Twas the Night Before Christmas

Woo, we made it. 4 get togethers in 4 days. With a couple meltdowns (from Reese), lots of good food, good company, and many presents, we made it through the Holidays. We are so thankful for being able to spend time with both families. I am also thankful that Preston and Reese got to see all three of their Great Grandma's during our visit! A huge thanks to my mom for making a dairy free lunch for me on Christmas Day- I got to enjoy all the yummy casseroles that everyone else did :) 

Instead of a blog devoted to our activities, I have decided to do a picture re-cap instead.

Reese (2) Aidan (4) Aubrey (2)- sledding at Nana and Poppas House

4 generations- Grebner side

Preston and Great Grandma Albers

 Montgomery Cousins- Reese (2) Maddy (8) Preston (4 mo) Mekenna (6)

4 generations- Montgomery side

Opening presents on Christmas Eve at Grammie and Papa's

One of my favorite pictures- Aunt Courtney and Preston

Nana and Poppa opening gifts on Christmas morning

Sugar Cookies

I did my first baking using a dairy free recipe yesterday, and it turned out quite well!  I am still in the holiday baking spirit, so I made Dairy Free Sugar Cookies that Reese could help me make cut outs with. I'll be honest, they are not as creamy and smooth as regular cutouts that use real butter, but for someone who has to be dairy free, these are just fine.

Dairy Free Sugar Cookies
1 cup all-vegetable shortening- I USED 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup lactose free butter 
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons soymilk I USED COCONUT MILK instead
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:

1
Beat shortening and sugar in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg, soy milk and vanilla until well blended.
2
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Gradually add flour mixture to shortening mixture until well blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.
3
Heat oven to 375ºF. Roll 1/3 of dough at a time on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough with 2 to 3-inch floured cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4
Bake 5 to 9 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer cookies to cooling rack. Frost and decorate as desired.

We begin out holiday extravaganza tomorrow, heading down to Illinois to my parents house tomorrow afternoon. We will celebrate my Dad's birthday tomorrow night (his birthday was yesterday), and then the Christmas festivities take place Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, with us returning home on Christmas afternoon since Kyle has to work on the 26th.

Preston has been sleeping much better the past two nights. I have begun swaddling him with one arm out, and he seems to prefer that instead of having both arms swaddled. He slept from 2:40 am- 8:00 am this morning...woo hoo! I had to go in once at 5:00 to help him back to sleep, but I didn't feed him, so he did a 5 1/2 hour stretch...awesome! He also took 3 awesome naps in his crib yesterday and today as well. Hopefully things are on the up and up. I think he may just be giving me an early Christmas present :)

*As a side note, a shout out to one of my good friends who just started her own food blog. Check out berrysweetlauren.com. I went to Western Illinois with her and she is such a great cook. She does some amazing things and is the one who hosted our Friendsgiving this year. She has AWESOME recipes on there!

Done-zo

I am DONE! I have finished all Christmas shopping and wrapping, and am ready to start the holiday festivities. I have never taken this long to finish things up, but this year, I have been a little pre-occupied by two little munchkins at home.

Preston sleep update: Not good. He is still sleeping horribly. The past two nights, he was up every hour and  a half again, leaving me tired and ragged. I just cant figure it out. I have tried everything. A pacifier, swaddling/not swaddling, swinging/crib, white noise/no white noise, feeding right before bed/putting to bed without a bottle, crying for a bit/going in right away to get him back to sleep. I just can't figure it out. I never had this problem with Reese, thank god. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have had another kid. I am anxious to see how it goes over the holidays when we will be spending three nights at other houses- and I pray he doesn't keep everyone else awake all night too.
He has increased my milk supply a bit now, so I am able to breastfeed him during the day. I think he gets about 5 oz a feeding, which is right where he should be. His spitting up has not gotten any better, it is actually worse. He spits up SO much, I wonder how much he is actually retaining. His bowel movements are not nearly as stinky, so I think dairy free is helping. I wish it would help him sleep better though!

Jingle Bells

It's that time of year that Kyle dislikes- Christmas music time. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoy Christmas music and take full advantage of it this time of year, driving him crazy :) To pass along my love for it, I have been teaching Reese some Christmas songs. Her favorite by far is Jingle Bells. Today at playgroup  we had a Holiday party for the  kids, and Reese was the first to chime in when asked what Christmas songs we should sing. And did we sing. I think we did Jingle Bells 4 or 5 times before the adults decided it was time to cut them off :)
We took the kids to see Santa on Saturday, and I wondered how Reese would do. Unexpectedly, she was VERY excited. She got right on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a baby doll and a cheetah (a real one, like the ones in her Ranger Rick magazine.) She may be disappointed when she doesn't get either. First, she has 6 or 7 baby dolls already, and our house is just not suitable for a real Cheetah. Hopefully she forgets what she asked for this year come time to open presents.

We began our Christmas celebration yesterday with the first of FOUR holiday get togethers! We had the Montgomery family Christmas and Reese had a great time running around with all her cousins. Preston was one of three babies there (and they were all born within 4 weeks of each other!) so there was plenty of  "pass the baby" so everyone could get a squeeze :) The other two little ones are girls- giving Grandma Montgomery 12 great grand kids- 9 girls and only 3 boys. Preston is sure going to have to learn to hold his own!!
Dairy free diet is going ok. It was super tough yesterday when I didn't get to eat any of the yummy food. I had ham and a lettuce salad- boring! But, Preston's diaper this morning was MUCH better than normal (returning more to what a breastfed baby's should be like) so I think the dairy must be the factor. Luckily my mom is making her Christmas lunch all dairy free (for the most part) using butter substitutes and rice milk to cook with so I (and my niece Aubrey who has a diary sensitivity as well) can enjoy all the stuffing and casseroles along with everyone else. Thanks Mom!

Belly Bubbles

Well, it has been quite the week of trial and error. As you know, I started a dairy free diet on Tuesday. Believe me, I ate my fair share of Christmas candies (turtles, peanut clusters, thumbprints) on Monday night as the realization that I would no longer get to enjoy these Holiday treats set in :)
I picked up some Almond milk, dairy/lactose free butter, and have read all the labels on food in my pantry to make sure I can eat what we have. I am struggling with cooking family meals though. I never realized how much CHEESE and cream of "soups" I use when cooking casseroles and crock pot meals in the winter. It sure is not making this process easy. I have been eating lots of eggs/ommlets and lots of fruits and veggies.
Preston slept much better on Wed and last night. He gave me 3-4 hour stretches each time between feedings. He still seems quite gassy, but it can take 10 days for the lactose to leave my system (thus my breastmilk.)
I called the doctor again yesterday as I had picked up the lactose free formula (Nutramigen) and Preston refused it. I feel as though he knew my breastmilk was making his tummy hurt, because for the past 2 weeks, feeding him has been a struggle. He wont eat for long- thus making my breastmilk supply drop. Now, I am not making enough breastmilk to get him full during a feeding- leading me to need to supplement with formula. Well, after getting the lactose free formula, he refused it! I tried and tried to get him to drink it, but he gagged the first few times. Finally last night I got him to take 5 oz of it before bed, and I knew he finally had a full belly. I called the doctor yesterday to ask for more suggestions on what I could do. They said they wanted me to bring him in for a weight check and an examine to make sure everything was still ok.
Today at his appointment he was 15 lbs- he has lost 3 oz. in a week (since last week when I took him in for a possible ear infection). Not a huge drop, but enough that they really want me to supplement with formula as he is not getting enough breastmilk now. The dr. checked him out and said if in the next 7 days there is no improvement in his stools and the gas in his stomach is not subsiding (I can feel gas bubbles move in his belly after he eats) then we will be referred to a gastrointestologist (who will also test for a dairy allergy.) The doctor said I have done all the correct steps- eliminating first tomatoes, then caffeine, and now dairy. If nothing improves, we need to have him referred to a specialist. So, that's where we stand as of today. Hopefully this dairy free diet and lactose free formula is the key! I was really hoping to be able to breastfeed him for atleast 6 months (as I had to stop early with Reese due to multiple bouts of Mastitis.) Now that my supply has dropped, it is like he is naturally weaning himself. I think I may just have to do morning and night feedings, and formula bottles during the day. Not what I planned, but nothing with a baby ever goes as planned!

No more MOO

After waking up every 1 1/2 hours AGAIN last night with Preston, I am on my last straw of things to try, and  switching to a diary free diet is it. This is going to be super tough for me, as I am a horrible label reader and love all dairy products, but if it is going to help him, then I am willing to try it. I talked to our doctors nurse about it last Friday, and have come to the conclusion that he probably has a dairy sensitivity. His poop is super watery, green, and stinky- when it should be yellow, not watery, and no scent (since I am breastfeeding.) His bowel movements are a big sign their may be a sensitivity and then he also has eczema spots on his cheeks, another sign of a diary sensitivity. I have talked quite in depth with a mom in my playgroup that has two daughters with dairy and nut allergies, and she has given me lots of ideas of substitutes to use when cooking and products that are dairy free. Did you know Ghiradelli chocolate was dairy free? Thank heavens for that :) HA! I guess we will try it out an see. It takes about 10 days to get out of your system, so by 2-3 weeks from now, I should be seeing improvement if it is in fact a dairy sensitivity.

We had a great weekend. Yesterday my parents came up for some chili and football (even though the Bears game was awful!) we still enjoyed ourselves. My mom and I also made a big batch of Thumbprint cookies (none of which I can eat now) :( Maybe it is a good thing I am doing this diet during the holiday season...a good reason to avoid all the cookies and candies!

SOS!

I'm not sure what has happened, but since last Friday, Preston has fallen off the "sleep train" and I feel like I have been hit with one. He is no longer giving me good stretches of sleep in the swing- he is waking every 1 1/2 -2 hours. It is just plain awful. He developed a cold on Sunday, so I am wondering if that has to do with it. He is congested, but also has a slightly runny nose. I tried Tylenol for the first time with him last night, and it didn't help him sleep any longer. He wakes, crying, and will not put himself back to sleep. if it has been 3 (or close to 3 hours since he last ate) I feed him, but otherwise I sit rocking in his room in the wee hours of the morning. He is sleeping the same (if not worse) from when he was a newborn. I realy hope this phase passes, soon. My patience is running thin, and my mind is too!

On a better note, I had a fabulous time with my girlfriends this past Saturday in Chicago. We cooked a Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday afternoon while drinking wine and catching up. It is always so good to see them. And a night with no interrupted sleep was great as well. 

This week Reese and I began our Christmas cookie making ordeal. I am hoping to make lots of different kinds this year since I am at home. We will see how far we get. Yesterday we did sugar cookie cut outs, and today we frosted them. Next on the list in Thumbprints!