Life with the Lin Family

Carter is 16 months now. This morning as I held him I was so overcome with emotion. I truly think the love that a parent feels for their child and the joy they bring is God’s greatest gift to us while we are here on earth. I am convinced it is the closest thing to heaven that we can experience down here. I was always told that the love for your child is instantaneous and unchanging, but I can say now from my experience as a mom that I do not believe that to be true. I think it can be different for every parent. I think for Jimmy that may have been the case. Their bond and his unsermontable love for his son was instantaneous. Carter came into this world with a whirlwind of emotions all which I had to filter thru a cesearean recovery and a good couple months of unexpected postpartum depression. I do not think I was able to truly fall in love with Carter until he was 2 months old. That was around the time the cloud of postpartum and exhaustion cleared and I felt my full sanity return. It was then I felt like I was in the swing of things and in front of me I had this beautiful little baby boy that I had prayed for for years to pour my love into.

Since that time, it seems everyday my love for my son has multiplied exponentially. Now that he is 16 months old I find myself so overwhelmed by how great my love is for him. He melts my heart countless times a day with his sweet, bright and affectionate personality. He loves to lay in bed with Jimmy and I so that he can make funny faces and raspberries. He knows they make us laugh and he wants to laugh with us. He loves to climb into my lap and rest his head against me so that we can cuddle. He loves to lift my shirt so that he can wave Hi and give Chloe a kiss. He loves to run to Daddy when he gets home for a hug and then walk him straight to the toys for playtime. I cherish our daily routine together and each minute I spend with him.

Yesterday as we laid in Mommy and Daddy’s bed for a nap together I felt a little sad because I wondered how many of those moments I will miss when I have a new baby to care for. I am so excited to experience the blessing of parenthood all over again and so thankful it will be with a daughter, but my heart worries that my time and bond with Carter will suffer, especially if I am having to function through postpartum again. I was recently talking to a friend who had 2 c-sections with her son and then her daughter and she was telling me how hard it was when the second baby was born because she was unable to pick up her 2 year old son after the surgery but her newborn daughter was light enough to hold. This was very hard for her son to understand and emotionally he suffered through the adjustment until she was recovered and he was used to the new baby. I had not even thought about that reality if I do wind up with another c-section and as she told me I just started to cry thinking of putting Carter through that. It is a very blessed time for me as a Mommy, but honestly a little scary as well. Of all the problems to have I realize it is a good one, so I will just continue to be prayerful that I would not have another C-section and that postpartum would not even be an issue this time around.

The pregnancy is going well. We had our anatomy ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything looked great! We are 23 weeks now. I just can not believe how fast it is flying by. It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant. Carter’s cousin Jaxon is due any week now! We can’t wait to see how Carter does with him, I think it will be good practice for him to have to share his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Tine and Uncle Tom. He has done great with Landon and loves him so I am sure he will be just as sweet with Jaxon.

We are so excited to say we are having a little girl this time! We both were certain that we wanted another boy and were scared to death of a girl but apparently we were wrong. I was so happy I cried :0) Jimmy was so happy it was just 1 that he cried too :0) No not really. He was very excited to be having a girl also. Daddy had her wedding in the budget spreadsheet by the next morning! Haha. My sister helped to jumpstart my girl frenzy with her first outfit, the most adorable little dress I have ever seen. It’s funny cuz when I was pregnant with Carter I was so irritated by the 1 rack of boring boy clothes in every store that had 50 racks of irresistable girl clothes. Now that I know we are having a girl I have yet to find a cute outfit to buy for her :0( 

OH, by the way SHE has a name :0) We have decided to name our daughter  CHLOE FAITH LIN! Don’t you love it? I have had the name Chloe Abigail picked out since I was 12 years old. But Jimmy loves the name Faith and offerred it up and I was happy to oblige and surrender the middle name. SO Carter and Chloe it will be! Two peas in a pod until the next one comes along :0) Jimmy says this is it, but with this winning streak of actually being able to get pregnant and without treatment, I think I’m gonna keep pushing for more :0) We will see how I manage 2 first I guess.

We just feel so blessed to be pregnant again and everyday we feel more and more blessed that now we get to experience a girl. Jimmy says the best part is that we can still tell Carter he is our favorite little boy in the whole world and mean it :0)

So our due date is still January 4th which puts us at 19 weeks today! Here is what Chloe’s ticker says…
I’m 6.5 inches from head to rump & 10.5 ounces; My hair is growing & my reproductive organs are developing! I’m 19 weeks old, only 147 days to go!

I LOVE the age and stage that Carter is at right now! He is the funnest person in the world to be around. The funny faces, new sounds and words bring something new to everyday. Jimmy hates going to work because he feels like he misses something new each day. SO we still have no “Mama” but here is a list of his first words in the order he said them.

“Dada”
“Hi”
“Ball”
Balloon or rather “Ba-oon”
“Duck”
“Uh-oh”
“Eye”
Thank You which sounds like “Dang oooo” :0)

It seems the words that he signs with be the last he says, call him lazy :0). He is still signing these words…

Please
More
Eat
Bottle
All done
Grandma
Kiss

We started time out a few weeks ago and he has been doing great. He is understanding boundaries and knows that his consequence is time out. Last week I laughed the hardest at him yet. He was standing by the table eyeing a “no touch” item. He touched it and I told him “Carter look at Mommy. That is no touch for Carter. If you touch again you will get a timeout.” He looked at me and then the item and then his timeout spot. He touched the item, turned around and before I could say a word walked to his timeout spot and slid himself down the wall to his bottom and put his head down. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could not hold it in, I burst out laughing and he laughed back at me. I guess to him it was worth the punishment that time.   

Life has been busy in our house. Jimmy is studying like crazy as always. I have been trying to get a business started out of the home making cakes. Here is my website if anyone wants to check it out… www.peaceofcake.9f.com Last week Jimmy got laringitis and Carter got croup while I was in the middle of 4 cakes that were due that week which was nuts. Thank God my parents and sister are here to help with Carter! I have been very nauseous with this pregnancy. Didn’t experience it like this with Carter so we are processing the idea that this could POSSIBLY be a girl. Everything has been going ok with the pregnancy otherwise though. As of now the due date is January 15th of next year.

Jimmy and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this weekend. We really enjoyed the alone time while Aunt Christine watched Carter for us. On our date Jimmy said to me, “I can’t believe we have only been married for five years! Doesn’t it seem like it’s been forever?” HAHAHAHA I guess it does considering we have been together for 12 years now. Twelve years, almost 2 kids, 2 states, 3 houses and countless blessings in between. I am so thankful to be married to this amazing man who is my soul mate and share this incredible life and family we have been blessed with together.

First of all Carter’s 1st birthday party was a blast. Jimmy’s family flew in for it and my Aunt Carol and Uncle Steven surprised us and showed up for it as well. Carter is so loved we had a very full house and he could have cared less what kind of cake he had or how many presents he got. He was just so happy to have everyone over :0) Here are a couple pictures of Carter enjoying his birthday cake.

SO not only is Carter a year old this week but God has given him an amazing birthday gift. In about 8 months Carter is going to be a BIG BROTHER! What took us 40 times with Carter only took us 1 try this time. We had been preparing ourselves for the long haul of infertility again so we are beyond shocked and amazed by God’s timing. Tomorrow we will be 5 weeks pregnant. We found out yesterday and took him to Grandma and Grandpa’s house so that he could tell them the big news. His shirt says I’m the big brother! Don’t they look devastated by the news?

Last week Carter started walking with his walk to ride who goes by the name of “Lion” in our house. It is the most adoreable thing to watch him wiggle and waddle as he pushes Lion everywhere. I am now a professional “chaser” and “turner”. I am expecting he will walking on his own within the next week or two at most.

Yesterday on the way home from church Jimmy and I were discussing how Carter is really started to come into his own personality. We originally recognized alot of Daddy’s laid back characteristics, but the older he is getting I am afraid I am seeing more of myself in him, yikes. Yesterday at church he did NOT want his diaper changed by one of the nursery workers and made sure that was known with a little temper tantrum followed by some dirty looks once the change was over. He had long been through crying when Jimmy went to pick him up but he made sure to give a few dramatic deep breaths as soon as he saw Daddy to emphasize how upset he had been.

At home I have been dabbling in a little discipline with him. He understands “No” from me and like to respond assertively with “DOH” when he hears it. Right now it’s cute, we will see how long that lasts. Oh man, we’re in trouble :0) Look at this face though…

Yesterday I went and met Landon Jacob for the first time. Darrel and Julie brought him home from the hospital on Wednesday night. He is another angel on earth, just perfect! It was very emotional. We have waited so many years for our son’s to play together and it so exciting that the time has finally come.

Jimmy has been out of town again this week and comes home tonight. We are very excited. I know Carter misses him just as much as me, because every night when it is near dark he turns towards the garage door, waves and says “Dada?” Jimmy sent him a video message on my phone last week. Several times a day Carter points at my phone and says “Dada”. As soon as it comes on he immediately smiles and points at Daddy. It is the cutest thing but a little sad for Jimmy. Thankfully the travel with this job is very minimal, he would have never lasted if he had kept contracting with his company in California.

I have to say I would not have lasted either. I have alot of respect for all of the single moms cuz it is so hard even for just 2 weeks. I also realize how wonderful it is to be married to the father of my child. There is such an added bond that exists between us because of our joint love for our son. I know our family and friends love Carter immensely, but the love that we share for him is on SUCH a deep level. I realize with Jimmy being gone I miss sharing in that with him. There have been several times that Carter will make a new noise, make a silly face, or react to a new discovery and I finding myself laughing or celebrating with him alone. I want Jimmy here to be in awe of him with me.

He is learning all the time and his current favorite pastimes are cruising around the living room, immitating noises and picking up every little speck of anything on the floor, who needs as vacuum when you have a cruiser!

Jimmy is out of town for work this week so Carter and I are on our own for Valentine’s Day. I wanted to give Jimmy something on this special day away from his family. So after I dropped him off at the airport on Sunday I went to the craft store to start my “project”. I have spent all of Carter’s naptimes since on making an oversize candy box for him. I finished it yesterday and Julie came over to get Carter to smile big for the camera. Here are the pictures I sent to Jimmy with his Valentine’s Day cards from Carter and I. Don’t worry I’m not spoiling the surprise. He rarely ever checks our blog.

Carter started crawling last Thursday while we were at Grandma and Granpa’s house. I am now officially living life on my toes. He is everywhere and everywhere FAST so now I really only have nap times to get online and post.

Last night Jimmy was back in the office studying and I said “Carter call Daddy!” And he turned towards the back hall and said “Da-da” as clear as day. It was the cutest little sound ever. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I asked him again to say Daddy and again “Da-da”. So sweet :0) It was so cute that I am not even mad that he didn’t say Momma first.

Since Carter’s birth I have tried to de-toxify our home one product at a time. It hasn’t always been cheap and it hasn’t been easy, but it has been rewarding to know in my gut I was doing what I felt was right for my family despite what the world around me was doing. It is very frustrating to have knowledge and read the research and studies that show the dangers and toxins of these common everyday products and then see them in the aisle of all the stores I shop at. I realize 90% of Moms don’t have the time or the patience to do the daunting research and sort through the legitament and not so legitament stuff on the internet. It is very easy to assume and trust that these big corporations who monopolize the baby care industry are selling safe products for our children. I also realize that some parents may be aware of the warnings out there and just feel they are over the top because they don’t come from conventional sources and the price and availability is greater than the risk is of harm. I was very encouraged when I opened my email this morning and saw this article from a very mainstream baby website…”Dangerous chemicals in Baby Products? Study raises red flag on baby powder, lotions, shampoo”.

More and more items are being offerred organic, paraben free, fragrance free and natural. I believe the green movement has been instrumental in this, but I also think society as a whole is starting to put 2 and 2 together. Statistics now show that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Childhood respiratory disease and adult infertility are at an all time high and the levels of pesticides found in human blood continue to increase drastically. It is very encouraging to me that maybe the demand for these clean products will put pressure on these companies to remove the nuerotoxins and chemicals found in their products.

Ok enough from the soapbox for now :0)

I know all kids get sick, but I have prided myself on providing my son with the best start I could offer him in building a strong immune system. When the time came that he did get sick I wanted his body to be able to fight so that I would not need to give him antibiotics or other meds. Breastfeeding was obviously a huge part of that, but also giving him all organic products, probiotics and being fairly germ conscious and avoiding sick people.

That being said Carter had 9 months to prepare for yesterday’s battle. He woke up yesterday morning with a fever of 102 degrees. He is such a content baby that I would not have known he was even sick if he hadn’t felt so warm. I took him to the pediatrician and he said he had infections in both ears. This made sense considering he had been pulling at his ears for a few days. The pediatrician said he needed an antibiotic to fight the infection, a regimen of Tylenol and Motrin to control his high fever and pedialyte to hydrate him. I listened and told the Dr. my usual “I need to research it first” answer which I know he expected. I have a pretty good relationship with his pediatrician. He knows my views on medication and vaccines and he knows his role in Carter’s healthcare is pretty much for diagnosis and check up purposes :0)

I knew what my Mommy instincts were telling me but I needed to get home to the computer to do the research to confirm it. Before the skeptics label me a neglectful Mom I will add that I did stop and buy the Tylenol and Motrin in case I couldn’t control his fever naturally and I did take the written perscription in case things took a drastic turn over the weekend. After doing the research I came up with the following regimen…

For Fever:
prayer
belladonna 30c-homeopathic plant remedy
luke warm baths
Recharge electrolyte water-pedialyte is full of simple sugars which hinder the immune system

For Infection:
prayer
St. John’s Wort garlic mullein oil- I now swear by this herbal! Every Mom should have it in the medicine cabinet.
increased probiotics

For Drainage/Circulation:
prayer
chiropractic adjustment last night (his sacral was misaligned which aids in sinus and ear drainage)
sock therapy- pulls the red blood cells from the head to the feet to promote circulation
lymphnode massages- behind lobes, down neck and along collar bone
homemade saline nasal rinse- water, baking soda and non-iodized salt
 
For Pain:
prayer
Warm compresses against ears

By early evening he was really starting to scare me. His fever was spiking at over 103 and he was completely lathargic. When I would undress him to put him in the bath he would tremble all over and scream. I admit I got very close to giving him the Tylenol, but followed my gut. It was a long night of therapies and baths and nursing and ear drops but at 6am his fever was completely broken and with NO MEDS!!! I was beyond thrilled. The pediatrician said it could take days to get his high fever under control with the meds and in 1 day it was under control with no meds! He woke up for the day at 9:30 and he has been 1 million percent better! Playful and happy and hasn’t reached for his ears once. His temps have been at or just below 98.6 all day. How awesome is that?!

I am on a “natural baby care high”. It is such an empowering feeling to be able to aid my seemingly helpless little baby in healing himself naturally. His body with help from above healed itself just like God created it to do. During my research I found a book called “No more Amoxicilin” that I have ordered. I am looking forward to reading it. I am truly inspired.

Ok, so I know a ridiculous amount of time has passed since I have checked in. What can I say? Ok nothing you’re right so I won’t make excuses I will just try to do better.

Everything has been very well in the Lin household. Carter is still an amazing, wonderful, fantastic little addition! Everyday he brings more joy than the last. I know blah, blah, blah, but I really mean it. We can take him anywhere and we do take him everywhere with us. He is such a mild-tempered and easy going baby and we are so blessed!

Here’s a quick catch up…

November: We took Carter for his first trip down to California. He did amazing! Not a single peep on the flight there or back. He got to meet all of his family and our friends and even his 1 week old cousin Jeffrey. He met over 50 new faces on that trip and every single person was greeted with a smile. It was alot of fun. The day after we got home he sat up alone. The following day he stood for the first time holding onto the ottoman. We found out at the end of November that Darrel and Julie were selected by a birth mom and would be bringing home Carter a new friend at the end of February. God is so good!

December: December was a very exciting time. Carter got his first tooth (now he has 8!), saw his first snow, touched his first Christmas tree and got his first gift from Santa. It was very neat for the whole family to finally have a baby here for the holidays. We also had our in laws in for Christmas so Carter was able to share his first Christmas with his big cousin Alex and baby cousin Jeffrey. Grandpa also taught Carter how to wave “hello” this month.

January: This month Carter has been rolling from one side of the room to the other. His favorite means of transportation though is holding onto any willing participants fingers so the he can do laps around the room. Everyone still agrees it looks as though he will be skipping the crawling and going straight to walking. Grandma says it’s because he is always in someones arms and never down long enough to learn to crawl, oops :0) This month we also found out that Carter will be getting a new baby cousin this September thanks to Aunt Christine and Uncle Tom! We are all very excited! Just another wonderful piece to the Idaho puzzle that has come together so perfectly :0)