Why Breastfeeding Is So Cool

I've been planning on doing a post about this for some time and since August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week, I figured now was the time. Luke is over 10 months old now and I'm still nursing him, which is the longest I've nursed any of my babies. I think I'm getting a bit nostalgic about it since this is my last baby and I've really grown to appreciate it over the years for several reasons.

1. The Calorie Burn: some people might criticize me for listing this first, but they can just go on their own blog and write their own list if they don't like it. I can tell you that all those times I'm sitting in that horrible 100 degree closet at work that's full of spiders and has a pipe leaking on my head pumping milk, it's the thought of the calorie burn that keeps me going. I consider it my daily "workout" and that's how I'm able to get through it 2-3 times a day. They say nursing burns around 500 calories per day and I believe it - I was able to lose a lot of weight and am now 25 lbs below what I was when I got married. (Yeah, I was a porker!) I'd still like to lose another 5-10 lbs and would like to do it by Luke's 1st birthday, as that's when I plan on saying goodbye to the spiders and throwing the pump in the garbage! I can't stand that thing!

2. It's FREE! It's not just that breastmilk is free, it's that formula is SO EXPENSIVE! Seriously! How can they get away with charging $20+ for a can of powder??? Anyway, our budget would never allow such extravagance so I'm glad my body allowed for the free alternative.

3. The Bonding: I really didn't feel much of a bond when nursing Owen and Sam (sorry, guys!) but I think that's because with only two kids, there was a lot more opportunity for me to bond with them at other times. With #3 and #4, there is so much going on and I'm so incredibly busy, it's only nursing that really stops me in my tracks and FORCES me to spend quiet time alone with my babies. I need that, otherwise I would just keep running and running the whole time I'm home and ask Chris or maybe even one of the older boys to give the baby a bottle. Actually, I'm so busy I might even resort to just handing Luke his own bottle at this age! Anyway, I d0 appreciate that I need to lock the door to the nursery and have those few precious moments every day with Luke, who I'm sure also enjoys the quiet time with his mama. This is the reason I plan on continuing to nurse in the morning and before bed for as long as I can, maybe until he's two. We'll see how it goes.

4. The Baby's Health: please don't make me feel like a bad mom for listing this last. It's not like it's a distant 4th place on my list because it IS really important. But I think the reason I list this last is because I dont' really think about it very much. Yes, they say breastfeeding is BY FAR the best way to feed your baby but I guess I don't really notice it because (thankfully) I've never had anything to compare it to (i.e. a formula fed baby). I did stop nursing Owen when he was around 7 months old and he got his first ear infection the following WEEK! At the time, I felt really guilty but didn't realize that I could have gone back to nursing even after a week off, otherwise I would have!

Again, I'm so glad I was able to nurse all my babies. It's been worth all the discomfort, 45 minute feedings at the beginning, having mastitis once (HORRIBLE!), inconvenience of pumping at work, spiders and leaky pipes and even sticking with it through teething (OUCH!). I'd recommend it to any new mom for sure!

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

Busy Summer

Oh gosh, I'm too embarrassed to even look to see when I last posted anything on this blog. The summer's been so busy for me and it's just flying by. It's so hard to believe it's almost August, but at the same time I can't WAIT until the fall!

We just wrapped up a whirlwind of activity. My in-laws came to visit on July 3rd for a whole week. Owen's birthday was on July 7 and we had his birthday party at the gymnastics center in town on Saturday the 10th. Chris's sister and her family rented an RV and came up for that and then continued on to the Dells for the remainder of the week. We had about 17 kids total at the party and it was really fun. Here are a couple of pictures from the day...

My big boy is 7 years old now!
Can you find me in this picture?

The Sunday after the party, Owen and Sammy took off to MI with my in-laws. I was so sad to see them drive away. Chris was working until 8pm so I was alone with the two little guys and it just seemed so EMPTY without those two running around! But I got over it and came to enjoy that week with William and Luke because we were able to focus on them. They seemed to like all the attention as well.

Luke with his Nana during their visit. Can't you just see the love between them???

Last Saturday, we packed up the two little ones and drove to MI to collect their brothers and to help celebrate my older brother's 40th (gulp!) birthday. We stayed until Wednesday and got to go to the Toledo Zoo (my fave zoo!) and a great pool near my mom's house where the boys showed off the new swimming skills they had acquired while they were at Nana and Pa's house.

So it seems like July went past in just a blink of an eye and now we have just a few short weeks left before TWO of the boys will go to school. How did this happen? How did my babies grow up so fast??? How am I ever going be able to live in a house with FIVE MEN??? EEGADS!

Owen's Nana taught him how to catch fireflies while she was here.

They were so over excited for the birthday party, they crashed HARD right before and we had to wake them up to go.

My boys at Chuck E Cheese on Owen's actual birthday, July 7.

DAY OF BLOGGING SILENCE FOR THE MIGHTY COHEN

Sometimes the smallest feet leave the largest footprints.

Lazy Days of Summer?

It's been so incredibly busy lately so I haven't had time to post. I've taken a few cute videos of the boys, but no pictures (sorry!).

Chris's birthday was Saturday and on Sunday we went to the Henry Vila Zoo in Madison, WI which was completely FREE and AWESOME! Being that it was FREE, I expected to basically see some deer and squirrels but I was SO WRONG! We saw giraffes, a tiger, seals, buffalo, prarie dogs, rhinos, a polar bear, a grizzly bear, chimps and other monkeys, as well as snakes, alligators and a Galapagos tortoise! I was SOOO impressed! We got there when it opened and saw just about all of it in 2 hours which was great, because that's just when it started to get crowded and hords of people give Chris hives.

Yesterday I arranged for the day off and got to smuggle Sammy onto Owen's 1st grade field trip to a local YMCA camp. The kids learned about all sorts of animals that live in WI including snakes, turtles, salamanders and wolves. Sammy blended right in with the other kids. When the guide introduced us to a turtle named Bertha who was 25 years old, Sammy piped up with "Our dad just turned 78 years old!" Of course all the other chaperones looked right at me, which was pretty funny. That Sammy!

It's busy with weddings at work but next week I have two days off in the middle of the week so we're contemplating taking the boys on their first overnight camping trip. Still not sure how we're going to do this with Luke - we might need some sort of a pen for him because he is ALL over the place now, crawling with his tummy off the floor and pulling up on furniture. He's also up to 6 teeth, 4 on the bottom and 2 on the top. He loves to show them off with his big smiles every morning. AWWWW!

I can't believe Owen has just a few more days and will never again be a first grader. It truly seems like yesterday that I welcomed him off the bus on his last day of kindergarten! Next week both the older boys will start summer school for 1/2 day. Chris will have 3 weeks of quiet mornings with just the two little boys. He's not thrilled with packing up William and Luke at naptime to go pick up the older boys, but I think after about 2 days of having all 4 of them home ALL DAY he'll be WISHING they would give him a couple of hours of peace and quiet!

Nine Years

We celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary yesterday with a photo shoot in a park. Matt Mason, a local photographer who does a lot of weddings at the hotel, offered us a free session with him and I figured now is the time to take it when the kids are small and cute.

Well, I'm sooooo glad the pictures turned out great because the experience itself was quite helacious. (is that a word?) It was about 90 degrees with equal humidity and the bugs were driving us ALMOST as crazy as the kids. When we finally got to the air conditioned car, I announced that the next family portraits would be taken at one of the kids' weddings! Seriously, trying to wrangle 4 boys for a decent shot is NEAR impossible and not something I would recommend trying!

Mother's Day

I had just about the best Mother's Day EVER this year! First of all, I thank God every day for my 4 beautiful HEALTHY sons and my husband who is a tremendous father to them. But this Mother's Day was extra special for me because we took a trip to MI to surprise my mom!

We left WI last Friday and got in that evening. First, we met up with Chris's brother in law to take pictures of his 2 girls, Mya and Ella, with our boys so we could give the portrait to Chris's mom for Mother's Day. After 7 hours in the car, about the LAST thing 2 year old William wanted to do was smile pretty, so it wasn't fun but I think we got a couple decent shots. Then we went to "Nanaland" (Chris's parents' house) which is second only to Disneyworld on Owen and Sammy's list of favorite places to be.

On Saturday, Chris's sister had a BIG party for the girls' birthdays. Mya turned 7 on April 30 and Ella turned 4 on May 9. When I say BIG, I mean B-I-G! There were probably about 40 kids under the age of 8 there, as well as about 50 adults. They had a TON of food and probably the best cake I've ever had (thanks, Costco!). Luke got to sample the chocolate and I'm hoping Chris's sister will send me the picture she took of him afterward - this tiny little baby in a huge Jacuzzi bathtub with chocolate smeared all over his face. He was the happiest guy in the WORLD!

The kids ALL had a great time at the party and I think it was honestly one of the best parties I've ever been to myself. They had a huge bouncy house in the front yard, a cotton candy machine, a little train to take kids around the neighborhood and a clown who painted faces and then did a show for all the kids. William LOVED the clown show! It was 4 hours of more fun than I can remember having and you can imagine how well the kids slept that night!

I got up early on Sunday morning and left with Luke to go to my mom's. Remember, she had NO IDEA I was in town. I called her from the driveway and woke her up (oops!) but she said it was ok because she had to be at my sister's for breakfast in an hour. She asked me how was my Mother's Day and I said "It just might be my best one ever." When she asked why, I said "Because I get to spend it with MY mother." Pause. "I'm standing on your back deck right now." NO!!! She raced out of bed and planted a big kiss on Luke as soon as she opened the door. It was one of the coolest things I've gotten to do for someone in a loooong time. We then went to my sister's and surprised her and then my brother and his family (the only ones who were in on it with me) came over to her house later that afternoon for pizza.

During the trip we had two great discoveries: William discovered DOLLS. He's 2 1/2 but has never really seen dolls before. He was fascinated by their hair and kept flipping it around. It was adorable! And Luke discovered TABLE FOOD. YUM! He loved the cake at the party, he had cotton candy (a perfect food since it dissolves on your tongue), and he also loved French fries, crackers and chicken noodle soup. I even shared an Oreo with him. Baby food will never be the same for him, but he's almost 8 months old so it's not long now until he can belly-up to the bar with his brothers. He'll be so excited!

Sorry for the long post, but there was much to recap. I'll try to get some pictures from the trip up soon.

Top 5 Working Mom Fitness Tips

I know I said I was going away for a while, but sometimes I can't help myself especially when it's spring and everyone's trying to get in shape for summer. Quite some time ago, I posted my tips for staying in shape while home with the kids and promised I'd do a similar post once I went back to work after maternity leave. Almost six months later, here I am. (So timely, I know!)

1. I converted to a stand-up desk shortly after I got back to work. There are some drawbacks to standing at your desk all day, especially when it comes to picking out footwear in the m0rning. Needless to say, my cute heels have been all but retired in favor of flats. I have also been known to kick my shoes off and stand in bare feet for quite a bit of the day because there's a big difference between shoes that are comfortable and shoes that are comfortable ALL DAY for 9 hours. I've heard that standing all day vs. sitting burns an additional 300-400 calories per day, though, so it's worth it. AND I don't feel like my hips are conforming to the shape of the chair, either.

2. Get up in the AM. I am a BIG believer in morning exercise. I'm lucky to be a morning person who doesn't require caffeine or even an alarm clock to get me out of bed, but I believe in morning exercise anyway because it affects how you think the rest of the day. When I've already invested 1/2 hour or more in exercise, do I really want to sabotage any weight loss by raiding that candy jar that's just 10 feet away from me all day? Well, I'll admit it's still hard but at least the morning exercise makes me think twice about it.

My new morning fitness routine?

Yes, I broke down and got an Ergo carrier. It was fairly pricey but I really felt I'd use it and after just one week, I realize I WILL! I grab Luke every morning at 6am and we go walking and talking for about 30 minutes. True, walking isn't the most strenuous exercise out there but I can run later - right now I just want to have some alone time with my precious baby boy! Anyway, with any luck by the end of the summer I'll look as thin as this lady in the above picture. :)

3. Don't eat after 5pm. This one is tough for me, since I don't leave work until 5:30pm so it requires me to basically pack my entire day's worth of food in the morning but when I adhere to this rule, the scale REALLY moves! I try to remember this when I get home just in time to see the kids eating dessert and I'm sooo tempted to partake!

4. Have a goal, not just a goal weight. Mine is our 9 year wedding anniversary coming up at the end of May. We're having pictures taken of us as a family. Here's a preview of me....

Ok, clearly that's not me but if I could look like that just this ONE time for this ONE picture, I would be THRILLED!

5. Confront the scale every day. I don't always like it, but it tells me the truth. Sometimes before I even step on it, I know. I take off every stitch of clothing and even remove any hair clips/rubberbands before I get on that thing and sometimes even THAT doesn't help! But I do it and will continue to do it EVERY DAY even after I make my goal weight. I know it will take some diligence to keep at the weight I haven't been at since sophomore year of high school, but I will get there and I will STAY there.

Just 15 lbs to go! (That's a lot, huh? Well I'm closer now than I've been in 10 years so that's still something to celebrate, right?)