I forgot to say......................

I forgot to post this picture of Keelin and Brady. I think it is so funny I told them to say flamingo and I caught them both at the O! Also in my other post I said I was worried and that is why I have been wonky lately. I am sharing all this because I have been so ucky lately and I have been acting that way. Well I said I thought it was because of the news that Shawns company was doing a mandatory layoff of all employees. Shawn and I were also upset because we didnt understand why they were treating their employees this way. Shawn had never missed a day in 4 years and never been late not even once. Some employees have been there for over 20 years. Well today was the corporate meeting to discuss the layoff. I was a little scared. BUTTTTTTT Shawn came home and said they were very reassuring. They siad that it would probably be only about 1 week not 3 months. And it would be the week of Christmas and we can use any left over vacation days! Shawn still has 4 left. So we are pretty sure everything is going to be OK! Its kind of good actually that Shawn gets to take a break at Christmas. I have always hated that he has to work the day after Christmas. So I am very thankful and my prayers have been answered. Again. I think I need to go to Church. Anyway just thought I would share and so if I start to act rediculous again you can hit me and say "you dummie you have way too much to be thankful and greatful for so shut the * up!"

Today Kinsey brought me a pair of Shawn's socks and then lifted her feet for me to put them on her then she danced around in them for awhile!

Kinsey got new shoes yesterday and is very proud of them and danced around in them all day today, after she eventually took the socks off!

The Weekend

So my weekend was ok. Friday was very good. We went to the zoo (Keelin, Kinsey, Me, Mom, Brenna, Brady and Bowie) Every time we go to the zoo Kinsey loves it even more it is sooo fun to watch her with the animals. She loved the Gorillas, Pandas, Meercats, otters and the reptile house. She squealed in the reptile house. She kept pointing and saying see see see see. At the otters they were laying in a pile sleeping and Bowie pointed and said kitty! Mom asked him where are the kitties and he pointed at the pile of otters. So stinking cute. Keelin of course loved everything. at one of the exhibits that I had no idea what kind of animal it was(some sort of big bird) Keelin went on to tell us and everyone around all about the bird and its habit and all kinds of stuff. Someone said wow that's a lot of good information she should work here and keelin said it was on animal planet. Who said TV was bad??? anyway we had a picnic lunch and it was a very good day. Once we were home we all had the thought that maybe we should not have gone to the zoo considering that none of us can find gas but I don't really even care cause my babies had so much fun. Hopefully I can get Keelin to and from school Monday and Tuesday and i have enough to get to school and maybe I can find some in one of the little towns north of school. My theory is to go to less populated areas. we shall see. I think the Gov should have declared a 2 day school vacation for all schools and universities so we could conserve a little. I mean I saw a gas station today that had gas and the line was at least 150 cars long. Crazy. Anyway I think my problem feeling crappy is that I am worried right now. Not only about Kinsey cause we are still battling the rash UGH but also because Shawns works is saying they are going to temporarily lay everyone off. Maybe for 3 months maybe for 1 week a month for awhile. Either way not good. Not good at all. So That is probably my issue. Well I am trying to send out good thoughts good thoughts yes I am trying to be positive. The other will get me nowhere!!!

blech

well I got good grades on both tests so I am very happy. I am feeling so blech today. I dont know why I feel this way I have been trying to live more upbeat and positive and really kinda felt that way but right now I AM NOT FEELING IT! I feel all kinds of poopy. I need to shake it off. AHHHH. I know there is something off when i dont even want to talk to anyone on the phone and i am cranky with the kids and i feel like i am nervous about something but cant figure out what it would be........... ugh hopefully i will sort it out over the weekend!

2 tests

I have 2 tests today and to say I am not ready is an understatement. I have not felt like studying and Kinsey does not help with that situation. I have been so tired since last week. I tried to study over the weekend. Got a little sone but sassy pants thinks I have to be at her beck and call. I studied last night until 2 am and right now it is 7:20 am. I am tired. Hopefully I will get to study a little more before I go to school today!!!!!!!

GAS?????

so ummm tonight I needed to get gas in the car and I drove and drove and drove. I went to 12 gas stations and finally at the 13th they had some gas but for some reason the pumps were screwy and went really slow and some how was double charging everyone. The Indian people that run that gas station were claiming they don't know and its just fine. What? The guy next to me was flipping out he only got 10 gallons and it charged him for 22 gallons. I got 6 gallons and left. This is crazy. The news said don't panic everything will be back to normal in a few weeks What? weeks? I have to get Keelin to school, my self to school etc... 13 gas station!!!!!!!!! I was going to go to church in the morning but its 25 minutes away and I think I need to save my gas???? I don't know???

My miracle McBaby

well I am VERY happy to let you know that our news today was good news! Needless to say this week has totally wiped me out. After getting home from the DR today I crashed and slept for 3 hours. I don't do that. I do not take naps anymore so I was very drained. The Dr today said it was not Mastocytosis.

Today was a very strange day. This morning I got Keelin up and then got the baby and put her in the car and I took Keelin to school. When me and Kinsey got back she was just then waking up and that's when I noticed it. She had NO RASH. NONE. NOTHING. NOT ONE SPOT. She has not been like that in 2months. Her skin was perfect. Just like it was when she was a little baby. I swear it is a miracle. I did give her a small dose of the medication the er gave me early last night. But still, GONE? can you believe it? It has never, ever, ever disappeared. Even on the steroids it was never gone. all the prescription creams and benadryl. And today she is perfect. So that is why the Dr said no way mastocytosis. It never completely goes away. He thinks that it has something to do with her immunizations that she got at her 1 year check up. That is the day this all started. He said basically that she had a severe reaction to the vaccines and we never were able to fix it. The benadryl was just keeping it down and steroids doing kind of the same thing. Her system needs to be inundated with a heavy dose of antihistamines. We almost need to overwhelm her with it. Then slowly eventually we should be able to ease off of it. We might have to do the steroids again(I hope not baby roid rage is no fun!). But whatever. We are sooooooooo happy. My house was crazy happy this evening, we were giddy. Even Shawn, maybe especially Shawn. It was a great heart swelling night.

Thank you to everyone that sent prayers Kinsey's way. Shawn and I think that was the major part in this whole thing. I mean look at her today. Yes she had one small dose of the medication but so what? It couldn't have done this alone. The Dr even doubled the dosage for the rest of the time we are on it. So anyway I am so thankful for everyone that got busy yesterday praying for my little mcbaby.

Not to be debbie downer or anything but what do I do about her 15 month vaccinations?? I am very perplexed about this.

I am posting a picture of the little miracle rash baby so you can see the difference between what has been our everyday, which is the pictures I already posted and then what is today.








You can really only see the fading bruises and that is pretty much it! Even on our good days she had the rash somewhere and by evening it would be full blown horrible. But it has never looked like this!

rashhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

the rash. well we went to childrens hosp. last night due to brusing on her stomach. they thought it was leukemia which was scary to say the least. they finally figured out it wasn't. which was a huge relief. they were sure it was leukemia. so they think mastocytosis. not so good. but better than leukemia. my brain is muddled at the moment. she is going to get a biopsy hopefully tomorrow. so i guess i just need to wait to worry any further till i talk to the dr.

Saga of THE RASH

Ugh this rash is soooo frustrating! We have now been doing this since July 29th. So insane that no one can figure this out. We have now been to 2 pediatricians, 2 dermatologists, and Childrens healthcare E.R.. We have had different diagnoses from each one. Virus aka(we don't know) rash in the chicken pox family, hives, allergic reaction to vaccines, etc. So here we are September 16th and not any closer to figuring this thing out. You might think that its just a rash no big deal. BUT it is causing her to be irritable, itchy, inpatient, aggressive, she has loss of sleep, and just can't be a baby. We start the day not too spotty maybe just a few here and there. Then as the day progresses so do the spots and by the end of the day they are raging. I then feed her dinner and then put her in the bath. Bath usually calms them down. Then she has her nightly dose of Benadryl and falls restlessly asleep. Then starts the waking up every hour and the crying and screaming etc till morning. What is this? Food allergy, allergy to something she is coming in contact with? And what would that be? Nothing has changed since she turned 1. I don't know. I have cut things out of her diet to see if it made a difference and it didn't. We changed her detergent and no difference. I just don't know. We are going back to the Dr on Friday and I am going to demand some testing for major food allergens and then progress from there. UGH this sucks! I am going to post pics from the 2nd week of this til now

the first pic is at the hospital on Aug. 8th
the next is Sept. 12th
the 3rd is Sept 14th
the 4th is Sept 15th

She is like this everyday I have been sporadically taking pictures.

My BLOG

i decided to take the read my blog thing off cause either no one reads my blog or they dont want to do it !! LOL!!

READ MY BLOG

I JUST ADDED THE READ MY BLOG THING. SO IF YOU READ MY BLOG WILL YOU PLEASE ADD YOURSELF? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IF ANYONE READS THIS THING! THANKS!

SEPTEMBER 11

I wanted to post something about 9/11 I am just now able to sit down at the computer. In my psychology class the other the teacher mentioned 9/11 and how we felt and no one really acted like it was a big deal and I was looking around thinking REALLY? Then she says "Oh thats right most of you were 10 or 11 then." WHAT AHHHHH holy crap It seems like last year to me and I guess when you are a kid events in the world are different then when you are an adult. I was so shocked at their attitudes and the fact that I am in a class with 18 year olds. Anyway I remember that day almpst perfectly. I had just moved to Baltimore on September 8th. I was 7 months pregnant with Keelin. I had gotten up at 5am that morning to see shawn off to work and I stayed up for a bit and read then I fell back asleep. We did not have a phone at that time but I did have a cell phone. I think it was a little after 9am and my cell phone was ringing like crazy so I got up to answer it and I think it was Brenna and she was upset and I couldnt understand her. We lived in a teeny weeny apartment that was in the basement of the building. I couldnt get a signal so I had to go outside. At this point I had no idea what had happened but when I stepped outside it was crazy. We lived about 30 minutes outside DC and there were military helicopters swarming the sky above me. It was like we were at war. Brenna told me what happened and I didn't grasp it until I ran back in and watched TV. I remember being so scared. I was 7 months pregnant and I was so excited to finally be having a baby and now they are saying that this country will never be the same and the way we lived then would not be the way we lived anymore. I was just like nonononononono I am having a baby I want her to have a normal life! When Shawn got home he was freaked. He was working close to DC and it was crazy for him to try to get home that night. We just sat and watched the hours and hours of news coverage. I remember driving around that week after and on the highway every bridge had flags and banners and people had flags everywhere and the highway signs for New York had flags and banners and it was very emotional and moving. I got the Sept 11 2001 people magazine put out with the twin towers coming down on the cover and put it in Keelin's baby book. It became a huge part of my pregnancy. Keelin was born 2 months later. At christmas we were flying home and it was weird to fly so soon after that and we were flying out of Dulles. It was surreal being in the airport and people everywhere armed with machine guns. I want all those kids in my class to know how it was. I am happy Keelin is learning about it in school. Alot of schools dont do much for it where as I think it should be a national holiday. Keelins school is very big on patriotism so they got to wear red white and blue today and abandone their uniforms. They had a church service in the Chapel this morning to remember 9/11. I think that is a really neat thing. Anyway enough for now. I will always remember.

well I scrambled and we made the quota for the fundraiser thanks to Erin, Mom, Brenna and Shawn! I brought it to school this afternoon and when Keelin got in the car at carpool she was soo excited because they called her name because she made her quota and her name got announced and tomorrow all the kids that made their quoto get to throw a pie in the face of either the principal or the teacher. She was like mom thank you thank you over and over again. She said only 4 other kids in the 1st grade made their quota so she is thrilled! We just got home from a shopping trip to the mall. I usually try to avoid those but she needed a skirt for school tomorrow. They get to no wear their uniforms tomorrow because they are having Patriotic Day since it is 9/11. They are supposed to wear red white and blue but they have to wear a skirt as long as their uniform which is to their knees. Can you believe I went to Old Navy, Khols, Target, Walmart and none of them had anything that went anywhere near her knees!!!! so stupid and not right!

My Birthday

Well my birthday was this passed weekend and my sweet little baby Keelin decided she wanted to throw me a birthday party. She sent out invitations and everything. We had it at our house and she had balloons and she helped nana make a cake and she wanted subs for adults and happy meals for the kids and she also had a pin the nose on the clown game and she made goody bags for everyone. So sweet. I do not have any pictures and I am very sorry for that I wish so bad I ahd one of me and her. She deserved some sort of record of it.I was having major eye problems that night and the flash from cameras about killed me the one picture i was in I actually had to go lay down in the dark. I wish I had been better. I think I got too hot that day at Keelins soccer game it was 90 something that day and then I had to clean the house in 1 1/2 hours and them get myself ready I think somewhere I messed myself up. I have major guilt over Saturday. Ugh being a mother just make my middle name Guilt. Anyway I was very happy that she had a party for me it was great. Erin and I went out later that night and it was fun. We went to a silly bar and everyone seemed about 14 and were listening to crap rap I have never heard of and doing dances I did not know. Erin and I discussed whether we are getting old or if they are just stupid. We settled on stupid. I think I had the most fun at the bar I used to work at and me and erin just sat at the bar and hung out and talked. hahahahaaa maybe I am getting old. We did go to another bar after that and it was goofy too. erin got hit on like left and right. Being out with her can be a blow to your ego. thankfully I already knew this fact so I didnt get too upset! we got home around 3:30am so I am not THAT old! School wore me out today My brain feels swollen! My psychology class is good but slightly stressful. So much controversy discussed and papers due every second and every class we have to speak in front of the class on things we feel and think about on the world today. Very interesting but very exhausting especially when you REALLY disagree on what someone else says. Keelin has a fundraiser do tomorrow and I forgot to get it to everyone and she is going to be so sad we didnt sell anything. I need to scramble and figure something out between now and in the morning. Maybe I can make phone calls and bring it later in the morning into the school and just say we accidently left it at home when i dropped her at school??? Ugh fundraisers!

My New Tattoo

I am so happy. I got my new tattoo tonight. Erin and Brenna helped get my tattoo for me for my birthday. Without my sisters I would not have been able to get my new tattoo so I am very thankful. I was feeling bad because I have the tattoo with Keelins name and now Kinsey is 13 months and I felt I needed to get hers on too. So now I have it and I love it. The tattoo artist was very good and helped me figure out how to make it all work. We added some thistles which I am very happy about because I have wanted to get a thistle tattoo and thisis great it was worked together. Anyway this is a picture I took myself so its not the greatest because it was hard to take it with my other arm I couldnt really get at good angle but whatever I am excited about it!

I had to take Kinsey to the dr yesterday and i am traumatized and so is Keelin. They are trying to find out why she still has some of that rash left trying to make sure there is no infection, I still think it is an allergic reaction to something I just don't know what. She also hadn't s;ept in 3 days I thought she might have an ear infection but they said it's just an upper resp. infection. Anyway they needed to get a urine sample. How do you get a urine sample from a baby? AHHHHHHHHHHHH a catheter(sp?) awful, horrible, sad, scary, my instincts were to knock the nurses out of the way and take the baby and run. Kinsey was crying Keelin was crying I was crying ugh awful. And then it came back negative. I felt so awful like why did I just put her through that? Am I a bad mom? I hate crap like that. I missed class last night too which makes me feel icky. I hate missing class you get so far behind. Well I am going to get tattooed for my birthday today. My birthday is on Sunday and Erin and I are going today unless Shawn doesn't get home from work on time. I am getting the Kinsey tattoo finally and possible the Erin Elizabeth one for Kinsey's I will get the same as Keelins only a slight difference and how can I get theirs and not the others? It feels like I am leaving something out so I wa wanting something small discreet and cute. The last time I saw her she was a baby so I was thinking a little baby footprint I have hers from the hospital so maybe I cant believe she is turning 15 this fall. That means I am getting old. I am tooo tired today. I so wanted a sick day and I almost caved to Keelin, she said her nose hurt tummy hurt and throat hurt. I think she wanted a sick day too but I am the mom so we are up and getting ready for school.