Parks, Swings, Sunshine and Hats

Just so you know there are four other new blogs below (not including this one) that I wrote today. A lot happened this week. Yesterday we went to the park, to help take my mind off my pain (read blog below). It was great weather. 60s and sunny. Kaelan loved the swing, his ugly hat, and bark chips. The boys had a really great time playing with the Wood kids. Here are some great pictures (using my new camera -- had to test it in full sunlight!)

Mixed it up a bit. Gabriella and Levi played for a while.

Calder and Micheal played for a while

Ansel played Solo, for the most part.

Cute Kaelan

Jeez, mom. Why do I have to wear this ugly hat?

Yes, I got it off!

I wonder how this goes on your head?

Hmmmm. . . . Nope.

Yes, there we go!

Oopps. Some body's coming, can't be seen with this hat on. " Hi guys!"

Joe and Kaelan swinging

So Sweet!

Levi and Micheal "monkeying around!"

This one is my favorite, not because of the photo itself, but because of the conversation that was happening as it was being taken. Ansel says "The sun is in my eyes". I say "Don't look at the sun". Ansel retorts "I'm not looking at the sun - the sun is looking at me!"

That one is definitely a classic!!!!

Ps. Don't forget to check out the 4 blogs below!!

Doxycycline and me DON'T mix!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have pneumonia. I got diagnosed with it (again!) last Wednesday, along with Sinusitis. How fun for me. I went in there with Ansel because he had a bizarre rash that they worried was because of Amoxycillin he was taking (turned out just to be a viral rash, thank heavens) and because I was feeling like death warmed over. Sure enough, Pneumonia again (had it just before Thanksgiving too). I made sure the doctor knew that I was breastfeeding and was careful to ask again, later, if the antibiotic she was prescribing was okay for breastfeeding. She assured me it was, and I went ahead and picked up my prescription and went home.

Fast forward to Friday night, (a couple hours after the Patty Cake episode and with the Wood kids at our house) I get ready for bed and take my 2nd dose of the day of Doxycycline (my antibiotic). So far I had taken 5 doses. The doctor suggested I take them with food and so far I had been really good about taking it with food. That night, though, the food and the pills were spread out by 45 minutes, but I really didn't think much of it because the doctor said it wasn't a big deal if that happened.

Fast forward 3 hours. I am fast asleep, but having really strange dreams about food hurting my stomach. I keep eating, but every food I try (in my dream) hurts my stomach. The pain gets worse and worse and worse, until all of a sudden I wake up. And guess what. . . yes, my stomach is hurting terribly. I feel like someone is burning a hole in it and it is spasming wildly. I think, to myself, that I must not have been close enough to eating when I took the medicine and so it was hurting my stomach, so I go take two tums and a glass of milk. That usually works for Ibuprofen or prenatal pills. Instead of helping, things get worse, my stomach starts foaming. I start to panic a bit, and go look at the label on the medicine bottle. As I read, it just gets worse. There on the label it says "DO NOT take if breastfeeding. Stop immediately and consult a doctor". . . . . . What?!?! I had specifically asked the doctor if it was okay and she had said yes!

I get online and look up Doxycycline on drugs.com and read. It says that it goes through breast milk and affects the nursing child, in fact pregnant women and children under the age of eight are NOT to take it unless it is an anthrax infection. SHEEESHZ, this isn't looking good. But why? ? ??. . . . .A little further down it says that it permanently stains forming teeth a yellow gray brown. Oh no!! What about Kaelan?!!!! Now I am MAD!!! Hopefully I didn't take it long enough, only 2 1/2 days out of the 14, so it won't stain Kaelan's teeth or harm him. Nothing about food versus nonfood. It says either is fine. There is no reaction listed like the one I am having. Great.

I call the advice nurse. Now, remember this is about 3am in the morning. The nurse on the phone says it is probably heart burn. . . . I don't think so, it doesn't feel like any heartburn I've ever had. He does say that it is weird that milk and tums didn't help. But, I take his advice and stay upright until it goes away. Only one problem. It doesn't go away. I am writhing in this horrible burning, clenching pain for 3 hours until exhaustion finally hits and I slip off into a fretful sleep. I wake up around 8am (2 hours later) still in considerable pain. Time to take action. Off I go to Urgent care. Meanwhile, Joe is at home with eight kids (our and the Wood's).

The doctor is very diligent, asks a million questions and comes up with a drug in toleration. I ask why it took so long to show up and he says that is normal. Basically it is like an allergic reaction in my stomach. He gives me a GI cocktail (he calls it) a mixture of Mylanta, barbiturates, and a nerve deadening medicine. It feels like snot in my mouth, foul. But at least I can't feel the clenching as badly. He marks off Doxycycline as a BIG no no for me in my medical chart. Now comes the hard part. I am to go on a clear liquids ONLY diet for 2 days, more- if it is still hurting by 2 days. I am also supposed to take it easy. Then I am to slowly progress to a BRAT diet (Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) for a few days before resuming normal eating. "Wow", I say "That is a pretty big order, why?" Well, basically because it has damaged my stomach and it needs time to heal. "oh. Wow." I am stunned. He gives a prescription for peps id, which I am to take RELIGIOUSLY twice a day for two to three weeks, to help with the healing. Then, I am on my way home.

First thing I do, when I get home, is try a little apple juice (clear liquid - he said). My stomach rejects it violently. Water. . . . same thing. I am going to dehydrate quickly if my stomach keeps this up. He had said he was concerned that I would have a hard time staying hydrated, now I believe him. Over the course of the day the pain stays pretty constant, but I have energy, and unfortunately I feel hunger pains through it all, which actually make it worse. We go to the park with the kids (that helps keep my mind off of it). Aimee and Allen come over, THEY all have pizza and I am tortured with all the good smells. ME and my water on the couch. But, by the time I go to bed the pain is only there (noticeably) when I drink. Today has been much better. I am way beyond hungry though. Don't feel that kind of pain anymore, but anytime I try to lay on my side it feels like someone is trying to rip my stomach out. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be on my way to BRAT, and start taking my new antibiotic for my pneumonia. What I am really grumpy about, though, is the fact that I had to use all three of my sick days for my Healthy Living Challenge in one week. How fair is that?!?!?!?

Seriously though, of all the strange things that could happen? ?. . . . . .

A New Camera and Patty Cake

Joe and I have been looking for a new little P & S camera to take with us on our backpacking trip this summer. Friday I was at Costco and they had the Coolpix on sale for $150. Unfortunately, they were all out and not getting anymore in. But, the Display was for sale and I asked if I could get a discount since there weren't anymore coming in and the display was the only one left. They said YES! Sweet! I snatched it right up and brought it home. The one I have is a cool red color and I like it very much. It will be perfect for our trip. It is so small, as you can see from the picture, it is the same size as an altoids box. But it is 7.1 megapixels and does a great job taking pictures. I tried it out on Kaelan on Friday night. It is, of course, nothing like a digital SLR, but even so, it does a great job. Especially compared to my digital SLR, which is on its last leg. At least this one focuses and doesn't pixelate pictures!!


Here are some pictures of Kaelan "singing" patty cake. He knows all the actions, and he does them while we sing the song. I wish we had a decent video camera, then I could show you him in action!

Patty cake patty cake, baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can.

Roll it, and pat it . . . . .

and mark it with a "B". . . .

throw it in the oven for Baby and me!!!!

And, just in case you were wondering. . . . yes, he is up on the fireplace. And, yes, he climbs up there all by himself. Alas, nothing is safe anymore.

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, you can't get me!!

My new favorite thing, Kaelan comes over and attacks my cheek with yummy kisses! Mmmmm

CAUTION: Egg Allergy!

This whole story started way back when Kaelan first started to fall of the weight chart at the doctors office 4 months ago. Back, before then, he was a healthy 50% (in weight) on the chart. But, with each consecutive doctors appointment he has fallen. First to the 10%, then the 8%, and then most recently, totally off the charts and something close to -20%. The doctors were getting concerned because it is affecting his growth (height) and head circumference as well. Two weeks ago, when he had his 9th month check-up, is when they discovered this dramatic drop from the charts. The doctor advised me to start giving him foods with a higher caloric count, such as full fat yogurt, oil in his baby food, french fries, avocado, Pediasure, and egg yolk (scrambled).



I went home determined to make a difference in his weight. We tried Pediasure, he hated it. We tried oil in baby food, didn't like it. He loved french fries (of course) and yogurt and avocado --if I made it into a guacamole! The next thing on the list was egg yolk. Joe tried this one night, while I was off with the Achievement girls. I came home to a panicked husband. He had given Kaelan scrambled egg yolk, and was so excited, at first, because at the first bite Kaelan looked like he was really enjoying it. He was saying "num i num i num i num". Second bite was the same, but, the third bite changed dramatically. Kaelan refused that bite and started rubbing his lips, then up onto his cheek and last his eyes. Then, he started to swell. His lips got huge, he broke out in hives all over his cheek that he had rubbed, and his eyes swelled up. Things got a bit worse after that, he started making choking sounds and gagging. Joe says he panicked at this point and took Kaelan to the bathroom and started washing him everywhere he could. Soon the gagging subsided and eventually the swelling went down, by the time I came home all that remained was a slight puffiness of the eyes and rosy cheeks. I told Joe that I was almost 100% certain that Kaelan had had an allergic reaction to the egg.



We called the doctor's advice nurse and set up an appointment to come in. Dr. Sage, of course, agreed with us that it looked like he had an allergic reaction, so she called us in an appointment with the allergist. I mentioned to Dr. Sage that I wondered if Kaelan had a lot of food sensitivities and that was why he wasn't gaining weight like he should. Maybe the two (allergies and weight stagnation) were related. Maybe the egg was just the most obvious.



It took a while to get an appointment with the allergist, but finally we got in on this past Friday. A lot had happened in the meantime (we all got sick -I got pneumonia) and when I went to the allergists I was still pretty sick with pneumonia. (Everybody kept asking if I was a smoker - My voice was so low and scratchy). After going through the information with the doctor, and my options, I decided that I would rather them do the back prick test that try to draw blood from Kaelan. The doctor, I think, was leaning toward the blood draw because it would be easier for them, (no wiggly baby to hold still) so he wasn't really excited about my choice, but I assured him it would be much easier this way. I had a plan.



I got out our little DVD player and Baby Mozart, and set it up playing behind me. Then I held Kaelan towards me and the nurse drew on, then pricked, Kaelan's back in 16 different places. He was so glued to his movie that all he did was squirm, a little, each time she poked him. It was over in 30 seconds. The next part, waiting the 15 minutes for the results to show, was a little harder. But not too much. I just kept holding Kaelan in the same position and he continued to watch his movie. Before I knew it the results were being read. . . . He was allergic to eggs, of course, but nothing else!!! YES!! I was so relieved. I said to the nurse "Wow, that's not too bad, it could have been worse!" And she laughed and said "Not by much, well, I guess he could be allergic to eggs and milk and soy and wheat, but as it is egg is in EVERYTHING" and she handed me a piece of paper that showed a list of everything he couldn't have. I blanched. Of course, that would mean no breads, cakes, cookies, pasta, anything with artificial/natural flavoring etc. It would be a bigger deal than I had thought.

So now, we are adjusting to the fact that Kaelan will have to have a special diet for a while (hopefully). The doctor did say that egg allergies are one that children have been known to outgrow. But, we need to avoid anything with egg in it, like the plague. First of all, because the next reaction will most definitely be worse than the first, and second of all, if he doesn't come in contact with any egg product for at least a couple of years, his body has a better chance of resetting itself. So, here's hoping! We have one problem solved.

However, we are back to square one on the weight issue. I hope he is just going to be a skinny kid, and nothing more. But, worrying comes with the job of "mommy".

Arghhh!! A Pirate's life for me!!

Ansel turned 4 this week (on the 5th) and had his first ever birthday party with friends. The party took place yesterday (Saturday the 9th) and it was one little pirate's paradise!!




He invited 3 friends from his primary class, and all the Wood kids. It was true pirate pandemonium! They made their own treasure boxes, complete with Jewels and gold paint.

They each got their own pirate gear and were led on a Treasure hunt by a particularly fearsome Pirate Joe. If only I could have gotten a picture of the hidden treasure, wow, what a kids dream come true. A real treasure box filled with chocolate gold coins, surrounded by more gold and jewels! -- Even a dead pirate to go along with it. Except for this dead pirate came alive again- so said a little pirate named Harrison!

The pirate revelers, starting at the top left: Gabriella Wood, Levi, Jared Wood, Hunter Price, Ansel Birthday boy, Harrison Edwards, Micheal Wood, Calder, and Riley Stutznegger. The kids were all so cute. Riley was probably the funniest. She kept saying "I don't want to be a pirate, I am a princess!" even after we told her she didn't have to be a pirate! She didn't even want a pirates treasure box, that is, until she saw them start to be covered with jewels! Good thing, I thought that she might change her mind, and painted and made one for her while the other kids were making their own!! She was very excited about her "princess jewels" box!!

After all that fun, we had a bunch of ravenous Pirates. Each pirate got their own pirate island to eat. On each island was a palm tree (green bell pepper and a carrot), a treasure box full of gold coins (zuchinni bread hollowed out/with a lid and with yellow carrot circles inside and spilling out), a jolly roger pretzel, and an octopus hot dog. They all thought it was pretty fantastic and kids, that normally won't touch veggies, were eating the "cool" palm tree! Calder, who loves veggies, but isn't fond of bell peppers, ate this bell pepper with gusto!

Levi, enjoying his pirate island.

The pirate party table.

Ansel, preparing to open his presents!!

Kaelan didn't really have much interest in pirates, or birthday parties, but he LOVED the balloons!

Kaelan, looking for help to get those Balloons!!

Ansel and his cake.

Treasure box cake.

At 9 months, Kaelan likes. . . . .

Look Mom, Still no teeth!

Kaelan is such a big boy now! Today he turned nine months old. I decided to make a mini "Kaelan Documentary". I followed him around today (during his happy playtime) watching what he did, and taking pictures as he went along. He was so fun to watch. Everytime he noticed that I was there he would speed crawl over to me, pat me on the leg and smile! It was too much fun!! This is a photo collage of some of the things, Kaelan wanted to do, on his 9th month birthday.

I found him first, in the middle of the action. Levi and Joe were working on Levi's science project and Kaelan was standing right next to daddy, perfectly underfoot. All babies have such a knack for that! Kaelan loves standing, right now. He is constantly finding new things to pull himself up on. This stool is one of my least favorite things for him to pull up on. I am afraid one of these days he will pull it down, on him, instead of pulling himself up, on it!

When the science project moved to the entry hall, Kaelan went along crawling into the living room and watched out the window. Whenever a bird flew by, or the wind blew the trees, Kaelan would clap, just as if, they were doing it just for him! Kaelan loves to play with his little pointy tongue, it is so cute that whenever he sticks it out I have to laugh. Clapping and waving "hi" and "bye" are some other big favorites of Kaelan. I am trying to teach him some sign language for "all done" and "more", but when I say them and do the signs he smiles at me and claps for me. It is like he is saying "good job mom, you did it!"

Kaelan loves anything that makes noise. Levi is always practicing the piano, and so the piano is a big fascination for Kaelan. Today, Kaelan tried to climb up on the piano bench, so I decided to let him have a go at it. When I first put him up there he started to wave his arms excitedly and accidentally hit one of the keys. . . Wow! He was so amazed, he stayed there a few minutes playing, well, more like pounding, the keys. When I finally decided that it was enough of that, and took him down, he had a most magnificent fit about it!

The best thing about Kaelan is that he LOVES to smile! He smiles so big, I often wonder how such a tiny face can hold such a big smile! If you look closely at some of these you can see his little tongue doing its thing in almost every picture. He is so proud and smiley here, because he got up on the couch all by himself! (But mommy needed to help him down!)

After he got down from the couch he went cruising around the house for a while. He would crawl into one room cruise around a bit, sit and chew on a piece of paper, or toy, and then be off again. As soon as he got to the hallway his crawl picked up speed. He knew where he was headed, and he had a plan. The STAIRS!! He loves the stairs. We HAVE to get a gate soon, because just closing the door to the stairs doesn't seem to be enough with 3 boys who never remember to shut it. But, sticking with the game plan, I followed him into the stairwell. Once there he started to climb, all the time wondering what mom was doing following him around and not stopping him from doing this. When he got about halfway, he sat down on the stair and clapped for himself and squealed "yayayayaya". So proud of himself.

After showing him how to go down the stairs (not that I really think that he got anything out of the lesson) he crawled into his room and straight for the train table. The fact that he loves the train table, and can pull up on it and get everything on it, is a major source of stress for Ansel. Kaelan's style of play (destroying the tracks and sucking on chewing on all the pieces) is in direct conflict with Ansel's. Who loves it to be orderly and drool free. However, Ansel wasn't there for the first part, so Kaelan had his way for quite a while. When Ansel finally found Kaelan in there, he wasn't too upset, especially when he realized mom was taking photos, and he wanted to get in on them too. The funniest photo here, to me, is the one with Ansel trying to force Kaelan to look at me and smile. He just wanted the perfect pose, thats all. ;) Kaelan had other plans though, and let Ansel know it, with a well placed push and scream. Soon Calder came in and they were all 3 playing with the trains and I got to get one good shot of the three of them! And here is where the Kaelan Documentary ends. . . . . Kaelan stayed in there playing for another 25 minutes and mom got tired of taking pictures. I left him there, with his beloved trains, squealing and babbling away, as he gave as many of the trains as he could get his hands on, . . . a drool bath!