Allergy Update

I probably should have titled this post NO Allergy Update, because that's basically what the doctor said! Miss L was tested for 9 different environmental allergens this morning, including cat and dog, and was negative for all of them! So, we're bribing this guy to stay:

The doc said right now he thinks her hives are non-allergic, with an unknown cause. Her body is just producing histamine like crazy, and apparently it's pretty common. We are giving her Zyrtec for 2 weeks, and then as needed. He feels 95% certain the hives will be gone before the 6 week mark, but if we not we have to go back. We were all SO relieved! When we stopped at the store to get Zyrtec I promised Miss L we could get a treat for her and one for the cat. (He's been shut out on the screened in porch since Monday and he was NOT happy about it!)
Pip's treat is above, and Miss L's is below:

I thought the cupcakes she chose were quite fitting!

You've got to be kidding me! Cats & pneumonia edition

You might remember when I blogged about our cats fighting, or more specifically, one cat beating the snot out of the other. (As a follow up, we tried the vet's suggestions and finally decided it wasn't fair to the victim cat to keep him any longer. He's very happy in his new home, but we all shed some tears.)
Things have been going well being a one cat household, surprisingly. The remaining cat is the sweetest cat EVER to people, although apparently takes out all his aggression on other cats. He is soft and loveable, doesn't jump on the counters, hardly even meows, and is just all around lovely.

However, Saturday morning Miss L broke out in terrible hives. Her hands and feet were bright red, swollen, and she had hives on her legs and fingers. I freaked and called the on call doctor who seemed annoyed by me interrupting his Saturday and gave me the advice to give her Benadryl, which duh... but I've never had a kid with such a strong allergic reaction like that so I was scared! She was fine the rest of the day, in which we were either outside or out of the house. Sunday morning the same thing happened except I didn't bother to call the doctor this time. We started noticing that it was worse when she sat on the couch, or the floor, or the cat's favorite spot on the carpet. At one point she laid her head down on the couch and got up with a huge red hive on her face! We got a little smarter at this point and decided it might be the cat. We put him on the screened in porch and vacuumed everything, including the couch, and washed everything that might have cat hair on it. While we were out of the house that day, she didn't have one red spot.
Today, same story. Hives. And she didn't even sit on the couch, or touch the cat. I called the doctor and got a referral to an allergist, but I feel like he's going to come to the same conclusion I am. (By the way, this took 3 phone calls and talking to 3 people. I hate the phone, but sill suck it up for the kids.)
If it's the cat, what are we going to do? Can he continue to live here? I don't see how.
We have such a coyote problem, I'm afraid making him an outside cat would be the same as a death sentence... we've already lost 2 cats that way.
She goes to see the allergist on Friday but she can't have any antihistamines until she gets tested so we have to keep her away from the cat (he's living on the screened in porch for the near future) and cat dander. I've been furiously cleaning everything I can get my hands on. The hair! OMG! It gets on everything! It's EVERYWHERE!
PS - Benadryl does not make her sleepy. At all. No nap for going on the 3rd day. 

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Saturday was also my last day on antibiotics. I've been gradually feeling better, but it was the first day I felt really good! I didn't cough at all, and I was so excited to get off the medicine - finally!
I was diagnosed with pneumonia on September 18th, although I had been sick for a few weeks before that. I put off going to the doctor for a longer time than I should have. I got 10 days of meds, took them and finally conceded I wasn't better and went BACK to the doctor on October 11th. I got 10 more days of antibiotics, apparently a super strong one, and now? I'm not feeling good again.

Yesterday I coughed a couple times and it sent my radar up, but I thought maybe it was a fluke. This morning I practically hacked up a lung and there was some nasty phlegm involved. Gross. My back is hurting a little bit again, and I started to panic.
 I called the doctor and had to speak to the receptionist, who said I couldn't talk to a nurse but she would take a message, so I explained briefly to her. Then the nurse called back and I explained my problem to her and she said she had to talk to the doctor and I'm waiting on another call back to see if the doctor thinks I need to come in again (really questioning my thinking in picking a doctor 25 minutes away) or if she will call in a few more days of antibiotics or if I'm going to die drown in my own phlegm be fine.
Seriously, this is getting ridiculous! I don't even get sick very much, and I can't seem to get rid of this mess!

Between Miss L and me, that's a lot of phone calls this morning. I also need to schedule dentist appointments for all 6 of us, but that might have to wait until tomorrow.

EDIT: I finally talked to the nurse again and she said that the doctor doesn't think I could possibly still have an infection after two rounds of antibiotics. So... I hope she's right! If it gets worse I'm supposed to call back. 

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There were some good things about this weekend though!
Saturday:

Halloween Carnival with my fabulous moms' group

Sunday:

"Hiking" at Rainbow Mountain

ch ch ch changes...

I was looking through old picture albums on Facebook and Miss L has changed so much since last year! She'll be 3 in less than 2 months, and it's getting hard to deny that she's no longer a baby. 
Last Halloween:

Still a baby.

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D and I were discussing future plans last night. We've been feeling lately like our house is suddenly really SMALL for us. It is not that small, but it certainly feels like we're running out of room. I work on decluttering all the time, but all the decluttering in the world isn't going to grow a bathroom or another bedroom. We were discussing our options and there's a lot to think about. Should we move? (I hate the idea, the work, the showings, the moving... ugh)
This location is ideal for D's job, and we have an amazing lot and love, LOVE, this house. (er, minus the need for another bathroom.) On the other hand, we could move into a bigger house, and into a better school district if we decided to go that way. However, we're considering homeschooling indefinitely, although that certainly isn't set in stone. (high school! Eeek!)In that case, moving seems rather pointless.
We could make our play room into a bedroom, and add on a bathroom in L's current, small, bedroom and still have room for a small office/playroom. I'm rambling now...
So many options! Move? Stay and deal with it? Remodel? I wonder if I hang out at Lowe's or Home Depot long enough if one of those house crashers from HGTV will find me and "fix" my house. 

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A change in antibiotics was apparently what I needed because I'm finally feeling better. I felt well enough yesterday to go on a walk for the first time since early September. Pneumonia sucks. Try not to catch it!

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The only good olive oil.

I was reading an article a few weeks ago about olive oil and that the only kind that's *really* good for you, is extra virgin olive oil in dark glass. The ones in clear glass or plastic are supposedly not as good for you, and I frankly can't remember why. Well, I stored that information in the back of my head because it made sense to me at the time and I thought I'd pay attention to the types of bottles next time I needed olive oil. I usually buy a huge plastic bottle of the stuff. (Yes, that was all the research I did. No, I don't know if it's true.)

It turns out that I happened to be at Target yesterday and had olive oil on my list. There was only one brand in a big enough bottle that was dark glass. I decided I'd try it out and see if there was any difference. There was a difference in price... it was $15.79 for the bottle.

Today, I was prepping the vegetables I wanted to roast for dinner and I had to refill the olive oil bottle that we keep beside the stove for ease during cooking. You know, one of those with the funny spouts like in Italian restaurants? Anyway... it was empty. (This is getting to be a long story about olive oil...)
 I got out the new bottle and set it on the counter and turned to open a cabinet. My arm hit the bottle and it was like slow motion. I KNEW what had happened before I even turned my head. I knew the bottle was going to hit the floor and shatter and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

So, not only did I waste $16, and have a huge mess to clean up, but we don't have any olive oil for dinner. Also, to those people writing about the good kind of olive oil? I would argue that any olive oil in the jar is the good kind.

On the other hand, it was greener than my normal brand and smelled great. I cried a little. I'm not kidding.

Nevermind

I'm having a really hard time lately, and I've been struggling with what to write here. Everything is so... complain-y. So, yeah, some things suck. On the other hand, I have some wonderful people in my life, and a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which are my four lovely children.

Four things

* Yesterday I made salted caramel brownies. They were delicious! It was a terrible idea to make a whole pan.
(No Pudge Brownie mix + can of pumpkin + crushed pretzels on top. Bake. Make caramel, drizzle over warm brownies, add sea salt. Try not to eat the whole pan. ) 

* We had cold cereal and box macaroni for dinner tonight and the kids were beyond thrilled. It's the first dinner I've made in months that I haven't heard any complaining about. Ingrates. 

* I don't know about you guys, but instead of counting down till Christmas, I'm counting down until the election. (Only 34-ish more days until this insanity is oooooover!)  

*  I'm feeling nostalgic lately about getting rid of the crib, baby toys, the booster seat and a lot of our most beloved board books. I'm sure it doesn't have ANYTHING to do with my LAST BABY nearing 3. Three years old. No more babies! Waaaah! (Also, yay! But, right now? Waaah.)

a couple weeks late

On September 20th, 1997 I went on a date with a cute boy. He was so shy - we both were - and he had hideous side burns. We both missed our curfew and got grounded for 2 weeks. Yes, grounded. I was only 16 - and barely - and he was 17.
I couldn't find a picture of our first date, but this was just a few months later in January:

About 4  years after our first date:

Engagement picture (no sideburns!)

Almost 5 years after our 1st date:

Almost exactly 15 years after our first date:

Boy! Life has changed!

This morning, I found this on my mirror. I might be a couple weeks late writing about it, and I don't want to get all mushy up in here, but even after 15 years together, our love is still very much alive.