tgif + breast is best

Happy Friday friends 

&

Happy Breastfeeding Week!!!

I had another post planned up, but woke up this morning and found out that its breastfeeding week and I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to spread the love and support for this. 

I am a pro breastfeeding mama. Its actually one of the biggest accomplishments of my life and I am so proud of it! When I was pregnant with Sophia, I had two big fears; first being that I wouldn't be able to give birth naturally (maybe I should just say vaginally) and second that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed successfully. I come from a long line of women in my family that have all had cesarian births and formula babies (including my own mom). It looked like a mountain to accomplish these two, but I wanted it so badly. So, I took pro active measures and hired a doula/lactation consultant to be with me during my birth and first two weeks of breastfeeding. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made regarding breastfeeding. She was there at my bedside as I pulled Sophia out into this world and brought her up for her first latch. From that first latch on, it was love at first sight. 

When I met my doula/lactation consultant for the first time, she was giving an inspiring talk about the beauty and art of womanhood and that breastfeeding completes it. She said something so beautiful about how breastfeeding completes the woman's cycle. From a young woman getting her first menstrual  cycle, to becoming pregnant and ending it all with breastfeeding. I wish I can articulate it just as well as she did, but it all made sense to me. And she was right, when I breastfeed my children I feel that I am completely womanly and that I am giving of myself in the way that my body was made. 

I wont lie, as much as its been wonderful breastfeeding there has been many many hardships with it as well. Breastfeeding my first child was completely bliss from the first latch to the very last, but nursing my second child has been quite a painful one. I made a mistake of not hiring a lactation consultant with me during her birth because I successfully breastfed the first time for 18 months, so I thought I didn't need it. Wrong. Each baby is different. So, I went through a painful first month correcting a shallow latch and we went through our first year of breastfeeding with me getting mastitis four times!! Even through the blood, sweat and tears I persevered through it, thats why I call it an accomplishment because trust me its not always easy.  

Don't let me scare you though, because I am still breastfeeding (Zaylee is almost 16 months now) and I plan to breastfeed all the rest of my children. Here are some of the reasons why I love to breastfeed:

1. Bonding: the bond that comes from breastfeeding is unreal. Try it.

2. Its really really good for the baby. Your breast milk is filled with incredible nutrition and baby formula can't even come close to replicating it. Its the best for babies.

3. You burn 500 extra calories a day! I have been lucky in losing all my baby weight and more with breastfeeding. It also means more eating too! I am always so hungry with breastfeeding, so I indulge in more snacks when I breastfeed. 

4. You lower your chance of breast cancer.

There are a gazillion more, but these are the few that has me believing is breast is best! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

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Japanese kids sewing book {inspiration}

Remember this blog post? Well, I got really lucky and the same good friend found me the Japanese kids sewing book in English too! 

I'm so excited to use some of these lovely patterns to get started on some really cute pieces for my girls. Aren't they so cute!? 

tgif + patience

Happy TGIF friends! Its been a good week for getting out and playing in the sun for us. As you know we have a visitor here and we've been taking him to some of the most prettiest places in southern CA...and that usually means at least one visit to Treasure Island beach. It really felt like we were away on a mini tropical vacation. 

I really enjoyed writing a reflection post last week and I saw that I had a lot of positive feedback, so I felt so encouraged to continue it for my Friday posts. Plus it feels good for the soul sometimes to write about the thoughts that are floating in your mind all week. 

Patience. Patience has been the word for my week. Patience for the plans that God has for our family. There's a lot that I don't share on this blog for obvious reasons, but this week our family was given some news to be patient about it. It actually has me so impatient to be quite honest. I just want to know all the answers already and just have my future all planned out for me. Don't we all? So as I am losing patience, I am praying for it as well. I am learning that rushing to find out answers isn't always the right thing. Neither is overplanning. So this week as I was out in nature and the sun was kissing my face and the sounds of waves were crashing in my ear...I let go. I let go of my impatience to be patient for just a minute. I let go of my fear to trust in the Lord. I let go of everything to just be, to be just in the moment. And it felt good. 

So, I encourage all of you to let go a little bit this weekend of the week day stresses and the unknown answers to be more in the moment and patient :) It feels good for the soul. 

Temecula wine tasting

We have a friend visiting us from Maryland and he was telling us about his love for good cheese (especially Brie cheese) and we knew just the place to take him. Maurice Carrie Winery in Temecula for their amazing baked sourdough garlic butter bread with melted brie on the inside. 

We love Temecula wine country! We went a couple years ago and its the most family friendly winery. We also stopped by Wilson's Creek winery which has the best lawn (for picnic's) and playground. We packed us a nice picnic and tasted some wine, and then bought a good bottle of Cabernet to share and let the girls run loose :)

Good times. 

Japanese sewing book {inspiration}

I have been in love with Japanese sewing books for a while now but always so hesitant to buy them because they are usually written in all Japanese. I always study them so hard in the bookstore wondering if my novice sewing skills can put together the patterns by just the picture. But reality tells me no, and I put the book down and walk away. 

Well, lucky me because I had a good friend visit New York a couple months ago and found one of these lovely books for me written in English! Aren't all the dresses so feminine and lovely? I haven't sewn in a while (that's another story) but this has me so excited to run to buy some cute fabric. 

Now if you want to check out something even cuter, the Japanese children's and baby clothing books are way too adorable! I'm hoping to catch a copy of that in English too. 

birthday parties + beach

Happy Monday! Are you noticing a theme about what I usually do on the weekends? Yes, I am pretty much at the beach almost every weekend and some days during the week. This weekend was obviously no different. We spent it driving down to birthday parties from San Diego to Huntington Beach and stopped to eat meals at Encinitas and Seal Beach. :) I highly highly recommend Fish 101 in Encinitas. They have the most delicious fish tacos. 

^ Sophia picked out this dress for birthday gifts and has us washing it every night so she can wear it again the next day. :) ^ 

^ we headed to Carlsbad beach for some play before dinner at Fish 101^

^ we threw off our shoes and got wet! ^

^ more birthday parties! ^

^ getting ready to play "pin the sunglasses on the sun!" It was such a cute party! Way to go Marisa! ^

Have a wonderful day and week everyone! I'm off for some more adventure today...if you follow me on instagram you might find out sooner than later. ;) 

t g i f

The other day I found out something that made me so so sad. My dear neighbor's five year old son suddenly died. I was there that night watching the paramedics drive away with such an awful and sick feeling in my stomach that I couldn't shake. I wasn't sure what happend and I haven't seen them since that night until this Wednesday when I found out the devastating news. So Wednesday night, our family walked over there with condolences and flowers. I was shaking as I was walking over to knock on the doors. What would I say? What could I even say? I couldn't even imagine her loss. Nothing is worse for a parent. nothing. 

That and a few other things this week had me really grateful in my heart for all that I have this week. Grateful for my children most especially and for their love for me and my love for them. We stayed home for most of the week (which is really rare) and I really felt the exhaustions of being a stay at home mom. We played every game at home, read many books, made many messes, did a lot of cleaning, made all meals at home 3 times a day plus countless snacks, and I was there with them at every moment. So last night, I took a few minutes to myself as Mike was bathing the girls, to take a much needed shower. But as soon as the bathroom doors open, these two girls started running to me laughing and wanting to play games with me again. I chased them between our room and their room and they hollered and screamed with excitement until they passed out for bed with me squished in between them. I thought as I went to bed last night and both girls on each side of me, "aren't they tired of me?" I guess the answer is no. I guess they don't see a tired mother who hasn't showered and hasn't changed her clothes since the night before. Rather they see their mother as someone they can depend and count on for everything. For food, for clothing, for rest, for play and most especially for love. For all these things and the ways that I can serve my family my heart is especially grateful this week. 

Sometimes okay many times this dear vocation that God has called me to, the vocation of wife and mother can be challenging. And this week, I had a reminder to bear my cross in a uplifting way that almost made my cross very light. With love our crosses can be bearable and sanctifying. 

Now with that all being said, have a great weekend everyone! Sorry for the long and serious post on this Friday, but these were my reflections for this week and I wanted to share it. It is my blog after all :) Hope you do everything with extra love this weekend. I'm looking forward to a fun and busy weekend! 

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