Who Knew

So I'm going to be taking a class at my church which is a book study on The Confessions by Saint Augustine. I'm very excited not just because of the class, or the fact that Clifton, my pastor, is teaching it, but because once a week I get to act like an adult for an hour and a half. Ahhhhh, it's going to be great. I'm also hoping that it will help me kick the last lump of postpartum junk that seems to be lingering.

Last night, like the big dork I am, I began reading the Preface and a chapter that goes over his chronology. And to my amazement, even though he was sainted by the Catholic church, he did not lead an entirely "pure" life. This made me realize I know very, very little about this whole sainthood thing. Perhaps this class will help to educate me, even if I'm not Catholic, I still consider Catholicism a part of my christian ancestry, just like Judaism. I mean shortly after Jesus was risen, most Christians were thrown into this Catholic category.

Leaving that tangent aside, I am really enthralled by St. Augustine. The life he lived is very inspiring. Most of his life was a spiritual quest, and even when he realized his past was not ideal to his new life he just stopped, and accepted his new life without guilt. It makes me realize that right now in my life there are many temptations that I give into, and I know there are better ways to go about doing things.

The difference between me and Augustine is that once he knew there was a better way, he took on the right way and left the old behind. I know I shouldn't over eat, and that sometimes "showing" Devon how to be patient when punishing her would be more effective that yelling, and oh boy there is so much more, but the point is I can't rid my life of these bad habits until I accept the right way and persevere through temptation to go down the easy road. Yes, snacking at night might temporarily make me feel better but in the long road it only hurts me. I can say no, but it is so much easier to keep doing things the old way.

So it looks to me like this little book study might teach me more about myself, than Augustine. Fascinating! Something tells me Clifton knew this aspect of the class when he decided to teach. He's sneaky like that.

Another Pat on the Shoulder

So I am very proud of myself. Why, you ask. Well in a few weeks Matthew will be one and I will have successfully breastfeed him for his entire first year. Many of you who are not parents are probably not impressed and that's ok. But I am! And so is his pediatrician, because I am a righty only! ;)


When I was pregnant with Devon I read at least a half a dozen baby books (and many more afterward). I was 21, and had no clue what to expect. I remember asking my doctor for recommendations because on most topics they were all the same but with others there seemed to be a divide. None of the authors philosophies really felt right. She told me she loved Dr Sears and had actually met him. So I checked him out and he changed my life.


The man has raised 8 kids who turned out great and he's a pediatrician. And to top it all off, his wife is a midwife. That coupled right there is an impressive combo. And you know what's funny? At the time my OB was married to a pediatrician who was Devon's doctor while we lived in Nacogdoches, just like the Sear's. Crazy.


Thanks to Dr. Sears ideals I was able to comfortably breastfeed Devon, in Nacogdoches of all places. God forbid Devon ever got hungry in public. People would give me dirty looks, and I can remember at least one time someone told me what I was doing was "disgusting." It made me very timid and I just avoided going out except for short periods when I knew she wouldn't get hungry. If she did get hungry I would nurse her in bathrooms, dressing rooms or in my car.
Nursing Matthew has been a much more pleasant experience. I live in a hippie city where it is the norm to breastfeed so many places have areas for nursing. And I can't recall even a negative glance.

Now Devon weaned herself at around nine months. It was a sad time, I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn't go the whole 12 months. So I told myself if I had another kiddo then I would do my best to make it 12 months. Well, Matthew has made this too easy because except for a couple of bottles in his very early months he has refused formula. And I do mean refuse. I tried to put some formula in a sippy cup and he chunked it at me. Chunked!!

So all of that to say, his first birthday is quickly approaching and it will be time to go through the dreaded process of weaning. Well, I don't really know if it is dreaded I've just heard that it's rough. Luckily his pediatrician is a big breastfeeding advocate so she can give me the scoop on what it will do to me. Because I still love it. I love the closeness. How he still 11 months later will just stare into my eyes, with love just pouring out of them. It is the only thing that I have been able to give him that no one else can.

I am purely fascinated at how my body knows exactly what to make for him. His own personal meals created only for him, changing as his needs change. It's remarkable! So I'm ready for the weaning advice to just pour on me, cause Lord knows I need it. I've been slowly replacing nursing meals with baby food, so he only nurses 5 times a day now. I'm pretty certain that the nap and bedtime nursings will be the last to go, and probably the hardest. Uhg. I just got to get the little engine mentality, "I think I can, I think I can."

Magic Tree House

So this week at the library I was inspired by another devoted reading mom to try longer fiction books with Devon. I was being nosey and looking at the books she grabbed for her little girl, who turned out to also be 4 1/2. She had a copy of The Wizard of Oz, which had great illustrations, and four other novels with pictures. The little girl asked her to read one of the books and of course Devon had to plop down next to them and listen. She's not shy when it comes to mooching off stories. So while she was listening, I grabbed a book from a series called The Magic Tree House because Devon seems to like books with familiar characters, and this series has almost 40 books in the series. Luckily, the library actually had book number one, Dinosaurs Before Dark.

Sunday I started reading it and by the end of chapter three she wanted to stop. I was a little sad that she didn't want to keep going but I didn't let it discourage me. Monday while Matthew took a nap with Chris I was able to start at chapter three again and read the entire book! Devon loved it too. There were some scary parts when a dinosaur was chasing a kid and Devon was clinging on to me pretty tight, but I just kept asking her, "Do you want to keep reading to see if....?" Every time she would be like, "Yeah let's see if ...." It was totally cute. It was the best part of my whole day to be able to sit and become absorbed in a book with Devon.

And so we don't leave little Matthew out, he's becoming very fond of Goodnight Moon and sometimes it can distract him from his fussy moments. I can't wait for the day when they are both on each side of me and we can just sit and read for hours on a rainy day.

I Don't Really Like Meat Anyway

So since I have been on this health nut kick I've been making trips to the library and consuming all kinds of info. Everything from recipe books, to books about public school lunches to what's really in the food we buy pre-packaged (which to me is now frightening). Last night I finished a book called Skinny Bitch . I actually found out about the book from the Ellen show. Based on the interview, it seemed that this book was about how to eat more healthy and nutritiously and as a result you will naturally loose weight. This sounded right up my alley. So I checked it out and brought it home.

Now during the interview Ellen asked, "You know I feel that throughout the book you were yelling at us. Was that your intention?" And I loved the reply. They said they did not write the book to make friends, they wrote it to educate people and that was there way of hammering it into our heads.

When I start reading the book, they literally are yelling at you and with explicit tones! At first I got a kick out of it, but then it kind of got old, but I keep on reading because it really was interesting. I get half way through the book and realize there is an ulterior motive here. They are vegans and so of course, they advocate that lifestyle. In order to do this they list stories about how animals are treated before their end of times and it's horrifying! A part of me thinks well, there is no nice way to die, but then again there are much more pleasant ways than what was discussed here.

So in the end, I'm in deep thought about whether or not I feel compelled to engage in the vegetarian lifestyle. I do know I'm not feeling the vegan lifestyle. So we'll see. I have to think about how this will affect the kiddos and of course Chris because he likes to say often, "I like meat." I on the other hand, really don't eat that much meat chicken, ground beef and occasional pork in the form of ham or pork chops. But I'll let you know what the verdict is whenever I come to it.

I remember that I used to call myself a vegetarian in high school, but that was mostly for weight control. And in college I called myself a "bird-ivore" meaning I only ate poultry, no red meat. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Devon that I had those crazy cravings for cheeseburgers. And I gave those "ideals" up. Just thought I would through that in there. :)

Mmmmmm, Paperbacks

Well, lately I have been devouring books like there is no tomorrow. Just in the past couple of weeks I have read The Educated Child, and The Five Love Languages. This may not sound impressive to some, but don't forget I have an infant connected to me most of the day and an energetic four year old. So there!

Currently, I am reading an awesome book called, The Read-Aloud Handbook. It may sound odd, but yes it is actually about reading out loud. It gives an insane amount of scientific support for reading out loud to your kids. I love it. Jim Trelease you are my hero! He also managed to compile a great treasury of books for different ages. I will easily be using this book for the next ten years or so.

Something Jim talks about in the book is how most children can comprehend listening to books three to fours years above their reading level. While this may sound trivial, it has challenged me to step up the books I read to Devon. I mean she loves her picture books, but we both know almost all of them by heart. So Saturday we ventured to the Austin Public Library and got Devon her very own library card. She was in love! The awe of owning her own library card was enchanting. I picked out a small chapter book, with five chapters to see if Jim was right. And of course, he was. Devon comprehended just as well as a Franklin book. And we have read it about three times a day so far, but that's ok, she's worth it. Next time I'm going to try for one a bit longer. It's like my own little education experiment, mwah ah ah ah.

Now everyone knows Devon has been a book girl from infancy, but the challenge now is to instill the same love of books to Matthew. So far we are off to a good start!

Here is Devon at four months, she was such a little chunker. :D

Here is Matthew, who is now four months old. So far, so good!