We all have had so much going on with this last month left of School. I have a few updates and can't wait to share them.

Nicholas~ ok so now that we are into May he has finally stopped throwing up on the way to school. I'm not kidding! I think we may have solved a little of the problem by taking him to an allergy and asthma specialist. Remember back in December he got Strep then that turned into Pneumonia and honestly he wasn't able to kick that nasty cough so about 2 weeks ago (yes freaking 2 weeks ago) I decided to take him to a new doctor. He has been on several antibiotics,steroids,breathing treatments and inhalers since December but this cough was wreaking havoc on his body. He developed a hernia that we will have to have surgery for, was vomiting, had dark circles around eyes,not sleeping well and just couldn't kick this. I was really getting frustrated and seriously crying over it. It makes no sense to have multiple doctor visits and so much medicine with 0 results.
So this new Doctor (which we LOVED) said he noticed Nick had a HUGE tonsil that could possibly have some kind of other infection that set in and just will not leave. After spending about an hr talking about his symptoms,medicines and everything else (his Dad is HPD retired :) ) he decided he wanted to first put him on a BIG does of steroids (in the past he would only get 2 days worth) and after 3 days if no improvement then a very powerful antibiotic. With the high dose of a week long steroid if he had asthma me would see an improvement almost immediately and if we didn't then on the 3rd day we start the antibiotic. If he didn't respond to either then we have to have a cat scan to look at other options. Well me personally I was a little disappointed over more medicine. This kid is getting to the point when he hears me getting it ready he hides. But we really trusted this doctor and figured we will try this.
3 days later he is still coughing all night,gaging,dark circles and everything else. I almost was hoping to see an immediate change in him and be done. So we started the antibiotic. Day 4 no change, Day 5 no change, Day 6 I am crying over the fact he was up all night for 2 nights coughing so bad and crying over his throat. Day 7....we didn't hear him coughing last night! IS IT GONE? He also lost the runny nose! OH MY GOD IS IT GONE? I am almost not wanting to celebrate yet because he has cried over his throat and suffered so bad but this morning seemed perfect. I am going to wait a few days before I celebrate but I am beginning to see the light.
I have also noticed he is much happier in the mornings this week than he has been in months. At this appointment Nick measured 4ft 2in and 65 pounds (5yr old)

So while we are at the doctor I also had made Ashlynn an appointment. I always try to double stack...who has time to run back and forth? I wanted to talk about doing a true allergy test for a milk allergy. Remember previous issues? If not look back in previous post.
We took her off milk and put her on Rice Milk (ewwww) and she has gained 15 pounds and is finally catching up in size. Anyways as we are talking to him he noticed in the paper work I put down she had an allergic reaction to ants. So he ask..and I tell..we went to a birthday party last May and she got into ants. Immediately she starts getting Hives and swelling ALL OVER. Her eyes,nose,ears,armpits...really all over. We get home fast and on the way she starts coughing. Well I grab liquid benadryl and call Walgreens for an accurate dose. We started seeing a change within minutes. We decided after that to make sure we have NO ANTS AT ALL near her. Well he then tells us she obviously had a severe reaction and the fact that she started coughing was a definite bad sign. So we come home with this little jewel...

I believe the DEVIL himself invented this little gadget. I know it saves lives but seriously if I have to use this I may need counseling for a year. If you are not familiar with this let me tell you, at the sign of an allergic reaction you hold it with a fist, pull off the safety and punch the meaty part of her skinny thigh and hold for 10 seconds. Then you give benadryl and go straight to the ER. The are very adamant about telling you if you accidentally hold it upside down and pierce your thumb you will lose your thumb.

I forgot to mention the fact he said each time you have a 50% stronger reaction after you are stung. Wow it was pretty bad last time so we will try and avoid these critters.

Natalie's leg ~ All I can say is it is still in a boot. VERY FRUSTRATING! She has cheer try outs this week and after watching her cry last night I told her to just take the boot off! We shall see what happens in the next week or so. I personally think it has been on way to long.