Monday, February 4, 2013

Did you see this awesomeness?

Hey all,
I noticed when the email came to me (yes, I subscribe to my own blog through email, I want to make sure that I know how things look to my subscribers so I am not offering a subpar blog :) anyways I noticed that my post on Saturday got lumped together with the post from Sunday and was kinda hard to see at the bottom of the post. Since I rarely post two so close together it is rare to have more than one post in the same email. So you may have missed this awesome post. And I know that you don't want to miss it because it is so cool :)

So if you missed it here is a little snippet!


DIY How to Make Dude Family Shirts

When I told Mr. Random that I had to get part of his gift at Michael's and my super crafty, scrap booking, Stampin' Up selling aunt was helping me with it he couldn't imagine that I would be giving him anything he would actually want. But of course he was wrong, he loved these! As did everyone else we showed them too. And who couldn't love them? They are soooo cute! So here are directions to make your very own Dude shirts. Oh, and if you don't want to make your own check out my etsy shop, it is posted there too!

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Blast from the Past 24 - 25 deep questions, only answer for yourself if you really want others to know the real you :)

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From April 2007


25 deep questions, only answer for yourself if you really want others to know the real you :)


25 Deep questions that will really tell you something about yourself. Not stupid questions like "What is your favorite pizza?"


1. What is more difficult for you, looking into someones eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someones eyes when they are telling you how they feel?
Looking into their eyes when telling them how I feel, I guess I feel that I have more responsibility for my own feelings than for others

2. Think of the last time you were REALLY angry. Why were you angry?
hmm, I can't think of a time when I was really REALLY angry, I mean I know I have been angry, but most of the time it is trivial, and I get over it pretty fast. I guess the closest was a few weeks ago a guy told me that he didn't like me like that, and I realized that he had kinda led me on, but that was more hurt than anger, and I have gotten over it by now

3. You are on a flight from Honolulu to Chicago non-stop. There is a fire in the back of the plane. You have enough time to make ONE PHONE CALL who do you call?
my family, hopefully they would all be in the same place at the time.

4. You are at the doctor's office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. What do you do?
umm, continue my life, I don't believe half of those prognosis anyways, and if it was true there is nothing I can do to stop it. I guess I would try to do anything that I hadn't done that I really wanted to, but the only thing that I can think of along those lines right now, is get married, but I wouldn't rush out and marry the next guy I saw, I would only marry someone who I was already planning on marrying, or at least thinking about marrying. By the way, in case some of you are getting the impression that my only goal in life, it is not, in fact I am in the process of writing down 50 goals for my life that will be published in my notes/blog when completed, so keep an eye out for that, but most of them can not be accomplished in 1 month

5. You can have one of the following two things: trust/love. Which do you choose?
Trust, love can develop out of trust, but love without trust is not love at all.

6. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late even once more, you are fired. Do you save the dog?
yes, I would save the dog, what job is worth the guilt that would put on me?

7. You are unfaithful to your spouse/significant other. Do you tell him/her?
yes, but this is a unimportant question because I would not cheat on them in the first place.

8. Your best friend of the opposite sex confesses that he/she has feelings for you more then just friendship. He/she is falling in love with you. What do you do?
hmm, it depends, if I also have feelings for them I would see if we could start a relationship. If I did not have feelings for them, and didn't think I ever would then I would tell them the truth and not lead them on ,and still try to be friends with them. but if since I am the girl, and I do believe that love can develop out of friendship, and does not actually have to be there from the beginning, I would also allow him to pursue me if he wanted to.

9. Think of the last person who you know that died. You have the chance to give them 1 hour of life back, but you have to give one year of your life. Do you do it?
hmm, this is tough, I do not know a whole lot of people who have died, except my Grandpa, and when he died he was really old and really sick. So I am thinking that I would probably not, but I have a good reason (I think). I do not think that my grandpa would want me to give up a year of my life for an hour of his, because I know I would not want someone to waste a year of their life, unless that hour would be life changing for me. What would he do with that hour? He was stuck in a hospital room, and all the people he loved knew he was dying well before he died, so we all got to say goodbye before that, and nobody showed up like 5 min late or anything, so that hour would not be incredibly meaningful, just another hour of pain and waiting. Also I know that my grandpa was a christian and he probably would have wanted to get to heaven that hour earlier, and not stay with his sick hurting body, I know I would.

10. Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend?
yes, I think so

11. Does love = sex?
no, definitely not, sex is an expression of deep, soul-connected love between man and his wife, but it is not love in and of itself.

12. Your boss tells your co-worker that they have to let them go because of work shortage, and they are the newest employee. You have been there much longer. Your co-worker has a family to support and no other means of income. Do you go to your boss and offer to leave the company?
hm, I don't know I guess it depends on my situation. Is it talking about right now, as in I don't really have anyone to support and I do not have an incredible need for the money? How is the job market? Is there a high chance that I or the other person will find another job? Do I really like or hate the job? Was I planning on leaving or only working temporarily anyways? Anyays I really could not answer this question without more info.

13. When was the last time you told someone HONESTLY how you felt regardless of how difficult it was for you to say? What did you have to tell the person? Was it difficult?
hmm, I am not sure, but I am sure that that time is coming up, because I am now reading the book Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, and I am coming to realize that I live a somewhat boundary-less life, so I will have to start erecting some boundaries after I figure out how :)

14. What would be harder; for you to tell somebody you love them or that you do not love them back?
To tell them I love them, I think, I don't know, actually I guess it would be harder to tell them that I don't love them back because I don't believe in declaring my feelings until the guy has declared his, so I would already know that he loved me so that wouldn't be hard at all, but if I hurt someone by telling them that I didn't love them then that would really hurt me too.

15. What do you think would be the hardest thing for you to give up? Why would it be hard to lose?
hmm, I think for me, right now, the hardest thing to give up would be facebook and myspace because that is how I stay connected with some people, and if I didn't have that I might lose some of my friendships

16. Excluding romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them?
hmm, when I told my family that I loved them today

17. If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia can you read correctly?
well I don't think that cross-eyed actually affects your reading ability, but I could be wrong about that, but with dyslexia your words / letters get mixed up, so even though you can read it would be very difficult.

18. Imagine. It is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. Who do you wish was there with you?
my daddy, he always protects me

19. Would you give a homeless person CPR if they were dying?
sure, if they needed it and nobody else knew how, I am certified but it has been years since I have been trained, hmm I should do that training again.

21. You are holding onto your grandmother's hand and the hand of a newborn that you do not know as they hang over the edge of a cliff. You have to let one go to save the other. Who do you let fall to their death?
well first of all I would probably not be able to hold on long enough to even think about this question, and I am really unsure that I could hold up my grandma with one hand, but anyways, hmm, I don't know I guess from a practical standpoint I probably wouldn't be able to lift my grandma high enough to get her to safety, so I would probably have to let her drop anyways, so I guess that would leave the baby, I might as well save it since I can't save my grandma. On an emotional standpoint, I have no idea.

22. Are you old fashioned?
yes, quite a bit actually.

23. When was the last time you were nice to someone and did NOT expect anything in return for it?
umm, I can't remember an exact time, but I try to be nice to people all the time, and it is not very often that I expect anything back for it.

24. Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a broken heart, or never loved at all? Why?
I think loved and lost, because true love is the emotion that is closest to that which God feels for us.

25. If you could do anything or wish anything, what would it be?
hmm, when I was little I always said that I would wish for more wishes, but knowing that that is obviously not the point of this question, hmm, I guess if I could wish for one thing it would be that I grow closer to God, which at this point requires that I know how to grow closer to God, so I guess knowledge of how to grow closer to God would be my biggest wish right now.


Saturday, February 2, 2013

DIY How to make Dude Family Shirts

I am so excited to be sharing this with you! I made this for Mr. Random for Christmas (I can't share his presents with you until after the holiday because Mr. Random does read my blog, I love you sweetie and I love that you read my blog!). Anyways, I am glad to finally be sharing this with you. When I told Mr. Random that I had to get part of his gift at Michael's and my super crafty, scrap booking, Stampin' Up selling aunt was helping me with it he couldn't imagine that I would be giving him anything he would actually want. But of course he was wrong, he loved these! As did everyone else we showed them too. And who couldn't love them? They are soooo cute! So here are directions to make your very own Dude shirts. Oh, and if you don't want to make your own check out my etsy shop, it is posted there too! Anyways, here they are:

DIY How to make Dude Family Shirts


I was inspired by this etsy item. It looks to me like it is screen printed. I looked into screen printing but it seemed like too much of an investment. So I decided to make it with fabric paint since I had all the needed supplies, I just had to buy the shirts.


Supplies:
Shirts for each person you are making one for
Fabric Paint
Full Sheet stickers
Foam paint brush
Something for cutting out the letters (I used a cricut machine)
Extra shirt/fabric you don't mind ruining
Cardboard (big enough to sit inside the shirt and cover the whole design, I cut up a diaper box)


Directions:
Cut your cardboard to the right size. This is the one I used for the onesie, I had a different size for the adult shirts.
Gather your supplies. I actually did not use the shown shirt from Michael's because I found what I was looking for at a thrift shop. I managed to get Mr. Random's shirt for $.50 at a Good Will 1/2 off sale. I already had the onesie for little man, had gotten it at a garage sale, it probably cost me $.50 or less. My shirt was the most expensive, I got it at another thrift shop for $3.50. I had gotten the above shirt from Michael's for $2.50 but then found the shirt I used (I wanted a fitted shirt but didn't want to pay Michael's price) and decided to go with that. If you take some time and haunt the t-shirt bins at thrift shops sometimes you can find what you need, but this does take some time and changing of standards because it is pretty rare to find a blank white shirt in the t-shirt bin. But check the shirt racks too, sometimes you can hit the jackpot there.

These are the colors of paint I used. All of the dudes were in navy blue. The big was in royal blue. The little was made by mixing royal blue and white. The mrs was made by mixing deep red and white.
This is the t-shirt I didn't mind ruining. It was nice to get an idea of what things would look like on t-shirt material. I wanted to test the stickers to make sure that they would give me the effect I wanted (they did!) and I tested the colors I was mixing to see how they looked with the navy blue. It also helped me realize that I needed the cardboard in the t-shirt because fabric paint does leak through. If you are super confident in your abilities with fabric paint feel free to skip this step.

Cut the words out of sticker paper. Sorry I didn't get a picture of this actual step, I wasn't even thinking about pictures then. I used a cricut machine to cut out the words and it worked awesome for this. I don't own a cricut, but I have an awesome aunt who owns one and let me use hers. If you don't own one or have an awesome crafty aunt/family member/friend who has one then you may be able to use a stencil and scalpel knife thing, but it will be a lot harder to get the words so precise. Maybe you can check at local schools, craft stores and such? They may have one that they'd let you use possibly for a fee. Or see if you can find your local Stampin' Up representative, they may have one or know someone who does who could let you use it. This would be a great way to make some crafty friends :)

 Peel off the back of the sticker.
Position the word. This was the hard part. I used a measuring tape because I couldn't find my yard stick and tried to find the center of the word and the shirt and match them up. This is a lot harder than it looks. In the end I measured and then eyeballed it and called it good enough.
Press the sticker firmly against the cloth. This step is very important. make sure you trace all the way around each letter. If you don't get it stuck down well the paint will bleed under the sticker and your lines will be less precise.
Paint over the sticker. Make sure you don't paint over the outer edges of the sticker, it is very easy to get too close to the edge. I did a couple times. You can get most of it out with a baby wipe (keep them handy!) but you will still have a little of that color left.
 Let it sit for a minute.
Peel off the sticker. I didn't wait until it was completely dry, I just let it sit for a minute then peeled the sticker up.
For the sticker in between letters I found that a fork worked best.
Doesn't it look great? Although you can see the small blue spot where I accidentally went over the edge. Repeat the above steps for each word for each shirt. If you are doing two words on the same shirt like these you need to wait for around 5-10 minutes before you apply the next sticker. After you peel off the last sticker you need to let it sit for 24 hours to completely set. I had to hide these laying out flat while they were drying so Mr. Random wouldn't see them before Christmas, that was fun :). We have washed these shirts several times and have not really had any problems. Little Man's paint has cracked a little bit along the creases but it still looks fine. The picture below was taken today and you can't see it at all.







What do you think? Are you going to make some? Or would you like to order some?


Linked Up To:
Blissful and Domestic, The Thriftiness Miss, While He Was Napping, The Frugal Girls, Monday Funday,

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Blast from the Past 23 - Sports movies and underdogs

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From April 2007

Sports movies and underdog

Why do people like the underdog so much? I just watched Coach Carter, which for those of you who have not seen it, is yet another movie about a team who is not good getting a good coach and working hard and becoming good. It was a really good movie, I admit that I and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it brought up the question for me, why do we like the underdog so much? Why don't we like the champions? I mean how many movies are there out there with an underdog rising up and becoming the best? Have you ever seen a sports movie about a team who is already the best? I haven't. And in all those underdog sports movies how are the champions portrayed? The are jerks, they are bullies, they are mean. And what happens? The underdog team beats the great jerky champions, the unbeatable. But when they beat the champions, they become the champions right? Does that mean that they are going to become jerks too? And then in a few years when another underdog team is good, will they rise up and beat our underdog team? Now that would be interesting, lets make a sequel for one one of those sports movies, what would happen? who would we cheer for? And another thing that bothers me about these movies, they only show the reaction of the underdog team which, because of the nature of the movie, probably won. Now Coach Carter was slightly different. The team doesn't always win. And they then show us their reaction, they are of course sad, depressed, wishing they had won, thinking that maybe they just weren't good enough. What they still didn't show is that in all those other games, which they won, the other team felt the same way. That is one of major issues with sports, in every competitive game someone wins and someone loses. Someone goes away thinking they are the best, and someone goes away thinking that there is something wrong with them. And all we look at is the one that won. It doesn't matter how hard you work in life, how much you want it, how much you try, there is always going to be someone better than you. And even if you do somehow manage to become the best of something, then you still have to work at it because there are all those people under you trying to get to where you are. And if you are on top and someone is making there way up to beat you, who are people going to cheer for and wish to succeed? The person under you trying to take your place, everybody is hoping that you will fail. Why is that? I think it's because people see themselves in the underdog. Most people are obviously not the best of anything so when they see someone else who is not the best come in and take on the person who is the best, and win, it gives them hope that they can do that too. Hmm, well I thought I had more, but I guess that is all I have to say. So I will end this note/blog now, and let you all think about how right I am :) and come up with your own conclusions on how this applies to your life :)


Friday, January 25, 2013

Friday Fascinations 9 - Everything Linky Party - I am going to Sleep

This week I have been down with a pretty bad cold. And last week before I got sick I volunteered to host family group (our small group bible study) this week. So between cleaning our house which was a total disaster area and trying to get better I have not gotten much else done. I just realized this morning that today was friday and I was supposed to post this party today. But I am so tired that I have nothing interesting to say. So that is what you get this week, my blahness. As soon as Little Man is ready for a nap we are both going down. Oh, I think he might be ready, bye!

I am going to try putting the features in with the party posts so the features from this party will show up in two weeks on the next Friday Fascinations post. Don't think of it as waiting two weeks to see if you are featured, think of it as a nice influx of visitors in two weeks, keeping your pageviews up for your older posts! :) Thanks everyone for linking up, can't wait to see what you link this time!

This week we are going to do an everything linky party. You can link up anything that you have been working on, thinking about, writing about, whatever. Literally any post of yours that you would like to share with my readers link it up!

Oh and if you have a linky party that you would like me to visit please link it up in the Link Up Your Party Here tab above. I love visiting parties and when I have time I go to that tab and visit all the parties that are open at that time.

The rules:
  •  For this party you may link up anything that you have been working on - crafts, recipes, random musings, etc. I do not mind links to giveaways or parties as long as you state that it is a giveaway or party in the title. Link up whatever you want just please be honest in the title. I do some themed linky parties sometimes, but this one is a free for all!
  • Please follow me in some way. If you absolutely hate my blog then of course don't follow it, but if you hate it should you really be linking up? (I leave that for you to answer :) There are several ways to follow me offered on the right sidebar.
  • Link up directly to the post, not your home page.
  • By linking up you are giving me permission to feature your post including but not limited to pictures and quotes from your post, and also to feature your post in my various social media outlets.
  • This is a family friendly, Christ following blog. I reserve the right to remove a link to any content that I find offensive or not compatible with this blog, with or without notice.
  • Please add a back link or my button to your blog or post somewhere. You can find my buttons in the button tab above.
  • Please check out some of the other links and leave some love in some way (comment, pin, follow, etc.)
Oh and I'd love it if you would take a button!

 



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Let's Talk - About Breastfeeding - It Hurts!



I have been wanting to start this series for a while. It has been on my heart to share some of my experiences with you so that maybe I can help some of you. Some of these experiences were easy and will be lighthearted posts simply sharing some tips and tricks with you. Some of these experiences were hard and will be more deep sharing. I will try to be open and honest because I know that that will help the most people. I will try to give you as many details as I can remember, some of these experiences happened over a year ago. I would also like to hear your experiences. I would love for this to be a safe place to open up and share our stories.


For some reason feeding Little Man has been one of the hardest things that I have had to deal with as a mother so far. (And for some reason I am just the type of person to chose my hardest experience to share with you first :) And yes I do have some tips for you and I will give you hope too.

When I was pregnant I did a decent amount of research on breastfeeding. I knew that was the route that I wanted to go. I was totally convinced that breastfeeding was the only way to go (and I admit shamefully I was judgmental about those who chose not to. Yes, I have changed that view, I still think that breastfeeding is best and it would be best if women would at least try it, but I do understand what would make a woman give up on it). So, with that research, I thought I knew what I was in for. It seemed that yes, some women simply are not capable of breastfeeding for various reasons, but for those who are it is fairly natural. Yes I read some articles and such that said that breastfeeding can be hard, and it is not easy for most moms and babies, that it takes some work and it is something you have to learn to do. But I don't think that those articles correctly expressed exactly how hard breastfeeding can be. They made it sound like if you just work at it you will get it and it will become easy (yes that is true in my case, but just work on it makes it sound quick and easy, it wasn't.).

In the hospital when I first tried breastfeeding I had the had the hardest time getting Little Man to latch. No, that doesn't describe it correctly. I could not get him to latch. I would get him up there and he would suck for like 1 second and then fall off again. The few times he would stay on he would fall asleep almost immediately. So like I was told in the articles I asked for the lactation Consultant, knowing that that should just solve everything (or so I was told). The Consultant eventually showed up about the third or fourth attempt at feeding. She showed me a few techniques and basically forced Little Man to latch and it worked! (well he ate for a few more seconds at a time and she helped put him back on when he fell off). I thought my problems were solved. I tried again later without her and found that in order to implement her tips I would have needed at least 3 hands. So I kept trying on my own for a while but most of the time I just ended up asking one of the nurses to help me. So I finally got fed up and asked for her to come back again the next day.

When she came back I asked more pointed questions and asked her to tell me what to do instead of just doing it herself, so I could learn to do it with just the 2 hands I had. I knew that I needed to learn to do it on my own because I wouldn't always have helpful nurses around to provide the 3rd and 4th hand. The lactation consultant (LC) gave me some more tips and tricks which didn't really work, so I was starting to get discouraged. One of the things I asked was for them to watch to see if he was latching correctly the few times he did latch. Because when he was eating it hurt a lot. Everyone (the articles and the LC) kept saying that if I was doing it correctly it shouldn't hurt, just a tugging sensation, and maybe a little soreness as I was getting used to it. So I figured I must be doing it wrong since I was experiencing A LOT of pain. After watching for a while they said that the latch was correct. So what I learned from that is no matter what they say breastfeeding can hurt even if he is latched correctly. I kept trying at the hospital, and never did get it exactly right, but I thought I had it figured out enough that with practice I would get it. I was wrong.

I am not sure I can accurately describe how hard those first months were. I knew that breastfeeding was best for little man, and I really wanted to give him the best. But it was hard. I hated breastfeeding. Not just didn't like it, or didn't care for it, I hated it. It hurt a lot every single time. I was so sore and bruised. I was feeding him every three hours even over night so the bruises never had a chance to heal. It would hurt from the moment he latched on. And the hurt never really went away, it just dulled when he wasn't eating. I was daydreaming daily about stopping and just giving him a bottle. And I mean every day, every feeding, every time I thought about feeding. I honestly was not sure the breastfeeding would make it through the first month, or the second. I only made it by sheer willpower and God. I took it one feeding at a time. I told myself that I would make it through that feeding, that was it. I did that every single feeding.

Another thing that was hard those first months was the sheer amount of time consumed by feedings. Little Man would take a minimum of 1 hour every feeding (minimum, meaning sometimes he would eat for 1.5 to 2 hours). And like I said I was getting him up to feed him every 3 hours, so literally 1/3 of my life was spent feeding him. I simply could not keep him awake while I was feeding him. The "experts" (articles) advice for this was to just force him to stay awake. They gave all sorts of tips and tricks to keep a baby awake, and trust me I tried all of them. I did the wet washcloth, running my finger up his spine (that worked the best for me), talking to him, etc. It all worked, for less than a second, then he would go to sleep again. I would have to sit there running my finger up and down his spine (or whatever trick I was doing) to get him to eat very much in a row, and eventually he would become desensitized and sleep through even that. I was doing everything I could and it was not working, so I gave up and just read or watched tv while I fed him so that I could at least bear it and tried not to fall asleep (it didn't always work).

I tried everything I could think of those first months to try to make things better. I really wanted to succeed at breastfeeding. I tried smothering on lanolin and using breast pads for the pain. I tried everything I could to keep him awake. Nothing was working and I was losing willpower, it was just too painful. I even thought about just pumping and feeding that to him (because at that point pumping was less painful) but that took even more time because the pumping took an hour and then he would take forever eating it, and I wasn't producing enough when pumping so i would have had to supplement anyways. At some point I broke down and bought a nipple shield. I had read about them and had asked the LC at the hospital about them but she said that it was only for people who had a specific problem (I don't remember what, it was over a year ago) and that if I started he might get addicted and not be able to feed without it and I would have to wean him off it. So I tried going without it. But I finally decided to try it. I figured if it saved breastfeeding it was worth it.

And I was right, it was worth it! I think that one little device saved breastfeeding for me. And Little Man didn't get addicted to it, I did. It didn't take the pain away completely, but it masked it a lot. I stopped getting bruises, and as Little Man slept a little longer at night they started healing. I found that I could make it through. I still daydreamed about switching to formula, but it was less often. And as little man was getting older he started staying awake longer which meant eventually feeding took less time (that took several months, but it did happen eventually, by the time he was a year old he only took about 15 minutes to eat).

After things got better with the nipple shield I had some hope, but I was still worried about Little Man. I was worried because after doing some research I found that the nipple shield caused a decrease in lactation and my milk supply could go down. I was worried because I wasn't sure if Little Man was getting enough food. And I was really worried because Little Man was slow in gaining weight. I did go to the dr. but they were just monitoring it, they wanted to wait a little while to see if I needed to supplement. So after a while I went back to the LC. One of my friends had told me that the LC could weigh Little Man before and after the feeding to find out exactly how much he ate. And I wanted her to show me again how to feed Little Man without the nipple shield since everything seemed to be saying that I would have to learn that eventually.

Going to the LC was a great decision! It was a different one than the one who helped me in the hospital and this one was way more helpful. She did weigh him before and after the feeding and that gave me the reassurance that he was getting enough food. She also gave me the wonderful news that I could continue using the nipple shield the entire time he was breastfeeding as long as I pumped 3 times a day too. She also gave me several tips and helped me feed him without the shield and without pain for the first (and only) time. I tried what she showed me later at home and found out that what I was doing there didn't work at home with any of the furniture I had. So most of that didn't help, but like I said it was worth it for the reassurance and finding out I could keep using the shield.

She did help me realize a few things about Little Man's eating style. He was a lazy nurser, he was trying to suck like he would with a spaghetti noodle instead of the chewing sucks he was supposed to be doing. He also had a tendency to pull his lips in, they were supposed to be spread wide like a fish. She helped me work with him on both of those. That helped sometimes, but I sometimes got lazy and let him nurse how he wanted. If it hurt a lot I would change it but most of the time it was just easier to let him eat. That part was my fault, I was lazy. If you want you can do better on that than I did. It is possible that if I worked harder it might not have hurt after that, I don't know for sure, but it is possible.

So learning that I could continue using the nipple shield the entire time I was nursing, and that Little Man getting enough food made it a lot easier because I didn't have those things to worry about. It still hurt, but the pain was bearable. It was generally just a dull ache with an occasional sharper pain. And as Little Man was staying awake longer and getting the hang of nursing better, the time factor also got better. Little Man was a champion sleeper and was sleeping through the night by 7 weeks old (he probably would have earlier but I was getting him up on a schedule for the first several weeks in order to establish nursing well) so I was finally getting sleep and didn't have to sleep as much during the day. And he reduced the time he took to eat also. By 6 months it took an average of 1/2 hour (It may have been earlier, I don't remember exactly). I think he went down to 15 minutes of eating somewhere around 9 months. Let me tell you having time in my day again was amazing!

As nursing got easier I stopped hating it. I stopped having daydreams about formula after those first couple months. By 6 months I couldn't imagine stopping, I didn't really see the point. I had worked so hard to get to that point, there was no way I was giving up just when it got easy. And I managed to make it to 1 year! We had kinda a mutual weaning that started about soon after his birthday. So I did it, I succeeded! I made it to 1 year (that had been my original goal, before all the difficulty)! It was a hard long journey, but I did it!

So I made it, but at what cost? I don't mean at the end. It was easy by then. The hardest thing then was just the inconvenience of trying to nurse a squirming 1 year old (which is extremely difficult in public, trust me). What was the cost at the beginning? I couldn't enjoy my first few months with my son. Instead of enjoying the cuddle time I was wincing in pain and wishing I could give him a bottle. Would I do it again, knowing what I know now? Probably, because I know about the nipple shield now. I know I can use it from the beginning if I need to. I don't have to just sit there in pain. I will probably start off without it to see how it goes, but have it with me just in case. If it is as bad as it was last time even with the shield I don't know what I will do. Maybe I will keep going, maybe I will switch to formula, maybe I will pump and supplement, we'll see. But whatever I end up doing will be a win because I tried, and because the baby would still be getting good food.


So what's your story? What was your goal? Did you make it? Was it hard for you? Did it hurt? Would  you do it again?


* I am not saying that it will work this way for everyone, or that everyone should even try. I would love to have you comment and leave your story, but I hope that you will be nice and respectful, and take this as it was meant to be - an open sharing of my story, not a judgement or even a comment about you. Negative comments against me or any of the previous commenters will not be published so please don't take the time to write them.



Linked Up To:
The Frugal Girls, Monday Funday, Cornerstone Confessions, Blissful and Domestic, The Thriftiness Miss, While He Was Napping,

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Blast from the Past 22 - How to get a girl's heart

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From April 2007

How to get a girl's heart

Here is something I found on Facebook. It is cute and a lot of it is true.

This is a disclaimer, I do not agree with all of them. I especially do not believe that all of them should be done before marriage. My comment are in () beside the actual things. And do not try to get a girl's heart unless you are really sure you want it, meaning that you really love her and want to marry her.

45 ways to get a girls heart...

1-touch their waist (this should wait)
2-talk to them (girls love to talk)
3-share secrets
4-give her your jacket
5-kiss them slowly

are you remembering this?


6-hug her
7-hold her
8-laugh with her
9-invite her somewhere
10-let her be with you when you're with your friends (girls do not like to be excluded)


keep reading


11-smile with her
12-take pics with her (we like pictures)
13-pull her onto your lap (wait)
14-when she says she loves you more, deny it. fight back
15-when her friends say i love her more than you, deny it. fight back and hug her tight so she cant get to her friends. it makes her feel loved


Are you thinking about someone?


16-always hug her and say i love you when you see her (only say I love you if you really do, this is mentioned later)
17-kiss her unexpectedly
18-HUG HER FROM BEHIND AROUND THE WAIST
19-tell her shes beautiful not sexy/Hot!
20-tell her the way you feel about her!


..20 u need to show her you mean it too


21-kiss her on the lips
22-DONT ask her to buy you stuff. you buy HER stuff (yeah)
23-TELL HER WHAT FEELS GOOD
24-make her feel loved
25-buy her stuff. small things can still help


we might deny it but we accutally like and kinda want you to get us things


26-don't lie to her...... (duh)
27-dont cheat on her!!!!!!!! (double duh)
28- just lay with her, just being with u will make her happy. (wait)
29-txt messege or call her in the morning and tell her have a good day at school, and how much you miss her
30-be there for her when ever she needs you, & even when she doesn't need you, just be there so she'll know that she can always count on you


are you still reading this? u better be, its important


31. Hold her close when she's cold and she can hold you too.
32. When you are alone hold her close and kiss her.
33. Kiss her on the cheek; it will give her the hint that you want to kiss them
34. While in the movie, put your arm around her and then she will automatically put her head on your shoulder, then lean in and tilt her chin up and kiss her lightly.
35. Dont ever tell her to leave even jokingly or act like you're mad. If shes upset, comfort her. (duh)


remember this next time you are with her


36. When people diss her, stand up for her. (of course)
37. Look deep into her eyes and tell her you love her. (only if you mean it)
38. Lay down under the stars and put her head on your chest so she can listen to the steady beat of your heart, Link your fingers together while you whisper to her as she rests her eyes and listens to you. (be careful with this)
39. When walking next to each other grab her hand.
40. When you hug her hold her in your arms as LONG as possible


MAKE SURE SHE KNOWS SHES LOVED


41. Call her at night to wish her sweet dreams.
42. Comfort her when she cries and wipe away her tears.
43. Take her for long walks at night.
44. Always Remind her how much you love her.
45. never tell her you love her, unless u truely mean it with all of your heart. (amen!)


you'll never know when she needs just a little more love....Rember this stuff.. it will help u... 



Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Perfect Outfit - No nonsense leggings

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of No nonsense for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I first realized that I was offered this opportunity I panicked a little bit. I am so not a fashionista. I spend about 2 minutes picking out my clothes in the morning. I do not spend tons of time or money buying them either. I thought about asking one of my sisters to guest post for me, they are both more into fashion than I am, but I really wanted to do this myself. As I looked into what I needed to do I found that I could do it. I do enjoy clothes and definitely have ones I prefer so I can talk to you about what I like, I don't have to be a fashionista to do that.

So what is it that I like? What is my style, my fashion? Well the first and most important thing is that it must be comfortable. I spend a lot of time in clothes, if i am going to wear them they are going to be comfortable. This has gotten even more important in the last couple years, how can I concentrate on being a good mom if I am in constant pain or discomfort? The second is that they must be decent. I am getting up and down, bending, twisting, running, on a daily basis, if I can't do all that without flashing everyone around me then I am not wearing the right clothes. Also if I am not capable of doing all that in the clothes I am wearing then I am not wearing the right clothes. Third it cannot take me forever to get into or out of the clothes. I do not have time to waste on making sure my outfit is perfect, I have way better things to do with my time. So I like things I can just throw on easily.

So with all that said No nonsense tights and leggings would definitely be a good addition to my wardrobe. They fit all the criteria: they are comfortable (well I assume they are, they look super comfy), they are decent (and they would help less decent outfits become more decent), and I don't think they would take too long to put on. And they are cute! I think they would make a great addition to quite a few of my outfits. They are also affordable.

I put together an outfit using No nonsense leggings to show you how I would use them. I chose the black cotton leggings because cotton is comfy and black goes with everything. I would throw on a long shirt/short dress over it. I would love to have a wide belt like that to pair with that kind of outfit. Honestly the rest of the collection I probably would not wear simply because I don't want to take the time to put on all of that but it was fun to pick it out and pretend :). Plus I had to have it in there for all you fashionistas who will be judging my collection :).

No nonsense also partnered with Jill Martin, a fashion expert, tv personality, and co author of "I Have Nothing to Wear" to create and promote their new lines. They have created some videos to show how their leggings can be useful for everyone. Check this one out!

Are you wondering now where you can find these neat leggings? Click on this link No nonsense tights and leggings and use the store locator to find a store that sells them near you. You can find them at  many drug stores and mass retail stores! It looks like in my area they are sold at Kroger and Meijer. I also found the black ones on Walmart.com. You can also check them out on Facebook - No nonsense on Facebook and Twitter - @benononsense.

 

 

So what do you think? Do you wear leggings or tights regularly? What do you pair them with?

 

Visit Sponsor's Site

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Friday Fascinations 6 and 7 Features

If you didn't catch it before Friday Fascinations is back! Go on over and link up!

As I was going through my old posts to see what # my latest linky party would be I noticed that I accidentally did not post features from Friday Fascinations 6 and 7 so I figured I would go ahead and post them here. Better late than never I guess. Sorry to all of you, that I did not get you featured before. So anyways here they are!

For those who are featured get yourself a button!



 


Friday Fascinations 6 Features

Favorite Recipe

Serenity You linked up a Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie that looks yummy!


Favorite Craft Idea

And Who Say's You Can't linked up her Top 10 Projects for Frames. Very Cool, lots of great ideas!


Favorite Kid Post

Delivering Grace linked up some ideas if if you experience Picture Book Fatigue (when preschool children get sick of the same old picture books but aren't ready for chapter books yet). Great ideas!



Friday Fascinations 7 Features

Favorite Recipe

One Creative Mommy linked up her recipe for Dehydrated Pears and DIY Fruit Rolls. My mom makes dehydrated fruit and I have always loved it! This makes me think maybe I should borrow her dehydrator and make myself some yummy dried fruit. And OCM I agree with you about dehydrated pairs being the best with a chewy center.






Favorite Craft Post

The Domesticated Princess linked up her post about a ring that she turned into a necklace. The story behind the ring is very touching, and the new necklace looks great!



Favorite Inspirational Post

One Creative Mommy linked up a post where she talks about her daughter going Gluten Free because of Celiac Disease. It is very touching. This subject is important to me because I have several family member who are gluten free and one who has celiac. Gluten free is becoming more and more common, I think most people know at least one person who is going gluten free. So this post is good for all of us. I am planning to go look at some of her other gluten free posts.





Thanks for all of you who linked up! Again, sorry it took me so long to post these. They were definitely worth looking at again!



Sunday, January 13, 2013

Blast from the Past 21 - For guys who think they're so good but can't find a good girl, and girls looking for a good guy

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From April 2007



For guys who think they're so good but can't find a good girl, and girls looking for a good guy



I copied this from a friends buletin. I had to edit it a little because I do not agree with all of it, but all the original wording is there minus the offensive words. When I changed words within the text they will be in []. When I have a comment it will be in ().

I'm sorry,
That I was raised with respect;
not to sleep with you when you were drunk,
for not to sleeping with you just for the sport.

I'm sorry,
That my body's not ripped enough
to "satisfy" your wants.

I'm sorry,
that I open your car door,
and pull out your chair like I was raised, and
to say thank you and tell you I appreciate you
for respecting you.

I'm sorry,
That I'm not cute enough or popular enough
to be "your guy."

I'm sorry,
That I am actually nice, caring, patient, understanding
not an [stupid guy]. Nobody else can see it.

I'm sorry,
I don't have a huge bank account
to buy you expensive things. (girls don't need a guy with a big bank account, just one who loves them and makes enough to support them)

I'm sorry,
That I would like to spend quality nights at home...
just cuddling with you, cooking for you,
or even being in your beautiful presence.

I'm sorry,
I would rather make love to you then just [have sex with] you like all the rest of the [stupid guys]. That I want you to feel my love in my passion with you.

I'm sorry,
That I am always the one you need to talk to, for always being there when you needed me, but never good enough to date, or thank. I know you've thanked me, but it's hard to accept it so much.

I'm sorry,
That I always held your hair back when you threw up,and didn't get mad at you for puking in my car, and on my pants.
That when we went out, you went home with another guy. (guys if you are a good guy then you should want a good girl, and good girls don't do this stuff, so why do you want her anyways? Why do you talk about girls going for the wrong guy when you are going for the wrong girl?)

I'm sorry,
That I am there to come to see your beautiful face, filled with tears at 2 in the morning, or pick you up at 4 AM when your new man hurt you and dropped you off in the middle of nowhere,
but not good enough or to busy to listen to me when I need a friend. (ditto above)

I'm sorry,
If I start not...being there, being used as a door mat, and only to be thrown to the side when the new [stupid guy] comes around, or when anything else has your attention.

I'm sorry,
If I don't answer my phone anymore when you call, just to listen to you cry for hours. I often get just as upset and cry quietly with you..hoping you to hear me or worry about me... instead of getting a couple hours of sleep before work or school.

I'm sorry,
that you can't realize.. I've been the ONE all along.

I'm sorry,
That you hooked up with my friend, knowing that all I wanted was to be with you.

I'm sorry,
that you go running back to the guy that hurts you so much.

I'm sorry,
If you read this and know somebody like this
but don't care.

I'm sorry,
That you can't accept me for who I am...

I'm sorry,
that no matter what I am, what I do, what I say, and what I am willing to do FOR YOU........ will never be enough to keep you from continuing to look for something better.

I'm sorry,
that i get upset when you find something more fun and decide to throw everything we have away on a short new experience.

I'm sorry
that no matter how honest i am with you, you still doubt me when it's mentioned by another.

I'm sorry
For not being sorry anymore, sorry for giving my all only to have it thrown back in my face.



Ladies always [complain] and [complain] to their friends that there is never any good guys out there anymore, and they always end up with [stupid guys] who treat them bad. Well ladies next time your [complaining], maybe look up to see who your [complaining] to, (when I complain about guys I usually complain to girls, guys don't really understand) maybe that special someone is right there hanging on your every word like usual, screaming in his head "why don't you give me a try?"
Because the person you are usually searching for is right by you.

If you're a guy and you agree with this letter, repost as "I'm sorry" and add a little if I forgot something

If You're one of the few girls with enough balls (why would we want male parts? I thought guys liked us as girls?) to repost, and you would never make your guy feel this way, repost as "To all the girls who can't accept a good guy"

(I will reiterate. If a girl does not see you for the good guy that you are why are you chasing her? There are girls who really are looking for good guys, just like there are guys who are looking for girls who want good guys. So why don't you stop complaining and go find a good girl.)



Linked Up To:
Cornerstone Confessions
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