Loving by the Dozen

Twelve years ago my husband and I were standing at the altar ready to embark on our life together. Through the years we have experienced a lot of ups and downs. In many ways the trials of life could have driven us apart but we strived to make it bring us even closer. It hasn't been all sweetness and rose petals though. I will be one of the first to admit that for a marriage to work it requires you to work at it. I'm not saying every moment needs to feel like work, but there are times when you have to put work into your marriage to keep things running smoothly. Just like a rare orchid a marriage needs loving attention, tender care and hard work to keep it flowering beautifully and not wither away.

Tips for a healthy happy marriage

• Say I love you everyday. It shouldn't stay unsaid. Those words are better spoken than assumed it known.
• Always part with a hug and kiss because you never know when it will be the last time.
• Use every chance you get to casually touch each other. (any touch of the hands in passing, a brush of the nape, or a hand on the knee) Any little touch to reconnect or stay connected.
• Fight fair. No name calling, and always apologize for words said in anger. ( I have trouble with this one. I have a REALLY short fuse.)
• Take the time to let your spouse know how much you appreciate what they do. If it is working long hours to support the family or take out the trash even when you had to ask. A little appreciation goes a very long way.
• Get to know each other again. Ask questions as if you were on your first date. If you had one week with no responsibilities, no family, no friends, no work what would you do with it? You might learn something you never knew.
• Speak up when you need something from the other person. Just because you have been together so long and it seems like you think the same doesn't mean they know your every thought and need.
• Make them feel like an important part of your life everyday not just on the special occasions.

These are just a few things that I try to do to keep my marriage strong. There are many more things you can do. If you have any good tips to keep any relationship going strong I would love to hear them.

One last note~ A big thank you to my husband for twelve weird but wonderful years together. I look forward to what the next dozen will bring.

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Already a Biter

My son Maxx got his first tooth at one week shy of being 8 months old. I am positive my daughters all had multiple teeth by 8 months. I'm not complaining. I was actually dreading the day his teeth would come, they always want to test their chompers out on human flesh like little zombies. It's usually my poor defenseless Mommy flesh that is on their menu. My husband believes that Maxx was holding back on growing them in because when teeth appeared was when I stopped breastfeeding with the Nadia.

It wasn't the teeth appearing that scared me off breastfeeding. I had stopped breastfeeding Nadia after getting repeatedly being bitten while nursing her. It was so bad on many occasions that I was left bleeding and dreading the next time I would need to bare my tender bits to her. At the time I didn't know any better that she wasn't nursing but instead messing around when she would hurt me with her chompers. I didn't know I had never breast-fed a child that had teeth. With each baby I have breastfed I have been able to nurse longer and longer with each one.

Appearance of the tooth

I was sitting around after dinner watching tv while the little man cruised around the front room in his regular super army crawl. He pulled himself up on our coffee table as he always does to see what he could throw to the ground or check for any papers he could attempt to eat. Instead he started chewing on the edge of the table, so I pull him away and began playing with him. He grabbed my hand and started gnawing on it as usual. I felt something scratching me, so I inspected his mouth thinking he had some contraband. I was in shock to see a tooth since not even minutes before he had no teeth at all.

I started yelling OMG a tooth! My oldest kids come running and ask if I had lost a tooth. (being stuck in the losing tooth mode) Which is understandable considering in the past two months my two oldest daughters have lost around 10 teeth combined. (leaving our 4 yr old jealous of the all tooth fairy earnings) Once they found out it was baby Maxx's first tooth, they instantly started cheering. This little man is gonna wonder why he feels the need to have lots of cheering and applause.

I was going to wait until daddy got home from work to tell him but I can't keep a secret/surprise. Daddy was on speaker phone when I told him about the new tooth. After crowing with pride about his little man becoming such a big boy, he then asks me if this means breastfeeding will soon be coming to an end. Before I could get a response out Maxx was vigorously shaking his head no. When hubby didn't get a response because I was giggling too hard, he repeated his question and Maxx shook his head no all over again when daddy mentioned breastfeeding ending. We have our answer and will continue to breastfeed hopefully to 1-year-old. Little man shows no signs of wanting to give it up. Hubby says it is the boobies addiction that most men have it's just starting early.

Abuse of tooth power

That little tooth was not even 24 hours old and Maxx had try it out on my poor defenseless nipple. This time I knew what to do though. I still said ow because it still freaking hurt. I immediately told him no bite and set him down away from me and ended the breastfeeding session. He startled at me screeching ow but then laughed. As soon as I told him no bite and set him away from the boob you would think it was him that had just been bitten. Maxx was howling down the moon, all while giving me the most pitiful looks. For the sake of my poor nipples I stuck to my guns and again told him no bite and handed him a toy to play with instead. Less than a minute later, he had given up the howling and had turned his pitiful looks to glares of indignation.

Have you had to handle a biter? How did you overcome it?

Tip: When breastfeeding and your child bites you, tell your child "No Bite" and end the nursing session.  Set them down away from you. (near toys to play with since they were not eating but playing when they bit)  Try again in 10 minutes. 

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Christmas Already?

The season of craziness begins earlier every year. It was only a few days before Halloween and my local stores were already stocking their shelves for Christmas. On the day of Halloween I ran out to grab some more candy to find the store taking all Halloween items off the shelves before it was even noon. Couldn't they at least wait a few more hours and then trick or treating would be in full swing? Maybe they get some sick joy watching people frantically trying to make last purchases as they whisk all the remaining Halloween stuff into mystery carts full of random items. With them ripping down the displays so early it just added to the already hectic feeling inside the store. Every year they clear those shelves earlier and earlier.

I'm not knocking starting early with you Christmas shopping, but I don't want to see fake Christmas tree's before we even get out of October. I started my christmas shopping months ago. Nothing crazy just one or two presents that I would come across in my usual shopping. I'd have no issue if they had started with stuff like wrapping paper and gifting stuff, but I still don't see any of those useful items. Instead they have christmas tree's and stockings.

Maybe I am more sensitive about this because I have a December birthday and we don't decorate for Christmas til the beginning of December or even the start of the 12 days of Christmas countdown.

Before we know it they will be going directly from school supplies to Christmas displays. Have we even given Santa a chance to check his list once let alone twice before we are having the season shoved down our throats?

When do you decorate for Christmas? How about Christmas shopping, have you not began yet or are you already finished? Are you like me and vow every year to start early and you make a point to get a few presents early but you finish most your shopping in the last month?

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