'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Despite having the sniffles, Aryne, Gavin, and Rachel are mighty excited that dear Ol' Santa Claus himself is coming to visit tonight. They have been playing out various Christmas scenarios this past week with their toys and reading our many ancient Golden Books with Christmas themes. They are the same Golden Books I had when I was a little kid. It sure is fun reading those again as a mom!


Rachel's favorite thing to do these days is take her toys and line them up as "Santa's reindeer" on the ottoman, and sit down on the couch with a bundle of toys playing Santa. Gavin, of course, has to be a part of it and usually throws in a few of his own toys for the heck of it. Here is a picture of Rachel yesterday pretending to be Santa on his sleigh, appropriately donning a Chiquita banana sticker. Notice the eight stuffed animals as the eight reindeer, along with Rudolph leading the way. The pillow is used as her "reigns"....and the Star Wars guys with Frosty are Gavin's additions. You didn't know Star Wars was an integral part of Christmas, did you?





Aryne was not to be left out, however. She played quite well all by herself as "The Little Drummer Boy" and pranced around the house quite merrily, making a ruckus.





This morning, the kids woke up knowing it was Christmas Eve and had me read all of the Little Golden Books they could find centered around Christmas...along with the Grinch. Right after breakfast, we read them all, and I'm sure we will be reading them again throughout the day. Excuse the pajamas please.





And last but not least, the Star Wars guys had to leave Santa's sleigh and head out on their own. Most of you would think, being from a galaxy far, far away after all, that they would fly out on a spaceship. Not so! They prefer school buses instead. It appears that the holiday spirit has struck Mr. Storm Trooper, who has decided to turn away from the Dark Side and become a Jedi Knight instead.






Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Good News and Confusing News!

We'll start with the good news. Aryne's eyes are still looking fantastic! YAY! In fact, they are looking so good that she now only has to go for follow-ups once a year. Plus, her vision hasn't worsened, which makes the news all the better! Go Aryne!

The confusing news is that Gavin's entire test of skin allergens came back negative. All 29 patches. That leaves us back at square 1 trying to figure out what is causing his skin flare-ups. His face is still flaking and red as can be, and his body has been breaking out the last couple of days again as well. Hmmm. The doctor and I are still convinced it is something airborne or something he is eating that is causing his eczema. The problem is that we have still not identified the driving force behind his allergic reactions. So, we are returning to the allergist on Monday for a blood allergy test. Hopefully we will have the results in a week (OK, after Christmas). Unfortunately, not all allergens can be tested for, and we are simply left guessing what he could possibly be allergic to. So far, all of my guesses have been wrong, so I'm not sure how hopeful I am that the testing on Monday will reveal anything new. In the meantime, to get us through the holidays, the dermatologist prescribed yet another 2 weeks of kiddy prednisone and antibiotics. Joy!

And, I totally forgot to post a picture of the kids visiting Santa this year! How could I forget? We went a couple of weeks ago and it was a great success this year, as you can imagine. They were oh so excited to see Santa and ask him for their very favorite gifts. We didn't have to wait in much of a line, and when we got up there, the kids all flocked over to him and wanted to sit on his lap! However, when it came time to get the picture taken, the girls decided to give us their cheesiest "fake" smiles that they now do whenever we ask to take their picture. Gavin's smile, on the other hand, was one of a boy who was totally in love with Santa!

Aryne asked Santa for a "babydoll named Snoopy" and a Barbie. Prior to visiting Santa, Aryne kept asking for a babydoll and her dad and I asked her what she was going to name her baby if she got one for Christmas. The kids pondered that question for a while and then collectively came up with the name "Snoopy" and thought it was hilarious. Santa, on the other hand, looked a bit confused by the request. Rachel asked for a "silly talking Sponge Bob" (I think she wants to torture me!), and Gavin asked for Sponge Bob Operation (the game). I'm not sure what their fascination is with Sponge Bob all of a sudden. They don't ever get to watch it. Maybe that in itself is the draw...

Anyway, here it is - our 2009 picture with St. Nick!

I'm Such A Bad Mommy!

This is our busy week. We have had several appointments with the kiddos as well as the first school Christmas party. I have concluded that when having a child with food allergies, it is actually "convenient" to have triplets in the same class. He has someone to eat lunches with...other eyes looking out for him...and also when it comes time for sign-up sheets to bring in food for the class parties, I get to sign up for 3 things. You wouldn't think of that as "convenient" necessarily, but I want to sign up for all the things that could threaten my little guy if they contain nuts or eggs. So, I signed up for the cupcakes, the cookies, and the chips. That made the party a much greater success since the kids were able to eat with their peers at the same table and I didn't have to stress about exposures. The kids had a really good time at the party, and came home with gifts, so they were pretty excited. Gavin has been out of school for the past 2 weeks to keep his skin clear enough to get his patch testing done with the dermatologist, but we did return for the class party and I'm glad we did!

So, we got the patches put on Tuesday with 29 various allergens/irritants. They don't really stick too well to his skin, although they are reinforced with surgical tape (that also doesn't stick) and glue. The glue is really the only thing keeping them in place. For some reason that I will not question, Gavin likes the patches on his back! Therefore, he has not tried to take them off yet. Early this afternoon, we go back to get the patches off and get the results.

I'm nervous about the outcome. I'm nervous that the patches won't have stayed on right. I'm nervous that he will not react to anything and we will still be at a loss for answers. I'm nervous that he will react to everything and we won't get an accurate reading and have to start back at square 1 again. And, I'm nervous that he will be allergic to something that we can't eliminate and he will continue to suffer. Yes, I'm stressing about this. And, perhaps a bit too much. I'm stressing more than I anticipated and therefore canceled Miss Rachel's PT this morning since I'm not feeling too well. That is what makes me a bad mommy today. I called her in sick, but she isn't sick. It is ME that isn't feeling well.

Aryne also has her 6 month opthamology appt (eye doctor appt) this afternoon in a much different location than Gavin's appt. So, Scott has to take a half day off to get here...then I leave with Gavin...then he leaves with the girls. Hopefully Aryne's appointment goes well, too. Her eyes have been looking wonderful, still, but I do wonder if she needs new glasses.

Hope for us today so that Gavin won't have to be in agony anymore, and wish us luck that Aryne's eye appointment shows continued success. I'll update everyone when I can.

Decorations Are Up!

Thanksgiving came and went...and while we had a really nice time with the friends that came over...the kids could hardly stand to wait until the next day. They woke up thinking that it was Christmas, and we had to crush their spirits just a little and remind them we still had another month until the big day. Today we were decorating for Christmas, but that was it. Although disappointed (and I must say they were disappointed repeatedly as we kept having to tell them every hour that Christmas was 4 weeks away...they just kept asking and asking ad nauseum), they did enjoy putting up the tree, lights, and decor. To deter the kids from asking about Christmas hourly, we decided to make them a couple types of calendars to keep track of the days. It seems to have worked so far. Now, if only we could convince the kids that we don't need to drive around the neighborhood to see the Christmas decorations every day, we would be in good shape!


Their grandparents had purchased them an animated Santa last year that read ""Twas the Night before Christmas", and the kids were really quite scared of it at the time. When I pulled it out yet again this year they all ran away from it and told me not to turn him on. But, after a few hours of looking him over closely, Rachel (can you believe it was Rachel?) asked for me to turn him on. I did, and the other 2 eventually gave into their curiosity and came over to check him out. Suddenly, they couldn't get enough of him. The lure of pressing the button seemingly outweighed the fear of a mechanical Kris Kringle...and now we have 3 little kids that listen to the story several times a day. Here they are completely immersed in dear old Santa Claus:

For Thanksgiving, the kids painted some feathers in preschool and were given "Indian" headresses complete with individual names of their choosing. Aryne picked "Autumn Deer", Gavin chose "Grinning Dog" and Rachel liked "Rainbow Dancer". Very suiting indeed!

Gearing Up For Christmas. Wait, It Isn't Even Thanksgiving!

My parents came to visit again this past weekend and the kids were so excited to take them to..........Lowes. That's right. My kids, for some reason, remember seeing a bunch of Christmas stuff at Lowes last year and remembered it ALL year long. Now that the holiday decorations are back in stores, Christmas is all they think about. They can't wait until Thanksgiving only because that means Christmas is next on the list of holidays. It is really much too cute and this is the year they are finally "really" getting the idea of Christmas. It is a magical time for them and I love watching their faces light up when they see the decorations.

We also took the kids to the Opryland Hotel to see the Christmas decorations and they thought that was pretty neat. I suppose we will be putting up the tree the day after Thanksgiving since they just. cannot. wait. any. longer.

We did get in to see the dermatologist again, and in fact got in two days after I last blogged. Gavin really wasn't doing well, and after receiving some bad phone advice from one of the nurses, I emailed the doctor directly. He wanted to see Gavin ASAP. So, now Gavin is on prednisone and acting like a crazed animal. On top of it, the 'roids make him super duper HUNGRY and he eats so fast and so much. He put all of us (including his grandparents) to shame with the amount he ate. We even re-introduced gluten back into his diet this Sunday (since it wasn't helping and has nearly been 3 months) and wow, you should have seen him scarf down his pizza. I think he's going to gain 5 lbs during the 3 weeks he is on it! The good news is that his skin has cleared up dramatically. I sure hope it stays that way so that we can patch test him for allergens. If the eczema returns, we won't be able to do the testing...so we'll just have to see how his skin reacts as we lower his dosage.

Aryne is still befreinding the lady bugs that enter our house and Rachel is still doing well with her physical therapy. We are having some food-allergy friends over for Thanksgiving and are very much looking forward to it. Time to start making pies! Yum!

Aryne Makes Friends

Aryne has a knack for making friends. She is such a fun-natured girl that loves everything and everyone and, therefore, she draws people to her.

At school, Aryne has managed to befriend the entire class. She loves everyone and tries to play with each kid every day. I love it! One of the boys in her class talks about her as his "girlfriend". He is such a cute little boy, too, that his mom, his grandma, and I all find it very entertaining.

But this past weekend, Aryne managed to befriend something new. Like every fall, our yard is swarming with ladybugs. Those dang things are everywhere. Not that I have something against ladybugs, but I do have something against swarms of bugs. Plus, they attract wasps which prey on them. When we open the door to go outside, they flock in. Then, their carcasses can be found everywhere. What a hassle. Gavin is terrified of bugs since he still (yes, STILL) remembers being stung by that bad wasp. I have to keep reminding him that ladybugs are "friendly" and won't hurt him. Although Gavin is not really listening to me, Aryne certainly has been. When I went downstairs this past weekend doing my usual ladybug killing round, Aryne looked up at me and said with the sweetest voice "but....they're FRIENDLY!!". I couldn't, in good conscience, kill them anymore. Instead, I had to "transfer" them outside and "save" them.

Next, we all went outside and jumped in the big leaf pile their dad made. While that was fun, Aryne found that she could make playmates with the ladybugs. She picked them up, named them "Carlo" and "Waddo", and took them around the yard introducing them to various activities. At some point, the little friends passed away (probably from the rough handling), but she didn't notice that she was playing with carcasses. She plopped them on the swing and swung them (they, of course, fell off and she searched frantically in the grass to find them), had a picnic with them on the picnic table, and went down the slide with them. She was very, very sad when she eventually lost her little buddies. The good news is that I'm sure she can find new ones to befriend with the zillions we have out there.

The leaves wreaked havoc on Gavin's skin. He had already started flaring up again, head to toe, and then he told me how much he wanted to run and jump in the leaves and say "AHHHHHH!". So, of course, I let him, knowing full well he would flare up even worse. The poor kid only lasted about 5 minutes in the leaves before he started scratching himself silly and asked to come in. Hopefully we can get back into the dermatologist next week and see what else we can do for him. Whatever he is allergic to, he is constantly being exposed to it. He is up hourly at night again, so he really isn't doing too well. I loathe allergies.

Rachel had an excellent time at physical therapy this past week. I think it does us all some good to get an extra hour of sleep and since she doesn't have OT beforehand, she isn't overwhelmed going into PT. There was some mention of cutting her back to every other week, so she is improving there as well. Go Rachel!

A Very Fun Halloween!

Yes, that is right! Two posts in one day. This topic deserved a post of its own. Of course this past weekend was Halloween! We had such a busy week last week that we barely got our pumpkin carving done in time for Halloween night! But, we managed to get 'er done and carved 3 pumpkins that matched their brand new pumpkin stands that their grandma bought them. One witch pumpkin, one skeleton pumpkin (my favorite, of course!), and one Frankenstein pumpkin.


The kids picked their own outfits again this year. Gavin, as one might guess, was a Transformer. Seeing as his backpack and lunch box are of Bumblebee (a Transformer), one might venture to guess he was Bumblebee for Halloween. Wrong. He picked Optimus Prime instead. His sister, on the other hand, never having shown any interest in Transformers what-so-ever, decided to be Bumblebee. Really? I kept asking her and asking her, even holding onto the receipt in case she wanted to return it, but Rachel really wanted to be a Transformer. Alright!


Aryne decided to be independent and go out on a limb. She was Strawberry Shortcake. A very cute one indeed! We went to a Halloween costume party last Friday with the food allergy group, and went out trick-or-treating on Saturday. The kids had a lot of fun and got a lot of candy. We "re-gifted" all of the peanut-containing items and in turn gave the kids a pumpkin-full of safe candies. Mmmmm!


Here they are all dressed up!

This last picture is of the kids last week. They were so cute and all on their own decided to make a "campfire" out of the leaves in the backyard. They stoked it and "roasted marshmallows" on it and even better yet, told ghost stories around it! Here is Aryne in the midst of one of her stories!