Zoo & Ben

I know Brianna is lately often my topic because of her allergies and all of her Dr. appointments and such, but we really do a lot with Benjamin as well, I promise!
We have some fun projects planned for him for the summer...
We are sending coloring pages of states off to his friends in that state, and when they come back he learns about the state (a little bit, nothing too major) and we are putting them all in a book for him.
Project #2 is Animals! Think science.
This past weekend we went to the Wahpeton zoo and I helped Benjamin take some pictures of his favorite animals. When slow mommy gets them printed off, we will learn a little bit about each animal (where they are from, their natural habitat, what they eat, etc.)
So here are some pictures from this past weekend of Benjamin and his favorite animals!

Rib Fest, Fargo

We had so much fun at ribfest this year. I had never actually went before, so it was a little surprise for me, I didn't know what to expect.

I was very impressed with the activities for the kids. Oh and also the food was GREAT! Can't wait until next year so we can go again!

See some proof of the fun!

Ok well maybe not for Brianna, she was a little too small for everything and had to stay in her stroller in the cold weather.....BUT I think she liked being outside :)

Brianna's 1st dermatology appt

We saw the dermatologist finally today. The final diagnosis for her skin rash (es) is eczema with flare-ups...and the crusty stuff that sometimes happens during and after these flare-ups? staph infection. That thought just grosses me out. But apparently, unless we get the eczema under control, it can't really be prevented.
He perscribed her a new ointment for the flare-ups as well as an antibiotic to use when it gets infected. I'm not excited about adding another two medications to the list of them she has been on in her short little lifetime, but if it helps her to be more comfortable, I guess for now that is what matters most.
We also talked about the sunscreen allergy and he recommended using vanicream 60 sunscreen...i sure hope we can find this someplace local. She has Blue Lizard sensitive sunscreen how and after spending hundreds of dollars on sunscreen, this does not make her break out, so hopefully we can at least continue using it until we need to buy more.
Another thing I didn't know was that the sunscreen allergy is not from sunscreen itself but from the chemicals when they mix with the sun, he said some studies have shown that the chemicals in these can actually be absorbed into the body and can have a toxic effect (not one that could harm anyone, but still...yikes.) and I even googled it- there are plenty of articles that back this up, check it out.

Ok sorry for the boring blog, but it is important. Brianna has went through a lot with all of the rashes she has had. I guess next will be allergy testing....*sigh* another thing we are NOT looking forward to!

oatmeal banana muffins

These are great, just made some and they are probably the best muffins I have made yet.
I used the base recipe from oatmeal muffins on allrecipies.com

Banana Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup milk
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 egg
1/4 cup oil (or substitute applesauce for healthier version-still tastes great I promise!)
1 1/4 cup flour (we use half whole wheat, half all purpose)
1/4 cup white sugar + 3/4 cup brown sugar (you can also use 1 cup honey as sub for this)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 mashed bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Spray muffin tins well or spray paper liners (otherwise they don't peel off very nicely) and fill 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
*The toothpick test doesn't work well for these, due to the banana they are moist, but done for sure by 30 minutes. I baked to 30 minutes and actually think that was too long, next time I will go with the 25.