The Best Laid Plans

So I had planned to make a Christmas post with all my merry pictures, but now that Christmas is officially over, here's a recap of the past 3 weeks for the Newcomers.

Christmas: We spent Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas Day with the Newcomers. It was really fun to watch Steven play with all his presents and wrapping paper. During the afternoon he spilled water all over himself, so my mom gave him the freebie shirt she received from the hospital when I was first born. Cool, huh? It was a little snug, but that's beside the point.

This year Christmas Day was a little unique in that we spent it with both of our parents. Since Kyle's brother is still studying abroad, and most of his aunt and uncles couldn't make it down to Houston this year, and with my sister was spending the day with her in-laws, we decided to combine families. It was really fun, and was neat to have everyone in the same room.

Post Christmas: We got a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy right before Christmas, but right after Christmas, we ended up having to take him back to the breeder. He was a very sweet dog, but had severe separation anxiety and was also deathly afraid of children. We were really worried that if we kept him, he would hurt himself and our duplex, as well as possibly start biting children. That was more of a chance than we wanted to take, so we returned him. We were really, really sad to take him back, but we feel like it was the best thing to do. We are probably going to get a puppy soon, which hopefully will be easier to train, since we'll be getting him (or her) as a "baby" puppy.

New Year's: We spent New Year's Eve with our good friends the Ackermans, but New Year's Day was not so much fun. I have been breaking out in hives for the past several months, and over the past few weeks, they have gotten a lot worse. I made an appointment with an allergist for this past week, but in order to get an allergy test, I had to get off any and all anti-histamines for 5 days. 5 very long days.

Tuesday was the last day without the anti-histamines, and I was in a lot of pain from all the hives and swelling. We checked into the ER that night, as my eyes were pretty much swollen shut. The staff took great care of me, and we went home after only a couple hours.

It turns out that I'm allergic to dust mites and grass, which is good, since that's so rare, right? Looking back, I think I got so much worse these past few weeks from the increase in dust from all of our moving boxes. But the last few days have been great. I'm on new, stronger anti-histamines, and tomorrow I start the beginning of what's called a "rush cluster," ie, allergy shots.

Post New Year's: Things are feeling a little bit more normal now. Our duplex is completely unpacked, which is a great feeling. Now that the holidays are over, I'm picking my job search up again, so please keep me in your prayers.

Drama, drama, drama. Here's hoping that the rest of 2008 will be more carefree!