2010 was ridiculous!

Here is my quick little recap, there was many reasons for not having a moment to blog.

February...

Twins stayed three days in the hospital with RSV

March...

I turned 30!

And...Jared had to have emergency appendix removal in the middle of the night after coming home from work and finding him green with pain and taking him straight to the ER!

April...

Josh scared us to death by going into anaphylactic shock! Read details of that nightmare here 

  

We went to an allergy specialist that did numerous tests, but nothing showed a severe reaction that could cause anaphylaxis.  He said that this had to be a "fluke" kind of a thing and should never happen again.  

Joshua was so brave threw all the skin tests.  He is such a good sport!

May...

William woke up in the morning screaming in pain.  His face was swollen and he had lumps below his ears the size of golf balls!  Took him to the ER (it was a weekend of course) and it took 6 nurses to pin him down to get an IV in him to do a CAT scan.  Found a horrible infection and treated him with antibiotics and was back to him self in about four days. 

June...

 I was saying goodbye to Josh has he headed off for school, when I came back into the house Gracey was screaming. I went into my room where the twins were watching morning cartoons and Gracey was standing next to the chest in front of my bed with her fore arm obviously "bowed" dangling at her side.  I had a freak out moment and raced her to the ER (again)  The bone was bent and they had to sedate her and bend it back into place and then cast it for 6 weeks.  

 While in the ER my neighbor, who was watching Gabe for me called in and said that Gabe had fallen into a coffee table and may need stitches, but she couldn't quite tell because of all the bleeding....WHAT??!!  My sister in-law went and checked on him and said there were no stitches needed (not that it mattered, I already had the room)

 Horrible, horrible day...but it made for some adorable pictures over the next few weeks;-)

 Gracey trying to drink the milk our of her cereal bowl

 Bath time

July...huh...it's kind of a blurrr....

August...

Josh turned 8 and was baptized by his dad as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a beautiful wonderful day.  We are so proud of him.

 The twins turned 2!!!

 Gabe kept blowing out his fingers instead of the candles because the candles were too hot he said;-)

 September...

Josh went into anaphylactic shock AGAIN!!!  This time I was not taking it was just a "fluke" as an answer!

Three allergy specialists, 2 skin scratch tests, one blood draw and 48 small pokes later... we have learned nothing!  Nothing conclusive anyways.  He is negative to all food allergies and off the chart to hay fever allergies (grass, mold, weeds, trees, animals etc)  They don't think any one particular thing is causing his severe reaction, but a combination of...everything.  We are giving him weekly shots to help build hopefully an immunity with daily allergy medication and we never go anywhere without an Epi pen for emergencies. 

October...

 William turned 5!

Halloween

November....

William woke up with the same exact infection and swelling!  Went to a ENT specialist and did ANOTHER CAT scan and an x-ray.  We learned that his tonsils seemed fine but his adenoids were huge (which would explain the insane snoring)  Gave him antibiotics to treat the infection and scheduled surgery to have them removed.

December....

William had his tonsils and adenoids removed and it was so so miserable for him!  He was in so much pain for about two weeks I did nothing but cater to him.  It was a miserable long process for all of us!  It was worth it though-no more infections, snoring or sleep apnea!

Needless to say 2010 did a number to my nerves and all the trips to the ER has done a number to our bank account.  It was so hard to have so many things out of my control and to see all my kids suffer in one unexpected way after another.  The out pouring of love and help for others was overwhelming and I will forever be grateful for family and friends that were willing to help in every way that they could at a moments notice.

Happy Easter!

I have so many great pictures and moments that I really do need to be writing down and I can't print up facebook posts so I need to be a much better blogger! It would be impossible to catch up over the last year so I'll just share some of the last month or so and some favorite pictures to get me started.

 

Danielle and Jeff joined us for Easter Dinner...I will forever put them in charge of dessert!

 The Easter Bunny got a job at Gymboree;-)

We spent a day out in Wyoming with cousins..and second cousins...and cousins twice removed (something like that)  The men installed Blanche's over due sprinkler system while the rest of us did an Easter Egg hunt with the kids.

I'd like to say it was a quiet calm Easter weekend, but that doesn't exsist in our little world.  After spending Saturday in Wyoming Jared got really sick and wasn't able to move for a good 24 hours.  This made Sunday a little stressful for the Easter Bunny;-)  Did the baskets and egg hunt with the kids and then fed them a breakfast of chocolate eggs, Peeps then everyone showered and of church by myself.  I had to sing twice in Church which was a treat, I enjoy singing on Easter Sunday,  but this made it so there was no skipping because Jared was down and out and really too miserable to leave the twins with him.  I had plenty of extra hands at church willing to help out so it all worked out in the end.  We then had good friends Danielle and Jeff over for Turkey dinner and then my parents drove out in the evening to spoil the kids even more.  

It seems like there has been one holiday after another lately....

Valentine's Day

Gabe was trying to figure out how to get both of the suckers

Sugar Cookies

Make your own heart shaped pizza's

St. Patrick's Day

Green French Toast with Green Milk

Green Pesto Pasta, Green Jello and Green Milk and Garlic Bread

(The poor kids pooped green for a week)

And of course, Christmas!

Caught Santa in the act!  Kids were thrilled!

We thought this would entertain Josh for weeks...it put it all together in a day.

He is thrilled, I promise.  Just not much of a morning person no matter what morning it is;-)

"Whoo Hoo!!"

Our little Diva...

...with the coolest tricycle ever!

I'm Holidayed out!

 

 

Little Miracles

Last Thursday I experienced one of the scariest moments of my life when my sweet 7 year old, Joshua, unexpectedly went into anaphylactic shock (a severe allergic reaction) and was transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment.

It all happened so fast. I was on my way to help my friend Cyndi because she had just arrived home from vacation to find her home completely flooded with water. As I pulled into her driveway, Joshua started complaining about his stomach hurting. I told him to go stand outside by the grass just in case he throw up and that I would be there in a minute cause I needed to unload the twins. In a just a few short minutes he was crying saying that his stomach hurt and that he was itchy. He had small hives around is underwear lines, stomach and thighs. I took him inside to give him some cream to help the itching. We walked into the house and he threw up several times on the kitchen floor then ran to the bathroom with diarrhea. I left him alone for a few minutes while cleaning up the kitchen floor and getting the babies out of the pools of water throughout the house. We I got to the bathroom he was crying and desperately scratching everywhere. I had him lean forward so that I could rub some antihistamine cream on his backside that was now completely covered in small hives. When he sat back up his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. Panic set in as I called for Cyndi and helped him off the toilet. He took two steps out of the bathroom and collapsed to the floor. Cyndi called 911 as I rocked him in my arms and told him over and over to keep his eyes open and stay awake. I felt so helpless. He was able to open his eyes every time I told him to, but it was so hard for him. By know his skin was a pale green and his lips were blue. All that I just described to you happened in about 10-15 minutes. The ambulance got stopped at a rail road crossing and it seems liked forever for them to arrive. I ran Josh out to the ambulance in my arms and handed him to the paramedics. They wasted no time in getting him hooked up to IV's, oxygen and to whatever that machine is called that shocks their heart if necessary. Jared pulled up behind them.

In the ambulance Josh still struggled to stay wake, but was able to answer all the doctors questions, which we were all encouraged by. His blood pressure had bottomed out and they could barely get a ready. He then went from a pale green to beat red from head to toe and was very puffy and swollen looking, but was more alert.

At the ER they gave him several allergy meds through is IV and the redness started to fade. My parents (who I had called from the ambulance) arrived and Jared and my Dad gave him a blessing and by the time they admitted him to his own room for 24 observation he almost seemed back to himself.

We still don't know what caused the reaction or what he is allergic to. In the car on the way to Cyndi's he had eaten a gummy Easter candy that would have had GELATIN in it. He also got hives last November after receive the H1N1 vaccine, which also has GELATIN in it. So until we can see an allergy specialist (in about two weeks) we are staying away from anything that may have GELATIN in it. I have an Epi pen that I take everywhere and have put the school on high alert.

I am emotional writing about the experience. There is nothing more horrifying then seeing your child in such a desperate situation and feeling so helpless to save him. I believe I was surrounded by little miracles that day.

If this had happened at my house I would have been by myself with four kids (none of my neighbors were home and Jared was still 45 minutes away)

My phone was dead or dying and it would not have lasted a call with 911(I was going to charge it in the car on the way to Cyndi's house)

My parents were home and able to come right away.

Cyndi's neighbors came running when the saw the ambulance and fire trucks at her home. They all stayed and helped clear out her flooded basement and their young women came over to help watch my kids.

Josh is alive.

In the last 8 weeks we have had 4 of us in the hospital for overnight stays. I am so grateful for our friends and family who drop everything they are doing to come and help and support us. Today I feel extremely fortunate and blessed. Thank you for you prayers in our behalf as well.