Halfway There!!

Today marks 7 weeks that Colton has been in the Pavlik harness and that means we are halfway there!!!!

It also means that we have one week left in the harness full time and then we begin the transitioning period which will take 6 weeks.

At his checkup this week he gained some weight, after losing weight two weeks in a row due to the Fear Factor Formula.  I sure was glad to see those numbers go back up!  He also has grown a bit so his harness needed to be adjusted.

The doctor says everything looks and feels great! So we are looking forward to get him out of this thing for a few hours each day.  For the first two weeks of the transition period he gets to be out of it for 6 hours a day, then 12 hours a day for two weeks and the last two weeks we only have to put him in it at night.

I know the first thing I am going to do when we can take him out...give him a nice long soak in the tub!!  And then I am going to wash the nasty thing.

The feet are so dirty!!!

I am for sure counting down the days till his next appointment so we can get the green light to take him out!!

Let's Compare

Everyone says that Colton looks alot like Lauren and in some ways I would agree.  However they do have their differences.  Just see for yourself.

Lauren

Colton

What do you think??

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Aaron and Mollie

WOW!!  It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by already.  I would like to wish my brother and his beautiful wife Mollie a happy one year anniversary!!

I love you both and wish you many many more years of wedded bliss.

I Finally Get It

Lately I have been feeling sorry for myself.  I shared about that here in the fact that I just needed to come to terms with Colton's hip displaysia.  While I have long since gotten used to the harness I think I was still wondering why this had to happen to my child?  Why is my uterus small to the point where both of my children have had a physical ailment due to it.  Lauren's is less obvious, we got her the help she needed for her head and neck and worked for months with a chiropractor to help the plagiocephaly and the torticollis and I didn't even miss a beat but for some reason Colton's hip displaysia has stopped me in my tracks.  But it is funny how God puts people into your path to remind you of the big picture.  For weeks I have been getting "signs" but I didn't recognize them.  {these are just a few incidences. As I have been thinking about it there have been MANY more...what can I say? Sometimes I am a slow learner.}

I didn"t get it when my cousin who was breech as well said he was having a horrible time with both his hips.

I didn't get it when a lady I used to work with told me that she too was born breech and had recently broke one of her hips at a fairly young age.

I think I started to get it when I heard a story about a little girl who's hip displaysia wasn't caught early enough and she had to wear a cast.

I started to get it a bit more when a lady in Wal-Mart stopped me to inquire about Colton's harness and tell me her grand daughter's story of also wearing the crazy contraption over 11 years ago.

I almost got it when a pediatrican told me that his daughter had to wear the harness.  Her situation was very similar to Colton's in that it could have been missed in the initial examination but because of their knowledge to test breech babies for this condition, hers too was caught early on.

And yesterday I finally got it.  I saw a man who had one leg shorter than the other.  I saw him many times and each time he walked past me I kept thinking "this is why we are doing the harness"  We have been blessed to find out about this and start getting him treatment at just 7 weeks old.  So what if it will take 3 1/2 months. That is nothing compared to a lifetime.

Two of my favorite Bible verses have been popping up all around me too.  More ways God has been trying to get my attention.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths."  Proverbs 3:5-6



Today is Colton's baby dedication at church.  Not only are we dedicating Colton's life but Brian and I are promising to show him God's love and compassion and to live our lives to glorify Him so that Colton can grow into a Godly man.  I am giving it all to God.  I have lost sight of His big picture and His plan for our lives, whatever that may be.  I just need to place my trust in Him for He is in control. 

So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I am going to embrace this season and let God do his work!!

Happy 3 Month Birthday Colton!!!

So hard to believe that Little Man is three months old already.  Time has just flown by! 

 

Similac RECALL

I am absolutely outraged at the Similac recall. I was just coming to terms with having to stop breastfeeding Colton and then this happens. A brand that I trusted to provide my child with the nutrition that he needs when I couldn’t has issued a mass recall because of BUG infestation. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!! It makes my stomach turn. I know that I have given Colton at least a can and a half of the formula that was in the recall and the poor little guy has been extremely fussy the last several weeks, has had INTENSE gas and has been refusing to eat at daycare which has caused him to start losing weight. Over this past weekend I had opened a can of Enfamil that was sent to me as a sample because I was out of the Similac at home and waiting for the cans I had asked my mom to purchase for me. He was eating great at home and actually had increased the amount he was eating but was refusing to eat more than an ounce at a time at daycare, who still had a can of the contaminated formula.

I got the following information from the Similac website {what I could get to load} http://abbott.vo.llnwd.net/o18/similac/recall/default.htm

Abbott is recalling these products following an internal quality review, which detected the remote possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product produced in one production area in a single manufacturing facility. The United States Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has determined that while the formula containing these beetles poses no immediate health risk, there is a possibility that infants who consume formula containing the beetles or their larvae, could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of small insect parts irritating the GI tract. If these symptoms persist for more than a few days, a physician should be consulted.

The website that is given {www.similac.com/recall/lookup) to check your lot numbers is extremely slow in loading which is rightfully so because I am sure a number of other concerned parents want to find out if they need to stop using the formula. They also listed a number (800) 986-8850 that was busy each and every time that I tried to call it. I ended up calling the customer care line at Target to confirm that the cans I had indeed were part of the recall and Brian and I immediately went and returned the 3 cans we had at home last night and then the 2 cans that were at daycare this morning.

Similac is recalling something around 500 MILLION containers of formula! The recalled formula includes all lots of the powder formula offered in the plastic tubs, including 1.38-lb, 1.45-lb and 2.12-lb containers. Certain lots of the 8-ounce, 12.4-ounce and 12.9-ounce cans and 8-ounce sample cans that could have been given out in doctor's offices and hospitals or sent to you through the mail from Similac. The liquid/ready to feed version, concentrated version and the small, individual serving packages are not included in the recall.

I have decided to stop using Similac for the time being {probably the rest of the time Colton is on formula} because the types not included in the recall are more expensive and not cost effective for me to use in the time it will take for Similac to restock the shelves at retailers with non contaminated formula. I am sickened and appalled that this could ever happen with something SO important as infant formula.

SHOES

Not too long ago Brian and I were having a discussion about shoes. I need, yes need, a new pair of black flats. The ones that I have have seen me through two pregnancies and have a hole in the bottom so that every time I wear them in the rain my feet get soaked. {hence this morning where day care had standing water in the parking lot and all the way to the front door} I still wear them because I don’t want to buy a new pair of shoes and on most days they still work just fine, however I have been looking for a new pair.

So yesterday I went out and bought a new pair of cute black flats.

I wore them for half the day and after a couple hours they were killing my feet. Rubbing everywhere and I have a nice blister on the back of my right foot and along the top part of both my feet. I made a comment about it to Brian and he said, just don’t wear them anymore. I was like I just bought these, no way! I am going to take them back. And that is when he says it… “Don’t you have enough pairs of black shoes, I know that I have seen at least 5 pairs in the living room.” UGH!! Doesn’t he know, we have been married for 6 years and I know we have had shoe conversations before. I kindly said “yes but they are all different. 2 pairs are high heels, 1 pair has a lower heel, the other pair is flip flops, and then my black flats with the hole. They aren’t the same!” {and they all weren’t in the living room.} MEN!! They just don’t get a women’s love for shoes.

Lauren - isms

“Stop the attitude!”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“Mama I told you to come back in here because you still got a big pizza on your plate.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Me: “Your chap stick smells like grape soda”

Lauren: “No it smells like purple soda.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“Mama, don’t eat me.  You eat food not people.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

For the most part Lauren speaks really well. Her vocabulary is amazing and we are able to understand pretty much everything she says. However she cannot say her F’s, they usually come out as H’s. So replace the following F words with an H sound instead.

Flip Flop {hip hop}

Food {hood}

Fish {hish}

Face {hace}

Now imagine that you are sitting around the dinner table talking about someone’s birthday, this so happened to be my brother’s birthday that we were talking about and he and his wife were having dinner with us. Lauren asks my brother “How old are you gonna be, four” Only four sounded more like “whore” We were all rolling. We knew what she meant but it was still extremely funny and we of course made fun of my brother, not Lauren. :)

Change Your Habits, Change Your Life

This week I am starting a program through our Wellness Coordinator at my work {who is amazing by the way!  she also helped me coordinate my maternity leave and all the paper work and stuff that goes along with taking FMLA leave} called "change your habits, change your life"  It is a 5 week program focusing each week on 1 area of wellness. 

Last week she had us track our water intake, fruits and veggie servings, how much we ate out and our exercise.  I must say that I do pretty good on my water, drinking more than 8 8 ounce servings on 3 out of the 5 work days.  My vegetable and fruit servings and my exercise sure is lacking! 

So that was week one, week two we are only going to focus on getting our 8 8 ounce servings of water.

Week three is focused on the vegetable and fruit servings plus the water intake.

Week four is focused on how much you eat out, plus the vegetable and fruit servings plus the water intake {do you get how this works yet?} 

Then the last week, week 5, is focused on the previous weeks and adding in exercise.  I know this is going to be a tough week for me as I hate to exercise but I am hoping that through this program I can get better eating and exercising habits and lose some weight along the way. 

Everyone who completes the program and turns in our tracking sheets gets entered to win a cooking class at the local culinary institute.  Is it sad that I didn't even know that KC had a cooking school?  :)  And sadly, the possibility of winning the cooking class is what really made me want to do the program, BUT I am committed to doing it because I know that it will be a good start for my baby weight losing journey.  I really need to buckle down and focus so that I can wear more than 2 pairs of non maternity pants.  :)  With Lauren my weight just seemed to melt off, but this time around it seems to want to hang out a little longer.  I know that her being my first and being able to breastfeed almost an entire year helped.  This time I will just have to work for it. 

Fried Pickles

You may remember when I was very first pregnant with Colton that I tweeted and posted on facebook about craving fried pickles.  I love me some fried pickles even when I am not pregnant!  I got this recipe off the foodnetwork and while it is not the best fried pickle I have ever tasted it is still pretty good.  I am still searching for a better one though.  :)


Deep Fried Pickles
Ingredients

24 dill pickle spears, chilled
Egg wash, recipe follows
Breading, recipe follows
oil, for frying

Directions

Egg Wash:
2 cups milk
2 eggs
Pinch lemon pepper
Pinch dill weed
Pickle juice

In a baking dish, whisk all ingredients together, except pickle juice. Add pickle juice, to taste, and whisk to combine.
Breading:
2 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup lemon pepper
1/2 cup dill weed
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons garlic salt
Pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a baking dish.

Using only very cold dill pickle spears, dip pickle into egg wash and then coat with breading. Repeat until no pickles remain, and arrange dipped pickles on a sheet pan lined with waxed paper. Chill for at least 30 minutes.


In a deep fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees F. Alternatively, heat oil in a large, heavy pot suitable for deep-frying. Carefully add chilled pickle spears, in batches, to the hot oil and fry for about 3 1/2 minutes or until golden. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve with Ranch Dressing.

All I Wanna Do Is...Dance!!

A couple of weeks ago we attended a wedding reception for a friend of mine.  She and her husband got married in Jamaica on 8-9-10.

Lauren had an absolute BLAST dancing!

I love her little cheese grin in this picture. 

I even got out on the dance floor with her.  WHICH by the way was deserted and we were the only two out there. Horribly uncomfortable for me but I enjoyed dancing with her. 

This is my favorite from the entire night.  Brian was swinging her around and around and she loved it!  The expression on her face is priceless.  :)

Happy Birthday Aaron

Happy Birthday to my brother Aaron.

A cowboy from the start

A wonderful big brother

An awesome uncle

A fantastic husband

We all love you very much.  We hope that you have an awesome birthday!!

I Heart Faces Week 37 • Vroom, Vroom Photo Challenge!

It has been quite a while since I have joined in the fun over at I Heart Faces.  This week the Photo Challenge is all about cars.  I immediately thought of Lauren and her blue car.  :)

Can't I Just Be Mad?

We took Colton to a whole slew of doctor’s appointments yesterday. We kicked it off by heading out to Children’s Mercy to have an updated ultrasound taken on his hips since he has been in the harness fulltime now for 4 weeks. After that we went to his ortho checkup to find out the results of the ultrasound and then we had his 2 month checkup which was a few weeks late because they were way behind with their scheduling even though I made the appointment at his 1 month visit.

The orthopedic appointment did not go quite like I expected it to. I was expecting him to tell us that Colton was doing so well that he would get out of the harness in two weeks like he originally told us. Not so much. He informed us that Colton is doing well and that his hips are doing what they are supposed to and they look great but not as great as he was hoping they would. He wants Colton to be in the harness fulltime for 4 more weeks and then we can start transitioning him out of it over the next 6 weeks. SO 10 MORE WEEKS. I was completely taken aback. Nowhere in my mind did I expect that we would have to do this for 10 more weeks. I was thinking 2-4 at the most.

First off let me just say that I am very thankful the harness IS working, that Colton is healthy, does not need to be in a cast or need to have surgery and that by wearing the harness it will correct his hip dysplasia and prevent him from having any long term issues. I am so glad that we caught it early and he won’t remember wearing the harness and that it shouldn’t affect his development in any way. But with that said, can’t I just be upset? I appreciate thoughtful words and encouragement but I have every right to be frustrated, upset and go through a bit of a “grieving” process for all of this. I don’t really know what I want people to say and I really do know that by telling me stories of “it could be worse” they are trying to help and make me feel better but really all I feel like they are doing is down playing Colton’s situation. I am very well aware that it could be worse but it isn’t and this is my situation and I want to just be pissed about it for a while. I got used to the harness in the first couple of days and I will of course get used to the idea of him wearing it a while longer in no time. However he has hip dysplasia, I just want to focus on him and his situation, not other people’s children or their problems. Is that wrong? I do feel a little selfish in saying all of this but I just have to share. I am very sensitive about it all. No one likes to see their baby go through any kind of health issue or discomfort and even though I know that it could be worse I just want to be mad for a little while.

Homemade Onion Rings

I am a big fan of Onion Rings.  Sonics are especially good and I have always wanted to try to make my own.  One day I was watching the Food Network and Ina Garten was making them....we had them for dinner the next night!  YUMMY!!!

Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings

Ingredients

2 large Spanish onions (or 3 yellow onions)
2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal
1 quart vegetable oil

Directions

Peel the onions, slice them 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick, and separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the onion rings, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. (The onion rings can sit in the buttermilk for a few hours.) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

When you're ready to fry the onion rings, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some onions out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them! Place the finished onion rings on the baking sheet, sprinkle liberally with salt, and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the next batch. Continue frying the onion rings and placing them in the warm oven until all the onions are fried. They will remain crisp in the oven for up to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

These are so good that I prefer them over Sonics.  The breading is just right and I love the crunchiness and oiliness.