Milk!!!

Oh, hello. So it's been 8 months, huh? Turns out buying a dental practice, chasing a toddler, and working full time can be a little time-consuming! :) Well, that and my recent obsessions with Temple Run (don't ask) and Friday Night Lights. (I'm happy to report that my obsession with Temple Run has seemingly subsided, and I only have 5 more episodes of FNL left until I will have my life back.)

Today is a special post because we have reached a big milestone in Wyatt's little life! For the past 6 months, we have been going to the allergist's office every week for a milk desensitization program to help with his milk allergy. I'm talking at least an hour and a half EVERY SINGLE TUESDAY for months. And I'm happy to report that our little man is now desensitized to milk!!!

What does this mean, you may ask? Well I'll tell you. It means he can drink cow's milk!! It means he can have pudding!! It means he can have cheese!! It means he can have yogurt and butter and ice cream and cheese dip and (gluten free) macaroni with REAL cheese! It means we can try (gluten free) pizza with cheese on top! And it means he can experiment with his new snacks by putting pieces of shredded cheese ON TOP of his spoonful of real yogurt as it's going into his mouth...

(courtesy of a horrible iPhone picture)

Hey, if he likes it like that, he gets it like that. He's waited his whole life to eat this stuff.

*Note* We still have to be careful about everything he eats, and I'm trying to make sure that his dairy portions are all organic and not cross-contaminated with any of his other allergens (wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, oats, etc.)

Next up: Eggs. He will have a food challenge in a couple of months which will help determine if he should start the egg desensitization program next. Until then, pass the ice cream!! (and the cheese covered yogurt...apparently.)

Wyatt's 1st Birthday!!

As promised, here is the post from Wyatt's 1st birthday! (I may be busy, but I absolutely can't forget to document this milestone!) I decided to go with a circus theme, thanks in large part to inspiration I got while perusing Pinterest. We just had a small party at my mom's house with family and a couple long-time friends, but I did manage to put together an invitation and get them mailed out approximately 4 days before the party!

Here is the invitation...

A shot of the "circus treats" table...



The "build your own hotdog" station...

 An up close picture of the circus animal sugar cookies Ashley & I made (thanks Karlee, for the yummy cookie recipe!)...

The cupcakes for everybody BUT Wyatt to enjoy...



And, of course, the allergy free cake that I made just for my sweet, happy, food allergy-ridden ONE year old...

Turns out the "allergy free" icing was more of a sticky, ooey, gooey, glaze mess, so I wasn't able to make the cake nearly as pretty as I had hoped. Either way, Wyatt had LOTS of fun with it!

Here is the progression, starting at the candle....

And ending in the bathtub!! (After he managed to fling chocolate cake & gooey white icing all over the living room before proceeding to rub it ALL over himself!)

After he got cleaned up, he got to play with his new toys (he's not walking by himself yet, but his new dinosaur friend sure is helping him practice!)

And of course, the obligatory family picture! :)

It was a great day with lots of fun memories, and Wyatt loved it all!! I am still in disbelief that my baby boy is already a YEAR old, but what a great year it has been!!

Wyatt, you are absolutely the sweetest little boy any parents could ask for. You have made this past year of our lives SO wonderful--I don't know what we did to deserve such a precious little guy, but God has blessed us in countless ways in giving you to us! At 1 year old, you are into EVERYTHING (crawling around--really fast!, opening drawers & cabinets, flinging out anything in said drawers & cabinets, knocking things over, pulling up on anything you can, and cruising around all the furniture!) You still have no teeth, but Dr. Daddy says they are on their way in any day! You are babbling up a storm & sometimes we can hear a real word every now and then ("mama" is still the most pronoucnced, which of course, I love!) You point at the mouse & the moon when we read Goodnight Moon at night, you love trying new table foods (especially any cut up fruit or potatoes), and you get really excited anytime you see an animal! At your one year check-up, you weighed 19 lb, 2 oz (5%) and were 28 1/2 inches long (10%). You are a little guy right now, but I have a feeling that's not going to last for long. You are the light of our lives and although I can't believe how fast the past year has gone by, I am trying to savor EVERY minute with you as keep growing bigger, stronger, and more like a little boy than a baby. I love you, sweet boy! Love, Mommy

It's Official!!!

Hi friends! We are still here, just experiencing some HUGE life changes these past few months that have kept me away from this blog WAY more than I would have liked! The biggest news at the moment is that Sam just bought his very own dental practice at 15th & Bryant in Edmond!!! Ward Family Dentistry (formerly known as Tower Dental) is located directly across the street from Peach Wave (in Spring Creek) and right next door to Bank of Oklahoma. His office is open Monday-Friday and is happily scheduling new patients, so if you or anyone you know is in the market for a new dentist, please give his office a call at 405-359-0074.

The temporary sign went up yesterday (the permanent sign will take several weeks, so we wanted to get something up in its’ place for the moment), which makes everything look even MORE official! Here is the proud owner/dentist, Dr. Sam Ward, in front of his office:

The decision to open this practice came about in such an unexpectedly last minute way that we cannot begin to doubt God’s hand in all of this. We have faith that He will help provide everything we need to ensure success in this this new & exciting (and sometimes downright scary) adventure, but we really appreciate your prayers as well! This is certainly one of the biggest leaps of faith we have ever taken.

We know that this is just the beginning of LOTS of hard work and time, but we're so excited that we've been given this opportunity! Obviously I am very proud of Sam and all the hard work he’s put in over the past 4 years to get through dental school, as well as the commitment he has made to get his dental career up and running so quickly. On top of all that, he is still such an amazing husband and daddy to our sweet baby boy.

And speaking of that sweet boy, his 1st birthday is coming up in just over a week!!! I can’t even believe how fast this past year has gone, but I will most definitely try to post about his birthday soon. I know I’m horrible at updating the blog and even uploading pictures to my own computer, but rest assured that my camera and iPhone are FULL of pictures/video of our little man. (I'm not a bad mom, I promise! :)) Here are a couple pictures from the past couple of weeks…

That last picture is of Wyatt trying quinoa pasta for the first time. We also found out a few months ago that he is SEVERELY allergic to a lot of things (milk, wheat, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, oats, etc.) so I've been super busy researching all of that too. (I told you things have been CRAZY lately!!) That is an entirely different post for another time though.

In the meantime, if you live in or around the Edmond area and need to schedule your 6 month cleaning--give Sam's office a call! :) Please don't neglect your teeth. (This message brought to you by the wife of a dentist who is shamelessly using her blog to plug her husband's new business.)

See you soon!!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Annaleise for the 4X4 Tag:

1. Four places I go:

*OC Admissions Office
*Church
*Starbucks
*Target

2. Four favorite smells:

*Wyatt Owen Ward (excluding dirty diapers, of course)
*My husband right after he gets out of the shower & smells so fresh and so clean, clean
*Fresh cut grass in the spring (until I start sneezing…)
*Pumpkin Spice candles in the fall

3. Four favorite movies/TV shows:

*Modern Family
*Mean Girls
*Dumb & Dumber (go ahead, judge me)
*Return to Me

4. Four Recommendations:

*Travel as much as possible! Even when budgets don’t allow for extravagant vacations, get out and go SOMEWHERE! There is so much to see in this world, and sometimes it takes getting out of your routine & familiarity to really appreciate all that life has to offer. Plus, it makes you appreciate your own bed even that much MORE when you’re back!
*Don’t waste time & energy living for the future. You are in the present, so live in the present. I’ve caught myself doing this a lot over the past several years while waiting for Sam to get out of dental school. There’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, but make sure to appreciate what you have right now as well. Your life today is all you have, so make the most of it!
*Never order plain cheese pizza. It’s a waste of money when you pay the same price as another one-topping pizza, and you get skimped the extra topping. They may “say” they put extra cheese on there, but we all know that’s a lie. Live a little. Viva la pepperoni! Or sausage! Or mushrooms! (If you’re into that sort of thing…)
*If you have babies in diapers (or even if you don’t), join Amazon Mom. It will save you a TON of money on diapers & other baby items, plus you get FREE Amazon Prime shipping. I’m getting so lazy that if I need ANYTHING other than perishable food items I just use my Amazon.com app on my iPhone and my stuff magically appears on my doorstep within 2 days. It’s AMAZONG. Get it?

I tag Marie, Jeanna, Jill, & Amy K.

In the past 10 days...

Wyatt has...

Played at the park when it was 70+ degrees outside...

And then bundled up in his snowsuit 5 days later to stay outside for 30 seconds.

He has learned to sleep in new positions...

And loves to prop his feet up on the crib bumper while he sleeps.

He has read lots of books (Goodnight Moon is one of his favorites)...

 And chewed on every toy imaginable (he especially loves his laptop & his puppy).

He has eaten lots of yummy new foods...

 And made lots of messes!

He pretty much smiles from the time he wakes up...



Until the time he goes to bed.

He loves piggy back rides with his Daddy...

And also hanging out with Mommy.  But apparently I never take pictures of myself with him.  Whoops.

So now, as we prepare for Snow Storm #2 to hit, I thought it would be a good idea to update the blog!  He's 6 1/2 months old now, but here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 15 lb, 10 oz (20%)

Length: 26 1/2 inches (50%)

Foods He Likes: green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears, peaches, oatmeal, turkey, ham, chicken, and beef. We tried a couple Puffs, but he's not quite ready for those yet! He will eat pretty much anything, but definitely prefers the carrots out of all the veggies, which is why his little nose has been looking extra orange lately! :)

Other Loves: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, scooting around the floor, sitting up by himself for about a minute before falling over, squawking, and when other people make the gagging noise. For some reason, he thinks the throw-up sound is HILARIOUS. I have video, but I'm too embarassed to post it on here. Well that, and I'm not positive HOW to post videos.  He also peed on himself (twice) yesterday while we were changing his diaper, and he cracked up at himself.  Like, he seriously thought it was the funniest thing ever. I'd say he's "all boy"! 

I love this little guy SO much!