Well hello there from sunny St. Charles! The kiddos and I are home at long last from our beach vacation in Michigan. I can honestly say that these last ten days have been some of the most relaxing days I've had in YEARS. Here's a quick run down of what we did:
We saw "pirate" ships (replicas of the Pinta and Santa Maria ships), we watched sailboats, we took long walks, went to the beach, worked in the garden, and ate what we picked from the garden. I learned how to use a riding lawn mower (be afraid, be very afraid) as well as learning my dad's "famous" pickled beet recipe-right down to the burning myself on the lids as I got ready to seal them up-whoops. I read seven books, I went yard saling with my mom, we took an emergency trip to the dentist for Bitsy (whoops-she's fine but it was a bit of a pain to have to do) we stayed up late watching crappy tv, I learned a LOT about my mom's family by not only asking questions BUT by listening to the answers. I played with my niece and nephews, I visited with friends, I looked at old photo albums and I enjoyed not having a well working cell phone and limited internet access.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid growing up on the beach was pick up beach glass; my prize piece was a piece of lavender glass (though I'm not sure where it is now) and this week while at my parents, I searched through rocks and weeds and grass for beach glass...and found some. My prize piece this week was a cobalt blue piece that was so soft and worn, I couldn't stop rubbing it. I think there's a lesson somewhere in the beach glass; if I'd have to guess I'd say that the lesson is that we all have sharp edges and sometimes just have to go with the flow to smooth them off and become something beautiful...or maybe there's no lesson at all and I'm having a post vacation hangover; either way, we're home and we're gearing up for our last week of summer vacation before school starts...I'll post a few pics in the next day or so of the kiddos on the beach :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
So I Guess This is Growing Up?
Whenever we go to Michigan for a trip, the kiddos both choose a few items to put in their backpacks for the ride up and for comfort items, if they need them. Without fail, Gabriel ALWAYS puts Sam, his faithful scruffy puppy in his backpack (and he usually ends up on Gabe's lap about ten minutes into the trip and stays there till we get where we're going)
Today I told them to go get their bags and pack em up so we could get ready to go. Both of them packed their bags and Gabe came out and started telling me what he'd brought: books (big surprise, eh?) a batmobile, a decepticon toy, and a yo yo. What was absent? Sam! I asked, "what about Sam? Is he staying here? Are you sure you'll be ok?" He looked at me and said "I'll be fine, I'm 7, I don't need Sam to go everywhere with me anymore Mom" I told him that was fine and went to take a shower, wondering why how he grew up so quickly.
I snuck a peek into the kiddos bedroom as I walked past and sitting front and center of the bed was Sam. I swear he looked like he was going to cry (or maybe that was ME wanting to cry??) Sam still hasn't been packed and I'm not sure he will be packed...and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Today I told them to go get their bags and pack em up so we could get ready to go. Both of them packed their bags and Gabe came out and started telling me what he'd brought: books (big surprise, eh?) a batmobile, a decepticon toy, and a yo yo. What was absent? Sam! I asked, "what about Sam? Is he staying here? Are you sure you'll be ok?" He looked at me and said "I'll be fine, I'm 7, I don't need Sam to go everywhere with me anymore Mom" I told him that was fine and went to take a shower, wondering why how he grew up so quickly.
I snuck a peek into the kiddos bedroom as I walked past and sitting front and center of the bed was Sam. I swear he looked like he was going to cry (or maybe that was ME wanting to cry??) Sam still hasn't been packed and I'm not sure he will be packed...and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
New Web Address
Hi all! Just to let you know (in case you hadn't noticed) I've changed our web address to something that's a bit easier remember and find. The address is now www.witkowskifamilyhappenings.blogspot.com
If you google "Witkowski Family Happenings" you'll probably get the old address and it'll show up as a missing blog. No worries though, just type in the above web address and you'll find us! You can also find us on Facebook at this link.
Just wanted you all to know that the kiddos and I are going on an extended vacation to my parents house in Michigan and I will not have any internet access til at least the 16th (after Friday that is) Unless HH decides to blog, we'll be on vacation :) See you when we get back!
If you google "Witkowski Family Happenings" you'll probably get the old address and it'll show up as a missing blog. No worries though, just type in the above web address and you'll find us! You can also find us on Facebook at this link.
Just wanted you all to know that the kiddos and I are going on an extended vacation to my parents house in Michigan and I will not have any internet access til at least the 16th (after Friday that is) Unless HH decides to blog, we'll be on vacation :) See you when we get back!
Wordless Wednesday: Lactavist
Wordless Wednesday has words today because August is one of my favorite "activist" months; August is Breastfeeding month!! (a subject near and dear to my heart and not just literally!)
I don't think I've ever shared my entire breastfeeding story on my blog so here we go (and I'm cross posting over at the new blog I'm a writer for as well which you can find here)
Gabriel was born three weeks early so he could have surgery on his back; the odds were stacked against us for breastfeeding from day one. I wasn't allowed to see Gabriel until after his surgery and couldn't hold him for eight days. Obviously, if I couldn't hold him there was no way I was going to be able to nurse him. I pumped round the clock for the first eight days so that I could be sure he was getting as much of my breast milk as possible. We tried and tried...and tried and tried and tried some more to nurse once he came home. We made it to about six weeks and then had to start on formula. Even though I knew it wasn't something I could control, not nursing Gabriel is one of my major regrets when it comes to his first year. I vowed then that if I had another child, I would not only nurse successfully, but I'd do it at least a year.
A few years later Miss Bits came along. The odds, again, were stacked against us. I had a repeat c-section (strike one) along with a tubal (strike two) and I had a rather large benign tumor removed from one breast a year before having her (strike three) She was jaundiced (strike four) my nipples were cracked and bleeding (strike five) and she began to lose weight (strike six) This was all within the first three days of her life, I felt like the universe was trying to tell me something...but it didn't work. I persevered and made it over those bumps. I pumped round the clock after nursing to be make sure she was getting what she needed. I cried on the phone to my gf Kelly who was my biggest cheerleader (other than Geo) I cried to my mom, I cried in the shower all the while vowing I'd do right by SarahAnne.
And a funny thing happened...even though my milk supply on the side where I had the tumor removed was virtually non existent and I was sore and exhausted, Bits began to gain weight and lots of it. In her first month alone she gained FIVE pounds on nothing but momma's milk. By six weeks we BOTH knew what we were doing and there was no stopping us. Growth spurts? No problem. Teething? No problem. Nursing strike? No problem. Sixty two thousand different allergies and a strict diet for momma? No problem. One year came and went and I wasn't ready to be done yet and neither was Bits. Eighteen months came and went without any visible end in sight either, but by 22 months we were both ready to be done. Our weaning was completely child led and bittersweet for me. She gradually stopped nursing and one day patted my breasts and said "Empty momma, no more nurse Bits" and that was that. I had set out to nurse her a year and went above and beyond that. I worked full time off and on throughout the time she nursed, I had emergency surgery (during a blizzard no less!) and nursed the whole time. I had a disabled toddler, a husband to take care of and a house to keep clean...and nursed the whole time.
I'm incredibly proud of my accomplishment; I often have to remind myself that other women simply do not have the same drive and determination I do when it comes to nursing, though it still makes me sad when I still hear the same tired excuses over and over. Women need to be more supportive of one another and teach one another not only HOW to nurse, but how to stick with it. Back in days of "old" (ha ha) formula wasn't an option; you either nursed or your child died-plain and simple. There was no "oh my milk didn't come in" or "it's too hard, so I gave up" it was nurse or die and women nursed. As medicine "advanced" and formula came on the market, we forgot how to nurse; it used to be that mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts were there when you gave birth to get you off to a good start nursing. You'd be able to go to your neighbors house and get advice on nursing and in turn, as you became more experienced, you'd be able to give advice too. Formula came on the scene and women turned to it first because it was "better" than breast milk...as a result we have whole generations of women who never nursed and in turn had daughters, nieces, and grand daughters who didn't nurse.
Thankfully that's changing; nursing is coming "en vogue" (gag me) again and more and more women are at least TRYING nursing. As I always tell the women I help with nursing "Any milk is better than none, let's see if we can get you through the day...week...two weeks, etc" If a woman can get to six weeks they can usually go as long as they'd like. It's just a matter of getting to that point and having the proper support to do so. Education and support can and DO make all the difference for a woman who is attempting to nurse.
And now for the wordless part; this is one of my favorite pictures of Bits and I. We were at the zoo when she was about 10 months old. It was a gorgeous day and she got hungry, so we sat down and she had a bite to eat and a picture was snapped of us.
I don't think I've ever shared my entire breastfeeding story on my blog so here we go (and I'm cross posting over at the new blog I'm a writer for as well which you can find here)
Gabriel was born three weeks early so he could have surgery on his back; the odds were stacked against us for breastfeeding from day one. I wasn't allowed to see Gabriel until after his surgery and couldn't hold him for eight days. Obviously, if I couldn't hold him there was no way I was going to be able to nurse him. I pumped round the clock for the first eight days so that I could be sure he was getting as much of my breast milk as possible. We tried and tried...and tried and tried and tried some more to nurse once he came home. We made it to about six weeks and then had to start on formula. Even though I knew it wasn't something I could control, not nursing Gabriel is one of my major regrets when it comes to his first year. I vowed then that if I had another child, I would not only nurse successfully, but I'd do it at least a year.
A few years later Miss Bits came along. The odds, again, were stacked against us. I had a repeat c-section (strike one) along with a tubal (strike two) and I had a rather large benign tumor removed from one breast a year before having her (strike three) She was jaundiced (strike four) my nipples were cracked and bleeding (strike five) and she began to lose weight (strike six) This was all within the first three days of her life, I felt like the universe was trying to tell me something...but it didn't work. I persevered and made it over those bumps. I pumped round the clock after nursing to be make sure she was getting what she needed. I cried on the phone to my gf Kelly who was my biggest cheerleader (other than Geo) I cried to my mom, I cried in the shower all the while vowing I'd do right by SarahAnne.
And a funny thing happened...even though my milk supply on the side where I had the tumor removed was virtually non existent and I was sore and exhausted, Bits began to gain weight and lots of it. In her first month alone she gained FIVE pounds on nothing but momma's milk. By six weeks we BOTH knew what we were doing and there was no stopping us. Growth spurts? No problem. Teething? No problem. Nursing strike? No problem. Sixty two thousand different allergies and a strict diet for momma? No problem. One year came and went and I wasn't ready to be done yet and neither was Bits. Eighteen months came and went without any visible end in sight either, but by 22 months we were both ready to be done. Our weaning was completely child led and bittersweet for me. She gradually stopped nursing and one day patted my breasts and said "Empty momma, no more nurse Bits" and that was that. I had set out to nurse her a year and went above and beyond that. I worked full time off and on throughout the time she nursed, I had emergency surgery (during a blizzard no less!) and nursed the whole time. I had a disabled toddler, a husband to take care of and a house to keep clean...and nursed the whole time.
I'm incredibly proud of my accomplishment; I often have to remind myself that other women simply do not have the same drive and determination I do when it comes to nursing, though it still makes me sad when I still hear the same tired excuses over and over. Women need to be more supportive of one another and teach one another not only HOW to nurse, but how to stick with it. Back in days of "old" (ha ha) formula wasn't an option; you either nursed or your child died-plain and simple. There was no "oh my milk didn't come in" or "it's too hard, so I gave up" it was nurse or die and women nursed. As medicine "advanced" and formula came on the market, we forgot how to nurse; it used to be that mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunts were there when you gave birth to get you off to a good start nursing. You'd be able to go to your neighbors house and get advice on nursing and in turn, as you became more experienced, you'd be able to give advice too. Formula came on the scene and women turned to it first because it was "better" than breast milk...as a result we have whole generations of women who never nursed and in turn had daughters, nieces, and grand daughters who didn't nurse.
Thankfully that's changing; nursing is coming "en vogue" (gag me) again and more and more women are at least TRYING nursing. As I always tell the women I help with nursing "Any milk is better than none, let's see if we can get you through the day...week...two weeks, etc" If a woman can get to six weeks they can usually go as long as they'd like. It's just a matter of getting to that point and having the proper support to do so. Education and support can and DO make all the difference for a woman who is attempting to nurse.
And now for the wordless part; this is one of my favorite pictures of Bits and I. We were at the zoo when she was about 10 months old. It was a gorgeous day and she got hungry, so we sat down and she had a bite to eat and a picture was snapped of us.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Teaser Pic
Here's a teaser pic for the whole Witkowski family from this weekend's festivities!! More to come!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Holy Cow!
It's been five days since I've posted last, man am I a slacker or what?! he he. Yesterday we had a 60th wedding anniversary party for Geo's grandparents (SIXTY!? SIXTY!!) Here's a few pics snapped by me-the "professional" ones won't be done for a while (go figure, editing 1000 pics might take a while! ha ha)
This is Bitsy with her great Grandpa Witkowski and her new favorite Auntie, Jeanie (sorry Tori and Katie, you've been replaced-at least till she goes home!)
And here we have Great Uncle Bobby showing off his muscles with the kids...
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
A bit of this and that
It's hard to blog regularly in the summer; for one there's a lot going on, for two, it's too nice to just sit at the computer and type. In the winter, there's nothing better to do than sit in a comfy chair and blog blog blog, but summer just doesn't have that same sort of feeling to it. That being said, here's what's going on lately. I had my five week weigh in today at weight watchers and I'm pleased to say I've lost ten pounds (woohoo) and I've lost 8 inches of body "area"? What would you call that? I don't know, either way, I've lost and that's a good thing.
We spent the weekend wandering around forest preserves that we'd never been to before. We ended up at an equestrian forest preserve where the kiddos got to check out a bunch of horse and watch them in the ring. They loved it but it was so darn hot and the flies were biting so we left and went to a historic farm down the road-that was fun. Ponds, sculptures, all sort of fun stuff. We practically had to drag the kids out of there. The only thing that convinced them to leave was the promise of ice cream!
A while back I posted about wanting a Le Creuset pot for our anniversary; I'm not sure that I ever updated about it, but we were at an estate sale a while back and I found one for ten bucks!! Talk about a happy momma! (and happy Hunky hubby-he wasn't looking forward to dropping that much on a pan ha ha) Man oh man, that pan is amazing. It's cast iron so it holds the heat nicely; I was able to take Geo's dinner out of the oven an hour before he got home last night and it was still nice and hot when he sat down to eat it. Not only does it keep food nice and hot, it is SO easy to clean. I thought for sure I'd be scrubbing the heck out of it to remove sticky teriyaki sauce from last night's dinner. Not so! A sponge and some hot water and it's good as new (to me he he)
It's an exciting week-we're celebrating Geo's grandparents 60th anniversary this weekend and the whole Wit family is going to be here! We're all so excited and it feels like Saturday is taking forever to get here!!!
Alright, that's it for now, time to go home in the pool with the kiddos for a bit! Till next time xo
We spent the weekend wandering around forest preserves that we'd never been to before. We ended up at an equestrian forest preserve where the kiddos got to check out a bunch of horse and watch them in the ring. They loved it but it was so darn hot and the flies were biting so we left and went to a historic farm down the road-that was fun. Ponds, sculptures, all sort of fun stuff. We practically had to drag the kids out of there. The only thing that convinced them to leave was the promise of ice cream!
A while back I posted about wanting a Le Creuset pot for our anniversary; I'm not sure that I ever updated about it, but we were at an estate sale a while back and I found one for ten bucks!! Talk about a happy momma! (and happy Hunky hubby-he wasn't looking forward to dropping that much on a pan ha ha) Man oh man, that pan is amazing. It's cast iron so it holds the heat nicely; I was able to take Geo's dinner out of the oven an hour before he got home last night and it was still nice and hot when he sat down to eat it. Not only does it keep food nice and hot, it is SO easy to clean. I thought for sure I'd be scrubbing the heck out of it to remove sticky teriyaki sauce from last night's dinner. Not so! A sponge and some hot water and it's good as new (to me he he)
It's an exciting week-we're celebrating Geo's grandparents 60th anniversary this weekend and the whole Wit family is going to be here! We're all so excited and it feels like Saturday is taking forever to get here!!!
Alright, that's it for now, time to go home in the pool with the kiddos for a bit! Till next time xo
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