KC Weekend

This weekend we had an awesome weekend in Kansas City.  On Saturday morning, we took the new Arrowhead stadium tour.  Chris has been waiting 20 years to be able to set foot on Arrowhead field!  We also got an awesome behind-the-scenes look at the Club suites, the Penthouse club, and even the locker rooms!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Chris vs. Willie Roaf

Hallowed ground.  Making sure the groundskeeper doesn't see that toe on the turf.

Kiss the ground

 

In the locker rooms.

Chris in Jamaal Charles' locker.

Chris all alone in the Chiefs locker room.

 

Chris just soaks it all in from the Penthouse suite.

 

Chris, BoomPa, and Ledger in the press box.

We met the rest of the family at Mi Ranchito for lunch. Our afternoon plans were to go to the KC Pumpkin Patch.  I was really disappointed that they charged a FULL admission price for any child older than 1 year old.  Isn't that ridiculous?!?  It was a really big area of playground equipment with a few "rides" that were appropriate for Ledger to play on.

This is a "jumping pillow" (like an air-filled trampoline).  Ledger couldn't really "jump" but he thought it was funny.

We let Ledger ride this little tractor-pulled "train" all by himself.  There were no seatbelts, so I was very nervous that he might try to stand up or get out of the barrel.  The tractor driver promised to watch him closely...

...but he did GREAT.  He sat down, held on with both hands, and rode around very calmly.

Quite the crew, eh?  I especially like the goat wearing sunglasses.

Ledger loves slides.

We really had a fun weekend.  We had the most fun just hanging out at home with Emily, Josh, BoomMa and BoomPa.  It's so nice to get together as a family.

Big Shoes to Fill

Whenever our shoes are laying around, our son manages to find them and put them on.  It's particularly funny when he's wearing Mommy's sparkly flip flops. :)

Allergy Update

Today, our son is 17 months old.  Wow.  Time flies.  :)

What a difference a year makes.

It's been a while since I've written a post about Ledger's food allergies... so I figure it's time for an update.  When Ledger was diagnosed with allergies in March, we thought it was the end of our regular routine.  But we managed to adapt and figure out foods that worked within our specific requirements -- no dairy, egg, soy, or corn.  As time has gone on, we have been a little more lax about a stringent diet.  Ledger is now allowed to eat a little bit of corn (like corn chips at a Mexican restaurant) and we don't concern ourselves with soybean oil anymore either.  Chris feels really strongly that EGG is the primary allergy culprit.  I feel very strongly that DAIRY is the bad guy.  So we've agreed to still try to avoid those bad guys.

Ledger is still drinking a very expensive hypoallergenic formula -- Similac Alimentum.  We have started buying the formula online from ebay and find that we can get it for 30% less than at the store, but that's still roughly $20 a week for milk.  Yuck.  We have previously tried to switch him to almond or rice milk, but he has flat refused them both.  But we haven't given up.  This week we started mixing rice milk in with his formula, and he's doing surprisingly well with that change.  Right now he's getting between 1/3 to 1/2 rice milk with the formula.  Every little bit saves us money and simplifies our life.  So that is definitely a positive change.

A Slow Weekend...

This weekend we had some great "down time" as a family.  We stayed close to home and just spent time together.  No major activities -- just togetherness. :)  I don't have any new pictures to post, so I'll just post a few pics of us hanging out. :)  The weather turned cool this week, so we have lots of pictures of Ledger in his footie pajamas (SO CUTE), jeans and long sleeves, and even a track suit. :)

Thanks to all of you who prayed for Pam during her knee replacement surgery.  She is doing AWESOME and is nearly a week ahead of where she was with her previous knee surgery.  We hope that she will continue to progress in her therapy, her comfort level, and her energy level.

Please keep praying for Jaime. She is traveling overseas in Asia and Malaysia (I think? I actually don't know her entire itinerary) recruiting students for her job with Pittsburgh State.  We know she arrived safely and can't wait to hear all about the awesome time she's having.  Let's hope that she manages to find some time to do some sight-seeing!

Ledger's New Tricks

Ledger is learning new things every day.  His vocabulary seems to grow by the minute! :)  Here are some of the newer things we're seeing Ledger doing now...

He gives fist BUMPS.

He gives head butts.  Well, really it's more of a head PRESS.

He especially likes pressing his head on the cat.

His newest trick is that he will give REAL kisses!

It is so sweet.

I am hoping to get some video of Ledger's newest words soon and will post it as soon as we get it!  Thanks for watching us grow.

Big City Weekend

Chris and I both took Friday off of work and left town late Thursday night to spend a weekend in KC with the Perkins'.  Driving in the evening worked out pretty well because Ledger got sleepy and fell asleep in the car.  For those of you who don't know, Ledger gets really giggly when he's sleepy.  I recorded this video of Daddy making Ledger laugh in the car on our way to KC...

We didn't have any plans for Friday, so we mostly just cruised around some of our favorite "big city" shops.  We met Emily for lunch and Ledger got to see where she works and meet some of her co-workers -- all of whom immediately recognized him from the multiple blog videos! :)  Ledger also showed off his fork skills during lunch at Fazoli's...

Friday night, we ate at Mi Ranchito -- our FAVORITE KC Mexican restaurant.  The espinaca dip is SO good.  (We tried to stay on our "Pound Plunge" diet -- really, we did!)

On Saturday morning, we had a Panera breakfast.  I LOVE their pumpkin muffins -- and so did Ledger! :)  Emily and Josh both had "stuff" to do on Saturday morning, so Chris and I took the opportunity to partake in the wonderful Olathe garage sales.  Seriously, they always have good stuff and it's usually pretty cheap.  (I know I'm pathetic, but I love a bargain -- and so does my husband.)  We bought a pair of Baby Gap jeans for 50 cents, a toy tank for 50 cents, a Lego-type play table for $5, and a Bissel carpet shampooer for $25.  I was most excited about finding a baby backpack carrier and getting it for half of what they had it marked as!  We had the opportunity to put it to good use that afternoon when we hit the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.  I haven't been to the Ren Fest since I was in high school and I had forgotten how immense the grounds are!  Seriously, it's really big.  I was excited to take Chris, because he'd never been to anything like this.  Ledger was enthralled with all of the new sights.  Emily and Josh went along, but honestly, they mostly went for the food -- turkey legs, cheesecake-on-a-stick, and fried pickles! :)  We got to see the parade and a big joust, but it started raining shortly afterwards so it cut our afternoon short.  Here are the pictures...

Carnivores!

My knight in shining armor...

The Michel family with the King and Queen of Canterbury.

Puss... in boots!

As if that wasn't enough fun for a big weekend... We went to a KC Chiefs game on Sunday!!  Chris and I are BIG Chiefs fans, so we were really excited to get to a game.  The Chiefs have been on a roll and were 2-0 going into the Sunday game against the San Francisco 49ers as a 3 point underdog.  We arrived early at Arrowhead stadium to enjoy the tailgating atmosphere.  After a game of washers and a bloody mary with our parking lot neighbors, we decided to head into the stadium early to get a look at some of the changes to the NEW Arrowhead remodel.  Chris really wanted to see the new Lamar Hunt statue and the Hall of Fame.  We got a little turned around though, so we actually did about two full laps around the stadium before we saw everything we wanted.  We made it to our nosebleed seats just in time for kick off.  And we were definitely in the nosebleeds -- 1 row from the top.  :)  But right on the 35 yard line -- we could see everything!  Ledger liked the noise and clapped along with the crowd.  He even tried to participate in the "FIRST DOWN" arm gesture, but couldn't quite nail the timing. ;)  By the middle of the 2nd quarter, he was worn out and fell asleep in aunt Emily's arms.  The Chiefs played a helluva game and crushed the 49ers.  Final score: Chiefs - 31, 49ers - 10.

Thanks to the Perkins' for an awesome weekend.  We had a great time!!  Hope we can do it again soon!

Big Kid Playground

This morning we woke up early and went on a walk to the local playground and one of the bigger playgrounds about a half mile away.  This gave Mommy, Daddy, and BoomPa a chance to get a little exercise, and it gave Ledger a chance to play on some fun equipment.  He has recently learned how to go down the "big boy" slide all by himself and today we experimented with the merry-go-round!

We had a really great time with BoomPa this weekend.  We are looking forward to another fun weekend with Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh next weekend.  We love you all!!