{pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

A small treat for St. Valentine's Day. My first time making chocolate covered strawberries. I forgot to put them on parchment paper, so I think the bottoms are going to stick to the plate, unfortunately. Better luck next time!

{happy}

I was about a month further along with Tony on St. Valentine's Day in 2011. Zach and I enjoyed dinner with my parents at the Knights of Columbus Valentine's Day dinner-dance that year.

{funny}

I don't go outside when it's cold. Except to the car. I didn't realize how much snow we got from that winter storm of historic proportions, until I opened the back door. The little slide looked so silly buried under all of that snow.

{real}

This little man is a trooper. After a lot of thought, I decided to wean him. It was a hard decision, but he is 19 months, and I don't think he was getting much of anything from nursing (aside from comfort). He wasn't nursing much, mostly at night, which coupled with teething, was not making for a restful night for any of us. This pregnancy has me tired enough without the added strain of nursing him. I'm also trying to plan ahead and avoid the issues I had with pre-term labor last time. I don't remember how early it started (26 weeks, maybe?), but I couldn't do any kind of physical activity for long at all without having contractions that would go for a couple of hours. (In the end, he came early at about 37 1/2 weeks.) I'm praying that isn't a problem this time!

So last Thursday he nursed for the very last time. He asked to nurse a few times a day for the first couple of days, and cried in the evenings when I wouldn't nurse him to sleep, but after that he only asked once a day. Now he doesn't ask at all. It makes me kind of sad, but I try to remember that it's another stage of life. In six months I'll have a new baby to nurse. Right now I can enjoy snuggling him, and napping with him, without just being a milk machine. Last night he slept through the night without waking up asking for milk or water, which was really, really nice. I never thought I would wean him, and I am so grateful that it was such a smooth transition. God was good, and it definitely made it easier on both of us.