hooter hider

Brian and I made the decision long before Lila was born to breastfeed her, as long as I was able. I know so many women that for one reason or another, nursing didn't work out. And I know how sad and upset that can make a mom. Which seems like we maybe put too much emphasis or pressure on it. For centuries women had a baby and then breastfed that baby, unless they had a wet nurse. I guess it was a matter of necessity.

Lila was great at nursing right from the very beginning. I have been so blessed that she latches quickly, enjoys feeding, and I have enough milk. Since we are on the go people, it works really well for our lifestyle. We nurse at Starbucks, on our back porch, at restaurants, at the mall, at the zoo, in our car, etc. The one thing that still blows my mind though are the stares of perfect strangers.
So let's say you are passing a woman sitting down on a chair or bench. She is wearing this lovely blanket that appears to be hooked around her neck (known affectionately as a Hooter Hider. No for real. That is the actual name of the brand). There are some cute little baby feet sticking out from under said blanket. My only thought would be, "Hmm, I guess that woman is breastfeeding her baby." Or perhaps, "What a cute design on that blanket!"

Photo Credit

 But apparently, this is not the collective thought of the general public. I do not understand why perfect strangers stop, turn around, and unabashedly stare at me. Like if they stare long enough, they might catch a flash of skin and have something to yell at me about. I mean, I cover up...I am discrete...I do not try to create a scene. It just blows my mind that in this day and age, people would be that embarrassed about someone feeding their baby in public.

The one thing I do understand are the thoughts of my friend's adorable 4 year old Kate. She walked over the other day and lifted up my blanket. "Why is baby Lila under the blanket?" "She is eating Kate." "What is she eating?" "Milk" "From where?" "From me. Because I am her mom. And that's how she gets her milk." "Oh. Okay. I am going to go play now. Bye!"

My opinion is that anybody offended

by breastfeeding is staring too hard.

~David Allen

fab 4

Do you all remember these lovely pregnant ladies?

Well look at them now!

This is the Fab 4, our little playgroup of babies that were all born within 8 weeks of each other from our church. Starting at the back, we have Casey and her baby girl Daisy (born March 31), then Lindsey and her little boy Sam (born February 9), Jennifer and her baby girl Raelyn (born March 6), and me and Lila (born March 10).

We have been so blessed to have these amazing other couples in our lives. The four girls have been through so much together already: morning sickness, stretch marks, labor stories, diaper rash cream recommendations, and pediatrician updates. We know our babies will be life long friends and will be running up and down the halls of Hope Chapel in no time.

Speaking of diaper rash, after trying Desitin, Butt Paste, and Arbonne diaper rash cream, we have discovered the miracle cure! It's called Fanny Cream and can only be purchased in Sanford, NC. Because honestly, how could something named Fanny Cream not rock your world? It is made by a local pharmacy and it makes all diaper rash go away immediately. If you would like to order some from my inside sales rep ;-) let me know.

Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper.

It doesn't permanently solve any problems,

but it makes things more acceptable for awhile.

~Unknown

animals among us

I am trying to keep up with blogging, really I am, but it is crazy tough to crank out blog posts with a newborn. Apparently I am not so good at the one-handed typing thing. But I promise to keep trying!!

We celebrated Brian's last couple of days at home last week, which was super sad. Yes, you heard me right. Brian has been off work FIVE WEEKS for Lila's birth. Which has been awesome and so helpful and life saving. Not only could he help out at night and not worry about having to get up early for work, but we could take turns holding her during the day. "Brian...your turn!" He has been so helpful as we have adjusted to being parents, figured out breast feeding, and dealt with very little sleep at night.

Our last day at home together was spent at the zoo. Because you know how much newborns love animals. Lila loved the polar bears (I mean while she was sleeping in her stroller completely covered with the sun shade). She also loved the elephants (which she enjoyed from the adjacent bench while nursing under a blanket). We loved getting a chance to do some normal family things that will be repeated over and over through the years.

I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

~Winston Churchill

colic=exhaustion

It is definitely hard to blog about Lila's colic because I don't want anyone thinking we have not been enjoying our time with Lila. But the last couple of weeks have been...difficult. Lila was diagnosed with colic several weeks ago and it has been a struggle. Basically colic means that Lila cries for 3 hours a day at least 3 days a week. We know that she is having stomach problems that are causing her to cry because she arches her back in pain while she is crying.

Luckily the last 2 days have been better than last week. I am really hoping and praying that it is the medicine finally working. The real blessing so far has been the sleep we are getting at night. Lila is almost sleeping through the night!! We had a friend recommend the Miracle Blanket, which had helped her colicy baby. Basically it is a baby straight jacket. A miracle baby straight jacket. It keeps her arms down so that she can't startle herself awake in the night. Thank you God for the 6-7 hours of straight sleep at night so that we can make it through the days!

Photo Credit

But did that matter to my insurance company? Of course not. We found a pharmacy that could compound the pills into a liquid she could swallow. Which we tried when we picked it up on Thursday. But surprise surprise, Lila does not like the taste of crushed up pills! So we took it back to the pharmacy to be flavored. The pharmacist, smart lady that she is, asked me what flavor my daughter likes best. I asked her if they had breast milk flavor.

The first medicine they tried did nothing to help. In fact, Lila got worse that week. I also tried cutting out dairy, soy, and caffeine and none of those made a difference. We got a new medication prescribed this last Monday but it took until Thursday to finally get it. Basically my insurance company wanted to me to try the older version of the medication my doctor prescribed. However it only came in pill form, which is why my doctor didn't prescribe that one. Because you know, newborns have the pesky habit of being unable to swallow pills.

They think that part of the pain is due to acid reflux. Some of it might also just be issues relating to breast feeding. It is so hard to watch my little girl in pain and not be able to help. She has also been spitting up all the time and having a hard time when she needs to burp or fart. So on top of watching her in pain all the time, we are exhausted from hearing her scream for hours on end. I don't know if you have ever listened to a newborn baby scream for more than a few minutes, but it just hurts your head beyond belief.

Photo Credit
 
People who say they sleep like a baby 
usually don't have one.~Leo J. Burke

laus deo

I have been waiting (not so patiently) to post about Lila's first photo shoot! Rebekah Tozer is an amazing photographer who goes to our church. She does a lot of newborn baby sessions and has taken some fabulous photos of our friends' children over the years. Rebekah did an AMAZING job on Lila's photos. Check out the best ones from the session on Rebekah's blog: http://www.rebekahtozer.com/journal/2010/4/6/meet-lila-addison.html. She was so patient and let Lila sleep and eat and cry as she needed in between photos. One of our favorite from the session is this one of Lila in a onsie reading Laus Deo.

Laus Deo is a latin phrase that means "Praise be to God." My dad, who is a pastor, taught a message on November 22 last year about the phrase Laus Deo (http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/we-say-thanks-by-giving-week-3/id161920633?i=64002343). The whole premise is that we need to praise God regardless of what is taking place in our life, regardless of how we feel about our circumstances. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." ~Job 1:21. Throughout this pregnancy we have needed to say Laus Deo many many times. Lila truly is a miracle baby and we are so glad to be celebrating her life!

Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
~"Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman

peter cottontail

Happy Easter! This year's Easter was fabulous for so many reasons: our first holiday with Lila, Lila's first church service, and the return of Peeps! I know they are disgusting processed marshmallow and sugar, but I just can't help myself. I also couldn't help myself from buying Lila an adorable pink Easter basket. Brian asked me if I was going to go and buy her new stuff for her basket. I however just went around her room and put things in the basket...she's only 3 weeks, believe me she doesn't know :-)

It was so fun to get to have Easter as a family and enjoy this amazing holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Here is an amazing song they played at church this week that really spoke to me. God has been so amazing to our family and has blessed us beyond belief this year.

I have been blessed

And I feel like I've found my way

I thank God for all I've been given

At the end of every day

I have been blessed

With so much more than I deserve

To be here with the ones that love me

To love them so much it hurts

I have been blessed

~"Blessed" by Martina McBride

miss popular

We have had a very busy last week with lots of travelling for Lila Bean. She is getting a chance to meet and greet her overwhelming fan base. Last weekend, my sister Katelyn and her husband Peter were in town to visit Duke where Peter might start his MBA this fall. They got to spend some fun time with us hanging out, walking around campus, and just catching up on life. We loved having them here!

Then on Sunday we drove down to Gastonia for Brian's grandmother's 90th birthday party. It was so much fun to see Brian's whole family and let them meet Lila. Here are a couple of shots with Brian's grandmother, "MaMa", and some of his other grandparents, "Nanny" and "PaPa."

While we were in Gastonia, Lila also got to meet all her Elon Aunties. These girls and I spent so much time at Elon laughing, going through life together, travelling to the beach, and just being silly. It is so surreal that we we are all grown up now and getting married and having babies together! Lila was so excited to hang out with her Aunt Bucleigh, Aunt Mary Allen, and Aunt Emily!

You don't choose your family.
They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.
~Desmond Tutu