The End of an Era

So, it has been a long time since I posted. Let me tell you why.

Meet Ashlyn.
She is 9 months old. Loves to play peek-a-boo, and just might be the most stubborn baby in the world. About two weeks ago I decided that it was time to stop nursing her. We have lived in our current house for about 3 and a half years, and I have been pregnant or nursing all but FOUR of those months. I did the math, that is 39 out of 43 months. No wonder I am tired. Braxton and Ashlyn have both been babies that won't take a bottle while they are nursing either, so while I was nursing it was just me. I was ready to be done and so when I took her in for her 9 month well-baby check I told our doctor I was going to stop and he said the best way to do it would just be to stop cold turkey and force her to take the bottle. That is what I had done with Braxton (it took him a day and a half before he would take the bottle) and so I thought I knew what I was in for...but I underestimated my little girl. The first day wasn't horrible, I wasn't in too much pain yet and she hadn't realized that her nursing days were over for good, so when she didn't take the bottle that day I wasn't too surprised. Day two, I was starting to feel like I was going to explode (literally, if you have nursed a baby you will know what I mean) and she was not giving in. Day three, after 5 different kinds of bottles and two different kinds of formula, I took her back to her doctor, hoping that he would have some suggestions or something, I am not sure what I was hoping for. He suggested trying a different brand of formula that was supposed to be a little milder tasting and sweeter but to just keep doing what I was doing. He also suggested that I take a trip and leave my kids with someone else because I looked tired. Who exactly would that be? I wanted to ask him. I barely refrained from throwing my full bottle of formula at him. Day four was a blur. At this point my body was saying, Hello!?! I wonder if she realizes she is supposed to be feeding someone and has an overabundance of milk. Lets give her a fever to make sure she realizes something isn't right. Day five, my mother took pity on me and came up to try to feed Ashlyn. Finally, that afternoon, she gave in and took FIVE whole ounces. To me it was as miraculous as water to wine. Thankfully she realized that once she gave in it felt a whole lot better to not be starving, and has taken it better and better ever since. After that to make up for her five day fast, she decided to wake up all night to eat. Last night she finally slept through the night again, so hopefully we are back to normal. I hope this stubborn streak in her doesn't last forever or I am going to be in for some fun times... : ) She is her happy little self again now and is learning and changing so much everyday. I love her little smile and I love that she still likes to snuggle. : )

Here is my Braxton. I used to think he was the most stubborn child (until my recent experience with Ashlyn.) He likes to dress himself, which is why his pants are usually on backwards, and loves to wear his BYU hat. He likes to do pretty much everything by himself and doesn't want any help, thank you very much.

He has also become very observant and inquisitive which leads to some interesting conversations. I love hearing the things he comes up with and seeing the way his little mind works. One of the things he has observed lately are some, ahem, certain anatomical differences between him and Ashlyn. It was inevitable. Jace noticed shortly after we brought her home from the hospital and concluded that "it" fell off some time when the doctor was pulling her out of my tummy through my belly button. I teach my boys the correct names for their umm, parts but won't use them here. I don't think I could bring myself to type it. So, Braxton has been very interested lately about who does and does not have a "blank". He will always ask us at home, and I try not to overly encourage or discourage this curiosity because I know it is just a phase. Anyways, we were at the grocery store a few weeks ago and he starts pointing to people around the store saying very clearly, Mommy does he/she have a "blank"? I tell him that we should only talk about that at home and hope he listens. I think we are good until we are checking out and he looks right at the poor high school boy who is checking us out and says"Do you have a "blank"? I turned about twenty shades of red and try to laugh it off without sounding like I am choking. To save the poor checker from answering I remind Braxton that we don't talk about things like this at the store. He then turns to the high school age boy who is bagging our groceries and says "Do you have a "blank"? At this point I am not really sure what I was babbling, I was just trying to cover up anything else Braxton might say until we could escape out of there. Somewhere in there I stopped to take a breath and Braxton seized his opportunity. Looking right at the checker again he says very loudly (or maybe it just seemed loud to me since all my blood was pounding in my head) "I have a "blank" and Ashlyn has a belly button." Alrighty...great. At this point Jace decided to chime in with "No only boys have a "blank" but everyone has a belly button." Okay, um yeah. We have now attracted the attention of everyone around us and I wonder if I should bow and accept my award for mother of the year now or later. I quickly sign my receipt and try to feebly laugh it off as I walk out of there as fast as my wobbly legs will take me. After we got home I sat them both down and tried to give them a talk about how some things are private and it is okay to ask questions but only at home. Hopefully it sunk in. If it didn't and they ask you a question like that, know that I tried. : )