Monday, June 27, 2005

Update 6/27/05 and PICTURES!

Kian’s Health
Kian is doing MUCH better. He stopped wheezing on Saturday. The Doctor told me that once he had a full day or not wheezing that I should do the Pulmicort (steroid) twice a day for a week. So we are now on that regimen.

Pictures FINALLY!
We finally have some new photos up on our site! Sorry about the delay in getting them up! I didn’t realize how long it had been!

I have also decided not to label them – it takes a long time to do that and that is what was stopping us up from actually posting them. So, in order to have them up and ready to go right away, we decided to skip that part :) What I will do is post a few in my blog and tell what is going on – some are pretty self explanatory.

Here is a link to the photos: http://www.jamesondurall.com/family/Pages/pictures.html

The photos labeled Grandad’s Visit are from when Rod (Jamie’s Dad) came out to visit us for a week. We all had a great time :)

Playtime
are photos of our last Mom’s group in San Luis Obispo. Kian and I were the hosts and it was St. Patrick’s Day! Some of the photos show Kian and Danielle (Gina’s Daughter) kissing…how cute!

The first few photos in Sink Bath are me trying to show off Kian’s two bottom teeth that he had just cut (that seems like ages ago!) Then there photos of Kian giving me kisses. Photos of Kian in his St. Patrick’s Day outfit and then some of Kian having a sink bath after a major “explosion” that he had in his pants.

Eating Fries 1 has photos of Kian and Erik (Samantha’s Son) playing on one of their visits to our house :) And Eating Fries 2 is all photos of Kian’s first experience eating French fires which he really likes (although he doesn’t have often).

Kian’s Birthday 1 has pictures of Kian right before we moved from San Luis Obispo. There are some of Daddy getting Kian’s bath ready. And Kian having a GREAT time splashing in his bath :) You can see little water droplet floating through the air! At the end there is a photo of Kian with Dr. Bravo and one with him and his favorite nurse in the whole, wide world, Stacy. I sure miss them and I know that Kian does too! There seriously cannot be to Dr. Bravo’s in the world…although I wish there could be!

Kian’s Birthday 2
have some photos on moving day…Kian is about to be packed in a box! hehe Then there are photos of Kian on his birthday! We had several signs – the one that is in red my Aunt Lori had specially made for Kian and the other one I put together from a kit. Granna and Papaw (Jamie’s Mom and Step-dad) came to visit right on Kian’s birthday and stayed for about a week.

Kian’s Birthday 3-5 are photos of all of us at the Winchester Mystery Mansion in San Jose. The mansion was built 24/7 for about 30 years so it took about an hour for us to get through the place. The owner thought was an heir of the Winchester gun family and thought she was being haunted by the ghosts of people who were killed by Winchester guns. A psychic told her to build and house and keep building and that would keep them away. It was pretty neat.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Update 5/24/05

You know you do a lot of updates when you have to start dating them to tell them apart!

Update on Kian’s health
Kian did much better today than he has been lately. He usually starts wheezing about 15 mins after he wakes up but today he didn’t start until about 10:30. I have him a treatment at 10:45. I am just hoping that his wheezing just gets better and better every day. I really want to stop putting this stuff in his body! But I certainly don’t want him back in the ER so for now we will do what is necessary and preventative.

Gym Kids

Wednesday we went to our second Gym Kids class. Gym Kids is a parent/child participation class where they have all sorts of things for the kids to climb on and experience. We also sing songs, count, dance, and play with a parachute. It’s so much fun! The first time we went, Kian was really clingy and unsure of the environment. It’s very colorful in the room and I think it was a little overwhelming for me at first too! But I encouraged Kian to do different activities and didn’t force him to do anything. I just gently encouraged and we had a great time.

The second class Kian started to really feel more comfortable being there – although he wasn’t feeling well from the meds that I had to give him before we left home. He was starting to interact with the kids more and want to do things and climb than cling to me like he did last time. I am so proud of him :) Especially because I know he didn’t feel very well.

Mom Flew Back to Wisconsin
Mom and I had a great visit. She was so helpful – she was more helpful that I can actually say! She played a lot with Kian and basically took care of him while I unpacked more of my boxes, got my desk area straightened up and did some organizing in our bedroom. She also helped me with our plants and gardening – I have never taken care of things like that before and I learned a lot from her. I seriously don’t know how I would have made it through the last two weeks without her. It was a real blessing to have her here.

The Godfather and long hours :(
The Godfather: The Game is now reaching its final stages of production so that means we see less and less of Jamie. It will all be over in the next few months. For now Jamie spends as much of his mornings as he can with Kian. And I figure out what to do flying solo for dinner most nights of the week. I am starting to get back into a groove of doing things pretty much on my own. I can’t wait for Jamie to be through with the game and move back over to the Sims team.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Kian's doing much better!

I don't have much time to write but Kian has been doing a lot better since yesterday! Yesterday we spent our morning and afternoon running around to the pharmacy, the Dr.'s office then back to the pharmacy. It's been a pretty busy day to say the least!

Anyway he’s much more like himself…he’s eating and drinking a lot and playing a lot too. Kian is taking Zithromax (antibiotic), Albuterol (breathing treatment) and Pulmicort (a steroid through inhalation). It does seem that he has asthma :( The doctor said that if he starts showing signs of a cold that I should start the Pulmicort which is a preventative measure for his lungs to not become inflamed and close up on him (which causes the wheezing). If he has more episodes like this, we will be referred to an asthma and allergy specialist. We also asked the doctor about our pets and having to get rid of them…he said that would be an extreme measure and that most likely won’t happen. Just to keep them out of Kian’s bedroom. So my mom vacuumed very well in his room and we are keeping the door shut.

That’s all I have time for for now…Thanks so much for your prayers! We really appreciate them!

Also, I wanted you all to know that I have received your phone calls and emails and I REALLY appreciate them - it's so great to know that everyone cares so much about Kian. I will reply when I get a chance...for nowI wanted to make sure everyone knew how Kian was doing.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Kian spent Father's Day in the ER :(

Well, we just got home with Kian about an hour ago. We spent about 6 hours in the ER tonight. He was having a lot of labored breathing even after I gave him a breathing treatment and wasn't sleeping well or drinking anything. He started out with a runny nose on Thursday, a cough on Friday added to the runny nose and then it all got a little worse yesterday. Today he was really bad and finally I told my mom that I was a hair close of taking him to the ER - when Kian woke up from not being able to sleep from his nap she held him a bit and said she could tell his breathing was bad....so we took him to the ER. He was given a steroid and 3 breathing treatments about 20 mins apart. He had an IV and they did all sorts of tests on him. He also has ear infections in both ears :( So, he's on Zithromax - he will start it tomorrow because he got a strong antibiotic through IV while in the ER. It's been a long day :( No Dave and Busters for us – we were going to take Jamie there after Kian’s first nap...Father's day really stunk :(
Please say a prayer for Kian because I am still really worried about him. He's still breathing badly but not as bad as before and all his numbers were good before we left the hospital. I am so worried about him :( Hopefully we will know more tomorrow when we see our Pediatrician.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Great Uncle Joe and A Weekend with My Mom :)

Visit With Great Uncle Joe

Kian got to meet his Great Uncle Joe last weekend! He’s my Dad’s brother and he lives in New York. He was in San Francisco for a biking tour/trip to raise money for AIDS research…he was BIKING from San Francisco to LA! YEAH! Pretty crazy!

I was so glad that we got to meet up with him and for him to meet Kian :) I wish we would have had more time to visit but it was very good to see him. Hopefully we will have some photos to post soon of our visit (that’s once Jamie has time to upload them).

Golden Gate and Ice Cream


Yesterday we went to see the Golden Gate Bridge. We could see Alcatraz from the bridge – we hope to go and visit there the next time that Mom is comes back. We took some pictures – I hope they turned out well :)

Today Kian had his first taste of ice cream :) My Mom and I decided to go and get some since it was such a hot day today and it’s hard to eat anything in front of Kian that he can’t have since he’s been eating really well with whole type foods. We got a small scoop of vanilla for him…when he had his first few bites he made a funny little face LOL He’s never really had anything cold like that before so it was very interesting to him but he wanted more :) He did really well :)

It sure has been nice having my Mom here. I have really been able to catch up on some things and get some unpacking done. It's also been great to have someone here to help me out with Kian in anyway possible. I'm so glad she came....I just wish she didnt' have to leave :( At least we will have another week of her - I know Kian will enjoy all the time he's been playing with Grandma and getting lovers from her.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Little Landon :(

WARNING: Loss of a child is mentioned (not Kian btw)





I was debating if I should make this post or not, but I decided to anyway. Last week on one of my message boards for Mom’s who had babies in May 2004 someone posted about a mom in Louisville, KY whose baby was diagnosed with AML (Luekemia) in April. Little Landon lost his battle today – he was two and a half months older than Kian. Landon had been undergoing treatment while they looked for a bone marrow donor. Between rounds of chemotherapy, Landon slipped into a coma and the doctors told the mother that he would be dieing soon. She decided to stop treatment and take him home to be comfortable. For about a month this single mother cared for her son with no support from her family (her mother would lay guilt trips on her for her decision). Anyway, I was hoping that you all would join me in praying for Landon’s Mom or sending some positive thoughts her way. She could really use them. Landon died at about 7PM her time today. My heart breaks for this woman. Ever since I heard about little Landon she has been weighing heavily on my mind and in my prayers. I was hoping that Landon would hang on until tomorrow because today is his mother's birthday...oh the pain this mother is enduring. Here is their website if you would like to read more: http://www2.caringbridge.org/ky/landon/index.htm

Did you know….

that frozen peas explode in the microwave? LOL They do! lol I bought a bag of peas and carrots (got that great idea from my friend Samantha – thanks Sam!) and I wanted to give some to Kian to see how he would do. Well, I started to heat them up and one exploded LOL So I put it on defrost and another one exploded…I jumped about 3 feet away when it happened too! Luckily I was able to get them warm enough in those 7 seconds of warming and Kian loved them :)

Yes, I know…those of you who know me know that I HATE peas and wonder what they are doing in my house LOL (Yes, Angie I know you are probably falling out or your chair reading this!) You see, Angie and I were roommates in college and every once in a while she would like to have a bowl of split pea soup. Well, the smell would make me gag so badly that she would have to eat it at someone else’s place LOL Seriously! I didn’t even think I would be able to feed them to Kian when he started out on food because I hate them so much! My friend Gina let me try feeding Kian some of Danielle’s peas….I could stand it and Kian loved them. So, now we have peas in the house…but only for Kian hehe! If the kid didn’t eat anything green he would be more orange than he is now lol!

Grandma and Kian's Eating :)

My Mom is Coming Today!

Yeah, that’s right! All the way from Wisconsin! She took voluntary lay off for the month of June so she will be here for about two weeks helping me with Kian and helping me unpack and things like that. I know her and Kian will have a great time together – my mom played with him pretty much the whole time she was here over Christmas. She’s the one who really started to get him sitting well on his own – I wonder if she can work her magic on his walking lol He’s a little chicken when it even comes to him free standing…but he’s getting a little bit bolder every day as I work with him on it.

Kian’s Eating


Kian has been eating more things lately! I am so proud of him! He’s doing really well! So far he’s had Mac and Cheese, buttered whole wheat bread and pieces of cheese! He’s really doing well eating those things and has actually been eating A LOT lately. I think he might be going through a growth spurt! He is eating all of what I am giving him for finger foods AND the jarred food that used to only feed him! He is really moving up and I am so proud of him!

Also, I have discovered that he has a texture aversion to things like peaches and pears…so we just try and try with them :) I think he doesn’t like the soft, slimy texture.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Update - Been a little Long - Oops!

I realized today that I have been slacking in my responding to emails (sorry everyone!). I just wanted to make sure you all knew that I get them, I just don’t always have the time to respond and if I don’t right away then I forget to do it (oops!).

Well, last Friday Kian had his immunizations. He did have the chicken pox vaccine and the MMR vaccine - so far not problems (knock on wood) and hopefully the next week we will be clear too – this is the time when it could start showing signs of problems.

Kian’s One Year Appointment

At the appointment Kian weighed 18lbs. 2 ounces (which is a pound up from about a month earlier!) and he’s 28 inches? Sorry, I can’t remember exactly what he was! But our new Ped (Dr. Brummer) spent a good amount of time with us and talked to me about everything in detail. I really like him a lot :)

Kian’s Eating
Kian is still having some problems eating whole food versus pureed. There are some textures he’s ok with and others he is not. If this is still an issue in about 6 months, Dr. Brummer said they have oral therapy that can help Kian out in this area since he might have a problem from the NG tube he had when he was in the hospital.

Today he had Macaroni and Cheese for the first time and LOVED it! I am trying to branch out a bit in what he will eat but trying not to push him too much. He really enjoyed feeding himself and so did I as it gave me some time to do somethings in the kitchen while he ate :)

Things have become a little busier these days for us for many different reasons – I hope to do a weekly update when possible! Thanks for stopping in :)