Thrown together

1. No-Poo Deal - So I have been attempting the no shampoo way of washing your hair, subbing shampoo and conditioner for baking soda and a apple cider vinegar solution.  So far I have little complaints, only thing is that I am bad at remembering to put the baking soda in my hair before getting in the shower.  Other than that my hair feels way less itchy.  I really like the vinegar as conditioner, it just seems to work really well with my curly thick hair.  Though I noticed that a morning shower on a like 99% humidity day still makes my hair look like a frizz ball.  Anyway, because its going well, I am definitely going to continue this.


2. Down-syndrome babies - I read a blog on Catholic Mom today that said that 5,000 babies are born with down-syndrome a year in the USA, and that since 90% of down-syndrome babies are aborted, this means we are missing 45,000 babies.  It's just sad. So many people that I have heard from who have raised a down-syndrome child have said that it has been such a blessing.  I don't have any first hand experience, but I could see why as I remember the one girl that had down-syndrome that played field hockey with me in middle school.  That girl was so sweet and so determined in everything she did.  So the author goes more into it, but I just wanted to mention it and say it was worth the read.


3. My kids are borrowed from God - My good friend sent me a forwarded saying or quote by Roy Lessin what struck me was this:


"Your children are precious to Me. Even more precious than they are to you. I have entrusted them to your care to raise for me. What you invest in them is an offering to me."

I love how its a reminder that my kids are really God's kids and its so much bigger than me, but at the same time what I do actually counts. It affirms my decision to be at home because I can and that is what God wants me to do, because I get to invest in my kiddos more this way and to me this is important. 

4. Chaos and embracing it - Speaking of kiddos, come October, things will be a little chaotic with a newborn and a 19mo old, but I am going to try my best to embrace the chaos.  It's taken a little while to own up to it all, but I think its gonna work out alright.  Embrace the chaos, right?

10 Updates

1. I am now 22 weeks pregnant, which seems kinda crazy as to how in the world did I get to this point already but I am thankful its been a pretty smooth pregnancy.  Definitely much harder finding food I like and want to eat but other than that I think its been okay.

2. On a side note I finally feel like I need to slow down a tad in what I attempt to do each day.  My hip expansion has kicked in this week.

3. Ben I think is going thru a growth spurt this week, or he's just catching up on the missed sleep over the weekend. He sleeps thru the night when he goes down, its just getting him down that is sometimes the hard part.

4. Randomly,  today we got a free fire truck push walker at a garage sale.  I'm amazed at the things a cute kid gets you.  Yesterday it was a free glass of kool-aid.  Craziness.

5. I actually have started sewing some of my projects again.  I still have two major ones, fixing a dress to fit and a shirt to fit.  Both that are way too big in the shoulders.  Even though I'm tall I've got a bony little upper body minus the baby sticking out out front.  Legs on the other hand, well you don't play soccer and run cross country for upteen years without acquiring some good muscle on those.

6. I am attempting a small veggie garden this year.  All in pots because I didn't know where to start a garden in my yard, so I figured I had a bunch of pots so I might as well use them. I am attempting to grow tomatoes, red and green peppers and zucchini.  I still have herbs as well and am hoping they continue to thrive like they did last year.

7. We signed up for the summer reading challenge for Ben.  While we read everyday, I am bad at logging the time.  So I have to estimate it all.  And also they want like one title of the books you read for every half hour which is impossible for a toddler and board books.

8. So we got back the results of Ben's lead test and they were double of what they want them to be so both Keith and I have been going into a cleaning frenzy and I have made Ben now actually consume his iron vitamin and so far if you put anything in his milk he will drink it.  Maybe I should make him smoothies and have him eat his fruits and veggies this way too.  I don't give him juice because most of the time he spits it back out and really juice is not that good for you, to me its like drinking soda with a little bit of vitamin C.  So anyway we hope that our house will be lead paint free or controlled at least and we will get that kid's lead levels back to normal by 18 months.

9. I have I told you how much I love having a produce store on the corner of my neighborhood.   It helps that the people that run it are super sweet too.  They have good prices and try to get local stuff as much as possible too.  A good deal all around.

10. I started selling books on amazon.  So far I've sold 2 out of the 18 I put online.  I still have a good 20 more to add to it, so I should probably get on that so I can sell more and declutter my bookshelf.

Take care all!  Hopefully I will post again at a better rate than I have been.

Weaning the first

First a disclosure, for those of you of the male type who don't like reading about mommy things, well then this isn't the post for you.  On the other hand if you like hearing about mommy things then keep reading.

So weaning.  Wow.  First of all I want to say when I approached the topic I was scared of doing it.  I thought it was going to be super hard and I was going to have tantrums and the such.  Maybe my baby was ahead of his game but really I thank God for helping us through it all.  Because I didn't know how it was gonna all go down and it ended up being way easier than I thought it would be.  Jordana over at Curmudgeonry gave me some excellent advice as a mom who had been through it more than once. And if I didn't thank you before, I will now.  Thank-you, you helped a lot.

I asked advice on this topic in February but didn't actually start the process till March.  I tried in early February to night wean and man did we have tantrums.  But a few weeks later the same thing was tried again and there was success.  It was just odd.  Part of philosophy was that I wasn't going to force it on him to a point.  I wanted there to be a more natural component to the weaning and oddly there was throughout the whole bit of it.  So the second time we tried night weaning it was a success and so then we were just down to 4 nursing sessions a day.  I decided that at nighttime I would keep a sippy cup of water on the night stand for him, and this has saved a bit of screaming sessions from being endless.  I think the kid just gets thirsty sometimes cause he's a heavy drooler.  Apparently this is a family trait from my side of the family, go figure.  Not something that is very elegant for a girl to have as a family trait.

Around the same time Ben was transitioning from 2 to 1 naps a day, and since for him association of nursing with sleep helped us cut down the 4 feedings to 3 in a pretty easy manner.  There was a week in there that he caught a nasty cold and so I let him go back up to 4 feedings because it seemed like he needed it but then when all was well again he didn't object to the 3 feedings.

After this I started noticing that he would pass out in the car on the way home from things like morning storytime at the library and such.  Normally he would wake up and I would nurse him to get him back to sleep.  Well I started feeding him lunch of big people food prior to the car ride home and it worked to keep him asleep and soon we were down to just 2 nursing sessions a day.

The last two nursing sessions were the killer ones to me, just because to me they were the key to having this kid sleep 12 hours at night.  We would nurse before bed to ensure a full belly for good sleeping, and then again at like 6am to give me an extra hour or two of sleep out of him.  So maybe I was a little bit selfish about not wanting these to go away, but who can blame me I am and was pregnant so sleep is precious to me.

So of the last two nursing times, I first chose the before bedtime feeding thinking I could sub out a bottle of milk for breastmilk.  Unfortunately, Ben wouldn't have it.  He would drink the milk fine, but he wanted to nurse too, probably more for comfort but nonetheless he wasn't ready to give that time up.  So I waited a few days, and decided well maybe, just maybe I can get him back to sleep in the morning without nursing him.  Well it worked and then not really.  I think having the water nearby helped, mainly because sometimes he really was thirsty from too much drool, but overall the kid does rise earlier.  But what helped me to continue to get my sleep was my awesome husband.  Who has to get up for work at an earlier hour than I like to get up, so we decided he could take care of Ben for an hour or 2 before work and I could get my precious pregnant lady sleep.  And man am I so thankful for him and his sacrifice and help here.  I don't think I would make it through the day without this extra sleep sometimes.

So finishing this out, the last nursing session went on for a few more weeks, until I noticed a difference in the way Ben was behaving towards it.  He no longer was nursing to sleep he was nursing in like what some would consider a snacking manner and then kicking his way to sleep.  So I just decided that it seemed like he was ready, so I stopped one night and made my husband put him to sleep to make sure he would know nursing wasn't an option that night.  And the first night it didn't work, but the second night it did.  And then the 3rd night due to circumstance I had to put him to bed again and we just cuddled and rocked it out and there wasn't any fight.  So as weird as it was to me I was done nursing. It was 2 months ahead of the deadline I gave myself, and I didn't have any pain from stopping so I guess the kiddo was weaning himself in the process and probably the pregnancy hormones were helping limit the milk.  Thankfully he is still growing well, he apparently gained 1.5 lbs in 2 months(the weaning months) so I know he's still getting food, just from other sources than me.

So that's my first story with weaning.  It was interesting to live it but I'm glad through it all it worked out.  To me it just evidence that if you are persistent about your prayer, God does listen!

blogging rut

I have started a few posts but didn't know how to finish them without sounding like an idiot, so, thus, I didn't.  So to end the lull, I will do a picture post.  Here's what Ben and I have been up to the last few weeks.

We've been having fun playing in parks.

Hanging out at the zoo.

And playing in the sand box/table.

Outside My Realm of Thinking

I was originally waiting to post on what I learned this lent, because for me its been a hard lent.  But something else came to mind today, of which may just be a little bit of my lesson from lent after all, but almost I think it stems from the new year and resolutions made then.

Post thesis I was determined to figure out who I am outside of studentdom, and what it meant to be me.  For a while I felt like I wasn't making any progress because I wasn't accomplishing what I thought I had to do.  One of the things I was determined that I needed was to find young Catholic moms who could enrich me and I them and we could talk about how to teach the Catholic faith to our kiddos etc. I thought this would help me be spiritually fed in the way I wanted to be and so it had to be a good thing.

Well today, I went to a young Catholic mom play and pray group.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I realized once I was there, that it was not how God wanted me to be spiritually fed.  I think I would even return to it again, because Ben seemed to have fun, though he totally was doing his own thing most of the time. (totally my kid in this because apparently I drove my mom crazy with this behavior.) So, even though it was a good experience, my eyes were opened to what I already had.

I realized in what I already had, that I was being spiritually fed.  I had been going to a Catholic Women's Bible Study once a month, and while most the people there are all at least 15 years older than me its been feeding me spiritually in a way that I originally didn't think it was.  Originally I felt like the odd ball that was too young to have any wisdom and speak up in the group, but I kept going, a God thing for sure, and eventually I did have things to say and share that were well received.  And besides that for a lot of it I enjoy sitting back and taking it all in because these women do have a lot of faith wisdom to share even though I originally didn't think I fit in with them.

Besides that, I have been having play dates with 5 or so young moms all in different spiritual states, none of them practicing Catholics.  Oddly, I find I have a lot in common with them.  And as my husband alerted me to yesterday, as I was overhearing his conversation (bad me!) to another friend on the phone, I am being spiritually fed by these ladies too.  These ladies stretch me to listen to another faith perspective and to reassure me of my own faith choices.  I get to practice compassion in a whole different way to those who are maybe like me in some ways especially when it comes to parenting but totally approach things differently in other ways such as faith. Each woman is so unique and I love learning about each of them as we grow in our friendships.

And so as my facebook status kind of states: Sometimes, when you are looking for something, you begin to realize you already have it.  It's just in a different form than what you thought it should be, and it takes the searching to make you appreciate what you already have.

Food Cravings and Aversions Take 2

I have been told that each pregnancy is different, and this has totally been proven to be true so far. Thus, I wanted to list my food aversions and cravings, and if you don't care about this, well tough luck.  I am gonna list them anyway. I should then link back to the post from last time if I can find it in the archives. (yes, that would be the smart thing to do!)

Cravings:
BBQ chips, seriously decided these were the best things in the world one day.

Grapefruit - I am totally upset that it only has like 80 in a whole one.

Peanut Butter - I think its a protein thing.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ice Cream - Totally buy this every week at Target.  I should invest in a vat of it.

Greek Yogurt - It has good protein in it!! and for some reason I like that its thick & I feel full after eating it.
Salad - Raw veggies rock my world right now.

Fruit Salad - I went to this international dinner with any dish imaginable there and man the only thing that satisfied me was this.  Oddly it was apparently made by a German, don't associate fruit salad with Germany is all I am saying.

Chicken Nuggets and French Fries - Pretty Standard as it was core of my diet last time.

Hard Boiled Eggs - These were totally my snack of choice for the 1st trimester but since week 13 hit I've been over egged out.

Aversions:
Mint - For the lover of all things mint, this is weird.

Cooked Veggies- Stirfry as much as I want it to taste good just doesn't.

Fish - More recently, I think its because Lent has me all fished out.


So I am sure there are more, and my husband could tell you them.  Overall, its been a challenge these past 5 weeks, because this lent we made it a commitment to not eat out.  And really up till week 16 I know for sure my mind changes all the time on what actually tastes good at the moment.  Needless to say dinner is a challenge and my loving husband just kinda eats whatever I make and I hope that I still like it too when I'm done cooking it.  I've gained some weight so I guess its working so far.

Judgemental Me and the Woes of NFP

Simcha Fisher is a fabulous writer.  With her straight to the point attitude about all things Catholic, its really refreshing to read her blog.  Recently she wrote a post about NFP and how we are always judging others in their spacing of kiddos and why the Catholic Church doesn't have super specific rules for use of NFP. You can find it here.

I know from the short 4 years of being Catholic NFP is a hot topic.  For the Catholics that follow it can be refreshing, but it also with it come challenges.  Things I never really thought about in the first year of marriage.  I mean honestly the science behind NFP is actually quite easy (in most cases, I know some folks have difficulties with cycles), but the practice of it is a little more challenging.  Basically its because it 1.) requires you to be on the same page as your spouse about all things sex related  2.) Requires you trust God instead of throwing something between you and God.

Trusting God is hard in general, and when it comes to baby making well of course since its a life changing/making thing its gonna be super hard.  I know for my own self, that I have definitely had my prayers that consist of yelling at God because I don't like the circumstances he has put me in when it comes to making a new life.  But as Simcha Fisher put it that is one of the great things about NFP, is that it forces to to talk to God about your circumstances.  It opens things up and helps to keep a relationship with him, and as for us Catholics, it doesn't make us fully go by the book on what the Church says.  Because as she says God wants to hear from us on this, not just go by what the church says.  So despite what some folks think about the Catholic church, the members of it do pray to God one on one in words of their own especially about things like this.

For me whether it was a miscarriage, or a semi-stint with infertility, or now not being done with breast feeding but being pregnant among other things (yes, there is a new little one on the way and it was planned), these are things that I have had to go to God one on one and with my spouse too because we want God in our marriage!  It doesn't eliminate the hardness of them, it just lets him know that all 4 (God, Keith, me, and baby) are in this together. And we are gonna trust, and what better way to trust than with this very big and personal part of our lives.

And so to end on maybe a not so positive note, I titled part of this post as Judgemental Me.  And Simcha touches on our judging of others with their practice of NFP.  I know I so find myself doing this, worst of all places in the middle of mass.  Why I dunno?  But I've started to think more and more about it and I know that God will only give you what you can handle.  But at the same time I don't know each individual's heart.  And to say you need to have another baby would be rude and maybe not what they need right now.  I think something that I always forget about what the Catechism says about NFP use is that we are supposed to be responsible parents.  And to sometimes have another baby wouldn't be the responsible thing, or vice versa we could be irresponsible by wanting the latest gadget instead of being open to life.  It goes both ways.

So I don't know where you stand on this all, but from just a few years experience under my belt I sure could do a whole lot more praying and learning in this topic.  I want to become more compassionate in this area, but also let people know about the amazingness of NFP versus contraception in their marriage. So I guess it comes down to pray, pray, pray and trust, trust, trust.
Have a good Wednesday!