Yesterday, I was washing Lucia’s newborn cloth diapers for the last time before putting them away for the next baby when I realized that I am already thinking about the next baby with anticipation. Lucia just turned two months old and I truly cherish our time alone together, but I am so excited to give her a little brother or sister. We have always wanted to have a large family, but I didn’t expect to be thinking about expanding it so soon.
We may be adding to our family sooner than we planned because Lucia is already sleeping through the night. Before she was born, we had decided that unless there were any medical or other serious reasons to postpone pregnancy, we wouldn’t take any actions toward postponing or achieving pregnancy. When I said this though, I was counting on approximately six months of infertility due to exclusive breastfeeding. I didn’t realize that was contingent on her nursing during the night (nor did I realize we could have a baby who slept through the night at six weeks!) until the midwife told us at my six week postpartum checkup. So now, we may need to figure out how to chart during breastfeeding. Does anybody know of any particularly helpful resources?
I received the LiebsterAward from Michelle of Liturgical Time: Walking the Seasons. And I’m a little sheepish to say that I previously received the I Blog Jesus Award from Tricia of Saintbound Sinner and the Versatile Blogger Award from Rachel of Many Miracles (all the way back in September), but have yet to pass them on. It’s not that I’m not grateful for them, believe me when I say I’m so very honored that anybody even reads my blog much less gives it an award. It’s just that there are so many amazing blogs that I read that I get anxious thinking about having to choose only a few to give the awards. So expect these posts in the next few weeks…I’m writing this so you hold me to it.
There was a new post this week in my Baby on a Budget series about elimination communication (EC). When Amanda of Making Memories first emailed me about writing this post on EC, I was thrilled because I was interested in trying it with my daughter but didn’t really know where to start. Thanks to Amanda’s advice and the resources she included in her post, I will begin EC as soon as I earn enough Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks to get Lucia a little potty seat.
My blogger friend Kaylene wrote a beautiful letter to her future son about beauty and treating women with respect. Her letter is a reminder that negative societal expectations regarding appearance and self-worth are caused by both sexes and can only be changed by both men and women altering their perceptions. And changing society starts at home!
Despite saving tons of money using coupons and/or shopping sales, our grocery bills are still really high. So I made a goal not to spend more than $50 on groceries for the rest of the month. We just made a big shopping trip a few days ago and stocked up quite a bit, so I’m hoping it won’t be too hard…
If you’re curious about what little miss Lucia’s been up to this week, take a look:
I know the feeling. I don't know if my family just EATS a lot more than the "normal family" but even with only buying sale with coupons I feel like we're still spending a TON of money on groceries :(. I wonder if it's just the time of year. I feel like the sales over the summer were 10x better.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, she looks SO different than just a few weeks ago!!! I think this calls for another hang out ;).
ReplyDeleteI totally meant to say something about charting and then got way too excited about Lucia's pictures and forgot lol. Have you guys ever taken a class before? Allison Dooley is the NFP coordinator for our diocese and could hook you guys up with a teacher from either the CrM or STM methods. I should have her email somewhere. I've heard that charting post partum and while breastfeeding is the hardest part, so having a teacher would probably be really helpful.
ReplyDeleteWe took Couple to Couple League classes to learn NFP while we were engaged, but last time I checked there aren't any postpartum classes in the area. I'm a little nervous about learning a new method (Couple to Couple League teaches Sympto Thermal) while trying to figure out postpartum charting.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could check with these folks to see if they can work with you on post partum stuff. I found it on the diocese website.
ReplyDeleteCertified STM Instructors:Tim and Jeanne Thelen, jthelen@nc.rr.com, 919-786-1205 (Triangle Area), Our Lady of Lourdes, RaleighDavid and Betsy Shamine, shamine@nc.rr.com, 919-762-1192, St. Bernadette, Fuqua-Varina
1) I often think of the next baby too. I don't think it will happen for a while though.
ReplyDelete2) I have no clue. G slept through the night for months 2-5 but TTOTM never came back and I still haven't seen it...NFP while breastfeeding is tough
5) Thank you so much for mentioning me and my letter :-)
7) Oh my goodness such ADORABLE photos.