Breastfeeding Diaries {Conrad}

Well, I made it. 

I made it to 18 months of breastfeeding my baby boy! 18 months was my goal for this little guy since that was how long I nursed Hanley.

From about 13-14 months, I was only nursing Conrad at nap time and bed time. He typically would fall asleep while he nursed and I would transfer him into his bed and he would usually stay asleep. Unlike his sister, he wasn't very good at soothing himself to sleep on his own and this was my ultimate goal as we approached ending our nursing relationship. As more time went by, he was only falling asleep while nursing during nap time, and not so much during bed time, but this was a perfect time to start getting him prepared to soothe himself to sleep on his own. I would nurse him at bedtime and there would come a point when he wouldn't fall asleep but would start to be very wiggly. I would then transfer him into his bed and walk out and he was able to put himself to sleep, I just needed him to do that without nursing at all. Well this went on for several months until we fast forward to 18 months...

About a month ago, it was a Saturday night and it was time for bed. Conrad has a projector night light that shines on his ceiling and it is supposed to spin and show pictures but its been broken for quite some time now. This particular night, it happened to be spinning and Conrad was facing out on my lap, watching the projector spin on his ceiling. We were talking about the pictures as they each popped up of various sea life and I thought to myself "is this gonna be the night?" He wasnt trying to turn around to nurse and was completely content just rocking on my lap that way. So I think I sang him a couple songs and then I laid him in his bed and walked out...nothing was happening, he wasnt crying, didn't stand up, acted like this was a normal for him. I was shocked to say the least. I kept listening and watching at the video monitor and getting sad that I felt like he didn't need me anymore (funny how that works, right!?) He actually did start to moan around in his bed, but still never tried standing up, and eventually fell asleep. 

The next day, Sunday, we were out majority of the day and Conrad did not get a nap, so he didn't nurse again. I just figured since I was already on day 2 of not nursing (with no protesting, yet) that I needed to just roll with it. That night at bedtime, I was obviously hoping the projector would be spinning again, but of course it wasn't. I still held him facing outward on my lap and rocked him while I sang to him. After some time and 12 songs later, I told him I was going to lay him in bed, and I walked out. He cried for a minute or two and I was having a war within myself and wanted to cave so he didn't have to cry. I stayed strong and each day and night got better, he only really tried to tug at my shirt 2 different times and each time I told him that mommas milk was all gone and he seemed like he was fine with that.

So for now, our bedtime routine involves reading books in Hanleys bed together and then tucking her in and then going to Conrads glider where I rock him while singing. I usually ask him if he's ready to lay in bed and he will either shake his head yes or no and when he's ready, I lay him down and that sweet boy will lay there and fall asleep on his own!

It's been such an awesome journey to breastfeed both of my babes! I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to do it for so long and such rewarding experiences. 

The end of Hanleys breastfeeding journey was so similar to Conrads, you can also read that post here.

Cleveland Indians go to the World Series!

I'm apart of a non profit organization in my hometown called The Nest. It started as a mom's group (now much more than a moms group) but we get together weekly for play groups and have various groups throughout the month. The Cleveland Indians contacted several non profit organizations in the surrounding areas and asked for volunteers to help work the merchandise booths during the World Series games in Cleveland. I'm not a huge sports fan but thought it would be a neat opportunity. The bonus and best part (for The Nest) is that for each volunteer on behalf of The Nest, the Cleveland Indians gave them $62 for us being there. That was worth it to me, because I love this organization so much. I worked 2 days; the very first game of the World Series in Cleveland and the very last game in Cleveland of the World Series.

The first game was crazy busy and we worked non stop for several hours helping customers. By the last game, almost every piece of "World Series" merchandise was sold out and there were more Chicago fans in Cleveland, it seemed, by far.

It was a very exciting last game and I really thought we were going to win it. I might of yelled when we actually lost.

Halloween 2016 {Holiday Chronicles}

This year for Halloween, we were invited to 5 different places to trick or treat with friends. We ended up at 4 of those 5, because thankfully, they all ended up on different days.

Hanley dressed as the same cheetah/kitty for all the events and Conrad had a dragon costume, only Conrad actually never wore his costume.

The first event was my brother's church Trunk or Treat. It was a great time with a huge turnout. Seeing all the different ways the trunks were decorated is always so fun! It was nearly 80 degrees that Sunday and that's almost unheard of for where we live. Hanley didn't have to wear any undergarments under her dress and Conrad wore his skeleton jammies because his dragon costume was so warm with thick fleece.

The next weekend we went trick or treating at my grandma's house. My brother, his kids, and my cousin Lisa and her kids were there too!  We only made it 2 blocks before Hanley said she was finished and wanted to head back. It was very nice day and perfect for trick or treating so I didn't fight with Conrad on wearing his dragon costume.  

The next day we were invited to trick or treat with our friends. It rained for the first 10 minutes of us walking around but it ended up clearing up and was a decent day. Conrad still refused to wear his dragon costume so skeleton pajamas layered over other clothes it was! 

By the final day of trick or treating, Hanleys face was reacting to all the makeup I had been using to draw on her cheetah spots so we didn't give her a kitty face. 

The kids had a blast with all their friends and of course getting loads of candy. Conrad picked up the concept right away and he was absolutely adorable holding out his pumpkin bucket to collect his treats! 

I will most likely freeze some candy and use it for the pinata at Conrad's birthday party next year. 

In addition to all the trick or treating we participated in, Hanley got to dress up for her weekly dance class and Michael and I went to an adult Halloween party at a friend's house. Michael doesn't care to dress up but I went all out. 

Pumpkin Farm and Pumpkin Carving

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch with my in-laws and we all had a great time! There are dozens of pumpkin farms to choose from but we went to the same one from last year because we had such a good time. There is so much to do there and it's not over the top priced, in my opinion. Kingsway Pumpkin Farm.

I'm not gonna lie, I participated in quite a few fun activities myself, (Michael too!). Visiting a pumpkin farm is what really sets off Fall for me. Although I bought our pumpkins at our grocery store prior to going to the farm.

Hanley has never ever been a fan of pumpkin guts so I typically have to scrape them all myself. And this year she asked for a kitty pumpkin and didn't really care to help carve so I ended up doing both pumpkins myself. 

The kids both painted a little pie pumpkin, which we then roasted the seeds from, baked the pumpkins and used the puree to bake pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins!  

Go Ape {Birthday Chronicles}

For Michael's birthday this year, I wanted to plan some type of surprise for him. I wasn't quite sure what I was thinking about doing but concerts are difficult because he always knows about them before me and I wasn't able to plan a trip away longer than a day.

A friend of mine on Facebook posted about her recent fun at Go Ape and I knew that was it. It looked perfect to me, but I imagined it wouldn't seem as perfect to Michael. He is afraid of heights but I was hoping since he wouldn't know about it until we got there, there would be a less chance he would back out.

I scoured the website, read the FAQs and other reviews from around the internet to learn all that I could before we went.

Go Ape is more than just ziplining. They call it a tree top adventure. There are numerous obstacle courses up in the trees!! The entire thing takes 2.5-3 hours to complete.
The website says "So much more than a simple zip line canopy tour, the Go Ape Mill Stream Run course is a fully immersive outdoor experience. Go Ape features 5 action packed treetop obstacle course sections, leading you higher into the forest canopy. Guests will navigate 42 exciting crossings like, the Jungle Crossing, Spiders Web, 2 Tarzan swings and 5 exhilarating zip lines. When you Go Ape you get an outdoor adventure worth talking about. "

They give you a 'crash course' in all the gear and the proper way to use it all because there are NO instructors up in the trees holding your hand along the way. You have to be confident enough to know what you're doing or you will really screw something up, or die...

I ended up finding the whole process of hooking yourself on and off and moving along all the lines by ourselves very therapeutic (weird??). There's a whole process of hooking yourself on so you're always attached so there's no chance of falling out of the trees.

The Tarzan swing was my favorite and I even went back up and did that particular course a 2nd time because it was so fun. Some of the courses offer signs of "easy, moderate, or extreme" with more than one course option so you can choose. I personally chose the hardest course any time it was available.

I can NOT wait to go again and Michael had a great time as well!