Jude's Ear Infection(s) Remedy-- Its in the Milk

So I got on to post about something totally different and realized I never let you guys know how we solved Jude's ear infection problem!
In my last post I said how I was thinking it may be allergy related and about my "guilt" over losing our nursing relationship. Well, turns out it was a little of both!
Drew has a milk allergy, not lactose intolerant but it just makes him feel yuck and his sinuses will get congested.. this can lead to ear infections!! WHY DIDN'T I PUT 2 & 2 TOGETHER?
I digress...
A friend suggested milk as maybe being the culprit for Jude and suggested I google it. So I did. A month straight & 4 antibiotics later of ear infections & doctors talking about tubes I was willing to try anything!
Turns out a lot of babies have a milk allergy that leads to ear infections. The milk we drink today is so processed and the cows are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics its no wonder milk takes a toll on our bodies. While reading the articles I started thinking of how Drew doesn't handle milk well. It was worth a try to see if this was the culprit, afterall, Jude had just started whole milk a month ago when I had to give up nursing-- when the ear infections started! Coincidence?
So, we stopped all things dairy for a few days and guess what... his sinuses were clear and his ear infections were gone!! Hallelujah!
We have since reintroduced other forms of dairy like cheese and yogurt and those don't seem to bother him. For milk we substitute with Almond milk. Which we already had in our house because of Drew's allergy! It has been an easy transition! Jude isn't as crazy about the taste of the almond milk as he was mommas milk and whole milk but all is now well in the Barnwell home! We also started taking him to the chiropractor for adjustments just to make sure any fluid in his ears drains properly as an extra precaution. Our chiropractor also counsels us on proper nutrition-- which that is for another post :)
Its been 4 months now since his last ear infection (wow I didn't realize it had been that long!!). We recently saw our regular pediatrician for his 15 month checkup and he was astonished at how well Jude's ears looked! His response when we were leaving- "keep the milk away and keep going to the chiropractor!". Neither of these things were the doctors recommendation so it made me feel good that we had helped our baby on our own and that the doctor was so impressed with his recovery. I am so thankful for my FB friend Jessica for recommending I look into the milk culprit and my friend Jennie for suggesting we see a chiropractor! :) Yay for a healthy baby!

Now, a cute pic for your entertainment :) Post about our disney trip coming soon!

Life lately... Jude growing | Ear infections | Nursing | Cloth Diapers

So I haven't been bloggin much. Honestly, when I think of something I want to write about Im never in a position/ have the time/ to blog about it. So, I thought Id just share some recent happenings around the Barnwell house. Very random these will be. :)

Jude is growing so fast!

Shorty is finally getting tall enough to reach the door knobs. o.0

He's eating with a spoon and out of bowls and plates and drinking stricktly from straw cups!

Weve had an ear infection (our first one) for about 3 weeks now. I think for 2 reasons 1. our nursing relationship ended because my milk dried up with pregnancy so he's been drinking tons through a bottle and 2. i think he has allergies

We are on our 3rd round of antibiotics :( and had to toss all the bottles.

Also,  Ive started hand expressing some milk (my body has started making for baby #2) to give to Jude on occasion, in the hopes that it will help his immune system. 

I find myself spending a lot of time sad about losing our nursing relationship. I should have fought harder for it to last. I don't feel "guilty" so to speak, I just miss it. The WHO recommends bfeeding to atleast 2 years of age (and beyond) and we didn't make it but 10 months so I know there are many more health benefits he could have had. Im not beating myself up about it. Just writing that on here to hopefully help anyone else going through the same thing!

I plan to pump for him and putting it in a cup when Liam arrives. I don't want to pump while pregnant just because I don't want to cause any premature labor (would be different if I was already pumping and my body was use to it). But hand expressing some on occasion I don't think will be a big deal.

Cloth Diapers!

We have decided that with 2 babies about to be in diapers we should try our hand at cloth diapering! I mean, the worst part about it (besides increased laundry loads), is poop & lets be honest, the boy already gets poop on his clothes and we have to wash that! why not was diapers too! Ive been doing lots of research on cloth diapers over the past week or so. You would not believe how many options there are! Its quite overwhelming!

Some cool things about it:

Its good for the environment

Its better on babes bum

It promotes early potty training! :D

It saves $$$$

and the list goes on!

I ordered several different samples to try out to see which we like before I order a lot of one kind. These are bumgenius and sunbaby. Ive also got an alva on the way. Ive chosen to go with pockets & inserts just because it seemed the easiest in my mind.

Oh and we bought some Charlie soap to wash them in! Thanks to those who recommended it! :)

Wish us luck in this endeavor! ;)

Liam Jackson | Its a boy! | Nursery | Pregnancy today

We found out the baby is a BOY! :D (Can't believe I haven't posted this yet!)

LIAM JACKSON BARNWELL!!!!!!! {due around October 15, 2013}

Jude got to announce the news to everyone :)

I must say, initially I hoped for a girl since we already had a boy, but the moment I saw that ultrasound and heard "it's another boy!" I no longer cared! I am just so beyond thrilled! Just as thrilled as I was to hear Jude was a boy. Thinking about 2 little babies lovin' on their momma like Jude does now just melts my heart! And I can't wait to see him and Jude playing together. It is going to be the sweetest thing my eyes have seen.

So, the fun part. Getting ready for Liam :)

We went to Ikea this past Saturday. Yes, Drew & I had a DATE by ourselves! :D That was perhaps the best part... spending a full day hanging out together (although we did miss jude by that evening). It was such a special time.

Anywho, the reason we went was to finish getting the things we need for Liams nursery. We are doing a similar (using some of the same peices) but totally different look to Judes. We are doing grey walls, white crib, greyish brown dresser, brown glider that is in Judes room, white bookshelf with greyish brown baskets, and the same sheets jude has since he has several of them. We figured why buy new? Also, we are taking the bedskirt from Judes room and putting it on Liams crib because with the way judes crib is made you literally can't even see the skirt on it. So basically we are doing light grey/white/brown nursery with baby blue accents and I want to add simple zoo animals in neutral colors too. We got him a grey pillow with elephants on it and I want to get him a girrafe of some kind for the room.

I want to order him this print from Etsy as well: 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/127298282/sale-abc-giraffe-typography-8x10-gray?ref=usr_faveitems

& some other similar things! So cute!

I promise to have pics as soon as we get to work putting it all in his room! It will make much more sense then! haha! 

Here is where I got lots of my inspiration:

http://pinterest.com/pin/54746951692843935/

Things I look forward to about having a newborn baby again:

-going into labor (didn't get to do this on my own last time)

-nursing agian (so miss jude doing this!)

-baby wearing/ snuggling/ cosleeping

-teaching Jude gentleness

-cloth diapering them both (hopefully! we just started trying this out. will do another post about that!)

-bringing another blessing into our home!

Current Pregnancy Symptoms (Im 19 weeks)

-increased amount of freckles on my arms.. didn't have this symptom with Jude

-LOTS of kicks! Liam's placenta is posterior (in the back) so I can feel him a whole lot more than I could Jude (his placenta was anterior, in the front)

-that's pretty much it right now! oh how I love the second trimester!!!

Jude's First Year Recap

Newborn & 3 Months

6 Months & 9 Months

1 Year!!

Jude is 1! Pics by mommy!

I cannot believe this was a year ago!!!

& look at him now!!!!!!

Jude's 1st Birthday PARTY!!!!

Since mommy was feeling quite under the weather the weeks leading up to your birthday party, it was quite the throw down I had planned it to be. I spent all this time pinning ideas to pinterest for months. Then your baby bro or sis decided that he/she needed to do lots of growing and I could hardly get off the couch to take care of you, much less be crafty! Next time mommy will order everything off the internet ;)

You didn't know though. You still enjoyed your party and thats all that matters. We got to celebrate YOU! We are so thankful that God brought you here to us. You are such a blessing to our family! Happy 1st birthday sweet boy!!!!

Birth Book | Week 12 (late posting... working on week 16 now) :)

Better late than never posting right? ;)

Ive got to make my personal blog more of a priority! Afterall, Im doing it for the kids when they get older! They are going to think their mommy was a lazy blogger or their life was boring! :P

16week page coming up as soon as I decide a picture for it!