Life Is Beautiful

If you pay attention, you can learn a little something each day. Normally, I operate in the mundane. Slow down while eating so you don't choke, hold the baby's feet so he doesn't Riverdance in his own poopy diaper, use electrical tape, not duct tape, to keep the school agers quiet. You know, common sense. But lately I have had my eyes opened to something pretty important. Pride, stupid pride (insert child gasping at the use of the "s" word). The most difficult lessons I have been taught in recent years all have to do with pride. The word is like a nasty taste in my mouth. I just want to spit it out. Such has been the lesson of late. Nursing Cameron came to a point around about a month or so ago, where I was continuing on just for pride. He's had four front teeth for months now, and the kid could probably - quite successfully - drink a triple thick milk shake with a coffee stir stick. About the same time, I realized that he didn't like pureed f...

Yesterday I packed up my breastpump, all the assecories and Baby Susan's bottles, nipples, drop in's, drying rack, etc. I took it all downstairs and put it away in a safe place. My husband wondered if I wanted it put in a garbage bag or some other bag to protect it from dust etc. He remembers how important that thing was to me. This time around I was going to succeed with the whole breast feeding thing. I vowed to ask for help, purchase the appropriate supplies, and do what it took to nurse my third baby beyond that first two weeks. And because God is good and I am the most stubborn woman on the planet, I did. I took 12 weeks maternity leave. It was largely unpaid (I had a small insurance policy that covered my health insurance and taxes while I was gone) but worth every dollar we put on our credit card because of it. Baby was 4 weeks early, milk was slow to come in, I had a uterine infection and mastitis 4 times so I ended up needing that extra time. When I returned to wo...