Wednesday, June 26, 2013
It has been a
while since I’ve posted and that’s because so much has been going on!
We finally have
the kitchen complete! YAY! It looks beautiful and we just love our new backsplash. My sister, Laura, came by one day to go
shopping and when she saw our kitchen she said, “It looks like an Italian
kitchen.” I told her that’s exactly what we were going for: a Tuscan or rustic
look. I think we pulled it
off.
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| Before |
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| After. We haven't moved our things back into the kitchen, yet, in this picture, but you get the idea. |
I have also been
on the phone for hours on end working on getting a breast pump. I had one that I had been using since
Maddie was born, a hand-me-down from my wonderful friend, Sandy, but it finally
went caput. I was doing the same
thing I had been doing but, although I could hear the motor running, I couldn’t
get any milk to actually flow. I
was afraid that I was drying up since I had been having problems with Maddie’s
interest level for nursing starting to go down and I thought that I wasn’t
producing as much milk as I had been before due to her resistance to drink.
But, it turns out that it wasn’t a problem with my production, but a problem
with my pump.
I called my
insurance company and found out that they cover breast pumps at 100%. I was so excited! So, I called the
doctor for a referral, but they wrote me a prescription. Then I called the
pharmacy to find out about how to get the pump, but they told me they couldn’t
do it. I called the insurance
again to find out where to get the pump from, but they referred me back to the
doctor. Then the doctor told me to
call the insurance. Then the
insurance told me to call the doctor again. The doctor sent me to Durable Medical Equipment Group. DME
Group told me I wasn’t covered and to call my insurance. Insurance told me to call the Medical
Group and FINALLY I got someone on the phone who knew what she was doing. She told me she’d straighten it all out,
returned my call within 20 minutes and informed me that my pump was shipped and
would be at my door in 2 days.
YAY! But, wow. What a
process.
So, I have my
handy-dandy new pump: It’s a Medela Personal Advanced Double Breastpump, but
looking at the ones at the stores, it seems like it might just be the Pump In
Style but called something different in the insurance/medical world. It came with all of the accessories I
could possibly need and even cooler packs for chilling the milk. WOW. Now, I am hooked back up and flowing again. Woohoo. Back to storing up milk for when I
wean Maddie.
Maddie is almost
11 months old now, which means that I will be nursing her for a little more
than a month. Then, I’ll start weaning her by cutting down one feeding every
week and giving her sippy cups instead.
I am trying to prepare myself for this emotionally, but I get choked up
whenever I think about stopping.
Breastfeeding has been such a rewarding experience for me and I know it is
so beneficial to Mads, too, not just nutritionally, but for our bonding and
closeness. It is a quiet time for
us to snuggle up and just be together and I am going to miss it. But, the time has come. As I mentioned before, Maddie is
starting to become less interested, so nursing has become difficult at
times. She is very distracted and
I think frustrated that the milk doesn’t come as easily as it does from the
sippy cup, for example. So, I feel
like the decision to stop soon is the right one.
Plus, Maddie is
going to be walking around in no time! Watching her grow up and become more
independent and mobile has made me realize that she’s not a tiny little infant,
anymore, but she is becoming a little girl. It warms and breaks my heart at the same time. I am enjoying every moment of her
development and I look forward to the next steps, but I miss the stages that
she has so quickly grown out of.
Everyone says it goes fast….
I say, it seems slow while you are in the moment, but it seems fast when
you look back on the memories.
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| Hanging out at the park |
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| Swinging with mom |
But, back to the
walking: Maddie took her first steps on my dad’s birthday, June 22! Oh, how
exciting it was!!! She balanced herself against the couch and then walked
towards me (2 steps) before toppling forward into my ready hands. Then she did it again! Another 2 steps!
Now, she is walking unassisted behind her push-walker (well, with me trailing
behind her to make sure she doesn’t fall, which she does after a few steps).
And, she pulled herself up onto a box of diapers yesterday for the first time. She has been practicing pulling herself
up on our legs, but she is so short that she can’t reach anything else. I realized that the diaper box was just
the right height and, sure enough, she reached up, lifted onto her knees and
then stepped up onto her two little feet.
I am such a proud mama.
Adrenaline, excitement and joy immediately filled my chest and I swooped
her up and kissed her uncontrollably.
She giggled. (I just love
her so much).
So, as I
mentioned, My sister, Laura, came over one day with Dylan, her son and Maddie’s
cousin. We had lunch and a shopping day and tons of fun. Maddie and Dylan were so cute
together. They would baby talk
back and forth to each other like they knew what the other was saying. When Maddie was crying in her play pen,
Dylan would walk over to her and Maddie would immediately stop, fascinated my
her friend. Maddie really took to
Laura and just loved to be held by her.
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| Maddie just loves Laura! |
For father’s day,
Phil and I woke early, as usual, and I gave him his gifts. I bought him a few items for the
kitchen (a BIG mortar and pestle and a ravioli press), a gourmet popcorn kit
and a new shirt. Nothing over the
top, but he seemed to like his gifts.
We went to church in the morning, Maddie dressed in her “I love Daddy”
shirt and then over to my parent’s house for lunch. We celebrated Dad’s Day and my dad’s birthday. Rachel and Kaylee were able to stop by,
too, which was really nice! It was so good to see them since we don’t get to
very often.
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| The best daddy in the world! |
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| Happy father's day! Two generations of great daddies! |
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| My Dad being silly with his little granddaughter. XOXO to them both. |
We are now
preparing for a few upcoming events: vacation in a week and Maddie’s birthday
in a little over a month. We are
going up to Door County and wil be swimming at times, so I decided to see how
Maddie would like water. I filled
a wading pool with just a few inches and stepped into it with her. As soon as I
sat with her in my lap, she began screaming! She had the same reaction when I
took her to the splash pad for our play date with Jacob and his mommy,
Vicky. Maddie wants nothing to do
with water outside of her bathtub.
Ha! Well, I am sure she will warm up to it over time.
I have taken up a
new hobby! I got a sewing table off of Freecycle (score!) and have set up shop,
patterns and all! I made a little dress, some bloomers and a little jacket.
Sadly, the pattern’s sizes run big, so the dress is too big for Maddie to
actually wear, yet, but she’ll grow into it and look adorable. I also made a pair of summer shorts for
her yesterday, which was an adventure working with polyester (not easy to sew
compared to cotton). But, they
turned out cute!
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| Some purple shorts I sewed together |
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| Mads and her bloomers by mommy |
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| Her matching dress |
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| And her "bolero" aka little jacket. |
