Success

Okay, I have three big announcements.

1. Ryan is sleeping through the night! It is amazing. I told some of my other mommy friends, you just feel like a different person once you get those consistent full nights of sleep. She has been doing this since she was about three months old, but I did not want to jinx it. She goes down sometime between 9-10 and wakes up around 7:30-8:30. One of the best parts about her sleeping so well is she wakes up so happy. We let her kick around for about 10-15 minutes when she wakes up and then get her ready. When we poke our head over her bed all we can see are smiles smiles smiles.

2. The hint to our all night success is Ryan is now eating cereal before she goes to bed. My mom had her going on cereal pretty good when she was here at the beginning of June, but I have been seriously slacking. Bottles are just so much easier and quicker and easier!!!! Anyways, we are giving her a bottle and rice cereal before she heads to bed and it is working amazingly. So now Ryan is totally on formula and cereal. That's right...

3. I AM DONE BREASTFEEDING!!!!!!!! Let me say, I am so glad I breastfed Ryan. It made her the chunko she is today and kept her very healthy these first 4 months of her life. However, I could not be happier about my decision to stop. During my time of breastfeeding Ryan I've had mastitis SIX times! Yes, that's right SIX times. For those mothers out there who have never gotten it, you are so freaking lucky, and I am jealous!

When I got it yet again the other day I just thought to myself, I cannot live this way in the fall when I am teaching and coaching. So my dear friend Katie told me I just need to tough my mastitis out and go ahead and start the weaning process. So I did. and so thankful for it. I just feel like I got a little bit of myself back. Caffeine has once again become my best friend- I'm talking there are four 12 packs of diet coke in our fridge. I can fall asleep on the couch without worrying about not pumping. I had my first glass of wine since March 08'. I can fit into shirts I could not fit into previously. Oh, and best of all Ryan is still 100% healthy on her formula. I told Bill I plan on breastfeeding all of our children; but next child I am only going through three cases of mastitis, then I'm out!

Not, an announcement, but a precious development. Ryan is throwing her head back and laughing now. Bill got a putter head cover in the mail today and was opening it outside on the deck with me and Ryan. Ryan was watching him very intently, as she does these a days, and just started cracking up. I mean throwing her whole body back and cracking up. She was laughing, Bill was laughing, I was crying, that's about right!