Happy New Year!!!

I was thinking about writing a reflection, just to talk about all the things that have happened over the past year. A lot has happened, but I think I've written enough about all those changes on here already. =0) Instead of posting about all the changes in our lives here, I figured I would just post photos. I excluded hospital photos and photos of reactions - it's a happy memory book. I only mention them here because we are so thankful that God has carried us through all of them. Without His hand in our lives, we wouldn't be where we are today.

With that said, may your new year be full of God's blessings, joy, peace, and may He bless you and your family with good health! (Oh, yeah . . . no need to turn off the music at the bottom . . . it will work with the slide show) =0)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

. . . . and check out Masto Mama's blog designs at mastomamamakeovers.blogspot.com. She's having a New Year's contest and the winner will receive a free blog makeover! =0)

Merry Christmas! =0)

To watch the videos, make sure you pause the music player at the bottom of the page . . . oh, yeah, there's another video at the bottom of the page as well. =0)

I know I forgot to write an update . . . and I meant to write updates sooner . . . =0) Well, here's an update. =0)

Things have been going well - still no ER visit for either Isaiah or my dad!! I'll start with the labs that we have gotten back on Isaiah . . . so far, so good. According to the labs from St. Pete (at least the ones that we won't have to re-do), Isaiah does not have hereditary angioedema!! That's a plus, but it still doesn't explain everything . . . we do have to have 2 of the 4 labs redone because they are difficult to take. =0( Not so good news for Isaiah, who screamed, "she's gonna get me killed!" the last time we were at the lab. =0)

As far as the ones from Isaiah's pediatrician, there was no known reason for the petechiae. If it happens again, I'm supposed to take him in sooner so that we can figure out what's going on. As far as the petechiae . . . it's gone. =0) At least, mostly anyway. e has a few random dots of it here and there, but the majority of it is gone! Thank you guys for praying!!!

Now on to allergic reactions . . . yup, there was a very close call just a couple of weeks ago. We went to Maryland to see family - some of which Isaiah has never seen. To avoid a problem on the airplane or in the airport, I gave Isaiah extra meds. Well, it worked for the flight and the airport, but as soon as we left the airport, Isaiah started getting blisters on his lips, swelling in his face, and hives in his mouth and throat. Isaiah was a tad nauseous, but he didn't throw up . . . and his lungs didn't seem affected, so no Epi which means no wild trip to Baltimore-Washington Medical Center (which was near the airport). I did give Isaiah extra meds (which included 3 doses of Benadryl at one time). Apart from being extremely drowsy the rest of the evening, Isaiah seemed fine.

I would love to say the reaction ended there . . . but it didn't. Isaiah was swollen for at least a week and a half afterwards, with a stuffy nose & cough (from the nose issues), and red dots . . . oh, and then there were the red spots on his lips from the blisters. He's doing much better now apart from some babbling and other speech issues . . . and flushing and little bits of swelling. =0} I know, sounds like a lot, but I'll take this over anaphylaxis any day . . . and some of this is even a "normal" day-to-day thing for us.

My dad was supposed to go to Maryland with us, but he wasn't feeling well - not sleeping and in pain. =0( He's still not feeling the greatest, and on top of that, we have colds!

Anyway, on to Christmas . . .

A few days before Christmas, we started our regular Christmas baking . . . and Isaiah got an apron in the mail (our grocery store sent it to him) just in time! =0) He looked so cute in that apron! He had a blast, too!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve service, where Isaiah actually stayed to participate in the candle lighting - he even sang "Silent Night"!!! The next morning was just as wonderful. Isaiah woke up and was so excited to see the gifts under the tree. =0) He was so good, though - he didn't touch any of them (except for the unwrapped Tolee doll) until we were all in the living room! Later, we decorated the cakes and put candles on one of them to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and my mom (her birthday was on the 13th . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful and awesome Mom!!!! . . . I wanted to write a post, but we were in MD and didn't have Internet access).

Instead of posting individual pictures in the post, I made a little slide show for you to enjoy . . . and I'm posting a video from Christmas day. =0)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Isaiah was so excited to find candy that was safe for him in his stocking =0)

Thomas was on his list, again, this year - "I'm so happy!" =0)

Yeah, yeah, I know . . .

. . . it has been a while since I have blogged. =0) Things have been busy around here, and I have been having so much fun with my little man that I sort of forgot to write! =0)

Lots of things have been going on here. So, I'll start with Thanksgiving - we had a wonderful day. Isaiah had a wonderful meal - pumpkin pie, apple pie (there's a story in itself!), turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, stuffing . . . all Isaiah-safe, too! =0) We even put up the Christmas tree (one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving holiday). It was very relaxing and a completely needed break. =0) We didn't have our "hup-bol" (football) fest like we did last year . . . but that's because my dad, brother, and one of my nephews was on the roof putting up Christmas lights. =0) My other nephew and my son??? Well, my younger nephew was trying to keep Isaiah occupied and off the ladder! =0) Oh yeah, and another Thanksgiving tradition is visiting Santa the following day. =0)

As far as Isaiah's health, he's doing good right now, for the most part. He hasn't had an ER visit, but this is usually his "quiet" time. He has had the usual "in-between" reactions, though (swelling, flushing, speech issues, bone pain, etc.). The normal for us just keeps on changing around here. =0) As far as the lab work Isaiah had done about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks ago, they still haven't come back yet. My guess is that it's just the types of tests they had to do - maybe they just take longer to come back. Who knows? I'm going to call tomorrow, because I'm very curious as to what they've found . . . or not found.

Unfortunately, Isaiah had more labs done today . . . he has petechiae on his chest and back. The stuff on his chest looks like it's in some kind of a pattern, though there were some extra spots that messed up that pattern this morning. In case you were wondering, petechiae are small red or purple spots on the skin caused by broken capillaries (small, surface blood vessels in your skin). He has several, but it could be much worse . . . it's still something I didn't want to just ignore. I'm sure it's nothing serious, but I would like to know why it keeps showing up. He was very brave about the whole thing, especially since he said that the nurse was going to "get him killed" because she was going to take "all my blood!" =0) He has such an imagination (I have no idea where he gets this stuff)! =0)

In addition to this, Isaiah has been moody over the past week . . . very moody. =0( Poor guy. He seems a bit better today, though. Maybe because he had a little extra Mommy-time today. =0) His mood swings have been tough to handle. I do miss those random giggles and laughs. Don't get me wrong, they're still there . . . it's just that they're not as plentiful. =0}

An exciting thing is that we have an appointment with a neurologist in St. Petersburg next month! While that may not seem like a huge deal, it's not easy getting into their clinic. Maybe we'll have some answers as to what may be causing Isaiah's speech and other developmental delays. I'll let you know how that goes. As for now, I'm still working on finding a new pediatrician and trying to get the label of Autism off his chart (yeah, his pediatrician has already labeled him without a diagnosis . . . yet another story).

On top of all of this, my dad has had a few issues recently. Last week, while we were eating dinner, my dad got this glassy-eyed look and began saying, "they're down by the berry patch, right along the side," accompanied by hand motions. My mom and I just looked at each other because it was so random - we weren't talking about a berry patch or anyone in them for that matter. At first I thought he was joking, so I laughed but I quickly realized he wasn't kidding around. My mom asked him what he was talking about and he responded with, "they're right down there at the berry patch." He, then, slowly closed his eyes and stopped talking. My mom yelled his name, and my dad looked at her like she was crazy. =0} He had no idea what he had said and denied it at first, then explained that he hadn't slept the night before and that he was tired. Later, he told my mom that he was scared - he thinks the leukemia is causing all of his symptoms (pain, etc.) and that he felt so much better when he was on the blood thinner (when he was in the hospital). I have to say, it's scary to see him go through this - especially when this isn't the only strange thing my dad has done.

Before this incident (and before he was in the hospital the last time), my dad was quiet and calm - nothing seemed to bother him, and he wasn't . . . . grumpy. =0) Seriously, nothing seemed to bother him. He wasn't cheerful, not depressed, just complacent. He didn't argue or fuss about anything. He was like that for about 2 weeks. Then came the hospital visit. Since then, he has been back to his "usual" self. =0)

I don't want to make this such a gloomy post, I just wanted to let you guys who are praying for us to know what's going on with us. =0) We have so much to be thankful for - I intended to write a post on that for Thanksgiving, but I didn't get the chance. I will write the post once I get all of my thoughts put onto cyber-paper. =0) I have some time off coming up next week, so I guess that means I'll be posting a bit more often. =0) I'm sure you're overwhelmed with joy, as your inboxes (for those of you who receive my blog by mail) will be flooded with blog posts from me! Hahahaha. ;0) Yeah, I know, I'll probably just forget again. =0)

Anyway, I do have something to post before Christmas, so you'll have at least one more post from me this month! =0) (I also have one last picture for you . . . who knew Darth Vader and Christmas would ever go together????) =0)