Hot Topic

I want to touch on a hot topic of debate. I happen to work with a bunch of women at my place of employment. Unfortunately this can be a bad thing. Why you ask? Well, I will be the first to admit that women like to gossip or as some say "discuss" things going on in other co-workers lives. Alright, alright. I will get to the point.

First a little background on the issue at hand. When I had my son I chose to breastfeed. After my maternity leave was up and I had to go back to work I started pumping for my son. Well, I never knew that the women at my job would become so nasty about it. The majority of women at my job formula fed their children. Which is fine, it was their choice. I personally believe that "breast is best". The state in which I reside has laws that allow women to express milk at work for their children. I pumped twice a day at work for 10 months, until my son was 13 months old. I started getting the cold shoulder from the women at my job. I would here snide comments like "I think if you are going to work and have children you should be formula feeding", "I fed my kids formula and they turned out perfect", "Why doesn't she pump upstairs in the bathroom instead of in the excercise room, nobody uses the upstairs bathroom". And so on and so forth. Another gal at my work had a baby before me and she also pumped at work. We had to stick together. Our HR had to dig up the details of the law and make sure everything we were doing was legal and everything they were doing for us as an employer was legal. Once I stopped pumping the women acted like nothing ever happened, like we were best buds again. EXCUSE ME?? I don't think so.

It has been a few months now since I stopped pumping and the gal who had a baby before me just had another baby and she is breastfeeding again. She brought her precious baby to the office today and what do you know the baby got hungry while she was there. So she went into the room that we had used for pumping, which is the excercise room. And she fed her child. And the gossiping begins again. "She's coming back to work to do that again", "Why doesn't she use the bathroom upstairs, she's messin up my schedule in the excercise room". GET A GRIP. I just want to jump up and down and yell at these women that they don't have to be so selfish. And maybe they should go eat their lunch in the upstairs bathroom instead of at their desks. That's what it would be like to have to breastfeed/or pump in a bathroom.

I have nothing against women that want to formula feed, but there is no need to knock another mother for her choices in food for her child. We should be here to support one another and not have to feel alienated by our choices.

Dear Lord,
Please be with me Lord when I am at work and have to deal with such a hostile environment. I pray Lord for each and everyone one of those women that they would find it in their hearts to have some compassion for other people. Please help me to keep my cool and deal with these issues the right way. I love you, in Jesus name, Amen.

Adventures of X-man

I know I haven't blogged for quite some time now. But boy have I been busy with my son. Once he got to crawling there was no stopping him. Look out world.

My son has been walking now for 5 months and he has been "all legs and no brains" as my wonderful mother would put it. Just recently he discovered how to take off his diaper. I didn't know he had such an interest in being diaper free. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to him moving around and I noticed that half off his diaper was hanging off of his butt. Oh heck no little boy we are not having that, I told him. When I went to change him and put a fresh diaper on him he threw a fit. Aye ye ye. That brings me to the subject of temper tantrums.How the heck do you deal with those??? X-man throws himself on the floor and screams at the top of his lungs when you tell him he can't pull cords out of outlets or pull the keyboard for the computer on the floor and stomp on it or dial 911 on the telephone (which he did do once and only once before my honey and I smacked ourselves in the forehead and put the phone out of his reach). You catch my drift. Everything he can't do he wants to do and all the toys he has, he hardly touches.

I just checked out a book from the library, which I will give reviews on once I am through reading, that gives parenting tips and a gives you ideas on how to be tantrum free. The lady that wrote the book has kids and I have heard a lot of people say her books give great advice. If anyone else has advice please post a comment.

Dear Lord,
I pray for the safety and health of my son X-man. I pray you watch over him and keep him safe from all danger. I know I can't be there all the time, but I trust that you can. I pray Lord, that you can guide me as a parent to make the right decisions when it comes down to raising him. He is the most precious gift a mother could ask for and I thank you for the opportunity of being a mother. I better get going because my duty calls. I love you.
In Jesus name, Amen.

"Business as usual"

I love when you go to church and the pastor is talking about something that makes you really think hard about where your life is headed. On Easter Sunday, the pastor of the church I went to talked about "business as usual". This applies to a lot of people and it is crazy. What it means is when you go to church and tell God "I am going to change, I am going to read the bible every day and I am going to give up all my bad habits" and then Monday comes around and you continue on with business as usual. You go back to your busy, hectic life and forget all about the bible in the corner with dust on it's cover.

I find myself doing that a lot. I am trying though to make changes in myself little by little. It is hard. When you make a decision to change something about yourself, the devil is right in your face and trying his best to break you down. I fight with the devil constantly. When I am awaken by my nine month old in the middle of the night and I have no comprehension of what is actual and what isn't, the devil is right there to try and run my patience thin. I have to sit and look at myself and say "Hey, this beautiful baby boy is only trying to tell me something, breathe and cuddle with him, even if it means I will be flopped over on my desk at work tomorrow." Then you say to the devil - Hit the road jack, I won't run out of patience now or anywhere in the near future.

We actually just talked about how the devil constantly tries to break you down in my Thursdsay night group. Once you accept Christ into your life as your Savior, the devil is on you like flies on food. He pesters you and pesters you trying to get you to cave into his way of life. My sister had a good analogy. In order to keep your self from going back to "business as usual" you have to indulge yourself into the Living Word every single minute of the day. If you were to go without food for three days, would you be hungry? That's how it is if you go three days or four without indulging in the Word. Your hungry and weak and a good target for the devil.

Thank you Lord for coming to my rescue every single day. I would be lost without your unconditional love. I thank you for every blessing that you rain down on me and ask you for your continued love and security. Please protect my baby boy from all harm and danger and everyone else. I love you, in Jesus name, Amen.

Life's Little Instructions

Here's something I like to read every once in a while to remind myself to be nice on crabby days:

Life’s little Instructions
Sing in the Shower
Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated
Watch a sunrise at least once a year
Leave the toilet seat in the down position
Never refuse homemade brownies
Strive for excellence, not perfection
Plant a tree on your birthday
Learn three clean jokes
Return borrowed vehicles with the gas tank full
Compliment three people every day
Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them
Leave everything a little better than you found it
Keep it simple
Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures
Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know
Floss your teeth
Ask for a raise when you feel you’ve earned it
Be forgiving of yourself and others
Over tip a breakfast waitress
Say “thank you” and “please” a lot
Avoid negative people
Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yards
Wear polished shoes
Remember other people’s birthdays
Commit yourself to constant improvement
Carry jumper cables in your trunk
Have a firm handshake
Send lots of Valentine cards, Sign them “someone thinks your terrific”
Look people in the eye
Be the first to say “Hello”
Use the good silver
Return all things you borrow
Make new friends but cherish the old ones
Keep secrets
Sing in a choir
Plant flowers every spring
Have a dog
Always accept an outstretched hand
Stop blaming others, Take responsibility for every area of your life
Wave at kids on school buses
Be there when people need you
Feed a stranger’s expired parking meter
Don’t expect life to be fair
Never underestimate the power of love
Live your life as an exclamation, not an explanation
Don’t be afraid to say “I made a mistake”
Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”
Compliment even small improvements
Keep your promises (no matter what)
Marry only for love
Rekindle old friendships
Count your blessings
Call your mother

By: H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Enlightened

I was just reading my sisters blog and she was also talking about her son. I know this may be a duh to some people but I just thought about something and it makes a lot of sense to me now. I was given this wonderful child who I would do anything for. I love him more than I can imagine. That is the way God feels about me. Wow. The love I have for my child is unconditional and I haven't ever really experienced that. Besides the love I share with my immediate family. It's a little different with your own child. Imagine how many children God has unconditional love for...

Busy Little Bumble Bee

My little angel is such a busy bee. He wants to touch everything he sees. The waxed floor, ooh, Gotta have it. The wood on the back of the couch, ooh, gotta have it. The newspaper, ooh, gotta have it. I have been so exhausted lately I am surprised I have not fallen on my face yet from being so tired. I don't know if this is exactly what I was expecting when I was pregnant but I am enjoying every bit of my insomnia. It is all worth it in the end. In the middle of the night when he wakes up screaming and you just fell asleep thirty minutes ago, you just want to be angry but you can't. How can you resist the cute little bundle of joy looking up at you waiting for you to comply with his needs. The chubby cheeks and the mouth full of gums and two white little specks, oh wait those are teeth. Every inch of a child is precious and sacred.

Oh how I get off track of what I was writing about originally. Just like my mother. My son has just started rolling over and instead of going forward on his tummy he goes backwards. Its hilarious. What really isn't hilarious is when I am coming from the car to the house and I have my pump, the diaper bag, my purse and a cooler on one shoulder and I have my son on the other and out of nowhere he decides the microscopic rock on the ground is something he absolutely must have. And he goes for it. I think my back is going to break.

Anyways it is all part of the wonderful makeup that God has given to us in the gift of a child. I love it, maybe not at the time my back is breaking but about a minute later.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for my precious baby boy and for the many joys that come a long with him. Thank you for keeping him healthy and I pray that you always protect him and keep him safe from all harm and danger. I pray that he lives a long happy, healthy life and that you would bless his future with only the best. I also pray that I am here long enough to see my great grand children, if you bless me with those also.

Amen.

The Joys of a Child

My son has been going through the wonderful stage of cause and effect. I absolutely love it. He sees me and just wines a little bit and he knows that I can't resist picking him up. I think that the most adorable thing he does is stretch his arms out to me when wants to get held. I never knew one could experiece so much joy in life. Watching my Chi Chi grow into a handsome young man.

Thank you Lord for every blessing that I have received. I pray that you always protect my son and keep him happy and healthy. Thank you for the opportunity to have such a joy in my life. I cherish the moments that I have with him and you.

Amen.