My little love

I always knew from the time I could remember that I wanted to be a mommy. I had no other dream as to what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to get married young and have my babies young. When I found out I was pregnant it was the happiest day of my life...I also always wanted a little girl first...my little Samantha, her name was set from the time I was 10 years old (lucky for me Frankie loved that name too). When we found out our baby was a girl I was over the moon...but I never imagined the loved I would have for her. I have been blessed to be able to stay home with my daughter since she was born. I have seen every smile,laugh, milestone, and word....I was able to nurse her for a year, which was just an amazing experience knowing she was living off the milk I produced for her.

Samantha is now 16 months old. She is a loving,sweet,happy,smart little girl. I watch her mind work each day and the thing she does amazes me! When she looks at me and says "mama" my heart melts into a big puddle of goo. I NEVER thought I would feel what I do for her. She is my world. My reason for waking up each morning.

Being a mom has made me a stronger women, I look at things different, I react different, my goals are different.

Also I never would have thought my parenting style would be what it is...I am more of a crunchy mom then I every thought I would be...I breastfed for a year, made my own baby food, babywear, and if I had my own washer/dryer at home....I would be cloth diapering as well. I no longer look at these things as weird or "hippie" I see them as what is best for me and my family.

I have an AMAZING and supportive family who I could not live without. Samantha is so blessed to have them too, she is the world to them!

Happy 4th of July!

Wow its been forever! Samantha has been keeping me busy busy busy ! She is almost 15 months walking all over ( since 13 months 1 week) talking more, just a bundle of personality! Will update more often I promise...here are her July 4th pro pics!

The end of nursing

On Saturday April 16th I nursed Samantha for the last time, it was bittersweet. I knew she was ready, she was not taking much from me at that point and I was just holding on for me and our routine. I am beyond happy and proud we made it to a year! Our breastfeeding experience was nothing but wonderful and I can not wait to nurse our second whenever that may come.

The transition to milk was not easy. For one I never pumped since I am home with her, so she never got milk from a bottle. Two breast milk is MUCH thinner then whole milk. So when she hit 11 months, I started to try to get her on milk....well it took a whole month but we did it. We had to use strawberry syrup to flavor her milk and I put less and less each day till we are finally at no flavoring! I am so proud of our little girl!

Happy 1st Birthday Samantha!

Today you are one year old my precious Samantha Grace! I can not believe how fast the time has gone, and yet I really don't remember life too much before you arrived! You are such an amazing baby! You light up my day each morning when I go to get you and each night when I lay you down to sleep for the day. You have developed SUCH a personality, you are so happy, fun, energetic, and just so lovable! We had your big party this past Sunday and it was a blast, mommy cried while singing happy birthday to you, because she just loves you so much and I am so proud of you!

At one year old you are

-Crawling so so fast
-Starting to stand on your own
-Talking like no ones business
-You want to climb on everything
- In size 3 diapers
-In 12 month clothes
-Eating all table food ( your favorite is pasta any way you can get it, and sweet potatoes)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY PRINCESS!!

Well Hello April....

Wow this year has flown by! In 13 short days my little baby girl will be a whole year old! I cant believe it....I'm still in denial that my little tiny baby is going to be a toddlers in less then 2 weeks! This time last year I was almost done with work, taking guesses on when Samantha would make her big debut and just enjoying every moment with her still inside my belly...

Samantha is just a perfect baby ( except in the car) she plays, problem solves, talks and just amazes me each and every day

This weekend we are going to get her 1yr pics taken! I cant wait to see how they turn out!

Lets talk about weaning....

So my original goal for breastfeeding Samantha was 6 months, and I said I will see how I feel then. Well 6 months came and went and I would have never stopped at that point. Now we are at her one year mark in a few weeks and I'm starting the weaning process. I tried giving her milk every which way, hot,cold,bottle,sippy,whole milk,1%milk....she refused it! So I kept trying, we are still nursing so its not that big a deal, I just wanted her to get used to the milk when we did wean for good. Today was the first day she actually drank milk! So we are on the right path....but now that I think about it, and or nursing bonding is almost over it makes me sad

For almost a year, I nursed her, held her close and fed her...its was a connection only I had with her. I never really pumped any milk for others to feed her, since I was at home with her there was no need. It was my time, no one could do for her what I was doing. I was able to take her from a crowded area and spend some quiet time with her while she ate. I never thought I was going to take to it the way I did, but at almost a year I am so proud of Samantha and my boobies! We made it to a year, I gave my daughter the best start( in my opinion) with a year of mothers milk!

I know I will have that bond always as we go along this weaning process, but the more and more I think about it, I wont be that upset if its not at exactly one year....right now we are nursing in the morning and at night and Ill keep it that way till we BOTH are ready to stop

All about Jill

I "borrowed" this from a blog I've recently been acquainted with, http://ourlifewithpeanut.blogspot.com/ . How fun!

A. Age: 24

B. Bed size: Queen wish it was a king

C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the toilet

D. Dogs: Cute, but not for me, we are cat people

E. Essential start to your day: Putting in my contacts

F. Favorite color: pink and gray

G. Gold or silver:white gold

H. Height: 5' 4"

I. Instruments you play(ed): none

J. Job title: stay home mom and wife

K. Kids: Samantha Grace

L. Live: NYC

M. Mom’s name: Elaine

N. Nicknames: Beanie

O. Overnight hospital stays: kidney stones at 21 weeks pregnant and when I gave birth

P. Pet peeves: chewing loud and with your mouth open

Q. Quote from a movie: " what am I a clown? Am I here for your amusement?"

S. Siblings: 1 brother

T. Time you wake up: About 8am

U. Underwear: Um, yes? What is the question here?

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Squash

W. What makes you run late: last minute diaper changes

X. X-rays you’ve had:none

Y. Yummy food you make: shepherds pie

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Tigers!