Favorite Posts & Breastfeeding Resources

As Brooks has gotten older, I've become more confident in my parenting abilities.  Every once in a while I come across a blog post or article that really makes me say, "yes! exactly what I was thinking!" or one that truly makes me laugh.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

From The Badass Breastfeeder, on co-sleeping/bed sharing:

Bedsharing

I definitely related to her struggle at the beginning...I never wanted to bed share with Brooks but once I decided to it really made our sleep so much better! [most days, at least :) ]


From Pregnant Chicken, on doing what works:

The Haggard Mother Sleep Training Method

My favorite line from this post - "You are standing in front of a door with a thousand keys and only one of them fits."


Other incredibly helpful resources to have on hand if you're breastfeeding:  
KellyMom
Dr. Sears
La Leche League

I think one of the things I found to be helpful was to have a friend who had kids to tell me, "oh yeah, my baby did that."  For some reason it was comforting to know that Brooks wasn't the only one who [insert ailment here: i.e. had a crusty eye as a newborn, was only taking 30 minute naps, refused to eat any type of solid food, nursing around the clock, etc].

And my final thought is this- if whatever you're doing is working for your family, you're doing it right.  We've got 18 years to teach our kids to be independent...why try and do it all in the first few years?

Wednesday Confessions

Happy Wednesday!  I hope all you mamas had a wonderful, relaxing Mother's Day! [filled with naps, no cleaning and no diaper changing, I might add!]  I had a delicious and fabulous day with my family...and now it's time to confess a few things.


1-  Last week was one of the more challenging weeks I've had staying at home with Brooks.  It's official: temper tantrums are NO JOKE, ya'll.  I'm 100% certain that motherhood is my greatest accomplishment.

I call this..."Portrait of a hungry, tired toddler"

2- Have you seen the show "Fixer Upper" on HGTV?  It's my new favorite.  This couple renovates homes in Texas and I have loved every single one of them [well, 2.  i've watched 2 episodes so far.]  They have the "farmhouse" style that I love so much... not to mention that the woman [Joanna] reminds me of Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights, who is the best.

3-  I'm doing good with my "no shopping challenge" for this month!  I haven't bought anything for myself...things for Brooks and my hubby don't count though, right?!  I can't resist the baby tank tops and baseball hats that are out for summer.  Come on.

4- My air conditioner has been on since the temperature outside hit approximately 78 degrees.  Sorry.  The yellow film of pollen that I keep wiping off our patio furniture is reason enough for me to keep the windows closed.  

5-  I bought myself a Birchbox subscription for Mother's Day and have been obsessed with pretty much everything I've gotten in the last two boxes.  Tinted lip gloss? Yes.  Lotion? Yes.  I may or may not have already ordered a few full sized items.  [ i.e. this ]

Hope you're having a great week!

A Month Without Shopping

Hello again!  April has been a fun month- birthdays, Easter, and a whole lot of desserts!  I definitely indulged quite a bit... shopping-wise and food-wise [although lets be honest- I always eat a lot of desserts.]

a bunny birthday cake made by yours truly

mr. bowtie at church

playing in the nursery/preschool

cheesin for birthday pics

After a ridiculous amount of ordering and returning [free shipping FTW!] I finally found a high waisted bathing suit that I love.  I am so excited to wear it when it finally gets warm!  I also got some other fabulous birthday gifts from my family this month.  And so, now I need to pump the brakes.

No shopping [clothes, for myself specifically] for the whole month of May.  Do you think I can do it? I've already banned myself from buying dresses or skirts of any kind since I don't really have the chance to wear them being a stay at home mama.  I've been able to stick to that, so hopefully this won't be too much harder!

I'm hoping I can do a little closet clean out and try to "shop my closet."  I'm thinking Pinterest will be my friend as well!  Anyone done this and have any tips?

Easter Outfits, Nursing Friendly Edition

So when it comes to special occasions, I've started trying to plan out what I'm going to wear to avoid it taking a ridiculously long time for me to get dressed.  [I'm the type of person that needs to like what I'm wearing or it will bother me all day.]  With Easter coming up this Sunday, I can't help but look for some fabulous, pastel-y dresses to show off my pasty white legs.  Or, if it ends up being a bit chilly, perhaps a nice top with some white skinnies.  I sometimes  usually pick out two outfits ahead of time because I am a notorious mind changer the day of.

Banana Republic

Loft

Old Navy

To pair with white skinny pants/jeans & a cardigan [and perhaps wedges, if I'm feely risky]:

H&M

H&M

I can't wait to see everyone's preppy easter outfits.  Brooks will be wearing this:

And I will be trying not to smooch on him all day long.  Happy Easter!

On Babies Getting Older + 18 month update

Lately I've been very emotional about Brooks getting older.  He's now 18 months and his language is exploding...learning new words and expressions every single day!  I am absolutely loving this stage [most of the time- not you, tantrums!] and the more I see him being able to do things on his own, the more I am overcome with emotions.  Happy that he is finally becoming more independent, and then so sad that my baby is not a little baby anymore.  I never ever thought I would feel this way [ see here and here to explain] and yet, here we are.  I guess this is why people have lots of babies!

 Here are some things Brooks likes doing now, April 2014-

 Getting into mommy's closet and trying on my shoes!  His favorites are these blue pointy toed ones and another pair of nude colored pointy flats.

Easter Egg Huntin'- loves to open and close those eggs!  He also loves watching ladybugs on the driveway, or the parking deck, etc. [he says "lay-bug!" and squats down to see them]

Practicing saying "Happy Birthday!" & singing the birthday song since we have lots of family birthdays coming up.  He says "hap bur-day" and it is so incredibly cute.  I think I've tried to capture it on video like 1,000 times.  

Other loves: coloring with crayons [on all surfaces], smelling the daffodils outside, chasing our cat and jumping on Daddy.  Oh sweet baby, I love you so.  

April Shopping

So, since my birthday is this month, I've been doing a bit of shopping.  I can't help it!  All my favorite stores know what they're doing sending me birthday coupons in the mail!  Not to mention a new Loft outlet opened by us, and the Peter Som collection for Kohl's is being released April 10th.  Now, I'm not crazy enough to wait in line for anything [I think the Missoni for Target stuff all sold out in like a few hours!] but I've been browsing the collection online and there are some cuuute pieces [ i.e. this, this, this!]

I'm also currently lusting after these Jack Rogers sandals, but am hesitant to order because of the price and I'm not sure how well they'll stay on!  Anyone have them and know how they fit?

Lauren

Also on my wish list is anything mint green.  One of my all time favorite colors [and now I'm wondering why I don't own more of it!]

old navy

loft

j.crew

And lastly, I think I'm ready to take the plunge on some comfortable "sweatpant" like pants.  I've had my eye on these Lou & Grey ones at Loft...

lou & grey

I think they'll look nice with a fitted top and sandals once it gets a bit warmer!  


*Also, for my birthday I'd like to live in John & Sherry's show house.  Thanks.

High Five for Friday

Oh hello again.  It's Friday!  We've had a busy week.  April is here, the spring weather has arrived and afternoons at our house are much more enjoyable.  Brooks has learned to say "outside?" ["ow-siy mama?"] which is super cute and makes it hard to say no to him.  Here are the highlights of our week!

1- I got to go see one of my very best friends and her sweet newborn baby girl on Sunday!  It was so fun to hold that warm snuggly baby.  Also, I used my pump for the first time in a year.  Since it was a 2 hour drive I didn't want to be uncomfortable, so I pumped and dumped before I left...oh what memories the sound of the pump brings back!

2-  This kid loves to try on shoes.  [I'm going to have to start hiding his green frog rain boots because he ALWAYS wants to put them on.]  Here he is getting ready for work.

3-  Brooks got Easter/18 month pictures done on Tuesday and they are ridiculously cute.  We're sending Easter cards so I don't want to spoil the surprise of the cuteness, but here's what he wore:

4-  I went a little tween-ish and got some pink in my hair...

5-  I'm determined to find a cute, toddler friendly bathing suit for this summer and have gone on a bathing suit ordering rampage.  I'm currently waiting on these cute J. Crew boy short bottoms to be delivered to see how I like them!

How was your week?  Have a great weekend!