Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother

Bliss

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:35:00 +0000

My two clients gave birth, one right after the other. Beautiful births, both of them. The look on the mom's face when she first sees her baby is really what I live for. That look of pure bliss is so amazing and special...

I missed my interview for nursing school because I was at a birth. But they were more than happy to reschedule it for me.

The kids are doing great. The girls are making cardboard houses for a Girl Scout project. The Mermaid is making a house and The Guppy is making a fairy house. This is one of those projects I delegated to The Knight to do with them. Since I started my second job as a server at a local hotel I've had a lot less time, but The Knight was able to quit his second job and he's had a lot more time to spend with the kids, which is great.

The kids also got their first vaccines recently. I was not vaccinating but now that they are older I'm going to have them get a select few.

Other good news - we were able to pay off another credit card. Our debt snowball is moving along quite nicely!

Things continue to look up for us, an it's amazing!

Monday Rambling

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:18:00 +0000

It's Monday morning, I'm sitting at the computer drinking my coffee and all I can think is "I hate burpees."

In an effort to get more tone and build strength, I'm participating in a 100 day Burpee Challenge. Today is day 6. It was not pretty, at all. But, I am so so so sooo close to my 60lb weight loss goal, I can taste it. And so I will try to get through all 100 days in an effort to get to my goal before my birthday in June.

And that's my life right now. I'm with the kids all day, and I work as a server at nights, and I squeeze in my workouts whenever I can.

I'm on call for two clients right now and I'm really excited to be at their births.

The girls are doing great in school, The Tadpole is being his usual sweet and destructive self.

Things are....happy.

I have my interview for nursing school in a couple of weeks. This program will make me an LPN in 10 months. Then a year after I graduate, I can take the exam to be an IBCLC and open a private practice. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about that. Knowing that after over 7 years of staying home with my kids, I will actually have my own thing. A career. Like most adults do.

I LOVE my children with all my heart. I love AP parenting. I don't regret staying home with them at all. But...they're getting older. Even The Tadpole doesn't need me nearly as much as he used to. I will still be there, with them, the majority of the time...but it will be nice to get out of the house and have something on my own to do, that I actually get official recognition for.

I definitely feel like I'm going through a transition. I'm still a breastfeeding mother, but I am done having children. When The Tadpole decides to wean...that's it. So I'm trying to decide what I will eventually do with this blog. These days it's hard to keep up with updating it. For now, I will keep posting about our lives...but don't be surprised if the topics of focus aren't the same as they used to be.

For the first time ever, I feel like I am growing up. Does that make sense?

First Badges

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:16:00 +0000

The Guppy is loving being a Daisy Girl Scout and has already earned two parts of the Daisy flower: the promise center patch and the Tula the Tulip Petal. She was so excited when I ironed them on that she could barely wait for her tunic to cool off before she insisted on wearing it. She is very excited to show her new friends at the Girl Scout meeting tomorrow morning.

The Mermaid is also loving Girl Scouts. She loves the idea of being a Brownie Elf and is on step three of earning her first badge, the Painting Badge. They both also want to earn the Safety Badge next.

The girls had both chosen a Journey book to do, and I'm not really sure how they are supposed to earn the Journey badges, so if there are any other GS moms out there who can chime in, let me know :)

Blossoming Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:46:00 +0000

My voice is literally hoarse from all the reading to the girls that I have been doing. They are determined to earn their Six Flag tickets! The Mermaid has been reading up a storm, both to herself and her siblings.

We decided to create a new reading chart. The Mermaid did most of the work. Each cloud holds ten cotton balls. She gets one cotton ball for each book she reads on her own; when she fills up a cloud, she gets a small set of Squinkies from Target.

For so long I wondered why The Mermaid struggled so much with reading. The Knight and I LOVE to read. We read every night, the TV is barely on, and the girls see us read so often, I guess I just thought they would follow our example and learn to love reading as well. I'm so happy to see The Mermaid finally blossoming as a reader and finally starting to enjoy reading, after all the struggles we went through. I really feel we have turned a corner and I am so grateful that I was able to be with her and see her overcome her obstacles with reading.

March Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:54:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the first day of March and I've thought of some goals that I want to commit to for the month.

Goal #1: Get to the gym at least four times a week.

Since I've had some setbacks with my running and had to change my racing plans, I really want to get back on track. I plan on running in Diva Dash in September, and a half-marathon in October. In order to do that I need to get my butt in gear and stay committed.

Goal #2: Track what I eat, every day.

This just keeps me on track with my eating. I use SparkPeople to track my food and exercise, and DailyMile to track my running. I find tracking my eating makes me more mindful of my food choices and keeps me honest.

Goal #3: Finish my CBE Certification. I've been dragging with this for what feels like forever and I'm very close to being done. I just need to schedule the time in and do it already!

Anyone else have any goals for March? What are they?

Books, Books, Books.

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:08:00 +0000

We're year-round homeschoolers. I find it works better for us because then if I need to take some time off from homeschooling during the year, there is still plenty of time to play catch-up without worrying about it cutting into our "summer vacation". Take January, for instance. For some reason, January was a crazy month for us, and we ended up taking most of it off. And it worked out well. We got to breathe a little, straighten some things out in our lives that had fallen to the wayside, and get back on track.

Right before Christmas, The Mermaid finished The Story of The World Volume I. She also finished up the first volume of The Complete Writer and we are starting the second volume today.

For the most part, The Mermaid enjoys all the subjects she studies (especially math and science) but she really struggles with reading. I know that she can read, but she is such a perfectionist that it gets in her way. If she sees a word that she doesn't know by heart right off the bat, she gets frustrated and wants to give up. I try to explain to her that it's okay if she doesn't know the word, that's why we sound it out, but she doesn't like that answer. I've finally resorted to bribery - for every book she reads, she gets a star. Ten stars means she can pick out a small treat at the toy store. Since we've started her star chart, she's been a lot more willing. Then recently the Six Flags reading program was pointed out to me and I signed her up. What a motivator! As I'm typing this, she's in the other room, reading books to The Tadpole and The Guppy.

The Guppy is enjoying school as well. I read to her a lot, and she is working her way through Math U See Primer and doing very well with it. We're also doing The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and she enjoys it a lot. I'm glad I switched from How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - that book just caused a lot of frustration with The Mermaid and I didn't want to repeat that!

For all you other homeschoolers out there - what are you working on? Unit studies? Lapbooks? I love to see the great ideas floating around out there!

Dare to Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:33:00 +0000

This past Friday, my cousin and I took the kids to see Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream. The girls LOVE Disney on Ice, and once again, it did not disappoint.

Dare to Dream focuses on the story of three princesses and how they made their dreams come true: Tatiana, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. The Guppy's two favorite princesses are Cinderella and Rapunzel, so she was especially excited to see the show. And The Mermaid was practically jumping out of her chair with excitement.

This show was also the first time The Tadpole showed any interested. Well, for some of it, anyway. When the story focused on the princesses, he looked rather bored and uninterested:

But, he LOVES Mickey Mouse now, so whenever Mickey came out between sets, he was thrilled. He was pointing and yelling Mickey! Mickey! with a huge smile on his face. It was the best.

If you're interested in going to see Dare to Dream with your kids, you can check out ticket information here.

Summer Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:14:00 +0000

I remember every summer growing up, I went to camp. I LOVED it!! Making new friends, having such fun activities to do all day...it was the perfect summer getaway.

I'm so excited because I just signed The Mermaid up for her first summer camp! She's going to be going to Oasis Day Camp for two weeks :)

Looking at all the camps in the area, I really liked what Oasis has to offer. I had an opportunity to speak to Bernie Tessler, President and CEO of Oasis Camps. Bernie took the time to explain that Oasis takes pride in the hiring and training of their staff; Oasis camps are highly sought after as employers for teachers and students studying childhood development and education.

Established in 2000, Oasis has had over 50,000 children attend their camps and has built its programs around the Oasis Core Values:

1. Oasis gives children the tools they need to succeed in school and in life.

2. Oasis creates communities for children that are safe havens emotionally and physically.

3. Oasis staff members build self confidence by being positive, supportive, and kind.

4. Oasis encourages children to embrace new experiences and to learn new skills.

5. Oasis staff members are role models who teach through their own behaviors and attitudes.

Oasis camps offer activities in art, drama, swimming, sports, and other outdoor activities. They are highly respected and are the ONLY camp allowed in Central Park.

I'm so excited to see what memories The Mermaid will create. I think she will love her camp experience just as much as I loved mine!!

Oasis Day Camp of Worcester on Facebook

Disclosure: This post was compensated through a promotion between MomSelect and Oasis Day Camp. All opinions I write about Oasis Day Camp are 100% my own.

Training Setbacks

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:35:00 +0000

January pretty much sucked in terms of running. I was having problems with my back, leading my chiro to suggest that I get x-rays done to see what was going on. Turns out I have a really weird curve to my lower back. Now I need to get physical therapy to build up the muscles around the spine and hold it in place, to keep it from curving back again.

With all the back pain, I had to stop my half-marathon training. The race I was training for, the American Cancer Society DertermiNation, is at the end of this month, and there was just no way I was going to be ready. I am so bummed!! But I need to take it easier and not injure myself even further.

Last week I had a stomach bug and was still dealing with back issues, so I missed running for an entire week. Not cool!! But, I finally got to the gym this morning and ran an easy 3 miles, it felt great! I am still hoping to run the Run For Your Lives Zombie Run in May, and I think I'm going to then train for another half-marathon in October: The Amica Half-Marathon in Newport, RI. I'm excited about this one because I love Newport, it is so beautiful!! And since it is in October, that gives me plenty of time to take it easy and train at a healthy pace.

I've got a list of books going on running and marathons and such, including Chi Running, The Runner's World Running for Mortals, and Marathon.

Any runners out there with other books they would recommend?

Nurture

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:52:00 +0000

This girl cracks me up every day. She's funny, sweet, and very caring. Always trying to help others, especially when she's sick.

Now she's the one who is sick, with a yucky stomach bug. I get her some juice and cuddle her close, and I'm happy to be able to be there for her, poor baby.

So far this stomach bug has gone through me, and now The Guppy. Hopefully it ends there.

Hiding The Chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

My how it has been a while.

Our holidays were great. Christmas was one of the best ever, with The Tadpole being old enough to open presents and play with his gifts, he was too cute! Then things got busy and kind of stayed busy, until finally I realized that it had been a month since I lasted posted here.

So, here are some updates:

The Guppy is still taking dance, and still loving it. She is also loving her "school time." Right now she is doing Math-U-See Primer, handwriting, and learning how to read. She spends most of her day drawing and asking me how to spell words, then carefully writing them down on the paper.

The Tadpole...well, there is so much I can say about him. I can tell you that he is the main reason why I haven't had much time to write here. It started right after Christmas, when he suddenly wanted to nurse constantly, throughout the entire day. He had teeth coming in, a growth spurt....it was all fine and good. But it continued, and continued...and then, two weeks ago he decided that he was going to get into more mischief than he normally does. He is so sweet, so easy going, so cute, so cuddly....and such a pain in the butt!!

This is my typical day with The Tadpole: after breakfast, he nurses. And nurses. And nurses. I try to convince him to play with some toys, he refuses. Finally I tell him "No more na-nas" and start the girls school. While I'm getting their books, he drags the kitchen chair over to the counter, stands on it, and tries to smash the coffee maker. Or turn the water on in the sink. Or play with the knives. Or turn knobs on the stove. Or get into the dishwasher...you get the picture.

I come back in, take him down, push the chair back to the table, he immediately walks over and pushes back to the counter. And we repeat. All day. Every day.

I have a dear friend who has a darling little boy, and once I went over her house and she had removed all the chairs from the kitchen. At the time, I thought it was over-kill.

I totally get it now.

Oh, how this little boy drives me nuts. I recently found my first grey hair, and when I found it, I really wasn't surprised.

He drives me dearly, and I couldn't possibly love him more.

And now, The Mermaid. My little mother. She's so caring and kind to her younger siblings, always helping them, always reading to Hunter or playing with him, and comforting him when he cries.

She's really enjoying astronomy and history, and of course math. She still struggles with reading a little, however, but it's something we are working on.

She's also taking art classes and tomorrow is her first Girl Scouts meeting.

That's pretty much what we've been up to. My goal is to post at least 3 times per week. You know, in between hiding the kitchen chairs.

Disney on Ice Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:55:00 +0000

So I know I am two days late with this, but it's that hectic time of year again!!

The winner of the family four pack of tickets to Disney on Ice, chosen by a random number generator, is.....

Jennifer O'Donoghue! Congrats!! I'll be messaging you with more details.

Thanks to everyone who entered!!

Thursday Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:14:00 +0000

It's nine days until Christmas and for once, I'm almost ready. This is a far cry from the usual Christmas Eve scramble to get the rest of the gifts and wrap them up. This year, I am determined to not be awake until 1AM on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents at the very last minute.

The other day I heard the girls talking in the living room about Christmas. The Mermaid said "You know what I like best about presents? Spending time with family! That's the best part!" To which The Guppy replied, "I just like the presents!" These girls are too funny, and so different!!

The Tadpole has been nursing like crazy. This is because his molars are coming in, and they are taking their sweet time, thank-you-very-much. I feel bad for him and I do love nursing him so, but it's a relief when I get to leave the house without him in tow, just to get a break.

How are you all doing? Are you prepared for the Holidays?

The Final Frontier

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:07:00 +0000

This year in science The Mermaid is studying astronomy. She was so excited when her book came in!! This is a drawing of our solar system that she did on her own, without any prompting from me. I love how creative she is, and how she loves to draw!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Have you entered my giveaway for a family pack of tickets to see Disney on Ice?

Holiday Pageant

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:03:00 +0000

On Sunday our church had their annual Holiday Pageant. The Mermaid was an angel and The Guppy was in the jingle bell choir.

The Tadpole was a great audience, as usual. He's so laid back and calm, we can take him anywhere. He smiled and laughed through the whole performance.

I'm so proud of my two stars!!!

Thanks Mom!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:58:00 +0000

My mother took me shopping Friday night for an early Christmas present...new running shoes!!!

My old shoes were over three years old and the cushioning was completely shot. I had been having problems with sore knees and back when running lately and I'm sure that my shoes were the problem. These shoes are the new Asics 2170 and I can't wait to try them out tomorrow, a nice easy 3 mile run! Seventy-six days left before the half-marathon in February!!!

If there are any other runners out there on dailymile, please feel free to "friend" me.

Ballerina

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

The Guppy has her second dance recital on Sunday, a Holiday themed recital. Her class danced to the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause."

Before the show, I asked her if she was nervous and she said no, because if she forgot the steps she could just look and see what the other kids were doing. I love how she likes being on stage so much!

My beautiful ballerina. I'm so proud of her!

Stolen Secret Moment.

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I took this on Thanksgiving Day.

Is The Guppy sharing a secret or giving The Mermaid a kiss? I can't remember, but either way, I love this picture.

I braided both their hair the same way and they laughed and said, "We're twins!"

Wordless Wednesday

Ball!!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

"Ball!" he says, grinning. It's his newest word, and the ball is his favorite toy.

I'm relieved he likes playing with a ball, instead of one of the plastic and loud toys that lay dusty and forgotten under the train table.

He throws it over his head and laughs when it lands behind him.

He gathers up all the balls on the deck and throws them over the railing. The Mermaid goes down into the yard to get them for him, each time telling him "This is the last time, Tadpole, so don't throw them over again, I won't get them for you." We all know he'll throw them over, and when he does, she'll laugh and run down to get them again.

I watch the three of them bounce and laugh and giggle, and I think about how lucky I am. And how Life Is Good.

Giveaway! Disney on Ice!

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:03:00 +0000

It's that wonderful yet sometimes stressful time of year again. And for Disney to come give us a break from it all with a night of great entertainment!

This will be, I believe, our third Disney on Ice show and it never gets old. The girls LOVE the show, and I'm looking forward to getting The Tadpole's reaction too, now that he's old enough.

"Discover endless riches when Disney on Ice presents Treasure Trove! Get tangle up in Disney's 50th animated feature with Rapunzel and Flynn, then enter the worlds of Tiana, Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Mulan, and Snow White. Set sail with Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and Captain Hook & his pirate pals on an adventure beyond Netherland! Trek the wilds of Africa with Simba, Nala, Pumbaa and Timon. And don't be late to a very important date with Alice & the Madhatter as they march with the Queen of Heart's Army of Cards. Be sure to see this show full of memories guaranteed to last a lifetime."

Opening night is December 26th, and we can't wait to tell the girls on Christmas where we will be doing the next day!

GIVEAWAY!!!!

I'm giving away a family four-pack to the 7PM performance on Monday, December 26th at the TD Garden in Boston. To enter, just leave a comment telling me which Disney character is your favorite! The lucky winner will be randomly chosen on Friday, December 16th. Good luck!

Just Saying.

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:01:00 +0000

Just coming on here to say that I've been really busy. In a good way.

And...my kids are totally awesome.

Have a great Thursday everyone.

No Wasted Time

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:26:00 +0000

My client had her beautiful baby girl on Nov. 5th.

I missed the birth.

She called me at 9:35PM and told me her water had just broken. I asked if she was having any contractions and she said she wasn't, but that she was feeling a little uncomfortable and was going to head into the hospital to get her antibiotics for Group B, would I mind meeting her there? Not a problem.

I called my mom to come watch the kids. I kind of took my time. I mean, she wasn't even having contractions yet, right? I ate before I left, thinking that it was going to be a long labor and I needed to fuel up.

I drove to the hospital and walked in her room at 11PM. Right as they were placing the baby on her chest! Total labor from rupture of membranes to birth was 1.5 hours! She did awesome, and of course baby is beautiful!

I'm also working with a postpartum client right now, starting today. I worked with this lovely family previously when their baby was first born, and now they have called me back for a few more days.

I'm spending this month really working on expanding my business. I'd like to eventually get up to two clients a month. We'll see how it goes!

Dusting This Thing Off

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:15:00 +0000

I haven't really been around here much. Life has been so busy! I'm homeschooling two now, and still trying to figure out the logistics of that. Plus The Tadpole is certainly keeping me busy!

I've also been spending all my free time studying. I'm applying for a nursing program. I'm going to become an LPN so I can qualify for the IBCLC exam in 2014. The program I am applying to only accepts 30 students out of the 200 that apply. I'm taking the TEAS V exam on Saturday and I need to do well!

I could always just take the college courses required to qualify for the exam without going through nursing school, but I figured if I have to take that many courses anyway I might as well get some credentials to go along with it. That way I could also get a nursing job as well, or go back for the bridge program to become an RN.

Doula business is doing well. I'm on call now for a client due in November. I still don't have as many clients as I would like to have, but this year I've had more than I've ever had in one year.

That's about it over here. Hopefully this blog won't be so neglected now!

Till My Legs Give Out

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:09:00 +0000

This past weekend I ran my second 10K. It was the Devil's Chase in Salem, MA, and it was actually a little longer than 10K, 6.66 miles (get it, 666? yukka yukka).

My first 10K I ran in September, the 5th Annual Lone Gull. I was still only about halfway through the Couch to 5K program and had only run three miles at the most. It was HARD and I walked a lot of the course but I managed to finish. Boy was I sore!

After Lone Gull I finished the Couch to 5K and immediately started a 10K training program. I finished that just in time for Devil's Chase. Boy what a difference between the two races! I ran (slowly) the entire 6.66 miles and beat my Lone Gull time by 6 minutes!

Devil's Chase was a blast to run. It was freezing but once I started running I warmed up quick. I did not run in costume, but everyone else did and it was so fun to see how creative people got! Next year I will be sure to run in costume.

I'm now starting a half-marathon training program. I'm thinking of running one in February. In May, I'll be running the Run For Your Lives 5K Obstacle Course. I'm really excited, I think it's going to be a blast.

Can you tell I'm addicted to running?

Here I am, right after finishing Devil's Chase:

Sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Shelly) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:01:00 +0000

My dearest Guppy,

Just like your sister's letter, this one is embarrassingly late. So sorry, my sweetheart.

You are now five years old. And still a total sweetheart. You love to cuddle and hug, you love praise and affection. You get so upset if you even suspect that someone might be upset with you.

We've officially started homeschooling. You're learning reading, writing, and soon we'll be starting math. History and science you are learning just by listening to The Mermaid's lessons in the background. I didn't realize this until you started blurting out the answers to the questions I was asking her.

You still love playing dress up, and being a princess. You are so girly, I love it!! If it has bows, ribbons, or ruffles you must have it. You love dance class, and I love watching you blossom on your own, in the one activity that you don't share with your sister.

You are so sweet to your little brother, although sometimes you do lose patience with him. I think you want him to stay a baby more than I do, so you can keep "mothering" him like a newborn. Since The Tadpole has become less cooperative, you've started to mother your dolls more, putting them down for naps and nursing them when they are hungry.

You crave alone time with me or your father. It doesn't matter if we are just brushing your hair or your teeth in the bathroom, you beam and light up. I'm sorry we don't get more chances to have alone time, my love.

You're not shy, but you are an introvert. Having time to yourself is simply how you re-charge your batteries. So different from your sister!

We love you so much, our little sweetheart, and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday.