Jacob's Birthday Party, Milk, Eggs & Peanuts

So it's been a month since the last entry. Busy month! It seems like this is a popular month for birthdays. What happens 9 months ago that makes us all decide to have babies at the same time?

Jacob turned 4 on Sunday. FOUR! He's such a great kid and a very good big brother. We had a birthday party on Saturday with his soccer team at the playground out here in Helena. It was a great time. The weather held out, thankfully, as it was suppose to rain. We were missing a few key relatives, but are excited Laura completed her first 1/2 marathon in Nashville (mom was with her). Matt was at a wedding in MS. with Shelley. But they all came over Sunday night and we grilled out and opened Laura's present - a CARS Slip 'N Slide - Matt joined Jacob in the water! He won a few uncle points with that I believe!

On another note, as you may remember, We learned several months ago that Dylan has a milk protein allergy (dairy allergy). We learned the hard way when we gave him formula and ended up at the ER. Last week I took him to the Allgergist to see if he's outgrown it (think 1st bday cake, move from formula to milk, eat cheese & yogurt). Well, not only does he still have the dairy allergy, he also has an Egg allgery (both a 4 out of 4 on the scale) and a slight showing of Peanut (1 out of 4). So we are to keep all things dairy, egg and peanut related away. Guess what foods have these things in them? All of them! Ok, so it seems that way right now. But when a Goldfish is a "no-no" and he's on the prowl (crawling through the house) we have to make sure that the dear older brother hasn't left any snacks out. But! We'll get it figured out and hopefully when we retest at age 3 we'll learn they are all gone!

We hope everyone is doing well. Stay in touch!

Dinner with the grandparents

Went to dinner at Nina and Poppa's last night (Dad and Carol). Here is Jacob reinacting exactly what Carol was doing in dinner preparations....no really, exactly.

Twas the Day Before Easter

Easter is always a fun time of year. It's when the weather starts to warm up and we get to venture out of the shadows of our winter shelter and enjoy some fresh air....although I do remember it being frickin' freezing last year! In any case, we are taking it all in this year and enjoying the boys. Here are some photos from last weekend and today....

The Stricklands at the Calera UMC egg hunt!

The Easter Bunny came and visited us at the
BPUMC Easter Egg Hunt.

Playing in the backyard on Good Friday.
Enjoying the pretty weather.

Playing in the backyard on Good Friday.
Enjoying the pretty weather.

No really - we love Easter- really.
Can't you see it in our expressions?

A Super Busy Weekend

What a weekend. We accomplished a lot! Starting back on Thursday, Jacob started playing soccer. Dustin is the head coach - bless his sweet little heart. Their first practice went really well. Jacob asks to go play soccer every day now. Their first game is March 15 - check back then for updates because I am sure that will be worthy of an entry of it's own.

Friday night we took the boys Bowling for the first time. Well, Dylan just hung out with us :) But Jacob had a 6lb ball and loved it. Did you know they can turn on the bumpers for 1 person and they pop up when "player 2" has their turn and go back down for everyone else? What a great idea. That being the case, Jacob almost beat me!

Saturday I was sick with a bug, but Jacob and Dustin redid our walkway in the front yard. He can hardly move today. But they worked hard. I was up 'til 1am working on a clients site. Then today we went to church and then to the Zoo. Jacob always has a blast at the zoo.

So all is well in our world. Dylan is pulling up on tables and chairs. He hit 9 months old this weekend also. Getting so big too fast.

New Carpet

So after much homework and a lot of searching, we have got new carpet being installed in our house today. I have about 4 guys over here right now turning my house upside down. I know it's worth it in the long run, but my sofa cushions are in my bedroom, Dylans changing table is in the backroom and my china cabinet is in my kitchen (yes, the litle kitchen) and about a million other things are stacked on counters, closet shelves and fill one bathroom completely. One of them is singing out loud in Spanish - both of my kids are asleep (dylan on the floor in the backroom with me and Jacob on my bed). It's a pain - but it's going to feel like a new house when it's done!- It better anyway after all this. When you get ALL new carpet throughout the house - everything on the foor has got to go somewhere. We might as well be moving!

Play with Color

I continue to work on new tricks I can use on photographs. When the weather was nice this week, I took this picture of Dylan outside. Then I wanted to emphasize some of the colors ...War Eagle!

Dustin Turns 30...

Happy 30th Bday Dustin! Today Dustin enters the world of his 30's. I suprised him last weekend with a table of 6 at the Comedy Club to see Jon Reep (hilarious!). My mom, Matt, Shelley and Amanda joined us. But today is "the" day. His coworkers completely decorated his office with items every 30 year old needs: Depends Undergarments, Hemmoroid Cream, Old Spice, pictures of the AARP, wheelchairs and more. Happy Birthday Honey!