Good Old Fashion Summer!

It has been such an amazing summer. I have to say when I pondered the thought of taking Sam out of school for a "summer break" I got really nervous. In the end I decided to go for it. What is two months EVERYDAY with a VERY talkative and moody 4 year old? HA! Not a moment to myself, no time to clean, fold laundry, or run errands. Hey, life is short and we had some summer fun to experience. We started our adventure July 1st. No school, no activities, absolutely NO schedules on our summer break adventure. I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was the best decision I could have made.

The girls and I have mostly enjoyed the pool (Sam has been taking swim lessons with one of the life guards and is successfully swimming on her own quite well!!!) the zoo, walks, the park, playing with friends, a fourth of July trip to Michigan, (pictures to come)staying up late, catching lightening bugs and frogs, big breakfasts, sit down family dinner, the list goes on..........

This past year or so I've faced a lot of fears as a mom and the rewards have been indescribable. I've made memories with my children that will last a lifetime for both of us!!!!

I'm sad to say summer break will end after labor day and Sam will begin her new school 3 days a week. It will be back to schedules and learning to get ready for the big Kindergarten!

Scary picture! Scary situatiuon!

So I can't believe I'm even posting this picture, but I wanted it for a memory of how scary I looked. haha So.......Thursday Morning I woke up and my legs were itching. I looked at them and there were red bumps all over them. Of course I freaked out not knowing what it was. I did what every american does these days and immediately got on the internet. I had a feeling it was hives and every picture I pulled up looked exactly like my legs. As the day went on they were coming and going and showing up in new places. Thursday night I called my dr to see if I could take benedryl along with my allergy medicine I take on a daily basis. My dr said if my eyes should start swelling I should go to the er. I wake up at 4 am and my eyes felt puffy. I went back to bed to get a little more rest and woke up to one eye completely swollen shut and the other well on its way to swelling shut. At 6 am I decided to head to the er. I get there and they check me in right away. The dr immediately gives me benedryl, prednizone, and pepsid. After watching me for about an hour nothing changed, and in fact the hives were spreading around my mouth and my lips were swelling. Now I'll admit I was starting to freak out a little. The dr talked to me about the possibility of doing an adrenaline shot but warned me that there are some unpleasant side effects. Vomiting, increased heart rate, and trouble breathing. I opted for it considering the hives were clearly heading for my throat. They gave me the shot and it wasn't nearly as bad as they prepared me for. My heart was definitely racing but no vomiting. The most amazing part of it was that the hives were dissappearing within minutes. My eyes took the better part of the day to go down.

I will say it was a scary ordeal. I'm still scared considering I do not know what triggered it. We are thinking it may be blueberries or possibly a new laundry detergent I was using. As of now all hives are gone and I'm on some different medications for about 10 days to keep the hives away.

Billy Bob #1 & #2 and the Toad Catcher - Ooooh the fun of summer!