The Tall and Short of US

I know what you're thinking! But yes, I am crazy. This post will be written on a whim, but I wanted to share the crazy! A few close friends were discussing potty training their 12 month old and younger babies. Like newborns. One of my best friends has been doing EC* with her baby since birth. I always supported that idea but thought it was wackadoodle.  I was feeling motivated the other day and decided to order a cheap potty seat and regular toilet seat converter for Lincoln. I would eventually buy these later on, so it didn't seem too crazy to buy it now. I am sold! I was told that putting them on the potty  immediately  after naps and after eating were the best times. And it's true! We've only tried the potty seat twice and he has gone tinkle twice! Boom! How about them apples?! Anyway, I know it's weird to be so excited for this, but if we can make this a habit (for fun!) then I will be over the moon. I know it has only been twice,...

Many women are surprised by the passion they come to feel about breastfeeding. If you meet another breastfeeding woman anywhere in the world, you feel a connection, no matter how different her culture is, and no matter how long ago you or she breastfed your babies. - The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding Something sparked inside of me when I read this. I've never seen my own thoughts and feelings about breastfeeding put into words so well. I never thought I would become such a "lactivist" when I became a breastfeeding mama. I always had the goal to breastfeed, but formula was always a good backup plan. I'm not anti formula in the slightest. In fact, I collected so much formula while pregnant just in case it didn't work out. Just as a cancer survivor becomes passionate about the fight for a cure, my passion for breastfeeding is a result of my life experiences with being a new mom (and a crazy oversupply I never imagined). My oversupply was a blessing and ...

Birth Story Part 1  if you missed it! I felt and heard the loud POP! I thought Lincoln had head butted me or something. He hadn't been super active before that so I had no idea what I'd just felt. I just knew it hurt really bad. (I actually had the thought of "Oh, you're so dramatic. That was nothing" right after it happened. Thomas seemed pretty concerned but I thought I was just being a pansy. Haha!) I got up on all fours and pushed a little to see if it would still hurt. I thought it was a ligament or something shifting around that popped. And then... I jumped out of bed and ran to the loo. I apologized to Thomas for going tinkle in the bed. I didn't know I had to go! I sat there and more waterfalls ensued. I was in complete denial. I was frantically texting my friend Sara and asking her if it was my water. I was so overwhelmed and had no idea what was happening. Insert round 2 of Niagara Falls. I was a mess! Thomas was running around li...

I'm so excited about reading with Lincoln! So far we've been to story time 4 times in the last two weeks. We also went to music time! We've met some wonderful people at our library. A few of the girls lives just down the street from me. I even met the sweetest LDS girl! She mentioned Utah and we both knew that we were LDS. Instant friends ;) One of the girls at story time mentioned the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program at our library. After reading 100 books the baby gets a cute little gift from the library. This takes my 100 book challenge to a whole new level! Reading is going so well. Sometimes Lincoln gets bored. Seriously, it's so funny. Dr. Seuss books are long! We have a mini goal of 10 books per day and Lincoln is done after the second book. So we take breaks :) I'm so excited to take on this 1,000 book challenge! Lincoln will hopefully start to enjoy reading just as much as we do!

One night Thomas and I were having really good, deep pillow talk. Those are some of my favorite moments in our marriage. Just talking about our day, asking how our jobs and friends are, listening and sharing our thoughts and feelings and discussing our opinions. Thomas mentioned that he didn't want Lincoln growing up with us always on our phones. I think all of us are a little guilty of being plugged in, but his simple statement hit me hard. I am on my phone so much throughout the day. And it's hard. As a stay at home mom there isn't a lot of adult interaction. I have lots of mom friends on various pages and boards online.99% of my time is spent talking to moms about our babies. Rashes, breastfeeding, pumps, diapers, cribs, toys, etc. Mom life! I love learning everything I can about these little humans. While this is (semi) productive, it's not exactly healthy. Although I've found lots of local in-real-life friends through these pages, the time...

When Lincoln was first born it was a little tough. He was a month early so his little body had a hard time keeping a good core temperature.  He also had blood sugar issues and had his poor little foot pricked every 2 hours and dozens of times in the 3 days we were in the hospital. It was scary. They mentioned (felt more like threatening) the NICU over and over again. On top of everything, my biggest struggle was that my milk hadn't come in. I was barely producing colostrum, the beautiful liquid gold that comes in before your milk. Baby's first food. I was grateful I had a little bit of that, but it wasn't enough. My body hadn't gotten the memo. We fought his temperature and blood sugar issues. Thankfully, we were able to give him donor breast milk in a bottle. I am forever grateful that our hospital had that option. I was so, so relieved. Before I fell pregnant, and even while pregnant, I always thought that donating milk would be amazing, but r...