The most beautiful thing

To a mother, there is nothing more amazing, precious and beautiful than her baby. This sweet little baby who knows nothing short of complete adoration for his/her parents.

I don't like being away from my baby, ever. End of story. It has been 4 months since I have brought this wonderful creature into existence and I want to hold her all the time. I even want to sleep with her in my arms. She is everything to me. My beloved. There is nothing more amazing, precious and beautiful. She coos, talks, rolls, smiles and laughs. Yet those are just a few of the reasons she is amazing.

I sat here and tried so hard to write out that she makes me sad and mad and tests my patience time and time again but even when I think back on the times she woke up once every hour or the times she cried and cried and wouldn't stop, she never made me mad or sad and though she does test my patience, I have never been impatient with her.

I think I was born to be a mother. I love being a mother. It is my job and I WILL BE great at it. I will always prefer the way I parent over the way others parent unless they parent the same way I do and that is my right as a parent. I will do my best to not judge others for the way they parent because I don't know their story and even though sometimes I look at someone who is just letting their baby cry and trying to give it a pacifier and I think to myself "Pick that baby up!!!" I also have to think that maybe she just can't right now. Being a parent is hard work and we all need a moment from time to time.

This is my baby. There are many like her (except she's one of a kind) but this one is mine.

Nursing in Public

My friends know me as a frequent "NIPer". Ever since I had Abby, I knew I would nurse in public. At first I figured I would use a cover but I soon realized that was not for us. I didn't want to cover my baby in the heat of the Summer while she ate. It felt so wrong to me. So I finally told my husband that I would no longer cover Abby while feeding her in public.

And so our NIP journey began. Here are a few of my favorites :) Enjoy!

This is the FIRST time I NIPed:

Abby was 2 weeks old. And this was one of the last times I wore a cover while doing it.

This was the best place I NIPed for a while, the commissary! It was also the first time I got photo evidence of myself NIPing with no cover. I felt empowered.

Next favorite place is on the base beach! We went there for a while on Labor Day after cooking out. Abby needed a Labor Day meal too!

Then came the Atlantic Ocean. This is one of my favorites because I just think the picture is beautiful.

And last but not least, today's! Ryan got LASIK and we weren't allowed to be in the waiting room because Abby is a baby so we walked around the hospital until little miss got hungry. I chose probably the busiest place in the whole hospital to feed her but I didn't really have anywhere else to sit. We sat in the pharmacy waiting area! Go us! Countless people passed as Abby feasted and not one word was said! I'm lucky enough (or should I say PEOPLE are lucky enough) to have never been told to nurse my baby somewhere else or anything like that (so far, and God help anyone that utters those words to me). I am so proud of our journey so far. We have made it 4 months and counting!!!

Speaking of 4 months and counting, look at this little girl! She turned 4 months old yesterday! She is 27 3/4 inches long and 18.82 lbs!!! Insane, right?! She is in the 99 percentile for height and weight and her head is 59 percentile. The child is the size of a 1 year old, y'all.  She is my world.