Kyle's Birthday

For Kyle's birthday, we headed a little farther south to visit Jill, Kenny and Aiden. We went swimming at the new Washington Community Center and we had a blast! They have a huge play area and an enormous bucket that dumps out every few minutes. It actually holds more water than you would imagine. Watch...

If I didn't know any better, I would have to say that Porter was a fish in a previous life. This kiddo is all about the water! He takes off into it and doesn't care when it starts covering his mouth ... his nose ... his eyes ... he just wants to get in deeper.

He absolutely loved it! We got him some floties. (No, not floaties, floties. I was corrected. Apparently they are floties.) But, they do not allow children to have the floties in the deeper water. (Maybe they allow floaties, but floties are a no.) This seems to negate the point to me, but hey, what are you going to do? So, we took off the floties... (starting to irritate anyone else, floties just sounds dumb doesn't it?)

This is my brother-in-law Kenny. I think he likes kids... every shot I have of Kenny looks something like this...

Porter was a little nervous at first in the deep end, so we took him over to the play area.

He does pretty good standing on his own...

That is of course until he realizes he's standing on his own.

This is post-fall. The kid wasn't even phased by the face-plant. Loves getting his face wet. I wasn't able to get many pictures of Aiden, he just won't stop moving! He loved all the "fwimming". And pictures of Jill... well... she moved out of the way a lot. She also wouldn't look at the camera. So, the above is the best I could do.It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed spending the day with the Gordon's, we always do. Thanks for having us down! We wouldn't have spent Kyle's birthday any other way.

Like Father, Like Son

I have been told by Carri that when Kyle was a little boy he used to put everything in his pockets. He would collect anything and everything that he could find and stash it. Kyle says that when he was in high school and would do scavenger hunts in seminary, he would take off his hat and fill it (overflowing, by the way) with all of the stuff from his pockets.

This didn't end with high school, Kyle still keeps things in his pockets. On a daily basis you can always find chapstick, a knife or two, a pen, gum, pencils, erasers, you name it, stuffed in there. In fact, Kyle has a bowl for the things in his pockets. It sits near the front door where he can empty out everything at the end of the day.

Porter is already picking up the trend.

This is his shirt from yesterday. And those are three rocks, and one of my SD cards, which were found in his front pocket.

This little one is already so much like his daddy.

I guess I'll have to get a bowl for him too.

Redheads

This is my little cousin Shannon. How darling is she? I haven't seen her in a very long time, and I completely forgot how much of a redhead she was. Porter and Shannon have the exact same shade of hair. Isn't it just beautiful? I hope Porter's stays this color as he gets bigger.
I've noticed that having a child with red-hair is like when you buy a boat. You never really noticed that everyone else is tugging a boat behind their truck; until you yourself have one.
I've just started noticing all of the redheads around. I'm sure they were there before, but I'm just now noticing cause I've got my own.

Paintball at the Family Cabin

This past weekend we headed up for the annual Johnson Family reunion up Fairview Canyon. We had so much fun spending time with family. We always enjoy ourselves at the reunion and I have to say that I had a new first that I get to add to my list for next year!

I discovered that I love paintball.

There is a huge grove of Aspen trees up at the cabin, and it made for the perfect spot to play. There were some drawbacks, such as; I got eaten alive by mosquitoes (13 bites that still itch), I have welts from the paintballs all up my leg and a bruised knee (they really smart if the paintballs don't break) and I think I rolled and damaged my ankle yet again. However, there are some great points (and I think they make up for the drawbacks ten-fold) ; you can shoot people, good exercise (if you move around), and you can shoot, people.

Now, I'm not so excited about shooting people normally, but the stress of past shifts all went out the window when we started playing. Although I wasn't frustrated with anyone that I played with, it was just the concept that helped break some of the tension I've been feeling over the past several weeks. Before you start to think that I just unleashed on my family the wrathe of Chelle, I have to defend myself by telling you all that I inflicted no unnecessary pain on anyone. For that matter, I didn't inflict any pain on anyone. I may enjoy paintball, but I'm not what some would call...well...good. I didn't hit anybody. Not once.

We played regular paintball for the first game which was pretty boring and I didn't think I would play again. Then, Kyle thought we should play capture-the-flag paintball style, and I have to say that I don't think I've had so much fun in a while!

Shooting matches with your brothers-in-law, how often can you do that...legally?

I don't know what it is about shooting a paintball gun that is so fun, but I didn't want to stop. I had a riot. If you get the chance to do it, I highly recommend trying.

Porter's goggles.

Porter loves Kyle's Chem lab goggles.
Great fashion statement, don't you think?

Ha Ha, Just Kidding!

Did you really think Porter was allergic to wheat? I sure did! I totally had myself and everyone who has come in contact with this little guy for the past 10 days pretty convinced!
Are you surprised at the depth of the conspiracy? I know that I am. It runs deep I tell you. Deep.
So, we went to a specialist today. He told us that it doesn't seem like Porter's really allergic to wheat. If he was it would cause Porter more stomach upset and normally doesn't present itself in the way of hives, welts and his throat closing off. (I had wondered about that, but when they run a blood test, I seem to think that it's pretty set in stone. We'll talk about how that SO isn't true here in a minute.)
So good news/bad news. Good news, not really allergic to wheat (at least not in a way that we have to worry about it too much). Bad news: still don't know what caused the bad reactions.
They want us to see an allergist and have a scratch test done for different foods. The doctor we saw today thinks Porter will outgrow the wheat allergy, and that the test that was performed isn't really all that accurate.
Here's my question, why run a test if it's really not that accurate. They said that the negative results are more conclusive than the positive results. The positive results mean that he may or may not be allergic to that specific allergen. The negative results mean that he most likely isn't allergic to that allergen, but that he may possibly be allergic to it.

So, for those who are confused, let me sum it all up.

He may be allergic to the things that he was tested against that came back saying he was not allergic to them, but most likely he isn't allergic to those. He is allergic to the things that he was tested against that came back positive, unless he's not.
Do you see where I'm a tad-bit confused as to why this test was taken in the first place? Yeah, me too.

Anyway- here's the low-down.
Porter can have wheat. He isn't on any food restrictions other than formula (which is fine cause he drinks milk) until he sees an allergist or he has a reaction to something new that we give him.
It all comes down to being very good news. Confusing news, but good news all the same!

And the Winner is?

So, the doctor called this morning.

He started into how Porter has a low milk allergy, and since he tolerates milk so well already, he will most likely outgrow that.

(He was prepping me for something worse. I could tell.)

The past several days I have been wondering what it would be like if he was allergic to nuts or eggs. I've tried to imagine how that would change our way of life. Not much. I could totally handle a nut allergy. Eggs, done. No problem. Let me have it Mister Physician.

However, the discussion took a turn I wasn't quite ready for, and hadn't really thought of.


"Your son is allergic to something that is in almost every household. It exists in almost all processed foods. It tastes wonderful. This is not only going to turn Porter's life around, but yours as well. You won't even know what happened to you. He will most likely come in contact with it daily. In fact, I bet you probably have it sitting out right at this moment on your kitchen counter and if it fell off and Porter grabbed some you would have to rush him to the ER immediately. In fact, you've heard of the "bubble boy" right? Well, that's your son. Go out and buy him a large plastic bubble this instant, put him in it and never look back!"

Well, maybe it's not exactly what was said, but it's amazing how one sentence of "Porter's allergic to wheat." can sound like so much more.

I never would have guessed that Porter was allergic to wheat. But, wheat it is.

As of today, Porter is on a gluten free diet. It is possible for Porter to outgrow this allergy (that's what we're hoping for). We know that he's had several wheat products with no reactions. In fact he was eating wheat products today before I got the call. But, until further tests are done and we find out the extent of his allergy, no wheat for Porter.

But, I've decided it's a good thing. It's good to know what it is that causes these trips to the ER at 11:00 at night. I know now how to prevent it. Sure, it will be a big change, but Porter's young enough right now that he won't even know the difference. And, there's a 50% chance that he will grow out of it. All good things.

In the meantime, my boy is happy, healthy and not swollen! And his momma's happy. And his daddy's happy.

Okay, Kari I don't mean to try and one-up you, or Coldplay for that matter. Believe me, I've had Viva la Vida playing on my computer almost 24/7 since you posted about it.
I say almost 24/7 because the rest of the time, I've been listening to this.
Can I just say how much I adore Rob Thomas. I also must apologize, this is an old song that you probably all knew about. Down here in the sticks we don't keep up on the music as well.

But I think this song is just delightful.

Please enjoy.

Benadryl? Anyone? Anyone?

I realize I never posted about Porter's further problems with allergies. It's hard to imagine that the first time was only 6 weeks ago. Luckily for us, that was the worst one, and it seems to be less and less of a reaction each time. However, our sweet little swollen boy has now endured 2 more reactions. The scariest part? We don't know what these past two were caused by.

The second reaction he had was very bad. Both of his eyes swelled up (like in this picture, only much worse) and hives and welts developed all over his body (luckily it didn't get a chance to involve his airway). We rushed him to the doctor and had him shot up with more steroids. Our doctor told us to get out the camera, but I couldn't. I felt horrible photographing something so sad. Now I wish I would have had it documented with some photos. Another week of Benadryl later and we had our non-swollen little guy back.

Then this past week, he gave us the perfect photo-op. Again, not knowing what caused it, Porter's eye started to swell. Kyle caught it quickly and gave him benadryl which quickly stopped the reaction from progressing; allowing it to only affect one eye. Kyle was good enough to snap some shots this time.

When we went to see the doctor this week he decided it was a good time to run some allergy testing on Porter. We should have the results back this week, so we will hopefully know what to avoid from now on.

Porter's been a little under the weather.

So, I had an experience last week and again this week that I think would have qualified for "hazing" in terms of joining the "mom" club. Let me share.

Last week, I had just finished with a LONG night shift and I was VERY tired. I came home and corralled Porter in the front room again so I could get a little sleep.
Porter got more than a little fussy, so I figured he might be tired and I picked him up and laid him on my chest. Sure enough he started to doze off. Then I heard a "Bleccchhhh" (that's how you spell vomit in case you didn't know). I came to a quick realization that curdled milk vomit is quite possibly the most disgusting thing in the world. Just as that realization occured I heard another "Bleccchhhh" only this time, Porter was gracious enough to have scooted his little body further down my body and now I had the curdled milk all over my stomach. Porter had ground his face into my stomach and as I tried to sit him up so that he wouldn't get it all over himself I got one more "Bleccchhh" which was positioned right over my lap.

I was now covered from chest to the top of my legs in the most disgusting wetness that I have ever experienced.

I tried very hard not to get any on my rug or my couch as I picked up Porter to rush him into a bathtub. I also quickly changed my shirt so I wouldn't drag vomit across my house. I got into the bathroom, stripped him down and as I removed his diaper there was this explosion. There was poop everywhere and Porter, thinking it was great, grabbed a handful.

I quickly picked him up and rushed him over to the sink to wash off his hand before his poop-filled grasp could make it's way onto my walls, floor or even worse... his mouth. Without thinking, I propped him up between the counter and myself to wash his hand at the sink. It was at this point that poop joined the mix on the front of me. I can't really complain, I was the one that put his soiled little hiney against my stomach, but I have to say it was at this point that I just about cried.

After getting his hand sanitized and his little bottom wiped off, I tossed him in a tub to scrub him down and he started giggling. As I was sitting at the side of the tub with him laughing and giggling at me I smiled. I knew that I was happy to be a mom. The work isn't always the most glamorous, but it's so rewarding. The darling little boy in front of me made it all so worth it...

...and then he smiled and peed all down the front of me.