Family Fun

We had a fun family weekend being together. Brad worked late all week and Saturday was our one day together with no schedule. It started with Brad and Reese going out for breakfast while Hayden helped me clean some dishes.

He mostly played in the water!! :-D

Everybody is ready to go! I printed off Easter Eggs from a website I found. Then we painted them. I plan to put them in our window like we did for our snowflakes we made at Christmas.

Of course the kids loved painting!

Awh, Hayden! He had so much fun getting dirty.

Our finished product! I ended up cutting the paper plates into eggs because the kids did a great job smearing the paint!

Adelyn started to not feel well so she laid on the steps. Hayden come over and patted her on the back! I'm so thankful that my camera was in arms reach. How sweet is that?
The kids are really enjoying a learning website a friend shared with us a while ago. Reese can maneuver through the site pretty well. He is learning to ask the others which letter they want to learn about or which book they would like to read. I've started to let the kids do this just before dinner. I can see them while I cook and it keeps them from pulling at my legs in hunger.

Reese came up to me the other day and said, "Mommy, what does wolverine start with?" How random!! He is really curious about all the letters he sees. He will tell me all the letters and ask what word it is. Adelyn is getting really good with the sounds of each letter. It's fun to watch them be so curious and excited to learn.

Our memory verse is "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Phil 4:13

We did find out that Hayden is allergic to strawberries. Yay! We are starting to know what all to eliminate!! He has had two great days in a row. We will continue on this diet and then start adding things back to see how he reacts. Thanks so much for your prayers and concerns.

Hayden Puzzle

I wanted to back up and give an update as to how we got to the allergy testing. Since Hayden was born, he has streaming fits anywhere from 3-5 times a week that would last 1/2 hour to 2 hours. We first brushed it off as colic, we went to bottles instead of nursing (at 5 months old) thinking it would get better, then maybe he just isn't getting enough sleep, or he's frustrated because he isn't getting his way. Then in November we took dairy out of his diet and noticed a BIG change in our little guy. He was much happier and slept so much better. Every once in a while he would have the screaming fits but not as often.

Then I noticed about three weeks ago that his tummy shape was odd. Different than his normal pot belly! ;-) I took him into see his pediatrician and she said that it looked fine to her but we should let a gastrointestinal doctor look at him. Two weeks ago we went in for that appointment. He thought his tummy's shape was fine but was more curious about his diet. While chatting with the doctor, Hayden had a bowel movement and the he took the diaper and tested his stool. The test came back quickly and it showed microscopic blood. He felt like it was an allergic reaction to food so he referred us to an allergist. Our meeting with him was the next day! Thank you Lord!!! One of the first questions of many to me was, "Is his belly always bloated?" Yay, finally someone else noticed. So he thought we should first try the patch test. We put the patches on a Tuesday morning and by that evening his chin broke out with little spots. By the next morning, his bottom broke out in a big rash with spots that bled!! Poor guy! He was so miserable. On Wed afternoon, he woke up only 20 minutes into his nap and he screamed for 1 1/2 hours like he does when he eats something with dairy in it. I just rocked him and try to soothe him. So Thurs we went to the allergist office two hours after we took the patches off and a few things looked like he was going to react to them: wheat, dairy, barley, rice, banana, tomato, and egg. The doctor circled them and said, "Let's see how these react in 24 hours for that will give us a better indication of what he allergic to." I took pictures at 12 hours and 24 hours and emailed them in. At the 24 hour mark, his back only reacted to the tape that stuck to his back and NONE of the food!! How odd?? So I'm so confused and I'm waiting on the doctor to call me back this afternoon.

12 hours after the patch was removed.

The red marks at the bottom right was the location of the tape.

24 hours after patch removal.

We are so grateful for everyone who has reached out to us with prayers and your experiences. It's great to know that God is great and he is providing for us. Please continue to pray for us as we get more pieces to this Hayden Puzzle!

Family from Oklahoma

Brad's sister and family came to visit us for the week. They came in on St. Patrick's day so we decided to go see the green water in the fountain in front of the White House.

Here we are walking to the Metro with two single strollers and one double. It was fun squeezing into elevators with all of us!!

Angela, Katie Jo, Bailey and Adelyn on the Metro.

All of us in front of the White House.

All the kids plus Joy (Adelyn's doll).

Will, Angela, Baily & Katie Jo.

On the Metro on the ride home. This was the next to the last stop. We stood most of the ride home with LOTS of people. Will was getting a little claustrophobic.

The cousins are having so much fun playing together. Katie Jo and Reese are like two peas in a pod. Bailey is so sweet to play and help with Adelyn & Hayden. It's so much fun to see them all interacting together. We are so thankful they came our way and for the memories we are making here together.

Great Wolf Lodge

We went to the Great Wolf Lodge this weekend with *part of * a dear family from our congregation. The mom, Cristi, and 3 year old, Lauren are in Children's Hospital of Philadelphia awaiting a heart transplant fro Lauren. Tim, Brennan, Addison and our family went down to Williamsburg for an overnight fun indoor water park.

This is the outside of the hotel/park. The wolf sculptures were really cool!

All of us.

This is inside the water park. There is a big bucket at the top of the picture and it would fill up and spill out all over the people below.

At the wave pool.

This was the kids room in our hotel room. It was called the Wolfs Den. Reese slept on top and Adelyn on bottom. Hayden is still in a pack-n-play. We teased the kids saying the bunk beds were for Mommy & Daddy. They didn't buy it! :-D

Reese is riding the waves!!

Brad riding the waves!!Hayden being very brave.
Adelyn loved the slides!! She would go up and down but we would have to be close by for the times she went under!

** Please say a prayer that Lauren will receive a perfect heart soon and that their family will be able to be together.

Hayden's Patch Test

Yesterday we took Hayden into the allergist to get patch test done. The nurse filled each one of the circles with a paste of actual food and slapped it on his back. We will wait 48 hours without getting his back wet. We will remove the patch and give him a bath which he will need it because he already is stinky from the food!! Then we will take pictures, email them to the dr.'s office, and run out the door to see the allergist.

The nurse used a Sharpe to write on his back the lines & box corners so we would know where the area is once we removed the patch.

This is the right side which is being tested for pea, peach, potato, oats, tomato, rice, apple, barley, banana, & saline (?).

One the left side are soy, chicken, milk, pork, wheat, turkey, egg, carrot, beef, & corn.

Yesterday afternoon, his chin started breaking out in a rash so I'm curious what he is allergic to. Time will tell and we'll keep you updated.

I'm curious if you have gone this route before???

Haydens Adventure

Today Hayden had surgery to put ear tubes into both of his ears. The doctors cut a little whole in his ear drum and placed a tube the size of a grain of rice. Isn't it amazing the technology!! I'm so thankful that he will not have as many ear infections. 8 in 10 months are way too many!!

He couldn't eat after midnight last night which it ended up being at 8pm when he went to bed. So this morning he was extra hungry and thirsty. We only have one vehicle so we got all the kids out the door by 6:30am for Brad to drop Hayden and I off. We had to coordinate us at the doctors and taking Reese to school. It all worked out just fine.

Hayden & Mommy getting ready for surgery.

I tried to push off the tv watching but he was so hungry. Watching Baby Einstein help distract him.

These stickers were for the monitors during surgery.

We were getting ready to walk into the operating room when this picture was taken. I got to lay him on the table and talk to him as they put the mask over his face. His eyes got really heavy and then shut. I kissed his cheek and left the room. I called Brad in the waiting room and we prayed together. That helped get me through. I drank water and then I turned around the doctor was there saying it went well!! There was fluid behind his ear drum that he removed. Other than that, all looked good.

This is when I got to see him in the recover room.
He was so tired from the anesthesia.

Where am I? What just happened?

Then he realized he was thirsty. We gave him watered down apple juice and waited to see how he would respond. Then he graduated to cheerios pretty quickly.

All ready to go!! Thank you Lord for watching over me!!!