Who knew???

This morning, I was all geared up and ready to head out to Lowes to get some flowers to plant in the front beds.  The forecast is calling for rain for the next couple of days so I thought I'd try to get them in the ground before then. 

Easton was dressed in his Mommy's MVP onesie, clean diaper...ready to go.  I put him in his car seat and buckled the straps.  I was running around the house trying find my keys, phone and sunglasses when I heard some grunting.  Now, mind you, he gets a little impatient if you put him in his car seat and don't get in the car...he's not one for sitting around.  So, I went into his room, expecting to find  him mad and red faced but instead found projectile vomit EVERYWHERE!  All over him, the car seat and even on the glider that the car seat was sitting in.  (Lucky for me, I snapped this pic BEFORE said incident.)

I stripped him down to his diaper and put him in his bouncy seat while I cleaned everything up.  Once the clothes were off and he was on his changing table, he was back to his smiling self.  I wouldn't want to sit in throw up either would you?

So, plans changed.  We'll wait till after the next feeding to head out to Lowes.  In the mean time, why not search the internet for "Projectile Vomiting in Infants"?  In doing so, I came across milk allergy---which I had suspected already.  I also came across a number of other things- several of which were quite alarming and made me want to head right to the nearest hospital- even if he didn't have the symptoms.  Reading on the internet to diagnose is never a good idea. 

Back to the milk allergy- a few times, after having cereal or something containing milk- or after having something containing eggs, Easton has gotten fussy and spit up- not projectile, mind you, but spit up nonetheless.  So, I decided I would cut out milk & eggs.  I have done so for the most part.  I didn't cut out cheese or milk containing products...though I'm not exactly sure why not...until today.  After my research, he does seem to have several of the indicators that point to a milk allergy.  I google milk free diets and gluten free diets and wheat free diets and, well, I  might as well just stick to lettuce and water! 

So, I feed him a little later, and its off to Lowe's we go.  He's happy as a lark.  We make it through Lowe's, purchase our flowers and head back home.  After some lunch- turkey sandwich (NO CHEESE) and baked Doritos, I decide to look through the pantry to see which foods contained milk...  who knew the Baked Doritos I'd just eaten contained milk- as do Nilla Wafers, Chips Ahoy, Nutra-Grain bars and Special K Crisp bars?!?!?!

This is proving to be quite a challenge!

Looks like I'm going to have to really watch my diet and see if that helps with the milk allergy symptoms.  I guess I'm going to have to head to Publix and stock up on different items to keep in my pantry, all of which I'm certain won't be near as tasty as the Chips Ahoy and Baked Doritos!  No better time than the present to eat wholesome!  We'll experiment for a little while and see if that helps with the spit up...

Any suggestions on your favorite gluten-wheat-dairy free items would be appreciated!

Off to plant- hopefully I can get one flat in the ground before he wakes...

Top 2 Tuesday

While thinking about what to blog about today- other than my cute little angel bucket, which I know you are all dying to see pictures of- I came across this button on my friend Kim's blog...check her out! 

So, for Top 2 Tuesday-2 of my favorite things about Summer...

1.  The Pool- I could spend every day, sun up to sun down, at the pool.  I LOVE the sun, LOVE having a tan, LOVE the feel of the sun on my skin. 

2.  Planting Flowers- when I was little, my mom ALWAYS had flowers planted the first weekend in May or the last weekend in April- so they were in the ground by my birthday.  She planted Impatients, Bagonia's, Petunia's and other colorful flowers.  As I have my own yard to plant in now, I so look forward to doing the same.  Looks like I better get on it, if those flowers are going to be in the ground by next Tuesday!

Feet

I pray that the actions of these feet...

and these feet...

lead these feet....

to the feet of this Man...

Where did the month go?

1 month ago, today, Easton Garrrett Farrar was born.

Happy One Month Birthday Lovie!

This has been a wonderful month, a tiring one, but wonderful nonetheless.  It has been filled with lots of emotion, lots of visitors, lots of pictures and lots of memories. 

Today, while at Gigi's (my mom) house, Easton smiled 3 times in a row.  He was looking up at my mom while I was shaking a rattle and the sweetest, toothless grin, covered his little face.  Of couse, she and I both started boo-hooing while Lance looked at us like we were nuts.  He SAID he told me earlier this morning that Easton was smiling and giggling at him, but I don't recall.  He took the morning shift (7:30-8:45) while I tried to get some more sleep.  This is Easton's happy time.  He is wide awake after our 6/7am feeding.  This morning, Lance experienced the happiness.  This afternoon, I got to experience it as well. 

I never knew that something so minor could absolutely fill my heart with such joy. 

I look forward to many more smiles in the days to come.

Easton, you have blessed our lives beyond belief and we are so thankful to be your parents.  We love you!

So, what makes you smile?  Think about that and do those things that make you smile.

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

~Mother Teresa

Mile Long Yard Sale and a 2 Wheeled Stroller...

So, today we took out for a big adventure...

Hubs & I decided we'd venture out to the big city of Watertown to the Mile Long Yard Sale.   We're doing the outdoorsy things right now since we can't do big crowds in confined places (the Mall).  Plus, it's Spring and the weather is heavenly.  Fresh air and sunshine never hurt anyone. Pollen??? Maybe...but fresh air is a must.

I had seen it on the news last night and Lance works out that way and had heard of it so off we went. 

This morning, we got up and out by about 10am, a miracle in itself.  Looks like we may be able to make the 10:30 service at church afterall.  We went to the barber shop (Easton's first of many trips with Daddy), then headed to Lebanon.  We stopped by Lance's work so I could nurse and then grabbed some lunch at Subway.  We made it to Watertown at about 1:30 and headed out to find some treasures. 

The square was packed with vendors and food and the streets were filled with people.  We never did find any tresures, other than some home made "Lunch Box Bread" and "Gator Ice" (a glorified slush puppie) but we had fun searching. 

We did have a small incident while on our little jaunt to Watertown...

What's missing from the above picture???

If you guessed the baby---nope, he's in there...

Look closely----

If you guessed the front wheel, you win the prize!

We were strolling down the street when the front wheel started wobbling.  I thought mabye it was supposed to be like that in the unlocked position since it is "all terrain" but it seemed a bit odd.  I passed the stroller off to Lance to push because I felt like I was making Easton sea sick.  We walked a bit more and decided to turn around to head back to the truck and call it a day.  On our way back, looking ever so posh with our jogger in the midst of the yard salers...the wheel fell off!  HELLO?!?!?!!?  Are you kiding me?  The wheel fell off right in the middle of the sidewalk.  Here we are, trying to blend in, while holding the 3rd wheel to our stoller!  Talk about a sight---not to mention that I was in hysterics laughing!  There was a combintation of nuts and bolts that came off with the wheel and could have been put together a number of ways...but not withouth the necessary tools... so with 2 wheels we strolled back to the truck a little bit on the tacky side. 

Lance thought he fixed it tonight but it appeared to be a failed attempt.  We went for a walk with Kirby and Easton and it started wobbling again!  He's put it together a different way now, so we'll try again tomorrow.

You better believe the folks at Baby Trend will be hearing from me on Monday.

I'm just glad I wasn't on the local Greenway by myself and my lovie didn't go flying out! 

Hold that head up high!

BIG NEWS- Easton is now holding his head up very well. 

He and Daddy have their own version of tummy time!

In other news:

• He eats every 2 1\2 hours most days- we were at 3 hours but we must be going through a growth spurt
• He's a good sleeper- does get up 2- 3 times a night depending on his last feeding but generally goes right back to sleep- with a little grunting and rooting around- meaning mommy gets roughly 6-7 hours of sleep a night (not consecutive but I'll take what I can get right now)
• He likes his swing
• He enjoys his mobile in his crib
• He's doing better with his passi- we got a new one thats smaller- it doesn't fall out as much
• Nap times are still a work in progress
• His breathing is getting better- still breathes fast, but not as often- another check up at his 1 month check up on the 20th
• He loves to go for walks in his jogging stroller and be outside- this may seem small but it's huge to me- I prayed that he would love the outdoors and it seems that he does.  We LIVE outside when the weather's nice so I'm glad he likes the sunshine too!
• He smiles at random times- yesterday I pinched his cheeks and said "cheeky cheeky cheeky" and he smiled in response to that 2 times- we couldn't duplicate it for daddy though...yet!
• Nursing is still a work in progress
• Kirby is a very protective Big Sister.  If he cries, he runs to his room to check on him.  She loves to sit on the couch while he nurses- I think she just likes to be involved- OH---and she loves his bouncy seat.  She has taken it over.  It's the perfect little seat for her little self and she hangs out there most all day when she's not on the deck in the sun.

                                   

• He took a bottle for the first time yesterday! 

That's pretty much what's going on day in and day out at our house for now.  We're enjoying every minute of Easton and looking forward to more milestones in the days to come.

Happy Spring,

Annie

Nap Time...

Yesterday, every attempt was made to get a nap in his crib. 

First attempt- let him fuss for 15 minutes, rocked 15 minutes, put him back in his crib with passi- returned to his room 9 zillion times because his passi would fall out (darn that passi- it's a love\hate relationship I have with the thing---it's great if you are willing to put it in every time it falls out and it does quiet a fussy baby but if you can't commit to putting it back in his mouth, you'd better not even start it because when he loses it...you know what happens)- ended up in swing asleep for remainder of nap until time to eat again.

Second attempt- looks similar to above scenario- but final nap was on our bed in his boppy while I got ready.  He likes the sound of the hair dryer.  :)

Third attempt- Nursed, changed diaper, woke slightly, laid him right down in his crib- SLEPT FOR NEARLY 2 HOURS!!!!!!!!!  Here's the proof!

(Sorry about the quality, I took this pic from my phone)

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement- I felt as if I had climbed a mountain or run a marathon and finished first!  It's now the little things in life that make me happy.  It's amazing how your priorities change when you have a baby and how its the little things like a successful nap or a burp after a feeding or a smile when he hears your voice or staying on routine that absolutely make your day.  It's times like this when all the sleepless nights (however he's doing pretty good at that too- waking every 3-4 hours to nurse) are erased and you have nothing but happy thoughts. I know God gives us those happy times so we stay motivated!   

We are trying the BabyWise technique, and it's working pretty well.  We stay on a 2 1\2 to 3 hour feeding schedule and so far, it's working out nice.  Bridget did BabyWise with her little angel and he was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks so I'm willing to try anything.  Of course, every baby is different and there are times when we stray from the schedule (like this morning when he got up at 4:45am to nurse and was supposed to nurse at 6am) but you just adjust. I'm a bit anal- so adjusting is a hard thing to do for me, but I'm learning.  We're learning together. 

Have any of you done BabyWise? 

Do you have any tips or tricks that worked for you to get your child to sleep through the night? 

On a side note, Easton and I went for a walk with our new jogging stroller on Wednesday.

Here was my view for the walk...

 

Look at those legs---he's a good eater, what can I say?!!?!?

So far, the stroller has proven to put him right out.  We didn't get to walk yesterday because it was cool and windy, but today is going to be warmer and sunny so we'll see if a walk is in the works. 

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!