My Lexa B.

Lexi, our chihuahua/dachshund mix little girl, turned a year on May 24th!  It is a little late but I needed to acknowledge it. 

Lexi! ... and of course, Sophie couldn't let her have the spotlight.

Happy Birthday baby girl!  We love you!

4 Months Forever Weekend

Andrew is 4 months! 

Along with that comes rolling on his sides, rasberry noises, his new found ability to sit in his exersaucer by himself and trying to hold the bottle on his own .. oh and the messy start of cereal (blagh). We took him to the Dr. for his 4 month visit which included the inevitable ... shots. Oh boy! We are happy to report that he is 25 inches long, 13lbs and 2oz heavy and has his daddy's head ;) lol.  He flirted with his doctor, as usual, but it really looked like he was trying to negotiate with her on his shots. Almost like he was saying "For this smile, take away one shot" but the good 'ole Dr didn't take the bait and shots were on the way.

(a couple pictures of his Dr. visit ... we opted to leave the screaming ones out)

He didn't do as well with them this time as he did on his 2month visit and he cried for a lot longer.  One thing that Clay and I have in common is spoiling our babies when they have Dr visits or are in pain and it hasn't changed since we had a child (only worsened).  He calmed down as soon as we put him in the carrier then fell asleep as we got into the truck and his crazy parents bee-lined it to Baby's R Us and spent a good amount on toys/learning tools for little boy so he could feel better.  I know ... crazy right.  That is just what we do ... puts a dent in our pocket book but makes Andrew (mainly us) happy.  If we stay this route we are for sure only having one child and we will be broke by his 1st birthday! 

In his new sling wearing his new hat, so far he seems to enjoy both (crossing my fingers it stays like that)

He has discovered the pandas!

(his new exer-saucer)

New hat ... new shades!

The following day we went to go shopping at the Bass Pro Shops, Clay's manly store, which he needed to introduce Andrew to as quickly as possible.  While there, we decided to eat at the restaurant since Andrew was in a good mood and then after we placed him in the shopping cart to view his surroundings.  Apparently he thought his surroundings were boring because he passed out as soon as we got moving.  Nothing really struck our fancy as we browsed but I did manage to lose Clay for a bit.  Imagine my suprise when I found him in the gun section of the store.  No, we didn't buy him another gun but I did make some mental notes (and noticed a cute little pink gun for me, just saying) ... maybe for his birthday.  But we did manage to pick up these awesome little cowboy boots. 

Giddy-Up Cowboy!

Duh, you can't be a cowboy unless you got your crabby shorts on!

(new boots .. we just got them and they almost don't fit!)

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day, starting off with breakfast with Clay's dad, Dan, and half-sister Ciera at Cracker Barrel!  For those of you who do not know me that well, I live and die for this establishment!  It was my crack when I was pregnant in turn really turned Clay off to ever eating there again.  It has been exactly 4 months since we have eaten there and Clay was having a change of heart so that is where we went.  Breakfast was AMAZING as always especially the Hasbrown Casserole.  Andrew slept through the majority of the meal only to be awakened by the bussboys flinging plates and silverware into thier rubber bins next to our table!  Oh those bussboys and thier bins!!!  Grandpa came to his rescue and held him up until we left. 

Next stop was a quick feeding at the house then off to Meemaw's house (LaNell and Bill) to continue our relaxing day.   LaNell was making ribs and I had never had ribs like this before.  She had boiled them first in a marinade that included Dr. Pepper and other spices for about two hours then grilled them for another 15 minutes.  At first I was skeptical becuase of the soda but OMG they were out of this world good and just fell off the bone!  I need to get that recipe and fast!  Time flew so fast and we were on the road again back home. 

Memorial Day Monday was spent with his Mimi and Papa for a BBQ in the afternoon.  Andrew and I went by ourselves this time.  Clay was on his way to Belton to see his cousin Brad, who was on leave from the Iraq.  The day started off rushed and I hate being rushed not so much with Andrew but more with myself.  By the time we had gotten over to moms house, Andrew was in full meltdown, he didn't want to eat, was overtired that he couldn't sleep, had gotten a little gas pocket in his belly so he was in pain with that ... it was too much stimulation over the whole weekend to where he couldn't relax and it had caught up to him big time!  After about an hour, a quick catnap and 4oz of formula later, he was back to his silly little self again. 

Over at mom's house for a BBQ ...

 

Lovin' some Mamu time

I love it when they are together!

 The trees are gentle swaying, swaying, swaying ….

Mimi enjoying her Andrew

We had fun sitting outside feeling the breeze and seeing the cats and dogs play but my Andrew-clock was telling me it was time to go.  Hands rubbing his eyes and one big yawn later, we were in the truck headed for home.  All in all, great weekend to kick off his 4 months, busy but good.  Time really does fly when your having fun.  Bring it on 5 Months!

Cpt. Bradley Frye

This post is dedicated to our cousin, Brad Frye.

Clay and I found out that he would be coming down for leave from Iraq/the military sometime before/during/after the Memorial Day weekend.  Regardless of what the situation, we agreed to see him wherever and whenever, there were no stipulations.  One thing we did forget was we had a baby ... Small oversight.  The time to see Brad was on Monday, Memorial Day, in Belton.  Clay's parents were in and so were we until we really thought about the trip and what that will do to Andrew and not to mention us and our nerves.  Trolling around San Antonio was one thing, we are able to go back home if needed but the more we thought about it the more it didn't sound like a good idea traveling the 2-3 hours with a baby.  I have never traveled a long journey with a 4 month old and it made us a little nervous.  So I opted to stay home with Andrew and Clay went to go and see his cousin.  What a bummer!  Not that staying home with Andrew is a bummer but I really wanted to go and see Brad, his wife, Sarah and thier son, Zach and I wanted them to meet little man.  It is what it is and Clay left this morning at 7:15 for the trip.  I couldn't wait until he returned so that I could hear about how they are doing and he didn't disappoint in the story telling.  It was a mini Frye family reunion and he had a blast.  It had been a while since the "Frye Boys" were together BS'n, show & telling with thier guns (even the ladies) and swaping storys!  All in all, he said it was great trip with lots of laughs and great memories. 

I apprecite it more and more everytime I think about what we have and who we have in our family.  I was saddended that we weren't able to attend but I know we were there in spirit and in thier hearts as they were in ours the whole day.

Brad, we will see you soon.  There is a little boy that is dying to meet his cousin and when you return in September, he will be there to greet you, whenever and wherever.

Love you and pray for you everyday!  God bless you and what you do to keep Clay, myself and Andrew safe. 

To your safe return,

Jenn Ochoa

The Frye Boys
(Brad, Clay and Gray)

Early morning feeding

This morning we did everything as normal which was this:

6:30am - leave the house
6:45am - Andrew plays with his carrier toy then passes out until we reach daycare
7:00am - Get off car and take Andrew to his classroom with Miss Diane ..
(side note: it is usually just the two of us that are in the classroom becuase Andrew is always the first one there.) 
7:15am - Boob in the face ... wait, what?!

Imagine my surprise when I see another mother there leaving her baby at the same time we get there.  BUT, not only was she leaving her, she was feeding her.  Not just bottle feeding, but breast-feeding.  Please do not get it twisted,  I have nothing .. absolutely nothing against a mother breast-feeding her baby in public.  I may be a little jealous because our adventures with BF went south but hey, it is what it is.  But when you are at a daycare at 7:00 in the morning, with millions of little ones running around, parents going in and out, and you yourself are still trying to manage without your head falling off, the last thing you want to see is another womans boob in your face.  Ok, technically it wasn't "in my face" but there was no cover up!  At first I really didn't notice what was going on, just that she was with her baby and becuase I was trying not to knock everything over with the carrier as I made my way to Andrew's crib.  But as soon as I put the carrier down, I took a quick peek to see what was going on (I couldn't resist) and BAM ... boob!  I turn very quickly and told Miss Diane, Andrew ate at 5:45am and handed over his bottles for the day, that was all I could muster without stuttering or looking back again.  (I have a tendancy to just stare in disbelief or disgust and think that no one would notice, so to not look back again was a major accomplishment on my part).  I became a little flustered and tried to cover it up but I think that just made it a little more obvious.  The mother was sweet as can be, asked if I was Andrew's mother and introduced herself to me.  Well, me being the flustered nin-com-poop that I am, all I said was "nice to meet you", kissed sweet boy on the head and then I took off.  Not until just now (a couple hours later) did I realize that I didn't even tell her what my name was!  I think it was the excitement of seeing "the boob".  She probably thinks I am a snob.  Great!  I will be labeled the SNOB of Nursery One.  SMH!  So to rectify my rude manners I am writing her a card and placing it in her baby's diaper bag introducing myself to her and stating what a big loser I am for not introducing myself to her and that if she needs anything, to please not hesitate to ask.  It is the least I could do.  We will see if it goes over well when I drop it off this afternoon and I see her the next couple of days.  If she is still nice .. WooHoo! ... but if she snarls at me, well I guess I am going to have change my dropping off/picking up times of Andrew.  Oh Lord.

But come on .. wouldn't you want to just get out of there if the situtation made you a tad bit uncomfortable?  Just saying.  

Jenn

Attack!

This weekend we have had an invader in our back yard ... more clearly, underneath the deck.  We started off Saturday with putting the girls (Lexi and Sophie) outside like we do every morning only this time Sophie started screaming bloody murder and Lexi was barking something to death.  Yes, our dog screams, don't judge.  Clay and I bolted to the back door to see what the commotion was about but could not find anything that would make her so frightened.  The only thing that we could have thought that might have even tried to get her would be a Grackle (or black bird) but she had no puncter marks or scraps from the claws. 

Hmmm ... very interesting. 

The next morning we woke up with Andrew at about 5:00am to feed and let the girls out.  I had just sat down with Andrew and started feeding him his bottle, Clay was standing at the back door watching the girls (in his underwear and wearing no glasses) when all of a sudden Sophie started screaming again and as soon as Lexi heard her scream this time, she high-tailed it back inside the house.  Clay on the otherhand, screamed SOPHIE!!! and took off into the oblivion with no shoes, glasses or pants on.  He was hell-bent on saving his precious little girl.  I sat with Andrew wondering what on earth was going on out there when Sophie shot inside and hid next to me, while Clay lept inside the door and shut it tight behind him.  He really couldn't see what attacked Soph only that it was white and it took off back underneath the deck.  So we made the assumption that it was an opposum.

Turns out what was causing us to get all riled up was a momma cat and her 3 kittens.  Talk about drama!  I never thought I would have cats under the deck but most of all I never thought I would have a dog that screamed! 

Instead of having the girls going out in the backyard to do thier business, they have been going out to the front yard with us keeping a close eye on them because of the weekend traffic.  Hopefully the pest control or my sister can come and take them away so we can be normal again.

Birthday Girl!

Today is my Mamu's 77th birthday!  We celebrated with a cute at the last moment surprise lunch yesterday at Hungry Farmer (since she LOVES chicken fried steak) and she was very suprised.  Most of my extended family were able to attend and it was really awesome so see everyone together. 

Two of my sisters (Ashley and Stephanie) with my cousins little girl (Sadie).

Andrew with his Papa and Mimi

And of course the birthday girl herself

Love you Mamu!

Jenn



It's The End of the World As We Know It!

So apparently yesterday was the end of the world.  My always prepared husband had extra flashlights, bullets and water purification tabs on hand just in case the "Rapture" were to happen and for some strange reason we were not taken with the others to that magical never-get-old, always-love-what-your-doing place in the sky. 

So the morning began with us realizing the we are still alive and in bed and the world did not end but apparently our time wasn't until 8:00pm or so I was told.  It's funny because I thought when it is the end of the world, that all believers were to be taken up at the same time all over the world and not at a certain time period like 8:00 .. hmm interesting.  All I know is that if it were the EOTW that I would be ready and have no regrets. 

At least we weren't the only ones that thought the EOTW was not coming ...


On a different note, I know that you are supposed to be ready for anything but Zombies?! Come on!  I recieved a flyer from a friend of mine that was from the CDC that was a 101 on Zombies should it come down to that.  All I can say is Way to be prepared CDC but that was a little much.

Jenn

Feverish

Yesterday, Andrew and I stayed home from daycare/work.  On Wednesday night, as I snuggled up to Andrew while he slept on my shoulder, I couldn't help but notice how increasingly warm he was getting in just a short period of time.  Clay and I took him to the nursery to check his temp and sure enough he had a fever of 102.2!  After a few quick breaths to calm down we called the on-call nurse with the pediatricians office and after what seemed like forever a wait, they just told us to give him baby tylonol, keep him cool, if his little cough continued to give him warm apple juice and since he had a little congestion, to use saline drops and suction to keep him clear.  Ok, no problem (so I thought).

This kid knows when he is being ambushed and started to retaliate as soon as he saw us coming towards him.  We were saline and suction bulb in hand and his little eyes widened.  As soon as we sat him up to use the saline, he started to buck and throw his head back and forth.  I should have taken that as a sign to leave him alone for a while so he could calm down but we were on a mission to remove his boogers.  Just as I was about to enter his little nose with the suction bulb his head came down on it thus having the end of the bulb connect with the inside of his little nose.  OH NO!!!  I thought, NOT AGAIN!!!  He cried the most horrendous cry ever, complete with big draw-in of air and wailing.  It did not last long as his daddy scooped him up and hugged him tight and I must have looked like a chicken in flight flapping my wings all over the place freaking out yet again.  It lasted a mere 10 minutes (what seemed like an eternity in mom time) and he was fine, no bloody nose or internal or psychological damage that we could see but needless to say we DID NOT use the suction bulb again that night. 

He slept really good through the night and by the morning his fever had broke and he was back to silly little boy.  We stayed home just as a precaution because he was still a bit warm.  You really wouldn't even know he was the least bit sick with all the talking and laughing he was doing.  So we had a good day with him playing then putting himself to sleep in his crib and sleeping for 2 hours!  Major accomplishment since he never sleeps in his crib. 

While asleep it gave me time to tidy up the house and shower.  I kept the monitor close to me wherever I went because I knew he would wake up at any minute.  But he had proven me wrong and I showered in peace.   He played on his activity mat long enough to twirl himself 360 degrees and peeter out again.

The day ended with his Mimi and Papa (my parents)coming over and spoiling him with kisses and hugs and laughter.  Soon after, his Meemaw (Clay's mom) came over to give him sugars too.  I tell you, the boy is spoiled but we wouldn't want it any other way.

Jenn

Easy like Sunday morning ...

How can you say no to these faces ...?

They were just too cute not to post.

Very Productive Day ...

Our 3 am feedings are getting easier and easier to handle mainly because Andrew goes right back to bed after he eats. This morning was no different and he woke up at 7:00am with a big smile on his face and ready to start the day. Today we decided it was time to bite the bullet and take little man our with us as we ran errands. So right after his 8:30 feed, we got ready, packed up the diaper bag with all kinds of essentials and loaded up the truck for our adventure. He was still really full from breakfast so our first stop at Baby's R Us was not a problem. Our second stop at Target, he was a little bit more vocal but nothing to worry ourselves about. We decided to see how far we could push the threashold and went to brunch at Mimi's. We got as far as ordering our food when Andrew just couldn't handle it anymore. The waterworks were on full blast and there was no letting up. We had just enough time to pay the bill, shovel whatever we could into our mouths and leave before he became completly unglued. As soon as we were in the truck and pulling out onto the road, he was asleep. That was all he needed, a nap. Why didn't I think of that!?

All in all not a bad start to the day for his first time out in a while and for a long time. It gives me hope for the weekends ahead when we will be doing more outings.

OOWWEEE!!!

This past Monday Clay and I stayed home from work recouping from a weekend of the stomach flu. I do not wish that on anybody, it is the pits! Little man stayed home with us, so we kept on hand sanitizing and wearing face masks so that he will not get sick. I am the one who usually cuts his fingernails and I do it while he is asleep so that he is not moving too much. Not really sure why I wanted to tempt fate and change the order in what I do things but I did. I tried to cut his nails while he was awake. First hand was great!! He moved but I anticipated it so would stop and wait. But his next hand was a different story. I started on his thumb and that was the one that got the oowwee!! After it happened he looked at me stunned for a few seconds and then came the painful cry! Oh my goodness, I picked him up so quick and just kept on saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry over and over again! I was crying and he was crying and that is when Clay came in and took him for a minute. I felt awful! As Clay took him into the other room, I stood in the baby's room and literally cried like a baby. After a few minutes, Clay came back in the room and said that it was a little cut and that it will grow back in no time but that still didn't make me feel any better, so I kept crying. I pretty much cried off and on the whole day and started back up again when I told my mother, only to have her say that she did it to us a few times when we were younger and we still had all of our fingers. Great! Thanks Mom!

Little babies are resilient, unlike me, and Andrew was playing with his toys and using his thumb an hour after it happened. He would let out a little howl when he would forget that it hurt which would break my heart but he was fine. It is now Thursday and you would never even tell that a mishap like that had ever happened but a mother never forgets. I have learned my lesson ... no more clipping nails while awake! Always when asleep or just bite them off.

Whew!

I should have started this when Andrew was first born but no one really tells you about the trials and tribulations that go along with having a baby .. at least not the first 6 weeks. But better late than never.

So we are starting when he is 3 1/2 months old ...

Many different formulas and lots of $$$ later, we finally found a one that Andrew is not allergic to. YAY!! He is on an amino-acid based formula called Neocate for babies that have a Milk Protein Allergy and Multi-Food Allergies.

He has been onit for about a month now and has been doing beautifully! He still has his eczema flares so it has to be either something environmental or in our laundry detergent, we are still doing process of elimination so who knows. He loves it and it really has been a God-send for us. Whatever makes little man happy is good with me. We are still doing a little spot treatments with hydrocortizone cream when its red/enflamed and slathering him in Aquaphor and Cereve lotion throughout the day to keep his little body hydrated and to keep the dryness away.

I always knew that having a baby was a learning process and an adventure to say the least but I never realized how much you learn .. not only about the baby but about yourself. The tv is not so important to me anymore which is interesting since I used to be bound to the couch and remote every night after work, I don't mind waking up at 3:00a for a feeding or that smelling for poop can make me happy. I have come to realize that I am more like my mother than I originally thought/denied and thats ok. I don't mind doing housework and it really boggles Clay's mind that I like to do it now instead of when I was pregnant when I was supposed to be "nesting". HaHa! I do things a little backwards. :)

We are still a little afraid to take him out in public, not that he's hideous or anything (by the picture you can see he is not) but the last few times we did, it resulted in major meltdowns by Andrew followed by me. I think we are just going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. It needs to be done and why not do it now. We are never going to learn unless we try and maybe this weekend is the time for Experiment #1. Wish us luck! Will keep you posted on how it turned out.