Jessica Kelso

I have GOT to make it a priority to start writing more! I updated my status on Facebook with something related to Thrasher and someone mentioned that I should write it down to show him one day. I’m horrible at doing things like that – so the best I can do is keep my blog updated so they can one day read it.

There hasn’t been any updates on the adoption process as of yet – but we’re hoping for that to change this next month! I am definitely getting sick and tired of taking him 45 minutes each way to visit with his younger half-sibling who he doesn’t even play with! I understand why they try to keep up these visits but it’s silly when they are so little and T is about to be adopted. His birth mom never comes anymore, and his older sibling hasn’t been in a while either. We’ve been asked recently by his case worker and several friends if we plan on having him still see his half-siblings when we adopt him…and I think we’re leaning more towards no. The caregivers of his siblings aren’t the most reliable and the thought of trying to plan meet-ups with them sounds like it would be rather difficult and wouldn’t last long. Down the road when he learns that he is adopted and has half-siblings – if he has any interest in spending time with them – we will definitely make it happen.

I’ve been reflecting and thinking back through a lot of the things we’ve been through with T to this point – and it’s amazing to see the changes in him. I know a lot of what he’s been through has to do purely with age and also introducing a sibling to him at such a young age but I also know a lot has to do with his past and the way he was brought into this world. I don’t know exactly what he went through in those first few months or even in utero or birth (I truly believe how you are birthed also affects you – but that’s another topic!) but I do know he was taken away from his mom – the only person who had ever cared for him and was placed into a stranger’s home. From everything I’ve learned about children and loss at such a young age – this has a huge impact on them. Being first time parents to a scared little boy who was just taken away from the only person he had ever known was a challenge. I can still picture his scared face looking around the new room he was in staring at a new face trying to rock him to sleep. The countless nights we spent in that rocking chair talking and crying together….I thought they would never end. I felt so sad for him yet so extremely exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed myself. It’s been almost 2.5 years since those sleepless nights and I really believe God and the beauty of time time has started to heal him.

He has become quite the big brother and is starting to take that role to heart. At church in the nursery we are told he is constantly watching out for Nola. If she falls, he picks her up. He hands her toys and shows her how to use them. She follows him around and doesn’t leave his side. Watching their relationship evolve brings tears to my eyes – even typing this right now! I never knew how special it would be to watch. She adores him and I adore them. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to stay home and be 100% involved in their little lives.

This was my Facebook status from today. . . “Who knew that 2.5 would be my favorite age yet? It’s taken a long time to get to this point but I am thoroughly and completely enjoying my little boy! Let me never forget what he’s been through and remember as tough as it’s been – it has helped make him who he is and who he’s becoming! Come on, adoption!!”

So now that Nola is one I’ve decided to stop using the “baby weight” excuse and actually do something about losing it! There have been so many times this past year that I’ve tried to start exercising and then I would get sick and it would ruin everything. I’ve now been healthy for well over a month, the weather has been nothing short of gorgeous, and my kiddos LOVE being outside so I’ve stopped making excuses and started running again. It feels so good! I feel so good! I don’t know that I’ve ever been so grateful for my life as I am right now. I had so many dark days this last year wondering when things would get better – wondering when I’d be able to catch my breath. It took a while but I made it out and it’s never felt so nice. I have been cramming so much into our days because every day that I’m healthy is a gift and I don’t want to take it for granted.

Since I haven’t ran in so long (1.5yrs I think?!) I’m doing the couch to 5k schedule. I don’t think I would’ve been able to pick up where I left off – so hopefully this will help me get back on track! We also bought a bike trailer for us to start doing family bike rides. The kids LOVE going for rides. I don’t blame them – I wish I could get somebody to ride me around in that thing. I wonder what the weight limit is?

Things have been wonderful around here. Kevin has been home for several weeks now and it’s been so nice. He will most likely be gone 2 weeks the beginning of November and then hopefully home for a couple of months. I can’t wait for the holidays with him and our 2 sweet babies! They love having their daddy home. We all do.

Dear Nola,

You are a year old! I can’t believe it. We celebrated you with our friends and family this past weekend and had a blast! There were huge balloons, lots of lollipops, an adorable cake, and people who love you a whole lot. We got you an empty swimming pool and filled it up with over 300 balls, got a small slide that goes into the pool and that was your main present from us. You – and every other kid at the party had a blast in it! You weren’t so much interested in sliding into the balls during your party, you were more into watching all of the other kids do it. It’s currently out on the back porch, and with the weather getting nicer we’ve spent a whole lot of time out there lately!

You are such a sweet and easy little girl! You are content 90% of the time. You love to people watch but get a little freaked out if too many people are in your face at one time. When people (strangers) approach to say hi and how cute you are – you give a tiny little smile and bury your head into me. I think you’re definitely going to be shy like your mama.

When you’re tired, you want your paci and baby and will lay down wherever you are, pop your head up, lay it down. Over and over again. You are so cuddly when you start getting sleepy. It’s my most favorite times. I don’t want you to ever get too old to lay your head on me. Your sleep patterns are always changing. The past couple of nights you haven’t wanted to go to bed until 10 or 11pm but you have slept through the night without waking up, so I’ll take it! You normally go to bed around 8 though and still wake up once or twice to nurse and wake up for the day between 7-8. I’m hoping we’re turning a corner and this sleeping all night thing is your new normal!

There have been a lot of changes this last month. We have started the weaning process and you are down to nursing just 2 times a day and once in the middle of the night. It seems to be going really well! I’ve yet to have a clogged duct since cutting out sessions so I’m hoping if this keeps up, we can keep going with these couple of feedings. You absolutely LOVE food and are a great eater, so it hasn’t been that difficult of a process for you. Some of your favorite foods are – yogurt, grapes, raisins, any kind of fruit, frozen peas, and pasta!

You scream or well, screech I guess at the top of your lungs – constantly! It was cute for a while but it’s definitely started to give us all a slight headache now. I think you normally do it when you’re wanting attention – and it works! You have all of us wrapped around your little finger – especially your daddy. That man will do anything and everything to make sure you are happy. You are one lucky girl to have him as your daddy. I know he will always be there for you and make sure you feel loved.

You had a cold and cough just recently and were acting pretty miserable so I ended up taking you in to the doctor and found out you had a slight ear infection. He prescribed us antibiotics but said we could wait it out if we felt that was the right choice – and since you hadn’t even had a fever that’s what we decided to do. It was not an easy decision because the last thing I wanted was for you to be miserable – especially at your birthday party! The next day you started to feel a lot better though so I’m happy I waited. I was on antibiotics a lot as a kid and I don’t want to do the same to you. They have their place – but not for everything so I’m glad we were able to wait this one out and let your immune system have a chance to work! I am so thankful for your good health. I will never take it for granted.

We celebrated your actual birthday at the Aquarium with daddy and your brother. It was your first time there and we had a blast. You were absolutely exhausted from a really bad night of sleep so I wore you most of the day but you were so content to just hang out and look at all the fish. It was also a perfect day for playing in the water – so it spent a lot of time outside at the splash pad there. You love the water!

Beebs – we survived your first year! It was definitely the hardest year of my life to date, but I’m so thankful I had your smile to help make things better. Most of the things I worried about while pregnant with you never came true – but the things that I thought would be the easiest were the most challenging. Funny how that happens. We survived you not latching on for days after being born and feeding you with a syringe. We survived daddy being gone every other week for over half the year, 10 cases of mastitis, countless painful clogged ducts, your daddy getting shingles and not being able to be near or care for you when you were just teeny tiny, and a few other extremely difficult things. We Did It! I’m so proud! God is good. Even when I’m not sure of things – He always is.  That’s a hard lesson that I’m sure you’ll have to learn one day as well.

Things have finally calmed down around here. Daddy isn’t traveling right now, I haven’t been sick in over a month, and the weather has been gorgeous which seems to make everyone in a better mood! I currently have a permanent smile on my face. I love being a mama to you and B. I love being a wife to your daddy. I’ve never appreciated all the good around me as much as I do right now.

I absolutely can not wait to see what this next year holds! Walking, talking, exploring, learning new things, going new places. . . it will be the best! You are a pure joy, Nola Penelope. Our beautiful blessing.

Love,

Mama

Dear Nola,

Typing “11 months” sends me into a slight panic. One more month and you’ve been with us a whole year. . . it’s hard to believe! You have really changed a lot this month and have become even more amazing.

You can sign “all done”, “more”, and “milk” now and use them fairly often but you also have faster ways of getting your point across. Sometimes instead of signing for milk you’ll just dive into my chest or pull at my shirt and instead of signing for more you’ll screech as loud as possible until I ask if you’d like more. Either way, you’ve really started communicating what you want If I have to take something away that you shouldn’t have, you let me know your mad by hitting both of your ears. You’ve definitely started showing a lot more “sass” this month. Although you don’t like things being taken away from you, if it’s your brother doing the stealing you usually don’t mind which is good because it happens fairly often. He has gotten SO much better about sharing toys with you though. You are starting to steal his toys now and he’s not liking it! You absolutely adore him and it is the most beautiful thing to watch the sibling relationship grow.

You are getting two more teeth on the top and bottom which will soon make a total of 8! In the past when you’ve gotten teeth in, we’ve known in advance by the lack of sleep we all get but with 4 coming in at one time. . . you’ve still been sleeping pretty good. You don’t even know how much it’s been appreciated! You have formed your sleep and nap schedules a lot around T’s and it seems to be working out well for everyone. I know most babies at this age get 2 naps still but you’ve been a 1 nap baby for a while. You both go down for naps around 1pm and usually sleep until 4 or 4:30! Most of the afternoon. Which is nice because it gives me some quiet time to either nap also or get things done around the house. You usually go to bed around 7:30 or 8pm and wake up around 7:30 or 8am. . . sometimes later. You have been waking up to nurse just once most of this month.

We are still breastfeeding but after dealing with mastitis for the 10th time this month, I have decided to start the weaning process soon. I’m going to try dropping one feeding every 3-4 days and see how things go. I plan to replace most of the feedings with donor breast milk if we have it, and if not we’re going to try you on the raw cow’s milk we drink or possibly goat’s milk. Ideally I want you to have only breast milk until the age of 2 but I know realistically that probably isn’t going to happen and I’m trying to deal with it! I’m seeing ONE more doctor about our issues next week – he’s an acupuncturist and Doctor of Oriental Medicine. My hopes aren’t high since no one else has been able to figure out why I keep getting these infections but I’m not giving up without a fight! Either way, you’ve had strictly breast milk for an entire year and it blows my mind. It can be done!

You dance and bob your head anytime you hear music. If you’re standing you do this cute little up and down full body movement and if you’re sitting you’ll either spin your whole body around in a circle or just move your head from side to side. I hope you end up loving music as much as we do.

You are still my good little eater who will try anything and everything. Some meals you even eat more than your brother! It amazes me. It always surprises people when they see me give you a whole strawberry, a raw carrot stick, or a big piece of chicken. I’ve never really cut things up small for you because you learned to take little bites off. It wasn’t easy watching you learn how to eat in the beginning but I trusted you knew how to do it and you did! So thankful we discovered baby led weaning and never had to bother with purees. I really hope your willingness to try everything hangs around a while longer.

Some of your most favorite things right now include – following your brother around everywhere and trying to do whatever he does (including standing on the table and jumping on the bed!), reading books with mama, your seedlings lovey doll, FOOD!, drinking out of T’s sippy cup instead of your own (because his usually has some juice and yours is always water), playing “I’m gonna get you!” chase, rolling around on the couch, riding around outside in the wagon, watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and playing in the shower. You love the water. We took you to Aquatica for the first time (the day you turned 11 months) and you were all smiles the whole time!

You are such a bright this ray of sunshine who I’m so very thankful for. This has been a rough year for me but I can’t imagine going through it without you. You make everything better.

Love,

Mama

I think I might re-design my blog and have it officially named “letters to my kids” or something because that’s all it is lately. I’m really considering it. I wish as an adult I had letters to read from my mom when I was little. I hope my kids cherish it as much as I think I would have.

Dear Thrasher,

You are 2 years 3 months old and my favorite little guy ever. You are starting to talk more and more everyday and have changed so much just in the past 3 months since you turned 2. You call the big construction tractors on the side of the road “monsters”, you are constantly asking “mama, whatchoo doinnnn?”, in the car Nola reaches out for your hand and I look back to find you holding it and cracking her up. You love dinosaurs and anytime you see one you let out this super cute roarrr.

I haven’t always been the best mama to you, but I promise I’m going to try harder. You see, you have a lively spirit and are very strong willed. . . and I haven’t always known how to handle it. I think at times I’ve tried to change you instead of accept you for who you are and who you’re becoming. I won’t ever try to do that again though. I promise. I love you for who you are, and I will do everything I can to help you along the best I know how. You are often loud, you play hard, and crash even harder. You love anything to do with water and you would stay outside all day if I let you. You have tested my patience more than anyone ever has, and I’ve failed you at times. I’m sorry about that, little man.

I want to apologize for the times I’ve talked negatively about you to others. I want to apologize for a lot, and I hope you can forgive me. I want to respect the little person you are and the big person you’re going to be. You’ve been through more than most and I seem to forget that sometimes. Not only was your life before us complete chaos, but me getting pregnant only 3 short months after you came to us . . . meant you also experienced a lot of not fun stuff in the past 2 years. I’m sorry for the things you’ve had to go through, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned lately it’s that the hard junk we go through in life actually does make us stronger. And more patient. And more loving.

We still haven’t been able to seal the deal and make you ours yet but you better believe we are doing everything in our power to make it happen. It’s just, you see. . . the court gives mothers with kids a whole lot of chances. Your birth mother has made some bad choices though and can’t seem to stop making them. I know deep down she probably loves you (who couldn’t?), but she has decided to not accept help to get you back. She rarely shows up to see you at the times they give her to visit with you, and hasn’t done a single thing to try to get you back. The court is in the process of terminating her rights as your mom so we can finally adopt you. We and everyone we know are praying this happens soon! We are your family and can’t wait to finally make you ours for good. God put you in our life for a reason and for that, I’m so thankful. We didn’t get the bond in the beginning that most babies get with their mama. . . but I am doing everything I can to make up for that. Although God didn’t create you inside of me, He created this strong love in me for you that I never knew would be possible. He loves you so much T and will always be there for you. . . even if we can’t be.

You were meant for us and we were meant for you. I love your sweet spirit, Thrasher boy. You bring so much joy to our family.

Love, Mama

Dear Nola,

We left your baby doll in the nursery at church one Sunday and weren’t able to get it back until the following Sunday. You had just really started to take to this certain doll. You stroke the fabric from it on your face when you are tired. It’s the best. I was so bummed we left it and had no idea where to get another one. A friend gave it to us and they didn’t carry it at the store she got it from anymore. When we got it back, you saw me holding it while you were a little bit away with daddy and you started crying hysterically and I had no idea why. I gave you the doll and you instantly smiled and cuddled up with it. You really missed it! So sweet. It somehow got a huge stain on her face and despite all of my attempts to get the stain out, it’s still there. So I paid way too much (for a $10 doll) to get you another one since these dolls are apparently VERY hard to find now! Who knew.

You signed “all done” for the first time! I’ve been doing some basic signs since you were probably 5 or 6 months old and waiting patiently to see you sign back to me. It was exciting! I’m hoping you start doing more soon instead of always grunting and pointing. You definitely seem to get your point across either way!

You are crawling SO fast these days and pulling up on everything. You will walk along the furniture and stand for up to 10 seconds but when you think about taking a step, you decide to fall since crawling is faster still. I really think by the next update you will have started walking. . . but we’ll see!

Headbands and bows are getting harder and harder to keep on you these days, as you can see….

You scrunch your nose up at everything. . . when you laugh, cry, are trying to be serious. When you smile your whole face lights up. You still smack your lips  like crazy when you see food or when you’re about to nurse. You also started showing us all of your teeth often with this new face and noise you’ve been doing. It’s almost impossible to explain but I have video of it, so no need to.

You already love to dance and you’ve started to sing into the little microphone that we have. Hopefully you’ll take after your daddy in that area! Mama isn’t exactly a good singer.

The other day as we were driving home from lunch with friends, I heard you giggling in the backseat so I turned around to see you and your brother holding hands and just smiling at each other. You absolutely adore him and it makes my heart so happy! I can’t wait for you two to be good friends.

You’ve been sleeping really well most nights, usually waking just once around 2 or 3am to nurse. It always seems to change but you’ve been pretty consistent for most of this month. You don’t normally get a morning nap in since we are either out running errands, playdates, or your brother is just too loud for you to sleep. So you usually just get 1 long nap in the afternoons. You do really well only getting one nap though, you are almost always a happy baby!

I’ve started planning your first birthday which makes me sick to think about! Sick in a good way. . . .is there such a thing? I just can’t believe how fast this year went.

Breastfeeding is actually going well. Finally! Just took about 9 months. I don’t want to speak too soon but since having mastitis this last time and also starting my period for the first time since getting pregnant with you, my supply took a huge hit. It seems to be exactly what I needed though because since then, I no longer wake up engorged in the morning and I’ve yet to have another clogged duct. I had been getting them weekly. . . so this is huge! Thank God!

You’re our little miracle baby and I still can’t believe you are here. You make every day a little sweeter. So glad you’re my girl!

Love,

Mama

Last night after a long day of taking care of the kids while also trying to fix his truck, Kevin came into the bedroom where I was attempting to recover from another case of mastitis and asked how I was. I broke out in tears and told him how completely exhausted I was and all I wanted to do was nurse Nola without pain. I told him how everyone thinks I’m crazy and should just wean her but nobody gets it and I’m frustrated.

“You are in love” he said.

I am. So in love it’s ridiculous. And love makes you do some crazy things! Like suffer through mastitis 7 times. So if anybody asks me why I haven’t “just weaned her yet”, that will be my answer. I’m madly, deeply, grossly in love with my baby girl and promised her the world and plan on giving it to her.

And part of me is still hopeful someone will have a magic answer for us. Is that just plain stupid?

You are 9 months old, Nola bear! I can’t believe you’ve almost been out of my belly as long as you were in it!

You were dedicated at church right after you turned 8 months (on Sunday, June 19th). It was extra special since it was also Father’s Day! Both sets of grandparents came to be apart of the special day. You slept through the whole thing and woke up right when we were walking back to our seats. Silly girl.

Your top teeth are finally starting to break through the skin. It’s been a long hard couple of weeks for all of us waiting for this to happen. You have been pretty miserable – especially at night. You have given me a couple of 5 hour stretches but for the most part you are up to nurse every 3 hours and you’ve been staying awake for 2-3 hours at some point during the night. This has been HARD for all of us. You aren’t really sad and crying (unless I try to lay you in your crib awake), you seem to just want to play and giggle at me. I’m hoping it’s just from your teeth and this phase passes soon! I absolutely love our times together at night nursing in the dark, just me and you but I also love it when we can both go to sleep afterward! Most days you take 2 good naps, but sometimes if you wake up later in the morning than usual or if we have a busy morning out, you won’t get a nap until the afternoon when your brother goes down. In that case, it’s usually a long 3 hour nap so we all can catch some sleep then!

You point at everything and everyone. It started with waving and then turned into just your pointer finger. When you are showing us a prized possession in your hand, when someone comes up to you and says hi, when you want us to look at what you’re looking at . . . and then sometimes just randomly. At the bookstore there were two little girls looking over at you saying how cute you were. You happened to notice and started pointing at them. They started pointing back and everyone got a kick out of it. Who knew a baby pointing at things could be so stinkin’ cute?! You my love, are precious. You make me laugh so hard at all the new things you are learning. Your personality is really coming out. You love to laugh and make people laugh! Everyone who is around you just adores you and I don’t blame them.

You are pulling up on the couch, the entertainment center, the bed, pretty much everything! You will sometimes even let go before falling down on your little fluffy diaper butt. I don’t know when you’re planning on walking but I hope you wait a little bit! I’m loving the crawling phase. If we come up behind you while you are crawling somewhere and say “Nola, I’m gonna get you!” you start crawling away as fast as you can while laughing up a storm! It’s the best. You are still babbling like crazy but no actual words yet except what sometimes sounds like “papa”. Your papa was definitely happy when he heard you babble that one!

You are still in your 9 month clothes but growing like crazy. I have a feeling by the next update you will be wearing a 12 month size. Just seeing “12 months” sends me into a panic. Are you really going to turn 1 in just 3 short months? Not sure exactly how much you weigh, but you’ve definitely hit the 20lb mark by now.

You want to do everything your brother does and he wants you to do anything but what he’s doing! I know he will come around eventually. Pretty soon here you’ll be able to fight back a little more and I think that will help. If him and daddy are playing the trains in his room with the door shut to keep you out, you will sit at the door and cry until they let you in. You hate to miss out on anything!

We’re still going strong nursing – well I don’t know that I’d say strong. . .  but we are going! I haven’t had mastitis again recently but I am dealing with bad clogged ducts every other week. It feels like a huge painful tumor in my breast that makes me feel yucky all over. During that time I think about how I need to just go ahead and wean you but then things get better and I realize neither of us are ready for that yet!

You met your Great-Grandma Brown this month and she just loved you! We drove over to her apartment in Tampa with your grandma and grandpa to spend some much needed time with her. I love this picture of you with her. She’s so loving on you and you are loving on that puff in your hand!

You have been nothing but pure joy in my life, Nola. Thank you for being my daughter.

- Mama

I feel like I’ve been somewhat neglectful in updates on my sweet BIG boy. I have to be careful what I say and post on a public site about him so I tend to just stay quiet. Since having Nola I’ve made such an effort to record her every little milestone but I was never so good at that with T. Sorry little buddy!

He turned 2 in May and we had a small family party for him at our house. His 1st birthday was awesome but way too much work (especially while pregnant) so this year we kept things simple and it was perfect. He is really into trains so he got plenty of those and has really enjoyed playing with his big Thomas track. I still can’t believe my chunky little baby who came to us at 5 months is 2 already! It really goes way too fast.

We just recently moved him out of the crib into a toddler bed. He was doing good at night but not so well for naps. The toys in his room were just way more fun than sleep. We set up the pack n play in his room for naps time but he quickly figured out how easy it was to climb out of that so we are full time in a toddler bed now. He’s finally adjusting and doing REALLY well! Me? Not as much. I’m not a fan of being woken up by a 2 year old in my face before 7am! Hopefully that will adjust soon too!

He’s talking SO much more. He was a bit of a late bloomer but every day he impresses me with new words. Not everything is easy to understand though. Some of my favorites are melmo (elmo), bum (phone), mum mum (mama – this is a new one!), wain (rain), and others that just sound super cute in his little voice.

He is no longer in his biting phase – but man, that one was tough! Now we’re dealing with hitting and spitting. He’s learning that when he has the urge to spit…he can do it on his arm and make a fart sound. It’s mostly helped – I gotta admit I was pretty proud when I came up with that one. I’m learning I need to just start telling him things he CAN do instead of always telling him things he can’t.

That boy is continually teaching me things and making me see things about myself I never knew. Parenting a 2 year old is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. . . but so rewarding.

We are in the works of trying to adopt and make him ours forever but it’s a s-l-o-w process. He was meant for us. . . it’s just really difficult not knowing if he was meant for us forever or just this season. I can’t imagine not having him in our life.

I love breastfeeding. I’m sure most anyone who knows me is well aware that I love breastfeeding. I’m not shy about it. Although I am somewhat modest about nursing in front of others – which is a completely personal choice. I am all for people nursing their babies however and whenever they want though. You won’t find me running off to a dirty bathroom or a dark storage closet to feed my baby – even though I did on occasion in the beginning before I knew better.

I’ve had a lot of negativity thrown at me lately for my thoughts on breast milk being the best and healthiest choice for babies. I’ve really taken it all to heart and it’s made me think long and hard about my approach to this. I want to encourage pregnant and new mamas to do whatever they can to make breastfeeding work. I think formula is thrown around too freely without much research and study done to what the true benefits of breastfeeding are. Facts are facts. I don’t want to offend those mama’s who have decided to formula feed, but I do want to help others become informed. We don’t do better until we know better.

I’m still breastfeeding at 8 months because I know for a fact that the milk God gave me to feed my daughter is better than man made milk. If I couldn’t breastfeed my daughter, she would still get human milk (from a donor) as much as possible. That’s my personal choice though – and this is my personal blog

Here’s just a couple of amazing benefits of breastfeeding your baby!

- God designed our milk to have antibodies to help babies fight off infection and protect them from illness.

- Breastfed babies have a decreased likelihood for allergies.

- If some crazy storm happened and stores were destroyed and you couldn’t make it out of your house . . . you could still feed your baby!

- Your chances of getting breast or ovarian cancer are reduced.

- Research suggests breastfeeding will significantly reduce and prevent children from becoming overweight and lessen their chances of becoming overweight adults.

- Research has also found that breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

- Best of all, no bottles to clean and tote around. God put these things on our chest for a very purposeful reason. He knew what He was doing! I wonder what would happen if more of us trusted our bodies to do what God designed them to do? (birth and feed our babes!)

I’m very well aware that there are some women out there who can’t breastfeed. I know first-hand how hard it is . . . and I get it. Trust me, if anyone understands it’s me! I feel like we’ve been through it all (except low milk supply).

The US has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the industrialized world, and one of the highest rates of infant mortality. So maybe me having “strong breastfeeding views” may offend some, but I hope in the end to be an encouragement to many and help change that current fact!