WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: When You Just Want to Cry...

I used to be a big crier. Oh god, in middle school I would cry if I got a bad grade, if someone looked at me funny, or if a teacher reprimanded me for anything. In high school, I would cry when I broke up with a boyfriend, when I didn't get the role I tried out for in the school play, and when my parents wouldn't let me stay out as late as I wanted. In college, I cried when I didn't win the Hamblet Award at Vanderbilt, and...well, I'm sure there were other times. I just don't remember. I'm sure I cried a bunch after college too.

But since having kids, I haven't really cried very much. I cried in the hospital after having Baby T while reading a magazine that described an infant's age in stages, and I couldn't imagine him ever being older than he was then. When I was pregnant with Little M, I was very emotional, but I couldn't cry. In fact, my midwife thought maybe a good cry would bring on labor after my water broke and I wasn't having contractions, but I just couldn't do it.

This week, the same day I was complaining to Big T that there were toys all over the house and I just couldn't keep up with the laundry and clothing rotation, smoke started pouring out of the hood while I was driving both boys around town, and I frantically toted both boys and all of our belongings down the street to a generous friend's house. I kind of wanted to break down in tears. But I didn't.

Maybe this is why:

Drowned Toys

Bathtime Antics

A Noodle Hose

A Determined, Yet Sleepy, Fireman

Those Eyes!

Monkey Butt

This Sweetness

Check out other wonderful Wordless Wednesday posts and link up at:

Perspective

This evening, one of my friends helped me put things in perspective. I've had a rough few days, and I'm surprisingly exhausted (for the first time since having kids, of course). I've been attempting to sleep in in the mornings (not happening), and I even fell asleep on the couch a few times this afternoon, only to get "boinked" in the nose by Baby T every 15 minutes.

When I was given the chance to get out of the house tonight, this was my response:

Gaby Merediz 6:38pm Jan 20 Ugh. I'm stuck home with the kids right now. Ty won't get home till around 7, and then we'll have to deal with Tieren waking up more often than his brother because he is a crazy toddler! Why didn't anyone tell me the toddler years would be ridiculously harder than the newborn years? Give me a newborn to stick on my boob in the middle of the night any time. Give me a toddler who constantly wakes up, turns on all the lights, wakes up his brother, and tosses and chatters in bed with us and I go nuts. So I can't leave Ty alone with that right now. Especially because there is also the one who needs to be stuck on the boob periodically. Grrrr.... and WTF. And Grrrr....

Gaby Merediz 6:39pm Jan 20 Oh yeah, but thank you for the invite! I will be there in spirit as I chug some beers here on my own!!

And here I am (you'll be reading this on Saturday, but I can assure you I am writing it on Friday night), one beer down, some receipts recorded, Baby T in the crib (yup, you read that right), Little M ruining his spine in the pack 'n play, Big T asleep (I told him I would be in bed 15 minutes ago, and I'm now just wasting time), and I'm going to be woken up sometime in the middle of the night by the boob sucker, and several times by the crib-sleeping wackadoo toddler, and then again in the morning by the boob sucker. And then the wackadoo toddler will wake up the boob sucker.

But back to my friend, who just emailed me and reminded me that soon enough Baby T will be driving Little M to soccer practice. Way to put things into perspective.

Because You Can't Make This Stuff Up (Part III)

Leaving the grocery store:
Me: Say bye bye to Harris Teeter!
Baby T: I can’t say bye bye to Harris Teeter.
Me: Why not?
Baby T: It doesn’t have a mouth. It doesn’t have a head!

Baby T was playing with a tennis ball in the house and the dog kept wanting to take it from him. Finally, Baby T put the ball on the kitchen counter and told the dog, “It’s time out, Sully. You can’t take ball from me so it’s in time out.”

Baby T: Nice sweeping, mom.
Me: Thanks.
Baby T: Nice vacuuming, mom.
Me: Thanks.
Baby T: Nice crying, Mason.

Baby T: How was work, Dada?
Big T: Um, good I guess. It was fun.
Baby T: I love fun.



One day, the kitchen table was covered with my sewing stuff (as usual), and Baby T said, “I want to do a project. Mommy, clean up your mess.”

Big T was in the bathroom, and Baby T was trying to pound down the door.
Baby T: Daddy!
Me: Baby T, Daddy’s going potty. Give him some privacy.
(Baby T isn’t really familiar with the term “privacy.” He thought I said “surprise.”)
Baby T: (Banging on the bathroom door) Surprise, Daddy! Surprise!

Baby T: Oh my gosh, you’re in my way!

The kids were sick and coughing, sneezing, and sniffling.
Big T: Poor guys!
Baby T: I’m not a poor guy!

Baby T: Mason can’t talk like I do.

Baby T said, out of the blue: Daddy, why did you say dammit? (Daddy had not said anything of the sort. We’re a little nervous that all the swears we have said around Baby T have compounded and are going to come back to haunt us now.)

Me (standing in front of the open fridge): Where are the mason jars?
Big T: They are in the garage.
Me: No, we don’t have any out there anymore. Where are they?
Baby T (pointing at the baby food jars in the fridge): Here!!
Me: No, not those, Baby T. Ty—where did you say they are?
Baby T: Here, mommy. HERE!!
Me: No, I’m looking for different jars.
Baby T: But here are the Mason jars!
Of course. Baby T was pointing to Mason’s baby food jars. Mason's jars. Smart kid.

Baby T: (in the backseat of the car, babbling away. My mind was elsewhere. I get home, stop the car, go to his door, open it.) “So that’s the deal, mommy.” (said with conviction).
Me: What’s the deal?
Baby T: Poop.

Baby T: (out of the blue). Mommy, I want to ride either in a fire truck, or…. (thinks) in a police car.

Baby T: Mom! Stop! That hurts my ears!
Me: What hurts your ears?
Baby T: Your mad face!

Wordless Wednesday: Satchel Paige

We have a baseball book that we bought for Baby T because he liked looking at pictures of baseball players. In it is a picture of Satchel Paige. He was a baseball player. That's all I know. And he stuck his leg up and way out when he pitched. Baby T thinks this is funny, and he likes to imitate Satchel Paige's pitching pose.

It goes something like this:

Just like ol' Satchel himself:

Photo credit

Check out other wonderful Wordless Wednesday posts and link up at:

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: 2012 New Year's Coloring Page

One of my resolutions for the new year was to make more art. This includes the things I sew for my Etsy shop, but it also includes drawing. I have done several custom watercolor portraits over the past few years, but I haven't just sat down, relaxed, and doodled. One of the ways I'm going to keep this up during the year is by making coloring pages. Scroll to the end of the post to get your free 2012 New Year's Coloring Page!

In an attempt to get some pictures of Baby T actually coloring it, I set it down while he was eating breakfast.

See the coloring page next to the breakfast?

No mom! Don't take my picture!

Giving me a look.

Running and hiding and hamming it up.

A little later... still doesn't want his picture taken.

I don't want to say cheese!

Nooooooo!!!!

Even Little M was in on the cranky action.

So I colored it myself.

To get a free printable coloring sheet for your child (or yourself,) just CLICK HERE. The PDF file includes a coloring sheet as well as project ideas for parents to interact with their kids while they're coloring. Feel free to download and save it to your computer or print it--it's yours!


Check out other wonderful Wordless Wednesday posts and link up at:

A Breastfeeding Year in Review

This post is part of the Breastfeeding Blog Hop hosted by Life with Levi, and co-hosted by The Slacker Mom, and Diary of a Devil Dog Wife. Visit the links below and link up your own story or leave a comment!

Last week's theme was about passing the torch. I wrote about my wish that mothers really embrace motherhood and breastfeeding and realize that they can truly accomplish anything in life. This week's theme is about milestones.

So many moms set breastfeeding milestones: They will breastfeed for six months, one year, two years... Like most things in life, I didn't have any plans when it came to breastfeeding. I just knew I was going to do it. Because of that, I didn't really have any expectations, either. I guess I expected it to feel natural and be easy. I expected my kids to nurse for about two years. I didn't expect to ever nurse two kids at a time or for breastfeeding to be such an emotional experience.

Nursing and working full time with Baby T was challenging at times. I had an oversupply and a forceful letdown. Baby T had terrible gas. He woke up every 20 minutes to nurse sometimes, and he went through a few nursing strikes when he was sick and teething.I had excess lipase in my breastmilk, and I had to scald all of the milk I pumped before storing it.

But this post isn't about my first year breastfeeding; it's about this past year.

In 2011, I:

• Nursed a brand-new baby--Little M was born!
• Coslept comfortably while nursing, getting much more sleep than I had with Baby T. (Even in the hospital, not cosleeping was never an option. I was just too tired to consider anything else. The nurses kept asking to put him back into his bassinet. They never asked me not to cosleep, but they acted as though it was strange for me not to want him in his bassinet.)
• Tandem nursed a toddler and a newborn.
• Nursed a toddler as much as if he was a newborn.
• Went through weaning my toddler. It was a roller coaster. I often questioned the decision to wean. I never thought that I would want to initiate the weaning process, but nursing a toddler and a newborn was challenging. Not nursing a toddler and nursing a newborn was challenging too.
• Dealt with a forceful letdown but no oversupply issues.
• Worked on improving Little M's poor latch for the first three months of his life. His mouth was small and he had a severe overbite, so he often lost suction when nursing unless I was holding my breast with my hand and squeezing it into a flat shape so it would fit in his mouth better.
• Dealt with (and am still dealing with) a baby biting while nursing. Little M is a little more precocious than Baby T was in that area, and he often bites when he doesn't feel like nursing or when he just wants to be playful. He usually only does it once, because my surprised reaction tends to startle him into stopping.
• Had a few moments when I questioned my supply. I trust my body to make the right amount of milk, and I know it does, but compared with the oversupply I had with Baby T, sometimes I felt like I barely had any milk for Little M. And Little M is much smaller than Baby T was... it's hard not to compare. Whenever I questioned my supply, I would nurse Little M more often.
• Spent a lot of time nursing in a wrap or sling.
• Nursed at a breastfeeding cafe put on by the Port City Breastfeeding Project every month.
• Became a childbirth educator and guided moms through the process of breastfeeding.

Little M will turn one next month, and his nursing is still going strong. He nurses at least five times a day and at least twice during the night. Some nights he latches on for an hour while we both sleep. I don't expect him to stop nursing any time soon, but he is a much more distracted nurser than Baby T ever was, and he eats a lot of solid food, so I am afraid that he will stop nursing sometime during this next year. Maybe I'll be ready for him to stop. I don't think so, but I really don't know.

That's the beauty of breastfeeding--because I never had any expectations, it's the one time in parenting that I'm more or less comfortable going with the flow. If only the coming years of parenting could be so easy.