Pinhole Press vacation book

My darlings, we love taking vacation photos (who doesn't?) but then we never really look at them again. They're just stuck on our computers. So! We decided to make a Pinhole Press photo book with our England vacation snapshots, and I love love love the way it turned out. The paper is really soft, the photos look gorgeous, and it's amazing to have a little book of our vacation. Alex and I have read through it like fifty times. :) Here are a few of the pages...
Anyway, it was easy to make and it's so wonderful to have; now I'm dying to make litte photo books for all our vacations and events, including every Christmas break and our wedding and honeymoon. Thought I'd share! xoxo
P.S. Inspired, I also made some thank-you notes to have on hand at home, using a photo Amy Merrick emailed me of her flowers. :)

Motherhood Mondays: On boobs. :)

My darlings, this may be a little intimate, but let's talk about breasts! After the jump, of course...

I've always been a pretty modest person (in high school gym class, I was one of the girls who would change in the bathroom) but now that I've had a baby, I'm much more open about certain body parts: namely, breasts. They just seem so functional and quotidian to me now. So, if you're game, I'd love to chat about all things breasty.

Seven things that surprised me about breastfeeding:

1. Breastfeeding burns a whopping 500 calories per day! Yowza! I was really surprised to hear that. Even if you sit perfectly still all day, you burn as many calories as if you'd run five miles. Needless to say, you get hungry like the wolf. I remember drinking an average of four glasses of whole milk every day, and once, I ate an entire tuna pasta salad in the middle of the night. The next morning, my mom, who was visiting, was like, "Where's the pasta salad?" I was like....In. My. Belly.

2. You get overwhelmingly thirsty. As soon as I'd start nursing Toby, I'd get hit with a wave of thirst like a Mack truck. All I would be able to think was, "Water, water, water...." until I was glugging down a huge glass. Alex actually bought me a giant water bottle, and honestly it was one of my favorite gifts I've ever gotten.

3. You can squirt milk across the room. (Is that TMI?) Before having a baby, I imagined that a nipple would function like a single straw, but actually they're more like this kitchen faucet. Milk sprays out a bunch of teeny holes, and, if you squeeze your breast, you can spray milk right across the room! It would be an awesome party trick if it were the least bit socially acceptable.

4. Nursing bras can be sexy. I dragged my feet when shopping for a nursing bra because I figured I'd be stuck wearing a hideous functional number for the next twelve months. But! I was thrilled to discover Elle MacPherson nursing bras. They're soft and pretty, and I love how the black lace peeks out from beneath tank tops and cardigans.

5. Babies are completely over-the-moon about milk. It's so, so, so adorable how much babies love milk. Toby would get so excited before feeding; he'd root around trying to find the boob. He'd frantically move his tiny head around, like, where is it, where is it...he'd find his fist and suck like crazy...and then be like, oh, wait, that's not it....where is it....YES, here it is!!!! And his eyes would basically roll back in his head, he was so happy. He would sometimes even hum when he drank! (And then he'd get his drunken sailor face:)

6. You can literally feel drained afterward. Sometimes I'd stumble out of the nursery after giving Toby his bedtime feed, and tell Alex, laughing, "I feel like the energy was just truly sucked out of me." It can be exhausting. I mean, you're fattening up a baby. Of course, it can be really wonderful, cozy and profound at the same time.

7. You get big boobs! Kind of embarrassing but one of my favorite parts of pregnancy/nursing was finally experiencing big boobs. I've always been a flat-chested girl (I even wore those chicken cutlets at my wedding), and I've long been curious about what it would be like to have big breasts even just for one day. Well, when I was pregnant, my breasts kept growing, and when Toby was born and I started nursing, they felt HUGE (at least to me). It was a thrill to have big boobs, including cleavage, for the first time ever! (Here are my small boobs; here are my big boobs:) Of course, now that Toby has stopped nursing, my boobs have shrunk down to their pre-baby size. But I'll never forget my one glorious well-endowed year.
Toby eating lunch in our hospital room when he was one day old.

Finally, the breastfeeding book I swear by: A few of my best friends found breastfeeding very difficult at first (one even said it was harder than labor, ouch!). I felt hugely grateful to have a relatively easy time with nursing, and, along with biology and luck, I credit The Nursing Mother's Companion for helping make breastfeeding easier. With a straightforward, reassuring tone, the book shows you how to help your baby latch on correctly and overcome obstacles. My friend Samantha gave me her dog-eared copy before Toby was born, and I'm so thankful she did. I'd highly recommend it to all mothers-to-be who plan to nurse. (And good luck to you! I know everyone's experience is different.)
I'm so curious: What was your experience with breastfeeding? Did you breastfeed or decide not to? What were those early days like for you? (I am so amazed by moms who handled sore breasts on top of everything else in new motherhood! What heros!) What surprised you? I would LOVE to hear...
(Heehee)

P.S. More on breastfeeding and more Motherhood Monday posts.

I Had A Baby Today

Well, it wasn't my baby. I got home from work and changed into shorts and T-Shirt, checked the home email, went out front for a smoke.

I see this toddler, barely able to walk, waddling around in the middle of the street in front of the house. There was a car stopped, because there was a baby in the road! Once the baby waddled to one side, the car left. Left the baby standing there on the street. You fucking asshole.

Another resident across the street came out, got his mail, and left the baby alone in the street. You fucking asshole.

Do people really have no compassion anymore? Just leave a wandering baby all alone? Yes, people do.

So I got the baby into my yard by picking up the softball it was playing with and motioning it over there. Once away from the street I stuck my head in the door and had my son bring me my cell phone. I called 911 and gave them the vitals on the kid and they said they were sending an officer.

Fifteen minutes go by, as I (and my son) keep the baby from heading off across the field to the playground. At one point the baby say down and motioned us to do the same. After a few minutes sitting the baby put up it's arms wanting to get back up. Ok, back to playing with the ball...

The cop shows up and he asks me to stay with the baby while he and his partner (en-route) start knocking on doors.

This is when Dad appears, looking very relieved to find his baby. The kid yelled "daddy"! I knew this was over, but I wanted to see what the cop would do. He asked senior daddy what happened and dad said something about loading up a truck. The cop let it go, then senorita showed up looking upset, but picked up her baby lovingly (I was worried there might be anger). Everyone left..

In retrospect, I lost my 5 year old son in the mall once (I should say, he lost me). So I understand how these things happen, and how the parent feels.  But he was 5, not a toddler.  Never lost a toddler.