If you're a bird, I'm a bird

I think we all have to remind ourselves that parents choose to raise their children differently. I know I am guilty of looking down on parents who choose to do things differently than us and thinking our ways are "best". Of course, there are people out there, older people mostly, who tell us how they used to do things. Times have changed, like the use of walkers, cereal in bottles, carseat laws, and babies sleeping on their stomachs. These are some things we Joseph and I have decided on right now: God- Lincoln will be raised in a godly home where he hears Bible stories, prayer at the dinner table and at bedtime, prayers over his sicknesses, thanksgiving for answered prayers, clean television (once he is allowed to watch), church attendance, give 10% of all the money he receives to the Lord. Breastfeeding- I'll breastfeed him for a year.We were given the okay today to start introducing cereals (if we want to and think he is ready). I think we will wait a li...

So as a breastfeeding mom, as I was told to "feed on demand". When Lincoln was a newborn, if he wasn't sleeping, he was eating. Now that he is older (4 months), he does more. Some places say to establish a schedule for your baby. It's on the notes at the pediatrician's office, Lincoln's school has one, there are books like Baby Wise that talk about the importance of a schedule. I still do not feed by a clock. At school, the teachers will ask, "He eats every 3 hours?" My response, "We do not follow a schedule, we follow his cues." So that is why I say we have a routine. We eat, play, sleep. There is not a certain time or duration we do these things every day. When he wakes up at 6:00am on weekdays (because we have to get ready for school), I feed him. Once he gets to school, he plays for as long as he wants. He'll let you know he is finished by rubbing his eyes, sucking his fingers and lying his head down, whining, etc. We rarely let hi...

So when I heard how breast milk is like the first vaccine, I had a preconceived idea that it would keep my baby from getting sick. It would be a miraculous cure-all that would protect him from the air born illnesses and germs flying around at daycare and from us. At least healthier than babies not being breast fed! It all started with one of my students at school proclaiming that he went home with strep throat one day in December. He was back the next day. Even if he was on antibiotics, they hadn't been in his system 24-hours to make him not contagious anymore. I'm one of those people that can think about being exposed  to a sickness and then I'm sick. Someone says they have a sore throat and then I just know the germs are flying down my throat and the next thing I know, my throat hurts. Saying that, I do not get sick very often though. So my throat is sore and I asked the nurse at school to check my throat. She takes a flash light and shines it down my throat. She says, ...

Instead of resolutions, I like to call them "goals". I also made sure my goals were reasonable and attainable. I don't need added stress in my life. start running again (No weight goal) knit for pleasure (no project goal) only read books I already own update resume' and apply for jobs in Beaufort, SC have a job I enjoy have nightly prayer and marriage devotion with Joseph spend quality-time with Lincoln and Joseph simplify by purging old and unused things (try living with the minimum) continue blogging conceive a second child so Lincoln will have a sibling build up savings account

I was so excited to spend the day sewing in the house by myself. I wanted to make a couple more wool soakers. One I am selling on etsy for an already interested buyer. I thought Joe would be working and Lincoln would be at school for a few hours while I got some work done. Well, Lincoln's "cold" is getting worse and Joe didn't have any work today. So instead of sewing I am taking care of my sick baby in a house not so alone. I am reminded how selfless a mother has to be because her wants take second place to her baby's needs.

So Lincoln started outgrowing his newborn swaddles. His legs were bent in the bottom part so I decided to research when we should stop swaddling him. Dr. Sears said 3-4 months is a good time to stop. He said that babies in other cultures are swaddled a lot longer and end up with ball and joint problems. Lincoln was 3-months old that day so I suggested we try to ween him that night. We had a sleep sack ready that I purchased at reBlossom. I was going to give it to him for Christmas (and I am still going to wrap it up). Joe was pumping Lincoln up that night as he was dressing him telling him how awesome he is going to sleep in his new sleep sack. Joe even posed him for a "3-month old picture". I typically put Lincoln to bed each night. I laid him down like I normally do and gave him his pacifier and turned on his lullabies, the humidifier, the monitor, and night light. I don't even have to rock him. Instead of his eyes blinking slowly shut as they normally do in his swad...

I put wool soakers on my cloth diapering registry, but we didn't receive it. They cost $28-$45 at the two cloth diapering stores here in Athens. The purpose of a wool soaker is to worn at night over the cloth diaper and it absorbs the urine to avoid changing a diaper in the middle of the night or prevent leakage.  Since I didn't want to pay even $28 for a wool soaker, I decided to look up patterns online. I searched "sweater wool soaker pattern". The first one I tried was located here . The first one I made was too small so I had to go up a size. The pattern I used was a triangle cut out of paper with 16" sides. It fit him perfectly and I like the way it turned out. I found this one on a blog. I cut out the appropriate pieces for Lincoln's size based on his measurements. I made him the medium. Joe went to a few thrift stores while I was working to look for sweaters. He bought three and I ended up keeping one sweater for myself to wear. This is how the s...