Don't even think about it!

The doctor visit yesterday went as planned. Him telling me to try another medicine, and me saying "no". He wants to focus on his spitting up, and I want to focus on his gassiness (which I why I think he wakes so much at night.) So, I am trying 3 days of lactose free formula only (no breastmilk) to see if that helps. Sometimes babies cannot digest the natural sugars in breastmilk, causing them to be very gassy. If that is they case, we shall know by Friday. It is such a pain having to give him formula for all feedings, because I still have to pump! If he is not better by Friday, I will resume breastfeeding, so I don't want my supply to drop from now until then. It also stinks having to pump in the middle of the night, but I hope this will give us a little more insight and after this experiment, then the doctor said we could see the GI doctor.

Preston is going through a bit of separation/stranger anxiety lately. He cries at an unfamiliar face, and looks for mom and dad when someone else is holding him. He is also going through separation anxiety. If I even THINK about setting him down, the tears start to flow. He gives me this "don't you even think about it" look, thus leading to lacking productivity during the day, as I always have to have a baby on me. If  I do end up setting him down, the cries start and if I walk away, the screaming ensues. What a stinker. Reese never really got like this, guess he just like cuddles!

We fly down to Indy on Friday to begin house hunting. We are set up with a realtor down there, and have been scrounging the internet for houses we like. She is setting them all up for us, so all we have to do is arrive, and go looking. We will be looking all day Saturday, 1/2 day on Sunday (since its the Super Bowl), and 1/2 day on Monday, while flying back Tuesday morning. Monday morning Kyle's new company set us up with a tour/orientation of Indy- giving us a guided tour for a couple hours of the city, places to eat/shop, and giving us all the information we will need to live/get around. Should be fun! Hopefully we can get our list narrowed down this trip, and then next time we visit, we can make a decision after seeing them for a second time possibly. Only time will tell...wish us luck! Going to be hard leaving the kiddos for 4 days (I have never left either one that long), but I can't imagine taking them with, they will have so much more fun with Nana (my mom)!!! Good thing we have Skype :)

Sweet Potato Pie

Preston got his first taste of "real" good last week, and he is doing pretty well with "solids." He first facial expressions when we tried them were to die for, but now he opens his mouth for the spoon, and seems to take them quite well. Reese never liked sweet potatoes,squash or prunes, so I wanted to try those first with Preston to see if he would be the same :) Nope, he devoured the sweet potatoes. He just loves them. I then tried pears with him, and he was not so sure. I think they might have been a bit to sweet, and he just wasn't expecting that flavor after having sweet potatoes. Then onto prunes, which he also loves. I have yet to try squash since it is a Stage 2 food (kids older than 6 mo). With Reese I tried making her own baby food, stocking the freezer full of goodies I had gotten at the farmers market during the summer (squash, peaches, green beans) and she didn't like ANYTHING I made. She preferred the organic baby food over my homemade delicacies, I think due to the texture. I don't have a real food processor, so I had to use my blender for everything, making it a bit more thick and chunky...probably not as easy to eat. Now with two, I don't even have time to make my own food (leaving me feeling a bit guilty about it since I am a "stay at home mom") but there just is literally not enough hours in the day. So, I figure as long as I stick to the organic baby food, we are still doing ok. It is a little more expensive, but to me, it's worth it. All natural ingredients are worth paying the extra price for over the processed stuff. A few of my favorite brands are Ella's Kitchen, Plum Baby, and Earth's Best.
We head back to the doctor AGAIN today. Preston is just having a really tough time lately. Waking every 2 hours crying and having a hard time getting him back to sleep. He is also spitting up still quite a bit, and very gassy. If I miss one dose of his Zantac (for heartburn) he is very crabby and spits up constantly. After 5 months of not getting much sleep, I am ready to get this figured out. I am DEMANDING that we get a referral to the GI doctor today, in hopes to get some of these issues solved. Sleep deprivation is really starting to take it's toll on me. I am grumpy, tired, and have little patience throughout the day, and it's just not fair to Reese or Preston (or Kyle!) It's just not fun to "wake up" in the morning, feeling MORE exhausted than when you went to bed. Babies that are Preston's age should be able to sleep 6-8 hours straight, feed once at night, and then sleep another 3-4 hours. Granted, he does only eat once at night (around 1 a.m.), I am still waking every 2 hours to help him get comfortable to fall back asleep. So, hopefully we get some answers, I'll keep you updated!
In terms of the big move, we are still in talks with the re location company to get a time set up to go visit and look at houses. There is a TON of paperwork that has to be done (regarding our house, and policies and procedures for the whole process.) Kyle's last day at his current job is tomorrow, giving him almost a whole month off before he starts in Indy. I'm sure our days will be filled getting everything ready to go, and hopefully we can do some fun things in Madison (i.e. Children's Museum, State Street, etc.) since we will miss it when we leave!

** I have had a couple people tell me that they are not receiving email updates anymore, but when they go to sign up again, it says they are already subscribed. I'm trying to figure out why, but for now, you'll just have to check back manually**

Bye Bye Bucky

As if 2012 wasn't crazy enough for us, we are going to start out 2013 just the same. We say goodbye to the Badger State, and hello to the Hoosiers. Yep, that's right. We are moving, AGAIN! With some managerial changes at Kyle's work, plus wanting to move ahead in his career, he has been looking for a new job for the past 2 months or so. With a couple of interviews, he had two offers- one in Fitchburg (20 min from our house) and one in Greenfield, Indiana (a suburb of Indy- 5 hours from our house.) With much contemplation, sleepless nights, lists of pros and cons, and many discussions, we have decided the Indy job was the best opportunity for Kyle to take his career to the next level and it was something we could not pass up. The pros and cons list basically came down to family v. opportunity-and a good re location package. We are going to miss being so close to all of our family and friends, but this offer was just too good to pass up. I have heard great things about Indianapolis, so hopefully it will live up to our expectations.

That being said, "we" don't have to move anything. Thank goodness. I don't think I could actually move this house again (doing it only less than 4 months ago.) His new company hires a moving company and they do it all- I don't have to pack a thing or touch a box. Amen! His official start date is Feb. 25th. The company is giving us two all expense paid trips to go down there and look for housing. Should we not find something, they allow us to live in "corporate housing", all expenses paid, including meals and storage, for 30 days. We are waiting to hear back from the re-location department to see when we can go down there, and get all the little details figure out. As far as selling our house goes, the company has two appraisals done, and in the meantime, we put our house on the market. If we don't sell it on our own in 60 days, the company will buy it for the average of their two appraisals. Again, another huge stress we won't really have to worry about. They have made this transition quite "easy" on us, so we are thankful for that.

We are excited for this new chapter in our lives, but it's a little scary too! I have never lived more than 2 1/2 hours away from home, so it will be an adjustment not being able to just "hop in the car" and go home for the weekend. A 5 hour car ride with two kids is going to be a bit of a different story :) Wish us luck in this new journey, and pray that this next month goes as smoothly as it should. I will keep you updated as we get more information!

(And NO, I will not be turning into a Colts fan....GO BEARS!!!)

Date Night

Kyle and I had our first real "date night" since Preston was born, and he turned 5 months old yesterday. I would say we were a little over do for a night out, just the two of us. We had a gift certificate to a really nice restaurant in downtown Madison, the Tornado Room, so we thought it would be the perfect night to use it. Nana (my mom) so graciously came up last minute to watch the kiddos so we could go out. Tornado Room is known in Madison for their steaks, so that of course what we both got. They were delicious. I got a side of green beans which were also to die for, and Kyle got yummy hash browns. We then headed to Genna's, also a known bar in Madison, for a drink before heading home. It was nice to be able to eat without tending to someone else throughout the whole meal, and to get in full conversation with no interruptions! :)

We are being lazy today, watching football and lounging around. The perfect thing to do on such a cold, blistery day!

Label Reading

I have become accustomed to label reading the past month as I live a dairy free diet to help Preston (at least I hope). But today I failed! As I was eating a pasta salad- more specific a "Broccoli Slaw" from the grocery store, I just so happened to glance at the ingredient list as I was putting it away- mind you I already ate my portion for lunch. And it contains milk ingredients! Who would have thought! I am very good about reading labels on crackers, breads, cereals, frozen foods, etc. but I would have never thought a broccoli salad from the deli would have milk ingredients in it. Well, I guess we will see how Preston does today and tomorrow and I can see if it affects him at all.

Reese has been a little pistol lately :) She is definitely at the "limit testing" stage and boy does she test. I think she knows exactly what buttons to push of mine, and she likes to push them on a daily basis. I say go, Reese says stop. I say yes, Reese says no. This past Sunday I thought it would be a fun family outing for us all to get to go grocery shopping together. Usually I do it during the week when the crowds are smaller, that way I can manage both kids by my self. But with Kyle in tow, I thought I would actually get to enjoy this experience and really do some "quality" grocery shopping (instead of throwing things in the cart quickly and "running" up the aisles to keep up with Reese.) We headed to Janesville to go to Woodman's for the first time. For those of you unfamiliar with Woodmans, it is a giant grocery store- like a Costco or Sams Club. Except you need no membership here, and alot of the produce is locally grown. We arrived to a PACKED store. It was like Disney World! I assigned Kyle to Reese as Preston was in the cart with me. Let me just say, the experience was far from enjoyable. I saw many kids Reese's age walking by their parents, helping them choose groceries, and having fun with it. Not us. We looked like the crazy family who everyone stares at I'm sure. Reese was bolting up and down the aisles and screaming when we threatened to carry her. "Fake" tears flowing and all. I could barely concentrate on what I needed, let alone try to get everything I had on my mental checklist (that shot out the door when we walked in.) So, note to self- never try a new grocery store (especially a HUGE one) for the first time on a Sunday with two little kids (more so if one of them is strong willed and not the greatest listener), and always remember the grocery list. My enjoyable Sunday morning turned into a disaster. This coming Sunday I will be grocery shopping alone :)

Rolley Polley

Preston is officially a roller! He rolled a few weeks ago, one time from tummy to back, but not much since. Now today, he is rolling all over the place! I laid him on his stomach as I do everyday to get some tummy time in, and he flipped right over. Not thinking much of it, I put him back on his tummy, and he did it again, and again, and again! Yay Preston!

It's all about the rice

I decided to start rice cereal with Preston this past week (mainly in a last ditch effort to get this child to sleep!) I was hoping it would fill him up a bit more, and he would sleep longer through the night. Well, that wasn't really accomplished, BUT he did love it! I waited until 5 1/2 mo to start with Reese, and with Preston being only 4 1/2 (well, almost 5 mo) I wasn't quite sure it was going to go so well, but I thought it was worth a shot. On Thursday I tried it with him before his night bottle, and he LOVED it. He giggled through the entire feeding, and ate the whole thing. I was afraid he was just going to push it out with his tongue, but that was not the case. So, he has been having it for breakfast and dinner (along with his regular feedings.) He seems to take it just fine, so I am glad I started.

We didn't have much on tap this weekend. We had some friends over for dinner Friday night, and Reese had a blast playing with their daughter, Elanor (almost 2). Yesterday, we didn't leave the house :) It was a day of relaxation, which was quiet nice.

Crackity Crack

With feeling as though I have exhausted all options to try to help Preston, and feeling quite defeated, my wonderful sister sent me an email yesterday about babies going to a chiropractor. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before, as my parents took me to one as a baby. So, first thing this morning I set up an appointment. I was in desperate need of an adjustment too, so both Preston and I were seen by the doctor. With a few adjustments in his neck and back, we are going back Friday for a re check and hopefully this will provide him some relief. After talking with another mom about her baby's reflux, she said she was giving him Zantac and that seemed to help. I tried it when Preston was 2 months old, and really didn't see any improvement. But, with his lack of sleep lately, I am willing to try anything. So a few days ago I started giving it to him again, and he is spitting up much less than usual. He still burps quite a bit, but he is not spitting up nearly as much as he was. So, I hope the combination of a dairy free diet, Zantac (for reflux and heartburn), and seeing a chiropractor is the magic formula. He is still waking every 2 hours (literally on the dot) and has a hard time getting back to sleep, so hopefully getting adjusted will help him sleep more comfortably.

Kyle left today for a work trip in Atlanta until Friday, so I won't have any extra helping hands. I may be in serious need of a huge glass of wine Friday night when he returns! :)

Back to Reality

Back to reality today. The holiday break is "officially" over for us. Kyle had all last week off, so I had an extra helping hand around, and boy was it nice. I was able to sleep in each day and get some extra needed naps in too. Preston is back to his waking up every 2 hours (or less) every single night,  so I am back to being a walking zombie. I try to lay down at least 30 minutes each afternoon when they are both sleeping, but it is rare I actually fall asleep in that time. More like a "rest period".
Kyle and Reese went to the Dells this past weekend with some of Kyle's family, and it sounds like they had a great time. Reese woke up today asking to go back :) With Preston being so little and not being able to go in the water, I figured it was best we didn't go on this excursions. Instead, we went down to my parents where I was able to get in a few naps and relax for a bit.
We are busy putting together and playing with all the new toys from Christmas. Reese got a train table from my parents, so Kyle is in the process of getting it all set up. It came with 100 pieces(!) so it is keeping him quite busy. Reese loves playing with the trains and tracks- that along with her pretend food are her two favorite Christmas presents this year.
We got back on schedule today and headed to play group this morning. Reese was so excited to see all her friends and do circle time today. She got to tell everyone what Santa brought her, and even told them what Preston got too (baby toys) :) Tomorrow we have a play date with a friend and her daughter, Wednesday is story time at the library, Thursday we head back up to our old neighborhood for a play date with a close friend and her daughter, and Friday are having some friends over for dinner. Busy week!!

4 mo appt

We had Preston's 4 mo appt this morning, and I left with a feelings of frustrations and being "under-whelemed." I was hoping for the "magic answer" today as to why he spits up SO much, and why he is waking every 1 1/2 hours through the night. Well, there was no "magic answer" (I think I had my hopes set too high.) First things first, his stats:
Weight: 15 lbs. 15 oz (49%tile)
Height: 26.5 in (87%tile)
Head Circumference: 42.2 (56%tile)
So, above average for height and right in the middle for weight. Nothing unexpected there.

Then we began the continuing discussion of his "GI issues". Since having been dairy free since Dec. 15th, and not really seeing much change (even though his diapers seem to be better) Dr. said I don't have to stick to dairy free diet if I don't want too. I am just not quite convinced that is still not an issue, so I am going to continue until I am done breastfeeding. I just don't feel as though we know entirely yet if he does has a dairy sensitivity. So we moved on to his issues of waking in the night, and may contribute it to gas as he cannot get comfortable enough to sleep. He prescribed two medications I am to try with him to see if it helps give him so relief with gas, thus letting him get a better nights sleep. I am to try them for 10 days, and if we see no improvement, we will be referred to a GI doctor. I also asked if it was possible that he was allergic to something else I may be eating (fish, nuts, eggs) but he said there is almost no evidence that any of these foods that pass through breastmilk trigger allergies in children. So, me eating them would not affect him. The two major causes of gas and fussiness in breastfed babies are caffeine (already cut out of my diet) and dairy (cut out as well.)

So, with that, I left the office feeling frustrated that again. I am to try two more medicines and see if they work. I really do not want to medicate him, but if it is going to help, I suppose it worth a shot! I will be giving him liquid lactase (an enzyme that helps people to digest proteins better) and the second medication is a probiotic. These issues are to target his gassiness, which is what the doctor wanted to concentrate on first before addressing the reflux (in hopes that would in turn help the reflux as well.) His diapers are imrpoving, leading me to think that dairy does have some affect on him, so hopefully with a dairy free diet and these medications, we can get it under control!

2012 Recap

Happy New Year! Wow, what an eventful 2012 the Montgomery family had. Looking back, we did ALOT this past year, and it all began one year ago on this day that we found out little Mr. Preston was gong to join our family. Unexpected and much to our surprise, but he is such a joy and we couldn't be happier that things worked out the way they did. As if adding one to our family wasn't enough excitement for a year, we also decided to sell our house and move- all in hopes before baby boy got here. But, things didn't go as planned, so we moved out of our house the week Preston was born (in August) and lived with my parents in Illinois for a month (end of Sept) until we closed on our new house in Evansville  Looking back, we were crazy. But, we survived and are so happy in our new home and new community. It was all worth it in the end. I also went from working full time to being a stay at home mom, a change I welcomed. I have had such a blast with these two kiddos the past 4 months, and I can't figure out how I used to get everything done when I did work full time with Reese. I am lucky enough that Kyle's job allows me to stay at home, and to that we are both very grateful.
Our hopes for 2013 include continued good health for our family, hopes that we can figure out if Preston really IS sensitive to dairy (which we should be talking more about tomorrow at his 4 mo appt), and enjoying watching Reese and Preston grow up. Everyday bring something new with these two, and they are so much fun.
We rang in the New Year last night by going out for dinner as a family, and by me going to be by 9:30 :) Kyle made it to midnight- but he wasn't the one waking up with a baby all night long ;)


*On a side note, we took the plunge and turned Reese's crib into a toddler bed yesterday. She wasn't sure at first what to think of it, but slept fine last night and adjusted very well!!

Happy New Year!!!