MAJOR CUTENESS

What a year this has been! It seems like our family has been through it all! We are still of course, going strong. The kids are happy and healthy and things are rolling along more normally. BUSY year? That's an understatement. With the birth of Ezrah last year, jason working turn around, then working in Canada for nearly 6 months, coming home (finally) and then my friend and I started a cloth diapering business... I guess you can say we have been a "little" busy:-) Ezrah just turned 1.... wait, what? did he really just turn 1? I cannot believe it's been an entire year since his birth. He is walking, and talking. He is our demanding yet extremely sweet kid. Love him like a crazy coconut! Jeddi just had his very first hair cut.... can you believe it? yes we finally did it, we cut the blonde locks of major cuteness. It was a hard decision and I was super anxious about cutting it myself since I am not exactly used to cutting boy hair his length into a cute modern style. What can I say though, it turned out WAY TO CUTE! Look below for pictures of him before his hair cut and after... but beware, there is some major cuteness and you don't want to fall off your chair;-) Cloth Diaper business? Say what? Yes this is true, and exciting at the same time. We have been working like hard mad woman to create this business and I think it's finally making steps towards success.... yea! Need cloth diapers? hint hint;-) We will be at the North West Washington fair this year.... so come check us out, okay not US, but the diapers! Really, we hope you can make it because it's going to be a lot of fun, and who doesn't like the fair? Jason has been back from Canada for several months now, and it's been a huge blessing. I have been pretty lonely while he was gone and being a single mom of 4 kiddo's isn't exactly the first thing I'd like to do. But we got through it. Jason is working with I.C.E out at BP Cherry Point. Great company and we've been very happy with it so far. Thank the Lord for that. Hanni and Kai are in school, well school is actually taking summer break here soon... so hopefully we can get some fun summer activities going! I need to catch up on SO MUCH more, but this is it for now. Sorry I'm so lazy about my blog, I really want to start doing it again, but busy momma equals not to busy blog haha PICTURES.... seriously.... MAJOR CUTENESS!

It's been a while

It seems I have forgotten about my little blog, life has been rolling busy and my time has been split into so many areas. It's already spring and that means summer is around the corner! Gardening, garage sales, spring cleaning! So much to do!
Pictures of my beautiful babes for now and more updates later!

Week 1 of curing my Mummy Tummy

Okay ladies... here is my 1 week update. First I have to start by saying that when I am done with this program, I will be BURNING this darn splint. I HATE IT. It's so very uncomfortable, especially if you try to sit in it. I really really hate it. BUT, It's doing it job, and for that I am thankful! So, this week I did 1,000 tupler exercises PER DAY (the program only calls for 500 BUT I figured I'd up it twice as fast, haha. I think it helped too) I also was VERY cautious on pulling in my belly to my spine throughout my normal daily activities, especially while lifting babies, or heavier items. I got in and out of bed properly as the program calls. I worn the splint almost 24 hours a day. I do take it off for a few hours at night time because i really cannot sit in this darn thing (it hurts) and I would like to relax for a few hours at night. I don't think it's made a huge difference in my results. This is such a HUGE dedication, seriously. I have been working my belly like a mad woman. I can tell it's going to take at least the 6 weeks to get a flat belly, possibly longer since my diastasis was quite large to start with. BUT, I'm willing to wait, and do this hard work. I really can't wait to have my flat belly back. Let time fly!
I measured my belly today, after 7 days of doing the tupler technique, strictly. And I am pretty happy with the result, and proud of myself for following through. Last week my belly measured 38 inches around (in the largest area) and NOW 7 days later it measures 36 inches around (in the largest area) I am THRILLED! 2 inches in 1 week? Who could ask for anything better? I'm hoping this progress keeps up, I guess we will see:-)
Here is a picture of me from just a few minutes ago, scroll up and see the difference between 2 inches. I am totally feel my muscles becoming tighter, and my "gap" closing. I went from a 3 finger widths gap to a 2 finger widths gap.. again, in 7 days! YAY. I hope next week proves more GOOD results because this is HARD WORK.

After 7 days. Down 2 inches! GOODBYE DIASTASIS

Closing My Mummy Tummy

After the birth of my 4th little kidlet I noticed that my baby belly did not go away. At my 6 week postpartum check up, I was stunned that my belly had not really changed much since the week after the birth of little Ezrah. I literally just thought that the more kids you have, the more poochy after belly you have, but thankfully that is far from the truth. I don't want to sound like a crappy infomercial here, but WOW I cannot talk highly enough of the program I have been doing, it's called "Tuppler Technique" I first found out about this program at my 6 week postpartum check up with my midwife, she told me at that point that I had a diastasis recti. A diastasis recti is when the deep muscles of the abdominal wall get weak, and separate. This is very common with woman who have children, especially more then 1. When I got checked to see if I did have a diastasis, I was shocked to find that I had a 4 finger width gap. No wonder my belly still looked flabby and fat haha. The program suggests using a Tuppler Splint along with some abdominal exercises that are pretty quick and simply. I ordered the Splint and the DVD. I started on it right away, BUT the splint is SO uncomfortable. I have to say, I was a BIG slacker in wearing it. I did however, do the exercises like it was a religion. My belly went from 38 inches around to 33 inches around:-) I was pretty darn happy. BUT just this past week I injured my abdominal muscles in an exercise called "Zumba Fitness" and I have now reopened my diastasis. This is such a huge fall back. I WAS warned about this. Until your diastasis is closed, it is recommended that you do not do strenuous exercising. Well, I certainly didn't listen, did I? I think the reason that my diastasis reopened was because I forgot to wear/bring my splint with me one night, and I was having so much "fun" that I did a few moves I should have stayed around from until my diastasis was closed. This is completely my fault, and now i'm sitting here writing this. WHY? Because I have to start over, because I need to be accountable, and because I want to let every momma know that you DO NOT have to live with a "pooch" after you have kid, you CAN have a flat belly again. And I plan to prove it!

I will be adding weekly updates on my status, along with pictures, and measurement of my diastasis. I am also loosing weight, and plan to stick with Zumba fitness throughout this journey, but I will not forget my splint, and I will not do certain exercises that increase my risk of reopening the gap, before it's closed! Here goes to day 1, starting tomorrow (August 30th 2011)

My reopened Diastasis (now to close it for GOOD)
37 inches around (largest part of my belly)

Oh sweet little Ezrah. As most of you know, Ezrah has been a really good baby for us. He's fairly happy (most of the time), he sleeps through the night, he smiles a lot, and isn't overly cranky for a newborn. So, this past week when he became very agitated, and fussy (constantly) I knew something wasn't right. I called my midwife, who thought maybe he was having a bout of Colic. So I tried to rest assure that, that was the only issue, however, I was seriously wrong. A few days went by, and his crying got worse, especially while nursing, and for at least a half hour after each feeding. It became so bad that one day he just stopped nursing all together, the poor thing wanted nothing to do with his nursey time. It was then that I started to panic a little because now he wasn't eating, and he didn't seem to care that he wasn't eating, in fact, he was happier not eating, he was sleeping better, and overall just happier. Obviously this was something to be VERY worried about. I called my midwife again, and she was pretty worried as well. We scheduled an appointment, but she didn't have testing available in her office so unfortunately I had to get referred to a typical Pediatric doctor. Thankfully they were able to see Ezrah right away, so off we went. Once I got into the office I immediately remembered WHY we see a Natural Path, and have a Midwife... this doctors office felt like a hospital prison, and I was ready to leave the second I entered those 2 front doors. The receptionist had to take our insurance information, which is completely underrated. The lady literally had her computer screen in front of her face the entire time she talked to me, it was like talking to the wall!
And I thought that was annoying, then came the male nurse, who obviously had no clue what he was doing. Now, if you a mommy, then you can relate to the "well" baby checks in a regular pediatric doctors office... now tell me, don't they weigh your baby with their clothes OFF? At least this is what my midwife does in order to get an accurate weight. Well this guy hadn't a clue because even after asking if I should take off Ezrah's clothes, he said "naw, we dont need to" Umm, okay mister, then how will we know what he weighs? When the bone head left the room I took it upon myself to weigh Ezrah naked, and it was then that I realized my little man had lost 5oz in just a day. When the Doctor came in I wanted to tell him of all the details about Ezrah, but instead he insisted that he knew what was wrong, and wanted to immediately prescribe a medication. I was NOT satisfied. I literally had to demand that he examine Ezrah in order to rule out all other issues. I think it's safe to say at this point that my blood was boiling. I kept telling myself "this is the last time I ever come here, ever again" Anyways.... as mad as I was, and as rude as everyone seemed, I was VERY HAPPY I brought him in for testing. It turns out that our little guy has a severe case of Acid Reflux:-( I felt terrible for not realizing this sooner. We ended up having to use a pharmaceutical medications to cure his reflux. I didn't really have a choice at this point. They told me it would take at least 24 hours to see good results and a change in Ezrah. I gave him his first dose the second we left the pharmacy. I drove home, he slept for about 4 hours, and then I gave him a second dose (as prescribed) well, it was then that I noticed a VERY notable change. He wanted to nurse, and he was HUNGRY... he nursed for the first time in a while without getting cranky, he was pain free! I was relieved. Apparently he really does have acid reflux. Now he is happy, and has gained his weight back, thankfully. He's doing well, and is a healthy 10lbs 1oz as of yesterday. Hopefully he will be able to discontinue the medication within 3-8 weeks, depending on how long it takes for him little tummy to heal. So, as much as I hate pharmaceutical medications, I do believe that sometimes, sometimes they are good, and necessary. I just wish Doctors didn't try and hand it out like candy to every baby who walks through their doors.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

I know, I'm a few weeks early, but I can't help it. For some reason I absolutely LOVE this time of year, and I love the 4th of July. No real reason, I just love it!
Unfortunately I wasn't able to capture a picture with Ezrah in it, the photo session ended early due to the fact that my camera stopped working, and would not focus... so, I've got to send it out to Nikon for a repair... so not fun!

Anyways, these are the few shots I got before my camera went bad. Enjoy. Oh, and yes, the one of Shiloh, by himself, that is just about the best picture EVER! lol

Birth Video of Ezrah Ezekiel Stark

IF YOU MISSED MY BIRTH STORY, PLEASE GO BACK A POST, IT WAS TRUELY AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. ENJOY!

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