Allergies

All of my children have allergies. It's weird to me, because I don't have allergies. Every spring they start dripping, sneezing, coughing, red eyes, tired, it's no good. It started about 3 years ago with Orion and his asthma. We wanted to know if there were things he should be avoiding so his asthma wouldn't be as bad. Ian also seemed to have severe allergies. He came home from school one spring day and I thought he had been in a fight because his face was all red and swollen. I took them in to the local allergy specialist. They were then tested for a wide variety of allergies.

This is how allergy testing goes. They lay you down on a table and make several marks on your back with a marker, then they have several vials of different allergens with tiny needles in them. They take those needles and poke them into the spots on your back and then you have to lie still for 15 minutes while the spots swell and itch. Then they come in and read the results and put cream on your back to calm it.

At that time we found out that Orion was most allergic to dogs, cats, dust and mold. We had 2 dogs and 1 cat at this time and I was totally up for getting rid of them except for the fact that out of all our kids Orion is the animal lover. He is the kid that would just go and curl up with the dogs. I knew that he would hate to have allergy shots, but I didn't want to take away something that he loved so much and make it impossible for him to enjoy them in the future. Ian was allergic to grasses, weeds and especially tumbleweed. I think we might have some of those around here.

We decided at that time to start with the allergy shots. Orion would get 2 each time and Ian 1. This is how that works. In the beginning you are going 2 days a week. You have the shot(s) and then sit in the doctors office for 20 minutes to make sure you don't die. After a few months you change to 1 time a week. After the first frost it changes to 1 time every 2 weeks. Once the temp gets over 32 in the winter/spring you go back to every week. We have been doing this now for almost 3 years. Except now we are disobedient and just leave after the shots. The worst reaction we've ever had is Ian's arm swelling a bit at the injection site. "A bit" is the size of a golf ball.

Last year we had Sophia and Theron tested. They are allergic to pollen, dust, cats, but not as bad as the other two, so we just treat it with meds from April through July.

This year we had Ian and Orion retested. Orion just cried and cried. I felt so bad for him. Ian took it like a man. No, I don't mean he screamed and whined. He did fine.

The results on Orion were good-ish. This is his back at the end. His reaction on the animals has gone way down, but he is now allergic to pollens. So in the spring if he plays outside or it is a windy day, then he is wheezy. The decision there is to try and treat the seasonal stuff with meds and if he does okay then we will stop the shots in July. If he seems to be struggling then we would change the shots and keep doing this for 3 more years. Ian's results were pretty good. He will have one more year of shots and then be finished.

I can't believe that we have made it this far. I'm grateful that the shots are helping them. Orion used to cry every time and I had to bribe him a lot in the beginning. Now he is able to sit on the chair by himself. It's amazing. I can't imagine getting shots every week. They are tough guys.

Wrapping up March

The kids had their annual taekwondo party in March. They get prizes and have a school photo taken and then eat until they puke. It's great.

At the end of March Kenneth's sister, Aenea, was able to visit us from North Carolina. It's been years since I've seen her, so it was so great to spend time with her. Kenneth was able to take some time off work and hang out with her. We took her to the dinosaur museum and took the customary photo in front of the shark.

We had a ward primary talent show. Theron played "The Entertainer" on the piano. He did great.

Sophia sang, while her friend, Alle, played the piano for her. They did "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I thought they did a wonderful job. I was very impressed with all the kids who had the guts to get up in front of everyone and perform.

Orion is participating in swimming lessons now with Dylan and cousin Samuel. He loves it and they are all doing super good.

We also went to the BYU Museum of Art to see the Walter Wick, of the "I Spy" books fame, exhibit. It is amazing. It's there through Aug 1st. We went with the Maroneys, Morrisons, and Harkers and met up with the Bakers in time for ice cream. It was a really fun afternoon.

March Birthdays

Kenneth and I have birthdays 5 days apart. Mine is the 14th and his is the 19th. This year I turned 35. I had the best day. First Friday night we went out for Indian with Kenneth's sister, Eden. So yummy. Then she spent the night and some of the next day with us for some birthday celebration. We went to a late breakfast at IHOP. The kids loved it and I love pig, also stuffed french toast. Then we went to see Bedtime Stories. Such a cute movie. We went to dinner at my favorite, Zinn Bistro.
After dinner we hit IKEA to pick up my birthday bookcase. It was truly one of my favorite birthdays ever!

Kenneth turned 37 this year. I made him his favorite aebleskivers for breakfast. They were stuffed with berries, cheese, or two flavored cream cheeses. They were mighty tasty. He had to work on his birthday, that's never fun. I tried to make it better by taking him out to lunch at Gloria's Little Italy. That is very good food. I made him his favorite raspberry soda cracker pie for his dessert. He then spent the rest of the evening talking to his family. I think it was a pretty good day for him.

I had so many lunches and dinners out with friends and family to celebrate my birthday. They were all amazing and so fun. Thank you to everyone who made my birthday this year one of the best.

Charlotte's Web

In March Theron was in the play Charlotte's Web at school. I had the opportunity to help with rehearsals and help backstage during the other class's performance.

Can you believe this set? It's amazing. I wish I had a picture of the whole cast, their costumes were so stinkin' cute.

Theron and his two best friends in his class, Taylor Kimball and Jacob Brueck, were the three narrators. They did a really great job. These guys are super smart and had no problem memorizing all their lines. The play was a lot of fun and helped all the kids increase in self confidence.

Wrapping up February

Theron won a gift card through the Jazz Reading Contest to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Using his gift card and Sophia's b-day money and Mom's credit card to make up the difference this is what he and Sophia came away with.



One Friday when the kids had a half day we headed with the Maroneys to the Kids Safety Fair up at the South Towne Expo Center. The kids loved it. They said it was like trick-or-treating. I do not love it, but since the kids do I'm glad that we went.

Sherrif Austin and Deputy Dylan.

Sophia's 11th Birthday

Sophia turned 11 on Feb 4th.

This is what I remember about Sophia's birth: lots of walking the halls of the hospital, long, long time, impatient midwife, finally breaking the water, my sister making me laugh while I'm trying not to die (I returned the favor a few years later), laboring in the bath for the first time, pushing out a baby, finding out it was a girl, seeing my husband fall instantly in love with the girl he thought we weren't having, my sister crying and saying it was a beautiful thing to watch, me really wanting to sleep.

I was so excited to have a girl, though I had to receive instructions on how to properly clean her at diaper change time. Girls are way more complicated than boys.

She is such a wonderful daughter. I'm so glad I have her to be my princess accomplice in this house of princes. She is a pretty perfect mix of girlie-girl and gamer-girl. She is currently into pop music and dreams of being a pop star. She loves pretty and cool clothes. She enjoys her DS, she received a pink one for her birthday. She does taekwondo. She loves animals. She plays the piano. Her best friend is her little brother, Theron. You can see that they are psychic twins, by looking at the picture. I love Sophia!

Wrapping up January

In January I returned to Utah just in time to attend the Inspirations award ceremony, it's like Reflections only with the charter schools. Sophia performed her original piano composition called The Cats Dance. She placed first in that category in her age group. Theron entered a slug he had made out of clay for 3-D art and placed third. I was so pleased with their effort and hard work. They did great.

Then on Saturday they had their belt test at TKD.

They both did their best.

A week and a half later Theron received his blue belt.