Staycation

We have an announcement to make!  I know that our lives are crazy but I want to introduce you all to the newest member of our family.  That's right.  A 3 year old.  Girl.  Blonde hair, brown eyes.  Her birth name was Brandy but we have renamed her. 

Introducing Daisy:

She is a 4 pound Yorkie that was a rescue.  We had NO intention of getting a dog any time soon but she just kinda fell into our lap and it was impossible to say no to her.  She is just the perfect size for Manny to hold.  She doesn't yap or bark.  She is playful.  She is easy going and sweet.  She just fits in perfectly. 


And that's how we started our Spring Break.  We originally considered going on a trip somewhere ... but thought better of it, just in case.  Manny's just not stable enough at this point.  So we settled on a staycation instead. 

I didn't get photos of everything because our camera is missing and my phone doesn't take very good photos but I caught a few. 

We went bowling and all you can eat Pizza place, to Busch Gardens, Adventure Island, the Mall, the park, the big boys went with Daddy to an all boy event (shooting, archery, fishing, etc).  It was a perfect time!

This is at Busch Gardens and he did not want to leave this pond even after almost 2 hours in it.  He DID ask "Where the fish?" when told no fish, he said, "Where the alligators?" LOL

Manny about to head out of the house for the first time in his "Car".  We went down the street and it was so much fun watching him giggle.

At Adventure Island watching the kids play at "Splash Attack"

He said, "Take my picture, Mama"

On the disabled swing at our local park

In a baby swing.  What can I say?  The boy loves to swing.

Now lest you think that our vacation was without incident, I'll let you know just a few of those. 

One ... see that last picture of Manny at the park?  While there, the kids picked up a few caterpillars.  They've held these particular type before without troubles and we even had researched them ... harmless. 

That was Friday.  Saturday morning, Zoe woke up with a HORRIBLE rash.  Looked like 1000 bites on her neck and then hundreds more down her body.  Mostly trunk.  I immediately did a "What did we do different", running my own differential in my head.  The caterpillars were not immediately coming to my head but they eventually did.  It's the only thing we could think of.  This stuff itches horribly too.  Benadryl, hydrocortisone ... nothing is helping. 

Monday she was not allowed to go to school until the Doc cleared her ... afterall, this doesn't LOOK like an allergic reaction to bugs (especially bugs that didn't even bite here).  Tonight, she is tucked in with Prednisone and Atarax.  Hoping that takes the edge off enough for her to go to school tomorrow. 

Interesting tidbit about Zoe... she's getting progressively worse reactions to bug bites.  We're doing the prednisone this time again and starting to talk about an epi-pen.  She hasn't had any breathing troubles YET but I am afraid that is on it's way.  Like 2 weeks ago... ONE ant bit her on her forearm at recess and it swole up to a golf ball size.  Or she accidentally got one bite of food where there had been a shrimp (we know she is allergic) and she had a violent reaction.  (Just not breathing.)  So it's on our radar.  Poor baby! 

Regarding Manny ... he has been doing MOSTLY well.  (Thank God!)  His skin issues are still a problem.  During the week, he reacted seriously to a few different adhesives.  I seriously thought I might have to take him to the hospital to be admitted as it got close to cellulitis.  But I just kept trying things and eventually found a partial solution. 

Today (Monday) the home health nurse was happy with how much better his skin looked than last Monday.  But it is clear to see all the damage/healing/scabs.  (It had gotten bad enough to bleed.) 

Meanwhile, on Saturday, while we were out and about, I went to change Manny's diaper and noticed the most disgusting substance covering his pants and shirt.  Turns out, his gtube got enough pressure on it that it popped open and leaked out all the contents.  (There shouldn't have BEEN any contents.)  And it ate right through his skin.  Not even kidding or exaggerating.  As I VERY gently wiped off the nasty stuff, his skin bled.  (Can't even imagine how that feels~) 

I REALLY thought I'd have to take him to the ER with this.  'Cause if you're paying attention, his one skin allergy starts at his neck and goes down to mid chest.  This second issue started at mid chest and went down into the diaper area.  So the WHOLE FRONT CHEST. 

He has a candida type rash (yeast) over several parts of his body.  Can't seem to get ahead of it. 

Now the good news ... all the other kids are doing well. :)

Gotta run ... Daisy wants to play!!