I love back to school

Yay for preschool! My kids go to preschool at Mill Plain United Methodist Church - which is conveniently located right by our house - and they love it! Nicole just started her first year and she wants to go every day. She goes Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 - 12:00. Tyler goes Monday through Thursday at the same time. What does that mean? I get TWO whole mornings a week with just the baby. It's so great! I forgot how easy it is when there's only one kid to worry about. Last week I ventured out to IKEA (never would have been that brave with all three kids) and loved every minute of my alone time with Tori. Even better, Nicole has the same teacher that Tyler had last year, so she knows Mrs. Baker and isn't scared about going to preschool and knows that I'm leaving her there but I'll be back. Here's some pictures from their first day of school.



It's nice having preschool at a church. They pray before they eat snack (each child can pray however they want), they actually have a curriculum that they teach, art projects, bible time, theme time, recess, and science projects! People drive from 20 miles away and the school fills up in one day. We are so lucky to have gotten in when one child moved and we snatched up the space for Tyler. The greatest part is that the kids love it and they are so excited for every class. I need to be a little more outgoing and introduce myself to some of the other moms so I can make some friends outside of church. Wish me luck with that one!

Episcleritis

Okay, so this sucks. I hate having this crappy condition and people keep asking me if I have pink eye. I do NOT have pink eye, it's just inflammation. Here's an awesome picture of the sweet redness in my left eye. So, if you're feeling sorry for yourself today, just think "hey, at least I don't have episcleritis to worry about!"

Nursing Update

For anyone that's been wondering, here's an update for you. I talked to my mother-in-law (a labor and delivery nurse in Utah) and told her all about the problems with Tori. When she got home, she talked to the lactation specialist at her hospital. She suggested I try going without nuts for a while to see if that helps. I practically lived on peanut butter and honey sandwiches when I was pregnant. Sometimes I would eat 3 or 4 a day! I eat peanut butter every single day. My favorite treats are peanut butter cups or brownies with peanut butter on them. I even make s'mores at home with a chocolate graham cracker, peanut butter and marshmallow! You get the point, I love peanut butter. So, this was a pretty big sacrifice, but I gave it a try. After a couple of days, I tried nursing again, no change. Kim told me that it could take up to two weeks! Ugh. I'm really starting to have pb withdrawals by now. Okay, two weeks later, I try nursing again. Ta da!! She's better! I don't think she has a peanut allergy, just an intolerance to it (in my own non-professional opinion). So, we are back to breastfeeding. She and I are both happy about it. I seriously miss peanut butter, but it's helping me lose weight! Since I'm not eating pb sandwiches, I'm not really eating much bread. Carbs are evil (blah blah blah) so without sandwiches being a huge part of my diet, I've already lost 3 lbs in 2weeks! Thank you all for your sympathy and advice on this struggle. I'm so glad that we were able to find a solution that works for both of us. I have 45 6-ounce bags of breast milk in my freezer that I'm donating to sick babies, so at least something good came from this whole mess!

Poor Jason

**WARNING!! If you get queasy with surgery type stuff, don't look at the pictures in this post!**
My youngest brother broke his collar bone a couple of weeks ago. He was mountain biking and took a jump a little too far and basically ripped his whole body apart. He landed so hard his shoes flew off and it split the seam of his pants from knee to knee! His whole body is bruised. I guess he's lucky he escaped with one broken bone. I felt so bad for him! I have to admit though, surgery was a good excuse to come down here for a little visit. Hopefully he's feeling better now. Here's a few pictures of his injury -- I seriously wish I had a picture of his x-ray. It was truly one of the grossest things I've ever seen. Oh, David just sent me one! Thanks, Dave! Cell phone quality isn't great, but you get the idea. The bone separated by 3 cm! Eww/ouch. Jason just gave me a copy of his x-ray after the surgery. I can't believe how many screws there are!





We hope you feel better Uncle Jason (mostly so you can play the "boing" game again)

Is Breast milk REALLY Best?

**NOTE**
I LOVE breastfeeding. I hope to nurse Tori until at least her first birthday. Just thought you should know that before reading this.

I hear that all the time. "Breast milk is best." Yeah, well, what if it makes your baby scream and cry and puke all day? Is it still best? I nursed Tori for 3 1/2 months exclusively. She fussed/cried/screamed and spit up all day every day. I tried changing my diet. No dairy. No chocolate. No caffeine. No vitamin C. No onions. No garlic. No difference. The doctor says "clearly, it's reflux. Let's medicate her." I try the horribly expensive medicine and it seems to help. Turns out, it was mostly just wishful thinking on my part. It seemed to help for a week or two, then we were back to non-stop screaming and barfing. After nearly 4 months of doing everything in my power to make my baby happy, I give up. I put her on formula. TA DA! It's like she's a brand new baby! I can put her down and let her play with toys. I can sit down while I hold her. I can have a phone conversation now that doesn't involve me putting her in her room and shutting the door so I can hear. I'm bitter. Formula is stupidly expensive and I make A TON of breast milk!! I have a minor breakdown in the pediatrician's office for her 4 month check up. She has been on formula for a whole week at this point and I am starting to like being her mother. He tells me to keep nursing. Breast milk is ALWAYS best. She's gaining weight and thriving, so I should keep nursing her. Eventually, she SHOULD stop crying. Sorry, Doc, not gonna happen. I'm going to pump to keep my milk production up and donate it to sick babies who need it. I'll give Tori formula for a month, then try nursing her again. If she starts in with the screaming and puking again, I'll pump for another month and try it again when she's 6 months old. After that, I'll probably give up. Pumping is a pain and right now I'm spending twice the amount of time because I have to pump and give bottles several times a day. I feel good about donating my milk to sick babies, so that cuts down on the "bitterness factor" a little. To put Tori to sleep tonight, I pumped myself empty and let her nurse herself to sleep. It was sad because I knew I was just a pacifier instead of the person providing the greatest nutrition she could get. This whole thing sucks. If anyone has any great advice, I could really use it because I've done everything I can think of. In the meantime, thank goodness for Enfamil. It sure is making my life better these days.

Family Reunion

We just spent a few days in Lincoln City, OR with Ben's family for a mini-family reunion. We had a nice time (though some would say the weather wasn't great) and Jim got some GREAT pictures. There were too many to just list here, so I made a slide show. I love getting new pictures of my kids! It took a lot of work to get pictures of Tori smiling, but we managed to get a few good ones. :-)

Good Times with Old Friends

We had the privilege of spending a few hours with some of our old friends from BYU on Saturday. The Carters live in California, but they were up here on a road trip. It works out well because our kids are the same gender and about the same ages! The menfolk played paintball for a few hours while the kids played and Nancy and I talked about babies and the joys of motherhood. :-) When the guys were sufficiently covered in splattered paint, we went to the park and had pizza and let the kids run around like crazy people. Tyler and Benjamin had a blast. Two days later he's still talking about his friend who likes all the same things that he likes. The girls played dress up and watched Cinderella. Tori was sort of a pain, but that's what she likes to do best. After seeing their angelic little baby, I got a little jealous (she actually lets her mom put her down without screaming!) but I love my little girl and wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. I just hope she grows out of this crying thing soon (of course if she grows much more, I won't be able to hold her!). Here's a couple of pictures of our fun at the park.


I'm always amazed at the upper body strength that kids have! Just hanging like that for a few seconds and my arms hurt!

Steven took a picture of himself and I thought it was funny.

Here's a few other pictures from the park. Check out Tori's cheeks. I am a little afraid she's going to get stretch marks if they don't stop growing soon!