2011 Natural Family Planning Week

I know this post comes as NFP awareness week is actually wrapped up, but better late than never!

My husband and I started practicing Natural Family Planning after the birth of our first son (he was about 7 months old and I was still nursing).  We took a course through our Roman Catholic diocese and haven't looked back!  Here are the posts I did as we went through our classes:
Class number 1
Class number 2
Final class

Marquette University (yes, a Catholic university) is actually conducting federally (not religiously) funded scientific research on the effectiveness of Natural Family Planning.  You can read things like definitions, different methods, instructions/guidelines and read more about their research here and here.  The reason I emphasize that their research was federally funded is because so often NFP is looked upon as something for people with faith-based reasons, but this is something that is based on the natural biorhythms of a woman's reproductive system.

Also, the Couple to Couple League has many resources for every stage in life, as well as a home course!  Their bookstore is an excellent resource to reference throughout the different stages of life (postpartum, menopausal, etc.).



Some other entries I've really enjoyed reading from other bloggers about NFP are:
Part of a Conversion to Catholicism Story (she's linked Part 1 and 2 in this entry if you're in her conversion to Catholicism)
Interesting Correlations between Breast Cancer and Contraception (with references)
Trust & NFP (last year's theme of NFP awareness week was Trust: God has a Plan for Your Marriage)
NFP from a Husband's Perspective (a Top Ten list)

Thank you to these writers for eloquently expressing their NFP experience and perspectives!

Whether for religious or other personal convictions, NFP really is something for everyone.  While it is something that has helped us postpone pregnancy for reasons my husband and I decided with God's guidance, when the time was right we have also been blessed to conceive our 2nd child easily!

Friday Fill-ins!

Sorry, I haven't posted much lately... work has been insane!  I have a few posts in the works, so stay tuned!

1. Summer is my favorite time to commute to work because I have to drive past 3 schools.
2. Nothing is unchanged after having a baby, but that is a good thing.
3. Aargh!  Pretty much describes my work week.
4. Even though I'm pregnant, I still have to have my Dr. Pepper in the morning.

5. Seven: Days until next Friday.

6. This summer has gone by fast, don't you think?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to possibly going to see an outdoor family friendly concert, tomorrow my plans include using my pedicure gift certificate & seeing my sister's play she's stage managing and Sunday, I want to enjoy some quality time with my boys before a friend's baby shower!

Random Updates!

I just realized I never got to post any pictures from 4th of July!  Here are a couple of my favorites from our walk to the downtown parade.

Jack loves his American flag that they handed out to the kids.  This picture of my guys is pretty much adorable if you ask me!

Jack and I walking home... he looks so big here!  You can see that he definitely takes after his father because he's so tall!

We also attended a baby shower for Matt's cousin and his other cousin's wife while they were in town from Georgia!  It was actually the first time one couple had gotten to see Jack.

All of us pregnant ladies!  That's me on the left (I got my hair chopped off!), my SIL (due less than a week after me), Megan (Matt's cousin), and Lauren (Matt's cousin's wife)... I love being pregnant in groups apparently!

Last week, I had another doctor's appointment and got my blood work done for my glucose screening.  My doctor was happy with my weight gain catching up to approximately where it should be at this point in my pregnancy.  I wasn't necessarily surprised that I had caught up because I have been feeling big (and sore) lately.  Back pain has definitely gotten worse and just this week I'm starting to notice more pressure in my hips.  My doctor mentioned that I'm carrying low, especially compared to how I did with Jack, and said that can make the back pain worse.  She recommended a pregnancy support belt, so I got one and will be trying it out for a couple of days to see if it helps.  I just hope it doesn't make this week's unbearable heat any less bearable.  Here's a belly picture from yesterday:

Approximately 25 1/2 weeks along!  I don't think I look much bigger than my last picture, but I feel it!

Quite the Personality

Matt and Jack were playing around after dinner this evening.  This is the events that transpired:

(Jack puts his fireman's hat on Matt's head)

Jack (yelling): NICE HAT!

Matt (turns to me laughing): Did our son just mock me?

(Jack turns the fireman's hat to be backwards on Matt's head)

Jack (giggling): Nice hat!

Me: Yes, yes he is...

Afterwards, I texted the event to my mom & her response was "Its only the beginning."  Oh the personalities of little ones!

Just Keep Swimming...

I grew up going to the pool in the summer, and doing swim lessons ever summer until middle school/junior high age.  I partially grew up in Texas, where you can swim nearly 5 months out of the year... let's be honest it was hot enough that it is necessary to go to the pool.

One of the best parts of my job are the benefits; we actually have a park and pool on-site free for employees to use during the summer!  A number of the lifeguards are certified Red Cross swim instructors, so they also offer 3-2 week sessions of swim lessons.  We missed the first session because of vacation (and I pretty much forgot to sign-up), but we participated in the 2nd session, which just ended! 

This was during the first lesson... I didn't really have to hold on to him because he had such a tight grip on me!  It felt like being a tree frog's mom because he just stuck to me!

It got better slowly!  He actually let himself be taken by his teacher to work on kicking during the lessons!

His favorite "game" is the mat races... he just finished showing Daddy how fast he could go!

There's my big boy, enjoying the 2' section walking around without any fear!  He is holding onto the wall here, but he has no qualms walking around and even getting his head wet isn't a big deal!  He's even gone off the diving board (being caught by his teacher, of course) a handful of times!

It has been quite a roller coaster so far and Jack has definitely improved, but he still has his moments!  We start the next session this evening, so I'm hoping he continues to improve and get more comfortable in the water!

Prayer Request

We had a tragic death in our family earlier this week.  The funeral for my aunt's husband is today.  If you pray, please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through an extremely difficult time.

Thank you.

Adventures in the Big Boy Bed (part 3)

I realized its been over a week since I posted on Jack's transition into his twin bed.  If you're interested in reading the first two posts you can do so here and here.

Things have been getting better for the most part!  Jack has only fallen out of bed once since the last post.  He has been sleeping through the night... but instead of sleeping until 7:30-8 a.m., he's waking up at 6:30 and coming to our room.  That's ok... I can handle that, especially since I usually try to wake up to get ready for work around 6:45-7 a.m, but I feel bad for Matt who has to get up earlier in comparison.  On the weekends he will still come to our room, but we can convince him to lay in between us for a bit longer!  The things I'm still not that crazy about, but am not willing to disrupt at this point, are:

1. He still wants someone to lay with him as he falls asleep (usually Daddy), which typically means one of us ends up falling asleep with him.  He's still our little boy, what's wrong with getting some snuggles?
2. Pacifiers, he still has two (one in his mouth & one in his hand), but we've at least gotten him to the point that he knows they're only for when he's sleeping.  Sometimes he'll run into his room and climb in bed just to suck on a pacifier for a couple of seconds.  He usually leaves them right on his pillow, so hopefully we can wean him off those soon enough.
3. We still leave each of our bedroom doors open (cracked) and the hallway light on, and I really hate wasting electricity.  I worry that he'll bump into things during the night if he tries to get to our room... paranoid I'm sure, but there aren't any outlets in our hallway that we could put a small plug-in light-sensing nightlight.

We did end up purchasing a Cloud B Twilight Turtle, which is essentially a fancy nightlight, to step Jack up from the music/light combo crib noisemaker.  He does really enjoy it now, but the first night I wasn't so sure it was a great idea.  He thought it was a great toy and just giggled and kept pressing buttons to change the color of the lights or turn it off & on. 

Pros:

• Plush for the most part (the shell that the stars are cut out of is thin plastic).
• Easy for Jack to turn on (in case he wakes in the middle of the night) and off... and change the color lights.
• The timer; it automatically shuts off after 45 minutes so it doesn't run the batteries down.
• The stars actually form constellations, so we can start showing him those when he's a bit older (right now he just likes to find the moon out of all of the stars)

Cons:

• No white noise/music... and I think this is just because Jack really liked the noise, but I didn't find anything I liked that wasn't meant for a crib.
• Kind of pricey for what it really is (a nightlight); I suppose we could have found another nightlight for a cheaper price, but I got kind of desperate when he kept waking up at 2 a.m.

Disclaimer: The brief review of the Cloud B Twilight Turtle was not solicited in any way.  The information is this post is based only on my experience.

Rockin' Green Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my reivew & enter the giveaway for 1 bag of 45/90 loads of Rockin' Green remixed formula detergent!  I have continued to use the remixed formula samples I received and still LOVE it!  Definitely succeeded in helping take out stains in some of my diapers!

There were 66 completed entries in the giveaway and I entered the numbers 1 to 66 in Random.org random number generator.  And the winner is...

Comment number 60 by Higgs' Happenin's with the subscription via Networked blog!

Please contact me via email with what scent and formula (hard, classic or soft rock) at thechemistryofamom@gmail.com by 2:30 p.m. EST on July 6th or another winner will be drawn.

Disclaimer: If the first winner does not contact me within 48 hours of the announcement, a runner-up will be chosen and so-on. Only the winner's contact information will shared with Rockin' Green so they can ship the prize. The prize of a 45/90 load of detergent is solely the responsibility of Rockin' Green.

Friday Fill-Ins!

And...here we go!

1. Blue skies are filling up my weekend weather forecast and its about time.

2. I took a trip down memory lane when we went to Texas and I got to see a bunch of high school friends!

3. Kids, at least mine, are my reason for existance because I love being a mom.

4. Sleeping in, lots of family time, trying new things; these are some of the best things about vacation.
5. Love is all around me.

6. I wonder if they hold submarine races.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to laying low & making buffalo chicken dip, tomorrow my plans include getting a haircut & my brother's high school graduation party and Sunday, I want to relax with my boys a bit!