National Western "Sick" Show

I am calling this post the sick show for a reason. 1- it always smells sick. 2- poop everywhere 3- I should've listened to Mike when he told me all the kids last year got sick, because B vomited last night in bed after we got home. I feel like I can't take my kid anyone fun because he always has to pay the price for it (and so do we). I get so excited to take him to new places and experience things, but now, I don't know if its worth him getting sick from it. I even purelled his hands the entire time we were there and he did even go into the petting farm.

Anyways... It was a packed house and for this reason alone I didn't want to go on a Saturday, but with Mike's busy work schedule (this really is a blessing) we had to go on Saturday like every other family in Colorado. He got to see horses, cows, chickens, roosters, rabbits, sheep and goats. He also got to ride his first pony! He was so nervous and cried at times. He did look really cute in his outfit though. I guess next year we will skip it :-( at least until he is older. There really wasn't a whole lot for him to do anyways. Its better with 4-7 year olds I think.
Here are some pics from our adventure:


B looking at a goats butt.

Checking out the cattle auction.

Pony Ride.

My little cowboy.

What B Can Say and Understand Now.

At 14.5 months old I thought I should write down some things that B can say and understand. I try to keep up with it in my other book too, but this is turning out to be exhausting. I got to keep going though because I (and B) will enjoy looking at this in years to come.

What he understands (this is not everything because he knows a lot more than I think he does);
1. "Go to your Chair"- referring to his high chair
2. "Get in the car"- wish is was my car because he starts crying when he finds out we aren't going for a walk in his push car.
3. "Put it in", "Give it to dad", "Where's ____", "do you want to watch a movie", "get a book"
4. "Outside", "let's go", "Basement" (because that is where nana's drums are). "turn around"- when referring to go down the stairs/slide. " do you want down/to go to bed/ up?"
5. "put your shoes/socks on" -he'll lift up his feet to help you do it. "lets put your coat on"- he'll put his arm through the sleeves.
6. He knows hot and cold- he'll say brrrr
7. "Give me a kiss" (he'll lean in with his mouth, so freakin' cute)
8. "Brush your hair/teeth"
9. Water- for drinking

Things he says;
1. Ba (ball), Boo (book or DVD), Bir (bird), Brrr (as in cold), Bo- the dog
2. Kitty, Key (eat/hungry/cracker)
3. Da (dad)
4. haaa (hot)
5. He makes "car" sounds when playing with his toy cars and trucks (crash noises and engine noises)
But mostly he points to start and cries or says "Huh".

Christmas has Come and Gone

I don't know if it was the lack of snow (not that I am complaining) or the fact that we missed Christmas service this year due to some illnesses, but what ever it is, it sure didn't feel like Christmas. It is already over and I feel like the holiday spirit never arrived. Oh well, here's to next year.

I thought B would be into Christmas a little more this year, but he really wasn't. He didn't tear open his gifts like I thought he would. He did come down the stairs and run toward the sports climber we bought him, complete with a basketball hoop, soccer goal, slide, and the rock climbing/ladder thing. This thing was cool, and it only took Mike and I a mere 30 minutes to put it together. It also came with a football, soccer ball and basketball that we set up right in front of the climber. He ran right towards the...BALLS! I don't think he even noticed the giant sports climber behind them. He just kept saying "BAl, BAl (thats pronounced BA- "little" l sound towards the end) and then tried to pick up all three at once. We had to actually show him the giant gym that we worked so hard on to set up. He could care less about any of the other gifts...except for maybe the box the sport climber came in. AWWW kids, what can you do. Needless to say, he now climbs on his sports climber and tries to walk up the slide.

Every year we get eachother an ornament that best represents the year or a memory of that year. This year I had a hard time with B believe or not. It was narrowed down to two types or ornaments; a mirror ornament that spelled his name or a baseball ornament. He loves his reflection and pictures of himself to the point where it is almost Zoolander-ish, but he also loves carrying and throwing balls. Ball was one of his first words, and after seeing his reaction to the sport climber balls, clearly I made the right choice by getting him the baseball ornament.

The ornament I got Mike was of the family getting the Christmas tree. I swear this is Mike's favorite thing to do and this year he strapped the tree on to the roof of the car. He so badly wanted B to help him pick out the perfect tree and set it up with him. Sometimes he forgets that B is just a 1 year old. So that is the ornament I got Mike.

Mike got me a house ornament, because what an ordeal we went through to finally get the house we really wanted.

All and All it was a good Christmas, with lots of family and food. So thankful for everything I have.

Man Down!

We had our first real run of near death experiences...ok, ok we didn't almost die but the stomach bug definitely made me want to. Saturday started off ok, we did our thing around the house and then went to church that evening. On our way home, B started crying and whining in the car and we just thought he was ready to get out. Then we hear the unmistakable sound of projectile vomiting. I jump over the seat to see what was happening and my poor prince was throwing up all of his dinner and lunch. It had the unmistakable smell of a definite virus. I tried to pat his back and make sure he wouldn't aspirate it and told Mike to floor it home (we were like 5 minutes away). When we got home I opened the back door and realized that this was worse than I thought. I straight up panicked. I froze! I told Mike I couldn't do it and after staring at my sweet innocent sick boy for a minute, it clicked. I've got latex gloves upstairs. I ran up there to put them on and Mike was like "where are you going?" By the time I got down the stairs Mike had found a plastic bag in the car and made gloves for himself. He carried B up the stairs holding him as far away from his body as possible. I got the bath ready and undressed him (thank God I had gloves on). He threw up a number of times that night and into the morning. We though we were in the clear until Mike started vomiting two days later and then me 12 hours later. We felt so bad that we couldn't even care for our son, we were so sick. I called for back up, but who wanted to be around that? I don't blame them. I that point we were two men down and the S.O.S flares had been deployed. I thought we weren't going to make it.

Obviously we did, but just barely.

This made me realize a few things.

1.) Parents don't get sick days... that sucks!

2.) Although I work in a hospital and am around sick people daily, I can't handle vomit as well as I thought.

3.) The last time I puked this much I was almost 8 weeks pregnant and in the hospital getting IV fluids...Mike and I were trying for another baby. (key word is in bold).

Getting the Christmas Tree

This year is a little more fun than last year. B is a little older and a little wiser. He sees that there is a tree in our house! Mike was so excited to take him to pick out a tree and wanted him to help him set it up and decorate it which is all good except that he is only 1! He can only do so much. I was cute though seeing B put the mitten decoration on it and playing with the lights, but for the most part isn't too concerned with the tree or the light. Good for us because he doesn't really mess with it a whole lot either. Here are a few pics of the tree decorating ordeal.

The new "meal time".

Meal time is so stressful. Every since he learned that he doesn't have to eat something if he doesn't want to, feeding him has been a bit of a challenge. It seems like food just isn't his thing. We have tried everything to get him to eat, but the only thing that seemed to work was to place a "puff"on the spoon with the "real" food we wanted him to eat. He sure does like those puffs and at the time I didn't care. At least my kid , who is always on the low side of the growth chart, was eating. But, he wasn't pooping either. Every time he would poop it would be hard or he would strain and strain and cry without success. I didn't know what was causing it. Was it the cow's milk we switched to? Was it lack of water in-take? Was it an allergy to a food? Was it a more serious GI issue (which of course I convinced myself)? So after a night of crying and an enema later I decide off to the Dr.'s we go!



I told the Dr. that I thought it was not right do have to give your child prune juice, Miralax, and enemas this much and most of the time those didn't even work (we will get to that later). She said "Laura, quit crying and pull yourself together". Ok she didn't say that, but I did cry and that is probably what she was thinking. While she was talking I kept feeding puffs to B to keep him quiet so I could listen to her. In a nutshell this is what we are now doing.

1.) New motto= Parents Provide, Children Decide. Meaning- I provide the food (place it on his tray and walk away) he decides if he wants to eat it, if not next meal/snack is in a few hours. Sounds like tough love huh? It is. But, if my girlfriend or sister was having the same issues that is the same thing I would tell them. So why wasn't I practicing what I preach?

2.) He needs to feed himself. He is 1 and this is good practice for him. Who cares if he is dirty or the floor gets dirty (gulp) I don't. Plus, now he feels like he has a little more control over his life and he likes that.

3.) I can actually get stuff done around the house. I can't make him eat anyway so why hover over him and get frustrated. I get a lot of stuff done now and its nice.

4.) No more puffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So how is it working? Well, the first meal time with this strategy was hard. He threw just about everything on the floor and ate very little. It is now progressively getting better and better. He has normal bowel movements everyday and I am not as stressed out over meal time. The question is how will his weight gain be?


Here a sneak peak at my big boy eating!

No Milk For You!

B has been so constipated lately. He is miserable. All day long sometimes he will cry and strain and cry. I felt bad for him so...I gave him an enema. I know, I know, but it really helped me when I was pregnant with him and couldn't go. I got the smallest dosage I could find and this is after all else had failed. Needless to say he is fine. No harm done. In fact, 20 minutes after I gave it to him he was a new man, back to his normal hyper self. After talking to other moms and my sisters I attribute this to the recent transition to whole milk. I think he is still too young for it and will wait another month and slowly introduce again. So, back to buying formula. I rather cough of the money for that then see my baby struggling (obviously).