It is April 15, 2011 and Zeke will be 15 months old in a few days. I made the big decision to stop nursing him today! It may sound silly, but I am really going to miss it. It is a special bonding time I have with him. This begins a new phase for us. I went down to one feeding (morning) from two just last week. I think I could have continued to nurse him, but he has become more of a wiggle worm. I also would like to try some herbal treatments to address my high blood sugar, so it was safer to stop nursing. He's drinking milk from a sippy cup already, so it won't be a big adjustment for him. He probably won't even notice! I nursed yesterday morning for the last time. I never planned on nursing him for so long, but it just never felt right to stop. It feels right now, even though I am sad! I took a picture from my view for posterity!
April has been a great month. The weather is warming up (sometimes it's too warm), and Gregg is in the midst of turkey hunting season, which makes him a happy man! We even took Zeke's picture with Gregg and his first bird of the 2011 season! Who would have thought I'd be taking pictures of my child with a dead turkey? Haha...life is funny that way. I actually cooked the meat right away, and put it in Zeke's mush. I love being able to give him free-range meat!
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| Two happy guys! |
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| Swinging at the park |
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| Mommy and Zeke...what a beautiful day! |
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| "Walking" to the slide |
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| Walking with Wynna! |
On the topic of food...I just took my first bread making class. I have been learning about the importance of milling your own grain right before you bake bread. Once the grain is broken open by milling, it begins to loose it's nutrients. If you don't bake it relatively soon, most of the nutrients are gone. The commercial manufacturers, don't even mill it at all. They have some technical way of breaking it open (I believe by boiling it), and separating the germ and the bran from the white flour. They then put a few nutrients back in, but not anywhere close to the way God designed it to be. After learning this, I decided to begin milling. I made sourdough bread last week before the class and made whole wheat/millet muffins today for Easter. I am quite intrigued by all of this and excited about the health benefits this process can offer my family. Now if we can just get to the root of my blood sugar issue, I might be able to enjoy it too!
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| Cracked wheat/millet muffins |
We do not have a walking boy yet, but he is still very close. He seems more interested in playing with his Tupperware puzzle where he fits shapes into the correct slot. His favorite shape is the circle for some reason. He always saves it for last and sometimes just decides to carry it around! My mom has been over here a few times this month, and she is so wonderful to play with the puzzle over and over again!
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| The Tupperware puzzle |
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| Daddy helping Zeke |
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| "I love Wynna!" |
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| He still loves hats! |
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| ...and putting hats on people! |
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| The puzzle! |
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| ...and again! |
Lastly, God has really been working in my heart lately. I am trying to understand more deeply what my role is as a wife and mother. I've been encouraged by Proverbs 31. Verse 27 says,
"She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat." I want to keep a loving, calm home that provides safety, stability, and health for my family. God is slowly revealing to me how to accomplish that. I know it will never be perfect, but I want to continually seek God's will for us. That's the best thing I can do!
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
