So Happy to Be Well Again!

As you can see, Luke is back to himself and we are so thankful! We're pretty sure it was the baby powder that caused everything, which is good to know. The rash and swelling are now completely gone! :)

Luke Is Feeling Better!

Praise the Lord! Luke's temperature is gone and his rash is much much better. The swelling in his feet is gone, although his hands are still pretty red and swollen. Does anyone know if you can be allergic to baby powder? I have never used it on Luke, but my mother-in-law just remembered that when she watched Luke Tuesday evening, she used baby powder on him, which she'd never done before. That's the only thing different that Luke's come into contact with. Hopefully we can figure out what the cause of all this was so we can avoid it in the future! Thanks to everyone who was praying for our little boy. Here's a picture of Luke and daddy reading the paper together this morning. I'm so glad to see him getting back to normal--I never thought I could miss a smile so much!

A Trip to the ER

Well, we had an eventful, not so fun night. After his appointment yesterday morning, Luke had an okay day. He became more fussy last night. After nursing him around 11pm, I changed his diaper once more and got ready to put him down for the night. I decided to take his temperature and it was 101.4 under the arm, which usually means you have to add a degree, so 102.4. Jonathan called the after hours number and they told us to head to the ER. So, off to the ER we went around midnight. The on-call doctor looked at Luke and told us basically the same thing--he has hives and it could be an allergic reaction to just about anything. He thought it may be a reaction to a cold virus Luke has, since he's been coughing, sneezing, etc. for a while. Basically, it just has to run its course. He did order some x-rays done because Luke sounded a bit congested in his lungs and they wanted to make sure it wasn't pneumonia or bronchitis. Thankfully, the x-rays were okay. His fever was down to 101.6 by the time we left and they gave him some Tylenol at the hospital. We were told to keep up with the Benadryl and Tylenol and to keep watching him for any signs of worsening. We got home around 3:30am. Luke slept fairly well throughout the night. He's thrown up three times today, though, he's been really cranky, and his feet are so swollen. He still has soaking wet diapers, though, so it doesn't look like he's getting dehydrated, which is good. I just want this whole thing to be over with! I hate seeing him like this.

Update on Luke

I was up most of the night with Luke, as he did not sleep more than an hour's stretch at a time. This morning his rash had spread to his back, he had a slight temp and he threw up everything after I nursed him, so back to the dr. we went! This time, Dr. DeLapp had a med student and two other doctors (different from the ones yesterday!) look at Luke. Everyone was still stumped. They were pleased the rash seemed to be getting better around his face (where it was most concentrated yesterday) and the swelling was gone too. Once again I was asked a million questions about new foods, soaps, detergents, clothes, etc. Nothing new has happened. They ended up telling me to give Luke some Benedryl (2 mL every 8 hrs.). So far he's had one dose and I haven't seen any improvement. I just hope he feels and looks better soon. :(

Luke's First Halloween

Poor Lukey did not have the greatest first Halloween. When he woke up this morning to nurse around 7:30, he seemed his normal self. I put him back to bed and he slept til nearly 10. When I got him up then, I noticed his face seemed a little red. As the morning went on, it kept getting redder and redder and looked to be turning into some sort of rash. Wouldn't you know it, I had pictures at Wal-Mart scheduled for today, which I had to reschedule.

Jonathan worked from home for a half day, then we went into his office for trick-or-treating. By the time we finished with that, Luke's face and left foot were swollen and he was quickly becoming covered in this rash. I called the doctor and they were able to get us in relatively quickly. Three doctors looked at him (poor kid probably felt like a lab rat) and none of them were quite sure what it was. It looks to be some sort of allergic reaction to something he came into contact with. Dr. DeLapp thinks it may be a latex allergy that has developed, which would be from bottle nipples and pacifiers. Luke had a bottle last night and today. We're eliminating anything latex until the rash goes away and then we will experiment to see if that is the true cause. Luke goes back to the doctor on Friday.

After our appointment, he seemed to be getting better and the rash seemed to be clearing up. We went to Jonathan's sister's for dinner and trick-or-treating with Luke's cousins. As you can see from the pictures, he wasn't really in the mood. :( Once we got him home and out of his costume, he was covered in the rash again! The costume is 100% polyester, so I don't know if that's causing the reaction??? But he hadn't worn it when he first broke out this morning. We are stumped as to what is causing this. Poor baby did not have the greatest day, but we are hoping and praying it gets better. Here are some pictures from our evening.

Poor little duck!

Daddy and Lukey

Snow White, Junior Aspauragus, Luke the Duck, Princess Julia, Spiderman, Batman. a mouse and a frog make for one fun group of trick-or-treaters!

More Pictures and An Update

Here are some more pictures of Luke (hope you aren't getting tired of seeing him yet...we sure aren't!). Last night Jonathan took pictures of Luke in his car seat. He was getting Luke to laugh so hard--it was adorable! We pulled out the exersaucer for the first time and Luke loved it! He just needs a little cushioning in the back to help stabilize him.



Just a couple updates. Some of you have been asking about my mom. She is doing pretty good overall. She's about a third of the way through her treatment. She had a port put in last week, which should help treatment go smoother. We appreciate everyone's continued prayers. And for those of you wondering about my glasses in recent posts...I have a ruptured blood vessel or something nasty on my left eye, so I'm avoiding contacts for a while until it goes away. That's all the updates for now! :)

Handsome Stud

Yes, that is puke on my sleeve...thanks Luke!
"Someone save me, please!"

Fall Fun

My parents came up for the weekend and we went to Rockford on Friday. We went to Rosie's Diner to eat and then for a beautiful walk in the fall weather.

Halloween Preview

Here is Luke's costume...he's going to be the cutest duck ever!

Bath Time

How cute is he?
He may hate this picture in a few years...
Check out those curls!!
All clean!

Chuck E. Cheese

Luke got to experience his first time at Chuck E. Cheese with all his cousins. He was so excited, he could hardly contain himself! :) Luke + Chuck E. Cheese = Best Friends!
You can just see the excitement bursting forth from him, can't you?
Check out Jonathan's form in Skee Ball! Impressive.
Grandma in all her glory! (minus two grandkids...it's impossible to get them all in the picture, let alone get them all to look at the camera!)

We got our picture drawn there....not sure what Jonathan's doing.

One Last Hurrah

We headed up to northern Michigan this past weekend for one last trip to the cottage before winter. It was nice to hang out with Jonathan's family and relax in the hot tub! On Sunday we went for a bike ride along the trail. It was a gorgeous day and the color was beautiful! Here are some pictures from our trip...

Luke and Julia

Along the bike path

Katie and I Peyton loves long car rides!

Around the House

Here are some random pictures of what we've been doing around the house (okay, so maybe it's been more like Jonathan). Jonathan planted four trees, which we're excited about. The one out front is supposed to get really pretty flowers in the spring. The ones out back are a birch and a couple maples. It will be fun to see them grow and know that they were planted the year Luke was born. Jonathan also painted our bathroom. You can't really tell, but it does match our decor! We have blue flowers on the bathroom fixtures. We're pretty happy with the results. Jonathan is motivated to paint the rest of the house, too (living room, kitchen, dining room). Any ideas on cool colors? Just not green. We love green, but our room and Luke's room are already shades of green and we're afraid we may paint every room in the house green if we're not careful. :)

By the way, I am feeling better after my surgery. My teeth still hurt at times, but it's bearable. I must say, though, the one good thing about this past week is that the rest of my baby weight came off! A diet of soft food only (jello, applesauce, soup and pasta) will do that for you!

Mr. Mom

Well, I had to get my wisdom teeth out yesterday. It was not fun. I'm still in some pain and, unfortunately, the vicadin isn't all it's cracked up to be. It makes me dizzy, tired, and sick (literally--I threw up twice yesterday). I think I'd rather deal with the pain. Poor Jonathan has had to take care of Luke, Peyton, and me. He's done a great job, though. Thank you, hon! :)

Luke's Three Month Picture

Luke turned three months old yesterday!! I can hardly believe it. Here are a couple of pictures...

IWU Homecoming

We headed down to Indiana this weekend for IWU's Homecoming. It was great to see old friends and to see how much campus has changed--it's crazy!! We also got to visit with my family, too, which was really nice. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy! :) Luke with his Auntie Em and my cousin's little girl, Brookelyn. (Does that make Luke and Brookelyn second cousins or first cousins once removed? I've never figured that one out.)
Luke and Grandma
Luke's been having a bit of a drooling problem lately...
Luke and Thing got to hang out some this weekend.
Even Peyton had an exhausting weekend! This is the view I got of her sleeping in the car on my brother's lap...

Chris and I

Jonathan and Seth playing a little Mario Cart.

The MowatsThe Moores

Not Sure How This Happened...

This afternoon I was downstairs on the computer and Luke was next to me in his seat playing. Peyton was also with us, as usual, as she doesn't like to be left out of anything. :) Well, I look over to check on Luke, and I see this:

The yellow ring is Peyton's favorite toy. Somehow she must've gotten Luke's leg through it?? I don't even know, but I had to get a picture of it at least! :) (By the way, I moved the hanging toy so I could see Luke's face--Peyton didn't do that part!)

"When God created me He was just showing off." Isn't that the truth!!!