Boycott Peanuts--They are harmful

I hardly ever eat peanut butter, the smell usually makes me gag. Michael loves peanut butter. Before Remington was born I told several folks that Remington was never to eat peanut butter. It wasn't because I thought he would be allergic. Really it was a selfish request because I didn't like the smell of it and didn't want my child requesting a food that I didn't want to prepare for him.





On Thursday at daycare Remington went into the older kid class to play and ended up being given a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He really didn't eat alot of it (according to the daycare workers), but afterwards they put him down for a nap. This was all around 11 am. A little while later they walked over to check on him and noticed that he had thrown up in his sleep, so they woke him up and started to clean him up. While cleaning him they noticed that he had hives all over his body. So they gave me a call at work to see if they could give him some benadryl and I said yes and they were like well you may want to come get him. This was around 1:30 pm. There wasn't really any alarm in their voice, they just made it seem like he may have a slight peanut allergy and I need to go pick him up. So I left work and when I got there my child's whole body was covered in what looked like reddish/purple birthmarks and huge white bumps. At that time they told me that his tounge was swollen, so i immediatly took him to his pediatrician's office. On the way to the office, Remington really wasn't responding and looked like he was having a hard time breathing.





At the doctor's office they checked his vitals and made sure that his airways were opening back up and gave him another dose of benadryl. So after about an hour we left with a prescription for an EpiPen to use if he ever had a similar reaction again. I got about 3 blocks away from the doctor's office and Remington started violently throwing up again. Puke was flying everywhere and my poor little babies eyes were rolling back in his head, I seriously thought he was dying. So I got on the phone with the doctors office and asked if I should bring him back or take him to the emergency room and they said to come back to their office (the hospital and their offices are at the same location so not too big of a difference). We got him back in the office and he was in bad shape, having another reaction to the peanut butter that he was given more than 4 hours before. This time around they ended up giving him a steroid shot and a shot of benadryl and they rechecked his vital and his heartbeat was extremly high and his oxygen was extremly low. And the spots on his body were turning from white bumps into his whole body being one large red raised rash. The doctor was really concerned about him so they had me sit in observation for about another hour while they made the decision to admit him to the hospital or not. My doctor was leaning towards the hospital admission, but she consulted with another doctor and they decided to observe us for a longer period of time and then make the decision. So about 7 o'clock they rechecked his vitals and his heartbeat and gotten back to normal and his oxygen level was normal too. His hives had reduced substantially and so they decided that we could go home with him as long as we went and got the EpiPen prescription filled immediatly.





Long story short, Remington is recovering from his allergic reaction to peanut butter. We have to keep a watch on him for the next 24 hours because a reaction can occur again even if he isn't exposed again within this time frame. We got our EpiPen prescription, $153 for this medication. Good thing we have insurance and only had to pay $20. Michael and I have both recieved training on how to use the EpiPen and we have to carry it around with us at all times. In about 1 week Remington is going to an allergist to be tested for additional allergies at at time we will find out more about preventing future outbreaks.





However, from now on you better not bring peanuts or peanut butter around out baby. The doctors even think he is probably allergic to eggs and shellfish. And yes, we will be having a talk with the daycare that fed him a lunch that he wasn't suppose to have yet because of the age group he is in. I am not angry at them. I just would have rather things been handled a little bit faster and differently. Remington was literally chocking because of the swelling of his tounge and they waited 2 1/2 hours to call me after he was first exposed and then instead of the daycare taking him to the emergency room or calling 911 they waited for me to get there and didn't tell me how serious it was until I got there. They should have taken him immediatly to the emergency room, he could have died. Peanut allergies are very dangerous. Michael and I are just thankful that we were able to get him better.

Good Ole Days

Michael and I spent this past weekend with some of my friends from the good ole college days. Emily Rusch came in town w/ her son Jack for Vanessa and Kevin's wedding and then Amanda and Allan came up from Grand Junction for the wedding as well. It was a crazy action packed 4 days filled with flowers, dresses and dancing. Vanessa and Kevin were married in the SLC Temple on the 25th and so much for a spring wedding--it started raining right before she came out of the temple and it was so cold. But she was beautiful and so was her dress--it was made by a spanish designer and they had to alter the dress especially for her so it would be modest. It perfectly fit her heritage and her gorgeous body--my goodness I am starting to think that none of my friends eat because they all have gorgeous bodies.

Even though the weather was less than fabulous--the whole weekend of festivites was amazing. It started with leaving early from work on Thursday to pick up the Rusch's at the airport. It is always a fun day when you get two kids and their mothers in a car together. We then went to Olive Garden to see our other friend Jamie. She is so stinkin cute and pregnant. While at the Olive Garden our children both decided that they needed to get on the table and throw food everywhere. Normally when Remy gets like this in public I start yelling at Michael that we need to leave, but I seriously couldn't resist letting the two future college roomies make a mess. So after about an hour of destroying the restaurant we decided that we had ruined enough and left. I can't wait for Remy and Jack to be roomies in college--I am already waiting for the police report that says they vandalized the eating area in the Wilkinson Center.

On Friday it was all about the bride-to-be, we went down to Provo and loaded my car with flowers, flowers and more flowers. And of course we had to stop by the Wilkinson Center and get a lettuce wrap, fond memories of our BYU days. Then Vanessa trusted us to go get her diamond ring cleaned. Her diamond is seriously the size of a small country in Africa.

We were so excited to get 10 minutes alone with that ring--you could seriously sit there and stare at it for hours. Which is basically what Emily and I did. Later that evening we had the rehersal dinner at Lugano's where Vaness'a brother did magic tricks. he seriously pulled a dollar bill out of a lemon. I am still trying to figure out how he did that.

Saturday, the day of the wedding we got ready to go and drove downtown only for me to realize that Remy had taken my temple recommend out of my wallet. The wedding was about 45 minutes from starting, so I called my bishopric and begged them to call the temple. Which they did, but I now have to give a talk in church. Lucky me! Below are a few picture of the reception that was held at Memorial House in Memory Grove

The reception was so much fun. I have never been to such a fancy party! They had a cocktail hour with fake cocktail that had edible orchids as decoration. I am not a fan of eating flowers, so I passed. To see professional photos of the magical day, visit http://www.dezemberphotoblog.com/dezemberphotoblog/Dezember_Photo_Blog/Entries/2009/4/28_KEvin_%26_Vanessa_-_Wedding_slideshow.html

There is a robber in our midst

When Remington and I returned home last night I got this weird feeling that something wasn't right. We got in the house and everything seemed normal, but I kept having this weird feeling and kept hearing a noise that sounded like our blinds moving. But it was like 30 degrees yesterday so obviously we hadn't left a window open to make the blinds move. With cell phone in hand and 911 dialed on my phone (I just needed to press send) I got up the nerve to walk into the bedroom where I heard the noise. As i turned the corner a huge bird comes flying towards me (i.e. robber). We have no clue how the bird got into our bedroom all of our windows had been closed and we had been gone all day. After realizing that their wasn't a robber, but a spastic bird in my bedroom/bathroom I had to figure out how to get it out of the house.

I would expect that many of you know me well enough to know that I am not an animal person. I didn't grow up with animals and I have no affection for them. I don't want to hurt them, but cuddling up to an animal is not on my to-do list. The bird was so stinkin spastic it kept flying into my bathroom mirror and then flying back into the bathroom window (which was stuck and I couldn't get opened). So I called Michael and he thought it was hilarious, but told me I could call animal control and maybe they would come and get the bird. So I called but their office was closed and i didn't feel that a bird waranted calling the emergency number.

After a few minutes of manuvering around the bird in the bathroom I was able to coax it out the window. During the whole process Remington stood in my bathroom doorway laughing and pointing at the bird. he thought the bird was fabulous and loved having it fly spastically around the room. Looking back on it--Remington was having a blast watching his mommy make funny bird noises while I shooed the bird out. He kept pointing and saying a word that sound similar to bird.

With the bird out of the house it was now time to clean. I am a neat freak, I can't stand a mess and I especially can't stand knowing that an animal had free range to my entire house. I didn't want to start cleaning until Michael got home so he could keep Remington occupied, so i tried to pass time by cooking dinner. As soon as Michael was home I was on the phone with my mom trying to figure ou the best possible way to clean up after a bird. In my mind birds are dirty (yes I am a little OCD about cleaning). After about an hour of deep cleaning the bathroom, I moved onto my bedroom and Remington's pack-in-play that sits in the corner of our room. There was a bird feather on his blankets, so I picked it up to move to the laundry when I realized that there was a robin's egg nestled in his blankets. The darn bird gave birth to an egg in my child's crib!

We're Safe!

Yesterday my company laid off more than 50 of its employees as part of its "reduction in force" initative. Blah Blah Blah.... Needless to say it was very stressful--regardless of the fact that Michael and I had come up with another game plan for my career if I were to be let go. Even though I knew this day was coming I sat in a state of shock as one by one I watched folks that I have worked with for 2 1/2 years be tapped on the shoulder and asked to go speak with HR. By the time 10:30 rolled around I was told that my job is safe. My manager wasn't as lucky (a single mom with 2 kids and a loser of an ex-husband). Her daughter probably around age 11 had cancer last year and her son who is in high school is autistic. Knowing that she would be without a job was gut wrenching and really hard for me to swallow--I completely understand the decision, but it was still hard to realize. And there are many more stories--people that I dearly enjoyed working with. I will especially miss working with Linda--a lovely lady with the heart of gold. She was my little TV star and always did local mid-morning tv apperances for the company. She was fabulous and will be greatly missed and never replaced.

On a Happy Note!

I almost forgot, which is rare since I have an exceptional memory! Remington is venturing into the world of walking. This past weekend he took about 50-75 steps total, which was awesome. He is so cute!

In like a lion... Hopefully out like a lamb...

Wow the saying Spring comes in like a lion and out like a lamb has never had more signifigance in my life until this year. The month of March has been one heck of a month and can I tell you the lion is roaring at me it seems like.

The month started off with Remington's 1st birthday (see pictures and post below) it was a wonderful occassion, but unfortunatly very sad for me because my mother didn't get to attend due to issue at home. Exactly a week after Remington's birthday his Aunt Jill passed away from cancer. We had found out exactly two weeks prior that the doctors had given up hope that the treatments would work, thus my mom not coming out for the party. Two days after she passed away, Remington and I headed back East to be with family and help out with David (Jill's 1 1/2 yr. old son). During the trip Remington came down with an ear infection and so did David, David's was worse he also had a ruptured ear drum on top of the infection. And I came down with a sinus infection. Oh the joys of motherhood! After a week in North Carolina I came back to Utah and went back to work only to find out that the company announced that layoffs will occur by mid-April. Still no word on if I will be one of them.

Needless to say the month of March has been one heck of a month, it seems like there has been one bad thing after another. And I don't mention this for you to feel sorry for us--I mention this because I know alot of other people are having just as terrible of a time. This is why I pray that the rest of spring is a little more mellow and hopefully not as stressful!

I will post photos of NC once I get them from Dustin, he has an awesome camera and of course I had to play with it while I was there. But on the otherhand it was way to advanced for me to figure out how to get the images off of it! :)

Swinging Into Toddlerville! Remington's 1st Birthday...

A year ago yesterday our little monkey made his grand apperance. It is hard to believe that a year has gone by already. Just for memory sake and the fact that this blog is going to one day become a journal for Remington, I thought I would recount some of the exciting, heartbreaking, stressful, glorious, suspenseful moments that have occured in his life this past year.

1. Remington you are super good at packing up your bottles and stuffed animals. In your first year of life you have had 5 different homes. That's right you move 5 times in 365 days and let me tell you it wasn't that fun but we did it and now it is something funny to look back on.

2. You stayed in your first hotel room when you were less than a week old, good ole' Boise!

3. You could hold your bottle when you were 3 months old, Mr. Independent!

4. Your favorite TV show is Wonder Pets, you watch it every morning after your bath.

5. You will poop all the way up your back just so you can take a bath. The excitement in your eyes when you know you have accomplished this disqusting task is priceless. I hope one day you realize that you can just keep the poop in your diaper and bath time will still happen at least once a day as planned.

6. Mr. Blue Eyes should be your nickname because you have amazing blue eyes just like your daddy. I thought they would end up turning brown, but NOPE--daddy won!

7. In the last few months you have started to sing, anytime we are in the car or you are playing by yourself you start to hum and it is adorable. But just like your mom you get shy when you realize someone is watching.

8. One day you may end up being a model. From day one you have loved to get your picture taken and of course you have to look at every shot to make sure you like it. You will fuss until we turn it for you to see. Good thing we have digital cameras, I do not know what we would do it everything was still done on film.

9. I know every mother and father thinks their kid is a genius. But Remington you truly are a smart little one, I hope you never loose your thirst for knowledge and your inquisitive nature. Even though most books say kids will start picking up sign language shortly after their first birthday--you have been kicking our trash with these skills since about 10 months. Bottles and more those are your favorites.

10. You will not sit still in church for a million dollars. Church is like a three ring circus these days with your daddy and I worn out by the end. I need to invest in flats for church because heels and a 30 pound kid do not work very well together.

11. By your 1st birthday you had two bottom and two top teeth and they are sharper than a razor. It is fun for you to bite daddy's butt as he lays on he stomach. Gross...

As you look through the photos you will notice my mom isn't in any of them. Unfortunatly she didn't get to come. We had planned for her to be with us, but my sister-in-law Jill (Kent's wife-oldest bro) is very sick and it just wasn't a good time to leave home and travel 3000 miles. But my mom was with us in spirit.

Marmelade and Remington along w/ his new monkey.

Grandpa Erb and Remington (This is Emilee Erb's dad and Remy's adopted grandpa)

Remington and Grayson(Stephanie's son) checking out the new Tonka truck given to Remington by the Erb's.

Jaw dropping gorgeous Zoey (step-sister Brandi's daughter)

Michael, Remington and Kenneth (my father)

My best friend in the whole wide world--Aunt Charlie (Emilee Erb) and Grayson

Cowboy Remington and his horse.

Sugar and messes--my favorite!


I will post more pictures when I have time.