Faithful instruction

The second part of Proverbs 31:26 says, "and faithful instruction is on her tongue." It got me to thinking today...how much of what I say to Cade could be considered "faithful instruction"? Considering that my most repeated words are no, stop, and don't do that, I'd say I definitely have room for improvement in that area.

When I stop and think about it, by the time I have to say no or stop to Cade, I'm already irritated. Because the majority of the time, it's something that he already has been told not to do. So I'm generally repeating myself, even if it's the first time I've said it that day. Which irritates me. I hate repeating myself. I also hate waiting. That means that when I tell Cade to stop doing something, I want it to stop right this very second. So when I have to repeat myself, I get really irritated really fast. It helps, when I think about it, to remind myself that he's only 2. Well, almost 3. But I don't always remember to think about that.

So back to the faithful instruction. I think I need to start focusing more on instructing, and less on correcting. That's not to say Cade doesn't still need correction...he definitely does. But I think if I can spend more time on faithful instruction, some of the correcting will take care of itself.

Things I would do well to remember

It's time to snap out of this. I wouldn't say that I've been having a pity party, but I certainly haven't been winning any awards for mother/wife/person of the year. It's been too easy to use (insert an excuse of your choosing here) as a valid reason to not do, well, pretty much anything I don't want to do. The excuses are completely valid: I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant and nursing, I have 2 kids 2 & under, I'm tired, I'm nauseous, our house is on the market (the most recent addition), and/or any combination of the aforementioned items.

Two things came to mind today as I was having a (long-overdue) quiet time:

First, my children are not mine. They are God's. He has entrusted them to me for an unknown period of time and He expects me to take care of them. They are/should be my first priority during the day. They are the reason I don't have a "real" job (although I dare anyone who hasn't been a stay-at-home mom to try it for a couple of days...it's more of a real job than anything else I can think of...but I digress :). There are no stipulations in the Bible about only having to do what God says when we feel like it, and I've been letting myself get away with less than my best because of my circumstances right now.

Second, I need to have a goal every day. I think for now, it is going to be to try to be like the Wife of Noble Character in Proverbs 31. I don't know how on earth it's possible to do even half of the things she allegedly did on a daily basis, but dadgum it, if I can just aim at having noble character, I'll be ahead in the ball game.

So now it's all out there on the world wide interwebz...hopefully that'll help motivate me.

Top 10 Reasons I Choose to Breastfeed

In honor (memory? :) of breastfeeding my babies, here are some reasons why I chose/choose to breastfeed and why I love it...

1. God created my body to be able to grow a baby for 9 months and nourish that baby with breastmilk for an indefinite period of time.

2. Because it's what God intended, it's the very best food I can possibly give my baby.

3. I always have it with me.

4. It's free (read: I am cheap. :)

5. There are lots of health benefits for me, as well as for my baby.

6. I'm lazy (formula is way too much work!!)

7. I don't have to worry about how much I should put in a bottle (read: I don't like having to make a second bottle because the first wasn't big enough and I don't like there being any left at the end because that's wasteful! :)

8. It helps calm babies, even if they aren't hungry.

9. I love that special bond.

10. It's the very best food I can give my baby. (It deserves to be repeated :)

There are actually about a bajillion more reasons. I'm proud to have nursed my babies and toughed it out when it wasn't easy. I'm proud to have put their needs before my desires (because really, after 9 months or pregnancy, who doesn't want their whole body back?). I'm very passionate about breastfeeding, and love to help new mamas get started by sharing my experiences. It can be scary and hard, but it is so worth it.

Mama Trauma

Last week was a rough week. It became increasingly evident that my milk supply was dropping. A lot. (Thank you, pregnancy) So I began the process of weaning Ava from nursing and putting her on formula. There were many tears involved. Pretty much just on my part. Ava FINALLY decided she could drink from a bottle, for the first time since she was born. But I guess it hadn't been necessary before...I'm just glad we didn't have to fight that battle along with everything else.

Next, Cade decided to skip his nap 3 days in a row. I thought for sure he was giving up his nap for good, and with a pregnant mama, that was traumatic, to say the least. I'm happy to say, however, he's now napped 4 days in a row, so I'm hoping last week was just a fluke. Please, God. :)

And, last but not least, my baby brother was getting married. Got married. On Saturday. I wasn't really prepared for all of the emotions that were involved with that. I mean, I know I'm pregnant and hormonal, blah, blah, blah, but I just didn't think it would affect me as much as it did. Have I mentioned that I spent a lot of time crying last week? Because I did. But he's married now, and we all made it through the wedding - super-cute, ornery ringbearer and all :)

So this week, it's just the weaning. And it's still taking its toll. I'm still able to nurse once or (on a good day) twice a day, but I hate giving her formula. Hate it. HATE IT. But this too shall pass, right? And in just 5 short (Lord help me!) months, I'll be starting all over again with a new one. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Second trimester

Whew. I made it to the second trimester. And not a second too soon. February was spent in a blur of nausea and force-feeding myself. Oh, and naps. Tomorrow I'll be 14weeks, and the nausea is mostly gone on most days. I still have a hard time coming up with stuff I want to eat, though, which is super-frustrating when I need to be eating constantly so I don't get nauseous. Oh, the joyous Catch-22s of pregnancy :)

Oh, and meat...there were a few weeks there when the thought of any type of meat was enough to make me gag instantly. Chicken was the first thing to return to my diet, but only specific kinds (like Taco Bueno chicken potato burritos with no sour cream and no lettuce), and I still can't cook it. Ham and turkey are pretty much okay now, too. But beef. Oh, dear. I fear it may be permanently removed from my diet. At least ground beef. And I haven't been able to eat a QuikTrip hot dog in months! I may or may not have eaten 3-4 of those a week while I was pregnant with Ava. I've managed steak in a burrito from a local restaurant, but that's it. This is particularly frustrating because I have an entire freezer full of various kinds of beef. If this lasts much longer, my friends may reap the benefits... :)

At this point, I'd say this pregnancy is more similar to Cade's than Ava's, so Ryan and I are both thinking this may be another boy. But who knows?

B3

We'll be welcoming a 3rd baby into our family this August! Certainly wasn't on my agenda yet, but God had other plans :)

Needless to say, I was completely shocked last week when I took a pregnancy test and it was positive! I was getting ready to start some antibiotics and thought I should just check, even though I knew there was really no chance that I could possibly be pregnant. Ha! Wait, it gets better.

Warning: this might be a little TMI for the male population (just in case there might be some out there...which I doubt...but the disclaimer is there, nonetheless)...

I'm still nursing baby girl. Like all the time. She doesn't really nurse much less often now than she did as a newborn. Seriously. So that decreases my chances of getting pregnant. Not only that, but I hadn't had a period since she was born, either. Another decrease. Oh, wait. And then there's that whole thing about how I had a tubal pregnancy that ruptured my left tube and it was removed. Another decrease. Oh, and we were using a method of birth control. Right. Ok, so you add that all together, and you get...a pregnancy planned by God. Not me. Oh, and I'll be 8 weeks tomorrow. Just found out. Last week. Yeah.

You will not ever hear me say that this pregnancy is a mistake or that it shouldn't have happened. God's timing and plans are perfect and I totally trust Him. Will this be stressful? Without a doubt. Will it cause me to lean more heavily on God to get me through? I'm thinking that might be a big part of His plan. Having two 2 and under is not a simple task, but it's been a little easier than I expected. And I, being me, have characteristically tried to do it my way, rather than asking for help. Having three 3 and under scares the pee out of me. So yes, I believe I will be taking God up on His offer to be in charge. Because who even knows what these children will end up like if I don't. Scary.

Also, I'll be around until August (or until it gets too hot). After that, I'll catch all y'all in approximately 2014. Give or take a month.

Only child

Ava has gotten to enjoy being an only child for the past several days. Cade has been visiting his grandparents in a neighboring state since Friday. So he's gotten to enjoy being an only child there, as well.

I've missed my buster brown, but it's been so great to have some extra one-on-one time with baby girl (and the extra sleep has been appreciated as well...Ava and I both have gotten more sleep than when Cade is here :). And I know Cade has enjoyed the time with his grandparents and great-grandparents. It's a win-win :)

But he's headed back as I type, and I am definitely ready to see him!

Here's Girlfriend this morning...she's so stinkin' cute (she was trying to peek around the phone so she could see me :)