Monday, June 30, 2008

Gone swimming



We went to the aquatic center in our town for the first time the other day. Libby hated it at first. The water was cold, and children were running around everywhere and she was getting splashed. Finally, Hudson basically passed out in my arms (he didn't like it either) and while he slept, Scott took Libby over to where water was coming up from the ground. There were several fountains like this that she really enjoyed playing in. They came up in single streams, and she liked to stand on them. Maybe the more we go, the quicker she'll get used to it when we go.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Nursing Triad

For anyone who has tandem nursed or nursed multiple children, this

http://mothering.com/articles/new_baby/breastfeeding/nursing-triad.html

is a great read. My Libby didn't have nearly the struggle with letting Hudson nurse as this little girl did, but the basis of the story still applies. I look at Libby sometimes and think, "She is such a big girl; making friends with the random mommy and child that happens to come and sit where we are playing; walking around singing "Twinkle twinkle little star"; climbing into the car by herself; wanting to drive everywhere. How can she be getting so big and still need to nurse? And then the moment comes when she falls and hits her head on the concrete and comes to me saying, "I wan nurse, Mama. I wan nurse, Mama" or she isn't quite sure what to make of a situation or gets scared by some strange man who tries to play with his own grandchild at the playground. And then I remember. She needs me. She still needs me. And maybe the reason why she is able to be so grown up in her barely 2 year old 25lb little body is because she knows that she can come back and reconnect in the way only a mama and her child can. And then there are the times when I am nursing them both and Hudson is playing with Libby's hair, and she plays with his toes, and smile with love for them both. My sweet babies. My little nurslings.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Pumpkin pumpkin everywhere

Remember when I said before that a good thing to remember about gardening is to not compost your Halloween (or any) pumpkin? Well, here's why. I have been composting since we moved into our house a little over a year ago in preparation for this year's garden. After Halloween last year, we threw our pumpkin in the compost bin mostly just to get it out of the way. So, about a week after I planted my garden, I noticed little plants starting to pop up everywhere, even in places where I didn't plant anything. Long story short, I had pumpkins growing EVERYWHERE!! Those seeds overwintered in the bin, and took root after I tilled the compost into the soil. I have pulled up at least 40 pumpkin plants, and I left one in. See how it is taking up so much space, and it's starting to go down over the little hill. I almost left a total of three plants in, but I'm glad I changed my mind! Boy, and you thought cucumbers take over. This second picture is the pumpkin plant flowering. I don't know exactly how it works (maybe someone can fill me in) but I know it flowers so it can be 'fertilized' to bear the fruit, but does each flower turn into a pumpkin? If so, I will have enough pumpkins for the whole street, plus some for canning! Pumpkin pie here I come. Yum.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Better times


Well, things went better today. Hudson is still working really hard on his teeth, but he wasn't so crabby. Libby has been doing well today, too. Hudson took a nice long nap this afternoon. Good times playing outside with my babies.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Patience








How is it that patience can be so easy one day, and so elusive the next? Today is an elusive day. Today is one of those days where God is helping me learn patience, and I am needing all of the help I can get. Hudson is doing this most of the time, and Libby is doing her fair share as well. Libby has peed in her panties three times already after going more than a week with no misses. Hudson fights me trying to put him to sleep even though he is half asleep doing it. I feel a headache coming on already, and my husband won't be home until after dinner tonight. And then, just as I think I can't do any more of this day, Libby is sitting on my lap eating cottage cheese, and she looks at me and says, "Mama, I wanna wuv on you and eat cottage cheese" and then cuddles against me and finishes her snack. Oh, what it is to be a mommy.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

More photography

And then I promise I'll quit posting tons of pictures=)

These are the pregnancy and labor pictures that I promised. Thanks to Jessie, Leslie, and Amber for allowing me to share these pictures of you.













Here are the labor pictures. Thank you, Amber, for allowing me to be part of your most amazing labor and delivery.








Friday, June 20, 2008

Technicalities

Just a couple of technical points. The comments section until now was set so only people with other blogs or Google accounts could post a comment, but now it is set so anyone can comment. Just an FYI in case anyone tried to comment but couldn't.
Also, in case anyone noticed the times of my previous posts and thought, "She's doing this in the middle of the night?" I wasn't. The time zone was set wrong, but is fixed now.

Another passion

Photography!! I just love capturing amazing things on my camera. Here are some pictures that I have taken.

These are pictures of Libby. I could add a lot more, but we'll just do these.
















And here are some scene pictures.





I also do pregnancy and birth pictures, but I am waiting until I get permission before I post some examples of those.



About me

Well, I guess I should say a little bit about myself in case someone who doesn't know me comes across my blog. My name is Megan, and I am married to my high school sweetheart and the love of my life, Scott. We have two beautiful children, Libby who just turned 2 in April, and Hudson who just turned 5 months. I am a stay-at-home mommy and I take pride in my job of managing our home and raising our babies. I run most of the full gammut of natural parenting, including homebirthing, extended nursing, bed sharing, cloth diapering, and babywearing. Throughout the life of this blog, those will probably be a lot of what is talked about. I also am trying my hand at gardening for the first time this year, and I am totally loving it. Speaking of which, here it is..



There's lots to talk about there, as well, in due time (for example, why you shouldn't put your Halloween pumpkin, or any pumpkin for that matter, in your compost).
So, that's me, and there will be more to come. For now, though, I need to get to bed, because my two beautiful children just happen to be very early risers.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Well, here it goes!

I've finally jumped on the blogwagon, so anyone who wants to can keep up with my ever growing babies and my green green garden. Give me time to get things figured out, and then I'll keep it updated as much as I can. Trust me, I am one who checks other people's blogs daily, and I know how I like to see new posts, so I'll try to post lots for you!

One update note: Libby and I went to the chiropractor today (me because of lots of headaches, and her because she has fallen on her head twice this week), and they weighed Libby and Hudson. Libby wieghes 25lb and 4 oz. and Hudson weighes 17lb and 5 oz. The gap between them is quickly dissipating!