BC Trip

Hi everyone! We are having a fabulous time on our trip out here in BC. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera cable - so I can't upload my photos right now. I will have to do a big post when we get home. We are currently in Summerland, which is near Kelowna. We are staying at a friends' place tonight, and then will be at the local Motel for the rest of our trip. James has been a total trooper, and really only complained yesterday during the 7 hour drive from Vancouver to Kelowna. It would not have been that long, but we got stuck in a traffic jam due to a car accident - and then ended up in some dense fog in the mountains, followed by a lot of heavy rain! Crazy!

AND James has sprouted two teeth! They are just peeking through his gums now - but definately can feel two little razors in there. He hasn't been too cranky about it, which is great. I've been using the teething tablets, and they seem to help.

Tonight we are having a BBQ here with a few other friends - which I'm really looking forward to. The view from the window I'm sitting next to is amazing - I wish I could share it with you.

See you soon!

A Great Week

Well, where to start? Let's start with Father's Day. James and I had a lot of fun celebrating Ryan, and his first Father's Day. Below is a picture of him and James in their matching Father's Day t-shirts.

Then, Uncle Matt finally arrived home from Mexico after being away for four months! He was so excited to see James, and they have been having a lot of fun together.

James also got to go in grandma and grandpa Plett's pool for the first time! He squealed with delight the whole time, and loved splashing in it. He also loved the floats that grandpa bought for him. We'll be spending many more afternoons there this summer.

I finally got my IKEA bedding set, and changed up our room for summer. I LOVE the change, and it only cost me $25.




On Thursday, Rebekah and I had the privilege of meeting one of our fellow blogging mommies - Erin, and her son Noah! Erin's blog is private, so I can't share the link. We had a great time together, and we hope to make it a regular practice! Her little Noah is SO cute!

AND... James is basically crawling! I can't believe how fast my little man is growing up. It's crazy! He is getting more and more mobile, which beats having him clanking his head every few seconds.

Thus, the crib had to be lowered this weekend. He is attempting to pull himself up, so we could no longer risk leaving it in the highest position. Ah, it seems like yesterday I was putting it all together - and now I am lowering it!

And, just to finish it off, I thought I'd post a pic of James' most favourite current toys.

Seven Months Old - Road Trip

Could it be that my little newborn babe is over half a year old now? Wow. I always heard people say "they grow up so fast", but nobody ever said "they grow up at the speed of light"! I can't believe how fast James is growing up. I can so clearly remember every detail of his birth (it was not traumatic for me at all, I enjoyed my labour and delivery immensely and can't wait to do it again), it seems like it was yesterday.

He is such an incredible kid. Ryan and I always say he is a great training baby - he is SO easy. Other than his nighttime sleep issues, this kid is almost too good! He is happy almost always, and is very easy to diagnose if he has problems. A good toy will cheer him up almost instantly, and has saved me on many occasions. Particularly during needles (he didn't even cry for more than 30 seconds at his 6 month ones), and when he face-plants while trying to crawl. James wants more than ANYTHING to be MOBILE! He is getting himself on his knees and hands now and rocking back and forth. His attempts at crawling so far have only resulted in going backwards, and some pretty painful forehead-meets-hardwood falls. He is trooper though, and he keeps on trying. He also loves to hold our hands and walk. He takes these huge steps that make us laugh every time.

He is loving solid foods, and eats literally anything. His biggest treats are anything that come off of our plates. He thinks that is the BEST! My mom just made him some yummy homemade food, and he loves it.

Happy seven months Monkey! Daddy and I love you so much, and we are so thankful that we have been blessed to have you in our lives for seven months.

We are leaving next week for a vacation. Does anyone have any tips for travelling (both by air and by car) for a bottle-fed baby? How many bottles do I bring? How do I prepare them on the road? How do I get them washed (bathroom sink)? Also, any tips on how to prevent and treat mosquito bites? I think there must have been one in James' room at night, because he has little red bites all over his bald little head. Can you use spray on them? How about After Bite?

Bomber Baby!

I was pretty surprised when I tried this outfit on James today, as the tag says 18 months! But it fits (with the legs rolled up). Daddy will be so proud of his Bomber baby! We can't wait to take him to his first game, unfortunately most of them are late evening games. I might just have to take him, and then leave early. The last game I was at I was nearly due, and I was huge, and I had to stop a few times getting up to our seats to huff and puff. I thought climbing all those stairs would put me into labour!

Too Personal

I just wrote a big long post pouring out my soul, and then realized that it probably wasn't right for me to "air out my dirty laundry" here on the WWW. Can I just ask for your prayers instead? I'm in a bit of a valley here, and I'm not sure which way to turn. Satan is attacking my heart, I'm hurting, and I need to know what to do. Any prayer will do - short and sweet - but could you just send one up when you are done reading this post? Your prayers have helped in the past, and I'm hoping they will help again.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

~ Psalm 121 ~

Milk Dilemna II

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to do regarding James' milk. I prayed about it too, and asked God to give me a clear sign of what I was supposed to do, and then to give me peace about my decision. In the back of my mind, I was kind of thinking that if James started to sleep better at night, I would feel that was my sign from God not to start whole milk - but I did not ask Him for that, and decided I would let Him be the judge as to how He would show me what I should do. Wouldn't you know that James had a good night that night! He didn't sleep through the night, but slept from 8:00pm - 8:00am with just two brief bottle wake-ups in between. The next night was the same, and again the same the following night. Praise God! My answer was clear, do not start James on whole milk yet. I also felt completely at peace about it, and I am so thankful that God answered my prayer for a sign. God is good, and I want to make sure He gets all the glory for His faithfulness to me!

On the downside, James seems to be napping less now. I don't know which I like better! The better nights, or the longer naps! He was napping two times a day for two hour stretches, and was very easy to put down. Now he seems to be napping for only half an hour, to an hour, and makes a fuss before falling asleep. The last two days he has also been spitting up a lot, so I think I will just go back to the regular 0-12 month formula, and take him off the 6-18 month one.

I've included a photo of yesterdays "mommy" lunch. Nice, hey? James has been loving being on solids. I don't think he has refused anything, except for the plain strained meats. Everything else he loves, and also loves getting little pieces of things off our plates. He still seems to prefer the organic fruit and vegetables. I am hoping to start making some of my own baby food now too, but so far I've been too busy, and a little too lazy to do it. I'll probably start with doing some meat and veggie mixes in the slow cooker. Does anyone have any recipes for that kind of thing?

Pics from James

Hi! Here I am taste-testing my crib. Check out my big blue eyes!

This is me with my grandma Kroeker.

Here I am chilling out in my high chair.

Ha! Ha! Ha! This is me being goofy!

Milk Dilemna

Alright, so here's the story... for the last three months, since James has been on formula, he hasn't been sleeping very great. He was napping awesome though, until about three days ago when he just stopped going down to nap easily. This is when I switched to the 6-18 month formula. Now I fight with him to nap, fight with him to take bottles, fight with him to sleep at least 4 hour stretches at night... fight, fight, fight. He is plenty happy though. He is almost ALWAYS happy. He is just hyper and active, and I feel drained by noon. So, my mom has been telling me that our family has a history of reacting with hyperactivity to the vitamins in formula. She even went to the point of calling the formula company, and asking them some questions. She also did a comparison of the formula to her daily vitamin. James gets almost the same, and sometimes MORE vitamins and minerals per day than my mom's daily supplement! My grandma's kids, my mom, my cousins, my brother and I all went on whole milk (mixed with water, and a little corn syrup) from a few weeks old. Of course, we all are FINE, with no allergies, etc. According to my aunt, when she finally switched my cousin from formula to whole milk at a few months old, she slept for a full 12 hours straight! Anyway, my mom is convinced that James will sleep better, and be less hyper if I switch him over to whole milk now, at 6.5 months. I am SO scared to try, because as you all know, the websites and books say NO whole milk until 1 year old. I just don't know what to do. I feel caught between what "they" say, and what my mom and my family is telling me. If I knew that it would do NOTHING to James, I would try it in an instant - in the hopes that he would relax more, and sleep better. I've prayed about it, and I don't feel like I am getting a clear answer. I haven't been able to get much sleep, as I stay up all night analyzing what I did that day, and what James did that day. I feel like I am sort of teetering on the brink of insanity. What would YOU do? My mom is sort of suggesting doing the whole milk for a 24 hour period to test her theory. Would you do it? I just hate that I am still so influenced by "the experts" to the point where I can't even trust my own mom. I'd love to hear from you guys on this one. I feel stuck.

Sleep, Oh Precious Sleep!

So... last night we took James over to my mom and dad's for a sleep over. I had to laugh at the amount of stuff I had to pack just for one evening, night and morning! We packed the playpen, baby monitor, food, bottles, blankets, diapers, clothes, extra clothes, toys, medications, bath stuff - it likely looked like we were going to leave him there for a month! However, I felt it was all necessary. We brought him over there around 5:30pm, and I gave my mom the "schedule" I had prepared - asking her to please stick to it as much as possible. She complied. So, we left. I missed him almost immediately, and wondered if he would sense abandonment. I knew he was having the time of his life though, and that he was in the best possible hands he could be in - besides my own. When we got home, I didn't really know what to do with myself at first. The house just felt so quiet! I wondered if it had really felt this way before we had James. I couldn't remember it being so quiet. In any case, we had supper and then went outside to work on the yard. I began to feel a little emotional about having left my son. I wanted to go back to say good night to him, kiss him one more time, tell him I love him, just make sure he was okay. I stopped myself though, and told myself to enjoy my time without him. It just felt weird to be responsible only for myself. I eventually went inside, and did cleaning that I usually can't do - like dusting James' room, and things like that. I also got the counter completely free of all dirty dishes! I couldn't believe I would wake up to a clear counter top! Ryan had rented a movie, but by the time we were ready to settle in for the night it was 11:00pm - and we realized we shouldn't spend our night without James by staying up all night! So, we had some relaxing time together and then went to sleep. I did wake up a few times in the night, but it felt nice to just be able to stay in bed. We slept in until about 8:30am, and I had a nice quiet breakfast. Finally, at around 9:30am I couldn't wait any longer and went to pick up James. Of course, he was all smiles when I got there. He had a totally "normal" night, and got up for my mom at the exact same times he would have at home. This was a relief to me - I would have been disturbed if he had slept through the night for her. He was a perfect angel for my mom. Wow! It was so great! Now we know we can rely on him being there for the night if we needed to. All in all, I am so glad we did it - I'm already looking forward to the next time, but I don't want it to be anytime soon. It's great to have the house noisy again! I definately thank God that life doesn't feel right without James there to be part of it. I wouldn't go back to that life for anything.

A Full Night's Sleep

James' sleeping habits have been so hit and miss lately - it's driving me nuts. One night he'll sleep well, with just his usual feedings, and then the next he'll be up numerous times for no apparent reason. Some say gas. Some say growth spurt. Some say teething. Some say it's time to implement the "cry it out" strategy. I just don't know.

In any case, my mom has offered to take James for the night tonight. We are taking him over there around 5:00pm, and leaving him for the night! Ack! I'm partly excited, and partly nervous. I know my mom will do a great job with him, but I have NEVER been away from him that long - let alone during the night. I just don't want him to be afraid. Moreso, I don't want to hear that he slept through the night for her! Wouldn't that just be my luck?! I have to collect all his stuff for tonight - track down the playpen, make bottles to last the night, put a bag of clothes and toys together, plus pack his towel and other bath stuff as he needs the ones that have been washed in baby detergent (due to his rash prone skin). It will probably be fun for them, but I still can't shake my nervousness. I doubt I'll even sleep well, because I'll be wondering how things are going! Don't worry - I will enjoy my night of rest, and hopefully Ryan and I will have a chance to watch a movie and relax together.

So, wish me luck as I am about to go back to life without a child... for one night!

Finally, a Hot Day!

(Please excuse the pastey thunder thighs to the right.)

An accidentally well-positioned hippopotamus.

Got Milk?

Scammed!

I think I've been scammed! Read about it here.