Vaca 2011

Family Vaca 2011

There is something so so beautiful and special about seeing things through the eyes of your children.

Family vacation is far from relaxing for me. BUT just like Christmas, it is SO MUCH more fun now that we have kids. Emery was so excited about everything we did.

She is the most precious child I have ever ever seen and I cherish these moments because I know they are so fleeting.

Three

We had a great time at the beach.

My baby turned three!

We are so so busy right now. I'm playing catch up in every area of life.

My body is driving me crazy and so is the laundry.

I swear I will be back one day to play catch up. Hopefully this Saturday we will be celebrating Emery's birthday with her friends.

If I'm not having surgery. BUUTTTT that's another post for another day!

Told ya, we have a lot going on!

Just A Little Bit

I had all the intentions of blogging alot tonight.

We had a great day but I am beat.

Emery had what I thought was a bladder infection. It wasn't, just some chaffing and irritated skin due to summer time heat, swimming you know.

Anyway they needed a urine sample. So I held my stubborn 2 year old over the toilet at the Dr's office for an H.O.U.R.

I really thought they may have to cath her to get a sample. Finally I promised her enough bribes that she let out just enough drops to get a culture.

She didn't have one.

Definitely the worst Dr's appointment experience I've had so far.

Except for the day I had to take Jesse at 6 weeks and they sent me straight to the hospital.

So. I'm tired.

I leave you with two pictures I think are great.

One from Benji's Brazil trip.

One from my GNO last night....SOOO FUNNN!

Hopefully next week during vacation I will have time to blog away.

P.S. Jesse slept from 830 to 530 last night.

Confession: I'm A Baby Wise Fraud

I can't do it. Not this time.

There is something about this child that I can not let him cry it out.

And actually we never did it much with Emery. At least not until she was over a year old and just "crying" for attention or fighting sleep, being defiant.

I confess. I'm a fraud. I preach this book so much! haha! And I do believe in it's key points as to why kids/babies need sleep.

Jesse is doing okay. Not awesome but not terrible. He goes to sleep great, no rocking, he is self soothing, uses a paci (which is another baby wise no no). He just isn't making it much longer than 5 hours a night yet.

He has made it 11 to 6 on occasion. He did it for a good while, long enough for me to think it may be routine....But it didn't last.

Then these dag gum teeth started coming in. I'm serious he has got a mouth full of swollen gums. I'm surprised he has done as good as he has.

So when I say we are tired. I really mean it. I am so so so tired.

Those people who's babies sleep through the night at 6 weeks.

I hate them.

Really.

Jesse had PEAS today!!!!

He had cereal (with a pinch of bananas, shhh) last week. So tonight I tried some peas.

He has actually done way better than Emery ever did. I started with her at this age and had to quit and start her back at six months. Jesse is all about it though. He seems to really like it.

I can't explain how glad I am Benji is home now. I just feel so incomplete when he isn't here. I know that sounds corny. But really my life is just better with him here.

Please pray for my friend Rebecca. This is her caring bridge page.

My heart is so heavy for her and her family. She has a son Emery's age and is a single mom. Pray that she wakes up. With every ounce of faith you have, pray that God sees fit to allow her to wake up.

Gluten Free: Week One

This week of GF has been rather painless.

I am thankfully in a location that is within 5 miles of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Earth Fair....And Publix, although I haven't been to Publix yet for the purpose of looking for gluten free stuff.

The only set backs I've had (as with any new diet change) is when I've gotten really hungry I've started to "crave" Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets. WHICH, given my current state of post Jesse baby weight I need to stay away from anyway.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised with the gf packaged things I've bought. The frozen toaster waffles to me are better than the regular ones. The gf ones toast up much crispier. The gf noodles I made mac and cheese out of for Emery and I one night while Benji was still in Brazil tasted no different to me at all.

Last night we grilled burgers. I bought regular buns for Benji and used the Udi's gf sandwich bread I had bought as a bun substitute for me. I thought it was actually good toasted. Had the consistency of a sourdough bread toasted. I'm thinking it will be great fried on the stove top for a egg sandwich.

One draw back is the price of bread is crazy! 5 bucks for like half a loaf. Hopefully I will learn to cut back on how much sliced bread I need to consume.

Funny thing is I don't really like eating sandwiches for lunch at home, I just do because it is always convenient and cheap. I'm having to stretch myself a little to come up with lunch alternative, but that is definitely not a real problem....

AND! like I've told a few of my friends, this is something I need to do anyway, recharge, mix up my eating habits and get back to nutritious planning I know benefits me and my entire family.

Being so sick pregnant with Jesse I got out of the habit of planning meals and enjoying cooking. It really was the last thing I could think about at the end of the day.

Now that I'm getting back to my old self I enjoy spending that time in the kitchen preparing and planning meals for my family.

Week two coming up. The real kicker will be week 3 when I am on family vacation, eating meals I don't necessarily plan.

Thankfully I don't have Celiac, so I'm sure that gluten in small portions will not do me too much harm. I just never ever ever want to have an episode like I had the other night. VERY scary.

It will probably be awhile before I can get to my Dr. to get the allergy test. One friend also recommended that with the incident I had the other night I should probably get an Epi pen prescribed.

I do feel better. I know that sounds cliche. I'm not as "foggy". Hopefully that will make since to you who have dealt with this before. I don't feel as bloated and I don't feel as heavy.

Hopefully this is the beginning of me feeling better than I have in 3 years.

Gifts From Afar

Benji's home! And he brought presents! Emery was so excited about her flip flops with a ballerina on them. I mean shoes and a ballerina??? all in one! That's like the jack pot present for her. Havaianas are the famous flip flops from Brazil. Perfect gift for girls stuck at home.

The first order of business for daddy was to spend a little time with Emery by the pool. I fed Jesse, then headed to the store for ingrediants for burgers.

So Glad Benji/Daddy is home!