The Summer Slump

Look familiar? This is the photo I took to make my blog banner. 

I haven't blogged all week. I know. I'm a huge slacker. Honestly I've been lazy this week and not really all that motivated. I've determined it's because of the summer slump. It happens towards the end of the summer every year. This year it's just hitting a bit early. I found when I lived in Utah I would get the Winter Blues around the end of January early February. Right before spring. When the days are cold and gray and the inversion sets in. Well here in Texas it's the opposite. It happens in the summer. When the days are long and hot and it feels like the air is on fire. This summer has been a doozy. We've had very little rain and it has been in the triple digits for months it seems. It makes me want to lock myself in doors and lounge in the air conditioning. We went swimming with friends today. It felt so nice and refreshing. Now both kids are taking a nap and I get a minute to breath all to myself. It's great.

I'll be back next week. I promise. To be honest I needed this week to kinda slump around and not do much. I'm refreshed and ready to get some projects done. Even though I know we have several more weeks of hot days left I'm hoping this is the end of the slump. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

All you Ever Wanted to Know About Exclusively Pumping

My constant companion these days is my breast pump. I have a Medela Pump in Style. I pretty much always have it close by. I've had a lot of people ask me how the pumping is going so I thought I would do a follow up post to my previous breast feeding post. I've also noticed that there really isn't a ton of information available for Mothers who choose to go this route. Hopefully someone will find this useful.

So far pumping is good. It's not without it's difficulties but neither is breastfeeding. So it's ok with me. For the first month or so I was pumping an exhausting 6 times a day for 20 min each time. That was pretty hard but necessary to regulate my milk supply. Shortly after that I went down to 5 times a day. Now I do 5 times a day about half the time and the other half I do 4. I'm hoping around 4 months I'll be down to 4 times a day all the time. Right now I can tell a drop in my milk supply (not much of a drop but enough to notice) if I go too many days in a row at 4 times a day. So I try to alternate every other day. Right now I feel pretty good about how much I'm pumping and how often. I'm able to keep up with Mr. Z and then some. I've been able to save and freeze about 5 ounces a day. So I have plenty stored up for emergencies. 

Some things to know if you are going to be exclusively pumping. The first few months are really important and not easy. It will seem like a lot of work sometimes but it gets better in no time. It is really important to pump as often as you can and pump for a full 20 min. If you pump less than that then your milk supply may run out. There are different sizes of shields. You may have to try a couple sizes to find your perfect fit. I was using shields that were too small at first and I was getting sores. No amount of lanolin could make those things go away and they were painful. Then I went up a size and magically they were gone. Also use lanolin every single time you pump with out fail. Before AND after. Goop it on. Really it's ok. You will thank me later. 

Now for a few helpful hints... 

Have at least two sets of accessories. Your pump pieces need to be washed after every use so the more accessories you have the easier your life will be. 

Get a car adapter. So if you are going to be out of the house all day you can pump on the road. This may seem awkward but it's essential in my book. Just get a nursing cover so you don't feel super exposed.

Along with that get the Medela quick clean wipes for when you are not near a sink. They are little expensive so I wouldn't use them all the time. Just when you are out and about. They are really handy.

Sanitize. Sanitize. Sanitize. And the easiest way to do it is with the Medela Quick Clean Micro Steam Bags (the people at Medela are geniuses). They come in a pack of 5 and each bag can be used 20 times. I use them at least once a day.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself a cute drying rack. Like this one. If you are going to be hand washing pump parts for months on end you might as well have something enjoyable to look at.

Now for the positives on pumping. You get a lot of the same benefits from pumping that you would from breast feeding. It has helped me loose the baby weight faster. I already had a pump and accessories on hand so it has been very inexpensive. I've only had to purchase a few things here and there which has been much cheaper than buying formula every week. You are giving your baby breast milk which is always best (but there is nothing wrong with formula. I'm not at all saying formula is bad for your baby). Now that I'm on a good schedule and I've gotten the hang of everything it really is easy and painless. It doesn't interfere too much with my day. I can have other people feed my baby. I hope that doesn't sound terrible but sometimes it's nice to share in that responsibility. I can leave him with Daddy or Grandma and they will have no problem feeding him. Overall it has been a good experience so far. There are more positives I just can't remember all of them right this second. I still get people who are shocked that I'm doing this (and successfully) and wonder why I would even consider it. Now that it's been a couple months I would honestly say I would do it again in a heart beat if I had to. I just want people to know that it is an option to be considered if you are struggling with breast feeding. I thought I would hate this, but I don't. Yes at first it was hard, but it got easier and easier and now it isn't hard at all. 

OK I'm done rambling. Hopefully someone out there will find some of this useful. And if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!

Recommitting

Oh life has been a little crazy lately. In the best way ever. Both of Denny's sisters have been in town which was wonderful. This is the first time we've been able to see Katie since she started filming the show. It was really great to see her and visit with her. She is so much fun. Denny's older sister and her kids are in town for a little while longer. It is so much fun seeing Miss. S with her cousins. I have such a strong bond with several of my cousins. They are such an important part of my life. It's so fun watching Miss. S forming those same relationships.

Speaking of important cousins. My cousin Bradley is one of those cousins. He is stationed here at Fort Sam Houston for the Navy. I could not be happier. We have spent the last couple weekends with him which includes taking him to some of our favorite places to eat. Hopefully he will be here for a while longer. In the military you never really know though. Since we don't know how long it will really be I want to get as much Bradley time in as possible. It's also nice to have him around for Denny. He loves having a good friend around.

As much fun as we have been having with all these amazing people around we are all off our schedules. We are pooped and I'm definitely feeling a little disconnected to this blog. I love this blog. I feel best when I'm blogging regularly. It is my creative outlet. It is a space all my own. My time during the day for me and I think that it is really important. So my goal this week is to recommit myself to my me time. AKA this blog. Sorry I've been a little out of it lately. I'll get back on track though. Promise.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Checking Out

Image found via Woman's Day

I haven't posted at all this week. It has definitely been a crazy one. We have a lot of family in town and we've been spending time with them. So posting this week will be sparse. I am however getting a project together that I'm really really excited about. So hopefully I'll post about it by the end of the week. Hopefully is the key word there.

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. It is one of my favorite holidays and this year it was a little bit different and weird. San Antonio and much of Texas was under a strict fireworks ban due to a terrible drought. I don't think I've ever had a Fourth of July without fireworks. It just didn't feel right. We still had a great time with family, friends and a ton of delicious food!

Keep checking back for more posts later this week!

Lacking

Check out my sons crazy eyes. He looks a little freaked out by his sister. Miss. S had those same big blue eyes when she was a baby

I've been stuck at home for the last few weeks. I'm ok. There is nothing wrong. It's a really long and slightly embarrassing story that I won't get into here. I'll just say that Denny has had the car (our other car was totaled recently) and we have been stuck here at home. At first the whole situation was fine. Now it's really starting to wear on me. I'm bored. I'm stir crazy. I'm lacking motivation, inspiration and energy. Hence the lack of posting the last few days. I have a couple things I want to post about but the whole no motivation thing is getting in the way. The last thing I want to do is blog when I'm not feeling inspired. At first it was great cause I had a couple projects I wanted to work on. Now that those are made I'm having a hard time thinking of other things to occupy my time. If the weather was a little cooler I think I would take the kids for a walk to the park and spend more time outside. Maybe the fresh air would invigorate me and give me a little more umph. But I don't do well in this heat and neither do tiny babies. So inside we have stayed. I'm starting to feel a little guilty with how much T.V. has been watched. I will say this though. Miss. S has been a good sport about this whole thing. Sure everyday she asks me if we can do anything but stay home, but she has been extra sweet. And the baby? Well he has gotten on an excellent schedule. Which means his night time sleep has been amazing. He's been waking up pretty consistently at 7:30am most days. So there are plus sides to all this. I'm just hoping that this week I'll be able to have the car a little more. We'll see. In the meantime I need you help. What do you do when you find yourself in a rut? Where do you find motivation? Inspiration? All my usuals are just not working. I need some good ideas!

Catching Up

I have so much to catch up on. My parents came to town and disrupted my life in the best way possible. I have several things I've been meaning to post but haven't had the chance to. I'm working on getting my house and routine back to normal but I will be back really soon!

P.S. Does anyone else love the new blogger features as much as I do? The new mobile version and preview button are fantastic!

Why?!!? This is me on my soapbox... again...

I had a conversation today that got me thinking about why I blog or post on Facebook about certain things. Why open myself up like that. Last week I put up a post on Facebook about how Miss. S was picked on by some older kids and how sad that made me. It got a lot of responses and I thought it was really interesting to read all the comments. Whether we agree or disagree on a topic I love a good discussion. I think that social media has opened up a lot of doors to have a more open dialogue about the things that effect our daily lives. Certain things I would never post about here or on Facebook. Politics being one of them. But things like how to handle a bully, or breast feeding are things that I feel ok bringing up in a public forum such as this. I feel like there is a lot to gain from starting a discussion on some of the issues we face in our lives. You can get a lot of great suggestions and help from what other people have gone through. Also by sharing our experiences with others we may be helping and supporting someone with something that they are dealing with in their life at that moment with out even knowing. When I posted about Breast feeding it wasn't to gain sympathy from others (although all the out pouring of support was amazing). I thought by sharing my experience maybe someone else could gain something from it. Also I felt it was important to breach a subject about how woman should support one another and not be so judgmental. When I did the book review on Baby Wise it wasn't to say that one way of parenting a newborn is better than others. It was to share what worked for us and to get feed back from others about what worked for them (BTW Baby #2 is doing quite well on Baby Wise so far). I'll say it again. I love a good discussion. I love reading your comments (so please leave more). Usually when I bring something up it's because it's something I am struggling with or need help with. I love seeing everyone's different views. I learn so much from it. I will never post something with the intention to offend anyone. So if you are offended by a topic, post or comment then I apologize. I try to be very respectful toward the views of others. I feel like most people are really respectful and contribute to a good healthy dialogue. We live in a time where we are lucky to have the technology that gives us a platform for discussion. I hope that I can continue to have these moments of great learning from those of you who read this blog or who I'm friends with on Facebook. It has enriched my life and I plan to continue posting about things that matter to me. Thanks for all your wonderful feedback. I hope that you gain as much from it as I do.

When it Rains it Pours...

Also known as Bad Things Always Happen in Threes.

I knew I wouldn't be posting everyday this month. Taking care of a newborn and getting used to having two kids instead of one I knew would be an adjustment. However I honestly thought I would be posting a little more. I thought I would get back into a routine a lot faster. Unfortunately I've had some setbacks. First of coarse was the unexpected second hospital stay. Second we had a crazy car accident (no one was hurt as no one was actually in the car, but the car is totaled) and Third our computer broke down and was in the shop for the last three days. So therefore I was unable to post anything. I do have a couple things in the works but I honestly don't know when I will actually get them posted. Soon I hope. I miss my creative outlet.

On a more upbeat note (I hate that this post feels like a bit of a downer) I've had the most productive day yet. I've done 4 loads of laundry, done the dishes, took both kids to the grocery store for the first time by myself, and posted on both blogs. I'd say things are looking up!

P.S. I could seriously use a real rainy day. It is hot here and we haven't had rain in a while. The above picture was taken last year when we had an abundance of rain.

Back To The Hospital

I know I haven't done a post since last week. We had a pretty rough weekend. My Mom left Saturday morning and as she was flying back to Utah I was on my way to the ER. And on my Birthday to boot. I ended up being admitted back into post partum for a uterine infection and mastitis. YUCK! I pretty much thought I was dying. This is not my first experience with mastitis as I had it when I was breast feeding Miss. S. It might be one of the worst things in the world. Anyway we are home now and on the mend. I'm starting to feel a lot better. I'm afraid it might take me a few days to get all my energy back. I received a lot of well wishes on my Facebook and I just want to say a huge thank you. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends & family. You are all the best! Hopefully I'll be back to my routine ASAP. Until then be patient with me. I'm anxious to get some good posts up soon!

Mommy Guilt & Japan Relief

I must be really tired today or this pregnancy is just starting to take it's toll on my emotions. I've noticed over the last couple days that my patience level is on a rapid decline and Miss. S has been particularly whinny. Not a good combination. That means more shouting and snapping from me. Poor thing. She really doesn't deserve it. I just can't stand to hear another "Mommy" in a high pitched whine. It's driving me bonkers. I'm sure it's from lack of sleep. I wake up about ten times a night now either to use the loo or adjust my sleeping position. I feel really bad. I should be really enjoying these last couple weeks where it's just the two of us. Playing with her, taking her on outings, painting with her or just laughing with her. It makes me sad to think that we won't ever be just the two of us again and this is how I'm spending my time with her. Counting down the minutes until nap time so that we can both get some much needed rest. Generally we really have been having a good time together. It's just been the last couple days. Which is really bad timing. Cause today when she went down for a nap I turned on the news and immediately the guilt set in. I have no right at all to complain about anything right now let alone a whiney child. If that's the least of my problems then I'm pretty blessed. Watching the coverage of the Earthquake/Tsunami aftermath over the past few days has put a lot of things into perspective. Just imagining all the children who lost their parents or the parents who are missing their children makes me ache to my very core. And here I am safe and sound and grouchy. That is just so wrong. It definitely makes me take a second look at how I need to change my attitude. How I need to count my blessings and love the ones who are around me.

As I watch the footage on T.V. of everything that's happening in Japan I'm moved to want to do more. I know that every little bit helps at this time of need. Last night we we were going through all the things we need to give away. We thought for a moment about just walking them out to the trash. Then the guilt set in. I knew we couldn't just throw perfectly good items in the trash when so much was needed else where. This morning I reed this blog post at Tea Rose Home and was reminded that you don't need to donate tons of money for it to make a difference. Even the smallest donation goes to good use. I encourage you to read that post. The author is directly effected by the Tsunami as she is from one of the areas that was hit the hardest. She still has most of her family and friends there. She did a lot of research as to the best places to donate to. I'm adding this button to my sidebar. If you would like more information as to what you can do to help just click on the button.

It will take you to her post and then direct you to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Humanitarian Aid page. I am a member of this church and I know that all donations go towards those who are in the greatest need. I mentioned last week that we had a quilting night with the teenage girls that go to church with us. We were assembling quilts to donate to the church. I can only hope that soon they will be on their way to those who are effected in Japan. Just remember every little bit helps. The people of Japan and any others who are effected are in my prayers daily.

Why Do I Sew?

Tomorrow we are having a quilting night with the Young Women ages 12-17 in our church. I'm so excited about it. I feel strongly that sewing is a skill that people should learn and the earlier you learn the better. So I've been thinking over the last couple of days why I feel that way. Why is it so important to me?

I come from a long line of sewers. I think a better term for them would be seamstresses. My Granny, Mom, Aunts. They all sew. My Mother is seriously phenomenal. A lot of times she doesn't even need a pattern. I remember when we were shopping for my wedding dress I tried on the perfect dress at Neiman Marcus. She looked at it and said "I can do that". The next day we went to the LA Fashion District bought all the fabric for $85 and a few months later I had the perfect most flawless gown. To say she is talented is an understatement.

Sadly I didn't tap into her immense amount of knowledge earlier. My interest in sewing didn't peak until a few years ago when Miss. S was born. I always just took advantage of the fact that my Mom is so amazing. After Miss. S came into my life all of a sudden there were so many things I wanted to make for her. Luckily I had picked up a few really basic skills from her to get myself started. The rest is up to me as she lives in Utah and I live in Texas. It has been a pretty hard road. With a lot of successes but a lot of frustration as well. I still feel like I'm just beginning every time I sit down at my machine and I always always make mistakes. It's all part of the learning process I suppose. I have a lot to learn still. I don't think I would continue if I didn't feel like it was important. And the feeling you get after you've completed a project is priceless. It feels so good.

I feel like sewing is one of those skills that was past down from generation to generation through Mothers and Daughters. Some where along the way a lot of Mothers stopped teaching their children this art form. I think it's kind of sad. Good news is I see a renewed interest in sewing that is spreading once again. There are so many things that you can do with sewing. Even if you only know how to sew a straight line. With a straight line you can sew pillows, curtains, hem pants and make baby blankets. Learning to sew can save you money and it keeps you from being limited to what is sold on the shelves in stores. To me sewing is a way of creating something from nothing. It is a creative outlet that has endless possibilities. It is an invaluable skill to learn. Having a basic knowledge of sewing is beneficial for so many reasons. If you don't know how to sew I encourage you to learn a few of the basics. I think once you start learning you won't want to stop.

It's been A Looooooong Time...

But here I am again. I do that don't I? Disappear for a while then show up again out of the blue. I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately actually. I pull it up and look at it a while and think... Boy there is no hope for this little blog endeavor. I dropped the ball. Truth is I love this blog. I need to pretty it up a bit. Make a nice banner, but I really love having a place to vent creatively. Life got away from me though. Excuses piled up and before I knew it neglect had set in. Not just with this blog but with my family blog too. My most important excuse is I'm expecting my second baby, which I'm over the moon about. However I was sicker than sick, and truly not motivated to do anything but lay in bed. Then when I got my energy back a couple weeks ago I kept looking at this page thinking that the damage was done. I failed my little blog. Then I read this. About six photos down one says Keep Trying Anyway. You fell down once, maybe even twice. It hurt. It has taken such a long time to get it all going again... but you are amazing... so you KEEP TRYING ANYWAY. I was inspired to get going again. For me. Because I need to do something I love creatively and consistently. I'm going to try again. It's my blog anyway right? I guess technically I can come and go as I please. So there you have it. I'm back.

Oh and as for this little Mister. He will be joining our family around April Fool's Day. I couldn't be more excited.

Vintage Embroidery Hoops

Sorry this is a day late. We had a sick house yesterday. We are all on the mend now after a day of napping though.I first saw this idea on A Little Sussy and thought what a fun easy way to add a little color to a room. So I made these for Miss. S's room a couple summers ago with the help of my Mom. About half of these hoops came from the DI in Logan Utah and the other half my Mom gave me. They were handed down to her from my Grandma B. I loved the idea of using this small family treasure in a new way for my little girl. They hang in her room above her crib. Sadly her crib bedding was washing the day I took this picture. I'll get a picture soon of the whole effect.

I'm posting this now for two reasons. #1 I think I'm going to change the fabric out of them soon (Except for the S). I'm updating a few things in her room and the fabric that is in them now probably won't go. I wanted to document what they look like now.

And #2 I think this is the perfect post to explain why I chose Sweetly Nostalgic for the official name of this blog (no more changes). I love items whether for your home, to wear, to play with, anything, that evoke a feeling of nostalgia. I have a lot of family heirlooms that have been handed down to me that I love and use in my home. I also love shopping for and using vintage items. Even new items that have a vintage feel I am drawn too. I love certain memories that mere objects can stir up in your mind. When I look at these embroidery hoops it makes me think of the women in my life my Mom, Grandmothers, sisters, and Aunts. I'm reminded that I come from a long line of ladies that were and are great at making something out of nothing. That have wonderful talents and make beautiful things.

If you want to make these it's really easy. Start collecting embroidery hoops and fabric. I would say 8-12 different sizes and patterns would be sufficient. I usually like using odd numbers but this ended up being even. It really doesn't matter. Place your fabric in the hoop and pull tight. I used a hot glue gun to secure to the hoop. Last trim the access fabric and hang. The poor little one at the bottom broke when Miss. S began standing up in her crib, and could reach it. So if you are hanging it over a crib make sure you hang it out of reach of little hands.