Psalm of Thanksgiving

At the beginning of the month our preacher challenged us to write a Psalm of Thanksgiving.  

Naturally, I waited until the last minute to do so.  On Monday, I decided it was time for me to write mine.

Soak it up

That’s what I’m told to do.  That’s what I try to do.  Soak it ALL up!

When my 18 month old ends up in my bed EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, soak it up.

When she whines and whines without using actual words so I have no idea what she wants, soak it up.

When she finally feels confident in her feet and climbing abilities that she becomes a little clumsy and starts falling off every piece of furniture in the house and screaming her little baby head off, soak it up.

When she takes too long of an evening nap and decides that she is going to party until midnight, soak it up.

When she has a break down in the middle of the produce section at the grocery store because I asked her to pick up the two pumpkins that she pulled down, soak it up.

When she stares at the plate of food I’ve prepared and won’t take one bite, soak it up.

When she wants to read a book, but won’t let me actually read it and just turns the pages and gets angry when I don’t let her because I want to know how the story ends, soak it up.

When it’s bedtime and I’m trying to do the nightly routine and she just grunts and points to anywhere and anything to do except go to bed, soak it up.

When she says, “I yuv you!” soak it up.

When she kisses me, those moments can be rare, soak it up.

When her little fuzzy head that wasn’t combed after bath the night before tickles my cheek in the morning, soak it up.

When she just sits with me on the couch and watches TV while she eats an apple, or two, soak it up.

When she cackles and cackles while I chase her through the house butt naked because she escaped while I was changing her diaper, soak it up.

When she hugs me goodbye before I leave for work, soak it up.

When she folds her hands and bows her head while we pray for our food, before bed or at church, soak it up.

When she shouts, “AMEN” before the prayer is even over, soak it up.

Parenthood isn’t about just soaking up the happy times and fun times, it’s about soaking it ALL up. 

I’m reminded every day that Wren won’t want to sleep in the bed with us when she is a teenager.  Soon she will learn to talk and use all kinds of words and I might miss a little whine here and there.  I can survive off of a few hours of sleep at night, many parents have done it before me and many will continue to do it after me. She’s not the only kid that has ever pitched a fit in the grocery store and I’m not the first mom that got judged by someone else because her kid was throwing a fit in the grocery store.

But I am her only mommy!  Yes, she might tell other people that she yuv’s them, but they don’t wake up next to her fuzzy head every morning.  Yes, she gives out kisses, but they don’t get those sleepy snuggles in the middle of the night like I do.

I will soak it up.  I will soak it ALL up.  Even when I’m frustrated, tired and ready to pull out my hair, her hair and her daddy’s hair, I WILL SOAK IT UP!

It’s already going by fast and I know I’ll look back 10 years from now and wonder where the time went, but until then you can find me with my sweet little Wren soaking it all up!!

The End of an Era

Well it happened.

Yesterday sealed the deal.

It was final at around 4:15 pm.

That’s right, I’m talking about the last of my breast milk being given away.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel when this day finally arrived, but it honestly wasn’t as bad and I thought it would be.

I was able to nurse my baby for 15 months and provide milk for 2 other babies who needed it.  What more can you ask for?

Now I just hope and pray that come March I will be just as blessed!

Kimberly

Weaning Continued!

We are towards the end.  I don’t feel like I thought I would when this moment arrived.

People have told me that they wish they would have known when it was the very last nurse and I might feel that way one day, but not right now.  I’m ready for a break.

Here’s my timeline of how this has gone down:

June 12 is when I wrote the last blog about weaning.  From then until July 8^th I kept the same pumping schedule and was packing 7oz bags.

July 8^th I started packing 5 oz bags.  I did this because I was thinking that Jessica could mix it with the milk she was planning on moving Tayla to once she no longer had breast milk.  Tayla didn’t really have any issues switching over to raw milk!!  YAY!!

July 9^th I moved my pump times down to 15 minutes and still nursed Wren at night.

July 21^st I moved my pump times down to 10 minutes and started packing in 3oz bags to continue Tayla’s weaning.

July 22^nd I had a realization that if I was pumping 2 times for 10 minutes maybe I could skip my afternoon pump and only do my morning pump for the full 20, so that’s what I did!  This was my first day to move down to 1 pump a day.  And I was still nursing Wren at night.

July 28^th – 30^th I went on a business trip (without Wren) and only pumped twice a day for 15 minutes.

August 2^nd – 5^th Wren and I went to the beach (without Gary) and I nursed her on command, but didn’t have to pump the entire time.  Except that one time in the car…

August 6^th I moved my morning pump down to 10-12 minutes and still nursed Wren at night.

I started noticing that she wasn’t acting interested in her nighttime nurse.  I didn’t push her.  I would sometimes fix her a sippy of frozen breast milk, but I was fine to skip those nighttime nurses.  My body would make up for it the next morning.  My supply had started to dwindle, which is what we were going for, and if she nursed at night I would pump 3 oz the next morning.  If she didn’t nurse, I would pump 6 oz.

August 13^th I decided to skip my morning pump and only try to nurse her at night.  That was the very last time I pumped!  Whoa, that’s crazy! I hadn’t really thought about that until typing it out!!  I haven’t pumped for almost an entire month!!

As of today, we are still nursing at night (most nights).  She takes one sippy of breast milk during the day, but she hasn’t been taking it very well.  My mother-in-law watches her and actually didn’t have breast milk for a couple of days and gave her almond milk (which is what we want to switch her to) and she took that ok.  I’ve tried giving her a sippy at night of breast milk and just like during the day she doesn’t really care for it.

I’ve heard of other kids who just don’t drink milk.  They get their calcium from greens, yogurt and cheese.  I have a feeling this is the route we are about to take.  It kind of makes me sad that I worked hard for Wren to have milk well after she turned 1 and now she will barely even sip it L.  There’s a few mommies in a Facebook group that I’m in who need some donated milk, so I’m sure that’s where the remainder of my milk will go. 

Until the final nurse,

Kimberly

It's not about the bow

There’s a lady at church who has 2 daughters.  One in high school.  The other entering high school in the fall.  

I remember when I was younger and visited this congregation with my family, I would see these two girls with their BIG OVER SIZED BOWS.

At the time I was a tomboy.  Bows were way too girly.  I would never make my kid wear those.

Fast forward several years…

I want Wren to wear bows.  Like even with her pajamas.  And THE BIGGER THE BETTER!

She goes to my sister-in-law’s house every day and for the most part stays at home.  My sister-in-law isn't really into bows and I don't want to make her job harder than it already is.  So I don’t feel bad that she doesn't wear a bow while she’s there. 

But come church time, grocery time, any other time I want her to have a bow in her hair.

However, she feels differently.  She rips it out any opportunity she gets.  Especially when she’s tired.

The other night I went up to this mother of two daughters who wore big bows and let her know that Wren needs to come to bow boot camp.

This lady also baby-sits kids throughout the school year and I've heard that she has trained many a child to keep a bow in their hair.

She tells me, “You have to be consistent.  You have to smack her little hand when she takes it out.  You have to be stern.”

I reply with, “But sometimes I get tired of doing it over and over.  I feel silly because it’s just a bow.”

Then comes the wisdom…”It’s not just a bow.  This is setting you up for discipline in the future.  This is you showing her you mean business.  Practice your consistency with this, something that seems small, and it will make it better in the future when it comes to bigger things.  You can do it!  It’s not about the bow.”

So, if you see me in public getting onto my child because she won’t keep her bow in her hair, now you know that’s it’s not about the bow. 

This is the beginning.  The beginning of our journey.  The beginning of our journey through discipline and raising a respectful, gracious young lady.

IT’S. NOT. ABOUT. THE. BOW.