Even the Chicken Salesman Tries to use Mom Guilt Against Us!

I was standing outside my house with Ernest, waiting for Marshall to come home. When a car driving by pulls over to the side of the road and makes a u-turn practically into my driveway. The side of the var (a car van) says Butcher’s Cut. He asks me if we ever eat steak. Good opener.  I suppose a few people could say no, but not many. Now my rule with door to door sales is to tell them to come back and talk to my husband if they even want a chance at selling their product. He will listen, ask questions and level-headedly decide if he wants to purchase (he also has a soft spot for door-to-door sales because he has done it-but don’t tell him I said so (and this wasn’t really door-to-door sales because the drive into my driveway)). I always just say no.

But to be honest, I was thinking about buying steaks for a dinner next week. So someone bringing my groceries to my house sounded like a good idea. So I said, ‘Yes.’ And that my friends is where it all began.

He got out of the var and started showing me the steaks and used his first sales tactic; they are so cheap, you can’t get this price at the store. I wanted 4 steaks. About 1 minute into him talking I realize he wants to sell me 38 lbs of steak. And as I am getting hesitant about this whole thing he decides to start pulling out the chicken that also comes with ‘the deal.’ 18 lbs of it.

My first excuse was probably not the best response as you will see. ‘I don’t think I have enough room to even put those in my freezer.’ He then said, ‘Let me see your freezer and I can tell you.’ Now at this point I feel like it is important to remember that I thought my husband would be home any second. He kind of loves talking to salesman so it was going to be a special surprise for him if I could keep these guys around a little longer. Another bonus: I have started feeling more comfortable in my ability to keep my boundaries strong around salesmen so engaging has become much less stressful and more enjoyable for myself. I guess my husband really is rubbing off on me. So with that in mind I said ok.

In we went. I opened my freezer and he said oh yeah we can fit them in. He moves a few items to show me how much room I really do have while I turn my attention to the other guy who is now using his second tactic; this beef is all natural, grass fed, free range, the best beef out there. And the chicken? No hormones, no antibiotics, all natural.

I’ll admit I am still a little intrigued by the offer. I would love to have that much meat stocked up. But I am still hesitant. It is a lot of money and a lot of space. And to make matters worse for them I am a slow decision maker.  I think this is when they went from thinking this would be a quick and easy sale at 4:30 in the afternoon to pure annoyance with me (by the way being annoyed with a customer does not help get you the sale…just sayin). This is when I realized that he had unloaded 18 lbs of individually wrapped chicken INTO my freezer. What? I have not in any way shape or from committed to the purchase. This was their third tactic; if the chicken is in the fridge because she thinks that we thought she wanted it she will feel bad and have to buy it. In reality my first thought was, ‘I am so not buying that because you just put that in my freezer.’

So this is when I got a little more serious and starting really learning about the product. I started asking questions, reading labels and ingredient lists, calculating how much per pound, etc. This is also when I found out my husband would be a little later. Everything wasn’t quite adding up. Here is one example:

Salesman: They are all natural.

Me: Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. Any food can put that on their label and it doesn’t mean anything other than that they decided to print it on their label.

Salesman: Well for us it means this…..

Hmm…nice try. By law it doesn’t have to mean anything, so I wasn’t about to just take their word for it. Why would a company do that? If it wasn’t on the label I didn’t believe it. Which meant the chicken wasn’t antibiotic free and the beef wasn’t grass fed (to just name a few). The chicken was seasoned and a couple of the varieties contained food allergies for Ernest. That was a big turn off. I don’t like buying food he can’t eat even if he is a baby. I like him to eat what we are eating.

I finally I decide I just can’t do it. I really don’t want that much meat in my freezer. It was too much! Not to mention the falsified health claims, which I didn’t feel the need to bring up to them. But it didn’t seem to matter that I had decided not to buy based on space and price. All they wanted to sale me on was how healthy the chicken was. My favorite comment from them (and by favorite I really mean the one that almost made me turn into crazy psycho lady on them): This chicken is so healthy for you. If nothing else you need to buy this chicken for your son. You wouldn’t want to fill his body with toxins would you? Do it for him. He is worth it.

Um…really? You want to try and guilt me into buying this? Not just guilt, MOM guilt? I should have known…this was actually your second tactic involving guilt. Um…NO.

By this time there was no friendliness is their tone only condescendence and annoyance. Yep. And you are welcome to leave. And when I am in the market to buy steak and chicken in bulk I will NOT be calling your company. Thanks though. Oh and have a good day. And bless your poor children. That’s all. 

Sleeping

Does anything feel better than your baby falling asleep on you?  Especially when that baby NEVER falls asleep on you?

I think not.

Except for when your baby starts sleeping consistently through the night. That is also wonderful!

Lake Powell

That's right we are officially really cool and go to Lake Powell and stuff. But seriously we were lucky enough to be able to tag along on the Moss's family vacation to Lake Powell and we loved every second! I of course was super nervous about Ernest being able to sleep with the heat, but to everyone's dismay my prayers were answered and it was much cooler than normal. I loved it but others were missing the heat that drives them into the water. Ernest slept like a champ and actually dropped his last early morning feeding while in Lake Powell so he is officially sleeping 12 hours straight and I am one happy mama. Here are a few of the pictures from the trip, hopefully with captions...we'll see how I do!

 Ernest discovered his love for driving and steering wheels. So cute! And I have no idea how he knows driving is fun and cool, but he sure does! He also loved the steering wheel of the car and was super happy when I let him 'drive' in the parking lot at the end of our trip.

 Grandpa Ken cuddling Clara. He is such a great Grandpa.

 Somehow Ernest still fits in his bumbo at almost a year, so that is what he ate in while there!

 Marshall and his best friend Morgan. They were happy to have so much time together!

 The amazing woman of the trip. Kendra gets all the credit for some amazing meals while there and Heidi is probably the most helpful and on top of it Mom I know.

 Ernest's first time in the water. He was LOVING it!

Diaper and all. I was horrible at predicting when he would need a wet diaper and when he wouldn't. Good news we had no accidents so I guess it is all ok.

 Haley and Abigail! The best of friends and cousins!

 Look at that face! Pure Joy!

 Clara swimming.

 Clara jumping from one tube to the next. That girl is crazy fun!

 Clara wrote her name in sticks! So cute!

Awesome hat right? He tolerates it as long as he is in water.

 Love these two boys.

 Family tubing ride. Ernest wasn't really sure what to think.

 So cheesy.

 Heidi and 'the girls'

 Haley was so adventurous in the water. Love that girl.

 Marshall snapped a few shots of the scenery. Not to shabby.

 Brianna, Jen, and Brian. They were a lot fun!

Our only picture together.

The girls loved him and he loved the girls. He got way too much attention and there is something about little girls that he is just mesmerized with. I can't blame they are dang cute!

 Marshall getting up!

 Marshall getting down. hehe

Nice jump!

Air chairing!

Ernest 7-10 Months

This kid is the highlight of our day! His smiles are abundant and his sounds are contagious! I'm just not sure what I would do all day without him! 

Let's start off with an update about his ezcema. He still has flare ups sometimes, but it is no where close to what it was before. We are still learning his triggers and I am beginning to think that what causes him hives is very different than what flares up his ezcema. This is what I have learned in the least three months: it wasn't a yeast infection and it seems that all the improvement actually came from the cod liver oil. Who knew? I am able to eat anything and it doesn't effect his skin but he is currently avoiding dairy and wheat as the big triggers and we are thinking oats, peppers, and coconut may be triggers as well. That's right folks, that coconut oil that I was lathering on him morning and night was actually hurting him. Awesome! We now use olive oil and he is handling that much better. Along with the oil and probiotic we've also started supplementing with Vit D as there have been studies to show ezcema improvement with increased Vit D levels. 

He doesn't scratch nearly as much...but every now and again we will catch him scratching. He usually does it when he is in his car seat, which is super inconvenient. You try steering, shifting, and reaching back to hold his hands...all while not crashing. It seems that when he gets bored or upset his goes right to scratching behind his ears. He has drawn blood a few times, but again nothing like it was before! 

When Ernest was about 9 months old we decided to do some sleep training again. He was still falling asleep easily but waking frequently at night. We did CIO for one night until 2am and then I fed him. He woke up maybe twice and cried for about 10-15 minutes, and by cry I mean whine or grunt. He never did full on cry. That's all it took. After that one night he has slept till at least 2am every night. And is starting to make it to 4 or 5 am. Honestly though, I am completely fine with once a night wakings! That is so doable, especially with how often he was waking when his skin was especially bad. 

Around 8 months he dropped his third nap. After a short adjustment period of an early bedtime, we have been able to get a good 4 hours of fun in the afternoon with him! It has really allowed us some freedom in our activities with him! We have gone to the splash pad in Springville a few times, and play dates are much easier to coordinate, now at ten months he will randomly skip his morning nap at times. It throws off my routine but is probably good for me to have some practice with only one nap days.

Around 8ish months Ernest got two front teeth on the bottom. He was a little whiny and got a runny nose but all in all he handled it like a champ. In other good news he has not taken to biting while nursing and I'm hoping that phase just skips some babies. When it does happen I do not think it is on purpose so I just pop him off and ignore it.

It was also around 8 1/2 months that he started crawling! I thought it would take him longer but once he was able to do his thing unswaddled on the floor he began planking, and doing push-ups, and all sorts of stuff! He finally got it though and is crawling all over the place. Crawling + summer + shorts = flare ups on his knees and legs. I do my best to keep them covered or have him crawl on soft surfaces but at the end of the day his knees are often flared up. Oh well. I think I have finally come to terms with the fact that it may always be something we deal with and I may not have a cure to make it go completely away. A little before 10 months he began standing up while supporting himself on different objects. He has let go once or twice and slowly let himself sit down without falling. We feel like he'll walk soon since he has been standing, jumping, and walking with help since day one!

He is loving food! And the kid would try anything I give him...if only I could give him dairy and wheat. His diet mostly consists of fruit, some veggies, and beans. He eats applesauce, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, pears,  prune juice, watermelon, and kidney beans on a regular basis. He has kinda lost his appetite for avocado, sweet potatoes, and carrots...but I try to sneak them in on occasion. His also tried chicken, chili, and a few other meals that I have prepared including chicken fiesta, chipotle chicken, and any other little things I can just give him that we are eating. Baby led weaning really is awesome because they learn to eat what you are already eating! I wish we could give him everything! I'm just praying he out grows his food allergies or that he can be treated!

Right now he loves water! He gets so excited when he sees me getting bath time ready! He loves funny voices and I now know why parents are perfectly ok looking and sounding like idiots. Anything to see a smile and hear a laugh right? He is also responding more to being tickled. His legs, and sometimes I can tickle his neck with kisses and he will laugh. So cute! He loves riding on Marshall's shoulders and playing with his hair. He loves songs and will break out in a huge grin when we start singing popcorn popping or take me out to the ball game. For some reason we sang those a lot to him when he was younger and he still enjoys them. He also makes lots of noises and I think sings along with us! He continues to love people and it really feels like he remembers people between visits. So many of our friends and family tell us how special they feel to have such a special relationship with Ernest. I never have the heart to tell them he has a special relationship with lots of people. Besides just because you have a special relationship with a lot of people, it doesn't make any one relationship less special right? He is just a people person and connects easily with others. Which we love to see!

Pictures coming soon!

MIssouri in March

In March we were fortunate enough to find great deals on airfare to Missouri to be present for Millie's (our niece) baptism and birthday weekend. This was the first time Ernest had spent the weekend away from home (we have been so busy working on the house we haven't been able to go anywhere on the weekends) and of course we went all out and flew him to another state! I think he did really well. We already knew, but really realized that weekend how much Ernest loves people and especially likes to people watch. And he didn't know what to do with all the attention he got from his cousins. Marshall's Mom (Ellen) and his sister Liz came with us, and of course Amanda (our niece) who is going to school at Weber State came along for the ride. Although to be honest, you may not think they were even there when you see the pictures. I am still getting use to this camera thing. So the pictures really don't do a good job of highlighting our adventures traveling, but I guess I was just trying to get some good pictures of all the nieces and nephews!

We got in late Friday night. Saturday we spent the morning at the Davies home. I couldn't even tell you what we did all morning and early afternoon, but the times flies when we are with the Paxson side. We tend to hangout, talk, eat, and just enjoy each others company. I love it. That afternoon George treated us to Ryan's. One of the buffet restaurants out there. Ernest was taking a much needed nap so Marshall and I took turns eating with everyone else. Then we headed to the church for the baptism. I think Millie got to pick the whole program and it was wonderful! It was just the family and the bishop and it felt so cozy! Then we headed back for the night.

Sunday we went to church, ate good food, and spent some good quality time together. Once again, I can't really tell you what we did but it went by way too fast. Then Monday we got up and made our way home. Ernest was such a champ on the flights too! He slept for 3 of them and was awake for the very last one that was only an hour long. When we finally got home Monday night, he was exhausted and went right to sleep.

Well, here are the pictures we took! Enjoy!