Natural parenting and Us

Our Natural Parenting path began when I decided to breastfeed. It is something I hold near and dear to my heart and am very opionated about. Just ask Tim (insert his eye roll here). I will not hop on my soap box, but instead will share a few facts and reason's Im happy we made the choice. A mother's milk is the best source of nutrition for a baby from birth to 1 year, or longer if you wish. Baby will get antibodies through your milk so that helps strengthen the immune system. Breast feeding is a great emotional connection between mother and child.
I strongly recommend that every new mom try. Yes the first few weeks are rough. Your baby is learning how to latch, you are learning how to hold them while nursing. But in no time at all you will become a pro. I could go on and on but I will save that for a future post.

Next step down the path came about when I chose to stay at home with Tyler. I had a lot of time for reflection on the things that mattered to me as a parent. And the time to figure out what worked and didn't work for us. I fell in love with baby wearing. I started out with a sling then upgraded to a carrier. I was sad to learn that the cheaper carrier I was using was not best for baby and have since retired it. Saving my pennies now to get a nice one.

Also being that I was a stay at home mom and wanted the best for my baby I started making my own baby food.  I used this site a lot. It has a ton of information on the nutritional value of many fruits and veggies, recipies and what foods are right for different ages. I either steam or bake my fruits and veggies then puree them up using my magic bullet. After the food is pureed I would put into ice cube trays and freeze. Perfect for easy serving, 1 cube = 1 tbs. Tyler is over eating purees now and prefers to eat pieces of food now and Wholesome baby food has reicipes for that too.

Some where along the way we decided to ignore the doctors advice and started letting Tyler sleep in bed with us. It made nursing at night time so much easier and I loved having my baby close by. I must add the disclaimer that cosleeping can be difficult when you have a bed hog baby like ours. Most often if Tyler comes into our bed Tim goes to the couch :) Nothing is better than waking up to that adoreable little face.

I also decided to cloth diaper part time. Not only does it save us a ton of money its great for the environment too. Next baby I hope to go full time cloth diapering. So far my favorite brands are Flip covers and Sunbaby. I have found that Tyler gets less diaper rash in cloth. And there are some really cute prints for diapers.

Thanks for reading my rambling time now its time to catch up on house work :)

Reflection

Its hard to believe that this time last year at this time I was a large waddling pregnant lady. As much as I wanted that baby out I was terrified of actually having a baby to care for. No amount of reading or friendly advice can prepare you for roller coaster of parent hood. As usual Tim took everything in stride hardly phased by the new addition to our family. And I..... well was overly emotional mess.

The next couple of months went by quick and it was time for me to return to work. After a couple heart breaking days I decided that working full time wasn't going to pan out. I belonged at home with my baby. I still work very part-time, just to get out of the house and help out with the grocery bill.

The ups and downs, sleepless nights, and clueless moments have all been worth it. Becoming a parent is the most rewarding experience of my life. I have watched that little newborn baby turn into an action packed toddler. And even though our relationship hit fast forward with the addition of a baby we are still that happy go lucky, fly by the seat of our pants couple. We might not be rich in a financial sense but every night I go to bed feeling like a millionaire from the love and joy that fills our home.