We are falling more in love with our little Gwen Stellamaris each day. If I didn’t make her mad by choking her with milk due to the overactive letdown, she would be happy all day every day. (Thanks for your breastfeeding advice, folks, I’m reclining back to nurse and block feeding for 12 hours and then switching to the other side and that seems to help somewhat. I’m hoping it will be more under control in a few weeks.)
The Quotable Benjamin:
“What can I set on fire?“
This little man had a blast with sparklers on Fourth of July. Since we moved back to our hometown three years ago, I have to pinch myself that we get to spend holidays with extended family without having to travel. It is awesome.
And this little gal has me wrapped around her little finger. I just can’t handle the sweetness.
Quotes:
“Well, why not? I guess the reasons against having more children always seemed uninspiring and superficial. What exactly am I missing out on? Money? A few more hours of sleep? A more peaceful meal? More hair? These are nothing compared to what I get from these five monsters who rule my life … each one of them has been a pump of light into my shriveled black heart.” – Jim Gaffigan (I started watching Gaffigan’s “Mr. Universe” which is streaming on Netflix right now. Haven’t watched the whole thing but the first 20 minutes made me laugh so loud that 4-year-old Benjamin complained that he couldn’t fall asleep with all the noise.”
“Prayer and life cannot be separated one from the other; both are rooted and grounded in love.” – Esther de Waal
Links:
16 Rare Harry Potter Illustrations from the Books’ Artist: Buzzfeed (You know I love me some HP.)
Convos with My 2-Year-Old, Episode 5 (These are so hilarious…also so creepy. But I laugh out loud.)
The Earth Is a Nursery: Simcha Fisher (My favorite read in a long while. Simcha at her finest.)
Why Having Big Families Is Good for You (and Cheaper): Telegraph
And for my fellow Anne-with-an-E miniseries aficianados, Diana Barry is now a super fit yoga instructor and home birth advocate! What?! I go back and forth about whether I want to do a home birth if we’re blessed with a fourth baby, but when Diana Barry is telling me about home birth I suddenly feel much more comfortable with it. It has to be a good idea if Diana is promoting it, right?! Excuse me while I watch the entire miniseries and what was meant to be a productive Saturday disappears from me…
You Can Also Find Me…:
Confessions of a Reluctant Composter: Mama and Baby Love
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Love,
Haley
You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter (@haleycarrots), Pinterest (haleyofcarrots), or my personal favorite, Instagram (carrotsformichaelmas). I love connecting with my wonderful readers!
My husband and I just recently came across Jim Gaffigan and we’re quickly becoming big fans — mostly for the awesome way he’s promoting big families, but ALSO for his comedy (which is mostly clean. That’s hard to find!!). We loved the Mr. Universe show.
YES to home birth! I had my daughter at home and if we’re blessed with more babies and as long as everything goes well, I plan on always having my babies at home. It’s the best!
I loved Simcha Fisher’s post, too. It’s funny, because I’m not Catholic and I don’t have a lot of kids (though not by choice), but I’m such a huge supporter of all these Catholic writers sending positive messages about having larger families. I just totally GET it.
What a good-looking family you have!
I agree! It’s clean enough that I could watch his stand up with my mom without scandalizing her 🙂
Do you have a birth story up on your blog? I want to learn as much as I can about home birth so I can be super comfortable with it.
And thank you! I think these kids are pretty adorable 🙂
On the over active let down, I know we’ve talked about it before, but she will adjust to it as your body adjusts to her! She’ll learn to handle your flow of milk eventually. Jax and Lucy both adjusted well 🙂
Also on home birth, the great thing is you’re literally walking distance to the hospital. If anything (God forbid) were to go awry, you’d be there in a flash! I say go for it if its something you feel strongly about.
-jeni
Good info, Jeni. I can tell already that she’s doing a little better with the choking, poor dear. And so true, I could be at the hospital in five minutes and that is definitely a good consideration.
I love Jim Gaffigan! His earlier stuff is killer too… He has one bit about being a little kid and dreaming about being the best Pope ever, so hilarious. But he really had me when he said his wife has had all five kids at home! His book is on my list to take to the beach.
That sounds so funny. I’ll have to find that one. I also like the way he talks about his wife. He seems to really like her 🙂
I have the overactive letdown as well and high milk production. What I learned was that I needed to ignore all the typical breastfeeding advice. With my second and all subsequent babies, I nurse on one side several times in a row and ignore the other side. (maybe that’s what block feeding is?) I start this pretty soon after my milk comes in and it has been a night and day difference between when my first was a baby and I leaked and he choked for a good seven or 8 months and my last which has been a breeze. My breasts quickly realize they don’t need to make all that and it’s so much better. I also think that made my first so much refluxy and less content since he was always getting just the fore milk. Good luck!!
Oh, and yes, Jim Gaffigan is the best! We went and saw him a few months ago!
Yes! That’s the block feeding thing. And it’s helping a lot. I definitely think the fore milk thing contributed to my firstborn being a miserable baby. But I just didn’t know it wasn’t normal!
I noticed your comment about block feeding. Since you are ecological breastfeeding, please be aware that block feeding for 12 hours could interfere. The exact mechanism of ecological bf is unknown but bilateral stimulation *could* be necessary.
Just to clarify, I only mean that it could interfere due to the 12 hour block. Nursing on one side per feeding or using shorter blocks (3-4 hours) is definitely fine.
Thanks for telling me about that! I would have had no idea. There seems to be a link in overactive letdown and an early return of fertility from what I’ve read…I wonder if that’s what causes it!? Excuse me while I go switch back to 3 hour blocks 🙂
Haven’t watched Mr. Universe yet, but the other one they have on Netflix right now is also hilarious. We are hoping to get tickets to see him at New Year’s down in Milwaukee. 🙂
Oh that sounds so fun!
Jim Gaffigan is a brilliant comedian….and a huge support for big families. His book Dad is Fat is great too!
I want to read it! I think I’m gonna put it on hold at the library.
You poor thing…overactive let down is no fun! I haven’t experienced it (yet..my first and I never had to worry about it, thankfully, but we’ll see what happens with the second one) but one of my good friends struggled a lot with that when her daughter was a newborn. It definitely ended up working itself out, but I know if was frustrating for both of them in the meantime!
Also…I love Jim Gaffigan! And I love that he’s making being Catholic and having a large family look so darn appealing!!!
It’s a bummer but I can tell it’s already starting to improve! And yes, he’s just awesome.
I need you to know that I’m at work right now and you just rocked. our. world. with the Diana Barry thing. Also, if you Google her there are pictures of Schuyler Grant auditioning for the part of Anne which blew my mind a little bit. Thanks for giving us something awesome to do on a boring Saturday!
Also, Lucy is the most adorable thing on the planet!
Isn’t that wild?! I just love Diana! And thank you. She is quite the cutie pie 🙂
“What can I set on fire?” I love this!!! And your little patriotic girl is adorable! And Gwen’s sleek little head of hair makes her look just like a cuddly little puppy! (Which, by the way, is a *good* thing. Really. A very, very good thing.)
Aw, thanks, Melissa! 🙂
Hi Haley,
I hope that nursing is going better. As a mom who nursed 7 babies with mostly lots of supply, I wrote some tips here: http://www.ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/2010/08/8-random-nursing-tips.html
You might want to check out #4. I think it’s easier on mom and worked for me.
I love that first picture especially with you and little Gwen. So happy! 🙂
Thanks, Leila! It’s definitely improving and I think Gwen is figuring out how to handle it better. It’s worst when I switch sides after block feeding and she gets a flood of fore milk. Once she gets back to the hind milk she’s a happy camper, if I can just get her to persevere 🙂 Thanks for the link! What a great resource for nursing mamas! Your blog is one of my absolute favorites 🙂
My husband and I watched Mr. Universe on netflix not long ago and were in tears laughing so hard at the first 20 min. or so. Especially the bit about putting the kids to bed. We are praying about if and when to have baby #4. I read Simcha’s post not long ago and add Jim’s quote above we may be ready to say “Well, why not?” 🙂
The first few minutes of Mr. Universe are the best! I love how he pointed out that when you mention bedtime, your kids act like it’s an entirely foreign concept. Completely unprecedented! Prayers for your family as you ponder baby #4 🙂
Thanks Haley! We are going to see him live in a few weeks. We can’t wait!
ha! I love Jim Gaffigan’s stand-up routine about homebirth…HILARIOUS!
And I say go for the homebirth! I just had my first (well, okay, 11 months ago!) at home and it was a most excellent experience. Can’t wait for number two!
Oh that part is so funny! I was dying. It’s good to hear that your homebirth experience was great. I think it’s what we’ll do.