EYELASH EXTENSIONS

Extended Breastfeeding

...IS GOOD FOR YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!!
GOSH DANGIT i should NOT have to feel bad for breastfeeding my daughter!! WHO (World health Organization) recommends 2 years and BEYOND! American Academy of Pediatrics even recommends extended breastfeeding!"Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother, especially in delaying return of fertility (thereby promoting optimal intervals between births).196
There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.197 "

I am not going to be one of those mom's who acts like she does everything right and boasts at how perfect her kid is...trust me, i make mistakes and so does my kid. We are learning and growing together. I am so glad I was even able to breastfeed and have that experience. So many women want to and can't, and I know a lot of women who fed their children formula in bottles and that was great for them! We are in this together, we are all mom's trying to do right by our children, this should not be a taboo subject and it shouldn't be a war! What kind of an example are we setting for our kids if we are picking petty fights and bullying eachother because "she breastfeeds too long" or "she bottle feeds" or "dairy?!" "soy?!" "gluten?!" "meat?!"..

WE ALL JUST NEED TO CALM DOWN AND BE SUPPORTIVE AND ENCOURAGING.

Motherhood is scary enough without the extra judgement and criticism.

OKAY?!

Spring is (Finally) Here!!!

Hi! Its been a while since I have written anything..

Crazy-ness over here at our house!! Our home is looking more and more like a play area for kids (plastic kitchen set, numerous ride-along toys, playmat, puzzle pieces everywhere, books, dolls!! ah!) and our dining room is turning into a laundry room and our bedroom is just a place to sleep. Chris and I are ships passing in the night, working long hours and seeing eachother just long enough during the week to say hi and catch up briefly before its back to the daily grind again.
Equally as busy as her mom and dad is miss Ava Jade. She is learning and changing so much everyday it is hard to keep up, but keeping a blog helps me remember milestones:) I am going to bore you with a list of "milestones", feel free to scroll past!

*Ava can say hot, dog, cat, NO (all the time), Ava, down, up, cup, "meow","ruff ruff", Hello!, Good-Bye! (g'byyyyye), book, yes (yeth), elbow, eye, "UMMM, YA".
*She can answer questions accurately!

"Ava, what sound does a cat make?"..."meow!" (sounds like "meh-now")
and she can also answer/obey commands such as "can you get me a diaper please? or "please throw away your trash!" or "can you say hello?/goodbye?"
so smart!

she LOVES Barney and will watch Caillou sometimes. but 99% of the time Barney wins.
She is a great eater, not very picky. I have noticed some textures freak her out and she is not very interested in sauces (like ketchup).

Ava loves to say no. She says no verrry emphatically, she often YELLS it at us. I don't really understand where her aggression stems from most of the time..its just Ava, she just KNOWS what she wants and what she doesnt. She will YELL it at the top of her lungs. Not in a bad-little-girl way, she just yells NO or YA to make sure we heard her. if that makes sense? Her personality is very fiery and she goes from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds flat. She is the back archer, tantrum throwing kid in the grocery store. I am the mom kneeling on the ground trying to reason with a toddler and calm them down without losing my cool. We draw a crowd everywhere we go, if its because Ava is being so cute and social or she is being dramatic and naughty. Its always something. Ava loves (and gets) attention everywhere she goes. I think in the long run her ability to charm a crowd will serve her well. Unfortunately, my inability to effectively discipline her has not served me well (as the public outbursts have proven). I am working on it. Reading "Parenting with Love and Logic" and regularly consulting with Early development Waldorf educators. *fingers crossed* I am not one day confronted with a teenager who OWNS me. LOL. Thankfully, Ava is so responsive to my subtle cue's (glares, etc) that outbursts don't last but the wind down is equally stressful.

Besides the usual challenges of raising a toddler, Ava is a joy and we truly love watching her grow and learn. Chris and I feel really lucky to have such a vivacious and smart little girl. She constantly amazes us with her sense of humor, her sweetness and her overall curiosity in the world around her! She is brave and very independent already. Typical behavior in 19month olds is being very clingy to mom and shy around strangers and also beginning to be picky eaters. Ava is NONE of those whatsoever. She occasionally gets sad when I leave her at the house with someone and its around naptime... :'(

Chris is working at Naturex and is working extremely hard. he cannot wait to finish up his paperwork and physical for the National Guard. He has also lost an amazing 40 pounds(since october!), he is such a determined and disciplined person. I could never be so dedicated. I admire him so much!

I am working as an esthetician again (YAY) and recently got a serving job at Red Hawk Casino. I plan on going full time with esthetician stuff when Ava starts preschool. I want to have my own studio and make my own hours. Waitressing will give us enough extra income to hopefully get all the STUFF for the facial and waxing room.


So happy springtime is finally here and we can go outside and enjoy the parks and zoo's in folsom. Hopefully the 3 of us can go camping or fishing this summer.
My birthday is coming up and I am dying to go back to Bella Vista and swim in the pool and have a mini-vacation with my husband! I hope we can do that...we need a break!!

Until next time...au revoir!

<3 Amy

Balloons, Wild Bulls and (muddy) Pastures.

I met a great new photographer named Tami Bears who specializes in wonderful, artsy vintage edited photo's. I love photography, especially when the photographer is as nice as the one's I have worked with! Anyway, Tami did a couple of fun shoots of our family in the last couple days. The first being all 3 of us, dressed in our casual best, hiking thru tall grass and sitting awkwardly on tree branches and hillsides forcing our best 'we love eachother' poses while being wildly uncomfortable yet amused by sweet Tami wanting us to wait just 'one more second' for that perfect light to hit us. AW, to be a model. haha.

I wanted to get these taken because the weather had been so nice that week (we had horrible, ugly fog that belongs somewhere in the east coast or London or Seattle, not in Sunny nor-cal. no no.)and the grass was green and I met Tami and saw her blog and just was inspired. on a whim, I booked a few shoots (2 of which ended up being gifts).

A couple day's later Tami called and said she had some leftover pink balloons she has been dying to use in a shoot and wanted to know if I could lend her Ava for "15 minutes or so" for a quickie photoshoot. Free photoshoot with my adorable kid and pink balloons?! HELL YEAH!

We went to a funky spot in folsom which is weird because you would think its suburban and developed, but on the other side of the freeway there are pastures of very pissed off bulls (used in the rodeo) and abandoned railroad tracks. Perfect spot for photo's...perfect spot for crazy mama bear to suffer anxiety attack watching her toddler run around with balloons within sight of a bull. I know, the bulls were behind a fence, nonetheless it didn't keep me from thinking if I hear even the slightest hoof or huff from those animals we're outta here!

Ava is almost 18 months old...oh my God...AVA IS ALMOST 18MONTHS OLD!!!!!!
I can't even believe it!

She isn't exactly the easiest model to work with. She doesnt like tags, she thinks balloons are annoying and they get in her way and they always come back if you smack them. She finds camera lens's interesting and will stare at them expressionless while you are trying to take a picture, if she realizes you are trying to make her laugh she will call for you to come get her. she know's exactly whats going on and she will do whatever she can to control the situation.

apple doesnt fall too far from the tree.

ANYWAY, Tami was a good sport and let Ava run the show. You could say, she had her 15 minutes ;)

Ava is battling a cold right now, this was a gift from her grandmother or the sweet twin boys we watch in the morning's at our house. either way, I am taking full advantage of the long naps and extra cuddles.

signing off for now....

The Holidays are here! (and Ava can participate!)

OKAY so i am totally nuts about the holidays! basically any reason to CELEBRATE i love. I love getting in the spirit, being festive, i totally listen to christmas music a week before thanksgiving and i secretly appreciate all the stores putting out their xmas decorations before halloween...just makes it last longer! I love the pumpkin spice lattes and the egg nog, i love a reason to throw a party, drink more, sing more, have holiday outfits, boots, rain, snow, waking up to a freezing house and having a reason to wear UGG boots all day long.
i LOVE this time of year!

And i also LOVE that my daughter is old enough and aware enough to see, smell, taste, hear all the beautiful things this time of year brings. she is fascinated by xmas twinkle lights and im sure she will rip every one of those ornaments off the tree. she loves the music i play in the car (we have officially programmed every station that plays xmas music...107.9 will have to wait!) and i have watched xmas themed movies atleast 5 times so far...and its not even DECEMBER!

We wear our boots and hats and have a cozy blanket in the car :) We go out to coffee and she gets her vanilla milk.

In addition to all the festivities, we get more and more FAMILY TIME:) I love how we all get together, chris and I are married and each year I feel like our families blends more and more. He actually called my Dad "Dad" the other day. he didnt mean to, but i liked it :)

Life is great, we feel so blessed.

LOVE.

I love my Family with all my heart. ♥

♥

Play pen or Jail?

We got a playpen for Ava this week, and for a kid who has never liked her crib or any kind of confinement I was a little wary of how she would react to this. Still a little on the fence (no pun intended) about this play pen concept. I understand needing to contain your little one at times when you need to...God Forbid...take a shower or do dishes, but is it worth it?

I dont want her to feel like its a jail. But I do want her to have a safe and cushy environment to play. And frankly, our 2 bedroom duplex is only so baby proofed. We have the cabinet locks and the outlet covers but if I step on ONE MORE TOY in the middle of the night and re-roll a roll of TP or put back all her shoes and socks that she pulled out .... i think I might have to give up on housekeeping all together!
So, chris picked up some cushy foam letters playmat and a play yard gate from Babies r Us, i liked the idea but is it TOO confining?