Peanut's peanut allergy

So I had the weirdest/craziest afternoon...

When Nolan woke up from his nap, it was time to eat lunch. Nolan got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apples and Gatorade. He took one bite of the sandwich and spit it out of his mouth and rubbed it across his face. I could tell that he didn't really want it so he got spaghettios instead. Once lunch was done, and I'd washed his face, he started to get a rash around his mouth and nose. After about 5 minutes, the rash started to develop small white dots. It kind of freaked me out so I called his pediatrician, who told me to give him benadryl and come right down. So I gave Nolan his medicine and took off in the car. By the time we got there, it had been about 20 minutes since the benadryl was given, so the rash didn't look quite as bad. When the doctor looked at it, he said that Nolan probably had an allergic reaction to the peanut butter, which is really weird since I have given it to him before without any problems. He told me to hold off on the peanut butter until he was about 18 months and then to try again with a small sample of it. He also said that the allergic reaction was really different than the ones that they usually see. Nolan had no problem breathing and wasn't acting any different than before- he just had a rash.

So I just wanted to let anyone who might be in contact with him or see him in the next six months to know that Nolan can't have any peanut butter. Weird huh?

Home Canning

I just wanted to let you know that I am becoming my mother! I made Don take me to a farmers market last week to get some tomatoes to can. He hated it! But he did it because he loves me and he wanted to make a point that I wouldn't actually use the tomatoes. Boy, did I prove him wrong!

After many trips to many stores over many days (6 trips to 5 stores over 3 days), I finally gathered up the supplies needed to can. I spent two full days canning tomatoes and am quite proud of my accomplishments. I know that they are not much (especially when I think about how much my mom made us help her can when we were younger) but I did them by myself! All in all, I made 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes, 7 quarts and 3 pints of spaghetti sauce, and 4 pints of salsa. My next goal is to get some apples and can applesauce and apple pie filling. Wish me luck!

Signs of Fall

All the signs are here: chill in the morning air, sun setting earlier, and the changing of the leaves. It's officially Fall in the South! I thought the change of seasons would be more obvious... but I'll take what I can get. I guess that it doesn't help that we live in a new subdivision where there are very few trees to lose their leaves... but the Fall was most definitely present in Arkansas where we went last weekend.

Driving for 5 1/2 hours there and 5 1/2 hours back is not my idea of a good time (esp while pregnant!), but it was well worth the time! When we arrived there Friday, Don took the boys outside to play with the soccer balls and Frisbee. Watching the boys run around, though the leaves, reminded me of the silly times of my childhood and how much I loved just being outside. The boys were so silly... chasing and playing and tackling! It was almost like wrestle mania in the backyard. While Nolan wasn't really into it, Dylan and Brennan loved to jump and tumble all over Don and he just took it!

Nolan doing his own thing with the leaves and ball.

Dylan sure loves his daddy!

I love this picture- Nolan looks like a little prairie dog just popping his head up to see if it's safe to get off!

Saturday was the dreariest morning I've seen in quite some time. When we woke up, it was pouring!!! The rain made for such a sad state in the house because the "Fall Festival" we were planning on going to was shut down because of the rain. So who do we turn to in our time of need? PAPA!! Papa called around to see if there were any pumpkin patches open to take the boys to get a pumpkin and get out of the house. Lucky for us, there was one! When we arrived there, the parking area was completely empty- we had the entire place to ourselves. We went on the hayride (which the boys loved, all except the smell) and when we returned, people had decided to show up. Good thing that we didn't have to wait in line for anything. The boys loved the petting zoo- Dylan was crazy about the goats (all except the Billy Goat Gruff, who butted his hand when he ran out of food), Nolan was fascinated with being able to walk around and just touch the lamb and tiny goats, and Brennan was so proud that he could read each of the animals names (which coincided with a nursery rhyme) and say the rhyme! I would have to say that the highlight of our trip to the pumpkin patch was the pig races. Watching 6 piggies run through the mud around and over post was so fun! The boys laughed and laughed! At the end of the afternoon, the boys got to pick a small pumpkin out of a real pumpkin patch to take home. The constant question since the moment the pumpkins hit the trunk of our car is "Can I color my pumpkin now? Tonight? When?"

Brennan and Dylan actually stopped running around to let me take the picture- they're not looking at me because they are checking out the petting zoo.

Nolan wanted to get into the pens to play with the chickens- he actually kept biting the metal bars (trying to gnaw his way in perhaps?).

Notice that Nolan isn't at all scared of the animals, but Dylan was leery at first (he's clinging to Papa).
Brennan feeding the "Butting Billy Goat Gruff".

Isn't our family cute? and don't I look so preggers? (only 3 1/2 months to go)

Brennan is such an observant child. He noticed this little lizard while waiting for the pig races to start. I caught it and we names her "Lizzy the Lizard". Brennan wanted to keep her- Dad said no.

Nolan was such a crazy child- all he wanted to do was walk around the farm and pumpkins. He didn't cry when he fell or stumbled. He just got back up and kept going. Thank heavens Papa and Don were there to keep up with him.

All signs are pointing to a good Fall for the Borcherts!

Our House

Since we've moved in, I've tried (quite unsuccessfully) to get some half decent pictures of the house to post for those who haven't seen it/can't get out here to see it. Between unpacking, new school/neighborhood, and kids, the house hasn't really looked up to par... that being said, I finally took some pictures of the rooms that I thought actually looked clean and mostly decorated.

This is Nolan's/the new baby's Room (isn't Nolan a riot sitting in his chair...he's watching Baby Beethoven):

This is our guest room (aka Tammy's Room):

This is our Breakfast Room:

This is my favorite room, the Kitchen:

This is our "Formal Living Room" though it is just another Family Room:

This is the Dining Room/Entry Way with doors that lead into my scrapbook room (more pictures of that to follow... I have to get Don to hang up some pictures):

Here is another view from the Living room into the kitchen/breakfast room:

And the view from the Breakfast room through the living room into the entryway:

I still need to get some pictures of the Master Bedroom, Family Room, and my Scrapbook Room, so they will (hopefully) follow shortly!

Brennan's Nature Program

Over the past couple of weeks, Brennan has been coming home from school singing these crazy songs about bug and butterflies. I knew that he had a program coming up, but some of the songs were just crazy! It's always interesting listening to children make up the words to songs when they don't actually know them...Anyway, his program was this past Thursday. Tammy was kind enough to stay at home with the babies and I took Kayden and Brennan to the school. I always find it interesting how different children are at home as compared to school. Brennan is so chatty at home and rarely listens the first time I say anything, but at school, he does what he is supposed to do when it's supposed to be done. It was kind of scary! I was also a little apprehensive about taking Kayden, but he was an absolute angel the entire time!

The 1st grade program was "A walk through Nature" and included songs about wind, leaves, rain, bugs, butterfly and glowworms. All of the children had on these crazy bug antennas (in case you were wondering what was on Brennan's head). Brennan was so cute- he jumped up and down and waved when he found where we were sitting. The songs and poems were adorable- overall, it was a very good program!

Scrapbook Pages

With Tammy coming to visit, she reinvigorated my desire to scrapbook-(Thank you Tammy!). The zoo page we did together after our wonderful day at the zoo. I was feeling lonely last night and instead of feeling bad for myself about being alone, I decided to scrapbook and talk to myself. Crazy, I know, but that's when I get the creative bug.... So what do you think?

Tammy's Visit

I am so happy that Tammy came to visit us in Nashville! We had lots of fun- watching the kids play together, going to Chuck-E-Cheese's, going to the Grand Ole Opry, going to the Zoo, at Brennan's school program, scrapbooking, and just hanging out.

It was amazing how well the kids really played together. Carlee and Nolan chased each other around the house and were constantly talking to each other in baby gibberish. In fact, when we got back from dropping them off at the airport this morning, Nolan ran around the house carrying a toy and looking for Carlee to play with. When he couldn't find her, he went into the guest room and cried- how sad for him!! They were constant companions and partners in crime- here's a picture of them sitting on the bottom shelf of my sofa table- right where they are not supposed to be!

They even played well in the tub- that is, until Carlee tried to drown him by dumping water all down his face. Even then, Nolan just laughed. I think he's got a crush on her!

Brennan and Kayden were just as buddy-buddy. Everyday Kayden would ask when Brennan was going to be home from school so they could play outside on the swing set together. Kayden wanted to do whatever Brennan was doing and Brennan wanted to eat whatever Kayden was eating. Kayden even wanted to go see Brennan perform in his class program- and he was so good during the entire thing! They were such characters this week.