POISON IVY - ROUND #2

So, I was fixing to reschedule Jalyn's 4 year pictures from June when she got the first round of poison ivy, and wouldn't you know, POISON IVY AGAIN!!!

Justin and I decided to head out to Mineral Wells State Park to do a little hiking the weekend of Labor Day.  Jalyn loves this kind of stuff, so off we go.  It was really fun, and Jalyn just had to lead the way.  We climbed a lot of trails, over rocks and under rocks.  We got on top of them and checked out the lake.  It was really pretty.  There was lots of vegetation around, and we were constantly looking out for poison ivy.  Well, I guessed we missed some, and Jalyn got right in it.

The next day, I saw a few red spots and one near her eye.  Then, the next day, full-blown break out.  This is the 4th day, and by far the worst.  We have been applying the left over cream from last time, oatmeal baths and Benedryl.  It's not all over her body this time, but the worst is on her face by her right eye and on her inner right thigh.  Her eye is swollen, and there is even a spot on her eyelid.  My poor baby.  I can't believe Justin and I didn't get any.  Next time we do something like that, Jalyn will be wearing long sleeves and pants (maybe gloves too).  Well, off to the doctor tomorrow.

POISON IVY - ROUND #1

At the very end of June, right before I was going to have Jalyn's 4 year pictures taken, she was playing out at Audie's house, my dad's friend who has a bunch of land, with his puppies while he worked on the tractor.  My dad said Jalyn was rolling around on the ground with the puppies and just having a great time.  That night when I was giving her a bath, I noticed a few little red spots.  I thought it was no big deal, because she always has little mosquito bites or something.  Well, the next day, the spots were bigger, and then the next day bigger and itchy.  Finally we took her to the doctor and Jalyn was diagnosed with Poison Oak.  She also had a growing red, patchy, dry spot on her shoudler blade.  The doctor said it was an infection from some kind of bite, and she definitely needed some antibiotics stat.  We picked up the anitbiotics and the cream as well as some Benedryl and some Aveeno Oatmeal bath and began the routine.

The cream and oatmeal bath were no problem, but Jalyn hated the antiobiotics and the Benedryl.  I ended up having to hold her down and force them down with a syringe.  After that, everytime it was time to take her medicine, she would say "Mommy, force it down my throat!"  So I would chase her, hold her down, and force it down her throat.  Whatever works.

She had it all over her body, and each day, for about a week, new spots would appear.  Finally, the spots began to diminish.  It took about 2 weeks to go away, but thank goodness she didn't end up with any scars from scratching, although she did really good trying not to scratch.

Here are a few pictures.  One I won't show is of her poor little bottom - she probably wouldn't want her bottom posted on the web.  It was covered in red spots.  There were just a couple on her face (thank goodness).  I thought I had taken more pictures, but I can't find them.  Anyway.....

In the doctor's office with Daddy just waiting.......

MY NEW CAR!!

I finally got a new car last Friday.  It has been a week, and I love my car.  Of course it's not brand new though.  It's a 2005 Chevy Tahoe Z71.  I was so excited to find it.  It's got the leather seats and quad bucket seats with the third row that I was looking for.  Yeah!!!!

4 NIGHTS WITHOUT JALYN

So GiGi (Judy) told us last week that she signed Jalyn up for art classes in Breckenridge.  The classes are from Tuesday to Friday, so that means Jalyn will be spending the night with GiGi for 4 nights.  That is going to be the longest I've been away from her.  Hopefully GiGi will be able to handle her.

I called to find out the scoop on the first day of art class, and was told Jalyn didn't like the weaving too much - I guess it was a little boring for her.  Good thing tomorrow they will be doing painting.  Also, Jalyn made a little friend who is a year older.  After art class they went to Mr. Jims to have lunch and then off to the community pool.  I don't think GiGi knew what she was in for.  They stayed at the pool for 3 hours!!  Jalyn loves the water.

Well, we will see how the rest of the week turns out.  Jalyn keeps telling me she is going to paint me a picture of a rose and that we are going to frame it.

NEW WASHER AND DRYER!!

I was so excited to finally get our new washer and dryer on Monday.  I put them to use washing 8 loads on Tuesday.  I originally wanted the front load washer, but after talking to several people, I decided to stick with the top load.  So far, so good, and they are way more quiet than my old ones.

Kenmore Elite 5.2 cu. ft. Top Load Washer

with Steam Dryer

(Yes, I still need to finish painting the laundry room.)

BUSY SATURDAY

Well, Saturday turned out to be a very busy day for us:

  *We were up at 6:30am to get to an eye doctor appoiment for Justin to see if he qualifies for LASIK - nope he doesn't.  His eyes are too bad and, of course, his only option is for the more expensive Visian ICL procedure.

  *Then we were off to Jalyn's gymnastic's class.  She absolutely loves it and wants to go every day.  She isn't very coordinated, but has gotten better in the month that she has been going.

  *Next we headed to Grammie's house to drop Jalyn off so Justin and I could change and go to the Bass Hall to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Judy and Marsha.  I loved it, and it was more entertaining than I thought it would be.  Of course Justin, being Justin, thought it was dumb.  Thanks Judy!

  *We picked up Jalyn and grabbed a quick bite to eat at Las Vaqueros, again with Judy and Marsha.  It was a nice dinner.

  *Then we had to hurry to meet Vicky to go to the Ranger's game.  It has been a long time since we've been.  OMG was it hot, and there was no breeze where we sat.  We got to see Tom Grieve inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Too bad the Rangers lost - BAD - and it was a sold-out game.  Jalyn was so excited, and she even had her baseball glove.  Thanks Vicky!

FIRST POSTING!!

Ok.  So I've decided it's time to start a blog.  Hopefully this will all go well, and I will continue with this project.  I want to be able to document all/most/some of the things that go on in our lives so that I can look back and remember the small stuff, as well as the big stuff, that went on.  I have such a bad memory, and can't remember a lot of stuff that I did when I was younger, and I am hoping this blog will serve as my memory and also as a type of scrapbook for Jalyn.  Also, I love reading other blogs and seeing pictures.  It is a great way to keep up with friends and family you don't talk to very much.

Most postings will be from here on out, but I do want to include some things from the past year or two as well.

So without delay, here I go.  (Let's see how long I can keep this up.)