A Little Bit of Updating

    New Breastpump

      I have to start off the updates with what I got yesterday; my new Medela breastpump! Lola is a bottle fed baby because of certain circumstances that happened when she was born, so I have decided that I would pump and then give her my milk in a bottle. Trevor and I bought an electric double pump when she was first born without doing any research on them. BIG MISTAKE. After we had bought it we were told by many people that we should have invested in a Medela breastpump since they are a hospital grade one and since I would be pumping several times a day. Well a couple of nights ago one of the sides of my pump went out so I had to use a manual pump on one side and then the electric one on the other. It took forever. Then yesterday morning the other side gave out! So finally Trevor and I decided to get a Medela breastpump. It has be life changing. Before, it would take me 45 minutes to a hour and a half (if I had taken medicine to increase my milk supply) to pump until I was dry. Now it takes 15 MINUTES OR LESS!!!!! I was so excited the first time I used it because Lola was going to be eating soon (25 minutes) and I didn't have enough milk stored for her. This new pump has made my decision to pump then feed Lola so much easier and a lot less stressful. I highly recommend any mother investing in one if they are going to be pumping several times a day. Yes, they are a pretty penny but trust me, they are worth every one of those pretty pennies.

Pad Thai

     Trevor and I love Thai food. That wasn't always the case though. Before I got pregnant I did not like it very much. Trevor's parents would always ask us if we wanted to come with them to the Thai restaurant here in Rexburg and even though Trevor loved it he would say no because I didn't (he is such a sweetheart). Then one day when I was probably 2 months along I craved Thai food. Since then it has become one of my favorite things to eat. We even went to the Thai restaurant when I was in labor  since my midwife told me to eat and sleep as much as I could while I labored at home before going to the hospital. So here I am sitting at a table waiting for our take out and I am having contractions and once we get home I only am able to eat 5 bites of it until I couldn't eat anymore. It was pretty ridiculous.  I don't recommend doing it. Anyways, one day while I was on Pinterest a couple of months ago, I pinned this recipe for Pad Thai that looked delicious and easy. I finally made it last month and we loved it. And it was so easy to make! You must try it. Tip: Make sure you soak the rice noodles until they are nice and soft even if that means soaking them longer than the package says too. Oh, and make sure your soaking water is hot enough or else they won't cook through. Enjoy!

Little Miss Lola

     

     Lola is growing up so fast! Trevor and I can't believe it some days. She went for her 2 month appointment on Oct. 3rd, which means shots. I was nervous the days leading up to it. I HATE needles and especially shots so I was scared for the both of us. Her usual doctor, Doctor Packer, who is Trevor's uncle, was on a family trip so we had another doctor come check her out. He kept saying how adorable she was and how strong her neck was for her age. It made me a proud momma. Anyways, she weighed 10.65 pounds and was 21 inches tall. That means she gain about 2 pounds and grew 2 inches since her one month check-up. Trevor weighed 11.11 when he was born so I can't imagine giving birth to a baby that is even bigger than what Lola is now. All I can say is OUCH! and give lots of praise to Trevor's mom for doing it naturally. 

     

     Recently, Lola has been drooling so much and I can always find her with her hand in her mouth. For the past week and a half she has been waking up and I will see in the video monitor her just looking up at the lights on the camera part of the monitor either sucking on her pacifier or hand or talking to herself for about 5 to 10 minutes. It is ADORABLE! I love that she can be so content with just laying there. She still loves her car seat and can sleep forever in there. She loves being in the car as long as we are moving and the same goes with her stroller. Trevor and I are so grateful that she doesn't mind being in those things and that she does so well in them.

     She 'talks' more and more now and I LOVE IT! I can see more and more of her personality coming out, which I love just as much. She loves her daddy so much. It is so cute to watch her when he comes home; her face lights up and if she is crying and hears him calling her name she stops crying. I hope she is a daddy's girl. 

     We had a problem with her not being able to keep her pacifier in her mouth and so whenever it fell out she would cry and we would have to keep putting it back in her mouth. But now she is able to keep it in there all by herself. It has been very nice. My mom and some other ladies told me that when I am trying to put her to sleep I should rock/hold her just until her eyes started to close and then go put her in her crib. That way she learns to put herself completely asleep and not us rocking or holding her. If she cried we would just let her cry it out.  It was a challenge at first because we hated hearing her cry but after awhile you get used it to. The trick is to keep yourself distracted. But after being consistent with it we are able to put her in her crib awake and she puts herself to sleep without fussing. Yes, we still have our times when she cries but we just rub her face the way she likes and/or put her pacifier back in and tell her to go to sleep. We rarely pick her back up unless after she has been crying forever and is getting purple in the face. 

     Our cloth diapers have been going pretty well. I really don't mind them at all. The only thing I don't like is the stuffing them with the liners. So if we were to get them again I would get the ones that already have the liners sewed in, even though they are a little more expensive. I would recommend parents to give cloth diapers a try. You not only save so much money but she hasn't had one diaper rash  yet. I wanted to do infant potty training with her and I did good for about 2 weeks straight and then here and there but sometimes I just forget to take her. Plus, it is a little discouraging when I seem to always be missing it. I talked to Lisa Woodruff, the lady who told me about it and has done it with all of her kids, told me to keep going and to be consistent with her and that before I know it Lola will hold it until I take her. This lady is amazing and is just always sending positive thoughts and praises to me. I just love her. So I am going to keep trying and see what happens. 

I just love with picture! Her eyes are so big and beautiful.

I know Grandma Lola is a little blurry but I just love the look on Little Lola's face.  So cute!!

General Conference

     Trevor and I have a tradition that we only have donuts on Saturday morning conference. This year we also got some very expensive ($3.00, but we didn't realize that until after we bought it) mexican hot chocolate to go along with our donuts. It was very tasty but definitely not worth the price. 

     Conference was definitely a new experience when you have a baby. It was hard to pay attention sometimes especially when you are super tired. We tried to wait to  sleep during the 2 hour break but that didn't happen so we needed up doing it during the last part of the first session. We were SO tired. Trevor and I really enjoyed what we did hear. We were supposed to go up to Trevor's aunt and uncle's house for dinner after the last session on Sunday so Trevor made a homemade banana pudding trifle. We ended up sharing it with Trevor's other aunt and uncle and grandma Lola as well since there was so much. 

Doesn't this look delicious?

So pretty.

     The banana pudding was homemade using real bananas and lots of cream. Definitely not healthy for you despite the bananas. The Nilla Wafers gave it a nice crunch. Trevor did a great job. Everyone loved it and ate it fast. 

Atlanta, Georgia Here We Come!

     Trevor is going to Atlanta for a NAEYC conference in Atlanta on November 7th -11th. We decided that we should turn it into a family vacation. It worked out great because all we have to pay for is my plane ticket since the college is paying for everything else. The hotel we are staying at has a pool so we ordered Lola a swimsuit so that during the day I can take her swimming. I am super excited to not have to worry about cleaning, cooking, or laundry for almost a week. It's going to be great! It's going to be great to go somewhere new and experience a new culture than the West. Now, the 5 hour plane ride with Lola is another story that I am nervous to see how it turns out...

     Stay tuned for our FHE of pumpkin carving and pumpkin chocolate chip bread! Yumo!!!