Mother's Day LOVE

This year marks my third year celebrating Mother's Day!  It's been an amazing 2.5 joyous years of disrupted sleep, ear-to-ear smiles and a LOVE so BIG I could explode from time to time!

So many things have changed with Motherhood ... more than I could have digested being on the other side of giving birth!  It is true what they say ... it changes EVERYTHING!  The perspective I now have of Mothers has been eye opening.  I always knew how important Mom's were - I knew how truly LUCKY I was to come from generations of such LOVING, caring and nurturing Mothers/Grandmothers - but now to look around at the bi-products of amazing Mothers, it's beautiful to see what that LOVE can GROW.

Inspired by the street I grew up on, Letchworth Drive, some neighbors have helped me to conclude just how powerful the LOVE of a Mother can be.  At my childhood friend/neighbor (Adam's) Memorial Service, I could not help but to notice how truly exceptional he and his siblings were/are.  All full of LOVE & LIFE, gracious, patient and giving ... four children all this way?  How did their Mother do it?!  When I shared my observation with her, and asked how she was able to succeed in raising 4 amazing children, she told me she instilled in them family values, "I told them all they had was each other."  That emphasis on family values and LOVE shaped the way they live their lives and it's apparent to all whom cross their paths.

The other GINORMOUS story of a Mother's LOVE that comes from Letchworth Drive is Sarah Sanford.  Her an her husband, Vance, were unable to have children of their own when they decided to adopt.  Home to Letchworth Dr. came a little girl named Jane.  The family of three was complete ... almost!  And then the call that changed it all!  Jane's biological Mother was pregnant again and did not have the ability to care for the baby ... and the question asked, "are you interested in adopting again - Jane's biological brother?"  OF COURSE!  And the family of four was brought together!  (Read their story here in Sarah's own words!)

Jane & Jude's biological Mother not only was unable to care for her babies, she was also unable to care for herself while carrying them.  With no prenatal care or general well-being care for herself while pregnant, Jude suffered a stroke in utero which in turned caused him to develop a tremendous amount of physical challenges.  Told he may never walk, and a long laundry list of terrible expected physical outcomes, Sarah & Vance have tackled some hurdles no parent or child should have to face!  They have provided endless LOVE, support and dedication to caring for the children and especially aiding Jude in overcoming the tremendous hurdles he was faced with from the moment he was conceived.

That LOVE makes me speechless.  Sarah's LOVE brings me to tears.  She has a LOVE BIG enough for a family of four and carries the weight of their world on her back.  In and out of the hospital, to therapy, to medical treatments, up all night, and facing and dealing with the scariest healthcare situations for her little one you could imagine are all in a days work for this Momma.

Sarah's LOVE has changed the course of the world for Jane and Jude.  She has busted a cycle of unhealthy patterns and given these two lives a LOVE they would not have otherwise known in their early lives.  I have seen similar patterns broken in my own family - and all it takes is a Sarah that has a LOVE so BIG and STUBBORN it will not allow anything but LOVE to survive.

Thank you to the wonderful and amazing woman I call Mom.  Thank you to my beyond amazing 98 year old Granny for providing our family with generations of unwavering LOVE.  And most importantly THANK YOU to all the Mother's in my world that inspire me to be patient and LOVING during the sleep-deprived & challenging times.

View fullsize

Four Generations on Ivan's maternal side!  photo taken by EmileeRamsierPhotography, April 2013

A little LOVE can ago a long way ... and so I ask, if you feel so inclined to donate a few dollars to the pot!  The goal is to raise some change to give Sarah Sanford a Mother's Day serenade!  With the monies collected she has to spend it on treating herself!!  Pedicure, nails, cleaning service, date out with her hubby, etc!  Visit here to donate

The sweetest Mom I know, on the street I grew up on with two of the LUCKIEST children in the whole wide world!  Jane, Sarah & Jude

Hakuna Matata, C'est la vie!

I’ve heard other Mother’s explain this feeling exactly the same way (and have been slightly annoyed at how cliché it sounds) … “each phase my child enters - every stage and age - just gets better and better”. 

How can that be!? 

I look at elementary school aged kids and think, my 22 month old is so much more fun than you are!  Not long ago, I looked at my 6 month old and thought he was at such a better stage than that two year old across the room that was scaling the walls and screaming!

Or maybe it’s that every phase has its challenges so we welcome the next one with open arms!  Change IS good!  I’m so happy that the phase we are in, is the BEST one there is.  It means there are sunnier days ahead, ALWAYS.  And most importantly, LIFE IS GOOD.

Anything that goes "Brummm BRUMM" is of interest to Mr. Ivan!  This is the Jeep just past the giraffe exhibit in Africa at the Columbus Zoo

Bye Bye Bottles

At Ivan's 12 month well check our Nurse Practitioner (who is not a mother) said, "OK, no more bottles, he can drink milk now"

Well, doesn't that sound EASY!  I opted for unsweetened vanilla almond milk in place of dairy milk (we make a special effort to make sure Ivan is getting good fats by cooking with Olive Oil and feeding him avocados, etc).  The first few days he seemed slightly bothered he didn't have a bottle, however, I kept his night time routine (which included a bottle) on schedule.  The first few weeks he LOVED his "Ba-ba" and looked forward to it, but shortly after he only drank half and was more occupied with reading a few books rather than rocking with his bottle.  

It took about 8 weeks in total (from his 1 year birthday) to the day I packed up the bottles ... As a new parent I often hear how every child will develop on his/her own time and not to get too caught up in milestones ... this was just a prime example of that in practice for us!  I'm trying my hardest to nurture his development, while allowing him to be a baby just as long as possible!!

Feeding Ivan his vitamins for optimal baby & toddler development

Feeding any child can be tricky!  I've got a system in the way in which I present food to my 14 month old son that includes protein first, vegetables second, carbs next to last and fruit for desert!  This was learned, like most new Mommy things, by trial and error!  This order works best for my son, based on his preferences ... he loves his pasta and always has room for strawberries & blueberries!

The human brain increases approximately 3.5 times in mass between birth - 5 years old.  This is why I have made such an effort to make sure I was taking a DHA supplement while pregnant and breastfeeding.  Now that Ivan is on his own with regards to diet, it's my job to make sure he gets what he needs ... and sometimes that takes being more creative than not!

Our daily vitamin routine starts at breakfast ... I mix his multi-vitamin with Nordic Naturals Baby's DHA and either Bolthouse Strawberry-Banana Smoothy or Naked Juice's Green Machine. 

Next, I thicken with brown rice or oatmeal infant cereal, which I love for the Iron (I could not find a multi-vitamin for babies that contained iron).

Poof, that nasty tasting multi-vitamin is disguised and down it goes!  If he doesn't finish it at breakfast, I put it in the refrigerator so he can finish a few bites later in the day.  He also enjoys a spoonful of Gaia's Black Elderberry Syrup to help support his bodies immune system since I cannot keep him from putting EVERYTHING from everyone's playroom in his mouth!

Thank goodness for white vinegar!

There was a day not long ago when I was precise about removing the clothes from the dryer as soon as the cycle finished.  Prior to folding, I would immediately shake out all shirts and lay them flat so everything would stay wrinkle free.  Each item would be neatly folded and carefully placed - usually in color coded sequence - in the closet.  Ahhh how those days are long over ... Enter IVAN (motherhood).  Laundry these days usually sits for 12-24 hours in the basket after leaving the dryer.  It is still neatly folded, however, once it hits the drawers it is usually re-arranged by a busy 13 month old.  Bras end up in the sock drawer, socks behind the mirror, my husbands neatly color coded underwear and sock drawer look like the dryer spit them straight into his drawer.

Motherhood changes oh so many things ... it's the things like the impact on a simple load of laundry that surprise me most!  I often joke that I didn't read the fine print on this mommy thing!  Quite an extraordinary adventure we are on, Mother & Son.  Everything appears to be the same, BUT it is not!  The degree of difficulty to do the smallest chores, like a load of laundry, have created another set of challenges.  At my baby shower, guests were asked to write advice for a new mother (me) on a note card ... I think back to the advice written and the advice I can now share.  Close to the top of the list I hope to pass along: white vinegar added to the wash cycle will remove the moldy smell created by towels that have been damp too long, or that load of laundry you washed and forgot about!

View fullsize