Abby's Favorite Song!

Abby has a favorite song, You are Loved (Don't Give Up) by Josh Groban. Obviously she takes after her mother. Whenever we are in the car and she is upset as long as that song is on she will be quite and just sit and listen to it. Tonight we went out to dinner and it was past her bed time so she was quite a grump, we put her in her car seat screaming and as we started driving I said to Stu, Turn on disc 5 track 2 it is her favorite song." I think Stu was sceptical until the song started and Abby abruptly stopped screaming and just listened, didn't even need her binky. When the song was over she made a little squeak like "Again" and started playing with her toys. Stu just let the next song start and she started to get upset again, he turned it back to You are Loved and she quited down and just listened. The rest of the way home we repeated the song just to keep her happy. I didn't mind because it is one of my favorite songs, but poor Stu. Finally I have a reason to post a picture of Josh Groban on our blog.

Our trip to the allergist...

The moment you have all been waiting for...
Abby is allergic to Cow's milk.

It stinks I know. NO cheese, NO Ice cream, soy or rice milk here we come. Good thing I enjoy nursing, I will continue to do that. She can have milk or cheese if it has been cooked into something. We also have to check labels and make sure there is not whey in the foods. We had her blood drawn too and the Dr. called us and said that looking at her blood sample she will most likely grow out of it by age 5 but even more likely age 2 or 3. Thank goodness! They will continue to check her yearly to see when she finally grows out of it.

They tested her for all kinds of things, a whole bunch of fruits, cat, dog, mold, fish, soy. Number 2 is Cow's milk. It was the only thing she is allergic to.
Waiting for the results.

9 month check up

Abby had her nine month check up today!

29.2 inches tall (100 percentile)

20 lbs 9 oz (85 percentile) Moving down!

50 percentile for her head as usual. Dr. Cramer said, "It's textbook."

No shots this time hooray, but we did have to talk to Dr. Cramer about her allergic reaction and what it might be and about her poor ears. He checked them and she has another double ear infection. It is just constant. He wouldn't put her on another antibiotic because the last antibiotic didn't seem to clear it up and we don't know if she is allergic to Penicillin. Poor thing! Tylenol here we come. We also had to talk to the doctor about the eczema all over her tummy and back and thighs. He gave us a recipe that will hopefully clear it up. He gave us some names of some allergists and told us to go see an ENT and get some tubes put in her ears. With all this going on she sure is happy! I would never know she had an ear infection other than she usually sleeps through the night and she has had a couple of rough nights and she hadn't wanted her binky or to nurse much. She is such a trooper. Dr. Cramer said she she is doing great and that she is so curious about everything. Before we left he gave her a Curious George boardbook. We love Dr. Cramer!

Abby likes her new board book! Thanks Dr. Cramer!

Family Vacation to California

The last week of March first week of April my family all met up in Anaheim, California. We spent three days in Disneyland and one day at Knott's Berry Farm. It was cold, except for the first day. I was going to California to get out of cold Utah, but we still wore our pants and sweatshirts. Stu and I made it on the plane after our long night before in the ER. We flew into long beach and my parents picked us up. The first night we stayed at the Knott's Berry Hotel. I picked it out because with the night stay you got tickets to the park. Well, It was a decent hotel, but I had a bad experience with the front desk person and there were a lot of collage age kids staying there and they were really loud. While we were trying to sleep they kept going in and out of their rooms letting the doors slam shut. I heard security come up at one point. Also we were right by the elevators so all night long I heard "ding", "ding." We had a beautiful view from our room, will post a picture, and last but not leased my sister's sink would fill up with water from someone elses room then drain and fill up again. Knott's Berry Farm was a blast though. I have never been there before other than to eat at the Chicken dinner restaurant. It was nice because the lines were much shorter than Disneyland. I am not a roller coaster fan (they make me sick)but there was this roller coaster called the Jaguar (a really good kids roller coaster) that had no lines we just kept walking on that one. The next three nights we stayed and the Anaheim Marriott. Definitely a lot nicer. We lucked out with the handicapped room so it was huge. Everyone was jealous. One morning on our way out the door to Disneyland the concierge gave Abby a red balloon. I think she would have been just happy playing with that all day long. It was pretty cute. I love Disneyland, but it was busy! Abby loves it too. There was so much going on. No time for naps, maybe a 20-30 minute nap in the stroller. Stroller passes at Disneyland are the best. You an even use them when you have a fastpass. Abby went on all the ride she could go on. One morning we got there right wen the park opened and took Abby on all the Fantasyland rides when there were no lines. Also a great time to collect stroller passes for the day. A funny story about Abby, the whole family was waiting in line for the Storybook Land ride and my mom was holding Abby. She had a little cold and she started blowing snot bubbles out her nose and all her cousins were laughing and pointing. She thought it was great just a smiling loving all the attention. Little did she know they were laughing at her not with her. That's out little "Dumbo experience." I hurried and wiped her nose poor thing. It was pretty funny! We ate at all our favorite restaurants in Disneyland and found a few new favorites. There is a little restaurant on Main street called the Carnation Cafe and we have to eat breakfast there every time we go. It's so yummy! I can't wait to take Abby back when she knows what is going on and is excited to go. The last day before we checked out Abby crashed so Stu and I went down to the pool for a bit then my parents did a little Easter egg hunt for the the grandkids out on a little patch off lawn at the hotel. The kids seemed to enjoy it. We enjoyed it too. Especially because the eggs had money AND candy. If we would have know that we would have help Abby pick up more eggs. HE HE! We had a great time (it was of course a family vacation so there had to be a little drama)! It was fun to have all the cousins together, I just wish we would have had more time just to chill together at the hotel.Abby got her own seat on the airplane.

Our beautiful view at the Knott's Berry Farm Hotel!
Dad that's my hat!
Stu and I on the Pony Express Roller coaster at Knott's.
Stu, Jeffrey, Gregory and Michael on one of the roller coasters at Knott's.
Abby loved her new Snoopy Dog she got at Knott's.
The best part of the whole trip according to Abby. Her Red balloon!
Abby and I on Main Street in Disneyland.
The crew on Storybook Land.
I just love this face.
I can drive this myself.
Our Family on the Buzz Lightyear ride.
Abby and Daddy in California Adventure.
Abby and Mommy on the Carousel in California Adventure.
Abby loved coming back to the hotel and just rolling around on the bed.
Abby after the Easter egg hunt!
Our first rental car!
The Whole Family!

Grandma LaDonna

Stuart Grandma LaDonna passed away today. She was a wonderful woman and grandma. We will miss her much, but we know she is in a better place now.

What a day!

(After the Epinephrine shot, her face still looks a little puffy)

(In real life the hives looked so much worse than they do in this picture)

Sunday March 28th was quite the day. This is how it played out... We didn't make it to our church because Abby was sick, I was not feeling well either and Abby decided to take a nap right during our church. Oh ya... And we woke up to a flooded storage room because the water heater was leaking. We made it to a later Sacrament meeting and right after that we ran over to a family friends home, the Meads, to have Garner, who is an ENT, look at Abby's ears to see if she had an ear infection. Of course, she had a double ear infection once again. He gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and told us to feed her a little yogurt along with it. So, we headed off the Rite Aid (the pharmacy that knows us way to well), and got the antibiotic. I figured while I was there I might as well pick up some yogurt... they didn't have any. So we stopped at Albertson's and picked some up. We got home gave Abby the antibiotic and fed her some Strawberry yogurt, which she loved. After she was finish I wiped her runny nose and she just started screaming. We figured it was because she hates having her nose wiped and because her nose was sore from being wiped so much. Mind you we are leaving for a family trip to California the next morning, so I sent Stu to the store to get some Boogie Wipes so that it wouldn't hurt so much when we wiped she nose that was a freakin' faucet. While Stu was gone Abby started sneezing and those of you that have children that have been sick you know what happens when a baby sneezes... Snot comes flying out. I couldn't wipe her nose fast enough, she just kept sneezing and sneezing and screaming, and sneezing. There was nothing I could do to calm her. When Stu got back I was outside trying to bounce her and he took one look at her and said her face is all red. I looked at her and it looked like she was having an allergic reaction. Then I checked her back to see if by any chance she had hives and her back was covered in hives. We jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. While we were on our way her face just continued to get redder and puffier. Her lips swelled and her breathing sounded labored. We arrived at IMC's ER and they took her right back to a room, hooked her up to monitor her and gave her a shot of Epinephrine. After the Epi shot her facial swelling and reddness fadded slightly. Then the tried to start and IV on her. I phlebotomist tried a couple times, I think the nurse tried, then they called Airmed to come and try. No luck, no one could get an IV in her because she is so chubby. Abby did enjoy the Airmed dude though. There she is on the huge stretcher in her diaper and onsies half off flirting with the Airmed guy. She was lying on her back doing this can, can motion with her leg and she smiling and staring at him. It was hilarious. Everyone in the room was just laughing. We all needed a laugh at that moment. They never did get an IV in her and the Epinephrine was starting to wear off so the doctor decided to give her the Benadryl and steroid orally. Abby liked the Benadryl, but not so much the steroid. Aunt Emily came to see her and to comfort her scared Mommy and Daddy. Abby loved seeing Aunt Emmy and all the toys she had in her purse. Especially the talking chipmunks (that you can see in the picture). After about ten minutes Abby totally threw up. So we had to try the drugs again. This time thank goodness she kept them down because her hives had gotten a lot worse. They kept us there for a few more hours just to monitor her. By the time we left, about 9:00 pm the hives were still awful but better and she was out cold. They told us to give her a Benadryl every six hours, so on the way home we stopped at Rite Aid and picked up another antibiotic (just in case it was the penicillin she was allergic to), an Epipen, and more steroid, just in case she happened to have another allergic reaction on the plane the next day, and some Benadryl. We got home put her to bed and STARTED packing. Right when we thought the day couldn't get much worse I went to make a phone call and I couldn't find my cell phone (that I just got for Christmas). I check everywhere. I called the ER because the only place I could think of that I might of left it was there on the stretcher. They couldn't find it. Stu left me at home to pack and he went and retraced my steps... no luck. I called IMC's lost and found and they said they would look for it, but they never found it. Stu and I were still packing when we gave Abby her 1:00 am dose of Benadryl. She looked awful. She was really pale and her eyes were dark grayish, purple. We were really worried about her so Stu set his alarm to get up and check on her a few hours later. Then Abby woke up about 7:45 and we finished getting ready to leave, Right as we were going to walk out the door on our way to the airport Abby throws up down the front of her. We were already running a little behind, so I grabbed a shirt Abby had never worn before put it on and ran out the door. Well, the shirt was a belly shirt on her. Oh well! We made it to the plane on time. This story does have a happy ending. My Dad has worked for IHC for I don't know how long and he happens to know the man over linen services. He gave him a call and asked him to look out for my phone just in case it comes in the linens from IMC. My dad got a call a few days later while we were all in California and they found my phone. YAHOO! Abby is doing great! We still don't know if she is allergic to Strawberries or Penicillin.

Abby's First Easter Egg Hunt

Today my sister's neighborhood had there annual Easter Egg hunt. Since we have a kiddo now we decided to take Abby to her first Easter Egg hunt. Of course she didn't understand what was going on, but she did enjoy picking up the eggs and eating them. It was more exciting for us parents than for her, I was excited for her to use her cute new PB Kids Easter basket. She does love playing with the eggs. She even got a hold of one of the Reese's Peanut Butter cup and smashed it until she got the wrapper open. After all that work we had to let her finish it. She loved it! After the hunt our little family, my sister Emily and her family, and my parents all went and had a burger at Smash burger.