Wordless Wednesday: Abuela love

Sunny - TuTu Time!

Ok, I have lot's of projects in the works (which is what's keeping be from updating my blog) one of which is the making of Hana's birthday tutu!

Yes, you read right, I'm MAKING a tutu for my daughter. I have always been able to sew and make things (see my baby blog for the diaper cake I made) at a decent level, but clothes are a new territory for me. I saw this awesome tutu dress online a few weeks ago and I knew I wanted to have one just like it for my daughters birthday! HOWEVER......they wanted over $80 bucks for theirs....not including shipping! If you have been keeping up with my blog you know I'm in this DIY mode and for the large part refuse to pay for something I can make myself (time allowing of course).

So there you have it...I'm making a tutu halter dress. I plan on making two. The first one I call "T-Beta 1". That's the learn on me dress. It's about 65% done, and once completed, I'll start working on the official party dress. hopefully any kinks that pop up will be worked out on the first beta dress.

Wish me luck!

Razz-a-lation!

My GOODNESS!!!

I have finally found some relief from the pulling and stretching! It's called "The Raz Baby Raz-Berry Silicone Teether".

I picked this up on a whim during a methodical trip to the supermarket. I was lingering in the baby isle (as I tend to do), when I saw this cute/yummy looking toy hanging high above the baby food. I picked it up and examined it. The item resembles a pacifier in construction but is not designed for continuous sucking. IT'S A CHEW TOY! I have a hundred and one teething rings for Hana but none like this.

Fast forward and after a thorough cleaning I had a oldest son offer it to her, (I was affraid that she would think I was trying to give her another pacifier). I think she thought it was food because her little eyes lit up and she opened her mouth as if expecting to taste a strawberry.

Success! she loves it! she chewed the berry part, and the leaf part,.....even the ring part! Every part has texture so it all good for her. wanna know the best part?? Her oh so fun activity of chew and stretch mommy's nipples has waned by at least 80% and that makes for a happy mommy and better nursing for booth of us!! Out of all her teething toys, she has taken to this like no other.

Still no teeth in sight.......... but I guess she's taking her time so I can enjoy my last baby =^_^=

Wordless Wednesday: Travel Bug Baby

Hana soaking up all of the new! (Got the shot before I put the car seat in!)

Air Hana! Babies fly free!

School Milk

So today was parent teacher night at my eldest son's school. I was excited to go and speak with his teachers to see what he has been up to in class. He is a decent student and never gets into any trouble, so I almost never hear anything from his teachers. They basically all love him! The report was not bad aside from the missing homework issue.

As usual I took Hana along for the trip to the school. I think she thought everyone was there for her because she was soo chatty to all of the teachers and parents who stopped to look at and talk to her. I never heard her talk that much. it was "ba-ba" this and "la-la" that....it was very cute. I also think she scored her big bro some major points with his instructors LOL. They always send messages home before the meeting telling Aaron to make sure his mom brings his sister. Maybe they are just accustomed to seeing her because I've been bringing her since she was 2 months old.

Everything was pretty easy except when it came time to feed Hana. I tried giving her a bottle but I think it was just one of those days when she was not going for it. I think this was one of the few times I became flushed and very very apprehensive. Out of no where she went from happy cooing princess to cranky hungry cutie. We were sitting outside one of the classrooms waiting for the teacher finish up with the family ahead of us. I was hoping that the teacher would hurry up and come out, so we could go inside and I could nurse the baby there but it didn't happen. It just sucked because the hallways were teaming with teens and their parents, staff and security. I'm all for nursing in public as you know but i think this was my wall. Think pre-teen boys stopping to gawk at my exposed boob, their parents getting all crazy, and you can kind of understand my hesitance. In the end I decided to go into the staircase and latch her on, cover her up and return to the place where I was sitting. That worked out well but she was trying to snatch off the little blanket that I covered up with. Bad baby....naughty.

It felt weird nursing in the school....but at least my son didn't get embarrassed. He knows it's perfectly normal to nurse a baby, and I'm so glad that he learned that. As we were leaving his school for the night he said the most awesome thing to me. "mom, I want you to nurse my kids when I become a dad" I laughed and replied "that by then I'll be too old and explained that ladies only make milk when they have little babies", he fired right back in a "matter of fact" way and said " then my wife has no choice, she better feed my children from her own breast"!

LOLOLOL!! KIDS DO SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS!!

Park N Learn!

Lot's of fun stuff this week folks!

Finally it's getting spring-like outside and I'm taking my little sunflower out to enjoy the ......well.........sun! lol. She loves the baby swings and playing on her activity blanket I bring with us to the park. The previous day dad put his girl on the baby swings for the first time. I thought I was going to cry when she yelled out with laughter as he pushed her (slowly of course!)
It was soo cute, especially because the're few dads in the park with the kiddos to begin with.
(I'll update this post with the video (or link) later).


Yesterday my girl had her first taste of good ole ice cream! I think she loved it. It was perfectly warm out and turned into a truly photo worthy day.

*Daddy surprised us and managed to join the trip! It made our ice cream pit stop even better! Times like these are priceless. The boys and girl are getting bigger everyday, and time is flying by. It's nice to stop down and make time for family because these are the memories that will warm their heart someday.

Now.........For the park trip I packed a bottle of expressed milk. She finished it off in no time flat! I wonder if she drinks that fast at the breast? I'm still using #1 nipples for her because I don't want her to grow accustomed to the super fast flow and reject the breast in exchange for a quicker meal. this made me start thinking....

Question of the day.....

Hey mommies......have you ever timed you little one's drinking speed? what is your baby's average drinking time at the breast or bottle?

DAY 2 ON THE PARK SWINGS!

SHE'S A NATURAL!

TIME OUT FOR A SNACK!

ICE CREAM W/ PAPA!

Soap for Baby

I guess I have discovered the secret to making soap at home.........


But, I never intended to make Hana drink it. That is however, exactly what she did yesterday before our trip out to the park, and I must admit she loved it. I'm sure you realize by now I am talking about my defrosted breast milk. I know..I know...It's not really soap, but it sure DOES smell and taste real soapy! At first I didn't know what was going on. I tried defrosting older and newer milk to see if maybe the older milk had gone bad, and to my surprise they both smelled and tasted the same! LIKE SOAP! I was getting a little nervous so I tried another and got the same results. At that point I remembered reading something about soapy milk, but couldn't remember the details and if that was a sign of spoilage or something. Pseudo informed mommy here! With my bf'ing tail between my legs I slinked over to the computer and onto one of my favorite baby info sites. AHH HAAA!! my milk is not spoiled!! I just stored it wrong......??? Boooo!!

Turns out I should have done something called "scalding" to my milk before I froze it. To scald means "to heat (a liquid, such as milk) almost to the boiling point". I guess I have high levels of something called "lipase" in my BM, and as a result, my BM tastes soapy and metallicy. Well what the heck is this lipase you ask....??

According to Kellymom.com,....

Lipase is an enzyme that is normally present in human milk and has several known beneficial functions:

* Lipases help keep milk fat well-mixed (emulsified) with the "whey" portion of the milk, and also keep the fat globules small so that they are easily digestible (Lawrence & Lawrence, p. 156).
* Lipases also help to break down fats in the milk, so that fat soluble nutrients (vitamins A & D, for example) and free fatty acids (which help to protect baby from illness) are easily available to baby (Lawrence & Lawrence, p. 156).
* The primary lipase in human milk, bile salt-stimulated lipase (BSSL), "has been found to be the major factor inactivating protozoans" (Lawrence & Lawrence, p. 203).

Now that I know what that is......what the heck can be done about it regarding the HUGE stash I already have?!?! To my dismay as I kept reading it seems nothing can be done if you've already stored the milk. So I'm left with a humongous stash of soapy tasting milk........*sigh*......so much for being informed.........

On the lighter side......I guess no bad words will ever come out of my little girl's mouth......LOL

Wordless Wednesday: Night & Day

Nursing in the dark

Black-outs suck!

So I awoke to darkness again today. Yesterday we lost power in my negiborhood due to a very nasty storm that dummped tons of rain down on us and came equiped with high winds that knocked down trees and power lines. Last night I cooked what I needed too for dinner, tried to get the parishables into the frezzer or finished off. I don't think I saved everything..... Good thing I didn't go food shopping for the week yet.

One worry I was glad I didn't have was milk for the baby. I didn't have to worry about water for formula, heating bottles ect... As I worried about how and what I was going to cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my troop, my boobs were busy getting hana's next meal all warmed and ready. Yay! Today I am so grateful for bf'ing! As afternoon aproached I had to think of how we were going to make it through today..... Another day in the dark. I decided that since the wind and rain died down we would venture out and enjoy some resturant food. Ihop was the fast winner. As usual the wait was long, and the parking lot was packed, Hana was getting antsy so I decided to go back to my car to nurse her (yes I know... I should have nursed in the waiting area but sometimes I can be a frady cat). After she finished we went back inside, was called and enjoyed our meal. Hana was a true princess and ate her bananas neatly indeed. "such a joy to watch" someone sitting next to us at a resturant once said. I'm so proud of her!

When I got back home there was still no power so off we go to an alternate location. I hope that the electricity is on and stays that way when I get back home.

Today Is Not My Day

I am sick of breastfeeding today!!!

PHEW!!.....now that it's off my chest, I feel somewhat better. I really have had it with the nipple munching today. I am just not that into it this cool day in march. I've managed to nurse all day today even though I feel really shitty. Can any of my EBF'ing mamas relate?? Ever since Hana started playing "how far can the nipple stretch" My poor girls have become very tender. I have all the nipple cream that I'll ever need, but I just don't think they like all that "fun" pulling. I wish I was brave enough to post a picture of the huge smile on Hana's face with her shinny gums clamped down on me........seeing that would definatly elicid some emphatic laughter!

I hope this funk lifts soon.

Wordless Wednesday: Where's My Menu?

Milk-n-Play

Ryan breaks up a b-ball fight...lol.....so protective of his baby sister!


Playground fun!

Some cool things happened today, I nursed Hana at the playground, she played AND made the cutest little baby friend, and I also made a new mommy friend as well!

I was not going to even go to the park today because my 7 yo has not been on his best behavior lately, but I decided to take him anyway because the weather was so good. Hana enjoyed her first ride in the semi-warm weather too! She smiled and looked around, while waving her arms the whole way there. It's the first time this season she has not been stuffed into and immobilized by her snowsuit! LOL!

Nursing at the park was a breeze. I was surprised at the absence of dirty looks that silently say "ewww...for the love of god! put your boobs away!" No....I didn't even get a runner (someone who gets up as soon as you start breastfeeding). For the first time I exhaled while nursing in public. Its nice to around other understanding moms. While making a mom friend I also got to chat it up about breastfeeding. She politely explained to me that she only BF her son for three months. THREE WHOLE MONTHS!....I let her know that three months in the world of BF'ing is AWESOME! Hell, if you can get past week 3 you're a superhero in my book because that's when some moms encounter problems....early on. While we chatted the babies played as babies do.....by taking each others toys and cookies..LOL! The little boy kept reaching for Hana's face until he managed to snach off her hat! so cute...so cute. I dare say we all had a blast on the playground.

Undone!

Welcome back me......

I have been wayy too busy lately. But one could say that's a good thing. Everything is changing so fast......at such a pace that I think I am going to begin trying to wean Hana earlier than originally expected. She has to be able to stay without boobs for longer than 2-3 hours without a meltdown. As things stand right now I don't see any other way to accomplish my goals while continuing to EBF. I know I said I would push harder to incorporate bottles, and I have made less than exemplary progress in that department, but this time it's for real, and opportunity is not one to stick around for long periods of time.

There are some things near and dear to my heart that I have already mentally let-go of, and still some that I have physically yet to release.....but no matter....it's going bye-bye all the same. Most of all it's going to be very hard to stop EBF'ING for Hana and myself. I guess I should clear up that I am not going to stop bf'ing all together.......rather I am going to let her have less meals directly from the breast, and give her most of her day time feedings from a bottle. I'm guessing that since she is 7 months now.....that by the time she is 9 months we should be fully transitioned.

Now........anyone know how to begin such a transition?? my boys never had to be weaned.

In other news.....

Yes...blog neglect is what I am hearing.....again I have let pressing personal issues invade my precious blogging time. Ughhh!

"What we've got here is failure to
communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!"

Also...I've been putting together more bows with the new hats .....my current craze is ostrich feathers paired with the kuffi hat. so cute. I think I have enough new pictures of Hana in my new hats to release another video of her wearing my creations!