Halloween!

Ok, so I have been slack with the family blog...not really slack all around, but something has to give!! So sorry, but the Halloween pix will finally be updated now! I have been swamped at work, with the kids, soccer, and my photography demand has been overwhelming! I know it will slow up, but I hate turning people away for Christmas portraits!

Halloween was a blast this year! Everyone chose their costumes, well, except Drew, who quickly decided he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear after I showed him his costume. Jackson kept with his athletic streak and decided to be a Clemson football player (his cousin Ellis was Tigger and he wanted her to be his mascot!), and Davis continues his fascination with Star Wars and wanted to be Darth Vader complete with a light up light saber. The older boys took off (Halloween is so much fun in our neighborhood b/c there are SO many little ones who love to get candy) and Drew and Ellis went around with me and Dana (Ashley's cousin). Drew loved to tell everyone who he was and that he had wings and what color they were and that Buzz had lights and that he wanted candy and he could shake his booty!!! Too cute!!!!!!!!! It rained at first, but we were blessed with about an hour of very humid, but not rainy, weather for the kids to enjoy trick or treating! Now on to Christmas! The boys were upset and said that everyone is forgetting Thanksgiving. I guess they are right, we have a lot to be thankful for in our lives, so we must celebrate that! Happy Fall!

AVON Walk for Breast Cancer

Hello everyone!

I wanted to take a minute to thank you again for your support and donations towards such an incredible cause: The AVON Walk for Breast Cancer. I just completed the walk yesterday, and I won't lie, it was HARD! The truth is, I wouldn't have been able to do it without your contributions! The first step towards the walk was meeting the fundraising goal.

I am proud to say that my team mate and I raised almost $4200!!! What started out as an effort to show a friend we cared, and honor the lives and memories of many women in our lives, turned into an amazing experience. All of the months of training, power bars, gatorades, and bandages could not prepare us for the journey that we made over the last 2 days.

It was very emotional and inspirational, and I met some INCREDIBLE men and women along the route: families walking with each other, children working crew whose moms had breast cancer, daughters walking in their mom/aunt/grandmother's memory, men walking with or for their wives, volunteers whose lives themselves have been touched by breast cancer, and who travel the country just to help at these events, friends walking for and with friends, many repeat walkers, but most inspirational were the survivors themselves, and those currently suffering from cancer walking themselves!!!

I was truly touched by these people, and so happy to have been able to walk and make a small contribution in the fight against breast cancer. This year's Charlotte AWBC had over 1200 participants and raised over $2,300,000!!! Much of that money will be spent in the Charlotte region to fight breast cancer and help patients in this area.

Thank you again for your support! I have been so touched by everyone's support and encouragement through this process, and I couldn't have made it without you guys! I have attached a photo of my friend and team mate, Beth, at the finish line! Beth kept me going, and was super cheerful throughout it all!!! Thanks Beth!

I walked because I could, and I am glad that I did! I walked today to help find a cure for tomorrow.

Thank you again,

Andrea

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, we decided to take the boys to the pumpkin patch. The younger ones had a field trip, but it was cancelled because of all of the rain that we have been having (which we are very grateful for after the lack of rain over the past few years). The kids thought it would be fun to go on a family field trip!

The "farm" had animals (and some really stinky pigs which Drew especially loved), a hay trampoline, a corn maze, a hay fort, and a really bumpy muddy hayride! That was their favorite, well, that or the icecream at the end! I love the picture of Davis in front of the muddy tire. Somehow mud and tires and boys make me smile! Our cute little niece went along with us, with her mom and dad! She really enjoyed the time running around with the boys too!


**Pictures to come--having a little technical difficulty tonight!

Fire Station Visit

While we were visiting my mom this weekend, we made a stop at the Fire Station where my stepdad works as a volunteer. I am probably not getting this all right, but I think he works with the EMTs on a First Responder unit. Anyhow, the kids were VERY impressed. They especially loved the job of keeping the coolers full of ice! The big fire truck was out on a call, but they got to tour the station, the HAZMAT truck, and the First Responder Ambulance Unit. I think B'Pa was pretty proud to show the boys what he does! They are pretty proud of him too! Tons of pictures to come, but I just have a minute for one or two tonight...

A silly Davis story too...on the LONG way home (why does the trip home always go by so slowly? and why is there ALWAYS so much traffic in Atlanta, even on a late Sunday afternoon???) Davis asked about every 10 minutes "how much longer?" Finally, he changed it up a bit..."are we in the part of the earth where "B" lives, or the part of the earth where we live?" I told him probably in the middle, as we were half way home. Then he wanted to know "How long does it take to get out of the middle?" I couldn't help but laugh, knowing all he, and I, really wanted to know was how long until we were all home and could get out of this car!

What's new?

So sorry not to be posting so much these days...it has been really busy. My photography business has taken off. This is great, and I truly love it, but it does add onto my daily duties of being a mom, working mom, and let's see...maid, cook, taxi driver, seamstress, personal shopper, homework helper, etc...

Let's see what's new:

Jackson started Cub Scouts about 2 weeks ago. He loves it and is so excited about the prospect of camping, fishing, and all the other outdoor father-son activities that come with scouts. I think it teaches them some great life skills and am happy that he likes it.

Davis started soccer a few weeks ago and had his first game last weekend. He is the only child we have in sports this season, and I am so excited that Davis gets to be the center of attention for once. After 3 years of watching Jackson play, it's nice to have everyone on the sidelines for him for a change. Davis LOVES soccer and he's really good! He is a big kid, and he's not scared to kick the ball hard and run fast. It's fun to watch him!

Drew is the same sweet little boy, only the terrible twos have settled in, which means we don't see that sweet little boy often. Mostly, we have a moody, grumpy, boy who now likes to hit and yell and cry at the drop of a hat, or lego, or whatever else is in his way. The hives have gone away (YEAH!!) FINALLY! They lasted about 8 weeks, but now they are gone, and we are starting to re-introduce all of his "allergic" foods, and we wait and see if he reacts. We had a follow-up yesterday with the allergist who said everything is good. We go back at the end of the year. Wish us luck! Hopefully, the hives were a one time thing, and we won't ever see them again!

I am well now, and gearing back up into training. I am SO thankful for all of the support that I got. I reached my goal, actually surpassed it, and raised almost $2000!! Let the countdown begin...only 2 weeks until I walk 39 miles in 2 days! AHHH...I'm a little nervous! I hope that I can do it!!

So it begins...

I have been down since Friday with Bronchitis and a fever, and now Drew is developing the same symptoms. So we have been a little behind on doing anything other than sleeping and coughing to say the least! Just thought I'd update those that check often that we are still alive, we are recovering, and I am hoping to be back to full force within a day or two. Drew is going downhill, and I'm expecting him to have a rough few days! The hives are gone...update...bloodwork came back normal, so we can breathe a sigh of relief that it's not one of the scary illnesses that they were ruling out, for now, just allergies, and that we will take...and now he's getting the respiratory things. Flu/Cough/Cold/URI season, here we come!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Happy Birthday Ashley! We celebrated tonight with our neighbors and kids. All enjoyed an ice cream cake from a local place around here. They make the best homemade ice cream!

The are BACK!!

Ok, so a few days ago, the hives started again. We are about two weeks off of steroids now, and here we go again! We went to ANOTHER doctor today, this one specializes in pediatrics, and is affiliated with the children's hospital nearby. He was wonderful! He was very thorough and took everything I said into consideration. He also asked a lot of questions, and answered a TON of mine!

The things that are concerning are the fact that although hives are not too uncommon in children, his last longer, meaning each individual hive lasts 48 hours or longer. Usually hives only last 24 hours. Also of concern is the fact that as each hive fades, they discolor into a bruise like color. This is more apparant with this breakout of hives than the last one. For now, we are doing some blood work and testing to rule out some other rare disorders. Most likely, it's allergies, to what, we still don't know, but we have to rule things out to, since we just don't know the cause!

Here's how he looks today!

Allergies...

We went Wednesday to the allergist to get Drew tested. Let me first say that it was not as bad of an experience as I expected. Now, when we first got there (mind you, this was Drew's first day of pre-school, and the only appointment we could get was at 1:40 pm, right in the middle of his nap time) and got in a room, it was a typical sterile exam room, with nothing to distract little ones. The nurse came in and took Drew's history, and then the doctor examined him, and decided to go ahead with the testing. They tested him for 80 different allergens!! He had to lay on his tummy, and thankfully, they wheeled in a DVD player with a Thomas the Train movie for him to watch. Just a little distraction to help! The 2 nurses helped me hold him down, and then the proceeded to press 8 grids onto his back (these are plastic rectangles with needle like prongs that break the skin. There are 10 per grid, and they have drops of the allergens on the end of them), this he did not like, but can you blame him??? The hardest part of the whole test was keeping him on his back and still, unable to itch or touch his back for 20 minutes while his body reacted to the allergens.

We got the results right away...he is very allergic! I was expecting shellfish or peanuts, since those run in the family, but no, he's mostly allergic to oranges! ORANGES??? There are few inhalants and environmental allergies: grasses, trees, mold, dust mites, feathers (in the down comforter on his bed), the lovely dog that we have (who will no longer be allowed upstairs where the kids sleep and there is carpet), and a lot of food. Poor guy has to rearrange his diet. He's most highly allergic to: ORANGES, oats, rice, salt water fish, corn, tomatoes, and soybeans (which many crackers are cooked in their oil), oh...and COFFEE, which apparently is in the same family as coke. Wow! So we have a lot of things to stay away from now.

He started Xyzal and will be a candidate for shots when he's older. He did not have any testing for insects, which is a little worrisome since he swells up so much from mosquito bites now. We will just have to wait and see. Unfortunately for him, we have started the meds and eliminated most of the foods, and his hives came back yesterday. 5 weeks in, and they are still coming back. We are just watching him to see how it goes from here. Hopefully, they won't get worse. If they do, we will be back at the doctor AGAIN!

busy busy busy

This is a busy week for us! We ALL now have caught Jack's cold...and are feeling a little crummy. Tomorrow, Davis starts 4K pre-school, and Drew starts on Wednesday! They are both so excited!! Also, on Wednesday, Drew goes for allergy testing. I hope that he isn't allergic to too much, and will be so relieved not to have to wonder what he might be allergic to anymore. Those hives scared me!

Rock Star

Daddy: "Drew, did you sleep good?"

Drew: "Yes, I dream"

Daddy: "Really? What did you dream about?"

Drew: "I was a ROCK STAR!"

Daddy: "WOW, that's cool!"

Drew: "Yeah, I was on DVD in the play room, I was a ROCK STAR playing music!"

SO FUNNY!! A few days ago, this was the conversation that I overheard. Laughing to myself, I tried to imagine in my head first of all where this came from, and secondly, what does that scene look like in a 2 year old's head??? Does he look like himself? Is he dressed up? Is he playing a guitar? Does he have on a diaper?? Here's my boy, rockin' out to "All the Single Ladies"...one of his favorite songs!

Ball Dog...

Boys love to play ball. Dogs love to play with balls...my children, mostly Jack, have taught Marley, our 6 month old golden retriever, how to be a "ball dog." Jackson throws the ball in the air, usually a tennis ball, and then hits it with the bat into the cul-de-sac and up the hill. Marley takes off running for it, and will most of the time, bring it back. So cute! It's great exercise for all of them, and they think it's so fun!

Can't you just see the anticipation in Marley's eyes and posture??? She can't wait to catch the next ball!

and of course....Marley is still Davis's dog! He definately pays her the most attention and loves on her the most. He's also the roughest with her! They sure are buddies though!

The Lake

We went on the lake a few weekends ago with some friends. The kids had a blast and really enjoyed being out on the water...despite the fact that we got caught in a big rain storm! Thank goodness for the cover on the boat! Davis's favorite part was driving the boat...look out! We are in trouble!

I love this boy!

This is the face that I get when I ask Davis to let me take his picture...

This is the face that I am trying to capture! I love this boy!

1st Day of School

** UPDATE **

Jackson had a great day at school, and said that it was much better than he was expecting! He's happy, and likes his class!

Today, along with the rest of our area, Jackson started school. He is in the 2nd grade, and I know that I will say this each year, but when we went outside for his first day of school pictures, he looks SO grown up! I just can't believe it! He met his teacher yesterday, and she has been teaching for 32 years. She seems really nice and I think will be a good fit for Jackson. It was so hard this morning to look in the rear view mirror and watch my sweet seven year old hold back tears from his nerves.

Can't you just see the excitement in his eyes? My poor little Jack was just so nervous this morning. I have all the confidence in the world that he will do great this year, he will love school, and he will love his teacher...it just takes him a few days to warm up to it all and get used to this new part of his life. Thankfully, he let me get a few snapshots of him walking out the door...he hates it, I know, but these are moments that I can't stand to miss capturing! He'll thank me one day, won't he?

Training Update

I am several weeks into my training now for the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer. Beth has been a Godsend to me, as she is a wonderful conversationalist, and helps me to forget that we have been walking for hours on end...this was very apparent on Sunday when we walked 14 miles in 4 hours. We left at about 5:30am, walked ALL over town, and at about mile 8, returned to her house where my car was parked, grabbed some cool drinks, and changed our socks. We also saw her neighbors, getting their newspaper. Several miles later, we saw the saame neighbors across town at a lake where we were both walking...when we returned to her house at the end of our walk, the same neighbors had returned home, showered, and were driving most likely to church, all the while, we were still walking!!!! Wow...walking takes up a lot of time! We walked 21 miles last weekend, and it wasn't too bad. I did get my first blister on the bottom of my baby toe, but not much for 21 miles of distance!

In addition, I am incredibly overwhelmed by the support I have received, and the donations. I am almost at my fundraising goal, and so grateful to each of the families and individuals who have made donations on my behalf. THANK YOU ALL!!! However, Beth and I are a team, adn we both have to raise the money, so the fundraising challenge isn't over yet. Also, I am thankful for my supportive family. My husband has been great about watching the boys while I am out, and we all know that it is a huge time commitment to walk this much! Thank you also to my mom who has given me tons of training tips, and thanks to all of my friends and family who have said that they are proud of me. I really do appreciate it!

On a funnier note, Beth and I don't ever run out of things to say. It's quite funny to think about all of the things that come up in conversation over the course of a 4 hour walk! Kids, family, marriage, cooking, work, school, friends, weather, training, exercise, tv, books, recipes, crafts, and anything else you could imagine! Such fun to have a girl-friend to share this with! We are both excited about experiencing the event. It is supposed to be a very moving experience, and I can already tell that it will be, and is, as I am training and hearing the amazing stories of survival and fighting of incredible women and their families. In fact, just this weekend, as we were getting tired and complaining, about mile 10, Beth said "everytime I do this, I just think about how much easier this is than all of those women getting chemo" and she is so right, not just those getting chemo, but also those getting chemo, fighting for their lives, and also training for this walk. God bless them all!

Finally a break!

Finally, Drew started on steroids today, and he is showing some improvement, actually, remarkable improvement. Here's what we know. It is definately hives, probably an allergy, maybe a syndrome, but either way, the course of treatment is the same. He is on a mega dose of both Zyrtec and Orapred, and although the Zyrtec should make him sleepy, especially at that dose, the Orapred has taken over my little boy. Now I know where the phrase "climbing the walls" comes from. This afternoon, he climbed up ontop of the kitchen counter to get bubble gum off of the TOP shelf of the cabinet. He was STANDING on the counters...later, he was climbing the outside of the staircase, and he's running circles around us all. No nap today either...just lots of energy, a HUGE appetite and itching, which is finally starting to ease. We will go to the doctor in a week and see how he's improved. Today, when the pediatrician came in the room, the sight of Drew literally stopped him in his tracks. The nurses didn't know what to say, people were staring, and avoiding us. Poor little guy. I can't imagine being like that all the time. How sad. I certainly have learned a little from this experience too, and will be more careful of my own eyes and those of my children when we see someone who looks different. At least this isn't contagious. For now, we have to continue to watch him, and take note of anything different in his exposure or diet that might be a trigger. The only thing we can think of as a possibility is either something in the air (a pollen or weed or something) or black olives, which he tried for the first time last week, and sadly, LOVED...sadly because we won't let him have them again for quite a while till we get to the bottom of this. Hopefully, it's just an allergy, and not a syndrome. The doctor got out a textbook, and showed me some pretty alarming pictures, many of which looked similar to Drew, and named a bunch of complicated things that this could be. For now, we take the steriods, aviod outside (for fear of more bug bites), continue Zyrtec, and watch him like a hawk. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and suggestions!

HIVES!!!

Oooowwww! This was from last night...Poor little Drew got bit by at least 34 mosquitoes (I lost count after that...maybe fewer of those pesky little bugs bit him, but he has at least 34 bites...) last Sunday. He has been itching those terribly all week. On Thursday, he started getting small red welts on his chest, on Friday much worse...fast forward several days and it's uncontrollable. He has at least doubled the number of hives everyday, and now, his face is COVERED! He has them on his back, arms, hands, chest, butt, face, head, neck...just about everywhere! He is itching like crazy, and now has nasty scabs and scrapes all over his face and body. We went to the peditrician on Sunday, and she suggested that maybe it was a delayed allergic reaction to the bits, just try Benadryl every 6 hours. Well, needless to say, we've been using Benadryl since Thursday, and that's not working. Yesterday, I sought a second opinion by a dermatologist. He wasn't my favorite doctor I've ever been too and had not so good bedside manner. I left with a prescription of some steriod ointment for the bites, over the counter Zyrtec for the hives, and not much else. I was not impressed.

Here is what he looked like this morning! The pictures just do not do it justice, and he looks and feels terrible! His eyes were almost swollen shut, and the scrapes are all over his face where he's been itching. We are heading back to the pediatrician today, to see another doctor, and hoping to get some steroids to stop the hives from spreading. He is irritable and in pain. It's just pittiful.

Website and the end of summer

YEAH! My new website just launched last week www.andreaberryphotography.com and I am thrilled to finally have it running! It took a lot of work, and a lot of adorable children whose parents allowed me to use their photos online to get it going. Check it out and let me know what you think! This has also kept me very busy. I had 3 sessions last week, and 2 the week before, and even have a few people booked into November. I love it, but it is time consuming!

We went to Charleston last weekend, because I had several clients to shoot for, and we decided to take the boys to the beach. They had lots of fun, and we had perfect weather for the beach. Whenever we go back, we always miss it, even though when we lived there, we hardly enjoyed the beach or the scenery! Oh well.

Now we are trying to enjoy the last few days of summer. School starts next week for Jack and the first week of September for the other boys. I am looking forward to having a routine again, and early bedtimes...