Lyme disease

Rachel here. It's been a whirlwind of a month. Tomorrow I finish my last 2 pills for my Lyme disease treatment. I KNOW! Lyme disease? Crazy. It's been a learning experience for sure. It all started the Friday before Memorial Day. Bryan and I ventured to a part of Bryan's parent's property where a large tree was just cut down. I was on the hunt for the perfect stumps to add to a cute little play area for the girls in our own backyard... amongst some other smaller trunks/limbs to make some cute little building blocks. The materials were found, loaded... all was well. Later that evening at dinner, Bryan noticed I had a tick on the top of my ear. I removed it... no biggie.

Monday, Memorial Day, I stepped on a bee in the backyard... had some swelling... no biggie.

Exactly one week later, I woke up to an extremely itchy foot... the bee sting foot. I lathered it with lotion, scratched it... nothing was relieving the itch. Within two hours there was a large, raised, red, hot rash on the bottom of my foot all the way to my ankle. Luckily I was able to see a doctor that evening... the diagnosis... Cellulitis... basically a staph infection from my sting. The doc notices a small dot on the top of my foot... I say it's probably nothing, but want to talk about the bottom of the foot instead. I get placed on an antibiotic... no biggie... sort of.

The next day... the small dot/bump on my foot gives me an eery feeling. I see if anything will come out of it. I'm able to get a small black something out of it... no biggie (would later assume it was a small Deer Tick).

Within a few minutes I have a bulls eye rash. Thinking that doesn't seem normal, I get on the internet. My prognosis... Lyme disease. The only symptoms I had until that point were fatigue, headaches... etc... symptoms of life in general. The rash got me though. I began talking with friends and family on through the weekend... the plan was to call the doc just for some piece of mind... I'm doubting the severity.

Monday morning... call doc... they seem panicked... I get an appointment immediately... the rash is gone. After explaining what had been happening, the doc skipped all the testing (it was going to be a long drawn out process, and the doc was concerned with time) and immediately prescribed me my new antibiotic. He told me he was going to go with his gut instead of waiting six weeks for the results he knew he was going to see. I was going to be positive. That very day I began to experience severe aching in my right knee... BIGGIE.

I began the antibiotic the very next day (needed to finish out the first antibiotic first). Symptoms became increasingly uncomfortable. Severe aching, numbness, shooting pains all in my right leg. I became sick just about every morning from the antibiotic... it needed to be taken on an empty stomach which is hard to do after not eating for 12+ hours. My right leg and both arms would tingle and burn... ALL ... DAY... LONG... for 10 days. It felt like my whole body was asleep (like when your foot falls asleep)... not very much fun. Luckily the side effects have dwindled some, but there is still some aching in my leg.

While this entire thing is beyond comprehension to me, I can't help but be thankful I went with my gut and caught this early. I shouldn't have to endure swollen joints, a quirky nervous system, or even heart issues... because I caught it early enough. The longer you wait, the less that can be done for you... there is no cure. If I hadn't been proactive, my prognosis could be MUCH different... a life of pain. I'm hoping at worst my leg has some aches and pains every now and then... at best... the antibiotic kicked some butt and I can put this all behind me.

Moral... TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCT! ;)

Portsmouth Children's Museum

Monday we ventured on over to P-town with Nana to visit the children's museum. It was AWESOME! We only got through about half of the museum, and we were more than entertained for a few hours.
And so the bubble obsession begins... amongst us all...Children's Museum... see you in July!

2 years old

Emma Grace here! Saturday I turned 2... what what?!

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Along with the number came the attitude... it's like I have an excuse now to act like a monster. :)

Busch Gardens

BUSCH GARDENS! Ever been? We celebrated Father's Day and my little sister's 2nd birthday. While I was balls to the wall, it took a while for Emma Grace to warm up to the idea of the rides.
My uncles Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly had WAY TOO MUCH FUN spinning me around in the tea cups. They were pretty much my partners in crime the majority of the day. Both were quite disgruntled when I came in just under the height for all the fun rides. Next year boys... next year.There's Emma Grace! She giggled the entire time!

Going to the chapel...

Rachel here. My BEAUTIFUL (both inside and out) friend Callie got married Saturday. It was so super lovely and just as fun. The girls were a hoot! I've never seen them dance so much in my life! We didn't leave until about 1130, and they couldn't have been better behaved. Reese has become EXTREMELY obsessed with Callie and her dress since leaving Tidewater. Yesterday she informed me she was going to need a very sparkly dress to marry Daddy. Bryan told her that I was already married to him, and she was going to need to find a nice boy of her own. "Well, where am I going to find one of those?!" EXACTLY! :)
Some of my dearest friends from high school and college... along with two offspring. I love the types of friendships that you can pick up right where you left off... no matter how long it's been.
Bryan was easily voted the greatest dad there. How did I get so lucky?
I passed down a very serious tradition while there... my daughter can now shake her ass (that's right people) like a crazy woman to "Baby Got Back." If I teach her nothing else... I'll be happy. ;)
A beautiful time with beautiful people...

Suffolk...

Rachel here. Blogger is acting all kinds of awful right now... the frustration mounts daily... for real. I upload my pix, and now they are in a different order, and then I can't move them... OY VEY! Okay anyways... now that that's out of the way... "VACATION!" I put that into quotes because seriously... vacations seem more like work with small children. I have to pack for myself/both girls, I have to worry about what they eat, where they sleep, how they act, how to keep them entertained, will we find a potty in time... it's just work. I love them both with all my being, but a nice long vacation with just the husband would be great... maybe in 10 years. :) Until then we will simply "vacation" our summers away... first stop this year was Tidewater. We were there to celebrate the nuptials of a very dear friend of mine, and we turned it into a mini visit who's goal was to feel "not so rushed to see everyone." We started in Suffolk. Luckily we arrived early enough in the afternoon for the girls to enjoy some pool time. Reese LOVED the water. She was hesitant at first, but once she figured out the life jacket would allow her to do everything she wanted to do without sinking... there was no stopping her.
Emma Grace was more of an observer... outside looking in. She did get into the pool but was much happier looking the part and staying dry.
We head back in a few weeks for an mini extended stay while the Mr. is busy earning our bacon... play dates anyone? :)

End of an era...

Okay, so maybe it's not the end of an era, BUT it was my last day of preschool on Friday. :( We celebrated with a lovely picnic on the playground with all the other children and their families. I had such a super year, loved my two teachers, and can't wait 'til August. I've been learning tons and will miss school dearly. Here's to a summer of learning, traveling, and most importantly... playing. :)

I'm a big girl now...

Rachel here. This last weekend the girls bunked together because of people being in town. It was an experience to say the least... HOWEVER... something good did come of it. Emma Grace was SO EXCITED by the twin mattress that was on her floor for Reese to sleep on, that we decided to go ahead and make her a big girl room. Since it was spur of the moment, we had virtually no budget, so I had to think quickly. Luckily we still had my day bed and the twin mattress... all we needed was bedding. I needed to get something that would coordinate with her current decor and that of Reese's. Eventually our goal is for the girls to share a room... not due to space... but due to us wanting them to be sweet, cute little sisters that are close in age... we'll see how that pans out. :) I got the super cute heart quilt from Target for $20 along with the sheets and birdie pillow. It all matched great with the wall and bird wall art I made years ago.

The little blue house was found at OUAC for $30. Emma Grace is in love with it.... IN LOVE. I was also able to breath some new life into the little table and chairs from my mom and Mike. I painted it super cute for Reese years ago, but the paint peeled off of the top once something sat on it too long. 'Tis the story of my life. I got some SUPER CUTE contact paper from Target and covered it... SO HAPPY WITH IT!We also swiped Reese's dresser from her room. She has one in her closet, so we're not depriving her or anything. :) We had the same issue with the top of the dresser that we did with the little art table, so it got some SUPER CUTE contact paper as well. :)

Look at how small she looks! She's so in love with her new big girl room... and so are we!

Her closet also got a mini makeover. The dresser was removed and some cubbies were put in for her toys. LOVE IT!