Leo Meets Great Grandma, aka Babci

There was some interesting teamwork in our family this week to transport Babci from Alabama to Michigan for an extended visit. We were lucky enough to have her stop off at our house for a few hours. She got to meet Leo for the first time, who is named after her husband, my Grandpa, who passed away in 1993. I'm so glad she finally got to meet him! We actually told her in person at Thanksgiving that we were naming him Leo, and that was really special :)

Look at her, she's thinking, "What the heck does this baby have a necklace on for?" (Said in her Rhode Island accent)
They had lots of fun together. Grandma said he is a big sturdy boy! I was telling her about having him evaluated soon to see a speech therapist/ feeding specialist and she said, "Well I hope they don't see him, because they're not going to believe he has any trouble eating!"
While we were waiting for the next round of family to pick her up from my house, I got about an hour with her while all the kids were napping. She is so much fun! She started with the advice right away. The first thing she said was, "If you ever have any problems with your husband, the place to solve them is in the bedroom." I didn't realize a 77 year old woman could make me blush! Then she asked me if I still wanted 8 or 10 kids. I told her I thought I was too old to hit those kind of numbers. She said, "Well, 3 is enough. Maybe 4." (She has 8!) I told her she was sending me mixed messages! Solve problems in the bedroom, only have 3 kids... hmmm how is that gonna work out? ;)

Best. Baby. Ever.

His new thing, besides rolling all over the floor, is grabbing my face with both hands and giving me a huge, wet, open mouth kiss!

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Fired up

I read this article today. I posted it on facebook to see if I could bait any of my pro-choice family members (NOT the same ones as in the last post) into an argument. Because this is just plain ridiculous. People abort their children because of minor, fixable birth defects. They kill perfectly healthy children because they want the "perfect" child. HELLO. There are no perfect children! It makes me SICK we live in a world where it's legal to kill a child in its mother's womb. And it makes me even more sick that these mothers choose to kill a child for these reasons. I'm so glad that we got Leo instead of someone who would have killed him off. I better stop talking.

Being open to life rant

This post may self destruct in 24 hours. Haven't decided yet.

Yesterday at a family cookout I was asked probably 15 times, "HOW many kids do you want?" "Are you still planning on 10 kids?" (I always said when I was growing up that I wanted 10 kids. They said, "Just wait til you have one!") Of course when I had ONE, she was so wonderful we wanted a bunch more just like her. Then John Paul came along, and Ken and I both say every day that we have never SEEN a cuter kid. He breaks our heart he's so cute. Then there's Leo. Leo was our first "surprise." I say that he was a surprise because we weren't actively trying for him. But we WERE open to life and not doing anything to prevent it. After our first four, barren years of marriage, having an unexpected pregnancy was one of the best surprises of our lives! It was amazing! We totally weren't expecting to get pregnant when John Paul was 11 months old and I was still nursing him 4-5 times a day. But WOW. What an incredible blessing he is! I would not trade him for the world. He's amazing. He's changed every single member of our family for the better. I am SO happy we were open to life and God gave us him.

One of the comments yesterday was "I know a doctor who can fix that for you." FIX that? Oh no. You mean BREAK that. I can't imagine how awful sterile sex would be. Like my friend said last night, what a slap in the face to God. God, you've given us what we wanted, we will take over now. Or, yeah we want to use this gift you've given us, but we don't want YOU to have any chance of creating life. UGH. Makes me sad that they don't get it. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who trusts God with our fertility.

I read this great article today, which summed up my feelings on the subject.

To answer some questions I've been asked recently:

I don't have a "goal" of how many kids I am trying to have. I'm thrilled with my three. Any more will be welcomed with love and great joy and celebration.

My precious Leo was the best surprise we ever had. I can't imagine if I had done something to prevent him and he wasn't in our family.

We will take as many as God gives us. We totally trust him with planning our family size, child spacing, as well as every other aspect of our lives.

I love my family! God had perfect timing sending all three of them. I even say that when we had to wait 4 years for the first one. He knew what he was doing all along. I trust that he will continue to know what He's doing with our family for the rest of our lives.

Links for y'all.

First, and most importantly, go check out Pioneer Woman's Iced Coffee. Oh my is it good. Get some half and half and sweetened condensed milk and a lil chocolate syrup, and I'm wondering why my weight loss has plateaued? :) Seriously, SO SO good.

Secondly, a few people have asked about the boys' necklaces. They are Amber teething necklaces from Inspired by Finn. From the website:

Historically, Baltic Amber has been used in Europe as a natural and traditional remedy and curative for many ailments for centuries. Long ago it was considered one of the leading medicines of its time. Baltic Amber is the most esteemed amber in the world, and the healing qualities of Baltic Amber make it unlike any other type of amber found in the world.

When baltic amber is worn on the skin, the skin's warmth releases trace amounts of healing oils from the amber. These oils contain succinic acid and are absorbed into the skin.

Baltic Amber has some of the highest concentrations of Succinic Acid found in nature, and this is what makes it so special. Succinic Acid is a natural component of plant and animal tissues, and it's presence in the human body is beneficial in many ways.

How can baltic amber help us?

• Pain Relief -

Baltic amber contains analgesic properties and helps take the edge off of many types of discomfort associated with dental issues, headaches, joint pain, etc.

• Strengthens the body's immune system -

In many different and subtle ways, succinic acid helps boost the body's own natural healing ability and immune system.

We used it with John Paul for teething and he had virtually no problems. Now he loves his necklace and wants it on all the time. It looks cute, so I let him keep it on :) Leo has one even though he has no sign of any teeth. Amber wears out eventually, so I'll probably get him a new one at least before his surgery.

I've heard hazelwood (on the website) is really good for pregnancy nausea and heartburn, so I am going to try it next time (if we're so lucky.)

Now everyone go make that iced coffee! I only have enough for one glass tomorrow so I will be going to the store for more coffee!

Monday Quick takes

Cause I have to be different!

1. Does any mama with a kid with curly hair have any advice for me? Madeleine's hair is so unruly, especially in the summer. I can't get a comb through it, detangling spray doesn't help.

2. John Paul is completely potty trained during the day, but I put a diaper on him for naptime and night time. He poops in his diaper in his crib all. the. time. Yesterday he decided he was going to get it out of his diaper and THROW IT BEHIND HIS CRIB. So guess what I got to do yesterday? Yeah.

3. Our garden is doing amazing! I'm shocked. And I love going outside and getting a cucumber for snack or supper, getting a Swiss Chard leaf to put in the kids' scrambled eggs in the morning, or getting 4 or 5 green beans to cook and puree for Leo's dinner. I already told Ken I want a huge garden next year, and a canner :)

4. We've been enjoying Leo's long morning nap. Every morning when he goes down, I make myself an iced coffee and we all go outside and either play in the backyard (swingset, sandbox, garden) or front yard (bikes and other riding toys, and play lawn mower.) It's fabulous..

5. Madeleine goes into John Paul's room in the morning when I'm in the shower and reads him a book. Go back and read that one again slowly. LOVE that my 4 year old can read her brother a book.

6. Leo is rolling across the room and scooting around on his tummy in a circle. He loves being on the floor playing with his toys, and he really likes his paci. He can put it in his own mouth now!

7. July 9 marked 7 months of pumping! Woohoo!!!

Generosity, feeding, and family

I haven't written about feeding Leo in awhile because he was having a little trouble. He's 7 months old tomorrow, and I started trying to give him a little solid food right before he turned 6 months. I started with mashed avocado and banana. He did not do well. I guess it's kinda hard to eat when you don't have a roof of your mouth. It would get stuck up in his cleft and he'd sneeze and it would come out his nose and he'd be inconsolable for 10 minutes. Can't blame him. I started pureeing everything super thin and smooth, and giving it to him a little at a time. He started to get the hang of it. These days I try to give him one meal a day, and his milk the rest of the time. He's obviously not wasting away - he's actually my chubbiest baby so far. So I'm not too worried.

I can't believe the generosity we've been shown lately. I've used my pump, which was a hand me down in the first place, every 3 hours (at least during the day) for 7 months now. It was on its very last legs, starting and stopping randomly during every session. My mother in law saw me post something in a comment on facebook last week about it, and she called and said she wanted to buy me a new pump! I told her it was $267 and I was saving up for it, but she insisted. She gave me her credit card number, I ordered it, and now I'm in pump heaven :) I can definitely go 15 months now... I hope!

Also, we had to buy Leo some new bottles. His bottles cost $20 each. I decided to buy 3 of them and just make do. I also posted something about that on facebook, and a friend of mine sent out an email to some of her friends, asking if anyone had any of those kind of bottles. Her friend asked for my address, and bought and sent me two of them! She doesn't even know us or anything about us! I was so blown away. Also another friend of mine had two of those kind of bottles that her daughter didn't end up using, so she gave them to us. I also bought three so we are all set for awhile. Amazing.

And the best news, I have a new niece! Isabel Annette was born July 5, and she is beautiful!

Happy 4th!

One of these days I'm going to write a post with some substance instead of just pictures. But for now, we had a great day including a parade, fair food and lots of ice cream!

Luckily he doesn't have to work too hard to hold his head up, his cheeks do all the work for him!

There are some major fireworks going on right now, I'm praying they don't wake anyone up!

Happy birthday America!

Life is Rough

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