Happy New Year 2011!

We brought in the new year in the same way we have for the last 8 new years that we have been married. We were home, just the two of us with a yummy feast. We have made it a tradition that each new year we have King Crab, brochette, and a meat and cheese plate. As usual it was really yummy and as usual Jamie found it really difficult to stay awake until midnight. He fell asleep during a movie we were watching. Just before midnight he woke up. He was unaware that we were a minute away from the new year and he made his way to the bathroom. So our new year was spent with me watching the ball drop and Jamie on the pot. That was an interesting new years kiss to say the least. Our New Year's spread.
The two plates at the top are king crab that has been taken our of it's shell already.

The Meat and Cheese Plate

For the last few years we have been making Nuisch Kokas on New Year's Day. This is a Wiens family tradition (Mom mom's side of the family) that has been passed down for years. Nuish Kokas are German little fried doughnut type treats that traditionally have raisins in them. A few years ago we used craisins instead because we didn't have any raisins and we loved it so we have done that ever since. Matthew joined in the fun this year and they turned out great.

He loves to help. He thought mixing was the funnest part.

Look at all that gooey stuff. I want to touch it!

This is Matthew trying to be just like Daddy and turn the Nuisch Kokas.

He needs a little help though.

Usually I do the frying but this year Jamie took the reigns.

After they are fried on both sides they are taken out to let the excess oil drip off.

They are then put in a sugar mixture.
My family uses granulated sugar but I like powdered sugar better.

They are coated on all sides.

Then you eat and enjoy!

Really late Christmas Post

I am really late at posting about Christmas. It was really nice. I took very few pictures. Matthew got to meet Santa at our ward's "Breakfast with Santa." He didn't know what to think of him but at least he didn't cry.
The morning of Christmas eve while Jamie was helping cook at Grandma Anderson's home Matthew and I went to Nana's house to decorate Ginger bread houses. Matthew wasn't that into it yet so I did most of it. Most of all Nana really liked that I was there to help make more icing and color it.
Christmas eve we spent at Grandma Anderson's house cooking. Jamie was helping Grandma with all of the fixins. We really had a spread. Some of the treats were pork loin, mashed potatoes, green beans, asparagus, yams, relish tray, poached spiced pears, pumpkin pie, and cookies, just to name a few. We acted out the nativity as always after dinner. Matthew didn't seem to understand and wasn't very cooperative at being a shepherd. I think he enjoyed being baby Jesus more last year. We came home that evening expecting a nice Christmas eve at home, our first at home with a little one (last year we were in a hotel in Chicago). Jamie had prepared a ham that he had smoked all day. As he was cutting it his knife slipped and he sliced right in to his knuckle. It was really deep and almost cut his tendon. I sent him off to the emergency room for stitches while I read Matthew "Twas the Night before Christmas" and put him to bed. Needless to say it wasn't the night we were expecting but we enjoyed it none the less.
Christmas morning was fun. Matthew's favorite present from us was his mini Mickey Mouse electric 4 wheeler. He saw it as soon as he got up and ran towards it. He didn't quite understand how to make it go or how to steer at the time but he has sure learned now and is really good and chasing the dogs with it. We had a nice breakfast of french toast then went over to Nana and Papa Anderson's house to talk to my brother Elder Ben over the computer who is serving as a missionary in the Kennewick Washington Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We got to see him though video also. It was really great to see how wonderful he is doing. We are all very proud of him. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at my parents home, doing puzzles and watching a Christmas Story. I got a great flip video that I will be using in the future to post video here on the blog. Matthew got some great presents too. His favorite was from Uncle Ben and his girlfriend Brittni. They gave him the DVD of Disney's Cars. He will sit and watch that movie almost the whole way through. Amazing for a 15 month old.
Overall it was a wonderful Christmas.

Ginger bread houses at Nana's. Ours is the one bottom center.

Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma Anderson's club house.

There were so many of us we needed two large tables.

Matthew was not too happy about playing a shepherd during the nativity. He wanted to continue to play with his toy car Great Grandma Anderson got for him.

Who is this guy?

Oh, he's got some strange little striped stick thing in his hand he wants to give me.

I don't know about this, he looks weird.

I'm outa here.

Mommy's little helper

Matthew is fascinated by the vacuum. Our vacuum is to large and heavy for him to push. I recently got a Swiffer Vac and now Matthew thinks it is his. Whenever he sees it he wants to clean the floor. I hope this is a sign of things to come.

The joys of learning

Matthew decided mid December that he wanted to start feeding himself with utensils. I really shouldn't have picked spagettios for him to learn with. He really had a blast making a mess.

But mommy, it's fun to try to eat with the handle of the spoon too.

I'm a big boy now because I can wipe my face with a napkin.

Good thing that the bowl sticks to the tray or else it would have been on the ground a long time ago.

Spoke too soon

Shortly after Matthew's diaper rash went away it came back again with a vengeance along with a nasty whole body rash that he had for a week. The doctor's claimed it was hives caused most likely from a virus which also caused the diarrhea that gave him the diaper rash. His bottom was bleeding again and the only thing that helped this time was nystatin cream and a new barrier cream called Calmoseptine. I LOVE it. It stays on so much better than any other diaper cream I have tried. The hives would start like little bug bites all over his body then gradually get bigger until they were huge welts about the size of your palm. They would soon fade only to be replaced by new ones. Luckily they didn't seem to bother him but they sure looked miserable.




These pictures really don't do it justice. Toward the middle of the outbreak it seemed he had more skin that was red than wasn't.

Postum bum

Matthew now officially smells like Postum whenever he goes potty. I got a lot of suggestions on how to resolve Matthew's sore bum on facebook and I have included them bellow. The one that I ultimately tried and worked is not listed. I came from my sister in law Jackie. It's the "wierd" one she refered to in her post. She told me to take dry flower and cook it on the stove until it turned brown. Jamie did and practically turned it black. It looked almost exactly like Postum. We sifted off the carmalized sugars and put it in a baggie. Whenever we changed his diaper we would put gential violet on it to kill anything on there then a coat of the cooked flour just like it was baby powder. It really made him smell like Postum and I had to check really good to see if he was poopy because his diaper was pretty much allways colored brown whether he was poopy or not. It is not completely healed yet but it is close. He is a much happier little boy and I am a much happier mommy.

Kimberly Anderson Lucchesi

So does anyone have a great remedy for HORRIBLE diaper rash. I feel like I have tried EVERYTHING

December 3 at 10:22am · · Comment

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    Kimberly Anderson Lucchesi I put a picture up on my blog of his diaper rash but I don't dare post it here. If you would like to see the picture, read what I have tried, and give me your suggestions my blog is kandjlucchesi.blogspot.com

    December 3 at 10:23am ·
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    Leudys Luque wow!!!! pobrecito esta muy mal, Dylan tenia algunos problemas asi, no creo que alla sido tan fuerte, lo que yo hice fue colocarle crema cero, no se como se llama aqui es lo mas simple para los bebes, y le cambie la marca de panal a unos que absorven mas, yo le colocaba esa crema y talco al mismo tiempo y lo lavaba con agua fresca. la verdad no se si eso te va a servir. que se mejore tu bebe.

    December 3 at 11:29am ·
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    Allie Sensinger Honestly original desitin and powdering everthing with baby power was and is the only thing that comes close to working. The other option is to make sure that you take all sugars away from his diet such as juices and sweets. You can also try adding align probiotic with his milk.

    December 3 at 12:28pm ·
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    Joy Wahlen Wagner Rebekah had the worst diaper rash for a week and a nurse told me to mix petroleum jelly and cornstarch 50/50. It is a little tricky to do but it worked like a charm in less than 24 hours the open sores were healing the the redness was a pinkish color. Desitin just made her scream.

    December 3 at 1:46pm ·
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    Erin Dorsey Carbajal I second the cornstarch. Poor guy!

    December 3 at 5:25pm ·
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    Jackie Lucchesi Davenport Did you try the gentian violet? DON'T put cornstarch on it unless you're 100% it's not yeast, cause if it is, it will only feed it. I also have another weird one I forgot about that I will call you with that worked on Jacob.

    December 3 at 5:56pm · · 1 personLoading...
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    Laura Smith I really liked the A&D diaper cream. I put it on Jacob before he went to bed and it was cleared up the next day. Balmex burns the skin more, I have found. Good luck. You could also try some aloe vera also maybe.

    December 3 at 6:09pm ·
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    Ryan Kendell Desotin!!!! You just have to cake it on there over and over again... Also watch what he is eating... Rylie gets horrible diaper rash after anything with tomatoes or carrots.... Hope it helps!

    December 3 at 9:23pm ·
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    Elise Anderson

    I would treat it like a yeast rash from the looks of it, but I wouldn't rule out food sensitivities (which also could be causing the ear infections) esp. when the rash is right around his bottom . Keep giving him probiotics and no antibi...otics unless absolutely necessary. Alaistar had a bad yeast rash for awhile and I tried many things the most effective was alternating using powdered probiotics right on the rash with a natural anti fungal/anti bacterial cream that have tea tree oil or grapefruit seed extract in a base of olive oil or coconut oil (both oils are also anti fungal) making sure that the strength is right for his skin (test it on yourself in a sensitive area). I made my own cream after researching natural anti fungal remedies online. Calendula is very healing and soothing as well. I also made sure he had lots of diaper free time and natural fiber breathable diapers with no additives/fragrances. Don't feed him any sweets natural or otherwise ( I also didn't eat them because I was still nursing him) and no foods with yeast like bread. Nystatin didn't do anything for us. I feel for you sweetie, I was a mess when he was going through that. I hope he gets better really soon... for all of your sakes. Much Love!!!See More

    December 3 at 11:10pm · · 1 personLoading...
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    Suzy Greenwood-Fox Boudreaux's Butt Paste

    December 3 at 11:26pm ·

HELP!!!!!!!

I can't do it anymore! I can't handle Matthew being in pain. I have dealt with so many sick kids in my profession and do very well, not getting too emotional. Sure, I breakdown at times but not like this and it is only over a sore bum. I just started crying when he cried over anything touching his bottom.
My poor boy has been on antibiotics for about 4 months now for his multiple ear infections. He started getting a diaper rash during the first cycle and it has never really gone away. It has gone in cycles and looked better and worse at times but NEVER this bad. Since the ear tubes his ear infection has gone away but his bottom still looked really bad. 6 days ago I finally took him into the doctor because the sores on his bottom were bleeding down his legs. They swabbed his anus and told me he had type A strep and that was what was causing the deep red rash right around his anus. They gave me MORE antibiotics and told me to put Nystatin, Triamcinolone, Neosporin, and a barrier cream on his bottom every diaper change.
I went away feeling discouraged because after all, wasn't it the antibiotics that put us in this mess in the first place and why didn't the antibiotics for his ears take care of the strep? I was hopeful, however, that these antibiotics would help and he would be healed quickly. Well, I was wrong. I think the antibiotics are killing the strep however his bottom looks just as bad or worse than it did last week. I am trying to change his diaper frequently but I work and have little control of what happens between the time I drop him off and the time I see him at 6 or 7 at night when he gets his bath. It's times like this that I HATE that I work. I just wish I could be a stay at home mom. It makes me feel so guilty that I can't just make it all better and it's because I work that it isn't better by now. It rips my heart out when he cries. He cries whenever his bottom is touched, wiped, washed, etc. I even got sensitive wipes and they still hurt him. He loves his baths but is now afraid of them because the water hurts when it initially hits the water. He cries and squirms whenever I put him on his changing table.
I am hoping to get any advice any of you have to help heal his bottom. Let me tell you what we are doing now. He is on Kepra (an antibiotic) to kill the strep. He takes a few acidophiles capsules a day to counteract the antibiotics killing all the good bacteria so that he doesn't have diarrhea (right not thankfully no diarrhea). At each diaper change I apply with a cotton ball some gentian violet (this is an antiseptic that is herbal similar to iodine that is supposed to kill everything) that stains everything purple (that is why spots of his legs and scrotum are purple in the picture). I have made a concoction of Nystatin (an antifungal), Triamcinolone (a steriod), Bacitracin (an antibiotic cream), and Tripple paste (a barrier cream) that I put on his bum after the gentian violet. It seems to work well for a few days then it breaks down again and bleeds. The problem is I know it needs to scab in order to heal completely however it is always moist so it never scabs. I have taken a cool hairdryer to his bum also but he HATES it and cries the whole time. I am out of ideas! I plan on finding someone to help give him a priesthood blessing tomorrow. Please, if any of you have any ideas on how to heal this PLEASE let me know!
I have to say I have a little more understanding and compassion for the mothers of my patients and what they go through watching their own children suffer as the do. I am blessed that this small things is the biggest thing I have to worry about.

The picture doesn't give it justice. His whole bottom is pitted and weeping. The purple is stain from the gentian violet. The redness goes all the way up his bum crack in the back also.

These are not even all the meds he is taking now. From top left to right:
Keflex (antibiotic), Acidophillus (probiotic), Gentian Violet (antiseptic), Nystatin and Triamcinolone (Antifungal and Steriod), Tripple Paste (Barrier cream), Desonide Cream (for Ecxema), Prevacid (for Reflux).
I forgot to put his Tylenol and oral Nystain (he ran out) in the picture.
WAAAAAAY too many meds for a little toddler.