Busy, Busy, Busy

Well I haven't posted in a REALLY long time, so I decided I better post some pictures. We have been busy spending time with family and friends, being sick, trying to get Michael to gain weight, going to the doctor, being out of town, and lots of other things. A couple of weeks ago Michael got a double ear infection and bronchitis, and I got bronchitis too. We were miserable to say the least, but he's finally better. We now know that he also has allergies in addition to the dairy/soy because whenever I take him outside and it's breezy he immediately gets plugged up. Where we live there are TONS of flowers and trees, so I think the pollen gets to him, actually I know it does. Poor guy! Then of course as soon as he recovered from that, he started teething. The tooth has yet to pop through, but he seems to be doing a lot better. I've had many interrupted nights the past few weeks. Also, Michael wasn't gaining weight, and was actually losing weight while he was sick, so we were worried about that again. He was only 14 pounds 5 ounces last week, but this week he is already up to 15 pounds 6 ounces, and I am soo happy. He hasn't been this heavy (if you want to call it that) ever, and he really needed to gain weight and still does. My milk supply is finally getting to where it needs to be after working at it for the past month. It also helps that he's eating solids more now too. We started him on a new formula too, but it's EXPENSIVE. It's 40 bucks a can and the can doesn't even last 5 days, and that's with me nursing the majority of the time. I can't even imagine how much money I'd spend if I wasn't nursing. Ridiculous. He still spits it up a little because it has soy in it. Seriously annoying.

Since I last posted I turned 26, had my first Mother's Day (although Michael was feeling like pooh), and this past weekend Kyle and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. Lots has happened over the past two years, that's for sure.


Michael just turned seven months, and here are some of his stats:

-He started sitting up and crawling on the same day when he was 6 months (he's still better at crawling then he is sitting up). He is a fast crawler; I have to keep my eye on him!
-He is eating cheerios, which is so cute
-He started to wave this week
-Had his first ear infections
-Can now pull himself up to a standing position (I have found him standing up next to the toy box and crying because he didn't know what to do)
-He LOVES strangers and smiles and laughs at everyone
-He is the happiest baby I've ever been around
-He loves to kiss mommy with his wet, open mouth


All and all, we are doing great. We are looking for a new place to live as we have to move out at the end of the summer. I love where we live, and am sad to think we will probably have to move back into town. Country life is what I love!


Here are some pics....



Hopefully it won't take me this long next time, but not guarantees, especially with summer around the corner. We will be hanging out at the pool as much as possible!

Bath Time

Thanks for the feedback---here's round two.

To answer some questions: Yes, I have Photoshop Elements 4.0, I don't know what that means, probably that it's the cheap version (if it's free, it's for me).

Michael is doing great! He gained two pounds over a two week period, but hasn't gained any weight this week. If I accidentally eat anything with soy or dairy, we can tell immediately that it effects him. I am supplementing formula, but wondering if I should do a trial week without it and just my diet because it gives him really bad diarrhea (sorry, you asked), and I think it makes him lose weight or at least not gain what he should. Any suggestions? I have a baby digital scale and can weigh him at home. I highly recommend buying one yourself. I got mine at Costco.com and it's worth EVERY penny. I'm trying to get him nice and fat for his 6 month checkup this next week.

The first pic is the original. I photoshopped out the teal pad and the rubber ducky, and also added in some bubbles. I enhanced his eyes in one of the photos, and took out some scratches on his face. What do you think? Are the eyes too much? I'm going for subtle changes. This is addicting.

FYI. By the way, sometimes when I post something it puts extra spacing in, or no spacing and I haven't been able to figure out how to get it to quit. Well I just did. Highlight the section and click the eraser on the toolbar (it will remove the formatting). I'm sure everyone already knew that, but just in case....

Photoshop

We just bought something and Photoshop came with it. Kyle's been telling me I need to get a hobby (is he trying to tell me something?), so maybe this can be my new hobby....editing the thousands of pictures I've taken over the years. Which one looks the best? My mom likes the first one.....the only one not photoshoped! haha. Looks like I have some work to do.

For Clarification Purposes:

Because of this request by Elder Ballard, I feel it's my obligation to discuss this next topic. Please feel free to comment...I would love your feedback and questions, especially if you aren't LDS. You can email me if you don't feel comfortable doing it here. Also, I'm allowing anonymous comments.

If any of you have turned on the news, looked at the newspaper, or read an online news site over the past week, you will have heard about the Polygamists in Texas. Almost every article I have read or interview I have seen, talks about how they are a branch of the Mormon church, or they are a division, or a break off, etc. Let me clarify for those that don't already know. They are NOT any of these things. They have absolutely NOTHING to do with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the "Mormon Church." You are not allowed to be LDS and practice polygamy...you will be excommunicated immediately. The evil doings that have taken place on the YFZ ranch and their religion are disgusting, perverted, and WRONG.

It makes me sick to my stomach that the media is relating them to the LDS church. I am offended, I am appalled, and I am upset that the media cannot educate themselves enough to know these simple facts. The thing that upsets me the most is the comparison of their temple to the LDS temples. Absolutely no comparison should be drawn. Before we dedicate our temples, we allow ALL people to come through in a public open house. What we do in our temples is sacred, NOT secret...there is HUGE difference. What they do in their temples is unlawful and I hope all of the evil men involved go to jail and suffer. I feel so bad for the innocent children and women who have been brainwashed, abused, hurt, and taken advantage of. I just keep thinking of those poor teenage girls and the terrible abuse that they have suffered. So, so, so sad.

I would encourage everyone to read THIS article and statement put out by the LDS church. It better explains what I'm talking about. Also, to learn about the purpose of temples in the LDS church, please read this article by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Dear Costco.....

Are you serious?

Regardless, you just made my day.
To see that I'm not kidding, go here. It could be yours for only $36.99 plus shipping. Take note of the other names. Who comes up with this stuff anyways?

Random

I've started a few different posts over the past few weeks, but by the time I get around to posting them, all the information is outdated and I don't feel like updating. Pretty much our life has revolved around weight gain, or the lack thereof. To make a really long story short, the lil' guy is still not gaining weight and still puking all the time. Fun times.

I warned the hubby before church that we would be taking Easter pictures, so he needed to stay in his suit after church. Well, those plans quickly changed before we even got home from church. Lil' guy decided it would be fun to puke all over dad's nice spring suit. He soaked him twice at church, and when I say soaked, I mean puke from head to toe. Then we got home and I thought we'd take one without the puke soaked suit coat, well just when I was getting the camera ready, the baby threw up all over his white shirt and tie. Pretty much everything that he wore to church yesterday is now going to the dry cleaner.
*

I pulled out my spring/summer clothes, which makes me happy. Why? Because I have a terrible winter wardrobe. My summer wardrobe is much, much better. I stocked up on clothes before we got married. I was living the single life, and working full time, so I could, and boy am I glad that I did. H&M, TJ Maxx, and Anthropologie were good to me. I miss our relationship dearly.


Yesterday was a momentous and sad day for me. Momentous because I didn't eat one piece of chocolate candy this Easter and sad because I didn't eat one piece of chocolate, or the homemade rolls at my Aunt's house, or the carrots that had butter on them. Dang, this diet stinks. I've lost some weight though, so I'll look at the positive. It will have been three weeks tomorrow, and I can't wait to say bye bye to the no dairy, no soy thing. If you're wondering, I haven't seen one bit of difference.

This is my niece. She is the funniest person I've ever met. I love this girl, and I'd love for her to come hang out with me this summer for a week. We'll see if I can talk her mom into it.

The construction is finally almost over, and I couldn't be happier to have my house back. It looks really nice too, and we didn't have to pay for any of it. Ahhhh, the joys of renting from a doctor.
I'm really contemplating throwing out the nicknames I've been using to hide my families identity. It's really annoying to have to come up with a nickname each time. What do you think? Has anyone ever had a real problem with this? I don't ever say where we live, etc, and I'm pretty sure nobody would want to drive clear out where we live to find us anyways.

Oh Boy!

No, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but the last few weeks have been a whirlwhind. I feel like me and the little guy have been at the doctor's office or hospital almost every day. We've been trying to get control (not sure if that's possible) of his GERD, and it's consuming all our time and energy. A few weeks ago we went to see the in-law's and came home with the flu and cold bug. Had to take Lil' Chief to the hospital with a high fever that wouldn't break and found out he was still losing weight, so we've been monitoring that, and it just kept dropping. His pediatrican scheduled us to go over to Children's and instead of an appointment, they wanted to admit him to the hospital. So, we just returned from a couple of days over there and can now count our many blessings that we have such a healthy baby compared to all the other kids over there. I now have to take dairy and soy completely out of my diet....oh joy. They think he has GERD, accompanied by a dairy and possibly soy allergy. At this age there is no real accurate test except to have the nursing mom go off of it. The only problem is, I LOVE dairy. I'll look at the positive side and hope that it helps me shed my post baby weight.

My apologies to all those who have called or emailed and I haven't gotten back to you....we've been busy. We came back home to find our house is UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The people we are renting from decided to remodel the downstairs. It's going to look amazing when they are all done, but in the meantine me and the baby are confined to the back room while the crews are in the front of the house.

I know this post is lame, but my creative juices have been zapped for now. Here are some pics of the past few weeks.