Explanation

So last night I was afraid the Internet would die, so I quickly wrote down my thoughts! But now I want to explain. I have always been on the hunt for healthy food, that taste really good, and that has substance. Before I was married it was easy to eat healthy because I was only preparing for myself, and I often had oatmeal for dinner. But then I met Jamie. Jamie loves food, he comes from a place and culture that is very much invested in food (and not the healthiest I might add) So needless to say I have struggled since we have gotten married to make dinners for Jamie and I that satisfy the healthy aspect as well as the taste for Jamie.

So that brings me to the blog www.skinnytaste.com! I am in LOVE with this site. There are hundred of recipes that take real food and the women who write it, just lightens the recipe to make it better for you! And she does it in a way that doesn't compromise taste. There is everything from dinners, snacks, and even desserts ( and real dessert at that, like brownies and cupcakes, not just some fruit cup) The last two weeks, I have made every dinner from this site, and I have not even begun to scratch the surface of recipes. Every single ones has been a hit!! I have not, not liked one yet!! Another great feature is that if you are on WW she breaks down the points so you know exactly the how much are in each recipe.

Here are some samples of what we have

Beef Empanadas
Chicken Divian (Chicken broccoli and cheese casserole)
Shrimp, zucchini pasta in a tomato sauce
Shepard's pie
Mac & Cheese

These are just a few to show that it is really good food, just lightend up. For a slimmer waist line!!

New Fav

www.skinnytaste.com Enough said, look it up it is AMAZING!! My Favorite new thing!

All is well... At least for now

Yesterday Julian and I waited 2 hours in the local hospital to spend 20 min with the specialist. He checked julians head and confirmed that julian does have a metatopic ridge. His sutcher are close together and his soft spot is small, however they are not fused or closed completely. So what does this mean? It means that julian does not need any surgery or helmet therapy, YEAH!! We will however be going back in two months to make sure primarily that there isnt any brain pressure building up. So all is well... At least for now. We are so thankful for everyones prayers, and we know they were many. We could'nt get through this without everyones support

Inner Conflict

I grew Up watching American Football, and especially the 49er's! I have many fond memories of gathering around the TV with yummy treats and enjoying a good game! Then a met Jamie, easily a bigger Football fan than I, and I was stunned to find out that his favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys, a long time rival of the 49er's! When we were dating we would text each other making fun of each others team on game day. So now that we are married, I often watch the cowboys more often, but I am still a 49er fan at heart! Jamie is determined to make Julian a cowboy's fan. And my father of course would like a grandchild that was a 49er fan. Therefore, I have a feeling that Julian is going to grow up with this inner conflict and here is the proof....






This is from when I went home in September. My Father E-mailed this picture to Jamie. When I got home this was Jamie's response...







Oh the fun of a good rivalry!

Update

Got the CT scan This morning, and again Julian was a trooper. He just sat there smiling while he went through the machine. The tech lady told us that usually they sedate kids because they move so much, but because of Julian's age and how calm he was it wasn't necessary! I was very happy for that! Made our first appointment with the specialist, and will meet with him on Dec, 8th, unless they feel like it is more urgent, in that case they will call and I will see them on the 1st of December.

That's all for now! Thank you for your prayers

Four Months and possible surgery

Watching football, and yes he really is looking up and watching BYU play!!



Does your Chain hang low??




Preparing for the cold Utah winters!!

Well I wanted to update family and friends on the current status of Julian.

Go back to a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Julian had a weird ridge on his head that started at his forehead and went to the middle of his head. It kinda felt like a mini mountain range on his head. I knew that babies heads are still growing and are different than an adults head, so I just made a mental note of it, since I knew he was having a doctor appointment in a couple of weeks.

Fast forward to yesterday. Julian had his four month check up. They weighed him, got his height, and measured his head. When the nurse took us back to the room to wait for Julian's doctor, whom I love by the way, I noticed the sheets of paper that tell the percentile your baby is in. They read as follows;

Weight: 14.25 pounds = 30%

Height: 25 inches = 30%

Head Circumference: 15.8 inches = 5%

When I saw the head circumference. I realized that two months ago it was 15 inches and he was in the 24%, and has now dropped to the 5%, this automatically reminded me to ask about his head.

When the doctor came in the first thing he asked was if I had any questions. I told him about my concern with his head. The doctor starts to feel around his head, and then tells me that his is going to get a different doctor who specializes more in this area. He comes back and said that doctor was with a patient, but would join us when she can. So we continue with our check up. Everything is looking good, sounding good, and then the other doctor came. She felt Julian's head and definitely recommended that Julian get X- rays. And started saying things to the other doctor like " I cant find his soft spot, there might be over lapping of the plates, and you might even need a cat-scan"

So I was starting to get a bit worried at this point. The doctor sent me over to get some X-rays. He then progresses to talk to the radiologist about how to get the right shot. Julian and I wait for 15 min as the doctors start pulling out different books, and discussing how to take the X -Ray because they don't usually need to see what they needed to see. I appreciated that they were taking time to make sure they do it right, it just doesn't make you feel good, when you know that you might have something so different that the doctors aren't a 100 percent sure what to do.

So we take the X-rays, Julian was perfect and just sat there with his big eyes taking in all the new scenery, then we go back to the doctors room. Once there the doctor brings up the X-rays, and is positive that the plates are not overlapping. I thought great we are good then. So the doctor says he will hand the X-rays over to the radiologist and see what they have to say. He tells me that if I hear nothing from him then everything is fine, and he will call if there is something else wrong.

I honestly felt when we left, that everything was fine, and was not at all expecting to receive a phone call.

So today at about 12 in the afternoon, I get a phone call from the doctor. He proceeds to tell me that Julian has craniosynostosis, which is a condition in which the sutures close too early, causing problems with normal brain and skull growth. Premature closure of the sutures may also cause the pressure inside of the head to increase and the skull or facial bones to change from a normal, symmetrical appearance. Craniosynostosis occurs in one out of 2,000 live births and affects males twice as often as females. (www.chw.org)

So on Monday Julian will go in to have a C T Scan, and we will be placed with a specialist in Salt Lake City. The most common treatment is surgery. and it requires a lot of medical follow up to make sure everything continues to grow properly. My doctor said that we caught it really early, so that is really good.

Right now I guess we take it day by day and see what the specialist has in store for us.

Other highlights with Julian include:

He loves to make noises and giggle and hear himself talk. He recently discovered his feet, to the point that he is constantly grabbing and holding on to them. He is mister snuggles, and I love hims so much. I am trying to be strong through this, and I have confidence that everything will be ok. I just have to have faith.

We would greatly appreciate all your prayers during this time

Got to Love It!

So I usually do not write about the different recipes I try each week, mostly because I steal them from other peoples blogs. But I HAD to share the soup I made this week!

First off, I must say that I am not a big soup eater. I love the smell of soups and even enjoy the taste, but warm liqueds always make me feel sick to my stomach, and usually quite quickly. I do however love chilies and chowders, and the rare exception to my rule is Tomoato Soup! I have always had the tomato soup from the can, and enjoyed it, but the other day I decided to look for a recipe to make it from scratch! I found the most AMAZING recipe from the food network, that was so easy and so good! I will never buy canned tomato soup again!! I thought I would share it with you!

Homemade Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz) can chopped Tomatoes

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small carrot, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 cup chicken broth

2 T butter

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

preheat oven to 450 degrees

Strain the chopped tomatoes, reserving the juice, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil, and roast until carmalized, about 15 min

Meanhile in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrots, onion, ande garlic. Cook until softend, about 10 min. Add the tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken broth, and butter. Simmer until vegtables are very tender, about 15-20 min. Add the basil and cream if disired. Puree until smooth in a blender!


Doesnt that sound good? This recipe is all so very forgiving if you have to make substitutions, for example I had a can of diced tomatoes instead of chopped, and i dont like celary so i used a large carrot instad of a small, and instead of heavy cream I used low fat milk. When you blend the soup it becomes thick and crramy, so the fat from heavy crram really isn't nessecarry

enjoy!

Julians First Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone! Our Family had a fun filled weekend. On Friday, Jamie's work had a little party and passed out candy to the kids that came. Julian and I just walked around for fun, and then had our picture taken with dad! I haven't received that picture yet, but when I do I will post it! In Utah, when Halloween is on Sunday, everyone celebrates on Saturday. I am the ward Activities chairman, and we had a Trunk or Treat Activity. That is when members decorate the trunk of their car, and pass out candy, unfortunately it was pouring down rain all day, so we moved it inside the church building. It was tight fit, but the kids had a ball going around to all the different class rooms in the church, and since it was raining so hard, not many people went trick or treating around door to door, so we were all the candy they were getting! All in all it was a good activity! Of course Jamie took Julian around as he was dressed like a monkey, and a very cute one at that!

Three months old, and trip to California

Three Month old pics






Today Julian is Three months Old! Everyday is a gift with Julian! Not always easy, but definitely a gift. Every day he grows, and impresses us more. He is not crawling, but has learned to scoot when on his stomach, and is beginning to get up on his knees! Recently he has started sucking on his two middle fingers, or his bottom lip. It is actually really funny, he sucks on his bottom lip and makes a weird noise, that he really like to hear himself make! He has started to sleep through the night, some nights he wakes up once, but for the most part he sleeps a good 8-9 hours!


Trip to California!

On the 20th of September, Julian and I made our first trip to California! We left home for 2 1/2 weeks, the longest Jamie and I have ever been apart, and lived with Nanna and pappa. It was great to be home, away from any stress. I was also there because my mother had surgery to remove a 20 pound tumor! The surgery went well, the tumor was non cancerous, and my mother was a warrior! She has problems waking up from anesthesia, and an in and out surgery , ended up taking 6 hours in the recovery room, but she came around, and after that first day she was amazing! Both my sisters were able to meet Julian for the first time, as well as his cousins!





Julian's first plane ride!He loved it! He was such a good baby, and I was so lucky to have the whole row to myself!





Meeting Cousin Kaliea and luke! Kaliea was so funny, she kept saying that Julian was her favorite cousin ( he is her only cousin) When she first met him, she turned to me and said
" Stephanie, He is brown!"
me: "Yes he is"
Kaliea: " He is brown like Jamie is brown!"

She cracks me up! Luke was a bit nervous and jealous when his mom would hold Julian, but he came around!




Meeting Aunt Shayla! She was such a big help when I was home! She was my little helper! She will be a great mother one day!





First swim! I love his little swim shorts


Omi's 70th Birthday! Julian got to meet Omi, my mother mom, on her 70th birthday! We had a blast going to an amazing German restaurant with omis two really good German friends! We had so much fun and the ladies helped me with my German.







Sucking on his fingers!




All the Cousins



Sister Dumbar, and Sister Smith ( mother and daughter) Two of the most amazing women! They had such and impact on my life!



Grandma and Grandpa Fogleman! Always great to spend time with them!


Jamie got a new job! We are so proud of him, and for my welcome home gift he made this amazing canvas for julians room! Love ya babe!

Dreams

I am known for having very strange, vivid dream. I almost always remember my dreams. The other night was a memoriable dream! I dreamt that I was going to the gym, when I ran into non other that the amazing Jillian Michaels! We start talking like we were close friends, and then I begged her to be my trainer! She gave me some pep talk about really wanting it, and then we went to work! She was yelling at me (like she is well known for) And kicking my butt, but in the dream I was so happy

Then I woke up! Maybe it was a sign...

Two months old!

Bubba, is now two months old! He is such a charmer, with his beautifull brown eyes! He has started to smile, coo, and even giggle a bit! He had his two month check up his stats are:

Weight: 10 lbs 8 oz = 22 percentile

Length: 22 inches = 24 percentile

The doctor said that he is a bit on the small side, but he is not concerned, especially when he saw how strong he was!

He is very strong, and continues to roll over.

He had his two month shots today, and that was not fun at all! Julian hardly ever cries, and when he does it usually isn't very loud, more of a whimper, but boy I tell you, Julian screamed like there was no tommorrow! I have never heard him like that, and of course it is not just one poke, but three! The nurse said that it was actually hard to give him the shots, because his leg muscles are very thick and strong, way more than most for his age! Needless to say, he has had a hard day today, and has been a bit cranky, but I dont blame him!

One Month Old, Graduation, Blessing, MTC, and MORE!!!

Well, it has been a crazy, busy, but fun last couple of weeks! And there are a ton of pictures! So I will let them do most of the talking! Although I will say that I am soooo excited, that all of these pictures were taken on my brand new camera, that my parents got me for my graduation! THANK YOU!!! Just a side note, these pictures are not in the order!






Great Grandma and Grandpa Fogleman! I was so glad that made the drive out from California to be there for my and Jamies Graduation, and to of course meet Julian!





On August 12 Julian turned One Month Old! He got to celabrate by watching his mom and dad graduate from BYU!! We had a great time!







Jamie and some work to do in Salt Lake for the Church, so as a family we made the trip to temple square! We had a lot of fun!









terrance james has been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He will be serving in Atlanta! He entered the MTC on August 18h, perfect timing for everything going on! We are so proud of him, and Julian will miss his Uncle Terrence!











On August 15th Julian was blessed by his Father and Family! Jamie gave a beautiful blessing, and then we had a great lunch afterwards with all our family and friends! Thank you everyone who was there to share this special day with us!







Overall Julian is doing great! He started Rolling Over at just 2 weeks, he is extremely strong, and absolutely loves the water! Whenever he is cranky we sit in the bath tub together and he isntanly becomes calm, even the sounds of the running water makes him stop crying! Jamie and I are so in love with our little boy!