Support

   I have been thinking about the support I have received since my boys have been born and how important it is in raising them.  Now I am not talking about the support from my family, that is really important too, but I am talking about the support that I sought out and created for myself through other mommies in the area.
    
     Now before O was born I took a lot of classes to prepare me for labor, breast feeding and what to expect when I brought my little bundle of joy home.  I felt prepared yet scared, I was not sure how I was going to take my new role in life, how I was going to be a mommy and be happy.  I was not sure how I was going to be ok with staying home for maternity leave and then all summer but yet I knew I would not want to go back to work in the fall.  So O was born and I was thrown in to this world of unsureness.  Breastfeeding was hard and this is were I started my search for help.  Now I had my mom, who by the way was a labor and delivery nurse, to help with with nursing but I just felt like I needed more.  Not sure what I was going to do I made the decision to attend the breastfeed support group at the local hospital.  This was the best decision of my mommy career.  Not only did I get the help I needed that day or week but I found myself going back week after week and month after month.  I was surrounding myself with other mommies who were in the same place as me or that were a head of me but could teach me the trick they already learned.  I would have to say that this was the reason that I was able to nurse O for the first year of his life.  Fast forward 3 years and in the world comes Little B and one of the first places I headed to was this support group.  I needed a little help with latch but I needed the support of other mommies going through the same things as I.  I also find myself enjoying giving the support back. 
    
     Another outcome from this support group was the friends that I made and the fact that we get together outside of this group.  This leads me to the idea of the playgroup.  Another important support group that got me to where I am now.  With O I meet some mommies who were members of a local playgroup which I then joined myself.  It was my way of getting out of the house and keeping busy.  I was able to share stories ask for suggestions and opinions that became part of the way that I raise my boys.  Now I still do talk to and hear from those women that I met with O but I will have to say we don't get together really and I have to blame that on the fact that I went back to work and my time became limited.  Even with that said these women are a big part of who I am and the mom that I have become.  Now knowing how important these relationships were to me when we made the decision that I was staying home with the birth of Little B I knew I would need to seek out a playgroup again.  Well that is exactly what I did.  Through my breastfeeding support group I have sought out some women and we have begun a playgroup.

     One of the last groups that I have used to seek support is a stroller fitness class called Stroller Strides.  This in another group that I can not say anything but positive things about. Not only do I feel good about the weight that I am loosing, but the support that I find from the other mommies in the group is wonderful.  Again another way that I have found mommy friends that I can turn to with questions or just to vent when things are not going my way.  The babies see other babies and I can get a chance to get in some exercise.

     Support in my eyes is necessary to raising happy healthy kids.  Seeking out support is what has made me the person who I am today and because of that I will return the favor to anyone who is looking for support.  This is one reason that I still return to the breastfeeding support group with Little B who is not just days away from 11 months old.  I feel that I need to pay back what was given to me, support!  It is the reason I go to playgroups and Stroller Strides.  It is what has gotten me through nursing my second child to almost a year now, and what has helped me to figure out cloth diapers.  It is what has helped me find the right preschool for O and made me be a well balance mother.  Support, I can't say enough about it!

These two boys can only benefit from it.

Wordless Wednesday Future Chief

We may just have another chief in our family.  One that likes to cook just like his father and big brother.  If it continues this way I am going to have it made with good food for life in just a couple of years!

A Wagon Ride

  Today was not the warmest day but not freezing either so we headed out as a fam to take a walk to the basketball court.  Now it has been a while since we have done this.  It has just been cold out and for what ever reason I have not been motivated to get out in the cold.  This is strange since I was walking with O every day no matter how cold it was.  But I guess the thought of bundling up two children, myself and the dog to go for a walk is not appealing.  Don't get me wrong, we go outside and play all the time.  I have lots of pictures of Little B all bundled up outside on the swings, but we just have not gone for many cold walks.
   This time we decided to take the wagon, which O loves.

It was Little B's first wagon ride!

And he seemed to enjoy it, although you would never know from the look on his face.

O had a great time playing ball with his daddy and one of the neighborhood kids. 

He has become such a little boy not a toddler anymore.  He can kick and through just like a big kid.

His aim seems to be pretty good, right at mom even though she is to busy with the camera. 

After today I have decided that we will be taking more walks and getting outside more.  I need to be exercising more and what better way to do it outside with my kids.  So hopefully there will be more pictures of our outside adventures to come so keep watching.

Dear friends,
Did anyone do something fun this weekend with their families?

Preschool here we come

     O has been in daycare since he was about 6 months old.  That first year I was lucky to only work part time so I did get to spend a lot of time with him.  Now we like the daycare that he is in and when he was moved to the preK room we made the decision to keep him inrolled there even though I was taking the year off with the birth of Little B. Since we are going year by year and my postion in the school system is held for two years we have decided that I would stay home for another year.  With this decision made, that means that when/if I go back to work O would be in kindergarden and not need his spot in the daycare.  So the hunt began to look for a preschool in our area for O to go to.  I was a little overwhelmed.  I did find three right in our area infact they were less than 5 minutes from our house.  Now being a teacher I had high hopes and knew what I was looking for in a school.  I found the one that I really wanted O to attend, now it was just a matter of getting him in.  I felt like we were trying to get him into college.
  Well we found out today that he is accepted!  Now I really wanted him in the morning class, but beggers can't be choosers, he is in the afternoon class.  I am excited for him and I think this is going to be good.  The fact that I was trying to get him into a four year old program as a new student was half the battle.  I think this will get him ready for kindergarden.
   Now I will have to say that when it is time to leave his current classroom I will be sad to move on.  I love his teachers now and requested that he was in their class.  With that being said where he is now they keep the 3 year olds and the 4 year olds together and I don't think that is great for O.  It has worked for him as a 3 year old but spending another year in the classroom learning the samethings over again is not going to get him where he needs to be for school.  So we will be moving on. 

  So my baby will be going to school for the first time!  He will be learning to read and do math.  I can't believe that he is big enough to go to school.  Where does the time go?

Wordless Wednesday the first taste

The first time he tasted a avocado.

The first try

Not sure about it

Trying again

Not liking it.



No more mom!



More ended up on his face than in his mouth.

10 months old

He is ten months old!

Where has the time gone?  Ten months already and you are getting so big.  You are army crawling and sitting.  You even have 6 teeth!  You can stand on your own and you have begun to let go without falling.  You are becoming your own person and letting us all know your feelings.  You have had your first battles with you brother and have bit him for the first time.  Playing with balls is one of the activities you like best.  I think you want to walk but you just don't know how to move those feet.  You can almost pull up, but once again those feet are causing you problems.  You now weigh 23lb 15 oz, wow what a big boy you are.  You are still my sweet baby who loves people. 

Happy 10 months my sweet baby.