The Unmatched Beauty of the Childs Mind

Today was a good day in my household, after my children being gone for 2 days (with their grandmother so i could go on a cleaning spree). I was filled with joy and excitement to get them back in time for our family Christmas with my father, sister, brother, his wife, and their wonderful son. Upon picking them up I found them excitedly captivated by a Maltese puppy that my mother-in-law had. Whilst commenting on the bonds they formed with the puppy all the way from my eldest to my young 7 month old daughter I realized I would love nothing more then to bring this animal into our chaotic life. That is when my MIL responded with take him, please, take him now! I was all to happy to want to oblige but animals coming into our household is an absolute must discussion with my husband. So when my son's looked at me with pleading eyes i told them they had to talk to daddy. So we loaded up in the car and off we went. As we were going down the road I spotted a 27 inch TV set out for garbage pick up... now seeing this triggers many memories of my mother dumpster diving for tables, rugs, TVs, blinds, really anything you could name... So my knee-jerk reaction was to speed up, but i surprisingly found myself more willing to slow down, inspect the item, and then proceed to load it into the car with the thought... "maybe it works."
When we made it home, kids in tow with a 27inch TV and dreams of a puppy dancing in our heads, we were greeted by my father and sister bearing gifts a plenty and a very tasty lunch. When my brother arrived with his wonderful family we sat down to eat with a good movie in the background and warm conversations to pass the time. Although the whole time we were eating my oldest kept asking, "can we open presents now!" It kept us entertained in a slightly annoying way, but it was a situation you could not help but to make the best of. But when the time came to open presents he was so excited he handed out all the presents while opening his own. The thoroughly enjoyed unwrapping all the gifts with pure looks of interest and curiosity as they were anxiously tearing through the paper to see what goodies lie beneath. Once all the mysterious presents were revealed there was a awesome count of toys from remote control cars to a baby gym, from that to a Nerf gun (BTW OUCH DAD), and then on to gifts for us adults which included a wonderful screen print from my extraordinarily talented brother to very comedic and brightly colored t-shirts from my dad.
Once our family Christmas was over, my son asked for the puppy, and although my husband immediately said no, I later talked him into curiosity and interest over the animal and instead of the stone cold no, i got the answer we'll see, which in my hubby's speak means yes but on a trial basis... i can swing that ;)
SWEETEST MOMENT OF THE DAY: That evening as the kids and I were baking cookies for Christmas, my youngest son was helping me cut out ginger bread men and as he gazed at them he had a light bulb moment and proceeded to point and say, "this ones mommy, this ones daddy, and this ones me dilly" Nothing can warm a heart quicker then that ;)

Breastfeeding, YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!

Now, I could give you all the factual information possibly found on the internet. But I'd rather talk about what I've learned from breastfeeding. Some of the things i have also been told about breastfeeding are interesting too. Let me start off by saying that my first two breastfeeding attempts with my 4 yr old and 23 month old were both fails... i never made it past 8 weeks with either of them. Now that I've given birth to my now 3month old and I'm still breastfeeding and no words can describe how prideful I feel.

Since breastfeeding I have learned patience... wow I have learned major patience. I tell you breastfeeding on the couch (immobile in my case) while my boys do everything in their power to destroy the house within a 20 minute time frame and I with nothing but my voice and a flyswatter to try and stop them makes for a very interesting situation. Thus comes in the lesson of patience, since breastfeeding I have learned to try to come up with some type of activity for my boys before i settle down to breastfeed. This makes both parties happy, my house stays relatively clean and my kids stay relatively entertained.

I have learned the beautiful blessing of the natural bond formed between a mother and her newborn child. My heart swarms with love and joyful thoughts fill my mind as I look into my daughters eyes as she gets everything she needs to grow and survive from my breast-milk. My thoughts lead to those of awe in the fact that my body is able to produce liquid gold well fortified to combat illness. One thing I love that my daughter does while eating is her breaks to coo and smile at me. We have some of our best talks during feeding time.

Now I'm not sure if this is for everyone or if it is just something that has happened for me and my family. But, since breastfeeding I've realized that she is trying to do a lot more, at 14 hours old she started sleeping for 6 hours at a time at night. Also at two weeks she started supporting her head extremely well for her age. She is already bypassing milestones set by her brothers and I am one to beleive all the credit is due to being a breastfed baby.

I love breastfeeding and I don't know why I wasn't able to do it in the past, I know it takes drive and determination now. But if I had known how the love would continue to grow like this in the past I would have made sure to work harder at reaching the 12 month milestone that I am shooting for with her. I tell everyone now that if you can push through the necessary pain of learning how to do it (yourself and your child learning) and make it past 8 weeks then it should become as easy as a cakewalk. Please remember to believe in yourself. Breastfeeding is worth all the pain and frustration because once your lil' one masters their latch and you find the positions most comfortable to you, you won't remember the trials of the past you will only remember the joys of the future!!!