MIA

I know I have been MIA from blogging recently.  I was out of town for an entire week.  Jason was in one place, and Elise and I were in another.  We met back up and then spent two days making our trek back home.  I have been trying to play catch up with the laundry and housework, getting groceries, planning meals, preparing to have our new bedroom furniture delivered tomorrow (we are SO excited!  Our current bed is older than ME!), Elise is not back on her normal routine quite yet and is dealing with more teething, I have two doctor appointments this week, and mine and Jason's anniversary is on Wednesday.  So, I promise when I get a spare minute hour I'll update about our trip, our new furniture, post pictures of the yard, do Elise's 9 month update (she turned 9 months while we were out of town) and whatever else I'm forgetting!

Photos I Forgot

Laundry Day

Mail Call

Elise had a box of clothes come in the mail this morning from her Gma.  I was able to get a little video of her sorting through her new duds before my camera ran out.

 

Last night while I was hanging clothes up out of the dryer, Elise decided to crawl into the kitchen and watch.

Elise-a-Roo

As you can see, Elise is going to grow up to be a doctor or something.  She already has the "mad scientist" hair going on.

Or even possibly a veterinarian???

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I know you will find it hard to believe, but Elise doesn't have very many toys.  We try to encourage her to play with things we already have at home.  That way we won't have to waste money on frivolous toys.

 

Digging her toys out of her basket...

Still digging....

 

 

As you can see, she is really going without.  These are just the toys in our living room.  Yes, that's right family members, Elise gets to play with her toys in our living room.  We won't be confining her to her closet like her Momma was.... even if I do have to pick all these toys up multiple times a day just for her to pull them all back out.  We have people that like to enable Elise's toy addiction, and at this stage in her life I guess I'll allow it.  But, when she starts walking she only gets brooms, mops, and vacuum cleaners to play with.

Breastfeeding

From the beginning of my pregnancy I made the decision that my baby would be breastfed.  Throughout the entire pregnancy I read all about it, took a class, surfed the web, and followed other Mommas on message boards that were or wanted to breastfeed.  Throughout all that, I understood that there were certain circumstances that would make breastfeeding difficult or impossible: Baby not latching, low milk supply, any health issues, but I hoped I wouldn't face any of those obstacles.  Then I researched pumps in case there was some reason Elise wouldn't latch on and because I had intended on pumping to send milk to daycare.  I decided to wait on buying a pump, just to see how it would all go.

I had a very loose birth plan, but the one thing I was adamant about was that my baby was not to receive any formula.  I breastfed her soon after she was born, but then the nurses took her off to the nursery.  Before they left with her, I asked "no one will give her any formula, right?" 

I was very lucky that I didn't have any problems that prevented Elise from breastfeeding.  Of course it hurt like mother for a little while, but it was soooo important to me for my child to have breast milk that I just bit my lip and closed my eyes.  I just went through child birth.  Surely I can suck it up and breast feed.  Nursing isn't for everyone, and it is a personal choice, but I found it very surprising that many people would actually ask me "are you nursing?"  I found it even more surprising that everyone that works at my pediatrician's office assumes my baby is bottle/formula fed.  I guess that's becoming the norm these days.  The nurses would tell me what to add to her "formula" or "bottle" for her constipation.  I'd have to tell them she is exclusively breast fed and refuses a bottle (spoiled!).  They would pause for a minute... as if they didn't deal with this situation very often.

I'm going on 9 months of breastfeeding.  It has become much easier now that Elise isn't eating every two hours like when she was a new baby.  She has two teeth now and has bitten me four times.  But, she's been formula free for eight and a half months, and I would be devastated if I have to give her any.  I am so proud of myself for sticking with it this long, and so happy that Elise is getting the best nutrition she can.  I can't forget to mention how much money we've saved by not formula feeding.

L.O.V.E.