Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Brian Turned Twenty-Something

Last Sunday was Brian's birthday. I hope he had a nice day. My Corvallis family members were all able to stop by for dessert and presents, so that was pretty cool. Brian received from the boys a box of Lego's (which I swear since I've known him Brian has frequently talked about how much he wanted Lego's to play with his kids), and from me an electric skillet, and some kitchen utensils including a nicer-type chef's knife. It was sort of last minute because his birthday gift had originally been the dog, so I didn't have enough time to get some sort of stinkin' awesome gift. However, I think he likes the kitchen/cooking stuff... the only night he had off this week is tomorrow, and he's already volunteered to make dinner.







Brian, you are the most wonderful man--far surpassing my growing-up fantasies of my future husband. You are such a great husband and father. I feel so blessed to have you as my example and forever sweetheart. I love you SO much! Happy Birthday.

O.k. I admit, I didn't go to a whole lot of effort to find the *perfect* photos. These are the ones that happen to be near the computer, and I scanned them in.

Baby Brian, 2 days old

Taken as a practice by a fellow trainee at Bell Photographers, summer 2003

Brian on mission

Fall 2003, holding neice

Friday, September 4, 2009

Catching Up

I wrote a nice long post, then decided it was more appropriate for my musings blog. Anyway, just checking in 'cause it's been a while. I have been SOOO busy, but I can't say for sure with what because I have no idea. All I know is I hardly catch a break and still have a million things on my "to do" list.

Asher finally got some tests done at the Allergist's. According to the scratch test he is allergic to: Dogs, cats, peanuts, and cashews. He is NOT allergic to: milk (hmmm. That shakes things up a bit), almonds, wheat or eggs. Also, the allergist said that he would not have been allergic to the amoxicillin because you can't be allergic to it the first time you have it (which it was).

The likely cause of his continual eczema is the peanuts/peanutbutter. Because the reaction is mild, we are supposed to CONTINUE feeding him peanutbutter. Apparently, if we stop and then reintroduce it later, it could be really dangerous. The reaction that led to the hospital visit last month was likely from the cashews, and progressed that evening, rather than being affected by the amoxicillin as mentioned. So, we're supposed to avoid tree nuts with him, EVEN THOUGH he did not react to almonds which are a tree nut.

When I asked about his eczema that appeared in his first weeks of life and cleared up substantially after switching to soy formula, it was explained to me that many kids are allergic to dairy for the first year or two and then outgrow it. That is what the allergist suspects in Asher's case.

I also asked about the possibility of hypoallergenic breeds of dogs (for maybe down the road), but the allergist just shook is head. Due to the severity of Asher's reaction for his age, it would not be a good idea to have any dog in the home. He did say that maybe, maybe several years from now we could try a little dog like a chiwawa and bathe it twice a week or so. He could outgrow it to an extent, but we should not try anything for a while at least.

So, that's Asher. Oh, and he's allergic to camping. Or the redwoods or something. About 18 hours into our family camping trip Asher developed asthma that lasted until the car ride home. It was kinda scary. (*he wasn't dying or anything, just had weezy/strained breathing). I'll explain more in a later post, but basically I learned that I must keep our nebulizer and albuterol handy on trips now, and Brian and I are wondering if camping is now out the question for us. I've told Asher I'm trying really hard to keep him alive. I'll give it my best for the first 19 years, then it's the Lord's problem, and eventually his wife's.