Sunday, November 25, 2012

Prayer works!

I am five weeks down with my ultrasounds.  Baby girl still looks perfect!  Woop woop!  However, another issue came up a few weeks ago.  L was born a little early.  4 weeks early, so it's not like he was a micro preemie or anything, but still, a preemie.  I also had a miscarriage a few years ago (5, to be exact).  With my history, the mfm has been checking my cervix length.  A short cervix is a good indicator of a woman having preterm labor.  I should be no shorter than 40mm.  Three weeks ago, I measured at 35mm.  That's short, but not enough for them to be too concerned yet.  The following week, the ultrasound tech had a really hard time getting accurate measurements because this baby sits right on my cervix.  She took 3 measurements, the longest was 31mm.  Not only is that too short, but it also means it shortened by 4mm in a week.  Again, they didn't say anything to me about it, but I could tell something was up.  The ultrasound tech always tries to print out a picture for me, but she didn't.  She quickly took my results to the doctor.  They also stressed that I be back in a week (which I do anyway, but they made sure of it this time).  When I came in the following week (last week), I had a different tech.  I was already a little stressed out since I have a lot of braxton hicks contractions and knew it was already too short.  Then she started asking me all kinds of questions that just seemed like something was wrong.  I try really hard not to panic, but honestly, I was really worried about it.  But God is bigger and stronger and more capable than anything, and once again, He proved it to me.  I expected to go home on bed rest, instead, my cervix measured a whopping 55mm!!!  Holy Moly!  God is so good.

I wrote that several weeks ago now.  Since then, my doctors have been able to see more accurate measurements.  I guess I was having a contraction when they measured that week, which made my cervix look longer than it really was.  I'm still ok, though.  My cervix measured around 40 for the following weeks.

My current update, as of November 25 is that I'm still hanging in there, with no shortage of drama in this pregnancy.  I finally got to a point where I wasn't as worried about the fifth disease, and then I had the cervix issue.  Then I got to the point where that seemed to be a non-issue.  This roller coaster ride I'm on took another big turn right after that and I ended up in L&D at 24 weeks with contractions.  Braxton Hicks contractions are normal in pregnancy, and often get worse with each additional pregnancy.  This is the case for me, which isn't fun since I had a lot with the boys, too.  Last Sunday, I had to go home from church because I was having so many.  It got to the point that I felt like I had better start timing them to make sure there was no pattern.  Most doctors want you to call if you have more than 4-6 in an hour.  However, because of my history, I knew my doctor would say "Lay down and drink lots of water.  If it doesn't improve in an hour, call back."  So I skipped calling them and just rested and drank water.  Lots of water.  After two hours and a total of 18 BH, I called.  Sure enough, the doctor said to continue what I'm doing and call back in an hour.  Two hours later, I was still having them.  Lots of them!  So we decided it was time to go in and be monitored.  When I was pregnant with L, I thought my labor contractions were just BH ones, and I was having far less than I had last Sunday (well, I guess the correct way to say that is I FELT a lot less, most of them were unnoticed by me).  Apparently, I don't know the difference between real labor and BH contractions.  Thankfully, they slowed down a little and I was sent home on bed rest.  The high risk doctor checked my cervix again this week and was happy with the results, so she took me off bed rest.  My cervix is now 37 mm, which is 2 mm longer than it has to be :)  I will continue to have these nasty contractions throughout my pregnancy, but as long as they don't affect my cervix, I'm not in any danger.  I'm just praying I make it to 37 weeks and a day this time around! 

So, with one week left at the MFM, that's where I stand :)  I'm looking forward to being a "normal" pregnant lady again instead of high risk.  Although, at this point, I'm not sure which catagory I stand in since I am at risk for preterm labor?

Thursday, October 11, 2012

My Rollercoaster

It's been a LONG time since I've written on this blog, but with all the ups and downs going on right now, I kind of feel like this might be a good place to get it all out.  A lot has happened since I last posted.  Early July, I found out that... I'M PREGNANT!  YAY!!!!  Had a great ultrasound in August with a healthy baby.  September brought Fifth Disease to our family.  The boys both had it but it wasn't too bad for them.  A blood test revealed that I had it, too.  I blamed all of the symptoms on pregnancy.  "Why is my morning sickness getting worse when it should be getting better???"  "My shoulders are so sore from having to sleep on my side.  So are my hips.  Everything is sore!"  At least I know I'm not crazy ;-)  However, there can be some complications to the baby.  Because of this, I am now seeing a high risk doctor weekly for ultrasounds and to make sure baby is ok.  One benefit to all of this?  It's fun seeing our baby!  We also found out early that she's a GIRL!!!!  YAY!!!!!  My normal anatomy scan isn't for another couple of weeks, so it's fun having extra time to prepare for HER.

The bad part about all of this?  Well, there's a lot of bad parts.  I'll start with the obvious.  There is a chance, although small, that my baby girl could have complications.  If this sickness gets to her, she could stop producing red blood cells (anemia).  If she stops producing them, her heart will have to work harder to make up for the lack of them, which would cause her to go into distress.  Her organs would also fill with fluid.  She would need a blood transfusion before she is even born.  Like I said, the chance of this is small (5-10%).  I'm not TOO concerned, but enough that I feel like I need to write it all down.

Another bad thing about it is that I have to drive 45 minutes away, weekly, for these appointments.  When we found out we would soon have three kids, we upgraded to a minivan.  I LOVE my minivan, but it's not pretty filling up the gas tank.  It would be nice to just go down the street for these appointments.  On days when I can't get the early appointment, I hit rush hour on the way home.  My 45 minute drive can double.  Yuck!!!

The third bad part, and this is more something I just need to get over, is that I hate having to rely on other people all the time to take care of my boys.  I feel like a huge burden to others.  Now, everyone who I've asked to watch them seems more than happy to help, and they all assure me we are NOT an inconvenience.  Generally speaking, my boys are very well behaved (for others, at least).  Plus, I think I have enough people to watch them that I only have to ask them once a month.  I am sure it's not as bad as I make it out to be in my head, but I really stress over this.  Probably more than anything else.  I also worry about how they will do without me if I end up needing to be in the hospital for a couple days, or if I go on bed rest, I will have to rely on people even more...making me an even bigger burden on people.  (the bed rest fear is due to the fact that I had a preemie and they will be checking my dilation early, like as in, starting next week).

So basically, this is where I am right now.  So far, baby looks perfect!  She is showing absolutely no problems.  I'm trying not to worry about next week, and trusting God that He really does have this whole situation covered.  I know He does, I just need to keep trusting Him.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Knee Dr!

I finally saw the doctor today about my knee.  This guy was recommended to us by my favorite running inspiration, my nutritionist friend :)  They know her by name and two different people told us she has "frequent flier miles"  Lol!  Anyway, back to my knee.  It looks like I sprained it during my 4 mile barefoot run on the beach.  Since I'm feeling a lot better, he said I can try to run a 1/4 mile and then come home and ice it.  If I don't have any pain, two days later I can try 1/2 a mile.  Two days after that, 3/4.  If I make it up to a mile, I'm good to go.  If I have any pain, I need to call him back and set up an MRI, but he seemed pretty confident that I wouldn't need that.  Hooray!!!  I cannot wait to get out there and start running again.  I'm planning to build up slower now.  I was adding a mile a week, but now I'll just add half a mile a week.  I realize that it will take twice as long to get my dog, but hopefully I wont have any more injuries!  Hubby got his knee looked at too.  He's going back tomorrow to start PT for his IT problems.  Maybe we can be one of those crazy couples who runs together after all ;)

I have friends coming on Friday.  I can't wait to see them!  But I really need to get this house in order!  I also need to figure out something for dinner.  J has to work late since he went in late due to our appointments, so it's just me and the boys.  I don't like cooking when I'm on my own.  I'm hoping to post pictures of my newly painted guest room and kitchen soon.  Stay tuned for those (next week?)

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Updates, Updates

I'll do this as a bullet point, since it's been soooo long :)

* I found out recently I'm definitely allergic to wheat.  It's something I've known, but it's nice to have the proof.  Also found out I'm possibly allergic to corn, which might be the reason for my chronic hives, which I still have.  Lame, I know.
* We are all set to start homeschooling T this fall.  SOOOO excited!!!  He's excited, too. 
* L is talking up a storm and it is the cutest thing!  He has a sweet little voice and I love to hear him.  Everything is about food, usually.  Go figure.  He's my little piggy.
* T has started soccer and loves it.  He's really good, too.  He's moving up to the intermediate class for his age group.  We might sign L up.  We are going to a free trial class this week to see how he does.
* OBX was AMAZING, as always.  I can't wait to go back in August after my sister's wedding.
*J is enjoying his new job.
* I made it up to running 4 miles, and did it at a 12 minute per mile pace, which is what I need to get my dog when I run the 10 miles.  I felt great on that run!  I did it on the beach.  Bad idea!  I did it barefoot.  SUPER BAD IDEA!!!  I busted my knee and haven't been able to run since.  It's been three weeks and it still hurts if I have it bent for too long.  PLEASE PRAY that nothing serious is going on.  I see a specialist this week.
* J painted my kitchen blue.  I love it.
* The rest of my house is beyond out of control.  We have spent this past weekend rearranging things and organizing.  We have company coming so I'm working hard to get everything in it's place before then.

Ok, that's it for now.  I'll leave you with a picture :-D

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Updates, Updates

I realized it's been forever since I've updated this blog.  I've been BUSY!!! 

Children:  The boys are doing great!  T is finally out of his rebellious stage and back to the sweetheart he used to be. Sure, he has his days.  But I don't feel like I'm going to snap every second of every day.  He has also asked Jesus into his heart!!!!  PROUD MOMMA!  I realize he's only 3 and might not understand, but he has a desire to serve Jesus and already has a love for him.  Today he told me he wanted to go to Heaven so he could say "hi" to God.  So sweet.  Little L is also a much happier kiddo these days.  He has the BEST laugh and the BEST smile.  It melts my heart!  He is finally starting to talk more.  He can of course say Momma and Daddy.  He can also say More, Tyler (sort of...), Doggie, and Truck.  He is really trying to say a ton of other things, but I don't understand yet.  He went pee on the potty three times yesterday!!!  How amazing is that?  He hasn't asked to sit at all today and I'm not going to force it, but I still think he's amazing.  He figured out how to climb out of his crib, and has not slept well since...  it's been rough!  He is starting to do better.  It just takes him a while to adjust to new things. 

J:  Hubby got a new...well, sort of new, kind of old...job.  He's back to the old company...well, sort of, again, HA!...  The old company was bought out by a new company, but they kept a lot of the people he worked with.  They all love J and wanted him back, so they made him an offer we couldn't refuse.  Leaving Lockheed was scary for me.  I was comfortable with them and felt like they would always take care of J.  J is much happier at this job, and overall, it was a smooth transition.

Walk with God: My devotionals are hit or miss these days.  I don't go to the Bible study anymore, either.  I need to do better with that! 

House: Another area I need to improve...big time....

Health and Fitness: This is probably the area with the biggest improvement.  My wonderful sister and I joined a gym.  Then my mom joined.  Then I started taking classes.  A friend from church convinced me to go to the bootcamp class with her.  It's HARD but I am so happy I've started going.  My muscles ache after, but I feel like I leave there with a good workout.  I've started meeting weekly with a friend who is a nutritionist.  She's trying desperately to help me feed my family healthier meals.  I feel bad because I'm not the best student, but I'm definitely trying!  I'm also running, again.  J gave me until the end of the year to go 10 miles in 2 hours for my dog, and by golly, I'm doing it!  I'm up to 3 miles at 11:30, but I can also run a mile (single mile...) under 10 minutes now!  Woop Woop!

Ok, that's it for the update, I will try to start blogging more regularly again  :)  Good Night, all!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

I made the caramel apple pork chops last night.  J's comment when he walked in to door?  "You'll find a way to add sugar to anything!"  It was so good, though!  Definitely worth a try!   HERE is the link if you want to give it a try.  Don't forget to read some of the comments to see what other people recommend doing.  For example, a lot of people recommend doubling the sauce.  The boys even loved this meal! 

Stacy and I tried Zumba today.  It was fun!  Tomorrow will be the second time I step on the scale at the gym.  I don't think I've lost weight yet, but hopefully I haven't gained any!  I walk past the scale every time I leave the locker room and it's been very hard not to step on it and take a peek at my progress.  I don't think it would be good to weigh myself all the time, though.  I will allow it once a week, but not more than that.  And I am making myself promise not to be upset if it doesn't show any change for the first month or so.  It took more than a week to put it on, it will take more than a week to get it off. 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Personal nightmare, I mean trainer :)

My gym gave me one free session with a personal trainer.  I was really nervous about going, but excited too.  I can now understand why people spend so much money on meeting with them every week!  I learned how to use a lot of the equipment and it was motivating because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him.  I felt like I HAD to work hard instead of giving it a half effort.  I don't normal give it a half effort, but I tried harder than normal.  I learned that some of the things I was doing were not correct.  For example, my goal is to burn calories.  I thought it would be best to do the elliptical at a decent pace for 30 minutes instead of burning myself out and then slowing down.  The PT said that if I do the elliptical on intervals, I will actually burn more calories than if I just went at the same pace the whole time.  By a lot.  I used to do 50 RPM with a resistances level set at 6.  He had me doing 70 RPM at level 8 for 2 minutes, and then I was able to slow down and lower the level for a minute, then back up.  Like I said, he also showed me how to use different pieces of equipment.  Not sure how much I'll actually take advantage of that, but I think I'll do some of it.

I've been doing ok with my eating too.  Not great, but not terrible.  I stepped on the scale at my gym and found out that my parents' scale is 5 pounds off.  I weight more than I thought.  Bummer!  Oh well.  Just means I have to work harder.  I'd like to lose about 9-10 lbs before out trip to the beach this summer.  At this point, I am not sure how realistic that is.  But I'll do the best I can.  I feel like 1/2 a lb a week is good for me.  If I am able to do that, I'll be close but not quite there.  I'll be happy with that :)

My family tried a "Green Smoothie" this past weekend for breakfast.  It was pretty good!  It needed more fruit, but that's easy to do.  Even the kids drank it.  Not a lot of it because they had already eaten some cereal, but I think I could get them to have that for breakfast a couple times a week.  For those of you who don't know, a green smoothie is green from spinach.  You can't taste the spinach though.

I've fallen back to just planning our main meal for each day.  With all the other areas I've fallen behind on, I'll let this one slide until I get back on track with everything else.  Our dinners this week are:

Baked Chicken with some yummy seasoning
Chicken Fajitas
Shepherd's Pie
Tacos made with ground turkey
Caramel apple pork chops

Monday's are usually my day to go grocery shopping, but I've got two kids who are acting like they're coming down with something.  J is a wonderful husband and agreed to go for me :)  Hopefully my kids stay healthy.  Maybe they just needed a day to rest from the fun we had this weekend.  That's what I'm hoping, at least!  Did I share what we did this weekend?  We went to a local college basketball game.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids and I didn't see much of the game (we played out where they had other things set up), but we still had a good time.

That's about all for me.  I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend and is off to a great work week!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Counting Calories

I've started doing something this week that I thought I'd never do... counting calories.  As I've already shared, my sister and I have started exercising more but for some strange reason, I seem to be gaining weight instead of losing it.  In fact, my clothes are actually getting a little snug.  It makes me want to cry, but I'm trusting everything that I've read that says I will start to see results soon.  J has been exercising for a few months now and looks great, but he decided to count calories with me.  It's nice doing this together.  We are using a site called my fitness pal.  We log everything we eat and it tells us how many calories we've had that day.  If we exercise, we get extra calories.  I was really surprised at first as to how many calories I actually eat.  It was a lot more than I thought!  As far as exercising goes, I love my gym!  We (Stacy and I) have been going about 3x a week.  It's not as often as I would like (I want to go 4x), but it's more than before!  We've gone to a Pilate's class and tonight we are trying out Zumba!  I'm also getting my free personal trainer session tomorrow.  Yay!!!  I was really nervous at first but now I'm more excited.

My house work has not been going as well as my diet and exercise.  In fact, I had an unexpected visitor yesterday and was so embarrassed!!!  But, she has kids and understands :)  The house looks a lot better now.  Not going to let THAT happen again!  But I'm still way behind on where I'd like to be. 

The kids are ok.  Sick again, poor guys!  T has some sort of infection.  The dr took a strep test which came back negative.  She said it's possible he had a false negative, or he has some other type of infection.  Either way, he's on antibiotics and feels better.  L has been such a fun little guy lately.  His personality is really developing.  He's much more adventurous and outgoing than I thought he'd be.  After I got over the initial shock of have two climbers, destroyers, and crazy kids, I have been able to enjoy watching them play.  We have lots of tears, broken toys/furniture/gates, and bruises, but they have a blast together. 

Time to get dinner going. Tonight, we are eating Lasagna rolls.  Mmm

Friday, February 10, 2012

Meal ministry

It's been a while since I've shared where God is working in me, so I'm going to take this time to do that :)  J took the boys to his parents' house for a little while and I get a much needed and long overdue break.  With J starting classes and our schedules filled with birthday parties and ministering to others, it's been a long, long time since I've been able to just relax.  Not trying to complain, I feel like God has been working in those areas and it's fun to sit back and see where He's decided to use me.  Before I get into how He's been encouraging me in my attitude, I want to talk about how He's used to me to minister to others.  Remember that Bible study I did last year about letting God use you where you're at?  It was based on the book, You Matter More than you Think.  I felt like God was calling me to do more, but that He has placed me where I am (being a stay at home mom) for a reason and THIS is my ministry, raising my children to be God-honoring and wise men, responsible and selfless.  Still, I felt like I should be doing more, and started praying that I would clearly see the opportunities He has given me.  My sister's a nanny.  The father of the boys she watches recently took a civi job in Afghanistan, leaving behind a wife who doesn't cook and two small boys.  My sister moved in during the work week and takes care of their meals, but the wife still had a LOT on her plate and I wanted to encourage her and let her know I was there if she needed anything.  The best way I could think of was to bring over a meal.  Turns out, the thing she was most stressed out over was cooking dinners for her children (Stacy didn't "move in" till a week later).  I saw this sweet mother the next morning at church and she gave me the biggest hug and was so grateful.  It blessed me to know how much God had used that one little meal to bring her a little bit of peace while she tried to figure out how to be both mom and dad, all while missing her second half.   I did the same thing for a pregnant neighbor who was having some contractions at 22 weeks.  Thankfully she and baby are ok (we are thinking they were simply braxton hicks), but having dinner prepared for her allowed her to stay off her feet and relax.  Not to mention stress over figuring out what to feed her family.  She said that she has been able to use the leftovers for lunches too.  It's amazing how God has used these two little meals to bring peace to two friends who were having rough days.

Ok, I've changed my mind about sharing how God has been working on my attitude.  I want to go relax a little :)  I'll share soon.  Happy Weekend!!!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I miss blogging

Looks like I'm already slacking this year when it comes to blogging.  I have actually been slacking off in a lot of my goals for this year.  My house is a mess.  We only have dinners planned (instead of all meals and snacks).  And I have been yelling at the kids more than I'd like to admit.  But you know what?  Today I will do better.  I have recently found that if I sing "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it." every time I start to feel frustrated, it helps me calm down and remember my purpose for this stage of life...to raise my children.  I don't want to just deal with them,  I want to train them to be Godly young men who are responsible, kind, and leaders who walk the path of righteousness.  I need to set a good example for them.  Time to get back on track!

On a side note, the one area I haven't been slacking in is my exercising.  My sweet sister and I joined a gym last week and I love it.  We have gone a few times and tried out our first class this morning.  The boys seem to enjoy it, especially the older two.  Our gym has a huge maze with those tunnels that McDonald's and Chuck E Cheese have.  The difference is that our gym puts those other places to shame.  It's every kid's dream :)  The babies tolerate it.  Before joining the gym, we were doing videos several times a week.  We are determined to get in shape!  Hopefully before bathing suit season :)

On another unrelated note, GREAT NEWS!!!!!!  My sister's boyfriend was deployed on a ship for the past 11 months.  Any deployment is hard.  Really hard.  But her man couldn't call as often as he had expected (she averaged a call once a month), he wasn't able to skype unless he was stopped at a port (in other words, not often).  It was an 11 month nightmare for her, probably worse for him.  BUT HE'S HOME!!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!  I'm so so so excited! 

Ok, that's all for now :)  Oh, and our meals this week (since I forgot earlier) are chicken tacos, chipotle chicken, lasagna rolls, ham and escalloped potatoes, and pizza casserole.  Mmm...

Monday, January 30, 2012

Reflux

I know it's Monday and I said I would be posting my menu on Mondays.  This week, I'm not going to.  Instead, I thought I'd share a little bit of our reflux story and give some advice to those going through something similar.  I recently talked with a friend about it and felt it would be good to write it all out here too. 

Our Story:
We started noticing something was off with Sweet T when he was just a couple months old.  He spit up an average amount, slept GREAT, wasn't fussy, and was a big baby.  Nothing indicated reflux at all, until he started have episodes where he looked like he was choking.  I took him to the doctor, who at first didn't think it was anything major.  Maybe a little cold or something.  Then it started getting worse where he wouldn't breathe for a second, so I called again, and they said it was most likely silent reflux.  We started on some over the counter meds immediately, and this momma freaked!  My baby would literally stop breathing.  Can you imagine trying to sleep when your child did something like that?  It was scary.  And it got worse.  Those meds worked for about a month and a half, but by 3 1/2 months, we needed something stronger.  So we switched to Zantac.  It works for some kids, but not for T.  It didn't work AT ALL!  In fact, two weeks later we were back in his doctors office to figure something else out.  By this point, it was BAD.  REALLY BAD!  He would stop breathing for extended periods of time.  His pedi told us to switch to Prevacid.  After leaving the doctor's office, we had a scary 10 minute drive to meet my parents at a local restaurant.  T stopped breathing several times.  I remember thinking, "what if he doesn't start breathing again?"  At the restaurant, he had another episode.  This time, he turned blue and fainted.  Several times.  You can imagine what that did to his daddy and me!  HEART ATTACK!!!  We rushed him to the ER (which was thankfully really close by), where they put us in the cardiac room.  They said since he stopped breathing, turned blue, and fainted, he needed that room.  They ran tons of tests, pricked him several times, couldn't get that stupid IV in! and ran some X-rays.  It was every mother's nightmare and I remember it vividly.  After several hours, the ER doctor dismissed us and said to see our pedi the next day.  There was nothing else wrong with him.  His blue and fainting episode was simply reflux.  Turns out with some babies, they are able to close their throats to keep the acid down, because the acid burns so badly.  That's what T was doing.  We did not sleep well after that.  T was in our room for months because of it.  We were afraid to leave him with baby sitters, refused to put him in the nursery at church, and even when we started to a while later, I made sure to explain very carefully how to turn him upside down and smack his back if he stopped breathing.  I always made sure to throw in the "he turned blue and fainted" part just to make sure they watched him close enough.  And then I shook the entire service wondering if they would catch it if it happened.  Even with the prevacid, he would occasionally stop breathing.  It was nowhere near as bad, but still happened regularly.  My grandma is scarred from seeing it happen once.  She seriously cries even now when she talks about it.  As you can imagine, I've done tons of research and have lots of experience with reflux.  In fact, Little L had reflux too.  His was the more traditional type.  He didn't sleep, was SUPER fussy, spit up all over the place, you know, that type of fun.  They are both awful.  One is scary, one is frustrating (who likes to be up all hours of the night every night because your child is in too much pain to sleep?).  As if I don't have enough info in my brain, I've discussed this with a friend of mine who also has two reflux babies.  Her first was like L, her second is like T.  Together, we could teach classes.  Or... write a blog post about it :-D

Tips on how to help a reflux baby:
-Eating Right- Many babies have a hard time digesting dairy and you will probably find that cutting dairy out of your diet makes a world of difference (I'm assuming you're breast feeding, because Breast is Best).  Cutting spicy foods, tomato products, and caffeine will help too.  L's biggest issue was wheat.  When I cut gluten out of my diet, his milk allergy cleared up, and so did his reflux.  He was able to stop his meds months before T did!
-Speaking of feedings, small, frequent meals are best.  If you're anything like me, this one is HARD.  I'm not really a big fan of breast feeding.  I do it because I honestly believe it's best for them and would be selfish if I didn't.  I may not be the best momma ever, but I try really, really hard to put their needs above my wants.  Anyway, back to the topic :-).  You might feel like you feed baby, change a diaper, get a half hour nap, then have to feed baby again.  It's exhausting, but really does help!  And how's your let down?  Strong?  I'm sure it is.  That could be part of the problem too.  If you have a really strong and fast let down, let the milk spray in to a burp cloth or wash cloth until it stops spraying, then let baby re-latch and finish the meal.  My friend said her daughter does best being upright while nursing.  If you bottle feed, you want your baby upright too.
-In fact, that leads us to the next point.  Baby should be upright as much as possible.  Both of my boys slept in their car seats for a while.  L was in there for what seemed like forever!  He needed to be sitting up like that, though.  Laying down flat makes it so much worse.  Do you have a moby wrap?  If not, it might be worth buying one so you can have baby upright in there while you go about your day.  Hands free AND helpful! Alright!
-Burp baby often.  Feed for 5 or 10 minutes and then burp.  And burp the correct way.  Don't just put baby against your shoulder.  It doesn't do much.  You need to put a little bit of pressure on baby's tummy.  If you insist on burping over your shoulder, put baby's tummy on your shoulder with his hands down your back.  I always felt like my babies were going to fall, so I didn't use this method.  I preferred to have my boys sit on my lap with their heads supported between my thumb and first finger.  Here's a picture of J burping L like this (but L was trying so hard to lift his head, so it's not the best example ever)

With them leaning forward like that, pat their backs nice and hard (not too hard, but enough to get that air out).  Some people find it helpful to put baby on their lap and bounce.  This didn't work well for us, but it might work better for you.
-Tummy time is important for reflux babies, but not right after a meal.  Wait AT LEAST a half hour!
-Some people find Hazel wood necklaces helpful.  I honestly didn't even try them and my friend said it did absolutely nothing for her kiddos.  They are expensive, but if you feel so inclined, give it a try.  I wouldn't have high hopes, though.
-Another thing I just recently learned (thanks to my friend!) is that Papaya is supposed to help a lot.  Don't like the taste?  I think they have vitamins or pills.

So, there ya go!  I might add to this if I think of anything, or if my super informed friend has anything to add.  If I have any readers with suggestions or comments, please feel free to let me know!  Reflux is an awful, awful thing and it would be wonderful for you to share!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Menu Monday, Jan 23. and Buckwheat Cookies

I'm kind of slacking off this week.  I know I shouldn't, but I'm doing it anyway.  I have meals planned, but no sides to go with them.  I'll just grab something out of the freezer each day I guess. 

Breakfast: waffles, eggs, bananas, cereal on the days we eat eggs, and I'm going to make some gf chocolate chip muffins
Snack: same ol' same ol'  Fruit (I have a few apples, clementines and grapes left from last week.)
Lunch: hopefully leftovers most days.  I also have some lunch meat and some bread in the freezer.
Snack: raisins, fruit snacks, cookies (which I haven't baked yet but hopefully will)
Dinner: Pizza with Bob's Red Mill's pizza dough mix, Tater tot casserole, Potato Soup, and French Onion Pork chops.  J's birthday is this week.  His last birthday in his 20's.  I think we're planning to go out for it.

For this week's recipe, I'm going to post my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Actually, I'm going to post the link to it,  It's from the Gluten Free Goddess.  HERE ya go!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Home Binder Week One


I know it's nothing fancy, but here is my weekly chore chart after the first week!  As you can see, I did really well in some areas, and not so great in others.  I wish I could say this week is off to a better start, but it pretty much looks very similar to this :)  I am planning to use this blog to keep myself accountable by posting an update every week on how I did, and then again at the end of the month when I have done my monthly chores.  T did a VERY good job at his chore chart last week.  I was very proud of him.  He also asked if he could vacuum his own room.  We vacuumed first and then let him have his turn.  He was very proud of himself and I was too!  He's becoming such a responsible young man :)


Monday, January 16, 2012

Menu Monday + a recipefor Taco Seasoning

I thought it would be nice to include a little recipe for the taco seasoning I've started making, just so I have it written down somewhere easy to get to.  But first, this week's menu :)

Breakfast: waffles x 2, eggs and cereal x 3, pancakes x 2.  As always, a banana and chocolate milk. 
Morning snack: apples, clementines, and grapes.
Lunch: leftovers x 4, lunch meat x 3.  I am going to try to make some bread to go with our lunch meat this week.  We will either have yogurt or string cheese, and then some type of snack like rice cakes or animal cookies (they are chocolate and my favorite gf cookie from the store.  mmm....)
Afternoon snack: raisins, apple sauce, yogurt, or string cheese
Dinner: Tacos (we like cheese and salsa on our tacos, but nothing else.  No other sides with this meal), meatloaf and peas, pulled bbq chicken with corn bread and salads, and brown sugar ham with potatoes and green beans.

You may have noticed that I only have four meals planned for dinner.  That's because my sister cooks for us once a week, we don't usually eat dinner on Sundays because we eat a big, late lunch after church, and then I leave one day open just in case we end up at my parents house for a meal or we feel like going out to eat.  I don't like to eat alone if J is working late, so we eat with my parents on those days. 

Ok, now for my pinterest taco seasoning find :)  I used parts of two different recipes, this and this.  Here's what I did:

1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sea salt
 
 
That is the recipe on the second link above.  Then I added in about 1 t of crushed red pepper flakes (from the first link above) because we like things a little more spicy.  We use about 2 TBS, but I'm not sure exactly how much since I just sprinkle it on there.  It's really not spicy, but has a really yummy taste.  Even my picky boys like it!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Productive Day!

Today has been productive.  The kids and I have been going upstairs to do "chores" after breakfast each morning.  I find this works really well for us!  It's a lot easier to have a set time to go make our beds.  T has started sleeping on top of his covers so he doesn't have to do it the next morning.  Silly, smart boy!  He loves his new chore chart.  Getting those smily faces is a huge motivation for him.  I've been using my grown up version of a chore chart today, too.  I like crossing off too :)  So far today, I've made my bed, run and emptied the dish washer, a load of laundry (actually, it's in the dryer.  I still need to fold and put away...about 4 loads...), the diapers, and exercised.  All that's left is to wipe down my kitchen, sweep, clear the clutter (toys, mostly) and go to Awana at church tonight!

J and I have started encouraging each other to eat better and drink more water.  Throughout the day, we've sent texts sharing what we've had.  Knowing that he planned to keep me accountable has helped me not to snack as much as I usually do (although, I'm not that much of a snacker.  We only have so many gf snacks here).  I put a little section on my daily plan sheet for my cross off how many cups of water I've had during the day.  It's 3 pm and so far, I've had 5 cups.  Working on #6 now.  For exercise, my wonderful sister came over and did Pilates with me.  I didn't think it would be THAT challenging, but I was wrong.  My legs are still burning!  My abs are already feeling tight too. 

L seems to be coming down with something.  His little voice is hoarse.  Poor guy!  He's been coughing, too.  Not much, but enough.  Last night he had a ton of congestion in his chest, and he's starting to feel warm.  He doesn't have a high fever or anything, but he's warmer than usual.  We just can't stay healthy for more than a week or two at a time.  This whole cold and flu stuff is really getting old!

Now that I've written about how productive I've been, it's time to get busy again.  But first, a little note from my Little L:

x ggggggggwegwe4ghwxc/'sssssssssss.        .

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

First run of the new year! First run in months...

It's been a while since I've last exercised.  Sure, I chase two little boys all day long and go for nice walks occasionally, but I haven't done anything to really get me moving in several months.  I've been thinking about running a lot lately.  It's not really something I enjoy, but I loved the way I felt last spring when I went often.  So I decided it was time to start that up again.  Not so easy since I HATE HATE HATE the cold!!!  We don't have to room (or finances...) to buy a treadmill, but thankfully my parents have one and they live close by!  I finally forced myself to take advantage of it!  I took the boys over there for lunch, then let them nap there.  T does fine with that, but L struggles sleeping anywhere other than his crib.  He's like his daddy and needs his routine.  Anyway, after spending a long, long time trying to get the stinker down, he finally fell asleep.  That gave me enough time to walk for 5 minutes, run for 25, and then walk for another 5 minutes at the end before T woke up.  My goal was to run for 30, but I just couldn't do the last 5 minutes.  It's ok, though.  I'm still really proud of myself for running that long without stopping.  Especially since it's been so long.  My goal is to do that often.  I'm guessing my mom will start charging me for child care ;) but at least I will feel better...and hopefully lose some of this pudge going on in my tummy. 

Another exciting thing that happened today related to my goals for the year: I finished putting my home binder together!  Took some of the pages to get laminated and it's all set for tomorrow.  Yay!

Monday, January 9, 2012

First Menu Monday!

Here's my first weekly mean plan :)  I have been doing a dinner plan for a while now, but this is the first time I've planned all foods. 

Breakfast: Banana every day, eggs X 4 (we're big egg people.  It's just so easy and quick!) Pancakes X2, and waffles.
Snack: apples X 2, Orange X 2, apple sauce X 2, and snacks at church
Lunch: leftover chicken nachos, lunch meat with fruit snacks and string cheese, lunch meat with fruit snacks and yogurt, leftover creamy chicken with chips and string cheese, out with mom, and I still don't have a plan for Saturday.
Snack: raisins and dried strawberries, cookies and yogurt, raisins and string cheese, cookies, chips
Dinner: Leftovers, Stacy cooks,Creamy Italian Chicken with rice and broccoli, Brinner (eggs, gf toast, bacon, potatoes), Bacon wrapped chicken with peas and rolls, leftovers.

I realize that this isn't the healthiest of menu plans, especially our snacks.  But I figure once I have this whole menu planning under control, I can start working on making healthier choices.  One thing at a time here.  If anyone would like to post YOUR weekly menu, I'd love to see it!  I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed trying to figure this out and would love to copy some of your meals :)

Friday, January 6, 2012

Home Binder

I've been reading more and more about something called a Home Binder.  It is basically the more organized list of things that need to be done to manage a home.  At first, I thought people who used those were crazy obsessive with cleaning and organizing.  But now, I'm starting to see that maybe they are people like me...people who have no direction, need to see something plain and clear right in front of them, and people who lose everything if it's not together in a binder ;)  So the past few days, I've been researching and trying to figure out what exactly a home binder needs, or more specifically, what MY family needs.  I need it to be simple.  I really like simple.  It has to have a check list because I just really like to cross things off.  It makes me feel happy and productive, lol.  I have been looking around the Money Saving Mom web site and really like a lot of her ideas.  I've also been looking at Iheart Organizing's ideas and others I've found at random places and I've been picking and choosing things that might work for me.  So, here's what I have planned so far.  It's broken into 7 sections, I will use those nifty dividers with pockets to separate the sections.

1- A page with our last name and a Bible verse.  J things I am crazy but I think it's cute.  It's for our family and it's to help me to be a better house keeper, two things that are important to me and to make me more like the Proverb's 31 woman.  It's the very reason for this binder, and it's going in there first thing ;)

2- A list of important phone numbers.  This will include our doctors (pediatrician, primary care, obgyn, dentist, eye doctor...) all of their numbers need to be in an easy place for me to find.  Our cell phones, J's work phone, family members numbers, church, neighbors, and any other number that I feel is important to have handy.

3. Next will be a list of every single chapter in the Bible.  J and I have decided to start reading and try to get through the whole thing.  We are not planning to do it in a year, but we want to do it.  When we read a chapter, we will cross it off.  Yay!  I've already said how excited I get about crossing things off my list!

4. A calendar.  Self explanatory.

5. Here's where the crazy obsessive comes in.  I plan to have a detailed list of all the chores I want done over a year.  This section will have three pages.  One will be a list of the whole year, broken into daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly sections.  I want it all on one page.  Another page will be a detailed list of weekly chores.  This will have my daily chores and weekly chores, and I will cross the weekly chores off as I do them.  More crossing things off!  I love it!  I am not planning to have certain days to do certain chores.  Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to clean the bathrooms, I'd rather clean my appliances.  Whatever day I do things doesn't really matter to me, all that matters is they get done.  The last part of this section will be a daily to do list.  This will have my daily chores, any extra errands or chores that need done, and a detailed menu for that day.  I also get to check things off this list :) 

6. Speaking of a detailed menu, this year I'm planning to become more organized with my menu too.  Last year I planned out dinners.  It helped a lot!  But I often find myself wondering what we will eat for lunch, or I search for something to give the boys as snacks and wonder, "have they had this too much lately?"  If I had a list of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner, I know exactly what to give them, when!  It's going to be great!  I hope... 

7. My last section.  It's going to be a list of all the bills we pay, the dates they are due, and I'll keep my check book in one of those cool little pockets on the dividers I want to get.  Most of our bills are paid automatically, but I still want to write down exactly when they are due. 

Ok, so that's it!  It's been a little overwhelming trying to figure out what exactly I want, but now that I've pretty much got it, I'm excited.  I still have to finalize my list of chores (pretty much everything in section 5), but other than that, I've got it ready to put together!

Kids are waking up.  I finished this blog at the perfect time :) 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Happy New Year!

It has been about a year since I started this blog.  The reason I started it was to try to keep myself accountable in the goals I set for the new year.  How has 2011 gone by so fast???  I was not able to keep up with this blog as I had wanted, but I really think it helped me to clearly see where I was headed.  I had my daily topics, Monday madness had to do with my crazy boys was to help me be a better mother (more patient, loving, and wise).  Tasty Tuesday had to do with saving money and taking care of our home (I was trying to eat out less), Wednesday's walk with God was to help me in my devotionals and relationship with Him.  Thoroughly clean Thursday was the area I really wanted to change this past year...I wanted to learn to keep a clean house!  And last was Friday's looking good, which was to help me exercise and stay on top of my hair and clothes and things.  Honestly, I totally fell off the wagon on this one.  There are so many days where I stay in my comfy sweats and never get dressed. 

Overall, I think keeping this blog has helped me stay focused on the things I was trying to change.  I am really hoping to do a better job at posting so that I can keep moving on these goals.  I still have such a long way to go.  J and I have set specific goals for 2012 and I had planned on posting them here, but in normal Linda fashion, I lost our list.  2012 is off to a good start, right?  Lol!  I have not decided yet if I am going to continue to do daily themes, or if I'm going to throw that out the window. I am pretty sure I will have some daily themes, but probably not a theme for every day.  I kind of felt tied to that and like I couldn't post what was on my mind because it wasn't that day's theme.  Right now, I'm thinking I will do at least Menu Monday, to help keep me accountable to creating a weekly menu complete with breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.  I will probably keep Wednesday's walk with God too.  I like having a day to share what God has been teaching me.  Other than that, I'm not sure.  I guess we'll see :)

I hope you all are off to a wonderful start of the year.  God has big plans for us this coming year!  I can't wait to see what's in store!