Hopefully just a phase

Lleyton and I on a night where he was calm and sweet. Look at those cute little chubber cheeks. Too bad those are starting to go away...


I love being a mom don't get me wrong but lately it has been more than a struggle. As noted earlier in previous posts, I am trying to wean Lleyton. It is not going to well to say the least. It has been over a week and he still cries constantly and is moody. I didn't realize what a full time job it is to keep the little man fed. Every meal I try several different things because he is very picky and you can't tell a one year old not to spit out his food or throw it at his mom or on the floor. These are daily occurances in our household. You would think I never clean my house because it looks like a war zone once he's past through.
Anyways today has been a rough one. He doesn't know how to put himself to sleep and he won't let me bounce or rock him to sleep. I've tried just letting him squirm until he's exhausted but that can go on until one in the morning. He is extremely stubborn. He loves to throw things, bite, and scream. He is the master of tantrums. He is really cute though so you can't get mad at him (and the more upset you become the funnier he thinks it is). For example today he came in the bathroom while I was feeling up the tub and decided anything that was in site should be thrown in the tub. That included his new Sunday shoes. He also loves to hide things lately in my shirt. He also loves to turn the lights on, yes only on, he does not know how to turn them off. He gets angry until you turn them off and then he giggles in delight as he turns them on. Needless to say this can get old quite quickly. Today after turning the fan and lights on about ten times I decided that was good enough, Lleyton did not think so. Lleyton held onto the doorway with his little fingers hanging on for dear life. Obviously I was holding him because he can't reach the lights, this is another fun thing he is going through, he constantly wants to be held. I'm trying to be patient assuming these tantrums and clinginess are related to him not being able to nurse and also teething. I am not sure just how much longer my patience is going to last.
Tonight after much screaming I tried to feed Lleyton some dinner he spit out pretty much all of his food. Then I am not sure if a piece of food got stuck in his throat or if he is sick but he coughed and then eventually threw up all over himself, me, and the floor. Also it is quite difficult to clean up throw up when you are all alone and your child is very sad and does not want to be set down. After this episode I put Lleyton in the tub and discovered my child is half snake. Lleyton lately makes this sssss ssss sound over and over again while he plays and bathes. He is quite the character.
Mostly all of the screaming, crying, food throwing, and clinginess just makes me feel bad. That is the hardest part of this all I really love that little boy and I just want him to be happy. I wish I could teach him to sleep and eat but sometimes you just half to wait for them to figure it out. I know he would be so much happier if he could just figure out those two things. Hopefully this is just a phase and he will catch on soon. I love that sweet boy and when he cries and throws tantrums I feel like a bad mom. I feel like I am doing something wrong that is making him act this way or could he really just be that stubborn? If it is the latter I am sure in for it.

Finally ...

Lately there have been a few finallys lately. Josh finally let me cut his hair. Lleyton is finally not sick anymore. Lleyton finally made a mess eating spaghetti, (everyone wanted him to when we were in Virginia but he wouldn't). Josh and are finally going to get in shape! We took our fatty before pics today which I will not be displaying ... we were fatter than we thought. Here are some pics of our finallys!
He really doesn't like to be dirty. Can you believe he didn't even get it in his hair.
I accidentally left the wipes out. He now knows how to open them as I found out.
Doesn't my hubby look so freaking hot with his hair cut short like this. I like his hair like this so much better. Compare for yourself by looking at pics from past posts.

Thanks Mama

This week has been a hard week. I am blogging a lot tonight mostly to vent. A lot of personal issues have been coming up and I am being challenged to just "Let things go" which if you know me that is not my style. Lleyton has been really sick and on top of that he is being weaned and is teething. Josh is also really sick ... usually he can't sit still and he has not moved from the bed or couch all day. Even after surgery or Mono you can't keep him down, needless to say he can't help much. I have also been suffering from Mastitis an infection you can get when breastfeeding and when you quit breastfeeding. Anyways I had this wonderfully painful infection on both sides. I've hardly had any sleep and am starting to feel sick myself. Anyways the other morning I called my Mom after being up with Lleyton since 4 in the morning to talk. i mentioned I was awful and she skipped going to education week that morning to come help me. For those of you who know my mama she loves education week and looks forward to it every year. She came to my rescue my house was tore to pieces and I didn't know if I could handle Lleyton too much longer. She helped clean up my house and played with Lleyton. It helped me tremendously she will never know .... ssoooo thanks mom.

Vaccinations ... yes or no?

So this is kind of a touchy subject with a lot of people. When Lleyton was born in the hospital they told me he had to have his Hep B shot. I realized later after talking to my sister and some other people that you still have the choice. If you choose not to you can sign an exempt form for your child. I was kind of upset because I did not see the reason for making him have the shot as a newborn. The only way you can get Hep B is by doing drugs, having sex, etc. Basically you can catch it the same way you can catch aids. Anyways Josh and I have had quite a few talks about whether or not to immunize Lleyton. He is more Pro and I am more anti. I told him I wanted to do some more research before deciding. Of course when discussing it with my Pediatrician he gave me all the pro info on vaccines, I wanted hard evidence and his information did not provide that. I decided to try a different pediatrician when Lleyton got sick and they wouldn't accept him as a patient because he was not immunized. I had a hard time with that. I totally believe in choice and having the right to choose what goes into your body and that of your little ones. So right now I am trying to find a "Green Pediatrician". I was watching the 'View' the other morning and they were talking about vaccines and the lady they had on the show was supporting a different more natural approach. A lot of what I have been hearing lately hasn't supported vaccinating. I was on the internet tonight trying to find a "Green Ped" for Lleyton and ran into this article. I think everyone should read it. It shows cold hard facts. I feel like Drs don't show any research in support or against it, they just say your child needs to have this so they don't get this . I want actual facts. Anyways I found this website and thought maybe some of the other mothers out there I having the same thoughts and questions as I. I found this article to be enlightening. They're always both sides to the story ... http://www.lightparty.com/Health/HealingRegeneration/html/VaccinationIsNO
TImmunizati.html

The king of messes

I am weaning Lleyton so he has been extremely grouchy. Like if I am not holding him he is throwing a tantrum. The only thing that seems to keep him happy is destroying my house. I am so tired of the whining and crying that I finally gave up today. Below are the results. I'm sure we all have days like this.

Virginia Trip

We've been in Virginia for the last week or so to see Josh's family. It was good to see everyone. We were also able to celebrate Lleyton's birthday while we were out there. We will hopefully have a second party with the rest of the fam in Utah. I am really sad because my camera battery died and I forgot my memory card so I was not able to take very many pictures. Unfortunately our visit to Aunt Harriet and Uncle Larry's was after our battery died. I am really sad, we had a blast at your home. Your family is so welcoming and warm. We will have to spend more time with you guys next time we come out. We were also able to visit Josh's friend Cody and his girlfriend 'Put'. Josh spent a lot of time with him while on the tennis team at SU. Lleyton loved Cody, I didn't think anyone was a bigger kid at heart than Josh but Cody proved me wrong. Thank you to Josh's Dad and wife Joanie for letting us crash at your place while we were out there. We enjoyed Joanie's good cooking it inspired me to cook when I got home actually.

Here are some photos from our trip ... there are quite a few so I hope you like pictures. Maybe it is a good thing my battery died ... well maybe not.

Below is a picture of Josh and Lleyton after church just before his B-day party. Josh's family had blown up a whole bunch of balloons he loved them. Can't you tell by the expression on his face ... ha ha. But I promise he really did like them.
The birthday pinata. You pull the strings and the candy falls out of the butt.
Moments before my camera died. I will be posting more once Joanie sends them to me. Lleyton was really funny, instead of blowing out the candle he tried to put it out with his fingers. Josh had to hurry and blow it out. It was a close call.
The yummy birthday cake. This is partially where I gained the five pounds on the trip. This was also the first time Lleyton had cake and everyone was hoping he would make a mess, but he doesn't like to be dirty. Hhhmmm I wonder where he gets that from.
Mommy and Lleyton at Josh's grandparents house on the swing.
Josh's grandma Maggie, Lleyton and Josh. Quite the crew aye.
Maggie, Josh, and Lleyton on the front porch. They have this really cool old plantation home that is hundreds of years old. I should've gotten a better picture. They have a long driveway lined with trees that leads up to the house it is really pretty. In the basement there is a cellar and a huge rock that they had to build the home on because back then they didn't have the equipment to remove it back in the day. It is huge!
Josh, Lleyton, and Grandpa Coleman. Grandpa recently suffered a severe stroke. So he is in a rehabilitation resthome recovering. It was funny to see him with Lleyton, he would bark at Lleyton and sing him songs. He also proved to be a character. He would spank the nurses on the rear, (which is very not like him) and he even lifted a cheek in therapy and farted on his therapists. This is only funny because if you had known him before his strokes this is something he would've never done. He was a very polite man.
Josh and Grandpa fighting each other. Notice Maggie trying to make him stop. Lol. She is the one person I've met who is bossier and more worried about things than I am. She is so sweet and funny.
Overall the trip was a lot of fun. Lleyton was pretty good on the airplanes. On the way back we had a 2 hour delay which wasn't fun, especially since I am weaning Lleyton and needed to pump. We are now home and I am weaning him which has been a challenge. I've had masstitis on both sides. I had it in Virginia and was able to get rid of it. But the fun has begun all over again at home. Yay, not really. Lleyton is not happy about the change and has not been going to sleep well or staying asleep well even if I feed him really well before bed. If you have any suggestions let me know. Anyways, that was a little off track of the subject. We had a lot of fun and we were so happy to introduce our little Lleyton to Josh's side for the first time.