Day 4

Today's Advent Challenge word was "Time." At first I wasn't sure what to post because I didn't want to do what most everyone else did - a picture of a clock or watch or calendar. Other people also did a progression of their kids growing to show time passing. All of those were fine, but then it came to me -

In the last 15 months, this little device has consumed a great deal of my time. The pump and I started this journey from the beginning while the boys were in the NICU and then continued once we brought the boys home. Even while nursing, I was still having to pump in order to keep up my supply and supplement what the boys didn't get from nursing. By the time they were 6 months old, I gave up on trying to nurse them because they didn't have the patience to be still long enough to get what they needed. I ended up pumping while they had bottles and we fell into our new routine. I had planned on stopping once they turned one, but by then we had decided that the source of their skin issues came from a reaction to cow's milk. So I continued pumping while we waited to see the allergist so that he could formally diagnose them with a milk allergy. Now they are settled in with their almond milk (Alex is also allergic to soy!) and doing great. It's time to say goodbye to my dear yellow friend now. I'm not sorry to see it go, but there is a small part of me that mourns this passing of time. There are no babies left in my home. :( But while this journey of pumping has not always been easy, I am proud that we made it this far. According to the app on my phone where I have kept track of everything, I have pumped over 160 gallons of milk in these 15 months. That's right - gallons. And that's on top of those 6 months of nursing. The human body is truly an impressive thing and I am so thankful that I was able to do that for my boys. I truly believe that they are as healthy as they are today because of this. And while it took a lot of time that could have spent doing other things, I wouldn't change any of it.

And then for some Christmas photos, here are two pictures of Lucy from this evening. We had our Family Night Out meal at Concord UMC tonight. It was a delicious dinner and the kids really enjoyed running around the fellowship hall afterwards. Everything was decorated beautifully for the holidays and I got Lucy to stand still long enough to get a picture. :)