a little bit of a scare...

About 10 days ago Alivia showed me some bumps on the back of her neck that were itching.  I could see that she had a little rash.  By the next morning it has spread onto her back and stomach.  I gave her an antihistamine and it seemed to help her.  The next two days the rash started looking like hives so I put some anti itch cream on her and continued to give her the anitihistamine.  I figured she must have eaten something that she was allergic to.  I was trying to go through the last week and figure out if there was anything out of the norm that she had eaten.  I couldn't come up with anything.  By Sunday she was really itchy so I took her to the Dr. and he told me what I already thought...she was having an allergic reaction. So home we went with some more itch cream and antihistamine.

{i will explain more, but before I move on...the pic above is in the ER and they were putting ice cold clothes on her head to try and bring her fever down.)

The Dr told me to keep her home a few days from school so on Monday she vegged and took it easy. Later that day she started complaining that her wrist hurt.  I look at it and it was starting to swell and she would scream if I touched it or moved it at all.  From there she started feeling sick to her stomach and had a headache and she was burning up.  I ran her to the Dr and while I was waiting in the waiting room she started rolling her eyes into the back of her head and acting like she was going to pass out.  I stood up, told the nurse I needed a Dr. now and that she couldn't wait.  They got her in right away, the Dr. took her temperature and told me she had a screaming fever and  in the 30 years he had been practicing, he had never seen a pattern of rash like hers before.  GREAT!!  That is every mothers worst nightmare right there. Her joints were swelling and he told me to get her to the Emergency Room right away.  I took Jack with me & my great friend Natalie took Rex & Lucy for me until Jared could get home.  

I took a lot of pictures but I feel like they don't quite capture just had splotchy and red her skin was. 

So..

we went to the same private hospital where I had Jack and where Jack spent a few nights with respiratory problems a few months back.  The nurses and Dr. recognized us and were so kind and helpful.  The put a drip line in and took some blood.  I was so proud of Alivia.  She was a champion.  She was so nervous, but she did it.  I put my face next to hers and we talked and I tried to get her mind off of what was going on. To be honest I think I was the one that needed the distracting more than she did.  After about 7 hours at the hospital the blood work came back normal so they let her go home.  They said that she had a allergic reaction and that she would hopefully get over it quickly.

I didn't sleep well that night because I was worried about her and this crazy rash.  The next morning Jared worked from home and Alivia took it easy.  She was playing with Lucy and got up to get something and fell down.  She cried that her foot hurt and when I looked at it her joints around her ankle and toes were swollen and standing on it really hurt.  I looked at the rash and by then it had turned from red to purple and looked like huge bruises on her body.  Her face was purple and swollen and her fever was back and rising.

I ran her back down to the Emergency room and they took one look at her and put her into a bed straight away and started an IV. Poor girl has my veins.  The first attempt to start the IV didn't work so they had to try the other hand. More blood tests were done.  The Doctors spent a lot of time trying to figure out what it might be.  After the second set of blood test came back normal they started talking to me about testing her for Collective Tissue Disease and Childhood Arthritis.  (Umm, I was sitting there trying to act calm and collected...I was dying inside!)

 I called Jared who was home with the kids and I had him look up Collective Tissue Disease.  He read to me what he could find on it.  It involved diseases that are connected to the collagen production in her body.  The Dr asked me for any family history of any other disease that may be related.  I mentioned that my sister had died from Scleroderma which is when your body produces too much collagen.  He told me that she was pretty young for that but because of the swelling and other symptoms it would be smart to test her for the Collective tissue disease.  I think in that moment I said about 5 million little prayers to Heavenly Father asking him to help me stay calm and to please help Alivia.  I couldn't even let my mind go there, to the idea of her having something seriously wrong with her, especially not a disease as terrible as Scleroderma or anything related to it.
Jared left the kids with the Prepchuk's and came down to the hospital.  He stayed with Alivia while I went home to get some things to stay the night with her.  As soon as I was no longer in Alivia's sight I broke down and cried.  I felt worried and anxious and scared.  Just not knowing exactly what was wrong with her and seeing her get worse was really hard.  I wanted to make it all go away.  Deep down I felt like it was going to be OK, but I didn't know what OK meant.  I drove back to the hospital and put my brave face back on.

By then she was in her room.  She had fun making the bed go as high as it could.  We played paper dolls, watched a movie and snuggled on her bed. 

Jack stayed with us since I am his main food source. :)  He was no problem at all, he is such a good baby.

Alivia missed a whole week of school and her class made her get well cards.  She was thrilled and read them over and over again. Some of her friends from church also came by and brought cards. They meant a lot to her.

Her class also made her this mask.  They had a cultural day and made them.

 We had a large room with a pull out bed for me and a big cot for Jack.  I had to take a picture of the cot because I think it is freaky looking.  The metal bars make me feel like I am in the 1920's.  Jack loved it and liked sticking his feet through the bars.

These next couple of photos are from my phone.

The rash was really weird.  It would change all the time and some and go in intensity.  They watched her all night and kept her on some medications.  By morning all the swelling was gone and she was doing much, much better.  The pediatrician came to see her and told me that because the swelling was gone he didn't believe it was any of the scary disease we had discussed.  Her fever was down and he believed the reaction was caused by some sort of viral infection in her body. I was so happy to hear that she wouldn't need further testing.

Poor Liv kept calling herself a monster.  She was scared the rash would never go away.  She still looked so cute even with the rash.

Her poor face was so red and swollen. They let her go home later that day and sent her with a few medications.  I was still a little worried since they never really figured it all out.  The rash stayed a few more days, but as of today she doesn't have any more redness, itchiness or fever. 

Rex gave these "flowers" to Liv one day.  I picked him up from school and he had a big clump of flowers for Alivia.  He was pretty excited about them and I was so touched that he would do that for her.  He has such a tender heart.

So, a bit of a scary week, but I feel incredibly grateful that she is OK and doing better.  I am grateful for a lot of prayers offered by so many family and friends. Really, you have no idea how much it meant.  I am also grateful for priesthood blessings.  Alivia told me time and time again, usually at times when I am sure she could sense that I was worried, that she believed that the blessing from Heavenly Father would help her. It did!

I feel grateful for good health.

Thanksgiving 2005

 

I found these pictures from Thanksgiving 2005.  Rex was 14 months old.  I can see so much of Jack in him.  We spent Thanksgiving that year at Jared's parents.  It doesn't seem that long ago, certainly not 5 years ago.

 

I love this picture of Alivia with her Gpa Finch and cousin Bailey.

 

Whoa, looking young!  Here we are enjoying our feast.  Next to Jared is Tyler, his brother.

 

Jared's dad taught photography at Springville High, so that night we went over to the high school to take some pictures.  We had a fun time goofing off.

bailey is happy to be there, rex is going after the bench, I guess he didn't stuff himself like the rest of us and is going back for more, and alivia, well she just looks concerned. :) Cute kids!

It is fun to think back on past Thanksgivings.  We have had some fun times!

my sleeping babies

I just walked into check on my 2 girls in their bedroom.  They were both asleep with books all over their beds.  They are so cute!  Then I walked across the hall and checked on my 2 boys.  They were both asleep, both snoring.  Rex's bed is covered in about 5,000 hot wheels cars.  I love having 4 children.  I feel blessed to have 4 children.  Sometimes I can't believe I am their mother and that I get to have these precious little people in my life.

My good friend Angie posted this quote on her blog a few months back.  We had our fourth babies within a few months of each other.  We both have 2 boys, 2 girls. Anyway, I really admire her and the mother that she is.  She posted this quote by President Hinckley, the 15th Prophet of our church.  I loved it so much and have often thought about it.

"How wonderful a thing is a child. How beautiful is a newborn babe. There is no greater miracle than the creation of human life." President Gordon B. Hinckley

Children are wonderful!  They teach us so much!  They easily forgive and they easily love! I am constantly thinking about how I can be a better mother and a better teacher to them.  It is a big responsibility and sometimes I feel like the time is going by so too quickly.  I am trying to savor the moments I have with them.  Just today I was looking at Lucy, her hair is so long and she was talking to me like a 10 year old.  She looked at me and said,"Mom, why are you freaking out?"  Apparently, starring means I am "freaking out."  haha, it made me laugh.  I told her that when we moved here she was just a baby and now she is a little lady. 


Speaking of funny stuff, I have some funny stuff I have been compiling on my calendar.  The kids know that I head straight to the calendar after they say something funny to me or to each other.  Here are the latest & greatest from the Finch kiddos.

*Rex likes to climb the fence behind our house to talk to his friend Harry who lives directly behind us.  He is up & down that fence all the time and as a result he usually gets a million slivers in his feet.  I tell him time & time again to wear his shoes, but apparently you can't climb as well with shoes on.  So he came in with about 5 slivers in his toes.  He was all casual about it and said, "I know how to get these slivers out .  You rub your foot really, really fast on a piece of wood and they will come out."  Umm, actually that will put more slivers in your feet.  He was all nervous that I wouldn't get them all out and everyone at school would call him sliver boy. 

*Lucy came waltzing downstairs yesterday with purple make-up on her eyes.  She loves to get into Alivia's make-up.  I asked her if she had been in Liv's make-up and she told me no.  I asked her again and she told me that she was born with purple make-up on.  Wow, that is a pretty elaborate fib you got going on there lil Luce. 

*Alivia is a crack-up sometimes. We were eating crackers and dip and she said,"Because we are family and have all the same Finch germs, we can double dip."  So unless you are a Finch you are not allowed to double dip at our house. :)

*REX bo dude was out back collecting bugs (in his glasses case) and pretty much suffocating them.  He told me not to open the case because he needed to bugs to stay in there.  I asked him what he was going to do with the bugs.  He said,"I am collecting bugs and when they die I am going to pin them up all over the walls in our house for decoration." Awesome, so we will have a nice collection of mosquitoes, flies, spiders and cockroaches on our walls when you come for a visit.

*I often count when the kids need a little push to get something done.  I don't know if it makes them feel pressured or what but it works. Anyway a few days ago I was trying to get the kids to brush their teeth before school and I said, "I am going to count to 5!!" and Rex said, " And then you are going to have a cow?!?!"  Yes, I might just have a cow!  hahaha!!

*Lucy asked me today if I would put her pink milk in the microphone.  Pretty sure she meant microwave. :) After I gave her back her microphoned milk, she told me it was "alicious!"

*Alivia "What would life be like if we didn't know the Prepchuk's"  I have mentioned the Prepchuk's a lot in past posts...they live by us and the kids ADORE them.  Life would be sad without the Prepchuk's Livi.

*Lucy and Rex were having a race and Lucy kept saying that she winned.  I was trying to tell her that the correct way to say it was won.  She kept saying winned, and I would say won.  Finally she told me that people from Idaho say winned.  (she has heard us talk about how she was born in Idaho) So Idahoans say winned, not won.

*This is my favorite one!  Rex has been learning about skin cancer in health at school He likes to ask me all sorts of questions about it.  The kids also likes to ask me about the pink ribbons they see at the stores and around town.  I told them it was for breast cancer.  Well he must have gotten the two mixed up because he came home from school all concerned. He pointed at a tiny mole on his face and told me that he needs to have the Dr. look at it because he thinks he might have breast cancer on his cheek.  So cute & so funny!!

They are great!  They make me laugh & I love them!

Jared's mom took a fun trip to New York with some friends and sent these cute I heart NY shirts for the kids.  They love them!!

Even little Jack has one.

Last Sunday after church we met some friends at the park for a picnic.  It was so fun talking and relaxing while the kids played on the grass.  Lucy was not playing on the grass.  She and her friend Ella were collecting sunscreen and making a "poison potion" for the crocodiles.  She was so mad at me when I told her the potion had to stay at the park...oh and she didn't want her picture taken.  I love her crusty facial expressions.  Classic Lucy Jean!

stop eating the leaves

We got to hang out with Chris & Chelsea Hedquist a few days ago.  They live in Mosman, which is near Manly & Balmoral Beach...oh and the zoo. They told us about this great Thai restaurant called,Papaya Thai so we decided to make plans to go.  It was delicious!!!  I love Thai! We ate way too much of course, but with Thai food you just can't stop if it is sitting in front of you.

Anyway, a funny thing happened.  We ordered these succulent chicken thing a ma bobbers for an appetizer.  They came wrapped in a crispy leaf that smelled and tasted a bit like popcorn so we decided to eat it.  It was chewy but pretty tasty.  We all started chowing down on these leaf covered chicken bites when suddenly a woman came running over.  She actually kind of startled me.  I was mid bite when she says,"No eat the leaf...stop immediately eating the leaf."  We looked at each other and started cracking up.  I am sure she thought we were something special and had to keep an eye on us to make sure we didn't try eating the silverware.  :)  It was pretty funny.  We had a fun night.  Chris & Chelsea are fellow Americans living the Aussie life and they leave at the beginning of the year to head to the states and then to Denmark where they will live for a bit.  We will miss them heaps!

it's that time of year again...

On Saturday we decided to hit the beach.  We hadn't been for awhile and it was a scorcher of a day.  Summer is only a few weeks away and we have already had some pretty hot days.  We have also had some great rainy days too which has been pleasant. 

Anyway,we headed out to Manly beach.  One of Jared's friends Spence Wixom and his wife (they are from the US, Spence & Jared were counselors at EFY together way back when) they live right on Manly beach.  It was PACKED!  The waves were pretty intense so they ended up closing the beach.  We could still play in the sand but not go out past our shins in the water...which I am perfectly fine with...the closer my kids stay to the shore, the better.  I am such a paranoid maniac when it comes to sharks and other sea creatures.

It was Jack's real first visit to the beach.  He ate a bunch of sand which is expected.  You can also see his nice bruise on his forehead.  The joys of learning how to crawl & becoming acquainted with the ground.

He was really cute.  Here he is eating his sandy cracker.

And modeling his sand beard...

 Miss Liv doesn't particularly like the beach.  She doesn't like getting sand everywhere and it does get everywhere...it doesn't have to, but it does.

Rex & Jared were putting a kite together to fly because the wind was perfect.  They had it all together and were about to go have some fun with it when a life guard informed us that Manly is a no kite beach. Oops, did not know that! :)

I love how cute Jack looks in his little rash guard!

Of course Lucy spent most of the time playing in the sand & walking back and forth with buckets of water...the level of water in the bucket getting less and less and she walks back to her digging area.  She loves playing in the sand and getting as sandy as possible.

It was a fun day and we are excited to spend many more Saturdays at the beach. It still weirds me out that it is November and warm, you'd think after almost 2 years I'd be used to it...nope totally not. I am waiting for the snow to start falling, especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner.

cruiser

                                                Our little monkey started crawling this week!

                                                       It is so cute!  He cruises all over the place.

After he crawls around he stops and takes a little break...Lucy calls him a statue.

s In other news Jack had his first taste of rice cereal.  He was pretty much a champion with it.  He didn't spit, or gag or try to grab it.  It was amazing. :)

He likes it with pears and bananas.

He also liked eating the high chair.

I took this picture after church.  I love it.  Jared was reading and Jack was being a sweetie just chillin with him,  After about 10 minute he was out..dead asleep!

dinner party with friends and giant loofahs

On Friday night we had a group of friends over for a nice dinner in our backyard. We used to get together all the time with friends back in Utah & Idaho for fun couples dinners and it was so fun. Whenever we are together with friends we would talk about it but never plan anything so a month ago I sent out an invite...it gave everyone plenty of time to get babysitters.  It turned out to be a great night.  We had 9 couples, one couple couldn't come because their baby was sick. 

I spent the afternoon turning the back yard into a fun dinner atmosphere (thanks to my friend Sally for all of her great ideas)

We laughed & laughed about how much the hanging decorations looked like giant shower loofahs.  hahahaha!!

We are all in the same church ward.  It is a great ward, we have a lot of fun people.

Everyone brought part of the dinner.  It was all cozy while we talked and laughed.  At first it felt like a stake dance because the guys were on one side & the girls on the other.  haha!

{the guys...domingos, aaron, jared, jared,michael,

jardian, jessie,wes & skye}  Jardian is swigging a Peachee..one of the best drinks here in Australia!!

they talked about guy things, like sports, guns, motorcycles and computer ish stuff.

{the gals...tara,sarah,laura,arlene,natalie,amanda, sally, me & julia}

We didn't talk about guy stuff... :)

Fun night with fun people.  We stayed up until past midnight talking and laughing.  We are already planning a Christmas get together!

Dinner on the Harbour

Isn't the Harbour Bridge beautiful??  One of Jared's co-workers, Amy, just moved into her new apartment.  Literally her place is about 100 feet from the left of this picture.  The views are incredible.  She was so kind to invite us over for a fun dinner night. 

I picked her up from work with the kids and left Jared to finish some things (he walked over to her place because his office is a short walk from the bridge).  Anyway, we had an adventure getting to her place.  We ended up getting stuck and the only way to get to her place was to ever so slowly drive down a one way street going the wrong direction.  A man walking on the street gave me a disappointed look and shook his head at me.  It was one of those moments when I wish I didn't have an American flag on the back of my car. 

Oh well!

Anyway, we made it.  Amy had invited some of her friends as well.  They are all from the same area in China.  It was fun to meet them.  They were so great with the kids and made me feel like a supermom. They asked me over and over again how I managed with 4 kids and that I must be a supermom!  Hahahaha...I laughed...but it was nice of them to think that! :)

Liv was loving the camera and catching all sorts of good shots. 

First we went to Amy's apartment and she made us smoothies.  Then she and her friends made all sorts of yummy dishes including Chinese pancakes (i love them...I am pretty sure I ate 50).  While the food was cooking Jared took the kids on a walk down by the water and I sat on a bench in the park to feed Jack.  The view was so beautiful & so peaceful.  I really love Sydney and feel really lucky to be able to live here for a little bit.

We ate the first course out on the grass which was perfect because the kids could run wild.  We had planned to walk down to a BBQ area down the road to BBQ sausages, octopus and veggies, but by then it was getting late and the kiddos were getting tired. 

{this is amy with the kids...they love her.  She has been to our place a few times and cooked us some great Chinese dishes.}

So we headed back to Amy's for dessert.  She loaded us up with ice cream bars...chocolate...more fruit...it was a lot of fun!  It was such a nice night...hopefully we will do it again sometime!!