Days of our Laives

Developing a plugged milk duct is one of the top reasons why I dislike breastfeeding and this weekend I suffered with the worst plugged milk duct I've ever had!  My right breast felt like a bar of soap, i.e., about the size of my fist, and HARD.  The pain was mild to moderate, however the stress was excruciating.  I worried every single minute of the whole ordeal, wondering if it would ever go away, and anticipating the onset of an infection. Following the only remedy also added to the stress: for 36 hours I alternated applying cold and hot compresses and attempted to extract milk via nursing or pumping.  I nursed or pumped every two hours.  Kira was frustrated with the constant sucking and yet no milk.  She either cried and fussed, or was bored and listless.  Finally, 36 hours after I realized my breast was hardening up, I nursed Kira lying in my bed while Trevor massaged the affected area, and the plugged milk duct cleared up.  A very anticlimactic ending for such a nightmare. T...

The weather has been really nice recently so my morning drives to work have been pleasant with the sunroof retracted and the windows slightly cracked. The first half of my commute takes me thru lots of winding back roads surrounded by large overhanging oak trees. Once the pollen season winds down I cannot resist but to retract my sunroof and crack the windows to circulate and enjoy the outdoor fresh air. Midway thru my commute I hop on the highway and manually shut all the windows and close the sunroof and turn on my A/C. As soon as I get off the highway I shut off my A/C and reconfigure my windows and sunroof to let the air back in. I would pay extra for a feature that I can enable to manage the automatic enabling and disabling of my A/C system. In fact - it would be even better if I could have one button that sets my windows and sunroof to the last preset position.

We had a really great weekend, and I want to document it so that we can remember it and try to have more weekends like it. Friday was quiet, which was nice.  I needed some ingredients for dinner, and thus was not able to start cooking until Trevor came home from work and the grocery store.  But once Trevor arrived, it only took me 20 minutes to get dinner on the table.  My Mommy made us a container full of wonton filling.  I didn't have any wonton skins, so I stuffed the filling into sliced peppers.  It was so yummy, was ready in a jiffy, and required only one pan!  So not only was dinner prep easy, clean up was easy, too! Saturday, we slept in.  By 12:30, we were out the door to go pick up Logan (he was at my in-laws house ), and then go to Wrentham Premium Outlets.  We stayed there until about 4.  It was great to walk around with both Logan and Kira.  We hardly ever do anything as a WHOLE family, so when the opportunity arises, we take full advantage.  Trevor was the one who nee...

I haven't used the sling in a while.  Kira didn't like it the last time , but I decided to try again because I need to do a lot of packing for the Toronto trip .  She lasted longer in the sling this time around, but it made her spit up, just like last time. At first, my packing strategy for Kira's stuff was to bring enough for 2 changes per day.  On average, she will need a couple changes of clothes due to her unexpected bladder emptying!  Sometimes she needs more, sometimes she needs zero changes, but on average she needs about 2.  This filled up her duffle bag half way.  Then I decided to just fill up the bag because we would be traveling with it anyway; we may as well fill it up!  I jam packed it with clothes and it weighed 10 lbs! In the end, we only used half of the clothes in her bag.  We could have used more sheet liners though.

While in Toronto, we saw many relatives who we haven't seen in months, some of whom have not ever seen Kira!  Of course, the first comment upon seeing Kira was, "Look at that hair!!!"  It's always the first comment, family members or not.  Many even said we should really cut her hair.  And, my MIL was also convinced it was time to cut Kira's hair.  I didn't want to do it until my Mommy convinced me.  She said, it's summer time and Kira's hair makes her hot and sweaty.  Not to mention, her hair is always in her eyes, blocking her vision and itching her face.  So we did it. BEFORE: AFTER: Click on the images to see more pictures of the hair cutting.

As if there weren't enough reasons why I dislike breast feeding ...Kira is biting!  She has bitten me during every feeding since Saturday. My breastfeeding book says that I should say OUCH, unlatch her, stop feeding, and not resume for 30 minutes.  However, there is a risk that this may initiate a nursing strike (i.e., baby refuses to nurse).  I tried that a few times.  Each time was towards the end of her feeding anyway.  But other times I just let it go.  It hurts, but it's bearable . My mother-in-law says that once she starts biting, it's time to start solids.  My MIL is very enthusiastic about weaning because she believes Kira will be less attached to me once she stops breast feeding.  Besides the biting, Kira is also teething.  So, I guess it might be time to start solids.  Tomorrow, Kira will be 5 months old exactly.

We just returned from a trip up to Toronto Canada to see friends and family. Vickie and Kira took a flight from Boston to Buffalo NY and the rest of the family drove up to pick them up and continue North up to Toronto. It is a fairly long drive ranging from 8 hours without hitting traffic to on the order of 10 hours with traffic and rest stops. During all the driving these were some of the less common cars that we noticed: BMW M5 I noticed a few of these in all different places. This is BMW's rocket with 4 doors that has a 5 liter V10 outputting 500 horsepower. Every single one that I saw was black...Pricing starts at just $83,000 and quickly reaches $100,000 when nicely equipped. This car can accelerate from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds...not bad for a big heavy sedan! BMW M3 I was lucky enough to spot the new generation BMW M3 with a 4.0 liter naturally aspirated V8 outputting 414 horsepower. Not only was it the new generation that is just being rolled out in the US, but it was a conve...