Saturday, January 18, 2014

Fall family photo shoot

Recently we went to a local park for some updated family photos. They turned out wonderful! The fall colors and the backdrop of the river was beyond beautiful. I'm having trouble picking which ones to frame! Enjoy!











Friday, January 3, 2014

2 Years of Breastfeeding!

Snowflake turned 2 this week, and she also officially weaned a few weeks ago. My original goal with her was 18 months and I was able to make it to just about 2 years! Although the last few months were short feedings in the evenings only, we still enjoyed the time together and she was able to get some more of that wonderful milk, concentrated and sweet I'm sure! I feel very blessed to have breastfed her so successfully and to have met a milestone I know most never see. It was truly not something that came easy for me, as I have trouble making a lot of milk. My body in fact does not respond well to a pump (I can barely get an ounce even when feeding a newborn), and because of that I never gave Dahlia a bottle. She has never had a sip of formula either. This required a lot of commitment on my part- I never left her for more than 4 hours at a time, and I did nightly feedings for over a year. I nursed on demand to keep up a decent supply, so most days I nursed every 2-3 hrs in the first year. I was happy to do it though, I knew it was good for her and good for me. Breastfeeding relaxed me immensely, something that I needed a lot of having children just 18 months apart! I am so proud to have extended breastfeeding, and I just want to encourage any other mothers out there that it can be done and be a beautiful thing.







Money Saving Tip: Buy Outerwear One Size Up!

Here's a quick money saving tip! Instead of buying the current size for your child in a winter jacket or snow gear, buy the next size up. This way, not only will they fit for the current season, but they will be able to wear them in the beginning of next season as well! By the time they start to grow out of it, you can pace yourself looking for clearance sales since you'll know in advance they need a new one while the current one still fits. We did this with winter coats for our girls last year and it has worked out perfectly. Same with snow pants. As a bonus, we were prepared with snow gear that still fit once the early October storm came through this year. And we had time to shop for sales and get the best deal on new coats. We bought Peanut's new ski-jacket (originally $40) for just $16. Today we scored Snowflake a similar jacket for $17 (originally $33). Both of their new jackets will fit until mid winter next year since we bought a size up too! I sometimes do this one size up thing with clothes if I know it will work ok while they grow into it. Think sweaters, sweatshirts, leggings and tights. I don't recommend doing this with shoes though haha!