Mother Knows Best!

What was I thinking?? My mom told me about a website weeks ago that I should visit. It had natural remedies for colic. Why didn't I rush to the website? Because...I think I felt that colic was an overused term and my baby was suffering from reflux, and I didn't want to pin it on "colic." So, needless to say, I had not visited the website. I really did have the intention of checking it out, but just hadn't gotten around to it.

Rajko really does just suffer with his tummy all the time. I hadn't been able to pin it down to one thing, but he seems to always be in pain with his stomach. Now that the reflux pain seems to be under control (thank you Prevacid), I've been able to see that his problem of waking up during his naps in pain is not because of the reflux, but because of something else. He starts out with a few grunts, then starts screaming! Nothing can soothe him...Noah has his way of holding him, and I have my way. He cries and cries in obvious pain with the saddest frowning faces and then suddenly goes limp and falls back to sleep. This can repeat over and over every 15 minutes throughout his nap. It is truly heartbreaking.

So, today I called the pediatrician - just for some advice. What else can I do to help this little guy's gassy problems? I don't eat dairy, I avoid gassy veggies, beans, soda, etc. I give him Mylicon with every feeding. He's on a prescription for his reflux. I give him daily tummy massages (which make him toot like crazy!). We even bought an Acid Reflux sleeping wedge that he gets strapped into every time he sleeps! The nurse suggested I give gripe water a try, as it was about the only thing I'm currently not doing.

So I get online to research gripe water, and where do I end up? On the website my mom told me about weeks ago. ColicCalm.com


This is the FIRST thing I have found that seems to address the exact symptoms I see in Rajko, and it sounds like it's going to be the answer to my prayers (literally). A weight was lifted from my shoulders as I sat and read the testimonials...hearing my own baby's story reflected in the stories of others. I am SO SO SO SO SO excited! I ordered a bottle and cannot wait to give it to him. My heart breaks every time that sweet baby wakes from a peaceful slumber crying in pain. NO MORE!!! Colic Calm to the rescue!

The moral of the story - do what your mother tells you to do WHEN she tells you to do it!

The Weekend Adventures

Well, Lary and Tere are finally here! For those of you that don't know...Noah's parents just moved here and we are so excited! They live just about 10 minutes from Noah and I, and it's so fun to have them close again. They are watching Rajko full time from now until school gets out, when we'll let them go back to being the Grandparents and not the nanny, and they won't have to have him everyday :)

They live in an area called Val Vista Lakes that has a beautiful clubhouse. There is a year-round heated lap pool, and also this beach pool. It has a zero depth layout, and sand around all the edges with beach chairs and umbrellas, so you are truly at the beach! We went there Saturday and Rajko LOVED it! We all did...enjoy!

Our little family at the beach...

Rajko with his Aunt Anissa. I had to post this picture because A - Anissa looks SO good, B - this is the best picture of Rajko in his hat and sunglasses (the cute girls who bought him this outfit have been patiently waiting to see a picture of him wearing it), and C - you can see the pool behind Anissa. There is a waterfall area behind her as well that you can't see in this photo. BEAUTIFUL place.

Rajko and Mommy

Although this was totally a fluke, I thought this picture was SO cute how he was looking over the rims of his glasses!

RELAXING! I knew Rajko was too little for a baby float where he's in the water, plus he's too little to wear sunscreen, so I bought this little baby pool you normally fill up with water, and let him float around in it. It had a big sun shade which kept his nice and covered the whole time. It was PERFECT!

On Friday we went to visit our friend Jared Murillo. He's in a band called V Factory, and they were performing before the Britney Spears concert in Glendale. We absolutely adore the Murillos (if you know any of them you'll understand), and especially Josh and Jared. We were so happy to be able to go see him for a second.

Buying cute clothes for your nephews pays off...I bought these shorts for Landon when he was a baby, and now Rajko is enjoying them. Is he SO cute?

And last but not least...I wanted to post a picture where you could see that Rajko's hair is coming in! It gets a little thicker everyday, and we think it will definitely be dark. His eyes are also getting darker everyday, so we think we'll have a brown-eyed, brown-haired handsome boy :)

Cutest Boy in the Cutest Outfit!

Check out this handsome boy! I'm not sure why we didn't get a full length picture of him where he WASN'T crying, but I thought it was so cute that he was so mad that I put that hat on him. As you can see, he did get used to it, and he blew everyone away with how cute he looked.

Haha, a cute hat AND a double chin :)

Rajko is One Month Old! Easter, visitors, and new toys...

I can't believe my baby is a month old!!! Time is seriously flying by, and it is making me so sad! He no longer fits in his newborn clothes, and I decided not to buy anymore newborn diapers, either. I'm just going to let this (the last) package run out and put him in size 1's. Can you believe it???


This is Rajko on Easter Sunday in his church clothes. We were happy that they didn't look TOO big, and we even got some super cute dressy shoes. Isn't he so handsome?? Noah thinks he looks a little dead with this antiqued coloring, so I include a bright happy one for you all :)

As usual, he wanted to sleep when I wanted him to be awake for a picture. But he was PERFECT through church. Was awake but happy for half, and slept through the second half.

For another example of him sleeping when he should be awake, view the video below! If he doesn't want to be awake for waketime, there is NOTHING I can do to convince him otherwise...

Enjoying some waketime in his new swing!

Also, our favorite girls came to visit us, and we were SO happy!!!! I think they enjoyed the sun and the weather, and we hopefully found enough to entertain them - although I think they would have been content to play in Sharee's pool all day everyday. Thanks Buti's for coming. I LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing you!

And finally, another new toy...when we went to Babies R Us to get the swing, I also bought this sling. Rajko seems to like it, but I've yet to actually use it anywhere yet. I'll have to give you an update of how our first trip to a store goes!

Sleepytime and a special treat :)

Noah LOVES LOVES LOVES being a daddy...he's so proud of his little guy and just holds and cuddles him as soon as he gets home from flying everyday. Rajko didn't want to look at me for this picture, though...

I could watch this boy fall asleep all day. As soon as he goes into active sleep, his eyes start shifting like crazy and he pulls the cutest faces. I think the reason I LOVE to watch him fall asleep so much is because that's when he smiles...only by reflex of course. It makes my day, and I cannot wait until he gives me a real smile :)



There's nothing to say about this video...just enjoy!

Video Test...

Today Rajko is 3 Weeks!

So we got a new little digital video camera to make it easy to share clips of Rajko...I know this isn't a very exciting video, but I just wanted to test out the process and share a little bit of our day.




As I mentioned in my previous post, Rajko likes to be on his tummy...probably because he is such a gassy baby and likes the pressure on his tummy. I even let him take a nap on his tummy once a day where I can watch him and make sure he can breathe okay.

The saddest thing, though, is that Rajko is going bald. All the hair (just on the top of his head) is falling out and I'm SO SO SO sad!!! No more fauxhawks...just male-pattern balding on my three-week old.

Tummy Time and other tidbits...

Rajko likes to be on his tummy, especially if it's on the Boppy pillow and not the floor. I took some pictures of him during his tummy time, and I had to include a lot so you could see how strong he thinks he is! He feel the needs to crawl completely out of the pillow!

Lifting his head...notice that his body is mostly inside the boppy.

Starting to push with his legs...stomach is edging over the pillow.

Pushing with BOTH legs...

....but he got stuck here, so I finally saved him.

Also, we tried our first bottle feeding. He seemed to take the bottle okay, but it was at the height of his reflux sensitivity, so the feeding didn't really go well. We'll be trying again today with some different milk and see how it goes!

By the way...remember how I mentioned being paranoid that something I was eating was making him sick? Well, actually it was! Rajko has a mild case of reflux, and it acts up when I eat dairy. So, I get to cut out all the dairy in my diet :( No milk, cheese, butter, chocolate, etc. If you can't feel my pain, you should eat my mom's food for a few days. Then you'd understand why these are my favorite things to eat.

It's been 2 days since I cut the dairy, and I've already seen a VAST improvement in Rajko. He doesn't scream and cry while or after he's eating, and his sleeping is going back to normal, too. He's been a pretty restless sleeper as the inflamation in his tummy has built up over the past couple of weeks, so we're hoping he'll go back to peaceful slumber as I continue to sacrifice my favorite things to eat!

It's pretty crazy how quickly you realize you would do ANYTHING or sacrifice ANYTHING just to save your child pain, and not think twice about it. Parenthood is so crazy....and great!

Finally, baby Rajko got a visit from Aunt Bonnie and Tanille! Tanille's little girl, Mackenzie, was SO cute. She is so smart and asks all sorts of questions and was loving the baby. Isn't she a cutie?

The Adventures of Rajko - Week 2

So, these are just some random photos taken since last time we posted that I thought I would share, as I have had several requests for more pictures!!!

Things are going well in the Rasheta house. Noah is back in flight training (WOO HOO!!!) and back at work, leaving Rajko and mommy home to hang out all day.

I have, as hard as I try not to, become somewhat paranoid. I know that once my emotions/hormones are back in check, I'll be able to reason a little better with myself, but for now, there's no hope... Rajko is only fussy when he has trapped gas (at either end), and everytime he cries and cringes in pain, I cry, too...I just keep wondering what I can eat to help him feel better!! Other than that, we are doing great! He's a good little eater, he is a GREAT sleeper, and he's happy and alert in between.

Enjoy the pictures!When Rajko finds fingers to suck on, he's very happy...

As previously mentioned, he's not a big fan of getting his clothes or diapers changes, so Grandma was training him to be okay with it by leaving his onsie stuck on his head. Ellie may remember this trick :)

This is exactly how Noah sleeps... yes, the swaddling lasted about 3 days.

This is what I found when I left Daddy in charge of Tummy time....tsk tsk. But oh so cute!

Rajko in his very chic ducky bath robe. He doesn't hate getting his sponge bath so much anymore. He usually doesn't fuss until we're getting down to the end. I'm just not as fast as Grandma!!

My tiny baby boy...

One of the last days with Grandma...this boy LOVES to be in this position. He is happiest when he is being burped.

My mom and I attempted some pictures before she left. Some were a great success, others not so much (Rajko jumping off of the sofa will be another story for another day)...

My cutie boy...just wanted to include lots of pictures so you can get to know the many faces of our crazy, cute little guy.

My chubby, happy, sleepy update...

We had our well baby doctor's visit today, and our little guy is just perfect! He not only reached his birth weight, but had added an extra 4 ounces. He is now 8 lbs 3 oz. So the doctor said I can let him sleep longer at night between feedings if he doesn't wake up to eat (yay) since he's OBVIOUSLY gaining weight just fine. He doesn't even have to go back for a 2 week check up. Here is a photo overload to update you all. Thanks for all your help and phone calls. We love and appreciate you!


Here is our Rajko boy after his first bath at home. I think he is the most handsome perfect boy ever...of course!

Rajko likes to sleep, A LOT! I have to wake him up to eat so he doesn't starve because he likes to sleep so much. I hope this pattern continues as he gets older and can sleep even longer without eating at night :)

Noah thought it was so hilarious to have Rajko look like a Sith Lord. I also found it quite humorous :)

Rajko's first bath at home with Grandma...washing his hair is the only part he does like. He despises getting his diaper changed, getting his clothes changes, or anything similar. So obviously, the bath is not his favorite. Hopefully when it's a real bath in water he'll like it more!

This baby has no bum. If you know Noah and I, I'm sure you can understand why I believe this will change!!!

Rajko's arrival home...I think he looks so tiny in his carseat, but I don't want him to grow and get big. He's too cute the way he is now, and I just want time to stand still!

Our saving grace! My mom is here and will be until the 21st. She is keeping everyone WELL fed, happy, and calm. She's seriously the best and I think I'm going to have a total meltdown when she leaves. Rajko also already loves her, and she can always get his calmed down and get out the burps and gas bubbles that I can't seem to get rid of! Mommy, I LOVE YOU!

Rajko with Grandpa

Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Max also came to visit, which was so awesome. She was here to help us get home from the hospital before my mom got here, and seriously helped me keep my head during those first couple of crazy days...

Uncle Rob holding Rajko. He would tell him things that we told him to, like how cute he was or that he had pretty eyes, but it about broke my heart when he went to hand him back to me and told him, "I love you." I love Rob so much and I'm so glad he's here to swim (in the freezing pool) and meet the baby. I hope he's having fun here...

Rajko really likes being burped. He will hang out in this position all day!

I just thought his picture was so funny...this is the hearing test Rajko took before leaving the hospital. He was really enjoying whatever they were playing for him!