Squarespace Blog / "parenting"
Almost forgot the biggest milestone!
I almost forgot yesterday, our most proud milestone... we have made it to our goal of 6 months breastfeeding. It hasn't always been easy... but I was NOT willing to give up. Over the last 6 months some days it was exhausting (growth spurts) and some days rewarding... Some days I was overflowing with milk (thanks MMP and lactation cookies) and other days I felt like I had nothing... I am a HORRIBLE pumper... and what most people can pump in a sitting sometimes takes me 2 or 3 sessions just to get 5 ounces worth... but through all of this we kept going... and here we are - at our goal and still going strong. I feel like it should be smooth sailing from here... *knock on wood* next goal... ONE YEAR!
Read more →
Giveaway #3: BrookiEllen Diaper Covers
If you're a fitted diaper user like me... then its pretty likely that you have heard of BrookiEllen... She is hands down on of my favorite cover makers out there... Maybe its because she uses some of the awesome prints you see at RockerByeBaby... or maybe just because they're all around awesome... but either way... she is one to love. Years ago we had some custom journals made that to this day look brand new... we have had a handful of different covers... and with Ms. Rozzlyn on the way we just ordered FOUR more... So we are so very excited to have her joining us for this little giveaway... Like I've already mentioned - Sarah is a cloth diapering mama... and as a cloth diapering mama we can NEVER have too many covers... Expecially with the awesome design that BrookiEllen is known for... They are great for putting over fitted diapers as a cover... 
they keep all the moisture in... then you can just wipe the out quick when you change the diapers and use it over and over... They are ALSO great if you prefer prefolds & covers... just either wrap the prefold around baby, pin & cover... or simply just lay the prefold inside... easy peesy! Sarah was given the awesome Jam Session guitar diaper cover... almost exactly as shown... except a ONE SIZE! Meaning her cover will last her from about 8 pounds all the way through 30+... typically children are out of diapers around this time... so they are really a great investment.
Like I said, I just ordered four of the One Size covers for Rozzlyn w/ snaps... they will most definitely be our "go to" covers... and at just $15-$17 each they are MORE than reasonably priced for any budget in my opinion as you really only need a few of them... but good luck... with all her awesome prints its hard to just stop at a few. I'm already stalking for my new fabrics ;)BrookiEllen has picked one of my ALL TIME favorite prints to give to one of you lucky readers... its called Damask Rock. And is the most rockin' gender neutral print out there... The winner will also be getting a One Size Diaper... with snaps as shown.
How to win:
#1: Fan BrookiEllen on facebook
#2: Fan RockerByeBaby on Facebook.
#3: Tell Sarah your TOP 5 must haves in your diaper bag.
*all #'s below are extra*
#4: Follow BrookiEllen on Twitter
#5: Follow RockerByeBaby on Twitter
#6: Follow the BrookiEllen Blog.
***ONCE MORE - EACH COMMENT MUST BE LEFT SEPARATELY TO BE COUNTED! **** Also, be sure to leave us you're email in one of the comments so we can contact you :)
Swinger Sunday: TO DO - Werk :)
Meet Ashely - The mama behind AE Photography... Shes Super Mom in my eyes... but like the rest of us WAHM's, sometimes we start to jumble out priorities and get overwhelmed. So I figured, what a perfect Swinger Sunday post with all the supportive and understanding mama's we have here :) Leave her some love!
The other day when Ella was getting her hair cut, it got me thinking. I watched the stylists clean their stations, call over a client, give them a cut, get paid, clean up their station again and move onto the next client. They show up to work on time, do their job, make a living and be done with it. They can head home and leave work behind them. I sometimes wonder what that feels like.
When you have three children and work out of your home doing a job that is both yours and your husband's full time deal, things can become jumbled together. It's safe to say work is never far from my thoughts--even when on vacation, during the holidays or while sleeping. There is always stuff to ponder, stress over and get excited about. I assume this might be much easier for husband and wife photography teams that do not have children, but there isn't much we can't do about that! It takes a lot of dedication and determination to say "I am done with work for the day and will focus only on the kiddos & the husband."
When I see something like this photo, it breaks my heart a little. I know that every child has working parents, and ours actually get to see us more than most children get to see their parents... but I know it can be rough for them, because we are always together, and yet we are focused on work a majority of the time. We have decided to make annual summer vacations a top priority in this household, as well as mini spring getaways. Babies grow up so fast, and as important as it is to be dedicated to your job and work as hard as you possibly can--don't forget to stop, free your mind and focus on your little ones. Work issues may see oh-so-important now, but the only thing you will ever truly regret is not being the parent you always meant to be. You only get one shot.
I have decided to add a little ice skating, monster trucks and bowling to my to-do list. I'll have to have Ella modify the one she made for me on our calendar for this month!
Love this post? Stop by and become a "fan" of the AE Facebook page to get all the updates on new blog posts and to see their amazing photography skills in action :)
Read more →
The other day when Ella was getting her hair cut, it got me thinking. I watched the stylists clean their stations, call over a client, give them a cut, get paid, clean up their station again and move onto the next client. They show up to work on time, do their job, make a living and be done with it. They can head home and leave work behind them. I sometimes wonder what that feels like.
When you have three children and work out of your home doing a job that is both yours and your husband's full time deal, things can become jumbled together. It's safe to say work is never far from my thoughts--even when on vacation, during the holidays or while sleeping. There is always stuff to ponder, stress over and get excited about. I assume this might be much easier for husband and wife photography teams that do not have children, but there isn't much we can't do about that! It takes a lot of dedication and determination to say "I am done with work for the day and will focus only on the kiddos & the husband."
When I see something like this photo, it breaks my heart a little. I know that every child has working parents, and ours actually get to see us more than most children get to see their parents... but I know it can be rough for them, because we are always together, and yet we are focused on work a majority of the time. We have decided to make annual summer vacations a top priority in this household, as well as mini spring getaways. Babies grow up so fast, and as important as it is to be dedicated to your job and work as hard as you possibly can--don't forget to stop, free your mind and focus on your little ones. Work issues may see oh-so-important now, but the only thing you will ever truly regret is not being the parent you always meant to be. You only get one shot.
I have decided to add a little ice skating, monster trucks and bowling to my to-do list. I'll have to have Ella modify the one she made for me on our calendar for this month!
Love this post? Stop by and become a "fan" of the AE Facebook page to get all the updates on new blog posts and to see their amazing photography skills in action :)
Mentoring Monday: As the Kids say... "Epic Fail"
Welcome back, Aymee - to yet another Mentoring Monday post... we love having you :)
As the Kids say: “Epic Fail.”Dear Maddie,
Let's just start with--it's okay to make a mistake. It's okay to really mess up. And it's okay to fail miserably. The important thing is that you get back up, shake it off, and try again a little wiser. No one likes to lose, and it takes courage to admit they did. It's okay to regret something you've done. As much as feeling regret sucks, it motivates us to keep from making the same mistakes over and over again. It's an important process in growing up and, well…surviving. And isn't that what growing up is: surviving?
I failed miserably last week, quite literally. For the first time in my 26 years, I failed a class. For a life-long hard working student whose never had a GPA below 3.6, this was like getting sucker punched in my nerdy, squishy, post-partum stomach. It would have been expected if I hadn't tried; then I would have deserved it. But all semester-long, I constantly struggled with the class. I worked and worked in hopes of at least passing. But that wasn't in the cards. Instead, I became part of the lower fifty percent of students who take this class: those that fail (that's right, this class has a fifty percent fail-rate).
The weight of disappointment, frustration, sadness, and the desire to lose myself in an alcoholic stupor, all bare down on my back like a boulder. I am now fearful of the coming semester. Not to mention: I have no motivation to work like have in the past, which is a problem because now more than ever do I need to pull up my bootstraps and get to work.
Sure, feeling the shame and guilt from failure suck. Knowing you let someone down because you didn't succeed sucks. The fact that your best wasn't good enough f&*%ing sucks. But that's not the worst of it; do you know what the hardest part of failing is? Not becoming a whiny, sore loser.
Everyone is entitled one pity party--maybe a few more depending on the circumstances. But eventually, you have to dry your tears, stand up and try again. Try again, no matter how much you just want to stay buried under the covers and hide from the sun. You have to do this terribly difficult task because if you don't, nothing will ever get better.
So I will press on next semester, and the one after that, and so on--because I have to set an example for you; because I refuse to just lie down and quit; because it's the only way I'll get to where I'm going.
Love, Mom.
Read more →
As the Kids say: “Epic Fail.”Dear Maddie,
Let's just start with--it's okay to make a mistake. It's okay to really mess up. And it's okay to fail miserably. The important thing is that you get back up, shake it off, and try again a little wiser. No one likes to lose, and it takes courage to admit they did. It's okay to regret something you've done. As much as feeling regret sucks, it motivates us to keep from making the same mistakes over and over again. It's an important process in growing up and, well…surviving. And isn't that what growing up is: surviving?
I failed miserably last week, quite literally. For the first time in my 26 years, I failed a class. For a life-long hard working student whose never had a GPA below 3.6, this was like getting sucker punched in my nerdy, squishy, post-partum stomach. It would have been expected if I hadn't tried; then I would have deserved it. But all semester-long, I constantly struggled with the class. I worked and worked in hopes of at least passing. But that wasn't in the cards. Instead, I became part of the lower fifty percent of students who take this class: those that fail (that's right, this class has a fifty percent fail-rate).
The weight of disappointment, frustration, sadness, and the desire to lose myself in an alcoholic stupor, all bare down on my back like a boulder. I am now fearful of the coming semester. Not to mention: I have no motivation to work like have in the past, which is a problem because now more than ever do I need to pull up my bootstraps and get to work.
Sure, feeling the shame and guilt from failure suck. Knowing you let someone down because you didn't succeed sucks. The fact that your best wasn't good enough f&*%ing sucks. But that's not the worst of it; do you know what the hardest part of failing is? Not becoming a whiny, sore loser.
Everyone is entitled one pity party--maybe a few more depending on the circumstances. But eventually, you have to dry your tears, stand up and try again. Try again, no matter how much you just want to stay buried under the covers and hide from the sun. You have to do this terribly difficult task because if you don't, nothing will ever get better.
So I will press on next semester, and the one after that, and so on--because I have to set an example for you; because I refuse to just lie down and quit; because it's the only way I'll get to where I'm going.
Love, Mom.
Swinger Sunday: Self- Destructive - the thick and thin of it
Getting back to Swinger Sundays!! Meet the mama behind "My D Cup Vs. Gravity". Leave her some love and stop by and follow her blog!
So, one of my biggest problems with being a bigger girl now is that one upon a time I was extremely thin. I have to remind myself that I was thin because I was not being good to my body. I had "outside" forces that were eating me alive, and my diet consisted of lucky charms, taco bell, and those two for a dollar cookies from the gas station. This went on for nearly ten years. Then, I got pregnant. I stopped using and picked up a fork. Or a fork-lift rather! I gained eighty pounds in nine months and didn't attempt to shed any after the baby was born.
With second baby, I did lose weight. I was on the cusp of having diabetes and that scared the hell out of me. I walked an hour every night in the winter storms, determined to have a healthy baby and an easier delivery. I was measuring out 1/4 cups of pasta for dinner, and writing down all of my carbohydrates. It worked. After delivery, I was fifteen pounds lighter than when I got pregnant.
But here we are now. Baby is six months and I have stopped losing weight. I am not walking so much and constantly feel hungry. I eat a spinach and hard-boiled egg for lunch so that I can eat gobs of peanut butter out of the jar.
I am still self-destructive, only now these are legal activities. What is the drive behind all of this? I have an addictive personality, whether it be drugs or chocolate. I think I need to work on this before I start hopping on the scale.
Amber here: Great post!! I think we all have these bad habits... I defintely have an addictive personality, and im sure there are lots of you out there that battle similar issues. We would love to hear your feedback on the issue!
Read more →
So, one of my biggest problems with being a bigger girl now is that one upon a time I was extremely thin. I have to remind myself that I was thin because I was not being good to my body. I had "outside" forces that were eating me alive, and my diet consisted of lucky charms, taco bell, and those two for a dollar cookies from the gas station. This went on for nearly ten years. Then, I got pregnant. I stopped using and picked up a fork. Or a fork-lift rather! I gained eighty pounds in nine months and didn't attempt to shed any after the baby was born.
With second baby, I did lose weight. I was on the cusp of having diabetes and that scared the hell out of me. I walked an hour every night in the winter storms, determined to have a healthy baby and an easier delivery. I was measuring out 1/4 cups of pasta for dinner, and writing down all of my carbohydrates. It worked. After delivery, I was fifteen pounds lighter than when I got pregnant.
But here we are now. Baby is six months and I have stopped losing weight. I am not walking so much and constantly feel hungry. I eat a spinach and hard-boiled egg for lunch so that I can eat gobs of peanut butter out of the jar.
I am still self-destructive, only now these are legal activities. What is the drive behind all of this? I have an addictive personality, whether it be drugs or chocolate. I think I need to work on this before I start hopping on the scale.
Amber here: Great post!! I think we all have these bad habits... I defintely have an addictive personality, and im sure there are lots of you out there that battle similar issues. We would love to hear your feedback on the issue!
