I miss cheese...

Look at the date! December?!? That's how long it took me to edit the post!

Today is: April 17, 2011

I really do. I miss it. It's not the end of the world or anything... But I miss it. Almost as much as butter.

Adam Jones Dokulil is now 7 1/2 months old! I can't believe it! I can't believe how wonderful being a mother is. I love being home with him. I love how he looks at me when he wakes up and I walk into his room. I love how he giggles at me! I love teaching him how to wave and bounce and walk and sing. Life is good!

Its sure been a journey getting here! But I look back it and feel so proud of all of us. Adam and I hung in there for 12 weeks as he and I learned how to nurse. The HARDEST thing I've ever done. But he's so good at it now! And he loves to nurse!

His reflux has calmed somewhat. He's been on Prevacid now since November. I've been dairy/soy/peanut/treenut/citrus free since November also. I MISS CHEESE! I MISS BUTTER! I MISS CREAM! (But don't feel too bad for me - I discovered double stuffed oreos and other decadent treats and somehow didn't loose an ounce during this "diet"!)

We're in full swing with solids. I make all his food with my baby food maker that my brother and his lovely girlfriend bought me. I LOVE IT! My goal is to never buy jarred baby food. Its so easy to make and I enjoy doing it so why not!?! (Ok - I did buy 4 jars of baby food for our tornado preparedness kit. But that doesn't count, right?!?)

Adam enjoys bananas, pears, avocados, chicken thighs, sweet potatoes, green beans, and...... ...... WHOLE MILK YOGURT! We're just in the early phases of a dairy trial. But so far so good! He's had 1 tablespoon of yogurt everyday for the last 5 days and passed! This means I can add yogurt to my diet! It also means that he will switch to from his one bottle a day of Neocate formula ($$$$) to a one bottle a day of regular formula like similac. If he passes that - I shall go on a cheese eating binge for sure. Fingers crossed!

Spring is also in full swing! (Or, at least it was until it snowed all day on Friday.) We've been to the zoo several times already with Megan and her "honeys". Megan has twins the same age as Adam and we all have a blast hanging out together! (I know I do!)

Until next time!

Sheila

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Hello World! I can't believe its been 3 months since Adam was born. I feel like I opened my eyes and its Christmas time already. A lot has happened! Let me catch you up.

Adam was born Cesarean because as his father put it, "Buddy, you slept right through the part where you were supposed to turn!" He was a breech baby. The delivery was piece of cake and I definitely don't feel like I have missed out on anything by getting to skip the major labor part!

The doctor pulled him out one butt cheek at a time and finally held him up to me so I could see whose head had been banging against my ribs for so long. Such a beautiful guy! He wailed, we cried, and life as a trio began.

Adam lost weight very quickly (as many babies do) and we were forced to start supplementing with formula in addition to nursing and also pumping. This is known as triple feeding. And it blows. Big. Time. We fed Adam every two hours whether he wanted to eat or not using this method for 3 weeks until he finally got back to birth weight. It took about an hour to complete the feeding process, then change a diaper, wash the bottles and back to bed. The alarm would go off about 45 minutes later and the process would repeat itself. My mom came and stayed a week to help us out. She did all the laundry, put clothes away, cooked us all 3 meals a day, got up in the middle of the night, cleaned. She was amazing and I bawled when dad showed up at the end of the week to pick up mom who was standing in the driveway with her suitcase and her thumb sticking out. I think I even heard the tires peel as they drove off into the sunset together. (Ok - that's not REALLY how it happened - but it's close!)

Finally we were on the right track! A growing, VERY happy baby! A growing, VERY happy baby who couldn't for the life of him keep much down. For several weeks, Andy and I struggled to get him to retain anything! We never left the house without 12 or so bibs and a couple changes of clothes and extra blankets. His diapers were always suspect and he had this rough patch of skin on his cheeks, legs, and arms.

I knew that something wasn't adding up and made sure he was weighed weekly if not more often so I could track his growth. And sure enough, he started to slow down in his weight gain. A typical baby should gain between 4 and 7 ounces a week. During October, Adam was lucky to gain 1 to 3 ounces a week. Back to the doctor we went where Adam was diagnosed with MSPI (Milk Soy Protein Intollerance) and excessive reflux. We were told to start the triple feeding again, given a prescription for Zantac, and I cut out all dairy and soy products from my diet.

That's pretty tricky. There's a lot of weird words that mean milk or soy. So label reading has been important. Eating out is the most difficult because its hard to trust what's in the food.

He is getting better. However we do occasionally have days where projectile spit up, awful diapers, and ezcema reappears. When that happens, I look at my food journal for patterns and that's how we've come to realize he is also sensitive to peanuts, pecans, avocados, and possibly citrus.

He's getting so big!

Besides the diet drama, this is one awesome kid. He sleeps all night now, and actually needs to be roused to eat. He is the most unfussy baby I have ever met. He chatters a lot. Smiles constantly. Giggles. He adores his daddy. (And his mommy.) He's working on sitting up too. After 3 months of nursing, we almost have the hang of it. I'm one proud mom!

Here's my favorite photo of last week:

Lastly, A few recipes I made followed lately that fit within our MSPI little life:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/herb-roasted-chicken-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pot-roast-with-vegetables-recipe/index.html

http://mspimama.blogspot.com/2010/10/black-bean-corn-salad.html (This was awesome and I ate it all with some corn chips!)

A couple GREAT sites for MSPI familes are: http://mspimama.blogspot.com/ and http://intolerantoffspring.com/

Peace out Peeps! I'll be posting again soon! (I hope!)

There's a new guy in town!

Adam - Yes! He's as cute as he looks!

We're so in love and cherishing each second.

He was born on September 2nd and weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz.

I still think the stork theory makes more sense that what actually happened...

Interesting Read!

A friend of my family recently sent me this article about making your own baby food...

I don't think it means you can't sneak of bottle of Gerber in there from time to time, but I found it really interesting and enlightening!

ttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/norah-o-donnell/baby-love_b_697375.html?ref=email_share

Funnel Salt Cake

Yep. Funnel. Salt. Cake.

Ingredients:

French Fries

Powdered Sugar

Dump powdered sugar all over french fries. Then dump some more because I know you didn't dump enough the first time. (Notice I didn't say "Sprinkle".)

Enjoy!

New House: THE BEFORE

My husband and I have been planning on building a house just up the street from where we live now. We made a long list of things that were really important to us. My list included, stainless steal appliances, a 6 burner range, double oven, nice hood, granite counter tops, lots of counter room, etc. You know, all the necessities! (ha!)

Andy's list had things on it like movie theatre room, audio/video wiring throughout the entire house, and a man cave. Also major necessities!

The other more realistic things on our list included, more bedrooms, a room of its own for the baby grand piano, a bigger kitchen open to a family room, linen closets, a bigger master bedroom/bathroom, the list went on and on.

Since I'm 8 months pregnant, most of these plans for building went on hold. And it was decided that in the Spring we would dig. That WAS the plan. Until Andy's aunt, our neighbor, my friend, showed up on Friday, July 9 and told us to go look at a house for sale on the other side of town right by the school. Her husband, Uncle Jerry, is the realtor and gave us a nice tour on Saturday, July 10th. We really liked it! It didn't have the dream kitchen or the dream movie theatre room but it had everything else on our list! We looked at it again on Sunday, July 11th. (My birthday!)

We decided with interest rates at historic lows and with a baby on the way, we should do it! (Besides, August was looking pretty lame anyway. I'd be done teaching, just resting up before the baby is born. Enjoying some naps and frequent trips to the bathroom. BORING! We needed more things to do! -not!-) We made an offer on Monday, July 12th and sold our house on the same day. Everything lined up into place and now here we are packing!

The plan is to close on Friday, July 23rd and start moving little things over. The painter comes on Monday, July 26th and we do the big move on July 30th! Our goal is to get settled into this house before this baby pops out to see it.

Here are some BEFORE pictures of the new house. I'll be posting the updates as they come!

It needs a little white picket fence... :-)

Here is the front entry way which leads up the stairs, to the formal living room, or through to the kitchen. White walls everywhere. Next is the formal living room. Can you see the decorator's feet? The formal living room leads to the dining room. The dining room leads to the kitchen!

Here's the kitchen! It's very spacious but I do look forward to bashing it in and putting in one or two fancy appliances and some granite! The kitchen also has an informal dining area. Then is quite open to the family room! The carpet in the family room is navy blue, and while it is so soft and plush, its got to go!

Here I am back at the front door. Just under the stairs is the powder room. The gold has got to go! Around the corner to the left is the family room, laundry room, and a 3 car garage.

Upstairs is the master bedroom and master bathroom. A LOT of white.

Across from mommie and daddie's room is Baby Adam's room! Soon to be blue (again)! Down the hall is the upstairs bathroom. The wall paper is coming down! And a shower curtain is going in! Then at the end of the hall is Andy's Man Cave. Andy's Man Cave even has a special back cave for Adam to keep all his toys. HA! The toys will invade every room, I'm sure!

The last room on the upper level is the spare bedroom which my mother has claimed as her own. (Remembering back to when I was 13 years old and desperately wanted black curtains in my room but mom thought that was a bit too dramatic... perhaps NOW is the time to put in some black curtains and perhaps THIS is the room to do it in! Just joshing MOM! kinda.....)

Back downstairs to the main level is the deck and the deck over looks a little waterfall. (Here fishy fishy fishy!)

The backyard is beautifully landscaped and I have A LOT to learn about plants and not killing them. But I am up to the challenge! The middle picture is back to the front of the house and the twirlly swirlly tree things that Andy will be maintaing! And along the north side of the house is a dozen or so fully grown spruce trees! They're just gorgeous!

Needless to say, we're feeling so blessed. We're lucky to have found this house and to have sold our house so quickly. We're lucky to have so many wonderful friends and loving family to help us get in the house quickly and out of the current house. We aren't taking a bit of this for granted and are overwhelmed with gratitude.

In other unrelated house news: Today was my party/shower with all my students. We had a blast and I'll post pictures soon!

Until next time,

Sheila

Sheila OUT of the Kitchen!

Can you believe my last post was November of 2009?

Well, I've been busy!

January 1st 2010 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! It was also this morning that my husband I woke up and found out "we" were pregnant! What a way to start the NEW YEAR! (It was this day that a huge craving for Grandma's sweet pickles started!)

Without going into too much detail - my husband and I had been waiting for this day for awhile. We had prayed for it, saved for it, dreamed about it... and now here it was! I spent the rest of the winter in hibernation mode. I got up out of bed only for the necessities and then went straight back. Most of January, February, and the first part of March are a blur. Food sounded awful. I was STARVING! But nothing sounded palatable! Except anything my mom cooked. My wonderful mother made us food often and brought it over. She made Andy his favorite meals too. Do you know how much life is easier when there is wonderful, yummy, and nutritious food already for you to heat up and enjoy in the fridge? My mom knew this and took very good care of us. (And still does!)

Soon, the grass started to poke through the frozen ground and we could see the beginnings of Spring. Hallelujah! It was a hard, cold, wet, frozen winter. I was starting to get rounder and rounder. I had found some long lost energy. Andy and I started shopping for baby furniture and making plans to turn the spare bedroom into a nursery. Now we just needed to know what color to paint. Pink or Blue?

There are two types of people in this world. Those who love surprises and those who don't. Guess which one I am? :-) I most definitely do not enjoy surprises. I'm a huge planner. I LOVE to plan. I LOVE to plan to plan. And I like to plan my back up plan! So needless to say, we opted to find out what we were having as soon as possible!

It's a BOY!!! So, let me tell you how I remember finding out: We were in the ultrasound room, and the doctor was scanning the baby and telling us how healthy and great he was doing. Then she said, "Do you want to know?" Up until this point, we were convinced we were having a girl! Everyone told us they were sure we were having a girl too. So we thought how could all these people be wrong? Clearly they SEE something in my growing belly that I can't see! So, about a week before the ultrasound, we started calling this baby a "she".

Well, the doctor pointed to the screen and pointed to this "thing." Clearly, this baby is all boy as there was no mistaking the "thing". Tears were welling up in my eyes as it was all becoming even more real. And I started immediately making plans and checklists. Blue paint, monkeys, brown curtains, tinkle teepees, the list went on and on. Andy and I got into the elevator on our way back to the car after finding out we were having a beautiful baby boy. The door closed and Andy started chanting, "IT'S A BOY! IT'S A BOY! TWO to ONE! TWO to ONE!" I smiled at him. How naive, I thought. Doesn't he realize the power of the mother? Then he wisely realized, "Your vote probably counts more than ours, huh..." Um, YEAH!

We decided to name him Adam Jones Dokulil.

It wasn't long after that Adam's flutters started turning into full fledged kicks and rolls and punches. He's an active little guy! I swear I felt my first flutter before the end of the 1st trimester. By week 15, he was getting bigger and stronger. And before I knew it, it was time for my first baby shower.

I have the most amazing church family. The women in my church are especially wonderful. They take care of everyone. And they took care of me. My pastor's wife and the church choir that I direct through me such a special shower. They had the entire room decorated with baby toys that they sent home with me. There was amazing cinnamon rolls, sticky pecan rolls, fruit, juice and we were serenaded as we ate. We played some games and then opened presents. I was so touched by the generosity of these women. I'll never forget it.

A second shower was held on June 26th at my sister in law's house. Aimee out did herself on everything from food to games to gifts and her amazing hospitality. It was a wonderful day!

Here we are now in July! I'm 8 months pregnant. We had our 32 week checkup and Baby Adam is doing great! We actually got to see his face today! For the last 15 weeks, he's had his arm, elbow, feet, legs, etc. in front of his face keeping us from getting a good look at him. Currently, he's still in breech position. Most babies have turned head down by 34 weeks. I'm not sure if Baby Adam read the manual on how to be born yet. But we're not worried!

(Can you see his eyes, and nose, and mouth and chin?)

The year is half over! Its been an amazing year full of surprises. I'm overwhelmed and humbled by God's blessings. We are so thankful and enjoying every single day.

(I MADE this! I MADE it! Go here to Andy's cousin's blog to find out how! She's got awesome tips and ideas! Plus her kids are adorable!)

This weekend is my shower/party for all my students. It's bittersweet as I will be "retiring" from teaching at the end of July to prepare for the baby and then be a stay at home mom. I'm so excited for the opportunity to spend so much time with my kiddo but I will sorely miss my students and their families.

Check back soon for more pictures and updates! I promise to do better! (Ok - I promise to TRY!)

Love,

Sheila

PS - Constant Craving: ANYTHING POTLUCK... Mmmmmm

PPS - How pregnant are we?!?! Me and my best bud - partners in crime!