Long read.....its been a while!

Where to begin? It's been 6wks today since little Bronson was born. We have had amazing family that has come to visit us and our new addition, plus make us good food! Bronson is growing so fast and already as of Thursday weighs 11lbs 9oz......oink oink!! He is barely still in newborn clothes, mostly wearing 3-6 mos but they are loose and can be worn with the cloth diapers. Which is going well, I'm just using them during the day and at night disposables sz 2 because I can barely keep my eyes open while breastfeeding. Bronson for the most part only wakes up around 3-4am to feed, and then around 7-8am to feed again when Dreycin wakes up. I make sure to feed him around 1030, but lately I've been having a hard time getting him to go back to sleep which annoys the crap outta me when I'm exhausted! And let's be honest, I'm running on low already! Our schedule in the morning starts around 730 or 8, (derek has left Dreycin's sippy cup with milk at the top of the stairs) Dreycin lays in bed with me drinks milk, I get both kids dressed for the day, Dreycin and I brush teeth, I get dressed (my showers are at night right now) and then we head downstairs around 9 to eat breakfast. I can usually count on Bronson napping as soon as we get downstairs which is nice so I can sit with Dreycin while we eat breakfast! He even got waffles the other day (dairy free for both, but I'll get to that later. We usually will have time to play, do a couple of puzzles or read before the baby wakes up. When Bronson wakes up it's time for him to eat, so Dreycin will either play on his own or I'll have to use my iPhone (youtube songs and games)or sesame street to occupy him if he gets whiny. Sometimes i think he is jealous, but i have offered him the boob and he says no very confidently! Lately the mornings have gotten cooler, so either we wait until 10 or 11 or dont go at all depending on weather. After that it gets kind of chaotic, I really can't leave Bronson on the floor to play in his gym because of Dreycin. He doesn't know his strength and a couple of times has squeezed him too hard on foot or hand and Bronson cries. The other day he also took a small foam bat and hit Bronson on the head while doing tummy time. Dreycin did sit in time out for that one, afterward we talked about how we only hug and kiss brother....then he went and did that and had to say sorry. We may sit on back porch while Dreycin plays in the dirt, or on his ride on toys. So around noon Dreycin eats lunch, sometimes Derek is able to come home but lately that has been rare. I try my best to get Dreycin down by one, some days the baby will nap and I get to nap but again lately that has been rare. So I usually eat lunch, it may be time to feed B again, laundry dishes, while occupying Bronson. Dreycin will wake up close to 3, and we will usually hang out upstairs in his playroom playing or come downstairs for a snack. Around 430 Derek comes home, lately it's been nice enough that Dreycin and I will go to park, and walk and get mail. The evening goes by fast, we try to eat dinner between 530-6 Bronson will eat around 7 or 8 & go to sleep in his bassinet downstairs. Dreycin starts bedtime routine at 8 with Daddy& is usually asleep by 845pm. Week 3 I started the elliptical here at home, week 4 got skipped and i was only walking in am and pm with Dreycin. This week I managed to do the elliptical every night (after Dreycin goes down) mon-thurs for at least 30min, if not 40min. This may change because Derek just started a new college course and relies on evening times after Dreycin goes down to do his homework. Scheduling is the hardest thing right now, seems like we can never plan anything! But my workouts are a must, so Wednesday I finally ordered a double stroller. I decided to go with the Joovy Scooter X2 in black. For the price it's amazing, I'm so happy with it! Compared to the city mini jogger I'm so glad I got this one. Its a smooth ride, easy to maneuver, fits both kids, tons of storage, easy toclose and open, both sides fully recline (nice for new baby sleeping all the time!) i did add my summer infant positioner so that B is snug. And it's my way to get out of the house without going stir crazy and get some daily exercise. This last week what I was doing was carrying Bronson in my Beco carrier, but with Dreycin in the stroller and stopping at the park it was hard to keep up. I needed the double stroller. Derek said we needed it anyway, especially if we make trips to Zoo, aquariums, disneyworld, mall etc! Each side holds up to 45lbs and Dreycin is only 28. Anyways Dreycin loves the stroller. I should add that when the mornings are crazy I will put Bronson in either my sleep wrap or Beco to be able to tend to Dreycin or make lunch.

Recently I have been at the dr with Bronson because he has has greenisher poops with streaks and spots of blood in it. We did a culture of the stool and everything was negative, there were no anal fissures that were visible, so the next thing to assume was a dairy intolerance or allergy. In addition to that Bronson has an umbilical hernia at his belly button, apparently his stomach muscles were weak at birth. So now it looks like he has an outie, and we will have to watch it until he is older and it will resolve on its own.....anyways back to dairy talk....Which meant me going dairy free. I'm totally happy to do it, and am glad now that I'm on day 4. Let me just say that I loved cheese, it went on everything and then some. I love sour cream, ranch dressing, ceasar dressing, baybel cheese, string cheese, queso, and cows milk. Along with pretty much everything that has milk in it, which is alot of food. But on the upside I have seen an improvement in Bronson, he sleeps better and longer and does not have his colic fits every night like before. The blood is slowly going away, and his poops are slowly turning back to the yellow seedy mustard breastmilk poops. What a scare, but I'm glad I can fix it. I only wonder now if I could have gone dairy free with Dreycin and gotten sleep. I'm not kidding when i say he cried 16+ hrs a day and never slept longer than 30min. He was like a baby coming off of drugs,and if you have never seen that be glad.....both me and my mom have and it's not a pretty sight. I'm certain he had a dairy intolerance, after all he can't digest whole milk without having runny poops. Plus Derek is sensitive to milk, ice cream, most dairy. We know what happens after eating ice cream......
So on this journey of being dairy free while breastfeeding I have found great sites of people who have been going through this long before me and have done all the research. What I'm eating : lots of salads, pita bread hummus, veggies and fruits, can't get enough of muir glen ckn noodle soup, but today I made my own batch and it was delicious! Soy milk very vanilla, sunflower seeds, pistachios, cashews, spaghetti with red sauce, kettle corn popcorn, like I said I feel like I cheated because there are tons of people that have done this before me and have lists of brands and things you can eat. And get this Oreo, Teddy Grahams, and pop tarts have no dairy....awesome since I have a sweet tooth! You have to pay close attention to ingredients because if Oreos are dairy free in Georgia they may not be in Texas.....weird right it's up to manufacturing company in that specific area. I had dairy withdrawal symptoms yesterday, awful headache lots of congestion, mucus coming out from many different places. Check out this website pretty cool in regards to research about cheese and addicts....

http://johnderrick.com/miscellaneous/unusual-news/shocking-dairy-detox-this-will-blow-your-mind/

All recipes has section of no dairy recipes!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/healthy-recipes/dairy-free/main.aspx

Plus in Kentucky I was eating tofutti a brand of alternative sour cream dips and cheeses, and I loved them. Tomorrow I'm making a trip to Tallahassee to go food shopping at Earth Fare a comparable whole foods. It's only about 1hr 20min, worth it for me right now. They carry tofutti and daiya an alternative shredded vegan cheese that melts, which is rare! I have already gone to a health food store and bought some calcium & magnesium since I completely cut out dairy. While I was there I also bought Dreycin's probiotics, vitamin C for him and us for the winter ( I won't be getting flu shot, neither will Bronson because they have to be at least 6mos old) and I haven't decided on Dreycin yet, and I got some B complex for Derek and I.
I can do this, and even more so I'm determined because I have lupus and research has shown when you cut out dairy symptoms improve. A vegan or veggie diet is recommended for lupus patients. I once tried to do it, started with the master cleanse for 16days felt amazing after, but the whole no meat thing is not for me. Before that to prepare my body for detox I took excess amounts of mucinex to expell mucus build up from my body, and let me tell you neither of those detox's were easy, lots of pain emotionally and physically. Speaking of mucus, Derek and Dreycin are under the weather right now.....me too but I'm alot worse don't know if it's because of my lupus or no dairy though. We all have runny noses, and I am suctioning the crap out of Dreycin's nose....his is clear and the poor little guy has had Loose stools which I think is related to his molars coming in. We have our first dentist appt next month, meanwhile I'm starting to make decorations for his 2nd bday! we are also looking forward to Derek's brother coming home for R&R in just 3 wks from Afghanistan! We haven't seen him since he left for Germany in February. The weekend before he gets here I'm hoping we can take Dreycin to cordele, ga for a visit with a life size Thomas the train at the train station! Derek has duty the next two weeks so we will have to wait before we can purchase tickets bc sometimes the guard duty runs into the weekend.

Today I'm thankful that my husband has a 3 day weekend, and is home with us. I'm hoping this coming week will go by fast, Dreycin has 6month ENT appt for follow up on his ear tubes and he has a pediatric urology appt on thursday, the one on Thursday I will be going alone with both boys....ahhhhh! On Wednesday I have my 6wk follow up appt, Bronson will go with me and Dreycin will go to child care center on base for a few hours. big week aahead, now off to get some rest :)

Here are some of the cutest pics....