Spoon Ninja

Here's a few updated pictures from Little Man, now one year old and getting ear tubes next week so hopefully help him feel better. 

Little Almost Naked Man

Here's all of our animals basking in the sun. 

Who knew flour could be so exciting?

Ponderings

I found myself pondering life outside on the patio
Eating a peach slice by slice with a knife
Juice running down my fingers
Grass nestled in between my toes
The sun beaming proudly in my face
Why am I always trying to be someone else?
Trying to have beautiful flowing locks
Having people at the grocery store adore my outfits?
That is not me.
I am the woman with calloused feet
Hairy armpits and legs
Happy to stay home and raise a boy
Cook for the family and tend to the pets
Patience, long legs, and frizzy hair
I am the one outside blushed with fresh air
Content to soak up the sunshine of life

Breastfeeding Tips

Yes, I know this will probably interest very few of you out there, but I hope it can help some or at least help me remember some pointers for the next baby we have.  First off, I believe breastfeeding is pretty awesome since it is basically free and health for the baby.  Apparently I was a closet flasher because these days it doesn't bother me in the least to whip out  a boob in public-although they are so much more functional now-not just a hindrance in my attempts to run.  At the hospital I was so incredibly nervous about breastfeeding that I asked pretty much every nurse we had if I was doing it right, there were some helpful ones but some incredibly unhelpful nurses as well so we'll start with some tips:


1.  It will hurt.  Yes, it hurts until your nipples get used to being yanked on by a little vacuum mouth, but this too passes.

2.  Your baby will be attached to you most of the time.  Newborns eat about every two hours at least.  I read in a book that said to make your baby go three hours between feedings to get on a routine and this just made him one cranky little man-don't do it until they are a few months old if you feel it necessary to have the baby on your schedule instead of its own.

3.  15 minutes per side is adequate.  They should be able to get their meals finished in this time frame-any more and you're just asking for chapped nipples-ouch!

4.  Your baby will fall asleep eating and I found it is futile to try and wake them...just feed them sooner next time.

5.  Closed fists=hungry baby   Open relaxed hands=full baby

6.  When babies are first born you will need to squish your boob to help it fit into their mouths...so you squish your breast with your forefinger and thumb like you are making a breast sandwich-eventually their mouths will be big enough you will no longer need to do this.

7.  Latch, latch, latch.  All babies nurse differently and I was really worried that Colby and I didn't have an appropriate latch.  You shouldn't be able to see your babies lips to see if they are flanged out because their shouldn't be enough room to slide a credit card between your babies nose/chin and your boob. As long as it doesn't hurt and your baby is seeming satisfied afterward you should be fine.

8.  When your milk comes in your boobs will feel like they are filled with sand and ready to explode.  This was quite painful.  Use ice packs and massage gently around the nipple to soften your boob up so your baby can latch on.  

9.  Be prepared to wear nursing tanks for approximately the next year-they are oh so convenient although a little lacking support.

10.  Try to appreciate those night time feedings.  Soon enough your baby will be running all over and won't want to snuggle this much.  Do your best to enjoy these quiet moments.

11.  Things you will need to breastfeed: 
                      lanolin-I only used this the first week
                      3-4 Nursing Tanks
                      1-2 Nursing Bras
                      Breast Pump-I just bought a $70 dollar one at Target and it does the job
                      Breast shields or burp cloths to put in the other side of your bra when the baby starts
                                 nursing  because it will leak.
                      3-4 Bottles to have on hand for expressed milk
                      Nursing Coverup 

4th of July Weekend

Colby had a great 4th of July-and a red white and blue outfit to boot:

For the 4th we took the 4 and a half hour journey over to South Dakota to my in laws.  In general this drive is most miserable because it is on two lane highways that weave through small towns and they carry a lot of farm traffic and I'm always hesitant to pass these people.  Traveling with our dog and child we had to make a few stops to stretch and feed him.  When we started off it was 99 degrees out with clear blue skies.  With about an hour left of our journey the skies turned greenish yellow, the wind picked up and then it started to down pour.  We got a mile out of a very small town when my husband and I made the decision to turn back into town to find somewhere safe to hide out.  We had just pulled into the downtown area when the tornado sirens started going off.  We saw some lights on at a pharmacy so I told my husband we should go there.  I got Colby out of the car in his car seat and ran to the buildings and saw some other people in a hair salon walking so I darted in there to see if they'd let us bring our dog in and down stairs.  Of course, being the polite Minnesotans that they were they said of course, I stepped out to tell my husband and I couldn't find him.  Colby and I hunkered down in a dank stonewalled basement with another couple.  The electricity flickered off and we were left in the dark.  Luckily Colby was a trooper and he was content trying to eat his stuffed dog.  When we finally emerged from the basement my husband and do walked in the door and our family was reunited again.  He had went into the pharmacy and got ushered to the back of the store where he thought he'd find me waiting-and he said he was extremely disheartened and nervous when I was nowhere to be found.  We finally made our way  back out to our car and back on the road.  Most of the streets were flooded and we drove by several trees split in half our uprooted.  Luckily the rest of our journey was uneventful. 

Touching Moment

When I was going on being a week overdue I got a letter from my mom with this picture of me and my grandma in it and a thank you note that my mom had written to my aunt about the first week she had brought me home.  My grandma passed away when I was in elementary school so it took me back to the days when I'd see my Grammy and I would run up to her and get a great big bear hug.  Needless to say with my emotions running high from my pregnancy I broke into tears realizing how lucky my child will be to have a Grammy that loves him just as much as I am loved.  In the thank you note my mom mentions how my older brother and sister reacted to my coming in.  It made me chuckle. Now here's a picture of my Mom holding Colby for the first time.  So sweet.

Happy Easter

My husband and I for quite some time have been saying we should go to church.  Pretty much since we moved in together five years ago every Sunday we have felt guilt about not getting up and going to church. Now that I'm a mom, I realize that church is great and so is God (or the idea of him/her) but the most important thing about church is community.  It is a place where you feel welcome every Sunday and share experiences.  Also, one of my priorities right now is to raise a well rounded child that has plenty of socialization, so self centered as it may be, I'm going to church for him. An added bonus is when, unfortunately one of our pets die, there will be the consolation that the cat or dog has gone up to heaven. 

Easter Sunday brought us to a little church in a little town fifteen minutes away.  The church was built in the 1850's and it had magnificent wood work and stained glass to admire during the prayers and sermon.  The pews were half empty which was rather disconcerting considering it was a major Christian holiday-part of the reason I wanted to go on Easter was that the church would be packed and we could slip in and out unnoticed, so wrong I was.

We were greeted by some strange ladies.  One gal was sitting at a table before church during their little brunch time-and the first thing she says to us is "did you hear about the new pastor."  Now, I should have left it at that, but being curious I had to ask what happened to the old one-he quit five weeks ago.  Perhaps she was a novelist and could see my intrigue, knowing there was a mystery to solve she knew I would return to get the scoop of what the congregation did to make this pastor quit.  Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have the answer.

Another old lady hobbled over to us with a few missing teeth and admired Colby.  Then she continued to share that she adopted one child, had one child and lost five children, but after that she fostered over two hundred children.  I gave her a small applause and a bouquet of flowers for her good deeds. 

Next week plan on venturing to the big city church...Hallelujah! (such a strange word)

Pregnant, Dependent on GPS, and Rambling

I've lived in the Twin Cities for six months now, but the first three months I spent on the couch trying not to rehash my last meal, so unfortunately for me, I have not grasped just how this highway system works yet. We live in a small suburb somewhere between Minneapolis and St. Paul-I'm not really good with maps but people would say South East of St. Paul. My husband-an engineer whose mind is very linear-will blame our handy GPS we kindly refer to as Carmen the Garmin, but I just blame my necessity to get lost several times before learning to not make the same mistakes again.

I managed to finally meet up with my friend who lives and works in Southern Minneapolis for lunch and shopping. On the way there I had to run to the post office before driving across town so my foot was exceptionally leaded. Luckily for me, there was a attentive officer a block away that managed to clock me going ten miles over the speed limit. I unzipped my coat and rubbed the baby for good luck and sympathy saying a silent prayer while I handed over my license to the uniformed man. I'm not sure if it was because I looked uncomfortably pregnant, put on makeup that morning, or the fact I didn't try to talk my way out of a ticket, but I managed to get off with a warning. One catastrophe averted.

Driving down the interstate, carefully watching my speed, I argued with Carmen the GPS and was frequently greeted with her favorite phrase "recalculating". I always question her choice of routes and tend to think that I know best, which is usually wrong. I managed to take a twenty minute detour after missing a turn but ended up skirting along a quiet frozen lake with walkers and joggers braving the snow and ice. If I could find the lake again I would consider visiting it in the summer when I can see my feet and even my belly button again. I ultimately made it to my friend's work to pick her up, thankful to have found a parking space that didn't require parallel maneuvering.

I'm afraid the way home was way worse for my luck. I dropped my friend off in Minneapolis at the very height of rush hour-people in suits driving their shiny Dotsons and Neons-oh wait that is an Alanis Morrisette song. Regardless, I was a small town Iowa girl whose idea of traffic is getting stuck behind a tractor for a few minutes on the highway thrown into the buzzing cars darting in and out of lanes.

Carmen seemed to be full of spite for me on the way home. I followed her directions, but after a while I started to realize that I had no idea where I was driving. I passed through the sky scrapers of Minneapolis, a few suburbs, and then I was starting to see signs for the state capital. Somehow I had managed to drive through the heart of St. Paul-past two car accidents-and endless minutes of creeping traffic. I nearly had a breakdown in my emotional pregnant state, swearing to learn the roads and not rely on Carmen to find my way home but then ninety minutes later I thankfully pulled into my garage-still painfully unaware of which roads led home.

Quote of the Day

"She wasn't where she had been. She wasn't where she was going…but she was on her way."
- Jodi Hill

The World Outside My Front Door

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land. ~G.K. Chesterton

Our neighbors in our new town have been very welcoming, or at least the ones we have met. On one side of us lives a character straight out of King of the Hill. He stands outside with a few of our other neighbors, beer in hand, and shoots the breeze-swearing loudly across the street. The neighbors on our other side we rarely see, we were informed that they were Hmong. I had never heard of Hmongs before, but I found out from my history teaching and loving father that Hmongs were originally from around Laos and Vietnam. They helped the US with the war in Vietnam and were persecuted after the communists took over and many fled from their homelands.

Yesterday cars were lined up all the way down our street. My husband was doing some yard work in the front lawn and our neighbor invited him to come over to help celebrate the birth of their daughter. We knew that we had to go over since we were invited, but we were both very nervous to barge in, seeing as we honestly didn’t think we could spot them in the crowd if our lives depended on it.

We walked the long 20 feet across the yard to their garage. A group of Hmong men were outside the garage in a circle chatting. They graciously welcomed us and introduced themselves, shaking hands with each of them. We learned that during the party the baby and parents are given strings wrapped around their wrists by the elders of their family. Each elder wishes them wellness and happiness for their family. In the garage little Hmong women were cooking in massive pots, dicing and washing pots and pans in the front lawn. We found out later that they had a pig and a cow slaughtered for the party and they had been cooking since the early hours of the morning. To my uneducated nose the food smelled of Mongolian beef.

Our neighbor “Chow” came graciously thanked us for coming over. Inside the house all the furniture was put away and the carpets were covered with vinyl. Big banquet tables sprawled across the living room and there were at least 35 people inside and another 20 outside. The gal that brought us inside made a joke that she thought we’d probably never think so many people could fit in one house-she was right. We met our neighbor “Wing” and the young child. She introduced us to her mother who with waves and gestures asked us if we lived next door, pointing at our house through the kitchen window. The conversation then turned to my very pregnant belly and the old woman had the biggest grin on her faced and gave my belly an excited rub.

It must have been obvious that we were outsiders, being that we were the only white people in the group, but everyone was very friendly and seemingly excited to have us in their presence. Upon our departure “Chow” returned and promised to bring some food over later once it was done. After dinner most of the cars were gone from down the street and I assumed that the offer was just a kind gesture and we weren’t so special after all. Then the doorbell rang with a short, curly haired Hmong woman standing outside my door with tupperwares. Little did I know of the world that lived just outside my door.

Lily Literature

Thoughts and ideas written by Lily...