Home Care

I  don't think it gets any better then the home care i get with Alexa! It is so fun to have home visits with the midwife. The first time she came i was kinda stressed. I didn't know what to expect, how she was going to be, where i should sit, anything. I was nervous :) anxious and nervous in a great way. She came in and was amazing. She was so sweet to the kids, and talked to me for 2 hours. She made both Mr.Wylie and I feel so comfortable in our own home!

Today she came for her second visit. I was so much less stressed this time. Everything was very easy going. The kids were bouncing off the walls waiting for her to come. She was running late today( and because German numbers look different then American numbers she had a 7 instead of a 1 in my phone number and couldn't get ahold of me ), but that's was okay. Why was it okay? Well what is so wonderful about home visits is that the kids weren't stuck in a waiting room. They were able to go play with their toys, watch a movie, have a snack. So that kept the stress level way down. crazy chick even was able to take his whole nap on the couch while we waited :)

Doesn't this look way more comfy then a waiting room. Sitting on our comfy couch, wrapped in our fave Ikea blanket :) Mommy even got to watch her cooking shows! what a great afternoon just waiting around for the midwife! <3

When Alexa got here the fun really began. The kids were so excited and they were all talking to her at one time :) so we gave them popsicles to keep their mouths busy so mommy could talk for a few minutes :)

Silly chick did their makeup lol. Alexa told me she thought Silly chick had the same thing as her sister that makes her eyes dark :) i told her it was just eye shadow ;)

Crazy chick was not amused with ANYTHING going on this afternoon. Not even his popsicle. He ate it, but he wasn't happy.

We quickly got into the "fun stuff" of the visit so that the kids could go play. This was really exciting for everyone! First she felt baby, i love how when she feels the baby she talks to baby. Here is a video of her feeling the baby <3

     the next thing she did was listen to the heartbeat. Crazy chick does NOT like ANYONE to touch my belly. He gets very upset over this. Hes such a nut! So here it is :) a video of baby Cincos heartbeat! I don't have ultrasound pictures to share ( but that's because we aren't having any more, i had 1 in the very begining of this pregnancy ) but i though this was even better!!

the next thing she did was measure my belly and fundus, this was so funny, I don't know if you can hear it but when asked how big i am Silly chick just says " wow"  it was so funny ( though Crazy chick did NOT think so! ) when she was first measuring me Crazy chick is saying " don't" to her! That's his new thing he says!!

She told me that my fundus is measuring between 24-26weeks ( will be 24 weeks on Sunday ) and that she thought my placenta was all in the front ( something i have thought from the very beginning ). She said the baby feels strong to her. Cinco is still laying transverse ( so that means baby is sideways ) but she said its not a big deal.

 This was so fun. There is just nothing like this kind of care.  When its more then just about me. Its the whole family gets treated. We all get some special attention. We have been trying to think of special things for the kids to do when the baby is born. I think we are going to let Silly chick make the big announcement( boy or girl ) and let Brother chick cut the cord. Alexa said that Mama chick can help with the weighing and measuring! That is going to be so fabulous! I love that all this is going on in my own home. I love that the kids are going to be apart of everything going on. Every part of this new baby is something that we are all apart of! I can not wait for our next visit!

the choice to bottle feed

So yesterday at the KMCC we saw a family my husband knows from work. They were out and about with their 3 day old baby girl ( who was so adorable! OH my goodness i kept telling my kids not to touch her, but really it was me i was saying that too!! ). She was so sweet and tiny with the pinkest little lips. Oh! I kept thinking( as we were standing there ) about how excited i am to give birth again, and to breastfeed someone so small! It made me so happy to think about it! As we were walking away the mom pulled out her diaper bag and got out a bottle and formula and a bottle of water.... that made me very sad.

   Now, i should say here that i AM a parent who bottle fed 2 babies. Mama chick went to the bottle full time around 8 months, looking back now what i THOUGHT was weaning, was really just developmental milestones and teething, not weaning at all! But i was young, and didn't know anyone who was breastfeeding so i gave her a bottle. Silly chick was bottle fed from around 3 months old. I started giving her a bottle at just before 2 months old because i was very sick, and the Dr. didn't know what was wrong ( really he didn't take anytime to run tests or listen to me because if he had he probably would have caught on right away what was going on with me ) and so i was almost starving for 4 months because i couldn't eat anything. and i mean ANYTHING. I had frozen quite a bit of milk in the freezer and gave that to her for more then a month before i ran out. Then i gave her formula. I hated it. HATED IT. But, i didn't know what else to do. And looking back, there really wasn't a whole lot i could have done. Okay, so all that being said....

  How is it that new moms CHOOSE to bottle feed? How can they make that choice when everywhere around them is breastfeeding is best information? And i am not trying to be snarky, i really want to know.
'

. The idea of bugs being in the food i gave my children was enough to make me move off the military base. I could never give my children formula now without worrying about dead bug body parts in it. Why do moms choose to formula feed over breastfeeding? Its not easier, its not better for the baby, and if you don't attachment parent, it can hinder the bond between mother and baby. It makes me ill to see parents propping bottles...why cant they just hold their babies? Do you know that they sell a beanbag animal with a loop on top that is FOR BOTTLE PROPPING???? i almost puked when i saw it. Isn't that dangerous? It was always important to me to hold silly chick while she had her bottle ( mama chick was older and held it on her own, i still held her when she wanted me to of course though! ) and to feel that connection to her as if she was nursing. i missed nursing her.

(isn't this thing awfuL!!)

okay so lets go over why its not easier. Its not ready at the drop of a hat( or neckline should i say ;) ), it goes bad, you have to wash bottles and nipples, you have to make sure to have some with you in your diaper bag when you leave the house. It just seems to me like a lot of extra work( well, i know it is a lot of extra work ).

its not better for baby.  Babies bodies are not developed to digest anything other than breast milk till at least 6 months old. Not carrots, not rice cereal, nothing. For at least, at least 6 months they aren't supposed to have cows milk till 1 year old. Yet formula is made from cows milk. Its obvious by the disgusting, smelly, nasty greenish grey poop ( oh the smell of that can make my stomach turn over!!! ) that it isn't as good for them as natural mothers milk( and i am sorry but the "organic" formula is BREASTMILK...  )

 So why do it? Why choose it? I know there are times there is not a choice. But, for the moms that choose it. WHY? Why do you choose it? Again, as a mom who did it( not by choice ) why do you CHOOSE it? I really am just curious.

im a little bummed! I wanted to add pictures on here of me feeding my babies both ways that i have, but all those pictures are on another computer... boo :( oh well. I will add them when i find them!

Let me introduce my brood

I thought a good third entry would be to introduce my family to you :) The chicks behind why i feel so strong about the things i do. First let me introduce to you my prince charming, Mr.Wylie. I like this picture of him :) for one thing, he has on a bib and who doesn't love a grown man in a bib <3 and second it was from a fun trip to Joe's Crab Shack( one of our favorite places to eat! ).  Mr.Wylie is the bread winner and right now is serving in the US air force! I am so proud of him and everything he has done and who he has become in the 11 years i have known him! I still remember the first time i met him, he asked me for a hug. Needless to say, he was a good hugger :)

Next there is me, Mrs.Wylie. And if i am going to post a picture of Mr.Wylie in a bib i guess i cant put too serious of a picture of myself on here can I? That wouldn't be fair now would it?So here is me with a bag i was making on my head. For the most part i think i am pretty silly. I try not take EVERYTHING so serious. There are things in life i take very serious, but i do try to have fun and see the funny in most everything. i am so thankful i have chicks because they keep me laughing and seeing the lighter side of life. Nothing snaps you back into reality like when your children bust out laughing at something you have said... :) I don't think i am terribly talented at  things, i don't sew, knit, or make anything worth any value to anyone else :) Well, except little humans, but i don't think that is crafty :) I like to scrapbook and stamp, but i almost never ever have the time to do so. I would love to sew, but, again, NO time. Right now my purpose in life is to raise my children. And i am happy with that purpose.

Mama Chick is my oldest chick, and she is for sure a mama chick. She mothers crazy chick as if he were her own, which i love to see.  She is 8 and i have to say that she is more fun every day. She has a real sense of right and wrong. And is never shy to point out things she sees that are wrong( like parents letting their tiny babies cry in their bucket seats while mommy talks on a cell phone and eats lunch.. )..sometimes shes a little loud with her observations, but hey, shes my chick so who could be surprised. She has a huge heart and loves so much. She is pretty funny most of the time and for the most part a lot of fun to be around :)

Then there is Brother chick. He is 6, sensitive and sweet with the face of an angel. He is so smart, and can be amazing with his brother and sisters. he likes rules and structure and i believe with all my heart he was made to live on my parents farm. Something about farm life was so right for this boy. He loves to fish and play with fire and collect eggs. He loves to be outside in the sunshine and he loves my moms big dogs. He loves to fight and wrestle and be all things boy. He also loves to cook. I think some day he will be a farmboy chef :)

This is silly chick. She is silly. very silly. She says the funniest things i have ever heard a 4 year old person say. She is so very observant and makes the best observations.  Life with her is never dull. She is a girly girl who has loved makeup and all things girly since she was born. She loves to play. And she is learning about how fun it is to have friends and to play with others. She loves having her friends over to play dolls and do make overs ( which consists of spraying hair with water till drenched, combing straight back and then putting glitter on your face :) ) You have to watch this one for sure. you never know what she is going to say or do.

And this is crazy chick. He is crazy. No really. He is. And we all love every bit of his craziness. He fills all of our lives with sooo much laughter. He does the most outrageous things. He is right between 1 and 2 and is all boy. He loves to jump off of things, to make everything a sword. EVERYTHING a sword. he makes the best fighting noises i have ever heard and when he uses his words has an adorable little voice. He is the first of my second group of children :) i feel like i changed a lot between Silly chick and crazy chick. The way i was parenting, my beliefs about things, everything. I am so excited to see him as a big brother chick, i think its going to be quite interesting. Especially when he has to share mommies boobies with the new chick. He is really protective of mommy. He does not like for any of the other chicks ( or anyone else for that matter ) to touch my tummy to feel the new chick kicking. And he really doesn't like when he is nursing for the new chick to kick him from inside my belly. It always makes me laugh though :)

so for now that's us. There is a new chick on the way, Cinco chick :) and as i am typing this up Cinco is kicking and squirming away in my belly <3

 

I am not brave

just a disclaimer...but my opinions are strong and may be offensive to some so read at your own risk...

  "Your so brave!"  I have heard that statement a lot in the last almost 10 years. The first time i heard it was when i wanted to get married at 18. Though i think some people really meant the words "crazy,stupid,and young, " and not "brave" The same thing when we got pregnant with our first chick <3 But i don't think i was ever stupid or crazy or even brave.  When i met Mr.Wylie when we were young :) i told him right away that i wanted " to have 8-12 kids, be a stay at home mom, and home school those kids, if you are not interested in any of these things don't even ask me out" We got married about 15 months later :) Yes i was young, but i was not stupid, and i was not brave. I was scared. I knew that if i started to date this boy and i fell in love with him and he wanted different things then i did, or if he was not looking to get married then i would be setting myself up for failure and heart break. I knew i wanted to get married and have a family, and i knew the goals i had for myself for that family. So we spent a lot time talking about those things that were important to both of us when it came to family life. What the roll of the father is and the roll of the mother. We spent way more time talking about our future together then the wedding itself, we knew what was important, our future, not the present.
  When i got pregnant with my first chick people told me i was brave because i was planning on a natural childbirth. No epidural for me! But it wasn't because i was brave, but because the idea of a giant needle in my spine scared the poo out of me!! I am so glad that i was scared because i believe that an epidural would have stolen a wonderful first birth from me( no it wasn't perfect, but i think for a first time it was pretty great! ) I have heard how brave i am for not having an epidural with any of the 4 chicks, especially the 2 middles whose births were helped along by pitocin. Again, it wasn't because i was brave...the pain was crazy, but my fear of that needle was WAY scarier then the pain i was in. And with my 4th chick i would not say that at any point was was ever in any pain what so ever.

 People started telling me i was brave for homeschooling. I have always found that kind of a strange thing to say. Really? They think I'm brave? Why? Because i keep my kids home with me? Because i think i am capable of teaching my children?  I don't know. See what i really want to say to people is " Really? you think I am brave? i think YOU are brave for sending your kids to school! You are brave for letting that little child go away from you all day with no control over what they are being taught. You are brave for letting a stranger teach your child. You are brave for letting your child be in a class with 20-34 other children who you don't know and you have NO idea what THEY are teaching your child. I'm not the brave one, You are." but i don't think that would be polite to say to someone. It would probably hurt their feelings and offend them..and maybe it should. The thought of public school is offensive to me. Its offensive to me that by not putting my children in a school that i am brave. I'm not brave. Again. I am afraid. I am afraid of what they would learn at school and who would be teaching them things. I'm afraid of what my children would learn about sex, love, science, history. I'm mostly afraid of their innocence being stolen from them. I am afraid of the attitudes they would pick up, the language, the ideas. Let me tell you about my chicks. I have 4 of the most wonderful little chicks.ever. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. I get told that all the time. By total strangers, by people who don't like chicks, by people who don't like their own chicks, by people who i think have great chicks themselves, and by just about anyone who spends any time with them. I believe whole hearted that they are so wonderful because they have not been ruined by school. My oldest chick, the mama chick, she blows me away. She is 8. when i was 8 i learned HORRIBLE things about sex, i learned horrible attitudes, i just learned all the wrong things. 3rd grade was as my mother likes to call it, the year of enlightenment. Thank heaven i had MY mother who stepped in and corrected the things i had learned on the play ground. mama chick is learning about love, TRUE love. Not sex. I am in NO rush to teach her about sex.  Sex is not important right now. She needs to know about LOVE. Now of course there is no greater love then that of God the father. Mama chick is learning about love from her daddy and me. And i know she is learning the right things because of a conversation we had this summer. She has had a friend since she was 4 years old. He has been a big part of her life for 4 years. This summer she came to me in the laundry room and very seriously said to me" Mommy, i need to tell you something. I love my friend very much. he is my boyfriend. and i love him." I could not help but smile, but i held myself together and asked her to please tell me what it meant that she loved him " it means that i care about him very much and he is my best friend and he will always be my friend." that sounds like love to me. she went on to tell me i didn't need to worry about them kissing because they talked about it and they were gonna wait till they were a lot older <3 i never made a big deal out of this. Ever. But this is love. This is what love is. This is what i want her to learn and to remember as she gets older. I don't want her learning about "love" on the playground at school. i am afraid that if i let her go to school this would all be gone. This is the same thing i worry for my other children as well. School is not just about learning to read, do math, and write your name. There is so much else that they learn that i am afraid for them to learn. Homeschooling to me is safe. I am protecting their childhoods. I am protecting their hearts, their souls and their minds. So you can call me "brave" if you want, and i will smile and say "thanks" but to me I am not the brave one.

  A new thing i am hearing i am brave for is for having a home birth. Why does this make me brave? I don't think it makes me brave at all. i have had 4 babies in 4 different hospitals in 3 different countries... :) my 4th birth is the only one i feel that i had the birth i wanted. Where no one took my power. No one made decisions for me. Where i was allowed to  truly birth my child. My first 3 were not that way. Now, a lot of that is because i didn't know any better. I wasn't as well educated about birth or my rights. But, i have been horrified at the treatment of women during birth to the point that i would never give birth in a hospital ever again, as long as there was no real emergency. because to me, birth in a hospital is SCARY and to choose that kind of birth makes people Brave. Birth in a hospital is ( to me ) out of your control from the minute you walk into the hospital. It is no longer your birth. it is your Dr.s birth, and his nurses. They give you a gown to wear over your naked body, the hook you up to all sorts of machines, they tell you what you can and cant do, no eating, no drinking, only ice chips. They push you to do what THEY want you to do. How they want you to birth, how they want you to labor. If you try to hard to go against what they have planned for you, they threaten you. forceps, c-sections, having to monitor the baby away from you, blah blah blah. But if you lay on your back and spread your legs and let them do what they want to do things will go fine for you. You may end up cut, with foreign objects forced into your most private of areas, but hey, that's not scary..oh wait..if that was a sexual encounter wouldn't that be rape??? hmmm....seems to me that things are a bit out of control in the OB world( Now i would like to say that i know some WONDERFUL ob nurses and drs who do NOT treat their patients this way..but..i believe they are true stars and exceptions..not the normal ) So to me. having a baby in a hospital is way my scary then having my baby at home, with the help of a midwife who will be there to support me in the birth that I want to have.  I want to thank my sister who allowed me to be at her birth, i truly believe if i hadn't been able to witness her birth that i probably wouldn't feel this way as strongly. I watched her dr threaten her, i watched her nurse threaten her, i watched her dr and her nurses discuss things to do to her without ever asking her if it was okay. I came away from that birth with a whole new view of things. Now don't get me wrong. It was AMAZING to watch the new baby being born! My sister did an AMAZING job! It is not my sister that i had a problem with..it was the hospital ( just in case you have read this far down and want to know, the hospital she had her baby at was White County Medical Center and her dr was Kyle City, i would never let that man anywhere me. Ever. Ever. Ever. And i would NEVER give birth at that hospital. Ever. They have some of the MOST backwards, barbaric practices i have EVER seen. )

 So people can call me brave all they want. But i promise you, im not the brave one.

The end of one year and the beginning of another!

  For a long time i have thought about blogging. I guess for the most part i don't think i ever thought i was interesting enough to have a blog. Why would anyone want to "hear" what i have to say about things? But i have decided that maybe people don't want to "hear" what i have to say but, that's not gonna stop me from saying it :) 2010 has been a great year. It was a crazy year that is for sure.  I had to say goodbye to my best friends as they moved away, we moved to a new home, we traveled to the US to visit family, and we got to spend Christmas together as a family this year ( which after having Mr.Wylie gone last year due to deployment made  this Christmas even MORE special)!! This coming year we are hoping to do a lot of traveling and exploring. We are also anxiously expecting our 5th little chick!! Waiting for this chick to hatch is almost like going back in time and being pregnant for the first time. We have decided that the best place for a baby chick to hatch is in its own nest, surrounded by people who will love it and care of it  and treat it as the precious gift that it is. I really hate referring to this chick as "it" but we have also decided not to find out weather this is a he or a she chick :) I cant wait to be the first one to know!!! So as this year ends and we come to the beginning of a new year we have so much to be thankful for and so much more to look forward to!