Easter Day

This Easter has been a little different for us in a couple of ways. First of all, the obvious...Noah. This is his first Easter and our first Easter with him! He spent his morning in the nursery, while we were worshipping the risen Savior in service. I look forward to when he can sit with us in church, and actually understand why we're there and what's happening. (I don't want to rush his childhood though, so I'm happy to wait!). The second reason this year was a bit different is because Matt and I participated in the practice of Lent. Matt fasted from red meat, and I from soda. We reflected on our first Lent last night... We felt that in one sense it seemed to be more about our abilities than Christ's. "I can do this...I won't give in...I can hold out." But on the other hand, we thought about Christ's sacrifice more than we had pre-Easter in years past, and we also felt that we were "more ready" to worship this Easter than we ever have been. We decided that although there were elements of Lent that didn't necessarily seem worshipful, it was definitely a positive experience. Although a human tradition, I think that if done with the right intent and spirit, the Lord might look favorably upon it as a form of praise and preparation in light of His work on the Cross.

On another note, I love a good reason to take a million pictures of Noah, and Easter is of course such a perfect excuse! We had a mini brunch after church today, as most of our friends have family in the area, but I was able to get some super cute photos of Noah! Thanks to the Moores and Todd for coming over and for putting up with my endless picture taking!

Thanks to Nana for the adorable shirt, tie, and hat! (Along with several other clothing items not seen in these pictures.) (We looked for pants to go with the outfit, but had trouble finding any that mama (me) liked! So jeans it was! Still cute though, right?!) Why so many parenthesises? I don't know!

Easter Reflection and Dog Play

Easter is a time that we reflect on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The work He did on the Cross has given us new life, and we look with hope towards the day that we can worship Him face to face in Heaven. This is a weekend that we remember His work and praise Him for taking all of our sins so that we can have life with Him eternally. This is what Easter is about, and I'm really looking forward to the church services planned for the weekend that will aid us in focusing on its true purpose. I do believe however, that it is fun to enjoy the other culturally acceptable side of Easter that is colored eggs, and egg hunts, and bunnies, and baskets! I remember when my brother Ben and I were young and even into our teen years, my mom and dad (mom is probably the one who actually put it together) would make us an Easter basket each Easter. My mom would include the traditional "grass," candy, eggs, and usually there was a clothing item, and often it was a new bathing suit! I remember how I loved to dig into the grass for each and every little pastel colored jelly bean that was hiding. Just like at Christmas, Mom would wait until we were in bed, and then she would set out the beautiful baskets on the breakfast table so that when we woke up, they were the first things we saw. I loved this, and obviously hold fond memories of it, so I definitely want to continue this tradition with Noah. I do, however, feel that if I did it this year, it would be more for me than him, so I'm going to wait until next year to follow through. This year though, both of Noah's grandmothers have given him an Easter gift. Grams sent Noah this adorable outfit from Gymboree, along with a couple of books including The Easter Story! Nana has purchased Noah is first Easter outfit, and I'll take pictures of that on Sunday and post them then. Thanks to Grams and Nana for being so thoughtful!

On another note, Noah and Teagan "played" together for the first time yesterday. Noah grabbed Teag's blanket from him, and then Teag would snatch it back...and Noah just laughed and laughed! Luckily, I had the camera right beside me, so I captured a little of this on film.

Look how close he is to crawling!

LOVE THIS!

Blogging about Blogging about Food

I've been perusing various foodie blogs, and I've been re-inspired to capture my own kitchen activities! I guess it's fun to take pictures and write about food because it is such a part of our lives. If we're eating the right food, it's of God, and it's beautiful. So, why not blog about it? What? You're telling me Schnucks Light Vanilla Ice Cream is not of God? I beg to differ! The smoothies I make with this stuff are definitely of the One above! Over the past few years, I've become quite interested in hosting, serving, and creating lovely atmospheres for eating. I've heard multiple Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/) chefs say that we eat with our eyes first, and I don't know if that is true of good 'ole mid-western boys who seem to be content as long as there's a slab of meat and some sort of potato on their plate, but it is very true of me. I like to surround myself with beautiful things, whether that's food or what I have to look at on my drive home. Beauty is appealing. Simple as that, and I'll surround myself with it at every opportunity. This even and most definitely includes what I put in my mouth. Think about natural food. All of its various shapes, sizes, colors, textures...it's amazing really. These things are good and should be viewed as good and should be eaten to the good of our bodies. Goodness knows, I've had my fair share of unwholesome, MSG'd, fried, sauced-up, unnatural goodies, and to be honest, I'm sure I will have some of these things again (hopefully sparingly) in the future. However, the fact that I'm not perfect when it comes to eating what I should, doesn't discount my ability to appreciate the really good stuff.

I made a berry smoothie this afternoon as a mid-afternoon snack. It was so filling though, I think I may skip dinner.

I ended up not using the Chocolate Soy Milk. I was originally thinking strawberries and chocolate, but then I rethought the mix of chocolate with blueberries. Would have been weird.

Pureed blueberries that were originally meant for Noah.

A little extra protein and fiber!

Some vanilla yogurt, frozen berries and milk, and it's ready to be blended!

Magic Bullet, work your magic.

Final Product! A Berry Smoothie

blogging about my smoothie

This is random, but it's my favorite tea right now. I add sugar and a splash of milk to this, and it is delicious! Courtney had a blog on tea, so I thought I'd share mine! I know I've mentioned this before, but I love her blog...check it out! http://www.hungryyogini.com/

Snow, Lunch and Ferber Talk

Check out the snow!!! St. Louis weather is totally manic!

In addition to the crazy snow, Gina and Marisa came over today for a mommy lunch! I made a quiche tart, banana muffins, chocolate hazelnut pastries, greens, and we had strawberries and grapes on the side. It was yummy! I love quiche, even though it doesn't love me :( Mommy's need a pick me up every once in a while, and that's how I'm justifying having made not-so-good-for-our-midsection type food! We had a good time chatting, eating, and playing with the kiddos. I'm enjoying getting to know these girls better. We seem to have many things in common in our parenting styles and researching interests. Marisa and Gina have read a lot about raising these little ones, so I'm going to be quite the sponge when I'm around them. I love swapping parenting advice with other women. I find it encouraging and so helpful! In fact, Gina is the one who really pushed me to try Ferber. She had great success with Will, and was even generous enough to loan me the book. She and Marissa, and (I recently found out) another friend, Shanna all experienced triumph with this method. I'm happy to report that last night (our 3rd night doing Ferber) Noah slept from 7pm to 5:15am! Matt and I decided that we would get really excited when this happens multiple nights in a row, but just one night was such a relief. Thanks for all the tips girls!

I made Noah blueberries last week and have since ruined multiple bibs, a couple of PJs, and several cloth diapers (that I use for cleaning him up). I think when Noah gets better with hand to mouth eating, I'll try them whole, but I think I'll say goodbye to the purple puree for now! At least they provided some cute pictures! What are some foods you feed your baby?

Noah loves his daddy, and Matt loves to make Noah laugh...it's pretty cute to watch.

Food and Ferber

On the chopping block for this week: avocados, carrots, apples and pears with cinnamon, segmented tangelos and sweet potatoes. I'm going to give him everything in diced cubes except for the apples and pears. I'll make a puree with those. He's been eating small chunks of bananas and bread though, so I thought I'd try more chunky veggies and fruits this week. We'll see how it goes. A lot of it seems to end up in his lap!
Steamed carrots...yum! (Yum for Noah...I actually don't like cooked carrots.)

FERBER
Noah has not been sleeping well for some time now. He goes through OK stages of only waking up once a night, and then he goes through awful stages of waking 3-5 times a night. Needless to say, I'm exhausted, and I'm beginning to feel like he isn't getting the kind of sleep he should either. So, tonight is the night; I've started the Ferber Method, otherwise known as the Progressive Waiting Approach. It's been tough so far. Exhibit A: I'm up at 1:51 writing this blog, and he is still crying! Basically, when he wakes up I go in and without picking him up soothe him for no longer than 2 minutes. Then I leave and return to do the same after waiting 3 minutes. If the crying persists, I return after 5 minutes. If the crying still persists, I return after 10 minutes and every 10 minutes thereafter. I'm on the third 10 minute stretch right now. He's been up since 12:30. A couple of friends, Gina and Marisa swear by this method, and they say that in 3-4 days Noah will be sleeping like an angel, and I'll wonder why I didn't do this sooner. I keep trying to tell myself this, but right now I just want to go pick him up and comfort him. He'd fall asleep in 2 seconds if I did, but then the ultimate problem would not be solved! I must be strong for both of our sakes!

Breast Milk Update

Thanks so much to all of those who have responded and encouraged me after my "Bye Bye Breast Milk" blog. All of your thoughts and advice have been quite helpful and a source of encouragement for me. Last week I attended a Le Leche League meeting and acquired the prescription my doc ordered. I was greatly uplifted after the LLL meeting, and after a couple of days of taking the meds, I did feel that my supply increased. Unfortunately, we had a harried weekend, and my supply swiftly decreased again. I have since continued taking the meds, and I've been home these past two days nursing, nursing, nursing! I've had to supplement several days this week with formula, but I am confident that I will build back my supply with a couple more days of meds and crazy nursing! At least, I'm telling myself I'm confident. I've been doing research, talking to my doctor, and listening to friends who have similar experiences, and I know that at this point I'm doing all I can do, so what will be will be. I've loved nursing my little Noah, and hopefully I will be able to make my one year goal. According to several professional sources, babies should get the majority of their nutrition from breast milk or formula for the first year, and I would love for Noah to get his nutrients mostly from my milk rather than formula, but I'll give him formula if I feel he isn't getting enough from me. Breastfeeding can be time consuming and a bit stressful at times, but it's also a sweet connection between child and mom that I will miss greatly when it's over. I know I'm not alone in this sentiment, and thanks once again to all of you who contributed advice and encouragement...means a lot to me!

What a Weekend

There are so many details about this weekend that I'd love to report, but I find that it is probably best to censor myself! We caravaned a few hours north for Matt's cousin's wedding with Brian, Janet and the boys. We had a really great time with Brian and Janet, and I will say that one of the highlights of the weekend was when Matt stepped out of the dressing room at the tux shop with his camoflagued tie and vest on and his pants pulled up past his belly button. He stuck his stomach out (imagine the way a good 'ole country boy might do) and said, "How ya'll doin'?" I laughed so hard I cried.

On Monday, we visited Matt's great grandmother, Noah's great great grandma. What a pleasure it was for Matt to introduce his little guy to her; a woman he loves and admires so much.

Bye Bye Breast Milk?

For a week and a half now, my milk supply seems to have dramatically diminished. Sorry to any guys who may be reading this (which I'm sure is very few), but my breasts have shrunk in size, Noah has been fussy, and when he latches on he releases to relatch multiple times. I can tell he's searching for more. This lessening of milk has made me exceptionally sad, and I've been doing everything I know to increase my supply. I've been nursing Noah a lot throughout the day so that my brain knows to make more, and just yesterday I picked up a prescription my doc ordered for me. However, it only has a 30%-40% chance of working and I won't know if it is working for 3-4 days. I bought some formula yesterday and gave it to him a couple of times today...he gulped it down. Which makes me feel like I've been depriving him for a week now. He just hasn't been getting enough. I wonder if he'll sleep better tonight. He hasn't been sleeping well this last week and a half. I've been trying to figure out how this has happened, and I've only been able to come up with two possible reasons. The weekend of the baby shower, I missed a few nursings. Usually, when I miss a nursing, I just get really full and that's that. However, I missed a couple, two days in a row. Secondly, I got super sick at the beginning of last week and it lasted for several days. Could either of these two reasons be the downfall of my milk supply? I'm sick just thinking about this. Formula is not the devil, I know...but I just love nursing him, and I've been his provider for the last 7 months, and now I don't have that ability. Someone tell me there's a solution!

Shower and Tea Cups

Sarah's baby shower was last Saturday...it had been in the works for several months. The day arrived, all the food was prepared, the house was adorned, and Sarah's popularity was proven by the enormous amount of guests that showed up. There was over 50 in attendance! All went pretty well; Sarah received a lot of needed items, we played a few small games, people wrote a good combo of witty and sweet sentiments to she and the baby, and then we all went home to crash! With all of the busyness of the weekend, I did not score many points in the wife and mother categories, as I was quite preoccupied with getting everything done for the shower. Matt was apparently very ill (the likes of which he did not clearly communicate to me), and although I had been prepping Matt for weeks that he'd need to be completely in charge of Noah during this time, I still felt neglectful. My sis-in-law says that this is only the beginning of the guilt. That as mothers, we feel guilty for a lot we shouldn't. That's another topic for another day...well, may be if I have time, I'll expand on that today as well. Anyway, I have to say I put more pressure on myself about this shower than I'm sure Sarah would have wanted, and there were a few 'failures' in way of decoration; however, overall it went pretty well, and now we're just waiting on our little Gypsy (or whatever her name may be!) to show up! I don't have any pictures of the shower yet (I'll post when I do), but Sarah did give me these beautiful Anthropologie tea cups as a thank you gift. I love love love them, and they are so photographic!! Had to show them off! Thanks Sarah!

School for a 6 Month Old?

When Noah was first born, I was dead set on reading to him every day, singing his ABC's every day...even counting to ten in English and Spanish every day. I would do other little things as well, such as point to his nose and say "Noah's nose" and then point to mine and say "Mommy's nose." However, a month or two into his little life, I slowed down on those sorts of things because I thought I was probably jumping the gun, I didn't see any recognition of understanding, and I read an article from Baby Center that said that loving, touching, laughing, and holding your baby was teaching him so much in and of itself. Noah is 6 months now, and after a conversation with Matt the other night, I think it is time for me to begin incorporating these little "lessons" back into our routine. Where should I begin though? What types of activities are appropriate for this age? I know my friend Vanessa does some schooling with her 4 year old every day, and I'd like to do a bit of the same. Just seems harder with a 6 month old. I don't exactly know what to do. Any thoughts?

Home Cookin' Baby Style

I've really enjoyed making Noah's food, and I've been inspired by one of my old students (read blog entitled "Proud Teacher" for the whole story) to capture some of my recipes on camera. I love the beauty of simple (well, and complex for that matter) food, so it was fun to take some pictures of the process this morning. I've spent much of today making Noah's food for the week and catching up my blog. This morning before I got the other food diced and steaming, I chopped up some bananas and strawberries (an idea given by Deb, Noah's Nana), and pureed them in the food processor. I made enough to freeze two trays of them. After breakfast, I started on apples and sweet potatoes. I simply peeled, diced and steamed them (separately), and then pureed them (also separately). I need to get more trays, so while the bananas and strawberries are chilling, the apples and sweet potatoes are awaiting their freezer time in the refrigerator. Today, I still have yellow squash and zucchini to peel, dice, steam and puree, and then Noah will have yummy, organic, healthy food for the rest of the week!