Good thing he has a cute behind...

William is on the move.

I mean, like, constantly. 

People would say - "Watch out when he starts walking!" and I would think - "Umm...he does a pretty dang good job of being a non-stop mover getting into trouble now and he's crawling...I know what I'm doing, yo."

And now I wish to go back to my past self and slap her across the face because I should never assume I even had a clue.  Seriously.  And that makes me scared of what's to come. 

So moving on - I take a lot of pictures with my cell phone.  More pictures there than with my camera these days just because it's handy. 

Cell phone pictures plus toddler on the move all.the.time equals lots of pictures from behind (or fuzzy because who has time to stop a pose for a picture, mom...).  Here are some of the priceless gems recently. 

Mr. Independent at the pool last week.  Mom who?

OK, he's not moving in this picture, but that didn't last for long.  If I can't get one from the front, I have to sneak up behind him to catch one.  On another note, my kid is in love with American Idol and Glee and anything that has music.

Yeah...he's the cool kid with a box on his head and one pants leg up.  What of it?

He's too cool to sit and watch a basketball game, he'd rather dance in front of this audience that obviously was assembled just for him...

Exploring during a trip to the mall.  He spent about 25 minutes running circles around this magical, musical and talking vending machine. 

When is the time right?

So lately the hubby and I have been asking ourselves the "when is it time for another one" question.  My husband's answer varies greatly from mine at this time (and for the past year).  His answer is "now, please."  Mine is more like "whoa whoa whoa, at least buy me dinner...." 

One of my reasons is that I feel like I have just gotten my body back or reclaimed or whatever you want to call it.  Although I was so sad to be done with nursing, at the same time it was such a relief to not worry about pumping or nursing on schedule.  Also, William is at such an amazing stage right now!  He goes to bed at 8 without a fuss.  He sleeps 10-13 hours a night.  We don't really have to worry about packing him special food when we go out since he eats just about anything.  He is so much fun to play with.  He wants to play with his toys.  He wants to toss a ball.  He wants to wrestle.  He wants to dance and listen to music.  He snuggles when I rock with him before bed.  He will drop a toy to come give me a hug.  It's pretty much amazing.  Then there's the question I hear a lot of first time parents ask themselves - "How could we possibly love another child more than we do now?"  I'm not too worried about that last one because I realize we could and would.  But I still can't prevent it from entering my mind.

Then there's "logistical" discussions.  Adam finishes school in about December of 2013 - do we wait until after that?  My sister gets married in June 2013 - do we plan around that?  What time of the year do we want our next kid?  Can we afford another one?  Is our house ready for a second little one?  Are WE really ready for another one?

Then I stop and wonder if perhaps I'm over thinking it all.  Other times my heart about bursts thinking about the possibility of feeling a baby kick or having a chance at a VBAC or introducing William to his little brother or sister or nursing another little one.  There are other times when I wonder if we should just throw our hands up and let things happen like they are supposed to happen....


[No, Mom...this does not mean we are trying to conceive your second grandchild....we are just simple talking.  hehe]

Happy Birthday to me!

Tonight is one for the baby book....first night away from mommy!  I have never spent a night away from my lil' man since he was born.  At first it was because I was nursing on demand.  Then it was mostly because of attachment - I didn't want to be away from him.  In the last month or two, it's mostly because I couldn't find anyone to pawn him off on...totally just kidding...sort of. 

Well tonight is the night my now toddler will be packing his bags (OK...I will probably help) and heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's house!  Oh yes...for like, the WHOLE night!  To celebrate my birthday, hubby and I will be heading out for a date night sans William.  We will be heading back to our house without our sleepy guy.  And if we are feeling totally wild, we will probably sneak up to the bedroom and.....collapse out of exhaustion and sleep for a delicious ten hours or so.  (hehe, what were you thinking??  shame on you!)  Massage in the morning scheduled for the cherry on top....oh yes, all out!

Will I miss my stinky man while he's away?  Of course.  Will he even realize that we are gone?  Probably not.  Will Adam and I probably talk about him the entire time?  I'm pretty dang sure that will be a yes.  Will my internal clock still wake me up at 6 am even though I have the freedom to sleep in?  Without a doubt.  Will it still be as magical as ever?  OH YES!! 

Have a great weekend everyone!!

I have a 381 day old...

On the 12th of this month, I became a mother of a one year old.  Well, I've been his mother for the 364 days leading up to it, but you know what I mean.  My lil' man is one.  He's no longer a baby, he's officially a toddler.  He's a talking (oh yes, like with actual words!), crawling (walking would be too much work), curious, playing trouble maker.  He brings so much joy to my life it kinda makes my heart skip a beat. 

I feel like my mother when I say, it just went by so fast.  Birth [blink] first tooth [blink] standing [blink] first birthday.  Phases have come and gone and each one gets more and more fun and exciting.  I thought nothing could get better than the cuddly newborn stage, but then he started rolling and playing on the floor.  Then I thought, alright nothing can get better than THIS stage, this is so much fun.  Then he started crawling.  You get the idea.  Each new phase brings so much excitement and fun and pride and love that continues to grow. 

I'm happy in the place the hubby and I have gotten to as well.  I'm sure our 1st year parental survival trophy must have just gotten lost in the mail.  We have successfully made it one year with hopefully minimal harm to our child and each other!  I would go as far to say we have done pretty darn good so far.  Bonus points? 

Happy (late) birthday to my lil' man....Mommy loves you more than you will ever know....

Baby's New Toys

So I recently talked here about how my kid is hard to entertain.  However, I think I figured out the trick....

1 - plastic serving spoon

1 - DVD case

1 - baby sock

1 - DVD player baby-proof cover

(In the background) 1 - toy box full of unused toys.....

That seems to be all that is needed to keep entertained over an extended period of time.  He has spent days carrying around this spoon, dragging it everywhere he goes.  The DVD cover thingy was ripped off the entertainment stand about five seconds after it was put up and he has spent weeks entertained by that.  The DVD case is a more recent find out of a large basket in our living room, but I can tell they will be long lasting friends.  The sock - he has spent all weekend dragging it around like it was his favorite stuffed animal or blankie. 

So what should I get William for his first birthday?  Maybe I can dig out some measuring cups or an old t-shirt to play with....hehe

Poop

I'm not going to sugar-coat it....this post is about poop. Not mine, I promise - does that make it any better? Just baby poop in general.

I think the first time I ever kinda figured something was definitely disturbed and wrong with parents of the world, I was in about 5th grade and I was taking a Red Cross babysitting class of some sort. One task we needed to do was take a list of 100 items/questions that a potential parent might want to know when they returned home and I had to pick just three that you would consider 'most important.' OK, I got this - how hard can this be. I selected my three and we went around the room and said what we picked. Pretty normal picks - when and how much did baby eat, what time did they go to sleep, etc etc etc. You get it. The instructor pointed out a question that no one had selected - How many (and types) of poopy diapers.

WTH? That's disgusting.

She's joking, I'm sure.

She's not laughing. Oh dear heavens, she's serious.

OMG, parents of babies must be seriously messed up that they care about poop. ("hehehe, she said poop" - probably what I would have said when I was like 11). Don't you just hold your breath, change the diaper, triple wrap it in a plastic bag, throw in outside garbage can and spray Lysol over the whole house? Who takes the time to look at it or even care that it occurred? Ewww.

Then as I grew up, I heard parents talking about poop but I just basically tried to block it out. Poop? ("hehehe, she said poop" - I was very mature for my age) That's just nasty.

Then I became pregnant and hubby and I diligently went to our childbirth classes. Hand out after hand out was provided about breastfeeding and labor signs and ....WTH! Poop. And this handout was the mother of all handouts - color pictures of all the imaginable types of poop you can imagine. It's just what a woman and man want to see when they are already scared shitless (pun intended) that they are getting ready to have a baby, but then they are handed pictures of poopy diapers to make it just a teensy bit more real. Yeah, you think you are ready with your cutesy little nursery all set up and your hospital bag packed....BAM! Poopy diapers in your face - not so ready, right? Now commence panic attack.

Then little baby comes and it's all cuddles and sunshine and rainbows. It doesn't take but a few days to realize that poop is slowly becoming a very important part of your life. Besides the fact that you are changing a poopy diaper eight times a day. You are now worried about minute detail. What color is it? How much? How often? What consistency? You feel pretty comfortable at first and then....BAM, out of no where the color changes and you call the pediatrician's office at 3am to ask why the poop is suddenly green and they reassure you that it's normal. Or you find yourself texting your friend once a week, worried that your daughter's poop has changed, yet again and you think something is seriously wrong when everything is just fine. (oh yes, Stefanie...you totally do this hehe).

Like it or not...poop is here to stay in the front of your mind for good. At least until potty training.....

NOTE: If you do not have kids and you are still reading this, you are probably staring at the screen in horror wondering WTH is wrong with parents of the world - I know, I've been there. When you have kids, you will understand and then you will think "Oooooh, THAT'S what that girl was talking about!" Just you wait.....

Heartbreak....

I have had heartbreak before when I had a fight with a dear friend and we didn't speak for weeks.  I have had heartbreak when I didn't get a job or grade I worked for.  I have had heartbreak during a rough breakup from a guy.

Although so many of those things were significant at the time, nothing is capable of making my heart hurt more than when my little man looks up at me with his sick and watery eyes and his red and dripping nose and his sniffly and coughing cry.  I know he doesn't feel good and I can't do anything about it.  I can't explain to him why he feels so yucky and that he will feel better before he knows it.  I can only cuddle with him and let him rest his head on my shoulder and sing him a lullaby and rock him and hope that for a few minutes he won't think about how bad he feels and hope that he feels a little bit better tomorrow...

I'm boring you, I realize

So I'm pretty well aware of the fact that I have been overly dull around this place lately.  I haven't been writing much and I haven't been dropping in my hilarious sense of humor (wait, did I ever bring that?). 

Things in my life are...well...fantastic.  Lil' man is nine months old.  In baby growing terms that means he's all over the house and crawling and he's a minute away from walking.  He plays with the toys he is capable of getting out himself - although I have a feeling we have years away from him being able to put them away.  He has five teeth.  My kid has FIVE TEETH!  See, I feel that's perhaps why it's so dull around here.  THAT is what I find exciting these days.  HA!  He laughs and smiles and follows me around the house.  He reaches for me when he wants me to hold him.  He loves mango, zucchini and apple but HATES carrots.  He can climb an entire flight of stairs without hesitation in about 60 seconds.  He's terrified of the vacuum cleaner but thinks it's hilarious when you pretend to drop him.  His favorite toy is still his glow worm and he cuddles with him all night long.  He likes when I squeeze his nose and make a "beep beep" sound.  He has a personality the size of a house and I could sit and watch him play in the living room for hours (and I do...). 

The first months of his life, I snuggled and cuddled and didn't want to think about putting him down.  I thought THAT was fun then, imagine my surprise when I find it keeps getting better. 

So I only ask your forgiveness if I'm a little slow around here.  I'm just trying not to miss a second of this....

The beginning of the end

Today I am sad.  The time has come when we have had to have infant formula added to our grocery list.  Lil' man and me have made it eight months, one week and six days with breastfeeding and my supply has dropped to the point where we are needing to supplement. 

If you would have asked me nine months ago how this would make me feel, I don't think I would have thought anything of it.  But now?  After eight and a half months of bonding and putting in the effort to  make breastfeeding work, I'm crushed. 

I understand this does not make me a bad mother.  I understand I should be happy to have made it this far.  I understand that William and I will continue to bond in other ways and I will continue to try to nurse and pump as much as I am able to get him some of my milk.  Even knowing this, why is it still breaking my heart? 

Breastfeeding has been one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever had in my life.  It has evolved as William has grown and starting to wean him will be just one of the other million signs that he is growing up.  I will miss the time we have gotten to spend together during the day and at all hours of the night.  (yes, even then)

An Infant's Guide to Building an Immune System

1. Anything at a restaurant tastes fantastic.  I'm not talking about the food (let's face it, you probably don't even have teeth yet!), I'm talking about anything around the vicinity of the adults while they are eating.  Start with the table edge, then the high chair, then hopefully one of those paper/menu displays in the center of the table.  Feel your immune system getting stronger by the second.
2. Shopping cart handles are excellent source of immunity.  Never mind that thousand of people touch it on a regular basis and they are left outside for hours - that's just what gives it that excellent, unique flavor.  Good for your gums.
3. You may have to look for them, but you may find there are specks of dust or paper or dirt or hair on the rugs since the last time your mom vacuumed five minutes ago.  These might be considered sprinkles on ice cream (you'll learn what those are later).  Take full advantage of your tiny fingers and your proximity to the floor and gobble these up.
4. While you are on the floor gobbling up bits of "stuff", go ahead and put your entire mouth on the floor.  No need to work on your finger coordination picking up small pieces on the floor when you can just dive in for the real thing.
5. Do you live in a house with a dog?  You have the immunity-building jackpot.  Hopefully your doggie is nice and cuddly and loves to give you kisses directly on/in your face and mouth.  You can reciprocate by sticking the tail or snout in your mouth for a big ol' baby kiss.  Maybe you could lick the floor together for some lovely bonding time.
6. While your mom or dad (or aunt, grandma, grandpa, uncle, second cousin, babysitter, anyone will do) is changing your diaper - there are a few exciting options.  First option - grab your private parts before the changer can clean you off and then bring your hand to your face/mouth area.  Watch as said changer freaks out and quickly tells you no.  They aren't upset with you, just upset that you are stealing all the immunity.  Make sure to offer them your hand to help with their immunity.  Another option is to stick your foot in the diaper and then it becomes the perfect time to suck on your toes.  Yum.
7. You know those vegetables that taste funny that your parents try to feed you?  Those are not meant to be good for you.  The adult human folk will try to tell you that it will help you get big and strong.  It's just a trick to keep little and cute. 

That is all.....

YouTube and Droid save the day

So, I am one of those people with a smart phone.  I text.  I email.  I browse Facebook.  I pay bills.  I search the internet.  I play games.  I love my phone.  Don't hate. My phone even has magical make-baby-happy powers.  The scenario:

Last night, I was out geocaching with my sister.  [Yes, I geocache.  I'm a nerd and I realize this but that's a topic for a totally different post]  We are out the last one of the day and William starts to get fussy, so mother of the year just looks faster to find the cache.  No luck so I get in the car to head home.  William's fussy turns to screaming-so-my-ears-bleed crying in about .067 seconds.  Great.  My sister sits in the back seat to try to settle him down.  She shook a toy lion in his face.  Nothing.  She tries tickling his toes.  Scream gets louder.  Still 10 minutes from home.  The next move literally made me about cry from laughter.  Since William seems to entertained by remotes, cell phones and shoes, she took off her shoe to show him.  I thought it was hilarious.  William....did not. 

So my sister now has one shoe on.  My ears are bleeding from the screaming (OK, maybe not really).  William is a soggy, crying disaster.  We are a mess. 

Then, I pull out the big guns.  How could I have forgotten.  I whip out my phone (no, no, not while I was driving) and use my YouTube app and search "Bob the Builder Theme Song".  I play this and hand to my sister in the back seat.  Not only did William stop crying, he is now laughing.  Laughing! 

It worked.  I don't care what it says about my parenting ability.  It worked.  Thank you, Droid for making this possible.  Thank you, YouTube for the great app.  Thank you, Bob the Builder for having a wonderful, scream-stopping theme song.  Thank you, EricEngelwood for posting said video.  Thank you, Melanie for taking off your shoe.  You guys make mommy ears everywhere feel better.  :)

Did Mother Goose write that one?

Just like any other skills you might develop, parenting skills seem to develop out of necessity.  You WILL figure out the best strategy to change a diaper without getting pee all over your hair and the wall and the dog.  You WILL figure out not to bounce your kid up and down or even make any sudden movements with said baby after they eat.  You WILL figure out how to rock (or pretty much toss around) in the weirdest position that are never shown in baby books to soothe them.  You just figure out the 'tricks of the trade' by trial and error.  Anything to keep everyone involved sane.

I've learned - babies like music.  Seems fairly intuitive. 

However, you may not always have a copy of the new Cee Lo CD or Toddler Tunes available for your little ones awaiting ears.  So you sing.  You sing whatever comes to mind.  And it is some sort of Murphy's Law that you can no longer recall any of the songs you loved as a child or any of the songs you learned in Girl Scouts.  Not even the school song from your elementary song that you've literally have had in your head for the last 20 years.  Nope.  None of those songs come to mind at the critical moment when baby is starting to take the about face from being the happiest baby on the planet to fussy, whiny baby.  So there are two options.  You make one up or you sing any other song you know and spin it into a performance for your lil' one using "baby voices" and soothing rhythms. 

If you opt for the 'making-one-up' route - this can be easy or extremely difficult.  I like to keep things simple.  You can just sing anything that comes to mind.  "Mommy is doing the di-i-shes, the di-i-shes, the di-i-shes.  Mommy is doing the di-i-shes because daddy didn't do them this morning."  Simple can mean perfection.  Daddy seems to have more time on his hands and likes to perfect his songs after plenty of thought, practice and fine-tuning.  His go-to song is a three verse song set to the Flipper theme song (seriously, no joke).  Whichever route you decide, these seem to be highly effective. 

If you decide to take the less creative route and perform a song you know, don't be discouraged.  You too can soothe baby.  This might actually be a type of Rorschach test of music and parenting depending on what song you choose.  Last week I actually witnessed my own husband rock our teething, sick child to sleep while singing a nursery rhyme version of Whoomp, There It Is.  Nothing says rest your eyes, little one, and go to sleep like a little Tag Team - "Can you dig it?  We can dig it.  Can y'all dig it?  We can dig it."  The crying was resolved.  I don't think I've ever been more proud of my husband's parenting skills....

To assess the situation and determine if a song is necessary - baby might look something like this....

"My Mom's songs are the best!"

After song-of-choice, baby should look something like this....

The Dreaded Teething....

Everyone knows it happens - the drool, the crying, the teething rings, infant Tylenol.  All being the tell-tale signs of teething.  It's a new phase of motherhood.  A phase I lovingly have begun to call salt-water-taffy-nipples. 

Recently, during a trip to visit my parents, my mother watched lil' man and commented on how rough he was while taking a bottle - practically chewing on the bottle nipple.  She made a remark about how swollen his gums were and how much that would hurt me.  Umm...yuh-huh....I'm aware. 

I love nursing.  I have exclusively been breastfeeding lil' man since he was born.  It's been amazing.  When I was pregnant I knew teething would come, however I was just considering the long nights of crying....not nipples that become chewing gum for my adorable baby.  Who knew it was possible for nipples to stretch that far?  Yeah....not cool.

I have made it this long nursing;  I am determined to stick this out.  I've made it through all the long nights at the beginning.  I've made it through a bout of mastitis.  I've made it while working full-time, pumping twice (or more) a day.  I've made it through the stage of being soaked in milk in public.  I've given up caffeine and nuts (upset lil' man).  With the exception of a few times, I haven't really drank alcohol in 9 months of pregnancy plus six months since William was born. 

I will make it through this.....nipples intact hopefully.

I'm completely open for any suggestions, mommies out there.

Cloth Diapers - trial and error

I would go ahead and say that using cloth diapers (heck, disposable diapers for that matter) is definitely a trial and error process to figure out what works. It might take a little time to figure out what brand you like, how to stuff them, how to put them on correctly, snaps or hook and loop, size settings, any number of options to figure out.  I have been using cloth diapers on lil' man for nearly six months and we've learned quite a bit. 

Lately, we have been having leaking issues.  It didn't seem to matter what brand of diaper or when it happened.  It just kept happening.  We stripped the diapers by doing a few hot washes without any detergent.  This didn't help.  I was double stuffing the pockets at night and for the morning nap - no luck.  What the heck?!  I was getting sick and tired of changing pee clothes multiple times a day!

So since I felt I had tried several options, I figured I would try another.  This might be something that is in some cloth diapering manual somewhere out there and everyone already knows this, but I just figured it out.  Previously, when I was stuffing the pockets I folded the excess material and put it in the front of the diaper.  I figured since I had heavy-wetting boy, we could use all the extra absorbency up front.  So I changed it up - I put the excess material in the back.  No more leaks!! 

OK, I'm officially confused because this seems completely counter intuitive.  I'm not going to question it too much since it's working.  No more pee clothes - mommy is a happy lady!

Has anyone else found this to help?  What other cloth diapering lessons have you learned through trial and error?

My son's got some smarts...

There are few things that are capable of making you feel dumber than when your six month old son figures out how to work a toy before you do....and you have actually tried. 

All that time and money on my engineering degree and my six month old shows me up....

....that is all.

"Oh, mom....not always the brightest but I guess I"ll keep you around because I like your milk."

Parenting is...

I recently read (OK, listened to the audio book) The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.  I'm not a fan of politics in general and (shame on me) don't follow all that closely.  I figured it would be interesting to read a book by the President and gave it a shot.  He gives quite an interested perspective on things and discusses topics from government to economy to family.  I probably couldn't go into too much detail on any of these topics, I guess they really didn't 'sink in'.  There was something at the end of the book, when he was discussing family, that stuck out and I adore it.  He began discussing his daughter's fifth birthday party -

"...the gymnastics instructor gathered all the kids around an old, multicolored parachute and told Sasha to sit at its center.  On the count of three, Sasha was hoisted up into the air and back down again, then up for a second time, and then for a third.  And each time she rose above the billowing sail, she laughed and laughed with a look of pure joy. 

"I wonder if Sasha will remember that moment when she is grown.  Probably not; it seems as if I can retrieve only the barest fragments of memory from when I was five.  But I suspect that the happiness she felt on that parachute registers permanently in her; that such moments accumulate and embed themselves in a child's character, becoming a part of their soul.  "

I guess I had always believed this, but I love the way he put it - "...such moments accumulate and embed themselves in a child's character, becoming a part of their soul."  As a new parent, it's a wonderful idea and a huge responsibility to think of it this way.  To think that every smile and laugh I help to create with my own son is being embedded in his soul.  And the same might be true for any unhappiness or tears that I help create.  What an amazing responsibility to have....

The curse of the "I can't wait"

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." ~John Lennon

"I can't wait until this weekend."  "I can't wait until summer."  "I can't wait until I get married."  I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait...

How many times do we all look ahead at what is to come instead of sitting back and taking in all of the wonderful things around us in the NOW?  I am regularly guilty of this and have been consciously making an effort to live in the moment instead of always looking ahead.

When I was pregnant and right after lil' man was born, I felt like everyone around me kept telling me how fast time flies once you have a kid.  I've already noticed that it's so easy to look ahead when it comes to lil' man.  I can't wait until he is walking.  I can't wait until he can talk.  I can't wait until we can take him to the zoo and he can make animal sounds.  I can't wait until we can take him to his first football game.  It's so easy to do.  Whether I realize it or not, I'm wishing away the time we have now.  I'm focusing on what is to come instead of what my sweet boy is right now - savoring every second as he clumsily reaches for my fingers or a toy, or how his eyes light up with curiosity at the mere site of a ceiling fan.  Enjoying every second that he smiles in excitement when he sees his daddy's or my face.  Taking in his baby sounds and smells.  I'm working to enjoy and focus on the wonders of an ordinary day...diaper changes, cuddles, head butts from a five month old that I think might have broken my  nose, bath time, story time or baby talk. 

Looking at the numbers - breastfeeding

I had a conversation with my bestie awhile back about breastfeeding and how long women tend to breastfeed.  I felt like it was completely normal for women to breastfeed for at least six months, if not a year or longer.  She thought a year and even six months definitely didn't seem normal or common.  William is only five months old and I have gotten shocked responses when people find out I am still nursing.  Someone over the weekend even looked at me and asked "How much longer are you even going to do that anyway?" as if they were shocked that I would be nursing a five month old still.

I don't have any friends that have babies yet, so I don't have them to go by.  Some people in my family did it, but I guess I never really paid too much attention for how long they nursed.  I knew some of my hubby's friends didn't breastfeed, but I figured those were some exceptions.  I think because of all the lovely mommy bloggers I follow that support breastfeeding and even extended breastfeeding (beyond one year), I figured this was the norm.  So I decided to take a look at the numbers....I was somewhat disappointed.

It's pretty reassuring that 75% of mothers have ever breastfed, but then to see that number is significantly diminished by the time the babies are three months, to 33%, is kind of discouraging.  I was shocked to see that the national average for exclusively breastfeeding by six months was only a 13.3%.  [Source:  CDC]

It was pretty obvious that my understanding of reality was a wee bit off.  But then I kind of wanted to pat myself on the back for keeping it up.  I understand there are many reasons for women not being able to continue to breastfeed - supply (I can totally relate to this one), work, lifestyle, health/medication reasons and I would imagine support is a huge one.  I think a big part of my support  has come from complete strangers in the bloggy world - reading about women that have worked to successfully breastfeed their little ones and many who support extended breastfeeding.  For all you ladies at there that have nursed and probably unknowingly inspired someone else to breastfeed, you should also pat yourselves on the back!  Keep it up!

Parenting is not for those with weak stomachs

Part of parenting = baby bodily functions.

I took the afternoon off work today and since I've been with William, we are on the fourth outfit.  Yes, as in outfit 1, then 2, then 3 and finally change 4...

Daddy had him dressed in outfit #1 when I got home to great my lil' man.  He had just woken up from his morning nap and I was going to feed him, change his diaper and then head to the mall (for a few errands and to use my new ERGO again!!!).  Holy pee boy.  Wet wet wet diaper change and into outfit #2.  Now he's stinkin' cute and ready to be shown off to all the folks at the mall.  I feed him and holy spit-up monster.  I'm not talking a little burp followed by a little spit-up.  I'm talking we are now soaked and there is no hope for his clothes....or mine.  Onto outfit #3 for William, #2 for mama. 

Finally we are off to the mall where we have a marvelous time walking around and checking out all the stores.  Babywearing fun was had by all - William and me.  I feel warmth.  I'm thinking this is only because our body heat is on each other and we've been, ya know, walking around the mall.  We get to the car.  Holy babywearing, diaper explosion nightmare.  Oh yes.  And if you are keeping score, onto #4 for William, #3 for mama. 

I'm convinced that between the bodily functions and the crying that babies are responsible for, it is precisely why God made them so honkin' cute!

People tried to tell me

I'm continuously finding that motherhood is pretty freakin' awesome.  When I was pregnant, people like to offer up their advice on what to do, what not to do, what to try, what to watch for and what to remember.  People tried to tell me how amazing motherhood is.  Plenty of people tried to tell me that time goes so fast once you have a baby.  I heard multiple people try to describe how babies change everyday. 

Umm....they were totally right. 

The last five months have flown by and I can't believe it.  Didn't my water just break?  And you know what, babies seriously change every.single.day.  I'm not talking huge, drastic changes.  It varies - one day he might do a new weird thing with his tongue when he tries to make noise, another day he might do something bigger like suddenly reaching for a toy. 

I am continuously in awe of my son and how he continues to grow before my eyes and the curiosity he displays for everything - a song playing on a toy, his daddy's voice, the dog's tail, a ceiling fan. 

Sometimes I can hardly take my eyes off him. 

People tried to tell me this is what it would be like, but I guess I couldn't have imagined...