Burping and Milk

Allie and Kyla are both sleeping and so I thought I'd steal a few minutes to try to post, although Damon is trying to ask me a question every second so this may not last, but since I have nothing really of interest to post anyway, that might be a good thing.

There is nothing more satsifying than getting a nice, spit-up-less burp out of a baby. Wouldn't you agree? I forgot how great that feels. Especially the times when you know something is bothering your little one; they cry when you think they should be nursing and when you sit them up and give them a couple solid thumps on the back, you are rewarded with a loud belch, mixed in a sort of "thank you cry", and nothing could be more exciting.

The other night I was doing my best to get dinner on the table (explaining yet again to Damon my desire to have more than two arms so I could do things a little faster), and Kyla was screaming, letting me know that she was hungry, too. When we sat down to eat, I decided I wasn't in the mood to eat alone and so I did what any hungry mother would do--I nursed her at the table. At this point, I'm sure you're not gasping in shock, but hopefully nodding in agreement--it's not always fun to eat alone, especially when you're the one preparing the food and not getting to enjoy it while it's warm. Kyla didn't mind, and when I sat her up after she finished one side, I tried to put some more food on my plate with my free hand. Instantly, and without any help whatsoever from me, she burped loudly, as though she had been enjoying her meal, too. That was when I realized that all those times I felt so good about myself for coaxing those troublesome air bubbles out of her probably had a lot more to do with gravity than anything I was really doing. By patting her on the back, was I really doing anything but making myself feel good? I get the feeling that that question had already been answered by my somewhat neglected third child, who was perfectly happy burping herself. What a shame to have that bubble burst (my self-congratulating, not the bubbles Kyla is working on).

Alright. Now that Damon is entertaining himself by pushing dimes around the computer desk (right next to me, of course, but at least no longer asking me questions), I think I have time for one more subject. Is anyone else losing sleep at night wondering what in the world happened to the price of milk? At Wal-Mart the other day, a gallon was over $4.00! Sheesh! I heard that things weren't great with dairy farmers, but honestly, it's getting way out of control. Long gone are the days of Kroger's 10 half gallons for 10 dollars. Jeff keeps saying that we're going to have to either start drinking powdered milk or stop eating cereal. I don't find either of those options very attractive and hope it never actually comes to that.

Here in Jacksonville, I started buying milk at CVS because it is always cheaper. Their regular price for a gallon is $3.59, which still seems awfully steep, but it's less than Wal-Mart. They do, however, have sales fairly often, where a gallon costs $2.49. Much more reasonable. You can only buy two gallons at a time, and so I'll stop by every few days and stock up. My mom taught us that you can freeze milk (although make sure it has thawed completely before you drink it, or you may get a chunk of ice in your mouth when you aren't expecting it...yuck), and I did do that once. Walgreen's also has sales ($2.89 a gallon) and that helps out, too. Now, though, I am just wondering if the price is going to ever come back down or if it is just going to plateau for the foreseeable future. Basically, I'm wondering if I need to look into buying a cow so that we can be sure to have milk without complaining too much about it (or, heaven forbid, drinking powdered milk). And if so, does anyone want to share it with me?