Delaney and Me

I do not like needles. I do not like hurting. I don't like pain at all. I refused to get an epidural for 3 births because I couldn't stand the thought of a needle in my back. I really really don't like getting poked. So it may come as a surprise that I was willing to get allergy tested this week. If you had seen me last month, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. I have been beyond miserable with allergies this year. I don't want more drugs. Not only do they not fix the problem, they give me more problems. And I can't live with such misery for 2 months every year.

So I went to the allergist and begged them to help me. I got poked 42 times in the pursuit of answers. I felt like a pincushion, although by the time I was getting really uncomfortable, she was all done.

This was my left arm. Yep, I reacted to almost everything.

This is the right arm. It is still red, itchy and slightly swollen today. Very allergic to a few things. So now I know I am highly allergic to all trees, most animals and some other things. I guess it would have been better if we moved to CA where nature is dead and barren. As for me, the next step looks like it will be allergy shots. And you know what? I am just desperate enough to suck it up and do it!

This cracks me up. Delaney likes to twist her hair around her finger when she sucks her thumb. This can lead to all kinds of icky things depending on what she's eaten, how well she's cleaned her face and all that. She also likes to tickle her nose with the end of her hair which makes a whole host of other problems when she has a cold. But I digress. The other night she fell asleep and her thumb popped out but her finger was stuck in her hair and it made me laugh.

It has rained all week long. ALL week long. Ug. It put a damper on some of my plans but Delaney didn't mind the rain at all. She loves puddles and had a lot of fun in this one, right outside the kitchen. She was so pleased with herself after jumping up and down in it. She was also wet and dirty. But look at that face!

Incoherent ramblings of a tired mind

Some of you may be like me and never had head lice as a kid. Some of you may be like me and never seen lice before. I have now become the louse expert. Let's just say "ICK!"

This, my friends, is a louse. It is a full grown louse. (Yeah, it made me throw up a little in my mouth too.) This is how I discovered my kid had lice. Thank you cousin Catherine for assisting me in solving the mystery of the creepy bug in Delaney's hair. If you are wondering, the school is NOT required to inform parents that there is a case or two or three of lice in your child's classroom. In case you want to know, vodka really does kill lice and nits, when combined with Thyme, Tee Tree and Rosemary essential oils. It may even kill the nasty critters on its own, since it just about suffocates the poor kid with alcohol fumes. Then wash all the bedding and throw all the pillows/stuffed animals in the dryer on hot-hot-hot for 30 minutes. This is what I have learned over the past 2 weeks! We are currently lice-free, in case you are worried.

This was the girls in the doctor's office last week. We saw the not-helpful nurse who said Callie did not have a UTI. Callie is still peeing every 5 minutes, so I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do about it now, since the nurse said there was nothing they could do and it would get better by itself. How long does one wait for it to improve? I know she went to the bathroom a minimum of 5 times during the 3 hour block of church today. Poor kid.

This is the lovely house we will be vacating next month. If you know anyone who is coming to the DC area and wants a fabulous neighborhood and a dumpy house, let us know! I hope a nice family with lots of kids moves in. We have such a great neighbor and they would love a 6 year old boy. Plus, it is an excellent location, has such a good school, and is affordable for this neighborhood. So I want it to go to someone like us!

I was shocked I didn't take pictures of Dan's parents while they were here. Next time I am going to make sure I get shots of them with the kids. They are wonderful in-laws and we don't see them enough. This is one of the 2 pictures I took of them.

Yep, the only shot of them with the kids. And it was at the last minute. Again, wonderful in-laws! And I am so lucky to have them.

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo this past week and I'm sorry. I'll try to have something better this upcoming week. Rylee is growing and looking different every day, so I need to get out the camera and show you.

Dandelion wishes

As we were walking to get the kids from school, Delaney was thrilled to find a dandelion. She stopped to pluck it and blew the fuzz away, as I kept walking with the stroller. Then she whispered her wish: I wish that Rylee and Mimi and Callie will be in or family forever... And Daddy and Joshy too.

Saturday is a Special Day!

This has been a crazy week. I'll sum it up in 2 words for you: lice, UTI (That may really be 3 words, but I'm calling it one!). I'm just going to leave it at that and move on to the fabulous day we had today! Today, Marian got baptized. She was adorable. She's been talking about it for weeks, and today was the day. What was really sweet was when she said how excited she was to be baptized, and then she said she would get baptized, even if Adrian wasn't getting baptized too.

We sort-of coordinated for the 2 of them to get to share their special day. Once we learned that Adrian was 8 and was waiting till he felt ready, we also waited till Dan was back from Europe and Dan's parents could fly out to be here for it. It worked out nicely and was a great day for them.

They were very excited to be getting baptized together.

The program was just the way I like it- short, sweet and meaningful. Then we headed home to change.

Delaney discovered an umbrella and did not want to com in. She wanted to play outside with her umbrella!

Rylee also decided she did not want to come inside. She wanted to drive!

We did manage to get everyone changed and then we headed off to Adrian's house for a BBQ.

Adrian has a great backyard and the kids spent all afternoon running around it. The play structure was a big hit and Rylee was thrilled to swing to her heart's content. Unfortunately, she had a major face-plant that resulted in a bloody mouth, and later she fell off the swing. Aside from that, she was in heaven!

Callie was a hoot. Wait, she's always a lot of fun!

Lunch was tasty, and Marian talked about my "world famous Potato Salad". I felt so important! I did not know it was "world famous"!

Despite Dan's dire warnings about the dangers of trampolines, the kids had a lot of fun on it.

Callie ran all over all afternoon. She should be asleep right now, but the kid is still going and going and going!

Oooh! A very rare Joshua sighting on camera! I let him bring his DS and he played half the time with it and half the time outside. It made us both happy.

The neighbor brought over a cup of ladybugs and let the children release them. They were fascinated.

The ladybugs were a very big hit.

As were the swings. Did I mention how much Rylee loves to swing?!

So, to sum up, it was a good day. Unfortunately, it is now over, and I took a long nap and woke up grumpy. Rylee took a late-late nap and will be up forever tonight. Delaney is so tired she can't stand herself, and everyone is going to bed late. Yay for happy endings!

Butterflies

I made the mistake of putting a playhut tent outside on the back porch. In my defense, it was a little on the odd smelling side, so I wanted to to air out. That happened several weeks ago and the playhut is still there. Now I can't bring it in the house because it is covered in pollen. I will have to clean it off first, so it may stay out there till we move! The kids have had more fun playing with it outside than they ever did inside. Most recently, they turned it upside down and dubbed it a butterfly house.

Several hapless moths ended up as guests in the "butterfly house" and they either escaped or died in there. The butterfly house is not very hospitable. The backyard was fairly nice for butterflies until Dan braved the jungle there and mowed it. Well, he mowed half of it before the mower ran out of gas. This made the back yard look funny, but apparently made bug-hunting more successful. The girls discovered a butterfly that could not fly. They had a very god time with it and were so cute.