mommy question.

I'm going to get straight to the point.

I have never been a good nursing mother. There, I said it...not sure if it feels good to admit that or not...

At first (with Bryant) it killed me that I couldn't nurse him, I would even steal away to the mother's lounge and pretend...I hated feeling like everyone was looking down on me for "choosing" to bottle feed my child and therefore, ruin his growth and development. Every child since has lasted longer than him, but still not as long as I've ever wanted to nurse.

With Emily I feel like I want to enjoy this as long as possible. With her, it was the longest first 6-weeks (in a different way than it was with Bryant) because she ate all.the.time! (and still does) and it hurt like nothing else, she just didn't know how to latch properly. We finally made it past that, but ever since she's started sleeping 8-hour nights, which has about a month, I have noticed that she has been eating a LOT more often during the day. I am totally okay with that since I have an eat-on-demand philosophy, but after eating every 2 hours, by 4pm she is HUNGRY!! and I just can't seem to get my milk to stay up with the demand...even though I thought it was a supply and demand sort of issue.

So here's the question, does anyone have any tried and true methods for increasing milk supply and keeping a full child? She's almost 3 months old and she still eats as often as a newborn and for just as long. sheesh. Again, I'm not so good at this, so I don't really know or remember what's normal.

Any suggestions, theories, etc are welcome.

life goes on...

I started this post two days ago and got as far as the title.
Things are so fast paced these days and I rarely have two hands to use, I haven't even had time to email my sister back-she's in China for another 3.5 months, or fold the clothes that have sat on the couch for 3 days now, ew! At this very moment Jake is holding Emily trying to keep her asleep and I am erasing every couple letters because the girls are running around me and bumping my arms/fingers as I type. But at least I am getting something written, right? As for pictures, I need to buy an external hard drive to put all my pictures on as I've loaded the hard drive of both computers-yep! I take a lot of pictures, I just wish I was good with the obsession and I will soon be sharing those photos with you...
I had a fantastic time in Boise with my in-laws. I got great items for the kids and am now in the process of going through all the things we already owned and cutting back by two-thirds! We have so much crap and for some reason now that I have my own place I don't feel the need to hold onto everything like I have in the past. I know I will venture to Boise again for the quarter sale and can just get more items than I need and won't even look at the items I have so I'm just going to share with those that need them...YARD SALE!! (now if the weather would be good on a weekend, all would be well...)
Jake has two more weeks of school and then he is taking the summer off to vacation the brain, finish the basement and just be with the family on his days off! We are so excited! We have a few trips planned, but will otherwise enjoy our time home keep our yard, garden, and home as clean and beautiful as we can. I am so excited to get our garden planted and see the fruits of our labors in our very own yard!
The kids have had lots of fun meeting and making new friends. We've never had such an opportunity or maybe it's that Jake and I haven't ever really let them for fear that we would be moving and have to say goodbye...now that we are long term residents we are enjoying time with neighbors and ward members and getting closer to the families around us...we can't wait to host a BBQ or two or more! We LOVE hosting parties and making delicious food...all those recipes I have marked for entertainment can now be made and enjoyed, oh I'm in heaven just thinking about it!! Whenever the sun is shining and warm we take a gander around the neighborhood and enjoy watching our children interact with all those around us, it's very exciting to see our social butterflies blossom even more!
I have made quite a few friends myself. We've been getting together every week for a craft day while the children play. We even get together once a month without kiddos and enjoy each others company. I've made ribbon boards for all the girls (well, only two are completed, but I have the supplies for the other two...just waiting for two hands longer than a half hour...although I do anticipate learning how to make ribbon bows as well. It's great fun, I've never done anything like this before.
and now my 5 minutes is up...I have a screaming child (Lydia) because I won't open the makeup for her to use...oh the joys of motherhood...

Free time

In about 12hours I will be headed to Boise, just Emily and me, for a weekend of shopping fun! I am going with 2 of my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law. This is something we've never done together before, but we are all excited to go to Other Mother's for their bi-annual GINORMOUS quarter sale! I am hoping to find enough items to replace the ones that are being recycled through the girls and have new "scenery"-if you know what I mean. I hope to find items to get us through the summer and early fall as the next huge sale isn't until october...we'll have to wait and see. By us, I really mean us. The store has added a junior/adult section so there are item for moi even! Which is exclusive to tomorrow, last time I found some great items in amazing condition (but I was too pregnant to appreciate them)-I hope to find some steals for myself even! This is an event I look forward to, but have never shared with so many people at once...this will be an adventure! It feels somewhat odd for me to just leave the kids with Jake and go, but I am so grateful that he is willing to let me go while he plays with the kids for three days. And while I'm there I will be doing some serious coupon shopping as well-I am starting to get the hang of this new found skill and can't wait to continue to grow our food/essential storage in a much more budget friendly way! I'm even contemplating starting a blog to share my finds...I know there are a lot out there that coupon and have the hang of it even more so than I do, but I feel the need to share the local deals and haven't really found anyone doing that...we'll see, but for now I will just share my findings here.
Sharing the Coupon Gossip here:
KMart is doubling coupons up to $2. You have to have their "shop your way" card to participate and you can only double 5 coupons per day, but if you can make it almost everyday of the week (that's left) you can still score some pretty awesome deals. I was able to find some great deals last night and only paid $7 ($1.50 was tax) on over $35 worth of items...dish soap, tampax, fabric softener, razors, and deodorant, which I think is pretty good for a newbie. Anyway, I hope to score some more amazing deals while in Boise this weekend...maybe I can get my in-laws to help me out and I can share some of the goods :)

Walgreens has a monthly coupon book found in the store. This month there is a coupon (located toward the back of the book) for $1 off Flexion pens/highlighters. They are regularly priced $1.19 a double pack of pens or triple pack of highlighters. With the coupon get them $.19 a pack! You can buy as many as you want with the same coupon as well. I went and got myself two packs of pens and one pack of highlighters and discovered a $4.50 rebate on the back (limit one rebate per household), when you buy three-HUGE money maker! It takes about 6-8 weeks to receive the rebate, so we'll see if it really goes through, but it's another great deal and awesome stock up since the coupon lasts through the 24th. I think I will be going again to get more.
Let me know what fun sales/coupon finds you've experienced and I'll try to keep up with mine a well...Emily is getting a little better at not needing to be held so much, so I'm slowly getting more done each day-but I'll try to post more coupon gossip regularly (I use the term loosely though).

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will!!