Wednesday, July 29, 2009

chubby cheeks coming soon

Yesterday I took Bella to her 9 month well baby visit. I was so excited to see how big she's gotten, because lately I've been paranoid at all the comments on how teeny tiny she is. I know she is small, but I thought for sure she's grown lately. She eats a ton!

I was wrong...she's still teeny tiny. In fact, my appointment took 1 1/2 hours because they were so concerned with her lack of weight gain since her 6 month appointment. She was in the 50% for height, 25% for head circumference & off the charts for weight at only 14 lbs. 4 oz.
They suggested switching to formula, which is not an easy solution since she's intolerant of milk & soy. They didn't really give me a whole lot of other ideas, other than just keep feeding her. She has 3 weeks to gain, or they're going to do testing for absorption deficiencies. I don't think she has any problem like this, so I hope she can gain quickly!
I was talking with my friends & we came up with some ideas. I love getting ideas from friends, because they all have real life experiences. These are a few things that I learned from my expert friends! Many medical doctors suggest formula after 6 months, but most people who nurse continue until up to 2 years, they just don't do it in public. The mother's diet can affects the baby's size & there are definitely some things I can do to help, even with her allergies. I thought I was doing a good things by replacing oil in bread with apple sauce, and eating a low-fat diet. Wrong! Not while nursing. Here's a new plan:

- Drink more water (at least 3 big hospital mugs a day)
-Eat a healthy fat, like avocado, olive oil, nuts w/ each meal
-Add more protein to Bella's diet
-Regularly feed good fat to Bella, like avocado
-No night time feeding, so she's more hungry in the morning

I feel much better about this plan. There's nothing wrong with formula, but I'm really enjoying nursing this time, and I just don't think switching is the answer. Let's hope this works!
MORE SUGGESTIONS & IDEAS WELCOME!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Easternize me

Wow I have been updating my blog a lot lately! A great friend the other day was telling me when she feels like her time is spread too thin & she feels like a workhorse, she chooses 3 activities that bring her joy & politely says "no thank you" to everything else. I decided to give this a try too, as I have also felt like a workhorse lately. Blogging is something that brings me joy because I am keeping some kind of record of our family for my kids to look back on.

Just this morning I looked up a few things on the Internet that I have been reflecting on the past few days. What started it, is a book I've been working on called "The Total Money Makeover". It's about being totally dedicated to getting out of debt. It talks about being "gazelle intense", which refers to the fact that gazelles, who really aren't that fast, are intense about escaping their main predator, the cheetah. The cheetah, who is the fastest land animal, is only successful 1 out of 19 times in catching a gazelle.

Later, I was reading a friend's blog, about her recent all-natural birth story. She talks in detail about giving birth to her son using hypnosis, music and training her mind to overcome the pain. She was totally dedicated to this natural, joyous experience in every way.

I began to think about the book & the blog because I really want to get out of debt, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about my friends experience. It made me want to have another child & give the natural thing another shot! Then I realized....seriously, would I be that dedicated & intense? No, I would be the 1 out of 19 gazelles that get eaten.

I have been slightly depressed by my new realization, but also slightly empowered by the honesty! It feels good to look inward, be honest & accept that that's who I am.

I have taken this to another level by looking into some personality traits of my children also. I see a doctor, who is wonderful & looks at the big picture when you go to her for a problem. I recently took Isabella to her for chronic ear infections & Noah for sleep disturbances. In both cases, she asked a lot of questions not just pertaining to the physical symptoms, but also about their behavior, moods and personalities. We decided on a course of action for both, which included some homeopathic remedies. She mentioned that Isabella is very "Pulsatilla" a few times. I asked what it meant & she said it's a personality type that is very sweet, accommodating, their mood changes from sad to happy quickly, and they have a tendency toward ear infections. What? I left wondering how can a personality type and a physical illness be linked. I have totally embraced many natural remedies, practices & ways of thinking, but I still have grown up with western medicine. I had to think about this one & do some research on my own.

After reflecting on this, I realized it does make sense. If a person has a really driven & aggressive personality, for instance, it makes sense that they may experience headaches from stress, or back aches from muscle tension. How can the way we naturally react to the world not affect our physical body & cause symptoms? Noah was put on a homeopathic remedy called "Kali", which I also looked up. His personality is totally to follow the rules, please everyone, seek justice & be logical. His kindergarten teacher had the hardest time getting him to write a creative story. His story about snowboarding was basically just a sequential list of things you do in order to go snowboarding. She couldn't get him to deviate. I remembered the conversation with her as I read about Kali personalities. It makes sense now that a kid who is worrying about keeping everything in order and always doing what's right in this crazy world, would end up with night terrors.

I just thought it was interesting because as I told my Mom this morning about all the physical symptoms that went along with pulsatilla personalities, she had a reason to explain it all away. We are trained to separate physical from emotional, even with a list in front of you explaining all the physical symptoms that have nagged you forever next to a list describing you to a tee. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to see the big picture, and stop putting on band aids when my body is trying to tell me something. My kids will be so much better off with this knowledge early in life.

This is just a reflection of my feelings & what works for me, not a sales pitch for homeopathy! We still love our pediatrician & who knows...Isabella may end up with tubes in her ears? I just love alternatives, options that are less invasive whenever possible & peace. It brings me peace to understand & be happy with myself, Len & my kids exactly as they came to me from God.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Testosterone Competition

Today Len was "working" up at Brighton's car show & I took the kids up there to see him. The new carwash (Firehouse) has old fire trucks & they drive them in every parade & take them to every car show possible to take advantage of the free advertising. They also hand out coupons & let people's kids climb inside. Well, our kids are the biggest fans of the carwash change because they are constantly riding in firetrucks now! Sam tells everyone "this is my Dad's boss' firetruck!" They loved every minute of it. I just wanted an excuse to go up to Brighton!

There were tons of cars & men everywhere! I walked around a bit, but got really annoyed at the constant revvvvvvvvvving of engines. One guy would revvvvv his engine & another across the lot would revvvvv his louder, then another until there was a testosterone winner!

Bella & I walked right past all the sweat, beer & metal right to the only jewelry booth & the kettle corn :) I love my new necklace & kettle corn tastes even better in the mountains!

Friday, July 10, 2009

My new love...

Glitter toes! I'm usually not so blingy, but I'm in love with
not having to paint my toes for 8 weeks! Also, when I'm greasy, stinky & in squirly cleaning clothes, I can look down & see a little sparkle to remind me that I'm a girl!

The book club that I belong to did this together last night & we had so much fun together. There were about 10 of us that did it & everyone chose different colors. We also roasted marshmellows by the fire pit & ate lots of awesome food. We did forget to discuss the book much this time, but it was ok! We still love reading too & it was a great break :)

Thursday, July 9, 2009

look what I found on my phone...

Noah cleaning the front porch of the Park City condo. What a great boy & good helper :)

Bella in her swimsuit eating honeydew at the pool! Ahh! She's so adorable in her suit!
Mackie always wants to wear this dorky "Tarzan" safari outfit that was a hand-me-down. He gets himself dressed in the morning before he even comes upstairs! He can pull it off though- he's cute no matter how lame the clothing!
Bella's first ride in the backpack on the 4th of July!

Sam using 2 forks to turn into "Iron Man" while we were out to dinner! He's a very creative kid. Can't wait to see what he grows up to be someday!

Bella again! Looking cute in her sun hat at the baseball games.

She's always with me & the boys are running around, so there are more pics of her!


Glad I didn't loose these fun summer memories- thank you phone camera!

Monday, July 6, 2009

8 a.m. action shots

Cute boys!
I decided to wash my bed skirt this morning, which meant I had to move the mattress. Sam & Mack thought it was a great idea! It was like having a trampoline indoors :) Whoohoo!

While Sam & Mack were busy going crazy, Bella & I were eating wheat-free, dairy-free blueberry muffins :) Yum (not really)! Bella LOVES food :)
The only time she has a huge fit, is if you take away her food!

...but she's still a little princess!