Hives

Over the course of the winter, the boys seem to catch every sickness.  I guess it was our time because we had been so healthy beforehand.  It all started with the flu then strep throat then the stomach bug (all Henry).  Finley seem to just catch bad colds and then get ear infections.  He did, however, get the stomach bug the day Henry was finally feeling better.  It was not a fun 2 weeks.
For some reason Henry broke out in hives when he had the flu and again when he had strep throat.  We were extremely concerned and, with the pediatrician, decided he was allergic to tamiflu and penicillin.  These first 3 pictures are what his skin looked like when he broke out. 

 

 Well, then the pollen came out on exactly March 11 and Henry woke up with hives again for no reason.  He continuously had those hives for 4 weeks and they would only go away with Benadryl.  After 4 weeks they had calmed down and I came to the conclusion it was something in the air (pollen).  After visiting and calling the doctor constantly  we decided it was time to see an allergist.  Unfortunately he had to be off Benadryl for 7 days prior to going which I was dreading.  His hives had improved but would occasionally flare up if he got really sweaty or he was hot when he was sleeping.  I was just worried I could not control the itching if I could not give him anything.  Our appointment was the week after spring break and on Easter, which was the beginning of spring break( and also Henry's birthday) he got the horrible stomach bug that is going around (the Noro virus) and his hives went crazy....so we gave him benadryl and they went down.   Those hives lasted 4 days and even though he was not off the meds for 7 days, I took him to the allergist.  He diagnosis was he had one of three things: 

1. Urticaria -commonly referred to as hives, is a kind of skin rash notable for pale red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives might also cause a burning or stinging sensation.^[2] Hives are frequently caused by allergic reactions; however, there are many nonallergic causes. Most cases of hives lasting less than six weeks (acute urticaria) are the result of an allergic trigger. Chronic urticaria (hives lasting longer than six weeks) is rarely due to an allergy. 

2.  Idiopathic - is an adjective used primarily in medicine meaning arising spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause.  it means approximately "a disease of its own kind". It is technically a term from nosology, the classification of disease. For some medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause may not be readily apparent or characterized. In these cases, the origin of the condition is said to be idiopathic)

 3.  Viral- meaning when he gets a virus, the hives come out.  

He said it may be element of:

Dermatographism : is a skin disorder seen in 4–5% of the population and is one of the most common types of urticaria,^[1] in which the skin becomes raised and inflamed when stroked, scratched, rubbed, and sometimes even slapped.^[2] It is most common in young adults, ages 20-30

Cholinergic Urticaria-  is one of the physical urticaria which is provoked following sweating events

***Thanks Wikipedia for the definitions**

Basically, there is not a definitive answer and he is taking Zyrtec twice a day

 because once a day was not enough.  Now he will have a few on his body everyday, but it does not seem to bother him as long as he takes Zyrtec.  Hopefully this is just a stage and he won't have to deal with this the rest of his life!  The following 3 pictures are when I felt like they were at their worst.

All in all, he may not be allergic to any medicines if they are viral hives, which would be fantastic.  I guess we will eventually try the meds again.

Fun with our cuz

I put my camera away after Christmas and did not pull it back out until (except for the baptism) the middle to end of February.  Kate Austen came to visit and they were all outside playing, so I thought it was a good time to capture some "looks."  I definitely got more looks than smiles, but its the memories I want and not just the smiles :)!!

 

Finley has grown up so much since his first birthday.  He is so much happier now that he can communicate (which he does quite often).  His vocabulary is growing rapidly and he is constantly trying to tell us things that we can't decipher.  He is running and playing very well with his brother right now and we are all loving that! 

Henry is becoming such a boy and not a toddler anymore.  In this picture he is still 3, but he is learning and growing so fast.  I am amazed at some of the things that come out of his mouth sometimes.  I feel like there are days that fly by, but there are also days that creep.  Someone once told me that the days go by slowly, but the years fly by. It is very true!! I honestly can't believe I have a 4 year old!!!!  When he was around 4 months, I did not think he was every going to grow up......but it happened overnight!  He is a sweet, hilarious child who is very smart and still very energetic!  He tests me quite often, but I would not want life any other way!

Baptism

We finally joined and are continually attending a church.  It just happens to be the church my inlaws attend and my mother in law (Jan or Gee Gee) is a deacon there.  We love the church and because we felt like we were at home there, we decided it was time to get the boys baptized.  NO, we did not get Henry baptized when he was a baby....nor did we with Fin, but he was still little in January.  Uncle Collin and Aunt Brigit are the Godparents and Jan (since she is a deacon) was able to actually baptize the boys herself.  It was pretty amazing to experience that and I think it made the boys less nervous.  We had a nice crowd attending and had a small party afterwards to celebrate.  Unfortunately, I had my camera set on a bad setting so the pictures are not great and one of the boys is definitely blurred out because they move so fast.  However, you get the basic idea of what went down by looking at the pictures.

Christmas 2012

Here are the pictures from Christmas day.  Henry asked for a cement mixer and a grader....and he got the biggest ones Santa could find.  He was extremely excited.  Finley was also excited about his toys, but wanted to play with Henry's more than his.

Then we took the party to Gee Gee and Pots house where they were blessed with more fun gifts.....

Uncle Brent, Aunt Jess and Kate Austen were also there for Christmas which made it more exciting to spend with them on Kate Austen's first Christmas!

Then off to Gee Mama and Papas house where Henry got a new bike! 

Aunt Brigit and Uncle Collin were also there listening to their cool stuff!ed radio!

 

It was an amazing Christmas.  Our family is very blessed.

December 2012

December is a busy month for everyone, and we definitely had an exciting one!  We started off the month going to the beach with Gee Gee, Pots, Aunt Jess and Kate Austen.  It was really pleasant one day, but the next was cold so we loaded everyone up and went to the Ripley's Aquarium.  It was quite entertaining for the kids and fun for us as well!

Some of my good friends and I decided to take our kids to the Polar Express in North Carolina and the kids had a blast.  We stayed in a hotel in Maggie Valley, and I think they enjoyed the room and the indoor pool just as much.  All in all, it was a successful trip.

Henry's golden ticket

 

The four kiddos....Sarah and I had the same pjs for our kids, so Henry matches them.

 

Then Henry had his school performance of Rudolf....it was quite entertaining!  My pictures came out blurry, sorry!

Here are a few pictures from one of our family Christmas celebrations.  This is Hampton, Beaus cousin....he looks really excited.  Henry LOVES Hampton!!!

Aunt Brigit and Uncle Collin came to visit for Christmas and I got a cute shot of Fin with Aunt Brigit....so sweet!

Santa also came to our house for a photo shoot.  The boys did pretty well and now we have some very adorable and memorable pictures!