Lessons Learned

So there has not been too much going on here at the Harris household. Mark has been out to sea so McKenna and I, and of course Bailey and Roxie, have been just hanging out and passing time. McKenna is doing great and getting so big already!! Just in case you are wondering, no she has not changed her looks to resemble me; she is definitely her father's daughter! haha She looks like Mark and I am ok with that. I have been told that she looks to have my smile so we'll see. For now though, you be the judge...

So as of right now it is looking like all she got from me was my long legs and possibly my smile. We're waiting to see if she is going to have her daddy's blue eyes or my green eyes...that of course could take years considering my eyes did not change until I was...9-10 years old maybe? I can't remember how old I was but I remember I was older. I had blue eyes up until then and I used to pray for "green eyes like my Daddy." Well...I got them!

You know, I have been thinking a lot lately about motherhood and all and what I have learned thus far. I have to say that one of the most important things that I have learned so far, and I learned it quite fast mind you, is sometimes you have to do what is best for you and what works for you. I have gotten A LOT of advice (which is always welcomed even if I do not follow it) and been told A LOT of things but in the end I am going to do what I have to do and what is best for my daughter and my family. If McKenna getting some good sleep means that she sleeps on her stomach than so be it, she is going to sleep on her stomach. Or if that means that Mark and I co-sleep for a little bit so that we are not up and down all night than so be it, we co-sleep for a little bit. When it comes down to it I am going to do what I think is best for us all. So far it is working and I am happy to say that McKenna and I have our little routine all set up and we are just waiting to introduce daddy to it when he gets home.

Another BIG lesson for me has been the hardest lesson that I have to and will have to work on each and every day...allowing help. I have always been independent and my own person and biggest of all stubborn. I do not ever want to look weak and I do not want people to think of me as weak or "needing" help. I CAN do it myself, I WILL do it myself, and I will show you as much. Now, will any of that ever change? No, I am always going to be that way, ask my mom. haha BUT I am learning that sometimes I just need to step back and welcome offered help; not everyone who offers thinks that I can't do it or that I "need" help, they are offering because they know that doing it all and relying on yourself all of the time is not healthy. Let me interject here, I am speaking in reference to such times that Mark is out to sea or deployed, not when he is home. None of this is being said with reference to him. He and I are one. However, I have gotten many comments about when he is deployed here soon how I will need help because I have a new baby...things like that make me cringe and make me want to scream and "show you" per se. I am also refering to when my parents were up here and my mother-in-law was up here right after McKenna was born, they are absolutely wonderful and I did not utilize them as I should have. It was not until they all left that I was able to reflect back and come to the realization that I should have taken that time to take all of the help I could get because they were offering to help me in any way at all. (I do apologize to ya'll for that.) As I said earlier, I am very independent so for me to take a step back and be doted on per se is hard for me to do. I do not ever want to come across as weak or incapable but I have learned that allowing help is not a sign of weakness but of strength; being strong enough to say "Yes, can you please help me..."

On another note, as I said earlier, Mark is out to sea right now and super busy. There are days that even I do not hear from him. His job is very stressful so even when I don't hear from him I send him emails about what's going on and always keep them positive. There are not too many times that something is so important that it cannot wait until he gets home. If there is one thing that I have learned from being a Navy Wife (more lessons for another post...haha) it is that things sent to the ship should always be positive; anything that might possibly cause more stress, anger, upset, etc. does not need to be sent. Carriers are huge ships, little towns if you may, but there is no room on there for family problems and stresses because I want my husband coming home safely and if all of that negativity and those petty problems are what he has on his mind than a safe and secure job cannot be done or decision made when it really matters. I really should write a post of things that should and should not be done or said or sent to Sailors who are out to sea. haha Maybe I will do just that. Well anyway, I did not mean to get off on a tangent but there are too many times that I hear of things sent or said to these sailors while they are underway that should have waited and been dealt with at home. When you think about it, on a Navy ship all it takes is one mistake to affect everyone. I don't know about you but I don't want that on my shoulders.

Well I guess that is about all that is going on around here. Time for me to finish up some things around the house before McKenna wakes up to eat.

Ciao!

Congratulations Kristin and David!!

If you have kept up with my blog you have seen me reference "Kristin" numerous times. A little background first, Kristin and I went to church together in high school at Travis Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas. She is such a sweet and beautiful person and I have to say that since getting to know her again after losing touch for a while I do consider her one of my good friends. Ok, NOW, about a month after I found out I was pregnant she found out that she was as well and from there I think that we both kind of looked to eachother for support in having someone in the same situation per se. I am happy to announce that her daughter, Addison, has made her debut into this world! I am so excited! No, I don't get to meet her yet but I can't wait to!

KRISTIN: I am so excited for you and I know that you are going to be a wonderful mother! Addison is very lucky to have you as her mother. It has been such a great time getting to know you again and better in preparing for these new chapters in our lives.

KAITLIN: Thank you so much for all of the updates! You are a wonderful sister and Kristin is very lucky to have you for one, as she already knows I am sure. It has been such a pleasure getting to know you.

So, once again, Congratulations Kristin and David; and Welcome Addison!

Ciao!

I am so Excited!

I just got done reading an update about Kristin, though it was from last night I believe, but she is in labor and I can't wait to hear that everything went perfectly and Addison has arrived!!

It is so crazy how after having been through labor and all of the emotions that go along with labor and delivery and seeing your child for the first time how those emotions just come flooding back. I never understood until right now why people tear up at the birth of a child. I understood the parents tearing up, goodness knows that Mark and I both did, but other people I never really understood until right now. It is a mother thing. As soon as I read the words that Kristin was in labor it brought tears to my eyes and all of those emotions that I was feeling when I was in labor came flooding back to me; the fear of bringing a child into such a scary world, the excitement of seeing and holding my own daughter for the first time, the intense love that I have for Mark, the faith that God was going to take care of us and everything would go smoothly, EVERYTHING came rushing back to me like a tsunami! In everything though, I think the one that came rushing back the fastest and the most was the love for McKenna; the love that you thought you had for that baby already just multiplies infinitely when you hear that first little cry. A friend of mine told me something the other day that has really stuck with me; she said, "the love that a mother feels for her child is the closest thing to how God feels for us." A mother's love for her child is agape meaning that she would lay down her life for her child. Of course how much God loves all of his children is too much for us as humans to fully understand but a mother's love is the closest humanly possible way to describe it. What an amazing analogy and I am so honored that God has allowed me to experience it!

I am so excited for Kristin and David! I don't know David, well, at all but I know that he loves the Lord and I know that he loves Kristin and I know that he will love Addison just as much if not more than he ever thought possible and that is good enough for me. The two of them are going to be wonderful parents and just as they will be blessed with Addison, Addison is blessed to have them as parents.

Ciao!

Cloth Diapers

McKenna and I just finished our first week of using cloth diapers and I must say that we like it very much! I only bought 6 to start with because I wanted to make sure it was something that I wanted to keep up with so it involved a lot of washing but now that I know that I do in fact love them I am going to get more!

I know what you are thinking, what made me even want to use cloth diapers, right? Valid question and my answer is there were a few different factors. First off, how cute are they?? Secondly, I got to thinking about the cost of diapers and just how many we would go through a day and cloth is definitely the way to go in saving some money. Sure, you pay more up front but after that the diapers prettymuch pay for themselves. The average person goes through 6,000-8,000 diapers from birth to three years old; that is atleast $2,000-$3,000 per child! Disposibles can't be reused, you use them and they're done. Cloth on the other hand, you can reuse AND reuse from child to child. Taking the previous dollar amounts and then purchasing enough cloth diapers for 3 years saves you at least $1,200...AT LEAST! Then you refactor in the fact that you can reuse these diapers with future children and that saving goes up! As I stated earlier, you pay more up front for cloth diapers and then the extra washing and detergent and all but within the big picture those costs don't even compare to what you would be paying for disposibles every week.

Another factor that pushed me to cloth diapers and that they are much better for the environment. Disposible diapers end up in landfills and that is where they stay; they don't break down for years and years to come. With about 80% of diapering in the United States being done with disposibles can you imagine how much plastic and trees are being used to essentially be thrown into a landfill to sit for years? With these diapers containing urine and feces just sitting in landfills untreated they have the potential to not only cause harm to the land and air but they also have the potential to enter and contaminate underground water sources.

My fourth reason for using cloth diapers is the fact that they are healthier. Disposibles contain chemicals and toxins that cloth diapers do not; Dioxin, Tributyl-tin (TBT), and Sodium Polyacrylate. Dioxin, a byproduct of the paper-bleaching of disposible diapers, in various forms has been linked to cancer, liver damage, skin disease, etc. TBT is a toxic pollutent that is known to cause hormonal problems not only in humans but in animals too. Sodium Polyacrylate was at one time used in tampons for absorbance but has since been removed because it was found as a factor in Toxic Shock Syndrom. 'Nuff said. There have also been studies that the chemical emissions from disposible diapers can cause respiratory problems. Now, and I saying and do I think that if you use disposible diapers all of this is going to happen? No, I am just saying that that these chemicals that are used in producing disposible diapers have been linked to these ailments and problems.

So those are my reasonings for using cloth diapers. I do not look down on disposibles, in fact, McKenna has been too small up until now for us to use our cloth diapers and we have been using disposibles up until. I am not totally against disposible diapers and will probably keep a few handy for babysitters or church if using cloth makes them uncomfortable. After talking it over with Mark and weighing the pros and cons, we decided that cloth was for us and that is what we decided to do.

Using cloth diapers is not an inconvenience as it was years ago when you had to know how to fold properly and pin properly, these days they are very much just as easy as disposibles with an extra load of laundry a week. I would encourage anyone to at least try cloth before writing it off. I went into cloth diapering just wanting to try it and if I didn't like it or it didn't work for me, ok then, but at least I tried. And as a personal testimony, I have had more leaks and blow-outs with disposibles than I have had with cloth diapers.

Happy (belated) Anniversary!

I wanted to blog a few days ago but did not get the chance to. January 10 was mine and Mark's 3 year wedding anniversary! It is so hard to believe that it has been 3 years...3 wonderfully blissful years!! Since Mark is out to sea we were not able to celebrate on our anniversary but we did go out to P.F. Chang's before he left to celebrate. I also got him a present that I am quite proud of, though he doesn't know that he has one yet...it wasn't here before he left so he has a surprise when he gets back and he will probably get me for getting him something. haha

Not too much has been going on...well I take that back. This past Friday my mother-in-law came into town and spent the weekend with McKenna and I! It was such a good time! It started out interesting (which I still feel bad about by the way, MARGIE), however, when I got a phone call from Margie at 9AM saying that her plane had landed. WHAT?! I was laying in bed with McKenna, we had just finished playing and were just relaxing. So I got up and got McKenna dressed and threw some clothes on myself and we headed to the airport. I felt SO bad! After that hurdle that morning though everything was great! I got the pedicure that I was supposed to get the last time she came up until McKenna decided she was ready to meet her daddy and I face to face, we shopped, but most of all we just relaxed and had a good time! It was so nice!

McKenna is getting so big; I just can't believe it! She is 1 month and 3 days old...WHAT?! Man oh man, she is just growing up so fast already! We have finally, as of just a few days ago, gotten to where we can wear newborn size clothes....but yes, they are still a little big. We are also finally able to wear our cloth diapers!! Today was the first day that we used them and so far so good. I had a time finding the right detergent to wash them with but I finally found it and now all is good to go!

Well I am sure that she will be waking up soon so I better go get some more housework done...and dinner started!! I am hungry!! haha

Ciao!

Happy Birthday to The King

Today would be Elvis Presley's 74th birthday. How crazy is that?? So I have spent all day playing his movies as part of my way of celebrating and remembering. I know, it's silly but I am not alone! haha Anyone who really knows me knows that I am a BIG Elvis fan and if you didn't know than you do now. The King of Rock and Roll may have left the building but he definitely hasn't been forgotten.

Now that I got that out of the way, things here at home are going quite well. Mark is out to sea right now for a few weeks so it is just Bailey, Roxie, McKenna, and I here at home. Nothing too much has gone on really. We have a pretty good schedule but I think that I am about to change it up a little. haha It won't affect McKenna really, she can keep hers, but me, that's who will be affected. It will be a good thing though. McKenna is doing pretty good about sleeping, she sleeps at least 2 hours at a time before she wakes up to eat. She is getting so big already! She is still in newborn size diapers and preemie sized onesies but I have a couple of little rompers that although are big on her they fit her length wise and she doesn't totally get swallowed. The preemie shirts are too short on her but fit other than that, the long sleeved onesies are perfect except for the arme which are 3/4 length sleeves, and the pants are more like capris (except for one pair that I have that have little footies on them and those fit perfectly). So she is right in the middle where preemie are getting to be too small but newborn are still big on her for the most part. We are making do though. haha

Well to be honest it has taken me a few hours to get just this much typed up and where I have a little time now I think I better eat.

One last thing...Are you Sooners ready to be Gator Bait?! GO GATORS!!

Ciao!

Happy New Years!

Wow it is 2009!! I can hardly believe it! Mark had duty on New Years Eve so Bailey, Roxie, McKenna, and I rang in 2009 together...well ok, they actually slept in the new year. haha 2008 was a pretty good year for us. I mean, we cruised the first part of the year, I had a fabulous time being pregnant! I really loved it! Then McKenna was born; it was all in all a really good year full of excitement and adventure!! I am not sure what this year will bring but I am anxious to find out! One thing I know for sure is that it will bring deployment upon our family so that will be a little downer BUT 2009 will make up for it by also bringing our family back together again and those times are always the best! Another thing that is for certain is that 2009 is going to be a year of many firsts! First Valentine's Day, First Easter, First Thanksgiving, First Birthday, First Cruise (for all three of us essentially; McKenna ever and Mark and I since I got pregnant...WOO HOO! SO EXCITED!!), and more than likely First Word and First Step, just to name a few. 2009 is going to be a memorable year, that's for sure! Goodness knows that 2008 was so I'm betting 2009 will only get better!

It's hard to believe that McKenna is 3 weeks old already! My goodness!! She has already grown so much in just this short time. She is still in preemie size clothes and newborn diapers but she has definitely grown. I just want to be like "Stop growing so fast!!" At her last doctor's appointment she weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. Our nights are not bad at all and more times than not she sleeps prettymuch through, only waking up to eat once or twice. God heard my prayers for a child who loves to sleep as much as I do!!! LOL Anyway, McKenna is doing great and already beginning to follow sounds and make random noises. She is already smiling and has laughed once...those are the times that make everything ok and nothing else matter. I am pretty sure that we have a daddy's girl on hand as well; she already loves her daddy very much...so long as she is not hungry, then she's all about me! haha This morning when Mark got home McKenna and I were still in bed but we weren't sleeping, she had just eaten and we were laying there playing so he joined us. It was just a special time! I am looking forward to many more of those special times!

I hope that everyone had a great 2008 and in the same has a fabulous 2009!!

From Our Family to Yours,

Happy New Year and CIAO!

And I can't forget to add this one taken 1.5 weeks postpartum...

Yes, those are prepregnancy clothes! I am not only back in my prepregnancy clothes BUT down to my prepregnancy weight and then some!! (Yes, I eat! haha) The only thing now though is that I have to actually THINK about what I am going to wear each day...UGH! LOL