Naptime Update

Okay, so as of today it has been three weeks of no nursing at naptime! We are in a routine again and Oliver doesn't even try to nurse at naptime at all anymore! YAY! After the first couple of days he doesn't even cry anymore (except on a very rare occasion)! I haven't started weaning him from his final before bedtime feeding yet. It's been a little hectic with my sister in law visiting and we're all a little out of whack. I will be starting that after she leaves in a little over a week.. wish me luck it's going to be a little harder than naptime I think! I'm really proud of my little man!

Nusery Time... the novel!

Okay, so I know I need to just chill out... but I'm so concerned for my little Oliver. Once again he slept through nursery. Last Sunday our ward was realigned and we switched schedules so now we start at noon. I put Oliver down for a nap for a little over an hour before we left for church hoping that he would stay awake. Berto can't attend church with us for a few months until he gets a different schedule so I'm on my own at church with Oliver and our primary class. (I'm most likely going to be released soon... ) So I took Oliver into the nursery before I went to primary and was having trouble sneaking away. He's usually fine if he doesn't see me leave the room. (No matter where we are at home, or church or anywhere I have to sneak away) So I had him playing with toys and kept heading to the door and just as I would get to the door he'd come running behind me to pull me back to whatever he was playing with. Finally I was almost out and he came running but I just kept going. Another mom was in there with her daughter (and she happens to be one of the moms of one of the kids in my class so she tried distracting him) apparently it worked for a little while and he was kicking the balls around and playing with dinosaurs. Then he did his usual and climbed up on a chair and just observed. Apparently he started dozing off while sitting on the chair so the nursery leader laid him down on the floor. At one point my class needed a potty break and the bathroom is right near where the nursery is so while they were going to the bathroom I peaked in on Oliver and that's when I found out he had been asleep. Well he slept for most of the time and woke up hysterical a few minutes before I came to pick him up. He never sleeps like this at home. I really worried that this is some kind of defense mechanism he has and that he's under so much stress being in nursery that his body just shuts itself down and goes to sleep. I know the nursery leaders are glad he's not one of the ones that cries and cries the whole time they're in the nursery... but I'm so worried for my baby boy. I worry about his social skills... but also about what's going on in the inside... am I traumatizing him?? I wonder if I had play dates with some of the other little kids if he'd recognize them and have an easier time? We still haven't gotten to know too many people and him and I pretty much spend our days together with no one else. I know I probably shouldn't read so much into all of this but it's really upsetting to me. I would love any helpful tips our outlooks from you other mommies... I'm such a basket case right now...

Imagination Avenue

Yesterday we wanted to do something on Berto's last day off that would be fun and inexpensive... and would entertain Oliver. I was doing some research online since we still don't really know the area to well and found this place called Imagination Avenue. It sounded like it would be really fun... and it was... just not exactly what we expected. It was definitely worth a one time experience but was on the way west side of Phoenix so it was a pretty far drive for us. Oliver had a blast playing with all the different toys and cars and in the different rooms. It was a fun time!

Papa Jose

Last night Berto's family got some upsetting news. My mother in laws father passed away. He was a man that loved to work. He was in his 90's and still the family would pool their money together to help him have a property to build a house on. House building was his hobby. His wish was to pass away on his property and that is what he did. As of right now they don't know the cause of death and don't know if an autopsy will be performed. We're hoping there will be one so the family can have closure. He lived a long life and left behind quite a legacy. Him and his wife had twelve of their own children and took in a thirteenth. They have a lot of grandchildren and great grandchildren. I was never privileged to meet Papa Jose. Since Berto and I have been together we haven't been able to afford a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. Berto is sad that his grandpa passed away but we know he's in a better place. I'm so grateful for my husband and his sacrifices for our family. His parents, aunt and sister hopped on a plane early this morning to Guadalajara in order to make sure they were there for the funeral. Berto is not able to go because bereavement isn't paid at his work and we wouldn't be able to pay our bills if he took any unpaid days. I'm grateful to him for letting me stay home with Oliver especially during this time when I know if I were working he'd probably be able to be with his family during this time. He is such a great man. I am truly blessed.

Papa Jose will be greatly missed by his family. I wish I could have at least met this great man. I know I will someday and I will thank him for raising such a strong family that helped to mold my sweet husband.

The picture above is Papa Jose and his wife Mama Chayo on their 70th anniversary several years ago.

Pictures with Cousin V

My sister in law Terry and niece Vandana are visiting for the next three weeks from Spain. During their visit last year we started a tradition of having Oliver and Vandana's pictures taken together. Today was the day. We all survived... my sweet hubby ran himself ragged running back and forth through JC Penney's with Oliver while we took our sweet time picking out the shots we wanted to order. There were so many adorable ones. I'm just posting a few from the day. We got the "smiles by wire" service this time so we could save them to our computers and all that fun stuff. So we didn't actually order all of the ones I'm posting... but anyway they are so cute!

Vandana is such a sweet little girl and she LOVES her cousin Ollie. We're pretty sure he likes her too but one can never be sure! :) They are really cute together and standing right next to each other Oliver is just maybe an inch shorter than his almost 3 year old cousin! In the pics he looks a little shorter than that but he really is almost as tall. It has been so much fun with V this year. She's really talkative and SO cute! And every time (no matter what time of day or night) she comes downstairs or into a new room she says "Good Morning" or sings a good morning to you song. So funny and cute! She has a really sweet personality!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Sleepy Head...

So today was kind of a wacky day. Oliver decided he needed to wake up at 5:30 am (yuck). Also, my sister in law and niece flew in from Spain last night so Oliver has been busy playing with his older cousin Vandana. I also took him for a haircut and when we got back (right at naptime) we decided to hop in the car and go to the store with my mother in law, father in law, sister in law and niece. Oliver dozed off in the car during the five minute drive there and I woke him up when we got to the store because I wanted him to take a nap in his bed when we got home. Well that didn't happen. Apparently his five minute nap was enough of to keep him going. Well, we had a birthday party to go to for our neighbors son. Oliver was needless to say CRANKY and only wanted to go outside in the blazing 104 degree heat. So he had many a meltdown during the hour we lasted at the party. We came home and I turned on the Lion King his current favorite flick and pumped him full of water, ice and yogurt. (the water and ice were for the heat and the yogurt was to fill his tummy since he refused to eat dinner while we were at the party). Anyway, once he had calmed down had a little snack and cooled off we were up to the bath tub. Once we finished that I had him on the changing table and was doing our usual routine of toothbrushing, lotion, diaper and pj's. Well before I even got his pajama shorts pulled up he was fast asleep. This is quite unusual for my little one. He's never been easy to put down to sleep. I even put his shorts the rest of the way, his t-shirt and moved him onto his bed without him even stirring... now it's only 7:06 pm and that is quite an early bedtime... I'm really hoping we don't have another 5:30 am wake up call I was really trying to get him to stay awake at lest until 7:00 pm... he made it to 10 till. I felt so bad that he was THAT tired. Too funny though!

Weaning Update... Days 2-5

I'm sorry if you follow our blog and fin this to be completely boring. This is also our little family journal so I want to record these things so Oliver knows what he put me through (jk) ... but really so we can look back and see what I did when we have other kids.

Anyway, so last Saturday was day two. We had another two hour event. It wasn't quite as bad as the first day. He didn't cry hysterically but did do quite a bit of screaming and after two hours was not going to sleep. So I decided to stick him in the car and go for a ride. I could feel myself losing steam so I decided it would be a good idea since we were going to be going out anyway we picked up my mom and headed out.

On Sunday Oliver took a nap during nursery at church. (see the post below) He hasn't been taking two naps lately no matter how hard I try but because he took such an early nap I thought he might be a little tired. I didn't have a fight in me on Sunday and I certainly didn't think I'd make it through two hours again so we decided to go ahead and hop in the car and take a drive. Which was nice anyway.

On Monday day four we went up at noon and turned on a movie. I laid him on his bed and was prepared for a screaming fit. Well he screamed for about a minute and within five minutes he was fast asleep. Yes I felt a wave of relief and was so proud of him and me for sticking to it.

Today (Tuesday day five) was not quite as easy. This morning we went to run an errand in the morning and he dozed off in the car for about ten minutes. I think this kind of threw us off. I didn't try putting him down until 12:30 pm but I think he was still not quite ready because of his little power nap. In any case he didn't cry he just had a few intermitent screaming fits and then a little over an hour later he was asleep.

Monday was such a miracle. I thought for sure it would be at least a week before anything got that easy. Today was a little set back but I know now to wait even longer if he has a little mini nap. I've been putting of the weaning because I just didn't think I had the fight in me. I'm proving to myself that I do but also Oliver is learning to be more independent which is good for him. I'm so proud of both of us. I'm really praying that tomorrow will go smoothly and we'll be able to have a smooth nap time.

Wish us luck!

Happy Mother's Day... and a little advice...

What a great day Mother's Day is. I'm so happy to be a mom to my little Oliver. I want to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day and also all of you my friends who are moms and expecting moms! I'm so grateful for a mom who is such a strong and coragous woman. I'm so glad there is a special day to celebrate moms! Today was a no big deal kind of day. We went to our 8:00 am church, had an extra rowdy class and came home and collapsed! I received a lovely card from Oliver :) and some yummy candy! I loved it! Thanks Oliver.. (and Berto)

On another note, Oliver has been old enough to go into the nursery for a couple weeks now and has gone three times now. The first time Berto stayed with him the entire time and he was of course fine, the second week he went right in and played with the toys so Berto left and he was fine for a while then a little kid stepped on his finger so he cried and the nursery leader picked him up and he fell asleep for a while. Then today he was a little clingy to Berto so Berto had to sneak out and Oliver saw him right as he was sneaking away so the nursery leader picked him up and he fell asleep for over an hour and then when he woke up he just stayed on her lap. Okay, so the reason I'm sharing all of this is because I'm a little worried about Oliver. I know he's still young to be interacting a lot with other kids, but I'm a little concerned that I don't socialize him enough. (Which I don't) I'm also a little bitter that he easily falls asleep for some nursery leader when it's taking me hours and hours to get him to sleep these days. Any suggestions moms? Should I be concerned? Should I be worried about Oliver's social behavior? I'm worried... leave me comments and let me know!!

Weaning Day 1- The Saga Begins

Oliver is 18 months old... and I know i'm getting a little late start on weaning but today it finally began. He's only been nursing at nap time and bed time for quite a while now... but it's those two crucial times that I've been dreading dropping. Oliver doesn't nurse himself to sleep anymore but he does like to nurse and then lay on his bed and drift off to sleep. Well today I began the daunting task of removing the nap time feeding.

Oliver is such a sweet boy. But he's also stubborn like his mama and has been difficult at times as well. I knew this was going to be a challenge because at 9 months I tried to do the same thing and it didn't go so well. Well after his 18 month check up and a good scolding from his pediatrician I decided I needed to just suck it up and deal with what is inevitably to come. So today it began...

At 11:30 am I had Berto go upstairs and stick A Bugs Life in the DVD player. This is Oliver's favorite movie and I thought it might distract him... boy was I wrong. I gave him a cup of milk and we came upstairs. I had him lay down on his bed and I started to rub his tummy. (He's a back sleeper still) He started to watch his movie for all of 20 seconds and then the screaming began. He would roll around screaming then get distracted by the T.V. then start all over again. This lasted for about an hour. Then it became a full on scream fest. I was running out of mental energy but knew I couldn't turn back because that would just send the message that if he throws a big enough fit he will get what he wants... (the comfort of nursing). So another hour of the full on crying and screaming and he dozed off around 1:30 pm. Boy am I exhausted now. I feel a lot of different emotions. I have been burned out for a while so I know it's time for us to be done with nursing, plus he's more than old enough. The improvement from now and 9 months ago when I tried is that after 2.5 hours 9 months ago he was still screaming and nowhere near ready for sleep. Today he actually dozed off in the exact spot shown in this picture. (I took at it after I knew I wouldn't wake him up with the flash).

I'm really praying that tomorrow will be a little easier and that it will just keep getting easier and easier from here on out. I'm not touching the nighttime feeding until we have naps under control. I can only take so much. It's hard because through all this I find myself questioning my abilities as a mother. I love my little Oliver so much but sometimes I think if I were a better mom I wouldn't have such a hard time with these little things. But I guess it's all a learning process... boy do I know what I won't be doing with my next one... I'm so glad I chose to breast feed, I know it's the best nutrition for my kids and it has been a wonderful experience... it's just this darn weening that's difficult, and I know it's this hard for everyone... just me and Oliver! :) Thanks for listening!

Love,
Elizabeth

So Much Fun

So a couple of weeks a girl from church who has a little girl a month older than Oliver told me about this place just about 10 minutes away that has a pool, lazy river, and a kids zone that is 3 feet deep at it's deepest and in the center is a big jungle gym with two water slides and a huge water feature that is constantly spraying and dumping water. We went today and had SO MUCH FUN! I didn't snap any pictures but I'm putting the link to the website for any of you Arizonans that might be interested! We had a blast. Right now in the mornings only the kids zone is open but that was perfectly fine for us! We loved every minute of it... of course we are looking forward to being able to use the lazy river too! :)

http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=733

18 Months already...

This past Monday (May 4th) Oliver turned 18 months old. I can't even believe he's so big already! He's getting so smart. He is saying more and more words. He doesn't put any together yet but he is definitely able to identify and say what certain objects are. His favorite's are airplane, bird, ball, balloon, bubbles, dog and puppy! He's getting to be so much fun! We love Oliver and are having so much fun watching him grow!

His 18 month check up was today.... here are his stats!
Height 35 inches- 97th percentile
Weight 36 lbs 4 ounces 97th percentile
Head Circ. 49 cm 97th percentile

Oliver is remaining true to himself and continues to be a big boy... but he's finally starting to level off on his weight and is slimming down! He's so cute though!

A long awaited blog...

I was told last week that I'm not blogging enough. I haven't been in the mood for some reason. Probably because nothing too exciting has been happening in our lives these past few weeks. Let's see... about almost two weeks ago we took Oliver to story time at our local library ... he wasn't a huge fan. I guess probably because he had to sit still! Then a couple days later we took him to the kids club at the mall. He liked this a little more. It was actually a lot of fun. It's an hour of singing time for the kids. And they get a little toy and snack (which Oliver couldn't eat because it had wheat in it) but it was a fun time!

Aside from that. My 29th birthday was on April 26th. We did some fun stuff the Wednesday and Thursday before in celebration. We went out to eat and had some good quality family time. On my actual birthday I caught a stomach flu from my little Oliver and spent the day not feeling too well! And the following week my mom had us over for dinner and my favorite strawberry cake! So aside from the stomach flu it was nice!... I am a little sad to be leaving my 20's in just under a year... but I'm sure I'll get over it!

So this is pretty much it for us! I'm still caring for my neighbors dog during the week and we're gearing up for my sister in law and niece to come for their yearly visit from Spain starting on the 15th of this month! Hopefully I'll have a few exciting things to post soon!

The picture is at Kids Club... I'm pretty sure we were doing the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and toes" song!

Giveaway

If you want a chance to win some really cute stuff go to this website! It's a giveaway for moms! Love it!

http://themeanestmom.blogspot.com/

Happy Easter and our growing boy!

Today is Easter. We had a lovely day. My mom and our neighbor and friend Jenn joined us at church. It was a nice day. Berto had to work :( so Oliver, my mom and I had dinner and an easter egg hunt at Jen and Sasa's house. It was a lot of fun. Oliver (and I wish I had gotten pictures) even got to get in the pool for a little while. The water was freezing but he sat with his feet in splashing so finally I stripped him down to his diaper and let him stand on the first step in the pool. He was a happy camper! We had a lovely Easter, I was bummed that Berto wasn't able to spend the day with us but it was nice being with our friends and my mom.

Today was also a big milestone for Oliver. Although he's not 18 months yet today was his frist day in nursery at church. (18 months is the age that the little ones are allowed to go to the nursery to play and learn) We teach primary and when we were called our Bishop told us whenever we thought Oliver was ready for nursery he could start attending there. At 14 months I didn't think he was quite ready... but as the months have gone on I finally decided it was just too much on Sundays. We have a VERY rambunctious class and a VERY rambunctious toddler. Those two things just were not mixing very well. So today Berto went to nursery with Oliver. He didn't leave Oliver on his own, he said Oliver was a little clingy for quite a while there. I think for the next few weeks Berto will stay with him and then will gradually start leaving him on his own. When they came to get me to leave church Oliver was all smiles and had made a little project. It was a big day for us! My little boy is just too grown up already. They weren't lying when they say they grow up so fast, I really can't believe how true that statement is and I"m sure it will become more apparent to me as the years pass by.

I love this little munchkin

It's so hard sometimes to be able to capture in writing what a sweet and funny little boy Oliver is. He definitely got his daddy's silly sense of humor. I love watching him run around and laugh and play. It's so much fun to see how he's growing and learning. He's finally starting to talk more. He just walks around babbling all day long. Only sometimes do I actually understand what he's "talking' about. Usually it's when he says dog, bye, hi, wow, mommy, daddy, up or yeah. The rest of the time only Oliver knows what he's talking about. But it's so cute and I love it. He's such an amazing little person. I can't wait until he has siblings. It will be such a great joy to watch how they interact with one another. I can't wait for those days!

Our mini-cation to Sedona, AZ

This is Snoopy Rock. If you look at the smaller rock formation on the right (next to the largest one) it looks like snoopy laying on his back with his feet up.
This rock is called Madonna with Child. The Chapel of the Holy Cross was built intentionally next to this formation.
Oliver playing near a fountain in Tlaquepaque.
Ditto
Oliver trying to escape Tlaquepaque!
Just being cute!
Oliver with Daddy at Tlaquepaque!
Mommy at Tlaquepaque! Yep I was there too! :)
Family in front of some formations at the top by The Chapel of the Holy Cross.

So Berto had scheduled some vacation time over the past week. (He's still on vacay for two more days!! YAY!!) Coincidentally we got our tax return right in time for his time off. We decided to splurge a little. Since we are working towards getting out of debt we don't spend too much on us. We took a little overnight trip to Sedona, AZ. We loved it! We stayed at the Raddison Poco Diablo Resort. Which was really nice, really clean. (which is always what I look for in a hotel). We drove up Monday afternoon, after I finished taking care of our neighbors dog. We ate dinner when we arrived in Sedona at this really yummy restaurant called Quaxaca. It was delicious. Then we checked into our hotel and rested up for the next day. Oliver hasn't ever stayed in a hotel so he had fun running around exploring his new territory!
On Tuesday morning Oliver decided that 5:30 am was a good time to wake up. (YUCK) But since we were up we went outside and looked around, since it was dark when we got there the night before. It was a beautiful resort. Oliver started getting a little too loud outside so we decided to be good neighbors and take him back indoors. Since we couldn't think of anything else to do we got ready for the day and headed out to breakfast. We ate breakfast and spent the day seeing the sights in Sedona. One of the best things we did was took a trolley tour. It was a lot of fun and an easy way to see the sights that we might not have seen otherwise. It was great. We also visited Tlaquepaque. This is a little shopping, dining, photo op area. Incidentally it was designed after a part of Guadalajara, Mexico also called Tlaquepaque which is where Berto's parents are from and the majority of his relatives still live there. It was really pretty there.
When we ran out of things to do in Sedona we headed back down. We stopped in Anthem, AZ at the outlet mall on the way and got a couple of good deals!
We had a great little mini vacation. Sedona is BEAUTIFUL! The red rocks are amazing sights to see. Much like St. George, UT. We really loved it and will definitely go back when we have the opportunity!

Mesa Temple Easter Pageant

I forgot to post about this. This past Tuesday we went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. We went with my mom and met our friends, Allison and Jason and their two kids Ava and Blake. We had a great time. We took a picnic dinner and then watched the Pageant. What a great presentation of the life of our Savior, and a reminder of the sacrifice he made for the sins of the World when he died on the cross. Also, it was a great opportunity to remember why we celebrate Easter, when Jesus arose from the grave three days after his death so that we could all return to live with God again. It was really wonderful. The pageant was made up of several stories from the bible throughout the life of Christ.
I went with my friend Heather and her husband and an old friend of ours a few years ago. I had actually forgotten how great it really was. Berto loved it, and my little Oliver sat on my lap the entire time (except for maybe 5 mins) and watched the entire (1 1/2 hour long) program. He kept watching the actor that was portraying Jesus and kept saying "wow, wow" throughout the entire show. What a good boy he was! For some reason we didn't take too many pictures. This is the only one from the night.
We hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Queen Creek Family Fun Run

This morning Berto and I (and Oliver via a ride in the stroller) participated in the Queen Creek Family Fun Run! It was just a short 2 mile run but we had a great experience! It's my second little race and I really enjoy it. This was Berto's first! We had a great time! Oliver probably would have rather been causing trouble on the playground or something, but he was a trooper! Before the race started a lady came up to us and asked if she could buy one of our t-shirts. (We pre registered so we got t-shirts). We agreed, so we made $20 out of the day as well~ All in all I'd say the day was a success!
The picture was taken before the race so we weren't too tired or sweaty yet! ;)

My Little Tender Hearted Boy

So last Friday (I've been meaning to post this for a few days now) after I let my neighbors dog out and fed him lunch. I went over to the park across the street and picked up Oliver (who was playing with Tito and Tita) and headed off to the Super Walmart. He wanted to take with him a little truck that he had been using to dig in the sand. It was no big deal so I tossed him in the carseat and off we went. While we were on our way I happened to look in the rearview mirror to see him with part of the truck in his mouth. (YUCK) Since it had just been in the nasty sand at the park I was totally disgusted. I started telling him that he needed to take the truck out of his mouth. (I used less words though). After several no's and stops he was not listening so I raised my voice and got very stern with him. He finally listedned and actually dropped the truck on the floor of the car. A second later I look back again and his face is bright red and tears are streeming down his face but he's not making a peep. It all but broke my heart to watch him. He showed such a tender side of himself. I really felt so bad, but I'm glad he is starting to understand more and realize there are consequences to his actions. It was a learning moment for both of us but it still seriously made me want to cry too....

Joe's Farm Grill

So before we moved to Arizona, we saw on the Food Network show, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives an episode that featured Joe's Farm Grill in Gilbert, AZ. We were intrigued and planned on "visiting" when we visited Berto's parents. We then of course moved and can frequent any time we want. Joe's Farm Grill ROCKS! It is so yummy. The cool thing about it is, it is a family owned business and they have a farm right on the property where they organically grow all of the produce they use. We've been twice since we lived here and today was the second time. The food is great and there are paths that you can go and walk through the farm. It's not very big but it's still kind of cool! We walked the farm today and it was really fun! We highly reccommend Joe's Farm Grill to everyone!