My Vote

In honor of this heated midterm election week, here's what I'm voting for:

*Wearing the same jeans every single day.  Ironically, even though I find myself wearing the same jeans and  over-sized sweatshirt (hello, What Not to Wear??), there always seems to be an abundance of my clothes in the dirty laundry pile.

*A break from teething.  Good golly miss Molly!  Brooklyn's mouth has been an explosion of teeth this week, and Morgan's been working on a couple too.  That being said, they've actually handled it pretty well, so I can't really complain.  Although...Brooklyn's diapers have been a force to be reckoned with.  Yeesh!

*Coffee.  If you know me at all, you know that I'm pretty addicted to coffee.  I have exactly 2.5 cups every morning to get me going.  I don't know how you moms that can't have any survive!  We try to buy fair-trade coffee as a small and simple way of recognizing the value of the laborers producing our goods.  "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor." Jeremiah 22:13.  We still have a long way to go in terms of the clothes we wear and things we use on a regular basis, but I guess you have to start somewhere, right?

*Wild Rice Burgers.  Jeremy's parents recently introduced us to this heavenly recipe, and I am smitten.  I'm pretty sure that world peace could be achieved if all the world leaders sat down to a meal of this goodness.  No joke.

*Music.  I don't know what I would do without it.  Singing the babies to sleep, helping my piano students develop, leading worship at church, or singing silly songs with Jack about everything from elephants to trains.  Music is definitely a sanity-saver.

*Laughter.  Being married to Jeremy Jennings and being the mother to two little ones, I laugh a lot.  A LOT.  You should too!  Laughter reduces stress/pain/anxiety, increases immunity, and just feels good.  Don't have much to laugh about?  Come have dinner at our house!  I'll even make wild rice burgers.  :)

Open Mouth, Insert....

Boob.

First, this blog is about breastfeeding.  Consider yourself warned.

Second, this blog is in no way intended to make anyone feel guilty about not being able to breastfeed.  I know firsthand how difficult it can be, and not everyone has an amazing lactation consultant for a mother-in-law like I do!  If anything, this is just to be an encouragement for those that are considering it or are trying desperately to stick with it. 

I guess I'm thinking about all of this right now because my little barracuda baby is less than two months away from her first birthday.  Remember this?

Those days are far behind us, and now I'm realizing (with some sadness) that I probably won't be nursing much longer.   And it's kind of strange to think about because I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for nearly three and a half years straight.  I'm pretty much a factory.

Here's why breastfeeding has been awesome:
1. It's free 
2. It builds up baby's immunity (Jack has only had one ear infection requiring antibiotics ever...Brooklyn has had none)
3. It's easier for baby to digest
4. It's always available, even in the middle of a blizzard or flood (assuming I'm alive)
5. It requires no prep in the middle of the night
6. It requires no bottles, brushes, formula, water; all I need is a nursing cover (of course, lots of nursing moms do pump and use bottles, etc)
7. It releases the hormone, prolactin, which helps to relax the mother and lower stress (uhhh, THANK YOU, Lord, for prolactin!)
8. It burns more calories (approx 500 per day) and helps with that pesky baby weight
9. It also has possible long-term benefits, such as helping to prevent cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.

Convinced yet?

I know that I have things pretty ideal.....my mother-in-law is an excellent lactation consultant, and I'm a stay-at-home mom (most of the time).  And despite that, it was still a challenge getting each of my babies to nurse well (ok, Brooklyn nursed well but was equivalent to a paper shredder).   All that to say-it has been worth it.

So there ya go.  For me, it was just nice to know that others had struggled through it and survived.  You can too!

Tequila!

Let me start off tonight with a story that is completely unrelated to the rest of this blog.

First, in case you haven't met my mom, she is the very last person on the face of this earth that would drink alcohol.  A couple of years ago we were playing the game Taboo as a family, and the person giving hints said something about a Mexican drink.  My mom shouted "tequila!" very excitedly.  We all stopped and looked at her, at which point she sheepishly said, "that's a drink, right?"  Ever since then, tequila jokes have been made with our family on a fairly regular basis.

Ok, now on to the rest of this totally unrelated blog.

Jeremy and I had another Friday night date tonight.  We've been making it a habit lately, and man, this is a habit that really needs to stick.  I love our dates.  For a couple hours, I'm not a jungle gym, housekeeper, or dairy farm.  I'm just an adult (I use that term loosely) hanging out with the love of my life.  Talking about theology, or our future, or our dreams, or coming up with some crazy idea.  There's usually a lot of laughter on our dates.

Interestingly, my mom left a message on my phone tonight, because someone had ding-dong-ditched a bottle of tequila (and bag of chocolates) on their front doorstep.  She had her suspicions as to who the culprits might be, but I'd rather not give out any names.  She was also concerned as to what exactly she should do with said bottle, which, I assume, is part of the humor in the whole thing.  I also assume that the culprits shared a good laugh as they scampered away in the night, like two an unknown number of mischievous kids.  

Ahh yes, a dinosaur

Jeremy got home early from work today, before Jack woke up from his afternoon nap.  When he did wake up, he came running out to find Jeremy at home.

Jack:  Daddy!  There was a dinosaur in my room!!

Jeremy:  A dinosaur?  What was it doing?

Jack:  Ummmm....it went bye-bye!

Jeremy:  Where did it go?

Jack:  In my BED!!!

Weekend Update

1.  We went to a BBQ/bonfire tonight at David and Mattea Whetstone's house.  It's so great to enjoy awesome food with good friends.  Also, Jack is afraid of small, harmless dogs but is NOT afraid of fire.  Go figure.

2.  Jack took a break from movies/videos this week (and by this "week," I actually just mean "three days").  We don't have tv, but I've been letting him watch YouTube videos, like Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse, way too much lately.  Isn't it ridiculous that going three days without watching anything is some sort of an accomplishment here?  With winter coming, I definitely need to come up with more/better indoor activities for him.  Suggestions??

3.  Here's a recipe for lemon bread that I've been digging lately.  I usually double the amount of glaze on top, though, because I have something of a sweet tooth.

4.  Jack, Brooklyn, and Morgan have settled into a really nice routine during the weekdays. Morgan and Brooklyn have been taking two naps during the day at roughly the same time, which leaves me with one-on-one time with Jack.  This week we've been playing in our yard/garden/sandbox and getting as dirty as possible.  I took all three to the park, and the babies loved the swings.

Brooklyn

Morgan

5.  And just in case anyone is worried that Jeremy isn't getting enough air-time in this blog, here's a little morsel:

Just another night at home...playing a wood flute in the hall.  

That's all I have for tonight.  Our life isn't exactly glamorous, but it sure is good.  

Tidbits

*We went to the park today with Sonya and Grace and had a picnic.  Later, Jack's and Grace's friend, Abby, showed up.  Jack lifted up his shirt and showed her his belly soon after she arrived.  Later, at dinner, I asked him about it:

Me: Did you show Abby your belly today at the park?
Jack:  No, the baby in my tummy.
Me:  You have a baby in your tummy?
Jack:  Mmm hmmm.
.
So, I guess the big news this week is that Jack is pregnant.  I'd like to see any of you top that.

*And on a related note, he must already be in nesting mode because yesterday he donned an apron and boots to help me clean out the fridge.  

Nevermind that the boots are on the wrong feet...

*I got some new cloth training pants for Mr. Preggers this week from here.  He's still rather inconsistent with using the potty, but we definitely need something that he can easily use on his own (and be re-usable).  It's weird to be at a place in life where I'm excited about underwear...but whatever.  That's where I am, apparently.

*By the way, have you noticed how awesome the weather is right now in Iowa?  I plan to spend a lot of time outside in the coming days.

*And just for your viewing pleasure:

Have a good one!

5000 Words

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes, so here's the past few days in pictures.

1. I watched Grace for awhile today.  While I was busy changing a diaper, I didn't quite catch what she and Jack were up to:

2. In case you didn't know, my son is a Hero in a Halfshell.  

3. I love, love, LOVE that Brooklyn is old enough now to be able to play with Jack.  Often I just sit in complete awe that these are my children.  

4. I equally love Jack's imagination:

In case you can't tell, he's making play dough food for his beloved Ellaroo

5.  Brooklyn likes to make a lot of noise in the car.  I'm pretty sure she knows that it annoys Jack.  His solution:

He's super coordinated too

Well, that's all for tonight....because what I didn't show was the pile of dishes that need to be done, bills that need to be paid, and laundry that needs to be folded.  And I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.