Finishing up 2013

Before I get into how eventful and fulfilling 2013 has been, there are a couple of special moments i want to recap that have come and gone.

Family holiday photos (Sims Lake Park -Suwanee, GA)

Amelia WALKING finally! She took her sweet time, but by 17 months, we officially have a full-time walker! Here's an action shot. She's running after me hollering "mommy!"

Benson turned SIX! I took the day off, made "reindeer food" for this classmater per his request, and got to spend the whole day with my favorite little boy! 

and of course our very Merry Christmas. 

So here's to a new year and more memories!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving holiday always seems to come and go so quickly! Nonetheless, the 4 day weekend break was much enjoyed. We hosted Thanksgiving this year, and as with any family gathering, had a great time. My family is so young and fun. We're so untraditional and make the best of any situation. That's why they're the best!

We had my whole family (my dad's side) over for Thanksgiving dinner. We have a potluck style Thanksgiving, where everyone brings a dish. I could definitely tell that everyone was on a health kick this year with the lighter dishes and healthy renditions of the traditional sides. Everything was so yummy. By the end of our second third plates, we were all ready to pop!

After dinner we all sat around for laughs, pulled names for our annual Secret Santa, discussed our plans for our themed Christmas and of course, looked at the ads for shopping that many of us partake in the next day, or if you're an extremist, later that night!

I'd say the night ended earlier than what we usually can stand. Eric and I did a quick clean up and passed out. Benson had lots of fun with his cousins and KO'd as soon as everyone left. Amelia on the other hand was over tired and was the crankiest/fussiest baby EVER. She took the longest time to go down. (Promise to self, NEVER let that baby skip nap time!)

All in all, I'd say we had a successful holiday and cannot wait for Christmas! Our decorations are up and we've already bought some of our gifts. Holidays are so much more fun when you have little ones, that's for sure!!

With my parents and brothers

 

This is such a special pictures. My grandmother and all her children! (First photo with all of them in almost 2 decades!)

My WHOLE family. Can you believe they all fit in my little house?

 

 And out of all the pictures, I didn't get a single one with just the 4 of us. Boo!

Weekend Recap: Camping!

If you didn't know, we are a camping family! The boys, especially, love being outdoors and living it like survivalists. We try to take as many trips as we can fit into our schedule through the fall/winter. And even in the freezing cold, we still manage to make our way up to the mountains for the weekend. There's something about being away from the rest of the world and surrounded by nature, breathing in that fresh air that is so calming and relaxing. I'm talking real camping. No water source, no electricity, no out houses, nada. Just you, the land, your tent and a fire! Add s'mores and cider beer and we are golden!

So this weekend we had our first camping trip of the year, sans baby. We went with a couple friends to Wildcat Creek right near Lake Burton (just 2 hrs north from where we live). Of all the places we've gone camping, this has got to be our favorite campsite. We are going back in two weeks but this time WITH Amelia. We'll see how we survive with a baby in the woods :)

The boys gathering wood for the fire

Starting our fire

Wildcreek does offer a campground with a bathroom, but it was closed off thanks to the Government Shutdown

Family Photo Session by Surita V Photography

I'm excited to share our pictures from our family session that we had with Surita V Photography. She always does a great job on capturing our family's personality. I love being able to get pictures throughout the year and seeing how much our children have grown since our last session.

These were taken at McDaniel Farm Park in Duluth, Ga. Who knew we had a gem hidden right down the street! Beautiful park with lots of history made our session an educational one for one inquisitive little boy! Can't ask for a better teaching moment!

All the pictures we've gotten back are amazing! Here are a few of my favorites:

Hope you enjoy them as much as me. I can't wait to get them blown up and printed to plaster throughout my whole house! And check out Surita V Photography if you're in the Atlanta area! Happy Fall! Cheers to the beginning of pumpkin flavored everything!!

1 year: Post Op

It has now been one year since Amelia's procedure. It's been smooth sailing since her surgery. She does have a little bit of a scar on the eye that they operated on, but she's so young that I'm sure it'll completely disappear when she's older. You can barely even tell it's there! These past couple of weeks I have noticed her other eye getting a bit teary which leaves me a little concerned. For now we're just keeping 'an eye' on it. Ha! 

To read more on the Crawford Tube procedure here.

National Breastfeeding Month

I've been wanting to share my breastfeeding story for awhile now. I thought this would be an appropriate time to share my whole story now that August has been declared Nation Breastfeeding Month.


Amelia is now 14 months and I have been breastfeeding for this whole time and still going. Breastfeeding has been the hardest yet most worthwhile journey I have ever experienced. It has been a personal battle of wanting things to be "right" and to follow an unwritten book that I spent half the time focused on the wrong things and never really embraced the moment. I can say that the past ehh, 6 months or so it has really taken off and I can actually finally say I enjoy nursing. 

Before we get started, I did not breastfeed Benson. I was young, only 19 years old. I thought it was weird. I'm sure at the time my thoughts on breastfeeding were along the lines of, "why breastfeed when they make formula?" I was really uninterested and tried maybe once or twice to breastfeed him. 

When I got pregnant with Amelia, I knew I wanted to do many things differently. One of the things I knew I wanted to change was my choice of breastfeeding. I did a lot of research on breastfeeding. I read up on breastfeeding blogs, books, articles... you name it, I read it. I talked to many friends who breastfed and got their advice. I really wanted to embrace breastfeeding and go for as long as I was able to. Fast forward to the day Amelia was born...and I promise, nothing could have prepared me enough for the trials and tribulations that we would face in our journey of breastfeeding. 

We immediately met with a lactation nurse when we stayed at the hospital. We got tons of information from different positions I could hold the baby to getting the proper latch. She sent us home with her number and a breast shield to use should we needed it. Everything was going great before we left the hospital.

The following days once we got home is when the craze started to set in. Am I doing it right? Is she getting enough? Do I nurse on both breasts at each session? When do I begin to pump? The questions in my head were endless. I must have called the lactation consultants every single day. And every time I got on that phone, I began to talk about my concerns, ended up talking myself through my problem and figuring it out all on my own. By the end of the talk, the nurse would always tell me, "it sounds like you got it". And I did! I just needed someone to walk me through it and to let me know I was in control and that everything was okay. I would often get these feelings of unexplainable guilt. Like I was doing something wrong. It took my husband to tell me that I was a great mom and doing a great job with the baby to overcome it. (I think it also had to do with my baby blues)

I think the hardest part of exclusively breastfeeding a baby is that you are the supplier. So every time she cried, whoever was holding the baby, would bring her right back and tell me, "I think she's hungry." That got old really fast.

Somewhere along the way, I began nursing one breast at a time. We bought a Medela Double Breast Pump and I began pumping the other breast to start my supply. I took an 8 week maternity leave so I knew I had to get started if I was going to continue to successfully be able to exclusively breastfeed. (another thing I was freaking out about). 

Before leaving the house with the baby, I would bring a bottle of breast milk because I was so nervous to nurse in public. I made it a point to plan all my errands around her feeding schedule. One day, I just snapped out of it and whipped it out (with a cover of course). I didn't get any kind of reaction. In fact, most people didn't even take notice! Why was I freaking out about it?

Once I returned to work, I took 15 minute breaks every 3 hours to pump. And while I was away, Amelia took a breast milk bottle every 3 hours to stay in sync with our schedule. I pumped where ever I found the space. Bathroom, employee kitchen, patient room, you name it, I pumped in it. Eventually, my session decreased to twice a day to then once a day once she started eating baby food, table food, and now meals. 

My supply started diminishing around 10-11months or so. So we had to supplement a bottle of formula during the day. I took so much pride to have gotten so far with exclusively nursing that it killed me to have to give her formula. But why? Why did it matter so much to me?

Then there were days when I wanted to give up so bad. To hell with nursing. But I persevered because I truly enjoyed it and the bonding we had at every nursing session. I'm thankful for the support I got from my family and my husband. They pushed me through it and we have come so far from where we started.

So here we are, 14 months later. I nurse Amelia to sleep at night. She still gets up about once a night (if I'm lucky) and I'll nurse her then. You know, I really hated that she still gets up at night - most days more than others, especially if I have to be at work the next morning. But I try and focus on the bigger picture that life goes by way too fast. In the blink of an eye, she won't want to nurse any longer. She won't want to cuddle and be held. And that's what I was missing this whole time - it didn't click for me. Until now.

Some things to take away:

1. As mothers, we all want what's best for our babies. All the meanwhile, doing what works for our lifestyle and our families. We can plan and research all we want but at the end of the day, reality is things don't always go as planned. So supplement if you have to. Breastfeed for as long as you can. And if doesn't work out, it's absolutely okay. You tried and that's all the matters. Your baby is healthy and everyone is happy. 

2. The struggles of breastfeeding shouldn't be a secret. Why did I over think everything and make a big deal of every situation? I'll never know. I was confused, sad and disgruntled but looking back, I will be forever grateful for my support team. My husband and family for always encouraging me and reminding me how well I'm doing. And my mommy friends who shared their experiences with me to help me get through my own. I've learned from my struggles and have gained experience to hopefully share with other mamas out there who need help or the very least, someone to listen and encourage them.

3. On the toughest of days, when everything that could go wrong did, looking into my sweet baby's eyes made everything worth while. From thrush to clogged milk ducts, eye surgery to the flu, we persevered and stuck with it. Breastfeeding was something I wanted to work out for me and my baby and it has been a personal accomplishment that's been fulfilling. It takes patience, faith and determination but you will get the hang of it and have peace of mind when things finally click and you get your routine.

B Starts Kindergarten

Two weeks ago (the week we got back from the beach) Benson started Kindergarten! We met with his teacher at open house and instantly loved her. She had spunk and was very welcoming to Benson. I was the overly prepared mom that came with all our supplies in hand and ready to fill out any paperwork that came my way. I volunteered to buy her some additional craft supplies on her "wish list" and also signed up to be a helper for any crafts that she needed help with (i.e. paper cutting or gluing that she didn't have time to do). I really wish I was able to spend more time in the classroom with Benson but unfortunately with my work schedule, I'm very limited on time. 

On his very first day I got to watch him wait at the bus stop/ our driveway for the bus to come pick him up! Now some parents are against the bus, but I rode the bus up until I was able to drive myself to school and I had no problems and I came out perfectly fine. I know the world is so different now but we live in a decent neighborhood so I had no doubts that Benson would do fine otherwise. So after the million pictures with his backpack on and after all my slobbery kisses we sent him on his way and waved good-bye from the window. I remember looking at Eric once the bus left and we both got teary. Our little boy is growing up! We have arrangements for my Mom to get Benson off the bus in the afternoons. That night he told me his day went well and had two requests: He wanted to be a car rider and wanted to bring his lunch from now on.  

Fast forward two weeks later, and even with all the excuses you could think of that he came up with as to why he didn't want to ride the bus like "there are no seat belts, he had to share a seat with another kid, and it was too loud..." He is still riding the bus. I think he's getting acclimated now that he's made some friends. And as far as lunches, we decided that we are going to review the menu the night before and decide if that is something he wants to eat, otherwise we'll pack him a lunch. And that's that. Benson's in Kindergarten! AH!

Family Vacation 2013: Destin, FL

Just got back from our week long stay in sunny Destin, FL! I didn't think we'd see the day. This trip had been in the making for the past year.  My whole family (Dad's side - all 24 people!!!) rented a lovely home in a quaint gated community just a couple blocks away from Crystal Beach. The weather was beach perfect - hot, humid, sticky and DRY! We were basically living in Seattle these past few weeks in GA with non stop rain so it was amazing to be under the sun. The sand was white and the water was clear, absolute paradise!

Eric and I had not taken a vacation in some time. I didn't get a vacation last year, having taken a maternity leave. So this trip was especially exciting because it was Amelia's very first trip to the BEACH! (and road trip for that matter) We are the best at procrastinating and waited last minute to pack. Luckily, I can be pretty thorough and was able to do it the night before and did not manage to miss a single item! Go me! It can be stressful to pack for a trip. On top of all my essentials, I had to pack for 2 additional children. It was my job not to forget Benedryl, swim diapers, movies on the iPad or the NoseFrida (side note: Best invention EVER!) Just all the random things you end up needing on such a long trip away from home.

So our bags were packed and we were off to start our 6 hour drive to the beach. We decided to leave that morning at 6am because Amelia is the worst at traveling. I remember Benson being the same. She gets antsy after 30 minutes in the car. So we anticipated her to sleep most of the trip there if we left early enough. Thankfully she did and the trip there was a good one. Once we got there, we all ran through the house to pick dibs on who was sleeping where.

The rest of the trip was spent either on the beach, in the gorgeous "lagoon" pool or BBQing outside. We stayed right across the street from the outlet mall and within a 5 mile radius from ever store you could ever think of - Walmart, Target, Publix, BestBuy. Seriously, you name it, and we were right down the street. Some eventful "just-our-luck" moments to remember: Eric sprained his ankle the second day we were there (there goes my baggage carrier, ha!), Amelia catching a cold (for an exclusively breastfed baby she sure does catch colds often. It's so annoying) and little B getting chaffed (poor guy).

Overall it was a great trip. Lots of memories to share and great pictures to go with them. I think I'm good with not seeing my family until Christmas time. Ha, joking. But really...

We all got perfectly sun burnt tanned. I love it! Now let me get back to lathering up my little fam with some aloe + lidocaine gel ;) Enjoy our pictures! (most of them are on my facebook)