Our ABC Book

I saw this pin on pinterest a couple weeks ago and knew I wanted to make one for my kids! One of Levi's favorite books is "Curious George's ABC's", so I'm hoping he likes our own ABC book just as much. Luckily, we had a coupon for a free photo book from Shutterfly so the only thing we had to pay for was shipping. The book should be here next week sometime.

I went through and made a list of things I could use for each picture and then searched through the photos I had already taken (some are from 3 years ago). For some of the letters I had go out and take pictures.

Take a look!

             
                                      

U was "underwear" which I didn't post for obvious reasons. 

Strawberry Cupcakes

Have you ever been to a Sprinkles Cupcake store?? They're the most incredible cupcakes ever. You may recognize the founder Candace Nelson from Cupcake Wars on Food Network.

When I lived in Dallas my former boss took me and my other two co-workers to Sprinkles for a random afternoon treat when they first opened. We were lucky enough to watch Candace give an interview about her business while we waited in line. I made many more trips to Sprinkles before we moved back to Colorado. 

I sometimes have a craving for these cupcakes and unfortunately Colorado doesn't not have a Sprinkles, so I do the next best thing.... BAKE MY OWN! 

The internet can be a beautiful thing!! Between Martha Stewart's website and youtube interviews I was able to come up with the Sprinkle's Strawberry cupcake recipe! I've made it several times and it is absolutely delicious!! Try them out for yourself... you wont be sorry! 

(From Gabriella's 1st birthday party)

Strawberry Cupcakes

1 ½ c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. Baking soda

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

4 oz. Unsalted butter

1 c. sugar

1 large egg

2 egg whites

¼ c. whole milk

¼ c. strawberries

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Strawberry Frosting 

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold

Pinch of coarse salt

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

          Directions-

1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not over mix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream

source

Welcome Back!

Actually, I'm welcoming myself back. I've taken a loooong break from the blogging world. I came to a point this past Spring where having a blog was not a priority in my life and I needed to cut it out. I feel like now I'm in a better place and I'm ready to start it up again.

Please be patient with me as I'm trying to figure out how to design a blog... (something I know nothing about!)

I plan on posting: activities I do with the kids, recipes I'm trying, my journey as a wife/mother and anything that God might be doing in my life.

Our Little Getaway

Since Jordan's job follows the school district's schedule, he had all last week off.. paid!

We've been busy refinishing our kitchen (pictures to follow soon!). But we wanted to do something memorable and fun for the kids with his time off. We thought about going to Santa Fe, NM to meet some friends, but it didn't work out.

We knew we wanted to go on a little bit of a road trip starting Thursday afternoon and come home Saturday at some point. Well Thursday morning came around and we were still clueless. We're extremely blessed to know an incredible travel agent. So when Levi woke up at 6:30am I texted her and after she told me tons of fun things to do in Colorado, we settled on Colorado Springs and by 2pm we were on the road. Colorado Springs is about an hour and a half from where we live, so by the time we got there the kids had taken a pretty good nap.

We took them swimming in the hotel swimming pool, had dinner at Chipotle, drove around the area a little bit and then ate Oreo Klondike bars back at the hotel room. They were excited to be sleeping in a hotel so it took them a little bit to fall asleep.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. They had a great breakfast buffet! We took the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo as soon as they opened. I was expecting it to be busy because it's Spring Break, but when we got there there weren't very many people there... of course we got there 15 minutes after it opened. (Side Note: when I was about 9 years old I spent the night at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with my Girl Scout troop!) We had such a great time there! Our favorite part was definitely feeding the giraffes!

As we were leaving the zoo it really started to get busy with people. If the main parking lot is full it can take up to an hour of sitting in your car in a huge line, just to park. So I was really glad we got there when we did.

For lunch we went to a really cool restaurant. It's actually a plane from WWII that you can eat inside. The kids were able to play in the cockpit and explore the rest of the plane. It's extremely kid friendly and the food was great. I highly recommend The Airplane Restaurant to anyone going to Colo. Springs.

That night we took the kids to their first sushi restaurant. I've only had sushi once before when I was about 12, so I was a little nervous to have it again. It was good though and a fun experience. Jayden ate all of his food, but Gabri wasn't too sure about it all.

Saturday morning we checked out of the hotel and went to Garden Of The Gods. We took the kids almost two years ago and they just rode in the stroller most of the time. This time Jayden walked and Gabri sat in the stroller while Levi rode on Jordan's back. We hiked around for over an hour and half. Jayden LOVED climbing on all the rocks. I on the other hand was a little freaked out by the whole idea. My boy is quite adventurous already!

Our timing was perfect with all the things we wanted to do. The kids enjoyed themselves and so did we. I realized by the end of our trip that I was actually relaxing and enjoying myself. Sometimes with young kids it's easy to get stressed out and not enjoy yourself even on vacation.

How I Got My Milk Back

I felt really silly for sharing my last blog about breastfeeding on Facebook. I didn't think anyone would read it or that people would be offended by it... However, this was not the case. I found that there are several other breastfeeding moms who have been in a similar situation, or women who are pregnant and wanting to breast feed successfully, or women who have been successful that wanted to offer their support, encouragement and advice.

Here is how I got my milk back. It was a Friday when I decided I wanted to go back to exclusively breastfeeding. I was down to only a couple feedings and they were mostly during the night. I was pretty empty on milk. I had a few bags of Mother's Milk Tea in my pantry so I was going to start with those. I'm cheap and I wanted to stretch the tea bags as far as I could. I would steep the bag in the biggest mug I have (covered for 10 minutes, just like the instructions say) and then I would get a small mug and steep the same bag in that mug for another ten minutes. The instructions on the box say to drink 3-5 cups a day... so I used 3 different bags a day, but got 6 cups total. I drank the tea for 3 days.

Then one of my dear friends let me borrow a tincture that contains 6 different herbs: fenugreek, fennel, nettle, goat's rue, blessed thistle and raspberry leaf. Not gonna lie, it tastes nasty! So I started the drops Sunday afternoon. I did 3 or 4 droppers full (mixed with a tiny bit of water just to wash it down) four times a day. I used the drops for 5 days. After the five days I was back to exclusively breastfeeding.

During the five days I had to wean Levi off formula. It made the most sense to me to drop one feeding a day. I wasn't comfortable just cutting it out completely and expecting him to be satisfied with what little amount of milk I was producing. I did offer the breast as much as possible to get the stimulation my body needed to keep producing.


Exactly one week after my decision to go back to exclusively breastfeeding my fenugreek capsules came in the mail. I read on kellymom.com that I could take up to 12 capsules a day. So I was taking 3 capsules 4 times a day. One side effect is that your sweat smells like maple syrup... well I wasn't smelling anything! After taking the herb for about 2 weeks I finally started smelling the maple syrup.. ha! It's not that I wanted to smell like waffles, but I heard that that's how you know it's actually working.

Levi had his 6 month check up last week. I had decided that I wasn't going to freak out about his weight or allow the doctor to freak me out. It was a true test of where I stand on my decision. When I put him on the scale he was 10oz less than what he was two weeks before at our wic appointment. I felt God's peace and didn't freak out. After the nurse left I fed Levi on one side and when the doctor came in we weighed him again and he was up 10oz... I know he did not eat 10oz off ONE SIDE! Even the doctor said the scale malfunctioned. Needless to say, I'm not trusting scales anymore! :)

So although he hadn't gained any weight in two weeks, at least he's not losing weight. His length is great (70th percentile) and his head is growing great as well. He's active and healthy.

I would like to say, I'm not ignoring my doctor's expertise. She's a very intelligent woman, but at the end of the day, he's my baby and I have to do what's best for him.

Taking A Stand - Breastfeeding

Here goes another blog about Levi's weight and breastfeeding! :)

These last 3 months have been quite a challenge for me. I've really struggled with what to do as far as formula vs. breastfeeding a small baby. There are so many opinions out there and I've had a hard time making a stand on what I'm going to do. I've been wishy-washy because I'm afraid of making the wrong choice.. I'm just like any other mom who wants the best for her baby... but I'm struggling to decide what is "best".

Around Thanksgiving I really started bumping up his formula intake, but then backed off a little bit, then around Christmas went back to giving him a lot of formula. I thought if I could do half breast-feeding and half formula things would even themselves out, like the best of both worlds. It was ideal.. in my head. I started noticing I wasn't producing very much milk and last weekend had a good cry as I decided I would wean Levi completely off the breast.

I was still nursing at night and whenever I felt "full" during the day. I had him weighed on Wednesday and according to the growth chart he's still in the tenth percentile. So I got down right mad. Why am I giving up breast-feeding to formula and getting the same results?! Because I wanted to make everyone happy; my husband, the lactation consultant, the doctor, my family and friends...

So I've decided to take a stand. I want to exclusively breast-feed. The trouble now will be getting my milk supply back up so I can be successful. I've done some research and talked with some friends and family and found that fenugreek is a great herb to help increase my milk. My wonderful husband ordered 5 bottles of the capsules offline today! (Some website was having a great sale!) I might also be able to try Motherlove special blend to help increase my supply. This is totally different than anything I've done before, but I'm excited.

I'll post an update in the next two weeks to let you all know how the herbs are helping.

A Pat On The Back

Yesterday we planned to take a trip to IKEA today. We got up and got ready this morning with the goal of getting to IKEA and shopping and then eating lunch in the little cafe. I was pleasantly surprised when everything went according to plan. I like having a plan and following it. The kids were great and behaved wonderfully! By the end of our shopping time they were getting hungry and a restless. The line for the cafe wasn't too bad, but all the seats were taken. I stood by with Levi in my arms and the older kids, the umbrella stroller and all our items (including a rug) filling up the double stroller. I watched for the first sign of someone finishing their food to pounce on a table (yes, I was that person..). A family left a ton of trash and very dirty table behind so after finding a place to park the stroller I got  the kids in their chairs and started to clean up someone else's mess. Jordan got all the food and brought it to us, and then of course Jayden needed to go potty. So I ran him to the bathroom and when we came back I had him take off his coat. As I was going to put it in the stroller another family who had no chairs was trying to stand by the table I had the stroller parked near. I apologized for my stroller being in the way and told her if I could find another place for it I would move it, but there just isn't anywhere for it to go. She complained to her husband that I was hogging two spaces and after he apologized to me they left. Not gonna lie, it took a lot for me to just shut up and go back to my table. As I stood and ate my food I noticed a man sitting alone at a table full of drinks and cinnamon rolls. We ate our food and again the kids were doing great, so we got them the ice cream cones we had been bribing them with all day. A woman sitting near us complimented us on how well our kids were behaved. She told us that "we run a tight ship"...

Before I had kids I kind of knew I would be a strict parent. It annoyed me when kids misbehaved and didn't obey their parents. I can't stand when kids are disrespectful to their parents! I would watch other parents with their kids and make mental notes on things I would do and wouldn't do. Since we became parents at 21 years old, I feel like we have something to prove to people. It's been a struggle for me because when someone praises us for doing a good job it boosts my pride a little bit, but when someone looks down on us for the way our kids are behaving it knocks me down twice as much. 

Back to IKEA... as we were cleaning up our mess and getting the kids ready to go the gentleman that was sitting near us stood up and shook Jordan's hand. He told Jordan that he had to congratulate him on how well behaved our children were. He has 4 young kids of his own and knows what a handful they can be and just wanted to tell him we are doing a good job. Then he gave Jordan a pat on the back.

It felt so good for a complete stranger to acknowledge all our hard work. Parenting is hard... Discipling is hard.. Keeping our word is hard... But today just showed me how it will all pay off!!

4 Months Old

Levi will actually be 5 months old next week, but I waited to write this blog until after his 4 month check up.

Well his weight gain continues to be a slow process. I thought we were in the clear and then I took him back to the lactation consultant and he only gained 2 or 3 oz in 2 weeks. That was 6 days ago. When I took him to the doctor today he had gained another 4oz in 6 days. So I was super encouraged. I've been supplementing about twice a day to give him more calories and try to get his weight up. The dr and lactation have encouraged me to supplement after every feeding.

This has been a big month for Levs. He's cut his first two teeth (just like his siblings, right at 4 months), he's been rolling like crazy and he's tried rice cereal a couple of times.

 4 Month rocking chair photo

(I was super good about taking Gabriella's photo every month... 

and poor Levi I'm just now starting at 4 months!)

 check out the teefers! :)

 First time actually trying rice cereal 

(Jordan was helping our neighbor, so I took the picture and fed him at the same time.)

Obviously, he's not really a fan.. ha!

Second time around Jordan fed him and he still didn't like it!

The doctor suggested trying rice cereal to help give Levi more calories, but he's not a fan at all. So we're not pushing it. I'm not in a hurry to get him on solids anyways. 

My baby is not a newborn anymore. Makes me sad. I love that fresh out of the womb newborn baby stage, it doesn't last long enough. :( I'm not ready for him to grow up. I love every time he falls asleep while I'm holding him or nursing him, the sweet little coos and gummy smiles. 

Here Comes Winter!

Sunday night we watched the weather forecast and they said the HIGH for Monday would be 10 degrees... yes TEN DEGREES. That's freaking cold! :) So I decided to not take the kids to the library for their usual music and movement class and we stayed home in our warm jammies all day.. until about 4:30pm when Jordan came home and the kids were so stir crazy that I couldn't take it anymore and we all got dressed and went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner. (Side note: You may ask, "What does a vegetarian eat at Chick-Fil-A?" and I will tell you.... a milkshake and fries! haha no, not the healthiest meal... but oh well!)

 This is what subzero temperatures looks like. 

 The kids love the Christmas window decorations

By Wednesday it was much warmer out (in the 30's!). So I bundled up the older kids and took them outside to make a snowman. They loved it! We built his a body and then added twigs for his arms, rocks for his eyes and a carrot for his nose... he didn't have a mouth. :) The kids keep peeking out the window to make sure he hasn't melted.

My favorite part about being a mom is making memories with my kids. I'm learning that it's not about just putting an activity in front of them and saying, "Here, go play with this for awhile." But when I get down with them and play, they love it! Christmas time is so easy to make memories, but it's about making the opportunity to do it. 

Emotions Gone Haywire

Maybe it's postpartum, maybe its my birth control, maybe it's sleep deprivation, I don't know.. but I feel like my hormones are all out of balance. I'm a pretty emotional person as it is, so this is just over the top. I can pretty much cry over the smallest things or get angry over the smallest things. It's really annoying.

I'm beginning to realize that I need to make a choice about my emotions and how I allow them to control me. Parenting is hard enough as it is, but when emotions get in the way it makes it even harder. I want to be consistent in my parenting and disciplining, but it's very hard when I let my emotions take over.

I have to literally remind myself that I don't need to get emotional over something I watch on TV or when Jayden cries at preschool or because I didn't get to eat breakfast before church. Once I realize that I'm allowing my emotions to take over it's like I can see the situation clearly and gain my composure.

Another example is my relationship with my husband. Here is a situation from the other night: I was exhausted, I only had like 4 or 5 hours of sleep from the night before and it was late. We were watching Parenthood on Netflix and the episode ended. I wanted to go to bed, but Jordan insisted on watching one more episode. The kitchen still needed to be cleaned as well... So after watching about 3 minutes of the next episode I passed out on the couch. When it ended Jordan woke me up.. and I wasn't too happy about it. It was my fault that I didn't clean the kitchen and go to bed, I choose to sleep on the couch instead. Within the first 30 seconds of being awake I realized I could get really annoyed and angry about being so tired and just wanting to go to bed, or I could keep my mouth shut and do my chores.

I choose the ladder. It was hard. I just wanted to go off about how tired I was and how I didn't want to do the dishes and just be mean... but I didn't. And when I finally was in bed and ready to go to sleep I felt so much better about the situation.

Growing up I was always getting in trouble for my mouth... I had a bad problem of talking back and being ms. chatty cathy! My nick name at one point was motor mouth. But the Bible tells us that we need to control our tongue.

     "Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything." Proverbs 13:3

     "...be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry." James 1:19

Whether it's my children, my husband or some stranger on the street, I have to learn how to control my emotions and my tongue. I'm trying to set an example for my children to live by and I can't expect them to do as I say, not as I do. I have slip-ups and days where I allow my emotions to control me, but I'm trying to change that. I want to set the best example for my children that I can.

Sometimes You Have To Cheat..

So after another several days of pumping and supplementing with formula we went back to the lactation consultant's office to have Levi weighed. Good news, he gained 5oz in 5 days! That's a huge praise the Lord! The "cheating" part was that Levi had a poopy diaper when I was undressing him to weigh him... so she kept his diaper on and counted it towards his weight. If he would have pooped an hour after his appointment than he would have weighed more anyways... so whatever! ;) The LC said, "Sometimes you just have to cheat a little in life!" haha

On Thanksgiving I was really scared I would have to give up breastfeeding in order for Levi to gain weight and it honestly grieved my heart. I know it might sound silly to some people, but I'm really not ready to give it up. I'm so blessed with a wonderful friend who has gone through this exact same thing with one of her sons and she just sat and talked with me as I cried over the idea of weaning Levi at only 4 months.

It's funny to me how much my feelings toward breastfeeding have changed since Jayden was born. Jayden was 4 months old when I weaned him and it wasn't a big deal to me. I was ready to be done and it was just more convenient for all of us. Then Gabriella didn't give me an option so I stuck with it because I had to. And now with Levi I really want to breastfeed him for an entire year.

I've had to throw pretty much everything I know about babies and breastfeeding out the window. I'm not doing a schedule and I'm not deciding when he can or cannot eat. I'm going to let him eat whenever he seems hungry so that he gets milk whenever he wants. Also, the LC suggested "topping him off". So after I let Levi nurse until he's finished I'll give him 1oz of formula. Hopefully, this will help!

Back To Square One

After about a week and a half of trying to focus on Levi's feedings and making sure he was getting a full feeding, we went to the lactation specialist to have him weighed and see if we were progressing. Unfortunately, Levi is 2 ounces less than he was at his 2 month appointment. :(

So we're back to square one. I'm pumping every feeding until Friday when we'll go back to the LC office and have Levi weighed again. I'm also supplementing with formula when I don't pump enough milk. It's super frustrating. I just don't really understand why or how. I honestly don't feel like anything has changed, so why is this an issue?!

I really love working with the LC. She's very patient and understanding. Some things that she recommended were adding a lot of the "good fatty foods" to my diet. Examples: olive oil, oatmeal, greek yogurt, avocados, milk shakes, protein shakes, etc. I love all of those things, so that's not a problem... I'll take any excuse I can to eat more avocados! :)

After chatting with a friend of mine who loves talking about pregnancy and birth and breastfeeding she really encouraged me. She told me to pray over my breast, breast milk and Levi. And she encouraged me by reminding me that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. (I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalm 139:14) I believe that God can cause my body to make the milk I need to feed my son and that my milk will be enough in volume and enough nutrients so Levi can gain weight.

It's challenging for me to have to try this hard to have good milk when I JUST went through a year of breastfeeding with no problems. I know every child is different, but it's just frustrating to have such success and then to struggle.

And can I just say, I really don't enjoy pumping... at all. And formula spit up is so gross! ha!

One more thing. I know that breast milk is the best thing for my baby. I truly believe that. But if my son isn't benefitting from it and he's not gaining weight, than I'm okay with giving him formula. I'd rather not starve my child.

Kids Book Shelves

A while ago I saw this post on pinterest for kids book shelves made from ikea spice racks. I've really been wanting book shelves where the books' covers are facing out so the kids can see them. I've found that when they're on a regular book shelf the kids pull off every single book looking for the one they want. Since they can't read and they don't know what the book is simply by looking at the binding they make a huge mess looking for the one they want.

Anyways, while shopping at IKEA a few weeks ago I showed Jordan the shelves and asked him what he thought about using them for book shelves. Of course his first response was, "I can build something better than that". Well that's great, but after I factor in the cost of materials + the time it would take him to build it + plus him ACTUALLY COMPLETING this project I really just wanted to buy the shelves that day. But I know Jordan really likes to take on these projects and they always come out great!

I was very surprised that it didn't take him very long to build them. It cost $13 and he was able to assemble them and hang them in only a couple hours. He also stained them to match their beds and dresser.

Check it out!

The kids love them! They are able to find the book they want and even better, they're able to put the books back by themselves!

A Day Of Firsts..

Today was a day of firsts in the Wertzbaugher family.

I noticed this morning that Levi is in fact getting his first tooth... It will probably be here right as he turns 4 months, just like his siblings. I can't believe it. He seems way too little to have his first tooth. I still feel I should be counting his age in weeks, not months. These kids just grow too fast.

Levi had another "first" today. He got his first hair cut. He had this awkward area of hair on the crown of his head that was like 2 inches longer than the rest of his hair and so Jordan and I cut it off tonight. The sentimental side of me wanted to wait until he had a lot more hair to cut so it would be a little more impressive for his baby book, but we still got a little patch of hair to go in a baggy. haha

And lastly, we had a very scary first. Jordan dropped me, Gabriella and Levi off at Target to start grocery shopping while he and Jayden went to Home Depot. We finished our grocery shopping and we were checking the baby clearance for pants for Gabri. I had just told her to get off the self where all the stroller boxes are, I looked back at the pants picked up her size and when I looked back for her.... she was gone. Every parents worst nightmare... I lost my daughter at Target. I figured she was on the other side of the display so I strolled the cart over and she wasn't there. I went in circles looking for her for about 3 minutes and then told an employee what happened. She sent out a "code yellow" with Gabriella's description. About 30 seconds later I found another employee looking for my daughter and over the walkie-talkie they announced that they had found her and she was with my husband.... I was so confused! It turns out Gabriella was in the dollar section and saw Jordan and Jayden walk by. She sweetly said, "Hi Daddy!". Jordan looked around and didn't see me so they started heading towards the women's clothing when the employee that I first talked to said, "Oh you found her!". Jordan didn't realize she was ever lost. Then I turned the corner and had to explain the whole thing to him.

Praise the Lord nothing happened to her. I was so frantic and just praying asking God to bring her to me. It was seriously one of the most scariest things I've ever experienced as a mother. Another lesson learned today: NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF A 2 YEAR OLD!

Update On Levi

After a rather dull doctor's appointment, the pediatrician recommended that we speak with a lactation consultant. It was good to hear that Levi is in good health and that there isn't anything wrong with him and he actually was up to 13lbs 2oz (up 3 oz).

I decided to work with the lactation consultants from the hospital that my older kids were born at because I really enjoyed working with them the first two times. I filled her in on my situation and what was going on with Levi. She asked me to pump for 24 hours to get an idea of how much I was producing. It was a long 24 hours. I don't enjoy pumping and washing bottles, but again, it was good to know where I was at. I consistently got about 4oz, which she said was a good amount for a 3 month old. So we came to the conclusion that my milk is fine and the problem is most likely distracted and rushed feedings. Some time next weekend we'll take him to the lactation consultant's office and have him weighed and talk about how things are going. It's so great to have those free resources available!

I'm so thankful for the mommy friends I have and all their helpful advice. All the support I've received about this has been overwhelming and so comforting. A friend of mine gave me some mother's milk tea and let me tell you, that stuff WORKS! I've had two cups of tea since last night and my milk production has gone up quite a bit! So I'd highly recommend it to any other breastfeeding mom.

The biggest thing right now is that I'm aware of the problem and having that at the front of my mind will be the biggest factor with Levi's weight gain. I feel bad that I haven't made his eating times a priority and I've allowed other things to get in our way, but lesson learned.

Levs is still a very happy and active baby. And since he's been getting full feedings he's sleeping SO much better, last night he slept from 10pm-6am!!!  A full tummy really makes a difference.

Thanks again for all your help!!!

Levi's Weight

At Levi's two month appointment he weighed 12lbs 14oz. Last week at our WIC appointment he weighed 12lbs 15oz. I couldn't exactly remember how much he weighed at his last dr. appointment so I called to ask and talk to them about his weight gain or lack there of. I've noticed over the last couple weeks that he seemed little and his clothes are kind of big on him instead of him filling them out. With Levi being my third child I know what to look for and I know what's normal and what isn't. So far normal has been steady weight gain, like a pound (or more) a month.

After calling the doctor's office and realizing that he's only gained one ounce in the last month I began to worry, as any mom would. Levi has been exclusively breast fed. He's had a bottle maybe 3 times so far, so I don't truly know how much he's getting to eat at each feeding. I just assumed it was enough. I didn't have any problems breastfeeding Gabriella and to be honest, she was quite chunky during that time. I'm not used to having skinny babies!! It's hard not to feel guilty for Levi not gaining weight. I'm his source of food, obviously I am the problem here, right? It's hard not to feel insecure about myself as a mom when something like this happens.

The nurse suggested pumping to see how much milk I'm producing and then today I'm taking Levi in to have him weighed, examined and then I'll feed him and they'll re-weigh him after he eats to see how much milk he's consuming. I pumped twice yesterday and both times got about 4 ounces. I think 4 ounces is a good amount for a 3 month old...

So then my mind starts to figure out what the problem is and how to solve it....

-Are we too distracted during feedings?? Should I pump and then give him a bottle to make sure he's actually getting a full feeding?

-Is my milk bad? Will I have to switch to formula? --this totally makes me want to cry. I really enjoy breastfeeding and the bond I feel from it. It's a very short time that I get to breastfeed my child and I don't want it cut it even shorter.

-Is everything okay with Levi??

-Is Levi burning more calories than he's consuming? Should we start rice cereal or supplementing with formula?

These are all questions I'm sure the doctor can help me with. It's just hard being a mom and not knowing what to do. And even worse, feeling like you're some how failing. Any advice?

Getting Out There

I've been "getting out there" lately. I'm tired of me and the kids being home all day and sometimes never even leaving the house. I need that social interaction and let's face it, Facebook and Pinterest isn't enough! So last Sunday I signed the kids up for story time at the library for Monday. Well that day our refrigerator broke and Jordan was home sick with a  stomach bug. So I ended up taking just Jayden and Gabriella to the library and left Levi and Jordan home to fix the refrigerator. It was the perfect way to ease ourselves back into things after having Levi. I was able to catch up with a mom that I met about a year ago and I realized how much we all enjoy our library visits. I've decided I need to "buck up little campers" and make going to the library a priority. This week I took all 3 kids to the library for their "music and movement" class. I decided it will be a better class for us because the parents just sit and watch and the kids follow the teacher and dance with her. I was able to hold Levi and enjoy watching the kids dance without being pulled in 3 different directions. It was a success!

I've been looking into mom groups in my area, but haven't really found one that I really want to go to. They all seem to cost money and honestly, we can't afford any extra things right now. So I was going to call some churches in town to see if they have a women's bible study or a mom's group. I called one church and no one answered, so I decided to call the church that has an AWANA program that we took Jayden and Gabri to for awhile. It turns out they have a mommy's coffee group with FREE child care and FREE coffee.. and not just coffee from a pot, but like STARBUCKS kind of coffee... like mochas and frappuccinos!! Side note- since I quit my job to be a stay at home mom (about 2 years ago) I've probably had starbucks less than 10 times.. maybe like 5 times. So we went to our first meeting today and it was great. I left feeling totally encouraged and empowered. We talked about discipling and how we feel about it and what the Bible says about it. I really feel like these are women that I can relate to and they are going through the same things as me. Plus, my kids are able to get social interaction themselves! It's great all around!

In less than 2 weeks Jayden will be starting a preschool class at the Rec Center. I'm thankful Jordan will be home for Thanksgiving break so he can go with us to drop Jayden off for the first time.

I'm looking forward to having a busy schedule and things for us to do besides sit at home all day.

Best Daddy

Jordan is very fortunate that his work follows the school district. So when they have a day off, so does he... including SNOW DAYS!! Today was one of those wonderful snow days!! This morning I let him sleep in and when he came down stairs we were still eating breakfast. I took Gabriella up stairs to use the potty and while we were gone Jayden put his sweet little hand on Jordan's shoulder and said, "You're the best daddy in the whole world!" When we came downstairs Jordan told me what Jayden said. 

When Jayden was born Jordan and I were both only 21 years old. We were young and Jordan didn't have very much experience with kids and people would tease him about becoming a dad. We both had a lot to learn about becoming parents. But today as I listened to the kids laughing as they were playing with their daddy and how excited they were to spend the day with him, it made me think that fatherhood has come early and fast in his life but he's turned out to be a pretty incredible dad. We still have lots to learn, but we make a great team and we have great kids. 

While Levi was napping Jordan took Jayden and Gabriella outside to play in the fresh snow. Here is a little peek at their sledding adventure! 

 I took the above picture through the glass door so it's kind of foggy, 

but Jayden's face is too cute not to share!