Touching Base Tuesday

I figured I'd take the time to touch base with my 'readers'... Things are up and down here... Mostly up... Linebacker had his 4 month check up today (5 weeks late)... He is 12 lbs 14 oz (peanut was 12 lbs 4 oz at 6 mo) and 24-1/4"... So, he is on the small side he isn't small like she was... Our doctor noted his BMI was over 15 which I guess is good... Don't know much about BMI except I'm in the 'you're big fat' range on the chart... ::smirk:: The doctor noted we had visited the lactation consultant earlier in the month... She didn't say the F or S word the whole time... I'm surprised but happy! He had his vacs and did well with that... He was all smiles 2 hours later... He is a bit fussy now but I think he just wants to nap... We are gearing up for Halloween... We have two costumes so far... Batman and Jack-O-Lantern... Should have the other two figured out by next Monday... My new less filled plate doesn't feel any less... I still feel as busy as ever... I'm hoping the less fullness will kick in soon... I'd really like to make a difference around her visually... Ahhh... I hear baby snore noises.... My guess was right... ::grin:: Tomorrow should be a quiet day with time to work on things I've put on the back burner... I picked up some new yarn to make the boys and Peanut new hats for this year... So, photos should be rolling in soon... I also will be knitting up Linebacker a scarf... The weather hear has cooled off much like the gas prices... We are at two - thirty something at some stations... He is in the 30s/40s and occasionally 50s... Too cold to walk very far with Linebacker... So, we will be walking less and driving more... I've been eating and sleeping better... I'm still tried... Hopefully as I continue to eat and sleep properly that will go away... I'm off to make homemade Mushroom Chicken Tetrazzini... Will try to update again probably on Monday...

To Do List Thursday

Today was bus-y! I had a lot of places to go... I did however finish it all before Peanut was done with ECSE... I dropped the boys off and picked up Peanut and dropped her off... I dropped the extra donuts from MACH I at my friends house and sat at home and prepared for my day and nursed Linebacker his 9:30 AM feeding... So, I was pleased with that... I went to the bank to make a deposit... Followed by a stop at State Farm to buy our insurance... They give a free gift for your birthday and I planned ahead and chose the ice scraper as my 'gift'... Next I headed towards downtown and dropped off some paper work and filled out forms... It was a stop at the PO to mail packages and bills before I could head back south for a stop at the Dentist to pay on our bill... Next month we can pay it off... Woo hoo!!! I stopped at the south pharmacy to pick up brush on fluoride the dentist recommend (Gel Kam)... Next I stopped at a speciality pharmacy to pick More Milk Plus... It was recommended by the lactation consultant if I wanted to do something if I felt like I needed it... It is better then taking just Fenugreek alone... I went with the capsules over the liquid... I will start taking it tomorrow... For good measure... Linebackers check up is coming up and I want to be well prepared for questions... Next I picked up Peanut and headed home to eat and give Linebacker his 11:30 AM nursing... We ate turkey, stuffing, ham, green beans, carrots, and broccoli... I then went to my friends to help with the twins and socialize... Her sister was there and we were busy... I held one of the twins for a bit till it was time for his feeding and Linebacker needed his 1:30 PM feeding... We made a quick trip to the store together... Her sister's daughter celebrated her 4th birthday today and they had a late afternoon party for mostly family only... I picked up the boys and came home to catch up on things here since I wasn't home much yesterday... I worked on catching up on laundry and cleaning up the clutter...

Wonderful Wednesday

I have a lot to share but Linebacker needs his 9:30 feeding... Well, I didn't make it back till tonight (Thursday)... I fed linebacker and called it a night and headed to bed... So, tired I even forgot to set my alarm... Good thing for early rising children waking me up or today may not have started off so well... Back to Wednesday... I dropped the boys off at school and headed home for Peanut to have ST... Next we headed to the local grocery store to pick up 3 dozen donuts for MACH I... It will be one of my latest as this is one of the 'obligations' I'm dropping... I'm going next week for the first 1/2 only because they will have a speaker talking about advocating for your special needs child... So, even though I hadn't planned on going I changed my plans for that... I will have to leave early though because I'm going to a once a month breastfeeding group... For some support and information... I home long enough to eat before heading to see the lactation consultant about Linebacker's slightly slower then average gain... What I learned is that changing my list of 'obligations' improving my diet and slowing life down in general is all I really need to do... Yes, he is gaining slightly slower but he is still average doing very well... He just happens to be one of the smaller people... So, he is doing wonderful and I feel great! What a relief of stress that has been weighting so heavily on me... She did recommended More Milk Plus if I wanted to do more then what I'm already doing and I will pick that up tomorrow... If the doctor insists on supplementing to supplement with expressed milk... So, I'm going to start pumping after feedings to build a stock for either supplementation or to mix with cereal when that times comes in a couple months... We will be using the Jack Newman method of supplementation if necessary... I checked into feeding tubes and they come in 3 sizes so that will be one of my questions for the doctor if she insists on supplementing... They are $9 and the speciality pharmacy can order one and have it in about 4 days... After that I picked up the boys and Monkey had ST... We rested a bit and then we to the Home school Mass/Pizza party to celebrate the start of a new schooling year... We stayed till almost 9... I came home and popped a 6.52 lb turkey in the oven... That leads us back to where we are at the top of this message with a turkey cooking and me about to sit down and give Linebacker his feeding... Well it is now 9:30 PM (Thursday) and time for nursing session so I will end my message...

Prayers

Linebacker and I could really use your prayers... Thank you...

I'm afraid my plate is going to have to be scrapped off and I'm going to have to drop out of all my activities... I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with doing this but I know it is something I will have to do... ::sigh:: I just can't keep going this way...

Nursing Necklaces / Butterflies / Pot Pies

I've decided to make instead of buying a nursing necklace to entertain Linebacker... He loves it! Here is what it looks like...

I used a random combination of the beads highlighted in the center with some 'sport ball' beads that consist of a football, baseball, basketball and soccer ball...

They are primarily used to entertain a distract able nursling... They can also be used to entertain baby/toddler while being supervised during activities such as a diaper change... It is a great learning 'tool' to teach colors, counting, matching, shapes and other things depending on the type of beads used... I used foam beads so they would be soft and baby friendly...

Sunday night I went outside to visit with my husband who was stripping 4 layers of paint (white, baby blue, baby pink, and primary colors {in that order they were added}) off an antique (made in early 1900s) dresser we own that was one of the first items manufactured in the Bassett Furniture Factory in Bassett, VA... My daddy's family is from this area... I saw this butterfly hanging out on the patio... I let the butterfly walk into a toy beach bucket and placed the butterfly over our fence into the yard for the butterfly nibble and maybe find a home for the night... The butterfly was either hurt or confused... I do believe it is a female Monarch Butterfly...

I made another 'old fashioned' pot pie... I'm not sure if I shared the recipe last time or not... Here is before and after baking... It was delicious! You don't use Bisquick and you don't use canned soup... I had extra 'pastry' so I made a little design... ::smirk::

Today was supposed to be my 'off' day for the week... I had to go to the PO and then the van wouldn't start... It took several minutes for a man from MN to jump start it... I noticed my battery was July 07 and had a Walmart 3 year FREE replacement sticker on it... So, I took it over to Walmart ASAP for fear it wouldn't start again even with jumper cables... It was replaced for FREE... I saved $80! That was the extent of my excitement for the day...