Divine Direction: 5th Month

Well, I am a little late on my monthly update. So much has happened in the past month. First of all, Rylen is growing like a weed! If any of you saw him last month, well, he's tons different now. So alert and trying out his vocals. When he starts talking, he is not going to stop!

For Thanksgiving, Rylen took his first plane ride to Indiana to see my side of the family. He did amazingly well on the trip down... too good... It was like clockwork with hardly a peep as he slept from mid-flight feed to pulling up to the gate. We were so relieved.

We then spent 12 days in Indiana with the weather getting down into the 30s and then up in the 70s. Sure brought back tons of memories. Rylen was truely spoiled and so was I!

Grand-mommy (my mom) got him when he woke up every morning at 8:30a and fed him his bottle and then put him back down for his nap! I didn't have to get up until 10:30 every morning and then was able to take a spa bath! In the meantime, Robby got to watch his Aggies win on a theatre sized high-def tv. Ah the life!

Well, while we were at home, Granny Helen fed him his bottles and we just got to get much needed relaxing.

We visited the Clark side of the family in Louisville, KY on Thanksgiving so Rylen could see his great-granddaddy and great-grandmother. He is the first great-grandchild on that side, so it was quite an event.

Robby and I also took Rylen to see my friend Jennifer Sterrett and her family. Rylen was definitely stimulated by her 4 kids and all the attention. We came home the monday following thanksgiving and Rylen did a little worse on the flight. We had a two hour layover so the flight hit his bedtime and he is not always an easy one to get to sleep. He likes to "sing" himself to sleep with noises. So, that was interesting for the few minutes of his grunts. Then he was out and didn't wake up until 8:30 the next morning. Such a great sleeper!

Since we've been back Rylen has grown tired of being on his back and wants to sit all the time. The only problem is that he can't do it on his own yet. So, I have to get down with him to play a lot. That isn't a bad thing, I just don't get a lot of work done! He has attempted rolling from back to front and is nearly there. He has this awkward backbend going on and just won't make the full flip.

Rylen has also hit the 15lb mark, is about 24.5 inches long and does not cease to have a smile on his face. Sometimes I'm afraid I'll just squeeze him too hard lovin' on him :) I'm sure all you moms understand that one!

As for me, I am trekin' along. I do have to say that I feel better than i did two months ago and seem to be slowly progressing in a positive direction. Robby and I have been totally vegan for almost 2 months now (except for thanksgiving day.. we said anything goes and boy did we eat a lot of desserts!) We are really enjoying the change and the food, though it is definitely harder to eat out. I have slacked a little and taken an ibuprofen here and there to alleviate the elevated pains from stress, especially from traveling, and it has helped. I have good days where i can acutally lift Rylen above my head and then i have bad days that at this point, are still not as bad as the days i had two months ago. So, i see the positive and Rylen is only getting heavier. Please continue to pray for this. My rheumatologist is not very supportive. She basically gave me another 3 months off my medication saying that i will be back on it before then anyway. I so want to prove her wrong! Why must they always be so negative about finding a more natural cure. I would still need her for check-ups and watching my joints. Well, I know that God has a plan in all of this and I pray that it is through natural healing. He has already done so much.

Robby, my wonderful husband who has supported me through all of the mood and financial stresses of this disease, has stayed firm to this diet and should be breaking the 200lb mark this monday! I am so proud of him. Our family is becoming healthy and more "granola" every day! ...and it all started with a pregnancy... amazing what happens to you when you put all of your focus on the well-being of another life.

Well, i am so sorry that this is so long. I have so much more i could say, but i don't want to bore you all with the details. I hope you all aren't offended at Rylen's Christmas pictures. I figured every little baby needs a naked picture to fend off bad girlfriends...haha... hopefully he won't need therapy! :) I also had fun trying on my wedding dress again and it fit! 5 months after a baby and I weigh less than i did on my wedding day! Crazy!