Now I get to witness another miracle of God great design. Our bodies weren’t designed to just carry a baby and give birth to them, but to also nourish and sustain their life through the production of breast milk. If you stop and think about it, it is truly an awe inspiring privilege for someone to be able to do be able to naturally produce food for another person with lifting a finger or exhausting your resources. It saddens me to know that some women are unfortunate to not be able to participate in this amazing blessing. For those of us that are lucky and have experienced it, we should be thankful and appreciate the time that we have bonding with our little ones.

I have such respect and admiration for this process that I feel to try and hide it or cover it up only dismisses its power. While I do not feel it is appropriate to expose my body to any other man but my husband, I have no problem with feeding my son in public and unashamed of its beauty.While some well meaning friends and family offer a cover or to relocate while I am feeding my almost toddler aged son, I always decline and say I am not concerned about what people think or feel about my feeding my son in public … I AM PROUD!!!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I guess some where along the line I didn’t take it to seriously when the instructed me to start preparing my body 3 months before pregnancy the first time. I took for granted a lot of stuff that I did, ate and thought about and prepared for. While there are some things that are out of my control and very likely inevitable to happen again, i.e. my cervix being weak and dilated way to early causing me to be on bed rest for most part of my pregnancy, there are some things that I can start to prepare for an eventually avoid completely if done right.

Weight Gain

The biggest thing that I would like a better handle on for the next pregnancy is my weight gain. By charts standards and certainly my own personal opinion I gained far too much weight during my first pregnancy. I went up a total of forty five pounds from conception to delivery. That is ten plus pounds more then I should have. I am sure that it didn’t help that for the last 16 weeks of the pregnancy I was confined to a bed, that was no excuse. I know what I ate and what I didn’t eat and I did not make the wisest dietary decisions.

Perineum Tearing

So they say that once it happens, it is bone to repeat but I want to prove them wrong. My husband and I did start some of the recommendations for stretching and preparing the area for delivery but I don’t think we started early enough. Plan of action for baby number two, start from the first day that I pee on a stick and it smiles back at me.

Labor Plan

I know no birth experience will ever go 100% the way that you plan or hope but it is far better to enter with a plan than to wing it as things go. My husband and I did have some what of a birth plan made up about a month before delivery but I don’t think we did as good of a job expressing the plan to our delivery staff.

Emotional Roller Coaster

While it is literally impossible to be completely prepared for all the emotional changes that come with baby, a little forethought goes a long way. My life dynamic and living situation is going to be completely different for the next baby as it was for my first. While life is ever changing and evolving I will have to be in a constant state of preparation and looking ahead to how the timing of the pregnancy, whenever it happens, will effect what life circumstances I am facing and quickly adjust. My personal readiness, how the new baby will impact our family, my marriage, and work are the overwhelming factors to consider in advance.

Sibling Rivalry

Tied in with the potential emotional roller ahead is the fact that not only do my husband and I have to prepare each other for the welcoming of a new person into our family but we will have to educate and prepare our son also. I have to consider what age they will be when the newborn comes home. I am hoping that he will be old enough to understand and accept the family change. But that may not be a realistic expectation because each child is different. I do know for myself that I do not feel I am capable handling two young children that are at very close in age. I can barely handle the one right now.

Work Related

The last time I was pregnant I had the benefit of staying home throughout the entire pregnancy and for the first five months of his life I was a stay at home mother to my son. However that has all changed now. I can’t predict the future but I feel pretty secure in my current job and do not foresee be being a stay at home mom any time soon. So when we are expecting our second child we will have to look at and reconsider how the work force dynamic will change how we prepare and plan to bring a child into the world.

These areas of life are the different concerns on my heart right now. As time goes on this list may change but I think it is a good start. How did you prepare for your first or second child? Did you do more or less preparation with a second child? Would love to know what others did differently.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I have some good news and some bad news to share which will explain where my online presence has been for the past three weeks.

Good news: I received a promotion at work.

Bad news: I received a promotion at work.

I love my job and the daily challenges that it brings. The people I work for and with are pronominal and I thank God every day for the blessing and priveldge of working here.

However, with any promotion, greater power comes greater responsibility. The daily tasks that I encounter and problems I solve are not held to a higher standard and expectation. I now have people that report to me and look to me to be a shield of protection from being over worked and called on beyond their capabilities. I haven’t held a managerial position in some time and not in this capacity so it is all new to me.

But I love it. I enjoy the new role and like the challenges that it brings daily. It has just been so demandinng that when I get home the last thing I want to see is a computer. I can’t make that an excuse though. I have a set for myself a goal to stick up this blog through thick and thin and I plan on doing that.

I have been missing from the social media and blogging world but I am returning, slow but surely.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The problem isn’t this blog or it’s topics. The problem is me.

I was feeding my son this morning and we were having a rough time … he just leaked pooped out of the side of his diaper, I had to go change my clothes, change him and get everything all cleaned up … I figured there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. Once he finally got back to sleep I just sat there for a while with him in my arms thinking about what I could possible write a blog post about today. I have been discourage lately because of the lack of time and effort that I have been putting into maintaining and updating this blog, and each time I try to think of posts I spend more time addressing the fact that the blog isn’t as busy as it used to be. Before my family and I moved in February I had over 20 posts just sitting in the scheduled queue waiting to post and other 10 or so drafted waiting to be finalized to the post of publishing. As a stay at home mom, I had more time to dedicate to writing, now that I am working full time trying to take care of our home everyday, I have no new posts scheduled and a handful of drafted posts that I have started but never finished because I just lack the passion to finish them.

I started to think that maybe this blog just wasn’t for me any more and that it was time to move on. I contemplated closing the blog a few times but that solution just didn’t seem right either. So I started to really focus on the topics I typically discus, asking myself ‘what haven’t I shared that I want to’ and while all my topics are extremely important to me, nothing brought me out of my seat. So I tried thinking out of the box … where are my priories right now … what am I doing everyday that is motivating and driving my inspiration today. That is when it hit me. It isn’t the blog that is the problem at or it’s topics. The problem is me. I am in a period of my life where I am lacking any passion at all.

My life has entered one of those lulls where everything is just routine and maintenance and lukewarm activities. I have become so consumed by my work and my responsibilities at home that I didn’t leave any room for fun and excitement.

I am so grateful and excited that God brought me to a quite place this morning and revealed this truth to me because just knowing where I am is a huge leap to getting out of it.

So as soon as my husband wakes up, we are making some plans to take some type of mini vacation where I can just relax, be free, escape the daily routines and connect with myself , my husband and my son again. And hopefully come back with a renewed energy and drive for life and this blog.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I started to read over their website to see what they believe and how they are supporting breastfeeding mothers.

The WBW 2010 rationale are:

* Health care facilities play a vital role in the establishment of breastfeeding.

* The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding provide a supportive pathway enabling women to achieve their breastfeeding intentions and guiding the training of healthcare workers in breastfeeding support.

* World Breastfeeding Week this year commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Innocenti Declaration that called for implementation of the Ten Steps in all maternity facilities.

* During these 20 years, more than 20,000 maternities, or about 28% of all maternities in the world, have fully implemented the Ten Steps and have been certified by the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI).

* During this time, rates of exclusive breastfeeding have increased significantly.

* However, reduced BFHI programming worldwide, inadequate training, and weakened compliance with the Ten Steps in accredited maternities are contributing to stagnant or declining exclusive breastfeeding rates in many settings.

* It is time to revisit this approach and to determine where we must go from here.

The WBW 2010 Objectives are to:

* Draw attention to the role of the Ten Steps in improving breastfeeding rates.

* Renew action by health systems, health care providers and communities to make breastfeeding the easy choice for women.

* Inform people everywhere of the risks of artificial feeding, and the role of breastfeeding for children’s development and lifelong health and the health of mothers.

* Enable mothers to enjoy full support for breastfeeding in health care systems and beyond.

As I think about my breast feeding journey with my son I am over whelmed with all the positive experiences I have had. While most mothers in my area do not fully breastfeed, I am really encouraged by the mothers I encounter that have breastfeed. Almost all the mothers who decided to breastfeed their children all did so for at least 18 months. I am hoping that I can continue to breastfeed my son for at least 18 months and knowing that I have so many mothers around me to provide that support is really a blessing.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Well my packaged arrived yesterday and I super excited to start using them. I received three great items. The first is a book that details the history and growth of Smead Manufacturing Company. In 2006, the company reached a milestone – 100 years of growth and success. Over the course of a century, Smead has evolved from a small organization with a single product to a global leader in the office products industry. I always enjoy reading and learning from the success stories of others and look forward to reading it all.

The other two products that we received are to help with our home organization.

The first is a new Stadium File.

It is a 12 tiered pocket file that is sized to fit documents and file folders. I already have so many ideas of how I can utilize this product. I plan on using mine for my house hold bills, incoming mail, coupons, recipes and upcoming event fliers. I have several other ideas for it that I may have to go and get some more to have around the house.

The second item was the SuperTab Folders

These came in a pack of twenty four super cute pastel colors. I love the extra large tab area because I tend to leave extra long description sometimes and the title gets lost when other papers and items are put in front of it. With these large tabs I don’t have to worry about that. These will help separate my files even more and adds more sections to the stadium file if I use them together.

Here are some other suggestions of how you could use these products to help organize your home or small office.

Use them to create:

-A Kitchen Command Center
-A Homework Station: Article 1
-A Homework Station: Article 2

Where To Buy:

These are places where people can purchase online. I’ve provided three for each product to provide some options.

1. Stadium File
-Office Depot
-Franklin Covey
-Amazon.com

2. Supertab
-Office Depot
-Staples
-Buy Online Now

For my participation with Buttoned Up and sharing this information with you I am being compensated with a $20 Target gift card.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I have learned throughout my searches that majority of the time the best and most helpful resources are not the manufactures, companies or sponsors of products or services but other mothers. Mothers have a special gift of finding new products, trying out new recipes or organizing tips and rather than keep that information to ourselves, we love to share with each other. There are a few mothers out there that are notorious for sharing very useful and valuable information.

When I am looking for a particular piece of information I have a few different blogs that I have found to be extremely informative and come highly recommended. If you are ever in the need for any of the following organization and de-cluttering information I suggested you check these sources out.

Organization/De-Cluttering

http://unclutterer.com – Unclutterer is a website for home and office organization.

http://simplemom.net – Simple Mom is a productivity blog for home managers.

http://www.organizingyourway.net - Along with looking at various methods and systems for organizing your life you will also find information on Time Management, Frugal Organization ideas and Product Reviews.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

1. Parenting
2. Motherhood
3. Support Group
4. Connecting with other parents
5. Pregnancy
6. Breastfeeding
7. Natural & Attachment Parenting
8. Empowerment
9. Encouragement
10. Inspiration
11. Sharing
12. Knowledge
13. Real Life Experiences
14. Informative Testimonies
15. Honest Opinions on Products
16. Family
17. Cloth Diapers
18. Religion
19. Jesus Christ & God the Father
20. Family Outings
21. Kid Friendly Entertainment

Okay I think that is the bulk of the topics that get me going in the morning. If I haven’t talked about them yet I will soon.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

This challenge was presented to all the bloggers who are a part of the SITS Girls community. They cleverly teamed up with the blogging genius himself Darren Rowse, who is one of the most successful bloggers around, and accepted to share his 31 day challenge with all of us.

By participating in this challenge it is hopeful that I will learn how to:

1. Written a variety of different types and styles of posts

2. Learned techniques for coming up with new post ideas

3. Promoted your blog in a variety of ways

4. Built relationships with readers

5. Reached out to and developed working relationships with other bloggers

6. Developed an editorial calendar for your blog

7. Discovered ways to be more connected to your niche/topic

8. Designed a plan for your next month of blogging

I have already begun my journey. I started last night with the introduction and day ones task. So far I have already learned a lot and was able to do so blog reflection. Hopefully I will know by the end of the 31 days either how to make a better blog or decide that this blog isn’t the right format for me.

It is so nice to know that I am not on this journey alone. There are so many other bloggers out there doing the same thing I am doing right now. And we have so many different forums and opportunities to share with one another where we are on the journey and gain wisdom and support from each other. One of the communities I frequent is the SITS Girls BlogFrog Community. There are always some fellow mom bloggers sharing their progress and asking some good questions in the forums.

It is not to late to start if you would like to join. Just check out the instructions here.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I don’t do this to often, I never typically read forwards let alone find one that I actually find inspirational but I couldn’t help but share this information. I have shared before about how much I love the power of water so you could understand why I would share this information with you today.

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT

1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water
2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minute
3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.
4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours
5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.
6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life.

The following list gives the number of days of treatment required to cure/control/ reduce main diseases:

1. High Blood Pressure (30 days)
2. Gastric (10 days)
3. Diabetes (30 days)
4. Constipation (10 days)
5. Cancer (180 days)
6. TB (90 days)
7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards – daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times. It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life. Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active. This makes sense .. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals …not cold water. Maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain…

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this “sludge” reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food.. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks: · Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep.. Let’s be careful and be aware.. The more we know, the better chance we could survive…

Bookmark It

Hide Sites