The Christmas Recap

Wow it feels like forever since I last blogged...and it's just been over a week!  My husband has been off work so we've been enjoying our Christmas together.  It's Nolan's 2nd one, and he started it off on the right foot *literally* by starting to walk on the 20th.  He has not looked back since.  It's crazy how once he decided to do it, he went all out. 

On the night before Christmas Eve my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Nolan, and I went to a local park that decorated the whole park in Christmas lights.  They have Santa, Gingerbread Houses, Snowmen, and many other types of Christmas scenes.  Nolan loved the lights and kept pointing to all the different ones.  At the end, we did get a stroller picture next to Santa since the one we tried to get on Santa's lap earlier that day did not work out due to a crying child.  Let's just say this Santa was a little on the creepy side, so I don't blame him.

On Christmas Eve, we went to my in-laws and had strata and opened presents.  Nolan decided it would be more fun to push the kitchen chairs around than open presents. 

We then spent a quiet morning at home on Christmas Day enjoying the gifts Santa had brought.  Nolan loved his new bean bag and tunnel.

 The day after Christmas we headed to my parents' house that's about 3 1/2 hours away.  Nolan definitely got way too many toys!  We'll have to put some up and bring some out later.  Or buy a bigger house!

Oh and I finally finished my stockings right before Christmas...with a little help from my mother-in-law.  Here's the result:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas with their families and a Happy New Year!

He's Bringing Sexy Back!

And we have a walker!

Sending Out a SOS

It is hard to believe that 14 months ago today that I welcomed a cute cuddly little baby boy into the world.  And this is where my breastfeeding journey began.  I didn't know if I would be able to, but I really wanted to try.  I remember reading things that said, "Oh if it hurts, you are doing it wrong."  I'm like holy cow am I totally messing this up?  After a quick visit to the the pediatrician and a quick weigh in it seemed I was doing it right and that my baby was gaining weight.  I'll never forget the feelings of anxiety I had those first few weeks when I didn't know if I was breastfeeding correctly or if he was getting enough.  After some tough weeks that including bleeding and soreness, we finally settled into a routine.  It became easier as the the weeks went by.  My goal was to make it to a year not knowing if this was at all possible.  But it was, and I made to the year mark!  I was so proud of this because you just never know how your body is going to react or how much it is going to produce.  Now my boy is totally weaned, but I have been trying to get my supply to dry up.  I started by pumping less and only twice a day to make my supply go down.

Now after reading online, it said to keep pumping less and less and then your body would just stop producing.  Well after a few weeks of this, I realized that my body that had been producing breast milk over a year was just adjusting to my new pumping schedule and not drying up.  So I went to the next step of not pumping, getting a supportive sports bra, and cold compression.  I'm going on my 4th day now, and I've got engorged boobs that hurt.  I really didn't think it would be this difficult...I thought oh one day tops.  Yeah well I guess I should have thought that my body has been doing this for over a year so it's just not ready to give up the ghost quite yet.

I'm hoping for some relief by tomorrow because this is seriously not fun.  Anyone have some advice in this situation?  I know many of you did breastfeed for over a year so I would like to hear your thoughts on how you got your milk to dry up and how long did it take.  Thanks for your help!

'Tis the Season

Happy Friday everyone!  Well I completed my Christmas wreath, and I'm *almost* finished with my homemade stockings.   Hopefully they will be completed this weekend, or I'll just have to go buy some for Christmas.  But seriously they have taken forever so I hope I like them!  Here's a picture of my wreath and my Christmas tree. 

Have a great festive weekend!

A Merry Picnesday!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my sweet bloggy friends!

(This is our Christmas Card that we ordered from Tiny Prints!  So happy with how they turned out!)

Dinner and a Movie

I usually don't go to the theater to see new movies because it's so freakin' expensive.  However, for my birthday I did receive a gift certificate to go to the movies.  YAY!  Since I had to go watch Breaking Dawn in theaters to get the full effect, right?  Anyways, I must say that this Twilight movie is probably almost my least favorite in the series.  Yes I know the first one has the bad effects and cheaply done but I felt that Breaking Dawn was drawn out way too long.  I'm sure it's because they are trying to get all the money they can by dividing the last book into two parts.  And I'm sure it wanted to let the loyal Twilight followers have their fill of the Edward/Bella love story.  But good gosh...get on with the storyline will ya?  I'm definitely looking more forward to the second movie since that one will have more action.  Did you see the movie and if so what did you think?

However, I am totally excited for some upcoming releases that I will go to the theater to see.  The American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is out next week.  I read the whole series, so I can't wait to watch this on the big screen.  Now I'm actually REALLY excited about The Hunger Games coming out in March.  I read through that series in like a week and absolutely LOVED it.  I think it will make for a great movie with all the action. 

Have you read these series and are you excited about the movies?

Life's Lessons: Christmas Edition

It's baaaaack! Life's Lessons...I know you were sad and missed my week recap.  Go on and share yours and link up with Sara & Rach!

1) My little boy is officially growing up.  He's taken his first few steps but not full out walking yet.  But it's just a matter of time. 

2) He's now taking his walker all around the house non-stop.  He thinks it's the funniest thing...and he can even turn it when he needs to which isn't easy because it doesn't have a steering wheel.

3) I am still decorating for Christmas.  I am not one that usually gets it done in one day. 

4) My Christmas tree is up, and Nolan loves it.  It's so fun to see such small wonders through a child's eyes.

5) I am letting Nolan wear his Christmas jammies so we get some use out of them.  He keeps pointing to the reindeer and the penguins.

6) He loves his talking Frosty the Snowman that he got last year.  He keeps bringing it to us to turn it back on again.

7) I am going to *attempt* to make stockings and a Christmas wreath this weekend.  Wish me luck...because we all know I am craftiness challenged.  I mean Pinterest is my worst nightmare. 

8) I have been an online shopping crazy person.  I will probably have boxes delivered every day next week!  And I'm still not done...argh.

9) My dad and my father-in-law are the hardest people to buy for!  I finally got some ideas for my mother-in-law after asking her a million times.  I need lists people!  Don't you think it's better to get something you want instead of me guessing?

10) And seriously...I can't believe Christmas will be here in a few weeks...this year has been a flash.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

It's Cool to be 13 Months...

I'm linking up with Alison from Mama Wants This! and Galit of These Little Waves for their awesome link up "Memories Captured."  Check it out and link up your favorite pics!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

This past weekend we finally went out and cut down a Christmas tree.  I know, I know most people do it the day after Thanksgiving, but we have usually always gone the week after.  We've been to many tree farms throughout the years, so we never know where we are going to go because the prices always seem to change or the quality of trees aren't very good.  A lot changed from last year...Nolan was only a few months old and slept through the whole adventure.  We had him bundled up so much you couldn't even see his face.  It was so cold!  This year it was close to 60 degrees so quite a difference in the temperature. 

Here's last year's pic:

And the pics from this year:

Do you cut your tree down, have a fake tree, or both? :)

Well Hello December...

TGIF!  I'm so glad it's Friday....but can't believe we are already on our 2nd day of December.  Where did this year go?  Anyhow, I thought I would share some photos from Nolan's 1 year photo session.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  I know I will cherish them since it seems Nolan didn't get the memo about slowing down on the whole getting bigger situation.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!