Wellness Wednedsay: Become an Anthropologist

(Trujillo, PERU 2008)

I wanted to share some excerpts from one of my favorite books, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff…and it's all small stuff"by Richard Carlson. Every now and then I pick up this book and read a chapter or two (they are only a couple pages). Today this chapter really stood out to me.

Here are some key points:

--Anthropology is a science dealing with man and his origins. In this strategy, however, I'll conveniently redefine anthropology as "being interested, without judgment, in the way other people choose to live and behave". This strategy is geared toward developing your compassion, as well as a way of becoming more patient.

--Being interested in the way other people act is a way of replacing judgments with loving-kindness. 

--When you are genuinely curious about the way someone reacts or the way they feel about something, it's unlikely that you will also be annoyed. 

--Becoming an anthropologist is a way of becoming less frustrated by the actions of others.

--There's a fine line between being "interested" and being arrogant, as if secretly you believe that your way is better.

--One of the cardinal rules of joyful living is that judging others takes a great deal of energy and, without exception, pulls you away from where you want to be. 

I think this really goes along with "seeing the innocence in others". When we take a step back and really try to understand someone (where they are from, what they are going though) we have a better understanding of why they are acting the way they are. And then we are more easily available to love them. 

I feel like with all the social media buzz around us with instagram, Facebook, blogs and so on; it is so easy to have a judgmental attitude towards others. I know that I am guilty of this. I need to be better at NOT comparing myself to others and judging others. I know that if I can just work on being interested without judgment that I will definitely be less frustrated by the actions of others as well!

Lately...

We've been busy as usual! For some reason even though we are just a family of three we always have things going on. Here are some random things we have been up to…

-Chase is on week 3 of swimming lessons and he cries less each time!

-Chase and I went to a restaurant the first time by ourselves. It was pretty fun. He loves sweet potato fries. Literally can eat a whole order by himself. 

-Casey and I went to the Clippers vs. Jazz game (picture below is horribly dark)

-We are loving this pre-Spring weather! Can't wait to get more park time in

-It's my birthday this next Sunday! ahhhh!

-We spent a couple hundred dollars getting our trees cut (oh the joys of being homeowners)

-Lots of visits to friends houses in between nap time (picture below of Chase singing songs with his Aunt Kelly)

-I started selling my clothes on instagram. Check it out @shopashbashcloset !

-I made the best pizza ever with fresh mozzarella, balsamic glaze and pistachios! (now we are on a 4-week diet so no more pizza) :(

-Speaking of THE DIET: We are on week 2 now! It's basically like the fertility diet I did 2 years ago. No Flour, No added/processed sugar and no SODA. Week one was pretty brutal but now I am used to it. Casey is still struggling. Wish us luck!

Chase's Birthday Video…sorry I only post about Chase lately :(

Surprise! Here is another home video I made of Chase's birthday. I've been on a roll lately making videos. I kind of love doing it. I hope I will be able to keep up and make them for all my kids someday!

Chase's First Birthday from ashley kirkland on Vimeo.

My Thoughts on Breastfeeding

**sorry for the offensive picture**

***don't read if breast feeding grosses you out**

Ever since I was pregnant I had always planned on breastfeeding for one year. Easier said than done! I had no idea what to expect. My mom breastfed all five of us but for some reason she doesn't remember anything. I was so thankful for all of the Lactation Specialist in the hospital. Chase came five weeks early as you know so he was little and didn't have much energy during his feedings. He spent five nights in the NICU and every singe time I went to visit him (3-4 times a day) I attempted to feed him. I always had a Lactation Specialist come in and help.

Once Chase was around 8 weeks the breastfeeding thing really started to click. He was able to latch on a lot quicker. I would say from then on it just got easier and easier. Thinking about how he was then and how he was last week is crazy. It becomes like second nature to them and the feedings are so fast! In the beginning it felt like all I was doing was breastfeeding. Casey would come home from work and ask what I did all day. It made me so angry because I literally just breastfed all day long! It took 30-40 min per feeding and I fed him every 2-3 hours. You do the math. You don't get much of a break….

I seriously grew to love breastfeeding! I soon was comfortable doing it in public with a cover and I would plan my shopping/errands around feedings. I knew if I was going to a mall with Nordstrom that they have an awesome mother's lounge to nurse in. I have even nursed Chase numerous times in a bathroom stall (you do what you have to!). It is convenient and inconvenient at the same time. It just depends on your outlook.

March 10, 2014 was the day of Chase's last feeding. I eventually dropped him down to once a day just in the morning. Once I did that I was so sad thinking about stopping breast feeding! Ahhhh I don't know why it is so hard for me. I am so happy to be done and have my body back to myself but I am also so sad about not having that special time with Chase everyday.

I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding. I truly think it does great things for your baby and for you. I know it is not for everyone and I know it is definitely not easy. The first couple of months are so so hard! But once I got the hang of it and once Chase knew what to do it was so much easier. I really want  to breastfeed all of my children for one year. After feeding Chase for a year I feel so accomplished and kind of proud of myself for sticking with it. I can honestly say that Chase never got sick (except for this last week). And it did help me lose a lot of my pregnancy weight. 

Now that I am done I am really going to miss that time bonding with Chase. Especially how he would get so excited right before every feeding. And how he would stick his head up and smile in the middle of a feeding. In the end it got the point that he really knew when I was going to feed him. He would crawl over to me and have this big smile on his face when I said "milk" and did the sign for it. I know some people might read this and think that is a little creepy but as a mom I loved it! 

This morning I did not breast feed him so instead of bringing him back to bed with me after getting him up I had to take him straight to the kitchen to feed him breakfast. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I will of course miss that time in the morning cuddling in bed with my baby. It is such a bittersweet ending! I guess this is why women just keep having more babies! 

Chase's First Baseball Birthday Party

We started out Chase's birthday with bananas and pancakes which he loved. Later that day I met my sister Becca for lunch at Cafe Rio and Chase had his free kids quesadilla. When Casey got home from work we went to Chuckee Chesse so he could ride on the little kids rides. He was having fun until we put him on the monster truck :(

On Saturday we had a big baseball themed party for Chase. My mom came into town for the weekend and she helped out so much! We had lots of family from both sides so there was a great turnout! We had hot dogs with JDawg sauce, soft pretzels, cracker jacks, veggies and bottled coke. For dessert my sister becca made mini coconut cupcakes and we had an ice cream sundae bar. It was a lot of work but lots of fun! Chase got so many presents! He is one spoiled boy! 

I still can't believe my baby is ONE!

Another Post About Our San Francisco Girl's Trip…sorry

I know I already did a video about the trip I took a couple of weeks ago with my sisters and mom. I just wanted to share some pictures that were my favorite. We should call this more of an eating tour because that is pretty much what did the whole time. And we walked a lot! Some of our favorites were Pizzeria Delfina, Bob's Donuts, Burma Superstar, Boudin Bread Bowls, Mama's for breakfast, La Boulange,  and Miette Patisserie. I feel like we have that city down to a tee now. We used Uber to get around (it's like taxis but cheaper). And we stayed in Union Square which was a pretty good centralized location. I seriously love that city so much! I can't wait for an excuse to go back :)

 OH and I got to meet up with my friend Ali from nursing school and meet her little babe!