My first little getaway without kids another huge milestone!

This past Friday evening I ventured about 10 miles from our house to the Embassy Suites to scrapbook with a friend of mine for the night and most of the day Saturday. Chad had to be in Glenwood Springs most of the day Friday and was late getting back that night, so I had Alissa come over and watch the kids for an hour or so until Chad could get home so I could try and make it to the hotel before it got too late! By the time I got to the hotel and settled in it was close to 9 and was able to stay up until about 2 that morning. I was really impressed on how many gals were there, there's about 2 floors of just scrapbookers that weekend, it was pretty cool! It was hosted by some Creative Memories consultants, so next door to us one of the gals had her products all set out to buy if you needed anything and you could also go to some presentations on different things. I was in a room with my friend and another friend of hers and they had tables all set up for us to lay all our crap out on! I went with the intention that I wouldn't get much done, but at least wanted to get a start on Braylon's album. I was able to get about 3 pages almost complete. Of course, when you're away from home and can only bring so many supplies, there are things I had at home that I needed to finish my pages, so I was still pleased I at least got a start on it. Now, if I could conquer my creative block and perfection I have, I'd get many more pages done, hopefully I'll be more prepared for the next one and can get more done! It was so much fun to look at his pictures from birth and reminence on the amazing experience of childbirth! But, all in all, it was such a fabulous time catching up with my friend and meeting other gals as well. It was SO nice to sleep in and have breakfast cooked for you and not have to cut up or cook kids and hubby food!
My goal was to have Brynley weaned by the time this came around and successfully we have made it a week with no breastfeeding and surprisingly I'm feeling better than I thought it would feel! Now I need to go out and buy some regular bras because I am SO SO over nursing bras and I am lacking reg. ones! And of course, there is other bonuses of not having about taking only certain medications, not having to take prenatals which I'm still taking for another week though just to finish the bottle, worrying about the timing of when you drink alcohol and having to feed her and other perks too! Most of all, I can go places for more than a few hours or overnight and not have to worry about getting back to feed her! There are also some not so fun things I don't get to enjoy anymore like not being able to eat more calories because breastfeeding regularly burns about 500 calories a day, so you need to eat more to supply your baby with good milk, so I will never hear the words again from my pediatrician about not eating enough food :(. Oh well, I have no good excuses now, now is my time to get myself back into shape and get back to a healthier myself, I have a long ways to go, but eventually I will get there. Never in a million years would I have imagined breastfeeding a whole year, especially after having Braylon and breastfeeding him was one of the biggest challenges for me that I have ever faced and I was miserable and didn't enjoy it. After finding out I was pregnant again with Bryn, I was hoping she would take to breastfeeding and thankfully from the minute she was born it has been a piece of cake for her and the little stinker never took a bottle or pacifier so I knew I was in for it now! My goal was 6 mo. in the beginning and somehow we made it a little over a year and I couldn't be prouder, it is the best thing your baby could ever have and it saves you a ton of money! So since she never took a bottle, I had a pretty big stash of stored milk that I pumped in the beginning for her that I had frozen just in case she would take a bottle later on. Well, that never happened, so I knew for sure I wasn't letting it go to waste, that is SO precious and you spend a lot of time to collect, so I began researching what I could do with it. I came upon a few options. The first is an organization called IBMP (International Breast milk Project), they are based in California and supply donated breast milk to infants in Africa and here in the US that are less fortunate. I knew I wanted to do this badly, so I did the necessary paperwork and bloodwork for it and they take care of the rest! I was accepted and they shipped me the carton to ship back my milk to them which was about 75-100 oz! It was an amazing and fulfilling experience that I totally recommend to anyone who any mom that can give any unused milk to. I also decided to donate the other 1/2 of my supply to Presbertian (not spelled right) St. Lukes hospital downtown. They have the same idea which is for you to donate any unused stored breast milk to infants born there who need it most. I was able to donate about 100 oz. of milk and it couldn't of been more rewarding for me, they have the most caring and appreciative staff there and I'm SO happy that I could do it. Anyways, I had a great experience with both of these organizations and if you ever feel like you can donate some, its always in huge demand and they are very appreciative of anything you can give. I would be happy to answer any questions or help out in anyway I can to those interested and of course highly recommend it to all the moms out there!