Doula Support and More

I know I posted about this before but I just had to post again. You see I feel like I have gotten to know Natasha even more. Half the time I call her Natalie, no idea why. I have spoken to other people who have used her and realized what an amazing lady she is. I wanted to take a minute to show you her work. Not only is she a DOULA which is amazing in itself but she is a photographer. Take a look at her work. You can find Natasha’s blog right here. You can follow her on twitter using @DoulaSupport247 Pamela

Eating at the DFAC

We have gotten in a bad habit of eating out more than we use to. Our schedule outside of the house is busy. Our life is busy and those are all excuses. Something I need to change. I did want to share our favorite place to eat with you. When we have appointments at the hospital we always eat in the cafeteria. I can feed our growing family of 9 for less than $20 and that includes drinks and even a few desserts. The food is AMAZING! The service is quick and wonderful. I know it sounds silly but I have always enjoyed eating at the DFAC. I remember when we were newlyweds we had NO money. Seriously we like to say we lived in a four room shack. We ate out once a pay day. I remember times when we would buy food on credit at the PX. I say all of that to tell you that because this is the time my hero introduced me to the DFAC. It was a gourmet restaurant to me. Honestly if I had a choice I would still choose to eat there than at a fast food place. So tell me where do you like to take your family to eat that does not break the bank? Pamela

Update on Nursing

Nursing is going so much better. I have to be honest and say the first few weeks were rough. Not as rough with t others but rough. It is now in the enjoyable stage. I am so grateful to be able to nurse without feeling like I have to cover up now or hide in another room. I am fairly modest about it honestly. But on the other hand I will nurse wherever I am at. I always giggle at how people respond. When he was about a week old I was at the commissary setting in the bathroom nursing Jacob when a lady gave me the dirtiest look ever. I seriously was setting in the bathroom under a blanket. But then I was at a local yogurt shop recently and covered up and a little old lady looked at me and said “you are smothering that baby”. So my question to you would be, when do you cover up? For me I cover up at church. I also cover up when I am at my husband’s work. He does not care but I feel like all those young little soldiers do not need to be made to feel uncomfortable. I had to giggle recently. I took the baby in for his 2 week appointment and there must have been 30 soldiers in the waiting room. I sat down next to one to nurse the baby. The poor soldier knew what I was doing. About every 5 seconds I would see his head bob and look in my direction. I was covered up so it was not like he was trying to get a sneak peak. This baby is the loudest when he eats and I am sure it is hard not to look at those sounds. I felt bad for the guy. It honestly was hard not to laugh and draw attention to the situation. Speaking of nursing, I am writing this at 6am. I miss blogging but this little blessing loves to eat (almost hourly during the day). When he is not eating he is being held. I honestly do not mind because he is already growing up and it makes me sad. So I will enjoy every minute of our snuggle time. Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1) Help! I really __need to figure out why I am having shock waves through my body, especially in my hands and my doctor cannot find time for me.___ 2) My _fatty arms___ is my __my worse feature, even when I lost 81 pounds I still had HUGE arms.___ 3) I cannot wait to _start walking again, it is such a stress relief.____ 4) The sentence has __a bunch of positive_________ letters. Pamela

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

I love this little girl, this week she turns 8. It is hard to believe. Hard to believe that she weighed 2.12 pounds at birth and is now normal size. She is growing and thriving and a joy to be with. Okay she might be a bit spoiled and think that she is a only child but she is my child and I love her. Grace thinks she needs to go everywhere with me. She went to most of my OB appointments. She is my only child who thinks about how she looks. In these pictures we were in the lactation room at the OB office and she was showing me how her outfit matched the curtains and I should take her picture. Last year for her birthday we took friends and went to build a bear and then came back to the house for a cook out. This year she is taking friends to get mani and pedi’s and then coming back home for a cook out with all the families. Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl! Pamela

Feeling Beachie at 4am

The statements are: ` I get so _upset____ when __I hear soldiers being fussed at by other soldiers, I want to turn into momma bear and protect them. Have you seen these young little soldiers, they look like kids. I cannot believe my husband was ever one of those little kids. ____ Pumpkin____ is my favorite _food___ for _fall and winter, I have a million recipes and cannot stop making them. One day I will get around to posting them all. ____ I would rather have dirty floors___than clean all day and take time away from my kids___to make my life easier The one safety rule that is always followed at my house is _wear a helmet even if you are on a tricycle__because_my brother was hit by a car twice and twice he was not wearing a helmet. My children will never have a uncle and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine what he would have brought to my childrens life. ___ I just have to take a minute and tell you that I woke up at 4am in a panic that I had not posted yet. And what does the mother of a new born do at 4am. She jumps out of bed and writes a blog post between feedings. And on cue just as I am done writing this a precious little blessing is telling me it has been 10 minutes since he ate. Pamela

How to motivate your kids

This week I had the honor of taking this girl for yogurt. Let me explain there are many days that honestly I feel like a failure as a parent. As a mother of a child with AS I am often told that I do wrong. Sometimes I have to make a list of things that I do well, or a list of things that are going well with the kids. This week I had the chance to see one of those positive moments. Faith loves to help with the little kids and I accept the help. I asked her to put our three year old in bed after lunch. Something she does often. I took a moment to go to the bathroom (you know while the baby was not in my arms and the others were still eating lunch). I heard her take him to the bathroom and explain that he was stinky. Then she took it upon herself to clean him up and then put him in bed. Okay that part does not surprise me because that is Faith. This is what shocked me. She then came to me and asked what to clean the bathroom with. What??????? She cleaned the dirty bathtub. So I called my husband and said we have got to reward this behavior. So I took her out for frozen yogurt and then we went shopping and she got a new shirt and necklace. I cannot always take time to take the kids out for frozen yogurt but I can make a point of stopping and telling them thank you for helping. Michael loves to fix things and I have to remind myself that he is capable. One day the door broke and I was inwardly freaking out about how to get it fixed. He reminded me he could fix it several times. So I let him. It is amazing how little things like tightening some screws can build confidence. Not only build confidence but encourages them to help more the next time. How do you encourage your kids? How do you motivate them? Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1) The best part of the day is _when the kids are busy and I am snuggling this new baby and feel no guilt about taking time to do it. ___ 2) The first thing I do in the AM is __take my thyroid medicine and weigh myself, I know I should not worry about weighing myself but I do. I will get back to trying to get in shape soon but not yet. I am down 40 pounds but have a ways to go. ____ 3) If I hear one more thing about _how many more kids we are going to have__ I’m going to _lie and say we are in competition with the Duggars and then walk away. __ 4) Tomorrow morning I am going to get my house straightened up and maybe even dusted and takes a very LONG nap. I love to nap. Pamela