Bradley Reunion #2

As a forenote, you may have realized by now that I'm a procrastinor/crammer. I put off posting for awhile and then I cram a bunch in!
We had our second Bradley Reunion last month. It was so hard to get everyone together, so there ended up only being 4 our of 6 of us. But, we still got together out at Eric & Carols house and had fun watching the 1 yr olds run around.

Holiday Dress

Jason bought me a sewing machine for my birthday in July. It took me a month or two to get it out of the box because I was slightly intimidated. Since I got the nerve to get it out and learn how to use this paticular machine, I'm hooked!
I started with an apron I made from a cotton nightie that I upcycled. Then I started making accessories for my sewing machine, a mat for it to sit on, a scrap/thread bag that velcros to the mat and holds all my trash. I made a ruffly scarf for me. Finally I decided to attempt my first garment! I made Enza a holiday dress! It all started when my mom gave me some dark green velvety type material from a dress she had and no longer liked. What a perfect little dress this could make! I found a plaid material at Hobby Lobby and used my 40% coupon to buy it.
I cut it all out one day, and started sewing the next weekend. It went better than I expected. The puff sleeves were the scariest part, I prayed the whole time I was sewing that they would look ok when I flipped them right side out! I'm pleased to post a pic of it now, I still have to 'finish' the hems and attach the bow, but I'm thrilled with it. Now that I've got this under my belt I'm more confident to start making more clothes!!

Pigtails

I adore pigtails and cute little ponytails on little girls and I've just been dying waiting for Enza to have enough hair pull it off. Guess what, We've got PIGTAILS! Isn't she the cutest little girl you've ever seen?

Pumpkin Patch

In October we made our first trek to the pumpkin patch as a family. It wasn't exactly what we expected, there wasn't a patch to pick a pumpkin, more like a lot next to a barn. And all of the activities were a little to big for Enza and there were too many big kids running around crazy, it was a little dangerous for our little one to get down and really explore. All in all though we had fun, next year we'll probably check out a different pumpkin patch in the area. Here are some picks from our trip, enjoy!

Enza 1st Birthday!

September 25, 2008 9:02 am Enza Jeanne Lomonte was born into this world. I can hardly believe it's been a year since I went into labor and birthed our wonderful little girl.
We celebrated with a party at our house on our back deck. I made two crockpots full of chili, regular chili and white chili served with corn muffins and my mom's homemade bread. For cake, my mom made Pumpkin Spice cupcakes with honey creamcheese frosting. Yummm....

Enza and a Race Car

While we were at my dads we had to check out the race car! All of you who know my husband know that he spent much time in the garage checking everything out. He is a gear head and he fit in a little too well at my dad's ;)
Of course while we were there were had to get Enza's picure in Grandpa's race car. Since she's not old enough to drive yet so Mommy took her for a spin......not really :)

MI Trip (LP part)

After we left Shane's we took my nephew Casey with us and headed down to Rockford to my dad's. I hadn't seen my dad since I moved to MO more than 7 years ago, a visit a little overdue :)
We were supposed to go to the races Sat night but they were cancelled due to the rain, so my big brothers John & Jason came over to Dads and we all hung out for the evening. It was really nice having all of us together! We watched old home videos and told old funny stories, I about peed my pants on several occasions.

Sunday afternoon we took in a West Michigan WhiteCaps game with John, Jason & Casey, good times. Enza loves her Uncle John and Uncle Jason!



We all spent the evening back at Dad's again, had a bonfire and spent time with family.





Monday morning we got up and made the trek back home, it was nice to be home. We had a great time in Michigan, we hadn't been back since 2004! Hopefully we will be able to make more trips with our schedules now :)

MI Trip (UP part)

At the end of August we drove to MI to see my family. We drove thru Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We stayed with the Blamers in Pickford. We always have fun with Shane, she is so silly :) Oh yeah, Casey and Robert are great too...love you guys!
Btw, the bottle I'm holding is Boone's Farm, it goes WAY back for Shane and I...it's a joke, we don't drink the stuff for fun anymore ;)

Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth

I found out today that I received my provisional status with The Bradley Method (R)!!! This means I can start teaching childbirth classes as soon as I get the workbooks! I am so pumped!
We took the Bradley classes for Enza's birth and it was awesome, I mean it worked so what more can I say!
At the Bradley training workshop in Orlando, one of the teachers ended our first night with some words....he wondered why we were there, what made us come there? He said that he thinks we were called to be there because someone needs us, needs us to teach them. This struck me, Enza's birth had such an impact on me, while challenging it was an amazing experience that was so empowering. If I can help more women experience that, to embrace birth and be active in the process. I believe God created our bodies with the ability to give birth, and to birth naturally (with a few medical exceptions of course). I hope that I can reach as many Mommy's as possible and change or enforce their perspective on childbirth :)

Enza & Ethan

We spent some time with some old friends last weekend. They have a little boy who is 5 days younger than Enza. Here is a few pics of them going after the doggy bell>

Diaper Sprayer

Here is our Diaper sprayer!! Jason installed for me last week. It is just a kitchen sink sprayer attached to the water line of the toilet, works like a charm! It's like power washing the diapers :)

My little Jackie O

Playing in the toilet

Yes, Enza has discovered the toilet and the water therein also! Usually not a big deal, I close the lid and move her to another room, problem solved.
Well, last week Enza finally really took to solids, so much so I had my first poopy diaper that I had to clean the poo off into the toilet (we cloth diaper). Of course this kind of stuff always happens when I'm home alone! So, I take the poopy dipe to the bathroom, pull on my rubber gloves and proceed to wipe poop off of diaper into toilet. Heeeere comes Enza, crawling just as fast as her little arms & legs will carry her. Pulls herself up on the toilet, I'm using my elbows to get her back away from the poop in and on the toilet. So, then almost in defiance she grabs the toilet paper, pulls it down off the roll and sticks it right in her mouth. It was literally like she was saying, "oh yeah, well than I'll just have THIS!" So now she has toilet paper in her mouth and I've got poop all over my hands! Note, I don't care if she were to just get a bite of toilet paper, but she gags and vomits when she gets these kinds of things in her mouth. I AM NOT cleaning up poop AND vomit! So I whip off one glove, swipe the tp from her mouth and proceed with my swishing dunking and massaging poo from the diaper. I'm sure it was a site to see, I've got the yellow rubber gloves up to my elbows, standing on one foot because I'm using the other to hold Enza back out of the bathroom!
Ah, these are the times of our lives :)
ps-Jason is installing me a diaper sprayer this week :)

Enza and an officer

Mom! Help I'm stuck!!!!

Found her like this after a nap...she was starting to get pretty frustrated!

Enza + 4 teeth

I wanted to get some pics with Enza and her new teeth! Her top front teeth came thru the first week of July. Here are a few pics of my adorable baby doll, I can't get enough of her :)

Breastfeeding saves $$$ (lots of it)

I've been working on my Bradley requirements a lot lately and was reading about why dad's should encourage Mom to breastfeed. I have strong opinions about the topic as Enza is still breastfed and has never had formula. I have been blessed with a milk supply to more than keep her content :)
At work today a few ladies and myself were talking about how much money I've saved breastfeeding for the last 9 months and I honestly didn't know. I've never bought or used formula so I don't know how much it costs or how much a baby goes thru. So I decided I wanted to know. I roughly(very) estimated that over 9 mo my God-given boobies have saved my family $864! That's just the cost of formula, not bottles or bottle liners. Wow, I think I deserve a night out!
So besides the butt load of health reasons why women should breastfeed, here's a reason Dad's might be interested in! That number will be over $1000 in the first year!
If you do any amount of research it's stated everywhere, "Breast is Best"....this is true, but besides that formula is not even a comparable option, it is far inferior. No formula company will ever be able to replicate what God has programmed our bodies to produce for our babies, the best most pure form of nutrition formulated for their specific needs at every feeding. What a perfect design!

Natural Remedy for baby cough

Towards the end of last week it was obvious Enza wasn't herself. She had a little bit of dry cough, that often turned to gagging & vomiting. I spent Thursday and Friday changing sheets, washing receiving blankets, and giving Enza bath's, not to mention I've gotten pretty good at grabbing a trash can or anything nearby to catch throw-up besides my floor!
Sunday night when she threw up it was nothing but thick clear mucus, poor baby. Monday her nose started running and her cough had become rattly. I started her on some homeopathic medicine for her cough and she seemed to be ok.
Monday night I tried a natural remedy I had read about, I put a two slices of a white onion on a plate in her bedroom for the overnight. When I was slicing the onion, I thought to myself "seriously, what are onion slices just sitting in her room going to do?" Let me tell you, the onion smell in her room was so strong!
Tuesday she was still coughing and snotting and having trouble napping because of her cough. I left work early and took her home where she was finally able to get some sleep, a 3 hr nap!! Tuesday night, she was so much better :) She didn't cough all night, her nose still ran and snotted a little, but much improved.
Wednesday morning, she was 90% better, no cough, barely even a runny nose. All thru this she never had to take baby Tylenol or Motrin or any other otc medicine. I love Dr Lauren Feder's book of natural remedies! We have had lots of success with everything we've tried and have never resorted to any type of "medicine".

Teething & Dr Doty

Enza has been working on her first top teeth and they have been painful! Her bottom two came in no problem, but these top have been a bear! I can finally feel the edge of her top left tooth thru the skin, hopefully it will be thru soon! Her little gums are so swollen!

My independent little explorer has been so needy and clingy lately not feeling well I decided it was time to take her for her first adjustment with our chiropractor Dr Doty. Dr. Doty has done wonders for Jason, myself and my mom. Jason was diagnosed with 2 herniated discs two years ago, the doctor prescribed him painkillers, physical therapy and an epidural. Jason, opted instead for the chirpractor and has been so blessed. He is pain free and doesn't have to rely on heavy narcotics for it.

Days off

Jason bid for his days off at work last week and I'm happy to announce we now work the same days! We will have Thurs-Sun off as a family!! We are super excited, this will allow us more time to do things together, and hopefully now we can get out on that boat we're paying for!