8 Months

I forgot to post that Violet is 8 months old 2 days ago! Here are a couple new things about her.

- She is crawling like a champ
- She is nursing strong at 8 months still
- She is pulling herself to standing
- She stands on her tippy toes
- She loves to scream and make really loud noises
- She finally ways 14lbs

and here are some cute pictures of the BOTH the girls :)

I am nervous...

...to start school.

Since becoming a young mother I have done all of my schooling online so that I can be home with my babies. Recently, I have decided that the only way to accomplish my dream profession is by going to an on-campus school haha! The only one out there for my profession is in Portland, so not only will I be going to an on-campus school but I will be driving a crap ton of hours. Lately, I have been coming up with all of these excuses to not go and Jared sat me down and explained that I will regret this in the future. I just keep reminding myself that it is only 2 days a week and the girls will be okay. When it comes down to it I just know that being a Lactation Consultant is my dream job. I plan to not get "too" antsy because I do know that things come up BUT I will keep hoping and going along with the process. If everything goes well I should be done in a year and a half and then I can sit for the IBCLC exam <3 p="p"> 

Gluten...

...is delcious...

I have had ,we shall say, issues for years pertaining to my digestion. I have tried giving up everything BUT gluten because frankly it is my favorite food group. Everything I love has gluten in it!! Well today I am trying a couple days without gluten..if not a week. A couple weeks ago Jared and I got rid of fast food and bad sugar from our diet. It has been pretty great so far. We decided on the weekends we would splurge and have some bad food but for the most part eat healthy. Part of me wanted to try this to see if it would help with my digestion issues but it hasnt. So I have decided to try going gluten free. Oh MAN I hope this isnt the case...it will be a sad day if I have to eat gluten free for the rest of my life. SAD DAY :(

What I thought breastfeeding would be...

Before Violet was born I wanted nothing more but to breastfeed. I read every book and listened to every bit of advice anyone would give to me. When the day came it was magical and beautiful and worked SO much better than it did with Sophie. Over the next couple months I kept telling myself things like "Wow breastfeeding is so easy and amazing" or "It is so nice to not have to make a bottle"..but then 4 months hit and Violet's weight gain plummeted. My perfect breastfeeding relationship came crashing down. Immediately the thought is that something was wrong with my supply. I started doing everything to increase her weight gain. I would feed her 8-10 times a day and pump in between every one of those feedings. Breastfeeding was no longer simple..I was no longer lazy. I barely had a time to catch my own breath and was obsessed with helping her to gain weight. I wanted nothing mroe than to have one of those plump babies. Plump babies mean people respect your breastfeeding relationship. People think your milk is healthy if you have a plump baby. When people looked at Violet they viewed my milk as not good enough. Soon enough I started to realize the truth...it wasnt people..it was me! I viewed my milk as horrible. Everytime somebody made a comment about how small Violet was..I took a hit to my ego. Her weight gain got worse until we started upping her solids. We had to start adding olive oil to all of her foods and making foods with high calories. Feeding Violet was/is a chore. The day was consumed with pumping/nursing/making baby food/ baby led weaning/ feeding. I suddenly missed the days when she was younger. We could just leave and only need to bring a couple diapers..no stress. My boobs went with me everywhere. Now Im doing as much as a nursing mother AND bottle feeding mother. I do it for my daughter though. When I want to quit I think back to being pregnant and wanting nothing more than to breastfeed my daughter. I realize that if you want soemthing..sometimes it doesnt come easy and you have to work for it. So even though many tears are being shed with horrible weight checks, good weight checks, pumping...some day I will look back on this and be proud that I nourished my baby <3 p="p">

 

Preschool!

Sophie started preschool today.

...and she is VERY excited about it <3 br="br">

UPDATE: on Dr. Bronners

Turns out I wasn't using it right...haha
I guess you cant use normal conditioner with it..you either need to use their conditioning rinse or something like vinegar (like no-poo method). So..I gave it a try last night and it worked!! I used the vinegar though. I plan on trying their conditioning rinse next week...as I really hate the smell of vinegar.

Anyways....
Here are some updates on Sophie & Violet <3 p="p">
Violet:
Can sit unsupported
Can crawl the right way now
Is attempting to pull herself up on things
screams all day
Sleeps from 7-7
Takes two 2 hour naps a day
Eats three meals a day
Does baby led weaning at dinner time
Nurses about 6-7X a day
Smiles and giggles SO much
A very happy baby <3 p="p">
Sophie:
Knows SOOOOO many words
Loves to play in her sandbox
Loves going on evening walks in the double stroller with sissy
LOVES her sister
Is getting better at eating her vegetables :)
Starts preschool next week!

I have to admit...

...Im going back to naughty shampoo

Ive have tried for about a month and a half now to use some form of an eco-friendly shampoo but its just.not.working. I first tried the no-poo method which was a fail. Then I bought Dr. Bronners. I started out LOVING it but it has recently turned all of our hair gritty! Im super frustrated as I like the idea of not using chemicals on my head..BUT..I also like clean feeling hair. Im considering trying an all natural shampoo but I feel like Ive already invested a lot of oney into it already.
 Oh well...at least Dr. Bronners works for the girls and household cleaning supplies!

How to wrap your baby?

I have recieved a lot of positive comments about my new found wrapping craze. Im still a beginner in all of this as I only learned there was more than an Ergo a couple months ago. Dont get me wrong..I LOVE my Ergo...but I also loved finding other things and learning about the art of babywearing. You know, there is a reason women in Africa wear their babies. Babywearing brings a close bond to mother/father and baby. It has been shown to reduce seperation anxiety in children and actually make them comfortably independant. Its all about trust.
Anyways, the one I get the MOST questions about is my woven wrap. This is a wrap similar to the looks of a Moby. a Moby is a great wrap for newborns and younger babies, and if you tend to have smaller babies than even longer! Though, I always was envious of the women who wore their babies on their backs. Stretchy materials like the Moby are not safe on backs and my Ergo didnt feel comfortable on my back. So alas! I discovered the woven wrap! These wraps are (duh) woven and have tons of support. It is not stretchy and is very safe on your back. So here are a couple videos that I found very helpful when I first started!