What I've Been Doing...

I've been outrageously busy as of late!  In my last post you saw that we started swimming lessons and that consumed my life for four weeks! We had two weddings (both outside in the 100 degree weather) and I've been doing lots of gardening/canning!  We've spent time visiting friends and family, the little one got to meet his great, great, great aunts, and we've had many a play dates with lots of little people!

My father-in-law has a beautiful huge garden! He said that he wasn't going to plant a garden and well he did and its massive!  It could easily feed 5-6 families instead of the three people that live in his house! Well after his garden was planted he had to go in for surgery! He had knee replacement surgery a few years ago and one of his artificial knees got infected and he had to have it removed and then had to undergo 6-8 weeks of IV antibiotics and then will have his knee put back in! So that means that his garden needs tending to! He has some good friends that care for the garden and then he sends me down to pick veggies for him and usually whatever I pick I can keep!  I take it to him to see what he wants first since he's done the hard part but I get to keep tons of stuff! So he has 4 rows of green beans and each row was producing 2.5 five gallon buckets FULL of green beans! So one lady picked one row, two of his friends picked the other rows and I picked the fourth row! The two friends gave me most of their beans and I ended up having an entire trash bag full of beans, a five gallon bucket, a mop bucket, and multiple food lion bags! I also had an entire milk crate of beets and I've had 3 heads of cabbage that were probably 12-15 inches in diameter! I also had tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, bell peppers, broccoli and potatoes! EEK the veggies are coming out my ears!!!

So I've been canning like a crazy woman! I've canned 18 quarts of beans, 17 pints of beans, and I've frozen 10 quarts of beans! I also canned 6 quarts of pickled beets, 4 pints of beets and 4 jelly jars of beets! The week before that I had 7 food lion bags full of yellow plums from my grandmothers plum trees and I made plum freezer jam, plum baby food, and homemade plum ice cream!

Swimming = So Much Fun!

We started the sweet boy on swimming lesson for the month of June!  We had 4 weeks of lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 30 minutes!  It was a blast!  He loved every minute of being in the water and is on his way to becoming the next Olympic Swimmer!  I figured I'd do the first round of lessons at the local pool and then use the skills we learned the rest of the summer by bumming off of other people's pools! Swimming is one of my favorite activities and I want the little man to be as comfortable in the water as he is on land!  He was so cute throughout the lessons and we quite a hit with the older ladies that take swim aerobics on the other side of the pool!  There were three other children in the class and two of them were two years old!  The two year olds were phenomenal!  They could swim to the bottom of the pool and pick up diving sticks and diving rings!  They could also swim a short distance to another person AND they could float on their backs for up to 30ish seconds! It was amazing! 

Going Under!!!

Practicing reaching for toys!

Kicking!!!

Playing with the watering can!

The lovely instructor!

Breastfeeding, Pitocin and Babies oh my!!!

So as you've guessed it from the title of this post its about Breastfeeding, Pitocin and other medicines and Babies!!! So I'd probably say if you are not pregnant, you don't have any interest in these topics or if your not a mother then this post MIGHT just bore you!  This is the first time I've ever shared my blog with the large land of facebook (eek) however I know numerous people that are pregnant/nursing/mothers that this information just might be of some use to! This is my experience and I figured I'd share!  Normally I post randomly about my baby boy, my life, recipes I like and a few other tidbits but today its all about babies!

*Disclaimer* This is the way I do things for my family...this is not to pass judgement on anyone on the way that they do things for their family!!! 

Breastfeeding is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life!  I personally would much definitely rather give birth again than have all these issues of breastfeeding! It has been insanely difficult for me and has posed its long long long list of complications including but not limited toooo mastitis, plugged ducts, blibs, Raynauds, thrush, torticollis and bad latch problems (insert sound of small violin playing for my personal pity party....ok moving on)!!! Granted most of these things haven't happened all at one time but none the less they have been painful and difficult to move past! I am happy to say that I am still nursing despite the numerous issues I've had!  I feel like I am a very persistent person and because I am so adamant on nursing its the only reason I am continuing to do so!  NOW most people do NOT have the insane amount of problems that I have however if you're one of the few that do then there are some things that I've learned from this experience!

1. Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Nipple Butter is amazing! Not only did I find it to be 10x better than lanolin but its also all natural as it says in the title and its NOT made of the yellow waxy stuff secreted by sheep that lanolin is actually made of! Yeah that just kind grosses me out to think about that lanolin is a yellow waxy substance secreted by sheep!  
2. All Purpose Nipple Ointment is even more amazing than the Earth Mama Angel Baby stuff! It's composed of 3-4 different medications that are so helpful when experiencing pain while nursing! Next time I'm asking for this BEFORE I even go to the hospital!
3. Don't sleep on your stomach! You may be so excited by the fact that you aren't sporting a super huge belly anymore but trust me don't sleep on your stomach! EVERY time I sleep on my stomach I get plugged ducts and trust me they are so painful!!!

*There are so many other things I could say about breastfeeding but I'm just tired of typing about it right now! So if you want to know more information on my experience or have questions for me I'd love to hear them*

Pitocin- If you don't know what Pitocin is....its the drug that is given during an induction to help get labor going and to start your contractions! BE AWARE of pitocin and the complications it can cause and the risks it poses to the health of you and your baby!!! Now I know there are instances where Pitocin is completely necessary however just be aware of what you are putting in your body! Do your research!!! There are numerous articles out there regarding the side effects and risks of pitocin This Article is very informative on the risks of pitocin and even questions why it is so frequently used!  Also there is a link to pitocin and ADHD.  This Article goes over the link found between pitocin and ADHD and according to the article those children whose mothers were exposed to pitocin are twice as likely to have ADHD as opposed to mothers who were not exposed to pitocin! I know that labor can be a scary thing and when you are in the moment its hard to make rash decisions so just know what your going to be up against before you go in!  I would also recommend looking at the other medications and drugs administered in the hospital so that you are aware of whats going to happen when you give birth!

Babies- I know that just because I have been a mother for a whole 6 months that it does not make me any expert of the whole motherhood thing but I feel that SO FAR it seems to have come very naturally for me.  I am thankful for that innate ability that's just come out in me and I am so very grateful for the insight of all the other wonderful mothers in my life who have shared their experiences and given support! Experience and support are so crucial when raising a child and I am so blessed to have so many good examples of mothers in my life! If you don't have someone you can turn to for advice there are plenty of books/articles/forums out there to help new mothers but always tailor things to meet your needs and to fit your lifestyle!  Just because someone says to do it this way doesn't mean its wrong to do it another way!  I've been given plenty of advice that I don't care to use right now but it doesn't mean that that advice was wrong, its just not right for me!

NOW for some super cute pictures of my favorite little boy!!!  Pictures were taken curtsey of my best friend Di over at the Super Tiger Goose blog!  She's an awesome photographer and she will take wonderful pictures for you!!! She's just starting out so shes really reasonable too!!!

Swimming

The little one loves loves loves the water!!! He loves to kick and splash and is super content while in the water! We went swimming for the first time on memorial day and then this week I got a call about starting swimming lessons and they are for four weeks every Tuesday and Thursday and he loves them! We've been twice and it's a mommy and me swimming class! We sing songs, blow bubbles, practice kicking and other very basic things and it's just so much fun!!! There are three other babies in the class with him and let me tell you two of these babes are über talented!!! They have been taking the class for over a year and both just turned two years old and they can swim down to the bottom of the pool pick up toys and swim across small sections of the pool! It's phenomenal to watch such little babies swimming! That is sooooo going to be my child some day!!! I'm starting him so early so that he will be used to the water and so that he will hopefully start swimming early like these other little tikes! But it's super fun and I'm enjoying getting to spend a little time in the water myself!!! :) so excited that summer is here and that we can now go to the pool more whenever we want!!! Wooo hooo for summer!!!!

FYI

I have been out of commission lately as I have been outrageously busy! Doing what you might ask....cooking, visiting with friends, having play dates, going to weddings, attending bridal showers, celebrating birthdays, playing with chunky babies, spending a precious few hours with the hubby and running around like a headless chicken! I feel like I've been going non stop for weeks! Every weekend for the past two months seems it have been consumed by something!

I have a love/hate relationship with peanut-butter pie...I love the way it tastes however I hate what it does to my thighs!

My sweet sweet child is able to sit up and is rolling and is already six months old!!! How time does fly!

I am a cloth diaper-aholic and you might think that's really weird but I love me some cloth diapers! They are just awesome! If you ever decide you'd like to discuss cloth diapers with me please let me know!!! I could talk about them all day!

I didn't get a garden this year so I've taken over one of my flower beds and gone crazy with fruits/veggies! I've got tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, zucchini, strawberries, green beans, beets, corn, blueberries and possibly a watermelon plant! I'm
So excited and cannot wait to see these plants grow and flourish!

I've been meaning to post on this blog for weeks but keep forgetting so I apologize!!! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Oatmeal

So I know it's been way too long since I posted here! It's been a very busy couple of weeks and the next few weeks are just as busy! We've got lots of weddings to go to and wedding showers and birthdays and all sorts of things! I feel like I've been going non stop for weeks! AND my house is suffering because of it! It's not nearly as tidy as I'd like it to be!!! But that's completely off topic...oatmeal....so the little one had some baby eczema going on so I thought I nice oatmeal bath would be very calming and nice for him to sit in....NOT it turns out the little one is probably allergic to oatmeal as he was covered in hives after his bath! I felt so bad that I was trying to correct something minor and then he gets this major flare up! Thankfully he was quite the trooper throughout the whole ordeal and was very happy and not a bit fussy despite the huge hives all over his back! I posted a picture of how bad they were below so please don't mind the baby butt crack that you see! I also called his pediatricians office and they said I could give him benedryl so out to the store I went at 9:30 to get benedryl! Thankfully he didn't need it and by the time I fed him at 11 the hives were greatly reduced and just bumps!!! I'm so thankful it wasn't any worse and that he is okay! Not fun!!!

Yes

Why yes, yes I am the cutest baby ever!!! Thanks for asking!!!