Good luck, Alley! And good luck Lady Marmalade! I hope both of your walk throughs go well, and that you'll come back and tell us that both went beautifully. :)

Whew!

In addition to the monitoring more closely, or whatever you decide, I have to echo the sentiment that it's time for (repeated?) frank talks about sex, consequences, and your views on BC. Personally, I'd make sure she has access to condoms but I realize that may not be a popular opinion here. ETA: I'm not advocating 14 year olds having sex. I don't think they are ready. But, then again, our local middle school has had a rash of pregnancies, so clearly it happens.

Love it!!!

:) I keep thinking we're going to end up with snakes. We do have 3 aquatic turtles, and adore them. They are spoiled turtles. We do have dogs, though DS is allergic to them. His RAST numbers to dogs are lower than his cat numbers (cat numbers are through the roof!). He has to take allergy/asthma meds anyway. Though, honestly, if we'd known about the allergies first, we'd have skipped the furred animals. The only animal he doesn't show an allergy to (via bloodwork) is... a cow. :huh:

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences. I'm going to share these with DS, and he will feel less lonely in his allergy. This is just astonishing. I had no idea that cat allergies could be so severe (until DS). I felt bad "liking" these posts, and I don't like the allergies - just appreciate hearing about them!

That's horrible. And sounds familiar. DS ended up with pneumonia, too. :( I hope you feel better soon! One reason we haven't moved is wondering how to manage allergens, if a house might have been home to a cat before we move in. It's easy to manage in our own home, but the thought of moving is daunting. Hotel stays, too - we've changed rooms because of unknown reactions. Maybe cat, who knows? I had no idea this wasn't totally bizarre. Thanks for sharing your stories.

Cough variant asthma. He gets a hacky cough. Sense of panic, at first. Shallow breathing. As it progresses there is clearly a struggle to breathe, retractions, etc. With that first time, I think his lips were turning bluish, but I may be remembering wrong. He has allergy induced asthma, so other allergens can set it off too. But cats are the quickest, scariest.

Heartlikealion, keep an eye on it if he might have asthma. Our guy doesn't wheeze, so we were shocked when we found out how much trouble he was having. We knew nothing about asthma though. Absolutely nothing. Pinky, it's cool the allergy shots helped your brother. And that you have a pet free room. My mom keeps a set of dander free clothes at our house, and changes when she walks in. It's crazy.

It was pretty quick. The time we almost epipenned was maybe 30 minutes around the pillow/blanket. The visits ... We were not as well versed in asthma, as it was when it all started... I think the hospital visit was the second day we were there. My mom's cat has long hair, maybe that makes a difference?

I didn't know either. :( His allergist isn't terribly surprised, but it was refreshing to read about others, since I've only experienced this with DS. He does take allergy meds every day.

Another thread made me feel less alone (thank you for that!). Until DS, I've only seen cat allergies as a mild annoyance. Itchy eyes and sneezing, maybe. But DS has ended up in the hospital after visiting my mom (who has a cat) twice. Major asthma attacks, one of which kept going until he had pneumonia (unrelated? Not sure?). Another time we thought we needed to epipen him just from contact with a pillow on which the cat had slept. Needless to say, DS hasn't visited her since. It's been 6 years. And he doesn't go visit friends with cats at all. If you have cat allergies, how do you react? The other thread made me aware that DS isn't alone in his reaction, but I didn't want to hijack it.

Best wishes for Buttercup's recovery. I've been there, too. Before getting married, I spent a lot of time and money caring for my 9 year old, diabetic ferret. Small animals carry a piece of our hearts, too. May Buttercup recover as best she can, and live a full, happy life!

:grouphug: I think you hit the heart of it right there in your first sentence. When we don't really have a choice at being finished (or starting) ... we mourn the possibilities, the potential. Whether you thought you might want one more, or two more, or even if you never thought you wanted kids - you mourn the loss of the chance. I'm coming at this from a different angle. I had a hysterectomy before ever having kids. I didn't have much of a choice, but did have *some* choice. It was the best option, of crummy options. I didn't think I wanted kids, I had a career that I loved, doing what I loved, and the problem that prompted my hysterectomy was seriously hindering that career (I was an archaeologist, working in the field and it was my lifelong dream). I still mourned. I mourned in ways I didn't expect, and it was deeply intense at the oddest times. Now that we've had kids (via adoption, obviously), we don't plan to have more. But I'm not mourning it. Yes, I'm older, but it's not the same thing. I know that we *could* have more. It's different. I'm no longer mourning the loss of possibility, the loss of choice. There are no regrets. Does that make sense? I hope you find you way to the right decision for yourself, for your health. :grouphug:

I keep hoping for an update. Hoping the doggie is ok.

Alley, I'm sure you are a great tenant, and I think you should just go with what you know is right. I'm positive your house would pass a walk through even without decluttering, from what you've said. The cat's been there for two years. She's family. (He?) Messing with hiding it makes you look bad, and will give your kids a bad feeling, too. Just be yourselves, and it will probably all be fine. Just be confident, and happy. It's pretty cool that you ended up living in the house you wanted! How cool. :)

I would declutter and clean as I would for any company beyond the usual playdate. And I wouldn't hide the cat, or it's litter box, etc, though I would be mentally prepared for the consequences of not having the lease renewed, etc. However, I would not want to explain to my kids about hiding a cat (or anything). If there was reason to think getting a cat would be ok, which there must have been, I would not attempt to hide it now. OP, just run with it and do what you feel is the right thing. FWIW, DH and I have discussed leasing our home, if the market doesn't improve. I would be very disappointed to find that someone brought in a cat without first discussing. My DS is so allergic to cats that he can't even visit my mother, because of dander. It puts him in the hospital every time, and it's frightening. This thread makes me understand that we must specifically put it in the lease if we want no cats.

My favorites are already listed, but wanted to say - don't forget free fireworks on the 4th. We have lots of options for those, here. Several towns near us sponsor movies on the lawn type nights, I think those might have been listed already, but not sure. Biking, rollerskating, scootering, running, camping. Water play in the yard. Crafts at home. Make ice cream or snow cones. Lemonade stand. We are near the Smithsonian, so we do a lot of museum and zoo stuff.

That's a great idea, thank you!

Etsy! Why didn't I think of that?? Thank you. So many beautiful options. :)

Thanks! I think it's the right idea. I've got some time so I can keep looking. Perfect concept.

What a nice post to read today! Thank you for sharing. :)

Oooh, the wreath or welcome sign with seasonal attachments that could be switched out would be perfect. If I could personalize it, and have their names on it somehow, that would really be great. Now to ask for the impossible... Anyone have a link? :) Love the whiteboard idea, too!

A few quick thoughts: Double check the dose of doxy. It needs to be high enough to be bactericidal vs just bacteristatic (meaning it needs to kill the bugs rather than just stop them from replicating, which could make him feel better for a time, but then relapse later). Also, a minimum of 28 days on abx, to cover the entire life cycle of the spirochete, as abx only kill the bugs during particular parts of the life cycle. You might check the latest Burrascano guidelines for the doseage, I don't remember it off hand, or maybe Lizzie will post it for you. :) (Hi Lizzie!) Take your abx with food and plenty of water, away from dairy. Sit up for at least 30 - 60 minutes after taking them. Take probiotics! And in addition to the usual, take Florastor (S. Boulardii) - you can pick it up at the drug store or order on Amazon. Believe me, you don't want to risk C. Diff (Lyme *and* C. Diff survivor here). Take your probiotics 2 hours away from the abx. I hope the 3 yr old is not on doxy? There are better options for kids. More later, in a hurry, but wishing your DH (and your DD) well!!!

Ouch. :grouphug: I totally agree with you on the running around and playing in stores.