Zoo Time!

ZOOOOOOO!

For my birthday my parents bought us a zoo pass! I know Clover doesn't really understand or know what she's looking at yet, but just like our Disneyland pass it's more for me to enjoy and take cute pictures of her :)

Our zoo hats ... I've had these hats for probably around 17 years.

I don't know what to say about this

Giraffes Beware!! Clover will eat ya!

This outfit is Sienna inspired :)

This was probably Clover's favorite part of the day.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa! We had fun!

7 Months & counting

. 15lbs 10oz . 26.5in .

Psalm 119:73 "Your hands made me and fashioned me;"

.Milestones.

1. crawling (crazy fast for so early)
2. pulling self up into a stand
3. said "mama" once very clear
4. has 2 teeth
5. first plane trip (this is quite an accomplishment, I didn't do this until I was 11)

This little girl is thriving. No surgery is holding her back from getting places, literally! She crawls everywhere and so fast. I didn't realize just how much baby proofing we need to do! She mostly just chases after Huckleberry.

At this age, Clover's favorite hobbies are; biting books, biting mommy, biting toys, biting ... uh, just about everything. So far I hear this is still just the "easy" stage....oh boy. No, but I really am excited ... seeing her "see" things (more like notice things) for the first time makes me enjoy life more. Just yesterday she was watching the trees move as the wind blew.

Her favorite book is the Rhyme Bible, she's good for one whole story and then it's back to biting. So we usually leave that for before bedtime. She still sleeps from about 8pm-8am ... sometimes waking up earlier, but I can't complain.

Here is a little clip of Clo crawling ... for those of you who might think that I might be exaggerating ;)

Healed!! .... Right?

Okay one more boring post about me and then tomorrow is the official "7 Months and Counting" post for Clover ... I know that's who you really want to hear about.


I went back to my doctor today feeling 100%. He checked me out saying "hmm" which usually isn't good. But apparently my illness is/was a mystery. They don't know what I had but they do know that ONCE (not now) I did have mono. They don't know when but I did have it at some point in my past, whether young or just a couple months ago.

So Im cleared of my non-illness ... uh illness! yay! and I don't have mono!!

All the credit just goes to the Lord, He is the healer and for all we know I was sick and he healed me. Doctors are smart, and the Lord uses them, but sometimes even they don't know what's going on ... but God does.

The End ... usual programming (i.e. Clover) will be back tomorrow ... thanks for listening.

A Nursing Tale

Well, it's 3:00am ... what am I doing up? Not with the baby, Clover has been sleeping through nights since about 2 months. I am up pumping ... ugh, I do not miss these days BUT I must do what I must do.

For those of you "grossed out" by nursing (aka single guys and sometimes gals) you should stop reading, because yes this is a about breastfeeding ... oh no she said the word breastfeeding!!!! :) I only say this because while in Georgia we had some talks with people who've never had kids, and to them its just weird to even talk about. But as soon as you have a kid, it seems neither dad or mom have any problems discussing labor/delivery and breastfeeding and they don't even blush!!!

When I got sick, my milk production went LOW ... I was still producing but Clover is getting angry because she doesn't get all she wants. Most moms, I realize now, would give up. But I refuse!! This is where my stubbornness actually comes in useful. I just love breastfeeding, it is so good for baby and it saves so much time and money on food.

I talked to a lactation consultant and they said as long as Clover is having poopie/wet diapers and isn't losing weight, then I don't need to supplement. So I have been drinking fluids like crazy, I drink this awful tea called Mother's Milk which helps promote lactation AND I'm taking an herb called Fenugreek which is supposed to increase milk too (a side effect of Fenugreek is you smell like syrup, which isn't that bad, makes you hungry though). On top of that I'm feeding Clover more often (milk wont produce unless "they" are empty so you need to empty "them" more) and pumping in the middle of the night.
So far, it's going well. I am starting to make more, so hopefully I can get back to normal sleep sometime soon!! I just wanted to put this stuff out there for those of you who sometimes don't produce enough and just want to give up. It is HARD. You have to be so patient. Sometimes Clover will cry for 10 minutes while I'm trying to feed her, but if you just keep at it, it'll come back.

Ultimately, though, it all comes back to God. He is the one that is going to produce my milk so that I can feed my baby. I have no control whatsoever over that part of my body. I've been reading through the Psalms and it is constantly reminding me that the Lord is the one that provides.
It says "He knows our frame" Psalm. 103:14

Psalm 104:27-28 "They all wait for You to give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good."

Psalm 111:4-5 "He has made His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate. He has given food to those who fear Him;"

So often we take for granted how easily food comes to us. We can just walk to the refrigerator and get a snack, even if we aren't hungry. But the Lord teaches the disciples in Matthew 6:11 to pray "give us this day our daily bread" not because they didn't have food, but to always ask for it anyway, because it does not come from us! It is a gift of God to have food.

Well, now Im really awake ... I bet Julie is up with Reese ... :)
Hope some of you find my ramblings encouraging in your breastfeeding adventures (yes thats right I said it again, breastfeeding!!)

I Need a Moment ........ To Recover

And we're back ..... from Georgia that is. One word to describe the trip? I can't describe it in just one ... how about two? Fun & Stressful! (with a capital F & S) Wait, can I add humid too?

It was so great to see everyone and let them finally meet Clover. We miss"ya'll"!

BUT traveling (anywhere I might add) with an infant is NOT my idea of fun, no matter how well that infant does. Most people think I'm laid back, and I know the reason why I seem like that is because I purposefully DO NOT put myself in situations with the potential to become overwhelming.

Me + Overwhelmed = what happened to me at the end of this trip (I will explain more in a bit)

Plane ride was awesome, Clover slept and was perfect ... but it was the packing, making sure I don't forget anything, worrying about "what ifs" the whole night before that had me stressed out and not sleeping .... I used to get stressed out about flying before I even had a baby!! Now I have 2 people I need to pack for??

Georgia trip as a whole was awesome too, Clover also did amazing with that. (Besides the fact that it takes us forever to drive anywhere and she hates the car). But it was do-able.


We saw some amazing friends and their AMAZING kids, I love them all so much! I wish we had more time. We have some amazing family that helped take care of Clover.
I would like you to meet Brody, Clover's future husband. I think they hit it off pretty good. Their favorite thing to do together is, Brody sticks his finger in Clo's mouth and as she closes it, he pulls it back out. We also learned about Yo Gabba Gabba .... okay I love that show. I think Brian should fear for me watching it too much.

Now for the end of our trip ... I started getting a sore throat, which is completely normal for us when we go visit because we always end up getting sick, probably from over extending ourselves. But this time I actually thought we were doing better. So we were coming home Tuesday night, on Saturday I started with the sore throat which got worse Sunday and WAY WORSE Monday. Monday night we are pretty sure I must have strep throat. Off to urgent care (the urgent care story deserves a post of its own but you can ask me more about that later). I get a rapid strep test : negative ... okay .... They take another throat culture, some blood tests AND a pregnancy test. The doctor thinks I have mono even though the mono "test" came back negative ....

WAIT .... WHAT?!?! MONO?????

Who has mono?? I only hear about teenagers getting that. First off, let me say that Brian is the ONE AND ONLY man I kiss! And Im definitely NOT the type of person that gives my friends kisses on the mouth. Second, I do not share drinks, you would understand this more if you knew my mom and the way she raised me. So they put my on meds and send me home.

Okay, so we come home late late late late LATE Tuesday night ... we get home around 3am California time, 6 am Georgia time (Wednesday). On Thursday my throat is even more swollen that I wake up having a hard time breathing. I got into my Dr.'s office and they do all the same tests again but he gives me better medicine and a steroid shot which immediately makes me feel 110% better.

Friday, I get a call at 6am from Georgia ... they finally have my results back. "Pregnancy Test: negative, Throat Cultures: negative, Mono: negative" .... "so what do I have?" ... "Oh, it says here that whatever medicine you are taking should make you feel better and if symptoms persist you should come back" ....... (uh, no thanks, my Dr here is closer). so I have nothing?? I don't know ... but I do know that I like my Dr here and I will wait to hear what he says.

And I also know this ... that I do get stressed out easily and overwhelmed and I am pretty darn sure that's why I was sick and now I feel better ... but we will just have to wait and see. Until then, Im staying away from people (just in case) and recovering. One thing good from the "illness", I have just about gotten back to my weight before getting pregnant ... just 2 more pounds!! whoo!