I love me.

I have been inspired. I have been inspired by Courtney and Robin to do something I don't like. To do something that is scary. No, no needles are involved. The thing that makes my palms sweat is self-portraiture. Yep. It wasn't until I read Courtney's deep post that I realized I really am not totally over all the self image stuff I dealt with as a teen. While I'm no longer super self-conscious like I was back when I was younger and thinner, I'm still shy and unsure of myself. I'm old enough now that it didn't matter to me, until I thought of my daughter. I want her to realize that she is beautiful on the inside and the outside and that God made her the way she is intentionally. Why did I think that it was unreasonable or vain to think that way about myself? Since I have had kids, I have come into existence as a mother, but somewhere along the way I lost my pre-baby self. And I really didn't care.

What's more wonderful than being a mommy?

After four years, I'm starting to care. I need to care about me for them. I don't just mean eating reasonably well and trying to stay healthy. I need to teach them that it is okay to love yourself and think yourself beautiful. By doing that, you are acknowledging God's handiwork. I need to teach by example. I need to do this, and I am afraid. But I trust God to help me. And I trust friends to support me in this.

Not liking photos of one's self has been a family tradition. My great-grandmother would scratch herself out of photos whenever possible. My grandmother (her daughter-in-law) used to cut herself out of family photos. My mother avoids the "business end" of a camera like the plague. I suppose I have been learning this my whole life. All the more reason to correct it before I teach my daughter any more self-dislike.

Here is a photo of me I've never been fond of, but I'm trying to look at it in a new way.

So, be warned, self-portraits are to follow soon.

-Susan

Here's breastmilk in your eye!

I originally started my other blog to blog about "mom things." Then, I realized that people other than my immediate family enjoyed my photography. Talk about gratifying! So, that blog became a photo blog. That's not a bad thing, but I still need a mom outlet. Welcome to my new mom blog! I hope you enjoy the journey!

Over Christmas, I was the lucky recipient of pink eye (a.k.a. conjunctivitis). Some of the folks I visited were just getting over it, and despite not sharing face cloths or anything like that, I awoke the next day with crusty, itchy eyes. The only other time in my life I have had pink eye was shortly after I was married. It was irritating, itchy, and disgusting. That was long before I had my daughter. This time, on the other hand, I was a breastfeeding mom! I remembered reading that breastmilk is the best thing for that funky eye condition some newborns get, so I looked it up. Sure enough, breastmilk is a super remedy for pink eye, too! What amazed me was how quickly it worked. My eyes went from itchy and gummy to 90% of normal in less than an hour! The relief of itching was instant. Add to that, no doctor's visit, no prescription, no co-pay- nothing! And unlike eye drops, the temperature was perfect.

So, I hope none of you ever have pink eye or kiddos with pink eye, but if you do, remember that many of you have the best cure literally at your fingertips!
Not only is breastmilk the perfect food for your baby or toddler,
not only is it an acceptable substitute for raw cow or goat milk in coffee,
it's a magical cure for eye infections!

Hope you are enjoying the new year! I am so far!

-Susan

Hi!

Hi! I have started this blog to share some of my "mommy moments." I have another blog that seems to have turned into a photography blog completely of its own volition. Let me start with an introduction. I'm a wife and mother to two wonderful kiddos. My daughter is almost four and my son is nearly eighteen months old. We live in rural Kentucky near where I grew up. I'm an extended breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapering, home-cooking, crunchy Christian.

With Christmas and everything that entails, I don't know when I get to post again, but I promise, I will eventually.

Again, thanks for stopping by!

-Susan