Why Hello There

So it seems as if someone has taken notice of my blog and I am going to be featured as a "Blogger of Note" on Friday over at Our Words of Wisdom How fabulous for me, eh? I promise I won't let it go to my head...at least not too much :P

It's been such a strange past few days. For one, it was a holiday weekend and Maple Park LOVES Labor Day weekend. We go all out with bands, a parade, fireworks, helicopters (I have proof of all of these) and the police chief doing tricks as he passes out candy (unfortunately I have no photographic evidence of this one BUT him tossing candy through his leg at me while winking will forever be etched in my memory...and the memories of the seven people around me, including the one who shall not be named, who did a wolf whistle and suggested, perhaps, the chief was sweet on me. *shakes head*)

The weekend started out fabulously enough; Gabriel brought home a cold to share with all of us. He was also in a glow in the dark cast that he was kind enough to share with us all as well. Every single one of us has been stepped on at LEAST once with the stupid cast. The only ones in the house who have escaped the glow in the dark monstrosity are the cats and I think that's because he is purposely NOT stepping on them (Just kidding Gabe, we know it's not on purpose...well maybe Bitsy's foot was on purpose, but I'm sure Aunt Katie's wasn't, right??)

So here we are, on the eve of the most important weekend of the year in Maple Park and we have a casted, snotty nosed, miserable kid. Never fear though, by Saturday afternoon he was well enough to infect us all come to the fire station to check out the helicopter, go to the parade and collect twenty pounds of candy, and dance to one of the many bands playing that weekend.

After we fed the kids candy DINNER, the adults all left for an evening of merriment. Said merriment included cheap wine and a keg party. How does a group of 30 somethings (and one young buck) get invited to a keg party you might be wondering...truth be told, I'm wondering the same thing. I still haven't figured it out. *shakes head* Oh well...we came home at the late late hour of midnight, got the sitter home safely and all collapsed in heaps in our bed...except for a few house guests who slept in the living room, which was all fine and dandy until the cheap wine came back up-onto my couch. Here I am, nearly 31 years old (shhhh) and someone threw up on my couch. On the plus side, since the someone who threw up on my couch didn't have my last name, I didn't have to clean it up, so there's that. On the negative side though, um, someone THREW UP ON MY COUCH.

So Sunday morning rolls around, Geo goes to work with a pounding headache and Gabriel's cold, I manage to do seven loads of laundry, clean the kitchen, and make dinner (I think, to be honest, I was still a little drunk from the night before because Lord knows that I don't like to do that much on a Sunday morning) Gabriel, of course, at this point, is perky as all get out because a) he doesn't have a cold anymore and b) he slept for about 12 hours the night before. But wait-where's Bitsy in all of this? Hmmm...let me see, sleeping in my bed, cutting the hair off of my little ponies, using duct tape to "fix leaks" (note to self, try and find the duct tape tomorrow) and generally being a little pain in the rear. On the plus side (side note-I'm trying to be more positive in my day to day life, hence the "on the plus side" phrase I keep tossing out) she has not gotten Gabriel's cold, which is good since at this point EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE has gotten it and is miserable. Thank you Gabriel the Germy for bringing that home to share with all of us.

What a week...and it's really just started. Stupid Mondays off for holidays get me all screwed up all of the time. I sat down tonight and could have sworn it was a Wednesday, after all I worked today and I always work Wednesdays right? (um, no, not right. I rarely work Wednesdays, though oddly enough I do work tomorrow ha ha)

So here it is, Tuesday night and I'm up late because I slept late this morning AND took a nap because I am incredibly lazy coming down with a cold and there is another responsible adult in the house to keep an eye on the blonde devil and we all know you should rest when you feel sick. Not only are five of the seven of us sick with this crappy cold, we managed to share the cold with the Kufer clan who already had a cold started. Glad we could share with you guys! Anytime...ha ha ha ha.

Now it's off to bed since tomorrow is WEDNESDAY and I have things to do...such as dishes and laundry...and posting pictures for the worlds' most fabulous wordless Wednesday post (not really, I have let the Blogger of Note nomination go to my head, sorry) and working.

Have a fabulous Wednesday, can't wait to see all of your Wordless Wednesday posts!

So Lucky

In case you are new to the blog or haven't noticed by now, I am a *bit* of a lactivist [a nursing advocate] and I occasionally blog about it; today is one of those days :)

I consider myself to be incredibly lucky for a multitude of reasons, but today I am particularly lucky to know MORE nursing mothers than formula feeding mothers. When I had Gabriel I only knew one person who had nursed their children and they were in Michigan and not a whole lot of help to me. HOWEVER when I had SarahAnne, I had a nursing friend. Not just a six weeks and we're done type nursing friend, but the kind of nursing friend who nursed past a year and didn't take anybody's crap about it. NOW I know a ton of women who have nursed-even nursed past a year!

Why the sudden raise in nursing? I'd like to think that I may have had a little bit to do with it; what with being that crazy barefoot hippie extended nursing momma that I was-I've helped quite a few of my girlfriends successfully nurse in the last three years and now THEY have helped other mommas nurse successfully.

Why has nursing fallen out of "vogue" so to say? Why are we NOT doing what we can to make sure our children have the best possible start in life? I'm not going to get into formula feeding and the dangers, etc, that's not what this post is about. What I want to know is WHY are we, as women, as mommas, are not doing what is completely and utterly natural and perfect for our children.

I recently attended my first birth (other than my own, of course ha ha) and the new momma was gung ho that she was going to nurse. She had educated herself, we'd done a breast feeding class together, we'd talked about how long she wanted to nurse, etc etc. When it came down to it though, the LD nurse didn't see the need to push nursing on her. Brand new babies are most alert for the first hour or two of their lives and NEED to be put to breast (baring an emergency of course) immediately. It's NATURAL. It's NORMAL. It SHOULD be standard practice.

My gf has been incredibly lucky in that she has nursing mommas around her to support and help her in her first month of nursing. I'm pleased to say that she is STILL nursing and that's a huge deal...unfortunately. It's unfortunate that a month of nursing is an accomplishment rather than the norm. I'm so proud of L for sticking to nursing through what is most definitely the worst part of nursing. Ugh, the first six weeks suck-literally AND figuratively and she's done AMAZING so far and will continue to do so.

It's very nice to sit around with "the girls" and talk about nursing as if it's nothing special; as if it's totally and completely normal. I love being able to talk about all the good things-and even bad things-about nursing without being the "crazy hippie momma" (though, in all fairness, I AM the crazy hippie momma, so really, that doesn't bother me ha ha)

So...what can we do to get more mommas nursing? EDUCATION EDUCATION and MORE EDUCATION. Honestly the best thing an expecting mother can do for herself and her soon to be baby is get her hands on every possible piece of breast feeding information they can get a hold of. They should go to LLL meetings, they should talk to other nursing mommas, they should take classes, and they should connect with breastfeeding groups on line if they aren't able to do any of the above. Creating a support system for nursing mommas is going to be key for getting women to nurse again. I hope and pray that all of the children that my friends and I are nursing will go on to nurse their children-that formula will be a thing of the past for them-that women will not only be given appropriate maternity leaves but better accommodations for pumping and nursing their children...a girl can dream, right?


La Leche League

An Excellent Online Support System

All you need to know about nursing

101 Reasons to Nurse Your Child

Smiley Pies :)

Friday Five-Lids

1. What did the last hat you wore look like?
I am fairly certain it was a black bowler hat at walmart that I wore to annoy my darling husband and sister.

2. What’s your strategy for unscrewing those stubborn jar-lids?
Whacking it with a knife to loosen it up

3. How good are you at keeping a lid on it?
Pretty good

4. Here in Hawaii, people are often very self-conscious about their eyelids. How do you feel about yours?
I have a droopy eye lid and it drives me insane. I would have to imagine that it came from the surgery I had as a small child to correct a lazy eye...other than that, I don't really even think about my eye lids.

5. Are you acquainted with anyone named Lydia?
I've got a city love. I found it in Lydia-and I can't remember life before her name.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

New babies, old friends, Michigan, and some sheep (among other things...)

Catching Up...Again

It feels like all I ever do is play catch up anymore with the blog...not to worry though, we should be back online next week and I'll get back to my regular posting again.

Gabe is well into his second week of first grade and is loving it...and if I can brag a bit about my little bird, he already knows ALL of the first grade sight words-FOR THE YEAR!! They sent home the complete list and he knows all 130 words already. Of course he does, all that child does is read. Honest to God, he gets into bed at around 7:30 each night and is generally still reading at 9:00 when I force him to put the book down. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear him and see him reading so much and really enjoying it. We've got "Charlotte's Web" on the shelf thanks to Aunt Buzzy and I think we're going to start reading that at night (and I will pray that unlike every single other time I read the book I won't sob dramatically at the end-I'm lying. I will sob, I know I will. I always sob, even though I've read it a million times and KNOW what is going to happen ha ha)

I have to admit though, I find myself missing Gabe during the day. I got so used to having him around that NOT having him around is really weird. The house is so quiet without him because believe it or not, Bitsy is actually a pretty quiet little thing when there's no one there to egg her on!

Gabe informed me that he has a girlfriend. I asked him to tell me what she looked like and he said "oh, let's see, she has a long brown pony tail *big dramatic sigh* hazel eyes, a nose and a mouth" Ha ha. I suppose that's all we really need to know, right? Also exciting for him this year is the addition of another GABE in his class. The high light of his first day of school this year was sitting with Gabe and comparing lunches. As it turns out, both Gabe's love peanut butter sandwiches and goldfish...

Now onto Miss Bitsy bee. She was going to start preschool this week BUT we decided with everything else going on that a January start date would be more appropriate for her. She's not upset about it as she's happy to be going to story time every Wednesday morning where she is one of the two "big" kids in the group thanks to everyone else going to kindergarten this year. It's been fun to see her personality come out when Gabe isn't around. She's, unfortunately, getting to the major drama queen stage. In fact, two nights ago, Bitsy was laying in her room with her cousin Aubrey and they were both crying...and in between sobs, Bits was catching her breath saying "I...don't...know...why...I'm...crying..." and then would sob again. *shakes head* I think we're in trouble.

We have a new addition to our family, a small black kitten with a white patch on his belly named Jax. The kids LOVE Jax; he's playful, cuddly, and conveniently fits into a doll sized stroller. *shakes head again*

Geo is working working working and I am working occasionally at the library and on the look out for a part time job now that we have someone to watch the kiddos if we need it. I helped JD, Katie, and Aubrey move in this past weekend (Geo's brother and his family) and have been pretty busy with helping them unpack and get adjusted. It's so nice to have family close by though :) The girls are absolutely loving being together...when they aren't sobbing dramatically or arguing about whether or not there are dogs at the zoo...

Hope you are all doing well...look for a massive picture post soon!

Hi Everyone!!

Just a quick note to check in...Everything is going well...Gabe started school yesterday and had a ball. He loves his new classroom, his teacher and his new best buddy-Gabe :P He was so excited that there was another Gabe in his class; he just HAD to have lunch with him. They even brought similar lunches-go figure!

Bits and I are getting ready to head to Michigan early tomorrow morning to help the Michiwits come down and become the Transplantawits (or something like that)

We should be back up and running on line in another few weeks and then I'll be posting like normal.