I'm a natural mother...

"You cant hurt her by putting her down sometimes"

"Doesn't that hurt your back?"

"Is that thing safe?"

I hear these things all the time. Why should I put my baby down? She is happy, I'm alright with her there, and its perfectly safe.



Children grow up so fast and stop wanting to be snuggled. I will miss it when she gets to be her sisters age and only wants cuddles at bedtime or when she is hurting. I want her close to me as long as possible. I have the calmest baby ever when I'm wearing her. Why should I let her scream when there is a easy fix that that I ENJOY?

Babywearing has been around FOREVER! American's are just behind in so many things when it comes to being a natural mother. By that I mean Babywearing, Co Sleeping, and above all BREASTFEEDING! Anywhere else I could breast feed my daughter till she was 3 and no one would look at me like I was abusing her. Why are breast so sexualized (spelling?) in the USA? Is it media? I really don't know where this attitude comes from?

People have been cosleeping for a very long time. Family beds were very common up until about 1900. I want to sleep with my girls! I sleep better knowing they are alright. There are steps I take when sleeping with them to be safe.

Questioning me in a nice way is alright for I love to educate people but please don't judge me. Don't tell me how to raise my children and push your child rearing beliefs on me. I will do the same for you!

Wean me Gently

 One of my friends put this on the baby board that I go to. I loved is so much and it is so true! I wanted to share it with all of you :) Please don't cry like I did, I think my hormones are still sort of wacky LOL.



Wean Me Gently

by Cathy Cardall

I know I look so big to you,

Maybe I seem too big for the needs I have.

But no matter how big we get,

We still have needs that are important to us.

I know that our relationship is growing and changing,

But I still need you. I need your warmth and closeness,

Especially at the end of the day

When we snuggle up in bed.

Please don't get too busy for us to nurse.

I know you think I can be patient,

Or find something to take the place of a nursing;

A book, a glass of something,

But nothing can take your place when I need you.

Sometimes just cuddling with you,

Having you near me is enough.

I guess I am growing and becoming independent,

But please be there.

This bond we have is so strong and so important to me,

Please don't break it abruptly.

Wean me gently,

Because I am your mother,

And my heart is tender.

Breastfeeding has become my gateway drug

I was thinking about it tonight and Breastfeeding has lead me to so many new good things in my life. It is my gateway into the crunchy world. Breastfeeding lead me CoSleeping which lead to babywearing, babywearing led me to cloth diapering.

All this seems to be making me a better mother to my girls. I'm not saying Breastfeeding is right for everyone. Formula has its place in our society. But at this time in my life breastfeeding is making me a better person. 

My house is cleaner then ever. I enjoy doing laundry. Dont get me wrong I'll always hate doing dishes :) I'm sewing more. I'm loving life.  I'm spending time just gazing in wonder at the lives that I brought into this world.


I have to work on being a better wife. I'm not a horrid wife by any means. I feel like my kids get ALL of my attention and there is none left over for M some days. I love M. He is a great husband and father. He allows me to stay home with our babies without complaining (too much LOL). He supports me in just about everything. He is my best friend!

I have started to wish I could go back and continue breastfeeding A longer. I feel now as if I cheated her out of a wonderful experience. I'm close to her but I guess I'm missing that bonding time that I get to have with C.  I normally go by the code of "Regret nothing for it lead you to now!". I hate feeling regret because it is pointless.

I don't know if its where I am in my life but I feel like I am in a good place for the first time in a long time.  When I ask myself "What was I put on this earth for? Why was I born?" I feel like I have that answer. I was born to be a mother to A and to C. Someday they will do something wonderful and be someone important. They have too! They are already the most important to me.

And the winner is

 
 The winner of our Toy Sling Review and giveaway is...

Lisanne!!!! Congratulaions! Please get with me about your address and choice of fabric for you toy sling :)

Just a reminder...

The Review and giveaway ends tonight so if you haven't entered yet please do so here

Thursday blog hop Toddler style!

Hosted by The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom, Family and Life in Las Vegas, and Crazy about my Baybah.


This week’s topic is  : Extended Family!

Tell us about your toddler's favorite extended family members! 




A loves her family. All of her family. But of all the family members there are two that she asks for daily!


She starts the day, EVERY day, asking for her Nama and if she cant go over to house right away panic ensues. Lucky Nama is pretty accommodating and lives right next door. This is my Mother in Law and I adore this women. 

Next is Uncle Billy. This is my youngest Brother. He just got back from a 2ish month cross country trip. I'm very happy he had fun but we all missed him. A  especially. He bought her a sticker map that she would mark the states he was in at that time. He is going to make a great Daddy someday.

Thursday blog hop!

Hosted by Menopausal New Mom and Tammy's Two Cents

A lot of giveaways this week. If you are a new follower be sure to leave me a comment here so I will follow you back and also be sure to enter to win a new toy sling from Li'l Peeper Keeper.

Sunday Blog Hop and Have you entered?

Sunday blog hop!

Have you entered to win a toy sling from Li'l Peepers Keepers? Please do!

If your a new follower. HELLO and welcome! Be sure to leave me a comment so I follow you back :)

Did you enter to win?

The toy sling yet? Why not? What's stopping you? DO IT :) You know you want to!

Toy Baby Sling Giveaway from Li'l Peeper Keepers!!! Ends 10/31

OUR VERY FIRST REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!

I am absolutely so excited about this. We are giving away a toy baby sling from Li'l Peeper Keepers. These are super nice slings. She has full size slings, wraps, and other things too. I LOVE wearing C! I wasn't really good at it with A but I've improved. A has been so curious about absolutely everything I'm doing with C. From breastfeeding to babywearing to changing her diapers. She wants to be a Big Girl just like Mommy. This was just the perfect item for her to "help" me review.

When I first talked to the woman who created Li'l Peeper Keepers I was struck by how nice and helpful she was. She even addressed the package to A who was SUPER excited to get mail. It was her first package ever! When she opened it was a little confused at first "This is too small for C!". I told her it was for her to wear with her babies and she just started jumping up and down.

"I can feed my baby mommy milk with it on?"

"Sure, and you can wear her around and play outside and keep her close to you."

"Just like you and C?"

"Yep just like us!"

"I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!"

As you can tell it was a big hit with her. Please excuse her messy face :) The PB and J sandwich for lunch was extremely messy :)

We got lots of smiles from people today at the library with me wearing C and A wearing her baby holding my hand. I felt like such a proud Mama today!

When talking to Rebecca I asked for something in Yellow or Pink which are A's favorite colors. This fabric is yellow with cute little bunnies on it. Perfect for my little Animal lover!

The stitching is very well done and the shoulder sits just right on A with enough room to for her to grow into the sling.

I give this toy sling a A+++++! It couldn't have made my daughter happier and anything (within reason LOL) that makes her happy makes me a happy Mama!

So what do you say? Do you want to win one for your favorite little princess? Niece, cousin, friends daughter, strange little girl on the street? Come on, you know you want to! You can get up to 8, Yes I did say 8, entries to win! Here is what you can do.

1. Go visit Li'l Peeper Keepers and come back here and tell me what you would love to have from the store. This is manditory and will get you one entry.

2. Go to Li'l Peeper Keepers on Facebook and Hit the LIKE button. Make sure to tell them Katey from BuggaBoo and Peepers Too! Blog sent you :) Let me know you did this for Entry #2.

3. Follow me and Leave me a comment (this one is easy peasy right?). This is Entry #3

4. Blog about this Review and Giveaway on your blog and leave me a comment with the link to your blog in it so I can read all the love :)  With such a super Giveaway it should be fun and easy to blog about for sure! This gets you entry #4.

5-8. Here is the best most wonderful thing about this Review and Giveaway! You will get 4, Yep I said 4, entries for going to Li'l Peeper Keepers and ordering a Full size sling, wrap or pouch. Tell Rebecca I sent you over. Make sure you come back here and leave me 4 comments with your conformation number in one of them. Who wouldn't love matching slings with their child? Rebecca said this would be possible with most fabrics but not all. I think it would just be super cute.

This Giveaway will end 10/31/2010 at 11:59:00pm. Winner will be chosen by random from Random.org . Good luck and Lets make this first Review and Giveaway wonderful for Li'l Peeper Keepers (and me too if you don't mind LOL).

The only down side about this toy sling? A didn't want to take it off at bed time! HEHEHE

***I received no money for doing this review but did receive the product listed. This is my honest opinion about this company and product. I feel strongly that honesty and morals should transfer over into "blogland" and I try very hard to uphold those on my blog. ***

Another blog hop...I'm loving all the new blogs I get to read!

Are you a Mommy blogger? Do you blog about your kids? Do you blog about great things for Mommies? Do you wanna meet other Mom Bloggers?

If you answered yes to any of those questions then link up!

This blog hop is hosted by Sippy Cups and Cloth Bums, The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom , and Luxury Living Frugal Style !

What is a blog hop?
A blog hop is an awesome way of meeting and reaching out to more bloggers.

If you follow me, leave me a comment and I will gladly follow you back :)

Cornucopia of blogs

Thanks to Mama to 4 blessings, survey junkie, Musings of a stay at home mom, and fun saving money for hosting. I linked up. If you follow me I will follow you back. Just leave me a comment :)

Be on the lookout for my First review and giveaway

in honor of having 50 (YIPPY huge smiles here!) followers. I have something super useful and cuddly lined up for you all! Keep checking back.

Looking for sponcers for reviews and giveaways!

I would love to do a reviews and giveaways on my blog and I'm a strong baby wearing and breastfeeding advocate. I was wondering if you have any advice for me or know someone who is looking to sponsor a giveaway. I run a mostly family oriented blog. I have a lot of mommy followers (47 followers at the moment). I'm also a member of several forums for mothers. I would love to link back to your website and get you some more followers on your blog and your other sites. You can reach me here anytime. I check in daily at least :)

Thank you all so much!

Katey

Buzz on by Thursday!

Welcome to all the “Buzz on by Thursday" blog hoppers, hosted by Fashionably Organized, The Two Savvy Sisters, Emmy's Closet and Sunny Bug!

Buzz on By Thursday is a great way to meet new bloggers and increase your Google followers! So join us, we promise you will have a blast!

If you follow me I promise to follow back. Just leave me a comment :)

IBWW

Thats right it is International Babywearing Week! October 6th - 12th 2010. Do you wear your child? Why the heck not? I adore wearing C around in her Moby Wrap. She is so snug and cosy in there. It is the quickest way to calm her, get her to sleep, and just to snuggle with me. Some of the reason's I LOVE babywearing are C cries less, Its great for her mental and physical development, Hands free to chase my 2.5 year old (who I also wear given the chance) and its great for my PPD! I have gotten a lot of baby wearing info from thebabywearer.com. They seem like a great group of mom's. I hope to see many women or even men out wearing their children this week. Be it in a wrap, a sling, a carrier, or a pouch! Come and join me in spending cuddle time with our children while on the go or just moving about the house.

Wordless Wednesday~ Milk Drunk

I really dont get it.

The other day I was in a well known (at least in Ohio) children's consignment shop after being out and about all morning with the kiddos. It was WELL past nap time for A. I had dropped off some things for them to look at earlier in the day and was checking back to see what they took and pick up the rest. I also had to pick up several pair of pants for A since she has grown *gasp* 3 inches this past summer.

I had C in her Moby sling and A was suppose to be walking beside me. UMMMM not so much. A was done listening for the day I guess because while trying to look though the pants she kept running away from me and getting into other things. Normally my oldest is pretty well behaved in stores but like I said before *WAY* past nap time.

And then C woke up and started screaming for food. Normally I would just bust out the tata and hook her up but I couldn't do that because I was busy chasing A around the store. I'm now mad, hot, tired and cranky. I found 2 pair of pants and get in line.

"A we are almost done, just stand here with Mommy for one more minuet!"

"NO!" and goes to run away again.

"YOU NEED TO LISTEN!" and I swatted her ONE time on the bum.

Then A decided she had misbehaved and started crying and wanted me to hold her and hug her and tell her it was alright. Which I did!

You would think I beat my child since-less from the looks I got from most of the other mothers in that store (one was super nice and gave me her place next in line!) All the while C is still screaming for food.

I was telling my dad about this the next day and he brought up a great point.

In the 1980's when I was a kid (Did I just give away my age??? LOL) it was EXPECTED to parents discipline their children in public.

When did we lose that? I'm not saying beat your children. But don't let them run around misbehave in public and be disruptive. There is a HUGE difference between beating your child and spanking your child.

My daughter got her butt spanked in public. She reacted the way she always does when she gets in trouble by me. LOOKS TO ME FOR COMFORT! My daughter is NOT scared of me, she does not run from me after I spank her, SHE RUNS TOO ME!

My girls look to me for discipline and guidance. What are we telling our children if we don't provide them that? How will they know to teach THEIR children those things if they don't know them?

When M and I decided to have children we knew that we were taking responsibility for these lives. Not just to keep them alive and healthy in body. They would also need us to teach them RESPECT, KINDNESS, LIMITS, AND MORALS!

When did parents stop teaching their children these things? Why am I the abnormal one who sets limits for my child and dishes out consequences even in a public setting?

I am disgusted with parents over this! GET A GRIP PEOPLE! You are NOT going to go to jail for tapping your child once on the bumm for misbehavior in public. IN FACT, Most police officers I know (my dad was a cop I know a lot!) would shake your hand for keeping you children out of "their" system.

If you have something other then spanking that works with your child by all means use it! I most of the time (not all she gets her butt spanked at home also) use timeouts when we are home but that was not feasible at the moment.

I would never presume to tell someone how to discipline their child (unless it was a REAL beating) when out in public. What right did those mothers have to judge me because my parenting style got results!

*off soap box for the moment*

And BTW, A slept all the way home and C got fed as soon as we got to the car.

New family members

This week we finally went to meet little M. He is 7 weeks younger then C. What a difference those 7 weeks make! He was born weighing more then her but WOW you would never guess that now. He is very long and feels fragile compared to C. He is not I'm just use to a chunk LOL. He has the MOST beautiful skin on any baby I have ever seen. I was just amazed. Even more amazing...HE WAS TRYING TO ROLL OVER! at a week and a half! My chunk just watched everything taking it all in LOL. She is too demanding to roll over! If it needs done Mommy or Sister can do it LOL.








And next we have A's new pets! Meet her 2 new African Dwarf Frogs Shooter and Bob (Bob is the smaller of the two). Yes she came up with the names all by her self. She kept asking me for a kitten but Daddy is anti kitten right now and Mommy does not want a divorce. Her fish that Tapa bought her 6 months ago are "on vacation in Hawaii" and have been since the day after we got them. These frogs are supposedly low maintenance. Feed every other day, clean water every 6 months (we will see about that one! Might be more then that) no pet hair to clean up. I'm not seeing a down side here.



Bob


Shooter

C is Two Months old!

HOLY COW 2 months already! It has gone incredibly fast. She is still Exclusively Breastfed (I'm extremely proud of this!). She is smiling all the time now and can focus in on anything within about a 4 foot radius. So far her only nickname is Peepers (A is Bug and it took us FOREVER to get to that!). Here are her stats compared to her 1 month appointment and birth.

Weight
Birth 8.2lbs, 1 month 10.2lbs, 2 month 13.3lbs (OMG!)

Height
Birth 19in, 1 month 20in, 2 month 21in

My little chunky monkey!

Just for comparison.

An afternoon with A

I haven't really spent any alone time with A since C was born (Bad Mommy!) so I decided that we would bake cookies. A loved this idea and Daddy watched C minus feeding times so we could have this time together.

We made sugar cookies (Yum!) No bake cookies (YUMMY!), and Pumpkin cookies (OMG YUMMIEST!). We had a great time getting messy and going uptown by ourselves to get ingredients.

Please excuse my messy kitchen and bad pictures :)

Day to myself sorta

My mom took A today so I had a day with just C. So my friend "C" came over and we worked on some scrapbooking. I didn't get as much done as I wanted but I did want to show you all what I did get done on C's book. These are not in order but they are sets :) Enjoy!

Bad morning but Good Hubby and Daughters!

I was up nursing C this morning at about 3am and started getting lower back pain that just kept getting worse. After about 1.5 hours I couldn't even think. I was really shaky, hot then cold, and I was on the toilet every 10 min. and vomiting into the trashcan to boot. My extremely great hubby got me water and took care of the girls (except for breastfeeding LOL, he still wont try that LOL). I told Hubby that I couldn't do anything and was basically worthless. All I was able to do this morning was nurse C and lay on the couch in between bathroom runs. He was super great and really stepped up. I'm feeling better tonight but not great. I upgraded myself from "I'M GOING TO DIE!" to "I FEEL LIKE CRAP RAN OVER WITH A TRUCK!". That is an improvement right?

On a much better note:

A is doing GREAT potty training. We have been really working hard at these past 3 days and she only has had 2 accidents (I dont count the small amount this morning because it was my fault). I'm so proud of her. I'm not buying her anymore diapers so this better work LOL.

Hubby starts days tomorrow (YUCK!) so lets hope tonight and tomorrow are a lot better then this morning for me.

Tears held in...and Rat dogs

My little girl is silly...I love that she clings to mommy, is girly and mostly sweet. That being said sometimes its all I can do to correct her without laughing at her antics. Today being case in point.

We went up to my "step-Moms" (D) because my dad and "sister" (L) were there and "sister" had breast pump parts for me.

This kind of freaked out my father a little LOL.

Well D has this dog (I guess you could call her a dog but she looks more like a rat to me!) Lena.

We had been at D's house for about an hour and everyone was on the porch including the dog and A was jumping around.

Lena is not the brightest dog and a toy Yorkie I should point out.

2lb rat dog + jumping toddler = toddler getting her butt tapped (by me) for "kicking" the dog. I later found out it was an accident but this ruff behavior with animals has been an ongoing thing.

A hides her eyes and is trying not to cry. I pick her up and hold her in my lap while she is upset. We talk and just when I think she will be ok and not cry...ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

Oh, the tears were horrid, grandparents want to do the sweep in and hug but Mommy is all mean and holding her hostage.

I dont think she has ever been in trouble in front of Papa and Nana before so she was embarressed and crying/sobbing/snotting all over me.

Finally she crys "I want to go home".

Boy did I feel like the worlds meanest mom when I found out it was an accident (not the point but still).

When I asked her later why it took her so long to cry (seriously about 3 min.!) she said "I was so sad the tears were stuck!".

Tonight she spent all night telling me she will never hurt "ennie" again and she is sorry...

Lets hope she remembers and it works on all animals because Alex our Shitz Tzu cant take many more body slams from 30lb girls...

My 1st nursing cover.

I made this wonderful nursing cover. I had bought one but the darn thing was so hard to nurse with. I couldn't see C because the darn neck wouldn't stay up. I really need to work on making the "inside" of things look good but I'm ok with just the outside looking good ;) This is a extra wide nursing cover because I'm not a petite woman LOL. The first picture is a close up of the cool fabric I used. I had it for awhile but couldn't figure out what to do with it. It worked out great for this. I used

1 1/2 yards fabric
thread
2 D rings
about 1/4 yard corset boning (the stiffest you can get in white)
*length of area between bra straps and add about 1 inch*

I just started sewing without a pattern but got the general idea from Blisstree

It took me about half an hour (ok a little longer with stopping to play with A and feed C).

Its been awhile...

Since I posted on here. We are all doing well and adjusting to having Baby C. A has had some problems in that area (no surprise there). She loves her new baby sister and she is great with her. Her attitude with me and daddy is horrid at times. But she is overall doing well. C is growing too fast! She is 6 weeks now and stinking cute! She looks just like her Daddy! She is smiling now but you have to really work for a smile. She weighs over 10lbs now. We are still Exclusively breastfeeding (I'm so proud of this!), and it is going awesome. Last night Hubby gave her a bottle so my breasts were very full this morning and I was able to pump out 4 extra oz. I have over 30 oz stored in my freezer now. As a stay at home mom I don't know that I will ever need it but its good to be prepared. If I don't use it, I can always donate it. I would love to do this and have been looking into it. The only thing that is kind of discouraging about donating it is you have to donate at least 100 oz at a time and I don't know that I will have that before the first oz that I pumped out "expires". Well C is hungry again so I will get off of here. Love to all.