Brian's Asthma

I have asthma.

I've had it my whole life. As a little kid I was hospitalized on and off for years. When I was a little older I had a nebulizer and my folks could give me my breathing treatment to prevent me from having to be hospitalized. (they always joked about me smoking!) Now as an adult I'm still allergic to cats and dogs, but can take allergy medicine to control that. Although I've mostly outgrown my asthma, twice in the almost 8 years we've been married Paul has had to take me to the ER or Urgent Care though because a head cold turned into a chest cold which turned into an asthma attack and I couldn't breathe.

Breathing is pretty important and most people take it for granted until they are having a problem breathing.

Anyway, Brian has had a cough he couldn't get rid of for a year or so now. It would wake him up in the middle of the night and several times got REALLY bad where he was having a hard time breathing. Back in June we took him to the doctor and she said he was having an asthma attack. Why that didn't occur to me I didn't know. She gave him a breathing treatment there in the office and sent us home with an oral steroid for a week and an inhaler for him to take as needed.

This is when Brian was sick back in June

The beginning of September it happened again. His cough got really bad until he couldn't breathe, and we took him in to the doctor again. This time they gave him a breathing treatment, put him on an oral steroid, another inhaler, and some antibiotics then sent us to the allergy/asthma specialist.

The specialist changed things up. "Yes to this inhaler, no to that one, get a nebulizer, finish this steroid and antiobiotic and add this allergy medicine and cough medicine. And he has an allergic reaction to cashews? Well then here's an epi-pen and don't let him have any nuts until he gets tested again." YIKES!!! She said they were treating him for allergenic asthma and allergenic rhinitis. One week later and he is doing great. We're still waiting for the blood work on the nut allergies, but the skin tests showed he is allergic to dust mites and some mold spores.

Brian with his nebulizer

(Thanks to the Girth family for lending it to us)

We do the nebulizer every morning, he chews his singulair every night and the c-pav and albuterol are "as needed" and we haven't had them in several days. We've bought new bedding for his room, new pillow, a special allergenic pillow cover, have put in new air filters and...and I'm committed to cleaning this house more. Wish me luck!

He gets to play our Nintendo DS while breathing, so he doesn't mind!

Thanks to my mom for taking care of me when I was a sick kid. Now I kinda know what you dealt with. I love you!

More Random Christian Pictures

We love that Christian smiles all the time! And he has 6 teeth now too! But often when we take pictures of him, all you see are his tongue. He smiles with his tongue a lot and we think it's adorable!

In this picture he is on the floor of the kitchen, probably scavenging food from off the floor. I try to sweep all the time, but there always seems to be a cheerio or something for him to find.

He is obsessed with door stops. (Or Doingy Doingy's as they are called at our house). I've removed most of them since he pulls the ends off and sticks them in his mouth. He already has a knack for getting in trouble.

His latest trick I don't like is climbing the stairs. We put the gate up most of the time, but occasionally I'll forget and before I know it he's climbing the stairs. As you can see, he can get all the way up to the top super fast, but he looks back for me all the time. As soon as I come he laughs and tries to go faster.
He's getting to be more fun every day, playing with toys, showing his personality. He's just such a sweetie!

Christian, I'm loving getting to know you and I'm glad you're mine!

First Day of New Preschool

Tuesday was Brian's first day of preschool. We loved the preschool he went to last year, but we decided to go to a different one this year. Everything's different at a new school so we were all a little nervous.

Actually, Brian was excited. I think he wanted Paul to take him to school first thing this morning, but class didn't start until 9:30.

His classes this year will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 2:30, and while that seems like a very long day, it's to prepare him for full day kindergarten next year.

He has 2 friends from church in his class and at least 2 more that go to his school in other classes. When I dropped him off he didn't even look back, just sat in his seat and started putting stickers on his folder. When I picked him up he was all smiles again so I can only assume he had a great day. He's such a happy kid and I think he is anxious to go again Thursday.

For Marcia and Marc

Hey Marcia and Marc...

Just in case you were wondering...

Happy Labor Day!

Aaron's first baby tooth

The other day after I noticed Christian had gotten his 6th tooth I asked Aaron if any of his teeth were loose yet, and low and behold one of them was. He hadn't noticed yet, but it was VERY loose. One week later, to the day, this past Tuesday, his tooth fell out. He was so excited about it!

Luckily I finished making our tooth pillow about 3 weeks before, so we had a place to put the tooth and a place for the tooth fairy to leave her surprise. ($1 and a package of tic-tacs)

When he was getting ready for bed, I reminded him it was time to brush his teeth, he responded with the biggest smile saying "You mean all 19 teeth!" He was so proud of himself for "tricking me."

I love that kid!

On a side note: We are interested in what fashion the tooth fairy visits your home. Please follow this link and answer 3 short questions.

First Day of First Grade

Aaron started the first grade last week. His teacher is Mrs. Stebbins and so far he's doing great. Some of his friends from last year are in his class and on Mondays he gets to go to his Challenge class which he enjoys so far.

There are 7 kids who meet at the corner across the street to ride the bus in the morning, 6 of which are in 1st grade or kindergarten. We love having so many kids on our street that are the same age as our kids.

He loves school and I think it's going to be a great year.

Brothers

As cute as they are individually, is it possible for them to be even cuter when they are together?

B and C hanging out on Mom and Dad's bed in the morning

A and B hanging out at the lake house

A and B before church one day

(look at that shaggy hair!)

A and B holding hands after playing in the fountains at La Centera

A and B running around Rocket Park at NASA

A, B and C before church one day

A, B and C concentrating on their toys

I have to include some with Paul and his boys too...not surprisingly both these pictures revolve around electronics!

I love how in this picture all four of my boys have their own electronics. A and B have the Nintendo DS, C has the DVD remote and Paul has his laptop.

Spotlight on Christian

Christian, Chris, CJ...whatever we call him...is getting big too. He's over 9 months now and is a very important part of our family. At his 9 month check up he weighed in at 17lbs 15oz (10%) and was 28in tall (50%). He has a wonderful personality and we love him.

Good Morning Christian!

You can still see that one curl.

Just look at that smile!

Playing in his exersaucer...he really concentrates and works hard at playing with his toys.

He crawls super fast.

Here he's standing up playing with Brian's BBQ. He's got a hot dog in one hand and lifting the BBQ with the other.

He's very ticklish and laughs all the time. It's the best sound ever!

He's a happy guy and loves being with is daddy.

As much as we love playing with him, he's even more adorable when he's sleeping!