Feeling Bad

Before I was pregnant then a mom I was a dog parent. We have our two pups, Niley and Bandana, and I was a great dog mom. We would go on long walks, sometimes for an hour or more, almost everyday, to the farmers markets, dog parks, even to the Iowa Cubs game during the Dog Days of summer events. Since being a mom to Jaxson I have been slacking. Slacking probably not even good enough. I have been bad. I can count how many walks we have been on.... on ONE hand, and can't even count how many times we have been to the farmers market or dog park on my hands because the number is zero. Today they went for their comprehensive exams at the vet and not only am I lacking in the activities I have slacked in the health department. Bandana has gained 12lbs, and Niley has gained 17lbs. SEVENTEEN POUNDS. I knew they were gaining a little bit but I wasn't expecting that! At all! So, if we choose to spend the moola on it, they have a prescription for dog food that is just as filling but is half the calories. You have to show your prescription card to checkout with it. We will try something on our own first, aka, less expensive. Even though I felt bad I DID NOT give them any treats when we got home. Instead I gave them some love, and each got a bath. (it's been a while, they NEEDED it). I am sure they would have preferred just a cookie.

I need to stop being a bad dog mom so I am going to attempt a walk at least twice a week. That doesn't seem great considering their previous glory days of daily walks. I also am going to try to do one public thing with each of them each week. My plan is not taking them both at the same time because I can't do a stoller and two dogs even if I have them on the double leash. So one dog can go to the farmers market, and the other dog can go to one of Dave's softball games, or maybe just a trip to pet smart. I am also going to get back in the groove of training them. Their brains need some stimulation. Maybe if Bandana uses his brain it will wear him out a little bit. yah, I know, wishful thinking.

I hope by writing this, and thinking someone will read it, will make me feel as if I have to do it. Because I should really be a better dog mom. Starting today! :)

Fourth try a Charm?

Jaxson has gotten one of his first diaper rashes. He has had less than five since he was born but now that he is getting more "regular" a red bottom is becoming a common occurrence. This particular diaper rash is being very persistent. To date we have tried Mustela Diaper Rash Cream, Aveeno, Breuduex Butt Paste, Nystatin prescription, and STILL he has a diaper rash. Dr. Fred has recommended trying Calmoseptine along with his prescription. I was comparing ingredients and it also has Zinc Oxide like all the others but it has almost three times the amount along with one other active ingredient that the others didn't have. I had to get it from the pharmacy at HyVee but you don't need a prescription. So, to all the moms that are still dealing with diapers and therefore diaper rash, give it a try. Its the big guns of the small guns. Calmoseptine.

Tiger Balm!!

我认为我变得上瘾对老虎香脂。 它安慰我的疼痛和痛苦每日。 当我不可能发现我使用冰冷热的老虎香脂，虽然它不运作。 我开始认为我非常使用它我变得依赖对此。 噢很好，它值得它。 仅问题是气味非常快速地不走开。 某人在工作在办公室最近认为某人被喷洒的除虫剂。 Nope，它正义的我用老虎香脂一件新鲜的外套打开!

*Translation for all of the non-chinese speaking followers. Kind of funny, it did not exactly translate back the way I originally typed it.

-I thought I become become addicted to the tiger balsam. It comforts me the ache and the pain is daily. When I not impossible to discover I use the ice-cold hot tiger balsam, although it does not operate. I start to think I use its me to become the dependence regarding this extremely. Oh very good, it is worth it. Only the question is the smell does not get out of the way extremely fast. Somebody in the work in the office thought recently somebody the bug spray which sprays. Nope, its just I use a tiger balsam fresh coat to open!

A swing and a slide

And no camera!! We had a very low key Saturday and so after dinner we thought we would go to the park near Dave's office and play a little. Of course I never go anywhere without my camera. I took a few pictures and turned it off and had it in my hand for a few minutes while a kid walking his dog stopped and was talking to us. The dog wrapped his leash around my legs and while trying to get untangled my camera dropped onto the sand. No biggie, I picked it up and went on. Then Dave took one picture, and off it went. No more camera. I was so upset I wanted to leave pronto and figure out how my warranty worked since its been less than a year.

Dave wanted to stay awhile so we did. And I swung on the swings and Dave and Jaxson laid in the grass together, kicked the ball around, played with sticks, and did all of this while I had NO camera to get it on film. And they were so cute! Maybe I am a little ridiculous when it comes to pictures but I felt like I was missing the moment not getting it on film. Like all the cuteness went to waste. It was like just missing the perfect Kodak moment. For me EVERYTHING is a Kodak moment and it is so hard for me to be without my camera.

When we got home Dave put it on the charger for a few minutes and it turned back on. I immediately uploaded the pictures onto my camera just in case there is something wrong with it. I have turned it on and off a few times since we got home and everything seems fine. I may still go get a new camera battery for it just in case. I can't have this happening again, what if I miss something? And really my camera probably is in need of a new battery. They say they usually last a year but I have used my camera more than a "years worth" probably already being at 5000 in 8 months. These are the pics we did get!

Lookalikes

I hear almost daily how Jaxson looks so much like Dave. I think that Dave is very good looking so I think it is great that they look alike. wink wink. Now I have a new the new operating system for my Mac so I have the new IPhoto. The new IPhoto has a program called Faces and it groups people by their faces. They really thought hard about the name. I was going through and adding the names to my most recent upload and on every picture of Jaxson, which is almost every picture, it would say Is this Dave Barry? Each time I would have to click no, then type in Jaxson. So now, along with everyone else, even the computer is telling me daily that Dave and Jaxson look alike. But if and when, and if it's a girl, I really hope she looks like me!

I don't know if this is the best picture but they were the only close up of the boys I could find quickly. I have a hard time seeing the similarities because I am just too close to the situation. To me Jaxson looks like Jaxson, and Dave looks like Dave.

Do you think they look alike??

Sunday Funday

We spend last Sunday over with Holcomb and Leah (of course!) grilling out and playing washers. I was surprisingly good at this game considering my showing at bags the weekend earlier. :) Dave and I won both games. A few pictures to share.

More from Daycare

Jaxson has a great time at daycare. He is practicing doing laundry. I am so thankful that she is teaching him all the important lessons so he can start helping me at laundry time.

The little girl with him is so adorable. Next week is her last week with Melanie and she started when she was Jaxson's age. She always tells Jaxson goodbye with a kiss on the cheek when he leaves. She is so cute and needs a little brother!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears OH MY!

So we didn't see any bears or tigers but we did see a lion when we were at the zoo today! We have been talking about going to the zoo for a while now and thought it was such a great weekend to do it since it was 70 and sunny. We were able to be outside for four hours without being too hot, it was just right! We started off with the feeding and petting zoo. Jaxson thought it was very funny when the little animal lips tickled his fingers.



After this we moved on to the seal show. It was pretty fun to watch them do the tricks and learn how they walk around. Jaxson was pretty impressed. On to lunch. We ate outside watching the monkey cage. Unfortunately they weren't into lunch time entertainment because they just slept. The ENTIRE time. Damn monkeys.


After lunch we fed giraffes. A dollar a cracker is such a rip off but we got sucked in for two and it was worth it. Jaxson held out the cracker and luckily the giraffe quickly took it from his hand before he tried to take a bite of it himself. Dave missed the photo opt so we got another cracker, and again the moment was missed so we called it quits. It was fun to feed a giraffe since you usually don't get to get that close to the big animals.

Since we were already getting close to the big animals we went for a camel ride. I went while leaving Dave in charge of the camera. He didn't want to go since he is scared of horses. I tried to explain that camels and horses are different animals but he didn't want to hear any of it. Half way around the loop Jaxson little blue shoe fell down and nearly missed the "creek" that runs through the exhibit. After our ride the camel walker had to jump a fence to get Jaxson's little shoe.

We were next!

It was such a great day that completely wore Jaxson out but he never fussed even once. it was such a nice day to be out with Jaxson and Dave, my two favorite guys!

The Big Five Zero

Anne and Phil (twins) are the youngest of all the Williams clan. Along with two other of their friends they grew up with who were also turning fifty threw a birthday bash at West End Salvage downtown. Jaxson spent the evening with Aunt Sue while we were out.

If you have never been into this coffee shop that is on the corner of Cherry and 8th (directly under the 9th street bridge) it is such a neat place to explore. There were three floors of stuff. Some neat, some not so much so but it could keep you entertained for hours. It was easy to lose people as they would get lost in exploring through all of the treasures. I wandered up to the third floor by myself. The floors creak under your feet and it was very quiet. The third floor is full of old light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Although it was very mesmerizing, it was pretty creepy by myself at night so I quickly hustled downstairs with the rest of the party.

It was a great place for a great party. I am glad I was there to join in the fun!

A Trip Without Baby

Dave was home with Jaxson while he was napping today and I went out to run a few recreational errands. I went to the mall for nothing important and did more people watching in the end than anything else. It is so amazing what you notice when you aren't trying to keep a baby happy, dry diaper, fighting with a stroller, trying to miss people's feet with the front of the stroller, and the list continues. Some things struck me as funny, annoying, and otherwise today and I thought I would share.

For the first time in a very long time I used the escalator and not the elevator. I couldn't help but to notice the guy and his son in front of me. It was a nice, father and son hand in hand. But the way you could really tell he is all about being a Dad was the diaper hanging out of his back pants pocket, no diaper bag needed for him! This dad was prepared and it made me laugh. I tried not to laugh out loud since I was alone and didn't want to get stares but couldn't help myself to snap a pic of the fashion statement as we both exited the escalator. To Dave, I promise I wasn't checking out his backside. :)

I wandered through Barnes and Nobles for quite awhile. I was on a mission to find Dave a book. Fiction, as far from text book as possible. It is so great to get so into a book you have no room in your mind for your own life's worries. He needs that right now with school, dad, husband, bread-winner. I finally found the one I thought he would like. On the back it said it was an "old fashioned treasure hunt" and he loved those choose your adventure books so I thought I had a winner. I strolled over to the checkout and was next in line. I patiently waited behind the sign that clearly says Please Wait Here. I turn to look at something in those "add on stands" for one second and come back to a giant black shirt that says "misfits" and is hanging off one shoulder standing in front of me. Definitely not there before. Seriously, this lady just cut me and had an online order none the less. I probably wouldn't have noticed if I had Jaxson because I would have been chatting with him while I waited. How annoying and rude. Seriously, wait your turn "misfit"!

Then there are the two girls who think they are that much better than everyone. I was standing in line behind a couple of women, probably around my same age. Then a guy, obviously gay with a fabulously gay outfit on, giant Louis Vuitton bag, and a very fashionable scarf was within eye shot checking out hair products with his girl friend. These girls couldn't help but to stare and chit chat and one gave me a look like "Can you believe this?" I didn't say anything but I am hoping someone will tell them that it is 2009 and it is time to get over insecurities about homosexuals. And time to get over being jealous over his giant Louis Vuitton bag!

People watching is so entertaining sometimes.

What next?

For the first year of Jaxson's life I tried to do what was best for him. He ate exclusively my milk because it was the best thing for his little body to grow big a strong. It was also easy to make and very inexpensive, but these were just perks to what I knew would be best for him. I am beginning to slowly phase out nursing and am transitioning him into a regular diet and now I feel lost. I no longer KNOW what is best for him. All that I do know is being healthy starts with what you eat.

I do not have a good background on healthy eating and have had the luxury to eat pretty much what I wanted while staying relatively thin. But just being thin does not equal healthy and I want Jaxson to be healthy. I don't know where to go from here because I do not want to be on a diet, I just want to have a better understanding of what our bodies, especially his, needs to be healthy. There are a million books, a trillion websites, and to what I can find, no classes or information sessions at any local hospitals etc. I wish I wasn't in this situation and had learned more about right and wrong food choices while growing up. I want to make sure that Jaxson understands these things and will hopefully live a healthy, fad diet free life.

Remembering the old days

It has been quite a while now that we lay Jaxson in his crib at 8:30pm and he just falls asleep and doesn't make a peep until 730am or so. This is something that I have gotten used to BUT no longer take for granted like pre-baby days. Sunday and Monday night Jaxson wanted to make sure we didn't forget what the scenery was like at 2am and he screamed bloody murder to wake us up. It worked. Both nights he ended up in our bed but obviously wasn't sleeping well because he was tossing and turning, and awake multiple times.

He went to Melanie's Monday morning and was one tired boy. He pushed through the sleepiness and forced himself to stay awake to play with the toys and his new friends. That was until lunch time anyway..........

Thanks Melanie for the picture!

Walk Off Game Winning Hit

Dave is two weeks into his second softball season. They have a 500 start right now but have had issues with their disabled list being the same size as the roster. In last night's double header they had just finished a big loss and were tied in extra innings in game two with the same team. They had the bases loaded and two outs ( I think... I was chasing Jaxson around). They walked Steve because something about forced outs, but also because Dave was up next and hadn't been hitting too great. The pressure was on. I could tell he was nervous but he walked up like he had been there before. With the second pitch he made contact. It was up, right past second base. It looked from my vantage point looked like it was going to be an easy catch. Luckily for our team it wasn't as much of an easy catch as it looked and dropped to the ground making it easy for a score. Because it was over time in softball it was sudden death. The other team was the chest bumping, middle aged MLB wanna be's and it was very entertaining to watch them lose a game that they had already checked a W next to in their minds. Hopefully the DL list can become shorter and the team can go undefeated from here on.

Addison turns three!

Happy Birthday Addison. She is officially three today and is loving every minute of it. What kid wouldn't when you have a slide right off of the deck into the backyard. Yes, you read that correct. What a great idea! Fun, and probably a little safer than stairs.. maybe. Everyone got together at Beth and Luke's house and ate hamburgers and hotdogs. Instead of a cake they had a giant cookie with three giant candles. She enthusiastically opened presents and I am proud to say she wanted to STOP opening presents and play with what I picked out for her! That means I did good! Even though she contemplated the idea, the other presents won her over and she continued to open gifts. It was a great party and am glad that Jaxson, and the rest of us, were a part of it!