5 years

I'm a bit late in writing this. It is so hard to find time these days to sit down and write!

Dean and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary last week on the 17th of June. I am so blessed to have him as mine. I don't think I let him know that as much as I should. We have definitely had our rough patches, but we truly are happy and continue to choose to love each other more than ever before.

He is a great father. He loves to go on little outings with Will. It is the sweetest thing ever watching him walk away with Will up on his daddy's shoulders to go get a slice of pizza. Spur of the moment, 20 minute outings together will make such an impact on our children. I am grateful for that. He loves his boys so much, and he would be a happy, happy man if I gave him 5 more sons. Although I am pretty certain he'd fall madly in love with a little girl too.

He is such a hard worker, you don't even know. Working (at least) 12 hour days, 6 days a week, trying to grow his business. It's not the fancy cars, jet ski's or a human catapult that he's striving for. It's wanting to provide a great life for his family that drives him.

I love that he thinks I'm hot wearing a flannel shirt and baggy sweatpants, with no make up on and my hair all a mess. Which is good, because that was a common look over the winter after having Sam!

I love that he is still super attracted to me, even after birthing two kids, and he tells me that daily.

I love having him home, and I look forward to the day that it happens more often. It makes doing the dishes or sweeping the floor so much more enjoyable just knowing he's in the other room.

We had talked earlier in the year about trying to get away for a couple days, but Sam still won't take a bottle so he couldn't be left for long. A girl from a blog I follow was celebrating her and her husbands 5 year anniversary on the same day, and they were spending it...in Paris! I told this to Dean, and he felt pretty bummy that we weren't doing anything fancy. But you know what? I didn't care! The day was about us. We had nothing to prove. Although fancy restaurants are fun on rare occasions, that isn't us. It never will be.

He took a half day, getting home around 1pm. We went out to lunch at Highland Diner with the boys, and played some Nintendo DS while the boys napped. Aunt Lydia came over to baby sit, and we went out to Sticky Lips BBQ for dinner. We stopped back home so I could nurse Sam and get the boys in bed. Then we went back out to Magnolia's on Park Ave for some dessert (some freakin' delicious desserts I might add). We were back home by 10pm, and enjoyed the rest of the night in bed. You know, snuggling. Our day was perfect.

On our honeymoon, 5 years ago. Bahamas.

Six

Sam is 6 months old today. I can't believe it's been half a year already! He's a tiny little thing (compared to his brother, at least!) weighing 14lbs. 3oz. He is just about 50% for both height and weight though, so no worries.

He loves to play with his feet, blow raspberries, play patty cake, and he has become such a mama's boy too! I love how he reaches for me when I come near, and grabs my face when I hold him. Although I could do without the crying every time I leave the room!

He is starting to pivot around when laying on his tummy, and comes real close to rolling from his back to tummy. I remember being so anxious wanting Will to accomplish his next milestone. I am so much more relaxed this time around, and it's so much fun to take in every little progression Sam is making.

He started eating solid foods 2 weeks ago now. He kept grabbing my spoon and shoving in in his mouth while I was eating, and was enjoying it. I figured it was time! We've only been doing one meal a day for now. With Will I totally fed him way too often to start out with (again, anxious), and he had a tough time when it came time to pushing it out. Poor guy didn't know what was going on; He actually seemed like he was scared! One of the many things that warrants an "I'm sorry, but this is my first time doing this" apology. So far Sam has had banana's, avacado, egg yolk and sweet potatoes. Sometimes I will add in some flax or coconut oil for some added (good) fatty nutrition. He loves it!

No signs of any teeth yet, but he is chewing on everything, and drooling up a storm! 

Sleeping is going much better! No more sleeping in the swing. Instead he's in his bassinet in our room for naps (where it's quieter for when Will's awake and playing hockey or jumping off the couch), and then in his crib in the same room as Will for nighttime.

I still get up with Sam 2-3 times a night, and usually around 5:30am I'll bring him in bed with me. Most mornings he'll continue to sleep when I get up with Will, and I'm telling you it's the most adorable thing ever when he wakes up all happy and snuggly in my bed. It gets me every time!

 

Gettin' Crafty

I've been meaning to post this since April, but it totally slipped my mind! 

I have experimented with sewing since I was about 12. I'd hand sew outfits for my Barbie dolls, refashion pants into skirts (and wear them! Oy), and make pillows. Lots and lots of boring, square pillows made from pants of t-shirts. Although I have improved greatly since my childhood days, I am still far from being considered a skilled sewer.

I've recently become quite obsessed with looking at crafty blogs. (Making me wish I knew my way around my sewing machine better!) Despite my lack of skilled sewing history, I was inspired to give a couple sewing projects a try. My mom's birthday was in April, and who better to experiment on then family!

My mom had recently re-painted her bedroom and gotten a new bed set. She mentioned wanting to make a couple pillows from some leftover fabric that I'd used to wrap Christmas gifts, and I knew right away what the perfect birthday gift would be.

After using some old sheets and brand new pillow inserts I had found at thrift stores for just a few dollars, and studying tutorials from here and here, I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. Here they are!

Candida Cleanse Update: Week 2

It has been 2 weeks now since I cut sugar, grains and (most) dairy from my diet. My second day into it I experienced what is called candida "die off." Since I wasn't eating anything the candida could eat, it began to die. Which can create a whole host of problems, including:

- poor concentration
- heart palpitations
- fatigue
- headaches
- anxiety
- depression
- irritability
- crankiness
- itching
- constipation
- gas and/or other gastrointestinal distress
- nausea
- intense cravings for sweets and carbohydrates

In my case? On my 2nd day, I woke up early with stomach pains; Feeling like I was very hungry. Laying in bed, I began to shake. I felt like I was going to pass out even though I was laying down! I got out of bed, grabbed an apple and some water, and sat down on the bathroom floor. I drank the water, ate some of the apple and went back into bed to care for crying Sam. Shortly after, I began to feel nauseous, and had to rush back into the bathroom to throw up what I had just eaten.

I experienced the die off when I first did the candida cleanse 2 years ago, so I knew that it would most likely happen again. But I was only 1 day into it, and the first time around it took 2 weeks! Which is why at first I thought it might be a stomach bug; I didn't think I would be having those symptoms so quickly! How did I know it wasn't a bug? I ate a piece of toast. If I continued to feel bad, and throw that up it was most likely a bug. But I ate it, and I felt fine. The bread fed the candida. That whole fiasco lasted a few hours. After eating that toast, I went right back into eating right, and, thankfully, haven't had to deal with it again yet.

That first week continued to be super tough. I had jumped into this diet pretty quickly, and wasn't as prepared as I should have been. One of the hardest things about eating this way is the amount of time it takes to prepare food. I'll admit, I did not eat hardly enough that first week. Especially for being a nursing mom. But I hated it. I wanted to eat!  My reason for doing this is to clear up my skin (which really is just a sign that something isn't right in my insides). I am not doing this to lose weight.

Sure, I have some baby weight left. But my baby is only 5 months old! It took me a good 8 months to lose all my baby weight from Will, so I'm not expecting anything less this time around. In fact, if it took longer I wouldn't be surprised. I have a lot less time these days being a mom of 2, and some days working out just doesn't make it on my list! Since I started this diet I have only worked out once, and it was just a walk/jog around my neighborhood. I'd like to workout more though. I know how important exercise is to help sustain a healthy lifestyle. Once I have a good grip on my eating I will add working out back into my routine.

So, the first week my skin continued to get worse and worse. By day 6 it was the worst it has ever been. I knew that it was normal for symptoms to get worse before getting better, but it was still a bit depressing. Going into week 2, I finally began to see some changes! Everyday it was a little less red. A little less sore. A little less dry. By this past Saturday it was looking great! I was very excited to see results, especially since that was the day of the baby shower I had been planning for my sister in law, Anna! After eating great for almost 2 weeks, I thought I could handle cheating a little bit. I was wrong.

Just a few hours after treating myself to a taste of some of the fabulous desserts a red, dry spot appeared on the corner of my eye. By the end of that night it had all come back. I was so mad at myself! As delicious as the food was, I realized it wasn't worth it.

So, here we are. I jumped right back into eating well, and my face has calmed down a bit. For now I will continue to eat this way, and with the help of my MIL I am looking into some more options to try and get to the bottom of this. I'm trying to stay positive, although some days are harder then others. I would appreciate your continued prayers and words of encouragement! And if you have any tasty food ideas, please share!

Five

Sam is 5 months old today! He continues to be a sweet and happy baby. He loves playing and chewing on his toys, and along with all of the drooling and fussing he has been doing lately my guess is that he he is teething. Although I haven't spotted anything yet! He is working on his sitting, and loves to be in his Bumbo chair. He loves to be rocked and nursed to sleep, and LOVES snuggling in bed with his mommy!

Baby, you've gone and growed up on me!

So there we were. Sam was nursing, and I was eating my bowl of mashed up pinto beans. Just minding my own business. When all of a sudden my little baby (who was just born yesterday, right?) grabs my spoon and shoves it into his mouth!

It was his first ever taste of real food, and he seemed to really enjoy it. At just a tad bit shy of 5 months, I was planning on waiting a bit longer before introducing food to him. But I guess he has plans of his own!