Ingenue Mom

Today was my final day of breastfeeding with Isis. We made it 10 months & I think that's pretty fabulous! I wanted to breastfeed to 1 year, but I mentioned before that when I started student teaching, there was a significant drop in my supply. After less than a month of student teaching, Isis went from exclusively getting breastfed to taking 1 bottle a day, then after a couple more weeks 2 bottles a day. I stopped nursing her at night about a week ago and today was the last time I nursed her in the morning. I wasn't producing much, so Isis & I had a little chat this morning & we were both just done. It had been a struggle to get much of anything the last couple of weeks. So 10 months!! I'm proud of myself.  It was hard, then it was easy, then it was hard again, but overall I have been incredibly happy with this experience & I look forward to breastfeeding my future children for as long as possible!

Yes it's October & I'm thinking about Christmas. I've been thinking about it since June, really, but I've held it in until now. I am uber excited about Christmas this year! Christmas with a (almost) 1-year old is going to be so fun!!! I can't wait to show her all the Christmas lights & let her taste the yummy food that she will hopefully be able to eat at that point! We are still having a hard time with some table foods. She just doesn't have many teeth & seems to also have a sensitive gag reflex, so it's a slow process. But I'm excited for her to get some gifts & tear off the paper. She'll get to play with lots of family members that don't get to see her all the time & I think she'll love Christmas trees & snow! There is just so much to look forward to!! And while the gifts part of the season is not the reason nor should it be the emphasis of that time, I still find myself looking forward to it because with Isis, the...

I realized the other day that I haven't shared an update of what's going on with Isis now! I really am seeing the growth spurts. There will be weeks when I'm like, "it feels like nothing is changing & she's just never going to do that" (whatever it seems like everyone else's babies are doing). But then, one week she'll just start doing 5 new things without any trouble. It's crazy! Here are a few highlights: At her last doctor appointment at 9 months old, she weighed 20 pounds exactly & was 27.25 inches long. She now says mama & dada (when she feels like it) & to the right person. She can pass objects from one hand to another. She can pick up food & put it in her mouth. She picks it up with her thumb & forefinger, but then uses her whole palm to put it in her mouth. It's adorable. She stands holding onto things & pulls herself up easily. Sometimes she cruises between the ottoman & the couch or between a stan...

Camera Flash! I sometimes wonder if everyone questions themselves as much as I question myself. There are lots of things about me that I find myself wondering if it's just me or if everyone is like that, but questioning myself is a big one. I question everything. Almost every conversation I have will be played out in my head over & over for the next few days. It's a constant ongoing process of wondering if I said the right thing, did the right thing, have planned the right thing, etc. Is this working? Am I happy? Am I doing what is best? Did I just stick my foot in my mouth again? It's unbelievable. There are pros and cons to this for me. On the one hand, as someone who places my life & faith in Jesus, you would wonder why I would question so much. Is it worry? Am I showing a lack of faith? These questions alone can creep up on a regular basis & keep me constantly investigating the state of my heart & mind.  On the other hand, it's a form of accountabi...

Today is Lewis' birthday. He took off work Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of this week because I'm also off on fall break. Today we decided to have our babysitter keep Isis anyway so that we could have a day together just hanging out without a baby like we used to! It's crazy because we haven't had a day alone like this since before Isis was born!! Of course I ended up cleaning & organizing most of the morning, but now I'm just laying in bed watching a movie! In the middle of the day!!! Because I can. But I'm also catching up on blog reading & thanks to Adriel's new Photography series at The Mommyhood Memos & then all Jhen's beautiful pics at From Here to Eternity , I'm thinking about the fact that I badly want a DSLR camera. It's my #1 wish list item for Christmas. If I got nothing but that, I would be so happy! It's like the gift that keeps on giving! I really want a Canon Rebel xti, but I'm open to other suggestions. ...

I just absolutely cracked up!!! This is hilarious!!! Moms really can be crazy! Although, I have to say, I did some of the things the crazy pink lady was talking about, but I definitely don't think that what I'm doing works for everyone. It's not a competition. That's one of the biggest things I've learned since becoming a mom. We are all SO different. Every mom is different. Every baby is different. What works for me can be recipe for disaster for another mom & baby! I don't understand why we can't just let each other do what we do. We are all just doing the best we can to raise healthy, happy kids! In the beginning, I felt such opposition to what I was doing because I guess some of it was different. I'm not really sure, but I found myself needing to defend my decisions. You can probably see some of that in my earlier posts. But now, I'm just doing what I can. I've learned what works with Isis & with our family & that's really a...

I apologize to those of you for whom this post will be incredibly boring (which is all of you), but I felt like if I made this list & posted it on my blog, I would have some accountability to myself to actually get it all done! And most of this needs to be done this week, but not all of it. Things I need to buy: Green candy for cupcakes (if you know where I can find these , let me know!) Orange cupcake liners Candy Silly Bandz Tickets Pens, Markers, Highlighters Grocery Christmas Gifts (yes I start way early) Things I need to do for school: Solo Week Plans Formal Lesson Plans (2 of them) Reports for Mon. night class Standards Portfolio Lesson Plan reflection Unit report Organize notebook Things I need to do in general: Resume Call financial aid office Pay 2 bills Blockbuster online Blog Clean (kitchen, bathrooms) Organize (bedrooms, living room) Go through clothes Christmas cards (again, I start early) Flu shot for Isis Calendar through January Things I've got going on thi...

Life is moving so fast. 10 days ago, Isis couldn't pick up a small piece of food & get it into her mouth. She could pick it up, but then she'd drop it continuously in the process to try to get it close to her mouth. She also couldn't fully pull herself up to standing. She was still getting used to crawling.  10 days ago, I was fairly confident in myself as a teacher. I was still in the beginning of my student teaching experience. I wasn't quite to the point of looking for jobs, but I was excited about the possibility. Now here we are & Isis started putting food in her mouth one day like it was no big deal - like it had never been a struggle. She pulled herself to standing & now will cruise between the ottoman & the couch. She can crawl across the room quicker than I thought possible. 10 days!! I am still fairly confident in myself as a teacher, although I went to a seminar where I saw an absolutely fabulous teacher & I was pretty much completely ...

Six years ago today, I married my husband. Here's some of our story.     We met more than eight years ago in April 2002. When we met, I had short, dark red hair - almost purple. He had a mohawk. We were quite the pair. Although, we didn't work out at first. I was 17 years old. He was 21. I know it sounds crazy, but I knew immediately that I would marry him. After our first phone conversation, I just knew. I went to school the next day & told my best friends at lunch that I met my husband the night before. Of course they thought I was crazy. And I was surprisingly not really thrilled by this realization. We went on a date that weekend & it went okay, but not great. I was not very nice. You see, I was 17 & all that entails. I was perfectly ready to go to college & date around & just have fun. I was not interested in a serious boyfriend. I was definitely not interested in getting married young. About six months later, we were dating - officially. He pursued...