An Inspirational Breastfeeding Story

This article was published in Mothering Magazine- a magazine that simply rocks! The article is one of my favorites in terms of demonstrating just how powerful of a bond breastfeeding creates between a mother and child. It also reinforces how if we let our natural instincts lead us in parenting, so often things work out amazingly well. In reading this I was reminded that it's ok to disregard the social "norms" of how to raise our babies!!! Do read this!!! I promise you will enjoy it!

http://http//www.mothering.com/breastfeeding/unweaning-georgia

A Yummy Punch

We served this at our Halloween party this year and it was very tasty!!! Initially I thought it sounded odd- carbonated milk?!!! But it really turned out great!

Orange Cream Milk Punch

1 Quart Vanilla Ice Cream
2 Pints Orange Sherbet
1 16 Ounce Can Sprite
1 Quart Milk

Place ice cream and sherbet in punch bowl. Pour in the milk and Sprite. Stir gently and serve immediately.

Victoria's Surprise!

So just for the heck of it I decided to search "nursing bras" on the Victoria's Secret website and to my surprise I actually got two items in the result! I never knew that VS sold nursing bras, not that they actually do any advertising for them and obviously nursing bras are not what makes VS 's world go round. But then I got to thinking what IF they did market nursing bras on a larger level. Just imagine what that would look like... the cover model wearing a nursing bra, nursing bras in all sorts of colors and lace trims. And what would that do for the breastfeeding culture in our society? Perhaps adding more of the glamour would make breastfeeding a bigger part of who we are? Would more mothers choose to breastfeed to emulate the beautiful models wearing the nursing bras???

Certainly something to think about!

Today's Baking Project

After searching the internet for a good recipe for zucchini banana bread I came across one I decided to try. I also came across a really cool blog in the process that has lots of healthy recipes in a very easy to search format! Here's the link to the blog and recipe:

http://yasmeen-healthnut.blogspot.com/2008/07/light-flavor-of-zucchini-along-with.html


Gotta go take the bread out of the oven:-)!

A Fun Website:

Here's where I've been hanging out this evening, lots of neat stuff to look at!

http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/index.html

Just What You Need

I'm sure you can recall times in your life where you were in need of something but didn't have it on hand at the moment. And all you could do was think about getting whatever it was you needed- everything else you were doing kind of came to a stand still and your only focus became how to meet that need.

A simple example of this that comes to my mind is when you find yourself suddenly very thirsty with nothing on hand to drink and all you can think about is getting an ice cold water. And maybe I'm crazy- but when I've been in this situation and I'm rushing into a gas station to buy a bottle of water, I swear my mind is racing and I want the check out person to ring me up super fast because I NEED to drink this water. Then the moment comes when I twist off the cap and guzzle that water and it tastes so darn good! Ahhh such relief!!!

So I'm making an assumption that is how my son feels when he wants to nurse. I don't get a lot of warning ahead of time- we aren't really on much of a nursing schedule these days, it's certainly not as frequent but when he needs to nurse it's really a big deal! He can be playing and be so content, then in the next second he's walking to me and climbing in my lap to nurse. And if I need to put something down or have him wait just a minute, he becomes completely devastated, which I totally get if I think about how I would feel if that gas station clerk wouldn't let me buy my water!

A few nights ago I was in bed nursing my son to sleep and I was watching him very closely and taking in all the expressions on his face as his nursed- becoming more and more relaxed, comfortable, sleepy, and happy. I then thought to myself in that moment of bedtime "This is all he needs." Such a simple request from my baby boy and who am I to say he can't have breastmilk?! Despite the outside pressures of our silly society to stop nursing when a baby turns one year old, I feel confident I am making the right choice. My little one year old is still a happy breastfed baby, who also loves to eat his solids and try new foods. This makes me a proud mama.

Cry It Out? Not For Us.

Several times I have been in situations where the conversation between moms has turned to letting babies "cry it out" and in each situation someone always mentions 'that friend' who doesn't let their baby cry it out and then goes into some sort of description of how the life of 'that friend' is chaotic and being run by the baby's demanding sleep schedule. Hmmmm.

And normally at this point I politely check out of the conversation, tend to Caiden, but do keep an ear on what's being said because frankly- I'm curious. I've noticed this trend in the conversations of moms who practice the cry it out method of teaching their babies to sleep. Once one mom confesses her choice of this method, the other moms using cry it out seem to come out of the woodwork nodding in agreement and sharing quick blurbs about how letting their babies cry it out was THE answer to their sleeping challenges.

I like being able to make my own parenting choices and have others respect them whether or not they totally agree. But when I routinely hear the stories about 'that friend' being shared in a less than flattering manner- it's when I start to wonder if these moms truly believe in crying it out. I have to ask- why must they always bring up a friend who doesn't use cry it out and place this friend in a negative light? Are they trying to convince themselves they are making the right decision by making the alternative option seem awful?

We have a family bed and our sleep routine is not awful and yes- my husband and I do have a sex life. My baby has slept with us since he was born. It has worked out wonderfully for us. I do not feel like this is a problem and I have never felt like having my son in our bed was an intrusion into our life. We knew before we even had a baby that our life would change. And we were right. I gave birth to a baby who hated being in a crib from the moment he was born. Plain and simple- once we placed him in the hospital crib he would wake up right away and cry. We tried over and over and over to make it work. The nurses tried to make it work- and these ladies had some superior baby care skills! But even they could not get our baby boy to comfortably rest in his crib.

On the contrast, once he was placed in the hospital bed with me, he would fall fast asleep. A beautiful and peaceful sleep. It was then I realized- this is where he wants to sleep and that's the way it's going to be. I remember thinking about the fact he DID just come from INSIDE me and how unnatural having to sleep would feel if he can't FEEL me. And I'm thankful my husband and I were able to make the family bed work. Neither of us are heavy sleepers and we both agreed that if the way for all three of us to get a good night's sleep was to be together- so be it!

And I'm fully aware there will be a time when our baby will be in his own bed. And I'm also aware it might be a tricky transition but I'd much rather deal with it when he's old enough to reason with and he understands me when I tell him that Mama and Dada will always be there for him and if he needs us we are just a few doors away.

Again- I respect the fact that family beds don't and can't work for everyone. But it does work for us and I'm a very happy, healthy, well rested mom:-)!

Time to Plant!

So I'm trying to be a better gardener this summer and by better I mean taking the time needed to keep my flowers and plants beautiful and healthy all summer long! And I think that's a realistic goal since I'm going to be home more this summer, in the past I tended to be gone quite a bit and my gardens didn't do so well.

My baby boy loves watching me dig in the dirt from the comfort of his stroller and once he's a little older and understands that dirt is not a food I'll have an extra set of hands to help me plant and grow. Till then, I wheel his stroller around the yard for a front row view of my projects.

I have been reading some gardening magazines to educate myself and get some inspiration. Which is where I came across a plant called "Coleus" and it really caught my attention. From my readings I have learned that the plant was very popular in the Victorian era but then it kind of faded from popularity due to being considered 'old fashioned'. The new versions of Coleus are said to be easier to care for and the colors are very unique. I like to think of Coleus as a vintage plant and I don't think you can go wrong with vintage! When I visited a local garden center I was able to choose from about 5 or 6 different varieties and I was drawn to the ones that included shades of pink. There were some vivid yellow and orange ones too that are really cool but I just don't have a plan yet how to incorportate them in my gardens.

This picture is from one of the plantings I did today in a box on our deck. I heart Coleus:-)!

Plastic Odor Remedy!

I found this suggestion in a Good Housekeeping magazine and tried it out on a plastic garbage can that was smelling rather icky. And happily it worked!

Here's a simple and safe way to get out odors from plastic containers such as garbage cans and coolers:

Wipe down the inside of container with white vinegar and set outside in direct sunlight during the day. Then wipe the container down with a baking soda paste (just add some water to the baking soda to make the paste) and let this sit overnight.

Presto! The next day all smells will be gone!

Antiquing Adventures!

While I was in the Traverse City area this past weekend I spent some time visiting a few antique shops in the area. I really enjoyed taking my time browsing through booth after booth filled with an array of knick knacks. Many times I found myself having to read the tag to decipher the purpose of certain items and in doing that I learned how to identify sugar molds, toast racks, european bread pans... the list goes on and on. I spent a lot of time admiring the shelves of glassware found in all the stores, so many shapes and colors in the collections. And it's funny cause I was initially less than a fan of the glasswhere, I first thought of it as kind of "grandma-ish" and gaudy, but after taking a closer look by actually holding the pieces and doing some research online I really gained an appreciation of what was before me. I even found some glassware collections I really liked. So I set out to make my first glassware purchase and it was a definite success.

I first bought some items from the Anchor Hocking Early American Prescut collection, one of which is shown in this picture. It's technically a candy jar but I'm using it as a cottonball canister for my bathroom.

So needless to say I think I'm hooked on antiquing, there's a whole world of vintage treasures sitting on shelves waiting to be discovered.

Skinny Sugar Free Mocha Mocha

Yum! I just discovered a delicious coffee drink at Biggby Coffee- as I'm working on eating healthier lately I was in need of a coffee beverage that's yummy but not a lot of calories. It's the Sugar Free Mocha Mocha... I order it with skim milk and no whip cream. It does cost about $4 for a tall so it can't be my everyday beverage but once in a while I just have to treat myself! I'm also a fan of Biggby Coffee in general... they have good stuff!

Restless Legs During Pregnancy is a Major Discomfort!

Oh yes, the restless legs. Definitely the toughest part of my pregnancy. It wasn't until about the middle of my third trimester that I began experiencing restless legs. My sleep routine was thrown way out of whack and it lead to being extremely exhausted. I had to stop working earlier than planned due to the lack of sleep I was getting at night. Because of the constant tingling in my legs at night I was not able to fall asleep. I describe the feeling as a constant need to move your legs, I'd literally lay in bed and start kicking my feet to try and get them to stop tingling. It would then come to a point where I would just have to get up. Night after night I would be awake, I'd notice the darkness turning to daylight and hear our neighborhood come to life as people left for work and I was SO tired. Normally around 10am I would finally be able to crawl in bed and fall asleep, my legs simply would no longer be restless. So then I would sleep all day. Mentally this was difficult, it was lonely being up by myself at night and I so badly wanted to get out of the house during the day to socialize but I simply couldn't.


As far as interventions, not much could be done. I couldn't take the medication that controls restless legs because it's not safe to take during pregnancy. After doing some research online, I tried all sorts of suggested methods to eliminate this condition- having my husband massage my feet and lower legs before bedtime, alternating hot and cold presses, lessening the amount of carbs I would eat in the evening, elevating my legs, evening walks around the neighborhood, but nothing helped. So I just had to deal. And while this was difficult by all means, I was always thankful this was just "my" problem and the health of my baby continued to be excellent. I would frequently tell people that I was willing to go through anything for the birth of my baby boy, so this condition was just par for the course and I would survive.


I'm convinced that my restless legs were caused by hormones from the pregnancy. I believe I also have a genetic predispostion as several people in my family have been diagnosed with this condition and take prescription medication to control it. Immediately after I gave birth to my son, the restless legs stopped thankfully and I was able to return to a much more normal sleeping schedule.


Restless Leg Syndrome During Pregnancy
This article covers Restless Leg Syndrome. Up to 20% of pregnant women suffer from RLS at some point in their pregnancy.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/320647/restless_leg_syndrome_during_pregnancy.html

Sweetleaf Baby Products

While shopping at a local baby boutique's end of the year sale, I came across this baby lotion called Sweetleaf Baby made by a company called "Thymes" and tried a sample of it- and I loved it!! I bought the gift set which includes the lotion, a bar soap, shampoo/baby wash, and washcloth- and it was my lucky day cause it was on sale! It's paraben free which is great for baby's health! The scent is incredible, definitely reminds me of a new baby smell but is very unique! And the packaging is precious, just by opening the box you knew you had purchased something special!

Thymes Website:

http://www.thymes.com/Thymes/Collection.aspx?nodeid=45523

Baby Legs!

Now that Caiden has started crawling, I've really fallen in love with Baby Legs. We dress him in a onesie and then slip on a pair of Baby Legs and he loves zipping around on the floors while wearing them. I like how they give him some warmth without the bulk of pants and this makes it easier for him to crawl. I'm sure they also add some comfort for those little knees on the hard floors. You can even slip them on baby's arms to add some warmth while wearing T-shirts, pretty cool!

http://www.babylegs.net/

A favorite teether...

Caiden has become more and more in favor of this teether since he has actually started cutting a tooth and his second one is on the way. It's the Raz-Berry Teether made by RaZbaby, we bought ours from Meijer. It's a unique looking thing but I'm assuming it feels really good on the gums cause Caiden frequently selects it amidst his pile of toys and then chews on it longer than any of the other objects we've used for teething pain. So I have to say I recommend it, it's also nice cause there's no need to chill it, it's just perfect the way it is so it's always ready!

Informative Website...

I came across this website while searching for info on food storage/serveware that is PVC and BPA free... it's very informative and has lots of good info on how to make your life and baby's life greener and safer!

http://www.safemama.com/

Got my Ergo!

I just have to share my love of my new Ergo baby carrier! Two of my good friends have one and highly recommended it to me. We used a Baby Bjorn up until this point and it worked out pretty good, but now that Caiden is bigger he's almost outgrown it and our backs start to hurt cause he's heavy! So I decided to ask for an Ergo for Christmas and I'm so glad I did! We watched the DVD tutorial tonight and both my hubby and I practiced putting Caiden in it and it was so easy, just a couple clicks of the buckles and presto you are ready to go! It's super comfy- our backs feel great and Caiden really seems comfy too. His body relaxed right away and he started sucking on the arm strap... I also got the sucking pads that velcro on and make the straps even more perfect for babies to fulfill their need to mouth things. I will post a pic of Caiden being toted in his Ergo as soon as possible... I just love seeing pics of babies in Ergos- they look so peaceful and happy:-)!

Here's the link to the Ergo website:
http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/