The Joys of Vaccinations

So two weeks ago, Utah county had a vaccination clinic for swine flu vaccinations. I found out the day after it was over. Ugh. So disappointed. So I called the number for vaccinations, which updated their recording every day or two, to see when they would have another clinic. This is because they really have no idea when they'll get more vaccinations in, so they have to wait till they get more before they can hold another clinic. I was determined to make the next one. I DO NOT want to get the swine flu and I definitely DO NOT want Alex to get it (obviously if I had to choose, I would get it rather than him. Bad news for young kids).

Your Son Is a Giant . . . Oh, Wait, Maybe Not

So Alex had his 18-month checkup today (8 days before he's 19 months). It's always fun to have him weighed and measured and see how he's growing. Ever since his 2-month checkup, he's always been on the tall-side wavering between 60% and 80% in height, which is cool, and we love that he's tall, despite the challenges it presents (i.e., he can reach more things and climb on more things).

Thoughts on Exercise, Healthy Eating, and Weight Loss

After having Alex (17 months ago), I weighed 10 lbs over what I weighed before I got pregnant. I wanted to lose it, but I didn't actively do anything other than exercise here and there and try not to eat too many sweets. I lost some weight, probably from the extra calories I burned pumping milk (do you burn as much pumping as you do nursing?), so that I was only 5 lbs overweight. Then I decided I really wanted to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, and for that matter, I'd like to lose 10 to 15 lbs more.

Alex's 15-Month Checkup

So recently Alex had his 15-month checkup (albeit when he was 16.5 months). It's always fun to go to the doctor's for a checkup and see how much he's grown. When he was 14.5 months, they measured him at 24 pounds and 32 1/8 inches (though they didn't measure correctly. He was actually 31.5 inches). At this appt, he measured at almost 26 pounds and 33 1/8 (but again I'm pretty sure he's actually 32.5). So he grew an inch in two months, which is pretty good. That puts him in the 75% for height compared to other boys his age, which is pretty exciting. With Aaron not being that tall (5'7"), I really want Alex to get my family's tall genes and be around 5'10" (my grandpa was 6'2", as well as my uncle, and my brother and dad are around 5'10". It's just easier for guys, I think, when they're not too short.

Rant about Putting Kids to Bed

Kids need their sleep. If you've ever watched Supernanny, you've seen examples of parents who don't put their kids to bed at a reasonable hour and how cranky and grouchy the kids are. Sure, the kids think they want to stay up and that they'd be happier if they could watch TV till all hours and such, but as their parent, you need to decide a reasonable time to put them to bed and keep them on a schedule. They may resist, but in the long run they'll be happier and more well rested.

Peanut Allergy

So it's pretty certain that Alex has a peanut allergy. Obviously as of yet, we haven't had to deal with this too much since he's so young. He also doesn't seem to have an extreme allergy, which is good (I've heard of some kids who can't be in the same room as peanut butter). Still, we've had to deal with some things.

Update on Last Saturday

Here is an update of what happened Saturday after I posted. Because Alex got down for his nap late, I ended up having to wake him up around 3:30 p.m. He seemed fine when I got him up, but a few minutes later he was standing on the couch and threw up. I was a little surprised. I grabbed him off the couch and put him on the floor in the living room. Then he threw up some more (luckily not much). We keep a blanket over the couch, so I grabbed that and threw it into the laundry room and then cleaned up the throw up, and changed him for the third or fourth time that day.

Drama Saturday

Today's drama began at 1 a.m. Aaron woke me up because he realized when he went to go to bed that he was out of a prescription that helps him sleep. He really doesn't sleep that well when he is on the medication, and off it he doesn't sleep at all, and it's pretty much worthless the next day. Needless to say I was pretty upset that he woke me, especially since I'd gotten to bed about 45 minutes late as it was, so I'd only been asleep for an hour or so. I think he mostly wanted comfort, but I was just like, "And what do you expect me to do about it at 1 o'clock in the morning?" I know, not very supportive, but I dare you to do better in the same situation. It took me awhile to get back to sleep.

Great Deals for Memorial Day

Okay, so I decided to actually do something for Memorial Day. Yes, I didn't decide this till like yesterday. That's how I roll.

So when we received the weekly ads for the local supermarkets, I started looking through them for good prices on Memorial Day type items like hot dogs, steak, watermelon, and ice cream. Mostly, I wanted to see if I could get a good deal on steak. I thought about going to a few different stores when I remembered that Walmart has price matching!! So instead of going to a few stores, I just brought the ads with me and went to Walmart.

Update and Google Reader

News on Me

So, I think this post will be really random. First of all, I'd like to say I'm sorry for not updating my blog much. I have a lot going on to talk about, but the issue is I don't have a lot of time, and when I do have time to write for my own enjoyment, I usually don't want to.

Why? Because I've been writing for a job lately. In February, I applied for to be a writing intern at a media company in Draper, Utah. This has been basically my only source of income for the last few months. It's been consistent enough that I no longer get unemployment (though I assume I could sign up again if this work ends). It's been pretty good and I've enjoyed it for the most part. They even wanted to hire me, and proposed to their higher ups to hire a writer, but they denied the proposal. So until I find a more permanent job, this will help. If you want to see some of the writing I've done, you go to Purity Tox-X, Purity 12 Tri-Factor, Purity 12 Green Tea Metabolizer, Skin Care article, and Purity 12 Blogs. Those are just a few of the things I've written. Most of what I have done for them hasn't even been used yet.

What else is cool is they're paying me to learn about search engine optimization. They don't pay me much to do the training, but it's such good information to know, so to get paid to learn about it is great. I'm also doing some other training on my own to learn how to use Dreamweaver--which I can hopefully use to create my own site or something. So things have been going pretty well.

News on Alex

Fear not

 So it seems like all I hear lately is news about layoffs and how many people have lost their jobs. My first reaction is to get mad and angry at the execs and CEOs who make millions, but then lay off hundreds of workers who make only tens of thousands a year. They don't care if the economy is not doing so well since they're flying around in their leer jets having a grand ol' time. I heard that our CEO at my last company makes 20 million a year. Gee, you think he could spread that wealth around a bit? But whatever.

When negative thoughts of our current economy get me down, I try to remember that having faith in our Heavenly Father is what will get us through. Yesterday, Aaron and I read the following from 3 Nephi 13:30-34, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought, for the morrow shall take thoughts for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.”

So basically it's saying, don't worry about how you're going to have what you need, just put your faith in God, be obedient to His teachings, and you'll receive what you're in need of. I really like that, and it makes me happy. If ye have faith, ye shall not fear.

Musing on Eating

Ugh, sometimes I hate that I have to eat because the only things I want to eat are bad for me and I feel like I shouldn't eat anything and I know I'm not eating enough fruits and vegetables, but there is a limited number of veges and fruits that you can find frozen or canned (and so I get sick of it) and it seems like whenever I buy fresh, I only eat half before it goes bad and I've wasted the money.  Sometimes I just get sick of the eternal struggle of trying to "eat right." 

Sometime last week, I was thinking to myself that I had hardly eaten anything that day, so I probably easily ate within the 1800-calorie goal I have. So I decided to count up all I'd eaten and see if I was right. I'd had two bowls of Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal with 2% milk (I eat 2% with cereal, but I drink fat free. I know, I'm weird). Then I had a peanut butter and jam sandwich on whole wheat bread with two glasses (about 20 oz total) fat free milk for lunch. I had a s'more as a snack with some fat free milk (around 6 oz). I had 2 corn dogs for dinner with at least 16 oz of milk (healthy, I know). I also had a cup of juice to wash down my vitamins (to cover the icky taste of the vitamin). Anyway, so I added up everything I'd eaten and it was around 2100 or 2200 calories. I'm like, "So I ate around the amount you're supposed to eat in one day? But I feel like I ate nothing." So I basically learned that when you eat the amount you're supposed to, you don't feel full (or at least I don't). 

Tag, I'm It

My sister tagged me, so I guess I'm it.

8 TV shows I enjoy watching:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. The Big Bang Theory
4. Heroes
5. Ugly Betty
6. Lost
7. Ghost Whisperer
8. Numb3rs

Crawling, Christmas, and Everything

Well, a lot has gone on in the past couple of weeks. First of all, three days before Christmas, Alex really started getting the hang of the whole crawling thing. He now can get anywhere and everywhere (well, except he's not going up stairs yet). This is frustrating because he doesn't want to be kept in his play yard (not surprising) and yet if I'm doing something (like pumping or cleaning), I need to know he's safe. Luckily he can be very patientat times. But it is exciting to see him crawling around everywhere. He's growing up so fast.