Ahhhhh! (a sigh of relief)

Saturday night I was up for the usual middle of the night feeding and the inspiration hit me: I need to stop nursing my baby. That may not sound like inspiration but the reasoning came next and it was so simple. I want to be a happy mother which means I want my baby to be happy. I knew that this was a good desire and I also knew that I had tried everything I could think of to make that happen. The fact was that she wasn't happy and I was struggling every day to keep myself together so that I could take care of five children and be a wife. I was doing none of this very well, I must add. The thing is, I don't just want to survive, I want to enjoy the journey and I don't want to just be a mother and wife, I want to be a great mother and wife. Finally I want my kids to love having a baby sister. It broke my heart when Natalie brought home a paper she did at school that was all about her, the "fill in the blank" type. The phrase started out: I worry about ________. Her answer: my baby

My answer: quit nursing!

The idea had danced around in my mind before, but I pushed it away knowing that nursing is the best source of nutrition for infants, it is FREE, it's convenient, and she was really good at it! But when it came to my mind that night, I knew I had to try it. Well... it has been nearly a week since Lydia has been on formula and I have a new baby. I am seriously shocked and absolutely relieved at the dramatic change. Lydia is peaceful during the day and naps for more than 10 minutes at a time without squirming (her official nickname is Wiggles) and fussing. She smiles more and is noticing things around her. She is interacting with the other kids and is able to sit or lay happily without being held all the time. I am feeling more and more sane each day. It is soooo nice not to have to yell at my kids over the screams of my little sweetie.
It already feels like she was never fussy or at least like it wasn't that bad!

This video isn't anything too exciting, but I thought I would post it for my sweet friend who never got to see Lydia in person. A video is sometimes more real than a photo : ) I love how she is always ready to box with her hands in fists. Check out those guns!

Photographers in Training

The other day I uploaded some pictures from my trusty companion, Digital Camera, to the computer only to find some photos that I didn't take. My camera had been mysteriously abducted and fell into some less experienced, extremely enthusiastic hands. Luckily, the camera was returned to its rightful, ever loving owner and came away unharmed with a tale to tell.

The culprits:

Miss E and dear friend Miss N

I think it is funny that they already know how to take pictures of themselves! Not bad!

Preparing their model. "Tilt your head a little to the side... a little more... a little more..."

"Just right! That was the look we were going for, serious yet playful."

"Now we need an action shot."

Tyler: "Action is my middle name!"

"Enough with the model. Let's take some more of ourselves! We are much prettier subjects and so graceful!"

Interesting!

Work the camera!

I can tell they had a fun time. Maybe the next time they decide to do a photo shoot, we can pick out some matching clothes and comb their hair!

Every once in a while I think about how different life is for my kids than it was for me. Computers: My brother had a computer when I was young. He loved working on it and figuring it all out. Something about DOS??? When I was in high school, we had an Apple computer that we could do word processing on. In college I got my first email address.

Kids today can type, run many applications, surf the web, create power point presentations, etc. etc.

Cameras: Polaroid was awesome when I was a kid because you could see the image right away. 35 mm was the most popular, just be careful you don't open the back without rewinding the film first! My kids now pose for the picture and demand to see it as soon as they hear the "click" sound effect, they can entertain themselves for many minutes scrolling through 100 plus photos stored on the memory card. They even occasionally ask me to change their hair to purple or green in our photo editing program! Fun times.

That is just scratching the surface when I think about how times have changed. And I'm really not that old! Seriously! The world seems to change and evolve so rapidly. What will it be like when I am 80? I think I need to watch the Back to the Future trilogy and let my imagination run wild for a little while!