Allie Noel

This was Allie on August 10, 2010:

She had just finished her first appointment with a pediatric oncologist who examined her all over, took urine, blood, x-rays of her skull and lungs, and did a complete bone scan.  The month that followed included many repeat tests, a CT scan, and an ultrasound.  Doctors were hoping that all of these tests would confirm our "best case scenario", which was a diagnosis of LCH.  They were hoping against a diagnosis of neuroblastoma.  What they concluded was the ACTUAL best case scenario:  OUR ALLIE IS FINE!  This is Allie on August 10, 2011:

She is at Stormi's, in the process of stripping ALL of her clothes off, which is one of her favorite things to do at 18 months old!  In honor of my Allie, who defies the norm (both medically and in general), here are some pictures of things she's been up to this past year.  Enjoy!

He's growing up so fast!

Gotcha!

Here's the real 5-month photo:

He's rolling... he's eating rice cereal, oatmeal, and all his veggies... and he's trying to crawl!  So despite the lack of facial hair, he really is growing up so fast!

There's no Allie story/pictures this post, because I'm hoping to do a post completely dedicated to my precious middle child later this week...

As for Addie, a couple weeks ago she and I were eating lunch at Steve's Rib with my parents and I was talking to my mom about types of beer.  When I mentioned the Mexican beer, Modelo, my mom jokingly asked, "Like Nelson Modelo?"  Without skipping a beat, Addie said, "Grammy, it's Nelson MANDELA."  WHAT?!?!?!  Then she asked, "What town is he from again?"  Thinking this was some kind of crazy coincidence, I asked Addie if Nelson Mandela was young or old.  She proceeded to tell me that he was 93 years old.  Correct again!  (Which I only knew after googling it.)  Apparently Nelson Mandela had just celebrated his birthday the week before and they had talked about it at school.  Shout out to My Small Wonders!  Next topic, I asked Addie what she had done in swim lessons THAT MORNING, to which she replied, "Um, I can't remember."  :)