GUEST POST!
And here are a couple videos we took that I saved just for my readers :)
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
What does "crying it out" look like with you?
Before I was married and had kids I knew exactly what "crying it out" meant. I was also 100% sure I was going to do it with my babies. My babies would be ready for nap or bed time, I would lay them down and if they didn't immediately fall asleep then they would cry until they did and eventually learn to just forgo the whole crying thing.
After having my daughter I realized two things. One, newborns are too young to cry it out. And two, it helps when they don't have any issues with falling asleep in the first place. Cosette was a very laid back baby and we had very few problems with getting her to fall asleep. When the time came to try crying it out with her it went something like this:
Day one, cried for about 30 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
Day two, cried for about 20 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
Day three, cried for about 15 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
By the end of the week she was falling asleep with little to no crying at all.
Then came my dear little boy. Crying it out doesn't look like that for him. When he cries it does nothing but make him dig his heels in deeper, get himself into a bigger tizzy and make it take even longer to calm him down. He might be slightly stubborn. :-P And the rare occasion when he did fall asleep he would wake up a few minutes later and start it all over again.
Obviously crying it out in the traditional sense doesn't work with him. So how does it work? When he is clearly tired but too fussy to fall asleep or even nurse I have to let him cry for about 15 minutes then offer him the breast where he nurses for a bit and falls fast asleep. Maybe I'm not doing the text book version of crying it out with him but I am doing what he and I both need.
So, what do you do, Mamma? Do you let your baby cry it out? Do you do something else entirely? Or maybe something in between?
After having my daughter I realized two things. One, newborns are too young to cry it out. And two, it helps when they don't have any issues with falling asleep in the first place. Cosette was a very laid back baby and we had very few problems with getting her to fall asleep. When the time came to try crying it out with her it went something like this:
Day one, cried for about 30 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
Day two, cried for about 20 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
Day three, cried for about 15 minutes, fell asleep and had a nice full nap.
By the end of the week she was falling asleep with little to no crying at all.
Then came my dear little boy. Crying it out doesn't look like that for him. When he cries it does nothing but make him dig his heels in deeper, get himself into a bigger tizzy and make it take even longer to calm him down. He might be slightly stubborn. :-P And the rare occasion when he did fall asleep he would wake up a few minutes later and start it all over again.
Obviously crying it out in the traditional sense doesn't work with him. So how does it work? When he is clearly tired but too fussy to fall asleep or even nurse I have to let him cry for about 15 minutes then offer him the breast where he nurses for a bit and falls fast asleep. Maybe I'm not doing the text book version of crying it out with him but I am doing what he and I both need.
So, what do you do, Mamma? Do you let your baby cry it out? Do you do something else entirely? Or maybe something in between?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
10 things never to say to a stay-at-home Mom
I got them from a friend, thought you might enjoy them as well. :)
1. When the kids are older, do you think you'll get a real job?
2. How June Cleaver of you!
3. Oh, so you don't work?
2. How June Cleaver of you!
3. Oh, so you don't work?
4. Since you have extra time on your hands, could you whip up a few dozen brownies for the bake sale tomorrow?
5. All day with your kids? I can't even imagine.
6. I'm jealous. I wish my husband were rich so I wouldn't have to work either.
7. What do you do all day, anyway?
8. I'm sure you're not the only one who's ever wasted money on a college degree.
9. That explains why your son is so clingy!
10. Weird. I assumed your house would be superclean.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Interview with Christian Family Planning Network founder
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Sure! My name is Stephanie. I'm a 25 year old Bible College graduate. I've been a work-at-home-wife since June of 2008. The CFPN is my full-time job! My husband, Daniel, and I have been married for three years. We used the Fertility Awareness Method to avoid pregnancy for our first year of marriage, and have been waiting for child #1 since then.
What is the purpose of the Christian Family Planning Network (CFPN)?
The purpose of the CFPN is to educate engaged and married Christians about their options for birth control beyond artificial or hormonal contraceptives. We hope to overturn the common misconception that all natural birth control methods are the Rhythm Method of decades past.
How is this purpose accomplished?
Primarily through our message board. We have a vibrant community where women from all walks of life, and all theological perspectives, can come together and support each other in their decision to not use hormonal birth control. Some of our members join the community while still on the Pill, or the Shot, or the Ring. In situations like this, members of the community who have been in their shoes will come alongside and support them, answer their questions, and encourage them that they are doing a good thing!
Many of the women on our “Avoiding Pregnancy” forum have been using natural methods their entire marriage. Some of our long-term members have avoided pregnancy for up to four years, before deciding to try to conceive their first child. Now some of those members have given birth to their first child and are avoiding again with FAM or NFP postpartum!
In addition to supporting women who are avoiding pregnancy, we also have forums and buddy groups for women who are trying to conceive, are dealing with infertility, are pregnant, or parenting. We encourage all of our new members to join a buddy group and to plug into the community where they need support.
Our first online course began in January. The first section is FC101A: Just the Basics, and teaches people how to begin charting their fertility signs so that they can know when to avoid or abstain, or have sex if they're trying to conceive. FC101B: Beyond the Basics covers more advanced charting techniques, like what to do if your temperature or cervical fluid sign is unreliable, if you're not ovulating, or if you're post-partum. FC101B also covers the effect that exercise, nutrition and lunaception (moonlight) affects your cycle.
Why did you decide to start the CFPN?
Back in summer of 2007, when I was engaged, I joined a secular site that promotes the Fertility Awareness Method. I noticed that there were a few other summer brides asking similar questions to me. We wanted to know what to expect on our wedding night as we were all virgins and new at this whole charting and being married thing! So, I started a "buddy group", which is a small group of women who are all interested in the same thing. This gave us our own place to ask our questions of each other and get answers. Throughout the summer, our group grew in number, as the 2008 brides began to get engaged and research their options, and circumstances of the 2007 brides began to change.
In the spring of 2008, we split the original buddy group into three groups: 2007 brides, 2008 brides and those who were trying to get pregnant, or were already pregnant. By the Christmas of 2008 we had enough babies born that we started a parenting buddy group. About that point, the administration of the website we were on made a decision to support a pro-choice view of emergency contraception. I had been thinking that we needed to move our network of buddy groups (at this point we had about 50 women) to our own website for a few months, and it seemed like a really good time to do it!
January 17, 2009 was the first day we were on our own website. We stayed there for a few months, but we quickly realized that we were no longer the "Engaged & Newlywed Network". In order to change our name, we had to change our URL. So, the moderators decided that we would pay for our own hosting and our own domain, and we became the Christian Family Planning Network on May 15, 2009 at our current URL. As our name changed from one site to the next, so did our purpose, and that's how we got to where we are today!
Who can join the CFPN?
Anyone who is interested in learning about how a woman's natural fertility cycle works! This means men, women, young, old, dating, engaged, married, etc. You do not need to be a Christian or agree to our Statement of Faith to be a member, but all our leaders do hold to our Statement of Faith. Christian values such as marriage between only a man and woman, abstinence before marriage, and the sanctity of life are all upheld by our leaders, and we do hold those in high regard on the message board as well.
For women who are not engaged or married, we have a section of our message board called "Just Curious". This is for people who are not engaged or married, who are "just curious" about what their bodies are doing. We encourage them to participate there, and in the off-topic parts of the board, but ask that they refrain from joining the buddy groups for people who are actively using (or planning to use) the method in a marriage relationship until they are engaged.
Sure! My name is Stephanie. I'm a 25 year old Bible College graduate. I've been a work-at-home-wife since June of 2008. The CFPN is my full-time job! My husband, Daniel, and I have been married for three years. We used the Fertility Awareness Method to avoid pregnancy for our first year of marriage, and have been waiting for child #1 since then.
What is the purpose of the Christian Family Planning Network (CFPN)?
The purpose of the CFPN is to educate engaged and married Christians about their options for birth control beyond artificial or hormonal contraceptives. We hope to overturn the common misconception that all natural birth control methods are the Rhythm Method of decades past.
How is this purpose accomplished?
Primarily through our message board. We have a vibrant community where women from all walks of life, and all theological perspectives, can come together and support each other in their decision to not use hormonal birth control. Some of our members join the community while still on the Pill, or the Shot, or the Ring. In situations like this, members of the community who have been in their shoes will come alongside and support them, answer their questions, and encourage them that they are doing a good thing!
Many of the women on our “Avoiding Pregnancy” forum have been using natural methods their entire marriage. Some of our long-term members have avoided pregnancy for up to four years, before deciding to try to conceive their first child. Now some of those members have given birth to their first child and are avoiding again with FAM or NFP postpartum!
In addition to supporting women who are avoiding pregnancy, we also have forums and buddy groups for women who are trying to conceive, are dealing with infertility, are pregnant, or parenting. We encourage all of our new members to join a buddy group and to plug into the community where they need support.
Our first online course began in January. The first section is FC101A: Just the Basics, and teaches people how to begin charting their fertility signs so that they can know when to avoid or abstain, or have sex if they're trying to conceive. FC101B: Beyond the Basics covers more advanced charting techniques, like what to do if your temperature or cervical fluid sign is unreliable, if you're not ovulating, or if you're post-partum. FC101B also covers the effect that exercise, nutrition and lunaception (moonlight) affects your cycle.
Why did you decide to start the CFPN?
Back in summer of 2007, when I was engaged, I joined a secular site that promotes the Fertility Awareness Method. I noticed that there were a few other summer brides asking similar questions to me. We wanted to know what to expect on our wedding night as we were all virgins and new at this whole charting and being married thing! So, I started a "buddy group", which is a small group of women who are all interested in the same thing. This gave us our own place to ask our questions of each other and get answers. Throughout the summer, our group grew in number, as the 2008 brides began to get engaged and research their options, and circumstances of the 2007 brides began to change.
In the spring of 2008, we split the original buddy group into three groups: 2007 brides, 2008 brides and those who were trying to get pregnant, or were already pregnant. By the Christmas of 2008 we had enough babies born that we started a parenting buddy group. About that point, the administration of the website we were on made a decision to support a pro-choice view of emergency contraception. I had been thinking that we needed to move our network of buddy groups (at this point we had about 50 women) to our own website for a few months, and it seemed like a really good time to do it!
January 17, 2009 was the first day we were on our own website. We stayed there for a few months, but we quickly realized that we were no longer the "Engaged & Newlywed Network". In order to change our name, we had to change our URL. So, the moderators decided that we would pay for our own hosting and our own domain, and we became the Christian Family Planning Network on May 15, 2009 at our current URL. As our name changed from one site to the next, so did our purpose, and that's how we got to where we are today!
Who can join the CFPN?
Anyone who is interested in learning about how a woman's natural fertility cycle works! This means men, women, young, old, dating, engaged, married, etc. You do not need to be a Christian or agree to our Statement of Faith to be a member, but all our leaders do hold to our Statement of Faith. Christian values such as marriage between only a man and woman, abstinence before marriage, and the sanctity of life are all upheld by our leaders, and we do hold those in high regard on the message board as well.
For women who are not engaged or married, we have a section of our message board called "Just Curious". This is for people who are not engaged or married, who are "just curious" about what their bodies are doing. We encourage them to participate there, and in the off-topic parts of the board, but ask that they refrain from joining the buddy groups for people who are actively using (or planning to use) the method in a marriage relationship until they are engaged.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
I am so blessed! :)
I went to the ladies Bible study at church this morning, which was great. It is so nice to be able to fellowship with so many faithful women. :)
When I walked in the door I was surprised with this certificate from my nieces and nephew (they signed it as well), a pot of pink miniature roses and a small bag of Sees chocolates. I feel so blessed to be a part of this family and to be able to stay home and be their nanny :)
(I loved them just as much before, but it's so nice to know you are appreciated)
I thank God for them!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The kids are back!!!! Woo Hooo!!!
I've been going crazy the past few days because the kids I watch have been at their grandparents house, so I've been home all alone for the most part. I hate being alone so it wasn't pretty... to say the least. I was able to get somethings done, decluttering, organizing, mending and a batch of oatmeal cookies so that was good. Anyway I wasn't expecting them home so soon, so this is definitely a most delightful surprise :)
Monday, January 8, 2007
Me and My Great Grandmother
My mom found this picture the other day. It's of my great grandmother and I sitting on the sofa with curlers in our hair. I thought it was pretty cute. Though there is a weird yellow line going through my face that I can't figure out how to get rid of.
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