September RAMBLINGS

Life here in our home is always busy. We do not lack for things to do. In fact we have to decline invites much of the time, because things change here rather quickly. (my older kiddos often need rides to places).
My house is often a mess so I rarely have friends over. I am trying to change that for this year.
I'm making hospitality a goal. I want to have more friends over for lunch and play dates.

Most of my kiddos are back to school. I have 1 son that graduated high school back in June OK July because he was 1/2 credit short :( He was not able to walk in the ceremony or anything. I was heart broken but I learned it was not the end of the world. Plus it relieved the stress of having to figure out how I would get to the BIG event. I was induced with Ian on June 12 and the graduation was June 13! My son did a online class to finally earn his 1/2 credit. He is now an official 2012 grad!
I must confess I feel like a big loser sometimes because with the birth of our new baby Ian I did not do much in the way of celebrating my other kiddos birthdays. My oldest son turned 18 back on June 2 and Noah turned 10 the day before Ian was born. Nick just turned 13 Aug. 1! Lots of milestone birthdays this year!
Olivia will be 5 on Oct.4 and Jacob will be 16 in Feb. (My birthday is next Tuesday Sept. 18th! and I'm proud to say I will be 44!)

So now that most of my kiddos are in school (I have Olivia,Ian and my oldest home) we are settling into a new routine. We are all up by 7:30am and after the kids are on the bus I hit the coffee pot and make breakfast. 9am is when we start home school preschool for Olivia.
She has workbooks,a picture journal,story time and games we play. The structured time goes from 9am-10:30am followed by **quiet blanket time. In the early afternoon we play outside,go on a walk,paint or do some other art and read some more stories. In the late afternoon when my school kiddos get home they have 40min. snack and homework/reading time before playing outside (in our back yard) with the neighbors.

**We do a quiet blanket play time with special toys.(she must play by herself while I get some stuff done.) Olivia does not have a nap time but her bed time is 8:30pm this year.  ALL my kiddos have to go up at 8:15pm to brush teeth and settle in with a book on their bed. Our girls have their new (Craig's list) bunk beds set up in their own room.

I love spending time with Jarett my oldest son. We eat our meals together and he travels with me sometimes to run errands. I can have him watch Olivia if I need him to though I have not had to yet.
But I will when I get my hair cut next Thursday!

Today I'm taking Jarett to look for a job.....picking up and filling out job apps.

Thanks for letting my ramble today. I have lots to post about and many many pictures I want to share but it seems life is flying fast and I'm living it! That is a good thing. When I do have a minute to share and write a post, I never know where to start!  I hope soon to post daily but it seems that I rarely get any comments so it feels like maybe everyone is just a busy as me and is not interested in my life?

Things I want to post about: Ian's birth story, my new weight loss journey,park day,our trip to the fair, and some summer fun in our backyard!

Peace+
Georgiann

In the still of the morn

In th still of the morn I can eat the last homemade blueberry scone and not have to share.

 When I have enough energy to get up before the kiddos. It allows me time to get a few chores done, ones that I find relaxing. Yes, there are a few.

Like taking down cloth diapers fresh off the line that will need folded and put away.

I also like to do a quick pick up of scattered dirty clothes that are left through out the house and STUFF them into the wash machine.

Boy that makes my house seem instantly cleaner.

Also running a load of dishes before my crew wakes is a good thing.

We have not mastered a clean kitchen before bed.lol

I'll take clean and picked up where and when I can get it! lol

I love to sit in my quiet kitchen and ponder what I will do today.

What I will fix for dinner? What will the kids and I do today?

When the kids awake.......

Most days they are spent in our backyard, splashing in the kiddie pool,

Making a mud city to dig in. Riding bikes or swinging on the swing set.

There is the occasional squabble and skinned knee.

Request for a popcicle and to make some lemon aide.

There are questions to answer like whats for lunch?

Can I have candy?

But for now I will sit here quietly and eat the last scone.....in the still of the morn.

Peace+

Georgiann

Sweet Kitchen Helpers

The summer is fading fast and I miss not having a BIG garden.

I decided this year our family would not have time plant a garden or go to the

 Terri's Berries Produce Co-op.

Giving birth to my baby boy Ian, having my oldest son turn 18 and graduate from high school as well as host a boat load of house guest to see and attend it all was enough for me. The produce co-op is about a 35 minute drive one way (over an hour round trip).....a trip that I was not willing to do with a new baby. It feels like I just gave birth just yesterday.....I'm tired most days and still having nursing issues but I'm not complaining!! He's so worth a few years with out a garden!

I'm sorry to say that this year the ingredients for my beef stew were store bought and not organic and homegrown, my bread came from the store not from scratch but thats the way it is some years.

I really miss being in my garden, and watching my children dig, plant and pick what we'll have for dinner. But having Baby Ian in my life is so worth not having all that extra work a garden demands.

Thank you to all my blog friends that leave comments they mean the world to me.

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

B* Ian (bean)

Ian Matthew

I can't believe its already the end of August!

Where did the summer go?

In just a few short weeks most of my kiddos will be back in school.

This year I will only be attending MOPS with Ian and Olivia.

I don't think I will be attending any home-school co-ops this year as baby Ian will have a nap time and the whooping cough is running rapid here in these parts!

I know 2 families that have it now. With school starting up I'm sure we will catch something sooner or later.

***********

I have had a few requests from friends to post Ian's Birth story.

I will in due time. I rarely get time on the computer (my older kiddos know as the Bigs hog the computer most days) and when I do get a few moments Ian needs me.

Its so hard to type with one hand.lol

My computer also says my picture storage is full and that I must buy more. :(

It has told me that before and I never did buy. I hope if I wait a few days things will be back to normal with no purchase.

Beautiful Weekend

We finally did it! Took the kiddos to Mt. Rainer that is.

Hubby and I had been talking about venturing up to the beautiful snow covered peaks for quit a while.

"I wanted to eat some chicken and walk in the wildflowers like I did as a kid" I told Hubby.

The Littles, Hubby and I excitedly got our warm clothes ready to head up into the mountain we hold so dear.

(1hr 1/2 away)

What we forgot was we would be above the cloud cover and the weather up there would be HOT!

Not overcast like at home.

We drove up and found a picnic spot and just ate tale gate style.

Jackie had a stomach ache....she felt better after eating some lunch.

We saw waterfalls......my favorite thing.

Hubby and Noah navigated our destination on the map.

We got to Paradise and it was wonderful!

The weather was very warm and I was dressed in winter clothes. Not layers:(

I had on polar fleece socks and rubber clogs!

I'm really out of shape too and the climb was up hill for quit a ways before letting up.

Hubby laughed and wanted to snap my picture before Ian and I went back down to wait in the lodge.

He thought it was hilarious that I did not even make out of sight of the lodge.

Hubby and the kids were gone for 2 1/2 hours.

All I was left with was Ian, his sun hat, a sling and a bottle with formula.

I never take the chance that I will have enough breast milk.

Things are getting better and I did breast feed while we were there.

Oh and I also had $10.00 and the extra batteries in my pocket to be used for my camera that I gave to Hubby as we parted.

I had no burp cloth, diapers etc...they were in Hubbies back pack.

I had to use paper napkins when he spit up.

I had no way to get into the truck, but managed to get a drink from the ice cooler in the bed.

I took this picture just before we left to go home.

The lodge was closing so it was empty but during the day it was FULL.

I had lots of time to make friends with 3 other new mommas that were waiting for their crews to return back to the lodge. I had a joyous and peaceful time.

1 gal had 6mo old boy/girl twins and a 4yr old girl.

1 gal had a baby girl born 2 weeks after Ian and also had a 4yr old girl.

1 gal had a 3mo old girl.

Another gal was there with her herd of 3 boys ages 2,5 and 6.

We all sat in the far living room, had meaningful conversation and breast fed our babies.

It was so lovely and awesome!

I'm posing with the wildflower bouquet Jackie picked for me.

Hubby took some wonderful pictures before the batteries went dead!

I took this picture as we ate our tale gate dinner before heading home!

Ian watching closely as dad handed out cold JO JO potatoes left from lunch.

This was a big no-no I'm sure but Jackie picked one of every kind of wildflower for me.

She knew I really liked wildflowers. Thank you Jackie!

The clouds were rising as we drove down the mountain in the evening.

The sun was a settin'

The perfect end to a beautiful day.

I wanted to post these pictures yesterday but I seemed to have caught a cold on Sunday. As we drove home my ears and head were clogged up and I was feeling very run down.

I'm glad I did not go on the LONG walk with a baby to carry.

Yesterday I spent resting and a dear friend brought us dinner.

Pork chops, mashed potatoes,gravy corn spoon bread, salad and homemade snicker doodles cookies.

Thank you Nancy, it was yummo!

Peace+

Georgiann

Breastfeeding : Not going to give up.

I will start this post by saying thank you to those of you keeping Ian and I in your prayers...keep the prayers coming.

I can't believe that its already the middle of August. WOW.

Ian Matthew 6 weeks old.

I love love this boys fuzzy little head.

Thank you God for my sweet baby Ian!

I have a update on my breastfeeding rollicoaster ride.

My sweet Ian weighed only 9.11 at his 8 week check up last week.

 That is a 1 pound weight gain since birth, not good.

 He should weigh a pound or 2 more.

Ian got mildly dehydrated 2X since birth. Once at 3 weeks and another after I reported things were going great! Ian is mostly on formula as of now. I still pump and feed breast milk but my busy life has not let me pump as much as I need to. I must still give formula also for now. Ian uses the breast to pacify and to get to sleep and at times there is milk to feed him. The stimulation is good to increase my milk production.

What I need to do is cut out 1 formula feeding every two days. Replacing it with breast milk,(pumped for now so I can SEE how much he's getting). Going to the breast cold turkey for all feedings like I had been doing, caused him to not be getting enough to eat and ending up dehydrated. My breast can make enough milk but I need to work my way up to it by slowly replacing the formula. I also need to pump every few hours at least if not more to get my milk supply back up.

Ian's ped doc said, I need to be able to pump about 1 oz per hour to have enough for Ian to eat.

My life gets so busy and the time flys so fast. In September I think things will slow down.
As it is now I pump about 3oz total from both breast every 4hrs. (2 oz from one side and 1 oz from the other) There are times when I pump that a get a bit more, like maybe 4 oz total.

I am still taking Fenugreek capsules.

We have had dentist visits X 8 and doctors visits for all sorts of stuff  X10.

Noah needs to get tested for food allergies, but that's for another post.

I will weigh Ian tomorrow while I'm at the doc for Noah.

post edit: 
I weighed Ian today Aug.16 (1 wk after his last weight check) and he is now 10.11 so a 1# gain in 7 days! That's great!  That was an unofficial weight check.
Another weigh in Sept.5 2012  Ian is now  11.15  Dr.'s goal was 13# by Sept. 12.
post post edit: I took Ian in to be checked for whooping cough though I don't think he has it.
and he weighed 10.8 so that is down 3oz from the week before.

We have had three weeks of VBS and a child needing rides to and from summer school (Jun 26- Aug2)

Job interviews to drive my oldest son to and the list goes on and on.

I'm going to keep with it.  My goal is to breastfeed FULL time by the end of September.

 I will not let my baby starve......and I thank God for formula!

(and for my other kiddos for being such great helpers)

Peace+

Georgiann

More on Nursing

Some of you have emailed me with questions about weight gain and such for Ian.
I also forgot to thank ALL of you that have kept Ian and I in your prayers as we have tried to resolve or breast feeding issues.

I will start this post with a BIG thank you.
Your thoughts and prayer have been much appreciated.

Ian was born weighing  8.11
         24 hours old       8.6
         48 hours old       8.1

     1week old              8.4
    3 weeks old            8.10
At his 4week check    9.5

Ian goes in on Aug.12 for his 2mo check.

We have upped his feeding to about 6-9 oz of formula a day, along with breast feeding.
Ian tends to get fussy and teeter on the edge of sleep in the evening and a few ounces of formula helps him sleep.

weekending

Have you ever just sat around on a Saturday and spent most of the day trying to decide what you want to do?

Well hubby wanted to drive to the mountains to go see a waterfall and have a picnic with me,the dog and kiddos.

Well the problem with that idea is he could not find exact directions to the falls.

SO I could just picture:

Getting lost

big fight

hungry momma and kiddos

SO we ended up with my plan for now....and hope to get directions to the falls and an earlier start to the day on another weekend.

So what was my plan?

A chicken picnic at the beach.

A walk along the pier with our dog and kiddos!

Then go watch Jarett's baseball game.

Just moment after dressing Ian in his new shorts outfit and taking this picture, he spit up all over it.

I pray you all had a fun and safe weekend!

Peace+

Georgiann