Life, Love, and Milk Ejection

We were reminded at church about Veteran's Day when our pastor had all the people who served in the military stand for acknowledgement. I was surprised that our small congregation (about 100) had 9 men who had or are currently serving. It is good to remember our service men and women every day in prayer. This special day is an excellent way to say “Thanks,” for all those who protect our freedoms.

I also remember November 11^th as the day Jeff proposed to me at Paradise Lookout on Mt. Ranier 6 years ago. It was such a great day! We were on a drive up to visit my parents when Jeff had the idea to take a detour to Mt. Ranier. We stopped at a lookout, but the fog and clouds prohibited us seeing the view. We hiked through the snow up a short trail and that’s when Jeff got down on one knee, opened the lighted ring box with a beautiful 3 diamond ring inside, and asked me to marry him. I was shocked and ecstatically happy. Our relationship had progressed quickly from our first date in September just 2 months before. We were good friends before that and I knew by a few weeks into dating Jeff and he was “the one.” He was like a favorite sweater; warm, comfortable, fit just right, and I never wanted to be anywhere without him. He was my best friend and I felt like I had known him forever.

The rest is history, married in March, 2 blissful years as DINKS (double income no kids), a life changing trip to Africa, a baby girl, figuring out parenting, another life changing trip to Africa, another baby girl. Life is good and we are so blessed. Jeff is still my favorite (sweater and husband) and I am so glad he got down on one knee in the snow 6 year ago.

In other news, I put on a pair of pants today and heard angels singing! They are my size 8s from Banana Republic! I danced around the house with glee! I’m still doing T-Tapp and eating only good for me food. I’ve broken my “no desserts” rule a few times, but for the most part, avoid all sugars. I have 10 more pounds to go! I’ve been researching nutrition and checked out a huge pile of books from the library. I have some on breast feeding and some on general health and fitness. One I particularly found interesting is “The 7 Minute Miracle.” To summarize the book, the doctor author says that his research finds that you can burn spot fat by working a specific muscle group for 7 minutes. You can chose to reduce tummy, butt, hips, thighs, or arms by doing a set of 3 movements until exhaustion and repeat for 7 minutes. Also, you are not supposed to eat for 40 minutes after this work-out. I decided to give it a try and chose the butt to “spot reduce” since that is the area that is keeping me from my size 6 jeans. I am now on day 3 of the 7 Minute Miracle and can barely walk with the intense muscle pain in my posterior. It is that good kind of pain that I think maybe something is shrinking.

Mandy’s shrinking mamma is not shirking her milk factory duties, so no need to worry. I have a condition called forceful milk ejection reflex. It is like Mandy is drinking out of a fire hose. She had quite a bit of trouble keeping up with the flow for the first 5 weeks or so, but it is getting better. Instead of gulping air and screaming after each feeding, she powers through nursing and is getting quite fat. It is common for babies whose mothers have this milk ejection problem to gain weight rapidly in the first few months. Mandy has a Dr. appointment on Thursday, so we’ll see how big she really is! All this is probably way more than you wanted to know today. This is the blessing and curse of the blog. J