Another Update on Blake

My pictures are a little blurry because I just can't seem to take clear pictures, but I think you can get the point. Blake is slowly being weaned off the methotrexate. It is time for her body to have a break for a few months and then she will probably be placed back on the medicine. Her liver enzymes were low and so her folic acid had to be doubled. She had her blood drawn yesterday so we should hear today if that helped. Her doctor wasn't sure if her skin would act up once she was off the methotrexate but as you can see from the pictures below it is already happening with the lower doses. She is back to not sleeping through the night and having bad break-outs that she scratches till they are oozing sores. The sad thing is her skin still looks better than before so I know there is worse still to come. Her Dermatologist referred us to a new Allergist that we are going to see the being of November, so maybe he can get her on medicine to help her sleep at night. She has sores around her mouth that look like she has food that needs to be wiped away, her hands and fingers are super gross and swollen as you will see, and her feet as well. The pictures don't do her justice. She actually looks worse in person. My poor, poor Blakey:(

Halloween Costumes

Last night the kids got to wear their Halloween costumes to the ward Fall party and trunk or treat. Brice was a fifties girl with her" don't you think they make me look smarter glasses":)Bailey was Bat girl, Brayden was Optimas Prime from Transformers, and Blake was a lovely bride with a whopping sparkler:)
Tena and Brooklyn.

Jackson and Blake.

Nerd, I mean Bailey, Autumn, and Brice.

Brayden and Eric in a blurry picture:)

Puppy Love!

The proud papa Bronx. So, Bronx was neutered a few weeks ago, but about 2 months before that we let him have a "hook-up" or as we tell the kids, he got married:) The female (Nina) is a red nose and Bronx is a blue fawn pit bull. Nina had 11 puppies! Only one died at 3 weeks. We went to see the rest Sunday afternoon. They are 4 weeks old and the cutest dang puppies ever! I wanted to go buy some land and take them all home with me and so did Martin and the kids!
I always knew Bronx would have the best looking puppies. He's the prettiest dog I ever saw:)

Bronx was so excited! He got a little rough at times because there were puppies everywhere. He stepped on a few at times, but they were fine:)

These 2 were my favorites! They remind me of my boy Bronx. They are twins:) A male and a female. It is hard to tell in the pictures that they are fawn with blue brindle! How rare and cool is that?

Love them! We are such suckers for puppy faces! I want these 2:) I told Martin, Bronx had twins for me cause he loves his mama:) Calm down mom, I know I have enough dogs already, but if I had the land I promise you they would be mine:)

They were all so cute. This one was a chocolate and reddish brindle and the other was complete fawn.

Look at that face.

This One's For Uncle Francis!

Happy Big 30 Uncle Francis! Sorry we couldn't be there with you to celebrate. Have a great day! Love the "B" Dinhs:)

Neighboorhood Watch! And Bishop is A New Dog!

This isn't a great picture, but here is the neighborhood watch! Bruno and Bronx love to hang out on the swing set and bark at everybody that walks by the front of our house, and the neighbors on the backside of our house. (Three total) Most people think it is pretty funny to see them up there, others are terrified :) They can't see their tails wagging a hundred miles an hour. I'm so glad we bought this swing set for them:)

Bishop finally had his "boys" cut off on Wednesday. this is the collar they sent him home in. It kept rubbing against the ground and he was bumping into everything. Could it be any bigger?

This is the collar I found that night. So much better! He could actually drink, eat and sleep! He has to stay separated from the others for 2 weeks, and just when they can be around each other again Diesel and Bronx have their turn :)

Brayden's first day of preschool-Again:)

Brayden had his first day of preschool Friday. This is his second year, but a new preschool. I felt that he wasn't quite ready for kindergarten yet. He hated going to school last year, and if you hate preschool you are already in trouble:) He turned 5 this summer so he is one of the older ones. I look at it this way- All the kids turn 5 in preschool, he started preschool 5 and will end preschool 5 just like his classmates:) He will start kindergarten 6 and end 6 like his classmates:) The good news is he loved his first day and said this school was "more awesome" than his other preschool. He has a friend, Eric Bowcutt, from church in his class. That was a bonus.
This is his new Bakugan backpack that he wants his cousin Reid to see. He also picked out a G.I Joe lunchbox. Such excitement!

Ready to go. Not sure what is going on with Blake's hair:) She has "special" shampoo for her dry, eczema head and it isn't the most flattering stuff! No soft bouncy hair for her:(

Update on Blake

Blake has started methotrexate for her severe eczema. She has had three doses now. Her doctor said it will take a few before we see real results. She takes it once a week and has to have her blood drawn every 2 weeks to make sure her liver and kidneys are fine. Methotrexate is a very potent drug, according to her pharmacists and doctor. It makes her very tired and upsets her stomach.
There are a number of side effects that she could have and hopefully she won't have them. I am just hoping it works. I have seen some improvement for a few days, but then she will have a really bad day. I know there is no cure, but I am hoping for some relief. She can't sleep at night because she is so itchy. My brother was here last week and Blake was having one of her really bad nights were she was screaming and crying and trying to rip her skin off, and he said, " It just breaks my heart to see her like this." It really does break your heart because there is nothing you can do to make her comfortable. I suffer from chronic pain and her doctor and I were discussing how I would rather suffer from the worst chronic pain in the world than suffer from chronic itching. She scratches till she has sores and even then she will still dig deep into her skin.
I just pray this medicine gives her some relief and that her little body can handle it.

The girl's first day of school.

Monday was the first day of school. As you can see, even though Brice was born in 2000, she is an 80's baby:) Martin saw this and thought she was dressed for Halloween. I told him arm warmers are "in". Bailey has a black and white pair courtesy of Granddaddy. Bailey has Mr. Goss this year and we are soooo excited. He is the coolest teacher in 5th grade and he lives on the street next to us. Brice likes her teachers and her switch teacher is the same one Bailey had last year.
Here is a little update for those who haven't heard. Martin is back at Red McCombs Toyota in San Antonio. The kids and I are planning on staying here until the school year is finished and then we will move back. I can't say that I am all that excited about this. If this were a year ago it might be different, but now I can honestly say I don't want to move back! Houston has really grown on us and there are better schools and sport opportunities for the girls, not to mention we love our ward and the fact that it is not super crowded. I'm trying to think positive, we do have all our family there, which is nice, but I LOVE my house and the fact that there are so many trees here and that it actually rains, and did I mention I LOVE my house, so I'm not all that positive yet, but I have time:)

Summer Visits!

It has been a while since the last post:) Here are a FEW pictures from our summer. I won't comment on them all. We had family from the Dinh side and the Stratton side come visit us this summer, so of course that meant a lot of visits to the lake! Here is Uncle Brock wake skating for the first time, and Tara captured the perfect "landing" picture:) We loved seeing everyone and sharing our favorite thing to do with them-being on the boat of course-:)

We went to the children's museum when Kai and Kade were here. They all had exploring and pretending.

I love this picture of the cute butts. They were watching the older girls get thrown around on the tube.

The conga line.

Brayden's ready to rock. Whatever you do, don't smile Zoe!

Bailey was dancing to Beyonce's "All The Single Ladies" while she was wake boarding.

Caught you Sierra:)