Mom can eat CHEESE...

.... and yogurt, and sour cream, and ...OK maybe not all at once yet, but here's the deal:
I tried giving Cole a little yogurt, and he did fine. Now the Dr. said that he would probably do fine with yogurt first (something to do with the cultures/things being broken down - not sure - haven't had time to research it for myself) and not to give him a big glass of milk or anything yet. So I bought some Yo-Baby, and we went for it. I'll admit I was scared. You would be too if you were around for the kid's first 6 weeks of life - during which he was an inconsolable screamer. First try was only a couple of spoonsful, and he LOVED it! AND he didn't have any problems afterward. YAYYYY. So, yesterday he had a few more spoonsful (did fine), and this morning the kid ate almost a whole 6 oz yogurt! Anyhow, for those of you who have mentioned that I'm some sort of hero for not partaking in any dairy or soy for the last - hmmm - 8 1/2 months - I'm not. I secretly counted the weeks until he would be 6 months old, so I could try reintroducing dairy/soy then almost cried when he reacted again. Then the Dr. said to wait a while longer... so patiently I waited - adding to my long list of foods that I couldn't wait to have again...

So here we are: I will now be having a baked potato with REAL butter, sour cream AND cheese, ice cream, yogurt, a quesadilla, pizza, ravioli, lasagna, mac and cheese, a Greek salad with real feta cheese, real crumbled blue cheese on my salad or burger, spinach pie, real sandwiches (cheese steaks, ham WITH the cheese, Italian cold cut WITH good the cheese..), real mashed potatoes... did I mention real butter? Oh and just in time for strawberry season I'll be able to have them with some whipped cream. Of course I will do all of this in moderation so as not to increase my size, but I will enjoy every bite in a way that I'm not sure I have in the past. I just read through what I've written so far, and I know I do sound a little excited.. can't help it. But make no mistake. There will be NO milk drinking for me. I can't stand the stuff. I just like all of the things made from it. So yay me...

About the rest of the family:
We went over to the Ongoy house last night for the Pacquiao fight. The kids came along and stayed up WAY too late, but it was fun. Samuel had a blast playing with Sharon's cousin's kids Dominique & Jeremy, and Cole spent lots of time staring at the tiny babies. It was baby ville - Cole (9 months), Riley (3 months), Gabriella (2 months), Allison (2 months), and Henry (1 month). The Moms and babies spent time in the living room nursing and talking while the rest of the party waited for the fight to start - seriously - I had no idea it took that long for the main event to start. I finally felt bad for Cole and put him upstairs so he could go to sleep. It's so fun to be near friends in the same stage of life. I look forward to having our own place, so we can host some of the get togethers. The kids were knocked out when we left, but we did get rewarded this am. Cole slept until 8:30, and Sam slept until 11 am. Needless to say we're just hanging today.

Samuel is very proud of the fact that he can "pee standing up" now and is fascinated with the little bug tool he got in a kids meal at Chick fil A (magnifying glass, tweezers, & tiny scoop). He is currently lying on the couch watching the tube in his jammies.

Cole had his 9 month Dr. visit last week. 20 lb and 29 1/4" long. He's doing great. He wanted to try a lemon the other night and made the funniest faces but kept right on eating it. I wish the camera had been handy!

So that's the latest with us. Beginning to consider where we'll look for a house, how much we need to save for a car (the Maxima is 9 years old this year, and we've pretty much outgrown it), and trying to find a way to get ourselves to the beach - even for just a weekend this Summer. Samuel has yet to see the ocean, and we really want to take him. It will all come in time. For now we are incredibly blessed.