HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!!!

It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since Maggie and William were born! I'll reflect more on our first year later, but wanted to give a special shout out to my ONE year olds! Daddy got up and made blueberry birthday muffins for us this morning, which we decorated with a candle. They didn't quite know what to think about the candle/singing and truly were only interested in eating the muffins :)

Kissing Babies

Date Night :)

Brandon and I had a very fun date last night! For our anniversary (back in March) we bought tickets to the Jack Johnson concert at Lakewood Amphitheatre. What a great concert! We got tickets on the lawn so we could sit, lay down or dance as we wished. The weather was perfect and the music was awesome! What a treat to get out of the house with just my sweet husband!

Wall Art

I'm not sure it would be considered "art" but William finally has his name above his crib. I've been going back and forth about what I wanted to do. Maggie and Jackson both have wooden letters in their rooms (well, Mags aren't on her wall yet...it's only been 6 months since I bought them!!), but I couldn't find any letters for William's room that I liked. I compromised and decided to paint his name on canvas. It didn't turn out exactly how I planned, but I think it's pretty good for my first time painting!

Go Mets!

Jackson's first baseball practice was last night. He was so excited! Brandon and I practiced some questionable parenting and let him go even though he'd had a fever earlier in the day. He used his own bat and didn't get too close to the other boys, so I think we're pretty safe as far as spreading any germs goes. They practiced hitting in four different stations...the batting cage was my favorite to watch. One of the coaches pitched to each boy 10-15 times and gave them pointers on stance, how to hold the bat, swing, etc. It was nice to hear the coach compliment Jackson on his swing/contact with ball. We have practice again on Saturday...the boys will spend 45 minutes on the field and 45 minutes in the cage. I'm interested to see how he is on the field, since we've really practiced more on hitting that catching the ball. The fun has begun!

If you need to find the Norris family from now through October, you'll need to check the baseball/softball fields! We'll be at one or the other 3-4 nights a week for the next several months (oh my!). Between Jackson's baseball practice/games and Brandon's softball games we're gonna be BUSY :)

Jackson's team is the Mets and his first practice is Monday night so we drove by the ballpark last night to show him the fields. He got so excited and kept asking where baseball team was.

Brandon and Jackson will have the same jersey number...22.

Peanut Allergy

If you remember last week I wrote that William had some sort of allergic reaction that necessitated him being tested for common allergies. We thought that the test may come back to show an allergy to egg. Imagine my surprise to find out that he isn't allergic to eggs, but has a peanut allergy. The allergy is mild and we'll test him again at ages 2 & 3 and hopefully we'll find that he's outgrown the allergy.

After doing some research last night, I'm overwhelmed by all the products that do/could contain peanuts/peanut products...it's almost everything! If anyone has been through this with a child, I'd love some advice and guidance on how to change our lifestyle to accommodate this allergy. How do you keep your kids safe? Do you have an epi pen? I need a recipe for cupcakes...or to know what bakery to order from that doesn't use any peanut products. I know that ice cream is off-limits now, but what about frozen yogurt? Is Chick-Fil-A now a thing of the past (they cook in peanut oil)? Are there any "must have" books that I should get? I've found about 6 websites last night, but are there some that have better info than others? I'm completely overwhelmed and need practical guidance.

Anyone that wants to join us in praying that William will outgrow this allergy is much appreciated.

Thanks