The Boob Job.

   I know what you're thinking; this is another internet article about increase of breast implants among people, or about dangers of implants to your health. I would like to surprise you with the notion that this post is about the job your breasts were designed to do .... to feed an infant. Breastfeeding has gone through a bit of a makeover in last few decades as researchers discover how beneficial, nah, important, breastfeeding is for both women and babies. Let's explore the topic of breastfeeding.

Happy Birthday to my sweet Funky Monkey!

   I really can't believe that Funky Monkey turned 10! Where has the time gone? I can still remember being a new mom holding this squirmy little baby in my arms and wondering how he was going to turn out in the future. I remember sitting in the hospital room, holding my new baby, and wondering if they really were letting me take him home. After all, I was really worried that I would break him.

   It was a big adjustment going from living only for me (and my husband) to being responsible for this little creature that depended on me for everything. There were many nights that I cried with him. He was nothing like the calm, content babies in commercial ads and movies. Funky Monkey made a statement wherever he was. He arrived with a surprising amount of pain and a vacuum extraction. The first few months he cried and nursed constantly, the only constants in his little life. It took me a while to get to know his needs and act accordingly. Once I did, our lives went much more smoothly, He still nursed all the time, but I could now recognize his cries and what they meant. When he started crawling he eagerly explored everything, although he was very cautious. He always needed his mommy within the arm's reach. I didn't mind. My presence build his confidence and before I knew it he was out exploring everything, although he never leaped before he looked.

Day in the life of a mom.

   Baby Monkey is 2 months old now and I am busier than ever!!! I am not sure what he weighs now, but it's over 12 lbs. His daily schedule is still all over the place, but there are some consistencies. It also looks like he is following in his older brother's footsteps and has developed baby reflux. It surely throws a twist into the mix. This has increased the amount of laundry that I do and number of times that I have to change Baby M and myself (and sometimes Daddy has to change too!). Since life is so busy, I thought that it would be fun to write about my typical day of being a mom. Let's try a minute by minute account of one day:

7:05 am

Baby M is starting to stir next to me. I am so very tired. It was close to 3 am when I finally got a chance to sleep and 4 hours is just not enough. Maybe if I nurse him lying next to him he will fall back to sleep and we can get some more rest. I start to nurse him...

Saying goodbye!

Baby Monkey with our midwife Jennie!

   Last Wednesday, I went to see the midwives for my last visit. At 6 weeks postpartum, my pregnancy and birthing journey is done. At this point Baby Monkey and myself will transfer to our GP. It's a milestone for us. But with each milestone comes a bit of sadness. This is the point when my relationship with my midwives  has come to an end. It's the last time that I will book appointments and go for a check-up. Of course, I will probably pop by their office one in a while and say hello (I would guess that's the perk of working as a midwife - you get to see the babies you delivered grow up), but this was the last time that I was scheduled to come in. Why is this so sad? Well, these ladies provide so much support for the whole family during a very special time in peoples' lives. By nature of the profession, to be a midwife you must be a caring and compassionate person . So it's only natural that women came to like our midwives very much. And it's only natural that we will miss them very much.

I really am happy!

 With my due date fast approaching I have time to think about things. You will usually find me complaining about the discomforts of late term pregnancy, but in all reality I am very happy. Actually I feel more blessed than just happy. Happy is when you find 20 dollars on a road, or your favorite pair of jeans is on sale, or the sunset is extra beautiful. Happy, although very nice, is ordinary. It doesn't take much for everyone to find something they could be happy about. Even a person lacking something in their life could find one thing to be happy about. State of being blessed is different. It's beyond "happy" in many ways. Blessed means that you have received gifts beyond ordinary. It means that you, and only you have been given something that is extraordinary. Of course there are many things that people could be blessed with. Some people are blessed with winning a lottery, some are blessed with peace in their life, some a blessed with good health. I have been blessed with my husband and my kids.

You loose sleep over what???? part 2

Enjoying a walk together

Yesterday, I wrote about the most common question people ask us when they find out that our family homeschools. Today I would like to write a little about the second most common question we get asked. This time it has nothing to do with our family homeschooling, but it has everything about the size of our family. I started hearing it from people when I was pregnant with Little Monkey, but it only happened occasionally. Now that I am pregnant with my fourth child I hear it more often, and Daddy hears it all the time, "What were you thinking having another one?" That's right, it seems that a lot of people are almost offended by us having four kids. I am not talking here about genuine concerns form close relatives about how we are planning to support our family. I am talking about acquaintances, coworkers, and even total strangers feeling the need to let us know that we have crossed some sort of a line by having four kids.
   Not all remarks and questions are offensive and rude, like an elderly couple in a grocery store mentioning that our kids will never "run out" of playmates, or a friend saying that we are working on "starting our own sport team". These are cute and I don't necessarily take offense to them. But some questions from people that hardly know us can be downright inappropriate. When Daddy has had some people ask him if he has not got "fixed" yet, or if he knows what "causes that" I just cringe. When has it become OK to inquire about intimate details of married couple's life. When has asking about the status of your private parts become an acceptable topic for conversation in any other place than drunken frat house? When has it become everyone's business what choices a married pair make as to how many kids they will have?

Welcome to my blog.

Dear Visitor.

Thank you for visiting my new blog. I have tried this blogging thing before, and failed miserably. So why try again? Isn't life busy enough without the need to post written records of it online? Well, yes. But life also offers lessons that I learned along the way, lessons that might prove informational for others charting the same road.
   When I was first pregnant with my oldest (10 years ago) the era of online forums and chat rooms was just entering our everyday lives. Being 24 and the first one out of my family and most of my friends to have kids I felt a little off becoming a parent. Sure, there were numerous older women offering their help and support, but one thing they did not understand was how different raising kids in this new age was. Of course, changing diapers, or bathing little babies has not changed since they were new moms themselves, but the new era meant different pressures on parents, often being pulled and pushed in opposite directions. With the exclusion of few, most of the older women bottle fed their babies so they could not understand what were the needs of breastfeeding mom. They also had their closest female family members helping out while most men left child care to their wives and mothers. But we live in a world that although very connected through the Internet and phone still sees majority of family units separated from extended family members. The world has changed and old ways were no longer always the best ways to do things. I felt lost with this tiny baby that needed me all the time. Sure, my husband was there to help out when he got home from work, but for the most part I had to find things out by myself.
   But things did get better after I had my second child. Help came from the most unusual of all places, online community of moms that were stuck in the same spot as me. I owe so much gratitude to these women. I finally felt normal reading their posts, comments, and blogs. I cried with them, I laughed at being stuck in the same situations, I agreed with their wisdom. They made me feel normal. These wonderful moms kept me sane and allowed my confidence to blossom. For the first time I felt that I could do it. Their support was even more necessary as I became convinced that I wanted to home school my kids. Very few people in real life thought that it was a good idea. Some even thought that I would ruin my kids. I had an university degree, but apparently I was not equipped to teach ABC's to my kindergartner. But once again my online support system stepped in and convinced me that YES, I could do it. I have never looked back since.
   So here we are, I am a proud parent of 9 year old boy, 5 year old girl, 3 year old boy and pregnant with a little boy due in November. The two oldest are home schooled, and the third is starting preschool at home. I don't claim to know everything, but I have gained some knowledge. So to answer the question of why would I bother to blog, my answer is to give back. If I can just help one mom gain the confidence in her own abilities and stand up against the current that pulls our families and say "I know what is best for my family," then it's all worth it. Enjoy!