Boobie Woes

I'll give you try to guess what I'm struggling with right now.

Any guesses?

Yep, I am struggling to produce enough milk for Ella.

A couple of weeks ago I came down with a little cold. I took Sudafed knowing that it's "safe" to take when pregnant and nursing.

What I didn't think about is how it can slow your milk production down. And it slowed mine WAY down.

She is already a skinny baby and doesn't even register on the weight charts (below the 5%). She's a tiny little lady with a crazy high metabolism. And she hasn't been having as many wet diapers as usual either. She's still having them...just not as great as they were.

Because she's 8 months I'd just as soon throw in the towel and give her formula. I had to supplement both of my boys and I had no issues with it at all. But my girl is PICKY. She refuses to take a bottle, sippy, cup, or even bowl full of formula. We've tried all the different ways to give it to her. She refuses to drink it (and frankly I can't blame her!).

So I've been really worried about her. It's keeping me up at night

But thankfully I have a friend who's a lactation specialist (as well as an awesome Scentsy rep); who lets me call her whenever I have a question.

So here's what I've been doing to boost my milk production.

1. Power Pumping

After Ella nurses I pump for 5 min. Rest 1 min. Pump 5 min. Rest 1 min. Pump 5 min.

This is exhausting! I barely have time enough to nurse her let alone do this. But I'm determined to not to quit. And the worst part about it is that I get like 3-4 drops total. So exhausting!

Pardon the graphic milk pic. I needed this for memory's sake.

2. Drinking Organic Mother's Milk Tea.

2-3 times a day.

I hate tea. I hate everything about it. And this tastes like black licorice. Which I hate even more than tea!

3. Drinking More Water.

This is a problem for me. I hate to drink water. I know...I'm weird. I've never liked it. And if I could live my entire life without it...I would.

4. Taking Fenugreek Pills.

Not too bad...it actually smells like maple syrup!

5. Drinking Wheat Beer.

This is my favorite thing to do to boost milk production. No complaints out of me for this one : )

So listen to me Baby Ella...this is how much I love you!

Please boobies...catch up so I can get some rest and my little lady can get chunky!

And The Winners Are...

And The Winners From The Show and Tell Designs Giveaway Are...

Comment #12

rreynol3 said...

I want to win!!! "Love Letters" would look perfect in Abby's room.

January 19, 2012 3:03 PM

Congrats Rachel! Contact me about your FREE PRINT from Show and Tell Designs

And Winner #2 Is {{Drumroll Please}}

Comment #15

JenniferZ said...

These are the cutest! Love them. I'm a follower of your blog. :)

January 20, 2012 2:10 PM

Congrats Jennifer! Contact me about your FREE PRINT from Show and Tell Designs

Congrats Ladies! Thanks for being part of my first giveaway!!

~All results were taken from random.org~

Enjoying the Small Things!

These are a few of my favorite pics from the past week.

Even though I was crazy stressed getting ready for my show, this man was calm. He was my rock. He kept me sane. I'm so lucky to have him! Ella agrees.

And even though I look a little too excited in this pic (trying to remember to embrace the camera and enjoy the little things in life), it's one of the last pics of Ella's toothless grins, now that she has her two bottom teeth.

And it's a gorgeous day outside. Nothing better than nice weather in CO on a Jan afternoon! Perfect for picnic on the porch!

~So Blessed~

Too Busy To Love What I Do

I have been so busy this past week.

I had my second show for Clip Clip Hooray and all my new accessories. It went GREAT! But for the few weeks prior to the show I was so busy making all my accessories. My children were neglected, my husband was neglected, my hygiene was neglected, and my house was neglected.

Even though the show was a success and I got my name out there, I am now desiring to take a break from it all!

I have missed crafting for fun. I miss the days when I first discovered pinterest and was able to just craft away at any little project.

I had a lot of shoppers ask me if I loved making everything that I had to offer. And I would truthfully answer them. "Yes. I LOVE to create a new clip, or a new necklace, or headband. But what I don't love it make them in mass quanities". Does anybody else feel like this?

I have only had Clip Clip Hooray open for a couple of months and I am ready for a break. My entire family is ready for a break.

I am so thankful for the business and support. But I want to get back to what I love to do the most!

Here's what I've been "tickled" by lately.

I want to paint my bathroom and laundry room this color! ASAP

via

Learn to sew on my new sewing machine!

via

Organize my garage.

via

Organize my craft table.

via

Well. You get the idea. I want to be organized, clean, and FINISHED. Nothing is finished, completed, or put together.

But I am so thankful that things are starting to slow down. Just a few more necklace orders and I can take a little rest.

Thank you Jesus for giving me a peace I can only find in You!

And thank You for little moments like this, to remind me what's REALLY important!

Sweet Ella and Micah

And don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

My First GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so excited to share my first giveaway with all of you!

Kristy from Show and Tell Designs is one of my good friends and asked if I would host a giveaway. I can't even tell you how excited I was. She is an incredibly talented graphic designer and has just opened up her adorable business her gorgeous and unique prints!

She has two beautiful little boys around my kid's age and has been a great friend!

When I saw her designs I was so excited. So here's all the details of the giveaway.

Kristy is giving away TWO prints to TWO different winners. So you're chances of winning are doubled. Each winner will receive one free print!

The first is an 8x10 signed children's decor print of "Love Letters"

{this is my favorite!}

Check It Out Here

And second is a signed 8x10 children's decor print of

"Knitting, Hot Chocolate and Friendship for Warm Winter"

Find it Here

And this week only she is offering a 15% OFF CODE for Show and Tell Designs

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory:

Must be my follower!

Like Show and Tell Designs on Facebook

Extra Entries:

Post about this giveaway or the prints on your FB page

Leave a comment on Show and Tell Design's FB page about your favorite design

Leave a comment below for each separate entry!

Entires will be closed on Jan 29 at 10PM MST

Good Luck!

Boys Will Be Boys

Someone should tell him it's dangerous to do construction in the nude

What? That's my job?

Let it be known. I love being a mom to boys.

I have always wanted to have boys. And God has blessed me with two "all boy" boys.

I love that they love to play superheros and rescue the princess. I love the action figures, the forts, the buzz lightyear undies, and the wrestling. I love to hear them grunt, groan, and giggle. I love to hear them say "hi ya!". And I love their imagination when they role play.

Spaceship of course!

But...with boys comes things I don't love so much. I don't like the mess, broken toys, the muddy floors, boogers, blood (because one of them is always bleeding), the physical fights, the pee on the floor (right next to the toilet), the stained t-shirts, the desire to jump off of anything that is high, and the yelling. Did I mention that I don't like the mess?

Poor Buzz

These are things that come along with being boys. I understand that. But I feel like there is a fine line between "boys being boys" and boys being naughty.

I don't like it that they don't play nice with their toys. I don't like that I have to hide new books because I know they will be destroyed.

I so desire to teach my kids to be grateful and respectful of their "things". I want them to be able to play with their toys, and I understand that boys are going to be rough. But I want them to "play nice" and not destroy things.

Where's the line? I talk to them about being respectful of their toys and of each other. But I do NOT want to be the mom that gets upset over a broken toy.

Lord help me with these little boys! Good thing they are so funny!

So for now I painted this on the wall in the playroom. I guess if I can't beat 'em I'll join 'em.

Besides...she really loves all this chaos!

~PS. This will be the toughest girl around~

Priorities

I LOVE my MOPS group. I can't talk about how much they have saved my sanity. I've met my best friends there. And I've grown as a mom there.

}Sarah and Me Embracing the Camera {

(we've got kids the same ages so we commiserate together)

There have been many moving speakers; but today was probably my favorite yet!

He came and spoke about how it is our responsibility as parents to be raising Godly children

We can't drop them off at Sunday school each Sunday and expect them to grow up loving Jesus. It's just not going to happen. We have to be the example of what a relationship with Jesus is supposed to look like.

Here's where it gets dicey for me.

I have to take the time for my kids.

I have to get away from the computer, the laundry, the dishes, the cleaning, the organizing, and the "me time"; and teach them!

I have been feeling really convicted lately about this.

Where are my priorities? Am I putting my kids first? Am I putting my relationship with the Lord first? And I putting my marriage first? Or am I putting me first?

While the first three things in that list are truly nobel things, only one of them is the correct answer. I need to be putting Christ first. When I do that, all others will fall into the order in which I'm called to do!

But alas.....

~sigh~

I put myself first over and over again. I spend time on the computer, when I could be doing my daily devotions. I spend time crafting when I could be teaching my children. And I spend time in front of the TV when I could be spending time with my husband.

So how do I remedy this?

Here's what I've decided to do.

1. Limit myself!

~1 hour of time a day to "waste" aka- on the computer or in front of the TV

2. Spend 20 min a day with Jesus...alone and uninterrupted!

3. Take 20 min a week to do a family time devotional with my kids.

~ Here's an amazing site that can help with activities and ways to do devos with our kids!

Look Here

4. A DAILY devotional with James

~ Right now we're doing The Love Dare daily devotional for couples : )

via

5. Get a chore list.

~I feel like if I could schedule out my daily chores I could be much more effect with this.

These are my priorities right now! I'm praying that God can help me stick to it!

Word Necklace

Find it Here!

This is the newest addition to my little shop.

I seriously LOVE this necklace.

I can wear it everyday.

It's on a 24" antique bronze chain with a mini skeleton key charm.

Choose ANY word you like.

{{$15.oo}}

Most popular are...

{Grace} "The mercy of God: Divine love or pardon"

{Peace} "Freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts"

{Hope} "To cherish an idea with anticipation: Trust"

{Endurance} "The ability to withstand hardship or adversity"

{Faith} " A belief and trust in and loyalty to God"

{Love} " Unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another"

{Joy} "A state of happiness or felicity: Bliss"

I Also Added...

{{$5.oo}}

Find It Here!

Homeless Bags

My husband is the most compassionate man I have ever met.

He is generous, giving, and passionate about Christ.

He has a heart for the needy, and the hurting of this world. We sponsor three kids from World Vision...{{check them out through the tab above!}}. And I know he has a heart to sponsor as many as we can possibly afford. This compassionate side of him is only one of the reasons I fell in love with him...but it's a MAJOR reason why I love him still.

We heard a great talk from a lady who works with the homeless at church a while back. She spoke of what the homeless needed and what they didn't need.

She said that they didn't need money as much as they needed things. Like socks, food, or water. But mostly they just needed the know about Jesus and needed to know that people care about them.

So this is what James decided to do...

A Homeless Bag

And here's what's inside!

Socks

Tissues

Rain Poncho

Toothbrush

Deck of Playing Cards

Bottled Water

Granola Bars

Trail Mix

Pocket Bible

Hand Sanitizer

You can always add different things in your bags too! One of the things that they are always grateful to receive here in Colorado are the socks. And we make sure to not have food in the bags that could melt, or rot. That way they can just stay in our car until ready to be given away.

We stocked up on them and always keep them in our car. James makes sure to pull the car over, get out and talk to them. He finds out there name, a little bit about them, and always tells them he's praying for them.

It's a blessing to be married to a man of his character.

Now go make your own!!!

: )

5 Things I'm Loving Right Now

Love the idea of posting things I'm loving right now.

Seeing as how things change about every 2.5 seconds it's always fun to look back and see!

1. The curly side pony.

2. Jeggings {don't knock them till you try them...crazy comfy}

{{This may or may not be a picture of me getting ready for a dance off on NYE.

And that may or may not be a picture of the sweet little girl I hit twice during the process.}}

3. This Sentsy sent....makes my house smell like a candy cane!

Via

4. This sweater Ella got for Christmas. It's pretty much AMAZING!

5. This new headband I made. I can't wait until Ella can wear this!

Clip Clip Hooray