Picnic

We've been so busy between work, packing, the baby, etc we decided to take a lovely time-out on Monday and enjoy the beautiful weather with a picnic.

It was my kind of picnic - we stopped and picked up some Subway sandwiches and just relaxed in the shade.  I love getting out of the house, away from our enormous to-do lists, and just relax and enjoy each other's company.

Cole especially enjoyed the picnic, as you can tell:

World Breastfeeding Week

This week is World Breastfeeding Week.

So in honor of that, I thought I'd give ya'll an update on our breastfeeding story.

I'd love to give a positive update.  But for us, it's just not working. 

After nursing Cole exclusively at the breast for five weeks, I was in so much pain I could barely stomach it - literally, I was to the point of getting sick to my stomach from the pain.  And without going into too much detail, let's just say that my nipples were so torn up... well, we'll just leave it at that.  The final straw was Cole spitting up bloody milk from my bleeding nipples - I decided to pump exclusively for a week to give my nips a break. 

It took THREE WEEKS for my nipples to heal! 

And let me just say how much I dislike pumping.  Being attached to a stupid machine for 20 mins every 2 hours, not being able to get up and tend to the baby - it was torture.  But I thought it would be a worthy investment if it meant we could breastfeed afterward.

But when I try to breastfeed Cole, my nipples tear right up again and the unbearable pain is back.

But the most frustrating thing is just how much I WANT to breastfeed.  I love it.  I have my heart set on it.  I am heartbroken and disappointed that it hasn't worked for us.  And the worst thing is how hard we've tried to make it work.  We have seen 2 doctors and 5 lactation consultants, to no avail.  No one can figure out just what's wrong to be causing me so much pain.  And I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of disappointment - normally, if I want something to work and I try hard enough and do enough research, it works - obviously not so with this.

So I have resigned myself to pumping every 2 hours so that Cole is still exclusively breastfed, which is second best but still better than giving him formula. 

Most importantly?  I have learned several lessons from this experience: First, not to judge those who don't breastfeed.  I was so quick to judge a woman for not choosing the "Breast is Best" approach to feeding her child.  Some women just can't do it, and I understand that now.   Second, to go with the flow.  Once again Cole has taught me that while it might not be MY plan that I want to happen, it will all work out somehow, if not for the best, then at least for second-best. 

Ultimately, I am feeding my baby a nutricious food source, so what does it matter how he gets it, right?

Crazy

We are incredible gluttons for punishment.

We are currently on our way down to Southern California (driving!) with a car full of miscellaneous baby items, two dogs, and one baby.

Chloe just threw up all over the backseat and Nala.  Chris is driving.  And I'm pumping while tending to Cole, who just had a diaper that was so messy it went all the way up his back.  It's a 13 1/2 hour drive on a good day.

It's going to be a loooonnnnnggggg trip.

On the occasion of your two-month birthday

Yet another aspect of parenting no one warned me about.

The tears.  I cry all.the.time. And I was bad before - sappy commercials, sad movies, heartbreaking books - all were known to make me tear up.  But ever since becoming a mama, EVERYTHING makes me cry.  Chris walking into the room holding the baby.  Cole's incredibly pathetic sticking out lower lip when he's crying. Having to loosen the straps on the carseat already because my baby has grown so much.

So here's a little something so you all can join in with me on the tears.  I stumbled across this song on YouTube, and while I am NOT a country music fan, the lyrics are just too sweet.  Grab your Kleenex and enjoy:


The One Who Knows

          by Dar Williams

Time it was I had a dream
And you’re the dream come true
And if I had the world to give
I’d give it all to you.
I’ll take you to the mountains
I will take you to the sea
I’ll show you how this life became
A miracle to me.


You’ll fly away
but take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job’s done, you’ll be the one who knows.
All the things you treasure most
Will be the hardest won
I will watch you struggle on
For the answers come
But I won’t make it harder
I’ll be there to cheer you up
I’ll shine the light that guides you down
The road you’re walking on


You’ll fly away
but take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job’s done, you’ll be the one who knows.
Before the mountains call to you
Before you leave this home
I will teach your heart to trust
As I will teach my own
But sometimes I will ask the moon
Where it shined upon you last
And shake my head and laugh me say
It all went by so fast
You’ll fly away
but take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job’s done, you’ll be the one who knows.

A little help, please

I am one of those people that always strives for organization.

Notice the word STRIVES.

That would mean that I usually am NOT organized.

But every time we move, I swear that I will start from scratch.  No more throwing stuff in random places.  This time, we will be ORGANIZED, darn it.

(Of course, it would help if the handsome one was a wee bit more on board with the whole keeping-the-house-neat-and-organized-which-means-putting-one's-clothes-in-the-hamper-and-not-on-the-floor thing, but whatever).

But, we have a problem.  One that is keeping me up at night. 

How to organize our electronic gadgets.

Does anyone else have this problem? I mean, gadgets are great.  We've got digital cameras, GPS, ipods, cellphones, bluetooths, etc... and each has multiple wires and stuff.  Charging cords, cords to connect to the computer, car chargers, splitters, headphones... and they all get mixed up and lost and then Chris is yelling to me "DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE CHARGER IS TO THE IPOD" and I'm all big heavy sighing and yelling back "NO WHERE DID YOU PUT IT?" and we are all frustrated.

So, any ideas on how to keep everything separated and yet in one place?  I've thought about an over-the-door clear shoe holder thingamajig (clear over-the-door shoe holders are my answer to everything), but I was really hoping for a more Martha Stewart type look. 

Thanks for any and all suggestions to my big problem of the day!

pretty please?

Hello readers!

May I make a teeny-tiny request?

Could you help get our blog ranked among the Top Baby Blogs at thebump.com?  All you have to do is click the Top Baby Blog link to the left, then click the top link in the new window that pops up.  You can vote once a day! 

Thanks bunches and bunches - can't wait to see how high we can rank!

10 things I'm not too proud of

1. I am terrible, horrible, awful at returning calls and making calls to people I don't know.  For some reason I just have a mental block about it.  
2. When I'm driving, I swear a lot.  I don't get road rage or anything, I just have a potty mouth.  This is something I've been working on really hard since Cole came!

3. I have REALLY expensive taste in clothes.  Banana`Republic, Anthropologie, Gap, Ann Taylor, White House/Black Market, and j. crew are some of my faves.  All stores that are quite out of our price range, so I tend to just stare longingly at the window displays and feel dissatisfied.

4. I am`also extremely cheap, which is why you don't see me buying clothes at any of the above places.  Chris and I will be at a yard sale and he'll ask me, "Are you going to offer less?" and of course the answer is always yes - he'll be so embarassed he'll go wait in the car.

5. I'm supposed to wear a retainer when I sleep, to keep my top teeth from growing apart (I had braces).  Unfortunately, whenever I can find it (not often) I always take it out as soon as I fall asleep because it is so uncomfortable.  Also, it makth me talk with a lithp and I thound like a two year old... very thexy!

6. In a word: Procrastination.  I LOVE to procrastinate.  Especially on the computer.  I'll get on to do something very specific and then oh look! piperlime.com is having a sale, and then maybe I'll just check out facebook to see what's new with everyone, and then a blog with tips on children's photography has a new post... you get the idea. 

7. While I love to quilt and sew and craft in every way, I'm not always the best at finishing said projects.  That said, I am doing better than I used to... but I have a feeling that with Cole here I may slip back into my old unfinished ways.  Priorities, you know.

8.  I'm really, really sensitive.  It can be a really good thing - I think it's what makes me a good mom and a good teacher - but it can also get me in trouble sometimes.

9.  I make lists.  All.the.time. It's compulsive. For every teeny little thing I have to do sometime in the near future, I put it on a list.  This can be a good thing...however, I often spend more time making a list than DOING the stuff on my list.  Chris loves to make fun of me for this.

10. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE going to the dentist.  It is my least favorite thing to do in the world. So I don't go as often as I should.

I guess I still have a ways to go to be the woman I want to be.  But the good thing is, it's always good to start with a list!