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.

Crawling (I Guess) and Sitting

So Alex learned a new thing this week. He's figured how to sit back down from being on all fours. It used to be that if he fell onto his stomach or his back, all he could do was roll around until Aaron or I put him back into sitting. Now when he falls onto his stomach, he can go onto all fours and then sit back down.

This was a surprise to me one morning when I noticed he had fallen onto to his stomach and then when I left and came back, he was sitting. I was just like, "Hey, how did you get that way?" I tried to think if I had put him back to sitting but had forgotten, but was pretty sure I hadn't. Then later Aaron saw him get himself into sitting.

Now that he's been rocking on all fours for awhile, he's gotten so he can kind of get around, but I don't know if I can say he's officially crawling or not. He can't crawl across the room in a straight line, but he definitely can move around wherever he wants by sort of crawling, rolling, and scooting. He seems to be better at crawling backwards, then forwards, though.

It's pretty fun to see him progressing, though.

Six teeth!!!

So I was checking Alex's mouth to see how close his two front teeth are to coming in, and I discovered that he has four more coming in (two on either side of his two front teeth). I didn't know they came in so quickly like that!! And as far as I can tell, there still are no bottom teeth in sight. Weird.

EDIT: I just wanted to edit this and say he now has two top teeth in and two bottom teeth. It turns out the bottom ones are harder to see coming in. I found them when Alex bit down on my finger and I felt them. The other 4 teeth on top haven't cut through the gums yet so I guess he doesn't officially have those teeth yet. 

Also, when Alex had his 9 month checkup, we found out he's over 21 lbs (thought so!) and 29 inches tall. He just grows and grows.

A Way to Keep Track of Alex

Lately Alex has been working on crawling, and despite the fact that he doesn't know how yet, he still seems to be able to get wherever, and we know that once he actually does crawl, he'll get there even faster. So we talked about getting a play pen for Alex to play in when we are doing other things and can't keep a close eye on him. So the first thing I did was check Craig's List, since we don't have a lot of money. That's when I ran into this:

Be Grateful

So today is a day of gratitude--a day where we consider the things we're thankful for. I have lots to be thankful for. Some of them include:

• my husband
• my son (and how easy-going he is)
• the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• family
• friends
• food
• breast pumps (otherwise Alex would have to drink formula)
• warm place to live
• music
• soft bed to sleep in
• blankets
• anything that keeps me warm and comfy (blankets, sweatpants, robe, etc.)
• ovens/stovetops
• the Internet (so grateful. It's awesome)
• having money
• future job (which I will hopefully get soon)
• positive people
• for not having hives (which I will hopefully not have soon)
• elecricity
• indoor plumbing
• books
• living in the US

There are lots more that I'm grateful for, but those are some that I thought of. Hope you all have a good Thanksgiving Day with lots of good food.

My Birthday

So this year's birthday was pretty good, and it's all thanks to my honey, Aaron. First we went out to breakfast at IHOP. With money being tight, the only reason we did this was because I had a two-for-one coupon. Well, when Aaron went out to the car to get something, he talked to a waitress on the way back. I thought it odd, so I asked what that was all about. He said he'd asked her where the bathroom was. Since my husband is so straight foward and honest, and isn't really good at deceiving me (like in the past how he tried to think of an excuse as to why he was leaving and couldn't think of anything, so finally admitted he was going to buy me a present), so I took his word, even though he didn't ever go to the bathroom. Then towards the end of the meal, 5 waitresses came over singing happy birthday and presented me with an ice cream sundae. I was so surprised. I love surprises, so I thought it was great, really thoughtful, and sweet.

So I figured that would be all, but later I got another surprise. We'd agreed not to buy any presents for each other's birthdays, so I knew I wasn't getting anything in the real world, but Aaron and I play Guild Wars and I really wanted a Mad King Thorn mini (you can see what he looks like here). He's pretty rare, but I think he's so cute. Anyway, Aaron had been talking about how he used all his money to buy Trick-or-Treat bags (they drop around Halloween, so once Halloween is over, you can't get more except by buying them from other players). So I figured he didn't have the money to buy me a Mad King Thorn. Then yesterday in the afternoon, he offered to help me learn how to raptor farm, and was like, "You should sell what's in your inventory, so you have plenty of room for what you pick up." I'm like, "Okay." So I open up my inventory and I'm looking to see what I have, and there in my inventory was a Mad King Thorn mini!! Because he's rare, it cost Aaron a lot of in-game gold (260,000 gold). That's a large chunk of change, and it takes a long time to accumulate that much gold. On top of that, Aaron wants a Mad King Thorn mini as well, so I'm sure he would have rather have kept it then give it to me, which makes the sacrifice mean more.

Later in the evening, Aaron made me dinner, and we hung out. I also talked to my sister earlier in the day. No one else in my family called, but I got two emails, and my other sister had called yesterday. Basically that means my brother and dad are in the doghouse for not doing anything to say happy birthday (though my brother did message me on Facebook today to say sorry, so I guess that's something).

So that's basically it. I'm glad I have a great husband who made my day special. Yay!

Teething and Life in General

So Alex is now officially teething. We can see his two top front teeth coming in. It hasn't made him very happy and he's needed extra comfort, which is hard when I'm trying to make dinner and such (yesterday I was carrying him around as I was trying to get dinner on the table and he got heavy fast. I'm pretty sure he's over 20 lbs now, maybe even closer to 22 lbs, but I guess we'll find out next week at his checkup). We try to do our best to keep him supplied with cold teethers, but sometimes even that's not enough. Poor little guy. On the bright side, it hasn't seemed to affect his sleeping. He still takes great naps and sleeps through the night. In fact, lately he's been sleeping till about 6:45 a.m. or 7 a.m. It's been consistent enough that I even changed my alarm clock to 6:30 a.m., so I get to sleep in a little. Yay!

Last Friday Aaron and I moved our furniture all around, so that we can use our computer even when Alex is sleeping. This has been nice because it's allowed us to move the arm chair upstairs. It previously occupied the space next to our dining table blocking two chairs and only leaving one. Since we moved it, we've been able to eat dinner at the table together, with Alex in the highchair. Even though he's not actually eating with us, it's obvious that he likes being near us as we eat.

So things are going all right with the job search. There aren't tons of jobs I've found to apply for, but out of the five I have applied for, three have asked for interviews. Unfortunately, no one really wants to hire right now. They're just looking now for someone early next year. So it doesn't look like I'll be able to really get anything before the end of the year, but hopefully things will work out by mid-January. I have a phone interview tomorrow for another technical writing job. Let's hope that if it would be a good job for me that it will work out.