Moving Our Home

We move this morning.

We're only moving a mile and a half away from our current apartment.

But, it's still a move.

Which I do not enjoy.

We have lived in our little apartment for just over 3 years.

This is the apartment where we brought our dog, Izzy, home.

This is the apartment where I had two miscarriages.

This is the apartment where I found out I was pregnant with J.

This is the apartment where I was sick for 8 months.

This is the apartment where we brought J home.

This is the apartment where we laughed, cried, played, worked, slept, had tons of family and friends visit, etc.

This little apartment has been such a good home to us.

And we have totally outgrown it.

Our new home so perfectly fits our needs in every way.  I know that we're making the right decision moving.  I know that we will be much happier in this new home.

But, a little part of me is sad to close the door on this chapter of our lives.

Unto One of the Least of These

Last night, D and I went and visited a stranger and her boyfriend.

She is 11 weeks pregnant and has hyperemesis gravidarum.  We were connected through HelpHER.org - a HG education and resource foundation.  As an HG survivor, I was asked to call, text and go visit her and be a support and advocate throughout her pregnancy.  And I happily agreed.  But, last night I didn't go to her home with the greatest of attitudes.  I had just gotten home from a trip to Oregon with J and I just wanted to spend the evening at home with my little family.  Honestly, I was wondering if there was any way I could get out of this visit that I agreed to make.

This sweet lady has been sick since week 5 of her pregnancy.  Her boyfriend has never dealt with HG before.  He recently lost his job for taking time off to help her.  She's off work on disability.  Their families are less than supportive.  Life is challenging for them right now.

D and I went to their home and I washed her hair while we talked (she hadn't been able to wash it for two weeks because she has a PICC line connected to a 24-hour pump).  D talked to the boyfriend and let him vent while offering insight and support as someone who's been in his shoes.  

In our short time there yesterday, I was filled with a strong feeling of love for this woman, her boyfriend, and their child.  And I was overwhelmed with the love that our Heavenly Father has for her. 

And I couldn't help remember the verses in Matthew 25:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

D, J and I are so very blessed!

So many people have unselfishly served us, especially in the last couple years when we've had so many struggles (infertility, difficult pregnancy, NICU, clubbed foot, job loss, etc.).  We have been so cared for.  The Lord has never left us uncared for.

And any small opportunity I have to serve I should seize happily!

All I sacrificed tonight was a couple hours of my time.

And I don't regret it at all!  In fact, I wish I had had more time to give.

God loves this woman and wants her to be happy.  And I was able to lighten her load a little bit tonight.  But my feelings of gratitude to the Lord for this opportunity make me feel like I was really the one who was blessed tonight.

Jackson's First Birthday

We celebrated J's first birthday over Memorial Day weekend!

He won't remember this party (which well-intentioned strangers reminded me several times). But it was more a celebration for us!  We were celebrating our miracle child!

We did a circus theme for the party, complete with yummy food, Clown Noses, Crazy Straws, a Ring of Fire beanbag toss, Bounce House, Knock the Can beanbag toss, and a Bubble Station.  

(Thanks so D's cousin J {find her at Bright Side Prints} for letting us borrow the carnival booths and our friends L and C for letting us borrow the bounce house!  Thanks to my in-laws for letting us use your lawn.  And thanks to my parents, siblings and in-laws for helping with all the set up!)

 

The kids loved all the stations, but the bounce house was the favorite!

We put up our easy-upturned it into a circus tent!  I got 12 plastic table cloths from the dollar store (6 red, 6 white) and strung them up to create a circus tent effect under the easy-up and then put balloons in the center.  I loved it!  We also hung banners that my friend A and I had made - one said "One is Fun" and the other one had pictures of J that I had taken every month.

 

Under the easy up was all the food stuffs and a few decorations.  We just did hot dogs, chips and watermelon.  Easy peasy.  I also had 4 centerpiece type things on the table - dollar store vases filled with gum balls, 2 large lolly pops with a "1" on them, and a colored pin-wheel.  I had some clown noses in a vase on the table and those were so fun!  While many of them were used as ammunition between the kids, many people wore them (at least for a couple pictures) and they were awesome!  For party favors, I just did bubbles.  Again, shooting for easy.

J's smash cake was the most darling thing ever!!  My friend A made it - isn't it amazing?!

 And J loved it!

The birthday party was perfect.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate J and the darling boy that he is!  We so loved gathering with friends and family and partying!

I can't wait until next year!

(I mean, I totally can - someone tell J to stop growing already!)

Trying to Create a Play Space

J is a busy kid.

Constantly moving and exploring.

We haven't really done much in the way of "kid proofing" our house.  So, some of his favorite toys are DVD cases, picture frames, and unplugged cords.

I'm not really a "granola mom," but I'm also not a fan of toys with batteries, flashing lights, lots of noise.  I don't want my kid to be dependent on that kind of simulation.  (That being said, sometimes a Baby Einstein DVD is the only way I get a shower or a meal.)  I want him to use his imagination and create!  However, creation takes space.

We live in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 800 square foot apartment.

2 adults, 1 kid, 1 dog.

And I work from home - 30 students coming and going each week.

And my "studio" is also J's bedroom.

We are tight on space.

J has no space that is "his own" - granted, he's 1 and doesn't know any different.  But still, all of his toys are kind of everywhere, all the time.

How can I create a space for him that encourages creative play and exploration while still being functional for our family?

Honestly, I don't know.  And I would love any and all suggestions!

Here's what I've come up with so far:

This is the small storage system I've been able to put together for J.  There are books in a basket on top.  The drum is full of musical instruments.  There are wooden blocks, a keyboard, dinosaurs, a shape sorter, a ring stacker, etc. in the baskets.  None of these toys are "passive" toys, so they support thinking and problem solving.  And then we have these bigger toys: the piano, his walker, his riding car, and his riding tractor.  What do I do with those?  Where do they go?  And then directly behind is our table and chairs stuffed into a corner.  Not super functional.

 This is immediately opposite the toy bookshelf,  The turtle is full of balls and the outside "shell" is all sorts of different fabric textures.  I recently attached a magnetic cookie sheet and bought some letter magnets for J to play with.  He likes all the different shapes and colors.  You can see the gate blocking off our kitchen on the left.  So this playing space is super small.

This is in our living room - two Ziploc bags filled with paint and taped to the window for J to "finger paint" with.

I'm trying to use the little space that I have available, but I feel like it's pretty disjointed and not super functional.  And it doesn't give J a lot of space to crawl around.

Have you had to create a play space for your little one in small living quarters?  

What did you do?

How We Discovered J's Milk Sensitivity

This past week was rough.

And it took me a solid week to figure out why.

We started J on whole milk on his first birthday.  He had eaten yogurt and cheese with no problems, and formula was milk based.  We thought we were good to go.

The first few weeks, were fine.  J had some small pink dots around his mouth and chin, but I assumed those were from lots of drool because he was a teething monster.  He was also super gassy, but I didn't really think anything of it.  And he had his first ever diaper rash, but it was the most mild thing ever (like three bumps, max).  So again, I didn't think anything of it.

Then, on Monday, everything exploded.  J was super whiny and clingy all day.  I, again, thought it was because he was teething.  But then that night, J threw up all over D.  I immediately assumed stomach flu.  So, the next morning we started pedialyte and the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast).  Tuesday, he did fine.  Wednesday, we started milk again.  And the vomiting started again.  Thursday we went back to pedialyte and the BRAT diet and J was fine.  Friday*, we went back to milk.  And the vomiting started again!  Thursday and Friday, J was even refusing food (that's when I really started to worry - J never refuses food!).  

*It's worth noting here that on Friday while we were giving J a bath after he threw up all, D noticed the red dots had spread all over his chest and back.  In fact, D asked if J had chicken-pocks.

All he wanted was snuggles from D

Finally, it all clicked.  Instead of trying to explain each symptom separately, I started looking at them all together:

• Gassy
• Diaper Rash
• Rash on mouth, chin, chest and back
•  Refusing food
• Throwing up when he has milk

Duh, kid's allergic to milk.

Or, at least has a dairy intolerance.

After a weekend of pedialyte, J is back on his Enfamil AR formula and is happy as can be.  Today, he was talking, laughing and playing, totally showing off to anyone who would watch, even the dog.  To him, it's like the whole thing never happened!  Isn't it amazing how resilient kids are?  I swear, they're made of magic.  

Me though?  I'm beating myself up that it took me so long to figure out what was going on.  Seriously, this motherhood thing is hard.