Punched

This week I....

...got my nose pierced. It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. And yes, it hurt. Not so much when it was pierced, but afterwards. I felt like I had gotten punched in the face.

...got my nose ring ripped out by The Tadpole. That hurt. But not as much as pushing it back in. That hurt worse.

...am still happy that I got my nose pierced.

...also went through a hurricane (tropical storm?) We did not get hit badly at all, we didn't even lose power. But a lot of people around us did.

...got annoyed by all the people on Facebook putting updates that said things like "What a dud Irene was" or "Irene wasn't a big deal." Listen, maybe Irene wasn't a big deal for you but it was big enough to kill 23 people and flood parts of NY and NJ.

What did you do this week?

Punched

Gorgeous Day

It is GORGEOUS out today! Not too hot, not too cold.

We've been spending all day outside. Weeding the garden, planting the fall crops, enjoying the sunshine.

Meanwhile, I'm over at MassMoms with Five Tips for a Natural Childbirth. Feel free to check it out and comment!

Gorgeous Day

Priorities

"Look Mommy! It's a plane!" the Mermaid shouts, pointing up to the sky and jumping with excitement.

"What? Oh, yeah. Great." I say, while scrubbing the counters.

"Look Mommy! It's a butterfly!" says the Guppy, skipping across the grass.

"Hmmm" I say, not even looking up from sweeping.

I sweep and scrub and sweep some more, and it still looks like no cleaning has been done at the end of the day. And that is just life with three small children.

But I wonder, at what point did a spotless counter become more important than sharing with my child the joy of observing a butterfly fly across the yard? Or the wonder of watching a FLYING machine cross the sky?

And why

am I still holding this broom

instead of their hands, as we run across the grass?

Because in the end, we are all stepping on cereal. But...so what?

Priorities

Down in Words

So I haven't really been around here as much as I used to. The publish button is looking mighty dusty and dingy, in fact.

Part of it is because I've started to turn off the computer during the day. I didn't want to be just home with my children; I wanted to be present with them as well. That means less time to read other blogs, tweet (my poor twitter account is neglected!) and write.

Part of it is because I've been busy. I'm trying to finish up my CBE Educator training, and really get started on my herbalist training. Add on to that the housework, the homeschooling, and the hanging out with my kids and there's not that much time left in the day.

And part of it is because I haven't really had much to say. I feel like our lives have settled into this wonderful routine. I'm peaceful. Happy. There's nothing really exciting going on right now in my life, and that's ok. I'm fine with the simple things, and there's only so much you can write about that.

I've thought about what form I want this blog to take in my life. I found myself wondering if I should stop posting in it. I haven't had the time or energy. But, I decided to keep it. I LOVE writing. I'm not good at it all all, and I don't try to make money from it, but I still love it. And seeing as I never filled out the baby books for any of my kids...well, this is their baby book. I write them their age letters here. I want them to one day be able to look back on this blog and get a glimpse of what things were like.

So, the blog stays. I can't promise it will always be interesting, or even updated. But I'm always here. Writing when I can.

Getting this fabulous life down in words.

Down in Words

Babyzilla Attacks!

Once upon a time, there was a peaceful village, nestled in a quiet and sunny valley. The people there lived simple lives, working in their farms, waiting for the next train to come to town, etc. Until.....

BABYZILLA!!

Babyzilla attacked without warning on sunny day, and completely destroyed the town!!! And unfortunately for those poor people, every attempt to rebuild the town is thwarted by Babyzilla, as he attacks again and again.

This kid climbs EVERYTHING! And he gets into everything. We now have to keep the dishwasher and stove locked, and we'll be putting up a baby gate to keep him out of the kitchen while I am cooking because he reaches up and grabs everything he can! The Mermaid and The Guppy were never this bad with getting into things. He has a much more adventurous and curious personality than they do!

Waiting for daddy to come home.

But what can I say? I love this kid. He makes us laugh every day. He's starting to talk, waves, gives kisses, and chases me around the house yelling "MAMA! NA-NAS! NA-NAS MAMA! NA-NAS!"

It drives me crazy. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Babyzilla Attacks!

Lessons Learned From Breastfeeding

The Tadpole has been nursing a lot less than he used to, but still more than enough to keep us both happy and connected. He always looks directly into my eyes when he nurses. And of course, because he is a *gasp* toddler now, he often tries to do flips and turns on my lap while he nurses as well.

I remember almost eight years go, talking with my hair dresser while she cut my hair and talking with her about my pregnancy. She asked me if I was going to breastfeed and I responded with, "Well I haven't really thought of it." So she walked out of the room and came back in with a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding for me to borrow. I took it home and I read it. And then I read it again. And I knew that I was going to breastfeed.

When The Mermaid was born I didn't have any pain when I nursed. She was long and skinny and healthy. We had a small speed bump in the beginning when she wasn't gaining weight fast enough but one quick call to La Leche League and I was given a suggestion that worked like a charm. She went on to nurse until she was 22 months old, when she self-weaned after I got pregnant with The Guppy.

When The Guppy was born I guess I was expecting it to be as easy as it was with The Mermaid. It wasn't. Her latch was shallow and it took a couple of weeks to fix, in the meantime I was in a lot of pain. But I knew it would work itself out if I kept correcting her latch and by six weeks postpartum things were great. The Guppy was the opposite of The Mermaid: short and chubby! I look at pictures of her as a newborn and wonder how she got so chubby, just on mama's milk! Six weeks postpartum was also when I went to my first LLL meeting. The Guppy nursed until she was over two years old, and weaned when I got pregnant with Kalei.

Finally The Tadpole was born. The birth was fantastic but boy did the postpartum suck!! He was born with a slightly recessed chin and had a shallow latch. He also was a sparkler and demanded to be held/on the boob all. the. time. I was in terrible pain and came down with a nasty case of mastitis. At the time I was a single mother, so I was doing it all by myself. I ended up taking him off one side and just pumping until the tissue healed and just worked on his latch and waited for him to get bigger and his chin to pop out a little more. The issues we had were finally resolved and I have never been so glad and relieved that I stuck with it. The Tadpole taught me so much about patience and perseverance those first few weeks, and I am grateful for receiving those lessons.

The Tadpole is 13 months old now and although he is nursing less and does not nurse to sleep, I don't think he is showing any signs of wanting to stop. And that's fine. He's our last child, so I am going to let him go as long as he wants and enjoy it while it lasts. This is the last part of the chapter in my life where I am able to solve all boo-boos and upset feelings with a nursing session; or not worry as much when a stomach virus hits, because he'll be able to keep down breastmilk; or not worry so much when he has a day when he doesn't eat as healthy or as much, because breastmilk provides him with all his needs.

He comes up to me and signs the word for milk, tilts his head to the side and says "Na-nas?" And I scoop him up and kiss his head and he latches on. And he looks at me and I look at him, and even though we aren't speaking we are having our own private conversation about love and comfort and security.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

Lessons Learned From Breastfeeding