Mimi and Bella

Here is a cute picture of my mother and Isabella in Houston. I think she is saying,"CHEESE!" in this shot...

One lonely car

Yes, we are now down to 1 car..mine. Gary sold his "baby" a couple weeks ago to get rid of debt. Although I am happy to have less bills, I now am at home with only a stroller to get anywhere during the day. I know other people that have the same situation but I guess I am just not used to it yet. It does give me good reason to go walking and have mini-workouts. Luckily we also live walking distance(kind of) from 4 parks so that is good for Isabella. Well, that is all I have to say. I just felt like I should write something since it seems like it had been a while since I wrote...know what I'm saying?

Need I point out the irony..

I know in our society, a lot of people view breastfeeding in a bad or embarrassing way. This to me is sad because God intended for this to be the norm and designed women with this way of nourishing and nurturing our children. I just wanted to show artwork from different time periods that shows how loving and beautiful it is. It has obviously inspired famous artists to capture this beautiful act. Enjoy!

Mothering through Breastfeeding

Joke's on Mom

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The
first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime,
day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been
trying to STTN (sleep through the night). At first, I thought it was just a
phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems
like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months.
Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit.
Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it
anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.
It goes like this: Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding
yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights.
Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These
Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I
cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep
through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S
HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change.
If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10
minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep.
Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10
hours straight, so I know she can do it.

Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to
it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up
with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the
sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears.
I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat
said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the
monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn' t matter! Keep
crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my
goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in
order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you
suck on
them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

Sweet Spring

So this morning I went on a rather long walk with Bella in the stroller. She fell asleep almost instantly. This was great for me because I now had quiet reflection time. I walked along the river trail and noticed how beautiful today was. The air was cool, the sun was shining, the sky was blue...yes just perfect. Sometimes, we busy people forget to stop and just breathe; so that's what I did. I stopped, inhaled deeply, breathed out fully, and felt how good a cleansing breath can be. To make it better, each time I took my deep breaths along the trail, the sweet smell of tree blossoms filled my nose and made the experience even more pleasurable. My body felt good from walking, my lungs enjoyed the very fresh post-rain air, and my mind got some quiet time. What a great way to start my day. I am so grateful for God's beautiful art that comes in the form of grass, skies, trees, flowers, flowing rivers and the smells and sounds that go along with nature.

Ahhhh...Sleep...

Yes!!! A resounding Hurah!! Last night Bella slept 10 hours. She went to bed at 9:15pm and did not wake up at all until 7:15am. It was the first un-interrupted night of sleep I have had in over a year and a half. I woke up at 7am with her and usually if she wakes up that early I feel groggy but today I actually felt refreshed and ready to get out of bed. Amazing! Now, I know there will be more nights ahead where she will wake up..I understand teething and such but this was a gift from Heaven. What a great start to my day.