Kallie's Dermatology Appointment

We saw Dr. Swain today and had a great appointment. Dr. Swain thinks that we are doing a great job with Kallie and that she is a happy baby, but we knew that already! :) She said that what her skin looks like now is what we can expect for the long term but it may get a bit better. She said that once she gets to be a teenager we can Acutain (sp?) and that will do wonders for it. We asked her about a compound that another mom suggested and she was open to using it. Its a compound with propylene glycol in it and her only concern was that it is in everything from potato chips to iodine so she wanted to make sure Kallie didn't develop an allergy to the propylene glycol. She said that there was no literature out there to suggest that she would be any more likely to develop an allergy but she just wanted that to be a consideration. I told her that my biggest concern for Kallie is comfort from the itching but I was not willing to risk a health concern or allergy for cosmetic reasons at this point. We discussed it a little more and decided that we would try this at a weak strength and go from there to see how it does.

She wanted to talk to compound pharmacist and he was not sure how they needed to formulate it so I now have the information for the pharmacist that compounded the stuff for our friend we are going to put the two pharmacists in contact with each other and get it going for us. I am excited to try it b/c it has made a huge difference for this other child! Big thanks to Morgan for the suggestion!!

Update on the Girls!

I haven't updated in a while so I figured while I was hear about the ENT appointments and my good call with the TSA I would update on the girls too!

Kallie -- She will be a year old in a little over two weeks! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I was counting down the days til she would arrive. She is finally sleeping through the night, I have NO idea what changed nor do I really care, I am just glad she is sleeping! Her skin is doing well. We had a hard time with her face for a week or so but I changed things up a bit and it seems to have worked wonders. Her face looks fantastic as does her back and belly. Her arms and legs are still a challenge but we are working hard on them too! We are having a birthday party for her this Saturday, just something small at the house because we will be in Mexico for her actual birthday. Her Aunt Ali is getting married that day so we will have to two celebrations!

Kennedy Jane -- She is doing great and sassy as ever! She is really excited about being the flower girl at Aunt Ali's wedding and that's all she talks about is getting married, flowers, princes, kisses for marrying, it goes on and on and is too stinkin cute!

I love my girls!

Getting ready for Mexico -- Good call with TSA

We leave for Mexico in 12 days and I have been thinking about how best to travel with all the lotion we will need for Kallie, how I can make it fit into small containers and those said small containers fit in a gallon ziploc bag. I got on TSA's website and found their section on medical needs and it wasn't clear. It stated that the medications were not required to meet the standards for 3-1-1 however, I didn't see anything on non-prescription stuff. I called the TSA and actually spoke with a very friendly and helpful person who said that as long as I notified the screener of what I had and that it was for a medical reason it would not be a problem. That all sounds good but I went ahead and took it a step further and asked if it would prudent of me to request a letter from our pediatrician stating Kallie's condition and the lotions we use to treat them since they are over the counter. She said that it would be a good idea to just present that to the screener along with the lotions that we use and then it will not be a problem. So I feel good about that. Sometimes I love that I can be so OCD and such a planner!

Kallie & Kennedy Jane's ENT Appointments!

Kallie had her 3 month follow-up ENT appointment and it went REALLY well! This time she barely cried and it seem like the process was much faster this time. I am hoping it's because the build-up is getting less and as she gets older her ear canals grow and it doesn't get built up as fast. We go back in 3 months again to have them cleaned out.

We also had KJ checked out b/c she snores and the pedi just wanted us to make sure all was well and he said that her tonsils are normal and everything looks good!

Yay for two good reports!

Last time!

Yet another awesome giveaway on www.iheartpublix.com check it out!

Free Printer on www.iheartpublix.com

This lady is rocking it this week, thanks for all that you do!

Battle Royale with Kallie

I have made the decision that Kallie is going to have to learn to go to sleep and stay asleep on her own, and is not going to eat until at least 4am, if not 5am. I am tired of the midnight buffet, I am tired of rocking her to sleep time and time again, and getting up two and three times in the night to rock her again. She is really trying my patience and my will with this. She has leanred how to sit herself up in her bed and its only a matter of time until she is standing. She will sit up and then get mad b/c she can't figure out how to lay herself back down. It is getting better as she is going back to sleep but last night she was up every other hour all night long. I didn't have to go in there but once but it still wakes me up . I am SO tired and SO ready for a good night's sleep!

My trip to Publix!

As I wasn't completely exhausted from Kallie's refusal to sleep all night, I decided I would make my weekly run to Publix today. I just LOVE going to that store. Its a solid hour drive each way but its so worth it. My goal is to one day save more than I spend but I am getting really close. Today I spent $104 and saved $94, so I am really really close! Not to mention the people over there are jus so friendly, the store is so clean, I just love it!

Another IHeartPublix Post

Yep its another one but this site is great and they are giving away great stuff all week long! You gotta check it out!

Great Coupon Tote Bag on Iheartpublix!

I would really love to win one of these, I am so hooked on this coupon thing thanks to this wonderful site!!

I heart Publix

This may be the greatest website I have ever discovered, it has saved me, on average $60 a WEEK on my grocery bill!!
www.iheartpublix.com

Today I got to meet ...

Well today I got to meet two of Tanner Williams Fire Dept's finest, and not in the physical sense! I was getting the girls ready to leave the house, Kallie was strapped in her car seat and Kennedy Jane was playing in the front seat. I had the passenger side door open and was coming and going putting stuff in the diaper bag and cleaning the car out. When we were ready to go I got Kennedy Jane out and shut the passenger side door, when I went to open Kennedy Jane's door I realized it was locked, as were all the other doors. Inside the locked car was my 10 month old baby, the keys, and my cell phone. GREAT! Luckily my neighbors were home, I borrowed their cell phone and they came over to help. I called my husband who was 30 minutes away with the spare keys. My next call was to the FD to see if they could help, at this point I would have paid anything to get my baby out of the car. They got there and after about 10 minutes of work they had the doors unlocked and the baby out of the car. Here are the good things: the car was not running, the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, and Kallie never got upset.

Lesson of the day: Never shut all the doors when your children are inside and ALWAYS have a spare set of keys where you can get to them!

My love affair with Publix

My friend Andrea turned me on to Publix, coupons and saving money and I have to say, its become a challenge for me to see how much I can save, and hope one day to be as good as she is at it! This last trip was my best by far, I spent $66 and saved $70, its always nice to save more than you spend! I got a few other great deals last week:
Target: They had their razors and refill packs if purchased together you got a $5 Target giftcard and I had a coupon for a free razor with the purchase of a refill pack so I saved $12!
Walgreens: Last week they had their toothpaste and mouthwash at 2 for $6, with $2 in register rewards (that can be used as cash at Publix) and I had $2 in coupons so I paid $2 total for mouthwash and toothpaste (Colgate and Scope!) And then this week they had Crest toothpaste for $2.99 with $2 in register rewards, I had a $.75 off coupon so I paid $.25 for toothpaste!
Its really exciting to get great deals like that, because I plan to use my $5 Target giftcard with a coupon for buy one "My Little Pony" and get the 2nd one free, they are about $5 so I will not pay anything for 2 my little ponys for KJ's Easter basket!

I haven't made my shopping list for this week yet, they put out their new ads on Wed I think! I use a website called www.iheartpublix.com and its a wealth of information!!

Two interesting theories about Ichthyosis

I have two new theories, one I created in my own uneducated mind and one that another mom suggested.

1. Developmental Patterns: This mom who has a 4 or 5 year old child with Ick discovered that her son would slow down his growth and development in the winter months and she related that to the fact that he had to use more calories to keep his skin going and did not have enough calories to put towards weight gain and development but in the spring and summer months when his skin was easier to maintain he went through big growth spurts and developmental milestones! I find that very interesting and encouraging. Kallie was growing great, staying off the charts for height and in the 95% or so for weight, but from Nov - Feb (6-9mo) she dropped into the 75% for weight. She also has not managed to learn to crawl, until the last few days when she has decided that army crawling works just fine! LOL She has started eating bigger solid meals and is sleeping better as well. So maybe we are on to something and the next few months will be good and exciting ones for us!

2. Teething: Kallie's skin regenerates at a much more rapid pace than ours does, that's why it is so thick and scaly. Kennedy Jane had her first tooth at 4mo and while I know all kids are different, Kallie still doesn't have a tooth. There is one that has been trying to come through for a few weeks now and I wonder if her gums work the same way her skin does? Could her gums be regenerating faster than the tooth is moving, thus delaying it from breaking through? I have to go the dentist on Wed so I am going to ask him then.

Just a little interesting food for thought!

Update on Us

OK so we have not fallen right off the face of the earth, just been really busy! Where to start?

Kallie: She is doing great, growing fast and just getting too big and too rotten. She will be 10 months old a week from today, my how time flies. At her 9mo check-up she was still off the charts for height but had dropped down into the 75% for weight. Dr. Calametti was not overly concerned as this is a transition time between baby food, solids, and nursing, however, it concerns me a bit as I worry that she was using too many calories keeping up her skin and is losing weight. She seems to be eating a lot better lately so maybe she will put some weight back on now that the weather is nicer. As for her skin, its come SO far and is looking so good. Her back and belly look fantastic, her arms are almost scale free, just a few here and there. Her lower legs still look pretty scaly but overall have come a long way too. She is such a beautiful little girl, with such bright deep brown eyes! She is still not crawling, lazy girl, but she does army crawl. Not threat of walking any time soon!

Kennedy Jane: My big girl will be 3 years old a week from tomorrow. Its amazing that she is 3 years old. She is so smart and incredibly sassy! She got into St Lukes Episcopal School and we couldn't be more excited! She will be in Ms. Thomas's half day two day a week class for PK3. We are having a Princess Party with just a few little girls and a bounce house, I am sure she will have a great time!!

Ali & Ryan: Their wedding is fast approaching, May 26th in Cabo. Her friends had a paint party wedding shower for her and that was a good time, I realized that I made a good decision when I chose not to go into art in any way! Scot and I, Ryan's parents, and Amy Polio hosted a Stock the Bar Party at our house a few weekends ago. That was a great time! We drank 8 cases of beer, 50lbs of crawfish and all sorts of yummy dips and sandwiches inside! They got a lot of great gifts and had a good time! We are having a tea for her next weekend at the Spot of Tea! The bachelorette party is in a few weeks in Destin and I cannot wait!!

Scot: He won Circle of Excellence again this year so not only does he get to go to Hawaii in a few weeks but we also get to go to ROME next year! I am so excited, that's a dream trip for me! I am passing up this trip to Hawaii b/c I don't think the girls are ready to be left alone with Mom for a week and so he and Ryan are going together. He has also been through some rough times lately as his dad passed away of brain cancer a few weeks ago. That was really tough for him but he seems to be doing better.

Me: I have gotten into photography and am really working on developing my skills and my business! Check out my site: www.katinelsonphotography.com Its been a lot of fun and I am really enjoying it! Now I feel like I have caught up and can start blogging again, hopefully, from here!

Dream Dinners

I went to a sneak peek party on Tuesday night for Dream Dinners after hearing about it from another friend and I think its a great idea! I signed up for the month of Sept, basically you go in there and pre-make the dinner entrees and then when you get them home you just mix it all together and put it in the oven. Its really a great concept and I hope we are going to enjoy them so I can keep going every month!!

Derm Appointment

We had great derm appointments today! I haven't been checked it about 3 years so it was good to get the once over and have her tell me my skin looks good. But then again who really cares about my skin, its Kallie we are all worried about so on to the good stuff.

She said that Kallie looked great, she was very pleased with her progress and feels that b/c she has gotten so much better so quickly its a really good sign of things to come. She said that she is starting to see "normal" skin and that its only going to get better. I told her that I was really pleased with the way her tummy, back, and the tops of her legs are looking and asked if she thought it would stay like that. She seemed to think that it would get even better than that and that quite possibly in a few years you won't even notice that she has anything wrong. That's awesome and exciting news!!

We are going to start using a Urea based exfoliatant to try to get that stubborn collodion on her arms, legs and head to come on off. We have to try it in a small spot at first to see if she tolerates it, but as long as its not too hard on her we have the green light to use it in those places. She said that we will see dramatic improvement once we start using it. We saw such a huge improvement just with the Amlactin and thats OTC, I can only imagine what Rx strength stuff is gonna do!

I also discussed the diaper rash she has with Dr Swain. Its not like a rash, rather like raw skin (sorry for the TMI). The pediatrician thought it was dairy sensitivity that was causing both the rash and the blood in her stool that's why I had to cut out dairy. The blood did go away but the rash did not completely heal. And when they cultured a diaper it came back with a small amount if staph. When she got that eyelid staph infection and we treated it with Keflex the rash cleared up completely which lends me to believe that the rash is in fact staph. I asked her if she thought the staph could cause the blood in the poop and she said that was a question better directed at a GI doctor. However, she wants me to use Bactrim on her bottom to get that rash to clear up. I am also going to change diapers from Pampers Sensitive to Huggies Supreme b/c I find that the Pampers will sometimes stick to her bottom and that may be causing the rash as well. Hopefully we will get the rash cleared up and I can have my cheese back! LOL

I asked her about her eyelids and how to best keep them clean. An eye doctor suggested to my mom to use diluted Johnson's baby shampoo but Dr Swain said that allergists hate Johnsons b/c they have so many dyes in them, that she would suggest just using the Cetaphil wash that we are using now to clean her eyelids. I also asked about using Neosporin when I see an open spot on her skin to prevent infection, she said that the newest thing with allergists is that Neosporin should not be used on closed wounds, that you should just use plain vaseline. So she told me when I saw small spots like that to just use Vaseline and that would work just fine.

I feel great about the visit, I feel like we know a lot more now and are handling it better. It of course felt great to hear that she looked so good and that I was doing a good job. I hear that a lot from people and I believe it but its great to hear it from a dermatologist. So we just wait and keep on trucking and watch and she gets better and better!!

Thanks for all the prayers for her, keep them coming!!

Update on Us

I have not done well lately keeping up with this, but I am doing my best to keep my head above water somedays! So here are the updates:

Me: I am officially unemployed, well except by two perfectly beautiful little girls! I love being a stay-at-home mom, some days are longer than others but its so great to have nothing to do but be with them and manage the house. I would like to say I am doing ok with the managing the house part, I have gotten some laundry done, emptied the dishwasher a few times, cooked dinner twice this week and kept the house relatively picked up!!

Kennedy Jane: She is doing awesome with potty-training, she still has accidents but overall she is really doing well! I was just totally over changing 2 year old diapers so we started with her potty seat and she really did well but wasn't comfy on the big potty. Mom and I traveled to Auburn to close on Nonnie's house so I just took the potty chair along and pulled over when she had to go and she did fantastic! Then we were in Jackie & Rick's store and Mom convinced her that it was cool to tee-tee on the blue water (from the cleaner in the tank) and she went for it! So being the creative mommy that I am, when we got home I used the tablets that color her bathwater and let her put those in the big potty and she has been using it ever since!!

Kallie: She is doing great and her skin is looking so much better! Last weekend I noticed that her eyelids looked really red and swollen so we went to see the pediatrician and found out that she had another staph infection. We started treating it with Keflex and it has seemed to not only improve her eyelids but also her diaper rash that I just could not get to clear up completely. I had to cut out dairy b/c we determined she has a sensitivity and that helped some with the rash but this knocked it out all the way so I think that it was a combo. I have done my best to cut out dairy completely but its hard and she doesn't seem to be bothered with the little bit that I have! Her skin is really looking good, her back is about as perfect as it is going to get I think and her belly is close behind. The collodion is finally starting to come off her arms and legs and they look great where its gone from. She is still working on losing her hair, her hairline just keeps moving further and further back but that's getting better too! She seems to be in a better mood since starting the Keflex so I think she is just feeling better in general! She is really smiling and talking a lot and its so so cute!! She is sleeping well too, goes to be around 9-9:30 and wakes around 3-4 and then again around 6-7 so that's a pretty good stretch!

The family is doing well!! I found this Bible verse that I just love:
Raise up a child in the way she should go and when she is old she shall not depart from it - Proverbs 22:6

Kallie's 2mo Pedi Appt

Stats:
12lbs 9oz -- 90%
25.25in -- OFF THE CHARTS!

She is growing so well, the doctor was pleased. She has gained over 4lbs and grown 4in in two months!

She got two shots and an oral vacc and boy was she pissed, she cried for a long time. We go back at 4mo!

We did determine that she has a sensitivity to dairy and so I have to cut all dairy out of my diet which is proving to be quite a challenge. You just don't realize how much stuff has some form of dairy in it and oh how I love my cheese and ranch dressing! But whatever it takes for my princess!

FREE Aquafor

Aquafor has a Medical Donation Program that sends out a three month supply of Aquafor for free. I called them today and she asked me for some information, gave me a fax number to fax a letter that my pediatrician wrote for us stating Kallie's diagnosis and treatment and they send us a three month supply. I am so happy b/c that will save us a lot of money!!

I called the company that manufactures Amlactin, the exfoiliant we are using to see if they offered something like that but of course they don't. She did however say that there are coupons on their website that I can print off so at least that will save us a little bit of money!