Well we finally got to see the pediatrician for Nathaniel's rice allergy. She said that since he hasn't reacted to any other pre-mixed cereal, it isn't an allergy to dairy or some obscure additive. It's simply a very strange allergy to rice, which is supposed to be hypo-allergenic. We were told, no mixed cereals, which all have rice in them, until he is 10 months old. Then we can try a little bit and see if he still reacts. If not, then we can give him some mushy rice when he's a year old, again just a little and see if he reacts. Thankfully we are able to go back to her if he reacts to anything else or there are other concerns about allergies; we don't have to get a referral first. Other than that, he's doing wonderfully. He's sitting on his own, although he doesn't stay there very long; and he's almost crawling. I thought he would be by now, but he seems to love the soldier crawl (on his belly, dragging his legs). He's all over the place now and Arianna loves playing with him.

Anyway, there's a quick update.

Oh and I'm so excited, our tulips are blooming!! Spring is here!

I can't believe it's been exactly a month since I wrote a blog.  That's terrible.  Things here are so crazy, though.

Arianna is now almost 3 years old.  We started potty training her in November and we're not any closer than we were back then.  It's taking forever!  She has also decided that it's time for tantrums and boy is that fun.  It isn't all bad, though.  She's starting to have imaginary friends and it's so funny watching and listening to her play with them.  She has such an imagination, always pretending to be all sorts of things and, of course, Mommy has to play along.

Nathaniel is growing like a weed.  At his 6-month (Yup, he's 6 months old already!) check-up he weighed in at 16lbs and he's 27" long.  He's nursing really well, no more problems there.  Yay!  But we do have problems elsewhere.  He has an allergy to rice cereal, of all things.  His face gets all red and blotchy, with little white bumps like hives.  The worst reaction even went down his neck.  Right now we are waiting to see a pediatrician and we watch him like crazy after every meal.  This allergy didn't surface until at least a week on the rice cereal.  So far, he hasn't reacted to oatmeal cereal, which is the only other thing he's eaten at this point.  We'll have to see what the pediatrician says.  He's rolling all over the place and can get himself where he wants to go in a combination roll/pull forward motion.  It's fun to watch him; although now we have to work extra hard to keep Arianna's small toys away from him.

I'm keeping busy with these two and church activities as well as my Close To My Heart business.  Our house is buzzing!  It's great even though it can be tiring sometimes.  I do miss everyone here and I wish I had more time to spend on Minti.  I still think about all my friends here, even if I'm not on to leave you notes in your lounges.

Sending hugs to everyone!