But I was just joking...(being reverent in behavior)
Posted by | Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 10:32 PM
First off, I loved Stacey's post on Monday. As a person who finds it easy to make a list of do's and don'ts to not only judge myself by, but to judge others as well, it was definitely a good thing for me to read.
I've been a believer for almost 12 years now. I have heard this passage of Titus quoted and taught numerous times and I have always loved it. I've always loved it in the sense of thinking, "yeah, I wish some older woman would teach me all of these things." Then about three years ago, I was challenged to consider that perhaps I was an older woman that should first of all be living these things, and secondly be teaching them. To have the first directive be "reverent in behavior" is a real blow to any idea I may have that I can do any of the rest of the list on my own.
I am a super jokey, super sarcastic person. I was raised in a family, and my dad especially, who loved a good, cutting comment and witty comeback. I then married a man who is just as quick with a good zinger or a funny assessment of 'this person' or 'that situation'. I wasn't super pretty or a super athlete growing up, but I made my way in my circle of friends by being the one who could always make fun of other people and get people to laugh at someone besides myself.
My fight now as a Christian in this area is two-fold. The first is trying to put away my behaviors that cut down or belittle someone. Or to hold my tongue when all of the funny jokes are just bursting inside me. Or to think twice about what little ears are listening when I make a crack about something. The second is to not try to act a certain way because 'I am a Christian and that's not how Christians should act' but to be changed in order to bring honor to the Lord and to have a pure heart before Him - everything that Stacey wrote about on Monday.
I have learned that being 'reverent in behavior' for me is to think of others before myself on a continual basis. I should speak and act in a way that honors others above myself - honors their feelings and esteems them, not cuts them down. Sure, I still like to joke around about things, and a have a good laugh every now and again. But I walk such a fine line every day to guard what I say and how it might affect those around me. I am definitely, definitely still learning this lesson and mess up a lot - especially when it comes to Ed and I making fun of others or each other in the name of 'a good joke'. As important as it is for me to be reverent in my behavior in public, oh man, it is like 100 times more important for me to be reverent in my behavior in the home. My little comments about others or even about my husband can be very powerful in my husband's ear. Not to mention what my boys see as acceptable ways of talking about others. I want to be a positive influence in the opinions my husband and my boys have of others. By God's grace I'll get there.
I've been a believer for almost 12 years now. I have heard this passage of Titus quoted and taught numerous times and I have always loved it. I've always loved it in the sense of thinking, "yeah, I wish some older woman would teach me all of these things." Then about three years ago, I was challenged to consider that perhaps I was an older woman that should first of all be living these things, and secondly be teaching them. To have the first directive be "reverent in behavior" is a real blow to any idea I may have that I can do any of the rest of the list on my own.
I am a super jokey, super sarcastic person. I was raised in a family, and my dad especially, who loved a good, cutting comment and witty comeback. I then married a man who is just as quick with a good zinger or a funny assessment of 'this person' or 'that situation'. I wasn't super pretty or a super athlete growing up, but I made my way in my circle of friends by being the one who could always make fun of other people and get people to laugh at someone besides myself.
My fight now as a Christian in this area is two-fold. The first is trying to put away my behaviors that cut down or belittle someone. Or to hold my tongue when all of the funny jokes are just bursting inside me. Or to think twice about what little ears are listening when I make a crack about something. The second is to not try to act a certain way because 'I am a Christian and that's not how Christians should act' but to be changed in order to bring honor to the Lord and to have a pure heart before Him - everything that Stacey wrote about on Monday.
I have learned that being 'reverent in behavior' for me is to think of others before myself on a continual basis. I should speak and act in a way that honors others above myself - honors their feelings and esteems them, not cuts them down. Sure, I still like to joke around about things, and a have a good laugh every now and again. But I walk such a fine line every day to guard what I say and how it might affect those around me. I am definitely, definitely still learning this lesson and mess up a lot - especially when it comes to Ed and I making fun of others or each other in the name of 'a good joke'. As important as it is for me to be reverent in my behavior in public, oh man, it is like 100 times more important for me to be reverent in my behavior in the home. My little comments about others or even about my husband can be very powerful in my husband's ear. Not to mention what my boys see as acceptable ways of talking about others. I want to be a positive influence in the opinions my husband and my boys have of others. By God's grace I'll get there.
Reverent in Behavior...
Posted by | Monday, January 26, 2009 at 4:02 AM
This week begins our study through Titus 2:3-5!!! We are so excited to study through this passage and hope that you all will join us through this study!
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be reviled."
We are going to break down this section and study a little bit every other week. So, let’s get started with our first topic!
“Reverent in Behavior”…
When I first read this part of Titus 2, the word BEHAVIOR jumped out at me. My mind immediately went to what I DO and what I DON’T DO to make me a “good Christian woman.” This mindset of thinking leads us to make a list of all the things we should or shouldn’t do. This is dangerous, legalistic territory in the Christian life. There are many religions today that work on this type of system…I happen to actually live among a “religious people” who live this way.
Read this passage from Romans 10:
Brothers,4 my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own (laws), they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The Christian life is not a life of Do’s and Don’ts. It is about a loving relationship with Jesus. That last sentence can almost sound too Sunday Schoolish so let’s look at it a little deeper. If you read Titus from the beginning you will find this just before chapter 2:
“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.”
It sometimes can seem easier to just make a list of rules to abide by but living this way is not how God intended the Christian life to be. Living by this system makes the Christian life about ME and takes the focus off of Jesus who came so that “by GRACE are we saved through FAITH and that NOT OF OURSELVES, it is the gift of God so that NO ONE CAN BOAST.”
I lived my life this way until about 6 years ago when I truly gave my life to Christ. You can ask anyone…my BEHAVIOR was good. I had been a leader in my youth group, I obeyed my parents, I went to church, I married a preacher, I was a good mom, I taught Sunday School, I told people about Jesus, I prayed with people…I BEHAVED GOOD. But six years ago, God convicted me of my complete and utter sinfulness. I was filthy before a Holy God. My “list of do’s and don’ts” failed. I needed HIS grace and mercy to wash me and cover me.
So, what is reverent behavior? We discussed the word behavior in great detail. The word “reverent” simply refers to being honorable. If I love God, I will honor Him with my life. He should get ALL of the GLORY. Where’s the list, you might ask? There is no list….Love HIM….Seek HIS GLORY….Allow HIS Grace to cover you…Honor Him with your life…be “reverent in your behavior.”
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be reviled."
We are going to break down this section and study a little bit every other week. So, let’s get started with our first topic!
“Reverent in Behavior”…
When I first read this part of Titus 2, the word BEHAVIOR jumped out at me. My mind immediately went to what I DO and what I DON’T DO to make me a “good Christian woman.” This mindset of thinking leads us to make a list of all the things we should or shouldn’t do. This is dangerous, legalistic territory in the Christian life. There are many religions today that work on this type of system…I happen to actually live among a “religious people” who live this way.
Read this passage from Romans 10:
Brothers,4 my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own (laws), they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The Christian life is not a life of Do’s and Don’ts. It is about a loving relationship with Jesus. That last sentence can almost sound too Sunday Schoolish so let’s look at it a little deeper. If you read Titus from the beginning you will find this just before chapter 2:
“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.”
It sometimes can seem easier to just make a list of rules to abide by but living this way is not how God intended the Christian life to be. Living by this system makes the Christian life about ME and takes the focus off of Jesus who came so that “by GRACE are we saved through FAITH and that NOT OF OURSELVES, it is the gift of God so that NO ONE CAN BOAST.”
I lived my life this way until about 6 years ago when I truly gave my life to Christ. You can ask anyone…my BEHAVIOR was good. I had been a leader in my youth group, I obeyed my parents, I went to church, I married a preacher, I was a good mom, I taught Sunday School, I told people about Jesus, I prayed with people…I BEHAVED GOOD. But six years ago, God convicted me of my complete and utter sinfulness. I was filthy before a Holy God. My “list of do’s and don’ts” failed. I needed HIS grace and mercy to wash me and cover me.
So, what is reverent behavior? We discussed the word behavior in great detail. The word “reverent” simply refers to being honorable. If I love God, I will honor Him with my life. He should get ALL of the GLORY. Where’s the list, you might ask? There is no list….Love HIM….Seek HIS GLORY….Allow HIS Grace to cover you…Honor Him with your life…be “reverent in your behavior.”
Breastfeeding while Pregnant
Posted by | Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 6:09 PM
My two cents for this week deals with breastfeeding during the early months of pregnancy as well as child-led vs. child-encouraged weaning when mom becomes pregnant. My first post on breastfeeding, found here, has some great links to other resources if you want more to read.
My son Samuel was 10 months old when I found out I was pregnant with my second son. I started my period again when Samuel was 6 months old and only had it three times before I became pregnant again. Samuel was a great nurser and didn't show any signs of slowing down. I began to investigate 'tandem nursing' as a possibility. I spoke with some of the moms at my La Leche League group and read two books on the LLL reading list about tandem nursing. I wasn't sure if I would do it or not, but I wanted to know more about it.
First off, it is possible to continue nursing through pregnancy. Your body will continue to make milk, although there will most likely be a drop in production around 20 weeks. You should speak with your pediatrician about your child's nutritional needs. If you do experience a drop in milk production you may need to supplement. It is so important to make sure you maintain a good diet and drink plenty of water. You should be eating an extra 500 to 650 calories per day for your nursling, as well as the 350 extra calories in the 2nd trimester and 450 in the 3rd. God has made your body so that nutrients go first to your growing fetus baby, second to your nursling, and third to you. Eat up!
The next thing to consider is that breastfeeding can become uncomfortable once you are pregnant. It is possible that you will have sore nipples while nursing. It is also possible that nursing will be incredibly uncomfortable and annoying to you. This happened with me. Sometimes my skin would be absolutely crawling while Samuel nursed. This feeling passed eventually, but it was tough to get through. Another thing that you may experience is sexual arousal while nursing during the first trimester. It will totally wig you out, but it is normal and it will pass as well.
When you experience a decrease in milk production, or the taste of your milk changes, your child may cut back on nursing or refuse all together. If your child is 12 months or older at this point, you can decide to gradually or abruptly wean. If your child is younger than 12 months, you will need to talk to your pediatrician about supplementing with formula.
Some women decide to continue to nurse for comfort and the immunological benefits of breastmilk. Once your baby is born and your milk supply returns both children will be able to nurse without adversely affecting the other. This is what I was considering at first. It is a personal decision you will have to make yourself. There are definitely pros and cons of each.
I ultimately decided to let Samuel self-wean once I was into my second trimester. Technically, it was probably a mix of child-led and child-encouraged weaning because I initiated some of the cutback. After Samuel's first birthday, towards the end of my first trimester, I noticed that Samuel was nursing for much shorter periods of time. I had always initiated a nursing session with him (I was still nursing every 3 hours during the day), so I decided to let him go for awhile and see how long it would be until he fussed to nurse. Over three days I saw that time greatly decrease until he no longer fussed or indicated that he wanted to nurse. At that point I was only nursing him in the morning when he got up and at night before bed. I cut out the morning feeding next by feeding him milk and breakfast as soon as he got up. He didn't fight it at all. I finally cut the night feeding by just cuddling him for a bit but not rocking him and then putting him to bed awake. He did fine (mind you, this is also the time we finally did CIO with him - they coincided). He didn't nurse for three days after that. I offered once more to see what he would do. He put his mouth to my breast, looked up at me and giggled, and that was it. He was done. I didn't experience any engorgement because my milk was almost completely gone at that point.
Please ask questions or share your weaning while pregnant stories if you could. There is definitely variety on this point of breastfeeding.
If you want some further reading, check out La Leche League's collection on the topic:
La Leche League Breastfeeding During Pregnancy
Breastfeeding #2
Posted by | at 11:01 AM
My first experience breastfeeding was not a piece of cake. I wrote about it here. In short, breastfeeding a preemie meant all kinds of things I was clueless about at the time. Supplementing, pumping (round the clock!), nipple shields, low milk supply, reflux, etc. I knew that I would be a stay at home Mom with my second and hoped our breastfeeding experience would be easier. Even though I was just as determined to breastfeed, I think I was somewhat more laid back, making things much easier!
Praise the Lord - the most difficult challenge we've had with Adeline is that she WILL NOT TAKE A BOTTLE OR A PACIFIER! I consider that a pretty easy challenge and one I'm thankful for!
Adeline is now 10 months old and we're nursing 4-5 times a day and she's a sippy cup champion. Here's our story:
In the beginning she latched on right away and was a nursing champ! The only rough patch I had in the hospital was when she literally nursed for about 4 hours straight on day 2 and would scream if she wasn't latched on. My nipples were SO SORE. This was something I had not experienced with Will. Basically, my milk had yet to come in and she was just doing what she knew to do in order to make it come in!
I agonized over it and did finally give her a small amount (less than 1oz) of formula through a syringe to give my nipples a break. Jacob advised that we do this and I'm sure glad we did. (I know some of you are squirming in your seat right now...but she turned out fine! :)
She nursed wonderfully and on demand for the next three and a half weeks. When she was not yet four weeks old, I began having trouble with my gallbladder. I ended up having my gallbladder out when she was four weeks old, exactly. Because of the ER visits leading up the to the surgery and then the three day hospital stay - she had her first bottle before four weeks old! She took it like a champ and even had to have a few formula bottles since I had yet to pump any breastmilk!
This is where it was doubly a blessing that we chose to give her formula in that syringe....they gave us more formula to take home from the hospital and I took it knowing I would never choose to use it - but could give it away! Ha! We ended being FORCED to use it! Although I must add that I did not like it one bit that she had to have that formula or that I had to leave her so much over that week. But we survived the whole ordeal and I would do it all again if I was ever in that much pain!
After I was home and recovering from my gallbladder surgery - nursing resumed and we picked up right where we had left off! She did great and it never occurred to me to give her a bottle for practice during that time. So when I had to return to work for three weeks when she was about 10 weeks old - she pretty much refused the bottle. She eventually got used to it and would drink just enough to get by until I got home. Occassionally now, Jacob can get her to take a bottle.
We are still going strong now at 10 months and I plan to continue at least through May (14 months) in order to get through flu season. It was amazing when I quit nursing Will - he promptly contracted every illness and bug within those next few months! I've even considered giving him breastmilk with his regular milk to try to keep him well! (Never have done it though!)
I've noticed two things again this time around now that my period has returned! With Will I got my period around 4 months old (darn pumping!) and this time it held off until really 7 months. Two things occur during my cycle:
1. My supply dips during my period.
2. My nipples get sore again when I'm ovulating. Ugh - this is worse than the first few days of nursing! Kellymom mentions this problem here, and suggests taking evening primrose oil or a calcium supplement. I tried calcium with Will and it didn't seem to work. Has anyone else had this problem or tried evening primrose oil?
I've enjoyed the discussion on breastfeeding so far this week - keep the comments, suggestions and advice coming!
*One more note to add - I have NOTHING to share about weaning. Will was so unattached to me and my supply so low, that it just happened. The biggest thing we did was avoid the rocker (where we nursed) during normal nursing times. This usually meant Jacob rocked him to bed for a few nights and then he was over it! Hopefully, Leah can add more to this topic!
Praise the Lord - the most difficult challenge we've had with Adeline is that she WILL NOT TAKE A BOTTLE OR A PACIFIER! I consider that a pretty easy challenge and one I'm thankful for!
Adeline is now 10 months old and we're nursing 4-5 times a day and she's a sippy cup champion. Here's our story:
In the beginning she latched on right away and was a nursing champ! The only rough patch I had in the hospital was when she literally nursed for about 4 hours straight on day 2 and would scream if she wasn't latched on. My nipples were SO SORE. This was something I had not experienced with Will. Basically, my milk had yet to come in and she was just doing what she knew to do in order to make it come in!
I agonized over it and did finally give her a small amount (less than 1oz) of formula through a syringe to give my nipples a break. Jacob advised that we do this and I'm sure glad we did. (I know some of you are squirming in your seat right now...but she turned out fine! :)
She nursed wonderfully and on demand for the next three and a half weeks. When she was not yet four weeks old, I began having trouble with my gallbladder. I ended up having my gallbladder out when she was four weeks old, exactly. Because of the ER visits leading up the to the surgery and then the three day hospital stay - she had her first bottle before four weeks old! She took it like a champ and even had to have a few formula bottles since I had yet to pump any breastmilk!
This is where it was doubly a blessing that we chose to give her formula in that syringe....they gave us more formula to take home from the hospital and I took it knowing I would never choose to use it - but could give it away! Ha! We ended being FORCED to use it! Although I must add that I did not like it one bit that she had to have that formula or that I had to leave her so much over that week. But we survived the whole ordeal and I would do it all again if I was ever in that much pain!
After I was home and recovering from my gallbladder surgery - nursing resumed and we picked up right where we had left off! She did great and it never occurred to me to give her a bottle for practice during that time. So when I had to return to work for three weeks when she was about 10 weeks old - she pretty much refused the bottle. She eventually got used to it and would drink just enough to get by until I got home. Occassionally now, Jacob can get her to take a bottle.
We are still going strong now at 10 months and I plan to continue at least through May (14 months) in order to get through flu season. It was amazing when I quit nursing Will - he promptly contracted every illness and bug within those next few months! I've even considered giving him breastmilk with his regular milk to try to keep him well! (Never have done it though!)
I've noticed two things again this time around now that my period has returned! With Will I got my period around 4 months old (darn pumping!) and this time it held off until really 7 months. Two things occur during my cycle:
1. My supply dips during my period.
2. My nipples get sore again when I'm ovulating. Ugh - this is worse than the first few days of nursing! Kellymom mentions this problem here, and suggests taking evening primrose oil or a calcium supplement. I tried calcium with Will and it didn't seem to work. Has anyone else had this problem or tried evening primrose oil?
I've enjoyed the discussion on breastfeeding so far this week - keep the comments, suggestions and advice coming!
*One more note to add - I have NOTHING to share about weaning. Will was so unattached to me and my supply so low, that it just happened. The biggest thing we did was avoid the rocker (where we nursed) during normal nursing times. This usually meant Jacob rocked him to bed for a few nights and then he was over it! Hopefully, Leah can add more to this topic!
Milk Supply Issues
Posted by | Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 2:25 PM
Here is a list of antigalactogogues (things that decrease your milk supply):
- alcohol
- caffeine
- drugs for colds/allergies (decongestants, antihistamines, anti-inflammatories)
- stress
- barley sprout (fried)
- bugleweed (leaf/stem)
- cabbage leaf externally applied (crumple leaf and apply to engorged breast)
- chasteberry (fruit/leaf)
- mint (leaf and essential oil)
- fava bean (flower, well cooked bean)
- flannelweed
- greek oregano
- jasmine (flower) externally applied
- mugwort
- osha root
- parsley
- peppermint
- pigeon pea
- pygeum
- rosemary
- sage
- shakuyaku-kanzoto (peony and licorice)
- urva-ursi
- velvet bean
- water mint
- white sage
- yarrow
For increasing your milk supply, La Leche League recommends fenugreek (3 capsules, 3 x per day) alone or with Blessed Thistle (3 capsules, 3x). It usually takes at least 24 hours to begin to see any effect.
In Egypt, home to the fenugreek research for increasing women's milk supply, the common wisdom is to cook fenugreek (it looks similar to wheat) like you would oatmeal and then serve with milk and honey. All new moms drink this regularly after giving birth.
For any mamas with supply issues, please let us know if you've found any of these to be true and what has worked for you!
Breastfeeding and Weaning
Posted by | Monday, January 19, 2009 at 1:00 AM
We originally discussed this topic on Prayer of Hannah in November 2007. Here is the link to my original post where I shared about my experience nursing Lydia, the incredible (and unequaled) benefits of breastmilk, and practical steps you can take to ensure success. I don't want to duplicate that information, but really encourage you to start with this post as an introduction to our discussion this week.
When we originally dealt with this topic, I was still nursing Lydia and wondering about weaning. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to share my experience with weaning. . .
Lydia loved to nurse just as much as I loved for her to nurse. Around 11 1/2 months she finally began to eat food and, pretty much without resistence, cut down from 6 feedings a day to 4. We stayed like this for several more months, but I never got my period. We wanted more children and I was anxious to see if cutting out more nursings would start my cycle. Around 14 1/2 months I cut her down to 2 feedings a day - morning and night. She objected, but in a couple days adjusted and we were both happy to have those two precious cuddle/nursing times a day. My husband and I talked about it and decided 18 months would be our goal for me to wean her. When she was 16 1/2 months old we traveled to Thailand and, during that 2 1/2 week trip she nursed like crazy! I decided not to worry about it (and isn't it amazing that your body's supply can adapt like this!) and, when we got home returned back to our 2 times a day schedule. Gradually I would try to drop a night time feeding - by giving her milk in a cup during her bath and making sure she was full and then reading books and distracting her from the idea of nursing before sleeping (the morning feeding was the last one I dropped). When Lydia was 20 months old I had to travel for 4 days without her so I decided to just go ahead and nurse her until 19 months - which would give her a month to be weaned before I just "cold turkey" left her alone with Josh. I was hormonal and cried and sad to wean her, but, again, thought about the goal and knew we were not getting pregnant while nursing - which is probably the only thing that gave me the strength to not give in and keep nursing her until she weaned herself - whenever she might choose that (I do think infant-led weaning is super cool and would love to do that one day!). Eventually I would just nurse her at some random time every other day, and that was mainly because I would be in pain and need to have the milk eaten! (Interestingly, I never got an infected clogged duct in my breast until I started the weaning process.) It was hard for her and me (I noticed her being more clingy) but, ultimately, I was the parent and had to make the decision. I stuck with it and, within a week of weaning, she seemed adjusted and fine. Today, when she sees my chest she'll say, "Baby's milk" and we talk about how soon I'll be feeding her two brothers :).
I am a major advocate of breastfeeding. Breastmilk truly is God's perfect food for our babies and there is nothing else that even comes close (I do NOT consider formula an equally good or even close alternative). I do understand, though, that there are, in rare instances, special circumstances that necessitate the need for formula. Praise God there is that option there in these circumstances!!
I hear many women say they just didn't produce enough milk to feed their baby. I was reading recently about the quality and quantity of milk your body can produce. The question posed was, "If a mother's diet is lacking in certain vitamins, will her milk also be lacking?" Answer: No, her body will still make milk with all the vitamins/minerals it should have. However, the QUANTITY of milk she will be able to produce will definitely be affected. It made me wonder if our fast food, junk food culture had even given second thought to whether or not the lack of nutrition we give our bodies affects even the quanity of milk we are able to give our babies. . .
I am now pregnant with twins and can't wait to get to nurse these two little blessings. My goal and prayer is that I will be able to nurse them just like I was able to do with Lydia - and never need to supplement with formula. The next time we revisit this topic, I hope to be able to write on my experience nursing multiples!
When we originally dealt with this topic, I was still nursing Lydia and wondering about weaning. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to share my experience with weaning. . .
Lydia loved to nurse just as much as I loved for her to nurse. Around 11 1/2 months she finally began to eat food and, pretty much without resistence, cut down from 6 feedings a day to 4. We stayed like this for several more months, but I never got my period. We wanted more children and I was anxious to see if cutting out more nursings would start my cycle. Around 14 1/2 months I cut her down to 2 feedings a day - morning and night. She objected, but in a couple days adjusted and we were both happy to have those two precious cuddle/nursing times a day. My husband and I talked about it and decided 18 months would be our goal for me to wean her. When she was 16 1/2 months old we traveled to Thailand and, during that 2 1/2 week trip she nursed like crazy! I decided not to worry about it (and isn't it amazing that your body's supply can adapt like this!) and, when we got home returned back to our 2 times a day schedule. Gradually I would try to drop a night time feeding - by giving her milk in a cup during her bath and making sure she was full and then reading books and distracting her from the idea of nursing before sleeping (the morning feeding was the last one I dropped). When Lydia was 20 months old I had to travel for 4 days without her so I decided to just go ahead and nurse her until 19 months - which would give her a month to be weaned before I just "cold turkey" left her alone with Josh. I was hormonal and cried and sad to wean her, but, again, thought about the goal and knew we were not getting pregnant while nursing - which is probably the only thing that gave me the strength to not give in and keep nursing her until she weaned herself - whenever she might choose that (I do think infant-led weaning is super cool and would love to do that one day!). Eventually I would just nurse her at some random time every other day, and that was mainly because I would be in pain and need to have the milk eaten! (Interestingly, I never got an infected clogged duct in my breast until I started the weaning process.) It was hard for her and me (I noticed her being more clingy) but, ultimately, I was the parent and had to make the decision. I stuck with it and, within a week of weaning, she seemed adjusted and fine. Today, when she sees my chest she'll say, "Baby's milk" and we talk about how soon I'll be feeding her two brothers :).
I am a major advocate of breastfeeding. Breastmilk truly is God's perfect food for our babies and there is nothing else that even comes close (I do NOT consider formula an equally good or even close alternative). I do understand, though, that there are, in rare instances, special circumstances that necessitate the need for formula. Praise God there is that option there in these circumstances!!
I hear many women say they just didn't produce enough milk to feed their baby. I was reading recently about the quality and quantity of milk your body can produce. The question posed was, "If a mother's diet is lacking in certain vitamins, will her milk also be lacking?" Answer: No, her body will still make milk with all the vitamins/minerals it should have. However, the QUANTITY of milk she will be able to produce will definitely be affected. It made me wonder if our fast food, junk food culture had even given second thought to whether or not the lack of nutrition we give our bodies affects even the quanity of milk we are able to give our babies. . .
I am now pregnant with twins and can't wait to get to nurse these two little blessings. My goal and prayer is that I will be able to nurse them just like I was able to do with Lydia - and never need to supplement with formula. The next time we revisit this topic, I hope to be able to write on my experience nursing multiples!
Christina's 2009 Resolutions
Posted by | Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 8:09 PM
1. Stop procrastinating!
This has always been a terrible habit of mine. This week was especially bad because it was my week to start out our topic! (We each have "assigned" weeks to start the topic.) I really dropped the ball on that one! The sad part is, I really have NO excuse. This wasn't a terribly busy week - no one was sick - nothing out of the ordinary. So, thanks Leah and Hollie for picking up my slack! I am not just saying this because of my delinquency with posting. It extends into many other areas of my life!
2. Be more consistent with my "5am Club" membership. (Remember our discussion from the Shopping for Time book club?) It's actually the 6am club for me, but I've not been consistent. I actually get up that early maybe 3 days a week? Those are ALWAYS my best days too. I get more time in the Word and get things together before the kids get up.
3. Improve my housekeeping and homemaking skills in order to get more done during the day and have more time spend with Jacob when he gets home! With three kids here during the day (I keep a one year old along with my two) - its been a challenge to get as many chores done during the day.
4. Find a new balance with bargain shopping, coupon clipping and money saving habits. Jacob has never complained about the amount of time I spend with my coupons and grocery lists. Mainly because he's seen the savings and loves it. But, I'm starting to grow weary! I want to continue sticking to our greatly improved (lowered) grocery budget, but shorten the time I spend doing it. I have definitely seen that my couponing is taking less time with more practice, but I want to spend even less!
5. Be more intentional with our friendships. Jacob and I noticed a sharp decline in the number of Christmas cards we received this year. I do think it may be partly due to the fact that we don't send one ourselves. However, when we looked back through stacks of cards from previous years (yes, I keep them all in neatly labeled baggies) we realized that many were friends we had simply lost touch with. Neither Jacob nor I have ever been very good at this and it takes a great effort. Many of the friends that we have made since being married were from our wonderful Young Married Sunday school class. Probably 50% of them have moved away and we are no longer in the class. (We teach two year olds on Sunday mornings - intense!) So, who's coming to dinner?
6. Be more intentional with sharing our faith - mainly with our neighbors. Like Hollie - we have lived here for almost 5 years and have had far fewer interactions with our neighbors. While we know and love many of them, our relationships have hardly gone beyond conversations that take place outside. Any practical ideas?
7. Get Will potty trained. Man, we're struggling so much with this! We started just before Thanksgiving and have made very little progress. He rarely fights us and refuses, so he's willing - but I'm not so sure he's able anymore. I'm wondering if this is another situation where he WANTS to do it - but physically he's not able yet. He still poops 4-5 times a day. At least! Because of that, I did go to pull ups pretty quickly. The pull-ups have halted our progress with peeing in the potty as its too easy for him to just not hold it and go in the pull up. But they sure help my sanity when cleaning up that many poops. He gets so sad when he tells me he has poopy underwear, although we've not scolded him for it yet. I just don't know what to do! We're considering dropping it totally and retrying it in about three months or so. Anyone stories or advice to stop or not? He's 2 years, 7 months right now.
8. Finish BOTH Adeline and Will's BABY books. This is ridiculous - but Will has a half completed baby book. Talk about procrastination!? My Mom just gave me my baby book this Christmas and I loved looking at it again. I want my kids to have that as well in 25 years. Interestingly - after looking at all three baby books (mine, Will and Adeline's) I learned that we all got our first tooth at almost exactly the same age! It was about 9 days difference total! I had always heard it was genetic. Weird!
9. Stop making excuses and just exercise! I used the Y before I had Will and loved the variety of the classes offered at ours. I did kickboxing, pilates, yoga, hip hop and some strength training. But now, I'm not sure I can justify the cost with the amount of time I have. I don't think I'll use it as fully as I once did. Plus, if our house sells in the near future, I don't know how close I'll live to another branch or if I can even transfer my membership. The most routine exercising I've done since having Adeline has been our 2 mile walks. We have a route through the neighborhood, but I can promise you that I have not seen that path in the past month at least. Between the holidays and cold weather - it just hasn't happened! I definitely need an alternative! We're considering a Wii fit. Does anyone have one that they use regularly for exercise? Is it lame? That's my main concern.
10. Officially begin the process to head overseas! We've known since before we got married that this is where we would be someday. Its so exciting to see the Lord knitting all the details together! However, for any of you reading that already live overseas or are in the process - you know how LONG it all can take. I'm not really certain of how many details I should publish here, so I'll just answer the two questions that are always asked first. WHEN? At least 18 months from now. (I've been saying that for about 6 months though! Ha!) WHERE? Central Asia. Please pray for us - I'm currently a little overwhelmed at it all.
So there they are. Better late than never, right? Actually, I've never liked that cliche. Maybe because I always heard it in relation to my students turning in their assignments late. I can totally relate to them now.
One more note about New Years resolutions. I rarely put them to paper - mainly because our habit has become to evaluate our marriage, family and personal walks at our anniversary in October. This started on our honeymoon and I look forward to talking about it during that time each year. But, for the sake of the blog - I included some of them here. I also feel as though we are constantly re-evaluating our lives throughout the year. Although, the first of the year is certainly a great time to put them to paper in order to hold ourselves accountable to those tasks that we need to work on!
Anyone else have resolutions to share?
This has always been a terrible habit of mine. This week was especially bad because it was my week to start out our topic! (We each have "assigned" weeks to start the topic.) I really dropped the ball on that one! The sad part is, I really have NO excuse. This wasn't a terribly busy week - no one was sick - nothing out of the ordinary. So, thanks Leah and Hollie for picking up my slack! I am not just saying this because of my delinquency with posting. It extends into many other areas of my life!
2. Be more consistent with my "5am Club" membership. (Remember our discussion from the Shopping for Time book club?) It's actually the 6am club for me, but I've not been consistent. I actually get up that early maybe 3 days a week? Those are ALWAYS my best days too. I get more time in the Word and get things together before the kids get up.
3. Improve my housekeeping and homemaking skills in order to get more done during the day and have more time spend with Jacob when he gets home! With three kids here during the day (I keep a one year old along with my two) - its been a challenge to get as many chores done during the day.
4. Find a new balance with bargain shopping, coupon clipping and money saving habits. Jacob has never complained about the amount of time I spend with my coupons and grocery lists. Mainly because he's seen the savings and loves it. But, I'm starting to grow weary! I want to continue sticking to our greatly improved (lowered) grocery budget, but shorten the time I spend doing it. I have definitely seen that my couponing is taking less time with more practice, but I want to spend even less!
5. Be more intentional with our friendships. Jacob and I noticed a sharp decline in the number of Christmas cards we received this year. I do think it may be partly due to the fact that we don't send one ourselves. However, when we looked back through stacks of cards from previous years (yes, I keep them all in neatly labeled baggies) we realized that many were friends we had simply lost touch with. Neither Jacob nor I have ever been very good at this and it takes a great effort. Many of the friends that we have made since being married were from our wonderful Young Married Sunday school class. Probably 50% of them have moved away and we are no longer in the class. (We teach two year olds on Sunday mornings - intense!) So, who's coming to dinner?
6. Be more intentional with sharing our faith - mainly with our neighbors. Like Hollie - we have lived here for almost 5 years and have had far fewer interactions with our neighbors. While we know and love many of them, our relationships have hardly gone beyond conversations that take place outside. Any practical ideas?
7. Get Will potty trained. Man, we're struggling so much with this! We started just before Thanksgiving and have made very little progress. He rarely fights us and refuses, so he's willing - but I'm not so sure he's able anymore. I'm wondering if this is another situation where he WANTS to do it - but physically he's not able yet. He still poops 4-5 times a day. At least! Because of that, I did go to pull ups pretty quickly. The pull-ups have halted our progress with peeing in the potty as its too easy for him to just not hold it and go in the pull up. But they sure help my sanity when cleaning up that many poops. He gets so sad when he tells me he has poopy underwear, although we've not scolded him for it yet. I just don't know what to do! We're considering dropping it totally and retrying it in about three months or so. Anyone stories or advice to stop or not? He's 2 years, 7 months right now.
8. Finish BOTH Adeline and Will's BABY books. This is ridiculous - but Will has a half completed baby book. Talk about procrastination!? My Mom just gave me my baby book this Christmas and I loved looking at it again. I want my kids to have that as well in 25 years. Interestingly - after looking at all three baby books (mine, Will and Adeline's) I learned that we all got our first tooth at almost exactly the same age! It was about 9 days difference total! I had always heard it was genetic. Weird!
9. Stop making excuses and just exercise! I used the Y before I had Will and loved the variety of the classes offered at ours. I did kickboxing, pilates, yoga, hip hop and some strength training. But now, I'm not sure I can justify the cost with the amount of time I have. I don't think I'll use it as fully as I once did. Plus, if our house sells in the near future, I don't know how close I'll live to another branch or if I can even transfer my membership. The most routine exercising I've done since having Adeline has been our 2 mile walks. We have a route through the neighborhood, but I can promise you that I have not seen that path in the past month at least. Between the holidays and cold weather - it just hasn't happened! I definitely need an alternative! We're considering a Wii fit. Does anyone have one that they use regularly for exercise? Is it lame? That's my main concern.
10. Officially begin the process to head overseas! We've known since before we got married that this is where we would be someday. Its so exciting to see the Lord knitting all the details together! However, for any of you reading that already live overseas or are in the process - you know how LONG it all can take. I'm not really certain of how many details I should publish here, so I'll just answer the two questions that are always asked first. WHEN? At least 18 months from now. (I've been saying that for about 6 months though! Ha!) WHERE? Central Asia. Please pray for us - I'm currently a little overwhelmed at it all.
So there they are. Better late than never, right? Actually, I've never liked that cliche. Maybe because I always heard it in relation to my students turning in their assignments late. I can totally relate to them now.
One more note about New Years resolutions. I rarely put them to paper - mainly because our habit has become to evaluate our marriage, family and personal walks at our anniversary in October. This started on our honeymoon and I look forward to talking about it during that time each year. But, for the sake of the blog - I included some of them here. I also feel as though we are constantly re-evaluating our lives throughout the year. Although, the first of the year is certainly a great time to put them to paper in order to hold ourselves accountable to those tasks that we need to work on!
Anyone else have resolutions to share?
Leah's 2009 Resolutions
Posted by | Friday, January 16, 2009 at 3:26 PM
These are my resolutions for the year 2009, NOT that I have 2009 resolutions!
I sat down to make my list at the end of November. I wanted to think through what I would focus on this year and try to concentrate on what was most important. To help me do that, I first thought through "My Job Description" and "My Duties". Here's how it goes:
My Job Description
-To love God and keep His commandments
-To love my hsuband and show him honor and respect in the way I speak and act
-To love my children and train them up in the way of the Lord
-To love my Christian sister and teach her to be self-controlled, pure, a hard worker at home, kind, and submissive
My Duties
-Read my Bible and pray daily
-Reflect on God's characteristics
-Listen to Ed and respect what he says
-Read the Bible to the boys and talk to them about God
-Teach other women
-Be a hard worker at home by...
-Cleaning daily
-Cooking
-Meal planning
-Doing laundry
-Grocery shopping
Thinking through these things helped me to see weaknesses in my life and come up with a better list of goals to work on. Here's what I came up with:
-Read through the Bible, noting God's mercy and compassion. It helps me to have a task at hand when I sit down to read the Word.
-Spend $50 or less average on groceries each week. This is a goal that will take me all year to work my way towards. I am at about $100/week right now. I'm trying to gradually take it down by re-evaluating my meals, buying less convenience food, and stocking up when I find good prices. I hope to be at this goal by the end of the year.
-Take my prenatal vitamin, fiber supplement, and use my estrogen supplement every day. I am absolutely HORRIBLE about consistently taking medicine.
-Continue to limit my time on the computer. I have cut back a lot the past month or so and I want to keep this up. I want to spend time with my family and working on my home instead of wasting all sorts of time doing silly things (Facebook time warp, anyone?)
-Stop watching Grey's Anatomy. I like watching this show but sometimes it is a bit too much for me and so I decided to just stop watching it. I haven't missed it.
-Be intimate with my husband __ times/week. I'm too embarrassed to write the number, but let's just say it's more than what we have been doing! :) Ed works from 3pm-11pm and so this is such a tough area for us. I am trying really hard to be more open to intimacy. I'm also embarrassed b/c I'm pretty sure my mom reads this blog!
-Write things in the checkbook. I stink at this and it drives my husband crazy.
-Do Quicken. Ugh, my parents have harped on me for years to do Quicken and I don't know why I don't b/c it is so great, but I think it is the consistency thing that always messes me up. To be honest, it is Jan. 16th and I still haven't started!
-Ask Ed before spending money. He has asked me time and again to do this. I am trying to keep it up in order to honor him.
-Keep a short prayer list in my Bible and pray for them daily. I have an empty slot now because Hollie is pregnant! Praise God!
-Do memory verse with Samuel. Haven't worked on this one yet either.
-Make cleaning schedule and STICK TO IT. Ugh, I hate to clean.
-Actively find ways to respect Ed, namely in the way I speak to him. I'm really embarrassed as I type this because he just left the house for work after I made a sarcastic comment to him! We are both very sarcastic people and it can be so easy to make cuts at each other with our words in the name of "just teasing" or "just being funny."
That's mine! I am nervous for the end of the year to come around and I will have to face these IN PRINT. Yikes.
I sat down to make my list at the end of November. I wanted to think through what I would focus on this year and try to concentrate on what was most important. To help me do that, I first thought through "My Job Description" and "My Duties". Here's how it goes:
My Job Description
-To love God and keep His commandments
-To love my hsuband and show him honor and respect in the way I speak and act
-To love my children and train them up in the way of the Lord
-To love my Christian sister and teach her to be self-controlled, pure, a hard worker at home, kind, and submissive
My Duties
-Read my Bible and pray daily
-Reflect on God's characteristics
-Listen to Ed and respect what he says
-Read the Bible to the boys and talk to them about God
-Teach other women
-Be a hard worker at home by...
-Cleaning daily
-Cooking
-Meal planning
-Doing laundry
-Grocery shopping
Thinking through these things helped me to see weaknesses in my life and come up with a better list of goals to work on. Here's what I came up with:
-Read through the Bible, noting God's mercy and compassion. It helps me to have a task at hand when I sit down to read the Word.
-Spend $50 or less average on groceries each week. This is a goal that will take me all year to work my way towards. I am at about $100/week right now. I'm trying to gradually take it down by re-evaluating my meals, buying less convenience food, and stocking up when I find good prices. I hope to be at this goal by the end of the year.
-Take my prenatal vitamin, fiber supplement, and use my estrogen supplement every day. I am absolutely HORRIBLE about consistently taking medicine.
-Continue to limit my time on the computer. I have cut back a lot the past month or so and I want to keep this up. I want to spend time with my family and working on my home instead of wasting all sorts of time doing silly things (Facebook time warp, anyone?)
-Stop watching Grey's Anatomy. I like watching this show but sometimes it is a bit too much for me and so I decided to just stop watching it. I haven't missed it.
-Be intimate with my husband __ times/week. I'm too embarrassed to write the number, but let's just say it's more than what we have been doing! :) Ed works from 3pm-11pm and so this is such a tough area for us. I am trying really hard to be more open to intimacy. I'm also embarrassed b/c I'm pretty sure my mom reads this blog!
-Write things in the checkbook. I stink at this and it drives my husband crazy.
-Do Quicken. Ugh, my parents have harped on me for years to do Quicken and I don't know why I don't b/c it is so great, but I think it is the consistency thing that always messes me up. To be honest, it is Jan. 16th and I still haven't started!
-Ask Ed before spending money. He has asked me time and again to do this. I am trying to keep it up in order to honor him.
-Keep a short prayer list in my Bible and pray for them daily. I have an empty slot now because Hollie is pregnant! Praise God!
-Do memory verse with Samuel. Haven't worked on this one yet either.
-Make cleaning schedule and STICK TO IT. Ugh, I hate to clean.
-Actively find ways to respect Ed, namely in the way I speak to him. I'm really embarrassed as I type this because he just left the house for work after I made a sarcastic comment to him! We are both very sarcastic people and it can be so easy to make cuts at each other with our words in the name of "just teasing" or "just being funny."
That's mine! I am nervous for the end of the year to come around and I will have to face these IN PRINT. Yikes.
Hollie's New Year's Resolutions
Posted by | Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 2:37 PM
Being the list-maker that I am, I could probably come up with a dreamy list of how many things I am going to do differently this year. BUT...that wouldn't be realistic, and I'd set myself up for failure. I'm a dreamer at heart anyways, so boiling my "wants" and "desires" down to just the bare bones is somewhat difficult. But I'll give you five biggies. These are domestic in nature. My spiritual resolutions will need another post! I might add a few more resolutions as the week goes on. Here they are:
1.) Plan out my meals (round two): I started doing this a while back, but didn't follow through with it. Any kind of new, drastic change in my lifestyle that demands continuous attention and planning, usually takes a few times for it to really "stick." And if I really want it, I'll come back for round two or three. Eventually, it happens. I can't think of anything more liberating for me than this. I told my husband Hugh the other night that I didn't find cooking as enjoyable as I did when we first got married, and I am a lover of home-cooked foods. But the joys are gone because I see it more of a mundane task that I'm obligated to instead of an opportunity to explore new worlds and send my taste buds dancing. Part of the reason might be that my daughter is quite the picky eater, and I don't have the desire or the energy to make two different meals at dinner-time. I LOVE food. I really do. I've met people who just aren't "food lovers," and I seriously cannot comprehend how they just don't get excited over food. Mmm! I think that making this change in our home will once again relight that flame of enjoying cooking once again. That leads me to my next resolution...
2.) Opening my home: If I can tackle resolution number one, then number two will follow suite so much more easily. When I was younger, I always hoped to have a very "open" home for my kids and their friends at which to hang out. I always wanted the "hang out" house growing up. And to this day, I still desire that for my family. But I can't wait until my children are all grown up and in high school. If I wait that long, it'll never happen. I'll be too set in my ways by then. I have to start now. I want to have people/families once a week or a few times a month. And since people love to eat, if I can get organized with meals, then I can feel the freedom to invite until my heart's content and it not be a stressful burden on me. Want to hear an awful confession? We've lived in our home for three years now and have not ONCE had our neighbors over for dinner. Ouch! Man, that hurts to even confess that to myself, much less the blogging POH world. But now that I've said it, I'm accountable to it. Whew. We absolutely LOVE our neighbors, hang out in our yards in the hot, Summery and Fall months, and even email at times. But just going to the yard and chatting it up for 20 minutes doesn't cut it with me. I want our children growing up knowing that it's a normal thing to have friends and family over to "do life" together. Not only neighbors, but younger couples and couples that after which we want to pattern our lives/marriage. So, who's first? :)
3.) Clearing the Clutter: I'm a crammer. I can't stand to "see" clutter in my living spaces, so my living room, kitchen, and other rooms mostly have things off the ground, in their cubby or place. But don't YOU DARE open my coat/shoes closet, can cabinet, spice cabinet, linen or sewing closet. You might get bonked in the head. And here's the ironic part, I LOVE organization, and I'll organize to a "T". But if you don't maintain well, you won't be organized. When push comes to shove, I shove. Ha! When people come over with their toddlers, the little cutie pies that love opening doors and cabinets, I start sweating. When I see those chubby, dimpled fingers heading for the knobs on my buffet, I start hearing the music to "Jaws". (Duh-nunt, duh-nunt, duh-nunt....) My eyes get big and everything goes into slow motion. About that time, I'm screaming in my head "Noooooo!!!!!! Don't open that door!" That might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I have indeed been there before. When I do my homework and everything is organized, I really am so excited when those chubby fingers open the cabinet doors. I love it! It's like a pat on the back!
4.) Embrace a hobby: I love to sew and create. It's a "high" for me. I love to step back and see my finished product with pride in my heart. I want the next seven months to be saturated with sewing. Why just seven months and not the whole year? For all of you who don't know, I'm two months pregnant! There will be no sewing from Sept-Dec 2009 and well into 2010, so I really want to seize this desire to sew to the fullest. I'm in the middle of a few projects right now, but I'm so so tired being that I'm only 8 weeks along and in the thick of "morning sickness" and fatigue. Whew! I want to be able to give homemade gifts, so I need to be organized in knowing birthdays and knowing what I want to give to my family for Christmas.
5.) Home-made Pasta/tortillas: Last year I was determined to start making our own, incredibly nutritious bread and never have to feel tied to buying stale store-bought bread again. I did it and haven't looked back. Is it tough and tiresome at times? Heck yeah it is, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. I was so overwhelmed last year, wanting to make all of these changes at once, which is impossible. This year I want to make our own pasta. Why? I know the benefits of freshly-milled grain and not just that but freshly milled grain that has been soaked overnight. It's so amazingly beneficial for you. So, I want to soak my grain and using my Kitchen Aid Mixer (with the pasta attachments that I don't have yet), I would make my own pasta. I'm telling you, I get excited just thinking about it! I also just ordered a tortilla press where I can make my own corn tortillas/shells/chips! I might can only do one of these, but I want to at least tackle one. If I had my preference, it would be the pasta, but buying these attachments isn't cheap.
We would LOVE to hear from you, even if it's just ONE New Years Resolution that you're determined to tackle! Stay tuned for more.....I just might be back to add to this list!
1.) Plan out my meals (round two): I started doing this a while back, but didn't follow through with it. Any kind of new, drastic change in my lifestyle that demands continuous attention and planning, usually takes a few times for it to really "stick." And if I really want it, I'll come back for round two or three. Eventually, it happens. I can't think of anything more liberating for me than this. I told my husband Hugh the other night that I didn't find cooking as enjoyable as I did when we first got married, and I am a lover of home-cooked foods. But the joys are gone because I see it more of a mundane task that I'm obligated to instead of an opportunity to explore new worlds and send my taste buds dancing. Part of the reason might be that my daughter is quite the picky eater, and I don't have the desire or the energy to make two different meals at dinner-time. I LOVE food. I really do. I've met people who just aren't "food lovers," and I seriously cannot comprehend how they just don't get excited over food. Mmm! I think that making this change in our home will once again relight that flame of enjoying cooking once again. That leads me to my next resolution...
2.) Opening my home: If I can tackle resolution number one, then number two will follow suite so much more easily. When I was younger, I always hoped to have a very "open" home for my kids and their friends at which to hang out. I always wanted the "hang out" house growing up. And to this day, I still desire that for my family. But I can't wait until my children are all grown up and in high school. If I wait that long, it'll never happen. I'll be too set in my ways by then. I have to start now. I want to have people/families once a week or a few times a month. And since people love to eat, if I can get organized with meals, then I can feel the freedom to invite until my heart's content and it not be a stressful burden on me. Want to hear an awful confession? We've lived in our home for three years now and have not ONCE had our neighbors over for dinner. Ouch! Man, that hurts to even confess that to myself, much less the blogging POH world. But now that I've said it, I'm accountable to it. Whew. We absolutely LOVE our neighbors, hang out in our yards in the hot, Summery and Fall months, and even email at times. But just going to the yard and chatting it up for 20 minutes doesn't cut it with me. I want our children growing up knowing that it's a normal thing to have friends and family over to "do life" together. Not only neighbors, but younger couples and couples that after which we want to pattern our lives/marriage. So, who's first? :)
3.) Clearing the Clutter: I'm a crammer. I can't stand to "see" clutter in my living spaces, so my living room, kitchen, and other rooms mostly have things off the ground, in their cubby or place. But don't YOU DARE open my coat/shoes closet, can cabinet, spice cabinet, linen or sewing closet. You might get bonked in the head. And here's the ironic part, I LOVE organization, and I'll organize to a "T". But if you don't maintain well, you won't be organized. When push comes to shove, I shove. Ha! When people come over with their toddlers, the little cutie pies that love opening doors and cabinets, I start sweating. When I see those chubby, dimpled fingers heading for the knobs on my buffet, I start hearing the music to "Jaws". (Duh-nunt, duh-nunt, duh-nunt....) My eyes get big and everything goes into slow motion. About that time, I'm screaming in my head "Noooooo!!!!!! Don't open that door!" That might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I have indeed been there before. When I do my homework and everything is organized, I really am so excited when those chubby fingers open the cabinet doors. I love it! It's like a pat on the back!
4.) Embrace a hobby: I love to sew and create. It's a "high" for me. I love to step back and see my finished product with pride in my heart. I want the next seven months to be saturated with sewing. Why just seven months and not the whole year? For all of you who don't know, I'm two months pregnant! There will be no sewing from Sept-Dec 2009 and well into 2010, so I really want to seize this desire to sew to the fullest. I'm in the middle of a few projects right now, but I'm so so tired being that I'm only 8 weeks along and in the thick of "morning sickness" and fatigue. Whew! I want to be able to give homemade gifts, so I need to be organized in knowing birthdays and knowing what I want to give to my family for Christmas.
5.) Home-made Pasta/tortillas: Last year I was determined to start making our own, incredibly nutritious bread and never have to feel tied to buying stale store-bought bread again. I did it and haven't looked back. Is it tough and tiresome at times? Heck yeah it is, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. I was so overwhelmed last year, wanting to make all of these changes at once, which is impossible. This year I want to make our own pasta. Why? I know the benefits of freshly-milled grain and not just that but freshly milled grain that has been soaked overnight. It's so amazingly beneficial for you. So, I want to soak my grain and using my Kitchen Aid Mixer (with the pasta attachments that I don't have yet), I would make my own pasta. I'm telling you, I get excited just thinking about it! I also just ordered a tortilla press where I can make my own corn tortillas/shells/chips! I might can only do one of these, but I want to at least tackle one. If I had my preference, it would be the pasta, but buying these attachments isn't cheap.
We would LOVE to hear from you, even if it's just ONE New Years Resolution that you're determined to tackle! Stay tuned for more.....I just might be back to add to this list!
Wordless Wednesday
Posted by | Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 11:38 AM
We're going to try doing a Wordless Wednesday for a while. Stay tuned for this week's topic...
Our Winter/Spring Lineup
Posted by | Monday, January 12, 2009 at 12:43 PM
We have put the final touches on our Winter/Spring Lineup and we are so excited for all the coming months will bring! In addition to our normal fare of parenting topics, we are trying something a little different this time. We will be discussing practical ways to live out God's Word as presented in Titus 2:3-5.
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be reviled."
We hope to break down this section and study a little bit every other week. We are all very excited to study through this with you all and learn how we can better please God in the position He has put us in.
Without further ado, here's what we'll be looking at over the next few months:
Jan. 12 New Year Resolutions
Jan. 19 Breastfeeding
Jan. 26 Titus 2 - How can we be reverant in behavior
Feb. 2 Crafts
Feb. 9 Titus 2 - How can we avoid malicious gossip
Feb. 16 Our Husbands Chime In
Feb. 23 A POH get-together in Atlanta
Mar. 2 Titus 2 - What does it mean to not be enslaved to wine
Mar. 9 Titus 2 - How do we teach what is good
Mar. 16 Adoption Stories
Mar. 23 Titus 2 - How can we love our husbands
Mar. 30 New birth stories
Apr. 6 Titus 2 - How can we love our children
Apr. 13 Product recommendations
Apr. 20 Titus 2 - How can we be sensible
Apr. 27 Book reviews
May. 4 Titus 2 - How can we be pure
May 11 Our kids this week
May 18 Titus 2 - How can we be hardworkers at home
May 25 Schooling options
June 1 Titus 2 - How can we be kind
June 8 Challenges this week
June 15 Titus 2 - How can we be subject to our husbands
June 22 Ways to incorporate scripture into daily life
June 29 Titus 2 - What does it mean that the Word of God not be maligned
This should be a wonderful season together! We can't wait!
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be reviled."
We hope to break down this section and study a little bit every other week. We are all very excited to study through this with you all and learn how we can better please God in the position He has put us in.
Without further ado, here's what we'll be looking at over the next few months:
Jan. 12 New Year Resolutions
Jan. 19 Breastfeeding
Jan. 26 Titus 2 - How can we be reverant in behavior
Feb. 2 Crafts
Feb. 9 Titus 2 - How can we avoid malicious gossip
Feb. 16 Our Husbands Chime In
Feb. 23 A POH get-together in Atlanta
Mar. 2 Titus 2 - What does it mean to not be enslaved to wine
Mar. 9 Titus 2 - How do we teach what is good
Mar. 16 Adoption Stories
Mar. 23 Titus 2 - How can we love our husbands
Mar. 30 New birth stories
Apr. 6 Titus 2 - How can we love our children
Apr. 13 Product recommendations
Apr. 20 Titus 2 - How can we be sensible
Apr. 27 Book reviews
May. 4 Titus 2 - How can we be pure
May 11 Our kids this week
May 18 Titus 2 - How can we be hardworkers at home
May 25 Schooling options
June 1 Titus 2 - How can we be kind
June 8 Challenges this week
June 15 Titus 2 - How can we be subject to our husbands
June 22 Ways to incorporate scripture into daily life
June 29 Titus 2 - What does it mean that the Word of God not be maligned
This should be a wonderful season together! We can't wait!
Blogs Hollie frequents
Posted by | Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 10:13 PM
If I'm surfing the web, I'm either emailing, blogging, visiting craft/designer or nutrition websites. I thrive off of inspiration from other craft blogs as well as nutritional advice. Nowadays, I don't have a lot of time to find new ones and surf the net, and I also get "ansy" after a while of sitting on my bum in front of the computer, so I love recommendations and leads. My good friend Shannon, who also loves to look at craft/nutrition, will email me anything she comes across that that helps me find more crafty inspiration.
Here are the blogs/websites I frequent:
Nutrition:
Weston A. Price Foundation
This is where it's at my friends. I LOVE this website, for it's not just recipes, it's mainly articles on nutrition, health, the latest discoveries on things that affect our whole well-being, etc.. I learn so so much from this site.
Passionate Homemaking
Okay, I know that I'm not "supposed" to list "family" blogs that I visit, and technically some of the advice on this blog is "family-oriented" but there are LOTS of nutrition articles and advice. This girl is amazing. She's young and how she learned all of this knowledge at such a young age is unbelievable. It's all about the influence of her family in the years she was home and under their direction, guidance and care. She posts once a day, sometimes twice. This is a blog to which my friend Shannon opened my eyes. She's also a believer and let me just tell you, the Scripture she uses will sharpen and challenge you.
Crafts:
The Angry Chicken
This is a wonderful website for LOTS of inspiration! I have a sewing book by Amy Carol, the author of The Angry Chicken, and I love love love this sewing book. It's called Bend The Rules Sewing. One of my favorite things to check out on The Angry Chicken is the "show and tell" for the Bend The Rules Sewing book. It's a flickr book and people post all of their crafts that they make from her book. It really helps me see color schemes, designs, how people have altered patterns...etc. Not to mention, Amy Carol posts on food, sewing, crafts, and design, and it's all very inspiring.
Craft Leftovers
I don't always check this blog out, but I would do it a lot more if I had a lot more time.
Bella Dia
Another fun one I'd love to chew on more often.
Here are the blogs/websites I frequent:
Nutrition:
Weston A. Price Foundation
This is where it's at my friends. I LOVE this website, for it's not just recipes, it's mainly articles on nutrition, health, the latest discoveries on things that affect our whole well-being, etc.. I learn so so much from this site.
Passionate Homemaking
Okay, I know that I'm not "supposed" to list "family" blogs that I visit, and technically some of the advice on this blog is "family-oriented" but there are LOTS of nutrition articles and advice. This girl is amazing. She's young and how she learned all of this knowledge at such a young age is unbelievable. It's all about the influence of her family in the years she was home and under their direction, guidance and care. She posts once a day, sometimes twice. This is a blog to which my friend Shannon opened my eyes. She's also a believer and let me just tell you, the Scripture she uses will sharpen and challenge you.
Crafts:
The Angry Chicken
This is a wonderful website for LOTS of inspiration! I have a sewing book by Amy Carol, the author of The Angry Chicken, and I love love love this sewing book. It's called Bend The Rules Sewing. One of my favorite things to check out on The Angry Chicken is the "show and tell" for the Bend The Rules Sewing book. It's a flickr book and people post all of their crafts that they make from her book. It really helps me see color schemes, designs, how people have altered patterns...etc. Not to mention, Amy Carol posts on food, sewing, crafts, and design, and it's all very inspiring.
Craft Leftovers
I don't always check this blog out, but I would do it a lot more if I had a lot more time.
Bella Dia
Another fun one I'd love to chew on more often.
Thrifty Blogs that Leah Reads
Posted by | Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 10:36 PM
hHi all! I was actually going to post this yesterday, but after reading Christina's post, I started reading through the Cake Wrecks blog and wasted all of my computer time!! That site is SO funny. I had never seen it before. Thanks for the recommendation, Christina!
I read two money saving blogs on a regular basis that were recommended to me by others. If you haven't checked these out, I would highly recommend it.
Money Saving Mom
The Thrifty Mama
Even if you don't get into all the deal shopping at CVS and Walgreens, etc, there is still plenty of good info coming from these sites. I started shopping the CVS and Walgreens deals about 2 months ago after following these sites for a month. I am really having so much fun with it. I am saving money by doing it, but I think the main reason I do it is because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of joy. I find the challenge of getting a good deal a welcome break to the day in and day out of staying at home. Ed usually laughs at how excited I get about getting free toothpaste and mascara. I will say that after two months of shopping the deals from these sites I have all the toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes, body washes, pain meds, razors and hand soap that we will need for AT LEAST the next two years. NO JOKE! And I got it all for free! I've bought a few things that I don't use because they helped me buy something that I wanted/needed. I've given those things away to others. Follow these blogs for a few weeks and see if it's something you'd be interested in. It can be so much fun!
I read two money saving blogs on a regular basis that were recommended to me by others. If you haven't checked these out, I would highly recommend it.
Money Saving Mom
The Thrifty Mama
Even if you don't get into all the deal shopping at CVS and Walgreens, etc, there is still plenty of good info coming from these sites. I started shopping the CVS and Walgreens deals about 2 months ago after following these sites for a month. I am really having so much fun with it. I am saving money by doing it, but I think the main reason I do it is because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of joy. I find the challenge of getting a good deal a welcome break to the day in and day out of staying at home. Ed usually laughs at how excited I get about getting free toothpaste and mascara. I will say that after two months of shopping the deals from these sites I have all the toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes, body washes, pain meds, razors and hand soap that we will need for AT LEAST the next two years. NO JOKE! And I got it all for free! I've bought a few things that I don't use because they helped me buy something that I wanted/needed. I've given those things away to others. Follow these blogs for a few weeks and see if it's something you'd be interested in. It can be so much fun!
Christina's Favorite Reads
Posted by | Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:38 AM
This week - we'll have a few posts highlighting some our favorite blogs and/or websites. Feel free to add your recommendations in a comment below! There are SO many good blogs out there for cooking, parenting, crafting, decorating, homemaking and these are just some of my favorites - in no particular order:
Cake Wrecks - She finds pictures (with the help of readers) of badly decorated cakes. The funniest part is her commentary on the pictures. She also does a regular feature, "Sunday Sweets" that highlights some really incredible non-wrecky cakes.
Hostess with the Mostess - This one has some FABULOUS decorating and entertaining ideas. (Recipes too!) It's a beautiful blog as well. I just love looking at all of the pictures, even if I could never recreate the ideas!
BooMama - This one is a pretty popular blog, so many of you may already read her posts. But I had to include her in this list, just in case you don't. You should! She's hilarious.
Baby Cheapskate - Love this blog for LOTS of great baby deals. She gives a weekly post with any current diaper deals.
Organizing Junkie - This blog gives GREAT inspiration to organize my home. It also gives great ideas for doing so! But maybe I'm the only nerd that gets such pleasure from seeing pictures of organized rooms and closests.
Classy Mommy - This website has a couple of different pages, including a blog. She does product reviews and hosts tons of giveaways. This is the site that hosted the contest I participated in to win a Wii. (Speaking of the Wii - I didn't win, but my husband did get one for Christmas from his parents! :) And I didn't win the Wii, but I did win a $500 gift card to Walmart. No kidding! It PAYS to blog stalk.
Girl Talk - I've talked about this blog before, but it is written by the wife and daughters of CJ Mahaney. They've authored several books (including Shopping for Time from our book club). I am always so encouraged by their posts. They also include a weekly Friday Funny that are hilarious.
Mom of Littles - This is written by the "Money Saving Mom" (Leah's going to mention that blog later this week.) and I just discovered it. It's a great look into the life of a Mom with young children.
Mom Advice - Love this blog and especially her weekly "notebook" entries. She has a post that includes tons of links to other blogs with tons of cute ideas. I've gotten some great ideas from "Amy's Notebook." I've found a lot of great crafty blogs through her notebook.
Deal Seeking Mom - This is one of my favorite "thrify blogs" and it happens to be the one I go to most for my CVS deals.
The Purl Bee - a wonderful crafting blog!
So, what's on YOUR google reader?
Cake Wrecks - She finds pictures (with the help of readers) of badly decorated cakes. The funniest part is her commentary on the pictures. She also does a regular feature, "Sunday Sweets" that highlights some really incredible non-wrecky cakes.
Hostess with the Mostess - This one has some FABULOUS decorating and entertaining ideas. (Recipes too!) It's a beautiful blog as well. I just love looking at all of the pictures, even if I could never recreate the ideas!
BooMama - This one is a pretty popular blog, so many of you may already read her posts. But I had to include her in this list, just in case you don't. You should! She's hilarious.
Baby Cheapskate - Love this blog for LOTS of great baby deals. She gives a weekly post with any current diaper deals.
Organizing Junkie - This blog gives GREAT inspiration to organize my home. It also gives great ideas for doing so! But maybe I'm the only nerd that gets such pleasure from seeing pictures of organized rooms and closests.
Classy Mommy - This website has a couple of different pages, including a blog. She does product reviews and hosts tons of giveaways. This is the site that hosted the contest I participated in to win a Wii. (Speaking of the Wii - I didn't win, but my husband did get one for Christmas from his parents! :) And I didn't win the Wii, but I did win a $500 gift card to Walmart. No kidding! It PAYS to blog stalk.
Girl Talk - I've talked about this blog before, but it is written by the wife and daughters of CJ Mahaney. They've authored several books (including Shopping for Time from our book club). I am always so encouraged by their posts. They also include a weekly Friday Funny that are hilarious.
Mom of Littles - This is written by the "Money Saving Mom" (Leah's going to mention that blog later this week.) and I just discovered it. It's a great look into the life of a Mom with young children.
Mom Advice - Love this blog and especially her weekly "notebook" entries. She has a post that includes tons of links to other blogs with tons of cute ideas. I've gotten some great ideas from "Amy's Notebook." I've found a lot of great crafty blogs through her notebook.
Deal Seeking Mom - This is one of my favorite "thrify blogs" and it happens to be the one I go to most for my CVS deals.
The Purl Bee - a wonderful crafting blog!
So, what's on YOUR google reader?
Happy New Year!
Posted by | Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Maybe you have all guessed it by now - but we've all been traveling and spending great time with our families! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration. My Christmas tree is still up and I am so sad to take it down tomorrow night. That's the plan anyhow, maybe I'll procrastinate a few more days so I can enjoy its beauty a little while longer.
Since we are five days late with our new year greeting and generally running behind - we are once again bumping the topic schedule! (Although, we're obviously a little confused as we had two topics listed for this week on the blog!?)
This week, we'll have a few posts with some suggested readings from other blogs. Basically, we'll be giving you all kinds of fun links to new blogs to add to your list of blogs to read.
Next week we'll jump into some good ol' breastfeeding talk. I'm so excited to have this topic again! It's amazing how two children can take such different paths through the breastfeeding journey! (Ok - that last sentence was lame, but I can't get anything better out at the moment. I've had a headache since returning from sunny, 80 degree Florida! Icky NC weather...)
We hope you'll jump in this week and next! Also - stay on the lookout for our next topic list. Shall we set an official topic release date? We'll let you know!
Since we are five days late with our new year greeting and generally running behind - we are once again bumping the topic schedule! (Although, we're obviously a little confused as we had two topics listed for this week on the blog!?)
This week, we'll have a few posts with some suggested readings from other blogs. Basically, we'll be giving you all kinds of fun links to new blogs to add to your list of blogs to read.
Next week we'll jump into some good ol' breastfeeding talk. I'm so excited to have this topic again! It's amazing how two children can take such different paths through the breastfeeding journey! (Ok - that last sentence was lame, but I can't get anything better out at the moment. I've had a headache since returning from sunny, 80 degree Florida! Icky NC weather...)
We hope you'll jump in this week and next! Also - stay on the lookout for our next topic list. Shall we set an official topic release date? We'll let you know!
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