Jacob: one year!

My Jacob is a year old. It's gone by so very fast!

When he was weighed and measured two weeks ago Jacob had gained a pound in two weeks! He was up to 19lbs 5oz, and just a hair under 28". Which puts him up to 19th percentile for weight, and 2nd for height! This is the first time since he was a month old that Jacob has been above the 1st percentile for height.

Jacob is always learning new things. Alex is especially amazed by it, as he is so used to animals -who seldom learn much new once they are able to walk on their own.

 Jacob has learned to sign "all done" when he is finished eating now. He also waves "bye-bye" and "goodnight". While I know how smart he is, it's exciting to have an understandable form of communication. So far most of Jacob's learning has been problem solving and physical. Until now he hasn't shown many signs of wanting to communicate with us. A few weeks back Jacob took his pointing a step further too when he was consistently pointing to the correct item when we would ask him "Where is the tree?", or, "Where is the light?" and now he'll even point to "dada". Because of how much he liked his whistle, Alex and I bought Jacob a little kazoo. He quickly figured out how to hum into it to make noise, and for a few days he walked around the house with it. Just today he figured out how to turn a light on using a light switch. We've been letting him turn lights off for a while now, but today was the first time he was able to get the switch up. He was so proud of himself! He started flipping the light off and on just to show off what he had learned.

Christmas was a lot of fun. Jacob got to have his first chocolate covered pretzel, and he made a huge mess! He decided the pretzel was no good once the chocolate was gone. He also got to open some gifts. It took him a few tries to get the hang of it. Mainly because he was so used to us telling him "no" when he messed with the presents under the tree that he got jumpy when we tried to let him open one. By the end of the day he was able to tear the paper off like a pro. It was fun to watch him just tearing into his birthday presents yesterday.



Walking is Jacob's main way of getting around now. He may very well be running in a few weeks, he's almost run a few times now when his daddy is chasing him.

What a crazy, fast, wonderful, exhausting, challenging year it has been. And I wouldn't trade a day of it. I love my little man!

Why I'm a bad blogger

1) I'm not committed to blogging and getting traffic on my blog. I have far too many other things that are a higher priority.

2) I have plenty of opinions, but don't want to come across as "my way is the only way" with everything, and I don't want to seem judgmental. I also don't like posting a bunch of rants. So sometimes I just don;t post anything at all.

3) I read other blogs, but I seldom comment.

4) I'm not confident in my writing. I sort of just do it for me and it isn't a necessity like it used to be (back when I had a detailed daily journal)

5) Sometimes just stopping and enjoying the moments brings far more joy than trying to write down every detail. Though I do love sharing Jacob's monthly developments.

6) I just don't feel like I'm as good at writing things of interest as I used to be.

7) I don't have an "attractive" blog. Not because I haven't read all the tips on how to attract more readers by my page design, but because I'm always too busy to try to change anything.

So, unless I work on changing, it may just be the monthly updates of Jacob and a random thought now and then. And for now, I'm okay with that.

Jacob 11 months

My sweet little man is almost a year old!

On Monday Jacob was weighed and measured. My little peanut is now 18lbs 5oz, and 27 and 3/8 inches tall. He is still in the 1st percentile for height, but his weight went from 3rd percentile, to 12th! I think that having eased him into drinking some whole cow's milk has helped him gain a little weight.

Jacob wears quite a variety of different clothing sizes. He wears 6-9 month pants, 6-12 month onesies, and 12 month pajamas. He is still swimming in size 3 disposable diapers though.

Jacob eats very well, despite the fact that he has started to hate most purees. He does really good eating most normal foods, even though he only has two bottom teeth. He particularly loves eggs and breakfast sausage, dinner rolls, ramen noodles, and stuffing. He had his first grilled cheese sandwich the other day as well, and seemed to enjoy it! As I mentioned before, he drinks milk now too, usually a few ounces with each meal.

After his second haircut. I cannot believe how fast his hair grows!

As for new "tricks", Jacob has learned a lot this month. He blows in his whistle now...which mean he can also blow bubbles in his milk. He makes kissy noises, loves to point at things and be told what they are, and he has started walking! It is so cute to see him toddle his way across the livingroom, and he is so proud if himself. Jacob also knows how to open the toilet lid, pull on the toilet paper, and flush the toilet! Alex and I joke that now he just needs to learn how to tell us when he has to go potty.

Obedience is something that is very important to Alex and I, so we started early on with training Jacob to listen. He understands -and most of the time listens to- "No", and "Come here". We're very proud of him! It has made having a Christmas tree in our livingroom a lot easier than it would have been with a less compliant child. We still have to remind him not to touch it, but it's not a constant thing.

Sleep. Sleep is and has consistently been my biggest struggle as Jacob's mommy. He is just a sleep fighter through and through. I can do everything by the book and he still wakes up 2-8 times a night. We haven't given up though! We're slowly weaning him off of being nursed as often, and no more nighttime pacifier. He has actually started to do a bit better the past week or so, so I'm hopeful.

With each month that passes, and each milestone learned I'm more and more amazed at what a bright, happy, responsive little man we have been blessed with. Jacob is constantly bringing Alex and I joy and making us laugh in delight. I don't know where he got his big personality from, but I love it!

Being thankful for the good in the bad

I've been a bit of a whiner lately. Sad, but true. And earlier today I was whining about things in my head again. When i realized it, I was ashamed of myself.

I have no excuse to be ungrateful and upset with where I am at in life, and with what I have been given. So, as an exercise in thankfulness I decided that I need to make a list. A list in which I find something good to say about every single one of the complaints I have had recently. Who knows, it may end up being a lot easier than I expect...

* I was feeling sorry for myself that Alex is gone so much of the day, it feels like our time together is so limited now. But, I am thankful that Alex has a good job! I'm thankful that he gets paid overtime for any time he is working past 3:30pm, and I'm thankful that he gets home safely every evening and that he does get to spend time with Jacob and I before bed. I'm also thankful, and proud, with how well Alex has been able to adjust to working full-time again.

* I was feeling annoyed that I don't want to eat any of the food we have in the house. I'm thankful that eating less could help me lose weight, and thankful that we have food available! I'm also thankful that my hubby doesn't let me get away with going out to get something every night just because I'm being picky.

* Lack of sleep was/is causing stress, anxiety, and emotional upheaval. I'm thankful that when I do get to sleep I have a nice, warm, comfortable bed to sleep in, freshly laundered sheets and pillows, and Alex to keep me warm. I'm thankful for my little Jacob even when he does wake me up. Every time he starts fussing at night it's a reassurance that he's still breathing! I'm thankful for the joy that he is to me, and how wonderful he is. Honestly, I think the sleep issue is really the most difficult part of caring for him right now.

* I was upset and angry at myself that I have put weight back on. But, I'm thankful that I was able to lose almost 50lbs this year! (not counting the weight lost because of having Jacob) I'm thankful that I have felt happier, had more energy, and been able to wear most of my pre-pregnancy clothes. I'm also thankful that I know if I put my mind to it I can lose the weight again.

* I've been stressed out because the new house still isn't in order and organized yet, and some days I feel like I get nothing done. I'm thankful that we have a new, bigger, house. A house where I don't have to smell cigarettes and marijuana from an upstairs neighbor (we don't have one!) A house with a garage, with a spare room, and a non-carpeted dining room. I'm thankful that we have been so abundantly blessed with things that it is taking me this long to find spots for it all. I'm thankful for Goodwill, and that I can pass on unused clothes and items rather than wasting space on them. I'm thankful for my son who is the biggest distraction from getting anything done, but the most fun "job" I have during the day.

* I have been annoyed with the amount of poopy diapers Jacob has every single day, and gotten tired of the hassle of rinsing cloth diapers. I'm thankful that Jacob is eating well and that his body is processing foods well! I'm thankful for our friends who let us borrow their cloth diapers, and that I we have been able to save so much money by using them. And I'm thankful for the huge sense of relief i have every time I get a diaper that's just wet.

And...I'm done for now. The more I wrote about what I was thankful for, the less I was able to think of things I've been unhappy with.

What are you thankful for?

Pretzel kiss candies

Today I'm going to share a simple recipe for some of the yummiest salty/sweet candies ever! I found the idea for these candies online. Nobody seems to know who the original creator was, so if it was you, thank you! These are amazing.

Preheat the oven to 275*

Make a single layer of pretzels. Any shape of pretzel could be used...except rods.

Unwrap and place a single hershey's kiss on each pretzel. Place them in the oven for about 6 minutes.

Choose a candy to place on top. I used regular M&Ms and Reese's pieces, I also made a few with candy corn.

Place a candy in the middle of each kiss and press down gently

Let them cool, and enjoy! Just try not to eat them all at once.

I'm sure that you could make all sorts of varieties for this. Mint kisses with Christmas colored M&Ms, rolos with pecans on top, or even the seasonal pumpkin pie kisses with pecans...the ideas are pretty much endless, and you could make them work for any season!

10 months!!

My little man is ten months old today!!

By now I'm pretty sure Jacob will always be a little peanut. He is so small still! He now wears 3-6 month pants, and 6-9 month onesies. He is also now wearing size 3 disposable diapers -not because he was outgrowing the 2s- but because he is growing, and we wanted to buy a large pack without risking him outgrowing them partway through the box.

Jacob eats very well. He was eating six jars of baby puree a day, plus a snack and nursing three-six times. We are in awe of how much food this little guy can pack away!
Now that we're buying some 6oz jars of food, he only eats three or four jars a day.
So far, other than the few weeks he refused to eat baby meat (I don't blame him!) Jacob has never turned down a food. I don't know if he really has any favorites. He does always polish off apple, strawberry, banana. He also loves animal crackers.

Sleep is going a bit better. This morning was the first time that Jacob slept through Alex getting up and leaving for work. I'm hopeful that it will stick this time!

As far as learning new things, Jacob figured out how to turn his walker around last week. It used to be that whenever he ran into a wall, or some other obstacle, he would scream and cry in frustration. Now he just moves to the other side and pushes it away from whatever is in his way. Such a relief! We also discovered that the laundry basket makes a better walker than his walker does. So now our dirty laundry stays in a pile on the floor because the basket is almost always in use for Jacob to walk around.
Yesterday Jacob fed himself a bite of food with a spoon for the very first time! He was so proud of himself, and the mess of broccoli and carrots on his tray, face, feet, hands, and clothes were definitely worth it!
Also yesterday Jacob figured out how to use a straw. He is so short that even though he knew how to use his own sippy cup, he had to lay down every time, because he wasn't able to tilt the bottom of the cup far enough up to get water. So we bought him a sippy with a straw and he learned how to use it really fast!
One of his favorite toys right now is a lid to one of his bottles. It has a tiny little hole in it and he discovered that if he puts the lid over his mouth and inhales it whistles. he does this often now! He was even doing it in the bath and making the water that was in the cup gurgle. When he has two bottle lids, he smacks them together like cymbals. He also gives kisses now, mostly just to me. but has given his daddy and "Aunt" Deena one. Big, open-mouthed, splobbery kisses...that will sometimes turn into a bite on the chin or nose. Biting is something we're trying to nip in the bud super fast!

Jacob's smile has changed now too. He has a wide cheesy grin, and he loves to grin! It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen, I just never seem to be able to catch it on camera.  For the most part he is happy and outgoing. He never fails to elicit at least one comment while we are at the store.

My little man is such a joy! I am trying to cherish every minute. It's passing so very fast!

Something to think about.

 When Alex and I started dating Alex introduced me to one of his favorite series of books. It's called The Sword of Truth and is written by Terry Goodkind.

Book eight in the series. where the following excerpts are from.

I still haven't finished the series and when we unpacked the books after moving last month I decided to pick up where I had left off. I came to a few different passages that really resonated with me as I read them. It was like the author was able to put in to words some of my feelings about what I believe and how I will act on those beliefs. So I decided to share them here.

 If you want to have a full grasp of the story I suggest you read the books, but here is a summarization of what's going on in this part: There is an evil army (the Order) taking over the land, raping, ruining, and destroying everything in their path. One village of people feel that fighting back will make them evil and that everyone has some good in them and should have a second (or third) chance to do the right thing. The main character of the books is trying to teach them otherwise.

"If, hoping to appease it, you willingly compromise with unrepentant evil, you only allow such evil to sink its fangs into you; from that day on its venom will course through your veins until it finally kills you."

"But that's too harsh a sentiment," the man said, "it's just being stubborn and obstructing a constructive path. There is always room for compromise." ...

..."In trade between willing parties who share moral values and who deal fairly and honestly with one another, compromise over something like price is legitimate. In matters of morality or truth, there can be no compromise.
"Compromising with murderers, which is precisely what you are suggesting, grants them moral  equivalence where none can rightly exist. Moral equivalence says that you are no better than they; therefore, their beliefs -that they should be able to torture, rape, or murder you- is just as morally valid as your view - that you have the right to live free of their violence. Moral compromise rejects the concept of right and wrong. It says that everyone is equal, all desires are equally valid, all action is equally valid, so everyone should compromise to get along.
"Where would you compromise with those who torture, rape, and murder people? In the number of days a week you will be tortured? In the number of men to be allowed to rape your loved ones? In how many of your family are to be murdered?
"No moral equivalence exists in that situation, nor can it exist, so there can be no compromise, only suicide.
"To even suggest compromise can exist with such men is to sanction murder."

And later, when the same group of people are saying that the popular decision of the people is the right one:

"But we must reach a consensus," one man said.

"For what purpose?" Richard asked.

"In order for our decision to be correct," he explained.
"No proper decision about the right course of action in any important situation can be made without consensus."

"You are attempting to give moral authority to mob rule," Richard said.

"But a consensus points to the proper moral judgment," another man insisted, "because it is the will of the people."

"I see," Richard said. "So what you're saying is that if all of you men decide to rape my sister, here, then it's a moral act because you have consensus to rape her, and if I oppose you, I'm immoral for standing alone and failing to have a consensus behind me. That about the way you men see it?"

The men shrank back in confused revulsion. One spoke up.
"Well...no, not exactly-"

"Right and wrong are not the product of consensus," Richard said, cutting him off."You are trying to make a virtue of mob rule. Rational moral choices are based on the value of life, not a consensus. A consensus can't make the sun rise at midnight, nor can it change a wrong into a right, or the other way around. If something is wrong, it matters not if a thousand other men are for it; you must still oppose it. If something is just, no amount of popular outcry should stay you from your course."

And, the last section I am going to share, the people are again arguing that there is no such thing as evil.

"Kaja-Rang banished your people not only because they couldn't see magic, but, more importantly, because they couldn't see evil."

In restless disquiet the men glanced about at their companions. "But what you call evil is just a way of expressing inner pain," one of them said, more as a plea than an argument.

"That's right," another told Richard. "Saying someone is evil is prejudiced thinking. It's a way of belittling someone already in pain for some reason. Such people must be embraced and taught to shed their fears of their fellowman and then they will not strike out in violent ways."

Richard swept his glare across all the watching faces. He pointed up at the statue.
"Kaja-Rang feared you because you are dangerous to everyone - not because you are ungifted, but because you embrace evil with your teachings. In so doing, in trying to be kind, to be unselfish, in trying to be nonjudgmental, you allow evil to become far more powerful than it otherwise would. You refuse to see evil, and so you welcome it among you. You allow it to exist. You give it power over you. You are a people who have welcomed death and refuse to denounce it.
"You are an empire naked to the shadow of evil."

If I wanted to make it fit my thoughts as I read it some of the phrases would be just a bit different.
Such as: "Rational moral choices are based on the value of life, not a consensus"  would say "Rational moral choices are based on the truth of God's Word, not a consensus."
As I read this book I just kept thinking how very fitting it was for society today. A society where you are considered prejudiced and mean if you say anyone is wrong. A society that calls wrongdoing a medical condition and gives it scientific names and prescribes drugs to "fix it". A society that thinks we should embrace everyone no matter what, and that "if you don't like something, don't do it"..need I go on?
It bothers me, and it irritates me, sometimes it angers me, and when it comes down to it, even if I am alone against a thousand other people I want to stand for the truth of what's right and point out evil for what it really is.

Where would you stand? Take a moment. Think about it

Jacob 9 months old

I was tempted to write an update on Jacob at eight and a half months old. He learned so much in just a few weeks!

One day he learned how to sit up in his crib, the next time I went to get him he was standing up holding the rails, and the very next day he figured out how to crawl!

Yesterday Jacob was weighed and measured. he weighs 16lbs 12oz now, and is 26 inches long. Percentile wise this means he is in third percentile for weight, and not even on the charts for height. My little peanut. He wears mostly 0-3 month pants with a few 3-6 thrown in, and he wears mostly 6-9 month onesies.

Jacob has started eating a lot more over the past week or so. Partially because he's finally over his cold (after two rounds of antibiotics) I'm sure. Most days he eats a jar of fruit for breakfast, a jar of veggies for lunch, and a jar of veggies and a jar of meat for dinner, with a few snacks of crackers or finger foods thrown in. Last week he got to try spaghetti and meatballs for the first time, which he absolutely loved, and last night he had some of our tuna casserole. I'm pretty sure that very soon he'll just start eating whatever Alex and I are eating.

Spaghetti face!

Jacob just started saying "mama" the other day. But it's not something that happens often. I normally only hear it when he is talking to himself during playtime. He has been playing by himself really, really well this past week. I love how many things have improved with his health! He loves his little push-walker. He walks all over the livingroom and hallway. It doesn't even phase him when he runs into a wall, he just keeps pushing and bouncing the wheels off of whatever is in his way. He loves dancing too, even if it's just bobbing his head up and down while sitting. I love to watch him enjoying music!

Books are quite fun too. Jacob loves turning the pages and some of his favorite books are the touch and feel ones where there are different textures for him to rub.

Reading with Daddy!

Crawling has improved in the two weeks since he started! Jacob crawls over the house now, and he's fast! He has what we call a gimpy leg. He pushes off with one foot to go forward and drags the other one behind him. It is so cute, but it took me a few days to figure out why the top of one foot was always dirty by bedtime. I also joke about the fact that I always know where he is as long as he's moving because he hums to himself. It's when he stops to play with something that I have to go check on him.

Jacob is learning the concept of  "No" and doing very well! His favorite "toy" is electrical cords, so it seems like we're telling him no a lot. Usually as soon as we'll say it he will drop -or stop reaching for- the cord, and after a few times of trying, he'll go find something else to do. I'm so proud of him.

Chewing on a cord

I'm sure there are other little things I'm forgetting. Like the fact that he learned how to clap over a month ago, he loves to wave his arms when he's excited, he's starting to learn how to wave "hi" and "bye-bye", and is pretty good at high-fives.

I love when he gets enough sleep and wakes up happy!

 Sleep is still a struggle. What with him getting sick, then us moving, me getting sick, then him still being sick, and me getting sick again, it feels like we haven't been able to keep a very regular schedule for him. It's a work in progress though, and now that he's better and I'm almost all better, I'm sure it will happen soon.

Jacob and Opal. They were Mickey and Minnie, completely unplanned

I love watching my baby grown and learn, it's hard to believe it's been nine months already!!

The Case of the Mixed Up Mailboxes

So, I mentioned a few days (or was it weeks?) back that Alex and I were moving. We literally moved just down the driveway. Our address change? It consists of two numbers and a letter being changed. Sounds easy, right?

Well, apparently it's not. We've had trouble from week one. This driveway with all eight apartments, one duplex, and one house shares a large mailbox with multiple compartments. Sort of like a mini P.O. box wall.

Like this!

We got our new mailbox key and within a few days we got a bright yellow slip of paper in our mailbox saying that if the address was vacant, tear of the perforated edge that said "Vacant!" and leave it there. If not we were to put our names and address on the paper and return it to the mailbox. So we did, the same time as we filled out a change of address form for the post office. Apparently I put the wrong apartment number on the yellow paper though. B rather than A, so it ended up in our Grandma's box (she lives in the other half of the duplex). So a few days later when we got another yellow slip of paper we filled it out correctly and put it back in the box.

A week or more passed by. We still hadn't gotten any forwarded mail. Just a letter saying that we had requested a change of address and needed to confirm it, but they had spelled our last name wrong. So we went to the post office and they filled out a form that they said would fix it
We still had the key to the old mailbox and occasionally got something there. But then we returned the key with all the old apartment keys, only to realize a few days later we still hadn't gotten any mail in our new mailbox except for junk mail or mail addressed to the previous tenants. Then we got a third yellow slip of paper, the same as the first two. For some reason it took until this point to realize that things still weren't straightened out.
So one day last week while Alex was at work I walked to the post office and told them the trouble we were having. The lady told me that it can take 5-7 days for the address change to go into effect. When I explained that we had filled it out almost 3 weeks prior, she just kind of shrugged and said that I was at the wrong branch to get it straightened out.
When we realized that this wasn't going to fix itself Alex and I talked to our old landlord and he graciously let us borrow our old mailbox key again. We were still getting mail at our old address. Also, on Saturday Grandma brought over a package that was addressed to us, and had our new address on it, but it ended up in her box.

Yesterday Alex got home from work early enough that we could drive to the other post office building to try to get this mess straightened out. Before we left I checked both mailboxes. In our old one was a whole stack of mail. Three things addressed to our new address, one with a forwarding sticker to our new address, and two with the old address. In our new mailbox was another of the yellow slips. Only this one had sharpie on it. Scrawled across the top were some questions marks and the phrase "No name, no mail". We were so confused, and so frustrated. We've done everything we could think of to make our new address obvious. So we just took the mail in with us to the post office, hoping we could finally get this mess fixed.

We were not so fortunate.

The lady working behind the desk listened to our little story and said "You need to fill out a change of address form."
We told her we had.
"Well, you need to fill out the yellow paper"
Again, we told her that we had. Twice.
"Oh, well, maybe the carrier is just confused because you weren't picking up your mail, so he though it was vacant."
Umm, what?? We told her that we hadn't been getting any mail in our new box to pick up.

So, she made a copy of the envelope with the forward sticker on it and said she would talk to the mail carrier.

Right now as far as we know nothing has been resolved. The lady pretty much said it was our fault somehow and shrugged off the problem. A new tenant will be moving into our old apartment and I'm starting to feel more than just a bit anxious to get this all taken care of. Especially since Alex's pay stub, and my driver's license change of address sticker were both put in the old mailbox despite having the new address on them. Not exactly the kind of things we want a complete stranger being able to get a hold of.

I guess we'll find out how things are going when I check the mail today. Wish me luck!

*Update*
When I checked the mail yesterday I was relieved to discover that the problem has been fixed. There is now a yellow vacant slip in our old mailbox saying that we have moved to this address. Yay! The old keys have been returned (again) and I'm hopeful that we won't have anymore problems.

What I've learned so far: the cloth diaper edition

When I first found out I was pregnant I decided that I didn't want to do cloth diapering. I remember helping out with some of my younger siblings who were in cloth, and I remember hating it. I have vague memories of having to stand over the toilet swishing a diaper around until it was sort of rinsed off, and then holding my breath for that awful few seconds it took to put it in the pail...I just didn't want to have to deal with it.

And then I had my baby and realized how expensive disposable diapers are, and how cloth diapers have changed. I decided it might be worth it to give it a try. At first I was going to make my own. An endeavor that resulted in a bag of thrift store cotton sheets and shop towels sitting in my craft room closet. I tried to make two different diapers just to see if it would work, and got so frustrated I quit.

The test run of making my own. I used one of Alex's old t-shirts. Classy, huh?

So a friend was kind enough to let us borrow her stash of FuzziBunz until we can build our own cloth diaper stash. It was a HUGE relief. If you have ever had with zero knowledge of cloth diapering and just started looking at things online, you understand why I was overwhelmed. I had no idea how many kinds of diapers there were, specific soaps, dos and do nots, opposite opinions, etc.

I've had a lot of help though, my sister in law has answered many questions for me, and a blog I've been following since last September, The Accidental Wallflower, just finished off a whole month dedicated to cloth diapering.

So here's a few things I've learned:
* A removable shower head makes the poop rinsing way easier than the old swishing method. Turn the nozzle to the power spray setting. Rinse it all down the drain. Done.
*Cloth diapering is not as difficult as I expected (once I finally got the hang of it) and I feel good knowing I'm doing what I can to save some money and not produce as much waste.
* Cloth diapers are expensive!! Cheaper in the long run, of course, but I still haven't saved up enough to start buying my own. They can be anywhere from $6-$18 per diaper!
* An open diaper pail actually makes a lot less of a stink. Don't believe me? I have an open trash can for dirty diapers sitting by my nursery doorway and you can't even tell it's there. (Unless you get really close and inhale deeply. But really, who would even want to try?)
* You have to change cloth diapers a little sooner. I usually change Jacob every 3 hours or so, unless he's poopy, then I change him right away.
* Cloth diapers do not work for night! At least not for my little guy. I tried double inserts, I tried rubber pants, I tried pre-fold with rubber pants. He woke up soaked every time. So I still buy about one pack of disposables every month because we use them for night.
* It's not as hard to keep up with as I thought it would be.
* I can understand the addiction to buying cute printed cloth diapers. I keep planning what patterns I want to buy once I get my own stash.
* The homemade laundry soap I use for diapers works so well and is so much cheaper, I now use it for all my laundry!

And lastly, there's just something so satisfying and domestic feeling about seeing a clothesline full of freshly washed cloth diapers drying in the sun.

Do you cloth diaper? Let me hear your experience!

Just a thought

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)

Ramblies

My last post was full of whining. Something I am a bit ashamed of. I'm just glad it doesn't happen often!

Things are going much better now. It's been a crazy, busy few weeks. The day after I published my whine, I did end up going to the doctor at immediate care. Just to clarify: some people who know me well know that I usually try to tough things out. This was not one of those cases. The only reason it took me a week to go to the doctor was because of finances.

Anyway, once I went I was diagnosed with conjunctivitis in both eyes  (which I already knew) and an upper respiratory infection that had caused ear infection in both ears, and tonsillitis. I was relieved to find out that
1) the shakes, chills, and fever were just from the respiratory infection
2) that the antibiotics should clear everything up in just a few days
3) that the antibiotics they were going to give me were perfectly safe for breastfeeding. I'm so glad I remembered to ask, because at first the doctor wasn't sure, and he ended up switching me to one that pediatrics said was safe. Let me tell you, when I first asked and he wanted to know if formula was an option my heart just sank.

I started on the medicine right away, but it took two days before I felt human again...
and then things got worse.
Tuesday morning I woke up and my eyes were so sensitive I couldn't even open them! Have you ever been suddenly poked in the eye and not been able to open it for a few moments? It was like that, but it didn't get better after a few moments. Alex and I looked at the large paper covered in fine print that comes with every prescription and found a line that said to call a doctor if I was experiencing light sensitivity.

To make a long story short(er) I went back to the immediate care, where they looked at my eyes and sent me to the medical eye center. They looked at my eyes with their microscope thing and said I had spots on my corneas. Told me to stop using the eye drops I had and wrote me a new prescription. I was constantly wearing sunglasses/squinting/and dimming lights the next few days. But I am finally feeling back to normal.

We took Jacob to his doctor on Monday. He's had a cough and a runny nose for almost a month now, and we wanted to be sure it wasn't turning into something worse. They told us that he just has a bad sinus infection, and gave him a prescription for antibiotics. His cough is already better!

In other news, Alex got a job!! God has truly answered our prayers in this area. It was a leap of faith to move into a bigger place when we had no idea how or when we would be getting more income. Alex started work today, and I am so proud of him! It will be an adjustment for us as this is the first time he has been working since we go married -up til now he has been a full time student- but I'm sure we'll do fine.

I've also been doing a bit better with my homemade headbands. I've been working with the owner of a baby boutique in town and she has rented me a space in her store where I can display my items. I feel like I've done really good! I sell 1-4 headbands a week. I really need to make some more, my inventory is getting low. So I've been trying to focus on getting the spare room ready for me to start crafting again! I would love to do a giveaway of some sort really soon, whether through my blog or my business page. So keep your eyes open for that.

I've been so busy, and have so many projects going on, besides being a mommy, trying to get everything in place at a new home, and getting over being sick. I love that I'll never be bored. However, it means that I keep putting off writing blogposts. Hopefully you'll see a few more in the near future, but for now...my sweet boy is napping and I am going to go do some cleaning!

A whine

There's this song that has a line in it that goes:
"I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down"

I just want to say, that is not my theme song right now. I feel like this week has just been one thing after another, and I don't want to get back up again. I want to lay in bed and sob and then just sleep until things get better. I am so exhausted, so worn out.

Monday I woke up with a terrible case of pink eye/conjunctivitis. I thought there was no need to worry though, I still had drops from last time I had it...two years ago. Fail. The drops had expired in January.
"Okay" I thought, "that just means they will take a bit linger to work, they're just not as potent."
Wrong again.
After using the drops all day Monday, and all day Tuesday there was absolutely no improvement. If anything my eye looked worse.

Tuesday was also moving day. Alex and I recently decided to move into a three bedroom duplex and leave our old apartment behind. Not that we were going that far, the new place literally shares a driveway.

Anyway, we spent all day Tuesday moving, we had some friends who were in town helping us, and we were able to get all the big stuff done. Though not without some difficulties: I stained my brand new jeans, and Jacob has a terrible cold and refused to nap the whole day.

Wednesday I called my mom to see what she used to use on our pink eye, and Alex took me to the pharmacy to get some boric acid. On the way in I didn't notice the curb and I ended up falling on my knees. Hard. Which resulted in wounded pride and trouble walking. We went in the store only to discover you can't get boric acid over the counter anymore, and the only suggestion they had for my pink eye was to "get a prescription". Have I mentioned that I have no medical insurance? And that with moving and buying a new vehicle money is just a bit tight?

That night I had what felt like the flu. Chills, aches, fever. I was miserable, and didn't sleep well.

Thursday came around...more of the same. Pink eye with no improvement, felt OK in the morning only to be chilled and exhausted by later in the afternoon, and burning up with fever all night. We had almost finished moving all our stuff down to the new place though! Mom brought me a medicine they use on their goats when they get pink eye. It seemed to help just a bit with the scratchiness.

Today has been day five of the pink eye, only now it's spreading into my other eye. I've used the goat medicine four times now with no improvement. I've now also tried chamomile tea, ice water, breastmilk...nothing has brought relief yet. I have decided that I will have to go in to a doctor, because I don't want to risk it spreading to my guys. The chills and aches seem to be gone for tonight though!

Now that I've met my quota of whining for at least a few months...I think I'm gonna head to bed. Tomorrow's another day and I still have hopes of a miraculous improvement overnight.

Jacob 8 months

My sweet little baby is two thirds of a year old! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by, and I'm constantly amazed at what Jacob is learning and doing.

Last he was weighed -almost a month ago now- Jacob was just under 16lbs, and about 25 and 1/2 inches long. I'm guessing he is at least 16.5lbs now, and I can tell he's getting taller. We'll have to wait a few days to find out for sure. He's still wearing some 0-3 month clothes, but is mostly in 3-6month now. Still in size 2 disposables, when we use them.


Jacob is now standing almost all the time! Not on his own yet, but he pulls himself up on almost everything. His favorite toy is an activity table out neighbors have let us borrow until their baby grows into it. He stands and plays on it for an hour or more at a time, and when he pushes the buttons that play music he has a little dance that he does. He still gets upset when he falls over, but it seldom happens anymore.
Crawling hasn't happened yet, but Jacob does scoot backwards very well, and is able to turn in circles. Just yesterday he went from tummy to knees and arms, to feet and arms, so I'm guessing that he'll start crawling over the next few weeks, and maybe even learn how to stand on his own.

Sleep has been pretty bad for a few weeks. He had been sleeping 10 hours straight at night, but then he started teething, then he got a cough, and now he has a terrible cold. So for now I'm back to getting up every two hours at night. I'm expecting to have to do so for at least another week since we are in the middle of moving right now. I think Jacob will adjust to the new place pretty fast though, and as soon as he is able to breathe easily again, we're going to re-start his sleep training.

Speaking of teething, Jacob still doesn't have any teeth. It's too hard to try to see his gums, so I don't even know how close he is to getting them. I'm sure he'll just surprise me one day.

As for food, Jacob isn't very picky He loves pretty much anything we give him. The other day I cooked some ramen noodles, and instead of using the seasoning I stirred in a little bit of sweet potato. He loved it! I let him feed himself so he was grabbing handfuls of noodles and putting them in his mouth. It was a huge mess, but so much fun to watch! The next time I gave him noodles he discovered that an easier way to eat them was to just bend over and suck them off of his tray. I wish I had been able to get a video.

Like I said, we are moving right now, so I don't have my newest pictures of Jacob uploaded yet. I'll have to do a photo dump later. So I'll just leave you with this shot from a few weeks ago

Isn't he the cutest?

Jacob: 7 months!

Jacob is seven months old!

7 month picture

He is still small for his age. Measuring in (a week ago) at 14lbs 15oz, and 25 and a 1/4 inches long, he's actually on the percentile charts now!
Jacob is learning new things so very fast, it's hard to keep up with.
He had just barely learned to sit up on his own when he started rolling over, now he is learning how to grab onto things and pull himself to standing. We had been practicing for one day - we were letting him grab our fingers and we would help him balance while he stood - and that same night during bathtime he grabbed onto the edge of the bathtub and stood up on his own! The side of the tub was short enough that he would have kept going right over the edge, but Alex was right there to catch him. We were both surprised! We hadn't expected him to start trying on his own so soon. Now Jacob is seldom content to just be sitting. He loves having someone there to pull himself up on, and he's even getting really good at taking steps. I don't know how much longer it will take him to figure out how to balance on his own, he might just completely skip crawling.

Sleep is going much better now. At the recommendation of a friend I bought the book The Sleepeasy Solution and started putting some of the ideas into practice. Most of the suggestions in the book I had already started doing, so it has been a rather easy progression into weaning him from night feeding and starting new habits. Jacob has been two weeks sleeping without his pacifier at night, and almost not at all during the day. (Except for the night of the wreck, he slept with his pacifier in) Over the week he's gone 6 then 7.5 hours at night without eating, and last night he slept over 10 hours straight with no feeding! I'm so very proud of him. Nap time can still be a struggle, especially when we're not at home, but I think I'm learning what will or won't work.

Jacob eats very well, finishes at least one 4oz jar of veggies in the evening, and one jar of fruit in the morning. He also loves eating little Gerber graduates cheese puffs. Today he even figured out how to eat a whole one, rather than biting off the end and throwing the rest.

He's making progress in learning sounds. This week he's been saying "dadada" and grunting a lot. he also mimics people talking, he watches them and opens and closes his mouth as if he's trying to talk. It's adorable!

We also think he is starting to seriously teethe again. His smile has changed and now instead of a big open-mouth smile that lights up his whole face, he has a wide, cheesy grin. Besides that, he bites down hard, on everything, and drools like crazy.
Jacob also gives me kisses now. Big, wide-open mouthed, drooly kisses. On my nose, or mouth, or forehead, or whatever his mouth can reach.

Trying a new hair-do

I'm loving this stage of life. I'm loving Jacob's amazing personality, the pride Jacob has every time he learns something new, his belly laugh, his smiles...I love being a mommy.

The wreck

If you're bothered by hearing/reading about automobile accidents, you should skip this post.

It had been a busy day. We had been out of town visiting Alex's parents at their ranch, and then helping some friends pack up as they prepare to move out of state.

It was late. We were tired, but happy. We felt like we had accomplished a lot. Jacob was exhausted -he still doesn't nap well when not at home- so we had worship music playing in the background to help soothe him to sleep. Alex and I were daydreaming, talking about the future, excited about possible opportunities. There was a lull in our conversation and we both started singing along with Chris Tomlin's "Famous One".

Everything happened so fast after that, some of it is just a blur, and some of it is clearly engrained in my memory.

Alex said "Oh my!"
I looked up and saw a gigantic bull elk standing in the road. In that split second I processed that the bottom of it's hindquarters were at about the height of our car, it's head was a different shade of brown from it's body -just like my mom's painting of an elk that I grew up admiring- and that it had a very large rack of antlers. Immediately after noticing all that, I knew we were going to hit it.

The world exploded.

It seemed deafening, the squealing brakes, a thunderous sound of impact, shattering glass. My eyes were closed and I could feel myself being peppered with the spray of something. It stung and I thought "So this is what a serious crash feels like" I think I prayed for protection. It all happened so fast.
I know that I didn't scream, but Jacob did. I think he had just fallen asleep when the noise of it all woke him up.
We came to a stop in just moments and I started processing noises again. Cars driving by, the smell of dirt and heat, grit and grains of glass in my mouth. I spit and then looked at Alex. He was okay, but two of his fingers were bleeding, he was dazed, and trying to remember where his hazard lights were. I had spots of blood on my left arm and everything was stinging still.
I can't explain why I did what I did next, but I stopped my ipod and turned the radio off. Maybe I just didn't want any other noises to overwhelm me. I fumbled in my purse for my phone then dialed 911 and handed the phone to Alex. Jacob was still crying and I needed to be sure he was okay. I turned around and saw one of the most terrifying sights in my life. He was sitting in his car seat crying, covered in glass. He had little pieces of glass in his hair and on his head, and big chunks of it just filling every space in the seat around him. I unbuckled him and slowly picked him up and over the seat. As soon as he was standing in my lap he stopped crying and I made sure he was okay. He had some blood smeared on his face, and a drop on his onesie, as well as a few scratches on his feet, but he seemed fine. Most of the blood on him was from my arm.
Alex was just finishing talking to the emergency operator when another car pulled off the road in front of us and a man came over. He asked if we were all okay, and what had happened. We assured him that we were fine and told him about the elk. We made a few jokes about it. I said that I prefer my elk meat cooked, and we all laughed a little. Alex was shaking like crazy and I grabbed his hand. It was such a relief to be alive, to be okay, to be holding my baby -who was covered in glass and had blood and scratches, but who was displaying his beautiful smile to a complete stranger despite it all.
The car was still running and we followed the man, Ben, off the road a bit more. I wanted to get all the little pieces of glass off of Jacob, but knew I shouldn't touch them, he looked like he had glitter poured on him, as did Alex and I.
I noticed that the windshield was shattered, but still holding together, and that the roof was dented in too. It looked like a giant, heavy ball had landed on our roof, then been removed, just leaving the round indentation. The windshield was low enough it was practically touching us, I had to keep Jacob from grabbing it. I noticed that the hair tie I had used as a temporary fix to hold my visor in place had snapped. Such a silly, minor thing to notice.
Ben asked us if we had dogs. I thought he was just trying to keep us talking to be sure we weren't in shock. Alex told him we had a cat at home, but had just left some friends who had dogs. Then we looked around. What I had thought was dried grass was elk hair, and we were covered in that too. It was stuck around the edges of the window, scattered across the dashboard, on our pants, in our hair...we talked about how crazy it was. Ben walked down the road a little ways to see if he could find any sign of the elk, and Alex called one of our friends from church. I noticed that the back window was blown out, and realized that it must have been the glass on Jacob. I saw our skid marks and shattered glass on the road, and then the police and medics were arriving. Ben told us he was glad we were all okay, mentioned again how crazy it all was, and left.
The medics came and asked us how we were, amazed we had so few injuries. They asked if we were cold. I was shaking now too. It had taken that long for my nerves to set in. Jacob was smiling at the medics too.
After telling us how to rinse the glass off, the medics left. They had a lot of other calls to take care of.

Everything after that just seemed to take forever. The policeman had me sit in the back of his car, and Jacob was fussy, so I nursed him. I was nervous though because there was glass in my bra. He did fine, but because he was so tired he kept squirming. I had to hold him off of me, because I didn't want him rubbing in the powdered glass that was all over me. We were like that for the next 20 minutes or so. My left arm that was holding his head up started to burn, the muscle was so very tired. I just kept rocking and Jacob finally closed his eyes. Right then was when Todd, the friend we had called, arrived to give us a ride home. The tow truck had already come and taken Alex's car.
Alex told me later that when the tow truck operator arrived he said that the thought we had rolled, and that the car is almost definitely totaled.

When got home and we all showered, very carefully. Jacob was having a meltdown by this point we put him to bed. Alex and I took longer to unwind, go over what happened, trying to figure out where we'll go from here.
I'm a bit overwhelmed now. Everything that was in the car is covered in glass and elk hair. I despise elk hair. it's thick and dark, and I keep finding it in everything. I've already done a load of our laundry, but there are still so many things. The diaper bag full of toys, Jacob's exersaucer, bumbo seat, my purse...everything is on our front stoop right now.

Alex went to the towing shop today and got everything out of the car, and took pictures. We are both in awe of how God was protecting all of us. Seeing the damage in daylight, and from the outside of the car just made us realize how very badly we could have been injured. Praise the Lord for his mercy and protection!

I think the hole is where the rump hit, you can see dents on the front from the legs

From the inside we had no idea the roof was this bad

The windshield wasn't quite this low before, being towed made it shift.

The glass around where the carseat was.

It took off the side mirror too, and see the brown fuzz at the edge of the windshield? Elk hair.

My diet, a little more in depth.

I had a few comments on my last post asking if I could be a little more specific about what my diet entailed. I'm going to do my best to explain, but if you want the clearest understanding of it I recommend reading the book, The Metabolism Miracle. The book contains not only detailed descriptions of how and why the diet works, but also has the food lists, recommended supplements, and some recipes.

The basis of this diet is that some people have an abnormal metabolism, metabolism B, a hormonal imbalance that causes their body to over-process carbs and release excess insulin, which causes fat storage in the blood and body. The diet is made to help retrain your body (and you!) so that you can start processing carbs normally, and maintain a healthy weight.

The metabolism miracle consists of three steps.

Step one is an eight week period in which you allow your pancreas and liver to essentially "reset". In this step you eliminate all sugar, and are limited to a very specific timing, type, and amount of carbs. (5grams of low impact carbs only once every five hours) However, you are allowed to eat freely of most veggies, lean meats, low-fat cheeses, nuts, etc. It helps to have prepared a menu and completed a shopping trip before just jumping in. I felt like I spent the first week eating nothing but salad, tuna, and cottage cheese. You are also supposed to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. This way you will be using your muscles, and only the unused, stored fat will be lost.

In step two you re-introduce carbs. Again having very specific timing, type, and amount; but with a much broader choice. This step can last anywhere from eight weeks to however long it takes to reach your healthiest, happiest weight. Having new food options, and a bit more variety in allowed carbs, I found this step easier to maintain long-term. Continue with the exercise, but don't feel limited to only 30 minutes a day! I find that as my weight loss continues and my energy is picking up, I am even more motivated to workout.

Step three is simply a lifestyle of maintaining your newly found healthy weight. All sugars and carbs are allowed again, but by now you've learned how to eat them in a way that won't cause weight gain.

So there you have it! If you feel like you may benefit from this type of diet, if nothing else is working for you, or if you just want to learn more go check out The Metabolism Miracle!

Disclaimer: I was in no way compensated for this post. All praise and recommendations for the diet are from my own opinions and experiences.

Twelve weeks!!

 I have gone back and forth trying to decide whether or not to write this post, but as usual when it comes to personal struggles, I figured "Why not? If someone else out there is having the same problems, maybe reading about mine will help."

So here goes...

I have always had a struggle with weight, which I have mentioned before here and here.
Well, it started out no different after pregnancy. At first I was thrilled! The first few weeks after having Jacob I lost 35lbs, all but 10lbs of my pregnancy weight. But I had just undergone surgery, I had a brand new baby and all the struggles that came with it. I wasn't able to exercise at first because I needed time to heal, and I was exhausted all the time. I still wanted to lose weight though. I didn't quite fit in my maternity clothes, and I definitely didn't fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes. I was constantly self-conscious, hated going out in public, and never had any energy. I think that was the worst. I wanted to go for a walk, or do a quick workout, but the idea of getting up the energy to do so tired me out. I tried though, as tired as I was, as little as I felt I was capable of getting done, I still tried. I went out and bought a couple DVDs. I did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (and couldn't even stand up without hurting the first two days...literally. It hurt to pick up my baby.) and stuck it out for a week, but I only saw weight gain. I wasn't any smaller, didn't feel any better. I tried some pilates, tried to start changing and tracking the way I was eating...nothing. I was still gaining weight back.

It felt familiar. Right after getting married I started putting on weight, regardless of how I ate or exercised. I was exercising 40 minutes or more at least 3 days a week, and consistently staying under 2,000 calories. But gradually putting on pounds.

Well, I stopped worrying about it too much when I got pregnant. In fact, the first few months of my pregnancy was the first time I lost weight in about a year.

But now that I was back to how I started, I was about to give up. If eating healthier and exercising more wasn't going to keep me from gaining weight, why should I bother with it? So I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and didn't exercise if I didn't feel like it...and I was miserable. I felt like I was doomed to feel sluggish and heavy and uncomfortable with my own body for the rest of my life.

Then one day a friend of mine handed me a book and said "I was reading this and it made me think of you. You might want to check it out."  The book was called The Metabolism Miracle, and when I got home and read it. I was shocked! I told Alex it was like they had been spying on me.
The first part of  the book explains a "Type B metabolism" and how someone with this metabolism processes carbs and sugars differently from a normal metabolism. In the book the author said that a normal "calories eaten < calories burned = weight loss" equation would never work for a type B.
Everything I read in these first few chapters made so much sense I decided to try out the diet/lifestyle change described in the book. (To read more on this visit the Metabolism Miracle website)

I stared the very next day. It has definitely tested my willpower at times, but I've stuck it out and yesterday was week 12 from when I started. I decided I would share my progress with the world!
(I just wanted to add that it was VERY difficult for me not to suck in my tummy in the before pictures...)

April 19, 2012. 200lbs

July 12, 2012. 168lbs

I have lost 32lbs and a total of 29 and 1/4 inches (measuring everything from my neck to my ankles: chest, upper arms, thighs, calves, etc.) I am fitting back into almost all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, I weigh less than when I got married, and another 5-8lbs and I will weigh less than when Alex and I met!! (which was my lowest weight since early teen years) I feel so much better physically! This was never just a struggle with the weight. I started each day dreading having to try to accomplish anything, and worrying if I would be able to keep up with Jacob as he grew and got more active. Now I look forward to our (almost) daily walks, I feel energetic and am able to accomplish so much more!

What has been your biggest weight struggle? What has helped you the most?

Jacob these days.

 Jacob is now six and a half months old!! It seems crazy how fast the time is going.

Six months!

He hasn't been weighed or measured lately, but I know he's growing! Jacob is now wearing pretty much all 3-6 month clothes.
It seems like more of a personality emerges every day, and we love getting to experience it! Jacob is a little bit dramatic, about everything. He goes from extremely happy and smiley to sobbing if something goes wrong. But now that he has stopped teething (without any coming through) he is usually a happy baby and laughs and smiles a lot. He loves people and will smile at pretty much anyone, especially if they tell him he's cute.

Jacob has hit a few different milestones just in the past few weeks. One day he was playing on his back and when Alex and I looked back at him he was on his tummy! After all this time waiting for him to roll over we missed it. But now he rolls over all the time, even in his crib at night! He doesn't like rolling back over to his back though, I think it feels like too sudden of a movement to him. Jacob hates being off-balance.
Once he started sitting up in his bath, it seemed like siting up on his own just clicked for Jacob. He now sits up on his own for long periods of time, I think the longest has been about an hour. He just sits in the middle of the floor playing with his toys, and balances really well! He has only toppled over a handful of times.

Sleep has still been a problem. It's been over 3 months now that Jacob wakes up anywhere from 2-7 times a night, or more. Monday night he was up at least once per hour until 5am, when he finally slept until 8. We're going to be working on this problem over the next few weeks though, and hopefully next time I will have a positive update! I also want to work on weaning him from his paci at night.

Jacob loves food! He gets one 4oz jar of veggies with some rice cereal in the evenings, and has just started getting a little bit of fruit in the mornings. So far the only thing he has refused to eat is banana! His favorites are avocado, squash, sweet potato, or a frozen strawberry in his mesh feeder.

There are so many little things I love about Jacob, I can't even try to write them all, but I will share a few of my favorites...even though I know he is so much cuter, sweeter, and more wonderful in person.

*When he thinks something is funny Jacob tries to smile so big that he looks like he wants to take a bite out of something.

BIG smile!!

*Jacob is independent to the extreme. He wants to be able to feed himself, but doesn't quite have the motor skills necessary yet. Which makes feeding a rather messy affair more often than not. Oh, and he likes to talk with food in his mouth, which equals a spray of whatever pureed veggie he is eating at the time. I know I shouldn't laugh.

*One of the times Jacob was getting upset about us not feeding him fast enough we gave him the bowl and spoon...he threw the spoon and proceeded to drink the rice cereal. We managed to get a picture!

*Burping is hilarious, it will get a big grin from him every time...unless it's so loud and sudden it makes him cry.

*Jacob hates violence...even if it's just a group of teenagers having a tickle war, when he thinks someone is being hurt he starts bawling.

*Jacob wants to move forward but doesn't know how. When he's on his tummy and you call for him, he picks up his arms and legs and grunts.

Being a bookworm runs in the family

I love these two guys!!