There has been so much on my mind that was blog-worthy, but not much time to sit down and organize my thoughts coherently. So, I'm going to give you the bullet points of what's on my mind lately:
- New Church Home: I am soooo excited that VRCC is moving forward with the purchase of the building at Edmonds & Corporate! Room for children's classes, adult classes, youth classes, nursery, fellowship, worship, and more! I can't wait to get in there and start cleaning, painting, and decorating. I haven't felt like nesting this much since I was pregnant (okay, I know that was only 6 months ago, but, you know what I mean)!
- Joshua: He's six months old now! Yikes! He's sitting up, rolling, grinning, babbling like crazy, and beginning baby foods. He absolutely loves his big sister. I am head over heels for this little guy myself. He's so laid back and happy all the time. What did we do before he was here? I know I'm super busier, but it all works out most days.
- Katelyn: She's 3 1/2 now! Thankfully, we just got her in a preschool 2 days a week, so her social needs are being met a little better now. Every morning she would get up and say, "Where are we going today, Mommy?" That was my first clue that she needed more stimulation than I could give her with Joshua here. She's at Saturn Road COC Preschool, which is a looooong drive, but actually not much farther than Butterfly School was last year.
- Halloween: While this is nowhere close to my favorite holiday, I recognize it for what it is--free candy and precious photo-ops for the kiddos. Katelyn has 2 Fall Festivals & Trick-or-Treating at the mall coming up. Can we say "sugar high"?
- Breastfeeding/Lactivism: Okay, Paul, you can skip this section. I've been reading some interesting blogs lately on the topics of breastfeeding-specifically, nursing in public. We are now at the 6 month mark with Joshua, and I really feel like I can do this all the way to a year now. I weaned Katelyn to formula at 8 months and felt so guilty, but also like I couldn't do it anymore. Now I think I was just too uptight and didn't have enough support to do it anymore. This time around, I still feel somewhat unsupported (except for Randy-he's such a good daddy & husband), but a lot more relaxed. The main difference is that I pretty much refuse to be shoved in a back closet every time he needs to eat. I know my readers (all 4 of you) have a variety of different opinions on this, but I think the main reason women give up on bfing is because they are made to feel like it is shameful, dirty, gross, and so on, so they must hide themselves away to do it, but if you give a bottle, you can do that anywhere, so you begin to feel that the only way to get out and resume a "normal" life is to give a bottle. This time around, the only place I haven't nursed is in the auditorium at church. I have learned to nurse very discreetly and most people don't even realize what I'm doing, and no one has ever said anything negative to me about nursing in public. I'm just not willing to risk an uproar at church over something so silly. However, I'll be darned if I'm going behind that curtain anymore. I'm not doing anything gross or perverted, so I'm not going to hide back there. Okay, off the soapbox. If you want to read more, try here or here. Keep in mind that I don't agree with all the positions on these sites, but they will definitely give you something to think about.
- Healthier Lifestyle: I don't like to talk about this too much, but I recently joined Weight Watchers and have lost 7.6 pounds so far. I'm eating healthier and trying to get more exercise and both of those are good things for our whole family. 'Nuff said.
- Blogging: Even though I rarely comment and even more rarely post, please know that I keep up with all of you through your blogs and enjoy them very much. Wade makes me laugh out loud almost daily!
Well, that's all for now. Have a great day, folks!
5 comments:
Quick question: Why does Paul get a hall pass on the breastfeeding section but not me?!?!?!
Speaking of which, if you want to breastfeed in public then by all means breastfeed in public!
I will admit that, pre-Tate, I was uncomfortable around public feeders but mostly because I didn't know how I was supposed to act.
Am I allowed to still talk to the mom? Am I supposed to ignore the baby? Can I laugh if the baby slurps? No one ever explained this stuff to me! But since most moms usually ran and hid behind a curtain, I thought it was supposed to done in seclusion.
Post-Tate, I realize that all my issues had to do with my own personal comfort level. These people who flip out and say that it's inappropriate don't understand that it can be done discretely and have no idea how impractical it is to run and hide everytime the baby gets hungry.
And that is pretty much all that I can say about breastfeeding!
True story: Way back in the day, I was on the debate team for Harding. No lie. So the summer entering my freshman year, HU paid for me to go to this debate camp at University of Vermont - and as we all know, Vermont's full of hippies. There was one couple that was part of the camp staff - they were great debaters but WEIRD people. The guy had dreadlocks - and he was white. His wife was big, black, had a baby, and wasn't going to apologize for any of these. So much so that during one of our discussion panels, when we're all in one of those lecture halls, she decides to breastfeed her baby girl RIGHT THERE. With NO cover. OH yeah, that freaked me out.
But my psycho story aside, as long as all parties are modest, I haven't got a problem with it at all.
Now, we do need to remove the term "bfing" from our dictionary - that just sounds dirty! :-)
Hurray! My sister blogged again. :-) You go bf where ever and whenever you want. :-) I will avert my eyes if need be and love and defend you no matter what.
Enjoyed the update! I agree with that feeling of being "sent away." With an early December baby, it was horrible for me because I missed out on a lot of family Christmas stuff since he needed to be fed just about every 2 hours.
You go!
Hey girl,
I am so proud of you! I consider myself a lactivist, but still have a hard time having the confidence to BF in public. Little Jon wasn't weaned completely till he was over 18 months old. He never had a bottle. :o) I think our society has over sexualized the breast, when its primary purpose is to feed our babies! There is nothing more beautiful in my eyes...and if you ever need support, I'm here Momma! Look no further, I'm in it for the long haul too.
OH and you CAN knock the church auditorium off your list...you did it during VBS! I was sitting right next to you on the back pew and should have told you how awesome I thought it was that you had the confidence to do it!
Love you gal!
Linda D.
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