HIVES!

Yesterday I noticed a few hives on Molly's chin and a couple on her abdomen when I was getting her dressed.

As the day progressed they just got worse and worse. 

She didn't act like they bothered her at all though, she didn't even itch them.

By bedtime they looked like this.

She took a bath, had some soothing oils rubbed on them and went to bed.
She woke up about midnight and tossed and turned for hours.
About 3 in the morning I took her out to the couch and held her.
By this time she was started to itch them a bit, so I turned the light on to see what we could do about it.
Once I turned the light on, I realized how bad they had become. Her eyes were swollen and they covered a lot more of her face. And they covered most of the skin on her abdomen and back.
I didn't take a picture, but they were about 100 times worse then the above pictures. They were everywhere.
Luckily, she was still happy and not having any trouble breathing.
Even so, we took her to the ER at 4am because they were SO BAD.
(they don't look so bad in this picture, but they were.)

They were great and very quick in the ER.
The doctor felt like they looked like drug eruption hives. We hadn't given her any medications in nearly a week, except a Claritin once the hives started. Either way, the hives were from something she ingested. We have no idea what it was, but this girl gets out of bed 20 times before she goes to sleep, so it could have been anything.
We started giving her 12.5mg Benadryl every 6 hours (which is quite a bit for a little girl). But they faded and were gone within 3 days. The benadryl made her sleepy, but she was still functioning.
We were glad she got better quickly.

The rest of our Thatcher trip

We had a great time in Arizona. G&G have a great closet with tons of toys in it. The girls played with nearly everything in the closet. We also played a lot of games. The girls had a day out with Grandma. We had tea parties, and nail parties. Took several trips to the movies- "Into the Woods" and "Big Hero Six" were both very good. We got to play outside, go on bike rides, and walks and only wear jackets! We ate great food and enjoyed being together!

Christmas Day

The girls were sure excited Christmas morning. They gathered in Annie's room, then we all went out together.

Caitlin and Ashlee got new bikes from Santa!

All Molly said she wanted was a pink hat, and then we barely got her to wear it to take this picture. She wasn't really a fan.

After seeing what Santa brought us we had 1st Breakfast. A tradition we started about 5 or 6 years ago, thanks to Ashlee! It is one of the best traditions we have!

Then, since we were in Arizona, the girls went out and road their bikes for a while!!

After that we all gathered back around to open the presents under the Christmas tree.
Grandma Berta made all the girls Elsa capes. They are wonderful!

Grandma and Grandpa Will gave Caitlin and Ashlee American Dolls and Molly a Bitty Baby.

And I made their dolls' pajamas to match their new pajamas.

We had a GREAT Christmas and were so grateful to be together.

Chris and I were so excited to get a new washer and dryer for Christmas this year! We installed them at our house days before we went to Arizona.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we all woke up feeling refreshed after our long drive, except Caitlin.

She woke up sick and throwing up. This ALWAYS happens when we go to Arizona, but this time I blame it on the Taco Bell we ate the night before. Big mistake. 

After throwing up a dozen or so times all morning, she started feeling better in the early afternoon and was able to enjoy the rest of the day.

We decorated "brownie houses". We had a lot of fun doing this.

And Annie and I were happy to practice our icing writing skills on the plates at the end. Thanks to all those years writing on cakes at Baskin Robbins.

Molly loves her Annie. We tried to confuse her with who was who, but she never was confused. Smart girl.

Ashlee helped Grandma make rolls.

We sang "Christmas is upon us", a favorite every year.

Caitlin and Ashlee made all the assignments this year.

Annie and Ashlee were Christmas trees.

Chris was Santa

Grandpa was Rudloff

Caitlin was an elf

Grandma and Molly were dolls

and I was a snowman.

Molly was the cutest doll ever. She would say "Mom, Dad, I love you." or "Dad, Molly, I love you,"

DSCN1691 from Beth Will on Vimeo.

The we played a fun game with presents that we got to open and trade. Molly got a purse piggy bank and toted to all around the house with her.

We had dinner of Rice Pilaf, our Christmas Eve tradition.

Then we watched some amazing short videos about Christ and Christmas.

We played some Christmas songs on the chimes.

Then we acted out the nativity.

Caitlin played a song on the piano and we sang along. She has really progressed quickly on the piano.

Then we opened our pajamas and book and got ready for bed.
This year I made different pajama for everybody.

Except Annie and I, because we are twins after all!