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! 

The Kitchen

I won't claim to be a great cook or baker.. I follow the recipes and I don't go far from them.. but I love food. My Grandma Jean and my mom always tell people when I was a little girl I would look through the grocery ads and say, "mmmm... Strawberries....mmmmm....peaches...mmmm....bananas..". It's true. I love food. And it wasn't until about two years ago that I began to really enjoy baking and cooking.

We're a very frugal family. We don't have a huge grocery budget, so we have to improvise..a lot. But it's improvising that has made cooking fun. I love to Google substitutions for things a recipe calls for. For example- if you don't have butter or oil (or don't want to use them) you can sub. apply sauce. If you need whipping cream (not for whipping though.. more like for cream in a sauce) you can use milk and butter.

For my 23rd birthday we only had one car and Jordan had it for work and I was home with the kids and wanted to make myself a birthday cake. So I made my first Carrot Cake. It took me almost an hour to grate baby carrots by hand. I called Grandma Jean and I told her what I was doing and she laughed and then told me to use baby food carrots... I didn't do it. Carrot Cake will always remind me of her.

I learned how to make dry beans in a crock pot.. make my own pie crust from scratch, make bread, cinnamon rolls and pizza dough from scratch... I LOVE cooking from scratch now. There is something very gratifying about bringing all these ingredients together and making something that tastes a million times better than something that came from a box. I feel proud when I put something on the table that is made completely from scratch.

My kids love cooking too. They love to help in the kitchen and I love to let them help. My grandma Jean always let me help her in the kitchen. One time I was making brownies with Grandma and my cousin, Hailey. Hailey was 3 years old and told me that Grandma lets her crack the eggs all by herself... and I believed her. So I let her and then I spent the next 15 minutes making sure I got all the egg shells out of the batter. I know better now than to let me kids crack eggs by themselves.

I wanted to share a few recipes I've tried over the last couple of days. They're all new recipes and they turned out great.

PB&J Granola- If you like peanuts and peanut butter this is for you! The first time I made it I got distracted on pinterest and burned the granola. I was so mad I wanted to scream. Like I said before, we're a frugal family. We don't have money to be throwing away food!.. but it was burned so I had to. I tried it again the next day without the computer close by (so I wouldn't get distracted) and it came out perfectly. It only took about 20 or 25 minutes and I turned it every 5-7 minutes to keep it from burning.

Raspberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins- King Soopers had raspberries on sale 4/$5 so we had lots to use before they went bad. I thought these were delicious.

Vegetarian Tortilla Stew- I made a 1lb bag of black beans in the crock pot and added all the other ingredients as the beans cooked. It was so yummy!

whirlwind weekend

This has been an incredible weekend! It was so refreshing and very much needed!

Last weekend Jayden came up to his grandma and said, "Gramma you wanna spend the night with me?" In the sweetest voice you've ever heard! Of course she said yes! So we planned that Jayden and Gabri would have a sleepover Thursday night since grandma and Jordan had Friday off work.

After we dropped them off Jordan, Me and Levi all went to dinner with my mom, brother, his girlfriend and my aunt Renate to celebrate my brother's last day of mechanical school. We then went shopping at TJ MAXX and had a quiet night at home. Dinner and shopping without two toddlers was very enjoyable since we weren't having to chase anyone around the store/restaurant.

Friday we just hung out all day and cleaned, which was great to do nothing and purge the things we no longer need.

Saturday my mom, aunt Renate and cousin Hailey picked me and Levi up. We went to my brother and his girlfriend's baby shower for my unborn nephew. It was a nice girls day out.

Then for the whopper, SUNDAY! We went to church and the service was incredible! A group just went to the Open Heaven Conference at Bethel in Redding, CA. They shared their experiences and it was very powerful stuff. During church I got a text from one of our very best friends saying that him and his wife were in town from California. We went to my in-laws for lunch and got to visit with them for awhile. After we finished eating a fantastic meal (because my mother-in-law is an incredible cook), we headed to my nephew's 7th birthday party. We ate snacks, cookies, brownies and then went swimming (indoors). I love my family and it's so fun to be able to hang out all together. My kids love swimming! All my parent's kids and grandkids were there, my aunt and uncle and two of my cousins.

After the birthday party we went to my Grandpa Bill's baseball field and watched our friend's brother and his wife play baseball and sat and visited with their family for an hour.  It's so great to have friends that live out of state but when they come back it's like they haven't even been gone. It's been about 5 months since we last saw them and besides Brendan's long hair, nothing has changed. Our friendship with them is just as close.

If there is one thing I'm constantly learning and being thankful for, it's my family. I'm really learning the meaning of the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child". I was really arrogant when I first became a mom and thought I could do it all on my own. The more children I have the more I realize I need help and I WANT help. I'm so thankful our families all live so close and we're able to spend time with each other on a regular basis.

I'm blessed.

My Boy and His Momma

Last night I went to Zumba for the second time. This morning when I woke up I felt like my blood sugar was low or maybe dehydrated and even after eating and a couple glasses of OJ I'm still not feeling great. Jayden wanted to go play outside so I started going through the dryer to find his play clothes. As he was getting dressed I laid my head on the laundry basket full of clothes that are waiting to be folded and put away. Jayden asked me what was wrong and I told him I didn't feel good. He then started rubbing my back and laid his head on my shoulder. For several minutes we stayed like this and I enjoyed every second of it!

Moments like this remind me of how special a mom is to a little boy. I'm lucky I have two of these little guys to give me lots of love!