Carving those pumpkins!

Carving our pumpkins!!

Pumpkin Patch

We had so much fun. Elijah loved the pumpkins, Adam slept, and I found a "Pumpkin Lovers Recipe Book" Here's photos :)

I'm so crafty

I made my own baby sling!

I don't know why the photos came out so large. Oh well!

My first scrapbook expo!

I went to my first scrapbooking expo last weekend. It was so fun! I didn't even do any workshops and I had a lot of fun. Elijah stayed home with Patrick and my dad (they traded watching him lol) and I took Adam with me in the baby sling. There were some great products, I got some fantastic deals. AJ slept nearly the whole time... and I unknowingly ran into one of he ladies from the CKMB board! Too bad we didn't know, we could have chatted longer!

Next time, I vote we wear ribbons like some of the MBers suggested!

There is one in May down in San Diego... we could stay at my in laws and I could probably go for the whole weekend... I think I might consider that next time :)

sleep? no. never.

Adam has been up since a little before 6 now. It's 7:11. Awesome. He woke up, took a bottle, then was getting fussy. I don't know what to do. Right now he didn't seem content with me holding him, so I put him in his bouncer (where he sleeps now). Maybe he'll just fall asleep. I'm sitting in a dark room with the only light being the laptop. You'd THINK that would trigger him to sleep... but no...

Honestly, I don't think this boy knows what sleep is.

Stupid reflux...

And in about 45 minutes Elijah will be waking up. yay.

AJ is baptized now!

AJ was baptized on Sunday. It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun.

Both the boys did great. When Fr Anthony made the cross on Adam's forehead at the beginning of the baptism, Adam smiled! It was soooo cute. Then Adam slept the rest of the baptism. Elijah Anthony did fantastic too. Only cried once when he bumped his head on the pew... poor guy! Other than that he wandered around, played on the altar, etc. :) He watched Fr Anthony getting ready, and it was just so precious... he looked so interested in him! Must be a name thing. ;)

We had the BBQ after... Elijah ran around and played, Adam sl

ept half the time, and only cried a short while from his reflux. Nothing too bad! Later that evening my Father in Law and I got suckered into watching The Ring on TNT. I wasn't impressed.

Ev

eryone said it was so scary... but I really just didn't get it. Some girl thrown down a well comes out of the screen and kills you... huh? Maybe it was edited too much on TNT so it w

asn't scary. Who knows! Either way, I was disappointed in the movie! We also watched the tail end of Final Destination 3. That was pretty dumb too. I guess I must not find horror movies that interesting.

I want to stop by Michaels, JoAnns, or Scrapbooking Boulevard today. I signed up for Jessica Sprague's free online class about telling stories just now. I've never done one of these online scrapbooking classes... so I'm pretty excited to see what it's about! Everyone says good things about it, so I figure taking a free class is a good way to find out what I think!

Oh, and every night I swear I'm going to make a new layout, or transform one of my layouts I made on Scrapblog.com into a real layout... but I don't. Adam cries and fusses from his reflux that I don't have a chance to do anything. Hopefully soon I can get some things done. I'm so eager to make some pages!

Speaking of Adam's reflux... no improvement there. He's been on his two medicine's since last Tuesday, and it seems we haven't seen any improvement. Poor guy. I've been going back and forth about whether to call now or not. He has an appointment on Tuesday... maybe we can it out. It's just so tough to see my lil' guy so miserable!!

Well, that's about it for now. I have to go run some errands today... get the oil changed in the car, fill up the diesel truck... etc... etc... I better get on it!

16 months old today

	Mr Elijah Anthony is 16 months old today. That's only two months away from 1.5... and then only another 6 months until he is TWO!!! If we still lived in San Diego, he could start at the preschool I worked at at two years old! Potty trained or not! I can't believe he's going to be that old in a matter of 8 months... He's such a big boy now. He just got his top two sharp teeth (canines, right?). Only 6 more teeth to go. He eats nearly everything we stick in front of him, and wants to try almost everything. He walks he runs, he walks backwards, jumps on the bed, "talks" on the phone, poses for the camera... And just yesterday learned how to take a picture AND look at the screen to see what happened. Before that he knew how to press the button, but that was the extent of it. He's starting to talk now, says his brother's name, gives AJ bottles and pacis, he knows how to ride his little power wheels quad, he climbs stairs, he's getting the concept of a puzzle, he colors, he throws tantrums... he does it all now! The only thing "baby" left in him is we still give him a bottle before bed, sometimes a nap, and he still uses his pacifier. And you know what, I'm okay that he still does that! He'll outgrow it eventually... but it's the only thing left he does that is anything baby-ish! Basically, mommy here is just having a minor breakdown that her little baby boy is growing up... and I'm not ready for it! The last 16 months went WAAAAY too fast. It makes me a little sad to think about how quickly he is growing up, and it'll just keep going and going! Nothing I can do to stop it. Sniffle. Where'd my baby boy go?!

Sleep? WHAT?

I fell asleep tonight at like 9:30... so early for me! Elijah was asleep, Adam was AMAZINGLY asleep... and therefore I fell asleep!

And get this... the kicker of it all.. Adam actually slept until nearly 3AM! Whoa! He fell asleep around the same time I was putting Elijah down -- 8:30ish, and stayed asleep! Now he's back to sleep again after a bottle.

A fluke? Perhaps... but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. I'm crossing my fingers maybe this has to do with the new medicine (even though he screamed his head off this morning and afternoon from reflux... still!!!)

Consignment Baby Shopping

Why will I ever go to real stores again?!?!  At least I should check the consignment shop first!  I went to one yesterday to look for shoes for Elijah.  I wanted to get cute "handsome boy" shoes... dressy shoes!  But why will I pay $15+ for them when he's only wearing them for AJ's baptism?  MAYBE some Sundays to church?!  So I went to the local baby consignment shop!  I found these black dressy shoes for $3!!!  Tha'ts right three bucks!  Then I also found two dressy shirts he can wear for $5!  One is from Children's Place (the blue one), and the red one is from Baby Gap!  And just because I couldn't resist, I found a cute sweater vest that matches both the shirts for $4.

He's going to be so handsome on Sunday! :)

Oh and AJ is wearing Elijah's baptism onesie... he's going to be such an angel, just like his brother!

Moderate-severe reflux

	16690.1
	I took AJ in for his check up today, and to find out what the results of the Upper GI were. He has moderate to severe reflux. TAKE THAT DUMB ASS DOCTOR TELLING ME TO "SUCK IT UP!"!!!!! Sorry, just had to get that out... lol She said looking at his upper gi, it's no wonder he's so uncomfortable. Anyways, she prescribed another medicine (raglan I think?) for him to take 4 times a day with the Zantac. If that doesn't help within the next two weeks, she said he needs to see a specialist. She hopes this will work though. Poor guy. She also said to continue with small frequent feedings and just let him sleep as elevated as possible -- in his car seat, bouncer, swing, whatever (both my bouncer & swing have the ability to adjust to sit straight up, like a car seat) My poor baby!!

Scrapblog!

Look what I made!

Another fun afternoon

This afternoon I took Elijah and Adam to the mall with me again.  it's chilly outside, Patrick had to go down to San Diego today, so I didn't feel like walking around 2.5 acres watching Elijah play while holding Adam when it is 60some degrees outside!  So we went to the mall instead!

I went to Mervyns (it's like a Kohls or Bealls, only here in California).  I found Elijah 2 pairs of shorts for $2.38!!  I got them in 24 month size and 2T.  I have no clue what the difference between 24 month and 2T is... but that's what they had, and they looked the same to me!  I also found him cute brown plaid pants for $8.99, and AJ two pairs of baby sweat pants for $6.  I don't know if the pants I got for Elijah will fit him now or not... so I'll have to make him try it on!  He's so bitty he's JUST BARELY moving up into 18 month size, and they are all long on him!  Well, if they are just TOO big, I'll exchange them for 12 months.  Sure, he'll grow into 18 months... but he needs pants now!

Oh, and both Mervyns AND JC Penny had adorable overalls on sale for 10 bucks, but neither had them in 18 month!  Gosh darn!  Ohhhh well.

So after Mama hit up the sale at Mervyns, the three of us went to the food court.  I got a pizza, Elijah took a few bites, but was more interested in his pb&j sandwich I brought, followed by his banana.  Then I went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory and got us a sugar cookie and just a little bit of fudge.  Okay, really I ate almost all of it, but Elijah enjoyed his couple bites he got!

We went back to the big water fountain.  I had five or six pennies.  I stood by some chairs they had close to the fountain, and Elijah ran back and forth for pennies to throw into the fountain.  Of course everyone "aww"ed at him as they walked by.  Well who wouldn't?!?! :)  He's such a cute little munchkie, it's so fun to watch him throw the pennies in the fountain!

Then we walked around the mall for a little bit.  Eli enjoyed his freedom from the stroller... and now we're home! :)

My new record

I went to the dentist today and I believe I made some new records for myself...

My intention was going in to get a crown put on my tooth. I had a root canal (number 2 for me), done back in February and still needed a crown.

Well, not only did I need my crown (which righ tnow the insurance only pays for a temporary crown, and I can't afford a permanent one, so ghettofabulous silver cap it is...), I also have FIVE cavities and need ANOTHER root canal.

I also spent 5 hours at Western Dental. That's right, FIVE HOURS at the dentist office. That was awesome... riiiight... apparently they were understaffed today, so that pushed them behind like an hour and a half, then I spent a good 3-4 hours inthe dental chair!!

That said, I think that is my new dental record for longest time spent there and dental work needed! Today I got my temp crown put on and 3 cavities filled. The other two will be filled on Tuesay, and the root canal in a few weeks.

Mommy & Elijah's afternoon together!

After Elijah woke up from his nap this afternoon, him and I went to the mall. Patrick stayed behind with Adam, so Elijah and I had a mommy and baby afternoon! I was looking for pants and/or boots for him, and some warmer clothes for Adam. I looked at Elijah's 0-3 month clothes, he had NOTHING cool weather-ish there... I guess that's what happens when he was born in mid June!!

Well we hunted and hunted for some pants for Elijah, but nothing satisfied me! I want pants with adjustable waistbands but I guess they are hard to come by! Mervyns had some, but their sale wasn't that good, so I'll wait! Then I found cute boy tan work boots for Eli at Payless.

After that we went to Dairy Queen and "split" a pumpkin pie blizzard. He only got a few bites! Then we went to the children's play area. He was very observant, and then decided to join in. It was a little frustrating with some of the other kids.. some were waaaay too old to be playing there and way too rough in there. Luckily Elijah didn't get hurt. It was just annoying to see this older-older elementary age kid in an area obviously meant for toddler/preschool/much younger elemetnary THese kids were running around (which was fun), but then they were hitting on eahother and knocking eacho ther down, bumping into people and kids without care! Oh well! Next time I take him, I think it will be earlier in the day when it isn't "school's out" time. Nevertheless, he still enjoyed checking everything out!!

On our way out he helped me push the stroller... one of his hobbies! Then we saw a water fountain with a ton of coins in it. He LOOOOOVES water, and got so stoked to see it. HE kept trying to climb into the fountain. (no Elijah, you can't swim in the mall water fountain! I know you love to swim, but you can't do it here!) To take his mind off of it, I pulled out some pennies. I showed him how to throw it in with just onepenny, and right away he started throwing the rest of them in! So cute :)

We went to Babies R Us next, bought 2 cooler weather outfits for AJ, and I got some long sleeve onesies for AJ on clearance. Elijah and I came home, he ran outside and played in the dirt for a while. He came inside and I made him a PB&J sandwich for dinner with some peaches, followed by some CHeez Its just to top it off.. lol He took his bath, ran around naked for a few minutes... gothis bedtime story... then it was ZZZZZ time for him!

It was fun hanging out with my lil' guy just the two of us this afternoon!

Now I'm going to get AJ to sleep and it will be ZZZZZ time for MEE!! I hope he decides to fall asleep soon!!!

Upper GI

I took Adam to his Upper GI appointment today. I know nothing of the results though! They said they'll send it to the doctor. We have a follow up for him on Tuesday... I guess we'll see then.

I couldn't see anything that looked strange to me, but I'm no doctor! It looked like everything went down to the belly, but who knows! I guess we'll find out on Tuesday what happened with it.

It was pretty trippy to watch on the screen though... I enjoyed it... nerdy, I know :) It was fun to watch his whole inside system work.

Last night we gave him his first dose of rantidine and put him back on Enfamil AR. The medicine seemed like it reduced his crying bout... maybe it is wishful thinking. I hope between the low dose medicine and AR formula it is just enough to take the edge off him. If it ISN'T any sort of reflux, it looks like it might have to do with a milk protein allergy. I guess we will wait and see what they say next week.

At least my lil' man is a trooper and hung in there with it. :)

AJ's appointment

It ACTUALLY went well.  GASP!

I get there, wait forever in the waiting room... as always... the nurse takes me back to the exam room and says "Micaela will be here soon."  I say, "Micaela???  I thought he was seeing Neil? [nurse practitioner]."  She says, "No, Neil is out again today."  Mommy has a moment of panic hear, thinking if it is Crazy-Doctor I will walk out right this minute.  I ask, "Which one is Micaela?"  She describes her to me and I know that is not the crazy doctor.  In fact she did Elijah's last well baby exam and she was a total sweetheart who has a child a little older than Eli.  I told the nurse that is fine, as long as I don't see crazy doctor I'm okay.  She asked me which doctor I meant - I describe her, she laughs and says no you don't have to see her.

So Micaela (who is the Physicians Assistant I found out) comes in and says, "So the formula isn't helping?"  I explain to her we've tried everything, we've tried AR, then we just tried Nutramigen over the weekend.  If can't see ANY difference with Nutramigen.  In fact, he's spitting up more again ON IT!  She says, "Well Dr. Valencia is pretty convinced it is reflux.  And something definitely isn't right, it is either reflux or a milk protein allergy."  We discuss again things we've tried, and she says she will order an Upper GI.

As she was walking out to get the referral, she says, "Don't worry, you are doing everything right!"  I said, "WELL GOOD!  On Friday when I came in..." -- you all know the story -- I explained to her EXACTLY what crazy-doctor said to me.  Of course I couldn't keep myself together and started crying when I retold what happened.  She gets this look of HORROR on her face, pats me on the shoulder and says, "Oh no!  I'm so sorry!!!  She should have NEVER said that to you!  You are doing everything right!  I'm so sorry hun!!"  Grand total, she apologized to me 3 times throughout the rest of the appointment.

After she steps out I hear her talking to Dr. Valencia about Adam.  They decided to make sure they agreed on what to do and treatment plan.  Micaela explained to me she really wanted Dr. Valencia's input so I would have a second opinion and know we are doing everything the right way, and WE are ALL in agreement.   She says, "Lets keep him on Enfamil AR.  That seems to have had the best luck, so forget Nutramigen, don't worry about soy or anything like that, just let him go on AR and Dr. Valencia and I agreed to prescribe a low dose of Rantidine right now because it seems so much like reflux, at least until we get the Upper GI done and find out where to go from there."  She explains rantidine should help with his whole inside system... indegestion, heartburn, gas, everything... at least the low dose should help take the edge off... and she says because there's no reason he should suffer!  (THANKYOUVERYMUCH!!)

She ordered the upper GI stat, so when I called for an appointment, said she ordered it stat, they made room for him to go in tomorrow morning at 9:30, and he goes back for a follow up next Tuesday.

After Micaela apologized, yet again, she said poor Adam has gone through this long enough we really need to be taking further steps now -- i.e. upper GI, medicine, etc.  Depending how the upper GI comes back will determine where we go with medicine, dosage, etc, and if he should continue to stay on AR, or move over to Alimentum (apparently that is the gentlest formula out there, so she says!)

I'm so relieved to FINALLY be getting somewhere! 

8 Things

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Project Runway
2. ER
3. Dog Whisperer
4. America's Next Top Model
5. What Not to Wear
6. Friends (I don't care if they are reruns, I still love it!)
7. LA Ink
8. How I met your mother is becoming a new favorite

8 Favorite Restaurants: no particular order
1. Olive Garden
2. Red Lobster
3. Old Spaghetti Factory
4. Red Robin
5. Steer & Stein
6. El Rodeo
7. Robertos
8. Marie Callendars

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
1. I spent way too long on the phone w/ doctors offices
2. I went to Super Target
3. Went to Mervyns (unsuccessfully, no good sales!)
4. went BACK to Target to get Eli jeans -- since Mervyn's wasn't having a good sale
5. listened to AJ cry for hours :(
6. cooked cheese enchiladas for the first time... and they were pretty good :)
7. talked to my late night girls, Brandie and Sarah
8. gave my hubby some hugs and kisses. aww :)

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Adam's dr appointment today
2. when everyone is sleeping
3. AJ's baptism in a few weeks
4. watching my family grow
5. seeing Melody at Christmas I hope
6. Christmas time
7. i hope meeting more people up here where we live now... it gets lonely :(
8. stability

8 Things I Love About FALL
1. Cooler Weather
2. pumpkin pies
3. pumpkin spice lattes at starbucks
4. sweaters
5. Thanksgiving
6. watching leaves change. although in california they change for one day and its done.
7. telling brandie.... hey, where's my carmel apples?!?!?!?! :)
8. cute fall clothes

8 Things On My Wish list:
1. AJ to feel better
2. time to scrapbook
3. repaint our bedroom
4. to fit my favorite jeans... my hips changed after Adam. boo :(
5. finish my degree
6. more Harry Potter books... it should never end!!
7. to see brandie, sarah, mandie, E :)
8. for my sis to come out at Christmas

8 People I tag:
1. Sarah
2. E
3. Tamra
4. Denise
5. Chandra
6. Mandie (with all her free time right now... haha)
7. Angela
8. whoever else :)

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

Elijah was wearing his "My 1st John Deere" onesie today, and then went outside and pushed his John Deere tractor EVERYWHERE! Here's some more cutesie pictures I got of him..
.

sigh...

First thing this morning... I call up the new recommended pediatrician from the primary doc.

Well, Adam was two weeks early. According to that doctor, he's "Preemie" and she doesn't see preemies. I said he's nearly 6 weeks old now, he wasn't a "preemie" at the hospital, geez he was over 7 lbs. No go, doctor said only see's babies who are term. okay...

Call up another doctor recommended by a friend. Answering service again, and again, and again, and again. I finally break down and leave a message. Didn't hear back for quite a while... eventually I hear back (while I was making phone calls in between). They aren't accepting new straight Medi-Cal patients. No go there.

I call the crazy-usual-pediatrician and say I want an appointment today, and ONLY with Dr. Valencia (the primary ped there) OR Neil, the nurse practitioner. Well Neil isn't in, an Dr. Valencia is already DOUBLE booked for the day. I say I might call back later, I'm going to call around first.

Another doctor I try... they don't accept straight Medi-Cal either. Fine. (here I'm thinking gosh darnet why is it not Nov. 1st yet?)

I try ANOTHER doctor... doctor isn't in today.

So here I start trying walk in clinics and urgent care just to get him seen.

A few don't accept Medi-Cal, another doesn't see babies that young. I could try, but with a problem of reflux, she probably won't do anything I'm told by the nurse. I called I believe 4 different walk ins/urgent care... no luck.

I call the Medi-Cal office - a recommendation from one of the nurses -- to find out which urgent care I could take him to. I call, she says she doesn't know, they don't have recommendations. Check the yellow pages. geez...

Finally, I call up the stupid doctor's office I don't want to go back to, ask if there are any cancelations, because I still refuse to see anyone but Dr. Valencia if I am going to go there. He's passing the message on to the same day appointment person who is supposedly going to call me back. We'll see.

I'm exhausted. I think there may have been a doctor or urgent care phone call I left out in this message... after talking to so many with no luck I have no idea what to do.

Maybe I'll luck out and Dr. Valencia will see him today. Whoever sees him I think will get to see stressed-out-mommy who will probably break down right in front of them. I was teary eyed on the phone with three of the people I talked on the phone with. I'm not sure how I composed myself enough to talk with the receptionist at Dr. Valencia's office... I told him what the other crazy ped said to me and I could tell he was dumbfounded too. At least then that's when he said he'd have them try to look for a cancellation.

A little bit later, I get a phone call that Dr. Valencia can see him on Wednesday. I said, "Well, what about Neil the nurse practitioner? Does he have anything available tomorrow or Wednesday? If I'm waiting that long I'd rather see him." She seemed a little taken back by my up-front-ness... but at this point, I don't care WHAT they think!! I'll tell YOU who I want MY CHILD to see... not the opposite! And whaddyaknow... there is an appointment with Neil tomorrow at 1:45. FINALLY...

Well... that's my morning...

Toddler & Baby update while I'm at it...

Hey while I'm at it, might as well give some baby boy updates from the weekend... and post new photos of my little guys here.

Well, poor AJ... his reflux is just as bad... if not worse. Every time he cries now, I want to call up the mean pediatrician and say, "LISTEN! Does this sound like a baby who can 'suck it up'??" Gr. I'm still so upset with that... Tomorrow morning first thing I'm calling the insurance company to find out how to get a second opinion since the boy's new pediatrician takes effect Nov 1. Either that or I will call his old pediatrician's office, demand to see ONLY Dr. Valencia or the nurse practitioner (two people I've liked there)... and of course tell them how I was treated on Friday. I'm sorry, I still think there is no reason to tell a parent who is concerned for her child that "babies are hard, suck it up."

Moving on from that... I had a huge "proud mommy" moment. Elijah said "AJ!" It was just soooo cute!! This was Thursday night... my in laws had stopped by on their way up to Paradise, CA. We were eating dinner together... Elijah in his high chair, AJ next to us in his bouncer. Elijah loves AJ to be in his swing... I guess it is his new thing. I think it's because Eli has a clearer view of AJ when he is in his swing. Now he looks for him there. Eli kept turning himself around in his high chair, looking at the swing and asked, "AJ? AJ? AJ? AJ?" He said it about 6 times and kept looking at me... "AJ?" yes, I get all teary eyed... trying not to look like a fool in front of everyone! We show him where AJ was -- in his bouncer, and Eli says "AJ." then continued to start saying "Doggy" right after that! He's finally REALLY starting to talk. Of course it still doesn't top his first word of "JESUS" -- that's right!! I think I have a holy little boy on me here...

Some proud Mommy moments with lil' AJ... well he started smiling a little over a week ago! So cute! He also continues to roll over! Can you believe that?! He started at TWO WEEKS OLD! I thought it was just a fluke. The next day, he did it again... and again and again and again and again! I think there has been a grand total of 7 or 8 times now... and he's not even 6 weeks old yet! He also makes all sorts of precious little baby noises now... like "ahhhh," and every time he sneezes it is followed by "*sneeze* ohh!"

Anyways, now for some new photos of my boys!!

Elijah Anthony...

"Reading" his favorite book

Gotta love the naked butt!

His first time fingerpainting

Playing with his John Deere tractor

Adam James...

The life of a newborn... sleep!

His first smiles!!

Goodbye Matt!

I just got done giving Adam a bottle... I was sitting in bed just cruisin' around in the blogger world. Now I'm wide awake. You'd think with all the lack of sleep I've had, I would pass out the minute AJ was back to sleep. Nope, not tonight. So... I'll write a blog...

Saturday we went to Matt's going away party. He's moving up to Washington.

His wife and baby are already there waiting for him. It's hard to see him go... I wish they'd

all stay down here! But they need to do what is best for them. I hope it all works out for the

best!! We had fun though. Patrick, the boys and I went to Moreno Valley and Riverside to meet up at John's Incredible Pizza. Eli's also such a great eater... he chowed down some mac & cheese and other pasta-something-or-another. Who knows.... it was pasta and he inhaled it. Lucky him, we let him top himself off with a little ice cream for dessert. He LOVED trying to play ski ball. He also found this

Spongebob ticket game fun too. It was pressing the buttons that amused him.

After pizza, we went back to Dan's place and hung out for a while. Us "adults" amused ourselves but throwing change in a mug of water. How it started? Well, Elijah found a container of coins, dumped it out... and some how all of us started throwing it into a mug. All in all, it was a blast!

Here's a few more photos...

The whole gang of us...

Me & Matt...

Daniel & Matt... the last one was our coin game...

My lil' man being adorable, as always!