I am only one woman

I am a huge people pleaser. I hate to have people upset with me, or worse, disappointed. I come down on myself quite hard if I don't meet (and often exceed) people's expectations. I just don't like the idea of people thinking less of me.

I have been majorly struggling with this recently. I want to get it all done. I need to get it all done. I want to make everyone happy. I want to keep the house spotless, be caught up on laundry, play with my baby, make healthy dinners, blog and scrapbook our life moments, stay current with friends, be up to day on my work items...and it goes on and on.

I have to-do lists, goal lists, grocery lists, and project lists. I budget my money and my time. I plan and organize and recite to myself what comes next. I constantly find myself saying, "if I do this then I can do that next." I rush around like a mad woman until I completely crash in the evenings.

Recently I decided that I wanted to read the bible in a year. I downloaded an app on my phone and started browsing the plans. Wouldn't you know one that caught my attention was titled the plan for a busy women: how to lead a rich and satisfying life. I'm pretty sure God was trying to tell me something.

How am I going to lead a rich and satisfying life? Definitely not the way I'm going right now. I'm rushing through life as if the day to day doesn't matter. Why should Saturday be more important than Tuesday?

I have to remind myself that I am only one woman. I can only do so much, but the one thing I should always do is enjoy everyday. I need to enjoy my husband and I need to enjoy my son.

Quinn is three months old

Dear Quinn,

Three months! You are three months old! You are growing lightening fast and beginning to show your little personality. I love when you smile and giggle. It just melts my heart. You like to snuggle into my neck and I just cherish that time because before I know it you'll be a little boy who doesn't want his mama kissing him in front of his friends.

You still eat every three hours but we have increased your bottles to 4.5oz. You must have your daddy's metabolism! You like to take your time when eating though. One feeding session takes 40 minutes!

I'm not sure just how big you are because you don't have a check up until you're four months old. I know you're getting longer because none of your 0-3 month footies fit! Memere and I had to run out and get you new clothes because you grew overnight. One day they fit and the next they didn't!

You are still sleeping through the night. You go to bed around 9:30 and I have to wake you up at 6 so we have enough time to eat before going to the nanny. Last weekend you slept till 7 and it was wonderful! After you have your morning feeding I can put you back down until about 9 or 9:30 and then you are ready to play!

Speaking of playing, you are definitely interested in toys now. You still love your play mat and I recently added the toys to your bouncy seat. I believe we are going to need to get your jumper out of the attic very soon! I've introduced you to Sophie the giraffe and you certainly like her squeaker. I have to be careful and make sure the dogs don't think she is a toy for them, ha!

Yesterday you rolled over from your tummy to your back! Unfortunately it was when you were with your nanny, Mary, so mommy and daddy missed it. I'm sure you'll do it again for us very soon! I'm so excited for you to reach these new milestones, but at the same time I feel like it's all happening too quickly!

You are still a very easy going baby. You travel well and don't mind running errands. You don't like your feeding schedule to be messed with, but you can fall asleep where ever. We do have a hard time getting you to sleep if there is too much going on around you though. Heaven forbid you miss anything exciting! 

 one month

two months

three months

Where has my little baby boy gone?! You will be a young man in the blink of an eye. Daddy and I love you!

Love,
Mommy

happy valentine's day

If you know my husband at all then you know he's not a mushy guy. It's just not his thing to be overly romantic in a cliche kind of way. He shows his affection on his own terms.

I'm not quite sure when it started but at one point while we were dating we started a joke that became "our thing." I would tell him he loved me and he would respond with "only on Tuesdays" which I would follow with "no, everyday."

It became such a constant joke that I had the inside of his wedding band engraved with "everyday is Tuesday" as my special form of I love you. Well as luck would have it, Valentine's Day happens to fall on a Tuesday this year.

The hubs had flowers delivered to me at work claiming it was all Quinn's idea. Either way it make this girl's day that much brighter.

I'm one lucky mama to have this cutie as one of my valentines.

I was also lucky enough to spend the evening with my parents since the hubs was out of town for the day of love. They brought over dinner, gave their grandbaby lots of kisses, and kept me company for the evening. 

It may not have been an over-the-top super romantic way to spend Valentine's Day, but it was my kind of perfect.

what I've learned about nursing

I know everyone's experience with breastfeeding is different, but there are some things I wish I had known from the beginning. Googling will only take you so far at 3am and it can lead to some very frightening results. Please know that I am by no means a professional. This is just what I have learned from nursing my baby.

• That delicious chicken, rice, and broccoli casserole your friend brought over for you...DO NOT eat it. Broccoli is your worst nightmare, along with onions, garlic, beans, kale, tomatoes, oranges, and any other harsh vegetable that might give you gas or is very acidic. Your little one's system isn't strong enough to push the gas through so you'll end up with a screaming baby (full-on ugly cry), which makes you cry because there's nothing you can do. 
• Speaking of gas - mylicon. Get some. If you're afraid something you ate might give the baby gas, give them the mylicon before you breastfeed. It's one of those things that won't hurt if you give it to them as a preventative measure. You can also give it once they have gas and are upset. I noticed it would take about 30-45 minutes to fully kick in, so be patient.
• You can try gripe water as well. It has more of an instant affect. We had some but only used it a couple of times until the hubs accidentally left it at a hotel. We didn't bother buying more because the mylicon seemed to be working just as well and he was getting older and able to pass the gas more on his own. This has to be kept in the fridge and it is recommended you replace it after six weeks.
• Lanolin can be your best friend, but be careful. I was told to use lanolin to avoid becoming dry and cracking, so I applied it liberally and often. Unfortunately I was a little too enthusiastic about using it that I ended up giving my baby thrush. Thrush is a yeast infection in your nipples and your baby's mouth. Like any yeast infection it comes from bacteria growing in a warm moist environment. The lanolin provided just that. The perfect balance for me is applying it once a day and never letting my breast pads become wet. 
• Speaking of thrush, the telltale sign your baby has it is a white tongue where the spots spread to the inside of their cheeks, lips, and roof of their mouth. A little white on the back of the tongue isn't always thrush though, sometimes it's just from the breast milk. The sign you have thrush is what I like to call fire nipples. They will hurt like hell and even worse when your baby latches. It brought tears to my eyes every time I went to feed him. 
• If you do end up getting thrush (we got it twice so far) the pediatrician will prescribe an oral medication for the baby and possibly a topical ointment for you. You can also take a pill, diflugan. Get the pill. Don't even waste your time or money on the ointment. After 4 days of use, I never noticed an improvement. After 1-2 days on the pill the pain began to come down. When I noticed the white spots and started feeling the fire for the second time around, all I had to do was call to get prescription refills, no appointments necessary.
• I mentioned it in this post, but I'll say it again. I'm a huge advocate of the My Brest Friend nursing pillow. It supports my baby perfectly. There's always the Bobby which some people like better. Either way, get a nursing pillow.
• When nursing your baby with the pillow, lay a burp cloth down under your breast/their mouth. I don't know how many times Quinn randomly spits up in the middle of feedings. The burp cloth catches those little spills so you don't have to constantly wash the cover.
• I highly encourage you to try nursing outside of the home. I didn't like the idea of nursing in public but I'm so glad I did it. I can now throw on the nursing cover and feed Quinn anywhere I want. It helped me become comfortable as well as him. He doesn't seem to care where he is as long as he gets fed.
• Remember, what ever you're feeling, your baby can sense it. If you're uncomfortable or stressed or upset most likely your baby will sense it and feel the same way. I had many nights in the beginning when I'd get stressed because Quinn wouldn't latch. This only made him more upset and we were both crying. The hubs had to take him and sooth him while I took some deep breaths and tried again.
• When Quinn wouldn't latch I noticed it was because he kept his tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth. He couldn't figure out to push down his tongue so he could accept the nipple and start sucking. I would stick my finger in his mouth and push down his tongue then put my nipple in his mouth. It was a little tricky, but it helped and eventually he figured it out on his own. 

I really hope if you stumble upon this because you're frantically googling in the middle of the night that it helps you in some way. Nursing is hard, but keep trying. You can do it!

a random post

I am determined to catch up on posting since I last left off around Christmas time. I just can't right now because all of my pictures are on my laptop at home (and I'm at work posting during my lunch break). For the time being I'm going to do a random post about nothing that I saw on Beantown Prepster.


The rules:
1. Post the rules.
2. Write 11 fun facts about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you and then create 11 new questions to ask people you tag.
4. Tag 11 people and link them to your post.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!!

Eleven fun facts about me:

1. I was in dance classes for 15 years and now when I see a little girl shaking it in her tu-tu and sequins I get a little choked up. I miss it terribly! I pray we have a little girl next just so I can take her to dance classes. I really should bust out all of my recital tapes and have a little reminiscing session. 

2. I love that I have a southern accent even though I spent my first fourteen years of life living in Massachusetts. A southern twang is so much sweeter! The hubs got me a tshirt that says, "A little bit yankee and a little bit y'all."

3. My favorite color is pink. Always has been and always will be. If one of the options is pink, no matter what it might be, I will want it. Example: the hubs got me an iphone and a kindle for Christmas. For both items he made sure to get the cases in pink. He got extra points for getting a pink and sparkly iphone case. He knows me so well.

4. I love scrapbooking. After cleaning out my grandparents' house this past month and finding photo albums from the late 1800s (we think), I'm even more determined to get back on track. Currently I'm working on the album for 2010. It kills me that I'm that far off, but life happens. I want my great grandchildren to be able to look through my scrapbooks and feel like they know me.

5. I wish I was a runner. I daydream of running long distances, listening to music, and enjoying the country scenery. 

6. Some days I want a large family; four, five, even six kids. I picture Sunday dinners and backyard cookouts with everyone running around. 

7. I hate HATE the phrase "she gets it honest." To me it's the most absurd phrase ever. The hubs used it once and had to explain to me what it meant. Now he uses it every chance he gets just because he knows it makes my skin crawl.

8. Another thing that I hate is when things are out of place. Everything should have a spot and it needs to be logical. If something is moved, I will always put it back. I constantly put the hubs shoes back in the closet even if he is planning on putting them on five minutes from now. I can't handle them even being by the door.

9. I'm a list maker. I love being organized and keeping everything straight. This is why I make lists, lists, and more lists. I keep a running grocery list, to-do list, want list, present idea list, project list, and fix-it list. I believe this is also why I love Pinterest. It feeds my list addiction.


10. I recently became a mommy this past November. It's been an adjustment but I love the change. When my sweet baby smiles at me the world stops.


11. I don't do well with change but I like variety. Seems like an oxymoron, huh? An example would be the foods I eat. I always get oatmeal, nutrigrain bars, fruit, etc. but each time I change which flavor I want. 


Beantown Prepster's eleven questions:

1. If you could have a theme song to play when you walk down the street what would it be?
Ladies Love Country Boys by Trace Adkins


2. If you could only watch one TV Show for the rest of your life, what would you pick?
The Golden Girls. I used to watch it all the time with my grandmother and it brings back such happy, comforting memories.


3. French fries: Skinny and crispy or big and mushy?
skinny and crispy, especially the crinkle ones by Ore-Ida


4. What is your guilty pleasure outfit?
The hubs pajama pants and tshirt because it smells like him.


5. Soda: Fountain, bottle or can?
Diet coke from a glass bottle


6. Favorite thing to do at the gym?
A class of sorts so I don't have to think of the moves myself


7. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
I love living in South Carolina


8. What was your first animal and do you remember its name?
My family had a black lab/newfoundland mix named Bob. He was the greatest dog and it was an extremely sad day when we had to say goodbye.


9. What is one thing that you carry in your purse that you absolutely cannot live without?
Chapstick


10. What is your most embarrassing habit?
I bite my cuticles. The hubs is constantly fussing at me for it.


11. If you could meet and be BFFs in real life with a blogger that you follow, who would it be and why?
I'd love to by friends with Erin from The Blue-Eyed Bride. She was the first blog I started regularly reading. She's local, a boy mom (me too!), and I feel like we have very similar values. Hope that doesn't seem stalkerish, ha!



My eleven questions for you:


1. Favorite cartoon character?
2. Dogs, cats, or neither?
3. Would you ever drive a mini van?
4. Favorite outdoor activity?
5. Would you ever go tent camping?
6. How many siblings do you have? Do you wish you had more, less, the same?
7. If you went to college, what did you major in and do you use your major in your current job?
8. Do you have a favorite team? 
9. How often do you vacuum?
10. What kind of phone do you have?
11. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

I'm supposed to tag 11 bloggers, but instead of doing that, let's have 11 Bloggers that perhaps read my blog but never comment play! I want to meet all of you new (or quiet) readers! If you are a lurker who blogs, leave a comment linking back to your blog so I can come read! Don't be shy people, COMMENT!