HAPPY BONANZA DAY!!

Today is Bonanza Day. It is my own holiday. When I was a little girl and my family would decorate for Christmas, my dad would put on his Bonanza Christmas album. I don't remember if I liked it back then or not. It just molded into a hard tradition. When I was a little older and Chelsea and I would decorate our room for Christmas we would always put Bonanza on. We would not listen to it even a day before the day after Thanksgiving. Then, I was grown up and I kind of forgot about it. Until one year quite a while ago when Chelsea and I did our first Black Friday shopping trip in the wee morning hours. It was like 4:00 AM and there we were driving to Toys R Us and blaring our traditional Bonanza Christmas. Now, every year when me and the kids, and sometimes Phil, decorate for Christmas I have to have my Bonanza on. My kids don't like it and every year they beg me to turn it off and listen to something else, like Taylor Swift. But, I stand very firm. I force them to listen to Bonanza. It is tradition and don't you think some of the best traditions are the ones that just form themselves over the years? I do. So, HAPPY BONANZA DAY!!!

Breastfeeding

So, after eleven years of wanting it, I finally have been able to breastfeed one of my babies. Chloey likes to eat. However it has been anything but an easy road. The first six weeks were so painful I was wondering why people pushed this form of feeding so drastically and why I wanted to do it so much. Then we figured out I had thrush. Once we cleared that up I thought we had hit easy street at last. But, no. At around 3 months old Chloey started to refuse to eat and would spend a lot of time throwing herself back and arching her back and turning away from me. She also seemed to spit up whatever she did eat. I contemplated just giving her a bottle. But, I knew from past experiences that when a baby has difficulty eating a bottle does not make it any easier. We learned she had really bad acid reflux and lactose intolerance. So, to keep nursing her I cut out all foods that hurt her. Milk, ice cream, cheese, tomato products, whole wheat, not to mention ANYTHING at all spicy or greasy. After a few weeks of doing this she was improving, but my supply was going down quickly, even though she ate every 2-3 hours. I was put on Reglan. This bumped up my milk supply, plus it is often prescribed for babies with acid reflux. I have been on it for about 5 weeks now and am hoping my supply is back enough that I can go off it soon.
Really, it has not at all been easy. But, I love breastfeeding my baby. I don't know how much longer it will last, but no one can say I haven't tried everything I can! I think I feel jipped from not being able to experience this with any of my other babies and am desperate to make this work to make up for all I have missed. Crazy? Maybe. One thing I've learned in life is that many things that we really want don't come easily, but are worth it.

Autum Dogs

Gabbie (black), Daisy (white and ruby), Ivy (ruby)
Cavaliers make great Fall dogs! They were very good for their photo shoot.

Begin

Sometimes I feel like there are so many things that I want to do and I just don't ever get to them. Being a mother of four keeps me pretty busy. I often feel discouraged when I think of everything I would like to be doing. However, I love being a mother and am extremely thankful that I am one! I realize that I often choose to do things for my home and family over doing other things I would like to do, such as writing and art or other things. There are many days that I make a plan to accomplish a writing or art project, but by the end of the day when I finally fall into bed I realize I never got to it. So, I then feel like I need to just put all that stuff away and forget about it because I am just too busy to think about it right now and it just discourages me when I don't do it. A little while ago I read an article in an art/photography magazine that talked about BEGIN. Sometimes you just have to start. Just do it. I realize that yes, right now I am in a time of life where I am needed by my children a great deal. Maybe most days I wont get to some of the things I want to do for me, but that is okay. Right now I just need to do what I can, when I can and someday I will have more time for it all! I just have to begin somewhere. So, when I can I take out my camera and take pictures for fun, experimenting. When I am trying to relax in the bath and no one is banging on the door, I dream about characters and story ideas that have been swimming around in my head for years. When I get the paints out for the girls, I sit down and paint with them or when they get out their books to read, I dig out mine and read for a little while too! It is a good way to BEGIN.

Loves The Rain

In between all the chaos that is my life, I do try to work on my photography. Someday, but for now all I have is Begin.

Baby Cheeks

RAW

Shot in RAW. I found this works the best when shooting outdoors. I guess I've got a bit of practice ahead of me before I really know how to work my camera.