MERRY CHRISTMAS!
My Christmas gift to you... my blog readers... is a Christmas blog post. Lucky you.
Let me start out by saying this was the best Christmas EVER. Milo, of course, had very little idea what was going on, yet there was still so much joy. He had a blast playing with the paper and ribbons. And most of his gifts were things he loves... like books, spoons, cups, bowls, a couple toys and a ball. As soon as we sat down in front of the Christmas tree, he crawled over to a new ball that was under the tree and started playing with it. And we left some goodies, milk, and carrots out for Santa and his gang... and sure enough... they were gone this morning. Santa even left a letter for Milo. A letter that brought me to tears. Santa knew what a special year this has been for us and made sure Milo knew what a special boy he was. Then we enjoyed making and eating a yummy Christmas brunch.
Yesterday, we went to a Christmas Eve children's service, then enjoy a wonderful meal and fellowship with our WV friends, the Wiseman family. Marcia read the Christmas Story from the Bible before we ate. It was a wonderful day of reflection. I found this last year, and found it even stronger this year... but I feel such a strong connection with Mary. Just thinking what she must have gone through, must have thought, must have felt... its powerful.
The rest of the day we are going to spend in our jammies. I think we might make a gingerbread house, maybe go play in the snow, and just enjoy our time together.
Wherever you are, however you celebrate, may your Christmas and holiday be wonderful and full of joy.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Today was Milo's half birthday! Six months old already... you folks weren't kidding when you said it goes by quickly. I can honestly say, without hesitation or doubt, that the past six months have been the most amazing six months of my life. Milo has brought such great joy to our lives. I guess I've said that before, but its so true. I wake up every morning, not thinking "Oh man its 7?!" I wake up and see my son's smile and we start our day.
As I reflect on Milo being six months old. I have much to be grateful for. For one... he is just now experiencing his first illness, and its just a cold. I'm grateful for the loving and supportive husband, who is a phenomenal daddy to Milo. But I'm also grateful that Milo is six months old and I are still nursing him.
Nursing/breastfeeding is important to me... to us. When Milo was one week old... I wasn't sure we'd make it to two weeks. When he was one month old, I didn't think we'd still be nursing at three months. And here we are still nursing at six months. God has definitely heard our prayers. It's amazing how something so painful and difficult and stressful could end up being so wonderful and special and fulfilling.
Thank you to all of you who have been so loving and supportive. Even those of you who reminded me it's ok to quit... I still needed to hear that. I fought because I chose to, not because I felt obligated and forced.
Tomorrow Milo will have his six month checkup.I can't wait to see how much he's grown!
To my son: Happy Half Birthday Milo!! We love you SO much!!
As I reflect on Milo being six months old. I have much to be grateful for. For one... he is just now experiencing his first illness, and its just a cold. I'm grateful for the loving and supportive husband, who is a phenomenal daddy to Milo. But I'm also grateful that Milo is six months old and I are still nursing him.
Nursing/breastfeeding is important to me... to us. When Milo was one week old... I wasn't sure we'd make it to two weeks. When he was one month old, I didn't think we'd still be nursing at three months. And here we are still nursing at six months. God has definitely heard our prayers. It's amazing how something so painful and difficult and stressful could end up being so wonderful and special and fulfilling.
Thank you to all of you who have been so loving and supportive. Even those of you who reminded me it's ok to quit... I still needed to hear that. I fought because I chose to, not because I felt obligated and forced.
Tomorrow Milo will have his six month checkup.I can't wait to see how much he's grown!
To my son: Happy Half Birthday Milo!! We love you SO much!!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Snow
Snow days have very little impact on my life these days... but they still make me so happy! I guess I still remember the excitement and joy a snow day brought. We ended up with maybe six inches or so. And its cold, windy, and the roads were a mess today. So there's no surprise school was cancelled up here. I'm definitely going to be calling the ENT office in the morning and try to take advantage of the winter day... surely someone will cancel and we can get Milo in.
Speaking of Milo... we took him out to "play" in the snow today. We had big plans of taking him in a sled ride around the block. Two problems. One... he hated it. The wind was blowing the snow right in his poor little face. Two... I had him layered so heavily that his body would fold in half to sit. LOL Oh well... we got some cute pictures out of it. We'll try again in better conditions.
Milo also has his first runny nose. He'll be six months old on the 15th... so making it six whole months without so much as a sniffle is pretty good if you ask me. Although he's supposed to get a vaccine this week... but since his body is obviously busy dealing with a cold... we'll give it a rest and reschedule for next week or the week after. He also has his six month appointment this week. I can't wait to see how much he's grown. :) Its always so fun. I thank God everyday for my happy, healthy baby boy.
Poor Nathan is out there right now shoveling the driveway. Its not a big driveway but that snow is heavy!!! And of course, its still snowing. Yuck. That's the down side to snow. I'm also very thankful for my husband who goes out there and does it without complaining. All he asks is for some hot coffee when he's done. I can handle that.
Oh and the parade last night was a lot of fun. We sat on the float in line up for about 30 minutes... then Milo fell asleep the minute we started to move. So he kind of slept through the actual parade, but it was fun. It was a great excuse to bundle up and snuggle up together.
I put Milo down an hour ago and I haven't had to go in there once yet. I would normally be happy, but I'm worried about his breathing with being so congested. I have a feeling I'll be sleeping especially light tonight. But that's ok.
Stay warm and safe, wherever you are!!
Speaking of Milo... we took him out to "play" in the snow today. We had big plans of taking him in a sled ride around the block. Two problems. One... he hated it. The wind was blowing the snow right in his poor little face. Two... I had him layered so heavily that his body would fold in half to sit. LOL Oh well... we got some cute pictures out of it. We'll try again in better conditions.
Milo also has his first runny nose. He'll be six months old on the 15th... so making it six whole months without so much as a sniffle is pretty good if you ask me. Although he's supposed to get a vaccine this week... but since his body is obviously busy dealing with a cold... we'll give it a rest and reschedule for next week or the week after. He also has his six month appointment this week. I can't wait to see how much he's grown. :) Its always so fun. I thank God everyday for my happy, healthy baby boy.
Poor Nathan is out there right now shoveling the driveway. Its not a big driveway but that snow is heavy!!! And of course, its still snowing. Yuck. That's the down side to snow. I'm also very thankful for my husband who goes out there and does it without complaining. All he asks is for some hot coffee when he's done. I can handle that.
Oh and the parade last night was a lot of fun. We sat on the float in line up for about 30 minutes... then Milo fell asleep the minute we started to move. So he kind of slept through the actual parade, but it was fun. It was a great excuse to bundle up and snuggle up together.
I put Milo down an hour ago and I haven't had to go in there once yet. I would normally be happy, but I'm worried about his breathing with being so congested. I have a feeling I'll be sleeping especially light tonight. But that's ok.
Stay warm and safe, wherever you are!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Christmas
Boy oh boy... I feel like its been forever since I sat down to blog.
The most recent excitement in our home is Milo's first tooth! Milo was chewing on my knuckle last night and I just felt something sharp... I knew it was a tooth. I scrambled to get him in a position to see it and move his tongue out of the way... and there it was. I think the biggest thing that surprised me was that he hasn't really been fussy or anything. Drooling like crazy... but not irritable or anything.
I had also been dreading that first tooth. I've been worried for a while... about its impact on our nursing. I know many mom's successfully nurse a baby with teeth. But while Milo is nursing fine... its not exactly correct. However, we're doing ok so far. I've certainly been praying we can continue to nurse. I think the biggest test will be over next couple weeks as that tooth comes in even more. I am definitely optimistic.
What else? I know I have been saying it for weeks now... but Milo is SO close to crawling. He gets on his hands and knees and rocks. And he knows what to do with his legs... he'll take a step forward but end up with his face on the carpet because he doesn't know to move his arms. But he is close!
Its so hard to believe Milo is almost six months old. He'll officially be six months old on the 15th... but he's actually like 25 weeks. Half a year? He's just growing up so fast. And in one sense I'm so proud and excited for this little baby who is growing into a boy. But its bittersweet.
He's in the swing right now, beside me... dozing. And my hearts just melts over and over and over again every time he looks at me. He is such a happy, loving, easy going boy. Nathan and I are truly looking forward to the next 74.5 years with our son...
Nathan is still staying busy at work... another thing that's hard to believe is that Nathan has been in his new position for about 3/4 a year already. Its certainly different from being a photographer. In some ways he likes it more, some ways less. He is really enjoying the layout and design work he gets to do on a daily basis. Everyday he lays out and designs the front page... as well as other pages in the paper. His boss recently made a comment about how surprised he was at Nathan's design skills. So all in all work is fine. And of course we are thoroughly enjoying his normal work hours. No more of that 2-10 stuff!
I will be having a repeat CT scan this month, following up on the lung nodules. Not worried about it... but if we don't get a definitive answer that it is OK, or not OK... I think I'll be finding a second opinion. And this will be my last scan for a while. The next step will be biopsy so we know what these things are.
And the newest issue is that we believe either things healed oddly after my c section or else there's some significant scar tissue that has formed. I'm waiting on a call from my midwife after she talks to the OBGYN that delivered Milo. It sounded like they can go in and repair things during the next c section. 1. There's an incentive to have another baby. 2. But I also read that it can cause fertility problems. Seriously?! We'll see what my doctor says.
I'm trying to think what else is knew...
This is the first Christmas we will be spending as a family of three. Nathan and I have never even had a Christmas just the two of us. Nathan is warming up about the idea, but I am excited about it. This is Milo's first Christmas... I want to focus on our family of three. It'll give us a chance to start new traditions and make a special holiday memory with our son.
I've had a few friends recently post about tradition and Christmas. And the theme that sticks out is intentional parenting. Whatever you choose, however you choose to celebrate... as long as you are intentional... you're making the right choice. We are intentionally playing the Santa game with Milo. We're doing stockings, Christmas tree, decorations... Nathan and I just think back to our childhood and we remember the joy it brought us. How can we not give Milo the same opportunity to use his imagination and have that same joy. And in the Christian community, that's controversial. But somehow Nathan and I were given the chance to be children and believe in Santa... but still grow up to understand the difference between the story of Santa and the story of Jesus. When I found out that Santa, Easter bunny, and the Tooth Fairy were make believe... it first happened when I found a pouch of my baby teeth. I went... "OH... guess there's no Tooth Fairy. If there's no Tooth Fairy, there's probably not an Easter Bunny, if there's no Easter Bunny there's probably no Santa." But never in my mind did I associate Jesus with those other characters. And even within the Christmas season... there was the true reason for celebration, Jesus' birth, and then there was the other stuff. I think it is possible to do both. And if we see the two are blurring for Milo... we'll address the issue then. But until we see that... Milo will have a couple presents under the Christmas tree from Santa.
And since we won't have all the family excitement back home... we have a Christmas To Do list to help us enjoy the holiday season. On our list... make a gingerbread house, bake cookies, make an ornament with Milo, visit a nursing home (with Milo), visit the Santa house, find a live nativity, look at Christmas lights...
That's one thing we definitely want to instill in Milo throughout the year... volunteering. And after seeing how much joy Milo brought to Nathan's grandma... we thought visiting a nursing home would be a great thing to do this Christmas with Milo. Now I will have him in the Moby or Ergo so that his exposure to germs is as little as possible... but we'd love to give the elderly residents a chance to see his smile. Who doesn't love a baby? And visiting nursing homes was one of my favorite girl scout activities in elementary school.
OK. So much more to do while Milo's napping. Enjoy your Wednesday.
The most recent excitement in our home is Milo's first tooth! Milo was chewing on my knuckle last night and I just felt something sharp... I knew it was a tooth. I scrambled to get him in a position to see it and move his tongue out of the way... and there it was. I think the biggest thing that surprised me was that he hasn't really been fussy or anything. Drooling like crazy... but not irritable or anything.
I had also been dreading that first tooth. I've been worried for a while... about its impact on our nursing. I know many mom's successfully nurse a baby with teeth. But while Milo is nursing fine... its not exactly correct. However, we're doing ok so far. I've certainly been praying we can continue to nurse. I think the biggest test will be over next couple weeks as that tooth comes in even more. I am definitely optimistic.
What else? I know I have been saying it for weeks now... but Milo is SO close to crawling. He gets on his hands and knees and rocks. And he knows what to do with his legs... he'll take a step forward but end up with his face on the carpet because he doesn't know to move his arms. But he is close!
Its so hard to believe Milo is almost six months old. He'll officially be six months old on the 15th... but he's actually like 25 weeks. Half a year? He's just growing up so fast. And in one sense I'm so proud and excited for this little baby who is growing into a boy. But its bittersweet.
He's in the swing right now, beside me... dozing. And my hearts just melts over and over and over again every time he looks at me. He is such a happy, loving, easy going boy. Nathan and I are truly looking forward to the next 74.5 years with our son...
Nathan is still staying busy at work... another thing that's hard to believe is that Nathan has been in his new position for about 3/4 a year already. Its certainly different from being a photographer. In some ways he likes it more, some ways less. He is really enjoying the layout and design work he gets to do on a daily basis. Everyday he lays out and designs the front page... as well as other pages in the paper. His boss recently made a comment about how surprised he was at Nathan's design skills. So all in all work is fine. And of course we are thoroughly enjoying his normal work hours. No more of that 2-10 stuff!
I will be having a repeat CT scan this month, following up on the lung nodules. Not worried about it... but if we don't get a definitive answer that it is OK, or not OK... I think I'll be finding a second opinion. And this will be my last scan for a while. The next step will be biopsy so we know what these things are.
And the newest issue is that we believe either things healed oddly after my c section or else there's some significant scar tissue that has formed. I'm waiting on a call from my midwife after she talks to the OBGYN that delivered Milo. It sounded like they can go in and repair things during the next c section. 1. There's an incentive to have another baby. 2. But I also read that it can cause fertility problems. Seriously?! We'll see what my doctor says.
I'm trying to think what else is knew...
This is the first Christmas we will be spending as a family of three. Nathan and I have never even had a Christmas just the two of us. Nathan is warming up about the idea, but I am excited about it. This is Milo's first Christmas... I want to focus on our family of three. It'll give us a chance to start new traditions and make a special holiday memory with our son.
I've had a few friends recently post about tradition and Christmas. And the theme that sticks out is intentional parenting. Whatever you choose, however you choose to celebrate... as long as you are intentional... you're making the right choice. We are intentionally playing the Santa game with Milo. We're doing stockings, Christmas tree, decorations... Nathan and I just think back to our childhood and we remember the joy it brought us. How can we not give Milo the same opportunity to use his imagination and have that same joy. And in the Christian community, that's controversial. But somehow Nathan and I were given the chance to be children and believe in Santa... but still grow up to understand the difference between the story of Santa and the story of Jesus. When I found out that Santa, Easter bunny, and the Tooth Fairy were make believe... it first happened when I found a pouch of my baby teeth. I went... "OH... guess there's no Tooth Fairy. If there's no Tooth Fairy, there's probably not an Easter Bunny, if there's no Easter Bunny there's probably no Santa." But never in my mind did I associate Jesus with those other characters. And even within the Christmas season... there was the true reason for celebration, Jesus' birth, and then there was the other stuff. I think it is possible to do both. And if we see the two are blurring for Milo... we'll address the issue then. But until we see that... Milo will have a couple presents under the Christmas tree from Santa.
And since we won't have all the family excitement back home... we have a Christmas To Do list to help us enjoy the holiday season. On our list... make a gingerbread house, bake cookies, make an ornament with Milo, visit a nursing home (with Milo), visit the Santa house, find a live nativity, look at Christmas lights...
That's one thing we definitely want to instill in Milo throughout the year... volunteering. And after seeing how much joy Milo brought to Nathan's grandma... we thought visiting a nursing home would be a great thing to do this Christmas with Milo. Now I will have him in the Moby or Ergo so that his exposure to germs is as little as possible... but we'd love to give the elderly residents a chance to see his smile. Who doesn't love a baby? And visiting nursing homes was one of my favorite girl scout activities in elementary school.
OK. So much more to do while Milo's napping. Enjoy your Wednesday.
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