Grief

Just got done watching the latest Grey's Anatomy episode (I know I'm behind but Katie and I watch them together and tonight's the first chance we got) and it really bothered me. The whole episode was revolved around grief and the grieving process and as a person who is going through those motions it really hit home. The show had a counter of the days and it shocked me that the episode spanned 36 days. 36 days of grief. It's been a little over that since Nana died and I find myself feeling foolish when I get hit with a wave of sadness. I tell myself that it's been long enough and that I need to push forward. It's such a hard thing. You constantly are left feeling guilty. You either feel guilty for not being sad enough. For not stopping your life because they are gone. For not constantly thinking about them. For forgetting. OR you feel guilty for stopping your life to be sad about someone who is gone. For not enjoying every moment that life has to offer because it's so so so short. For wasting precious time worrying about things you have no control over.

For me I am sad and I do miss Nana but more than thinking about her I've been consumed by thinking about death in general. Zach says I may be questioning my faith which I guess is normal and justified. I just don't understand why God bothered to make us if we are all going to die anyway? What's the point? I look at Kye and I think that someday he'll be a man and he'll have babies and I will be dead. And then he will die. I worry that Zach will die. I worry I will die. I think about how hard it has been to lose Nana and then I think about all the people I will lose throughout my life. How difficult it will be. I think about how Nana went out how everyone hopes to: old, peacefully, in her home and how so many people aren't as lucky as she was. People get in car wrecks. People get shot. Babies die at birth. I think about how hard it is to have someone gone who went the "perfect" way and I just can't fathom dealing with it if someday it doesn't happen that way.

I constantly think about these things and I get overwhelmed with feelings of fear, of un-ending questions that no one but God can answer, of hopelessness. Then I also get overwhelmed by gratitude. I am so so so blessed. We only get ONE life and look how amazing mine has been. I'm healthy, born into a loving family, married to an awesome husband, blessed with a perfect child. Why did I get so lucky? I shouldn't spend any time being sad or scared I should live every single second of my life grateful for what I have been given. But then it's like I wonder when something will go wrong. I've been TOO blessed. I've been TOO lucky. Everything in my life has been TOO wonderful. Surely life can't be this wonderful for one person. Surely something awful is waiting to happen.

Zach and I watch The Biggest Loser together and there is a lady on there this season who had her husband, daughter, and not even 3 week old son die in a car accident. All three. Her whole family gone. Can you imagine? I see her and I am in awe that she has so much strength. That she gets out of bed each day. I know I could never be half that strong. I tried so hard to be so strong when Nana passed away. I knew my mom needed me and I wanted to be there for her. I screwed up when Papa died and I wasn't there for her like I should have been. This time around I did it right. I was there when she needed me and I think I did a great job holding it together. But when does it all end? When do I stop thinking about all these issues? Does it ever go away?

I truly believe in God and in Heaven and even when I'm questioning these things I know in the back of my mind the answers but it's like I can't stop myself from asking the questions. I hate that I feel like I'm not in control at all in this situation. It makes me feel stupid. Watching that episode tonight made me realize that I'm not so stupid after all. If someone thought to make an entire tv show around grief and how people deal with it differently then it must be okay that I'm still having a hard time. Normal even. The part of the episode that bothered me the most was the very ending how she said that out of nowhere the grief will hit you all over again. It really sucks!

But also like the episode said we don't have a choice. We have to keep living. We may not know how to do it but we have to do it anyway. I have to smile and sing and be silly even when I don't feel like it because I have a little baby who needs entertaining. I'm so thankful for him and I know that things always happen for a reason. Nana thought she may not make it to my wedding. That was over 2 years ago. She made it for my baby to be born, she made it until then and that has been such a huge thing for myself and for Mom too. Having Kye reminds us that we DO have to LIVE. That life is hard and there is sadness but there is SO much joy too. That yeah it's so very scary but we have to keep moving forward or we'll miss out on the amazing little moments in Kye's life. The cute little things he does and learns to do that make each day a blessing and an adventure.

I'm trying to continue to focus on the good in life while I know that some days I'll have days where all I can see is the bad. Thanks to Grey's I feel a little more normal and a little more like it's all okay and hopefully, with time, the bad days will be less and less and the good days will be more and more. Hopefully I'll be able to think of Nana and even talk about her without getting sad or feeling that knot in my throat. I just have to keep having faith and keep thanking God for my blessings and keep remembering that Heaven is real and it's where I want to be too someday!

Gap Contest

I'm on the Gap mailing list (no surprise there) and I got an email last week about the Baby Gap Photo Contest. I know it's a very, very long shot but it's free to enter and I take SO many pictures so why not give it a shot? Personally I think Kye is pretty photogenic and is a cute little baby. I think if he had hair he'd have a more decent chance but we can always enter him again next year and I think he'll be like his mommy and only get better with age haha!

You can enter in 5 photos so these are the 5 I chose. I went with ones that showed his range of facial expressions because I feel like that's one of his strengths. Do I expect to win? Heck no! But I figure the runners up (I think there are several of them) get $500 Gap Gift cards and that would be awesome! Also they split it up into 4 categories: baby girls 0-4, baby boys 0-4, boys 5-10, girls 5-10. If all the babies were lumped together you know a girl would win (you ALWAYS always always see girls in ads and hardly ever boys) but since it's divided it's nice that some little boy will win something.

They also have a category for FAN FAVORITE and I'd appreciate YOUR VOTE!! You can vote every day now through November 17th. We'd win a free trip to a Sandals resort as a family if we win that category! I'm always down for a free vacation haha! You can vote on any of the five pictures but they don't combine the votes so here is a link to vote for the last one of the five so all the votes will go to that one!

Thanks! I guess we'd never know what could happen if we don't try right??? haha!

The Perfect Saturday

Zach and I are doing the Love Dare (from Fireproof the movie) and I WILL be posting about it sometime soon but for one of the dares Zach gave me a little certificate that was good for a $75 shopping spree! I was THRILLED!!! My favorite thing in the world to do is shop and I never get to do it, especially not for myself. It was so sweet of him and so special to me. I asked him who I should invite to go with me (thinking a friend or someone) and he said he'd go! That made it an even better gift as he is my favorite shopping partner and I can't remember the last time we went shopping for clothes together, baby stuff yeah but stuff for ME nope!

We started off the day by taking Kye to Mrs. Charlotte's. It was the first time they've kept him for an entire day so I gave them quite a list of instructions as they will be keeping him for 5 days when we go to New York and I want them to know his routine. On the way back we stopped by a local nursery to get a new plant. Back when we bought the house we got this awesome palm tree looking plant from Ikea for our living room and I did a GREAT job keeping it alive but then I had Kye and it's gone downhill. I really think that there were so many people in and out of here during that time that I think it got over-watered :( Oh well. We told the lady we wanted the easiest thing they had and we got a rubber tree! And it was on sale 50% off! Score!

Afterwards we had to go back to the house because the AT&T guy was there to fix our internet (turns out we needed a new router and he hooked us up with one that's supposed to cost $5 extra per month on our bill but he did it for free!). So I went ahead and pumped before we hit the road again. We went by Habitat for Humanity hoping to find some good stuff to help Mom fix her bathroom but no luck :(

Then it was time for ME ME ME! First stop was Old Navy (remember we're in VALDOSTA, Old Navy is about as good as it gets) and they had a great sale going on. I spent $24 (Zach said the money was Pre-Tax too as that's how I always shop haha) and got 9 things! It was fun trying on stuff for Zach and I loved getting his opinions on what I should buy. It was also great because he can reach the upper shopping racks AND he held all my stuff while I looked :)

We got an early lunch at McAlisters (and got hooked up with free cookies YUM!) then went into Ross, Belk, American Eagle, Payless, Shoe Depot, and Victoria's Secret without buying a thing (got 2 pairs of free panties from Victoria's Secret though at least!). We just don't have the best selection here but I made it work! Last stop was New York and Company (Learner as I call it STILL) and sadly it's the best store we have around here. And I racked up! We had a blast going through everything and making cute outfits. It was so fun with Zach there because he had me try things I normally wouldn't have even glanced at and it was hilarious the HUGE pile of stuff I tried on! We even felt like kids because we got in trouble for him going in the dressing room with me (they told us he wasn't allowed but I snuck him in anyway and we got a talking to when we walked out...he's my husband people seriously! The chick said, "men are not allowed for the safety of our guests." Safety? Seriously??).

I had a coupon, of course, and had a gift card that Mrs. Charlotte gave me for Christmas (I know it's September, I don't have time to go shopping!) so I used the rest of Zach's money and $15 off the giftcard and got 7 things which is still really good for Learner! Plus I saw a lot of other stuff I liked and I gave Mom some ideas for Christmas for me :)

After the shopping ended we went home so I could pump again then went to dinner at Aligatu. If you live in Valdosta or ever drive through you HAVE to go to Aligatu...it's soooo good. The best Japanese ever thanks to the amazing seafood sauce! All I got was rice, hot tea, and 2 soups...the perfect meal!

We did all that and finished dinner by 5:45!!! No joke! We had so much time left before Kye would be home (Mrs. Charlotte brought him for us since we took him that morning at 7:30) so we stopped by Dairy Queen for some dessert (yes, we cheated on the diet on Saturday for sure!)

It was SUCH a fun day! I did miss Kye but it wasn't a situation where I kept talking about him and I really didn't worry about him at all. It was more like once I saw him again THEN I realized I'd missed him ya know? I think 5 days without him in New York will be tough but as long as I stay busy like I was on Saturday I think I'll get through it ok. I know times like that are SO SO SO important for my marriage and that comes first :)

We had such a wonderful time together and it felt like we were dating or something back in the day haha. It's rare that we get a full day together like that and even more rare that I get to go shopping! I got some cute new things and some new appreciation for my husband :) I feel the need to return the favor for him but we do go to a lot of football games and that's his favorite thing to do so I think we're even ha!

6 Month Well Visit

Thursday we had Kye's 6 month well visit. I know, I know the kid is closer to 7 months than he is 6 months but come his 9 month appointment we're getting back on the right schedule!

The appointment was at 10:45 which is a little tricky since he eats at 11:00. We decided to go up there very early for the appointment and it worked to our advantage! We gave him a bottle after the nurse took his vitals but while we waited on the dr. then we fed him the solids in Zach's lap after the dr. left but before the nurse came back to do the shots! It all went pretty smoothly really :)

I didn't have very many questions at this appointment..it may sound bad but I don't really value much of what the pediatrician has to say. I know they are dr. but I trust myself, my mother, my friends, and Babywise more than I trust them! Oops!

First thing they weighed Kye in and I liked that it was BEFORE he ate so his tummy was empty and it was more of a true reading! He weighs 18.14 lbs!!! Yes, that's 2 ounces shy of 19 lbs!!! Craziness...He also is 28 inches long and has a head circumfrance of 17.5 inches. He's in the 75% for weight, 90th for height (yes Zach was SO excited), and only 50th for head (his head still looks soooo big to me though...maybe it's just the lack of hair...).

This time we actually saw the legit dr. instead of the lady we usually see and he was very nice. She's more personable but I guess that's because she's a woman but he was nice too! I told him we're taking Kye to Mexico next week and he didn't even pause. That made me feel very good about it!!! I asked if he'd be worried about going and he said not at all :) I also asked about the flu shot and they don't have them in yet but I made Kye an appointment to have his on Oct 23rd (and Daddy WILL be taking him!!! I don't do shots).

I told the dr about my concern with my milk supply and, shocker, he said it's very normal and typical for that to be happening as Kye eats more and more solids. I told him how he KILLS the solids and he said there isn't any need to limit his intake (again following my gut and I'm still semi-limiting it) and that he may be ready for Stage 2 foods as they are more filling (that is a pretty good tip but I'm using all the Stage 1 stuff we bougth first before spending more money!). I asked for tips about the sippy cup and he said Kye doesn't need to mess with that yet (umm WHY?? the kid is already drinking entire bottles from the sippy, I'm not stopping now!)

Kye's had a small red spot on his theigh for awhile now that kinda worries me so I asked about that and he said it's a permanent scar probably from a bug bite or something. Now why is that permanent? I'm using Aquaphor on it all the time now to see if it will help it go away. I don't like that the dr. just assumes it'll always be there! Stupid!

He said Kye looks great though and that the circumcision looks great (I always worry about that since it's not an area I'm too familiar with haha) and that he's about to break in a tooth!!! Every morning I wake up and ask Kye first thing to show me the tooth he got for Mommy and everyday I'm disappointed so far haha!

I left the room for his shots and he had Hepatitis B, Polio, Pneumococcal Disease, Diphtheria, Tetaus, Pertussis, and HIB all in 5 little shots. They also pricked his toe to do a hemoglobin check (iron count). I was in the hallway and I could hear my poor baby crying. The nurses all thought I was funny waiting out there like that but it's not so much about seeing him in pain as it is him seeing how much I hate shots. I have such a hard time with them and I don't want my fear rubbing off on him.

As we were leaving she told me the results of his iron count and it's the lowest end of the healthy spectrum range. She said that's very normal for a breastfed baby and that I don't need to do anything or worry about it. The dr. also said that we will probably start seeing Kye thin out some as that's normal for breastfed babies as well. I wonder if I packed up his 6 month sized clothes too soon???

Last time Kye had shots it was a ROUGH 24 hours but this time it went much much better. I always give him Tylenol for 24 hours after the shots and he typically needs it for 24 hours plus one extra dose. He needed that again this time but didn't seemed bothered by the shots AT ALL and slept wonderfully for all his naps and that night!

I'm so happy that the 9 month appt won't have any shots :) Don't have to mess with those again until he's a year old!!! So hard to believe!

Duck Tub

Now with Kye pulling himself up all the time in his tub Zach and I realized the need to do something else. We debated about getting something so he won't slide for the bottom and just letting him sit in the tub like the rest of us do. However, he's just not PERFECTLY steady at sitting up yet and we didn't really feel comfortable with it.

Mom did us a BIG favor and bought Kye a new tub!!!

It's super cute! She got it from amazon for only $14.99! It got great reviews and Zach and I thought we'd get one too once we tested hers out over the weekend.

It's so nice because he can sit up in it and we don't have to worry about him falling over. I mean yeah he'll still hit his head on the side of the tub but that doesn't seem to bother him one bit so far haha! It also has one of those "hot" spots on it where it tells you if the water is too warm for the baby. Super handy!

I think Mom's favorite part was that the beak squeeks when you press it! Kye enjoys that too! I think we had a wonderful infant tub but with a baby who can sit up, this tub is the way to go! I feel more comfortable leaving him and going to do other things around the house while he's bathing because I know he's safe in this (JUST KIDDING haha never leave a baby unattended in the tub...just seeing if anyone was even reading!)

Since this tub is great for travel (it deflates!) Mom told us we could just take hers with us! Worked out great as we didn't have to wait on ordering one for it to ship!

My favorite feature of the new duck tub??? I has a suction cup on the bottom of it that you can use to let it dry out. It's great! Zach just sticks it to the side of the shower and it's dry for the next time we use it and it doesn't leave a ring in our tub from having something wet always sitting in the bottom of it!

Most of all though if it makes the baby happy it makes Mommy and Daddy happy and it's so fun to think that before we know it he'll be in just a normal tub!!!

Relaxing Melbourne Weekend

So I'm learning this whole new way of writing the blog and I love it! The picture feature is SO much easier!!!

Anyways this past weekend we went to Melbourne to visit Mom. It's been a month since Nana passed away (although it's hard to believe it's been that long already) and we won't have another free weekend to visit until Thanksgiving so we thought we should go now!

It was nice to just spend the weekend with Mom and do things together. We went to Bagel World first thing Saturday morning and Kye wore a shirt Mom bought for him back when we FIRST found out we were pregnant! I know I said I hate sayings on shirts but this one was just too true (hahaha)

Zach and Mom went to Habitat for Humanity to check it out as Mom is having to do a bunch of work to her bathroom due to water damage and we got such good deals at our local Habitat place. Of course the one in Melbourne ended up sucking which stunk! So Mom and I tried our luck at JoAnn's Fabrics for stuff for our Halloween costumes (oh they are gonna ROCK btw) and did pretty well finding stuff. Mom even started sewing some of Zach's for us!

Saturday night Mom wanted to take us out for dinner as a kind of thank you for all we did when Nana passed away. She didn't need to do that but it was appreciated and we had a nice time!

Kye was looking like a little pimp, of course!

Had to get a picture with Gramma...doesn't Mom's hair look great?

And with Mommy and Daddy!

He was SUCH a good boy at the restaurant. It was so nice because he's finally starting to have people stop us and say how cute he is! I really think it's because for so long if we went places he was in his car seat so people couldn't really see him. Now we take the portable high chair and he sits with us at the table for the world to see. It was a nicer place and I was nervous he'd misbehave but he really did awesome.

We had a nice time visiting and it was fun letting Kye play with some of the toys I remember from childhood! Zach and I are not Sesame Street people (it's changed sooo much since we were kids...a little too liberal for our liking!) but seeing Kye with Elmo was super cute! I remember Brandon loving this Elmo too! I think all kids like Elmo haha!

We had a really nice weekend and just tried not to focus on the fact that Nana was no longer there for us to go visit. We opted to try the Italian place for dinner because it was somewhere NEW. We would ALWAYS go to Longdoggers with Nana and while I'm not saying we won't visit there again, I just didn't want to go this time. We did have to stop by Nana's while we were out as there were still some things there Mom needed to get. I'm glad she didn't have to do that alone and I'm glad Zach went in with her while I waited in the car with Kye. I saw the house empty and such the week I was there but I think during that time you're just in "get it done" mode and don't really focus on what's going on. I honestly think going in her house would be HARDER now than it was then...if that makes any sense.

I'm so glad we were able to go down and see Mom! I think Kye makes everyday happy and that's what she needed right now :) I hope we'll get to see her again before my birthday (hint hint..come visit Mom!!!)

Enjoying Our Backyard "Pool"

I'm slacking! I just uploaded the pictures off my camera and realized I forgot to post the ones from two Saturdays ago! Oops!

It was a nice day and we had ZERO plans so we thought it'd be fun to let Kye play in our blow up pool. We did it back on Father's Day in June but Little Guy has changed a lot since then and we knew he's love it!
We brought out some of his bath toys (meaning his ducks as it's all the bath toys the kid has) and let him go to town. He and I played in the pool for an HOUR and he had a blast!!!

I tried to get him to wear his new beach hat we bought him for Cancun (b/c the sun there is intense) but it didn't last long...at least I got a couple pics of it :)

Trying to reach the duckies was the favorite game of the day. Here's a video of him "swimming" to the duck!

When he wasn't splashing around trying to "swim" he was enjoying his yummy reward...duck kisses!

Doesn't he look like he's in deep concentration? haha

Action shot of him splashing

Puckered up for a duck kiss!

I LOVE that he can sit up now as it makes things so much more fun! I was able to just sit in the pool and enjoy him and not have to worry about him falling over. When he did fall he always fell forward and loved it! He got water in his mouth several times but it didn't seem to phase him a bit. I can't WAIT until the day comes that we have a REAL pool in our backyard but until then I think time in the play pool is important to keep him loving the water :)

Once his fingers started looking all shriveled it was time to get out. He just laid in the towel soaking up the warmth from the sun. Such a fun time together!

New Favorite Toy

So I tried to make a collage of these pictures but I just don't like them! They look great on other people's blogs but I hate how SMALL the pictures are! No fun! Plus since I'm making blog books it'll show up better to have individual pictures!

Anyways...

A couple weeks ago I went to Mathis City Auditorium for a Kids Sale (thanks Crissy for the tip!). While the clothes, in my opinion, were very used looking and very over-priced, the toys were awesome! I got this for $4 and it looks brand new! I decided to buy it because Kye is sitting up so great now and I wanted a toy he could play with without having to hold it in his hand. The downside of this new toy? It's WAY too loud. It also doesn't have an off option so if we ever accidentally hit it it starts making noise! I wiped it down really good with some sanitizing wipes (a mom's best friend haha) and let him play with it.

He adores it! It's so fun that Kye's finally at an age where we can see him have fun with things and see him choose favorites. Whenever Kye's having a rough day Zach and I both know just pull out the car toy and he'll be happy :) Zach worked on it to make it less noisy and it's a lot better than it was. It's so cute to watch Kye "drive" he is so serious and puts his hands on the wheel and on the shifter haha. He also loves to chew on the little man driving the car. I'm sure many more favorite toys are in Kye's future but I don't think I'll ever forget his first favorite: the $4 car!

Here are some pictures with his favorite toy of the moment:

Very concentrated!

Best part? Chewing on the driver!

Even when he falls over he's still hardcore

I love it when he laughs :)

"Hi Mommy!"

So proud of himself and his new toy

sticking that tongue out thinking hard

already a better driver than Daddy...haha

Milk Supply Issues

Who would have ever thought that with my mega milk supply that I'd have to worry about not having enough!!! I have always had WAY too much!!!

Well I've been experiencing what the rest of the nursing moms out there typically deal with early on in their babies lives...worry about them getting enough. Everything you read about baby food will tell you that milk should remain their MAIN source of nutrition for the first year of life. Everything you read also says to let the baby decide how much they want to eat. So that's what I've been doing. Once Kye started on solids I nursed him completely THEN offered the food. Some things say to nurse one side, then solids, then the other but since milk is supposed to be the main source of his calories I wanted to give him ALL the milk first. He eats solids second and he chows DOWN. I seriously can only think of maybe three times that I've known for sure that Kye was saying he was full. He will just eat and eat and eat.

Here is Kye after he downed 2 1/2 jars of baby food!!!
I know what most of you are probably thinking, "wow that's great that he's doing so well with solids!" And it is, he doesn't have anything he doesn't like so far and he truly enjoys eating time. Great! However, it's not-so-great for my milk supply.

I started Kye out on bottle feeding (using pumped breast milk) when he was a little less than 2 weeks old. While I LOVE nursing I don't feel like it should take away from me going and doing and I'm just not comfortable with nursing in public. So we give Kye a bottle whenever we are out during a feeding time. Church, dinner, someone's house. Whatever. It works great and what I do is feed him the bottle then pump for the missed feeding and use that milk for the next bottle. When you pump for a missed feeding you should get out whatever the amount is that the baby ate for that feeding. Since Kye has been drinking 8 oz for a long time I should get 8 oz right? Right!

Well since we introduced solids I went from getting 8 oz (or more) every time I pumped for a missed feeding to getting 7.5 oz, then 7, then 6 and then down to even 5.5 oz! That alarmed me big time!!!!


When I first noticed the supply going down I tried not to freak and figured it'd pick back up, but once it got below 6 oz I decided I should do something about it. I started reading through my books and I found out that a baby his age should be getting between 24 and 32 oz a day. With only four feedings that works out to AT LEAST 6 oz per feeding. So the 5.5 oz just wasn't cutting it!
I know many people will say that Kye's fine. He's obviously still growing (we go Thur to the dr and I'll know the new weight!) and he's happy, thriving even! It's not just about him, it's about me. I don't want my body to slowly ween itself to where I dry up with no milk left!!!
I talked to several people and got lots of advice. Maybe I needed to up the intensity of the pump because Kye empties my breast quicker now. Maybe it's because teething. Maybe it's a natural thing and it's completely normal and fine. I called the lactation specialist at the hospital (who, by the way, knows me by name now) and she said she thinks it's okay. That since he doesn't have a bottle of pumped milk everyday or anything that it's okay that he doesn't get as much as he used to and that it all balances out. Even with so many people telling me it was okay I felt in my gut that it wasn't okay. And I'm a BIG follow your gut girl :)
I broke down and called the La Leche League and talked to them about it. Don't get me wrong I don't have anything against La Leche people but I'm not a demand-feeding, attachment parenting, anti-processed baby food kind of mom. Heck if I told that lady I did Babywise she would have flipped!!! She did lecture me about feeding him store-bought baby food. Asked why I did it and why I was even feeding him anything other than breast milk right now (she claimed he didn't need a THING besides breast milk for several more months). Not saying that ALL LLL women are like her but it's the general thing I hear (just like most people assume Babywise moms are Nazis haha). So basically I dismissed pretty much everything she said except when she told me that I can lower the amount of solids he eats and that it will help him nurse more. Good idea!
When I first started him on solids the dr. told me he needs 1/2 jar twice a day. Well the kid has been eating WAY beyond that. Clearing 1/4 cup rice cereal and at least a jar per feeding no problem. So I took that LLL ladies advice and cut back. I only give him 1/2 jar of fruit with 1/4 cup rice cereal for breakfast, 1/2 jar of vege and 1/2 jar fruit for lunch, no solids for afternoon feeding, and then 1/2 jar veges, 1/2 jar fruit mixed with 1/4 cup rice cereal for dinner. So it's exactly as Babywise would have it but I don't let him decide when he's done. I decide.
The first time I did it I offered him the breast before the solids and then after them to make sure he was full. Since then I've just MADE him stay on the breast longer. I let him nurse as long as possible and even if he acts like he's done I offer it one more time to make sure. THEN I give him the solids. So far it's working wonderfully and the last time I pumped for a missed feeding I got about 7 oz which is much better! I also tried giving him a bottle of 8 oz the other night (I used some frozen breast milk from ages ago to make it enough) and he only drank 6 oz. That tells me that I think it IS a combo of him naturally drinking less due to solids and that I was feeding him toooo many solids. I read that 2 tbl of solid food equals the amount of 1 oz of liquid. That makes sense! If I was feeding him a crap load of tablespoons then he needed a TON less milk!

I feel pretty proud of myself for handling all of this and figuring it all out! I love all the advice I get from people as I just love learning (a nerd I know). I feel like this experience helped me understand his diet better and be even more sure in trusting my gut on issues. The La Leche League lady even wants me to come to a meeting sometime to talk with other nursing mothers...I'm considering it. Not only would it be nice to meet other breastfeeding moms but it'd hilarious to see their faces when I bust out with some Babywise stuff!!! haha!

I plan to keep the breast milk the most important part of Kye's diet until he's a year old. I still don't feel pressure to continue breastfeeding and if it becomes something I no longer enjoy I will stop. But I do enjoy it so much and don't want to stop! It's not only for my enjoyment that I want to continue, it's that I think at this point it will be a lot easier to have him transition from breast to cow milk than breast to formula to cow. We'll see what happens during the next 6 months :)

6 Month Pictures

We took Kye's 6 month pictures on Friday and I was so excited and nervous. He was super fussy for the 3 month ones so they weren't mega awesome..but he was in a pretty good mood for these and Autumn captured some wonderful ones!!! I am so glad he's able to sit up now as that made for many more cute pictures, I hope there will be MORE HAIR by the 9 month ones! Enjoy my 6 month old boy who is filled with many, many expressions :)

Here is a link to the entire album of pictures!