Salad and Smiles

Strawberries were on sale, but only for 8 hours! I rushed in and got 3 pounds, with no recipe in mind. We ate some plain and they were so sweet and delicious! Wesley even tried some with his dinner :) What DO you make with strawberries?? Strawberry pizza, cake topping, syrup...I found the most amazing recipe on Allrecipes.com! Grilled Chicken Salad with Seasonal Fruit! Heavenly!!! I toasted almonds and they came out perfect! I cooked the chicken so it was moist! (Usually it's dry) The strawberries were perfectly fresh and delicious, and even the dressing was yummy! We don't have any leftover because it was just that good! Definitely will be making this a lot this summer....maybe we'll try some other fresh fruit, too!

On to the "smiles" part. Wesley smiles. A lot.

At Target, I'll see his head cocked to the side to see around me (with a huge smile on his face) and I turn around to find a couple or woman behind me standing there smiling and making faces at Wesley. Just stopped what they were doing to play with my baby from a distance. This happens weekly.

On our walk tonight a lady asked me how old he was. As I'm telling her he's 7 mos, Wesley is sitting in his stroller giving her those sweet eyes and a little smile. She notices and says, "What a happy baby you have!" As she says it...he smiles bigger...open mouth smile this time so she can see his little bottom teeth. "Oh wow! He's so cute!" The two of them just went back and forth - making each other happier and happier.

Had a meeting on Wednesday and we had to wait for about 15 minutes. He smiled at a little girl, and old man, middle aged people...it's like they are all best friends now. He kicks his legs and get's so excited to see people!

OH and Wesley's first word shall go down in history as ... "hi." Not even close to mama or dada. A pleasant "hi" goes along with all of the stories above. He says it to everyone and everything...even trees sometimes. Usually when I open the door he says, "hi hi hi" to show me he's excited to go outside too.

A happy kid makes for a happy mom. If you ever have a tough day, take your baby to the store, any store...even if you don't need to buy anything...and let people admire your baby! It's the greatest advice I'll ever give! I've had my down days and my lonely days and this always works. You are welcome to come shopping with us anytime!

And now for some pictures... what you've been waiting for!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Cousin bath-time! Has nothing to do with this post, but you gotta love 'em!

Time Out

What is a time out?
A corner where you send children when they're in trouble and stop talking to them?
A potty break in the middle of playing Tag?

I believe it's an opportunity to take a step back from the current situation. An opportunity for coaching and listening. A time to reevaluate what you are going to do next. Focus on the goal at hand and recommit yourself to getting there.

I attended a woman's conference this weekend and I have been thinking about taking time outs the last couple days. They aren't bad! I actually look forward to them. I feel like Sundays are my time out from the rest of life and the day that I can reevaluate my next step in reaching my goals. Sometimes I forget my long-term goals. I've made a promise to try to be like the Savior. I'm not saying I'm the opposite, I'm just saying that I love setting new goals and making myself a better person.

I'll say this: I was having a difficult time taking Wesley to the conference with me since he wasn't the calm 4 month old he was when I signed up to go. He's my active, I won't sleep unless I'm in bed or in the car, laughing, squealing, sitting-up, bouncing baby boy! He's such a sweet kid and I love him to pieces, but neither one of us was getting what we needed: me-listen to speakers, him- sleep. He's usually only awake for maybe 2 hours at a time during the day. Friday night we left at 5pm and he couldn't fall asleep until we got back in the car at 9:30pm. Saturday morning he woke up at 7:45 and was still awake at 11:30 when I finally had Adam come get him. Imagine if he would have stayed with me until the conference was over at 4! No thanks! Like I said, Adam was so sweet and put aside his study time to take care of our little one! Thanks to Ashley, too, for feeding both of them and playing with Wes so Adam could study a little.

Adam and I had some great conversations during the 10 hours we spent in the car and shared some of our deepest thoughts and feelings about taking time outs and becoming who we want to become. A carrot seed can't become a pumpkin even if it wants to. The creator had a different plan in mind and it's up to us to be the best "us" we can be! We may think the pumpkin is cooler or more fun to be around, but there's a reason we were created as carrots and we need to find our potential and develop our talents. I loved this lesson so much!

Another thought I loved was all about being happy. The science shows the single most effective way to make yourself happier is to serve others. Random acts of kindness. Months ago I heard it as building the ARK (Acts of Random Kindness). We can also be grateful for what we have. Savor your food. Enjoy your time with loved ones. Find the joy in EVERY day!

These are just a few points I loved from the conference! I'm off to straighten up the house while my sweet baby naps! Oh how I love taking time outs!

(no, I didn't give Wesley a time out)

New Perspective

So, for those of you who know us, which you better if you are reading this, you know that we have worked very hard to get where we are. Our first 3.5 years of marriage were spent in Utah where I worked 40 hour weeks while going to school. Adam worked two jobs, volunteered, did breast cancer research, and went to school. Those jobs carried us through our undergrad at BYU. We made it out of BYU with two college degrees, two paid off cars, absolutely no debt, and a baby on the way. Now, Adam is in medical school! We have a son who's almost 6 months old! Life is amazing!

Is it life on the streets? Nope.

I thought you had to live on the streets and be really poor and have no direction in life in order to be on government programs such as WIC and Medi-Cal.

Yes, we saved our money and counted our pennies when we were at BYU, but our savings could not even cover the amount of one year of medical school tuition and simple living expenses....let alone the 4 years we will have.

So, Wesley gets free checkups, his delivery was pretty much covered, and WIC gives pregnant and nursing moms checks to help out with certain food such as milk, eggs, cheese, whole grains, and peanut butter.

Today was the first appointment that they gave me some checks for Wesley and I realized how truly blessed we are. I got 15 jars of meat, 20 of fruits and veggies, and an 8oz box of cereal! Throughout the month I will end up with a total of 60 (4 oz-stage 2) jars of f&v, 31 of meat, 24 oz of cereal, and 4 bananas. That's just for one month for Wesley! I have the same checks for the next 3 months. They are probably figuring he won't like some of the things I give him, so they plan for extra. (Or maybe some babies eat this much food! Wes has only had a total of 4 little jars of baby food and some rice cereal, so I don't know how much most people go through)

Am I ashamed to be on WIC? Nope. I feel like we are in the perfect position to receive help considering the fact that Adam is in school to be a doctor and cannot work. If I were to work outside the home, that money would go towards paying a babysitter, so I might as well stay home and enjoy watching my sweet baby grow and giggle!

I know we'll give back to the community in the future, and we will always be frugal with our money because that's just who we are. I am SO greatful that these programs exist for people like us. Without it, we'd be paying for this food with loan money that we have to pay back with 7% interest over four years...meaning on top of the value of the food we probably would have to pay an extra $10.

The Question: Does Wesley like baby food?

Tomorrow will mark 5 months that my little Wesley has been my playmate.

When we were home for the holidays, I heard that my niece (12 days older than Wesley) was already trying rice cereal. That got me curious to see what Wesley would do.
Evidence #1: I gave him some at the beginning of February when he was just over 4 months old. He didn't really love it, but he would swallow it. He didn't like having to sit in his bumbo seat, either, due to our lack of a high chair. I had tried it a few times a week and each time seemed a little better than before, but he arched his back to get out of that seat.

Evidence #2:Monday, 2-21-11, Wesley actually was opening his mouth for more bites. This made me really happy and proud of him! How did he learn that? He does stare at me every morning while I eat my breakfast, I guess. I've been using our 1/4 measuring cup as a bowl for him and I fill it about half full of thickened cereal. I even made him another serving that night. Still...squirmy toward the end. I got him in the tub and he was so happy in there! Soooo...
He ate the rest of his dinner in his bubble bath! What a happy camper!

Evidence #3: That brings me to tonight. We went grocery shopping and dropped off some dinner for my cousin at Chapman. By the time we got home, I knew it was time to nurse him again. After that, I thought...maybe he'll want some more cereal?! So I filled the measuring cup a little over 1/2 full like normal. He ate it all! Hmm...I wonder if...? Nah. Should I wait another month? Well, let's just see. I have 2 days to get through a jar if he doesn't like it tonight.
Yep. That's right. I gave him a little taste of baby food. Tender sweet carrots to be exact.
He was in love! I couldn't shovel it in his mouth fast enough and he ate the WHOLE jar!!

The answer: Yes.

Happy Birthday

Sunday, February 20th, was my 24th birthday! My niece, Lydia, was born that day in VA and she's such a doll! I was born 8 days before my sister Laurie's 8th birthday so this month is a pretty special one for the family.

This is the 5th year Adam made a special birthday breakfast for me! In the past, he woke up around 4:30 or 5am so we could eat before I left for work at 6am. This year we got to sleep in as a family. He made pancakes the size of my head, strawberry syrup from scratch, sausage, and scrambled eggs with cheese. YUM! He took care of Wesley when he was fussy during Sunday school, and he even made dinner and cake so we could have some friends come over last minute!

I gave Wesley a bath and he fell asleep and stayed asleep the entire time our friends were here! What a super fun birthday! My gifts from Adam this year consisted of the following DVDs: The Incredibles, Kung Fu Panda, Full House season 1, and Full House season 2! I watched the first 3 episodes last night and they made me laugh all over again! Adam had the day off yesterday so we indulged in some Red Robin burgers and Wesley was so good the whole time! It really says something about your baby when he's good at a restaurant.

Church was all about service...all 3 hours...so it's in my head now that I need to be serving people around me. I see so many opportunities, but my head always comes up with some excuse like, "You can't afford that cute baby outfit for your friend" "They probably already have enough meals coming in" "You can't do that service for that person, you have a baby that will get in the way!" So I guess Satan's pretty good at what he does because I haven't been serving people lately. Even when Adam asked for a back massage yesterday...what's my first response? "What happened to the one you were supposed to give ME last night?" lame. I know. I fell asleep to his playing of the guitar. He was singing the song he wrote when he proposed...on my birthday. How selfish can I be? He's so sweet.

SO today I have been super productive. It's only noon and I've already tackled so many things on my to-do list. Do you ever have days where you feel like you will disappoint your husband because he worked super hard all day and you just took care of the kids and couldn't even find time to make dinner? Adam knows that it's hard to take care of kids, so as long as we're happy he's fine. I've never disappointed him (he told me so last night).

Solution: To-do list the night before! I cannot wake up and make one because I've already wasted valuable time! Same thing with grocery lists...can't do it same day. Menu planning takes too long for me to find time between Wesley's naps. I'm definitely up for new recipes and menu ideas if you are willing to share. I figure that I'll be better at serving others when I have the right attitude and I can have the right attitude by taking care of my home and family first. By setting my priorities straight, I'll have a realistic idea of what I can and cannot handle.

So there. That's my new "one year older and wiser too" wisdom for today.

50 months!!

This photo is from a trip to Disneyland last week

Wesley is approaching the 5 month mark quickly, but today Adam and I celebrate 50 months of marriage! What have we done to celebrate? We saw each other for 20 minutes so far and then he left again. Leftovers are in store for dinner. I'll let you know if anything else happens.

I guess my post a couple weeks ago showed up that it was from Oct. 5 (the original day I began typing it). It's all about how I was feeling 11 days into motherhood. No pictures, but a pretty good story.

Updates from that post:
-I fit in all my pre-pregnancy pants...I unpacked them a week after that last post and could button up my jeans! I now weigh the same as I did at my 9-week-pregnant checkup, which is pretty much my pre-pregnancy weight! The nursing tops I was in love with are a little big on me now that I don't have much of a pudge left on my belly.
-a good day consists of showering, doing hair, and doing make up before noon. It used to be that just getting all of those things done was an accomplishment, but now I can throw in some grocery shopping, a trip to the park, or a doctor's visit. Lately I've been able to get ready during Wesley's first nap, so I've been ready as early as 9am, but it's usually about 10:30.
-He's still an incredible sleeper.
-still likes his bink, but I bought blue ones for him AND he's able to console himself by sucking on his fingers. This saves me from panicking when I forget to pack a bink.
-still smiles in his sleep, but smiles much more while awake!

I am in love with his little features. I look at his fingers and toes every day and I'm still in awe at this sweet little guy. He does fuss when he is tired, he has an open-mouthed cry when he's hungry, and he screams when he accidentally covers his face with a blanket. But now that he's a week shy of 5 months:
-He rolls onto his tummy
-He only plays on his tummy for a few minutes before he gets sad that he can't roll back
-He smiles when I come in the room
-He loves his daddy
-He will stop eating when Adam enters the room and stare and smile at him
-He grasps things with his hands-toys, paper...
-I've walked into his room after a nap to find him watching his mobile (I didn't turn it back on-he reached and pushed the button)
-He wears a size 3 diaper - might be a little big, but it catches everything :)
-His favorite trick is reaching up for our hands, holding on to them, and pulling himself from laying down to standing up by using his core and arm muscles and straightening his little legs
-He is SO strong
-When told that, he smiles so big
-His fingers are always in his mouth, drool is always on clothes, me, blankets...
-He's pretty smiley in the tub
-He scoots around on his back by pushing his heels into the carpet and going backwards
-He likes to look at books and sits still on my lap while I read him a story and sing him a song before bed
-He won't fall asleep in my arms anymore. At the end of the song, he fusses for me to put him in his crib where I cover him with his blanket and he snuggles and falls asleep. This is great at home, but church is a little more tricky.
-Not so much a fan of rice cereal, but I tried it and think it's so gross so I'm not concerned. He ate it, he just doesn't open his mouth looking for the next bite. We'll try again next month. What's your advice on highchairs? I want something I can wipe down, not machine wash. I'm considering a booster that straps to a chair. -He's an awesome travel buddy! He sleeps a lot in the car!
-He's been to Disneyland too many times to count already! His first ride was Pirates 12-6-10 when he was just over 2 months old, which was the day after his baby blessing.

Happy 50 months Adam Wesley and happy almost 5 months to my little Wesley Charles! I am in love with the two greatest guys that make me feel like the luckiest woman in the world!

There was really a baby inside!

Now that it's been 4 months since Wesley was born, I feel so overwhelmed and like I have so much to write and I don't know where to start! Luckily I started to blog on October 5th but got distracted with something, probably Wesley, and never finished the post. It was fun to read the labor story from my perspective after only 11 days so I will post it now and let you enjoy it too!

So it turns out that I didn't stay pregnant forever! Actually, my ankles aren't swollen and my belly is considerably flatter after only 11 days! People had told me that breastfeeding really helps you with the baby weight, but I didn't think it would happen this fast! I am one happy mommy! I'm still figuring out what I can wear since I despise my maternity shirts (I lived in the same ones for so long and they represent a time when I thought I would always be pregnant), but I'm too busty for my regular shirts that I used to wear. I'm still wearing maternity pants because my hips widened and I don't fit into my size 5s anymore. Not complaining...after all, delivery went quite smoothly thanks to that, but I just need to get some new clothes that fit my new shape. My mom bought me some nursing tops and I am in love with them! I would have never thought to buy a new mom clothes...I mean people bring the baby new clothes and gifts, but the mom needs new clothes too. I also received jewelry from Marlene. These are the little things that make me feel like a human again, not just a mom who is recovering from stitches, has mood swings and a cough, and who is feeding her baby every 2-3 hours on command. I actually feel like a confident woman and am having fun being a mom!

Wesley Charles Spjute was born at 3:28pm on Friday, September 24th. He weighed in at 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long, which Adam says is the perfect size fish! By the time he left the hospital Sunday, he was 6 pounds 13 oz (babies lose some weight but should be back to birthweight by 2 weeks). At an appointment on Tuesday the 28th he was 7 pounds 2 oz. Today, one week later....our little stud is a whopping 8 pounds! He gained 14 oz in a week and he's only 11 days old! Average is 7 oz in a week. I guess we got the hang of breastfeeding!
-He's an incredible sleeper-so much that I set alarms to wake up every 2-3 hours to feed him the first couple nights we were home. Ya, it only lasted 2 nights. Then I wised up and took everyone's advice to never wake a sleeping baby. I was nervous he wasn't eating enough, but it looks like we don't need to worry in that category.
-He likes his bink (the ugly green one from the hospital) and it soothes him most of the time.
-He smiles in his sleep, but is otherwise a very serious baby so don't be offended if he doesn't smile for you when you make faces at him.
-He is so snugly and loves to sleep on my chest...or at least I love it when he does =)
-When he's hungry and Adam has him...he still looks for the milk =)

Thursday, the day I thought I would be "forever pregnant," Adam and I rented a movie and during the movie I felt some contractions that were 20, 15, and 30 minutes apart. They were a little stronger than the usual "tight-stomach like I'm doing a sit-up," but weren't uncomfortable. This made us a little nervous and we went through what we would still need to grab if we did go to the hospital. I packed a bag of VHS/DVDs and made sure I knew where my makeup was. Adam grabbed a blanket, snacks, and the camera and we had everything by the door (the carseat/hospital bag were already in the car). We finished our movie, went to bed around midnight and set our alarms for 6:30 so we could leave at 7:30 for my 8am weekly checkup with my Ob/Gyn. Adam got a good night's rest and I was up once every hour with a pretty strong contraction that felt like really bad cramps. I felt like I needed to vomit or go to the bathroom...which makes sense since my stomach was tightening and preparing to get something out.

I stayed awake at 6 and just got in the shower since I figured my alarm would be going off in 30 minutes and I would need that extra time to get ready if these contractions persisted. They did. I felt another one in the shower and they were getting so strong that I had to stop what I was doing and focus on getting through the contraction for the minute that it lasted. They were every 10-15 minutes and by 7:30 I had managed to get dressed, blowdry my hair and put on make-up. I knew I wasn't coming home from this check-up without a baby (or some good pain meds) so I better look good! In the car the contractions were 5 minutes apart and I vomited (Adam had grabbed a bowl...hooray!) and that was the only time I threw up during the pregnancy.

They strapped my belly to a monitor to check the baby's heart rate for 20 mins...this is a non stress test that they do when your baby is over 40 weeks. After 5 minutes and 2 contractions, the nurse called the doctor in to check on me since she probably thought I was making funny noises as I tried to breathe through the contractions and squeeze Adam's hands. By 8:30 the doctor checked me...I was 100% effaced and dilated to 3. She offered to call labor and delivery and admit me or I had the option to walk around outside for a little bit. If they admitted me, I wouldn't be allowed outside and would have to stay on the same floor. My sister told me that they could give epidurals when you get to a 4, so my first question to my doctor was: once they admit me, how soon would I be checked to see if I was a 4. She smiled and said that it was up to her to give the permission and since I was in active labor she would give them permission to give it to me right away. What did I say? Admit me! Let's get this epidural started! Adam helped me walk over, change into my beautiful evening gown, and let me squeeze his hands through the next series of contractions while they started my IV and the epidural. By 9:30 I had the epidural and felt like a princess for the rest of the day!