KIDS

Have you missed us? Sorry about that, weve been busy and blogging just hasn't been a prority. I swear if my daughter napped more than 30 minutes a day I would blog more...maybe. I want you to meet Jalia (pronounced JA-LIE-AH), that's what Ryder has named himself when he's working. He builds houses and cabinets. That's his job! On the way home from work he goes to the gym...just so you know.  He has a ton of different names and personalities he goes by. Quite the imagination.  I'm so blessed to be at home and see my babies develop into little people.

 Mess free painting. Thanks Pinterest!

 Playing with dry beans, pasta and containers. Who knew this would keep them busy for an hour. No fighting even.

 Sharing a snack

 My neighbor gave us a bouncer and the kids love it!

 Our boy has become quite the bowler. He got his first strike this day. He chucks the ball so hard I'm waiting for him to go flyng down the lane with it.

 And sis is his biggest fan!

 Enjoying the winter sunshine!



I realized it looks like my kids are always in pajamas. These picture we taken in the morning before I got my act together. Don't judge, you have days like that too! Right???

Also my spell check isn't working and spelling isn't my strong suit! So cut some slack if there are errors.

He melts me

This little man just melts my heart! He is the sweetest, well mannered, funny and complimentary little guy. I just can't get enough of him and constantly wonder how I got so lucky. Last night after we hung the lights on the house we come inside and Ryder tells me "Mommy your the best, your the best at everything, and I just love you." I seriously wanted to cry. This morning he walks out and sees the Christmas tree half way done (I left the other half so he could help) he yells, "mom did you do this? It looks fantastic! I'm so proud of you mommy!" Please tell me more, I love his little compliments. I often forget he isn't even 3 1/2 yet, he acts so adult like. I forget how young he is until I'm around other kids his age and I hear their vocabulary. I overheard him last night teaching the 3 year old neighbor girl Spanish. Her parents that it was hilarious. He talks and acts like a 6 year old and I just want him to stay little awhile longer. He's constantly schooling and correcting me, sadly he's usually right. This is something I imagine a 13 year old girl doing. As I'm typing this and not paying attention to him he has spoken over 1000 words to me, this kid doesn't ever stop (my ears bleed daily). He's so frustrated I'm not responding to him and he knows how to get my full attention "mommy, I love you more than anything in the whole world, can you please look at my eyes when I talk to you?"  I'm pretty sure our little manipulative debater just may be a lawyer some day. Ryder, you blow our minds daily with your whit, funny character and love of pleasing others. Don't ever change, you are 1 in a billion!



Pink cell phone in his pocket, he's not ashamed!



So what if I use my sister head as an armrest

Teaching his sis how to put her hands up on rides.

Fasting for a 14 month old

So today is Regan's 1st day of fasting. I guess it's not a true fast because she gets jello, water and Popsicles. Sounds filling huh? She's allowed to have chicken broth but refuses to drink it. So last night was her last meal until tomorrow after 2p.m. when she gets out of recovery. So it ends up being 42 hours of no food or formula. Wish us luck tonight getting her to go to bed while starving. My mom is so sweet, she's keeping Ryder tonight until Thanksgiving afternoon. Endoscopy and colonoscopy are tomorrow at 11a.m. I will keep you updated. Please pray for answers, I will loose my mind if everything comes back normal and they don't know why she's had diarrhea for 31 days.

Halloween...finally

Finally a Halloween post. Halloween is my favorite time of year. I think it's because my birthday falls 2 days after so it's always a big week in my book. Another reason I love it so much is because I love everything Fall. The leaves, the cool air, spiced candles, more family time, Ugg boots, scarves, Salted Carmel Lattes, pumpkin beer and food, food, food.

This was the best picture we could do of both kids, and it's not a good one.




Mimi and Grandpa. My mom is not wearing a silly Halloween shirt, she just got off work and they are scrubs.

 

My carve job, with Ryder's help.



Jim Carrey



You think she likes pretzels?

Ryder with one of his teachers at his school party. They performed 3 songs for the parents. It was so cute. I feel so fortunate I'm able to make it to all of his school activities.

Ryder said, "mom, I'm married to you and my daddy too."

Date day with my boy

It was so nice to go to dinner just the two of us redults. (Ryder thinks he's an adult, but calls it redult)

2 goofy guys

Pumpkin muffins my family devoured.



Best pumpkin seeds I've ever had. I cleaned them and let them dry out overnight. I melted 1 tbsp of butter and stirred the seeds into the bowl. I layed them flat on my stone and sprinkled with garlic salt. Baked at 400' for 35 minutes turning them every once in a while. They were devine!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.



Regan, Regan, Regan

Another update about the peanut. So today was day 24 since the diarrhea started and....we had a normal stool this morning. Wahoo, I've never been so happy to share a story about poop! Followed by 2 more normal stools today. What made this diarrhea stop you ask? On Saturday I spoke to my cousins wife who's a dietitian and she recommended I cut all gluten out of Regan's diet. We did and it has obviously made a difference. Ciliac disease which is something the Dr.s will be testing her for has to go with gluten intolerance. Today we FINALLY got the authorization for Regan's endoscopy and colonoscopy. It will be next Wednesday early afternoon. Monday night will be her last meal and then a bottle at bed time. She will have only chicken broth and jello from the time she wakes up Tuesday morning until after her procedure at 2pm on Wednesday. Not quite sure how I will console my 13 month old when she can't have formula or real food for 36 hours, but I have a feeling it's going to be ugly. Forgot to mention I have to give her laxatives every 4 hours all day Tuesday from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed. POOR BABY! Hasn't she suffered enough ass on fire diarrhea?  She will be in the hospital for just part of the day and will be home to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving feast. They informed me I needed to put her back on gluten immediately or the results will be inaccurate. So as of tomorrow I'm sure we will be back to diarrhea for the next week. Good news...they will have all the biopsy results 72 hrs. after her procedure even though it's a holiday weekend. Fortunately the pathologists work around the clock. Soon I will catch up blogging about Halloween and everything else. I spend most of my days bathing my daughter to help soothe her butt after every poop, which is all day or 6 times a day at 20 minutes a bath, but soon we will have a life again... I HOPE!

First steps

Our big girl took her first step last week and 2 steps last night. I will try to get video or pics this week of her on the move.

Test results- blood work results came back this week and her levels for her liver tested high (marginally) and white blood cells tested low(marginally). All this apparently means nothing until we get the rest of her results back. They are just pieces to a puzzle. Waiting SUCKS! Also her electrolytes tested low which is no surprise since she's been pooing her brains out. The good news was her eosinophils tested normal, which if those tested out of range, could mean she had a gastro disorder. It's not ruled out but that is a good sign.  We are on day 18 of diarrhea and Regan's girl parts and butt are covered in sores from 2 1/2 weeks of diarrhea. It's so sad! I was convinced she had a parasite or food borne illness, it would explain all the poop. WRONG! I got her stool results yesterday, totally normal!?! I'm stumped! So now were waiting for our insurance to hurry up (please) and authorize her scope. We shouldn't get the authorization until next week and her procedure will probably be the following week (if were lucky). Since the holidays are coming they said it might take longer. So for now we wait and do what were doing.

Were making progress

*Scroll down to read about Regan's update if you don't care about what I did on my birthday.

Yesterday was my birthday (31 years old) and Regan gave me the best present ever! My non-napper slept for 2 hrs. and 15 min. I was able to do some laundry,clean a little, shower and get ready, play with Ryder, then him and I ate lunch. It was so nice. I forgot how much you can get gone when your child actually naps. We headed off to the mall before Regan's Gastro appointment. The Nordrtrom sale started on my birthday...fate! Unfortunately I found nothing for myself :(  Then we headed to Sephora to use a gift card my uncle gave to me. Got a few things and then with my reward card they knew it was my birthday so at check out they started ringing a bell, all the workers were yelling happy birthday and I was totally embarrassed. The good part is they gave me a bottle of philosophy's vanilla birthday cake bubble bath and shower gel. Smells yummy. Danny and I had a nice dinner once the kids were in bed (6:00 heaven) and had some vino. Since I'm so old now, I was in bed by 9:30.

Enough about me, Regan's Gastro appointment went better than I hoped for. I was afraid I was going to go in there, this crazy mom, demanding immediate answers. Her Doctor (whom we love) understood my frustration completely. He is still convinced she has a true allergy to milk and possibly to soy and corn. He explained there is no way that if it was a stomach problem alone she would break out in a rash and have a constant runny nose when exposed to these foods. I totally agree but on paper she has no allergies. He also explained that allergy testing isn't full proof and is just a guide, nothing will be black and white when it comes to allergies. The problem he explained is they can't test babies until they are 9 months old. It will we inconclusive. We knew this, but what he also said is she is still so young her test may be coming up negative and she actually has an allergy. He said he has so many patients that have "no allergies" per the test but these kids actually have severe reactions to tons of foods. Anyway my biggest concern was the blood originally in her stool and the 10 days of diarrhea.

We both decided the best thing to do was lots and lots of tests to get some answers ASAP!  So he ordered blood work to check he eosinophil levels (which pertain to a few disorders) ans a full blood panel. Ordered stool samples to test for food borne illnesses, parasites and giardia. They are going to do an upper and lower endoscopy, where they will put her under anesthesia and use cameras down her throat and up her rectum to see and biopsy her insides. (I know this is necessary but I'm freaked to put her under) She will be in an outpatient surgery center for a few hours only. Then he switched her formula to the toddler version EleCare Jr. It's for toddlers to 13 years of age, higher calories and less quantity. They think she will be on it for a few years. Last were going to see a nutritionist to help me and her with the foods she can and cant eat. Since shes not testing positive for any allergies all of her food is done by trial and error. Confusing. So the next time we see her doctor, we will have results for everything. The benefit of the scoping is we will know is she has Crones, Gerd, a disorder or any issues going on inside. So that  is great news. She is also able to start eating food again, the things we know she okay with, and we need to reintroduce them slowly. She's going to be really excited this morning when she wakes up and sees food on her highchair! Thanks for all the love and support!

Back to square 1

Regan had her scratch test this morning. I was really nervous for her but she did great. She got 22 scratches and didn't make a peep. The nurse was quite impressed. After they did the test we had to keep her topless for 20 minutes then have the results read. She is allergic to NOTHING! Really? What does this mean, good right? Not really because it doesn't explain anything that happened over the last 13 months. They said it is  something to do with her gut, possibly a gastric intestinal disease. Ummm we will take allergies instead please. So back to the G.I. tomorrw, and I'm pushing for an upper G.I. scope because enough is enough. Regan is 13 months old and everything has been a waiting game, no answers. It's been an up and down roller coaster of her doing great the bad.  I can say though, I feel so thankful that she is so happy under the circumstances. She always has a huge smile on her face, even if  it's chapped and snotty. She is an absolute pleasure and such a sweetie!

Update on poor peanut

Regan is having a tough time again. She has had a rash for 9 days, it was on her body and then after a few days cleared and remained on her face. It got tho the point that it didn't look like a rash, it looked like a chemical burn. It was raspberry red and super tight and hot to the touch. On top of that she has had diarrhea the entire 9 days as well. It full of mucus and looks allergy related. Her poor butt also looks like it's been burned from all the acid filled diarrhea. After 5 days her allergist said to take her off ALL foods and just give her formula. (She's still on her prescription formula and probably will be for a few years) She was freaking out not eating food, she couldn't even see people eat, she would loose her mind. So sad. To add to it she cut a tooth this week then woke up Friday with a green snotty nose. Seriously??? When it rains it pours. Tomorrow she has a scratch test at the allergist's office. From what I understand "I" am going to hold her down while that scratch her back with plastic picks infected with "what we think shes allergic to." They are testing her for what she's obviously allergic to "soy and milk" as well as other high allergens and all enviormental. So I will pin her down while they make approximately 20 scratches on her back. [ I'm shedding a tear] I know it's necessary since her blood work showed nothing but I  feel horrible torturing her. Wish both of us luck tomorrow and for definitive answers!  The Wednesday we go back to the G.I. to see about the constant diarrhea and they are putting her on a toddler prescription formula. I will update.

Regan's Luau...perfect

For Regan's birthday we had a Luau. I was thinking kids first birthday but a good time for the adults. Let's do it at 4:00p.m. PERFECT!!! For Ry's birthday I was so busy I didn't get to enjoy it. So for Regan's I knew she would be in bed by 7p.m. and the adults would stay, the older kids could jump (bouncer) and I could relax, enjoy company and mai tais. It was beautiful tropical weather, hot and cloudy, just lovely. I made pulled pork that I cooked for 18 hours, home made bbq sauce that had jalapeno and fresh ginger in it, macaroni salad and fruit skewers. I did all the cupcakes, cookies, decor and food. I will NEVER do that again with 2 kids because it was so much work, but paid off. Everyone raved about the pulled pork which I served on Hawaiian rolls. That made my night. Regan hated her cake, loved eating sand in the sand table and enjoyed being passed around. I think everyone had a good time (some stayed till 10 p.m.) and it was so nice to have a small, intimate party with close friends and family to celebrate our sweet baby girl.



One of my creations



My friend Mia made these...they were fantastic. She also made some that were smores cake balls. Chocolate with mini marshmallows inside, dipped in chocolate, rolled in graham cracker. YUMMMM

Flip-flop cookies anyone?

One of the tables



Sweets and treats table



Beach cupcakes...a lot of work

Thank you for all your help Mia, I love you! She helped me so much while she had both of her kids with no help while her husband was out of town doing an Ironman. You are such a fantastic friend. xo

LOVE! I love this picture. Too bad it's a little blurry. Beer goggles? After almost 30 years, I think not!

Interesting outfit, 10 p.m. maybe you should go to bed Ryder!

Thank you to everyone who shared in Regan's special day with us! And we missed those of you who couldn't be there! Some of our dearest friends were unable to make it do to vacations and illnesses, we missed you!

Family Pics

We did a photo session recently in San Juan Capistrano's Los Rios Historic District...stunning place! It was a super quick 20 minute session, right up Danny's alley and any longer I'm sure the kids would of lost it. The kids were actually great due to the fact we shot at 5:20pm. We hadn't had dinner, we had an hour car ride and we were 40 minutes early and I wouldn't let the kids play since I didn't want them to get dirty. So they were awesome under the circumstances.
Check out the link from our photographer. http://flickr.com/gp/9706599@N08/U8ozQc/

ENJOY. Let me know what your favorites are.

Happy 1st Birthday Pretty Girl!

Regan  Makenzy,

It's unreal how fast this year has flown by!  All my life I dreamt of having a baby girl. We were so overjoyed to find out we were giving Ryder a little sister. You absolutely complete our family and it's hard to imagine that last year we hadn't even met you yet. I want to freeze time so you can stay my little baby girl for a while longer. Your smile and laugh light up the room and my heart. Your big brown eyes melt everyones heart. You have your daddy wrapped around your little finger and will forever be his little peanut. You now have 2 teeth and your starting to cut you top two. Your on the move and will probably be walking soon. Your favorite things are you brother, Sid, taking baths and the t.v. It doesn't matter if Jeopardy is on, your glued to it. You are a very sweet, happy girl, but your definitely starting to get an attitude. You sleep a great 13 hours at night but you rarely nap. Were lucky to get a hour a day out of you, I'm sure your worried you will miss out on something. Food is also one of your favorite things! You still can't have any dairy and are still on prescription formula. We tried soy milk and you are also allergic to it. So were heading to an allergist next week to see what you can drink. I so look forward to when we can have conversations, get our nails done and shop together. Your daddy and I have such big dreams for you and we are already so proud of you. We love you more than words can say baby girl! Happy 1st Birthday!

FEARLESS!



Smash cake didn't go so well!