Eight Amazing Months... Bentley Style

Happy Birthday little B.

This month we made a startling discovery about our little Bentley. At his six month check up, he was only in the 5th percentile for weight (14.2#), so our pediatrician wanted him back in a month for a weight check to make sure he was actually gaining. Five weeks later we went back to get weighed in and he had only gained five ounces. FYI, babies should be gaining a 1/2 oz to 1oz per day. So this put him at a 1oz gain per week. Ouch, that hurt my heart. Really. When I saw the numbers on the scale, my heart was literally in my stomach. But because he was fine in the height category, our doctor wasn't worried about this being an endocrinology issue, but still it was obviously necessary to get him gaining weight.  So, naturally, the only thing we could try was to change what he was eating. I had been exclusively nursing up to that point, so we switched to formula. {Aaaaaand this is where I feel like I won the award for suckiest mom of the year} Within days of switching to formula, he was like a new kid. I mean, you know all the crying and screaming he's been doing since, oh well, birth? Yea, so I guess he was hungry.  And now he is the happiest little fella all the time (although it appears some habits are hard to break because he still boo-hoo's over some of the smallest issues-love ya, Bentley!) And furthermore, two weeks after switching to formula, he gained (drum roll, please) 18 ounces!  If you are as quick at math as I am, you will realize that is 9 ounces per week!

Oh, little B. I'm just so happy that you are gaining weight now (after dropping below the charts, you've made it up to the 3rd percentile). I do believe nursing is what's best for babies, but I guess I just couldn't keep up and regardless of where it comes from, I just want my baby to be healthy and gain weight!  Whew!

Now that that's done...

Here are some highlights from this month:

You played with (or in?) new Christmas toys.

 You got to watch Jack playing outside in this crazy warm weather we're having.

 You hung out with your brother and daddy.

You played with your brother... a lot...

 I think you love his Hot Wheels as much as he does.

 You read books with Jack and Grandpa.

 You sat in the grocery cart like a big boy for the first time.

 (We would have done this much sooner, but I usually carry Bentley in the front carrier and Jack sits in the cart. But Jack was at school this day, so B got to have some fun)

One (of the many many many) things that I love about you is you do a lot of the classic 'baby' things... you love to blow raspberries, grab and eat your toes and love to play peek a boo.

And, really, I can't emphasize enough how much you and Jack love each other. It's so amazing. Here are just a few pictures of the brotherly love that happened this month... and this is not to say that you don't get beat up by Jack, well, pretty much every day, but you sure do love each other regardless.

Thanks for being so fun, Bentley... And happy birthday to my sweet little munchkin.

BentleyTurns7MonthsMerryChristmasHappyNewYear!

Happy Birthday little B!

This month you:
 learned to sit up...

Played trains at Barnes and Noble with your brother and cousin...

(they had more fun than you did)

played in your first snow with Jack...

 held lots of business meetings in the kitchen...

took up reading as a hobby (we're still working on proper book orientation)...

...and spread LOTS of Christmas cheer.

When you smile, you smile with your whole darn face. And those cheeks... they're not getting any smaller.  In fact, I've noticed that after you've been crying (yep, this still happens on an all to regular basis) a little tear will just sit on your cheek below your eye.  Your cheeks are so big, they can hold the little tear puddle there for hours without drying up. I pretty much can't even look at you without telling you and your fuzzy little head how much I love you. The end.

CHRISTmas was loads of fun this year... Jack really really got into the 'pressies' and Jesus' birthday and Santy Claus. Like a typical seven month old, Bentley spent lots of time just trying to figure out what was going on.

Jack checking out his new Llama Llama book.

 Safety first!

Busted! Doing what... I'm not sure.

 Jack jamming on his new saxy-phone.

This kid looooves music. Especially the sax because his big cousin, Sam, plays the sax.
Jack loves to watch his band concerts and now he has his very own sax to be just like 'Shammy'.

We had so much fun celebrating God's greatest gift... His son, Jesus.

I guess we didn't get any family photos and this is the only picture of Chris and I that I could find.

Tonight is New Years Eve... more family fun!
For my part of the family fun, I'm bringing bacon wrapped jalapenos and Oreo bark... yea baby.

2012 will have to be pretty amazing to compete with 2011.
Thank you, God for all the wonderful blessings in my life.

Whole 30 ...and DONE!

I'm feeling pretty darn proud of myself right now, thankyouverymuch.

I just completed 30 days of eating only real food: tons of vegetables, one fruit a day, meat, nuts, eggs and healthy fats (coconut oil).

I cut out completely:
Added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. 
Processed foods.
Alcohol.
Grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, millet, oats, corn, rice, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa.
Legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, kidney, lima, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts.
White potatoes.
Dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream.

All of that GONE.

It was both easier and harder than I thought it would be.  Most of the time it was pretty easy, but I did have some challenging times in the past 30 days. For example~ Thanksgiving, Christmas parties and cookie decorating parties. Well, and stress, I wanted some wine, bad. But I made it without cheating and hopefully in addition to losing six pounds, I've permanently changed some eating habits. 

So, yea, I only lost six pounds... I was hoping for more, but super happy with six.  I am still nursing too, so maybe my body is hanging on to fat for that?  Who knows, who cares.

What I do care about was savoring the cream in my coffee this morning that I haven't had in 30 days. Mmmmmm. 

I will most definately continue on with a Paleo or Primal eating plan (like I was doing before anyway).  I love this way of eating and these 30 days just confirmed for me that this is the lifestyle I want to live.

I'm am kind of disapointed that I don't feel very different... I was expecting to feel like a champ after this, but after the first two weeks of amazing sleep, that went away and I feel like I always did before. Oh well, the way I feel now is infinately better than when I was eating the Standard American Diet (low fat, high carb, some protein, lots of processed foods like cereal, wheat thins, etc. and not enough healthy fats).

So there, done in time for some Christmas cookies!  Yup, I will be going there...

Jack, two and a half years of awesome

A tsunami of awesome, if you will (a couple people will get that).  Never has one little person been able to make me so mad and so head over heels madly in love all in the same minute.  Can I get an 'amen' from you mom's reading this?? 
Thankfully the head over heels part reigns most days :)

So I thought it was time for an update on my favorite oldest son. 

Here goes, this is Jack at 2 1/2-

You loooove to help me in the kitchen.  We do this often...
thus the emergence of hundreds of new gray hairs on my head.

You've got your ABC's down pat; as long as you're singing them

(I'm the same way, buddy).

You have recently discovered the question, 'why?'.  However, you think the appropriate word is 'because'.  Several times a day I hear

'because, Mom, because?'. 

{Precious doesn't even cover it.}

On a related note, you have dropped Mommy and Daddy from your vocabulary in favor of Mom and Dad. What the wha... where is this coming from?

You potty trained at exactly 2 1/2,

 which is ironically the same time you learned that the actual toilet is not necessary.

You love to do art projects with me and you even learned how to use scissors...

gah, more gray hairs!

 Rooooaaarrrrrr. 

Finished product below!

You learned to pedal your bike...

 and then joined a neighborhood gang 
(don't be fooled by how cute they are).

You have demonstrated your own way of sleeping.

You love both your brother and chapstick. Equally.

 You are always ready to keep Bentley company.  Even in your undies.

 You love to take silly pictures.

 You spend half your time bugging your brother with lights on his head,

cars on his head...

 making him cry...

 and the other half loving all over him.

The best is when Bentley is crying and you say,

'Don't cry B, I'm here. It's okay, B. Jack is here, don't cry'. *sigh*

 I have about a million other things I could say... but I will stop for now.  The most important 'other' thing I want to say is that I love you, Jack, so much more than you will ever even begin to realize and I thank God for you daily.  I'm so proud of you; you amaze me on a regular basis with how quickly you learn new things and how much love you have for family and friends. And what's more... I really like you, Jack.  Keep on being you... you're pretty awesome.

Rudolph!

Thank you Pinterest for yet another fabulous art project. 

Today Jack and Bentley made Rudolph the red nosed reindeer out of their sweet little piggies!

There are no pictures of the process because there was no way I was getting distracted after painting my two year old's feet brown.  I'm either so brave or so stupid  :) 

Either way, he was a champ and cooperated so well. 

And, as a general rule, Jack does wear clothes... but again,

I WAS PAINTING DIRECTLY ONTO MY TWO YEAR OLD!

Had to take the proper precautions.

 This is Bentley's very first craft project! Awwww.

Merry Christmas to all!

Day 15- I'm halfway there, YA'LL!

Well, I'm halfway through my Whole30 challenge, starting day 15 today.  It's been a lot easier than I expected (from day three on, that is).  On day two and three, I had major headaches and almost flu-like symptoms... that was the sugar withdrawal. Whew!  After going through that, I {almost} don't want to add sugar back in now!  I am actually debating continuing this on through after New Year's Eve.  I've done so much GOOD for my body so far, I would be very disappointed if I gave in to the Christmas cookie call. 


I find it funny that (including last night, now) I've had THREE dreams where I cheated!  That shows how much I think about how I eat during the day!  But in all three dreams, I was SO disappointed and MAD at myself for cheating! ...hoping that helps me stay on track during the day too. So far so good.


Now for the info everyone is most interested in... I'm down 4 pounds and my clothes are fitting better.  (By the way, according to the Whole30 website you are not supposed to step on the scale all month long.  This is  about being healthy, not weight loss. It's about changing the way you eat permanently, not dropping a few pounds then gaining it back- but I can tell you, as much as I want this to be a permanent change in the way I eat, I've always stepped on the scale every single day... so that wasn't going to change in these 30 days. Sorry, Whole30.)


AND I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!  (sorry for screaming that) But for real, I usually have a major afternoon slump, as in I literallymustsleepNOW.  And sometimes I do nap and other times I fight through it with coffee and a two and a half year old and a cranky six month old.  But now, I'm really, truly feeling so much better!  At night, I'm sleeping like a drugged person, I literally am sleeping so deeply that when I wake up... I'm up.  It's so odd, I just get up.  Maybe some of you reading this do that already, if so congrats. I, however, usually 'wake up' dog tired and can barely open my eyes, let alone get out of bed. It's quite refreshing to get a good nights sleep. And the same goes for bedtime, I have a pretty steady energy level all day long, then sometime in the evening, it's as if my body says, 'time for bed'- and I'm suddenly I'm so sleepy I have to got to bed NOW.  No insomnia here.

I still get the munchies and I either eat nuts or drink LaCroix... I pretty much have two a day, one for the afternoon 'snack' and one in a wine glass at night. Har. Not quite the same, but I have to do something! 

To sum up, I am so happy I've started this challenge and I am more than ever determined to finish it without cheating.  That's all for now.

You're six months, Bentley!

Wow, another month GONE. 

Six months is such a milestone!  At this point you're actually closer to being ONE, a real age, rather than being so many months or a newborn or my tiny little baby.  You're that much closer to walking and talking and just simply... growing up (can I get a collective *sniff*?).  As Jack says almost daily, 'When B grows up, he gets to ______ '(fill in the blank with whatever we're doing at the moment... eat raisins, go down the slide, bang on the drum, etc.). 

I pretty much love it.

You still have the biggest smile aaaaaand loudest scream. 
I love that we never know what's coming... yea, did I just say that?

You had your first Halloween this month! You were just the tastiest little chicken I have ever seen.

You do the most amazing thing that melts my heart Every. Single. Day.  As I carry you out of your room first thing in the morning, you put your little arms around my neck and squeeze!

 It's a baby Bentley hug!  Let's keep that up, k?

You had your first bath with your brother. It was the only bath you've had where there was a very good chance you came out dirtier than when you went in.  Har.

You ate real people food this month!  You had some homemade sweet potatoes for your first meal.  I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you weren't much of a fan...

You gobbled up avacado's though... ahhh, boy after my own heart. 

And, you get by with a little help from your brother.

 I just love ya, little B. Keep on keepin' on.