Vote!

Please phone, stop ringing!  I am voting tomorrow.  I know who I am voting for.  I hope that he wins.  If he doesn't, it will be too bad, but not the end of the world.

Stop knocking on my door and calling my house and cell phones.

The End

So many babies

I have been busier in the last week or so than I can remember in a long time.  There seems to be a little bit of a baby boom going on around here!

Last week I saw a young, new mom who was truly delighted when her baby latched on by herself while lying against mom's skin and warmth.  These little people have skills we don't know about or even believe until we learn about it and share the skill with the new mom.  And quite often her own mother is there as well as her husband.

I have been doing lactation consulting for almost 29 years.  I have been a La Leche League Leader for almost 34 years.  They are different, but the same.  I use my technical skills to figure out how the baby's mouth anatomy is formed and if it will effect latch and nursing.  I assess the mother's breast anatomy and see what adjustments we need to make to get her and the baby in synch.

I use my La Leche League knowledge to sooth the mother and show her how wonderful and important she is to her baby.  A lot of moms need permission to actually fall in love with their babies.   They love them, but sometimes the whole thing is so daunting and overwhelming that the new mom is in a blur or "what just happened here".   The hormones, the fierce need to care for your baby, these are things you cannot prepare for, nor do you believe it will happen to you.

Today I got to work with two different moms and their two sets of twins.  The first set were boy/ girl twins.   The second set were both identical girl twin babies.  These moms are so determined to get breastfeeding to go well for them.

Ok,. I am so tired I am missing keys, so off to dream land I go.

This little girl will be ten years old in a few days!

Happy Halloween!

You know you are getting older when, not only have your children grown out of trick or treating- you don't know any of the children who come to your door.  Not a single one!

Obama's symbol carved by Austin Sherwood

Hurricane Sandy is still with us

Nick and I went out briefly this afternoon just to see how the world looked.  The Reston Town Center was pretty much shut down, including the movie theater.   The one thing that was open was Starbucks.

Mainly we have been alternating watching storm news with watching some of our cache of recorded British shows we like.  We even sat and watched Family Feud for a while.

Nick and Austin have been taking buckets of water out of the basement and dumping it down our steep driveway- away from the house.   There is a big Rubbermaid bin beneath the leaky window.  This catches the water and then , the water is gotten rid of.

When we were out for our little drive we notices the wind blowing some flags at a gas station.  I took these pictures both to show the intensity of the wind and the direction.  You will see that the wind shift and the flags go all over the place

And then there is this little creature who lives in the basement window well.  Nick name "Sandy"  clever huh?

Waiting out the storm

 Hurricane Sandy aka "Frankenstorm"

It started to rain last night.  The powerful wind is supposed to start around 8 am.  It's 5am now.  I just couldn't sleep any more.

I think we are prepared, but I guess we won't know until after the storm is all over and we see if we lose power or now.

Yesterday the anticipation was making me crazy.   This storm is all that you hear about on TV.  Everything is closed today; schools, government, who knows what else.

I think I will go downstairs and wait .  Maybe I will watch TV, maybe I will fall asleep on the sofa.

Babies babies everywhere!

After not being very busy, I am almost overwhelmed by the number of new moms and babies needing my help with breastfeeding.   It is wonderful.  I love the babies.  I love helping the mothers learn.   What I don't love is how many of the mothers I see have the exact same issues.   So many of these moms were told to give bottles, and are now facing a battle trying to learn how to overcome the frustrations that they and their babies face. 

Oh well.  I can only change the world one mother at a time.  And sometimes more than one baby.  I saw twins this week.  They were so tiny- the girl was just over 4lb and the boy just over 5lb.   So little and so perfect!

This evening my friend Maureen went on a home visit with me to see "how it's done".  She got to see first hand how a baby can find the breast and latch himself on.   She was amazed.  I am always amazed and I especially love the mother's reactions when they see how smart and competent their babies are!  Yes, I do love what I do.  Getting paid for it is so amazing!

Now, what I am not looking forward to is Halloween.   Too many creepy costumes of vampires and creepy stuff.    Oh well, maybe it is because I'm not making costumes for my gang I am just not all that into it.

I am more excited about the upcoming election!  We have to win!

Look at my previous entry and you should be able to figure out who my guy is!

Oh, and the other thing I am excited/ freaked out about is the storm that is coming our way.  It is being called "Frankenstorm".   I hope it is just strong enough to be exciting, but not enough to be too destructive!

Pumpkins I have known

Since it is getting to be that time of year, I decided to post pictures of two of the many pumpkins we have carved over the years.


                                                 Last year we had a chalice pumpkin

      In 2008 we had an Obama pumpkin.  I think we will have another Obama pumpkin this year!