Daddy's Boy (not the traditional mother's day post)

DJ ADORES his daddy.  No matter how tired, hungry, or crabby he is there is always at least a tiny smile when David walks in the door.  In fact this last week DJ has become increasingly possessive of Daddy time.  We can actually pin point it to last Sunday when we had some friends over.  Jeremy and Tiffany are some of DJ's favorite people, he recognizes them and doesn't have to make friends again every time we see them.  Jeremy and DJ giggle and goof all the time.  Well DJ was asleep, but woke up while we were finishing dinner.  David went in and got him.  They came out to the living-room all smiles and giggle.  That is until Jeremy reached over and tried to tickle DJ.  DJ started to laugh, then looked at Jeremy, looked at David, and began to scream.  David had to walk away from the table with his and cuddle, even then it took a few minutes to convince DJ that Daddy was not going to hand him over.  This scene has been replayed, even with me a few times.  He gets very upset if he sees David leave in the morning, and as soon and David gets home starts to reach for him.  I actually don't feel left out at all.  It is so sweet to watch them play together.  I know a lot of men have a hard time interacting with little babies and I am so grateful that David has been so good at it.  It is definitely paying off now that DJ is becoming more fun and interactive.

Some things have happened in our little Wymount community recently that have really made me so grateful to have DJ and David in my life.  To have survived the surgery that brought this little angel into our lives and that he made it through those first few weeks.  In this day and age we often don't think about how as women we really do enter the "valley of the shadow of death" to bring our children into this world, and how sometimes women don't come out on the other side.  Being faced with the mortality of it all is a very nerve wracking experience.  So right now I am so grateful to be able to watch my little boy fawn on his daddy, even on 'my day.'  Just being around to watch them play and interact makes me feel so blessed.

Quick Catch up

Two months have flown by! Lets see,

DJ stats:
5 Months Old
weight: 12 lbs 6 oz
height: 24 in
favorite song: I'm trying to be like Jesus
Talents: rolling over, scooting (forward and back), eating toes, holding a bottle, stealing glasses, and sitting up by himself for 10 minutes

Favorite toys: Pooh Bear, Beanie babies, and blanket monkey

Favorite food: SWEET POTATOES

No teeth

My little Bugs is getting so big.  I mean yes he is still on the small end of the baby world, but when I look back at the pictures of when he was first born I can't believe how much he has grown.  He really is the sunshine in our world.  We play and giggle, and yes we also cry, throw tantrums, and spit up.  But the moment when I pick him up and he gives me that big toothless grin my heart just melts.  Being a Mom is everything and nothing like I thought it would be.  I am so grateful for this little spirit in our home.  He brings such light and joy.

Any who, besides DJ the update on our lives is.  David has finished the winter semester and is into Spring.  He is taking a full credit load both spring and summer.  He also picked up a 4am-7:30am shift at work, which means my hard working man is working 7 days a week all summer long.  He still has his ten hour shifts Saturday and Sunday.  I am so lucky to have him.  He works so incredibly hard.  I am at home with DJ and trying to stay on top of everything.  I'll admit most of the time I fail miserably.  A natural homemaker I am not. It is a challenge every day, but if David can work so hard the least I can do is have a clean house for him when he gets home.  And the amazing man doesn't even get mad on the days that I fail to do that.

David and I have both been working hard to loose weight.  I have now lost 60 lbs since DJ was born (that is based off what I weight right before I delivered).  Its really exciting and kinda sad that I weight less now (5 months after having a baby) then I have the entire 3 years David and I have known each other.  Of course because I had a baby my body is NOT the same and clothes do not fit the same way.  But I am still super happy.  25 more lbs to my dream weight  but only 10 to a healthy weight.

Can anyone tell it is 1:30 am and I don't have my glasses on? i am getting progressively blinder, I can't even read my computer screen without squinting.  Oh well I had best get off before I embarrass myself too bad.

Promise I'll write more often.

What may be a little thing to you, is a miracle to me

I want to start by saying that I am so grateful for my husband.  He works so hard every day for our family.  All week he goes to school and then he spends his weekend at work.  It is not easy for him but he does it for us.

This does mean that I have lots of interesting moments where its just me and bug.  Bringing things in from the car and going to and from church are especially daunting.
 
Other moms with understand the eternal dilemma, do you bring the baby in from the car and then leave him in the house? or do you try to carry the baby and groceries in all at once.  Sometimes you make the wrong choice.  There is nothing as depressing after a long day then trying to get everything into the house only to drop it all in the middle of the parking lot.  Saturday night I made that bad decision.  I had actually had a really good day with my parents, but they were leaving the next morning and I'll admit I was sad about it.  To top it off the baby was screaming and I just wanted to get in the house before he woke up someone else's kid as we walked past their windows.  Three steps away from the car I dropped everything except the car seat.  Even the stuff I had given DJ to 'carry for mom' (aka the light stuff I tuck into his car seat with him) started rolling away from me.  My already raw emotions (saying goodbye to my mom and dad never gets easier) were about to spill out.  Next thing I knew two sweet angels from my ward were there helping me pick up the stuff, they even helped me carry it to my house.  It may seem like a very little very silly thing but it made my life so much easier.

My next miracle starts with a beef I have with the baby gear industry.  Why is it that baby car seat carriers are  designed so that only men can carry them with ease?  Even tall women carry their baby seats and end up whacking their knees.  Baby gets jostled, mom gets bruised, and it looks really awkward.  On the other hand even short men are able to carry the things smoothly and with seemingly no effort.  Well because David has to work I get to carry DJ from church.  I am completely capable to doing it, in fact I do carry it home.  However sometimes that thought makes me almost not want to go church.  Today David was able to come to sacrament meeting, I could have left with him after the first hour (and I really wanted to).  I didn't though.  I thought about praying that someone would help me get home, but I didn't because I thought that was silly.  I am completely capable of doing this on my own, come on Leslie toughen up!  But I want to bear testimony that Heavenly Father hears those half said prayers.  As I was getting ready to leave and go home another pair of angels came and offered to carry DJ home.

Neither of these things saved my life, but they did make such a difference.  To the people who helped me it did not seem like much, but to me it really was huge.  I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who answers prayers I never even say and for people in my life who listen to the promptings of the angels that lead them to me.

Ramblings of a woman who can't take Dayquil

So I have a cold.  A very very gnarly cold.  I woke up this morning and had no voice whatsoever and blowing my nose every three seconds.  Can I just say that I never thought of myself as someone who took a lot of medications but once I got pregnant and the meds I could take were limited to almost nothing, well, lets just say I felt like a junky going through detox.  Ibuprofen is such good stuff, and its in almost every decent working medicine on the planet.  Now that I'm nursing I feel even more pressure not to take medication because even more of it goes straight through to D.J. and the kid has enough tummy and nutrition issues as it is.  So here I sit sniffling and trying to be strong and not go to the medicine cabinet.

As I sit here my brain keeps bouncing around.  First to the Oscars last night.  I love the Oscars.  They are so much fun and interesting.  But last night I was peeved.  The Artist really?!?! I mean REALLY!?!?!? I don't understand why going backwards and doing a silent film is such a big deal.  Do they give tech awards to people who decide to go back and use a PC from the 90s? We have come so far, in technique, in style, and in scope since the end of the silent film era.  Why oh why would we want to go back?  That's my tirade.

It was bitter sweet to say a final farewell to Elizabeth Taylor.  I love her so much.  Such a beautiful woman.  And in a healthy way.  She had boobs, hips, and a butt (take that Kera Knightly).  I love Cleopatra and Taming of the Shrew which coincidentally are two of the movies she did with Richard Burton.  I'm really kicking myself for not getting the People magazine special tribute edition for her.  I dithered and dithered and decided not too, and now I wish I had.  Oh well.

Well there are my sicky induced ramblings for now.  I may get on again later and do a typical update post about last week, or I may just curl up and sleep my life away.  We shall see.

Big week for us!!!

This has been a huge week in the Pelon house!! Lots and lots of mile stones!

First it was DJ's first Valentines day! We didn't really celebrate as a family that day but DJ and I went to his first kiddy Valentine party with some of our friends.  DJ brought some fun little Valentines (made from index cards and dove chocolate). We spent several hours playing with friends and chit-chatting with Mom's.  DJ did a great job with his first party and even smiled and giggled at some of the other kids.  We did have a little drama when DJ performed his first projectile spit up.  It was just a one time thing but it was pretty nasty.

DJ also rolled over or the first time last week.  He has done it a couple times now, but I don't know if he realizes that is what he is doing or if it just happens by accident.  He does it at least once every tummy time now.  My kid is getting so big.

 DJ has discovered a favorite toy.  His Pooh Bear.  It has a bell in the head so it makes a noise.  He bats at it on a regular basis and when we hand it to him he cuddles it and giggles.  Its pretty cute.

DJ did have a few days of bad sleeping.  He refused to sleep unless he was elevated, every half hour he would wake up screaming.  I tried really hard to be good and make him sleep in his bed but by 3 in the morning your resolve starts to weaken.  So we would end up asleep on the love sac for a few hours.  Eventually we got back to a normal rutien but those three days were rough on both me and baby.

Friday David and I went on our first date since before Christmas.  We left DJ with a family in our ward (Thanks Nate and Kimber) and he did great on his first babysitting experience (those with Grandparents not counting).  David and I went to Olive Garden for dinner and then stopped by FYE to pick up a few movies.  We got DJ Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, little man loves music so much we figured that those would be a good idea.  He enjoyed them a lot.

Saturday morning we played with Aunt Shiloh who got DJ so cool toys to play with when he gets a little bigger.  Playing with Aunt Shiloh is always fun, and we miss her a lot now that she is living in CO.

Saturday night we had our first Mommy and Son date.  David had to work during our wards Valentines day party so DJ was my escort.  We had a good time eating and visiting with friends.  By the way, sorry girls but I had the cutest date at the dinner.

Sunday DJ and I went up to Layton for our cousin Marcus' baby blessing.  It was snowing but we got there safe and DJ slept the whole way there and back.  It was so fun to see family and for DJ and Marcus to meet for the first time.  They are only 20 days apart and I look forward to many more family events with those two running around.  We are so excited that DJ will have three cousins within six months of him to grow up playing with.  Ryan, DJ, Marcus, and a sweet little girl coming soon are gonna have lots of fun.  The 'Three Musketeers and the Pretty Pretty Princess' are gonna make life lots of fun.

Monday was beautiful.  David didn't have to work or go to school so we spent the whole morning cuddling and watching movies as a family.  It was so much fun just to veg as a family and enjoy each others company

I love my boys and I'm so glad that I'm lucky enough to be their wife and mother.  No woman is as lucky as me.

DJ Weight Update!

We went to the Dr yesterday and.... (drum roll) DJ IS GAINING WEIGHT! He gained 10 oz in 10 days.  He is now in the 2.47%.  I know that doesn't seem like much but we are moving the right way up the chart.  

Unfortunately (for those who are squeamish we are about to talk about poop and bums.. if you wish to skip this part jump down to SO THE DR SAID), DJ is still pooping too often and has what we thought was really bad diaper rash.  The Dr looked at it and it turns out that it is a burn.  Basically his poop is so acidic that it is burning his bum every time he fills his diaper. So we are putting lots and lots of diaper cream, but its only doing so much.

SO THE DR SAID that not only do I need to leave out all milk products (cheese, yogurt, and of course milk) but all knock off milk products (soy milk, lactate free yogurt).  Also tomatoes, chocolate, broccoli.... the list went on.  Finally I asked the Dr okay, what can I eat?  And he said "boiled chicken, white rice, and plain pasta... maybe iceberg lettuce and cucumber."  I'm willing to admit that I cried just a little bit.  We are still trying to nurse, but I'm really worried about getting the right nutrition.  So I'm going to be really good for the next two weeks and let all of it get out of my system and let DJs bum heal.  Then I'm gonna try foods into my diet one at a time and see how he reacts to it.  

Well the baby is waking up from his nap so off I go.  

A day in the life of DJ and Mom

I thought I would share an insight into DJ and my schedual these days, so here we go...

6:00 am DJ wakes up for his 'first' (I don't count the 3am one) feeding of the day.  Dad is usually home and changes his diaper.  So Mom wakes up to a "dang it" from Dad, who just got sprayed.  About two minutes later Dad brings him in in just a diaper with a clean outfit.  Dad's big fingers struggle with all the tiny buttons.
 After being changed DJ eats and then cuddles with Mom and sleeps for a few hours. (Dad gets ready and goes to class)

10:00 am  Mom and DJ pull their butts outta bed, we eat and play peeka boo and read at least 3 books.
 Mom and DJ usally try to take a 15 min walk some time before his next nap.

1:00 pm DJ goes down for a nap and Mom gets stuff done, finally.

3:00 pm Mom starts working on dinner (yes it takes 2-3 hrs these days) and DJ has tummy and swing time.

Sometime in the evening Daddy gets home and plays with DJ until his evening nap.  Finally around 9-9:30 its off to bed :) We are boring.