October Round-up

We had lots of fun in October. Here are a few highlights...

Family visit to Homestead Farms

We have gone to the same small, local, family farm for two years in a row now. They have a great little pumpkin patch, goats, chickens, a playground, and best of all... it's FREE! :)

Halloween

For Halloween this year, Denver dressed as Frodo from The Lord of the Rings.  We went to our neighborhood Halloween party the Saturday before Halloween, and then he went trick or treating for the first time this past Wednesday. He was certainly a cute little hobbit. In fact, he won the costume contest for his age group at our neighborhood party. What a champ!

 it got chilly, so Frodo had to put on his jacket and traditional Hobbit footwear... Nike Shox

He was a perfect little Frodo, wouldn't you say?

Hat? Not Quite.

A few weeks ago, Austin started regularly wearing a hat. This is possibly the best parenting decision he's ever made because it led us to discover that Denver has an interesting pronunciation of the word "hat."

See for yourself.

Two Years

0 years 

1 year

2 years

Today Denver is two years old. I think the most common piece of advice that I'm given by moms is to enjoy every minute, because you'll blink your eyes and he'll be grown.

Let me tell you, Denver's first year of life didn't really "fly by" at all.  In fact, it seemed to drag a bit. I might even call it the longest year of my life.

  Time flies when you're....eh... nursing all night long?

Well not for me. Having a baby was very difficult for me, and the year was a long one.

However, I feel like I'm finally starting to understand what all those moms were talking about. Because now, as I prepare for Denver's little two-year birthday party, it feels like it was about one or two months ago that I did all this for his one-year birthday party. 

If his first year was the longest year of my life, this last year has definitely been the quickest. Maybe I'm more cut out for toddler-hood. Maybe I've just grown as a mother. 

Either way, the time is really flying by. If the next few years go as quickly as this one did, he really will be grown in a blink.

So I guess I better stop writing now, and go enjoy every moment. 

Magic Mic

Is this a blog about how I think Magic Mike is degrading to men and women, and we shouldn't be objectifying anyone, no matter their gender?


Or is this a blog about how obsessed I am with Magic Mike, and how I think every empowered woman should see it?


NEITHER!

It's about my son. And his favorite toy. And how hard I laugh now, every time he plays with it.

Here he is, singing his little heart out...

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the name of his microphone...

That's right. Our very own Magic Mic.

Denver gives it two thumbs up.

To Tweet or not to Tweet....

A few months ago, I read a blog post by one of my favorite online writers, Jon Acuff. He writes the blog Stuff Christians like, which is often very funny and sometimes surprisingly filled with wisdom.  For instance, I love how he says that frisbee is God's favorite sport, and he pokes fun at Christians for hating Harry Potter, but loving The Lord of the Rings.

This article, however, was different. It seriously made me think, and I've been thinking about it for the last several months.

http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/8-words-from-my-5-year-old-that-changed-social-media-forever/

To summarize, his 5 year old daughter was doing something adorable, and he wanted to take a picture of her. She told him "no," and when he asked why not, she replied, "because I don't want you to tweet it."

Ouch.

My son, Denver, is the cutest little thing I've ever seen. I love taking pictures and videos of him and sharing them with my family and friends. I love bragging about him and how he is so strong that he climbed out of his crib when he was only 17 months old. Or how his "older brother" is his dog, so he prefers to have his bowel movements in the backyard, because that's obviously what big kids do.

And right now he is 21 months old, and would run up and down the street naked if we let him, because he is incapable of being embarrassed or bashful.  But that won't last forever. What about when he's five? Should I still be posting every cute and funny thing he says and does?

And what about when he's twelve? Or sixteen?  Can you imagine in the hallway of his middle school...

Juanito: "Yo Denver, I heard you wet the bed last night!"

Denver: "What the heck! No I didn't! Why would you say that?"

Juanito: "Dude, your mom tweeted it. EVERYONE KNOWS."

As Acuff writes in his blog,

"I also honestly think that when my friend Carlos shared his son’s adoption story on his blog, he and his wife sent ripples online that touched thousands of lives and inspired countless adoptions.

There is great potential beauty in the things we share online. But most of us never stop long enough in the midst of the fire hose that is social media to admit that there is also potential danger.

We don’t have it figured out yet. We don’t have 100 years of precedent to fall back on. We can’t say, “Remember how Roosevelt handled social media with his family? What can we learn from his actions?” If the internet is a teenager, then in many ways social media is a toddler. We’re all just trying to figure it out. And I don’t want to figure it out on the backs of my kids."

I know that as I was growing up, my parents were very intentional about never publicly humiliating me. Even when I was disobedient they were respectful to me, and lovingly handled any situation in the privacy of our home. As an adult, I see the way that my parents' respect for me helped to mold me and shape me into who I am today, and I have a great deal of respect for them in return. I just fear that publicly sharing so many details of my son's life isn't showing him that same courtesy.

Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do.  I have good friends who don't use facebook, or have a twitter account, or blog. They just live peaceful lives with their families, unconsumed with what everyone else is doing all the time. This is becoming more and more appealing to me.

Is there some kind of happy medium though? Maybe keeping my facebook account, but closely monitoring what I put on it about my son? Or changing the settings on this blog so that only certain people can read it? Or closing the blog down all together and just occasionally emailing funny stories/pictures to close family and friends?

These are my thoughts and concerns for the upcoming months and years. I warmly welcome any suggestions or comments.

Spring 2012

Sure there are a few women out there who are interested in how exactly I healed my diastasis recti. All six of you, thank you for reading.

But I know the majority of the readers of this blog think that Denver is a cutie-pie and like to see new pictures of him.  I haven't uploaded many pictures the last few months, so here is a round-up of pictures from the Spring.

Some sweet, some sassy... Enjoy :)

not super bashful for the camera, is he? 

 Thinking hard about which color to choose

Isn't parenting glamorous? 

My enthusiastic eater 

GIANT BUNNY 

 Play date at the park. All three boys wore the same shirt. Unplanned. That's what happens when your moms shop at Target! :)

Action shot of D trying to demolish something with a croquet mallet. I love this so much. 

His signature "cheese face" 

Another cheesy one 

Drinking an after-nap smoothie with after-nap hair

Our little water baby with Daddy in Destin

This kid took D's ball. The look on his face says it all. "I'm an only child. I don't like to... what's that word? Oh yes, share."

Got my ball back! Got my farmer's tan!
LIFE IS GOOD.

The Lord so richly blessed us with this beautiful boy.
Thank you Jesus.

Starring Denver as Himself

As many of you know, Denver was the first grandchild for my parents and Austin's parents.  None of our close friends from high school, college, work, or church had kids yet either. We felt like pioneers, and that could be pretty hard. Most people didn't understand our weird new schedule that revolved around nap times and bed time, or the new ways we needed to spend/save money, or the fact that we drink Bud Light lime in all seasons (still trying to find a way to pin that on Denver).

But there is one distinct advantage to being the "first" of your friends to have children. If they don't have any kids, then they're probably pretty excited to babysit your kid...FOR FREE... and they like it!

Seriously, we have been so blessed by family and friends that ask us for opportunities to babysit Denver. We feel incredibly fortunate, and love all our friends so much.

Last Friday night, one friend went a little above and beyond. As we were Rockin' the Suburbs with Ben Folds at a concert downtown, our friend Ricky watched Denver and made the following three movies.  In fact, when we got home at 11:00pm (latest we've ever stayed out? maybe), he had completed all three of these movies and had us sit down to watch them. Did I mention this is the same friend who brought his own muppet to Denver's 1st birthday party? It all makes sense now, doesn't it.

Enjoy!

My Little Mentalist

While watching this week's episode of The Mentalist... which isn't even the most embarrassing show we watch...(cough* Celebrity Apprentice cough*), I made a very important discovery.

Denver has the same hair cut as Simon Baker! 

That is all.

A Few Spring Pictures

 

An Easter Blessing

Wishing your family peace and tranquility this Easter week...

With love and tenderness,

Denver

Balance

So I was recently online and I saw this little jokey-type saying that said, "I'd love to be a stay-at-home mom, just without the kids." I thought to myself, "What a horrible message! That's so negative! I'm going to get on facebook right now and exclaim my love for motherhood to counter-balance this negativity. Take that!"

But then I thought about it.

I've had a number of people say to me, "Being a mom is the best! I love every minute of it! There's nothing better." And if I hear that comment only moments after cleaning my son's poop off the floor, while simultaneously hearing him vomit one room away (true story... happened this week), then I get agitated. I feel guilty because I don't love every minute of it, and I'm jealous of this mom who does.

So then I didn't exclaim my undying love for motherhood on facebook. But I'm also not going to joke about wanting to be a stay-at-home mom without kids. Is there some kind of balance?

Those are my thoughts for today. That's just me being honest. Because I do love being a mom. I love so many things about it, and sometimes I want to scream it from the rooftops. And then just moments later I can be staring at my child, in tears, because I have no clue what to do in this situation and maybe I'm the worst mom in the world and why is there poop everywhere?!

I would just love it if more moms were a little more vulnerable and honest. So many things bring me such great joy... like finally hearing my son sort of say the word "ball" at 18 months, or how insistent he is at praying before every meal (melts my heart), or the look on his face when I get him out of his crib in the morning and he sees me, and his eyes light up like I'm the best thing in the world. (this is a very short-lived moment, however, because within five seconds he demands breakfast)

cutie-pie to the max, right?

But then sometimes your son brings you a clementine to peel while you're going to the bathroom, and without thinking you peel it for him, and you're like WHO AM I?? I need a break.

Anyway, I feel like this was possibly better suited for my own private diary than the world wide web... but isn't that what all blogging is anyway?

Thanks for listening.

I'll try to be honest about my experiences. Not whiney and negative, but not obnoxiously positive. Want to join me?

Baby Sign Language

Denver is almost 17 months, and he still doesn't say many words. He sometimes says "dada" and "mama," and he'll occasionally say something that sounds like "nigh nigh" when he wants to go to bed, but that's about it. My parents tell me that I was a late talker though, and now I never stop talking, so I'm confident he'll be just fine. :)

In the mean time, he's gotten pretty good at baby sign language.  Austin's mom (my mother-in-law) is fluent in sign language, so she has helped a lot with the signs. Denver seems to really enjoy it, and it's nice to be able to communicate with him, even if it's not through spoken words.

Last night I recorded us showing off a few of these signs. For some reason, I always decide to do this sort of thing when I'm not wearing any makeup, and I haven't brushed my hair in like 24 hours, so please excuse that. Also, now that I watch this video, I think I sound like those contestants on Wheel of Fortune that SCREAM the letters at Pat Sajak like he's never heard of the letter "T" before.  But that's enough self-deprecation. There's still a cute baby in the video, and he's the important part.

Enjoy!

The Long Overdue "Mummy Tummy" Update

It was May 2011 when I originally blogged about my frustrations with my "mummy tummy."  It is now almost eight months later, and I'm finally updating everyone on my progress.  I confess that part of the reason that I haven't posted on this subject until now is that I was so discouraged. I originally thought, "I'll make a plan! I'll stick to my plan! And in six weeks the results will be amazing and everyone will be encouraged and I'll be skinny again! Hooray!!"  And then six weeks passed... and another six weeks... and a few more months... and my stomach still protruded to what I felt was an embarrassing level.

As I mentioned eight months ago, I didn't just have too much fat on my stomach. I suffered from diastasis recti, which is a separation of abdominal muscles, causing internal organs to not be supported, causing a bulging stomach and protruding belly button (cute when you're pregnant, not cute when you're not.)

Although it took much longer than I anticipated (Denver is now almost 17 months old), I am happy to announce that my mummy tummy is almost completely gone! It has certainly taken a lot of hard work and dedication (Yes I did borrow that line from Dolvett on the Biggest Loser), but it's been worth it.

May 27, 2011

January 23, 2012 

(8 months later)

The little tummy that you see left in the above picture is mostly excess skin (TMI? sorry). It's possible that with time, that skin will tighten, but it's also very possible that it won't. As of now, I'm planning to never wear a two-piece again, and I'm pretty okay with that. I'd take Denver over a bikini any day. :)

For those that are interested, here's what I did to lose the tummy:

1. I went to physical therapy every week for 8 weeks, learning new exercises and helping to retrain my muscles.

2. I wore an abdominal splint (and still sometimes do) as often as I can remember to wear it.

3. I do "tupler technique" exercises multiple times a day. Like usually every time I drive, or whenever I'm sitting on the floor playing with Denver, or any time really. I try to do six sets of 100 exercises every day. Yes, that's a lot. But hopefully that gives you an idea of how important this was to me. I reeeeeally didn't want to look pregnant any more, and my lower back needed more support.

My main point of this post is to encourage anyone who is in a similar circumstance. When I look at my blog stats, I notice that other than Austin's post about Denver's birth, my Mummy Tummy post is my other most popular entry. Which makes me think there are other women out there with a similar story.

If you have diastasis recti, and you're feeling frustrated, feel free to email me and I can give you more info on everything I did: caitlinmariehines@gmail.com.

And in the mean time, please know that if you keep up with the right exercises, your muscles can be retrained, and you won't always look 4 months pregnant! :)

Breastmilk Counts... continued

So last summer I let everyone know that our little family took a road trip to Austin, TX so that I could be interviewed for a pro-breastfeeding website.

Since then, I've had a number of people ask me if I'd ever seen the final product. My answer has always been... "No, I keep checking the website, but still nothing."

Well, last night, Austin asked if I had checked in a while, and it had been a month or two since I'd tried to find the video. Sure enough, it was posted!

So here it is. My 1:14 minute clip about breastfeeding. I certainly hope that my information, along with the other women who contributed, encourages women to nurse their babies/toddlers, even if they are having a hard time, or feel for some reason like they "can't."

Yes, I do nurse Denver briefly in this video. If you are uncomfortable with that, I wanted to inform you in advance. But maybe if you're uncomfortable with it, all the more reason to watch! ;)

http://www.breastmilkcounts.com/community.php

A New Year, A New Attitude

I have a New Year's Resolution.

It's the kind of resolution that is scary to say aloud because it means people will know about it and (gasp) maybe even hold me accountable to it.

I resolve to stop complaining.

There. I said it.

I have been incredibly convicted of this for quite some time now. I feel that there are certain things that we, as Christians, take very seriously:

Love one another deeply.

Don't lie.

Don't use the Lord's name in vain.

Serve those less fortunate than yourself.

The list goes on...

But having a grumbly/whiney attitude is just as wrong as any other sin.  God is very clear about complaining.  In Philippians 2:14, Paul writes,

 "Do everything without grumbling or arguing..." (emphasis mine). 

Seriously God? EVERYTHING? 

What about when Denver has his fourth enormous dirty diaper of the day? Don't I deserve to whine a little about that?

Or what about the extremely rude woman at the grocery store? Can't I tweet about her?

Or when I'm just having a terrible miserable no good very bad day? Can't I complain about that at happy hour with my girlfriends?

The truth is that God calls us not to grumble for a specific purpose:

 "Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation."  Philippians 2:14

People whine. That's our nature. We want everyone else to know what a crummy day we've had. So in choosing not to grumble, we stand out... like a light in a dark place.  It is just one more way to share the gospel. One more way to let people know how great Jesus is and how powerful he is. He has the power to change our attitudes.

What I'm not saying is that I'm going to walk around with a fake smile plastered on my face constantly acting like I'm in a happy mood even when I'm not. I think we are supposed to be real with each other. When someone asks me if I'm having a good day, I think it's appropriate to sometimes say, "No, it's been pretty bad," and ask for advice or have a shoulder to cry on.  I am talking about the constant complainy/grumbly attitude that I sometimes take about all sorts of things. I'm talking about mindlessly grumbling about little things just for the sake of conversation and self-pity.

The odds are pretty good that you will hear me complain at some point throughout the next year. Mainly because I'm human, and I'm sinful, and this is going to be a major change for me. But i commit to working hard at it every day. And hopefully, with LOTS of help from the Holy Spirit, my attitude and mind-set will eventually change, and it won't be in my nature to complain as often.