HUH!". So I cut the apple in half for her (she likes to chomp on it better that way) and while I was doing that she said "Milk!" and was pointing to the milk. So I fixed her a sippy. When I went to give it to her, she was already sitting in the chair at the table waiting on her snack!

While she has done all of these thing separately recently, it was just wild to see her put it all together like that. My little baby is not such a baby anymore!

Later in the day, she came to me and said "Potty." I asked her if she needed to go potty and she told me yes, so I took her to the bathroom. She didn't actually go that time, but it was an exciting step in the potty training direction. She told me three times that she needed to potty and actually went potty once! I have not pushed at all to start the potty training bit, but I might go ahead and keep the ball rolling!

But just when I feel like "Oh NO! She's growing up too fast!" I get a sweet reminder that she is still my little baby...

As for my little man, he is amazing me everyday with the questions he ask about how things work and why. He has such a healthy curiosity about the things around him. Just this evening, I over heard Daniel explaining to Dylan how his brain tells his body what it needs and what to do. The level that Dylan seemed to be understanding all of this on was just unreal to me. He is a smarty, my little man!

He is such a big helper and never minds when I ask him to grab a diaper for me or take something to his room. He has little neighborhood friend that he plays with after school. He isn't a toddler any more. Not at all. He is my little boy now. And such a cute one, if I do say so myself. He is still my LITTLE boy though. He still loves cuddles and kisses. He still wants a bed time story and snuggles. And he still sometimes wants to be held. He tells me "I'll always be your baby, but I'm going to grow up. Don't be sad." If that doesn't just melt your heart!!

When at the grocery store tonight, Daniel put London in the seat portion of his buggy and Dylan wanted to sit in my buggy, so I plopped him in there. I didn't even realize it until the other day, but it had been quite sometime since I put Dylan in the seat, since London has needed it these days. It was a simple moment of pleasure to get to push Dylan and love on him and talk to him face to face as we did our shopping. I got lots and lots of cuddles from him as we walked up and down the isles. And I remembered that he IS still little. I still have lots of years of him and London being a kids before they are grown up. And my heart was happy.

My kids are growing up, pretty quickly. But for now, they are still little. And THAT makes this Mommy very happy.

Pictureless Randomness

I don't know why I feel so compelled to post a picture when I make a blog entry, but I do. I mean, I reeeaaaallly do. I hate post without pictures. If I didn't know better, I would say I was a little OCD about it. But I'm not OCD. Not about anything. Hah. For this post I'm going to take a big deep breath on not post any pictures. Only because I'm too tired and lazy right now to go fetch any. hah! I didn't take any of the kids today either.

So, about Today. London seems to be feeling worse and not better. Bless her heart. If she does not starting looking better by tomorrow, I'm taking her back to the doctor. Dylan had a great day at school. We went to meet my mom this afternoon. The kids get just silly excited to see her. The night was a little rough, seeing as how we were on the road a good bit today, London didn't feel the best and my nerves were just shot. I've been online window shopping and feel so BLAH about everything I'm seeing. I don't like many of the trends. So, I might be naked this summer. hah. Ooooh. If that's true, I really should NOT have eatin a whole sleeve of Girl Scout Thin Mints. Well, a whole sleeve minus four. Dylan had 3 and Daniel had one. Sheesh. Hubby worked late AGAIN *frown* but is finally home. Time to crash in his arms and watch some TV and then fall asleep!

Cold and Ear Infection.

My sweet girl has been not so sweet just a little fussy the past couple of nights. Yesterday she started getting a runny nose. It was clear though, so I didn't worry. This morning there was just lots of snot that was now green and a very fussy little tot. I thought I should probably take her in, but decided to watch her for a couple hours first. I didn't want to take her in around actual sick kids if she only had a little cold. She had no fever also. But the further along in the morning we got, I could just see her not feeling well. Her eyes were puffy and while I was folding laundry in my room she kept climbing up on my bed and laying there. So, I went ahead and made an appointment for Sweet Girl.Turns out that she has a slight ear infection, thank the Lord we caught it really early on, and just a yucky old cold with some nasal congestion. So, one antibiotic and one cough syrup and we were out of the doctors office in no time! She has really perked up just since this afternoon though. I'm so glad. I hate to see either of my babes not feel well.

Dylan's Valentines Party

Today Dylan's class had their Valentines Day party. They were going to have it last Thursday, but it got snowed out. Dylan was very excited for the party, as always! My boy love to party! haha!

I snapped a couple of pictures of him before the party. I wanted to get his shirt in the picture, but out of all the photos i snapped, the two really cute ones were close ups. Oh well. I really love this one of him. But I HAVE to find another place with great light for pictures because I'm so sick of that pink wall, especially for Dylan's pictures. Since you can't see it, his tshirt said "Ladies Man." And that's the truth. He is indeed a smooth talking Ladies Man.

Sister Sue got another chance to rock this cute little number that her Grammy made for her!

Being the class room mother apparently means that there is zero time for picture taking on my part. I should have thought to hand my camera to my mom, who came to help watch London and surprise Dylan at the party, but I just didn't. *Sad* Oh well! Next Year!

The party was a lot of fun. We did it differently this time and instead of me doing the games and crafts, I put those on the sign up sheet for the other moms to bring. I just hadn't thought to do it that way, because in my 3 years of being Room Mommy, I've just always planned the whole party, which I love! But this was really nice. I pretty much put together a sign up sheet and showed up with table cloths. haha! It was nice. I think we will do that from now on! I still kind of directed the party though, and was fine too. The kids did two really cute crafts, a headband thing and a heart with a smiley face on a stick. I don't have any pictures, but we do still have the crafts so I might have to get Dyl to pose with them tomorrow. :) We also had them play two games. One was relay type game with this plastic egg and spoon. It was so cute and kids did great and loved it. The other game was on improv due to having too much time left and was "Cupid Says" aka Simon Says. The kids took turn being Cupid. It was a HIT! :)

Dylan kept sneaking over to love on Grammy. A lot of the kids did actually. What can I say, she is a lovable Grammy!

When we got home, I let Dylan go through all his Valentines treats. I remember loving this part so much when I was a kid. It was fun reading all the little cards to him. He wanted to know who every single thing was from. It was cute.

This was the little bag that he made at school for his treats. It always makes me so proud and happy when he takes his time to make his art look nice. This time last year I had to constantly tell him "Dylan, take your time and make it nice, Buddy!" I had to ask his teachers to be a little extra firm with him about it too, because he would just sit down and scribble whatever really quickly so he could get up and go play as quick as he could! But in the past several months, he has really taking a liking to drawing and it makes my heart so so happy. I remember sitting in the living room at the coffee table in my house as a little kid on countless occasion coloring pictures with my mom and dad. And I have waited and waited for the day that he would enjoy coloring with me, and praise the Lord, its finally here! hahah! He even ask ME sometimes if we can color. And I'm always more than happy to!

It was a great day here at the Hilburn house. We had much fun at the party and then spent the whole afternoon with Grammy. We finished the day off with Chick-fil-a with Grammy, a quick trip to Target, and then Sonic. That is what I call BLISS. The only thing that would make it better is if my hubby didn't have to work late. He just got home though and its movie time with him. :)

Life is grand. Praise the Jesus!

Bleak Day Turned Beautiful

Some days, I just know from the start that it is going to be a long day. That's how I started how this morning. I knew ahead of time that Daniel had to work late, and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to take my car out at all today and those two things alone make for a long one in my books. So, I just already had in my head that the day would be one during which there are 120 seconds in a minute. I know this is a poor attitude for a Stay at Home Mommy to have, but I'm a Human Stay at Home Mommy, and sometimes my attitude is poor.

The first few hours of the morning, I just did as little as I could. I felt lazy and sloppy and dreadful of being inside alllllll day long. I allowed myself those few hours before snapping out of my funk. The kids were fine. I don't even think they noticed my foulness. They just played with each other and toys and with me just like any other day. While watching them play I realized they deserved more than my funk. So, I pulled myself together. I took a few minutes to get myself and London dressed, Dylan asked to stay in his PJs, and started my cleaning routine.

It wasn't long before I forgot why I felt so bleak at the start of the day. I wasn't even thinking of the dreadfulness that is not leaving the house all day long or Daniel working late. It was just our usually routine and two beautiful babes to share the day with.

Not leaving the house left more time than usual to focus on my kids. This little guy and I even had some quality video game time!
He's been after me to play his favorite game with him for quite some time, and I just haven't made myself make time. I'm a little ashamed to say that, but its the honest truth. And lets not forget about me being Human and all. The thing is that I'm just NOT a "gamer". I don't play video games. They make me antsy and sometime dizzy. But my little man loves them so! And obviously, my hubby loves them, seeing as how its his career to make them and all. My two boys bond deeply over their loves for the games. :) So, Dylan has been trying to talk me into playing this Legend of Zelda game with him and I have been dancing around it. I offer him arts and craft, a fun snack, some baking, a bubble bath, ANYTHING instead. I do bond with my little guy, really, just not over games. BUT I had all the time in the world today that even offering all those other great fun activities, we would still have time for the game. So, I buckled down and played.

Let me tell you, I still don't like video games. BUT seeing my little man in his own turf, was so neat. He knew SOOOO much about this whole world inside the game. It amazed me. Listening to him teach me about how to do this and how to go there, it just made my heart so big and full of pride and love for my boy. My bleak day turned beautiful right then.



London played sweetly around us while Dylan and I were playing the video game for quite a while before decided enough was enough. Seems my little princess isn't much on the gaming either. So, the three of headed for one our favorite hang outs, London's room. That is where there play table is at and they just love being in there. I love it because it has amazing natural light and my camera takes pretty good pics in there. And for the play time, of course.
While playing in there, my kiddos were full of laughs and giggles. Dylan loves jumping off the table (which is really low to the ground) and pretending to be a super hero. London is learning to love to TRY to jump. She is smart and only jumps while holding onto my fingers, thanktheLord. Sitting in that room full of sunshine and giggles, my day was not one bit of bleak but only beautiful.
After dinner, my sweet girl loves to help me mop. Its more mess to clean up, but its priceless. Another beautiful moment. And this smile, it could light up anyone's day.The kids took a long nap this afternoon against my better judgment. The normally go to bed at seven and eight o clock. But They both slept from four to six o clock, so bed time was not happening tonight. So after dinner, I needed to change up our whole routine. Searching for ways to stretch out the night, I was so happy when Dylan suggested bubbles. My mom had bought them some for Valentines. So, we broke them out out the kitchen floor where cleanup would be "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy", as Dylan says. It amazes me every time we play with bubbles how much both kids just love them. We played with them for half and hour and both kids would have sat ther for another hour, I'm sure. They squealed with delight trying to catch them, blow them back up in the air, and they both had so much fun blowing the bubbles themselves. Even though the bleakness had long left my day, I was just overwhelmed at the beautifulness of those moments in the kitchen with my babes. They play so well together and love each other so much.

My heart is so full of love for these two mutchkins. They make my days just beautiful.

A LOVE(LY) Weekend

This Valentines Weekend was so nice!

We started the weekend off Saturday with a visit from my Mom. She brought Valentines happies for the kiddos and my favorite homemade soup for lunch. The kids are always so excited to see their Grammy and they loved all the treats she brought them.
London's favorite thing was this little purse

Dylan loved all his treats, but his FAVORITE thing Grammy gave him was his new Avatar costume that she made for him. It AMAZING. Pictures of that to come soon. She was able to stay and visit for a good little while, and we so enjoyed her. My bestie came over for a little a bit while my Mom was still here too, so it was fun to have two of my favorite woman together at once.

Sunday morning we had a Valentines breakfast before church. I picked up the cutest heart shaped donuts at walmart, which I was SO excited about because now I didn't have to cook heart shaped pancakes! Then I made some chocolate covered strawberries and dyed the apple sauce pink. It was a really cute (and SO EASY) breakfast and I think the family really enjoyed it.

I usually go overboard with treats and presents on holidays, but honestly our kids still have Christmas gifts that are unopened, so I took it easy this year. And you know, they didn't care!They were as excited as could be.

London was most excited about her Teddy, I think. Our girl LOVES stuffed animals and baby dolls.
I dressed Dylan in his red sweater for church. He looked so handsome! He has a Valentines shirt to wear, but I didn't think it was dressy enough for church.

London wore this cute little outfit that my mom made for her.

Dylan was SOOO sweet and kept telling London "Happy Valentines!" My little boy just melts my heart!

After church we had lunch at Jason's Deli. I wanted to avoid the valentines crowds as much as we could, and we love Jason's so it worked out well. After lunch, I had to work a quick two hour shift at my little part time job (Oh, what I do for a discount on cute kids clothes!). Daniel and the kids dropped me off and did a little running around and then played at the mall's play place. I was so happy that they came into town with me. It was nice that they were there when I was done with work.

London fell asleep on the way home (at about 5pm). We woke her up when we got her out of the car, but she was SOOOOOO fussy and just miserable, so we decided to let her go back to sleep. I tried to get her to eat first, but she was not having it. I just knew that she would wake up at midnight and then not go back to sleep. She did wake up, but she went back to sleep somewhat quickly.

So Miss Priss didn't get to join us for valentines dinner, but it was so yummy and cute! We had little slider burgers that Daniel and I cooked together (which is one of my favorite things). We topped the with swiss cheese, grilled mushrooms, and onions. To. Die. For. We also had valentines cupcakes and little cheesecake bites. Yum and Yum!

Dylan gave two thumbs up to it all!

After dinner and a little bit of play time, we tucked Dylan into bed and had a little time to ourselves. I ran a hot bath for us and lit a couple of candles. (Don't worry this is going to stay PG. haha!) I can't think of anything nicer than soaking in a hot bath with my favorite person in the world and having great conversation, cuddles, and kisses. Then we cuddled up in bed and watched Big Love. It was a great night. My heart could have exploded, it was so full of love and happiness.