To all my breastfeeding mom friends out there, does breastfeeding alone make you more tired, even if you're doing everything else "right"?
I am:
-getting 8-10 hours of sleep per night (don't judge, I've been exhausted!), and I haven't been getting up in the night for almost 2 months now
-running, but only moderately (15 miles per week, max)
-eating a healthy, balanced diet
-eating enough (I've been gaining about a pound per month, so I'm definitely getting enough to feed us both)
-eating very little sugar and not much in the way of processed foods
-eating about 5 mini-meals per day, every few hours throughout the day
I've had all my blood levels checked. I'm not anemic or deficient in any vitamins. My thyroid levels are fine. My white blood cell count was normal (indicating I probably don't have some kind of underlying virus or something). I'm not abnormally sad or angry, so I'm pretty sure I'm not depressed. I've been there before, and this doesn't feel like that.
But I am exhausted all the time! Much more so, in fact, than when I was getting up in the night with Hyrum. I feel slightly dazed and almost a little dizzy most of the time. My schedule is somewhat demanding, but with Evelyn in school in the mornings, it's probably actually less intense than when I was pregnant and we were spending most of the day out and about. And I'm definitely more tired now than I was then (with the exception of the great cough that might have been pertussis, which wiped me out for a few weeks in February). The only thing I can think of is that maybe breastfeeding is just making me tired. Could it be so? What do you think, internet?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Potty training
Here we have my daughter, mid-squat, "pooping on the potty."
Not exactly what I had in mind.
And when, you ask, does this blessed event typically occur? Usually at I've-already-put-Hyrum-in-the-stroller-and-we-are-20+-minutes-late-to-meet-our-friends time.
Poor, patient Hyrum.
Not exactly what I had in mind.
And when, you ask, does this blessed event typically occur? Usually at I've-already-put-Hyrum-in-the-stroller-and-we-are-20+-minutes-late-to-meet-our-friends time.
Poor, patient Hyrum.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
FHE: Heathen version
After listening to counsel from our church's leaders at its most recent general conference, we have really upped our efforts to hold weekly family home evenings. Hypocritically*, we have also decided that we are the exception to the Monday night FHE rule, so we like to call it Family Home Morning and hold it on Saturday mornings instead.
This morning, our lesson was "I Am a Child of God." We sung a song, we read a scripture from Psalms, then we were about to read a scripture from the book of Moses. The manual from which I was teaching directed me to a picture of Moses partway through the book. The picture was one of three on the page. I tried to cover up the others and then asked Evelyn, "Do you know who this is?"
Ev: Ammon!
Em: Adam?
Ev: Yeah, Adam!
Em: Not that one, this one (trying again to point to Moses).
Ev: Adam and Steve!
Joseph Smith** watched the whole thing without saying a word, even though he must have been pretty disappointed, what with all the disobedience and doctrinal mistakes.
My guess? He just wanted the lesson to be over so he could have a scone.
---
*"We somehow convince ourselves that we are the exception to the rule and therefore immune to the consequences of breaking it. We refuse, sometimes willfully, to be 'exactly obedient' . . . ."
**Evelyn got a baby boy doll for her birthday. When I asked her what she wanted to name it, she tried to name it Hyrum. I put the X on that. Only one Hyrum per family. So, she decided to name her baby Joseph Smith. Not Joseph. Not baby Joe. Joseph Smith. Early attempts to dissuade her met with firm resistence. She was pretty emphatic about his name being Joseph Smith. The next day, when she still hadn't budged, I said, "Well, I guess we are 'those' parents now."
"I think we should keep trying to get her to name him something else," John said.
"But honey, that would basically make us complete hypocrites. After all, we just named our baby Hyrum."
So, his name is Joseph Smith. End of story.
This morning, our lesson was "I Am a Child of God." We sung a song, we read a scripture from Psalms, then we were about to read a scripture from the book of Moses. The manual from which I was teaching directed me to a picture of Moses partway through the book. The picture was one of three on the page. I tried to cover up the others and then asked Evelyn, "Do you know who this is?"
Ev: Ammon!
Em: Adam?
Ev: Yeah, Adam!
Em: Not that one, this one (trying again to point to Moses).
Ev: Adam and Steve!
Joseph Smith** watched the whole thing without saying a word, even though he must have been pretty disappointed, what with all the disobedience and doctrinal mistakes.
My guess? He just wanted the lesson to be over so he could have a scone.
---
*"We somehow convince ourselves that we are the exception to the rule and therefore immune to the consequences of breaking it. We refuse, sometimes willfully, to be 'exactly obedient' . . . ."
**Evelyn got a baby boy doll for her birthday. When I asked her what she wanted to name it, she tried to name it Hyrum. I put the X on that. Only one Hyrum per family. So, she decided to name her baby Joseph Smith. Not Joseph. Not baby Joe. Joseph Smith. Early attempts to dissuade her met with firm resistence. She was pretty emphatic about his name being Joseph Smith. The next day, when she still hadn't budged, I said, "Well, I guess we are 'those' parents now."
"I think we should keep trying to get her to name him something else," John said.
"But honey, that would basically make us complete hypocrites. After all, we just named our baby Hyrum."
So, his name is Joseph Smith. End of story.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Early math lessons
Now that she's in school, Evelyn has started learning math. At this age, that basically seems to mean learning to recognize "same" versus "different" and "more" versus "less." We've been practicing even more advanced concepts at home.
Big/Small
Big/Small
Bigger/Big/Small
Bonus post
I seem to have a lot of pictures of John holding Hyrum in his pajamas. I'm not quite sure why this is.
Solids
Hyrum's first time eating cereal (yesterday morning) was much more successful than Evelyn's, mainly due to the fact that I skipped the whole mixing with formula thing this time around and just mixed it with what he's been drinking for the last almost-five months. Other than his sticking his thumb in his mouth periodically, we encountered no complications.
Before
After
That's what I call a successful meal!
Before
During
That's what I call a successful meal!
Weekend travels
We have been lucky enough to leave the city to explore fall the past two weekends. Other than some nightmares on the bus and some sleep deprivation, we had a fabulous time!
The Friday before Columbus Day, a friend from the ward called and invited us to spend the holiday weekend with their family at their home in Connecticut. Unfortunately, Monday wasn't a holiday for John, and he had meetings starting at 8 Sunday morning, but we aren't ones to turn down a weekend in Connecticut, so we went up Saturday morning, John came back early Sunday morning, and the kids and I stayed until late Sunday afternoon. It was such a perfect weekend. I told John that if we ever have a bundle of cash to blow, I'd way rather have a house in Connecticut than a bigger apartment in the city since the amount we would spend to get an extra bedroom and half bath in the city is probably about equivalent to a small house a couple hours outside the city.
Evelyn had such a fun time playing with all the other kids. After church on Sunday, we spent some time in Essex, Connecticut. We loved checking out the scarecrows, especially Snow White, of course, for the girls.
Tommy was very sweet about showing Evelyn the ropes.
Five days after getting back from Connecticut, we boarded the bus to Boston to visit Laurel for her birthday. I need to take a moment to thank my husband again for taking a day and a half off work so he could come with us. I don't think I would have survived this trip alone.
I initially booked the bus because I was planning on traveling alone and thought it would take too long to drive since I would have to stop to feed Hyrum on enroute. Just before our trip started, the bus driver came on to announce that he "run[s] a quiet bus. Turn your phone to vibrate. Don't talk on the phone. If you need to speak with the person beside you, keep it to a whisper." Then, periodically during the practically silent ride, he'd get on to chew out someone who was talking too loudly. I think it was just a scare tactic, though, because I didn't hear anyone talk the entire ride. Except our family, of course. For some reason, the online reservation system didn't specify that this was a "quiet bus," so I thought I was safe bringing my three year old and five month old onboard.
That was nothing, however, compared to the way back. Halfway through, while the bus was stopped for a 15-minute break, the woman behind me started yelling, cussed me out, and then physically threatened me because I had the audacity to bring children on the bus. Ironically, the kids had actually been very quiet up to this point, although Evelyn did throw a 20 minute tantrum an hour later, about 45 minutes outside the city. This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 3 round trips. I told John that I am done with the bus. He agreed. Private cars only. And in 10 years, he said, private planes. Dream big, honey, dream big.
Other than the bus debacle, the trip was fun. Evelyn got to take Laurel to a birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, make birthday cookies with Laurel, and go to Laurel's birthday party. Laurel and I enjoyed a pre-birthday dinner at The Elephant Walk, and John and I got to go on a date. Success! Before we left on Saturday, we visited Mt. Auburn Cemetery. It was so beautiful. We will definitely be returning on future trips.
And here, we have an excellent example of why many of my pictures are so poorly lit. Yes, I know the picture below would be "technically" better if their faces were not in the shadows . . .
. . . except for the fact that then you would not be able to see Evelyn's face at all. C'est la vie.
We probably should have brought more snacks. The Pretes are looking a little grumpy here.
So, happy fall, happy birthday to Laurel, and now happy sticking around for a few weeks. Maybe I can finally find time to vacuum my floors. Then again, maybe not. It's hard to say.
The Friday before Columbus Day, a friend from the ward called and invited us to spend the holiday weekend with their family at their home in Connecticut. Unfortunately, Monday wasn't a holiday for John, and he had meetings starting at 8 Sunday morning, but we aren't ones to turn down a weekend in Connecticut, so we went up Saturday morning, John came back early Sunday morning, and the kids and I stayed until late Sunday afternoon. It was such a perfect weekend. I told John that if we ever have a bundle of cash to blow, I'd way rather have a house in Connecticut than a bigger apartment in the city since the amount we would spend to get an extra bedroom and half bath in the city is probably about equivalent to a small house a couple hours outside the city.
Evelyn had such a fun time playing with all the other kids. After church on Sunday, we spent some time in Essex, Connecticut. We loved checking out the scarecrows, especially Snow White, of course, for the girls.
Tommy was very sweet about showing Evelyn the ropes.
* * *
Five days after getting back from Connecticut, we boarded the bus to Boston to visit Laurel for her birthday. I need to take a moment to thank my husband again for taking a day and a half off work so he could come with us. I don't think I would have survived this trip alone.
I initially booked the bus because I was planning on traveling alone and thought it would take too long to drive since I would have to stop to feed Hyrum on enroute. Just before our trip started, the bus driver came on to announce that he "run[s] a quiet bus. Turn your phone to vibrate. Don't talk on the phone. If you need to speak with the person beside you, keep it to a whisper." Then, periodically during the practically silent ride, he'd get on to chew out someone who was talking too loudly. I think it was just a scare tactic, though, because I didn't hear anyone talk the entire ride. Except our family, of course. For some reason, the online reservation system didn't specify that this was a "quiet bus," so I thought I was safe bringing my three year old and five month old onboard.
That was nothing, however, compared to the way back. Halfway through, while the bus was stopped for a 15-minute break, the woman behind me started yelling, cussed me out, and then physically threatened me because I had the audacity to bring children on the bus. Ironically, the kids had actually been very quiet up to this point, although Evelyn did throw a 20 minute tantrum an hour later, about 45 minutes outside the city. This is the second time this has happened to me in the past 3 round trips. I told John that I am done with the bus. He agreed. Private cars only. And in 10 years, he said, private planes. Dream big, honey, dream big.
Other than the bus debacle, the trip was fun. Evelyn got to take Laurel to a birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, make birthday cookies with Laurel, and go to Laurel's birthday party. Laurel and I enjoyed a pre-birthday dinner at The Elephant Walk, and John and I got to go on a date. Success! Before we left on Saturday, we visited Mt. Auburn Cemetery. It was so beautiful. We will definitely be returning on future trips.
And here, we have an excellent example of why many of my pictures are so poorly lit. Yes, I know the picture below would be "technically" better if their faces were not in the shadows . . .
. . . except for the fact that then you would not be able to see Evelyn's face at all. C'est la vie.
We probably should have brought more snacks. The Pretes are looking a little grumpy here.
So, happy fall, happy birthday to Laurel, and now happy sticking around for a few weeks. Maybe I can finally find time to vacuum my floors. Then again, maybe not. It's hard to say.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ode to Hyrum
The baby who sleeps 12+ hours at night without waking and often has to be woken up from his nap.
Who doesn't like lay on the floor for long because he'd rather be able to see the chaos around him.
Who sits and watches what's going on without making a fuss about it. Or, if he does start crying, simmers down pretty much immediately if you pick him up. (With the exception of the past few days. I think he must be going through Wonder Week 19. Even with that, what he wants is only to be held more than he normally requires.)
Who laughs uncontrollably at bath time.
Who smiles at the slightest provocation.
Who talks up a storm.
Who looks, perhaps, a little like me.
I couldn't love him more if he were frosted and dipped in chocolate (although most things are better, I think, frosted and/or dipped in chocolate---or wrapped in bacon). He is the perfect second child.
Who doesn't like lay on the floor for long because he'd rather be able to see the chaos around him.
Who sits and watches what's going on without making a fuss about it. Or, if he does start crying, simmers down pretty much immediately if you pick him up. (With the exception of the past few days. I think he must be going through Wonder Week 19. Even with that, what he wants is only to be held more than he normally requires.)
Who laughs uncontrollably at bath time.
Who smiles at the slightest provocation.
Who talks up a storm.
Who looks, perhaps, a little like me.
I couldn't love him more if he were frosted and dipped in chocolate (although most things are better, I think, frosted and/or dipped in chocolate---or wrapped in bacon). He is the perfect second child.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Princess Tea Party
We baked.
We sang.
We ate.
We sang.
We ate.
We played.
We opened presents.
It pretty much rocked all the way through.
Happy birthday Evelyn!
So far, we have opened a present, taken treats to school (cereal, at her request), eaten lunch with Daddy (McDonald's, also at her request), and played with toys. The cake is baking. Later, we're going swimming (indoors) and eating dinner at Shake Shack before coming home for cake and more presents. I am predicting a successful birthday.
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