Headache Log

Migraine...bad one. 7pm- took 4 advil and one imitrex
Eats:
Breakfast-yogurt, cliff bar, crystal light- lots of water all day
Snack- mini miklyway( I know bad) and almonds
Lunch-Annies mexican dinner( yummy)
Snack- handful of grapes, handful of pita chips

Went for a run at 4:30pm- outside temp 94 degrees.( quite possibly this is what did it...)
Dinner: Bowl of Cheerios

What stimulus check??

We have been planning to go to California for about 6 months now. A trip to Disneyland for Elijiah. Working for Disney has some perks- like free passes and Elijiah has been excited and looking forward to this trip for months now. What is even better is Noel will be joining us. Her mom, dad and sister will be meeting us there. We will spend two days at the park, then drive to San Diego to visit my grandparents. We will spend a few days with them and hopefully hang out on the beach at least one day. Noel will be driving back to Utah with us and then Ill fly her home to AZ several days later. Needless to say Im VERY excited.

I have a thing about debt. Not to go into it. Dont buy things you cant pay cash for and no credit cards. We have a savings account which is our emergency fund. Not an account to pull from for no reason. Its there for emergencies...loss of job, major house repair. Thats about it. Well over the past 6 months we have had some obvious expenses: ie; Tristan. But I committed to Elijiah this was our summer vacation and we would go no matter what. So when I heard we would be getting the " Economic Stimulus Check" I was immediately stoked! I wouldnt have to put aside funds during the 6 months to save for this trip- the government will pay for Disneyland!

So can you imagine my horror- one week before we were to leave for said Summer vacation- our Subaru died on Jonathan. We took it to the mechanics and lo and behold! $1000.00 later- fixed. And so goes the money we were going to use for our trip. Im trying to see the upside...that without the stimulus check it would suck even more...so Yipee!!! California here we come--- come hell or whatever stands in our way.

New blog that I found and enjoy....

If you like reading Pioneer Woman you will enjoy her as well.....http://suzannemcminn.com/

Tristan my love...

Oh how I love spending precious moments with you...middle of the night feedings, bath time, etc. But my love, now that you have been rolling over with consistency can you please stop this?! Its really annoying to your mother- your absolutely incredible super woman mother to hear you babble, sneeze or cough and know that you have rolled over, cant get yourself back to your stomach and are wide awake in your crib. So I get up, go to your room and turn you back on your stomach, stick your plug in, and within moments you are sleeping soundly. Here I stand looking down at you adoringly but annoyed by all accounts as I know a few hours later you will actually be up to eat and my nights rest is interrupted 2x. Where has your 9-12 hours of consecutive sleep gone? I thought it was wonderful this new trick of yours, but now lets digress shall we? I'm ready to go back to our nightly ritual of bedtime at 7 pm and you wake somewhere between 3-6am to feed, then you are back to sleep again. Please please??? Or at least start to figure out the back to front roll-over, that would be nice. Its a very cruel trick indeed to have us, your loving parents, get used to sleeping again only to have you pull this nifty new thing each night- especially because everytime you do see me, standing over your crib your eyes light up, and you get the biggest of grins and you start to wave your arms and legs all over in excitement. So my love, yes I'm annoyed, but more often than not I am overwhelmed by emotions of complete devotion.

My Brother

Here is cory- grey long sleeve shirt..surrounded by his sisters, nieces, nefews and bro-in law

Cory is pretty amazing. Hes a fantastic skater, scholar, friend, brother, photog, and well just about anything he does he excels. Ive noticed being the youngest of 5 and the only boy at that...he has been a tad spoiled and also the quiet one anytime four older sisters are around. Who can blame him? We all do tend to vie for the attention. Sunday I took the boys to my moms house to swim and Cory was there. He will be leaving for his mission in a few months and I have noticed a big change in him. He suddenly cares. Not that he didnt really before, but I think the reality of leaving home has hit him, he is coming around the family more, wanting to be involved and talk about stuff. Last night was the first time I have really talked with him about the big things..... About our parents, divorce, my divorce, kids, marriage...some of it was heavy. I always thought it was odd, me being the oldest, him the youngest. It was like we grew up on separate planets and with different families...our experiences being so different. I think I gave Cory a perspective that he never knew existed let alone situations that he probably thought happened to other families--- thats how sheltered this kid has been( disclaimer: we all wanted him to be). I think he took everything in stride, but I hope that he has a fuller appreciation of all the things that have made us "us". There is a fine line between protecting someone and letting them live in a bubble. I thought it was time to tell him certain things and Im glad I did. I'm grateful for him - grateful that he is growing up, and that he and I can start having a friendship thats more on an even plane. He will always be my little brother, but at least now I think he is someone that I can share things with and I hope the feeling is reciprocated.

Acupuncture

Ive been hesitant to blog about my acupuncture experience because...one I'm a skeptist, and two Ive only had 3 treatments.
I must say however that I have seen some improvement on all levels and I'm excited. My acupuncturist is very nice. She does it out of her home where she has several rooms dedicated to her business in the basement, and she is very accommodating of my schedule.( I do a 6:30 am appointment before I go to work) Its incredibly relaxing and I have been surprised by the effectiveness of the visits. The first time we met I went through lots of questions about my health and general well being. I told her of my knee injury with running, and I was there primarily for my headaches. She inserted the needles in various spots including below my knees and to be honest- my knees have stopped hurting after that session. And get this...my migraines, the ones that I was getting several times a week, well as you can see from my headache log have significantly been reduced. I am hopeful that with some ongoing or sporadic treatment this will continue.
(sigh)
Isn't it Murphy's law or something that once I post this blog Ill immediately get a headache?????? I sure hope not, being relatively pain free is wonderful.

More Pictures

Little Man Milestones

He rolled over....yes folks 10 weeks and 5 days- Tristan went from tummy to back last night.

On a side note he slept 12 hours again last night....while its not the first time, we hope it will start to happen with greater frequency!

What Im trying to teach....

Saturday was a crazy day in preparation for Fathers day. I took Elijiah to swimming lessons and on the way home did some grocery shopping. Tristan started to cry as he was tired, so I was racing through the store checking items off my list and getting more frustrated by the minute. As I was going down the Frozen Food isle for juice, I saw a woman in a wheel cart trying to open the doors to get some frozen dinners. She was struggling with the heavy doors and couldnt stand up, and as most of us would-- I offered to help. She declined and I offered again, only this time going over directly to her and opening the door and asked her what selection she was wanting. She told me and thanked me for the help and made a comment on my kids and engaged me in conversation. After we exchanged pleasantries we hurried off in the opposite direction and I forgot all about it. A couple of minutes later, Elijiah said..." Mom you're a very helpful person." I looked at him withall my frustration of a screaming child and a clingy 5 yr old shopping with me and decided to use that moment as a teaching moment. I explained that it was everyones duty to be as helpful as possible to others. How we should look for ways to serve others as much as we can even with small things. That Heavenly Father would be especially proud of him should he look for ways to be kind to people and help them anyway he can. Elijiah thought on that for a moment and agreed.
I ran across this quote today and I wanted to share:
"Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.- Mark Twain"

I hope that even in the midst of my busy life I can continue to find teachable moments to my kids. I realize more than ever--- that I will never have ample time on my hands to do all that I wish with my children. It was a great example to me that we are never to busy to help out or teach whats important.

Billion Dollar Baby

So Amber took a picture of our last eBay purchase of Nutramigen and wanted me to post a new somethin somethin. I found a really killer deal on eBay and got 25 cans for $375. That may seem like a lot but considering that I got these for $15 a can when they are usually $26 & $27, it was a great deal. Anyway, here's a pic of the white powdered gold...

Tristan 10 Weeks

Tristan

Our boy and his plug, pacifier, soothie, or whatever it is you call it. He is truly attached to this thing and I should mention a specific brand. Nam. As such, everywhere in the house you can bet there is a pacifier lying around. Heaven help us if we are not in arms length of one. There is one in his car seat, in his crib, several in the diaper bag, one by the changing table, under the changing table, on the dinner table, and should we ever get in a bind....several in the junk drawer.
Our little man has his pacifier literally 90% of the time and its incredibly cute but at times annoying. How do you ensure that the thing wont fall out??!! I think someone should invent a headstrap to keep the dang thing in. Anyway yesterday I worked from home and had a great time. I actually felt somewhat productive with work, but mainly Tristan was a breeze. He slept great, was super happy everytime he woke up, we went for our daily run, and had some good one on one time. Jonathan attends class each Thursday night so its my alone time with him--its such a rarity and I love it. I usualy have someone home with me when Im with Tristan so I relish these precious few hours when its just him and I. I love kissing him and blowing rasberries all over. Smelling his baby smell and holding him close. Seeing him smile and watch me when I cross the room. Just thinking about being apart from him is causing me to go teary eyed. His gummy smile and big blue eyes suck the breath out of me and I have to say Im so in love. This is why after only a few short months I want another one. All the agony that I suffered( which inturn Jonathan suffered) seems a lifetime ago. The love and fierce protection I feel for my little cubs is indescribable, and it makes me think" Ah that pregnancy and delivery thing? Yeah the 10 months of hell that I went through, yeah when I said that I would NEVER do this again, I hated it, etc??? Yeah well, it wasnt so bad afterall."

one of 3 men that make my life great

What to say....

As I sit at work, there are many things running through my head. The list of things to do, dinner ideas, my kids, how I can fit in my workout, whats going on tomorrow, next week, next month, upcoming holidays, birthdays, the unreturned phone messages- keeping the household running and all that goes along with it the doctors appointments, visiting teaching,( Ill do it this month I promise!)the EX, ( and how to keep the peace) and on and on and on. Just ask Jonathan. My mind NEVER shuts down. Due to this problem there are a constant stream of things that I want to post. Things I wonder should I write about, should my kids read, do I want random people reading....
Some things are so important to me, others just an opinion or comment. Lately Ive just been doing the recaps, and updates. How boring. Who wants to read that??!!!
So Im going to make an effort to try and leave behind( yes this is my family journal- blog that I hope my kids will enjoy reading and remembering) something other than the boring commentary about life. I hope to share more humorous accounts, or stories of our lives that even I can get a kick out of down the road.

Tristans 2 month appointment

Well well first things first...today was Tristans 2 month appointment and knowing what was coming I had prepared, but really there is nothing like hearing your child scream. But thankfully all that is over and he seems to be okay. We knew Tristan was a little bean pole and the stats confirmed it.
97% in height- 25 and 1/4 inches
but only 12.9lbs which is just under 75% in weight.
(Im looking at Elijiahs 2 month stats- 14.78lbs--- we called Elijiah Buddah Belly and you might imagine why ------and 24 inches long...so looks like both my boys will be tall ones!)
I should mention that for the last several weeks now Tristan is going to bed about 7pm, and sleeping between 7-9 hours straight, getting up to feed, then back to sleep again for several more hours...so in all-- if Mom and Dad get to bed at a decent hour, we are getting between 4-6 hours of consecutive sleep! We are doing much better. Day sleeping is another matter all together. Some days he sleeps, some days not at all. However we have noticed the pattern if he doesnt get sleep during the day he doesnt go down well at night, and typically has a harder time staying asleep.

Cindy is doing a fabulous job with Tristan. I know it will be a hard on ALL of us when grandma isnt watching him in a few weeks. Its incredibly nice to know that I can call anytime during the day and get a status report. It helps the mommy guilt and makes my anxiety level go down a notch.

Headache Log- June 9th

Migraine. Started middle of the night. No idea why. Sucks. Took meds- Im fine now.

Quick Post and new mommy blog

So we had a great weekend- See Jonathans post below...

I have lots of things to update here, but I dont have time today. I just wanted to mention something..I have a "thing" for mommyblogs. Wish I had the time and talent to write some of the stuff I read, but I dont. So I live vicariously through others( and laugh at how true the things I read are) and share posts from time to time. Some people hyerlink to other posts, I tend to just quote them( as I rarely go to a hyerlink myself)--- so here is the latest post from a blogger I just found, loved, and added to my blog list:( You can find her to the right- Happymeals...
and I've added formelyfun too. Read them-pretty dang funny.


The "Baby Weight"

"So I'm still trying to lose the Baby Weight. Which is not going so well, as the baby is in first grade.
I maintain, however, that this 20 pounds is, in fact, "baby weight" because I have photos of myself after my first child, happily back at my pre-pregnancy weight, sportin' a bikini and sippin' a Zima without a clue as to what was to come with baby #2. And I do blame the baby. Babies = fat. Show me one NutriSystem "before" photo woman without a baby on her lap. They're like little "fat fairies". Then they're the first ones to call you out on your mommy fatness. As soon as they can talk they're all, "Mommy! Those underpants are too small for your butt!" Great. Mommy used to rock a thong before you came to town, junior.
And so begins the endless progression of diets over the years: Atkins/South Beach/Zone/Cabbage Soup/Master Cleanse/Skinny Bitch/Slim Fast....I'm thinking of starting all over again and kickin' it Old School with Scarsdale. And Tab. Maybe buy Jim Fixx's running book.
Which brings me to working out. Yes, I am willing to work out. No, I will not go with you to any class that evolved after 1990. I will not go to Spinning. Or Power Yoga, Hatha Yoga, or 100 degree heat yoga. I will not go to Pilates, Yoga-Lates or Balletone.
No, I will not "love it". I don't care about my "core". I am an 80's high-impact girl. Bring on the electronic dance mix and the shin splints. I do a wicked turn-step and 3-knee repeater. That is, unless it's one of those days when I'm "too fat to go to the gym".
I still have all my old bikinis. They're all packed away in the back of my closet, replaced by "Miraclesuits" and swim skirts. No doubt they'll still be there when I'm 70 and the baby is 37. Maybe then I'll concede that the baby weight is here to stay. This is how you'll know: ask me what I'd like for a cocktail. If I say "Captain Morgan and Diet Coke", shoot me."

I told you...pretty funny huh??
Needless to say my working out over the last 6 weeks- running 4-5 times a week, hasnt lost me a pound. I have cut 90% of sugar out of my diet and truly been watching what I eat. I refuse to believe that Im stuck with my 7 pounds. Ill give it another 6 weeks before desperate measures will be implemented.

BEST birthday EVER ! ! ! !

So, Amber listed a few extravagant activities that she would have liked to give me for my birthday but I have to say that she didn't have to offer those things to make this last weekend the best ever!

I'm a very private person with only an extremely small circle of close friends that I fully open up to but Amber says that this blog is mostly for our kids in the absence of good personal journals and that I need to contribute more! SO, I figured talking about the best birthday of my life would be a good way to start. Sorry current readers and Bechtold children but I'm not going to open the flood gate and bare/share ALL but I'll give you a taste ;-)

On Friday when we got together at the house after work, Amber gave me my presents from her and Elijiah. I have to say that the card she got me and the things she said inside the card were some of the most precious things I've ever heard. She got me a gift card for The Buckle and Elijiah got me a book and a DVD (very thoughtful for a 5 year old!!). That was the end of Friday's birthday events that will be discussed on da blog.

Saturday we got up and cleaned up the house, took off to run some errands then made our way down to The Gateway Mall. We went to The Buckle and Amber helped me find some KILLER jeans and two really sweet T-Shirts. Did you know that you can buy T-Shirts that cost more than $50 nowadays? Well, needless to say that while walking out of the store in my new duds, I was feeling quite guilty but Amber was totally sweet and just smiled and said how happy she was that I found some cloths that I liked.

After leaving the store, Amber said that she wanted to grab some icecream and started off towards what I told her was the wrong end of the Mall. She ignored me and when I politely told her that I thought the Ben And Jerry's store was at the North end of the mall, she cutely said "well we're here for the second part of your present". She said it right outside the Sanctuary Day Spa... I was blown away - I had never had any spa treatments aside from a hair cut or two and I found that Amber had scheduled an hour long deep-tissue massage for me. I'VE NEVER HAD A MASSAGE BEFORE IN MY LIFE!! I was actually quite nervous and a bit uncomfortable as I'm not very good at sitting back and letting someone pamper me. However, I did my best to chill out and enjoy the amazingly thoughtful gift Amber had given me and I have to say that when I finally did let go and let the spa-worker do her job, it felt AMAZING!!

After the massage, Amber and I met up again and drove up to Ogden so that we could drop off our precious little boy for her mom and step-dad to watch for the evening. I have to say that I should have let Amber drive as I was completely out-of-it from the massage. ANYWAY, we dropped off Tristan and drove back down to Salt Lake where we had some absolutely incredible Sushi at Tsunami - Okay, so I HAD incredible sushi and amber had vegetable stir-fry ;-) I think that one of the rolls I got was one of the best I've had - it was called the Aloha and had spicy tuna, jalapenos, and other delicious stuff. Although I stuffed myself on raw fish and soy beans, we went and got some ice cream after dinner then drove home to relax. Part of our relaxation was a TERRIBLE movie (Rambo) but just lying with Amber on the couch for a couple hours without a single interruption was like a little piece of heaven.

Although I missed my little man, it sure was relaxing to not have to worry about getting up between midnight and 4:00AM to feed him. SO, those are the general details of the best birthday ever and I just want to say to Amber that she is the most amazing, sweet, thoughtful, loving person that I know. You've really set the bar high for birthdays baby but rest assured that when YOU turn 32, it will hopefully be a day you remember as fondly as I remember my 32nd b-day!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Happy birthday Jonathan!!!!!!!!!
32 years young!

Gosh- what does a wife say about the most AMAZING hubby around? Only that I cant imagine my life without you and you make me over the moon happy.
What I wish I could do for you today:
Surprise you with a trip to Europe-first class( sorry we dont have THAT kind of money)
Buy you a new trumpet
Hire a personal chef to come and make us dinner
Along with the personal chef would be a nanny for the night
Stay at a fabulous hotel where we could have a pillow fight, stay up late and have breakfast in bed
BUT since I didnt get you any of THOSE things....stay tuned for what I DID get you.....
XOXOXO

Pictures of the Boyz

Tristan- 8 weeks... Elijiah- looking so handsome in his new blazer

( taken the day of Tristans blessing...to see post and more pictures of that day scroll down)

Headache Log- June 2

Im starting a Headache log for the month of June. I want to get an accurate count of how many headaches I get that require meds. ( So I will track what I eat, the weather, exercise, caffeine intake on those days) Hoping that I will see a pattern, or know if I am eating something that triggers them etc....

I am also starting acupunture this coming friday. We will see if non traditional methods help in the reduction of pain....:)

SO- yesterday June 2nd. First one of the month.


Weather? cloudy 77 degrees
No caffeine
Food:
Breakfast: cliff bar, yogurt, applesauce( lots of water all day)
Snack: Almonds, Several Crackers
Lunch: Store bought- packaged pai thai
Afternoon snack: cheese and crackers
Dinner: Peas, chicken and mash potatoes( thanks honey for dinner!)

took excedrin migraine due to moderate headache pain- went away after several hours.

Excercise? CHECK!!! :)

Tristans Blessing

Yes that is what we blessed Tristan in....we are non traditional in EVERY way!

Awful family picture

Me and Kiara

Mom and Layne

Dad and Nancy

Carl

Cindy and Kelsy

First of all what a fun weekend! Got the house in order for Sunday, did a movie night with Elijiah, some shopping and walks to the park....

Sunday came and I have to admit I was still a bit frazzled from the work week and preparation that I wasnt in much of a spiritual mind frame, but that all changed the moment Jonathan started to speak. Tristan cried, and screamed, but through it all Jonathans calm and collected voice was heard. Jonathan blessing to Tristan was incredible. He blessed Tristan with a sound mind and body, that he would be given talents to discover and develop. Tristan should honor the women in his life including his mother( I like that :) that he would find his companion by treating the women in his life well and go to the temple, serve an honorable mission....there were many many other things said. Stuff to be honest that seems incredibly personal to Tristan and I know that Jonathans preparation for the blessing, and his desire to listen to Heavenly Father helped him through it. I was moved to tears as were many I came to find out. At the end of the meeting many people in the congregation came to me and said they had never heard a more beautiful baby blessing--it was the best they had heard and what a wonderful job Jonathan did. I am incredibly proud of Jonathan. It reminded me of a blessing I got when I was younger and made me recognize that I truly have come full circle......

Afterwards we all headed back to the house to enjoy lots of food( see pictures above) and conversation. Thank you to all our family for coming, for the testimonies given, for the love and support. We again were overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for family. There were several people missed- Whitney, Raegan, and Jessica.....You are each forgiven afterall it would be a long trip!