MORE ALLERGIES...

 I took Ryler to the Doctor this week to be re-tested for his Food Allergies, 

just to see if anything has improved in the past year.

Well, they decided to do testing for Environmental Allergies and said they would re-test for FOOD  in one month. At first I was a little annoyed, since I scheduled the appt for his Food Allergies and I would have to come back again in another month. But I decided it would be good, since he always comes inside with itchy, red eyes lately.

They pricked him on his back...60 different pricks, testing 60 environmental allergens.

He barely even flinched, the nurse couldn't believe it...I just kept explaining to him what they were doing & he just kept saying "K" in the sweetest voice...

 He had to lay down on his stomach without moving for 20 minutes after the pokes!
 I thought this was going to be an IMPOSSIBLE task for my 2 year old, but he did SO WELL & the nurse couldn't believe how good he was being! The longer we waited...the redder the dots got...

 Many of the red marks started turning into welts(which indicates an allergy) & by the time the 20 minutes was up & our timer went off...Ryler was SOOOOO ITCHY & the nurse walked in and said "Wow...I have never seen a reaction like that" Instead of one large welt, he was getting little groups of small welts all clumped together...she said it was a really bad reaction:( He had some that were too big to even measure & several others that indicated an allergic reaction.

 As she was measuring, she realized how uncomfortable & itchy he was...so she decided to wash his back & put some cream on & then went back to measuring{So glad she did! I felt so bad for him!} This is after he was all washed up, measured and ready to go home...

When the Doctor came back in after all of the results were done, he said, "Well...what is he NOT allergic to? That is the question!" 

We are starting him on immuno-therapy drops. They basically put a super low dose of allergens in these drops & slowly over time, you give him drops that are more and more concentrated & the hope is over time he will build an immunity to his allergies. It is worth a shot & I was really impressed with this Doctor...it was my 1st time seeing him, but I'm glad I did & I am looking forward to seeing some results. Ryler will have runny noses for months at a time & I always linked it to his dairy allergies, when it is very likely that wasn't even causing it. We can hopefully avoid childhood asthma if we can get them under control now as well!

In a month, I will have his food allergy results & I'm HOPING that they are MUCH BETTER than these results were!!! This kid needs a BREAK!!!

Just for the record: 

5 mm-Moderate

7mm-High

9mm-Very High

11mm-Extremely High

Grass-13+

Russian Thistle-13

Olive Tree-13

Birch Mix-5

Bayberry/Wax-13

Dandelion-13

Russian Olive-13

Maple-13

Sycamore-13

White poplar-13

Firebush/Kochia-13

Cocklebur-13

Horse Epithelia-13

Ash Mix-13

Mesquite-5

Bahia Grass-7

Pigweed Mix-7

Nettle-4

Sage Mix-11

Corn Cultivated-9

Pepper Tree-4

Candida Albicans-4

Alfalfa-4

Acacia-9

Black Willow-4

Ragweed Mix-4

Dock-Sorrel Mix-7

English Plantain-4

Mountain Ceder-4

Pine Mix-7

Hackberry - 11

Easter Oak Mix-13+

Sweet Gum-13+

He did have ZEROS on 27 of the others, but with all of the high numbers he had on the rest, that isn't saying much! 


I am really hoping the DROPS help!!! Has anyone had good results with the immuno therapy?? 

Fiddler on the Roof

Date Night this week = Fiddler on the Roof @ Gammage

*We will never turn away on offer at FREE TICKETS, so off we went!

Honestly that play is slightly boring.
I could have left at intermission & went to get Frozen Yogurt & I could have been happy:)

But we stayed...and since we rarely get to just sit & hold hands for hours, I loved having a night out with my hubby!!!

14 weeks to go!!

We've had lots of "BABY" talk going on around our house lately. 

 Ryler-2 months

Parker-3 months

Parker has the funniest concerns & will randomly say things like,

"Mom...when the baby comes, where will he sit at church?"

or

"Where is the baby going to be in the car, there is no spot for him"

or

"Mom, if the baby goes potty, he will fall in the toilet because he is too little"

or

"How can the baby eat dinner with us if he has no teeth?"

Both Ryler & Parker felt the baby KICK for the 1st time this week & their  little eyes lit up with excitement. It is the cutest thing in the world. Last night, Ryler came and laid next to me on the couch, lifted up my shirt a little & just put his hand on my tummy, while continuing to watch TV. It was so sweet. They already love their little brother so much & Parker has FINALLY stopped trying to convince us to name him DOTTIE...thankfully;) He is now convinced that no matter what we name him, he is calling him Bubba!

I feel incredibly good. Most people think I'm crazy, but I REALLY ENJOY being pregnant. 

I love feeling this little boy growing inside of me & his kicks are the greatest reassurance to me that he is growing healthy and strong. Everything has been going well this pregnancy & hopefully it continues that way. I feel blessed to be feeling so good & can't believe I will be holding a sweet new baby in my arms in just a few short months!

Family Fun

Did you know that if you take a CUBS SPRING TRAINING TICKET to 

Chik-fil-a(during Spring Training),

they will give you a FREE Chick-fil-a Sandwich OR 8 piece nuggets?

Well...we decided to cash in on some tickets my dad had & went out to dinner as a family for FREE!

After a deliciously {FREE} meal, we decided to splurge & went to Dairy Queen for some Dilly Bars...

Sunday Smiles

I love my boys more than ANYTHING!

Sundays are not always full of smiles(due to church being smack in the middle of nap time), 

so when there are plenty to be found...it makes for a GREAT DAY!!!

Pnemonia + Scorpion Stings= One Sad Parker

I've been looking forward to Spring Break for awhile now!
My boys & I were needing a break from Preschool & were looking forward to doing whatever we wanted!

Matt started a new schedule recently & he is home on Wednesdays & Thursdays, so I was looking forward to taking the boys camping for a couple of days with all of our cousins!

I was even thinking about potty training Ryler, since he would have 100% of my focus!

Well..our Spring Break didn't turn out to be much of a break at all...

It started out with a LATE NIGHT URGENT CARE visit Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Parker had pnemonia & after picking up ANTIBIOTICS, we settled in for the next several days.

We were stuck at home, avoiding spreading our germs & it was SO SAD to see Parker sick:(

Thursday, both my boys were doing really well, so we decided to go "Camping" for the day! It turned out to be a SUCCESS & was our one FUN DAY we enjoyed during Spring Break! I just wish Matt didn't have to work, so he could've came with us!

Friday, my brother Matt started demolishing/painting a bathroom at my parent's house & we spent the entire day/night working on the bathroom. I like that kind of work, but I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the night & so were my boys. 

We were just about to leave my parent's house...Friday night about 9pm & Parker started screaming at the front door. We thought maybe he tripped & fell, so we were checking his legs. He said BOTH LEGS HURT & he was crying like I have never heard him cry. Minutes passed & deciding he must have broken a leg, I scooped him up in my arms & when I lifted him up...my mom saw one of these guys underneath where he was...

yuck!

Poor boy! We decided he must have stepped on it & immediately collapsed in pain...where it continued stinging him SEVERAL TIMES on both his feet/legs, while we were trying to figure out what was wrong with him! While scorpions are common at my parent's, we haven't seen a scorpion all winter long, so it wasn't our first thought.

I knew he was going to be in a LOT OF PAIN, but I figured he was so tired that he would probably crash when we got home. 3 hours later, he was still crying in pain & it wasn't letting up. 

He started twitching & acted like a fish out of water...just restlessly moving back and forth & back and forth. I took him for a drive, hoping it would help him fall asleep & it seemed to make it worse. Around midnight, I decided to call Banner Poison Control & they asked if his eyes were twitching. I couldn't tell, since he had been crying for hours straight, but I knew he was having muscle spasms, which was there next question. They suggested I take him to the ER & I decided to go in, hoping they could at least give him a stronger pain killer that would help him sleep!

Taking a CRYING CHILD to the ER is the way to get in quickly! I think everyone was tired of hearing him, because we got in right away, while there was a LOT of people in the waiting room! They came in quickly and checked his eyes, which were GOING CRAZY! It was kind of scary to see. They put us in a room, gave him Benadryl to see if it would help, before resorting to an Anti-Venom. 

Around 2am, he started to relax a little & closed his eyes, but his body kept jerking. They decided that since it has been almost 6 hrs since the sting, that he would probably do better the rest of the night & we headed home. 

We got home & unfortunately still spent the next 4 hours in tears, without much relief. The poor boy's body just could NOT RELAX & let him sleep! I think he got quite a bit of venom in him, because you could tell he didn't have control over his muscle spasms.  Around 6:30am, he finally crashed & we both slept pretty well(he would still wake up if his body jerked or legs got bumped) until 9am when Ryler woke us up. I'm just glad Ry slept in!

Saturday was pretty uneventful, we all spent the day in EXHAUSTION! Parker fell asleep about 1pm, so I was excited to put Ryler down for a nap, but of course chose that day to FIGHT IT & would never go to sleep:( We met up with cousins at the park that night for Pizza for a little bit...we had FUN getting out & the boys had a blast playing & we all came home and were asleep by 8:30pm...including ME!

Well...despite not getting much of a "BREAK", I'm so grateful that we are all healthy & doing well again! Those 2 LATE NIGHTS with Parker were a couple of the hardest I've endured as a mother. There is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain & not being able to do anything to help. I'm so glad he is okay now & hope that we can steer clear of Doctors for awhile now!:)

Spring Break Camping

Every year, our family goes camping over Spring Break. 

Well...after last year's camp out included 

LOSING PARKER

A SLEEPLESS NIGHT

GETTING MY MOM'S TAHOE STUCK

RED ANT BITES

RAIN WHILE PACKING

LOTS OF TEARS

...and MORE

I decided I was NOT going overnight again by myself!

Matt was working, so I was NOT going to stay overnight with my 2 boys, while pregnant...

but knew it would be fun to go up and spend the day!

As soon as we got there, we looked at my mom's tire & it looked like this:(

Oh no! We hoped it wasn't a sign of what was to come!

Luckily, it wasn't & the rest of the day was a BLAST!

After a FUN day of playing hard...this boy curled up on some rocks for a little nap. 

Haha I was cracking up, because it did NOT look comfortable! But that shows how much fun he had!

I'm so glad we got to spend the day with cousins, horses, quads & beautiful weather! 

Swimming in March!?

The boys decided it was time to break out the kiddie pool!!!

They were in HEAVEN!

The next day, they invited some neighbor kids to join the fun!:)

While they were playing, the SPRINKLERS came on...adding to the fun!

I think this is what we will be doing every day until October!!!

Swim Lessons in Mesa!

My AMAZING friend Raquel is teaching Swim Lessons this summer & you should DEFINITELY sign your children up! Find some cousins/neigbors/friends that are your children's ages & sign them up for a Small Group Lesson! It is a great deal & you can do it for 1 week or 2 weeks at at time! Check out her flyer or call her for more information!

Summer Buzz

 Since the nasty case of pnemonia came around, we haven't left the house!

I was going completely STIR CRAZY!

Today both boys seemed to be doing REALLY WELL. 

No signs of sickness, except a small lingering cough that makes me still want to avoid having them around other CHILDREN...but I decided we need to get out!

We ventured as far as MY MOM'S HOUSE...

the boys were in heaven. 

They rode their bikes,

played in the sandbox, 

blew bubbles,

dug holes in the dirt,

ate an entire basket of strawberries, 

topped off with an ice cream cone, 

& then played barber shop...

I knew the day would come when one of my children figured out that scissors can cut ANYTHING...including HAIR, but I was REALLY REALLY hoping it never would.

Ryler got a "Summer Buzz" before getting into the bathtub tonight.

Right now is one of the moments I am glad I have BOYS. Because if it was a little girl's long locks being cut to the scalp, I'm SURE I would have reacted much differently!;)

*and in case you were wondering...

Parker was the BARBER

Pnemonia

the last 48 hours have been rough...

Saturday Parker had a cough & then a fever & then it got worse, 

to the point that I almost called 911 because at one point he was not responding to me & his eyes rolled to the back of his head. 

Scariest moment of my life. 

I tried giving him some Tylenol & he immediately threw it up...

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with him in this condition, 

so off to Goodnight Peds we went...around 10:30pm??

1 chest x-ray later, the dr discovered pnemonia and had me give him a breathing treatment...

and we left with a prescription for some antibiotics to treat it.

WHAT? He just had a cough!?

I feel lucky we caught it early & he can hopefully be 100% soon, because I know so many people that have been so sick with pnemonia or bronchitis or RSV!

We have been doing a LOT of this lately...

mostly because we have NOT GOT ENOUGH OF IT the last couple nights.

He is doing MUCH BETTER today & his energy seems to have returned, so I'm hopefully he will be fully recovered soon!

Now...I'm watching Ryler's cough closely,
that started this morning:(

Happy Spring Break to Us!!!

Boys Day Out

Matt took Parker out for a Daddy/Son play date
& went to see a Chicago Cubs Spring Training Game...

I'm glad they were able to have a fun day out together!!!

Outdoors

The weather has been absolutely PERFECT lately to play outside & we have been doing a LOT of just that!!!

Parker @ 4 & Ryler @ 2

I got this off my friend's blog & wanted to record some fun things about Parker & Ryler at their different stages in their lives right now! Parker's answers are his own & I wrote Ryler's.

What is your name? Parker 
How old are you? 4
What is you favorite color? White
What is your favorite show?  Diego Go
Favorite Toy? Woody Car
Favorite things to do? Hug Mommy
Best Friends? Ashley
What are you most excited about?  Preschool
What scares you? Monsters
What makes you happy? Mommy
What is your favorite thing to eat? Fruit
What is gross to eat? Tacos
Where do you like to go? McDonalds
What is your favorite thing about church? Going to Primary because I love it
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
What do you like to do with daddy? Play with him
What do you like to do with mommy? Play outside with her
What is your favorite sport? Baseball
What do you want to name your little brother?  How about Dotty?
What color are your eyes? Brown
What is your favorite thing about preschool? Drawing & Coloring & Singing

Ryler-Age 2
What is your favorite color? Yellow...he gets so excited when he sees something yellow:)
What is your favorite show?  Sadly he has zero interest in TV
What color are your eyes? Grayish/Goldish/Brown?? We aren't sure what color they are?
Favorite Toy? flashlights or anything that lights up
Favorite things to do? Ride his bike, play at the park, paint
Best Friends? He plays well with everyone, but prefers to play alone. He LOVES to play with his big brother!
What are you most excited about?  He gets excited about anything with treats involved & loves to take baths!
What scares you? I can't think of anything that scares him???
What makes you happy? He LOVES to be tickled & will laugh & laugh and laugh
What is your favorite thing to eat? He eats just about everything I put in front of him. Lately he is obsessed with blueberries, orange slices & olives
What is gross to eat? No milk/dairy for Ry---still allergic
Where do you like to go? Grandma & Grandpa's house!
What is the best thing about being 2? He can get away with ANYTHING if he just smiles at me:)

Scott Willis

A beautiful new nephew for me to love & adore!!!

My brother Jeff & his wife Liz had a beautiful baby BOY this week & named him 

Scott Willis Brinton