Hey Ladies!

I’m excited to share with you that I’ve started a new blog! Check me out at mummymenagerie(.com)! My first post is a tutorial on an Ikea table that I upcycled for BG’s birthday. It’s kind of a big deal to me that I was able to accomplish this project, and also it is a milestone in my PPA journey–doing this project helped me.

Can you believe she’ll be a year old next month?!

It feels surreal.

BG is growing and changing at warped speed these last few weeks. She’s now feeding herself and just this week she started drinking water from a sippy cup! We own at least 6 different kind of cups and I found 2 she can use, but of those there is a clear winner. I might just have to do a post about cups on mummymenagerie–it’s *that* serious.

BG babbles in a conversational tone and uses wild hand gestures. It’s adorable. One of my favorite things is when I’m busy on one side of the kitchen, where she can’t see me, and I can peek over the breakfast bar and catch her giving a speech.

We now have tea parties at her table, complete with a little pink wooden tea set and fancy hats. BG has obviously studied me making coffee in the mornings (without fail, FIRST thing I do when we get out of bed) and she is very serious about using her little wooden spoon to stir her imaginary creamer into her little wooden tea cup. I am SO proud.

I like to have lunch out with friends 1-2x per week, and BG loves to *do lunch* and is quite social. Most often I get soup and we share it–she even likes coconut chicken curry!

There’s really nothing she won’t eat. Our new favs are Dr. Praeger’s brand–both the spinach dinosaurs and the zuchinni/carrot patties are scrumptious. We also really like Udi’s sweet potato ravioli. She doesn’t eat a lot of meat, but she still gets plenty of protein.

I’m excited for her birthday party–I’m going big. We’re definitely moving away (from my hometown) at the end of April, and since I’ve been such a hermit many of my friends haven’t even met BG. So it seems like the right time to get everyone together. I am keeping it top secret for now but I’ll post about it afterwards!

We’re in bed and she’s curled up next to me…

Have I mentioned how grateful I am?

For her. For Mr. MLACS. For our furbabies. For this life.

I am so grateful. I don’t even know how to express my gratitude. I thank God every.single.day.

Yes, life is hard. But it’s beautiful.

XOXO,

MLACS

 

So Much To Say

But I seem to lack the words/I’m reluctant to share lately.

Don’t worry, I am NOT pregnant. Not ready. Nope.

The good news is, I *finally* feel like myself again! My PPA has eased considerably and I feel like I have a handle on my thoughts (and correlating emotions). I still have intrusive thoughts of bad things happening, and I still have anxiety/panic bubble up during periods of high stress–but I am able to recognize what is happening and calm myself. And the episodes are becoming more infrequent and do not cloud my days or force my to barricade myself in my house.

I feel like I’m fresh out of PPA “prison” and living my life on “parole”–like I’m almost normal (nobody can tell I’m a little off), but still looking over my shoulder because I don’t want to go back to where I came from.

The very real threat of reliving my PPA with another pregnancy/postpartum period is one very good reason I’m not ready to consider TTC’ing again.

Then there’s the fact that I’m still, against ALL odds, breastfeeding BG. And at 11 months old BG still demands to nurse probably 8x or more per day and she has no interest in a sippy cup. She eats like a horse too, but she’s still very skinny and long (like 20th percentile in weight and 90th for height) and the kid needs those calories. I’ve continued to have issues though and will soon write “A Tale of 2 Boobs: Part 4” to regale you with the latest malfunctions and epiphanies.

Another reason I won’t be knocked up anytime soon is because Mr.MLACS is now living and working in Texas, while I have remained in our home in the Midwest with BG and the furbabies. He left mid-January and he’s been gone for a month, but is home visiting this weekend. I’ve done very well by myself, but having him home this weekend has shown me how much happier and more relaxed we all are when he’s here with us. BG just adores him and the dog worships him and even the cat was glad to see him. I will be so sad to see him go tomorrow. He’s looking to switch companies and it seems an offer will be on the table soon, but waiting is torture.

I have no idea where we’ll be living after April, because our lease is up and our plan has been for Mr. MLACS to accept a new job and then move wherever that is. It could be north, south, east, or west. I’m starting to freak out.

Meanwhile, it’s winter here and I’ve been baking a lot of delicious gluten-free stuff. I’ve also gotten crafty and just completed a couple projects for BG for her upcoming first birthday. I want to share these sorts of things in a “mommy blog”, which I’d like to be public and shared.

I’ve been thinking a lot about MLACS. I cannot just leave this blog. Part of me is here–a part of me that I am proud of, but very private about. I do not want to re-vamp this blog into a mommy blog. I do not want to share MLACS with the “fertile” world. I only want to share it with you–my friends–and any strangers who happen upon it because they are struggling with chronic illness/IF/RPL.

So I’ll let you know when I launch the new blog and you guys can come check me out there if you want to.

Here’s an update on BG:

She is crawling, pulling up, and walking with a prop (her shopping cart or holding my hands). She sings, claps, and dances–so freakin’ adorable! She eats like a horse and is up to 3 square meals a day, part of which is purees and part of which is food she feeds herself! I was beginning to think she would be satisfied to eat purees until kindergarten, but a couple weeks ago she just up and decided she was ready to feed herself. Go figure. So she still eats at least 5oz of purees each meal, and now also other foods (fruit, gluten-free pasta, etc.) Plus she snacks on GF teething biscuits and still nurses often. Busy kid! She still takes 2 naps (morning and afternoon). In between maps though, she is playing–either with me, or often by herself. I love to watch her wild hand gestures as she babbles at her toys. I love to watch her chase the dog, or she delights in dangling a shoelace and watching kitty tackle it. She has become much more social, but does not want to be held by anyone but me. And no one has ever babysat her.

I cannot believe she will be a year old next month. Which is odd, because I’ve been with her *literally* 24/7 since she was born. I’m planning a big party for her with all the bells and whistles. Because I have lots of friends here, but we are moving, so I will most likely never have this opportunity again (to celebrate my kid in my hometown with family and friends I’ve known most of my life).

Omg, sweetest thing–BG is napping on my lap in the rocking chair (yup, still) and Mr. MLACS just came in the nursery and handed me a pumpkin spice latte! I thought those were finished after the holidays but he said they brought them back for today (because it’s Valentines Day). THAT, my friends, is my idea of *romance*.

Gotta go, naptime is over.

XOXO,

MLACS

 

 

 

 

She’s Still Nursing: A Guide for Family and Friends

Source: She’s Still Nursing: A Guide for Family and Friends

 

The Beauty In Bedsharing

Hey guys, been taking a break from wordpress. Saw this on facespace today and it resonated with me, because bedsharing has been amazing for me and BG. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The best season of my life

This morning, I slipped under my nearly 3-year old daughter’s covers to wake her up with a kiss and a cuddle, but was met with resistance.

Her: Noooooo mommy, I didn’t ask you.  It’s wake-up time, we can’t cuggle. 

Me: Just a little cuggle? {I try to assume our usual position, by slipping my arm under her neck}

Her: No, your arm hurts my head. 

Me: Oh… that hurts my heart.  I wanted to cuggle you.

Her: It’s okay mommy, I still love you.

My heart shattered into a thousand pieces.  Where was my little baby girl?  Where had she gone?  She allowed me the small concession of carrying her out of her bed… but it’s only a matter of time before she’s too big to even do that with.

I tried.

I tried to capture her smallness.  I tried to hold on to the last breaths of her babyhood…

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