A New Year

New Year's is such an awesome time to me! I relish looking back over the past year, smiling at what has been accomplished and grimacing at mistakes that were made. 2009 was a difficult year for me and looking back on it isn't enjoyable. There was one bright highlight and that was Matthew being born!! Every cloud has a silver lining. 2010 means a clean slate. I find it fitting that January is a winter month, cold, crisp and refreshing. 2010 also promises to be a challenging year. I am required to retrain in my crew position and immediately return to instructor status with a possible upgrade to evaluator. I have to part with my newborn at daycare. I have to finish my degree and start my next one. However, I don't want to just work this year, I want to do somethings that I would just enjoy. I enjoy cooking though I rarely seem to have the time. This year I might tackle really learning how to cook. I'm not too sure yet how I will accomplish this yet. I may grab a cookbook and just start going trough all the recipes.

I also want to take a cake decorating class and perhaps a photography class. I know this seems like a lot, but that is what I like, a full plate!!

Book Reading for 2010

I fell way short of my 2009 goal to read 100 books! I only managed to read 30. However, pregnancy happened and I went back to college so, I had a couple things working against me. For 2010, I have decided to only shoot for 30 books! I will graduate from college in May and will hopefully start my nursing prerequisites shortly after. Since this is my first goal, reading for fun will have to be placed on the back burner. My long term goal (2 years from now) is to have been accepted to the AECP program for nursing through the Air Force. I have to complete a few nursing requirements but should be able to apply within a year to 18 months. I have about 5 books on my window sill waiting to be tackled, they are: 1) Culture of Corruption 2) Arguing with Idiots 3)Inkheart 4) Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding 5) Get Your Own Beer, I'm Watching the Game. WOW! right! Have you seen a more diverse group of books? I am almost complete with the breastfeeding book, and the last book in this group was bought for me by my husband so that I can understand the innerworkings of football (eye roll). I still promised to finish it. I still have some books on my 2009 list that I never got to read, they include: 1) A Grief Observed 2) The Screwtape Letters 3) Mere Christianity 4) Three Cups of Tea 5) Too Small to Ignore. As always, if any of you have recommendations, please send them my way or, if you have weread on Facebook, chuck a book at me! I love taking recommendations because it gets me to read books that I would not choose on my own. I have been able to read some fabulous books this year because I branched out and read what I would have never read on my own. For instance, my darling sister insisted I read Twilight. I would never on my own chosen a book about Vampires as I am not into that genre, however...I did enjoy them and am a convert...go team Edward...I also read a Dean Koontz book, also not my style. However, a guy from work recommended "Sieze the Night" and as I promised myself that I would read whatever was suggested, I completed it. Last of all, I took a recommendation from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and read a Biography on Col Bud Day. It described his life in the Air Force to include 7 years in Hanoi Hilton. So, bring on the recommendations!!!

Christmas cookies

Last night Hannah, Rebekah and I tackled making Christmas cookies. I don't particularly care for sugar cookies but I found a peanut butter and ginger cookie recipe from Hershey's Holiday Recipes. We had a ball making the dough and rolling it out and cutting out the shapes. The cookies didn't turn out that great. They had a good taste but, they stuck to the cookie pan horribly, though directions said not to grease the pan. I also believe that rolling the dough to only an 1/8th of an inch was too thin. The cookies were very crisp, though not burnt. I think this recipe is worth a do-over. I will probably reduce the amount of flour used, and of course, grease the pan. Anyway, the fun part came afterwards when we decorated the cookies. All rules went out the window. Partaking in one of these cookies promises the onset of a diabetic coma.

Christmas Markets

One of the most awesome things about Europe is the Christmas markets. Filled with candy, bratwurst, schokolade, Gluwein, Christmas ornaments, and other things distinctly European, it is a charming afternoon excursion. This year we have visited the Aachen and Maastricht Christmas Markets. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera at the Aachen Christmas market, which I believe is one of the prettiest. We still plan to visit the market in Valkenburg, which is housed in a cave that was used over 50 years ago to hide Jews from the Nazis. Koln pronounced (Cologne)also has a fabulous Christmas market but is so packed with people, it is a difficult venture with 3 little ones. My Christmas decor has expanded to include Kathe Wohlfahrt's incredible collection of wooden smokers and wooden ornaments. In my opinion, if you looked whimsical up in the dictionary, you would see her face there. Here are a couple of pictures we have taken to share our Christmas with you.

Some Christmas Pictures

Breastfeeding Lessons

Matthew is 16 days old today and I am glad to say that he is healthy and has gained a pound since birth. The breastfeeding is going good as well. The past couple of days I have done research on breastfeeding. I wanted to know exactly what type of nutrition I need, how much exercise is ok, information on nursing bras, does pumping hinder your ability to breastfeed, etc. I won't regurgitate all the information I have found since I am still sifting through it and determining what is reliable and what is not. I also searched through the information that the hospital gave me(there were only a couple sheets that were English). However, I found one chart that I had never seen before and would have prevented me from giving up on breastfeeding with my last child at only 2 months. This chart breaks down the child's life by months. Month 1 -48. Months that are black (or stormy) are periods that baby will be going through intense growth spurts. These months you should expect that the baby will be excessively fussing and constantly want to be fed. I remember this distinctly with Rebekah and I thought that I simply wasn't able to provide enough breastmilk to keep her satisfied. I actually quit. If I would have been more knowledgable about when my baby would be going through growth spurts, I would have perservered through the stormy time. At least I know with Matthew more of what to expect.

I have found that I do alot of things differently with Matthew than I did with my first two. Most everyone has heard the saying that parents get more lax the more children they have. I would disagree, or perhaps shed a different light on the subject. When I had Hannah, I was focused on not allowing "bad habits" into our life so, she never slept with us, never was allowed to have a pacifier, I let her "cry it out" alot as well. Of course I checked to make sure she wasn't hungry or wet but I didn't allow her to cuddle with me just to cuddle. I don't know why. I was also more strict on her as a toddler. When Rebekah came along, I eased up because I realized that I had been unnecessarily strict on her. Now, that Matthew is here, I just spend everday enjoying him and not worrying if he has a pacifier or if he spends the right amount of time on his belly. We cuddle all the time, breastfeed when he wants to, and yes, he even sleeps with me. We both sleep better. I know I don't have it perfect but I am determined to fully enjoy every minute of this little one's life.

Ex- Ex- Exercise

Pregnancy is over and now the full reality of how out of shape I am has hit me. I understand that for the past 9 months I was making something wonderful and of course that takes a toll on your body, but I am also active duty and only have 5 more weeks before I have to squeeze myself into a flight suit. Six weeks after a normal, vaginal delivery are to be dedicated to resting and caring for yourself and your baby. However, I am not in a position where I can take that much time to rest. I am suppose to return to flying no later than the first of February. So, I must start now to loose weight. My other concern is that I must pass a physical fitness test within 6 months. In order for me to pass, I have to complete a 1.5 mile timed run in approximately 13 minutes. Complete 20+ push-ups in 1 minute, and 30+ sit-ups in one minute, plus pass the BMI and waist measurement. These are the minimums that must be completed to pass the test with a marginal grade. So, for those of you that enjoy exercise and have a program or idea that has worked for you, let me know. I will start walking today. It won't be very far since, I only delivered a week ago and I understand my body has to heal. Still, I need to utilize all the time I have. I need to loose approximately 25 pounds by the beginning of February.

Also, if any of you have any insights as to whether vigorous exercise can harm your ability to breastfeed, please let me know. I am also trying to find information (reliable) on this situation. I'll will be open and honest about my weightloss progress on here so that it will hold me accountable to following through.