PROMISED and-recap-of-whirlwind-crazy-month PICTURES

Hello beloved!

I have internet access! Woot Woot!

There are not enough exclamation points to express how happy I am that my life just got a lot easier. It is tough to manage my home from my phone. So now that I am done paying bills, I can post some pics for you. I am also going to give a brief update on our wild lives. We slept in six different states in ten days! My man and I have exchanged looks a number of times these past couple of weeks and declared, "Never again!"

June 1-16: Pack, welcome a new niece into our hearts, pack, disperse furniture to friends & family, pack, sing happy birthday to lots of folks, pack, survive major overhaul of bathroom with lengthy visit from plumber, pack, tow car, pack.

June 17-27: Here is a super brief summary of the places we stayed and (thrills we experienced.)

June 17: KS house (pack)
June 18: MO Papi's (everything loaded in truck)
June 19: OH hotel
June 20: OH apt (everything unloaded from truck, welcome in-laws)
June 21: OH apt (unpack, blow house breaker at new place)
June 22: WV hotel (play in pool)
June 23: MD house
June 24: MD cottage (shatter window in car - vicious tree)
June 25: MD house (catch grandmother from falling down the stairs)
June 26: PA hotel (rush T to ER)
June 27: OH apt (zoo, move boat after fire to neighboring apt)

*for those of you counting - yes, the longest we spent any one place was two nights in a row at the apartment when we first moved in*

*explanation on T - we went to eat at a restaurant in Pittsburgh and allowed T to have table food for the first time. He had a little bit of bread. We went to the mall after dinner. When we got there he had a large, dirty diaper. About five minutes later he vomitted. Soaking his backup outfit sent me dashing to a store for a new onesie. About five minutes after that he developed a rash on his chest in the area where his clothing had been wet from vomit. Thinking we had another eczema flare on our hands we continued on to play & buy me a non-wet, non-vomitty shirt. About ten minutes later M sent a text saying his skin was getting worse. He stripped T's new clothes off. I focused more. About five minutes later he called to say it was getting really bad. But his breathing was fine. I hustled. When I got to T he was one giant hive. When M handed him to me he crumpled in my arms. We power walked/jogged to our car. I prayed outloud. We flew towards the hotel to get to our antihistamines, all the while scanning for an easy access pharmacy en route. I sat in back. I had to keep shaking T and saying his name to get him to stay awake. He wasn't crying. At the hotel M flew inside before me to draw up a double dose of meds. His phone fell, popping apart in the parking lot. He kept moving. I ran behind with both boys in tow. T woke up enough to take his medicine, but immediately started fading into unconscious again. A friendly man returned M's phone after reassembling it. I slapped a cold wet cloth on T. He woke for about two seconds. He still didn't cry. His skin was so red his pink/red eczema patches were yellow in contrast. We decided to run to the E.R. The concierge gave us a map. M ran red lights. The hospital was only two blocks away. T quit responding to all my irritating stimulants.  I ran in the E.R. saying we had an eight month old male with allergic reaction, unresponsive. The registration desk got his name and date of birth from me. A nurse grabbed him from me. M & N ran in. I asked if I could follow T. She said yes. The nurse who had him ran into the Peds trauma bay. The room filled with personnel. When the nurse set T down he woke up and started to cry. He vomitted again. He cried for the next hour. He was stable. He survived three IV attempts, oral medicine that made him violently ill & being up way past bedtime.

The doctors were trying to understand how he could have such a severe reaction & go into shock without his airway being compromised. They asked lots of questions to figure out if I was forgetting to give any details. A number of nurses chimed in describing how sick he was. One described him as "a limp, red bag of potatoes." When we were checking out a few hours later a number of people checked to see how he was doing. Several E.R. staff stated how scary it was when he came in.

Emergency health care providers were scared.

I was terrified.

I think I am still in shock. I've been running too hard to slow down & process. As of right now I am deeply grateful that I have been allowed to keep my son. I am also recommited to being neurotic about his food. Until Tuesday night he had only eaten organic baby food with new foods being introduced every three days. We're going back to that. I will check with the pediatrician next week about getting him allergy tested. His flares find me much more watchful. His silliness delights me even more. His eyes melt my already liquidy heart. Everything is "more" now.

But enough words. Here are some photos:

T's response to the Arch.

N's reaction to the St. Louis Arch. Notice the half eaten sandwich.

What the roadtrip looked like. The view caravaning behind my man.

The boys' new room. I've removed the changing table since taking this pic. The rest of the apartment is still a box-strewn mess.

Except our patio. This is put together.

Your eyes do not deceive you. Gus made the trip. And he's ready to celebrate Independence Day.

Hanging in the back seat with my N

Chillin with T. I could not get a steady picture for anything. Blame my man's driving.

The boys decided to take over the wheel.

Tired, but stable in the E.R.

Hives & Failed IV site. The hives had already been resolving for an hour when I took this.

Guess which parent thought a meatball sub in the car was a good idea. Almost home, though!

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