Passing out candy advice from an allergy mom

Chase is 2.5 years old and this was his first Halloween trick or treating. This was also the first year we knew about his allergy to peanuts. We talked about the rules for trick or treating before we left. You ring the doorbell once. You say trick or treat and thank you. You don't eat any candy. I brought the bendryl and epi pens with me.

Hubby went up to the door with Chase most of the time or he was with one of his aunts. We weren't too worried about what kind of candy he got because we didn't plan on giving him much, if any. Hubby said he mentioned that Chase was allergic to peanuts at one house when they asked what kind of candy Chase wanted. Let's be honest, Hubby and I love us some peanut candy and were totally ok with him getting it so we could eat it.

Most of the stuff Chase got was candy that we don't plan on giving him. There was a variety of suckers and non peanut items. I just don't like giving him sugar. He was so excited about a capri sun that he got at one house. We thought the capri sun was a good idea but it did make the buckets heavy. Besides candy he got fruit snacks, pretzels, and a cool mini coloring book and crayons.

As a mom of a 2.5 year old with peanut allergies I thought this was great. I'm guessing the high school kids probably wouldn't be excited about it. My cousin said some houses saw that Chase and his cousin were younger so they gave them fruit snacks instead of candy. So I guess you could get the little coloring book for younger kids and have candy for older kids.

There was a discussion on twitter today about kids asking for nut free candy. As a mom of a child with a peanut allergy I thought I could give my opinion on the topic. Personally, I don't think it is the job of the people passing out candy to provide nut free or gluten free choices. My plan as a passer outer is to usually get like the 150 pack at Costco and try to hand out the stuff I don't like first. I think as an allergy parent it is your job to educate your child on what they can and can't eat when they are old enough to go up to the door on their own. In the past, I would just grab a candy and put it in a kid's bag because letting them pick sometimes they take more than one or take forever to pick. Maybe now as an allergy parent I would let them pick.

I know a lot of allergy parents have candy or toys at home that their child can trade candy that they can't eat for. I also saw on twitter and heard on Ellen today about the switch witch. I just told Hubby about it and I think that's our plan for when Chase is old enough to care. Have you heard about the switch witch? Of course there is a cool poem on pinterest.

Isn't that a great idea? The kid trades their candy for a toy!

I hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!

Chase's phrases at 2.5 years old

   It's been about 9 months since I did a Chase's words post. I honestly wouldn't be able to do a post with all the words he can say now. He is such a little parrot and can repeat just about anything. Which is super fun, most of the time.
   My in-laws were visiting this weekend and my mother-in-law and I were laughing about all of Chase's little sayings. Last night I was thinking I really need to write these down because even though I can't imagine forgetting the things he says to me 100 times a day the truth of the matter is I may forget.
   This summer Chase learned the phrase, "What are you doing?". Oh my goodness. He had to know what everyone was doing, even inanimate objects. It made our four hour car ride to Monterey super fun. Remember when you could put the kid in the car and they would fall asleep instantly? Yeah, not any more. This summer he asked us what we were doing every 2 seconds for four hours! If you were in the room with him he would ask you what you were doing. If you moved he asked you what you were doing.
   Shortly after he picked up the phrase, "I miss it!". He now misses a lot of things. His super ball? "I miss it!" This weekend he said, "I want my milk! I miss it!" So dramatic and stinkin' cute!
   Last week he saw his friend and said, "I haven't seen you all day!". Now he'll spend the day with me and still say, "Mama, I haven't seen you all day".
   His latest fun phrase is, "What happened?". So now he says, "What are you doing?" Then after you answer him he says, "What happened?". It was tough coming up with responses to what are you doing. Sometimes I was just sitting. Now I have to come up with what happened. Kid really makes you think!
   He has also picked up the lovely word stupid. Everyone warned me there would be a word he picked up that I would not enjoy hearing come out of his sweet face and yep it happened. I am trying to pretend I think he is saying super. I'm hoping maybe he will just start saying super instead. It is kind of funny but I don't laugh because I want it to go away! It's funny that it comes out when he is playing ball. If he misses the ball he'll say stupid. He even said, "Come on, stupid". To me one time. Oh, toddlers!
   He is pretty into football now. He knows Sunday is football day. He loves to watch football and often asks to watch baseball and the Dodgers. I had to tell him last night that the Dodgers won't be on until next spring! He is so funny when he is watching the games he repeats everything we say and lately has just been yelling, "Come on!" or "Yeah, baby!" at the tv randomly.
   We laugh every day at the things he says. I can't believe how he can have conversations with people now. Especially phone conversations. He used to just listen when people talked to him. He now answers their questions. I was talking to my mom the other day and told Chase to say hi Nana and she couldn't believe it was him he sounded so old. He's growing up so fast!
   I guess I should include some of the funny things he says to the babies. From the very beginning of my pregnancy he has said I love you to the baby (and babies when we found out there were two) and given kisses. He of course also uses his favorite phrases with the babies. "Babies, I haven't seen you all day!" "I miss you babies". One time he asked the babies if they helped Dada. We are working on him calling them by name. If I tell him one of their names he knows the other one. He knows where in my belly each one is and tells them he loves them and gives them kisses. I love that he already has such a strong bond with them.

I really need to get my sh*t together before I have twins!

   Do you want to hear about my morning? I got out of bed around 8:15 because Chase was crying. I brought him in bed with me and we snuggled for a little while. Then I had to check my facebook before I could get up.
   I rolled out of bed and put my robe on and got Chase dressed. We walked downstairs and I made my breakfast. Chase wasn't ready for breakfast yet. Then I sat down to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians while I ate my breakfast.
   This brought me to about 9:40. Chase had a flu shot appointment across town at 10:55 so I didn't have much time for anything but to get ready. By the time I got ready and threw a load of laundry in the washer it was time to go. This means I had no time to do the dishes.
   I got to the doctors and waited for them to call me to their desk so I could check in and she tells me to fill out a form and then she says, "I don't see Chase for today. His appointment is tomorrow." Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!
   I swear my husband said something about Chase has an appointment Monday. He gets the calls for some reason. I think he told me this when I was doing a million other things and distracted by the toddler and I said oh yeah I know. Last night I looked at my app to see what time the appointment was but didn't pay attention to the date. Even this morning my dad mentioned something about do we have something going on Tuesday because it was blocked off on my work calendar.
   I told Chase we were going to the doctor and he might get a lollipop and on the way out and all the way home he was asking about his lollipop. I'm so frustrated! I blame pregnancy brain. I was told it affects my ability to listen to my husband. I also blame the new ios7 calendar. I can't see sh*t on that thing.
   After having a very unproductive Kardashian filled morning I was already feeling like a lazy bum and then going to an appointment on the wrong day just pissed me off. My patience just flew out the window. Luckily Chase was tired and is now napping and I can try to get my patience back. The only thing that I kept thinking was oh my goodness I only have one child and I can't seem to get it together. I really need to get my sh*t together before I have twins!
   I have often fantasized about being a mom that gets up before her children. I tell myself I will be waking up earlier once the twins arrive. But I really think I need to start getting up a few minutes earlier so I can at least get ready for the day before Chase wakes up. The other day we saw some kids that live on our street heading to the park and Chase wanted to go with them. He had to wait for his lazy bum of a mom to get dressed first though. I don't want to be like that.
   Any one else want to join me in getting up 30 minutes earlier? Maybe we can hold each other accountable.

Boys!!!

Chase is getting 2 BROTHERS!!!!

My cousin and her friend threw us an amazing gender reveal party! Our family and close friends were there and it was just perfect. My aunt makes all the babies in the family blankets so she whipped up four blankets for the reveal. Then we unwrapped the presents to reveal a color blanket to reveal the sex of our baby.

I mentioned briefly that I thought we were having two boys. At my 18 week ultrasound we closed our eyes when she was looking at the legs and genitals so she could write it down and put it in an envelope for my cousin's friend. When the dr came in and was trying to find where the umbilical cord attaches to the placenta for baby a I thought I saw a penis. I also thought Chase's leg was his penis in his ultrasound so I wasn't placing any bets.

We opened baby a's blanket first and it was blue! I said I knew it! Then we opened baby b's blanket and it was blue and green and threw everyone off for a second but I think my aunt said that's the boy blanket!

We have it all on video and my cousin's friend took a ton of pictures for us. Just waiting on everyone to get those to me and then I'll share.

We are all thrilled for more boys. I love being a boy mom and Christmas with my three boys and my cousins' three boys will be crazy but the best kind of crazy.

Luckily, I have my niece to take shopping and get manis and pedis with. She is going to be pretty spoiled as the only girl grandchild for my in-laws. I may have to force her to do ballet. But we don't have to pay for any weddings!

I think we even have the names picked. We probably won't reveal those until they are born though.

Now time to figure out what I need to buy. Luckily not much. Just some sheets and maybe a crib skirt and letters to paint.

20 weeks with twinsies

Today is the day!!!

   I wanted to write down my thoughts and feelings before we find out the sex of the babies in a few hours! This is 99.9% probably the last time I get to experience this. I've said all along that I wasn't in a big hurry to find out the sex of the babies because I like daydreaming about it.
   Will it be two girls? Will Chase go from a boy centered house to a girl centered house? Will I break the bank buying matching twin girl outfits? Will our days be filled with pink and bows and ballet and tutus and princesses?
   Any girl brought into this family will be around a lot of sports. Chase is all about football and baseball already. Hubby is excited to have a foursome to golf with. I'm excited for a whole day to myself someday when they are old enough to golf. I'm guessing day one of bringing the babies home Chase will be telling them to ride the scooter with him or play baseball or ping pong.
   Will it be two boys? Will every window in our house be broken by balls? Will no pillow ever be on the couch? Will there be 3 bikes being ridden around and around while I play "Life is a highway" by Rascal Flatts over and over again? (This might happen with two girls too).
  Will it be one of each? Will Chase get a buddy to rough house with and a sister to protect? Will we get a combination of the things I mentioned above?
   How many weddings will we have to pay for? Will I be a mother-in-law to three girls or one girl and two boys or two girls and one boy? This kind of makes me want a daughter. How dramatic will junior high and high school be?
   It's funny the things people assume I want after they hear I have one boy already. Yes, I think I'm having two boys based on physical symptoms and my hcg levels and comments from the doctor but I also feel like wanting a girl means I don't adore my boy. I tell people I'm totally ok with three boys. I like boys!
   I've had my fleeting thoughts of will I be able to bond with a girl. I think I grew up such a girlie girl that I will be able to and I trust that I will love my babies the minute I see them.
   These two little ones are 99.9% going to complete our family and I look forward to having that completed family feeling. Everything is about to get a lot more real!

Twin nurseries

   The gender reveal party is tomorrow!!! I am so excited to find out what we are having! I'm sure most people would start planning the nursery once they found out the sex of their babies. I was browsing pinterest a little today. Aren't these twin nurseries adorable?!

   Unfortunately, our twinsies won't be getting a pinterest worthy nursery. Big brother is still using his nursery and I am really against pushing him into anything he isn't ready to do just because we are having a 2nd and 3rd child. I just imagine us being up all night with the twins and Chase coming in our room too because we moved him into a toddler bed. I'm praying if we add another white noise fan to his room adding the twins to our family won't affect his sleep.
   Chase is currently in the smaller of our two extra bedrooms. We have a queen bed in the other room. Our plan was to move him into the room with the queen bed when he was ready.
   Now the plan is to just take things day by day. Chase could decide any day to start climbing out of his crib and of course we would then make the necessary changes. If he stays happy as a clam in his crib then the babies will sleep in a pack and play or two in our room. Then we will go from there. Chase will be 3 a few months after the babies arrive. So we might move him into a big boy room for his birthday if we are all ready.