So I finally decided to start my own blog! Yay! I am very excited! I had been thinking about it for a while but I couldn't decide whether to do it or not. So today I made the final decision and searched on google "how to start a blog" and like usual I modified my search until i ended up finding this article by Steve Yegge which was great because it encouraged me to start. It was titled "you should write blogs" which was funny cause that was the very question I was asking myself, "should i start a blog?" So there you go, thanks Steve! I read his blog and I liked what he said about why you should write a blog. My main concern about writing a blog was whether or not I had anything of interest to share...well it turns out I do. To sum it up here is the paragraph that stood out of me:
"This is an important thing to keep in mind when you're blogging. Each person in your audience is on a different clock, and all of them are ahead of you in some ways and behind you in others. The point of blogging is that we all agree to share where we're at, and not poke fun at people who seem to be behind us, because they may know other things that we won't truly understand for years, if ever."
You can find this particular entry here.
So anyway, that was that, and here I am. Ill start by saying a little bit about myself...My name is Sandra Griffin and I am 29 years old. I am a wife, a mother of a 3 month old boy. I am an Army wife and have been for the past 5 years, actually we have our anniversary coming up next month! We had our first child 3 months ago on June 19th and he is the most gorgeous boy I have ever layed eyes upon, of course what mother doesn't think her child is the cutest? But yeah I am one of those moms. His name is Jeremy Malakai Griffin, like my husband Jeremy Aubrey Griffin. We decided to change the middle name.
This is my baby boy!! I am a semi crunchy mom, well I consider myself because I am definitely not mainstream. I exclusively breastfeed my son since birth even though the ped that we chose tried to get us to formula feed but I didn't give up on breastfeeding and only gave him formula for like 2 days and that was just to supplement because he had jaundice but that's a whole another blog that I might eventually post on here because I have learned a lot since then. Look for it later because I will post my birth experience and what I learned not to do in the future because I wish someone would have told me all of this so I could have been more informed. But I think that is the case with a lot of first time mommies so I am hoping that if my blog doesn't do anything else it at least helps some mommies with that.
Since we breastfeed, we also bedshare or cosleep whatever term you want to use. I think bedsharing is the right one but I like to say cosleeping better. So yeah we cosleep with our three month old since he was about 1 week and half...never in my life did i think i was going to do that because everyone warns you not to. Personally it was a sanity saver and it just felt natural to do it instead of putting him down in a crib, which we do own but it is there just for looks for now. More about that later too.
I use cloth diapers and cloth wipes which at first I must admit was a decision only to save money but I've come to love it and learn that it has a lot of benefits and it totally becomes addictive so there are now many reason why i chose to stick with it, even if I get the occasional comment "Let's see how long that lasts" or "Wait till he starts solids". Well i can't imagine ever using sposies (disposable diapers) even if it is harder later because I have too much money invested already and I love the benefits of the cloth against my babies skin as opposed to chemicals on his bum. More on cloth diapers later too I promise!
I babywear! So like most people I put on my registry list a carrier like the infantino or the bjorn that are sold at target or walmart and I got two during my baby showers. So I had it there but never used it, in the first few weeks of Kai's life I struggled with being tied to the couch breastfeeding and started searching on how to feed him while being out and about, since carrying him and feeding him worked but only for a little while then my arm would feel like it was gonna fall off. So I came across babywearing and all it's rage! I used to hang out on babycenter as a lurker mostly reading and learning all about being preggo and being a parent. So I started reading about the different kinds of carriers and which ones are good and which ones arent'!! So now I love it, i babywear my baby all over the place! My first carrier was an infantino which is now God nows where cause I left it behind when we moved to Hawaii, but my first real carrier than I have learned to love now, is the good ol' reliable Moby wrap! Then I got a Maya wrap which is not a wrap but a ring sling, i use that one while shopping...and then since I live in Hawaii for now, I got me a Gypsy Momma water wrap, which is great too, and the final more recent addition is my Beco Butterfly II!!! That I just got yesterday and I already love, but I still gotta practice with it more, but so far so good! More on carriers later!! I know ill be talking about this for sure!
I can't remember exactly how i came upon this attachment parenting idea, but I did. It was through my many searching quests that I go on very often, just digging up information on parenting and reading up on things. I found out that I had something in common with others, I say this because it kind of felt like I was turning out to be a different parent that my parents or any parent that I had encountered in real life. I always imagined parenting was going to be like in the movies , where you feed your baby a bottle and lay him down in his crib while you go about do housework and you push the stroller at the store while baby sucks on a pacifier. Well it wasn't for me. Well deep down inside I guess I felt like it didn't need to be so I went with what felt natural, and that's what I am doing now. I am feeding my child from my breast because it feels natural, I let him sleep in our bed because it feels natural, I put cloth diapers on him and clean him up with water and natural ingredients because that's what feels natural. I suddenly realized that I too like most parents wanted what was best for my child, but to me the best is not the most expensive toy or brand name clothes but what was best for his overall well being, for his health and for his development. Mind you this is only my opinion based on what I know and what I have researched but deep down we all know what's best for our children, once we get past our own selfish needs and wants, and listen to that voice inside us, we know instinctively what is best for them. Because that's how we were designed, but sometimes all that gets clouded up by all the stuff that gets thrown at us by the media and companies marketing their products or by someone who doesn't know your child like you do, therefore they give you advice that is not best suited for you and your baby. Having said that, the advice I provide is and will always be in my experience and what is best for my child, it's not to say i think what you are doing is wrong, but we each do what works for us and as long as we know that we are doing the best for our children then you should be at peace. If not then something needs to change, right?
Sorry I was kind of digressing there for a little bit but the point is i came across attachment parenting which i was able to really relate to and found that i follow most of their principles already without even being aware...so i basically found a label to the type of parent i am. Who knew?
So more about me, let's see...I have a degree in Computer Science, even though towards the last year of my degree I sort of lost interest in the whole thing even though I still love computers, but I wasn't as passionate anymore about programming so it kind of was put on the back burner and I finished my degree but not without some trouble and it was just like I just wanted to get it over with so I can get it and move on and do something else. I am very proud of it, and i graduated when I was 9 months pregnant but once I had my baby being a mom took precedence over everything else and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
I am from El Paso, TX, born there but I lived in Cd. Juarez, Chih. Mexico for the first 9 years of my life, it is the border town to el paso, so when i was 9 we moved to el paso, and lived there ever since then i met my husband who is in the army, got married and 5 years later we pcs'd to hawaii, where we are at now. We have been here in the beginning of August and we love it here! So far so good! Well for being my first post it got a little long but I will try to post more later and maybe organize it, for now my husband is home.....
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