3 Month Mark

Our baby is already 3 months old! He currently weighs 17 lbs and is 26 inches. I've decided that the breast milk I produce must be pure cream because our little boy has begun to look like the Mischelin man.

A picture of the Mischelin man himself, pictured above.

He loves to be held by his daddy, and often gives mommy the look as to say "he's all mine mommy!".


Acalias demands all attention when he's excluded from conversations. We are surprised out how loud his little voice can get. He is a people person, he loves any one who is willing to listen to his baby coos.

I've decided that I may not have include weights in my workout regimen, this boy is so heavy, I get a work out every time I lift him up.

The little mirror we have attached to Acalias' crib keeps him entertained for longer than just a few minutes. I've caught a few pictures of him mid conversation with his reflection.







He's quiet the entertainment to watch!

Patience

This week I reached my pre-pregnancy weight.

Flashback to my first trimester of pregnancy. I met with a Nurse/Nutritionist who told me that based on my BMI, I was considered overweight. I chuckled inside because the Nutritionist herself looked like she could lose a few pounds herself, so who is she to tell me I'm overweight (at the time before learning that I was pregnant, I was working really hard to lose all the happy weight I'd gained since getting married). I was told that I could only gain 25 pounds during my pregnancy. I gained 40 lbs.

After 6 weeks of recovery and an approval from my doctor, I registered for Weight Watchers and a Half-marathon to help me shed the weight. It has taken me 7 weeks to lose the remaining 17 lbs after my recovery. I'm pleased at how fast the weight is coming off, I know that breast feeding has significantly contributed to my weight loss efforts. Acalias is always ravenous with hunger.


This recent picture can attest to my son eating habits. Check out those pudgy cheeks.

I wish I could happily conclude by saying "HOORAY I'm back into all my clothes!" Unfortunately I wasn't so happy about my weight before I got pregnant so my journey continues. My goal is my pre-marriage weight which I don't plan on revealing until I meet my goal. I live by the motto "If you look good, you feel good and if you feel good you do good."

I chose the title "Patience" for this post because of my experience two weeks after giving birth to Acalias. I know that it took me 9 months to gain all the baby weight but I really wanted to leave the hospital and look as I did pre-pregnancy. Unrealistic I know, but I was hoping. Two weeks after giving birth, I felt really good, I had started walking on the treadmill and I thought all the swelling had gone down so I decided to put my wedding ring back on. Bad idea. That evening I noticed my finger swelling and I tried to take off my ring. It wouldn't budge. I went to sleep thinking by morning the swelling would go down but it didn't.



This picture was taken with my cell phone camera while in route to the jewelers.

We had to get it cut off. I cried like a baby, not because it hurt but because my wedding ring has a lot of sentimental value to me. Not to mention, I felt stupid for thinking that I was fully recovered after having give birth just two weeks prior to the situation. The jeweleres were so kind and understanding, they measured my finger to re size my ring.

I picked up my ring a week later and it fit just right, it was sized up from a 5 1/2 to a size 7. Last week I had to take it back in because my ring was so big it flopped around my finger. I was afraid I would lose my ring in a drain. It was sized back down to a little over size 5 1/2. This situation could have been avoided had I been patient. I learned my lesson, patience is a virtue.

Our Son's Blessing

Acalias had a beautiful blessing on Sunday. We took a lot of pictures for all of you at home to see how handsome he was.

Dad getting Acalias ready, I love watching the two of them together. Acalias has started to coo and so he and his daddy were having a conversation when this picture was taken.

Finnally, a smile. We love seeing him and his great big smiles, it makes us so happy.

It was a special day on Sunday, we really can't believe how fast he is growing. It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital. When his dad held him up high for the congregation to see him, I felt so much joy. Acalias has brought us so much happiness. We will strive to raise him so that he grows up to be an honorable young man, one who will always be close to his Heavenly Father. We love him so much.

We took a few pictures outside of our home, we have a two second delay on our camera remote but it was hard to get Acalias to look ahead rather than follow our voices.


Proud father.

Here are a few of our favorites of Acalias in his blessing outfit.




We are counting down the days to visit you all at home in December!

Acalias' Blessing Sneak Peek

Daddy getting Acalias ready for his blessing on Sunday morning.

More pictures to come soon...I promise.

Please stay tuned I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Labor Day Weekend

We planned a weekend get away to several sites that Derek is interested in for rotations. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Medical school curriculum, Derek will have all of his class work completed by June. The upcoming two years will be spent rotating with a doctor(observing & performing procedures). Students can fulfill their rotations anywhere with in the state of West Virginia.
We would both like to live in a bigger city so we visited Parkersburg, Wheeling & Clarksburg. Parkersburg actually had sidewalks! It still seemed a bit small to me but Derek toured both hospitals and seemed impressed. I was happy to learn that the nearest temple is in Columbus, Ohio only 2 hours away rather than 5 hours we usaully travel to the D.C temple:) Wheeling is located in between Ohio and Pensylvania. The area the hospital was located in reminded me of of my mission in Oakland, California...so I'm not too giddy about that site selection. I think I'd worry too much especially if Derek was working really late into the night in that area. We talked to several locals who advised us of areas to stay away from, great neighborhoods to live in and so forth.

Here we are at a rest stop in Ohio on our way to Wheeling.

Clarksburg has a brand new hospital that hasn't opened yet. The area seems comfortable and diverse. We stopped by their Italian festival while we were there, I hadn't see so many people in one location since I attended the state fair last year.

Acalias did really well for his first trip. He cried only when he was hungry or needed to be changed, otherwise he was sleeping or grinning at me. I'm hoping that our trip to Utah will be just as smooth.

Two month mark

This week Acalias and I went to his two month check up. I had estimated that he weighed 12 pounds but I was wrong. He weighs 14 lbs 10 oz and he's 23 inches long. He's above the 95% in both his height and weight.

No wonder my back aches so much after carring him for long periods of time.

His eye lashes seem to be growing longer too, they take after his daddys. It's so unfair that boys always have such lovely eye lashes

He still thinks that he is number one...and for the most part he is.

I managed to complete one of the sewing projects that I had on my list. My best friend vacations in Hawaii every year and she always brings me something back. This year she sent me fabric and I made Acalias a car seat cover.

The velcro straps on the carrying bar keep it in place. It's lined with canvass so when it's windy, raining or cold he can stay nice and cozy. We've decided that it essential, especially when it comes to overly friendly people at the grocery store.

The following pictures are our favorites of this week:

This little boy loves his mommy and daddy.

Giving up the good to go for the GREAT

Derek brought home a guide for rotation site selections. Once this year is completed the students will fulfill two years as rotatees before beginning their four year residency. The tours will begin August 28Th and every weekend has a different site scheduled for touring. I'm excited to move to a new area, my only request is side walks to run on. Derek would like to move into a bigger town, hopefully a bigger town will have sidewalks. The following are some areas that Derek is interested in: South West- Ashland, KY, Central-Parkersburg, WV, South East-Princeton WV. We will be traveling a lot in the next few months. We hope to find a site that we both enjoy.

This week I signed up for my first post pregnancy 1/2 marathon. I had been wanting to run the Suntrust race in Richmond,VA since I read in the Runners World magazine that it was ranked one of the top marathons. This will be the biggest race I've ever run (as far as participating runners). I'm quiet excited! Now that I've committed myself and paid the hefty registration fee, I'm motivated to train harder! I'd like to beat my previous 1/2 marathon time of 2:07. I have a long road ahead of me, I need to strengthen my core muscles and lengthen my stride because I'm as slow as a turtle right now. Here is our little boy in his sporting gear, he's ready to go out for a run with mommy. Good thing Acalias loves being outside, when he's fussy a run outside calms him down. Acalias loves to look around at his surroundings but he typically falls asleep after about ten minutes. It's an adjustment to run with a stroller, I'm so used to pumping my arms to help me get into the rhythm of running. I leave Skofeild at home, it's too much work to push a stroller and control a dog. Most people have dogs around here so Skofeild is constantly getting riled up so I'd rather leave him home. As for an update on our herb garden, our basil grew beautifully and our oregano is sprouting out a few leaves. We finally decided to use our allotted date money (which we never use because there is nothing to do out here) on some fine dining. We purchased the ingredients for pesto and Derek bought some t-bone steaks (we eat steak twice a year at most) We used spaghetti squash rather than pasta and boy this meal was so delish! We love good food and we both love to cook, this meal was so easy to prepare. I was never big into red meat but I think my husband has converted me. It's funny to think that I was so anti meat during my entire pregnancy. I told Derek I was turning into a vegetarian but now I can't get enough meat to eat. Here a few of my favorite pictures from last week. Our little one is growing so fast! Guess who has found his hands?, He is now using him to pacify himself when he's hungry. It's funny because he doesn't really cry out, when I hear him scarfing at his hands at 3 am I know it's time to feed him. He is starting to coo a little bit, I love to hear his little voice and see him smile. We have tons of video footage but for some reason, the blog won't let me upload them. Any suggestions? Any help will be much appreciated.