Little of this and a little of that

Walker has become such a good little builder. He has to use all of his blocks and stack them as high as he can.

 

 

Whats better than nutella and bread? YUMM!

 

Julian is just my lttle cutie! He is such a talker. I have decided that Walker is our laugher and Julian is our talker.
"Mom this book is for the birds"

 

I just think he has the best blue eyes ever! Also the above picture was taken the day before this one and his face is so much better! Poor kid. Cetaphill bath and cortozone on that face just did the trick.

Prayer

With Christmas approaching I've been trying to think about ways Christ has helped me out this past year. Here are the two major things that I have been thinking about.

#1
    These past few months have been crazy. In case some of you don't know Eric got a job in October working with the Juvenile Justice System. We were both excited for this but it was unexpected because of the job requirements. Our plan was to put school off a semester (since that was the reason we moved here) because out of state was a little much.
    But this job came along and changed everything, and I mean everything. Part of taking this job meant that he would be gone every other week starting in October and going through the end of November. I wasn't to excited about this with having a 1 1/2 month old and a almost two year old.     
    So I had to suck it up and deal with it. I was worried about going to church by myself, buying groceries, going to the park, nap/bedtime, plus everything else. I know that their is no way that we could of gotten through this whole experience if it wasn't for prayer. I don't think I have prayed so much in such a short time frame in my entire life. I truly know that my Heavenly Father was there for me through this time. It wasn't easy, and I did have my moments. When those moments would occur I would pray and things just seemed to be so much better. I am truly grateful for the love our Heavenly Father shows us.

#2
    Making the move out to New Mexico was not easy for me. I love to move, and I love change but this was not one that I was happy about. The whole reason we moved to Wyoming was for Eric to go to school and get his pre-requisites in Speech Pathology.
    We'll that was my plan! Once Eric was done with that program we started to apply for graduate schools. Things didn't turn out our way in that department. But something did happen. Eric, for some unknowingly reason, applied for a masters in Curriculum and Instruction at New Mexico State and he was accepted. When I first saw the acceptance letter I was so excited, because all I saw was "accepted" but the more I read, I was like what the crap, Eric did you apply to the wrong program?!?!
    So we go back and forth about what to do. Shortly after we received the letter, my visiting teachers came by and gave a nice lesson that really got me thinking. They talked about "our" plan vs Heavenly Fathers plan for us. Lets just say I wasn't to happy with what I was hearing, I wasn't accepting this. So many things were going through my head, why did we feel that we should come to Wyoming, why did we accumulate more debt, what are our family members going to think and say about this if we go to N.M.??
   We were praying about it and I told Eric that I am never going to get an answer, this is not what "I" want, this was not "my" plan. So Eric, being the wise ol' owl he is, told me to pray that my heart will be soften, so I could receive my answer. So I took his advice, and with some time I received my answer. I was prompted to go to the Relief Society activity, that I wasn't planning on going to, that they were having at the stake center. So I went, and I heard the same thing again that my visiting teachers had spoken to me about. The speaker seemed to know exactly how I was feeling, it was so strange. From praying and that exeperience I knew what we needed to do. And here we are, in New Mexico, and not going to school. What !?!? Not going to school, I know, I know. But one thing I do know for sure...I know that this is where we are suppose to be right now, doing the things we are doing. I know now that if things didn't happen the way they did we would of never considered moving here, and Eric wouldn't of gotten this great job doing something he enjoys.

**********

I know that our Father in Heaven hears and answers our prayers. I know that if we go to Him with an open heart that he will lead and guide you. I am grateful for the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the comfort and peace it brings to me. I know that our Savior lives. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet and leads and guides His church. I am grateful for the friends I have made through going to church and the service that they have provided to my family. I know that we are all brothers and sisters and moving here has really shown me this. I love our Heavenly Father very much and am grateful for everything He has done.

Julians Blessing

Today was such an exciting day, Julian was blessed in the Las Colinas Ward in Las Cruces, NM. The blessing was beautiful as well as testimony meeting. We missed having more family members there but were grateful my parents could make it.

doTERRA

This past summer while we were traveling around I heard of a company called  doTERRA, which is a company that sells essential oils. My cousin in Utah is the first person that I heard about this company from. I was telling here that I have been having headaches a lot lately and she gave some stuff to try, but it didn't work (but it wasn't meant for headaches, I don't think). Then when we were in California I was still having headaches and nothing seemed to be able to get rid of this one. Well, Shelia, my sister-in-law, invited me to go to a doTERRA party that her friend was hosting. It sounded like fun so I went, plus I wanted to learn more about what the big whoop about this company was. While there we were able to try and smell different oils. One of the oils that we were able to try was "peppermint". They said that it was suppose to help with headaches. Really doubtful that this would even work, I tried it, and I swear within not even 5 minutes my headache was gone. I was so surprised, but still not really buying into, but my headaches never came back.

Anyways to get to the point of this blog.

Julian has reflux, not as bad as Walker, but it's still pretty bad. I go back and forth in my head about begging the doctor for medication, but I know he wont give it to him because I have spoken to him about it. I am not for giving babies medicines unless they really need it but it is tempting. At first his reflux wasn't so bad but it has progressively gotten worse and we are now having to use a towel for a spit-up rag. So I was talking to my friend about it on Sunday and she takes a more holistic approach to helping here baby and she just happens to be into doTERRA and baby massages. Yesterday she came by and brought me some oils to try and showed me some tummy massages to try.  I don't expect this to be a cure for the problem, even medication doesn't take all of it away, but I am hopeful that it might provide some relief. So I decided I would make a blog about, as in a way to keep track of the results and then I will share them.

***I did do the massages with baby oil to have something to compare it too***

THE NIGHT SHE CAME BY:
-we did the oils and massages and then he went to bed for the night, and he slept through the night again!

DAY 1:
Today I did tummy massages with the oil with all feedings and he only had one really bad spit-up with one feeding but he was also in the car seat. Other than that at one other feeding he had a little bit that a normal spit up rag could deal with, with leaving more room for other spit-up. He seemed to have a more comfortable day.

DAY 2:
Today wasn't a good day for him, he had several episodes with refulx. I do think that doing the massages helps him poop more easily and they don't sound as explosive.

DAY 3:
I'm adding another oil that is suppose to help and I am going to give it a day to see if their is any difference.

DAY 4:
There seem to be no difference today, still had some episodes and some major spit-ups but I am still not sure about it.

DAY5:
We'll not really a difference with the spit-up. He still has several episodes with reflux, so I am just going to have to deal with it and be patient.

Overall:
Overall I am still not sure about the whole essential oil stuff. I know that when I used the peppermint at the party I went to, my headaches went away. I would recommend this as an alternative to try before medication because who knows if your baby is having some minor issues it might be helpful or just give you peace of mind. I do think, however,  that the tummy massages really help and I will keep on doing. The massage is called "I love you", you can google it and see what you are suppose to do, it's super easy.

Julian kept on getting worse and eventually stoped nursing he would just cry everytime he would eat, so I pumped instead and feed him that way. He would still cry when I would feed him with a bottle, so I made an appointment with the doctor and he is on medication now. He is eating so much better and is way more comfortable.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. I wanted to share this yummy goodness with family and friends that will be baking this holiday season.

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine (soften)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3-3 1/4 cups flour
• 1 bag of chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes

2012 Pictures

2012 Pictures

If this link above doesn't work you can go to my facebook account and click on the link.

JCPennys was have a special on pictures today so we went. I have always loved how our pictures have turned out because the photographer would snap a million of them. We'll this lady took her time and would wait for them to pose or something, but she did get some good ones.

Julian wasn't all smiles for pictures but once we were finished he was cooing and smiling, plus during pictures he spit up all over himself; Walker really didn't want to cooperate he was just being silly, every time you would place him somewhere he would just run off until we found a baseball. I think he has had a baseball in every picture because it gets him to smile and to stand still. I don't mind the spit up or the baseball because this is just how life is now and I am loving being a mommy of two, but it does have its days.

Spit-up UHHH

I can not stress it enough of how much I HATE spit-up.

Well Julian is following in his big brother foot steps. He spits-up in the car seat leaving a puddle in the bottom, he spits-up in the swing, bouncer, in is his sleep, at a 30 degree angle that they tell you to keep him at, well he pretty much spits-up anywhere. It doesn't matter if it's breast milk, formula or thickened formula. I don't want to take him to peoples homes because I am afraid of what he might do. I am tired of people telling me or asking me if I am overfeeding him. Here is what he did just after 3 ounces. And this doesn't include what was on the spit rag, the couch or the floor. I would describe his spit up as projectile, but not like vomit, so it is hard to catch it. It doesn't all come up at once, probably a few seconds apart.

It doesn't matter the bottle, how many times you burp him, the position he is feed or what he is feed. This boy is just a faucet and there is no off switch.