Note to self..

ALWAYS put vinegar in the water when making hard boiled eggs.. More on this later..

Growing baby

It's all known that Alex is a big boy. He had his 2 month appointment today. Poor baby had to get his shots :-( Now, James and I have been aware that Alex does weigh quite a bit. We know that he is heavy but he also pretty long too. So we got his official weight and length at his appointment and this boy is 17 lbs 7 oz and 25.25 inches long! He is in the 97th percentile for length but he is certainly off the charts for weight! Doctors expect babies to double their birth weight by 6 months, but it looks like Alex is going to attain that by his 3rd month! I asked the doctor if I should be concerned and she said no since all I've been doing is breastfeeding. And of course, breastfeeding is the best thing for both mom and the baby. To give you an idea of where he stands on the chart, here it is for boys (yes, it's different for boys and girls):


Looks like I need to go shopping for more clothes. He's growing so fast! So tonight, I'm making chicken enchiladas and here is my recipe:

1-1.5 pounds of chicken (breast or thigh)
4 cups of chicken broth
1 tsp of Chili Powder
2 tsp of black pepper
2 tsp of garlic powder
2 cans of enchilada sauce
1 can of diced Mexican tomatoes
1/4 cup of diced spicy peppers of your choice
1 small chopped green bell pepper
1 cup of Mexican shredded cheese
8 corn or 5 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put the chicken broth in a saucepan, add the black pepper and garlic powder. Add the chicken into the broth mixture and bring to a boil. Leave chicken till it is cooked thoroughly. Drain the broth, then shred the chicken.

In a saucepan, combine the shredded chicken, chopped bell pepper, chili powder, diced spicy peppers and diced Mexican tomatoes. Add 1.5 cans of enchilada sauce and 3/4 cups of cheese and cook over medium heat till sauce thickens.

Put the mix into the tortillas and roll them into a light greased casserole dish, laying the enchiladas side by side. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over all the rolled enchiladas. Put the dish into the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Take the dish out of the oven and add the rest of the cheese on top of enchiladas. Let the dish cook in the oven for another 5 minutes, then serve.

Tip: If using corn tortillas, use the microwave and a lightly damped paper towel to soften the enchiladas.

Keep the beat!

This kid is amazing! Just wanted to share. I'll post a blog about my dad's stay shortly.

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

New Mexico.. Here we come!

So Southwest had an AWESOME deal going on today where the Wanna Go fares were half off to Albuquerque! I guess they are trying to push folks to fly out to New Mexico. I couldn't believe it! Now, we have always flown Southwest because Hobby Airport is only 15 minutes from our house and my dad gets great Southwest specials. I've been wanting to buy the tickets on our own, and had been looking for cheap tickets for awhile. I signed up for DING by Southwest which have daily cheap ticket rates, but not always from Houston to Albuquerque. Since they had this special today, I saved $50 compared to DING rates! So it's official! Alex and I are off to New Mexico! We'll be flying out May 28th and will return June 8th. I'm so excited! I can't wait! I just wish James could come with us, but due to his crazy shuttle schedule, he'll be working his butt off. There is a shuttle launch schedule May 11th to repair the Hubble telescope and there is another launch date set for June 13th which James is responsible engineer for his group. So much going on, I can't keep up! Anyway, I can't wait for green chile and the Sandia Mountains.

Fun Foto Friday!

Accessories for my kitchen

I have an ever expanding cookbook collection mainly because I have great friends that find these and think of me. I want to buy more and try out new things. I use to get the "Cooking for 2" magazine and make a lot of things from there. Many of which James keeps asking for over and over. Well, for my birthday, I asked my adoring husband for a cast iron skillet to add to my kitchen because no cook can be without one. Now, I see something I MUST have. I first saw Alton Brown on Good Eats use it and now I want it!!! Check it out! I found it on ThinkGeek.

Comparison

Just wanted to post this real quick. This is a baby picture of James on the left, and a picture of Alex when he was only 3 days old on the right. Can you tell he looks just like his daddy??

Dancing!

This season, the husband and I got addicted to Dancing With the Stars. I don't know about you but I LOVE watching competitive dancing. I use to dance/cheer when I was younger and was in musical theatre in high school, so watching choreography like this gets me really excited and pumped up! What's even more exciting is that James (the husband) gets excited and into it too!

The dancing on the show is amazing and I'm so jealous of the talent on there. However, watching all of that just makes me want to dance even more. When I first met James, we hit it off right away. I mean RIGHT away (insert giggle here). Upon meeting him, I was talking to a mutual friend and the first thing he said to me about James was "He's a great dancer!" Well, I immediately told James what I had heard about him and he just laughs. My husband loves to swing dance and two step. He would go to the weekly swing dances at his school and from what I understand, the girls would love to dance with him. After we started dating, we use to go to a country bar and dance a lot. Now, I thought I was a decent dancer, but my dancing is small potatoes compared to my groom. I would be as lost as Cloris from Dancing with the Stars.


James and I are always thinking of things to do together. In truth, that's what keeps you connected with your partner. Being able to share things, whether physical or not. James would watch the shows I want to watch and I would go do the activities that he would want to do. He's introduced me to a new world of hobbies I never thought I would pick up such as rock climbing! And he never thought he would learn as much about fashion from TV (like from America's Next Top Model). One true passion that comes from both of our unique backgrounds is dancing. We both love to dance. So a new adventure we hope to embark on soon is taking some serious dance lessons! And maybe someday, we'll look like this...

Hiccups Remedy??

So yesterday, after great fun at the Scrapbook Junkie and even greater fun driving through flooded streets *grumble*, James and I were laughing with each other and I ended up with the hiccups. Now I don't know anyone that doesn't like having the hiccups. When my poor baby boy gets the hiccups, I feel bad for him because it takes over his entire body. Anyway, I asked James to get me a glass of water and he asked why. I told him that I was going to drink from the far side of the glass in order to get rid of the hiccups. He didn't believe that it would work. If you don't already know, hiccups are basically a spasm of the diaphragm. Depending on how extreme the hiccups are, there are some simple remedies that can cure hiccups.

According to Health911, something sweet or something tart will work.

This just reminds me of the Mary Poppins song. I've tried it once, but it didn't really work for me.

Another common remedy is simply holding your breath.

But how do we know how long to hold it for? And personally, I can't hold my breath if I'm hiccuping. It just makes me laugh.

A funny remedy that just makes me laugh even more is the scare/surprise tactic.

I thought this would work, but when you're expecting it, it never works. I've never been able to be surprised like that.

SO, my home remedy has ALWAYS been drinking from the far side of the glass. And for the record, if my hiccups aren't too bad, it ALWAYS works. So I highly recommend it in the future.

Late Night

So unfortunately my daddy won't be coming this weekend. There was a change in his plans, but he does hope to come out soon. Either way, we'll be here waiting for him :-) I talked about bottle feeding Alex in a previous blog post, and I mentioned that I was worried. Well, my mom had bought us these great Playtex Bottles.


It has been successful! James was able to feed Alex without problems. I was worried about nipple confusion which was a moot worry. Alex has been doing great with it and James has been so helpful in willing to bottle feed Alex when I need a break or when I need to catch up on housework. James also loves it because like any man, this is also a great time for them to bond.

Space Node 3

On Wednesday, NASA officially named Space Node 3 "Tranquility." Which is in honor of Apollo 11. That part is understandable. What is not understandable is why NASA had a poll going on to figure out WHAT to name Space Node 3. Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report on Comedy Central asked his fans to write his name as a suggestion for Space Node 3. In reality, his name got the most votes! The second was the name "Serenity" which was an option that NASA posted itself. Well, Sunita Williamson announced the official name on the Colbert Report however, to honor Stephen Colbert's dedication, they decided to name the new treadmill after him. Here is the badge that they're going to put on the treadmill.


On a side note, James was named responsible engineer for his team (Thermal Analysis) for the STS 127 which is set to launch June 13th. How exciting! I'm so proud!

Daddy's Girl

When Alex was born, my dad couldn't really be around him because he was sick with the flu. Ever since James and I have been married, my dad has been asking when we're going to have children and now that we have, he is so excited. It was a bit sad that he couldn't spend any time with Alex right when he was born, but now my dad is flying in tomorrow to see him! I'm very excited! My dad was in the army and he is all about the army pride. Before Alex was born, he even bought him an Army teddy bear. That is how he met my mother in Korea. He is a wonderful man with a giving heart and he is even happy with being called Hadabogee, which means Grandpa in Korean. When my dad found out that we were naming the baby Alexander, he immediately asked if he could call him Lex. And I told him of course, since it will be a special nickname that he will be called by my dad. I love my daddy and I can't wait for him to be here! Here is a picture of the men in my life. It was taken at Christmas. You can see where Alex gets his light eyes from. Starting from the left: James, My Dad, My brother Matt

Back on program

I am out of shape! Whew! I haven't had a decent workout since right before I got pregnant. I like going to the gym and just jumping on the elliptical and getting lost with my iPod. Well, I don't have a gym membership now, which is fine. I know plenty of people that got fit at home and that's what I hope to do. One thing I hope to invest in someday is the Wii Fit. But that involves buying a Wii first. As for right now, I'm sticking to running around the neighborhood and Comcast's ExerciseTV videos. With all the working out AND breastfeeding, maybe I'll get my prepregnant body back ;-)

Milk Donation

So we weighed Alexander two days ago and based on our home scale, we THINK he's about 16 pounds. He's in Step 2 diapers, but I plan on waiting for his next appointment before he's officially in Step 3. Did you know that you CANNOT buy Step 2 diapers in bulk? I've searched all of Walmart, Babies R Us and Sam's Club and there are not boxes of this stuff. Just as well, he's just a big boy.

I had my 6 week check up and talked to the midwives of getting Mirena. While I would love to have another child, I just want to wait a little while before we start again. So I have an appointment for it to be inserted in two weeks. Very exciting! No more pills! All the midwives were surprised of how BIG Alex is. And they were talking about how I'll be burning calories with all the breastfeeding I've been doing. In fact, to keep my milk supply up, I've signed up to donate my milk to the Mother's Milk Bank at Austin. I'm going to donate 150 oz and possibly continue bi weekly donations. Let's hope Alex slows down in growth or else we'll need to buy a convertible car seat soon!

Exhausted!

"Sleep when the baby sleeps" which is great advice. I can't say enough how important it is to have rest. I've been pretty tired and Alex can be a handful. I honestly DO NOT know how some women do it. I've never been a woman that has been depressed. I usually find content in almost every situation, but when you have a crying baby, it's REALLY hard to feel happy at all. Especially when you don't know why that baby is crying. I broke down in tears a couple times because Alex would be fed/dry/burped and yet he would still be screaming. I didn't know what to do so I just started to cry myself. A lot of it had to do with how tired I am. I never thought I would be a power napper, but that's how life is for me right now. I sleep for 2-3 hours at a time, then there is feedings, changings, and burpings. One thing I love again.. COFFEE!!

James was especially sweet to me yesterday. He noticed how tired I was yesterday and let me take a much needed nap while he tended to Alex. Of course, he only brought him in when Alex wanted food. Which is fine.. We haven't introduced the bottle to Alex yet. I just cleaned and sterilized the ones we have now, so we may try to do that this week. I am REALLY nervous about it.. I don't want him to get nipple confusion, so I may just slowly introduce the bottle to him. My mom got us these really great bottles by Playtex which have the wide nipple that helps with breastfed babies. Anyway, remember to sleep when the baby sleeps!