Drumroll Please...

As of yesterday, I am officially done breastfeeding! (If you are a man, and this first sentence made you uncomfortable, do not continue reading.) It was time. Both Kalianna and I were ready to be done. I know some people who hated breastfeeding. I rather enjoyed it, but like I said, it was just time. We started out just giving her a bottle before bedtime, to get her used to it. Then I gave her a bottle in the afternoon and at bedtime. Then I gave her a bottle for every feeding except first thing in the morning and dinner. Then I only breastfed her in the mornings. Yesterday, I went in to feed her like usual, and I had nothing left! So now we are completely done. If you decide to switch from breast to bottle, I highly recommend doing it gradually like I did! She switched over in less than 2 weeks and I had minimal pain!

Thanksgiving Ideas

Pertaining to my last post, here are a couple ideas I've been given to help celebrate Thanksgiving!

1.) Last Sunday I went to an Activity Day/Young Women fireside. The speaker (Jill Stevens Shepherd) was amazing! She served as a combat medic with the national guard in Afghanistan and then when she returned, she competed and was crowned Miss Utah in 2007. She had such great words of encouragement for the girls! Anyway, one of the things she did while she was serving in Afghanistan was try and bring holiday cheer to the other soldiers. In October she painted some rocks to look like jack-o-lanterns and in November she put up a huge empty tree. She said it was something her mom did with them every year growing up. You put up a big tree on your wall somewhere, and then every day each person writes something they are thankful for on a paper leaf and you stick the leaves on the tree. So by Thanksgiving, your tree is full! I loved this idea, and plan to start it as a tradition in our own family.

2.) Then my friend Stacy shared this other idea with me. You decorate a jar and fill it with slips of paper, one for each day of November leading up until Thanksgiving. Each paper has an activity of ways to show your gratitude for someone or something. So every day you draw a paper from the jar and do that activity with your family. The papers include things like:

"I am thankful for my family" - play a game together, or "I am thankful for pie" - make a pie and deliver it to someone, or "I am thankful for our car" - clean out the car and then go get ice cream cones in it. I love this idea too! Because its fun, you get to do things as a family, and it postpones thoughts of toys and Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over. If you want a copy of this tradition (all the ideas and pictures on little scrolls) just let me know, and I can e-mail it to you!

What happened to Thanksgiving??

Matt is one of those people who can not stand listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. He believes each Holiday deserves to be celebrated before moving on to the next one. Sometimes I get in a Christmas music mood a little early, but for the most part, I agree with him. Last week I wanted to buy some Thanksgiving decorations, specifically something to hang on my door. But when I entered the store, I was bombarded with Christmas decorations and Christmas music was blaring over the speakers. One tiny aisle end was devoted to Thanksgiving. It was pitiful! Then last night, we ran to the grocery store for a couple items and they had a huge Christmas sale going on. A lady was singing Christmas carols live by the front desk. They had Christmas free samples throughout the store. Each check stand was labeled with a different reindeer name. And all the employees were wearing red and green. Now I love Christmas, but last night was the last straw! Its getting ridiculous how each year Christmas comes earlier and earlier and Thanksgiving gets shoved into the background of November. Matt made a really good point as we were discussing this situation. Stores make more money on Christmas than any other time of year so, of course, they want to promote it as soon as possible. But in promoting Christmas and shoving poor Thanksgiving aside, they are teaching us to forget being Grateful for stuff and focus on Getting stuff! As Matt and I have taught primary over the last few years, every holiday season he made sure to ask the kids what they were giving for Christmas instead of asking them what they wanted. So even though Thanksgiving has not always been my favorite holiday, I am determined this year to focus on the many things I am grateful for and give Thanksgiving its due. I have all of December to focus on Christmas. It doesn't need anymore attention than that. After all, Christmas is spoiled enough as it is. Lets let shy Thanksgiving have a turn in the spotlight for once.

Kalianna Loves...

Her puppies

The baby einstein saucer

Her bouncy chair

Her mobile

Mirrors

Eating

Sobaka's ears

The Debate

The debate has been raging now for years, going back and forth with no end in sight. We've tried settling this dispute by putting on gloves and duking it out, but when faced with the challenge, found we were unable to hit each other. So we now leave it up to the blogosphere world. The eternal question has reared its ugly head once again...Can the word flavor be used to describe different kinds of lotion? I frequently say things like Sweet Pea is my favorite flavor. Matt says I can only use the word flavor if I'm eating the lotion. I say Matt is a poo poo head. What do you think?

Twiners

When Julie got home from her mission, she brought me back this beautiful shirt. Well, grandpa just got back from a trip to China and brought this dress for Kalianna. We were super stylin' at church today! So many compliments!

Private or not to private

That is the real question! It seems like more and more people are going private these days, and I am just curious as to why? To those of you who have gone private or are thinking about going private, did something happen to help make this decision? I have toyed with the idea of going private a few times, and consulted my computer whiz husband on the matter. We decided to change the settings on our blog instead, so you can no longer search for our blog from google and now we moderate comments. Sometimes I consider it just to know who is reading my blog, but then I fear going private would prevent so many poor souls from enjoying my quick wit and charm! =-)