Travel. It was so carefree and liberating as a young adult. I've had so many great experiences in other cultures, and look forward to passing that on to my children. Thank goodness it's fashionable to be a parent who travels with their children! Instead of feeling like your life is over and you have to "settle down," you can choose to share with your children all that the world has to offer.
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This past year, my oldest was in half-day preschool, which meant that we had to be out the door every day around 12:15. Yes. I had to get three kids ages 0, 2, and 4 out the door right at lunchtime and perilously close to nap time.
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Well hi there.
It's been a bit. A lot of life changes are going down right now, and I feel like I've been on an emotional roller coaster. Writing is how I process what I'm feeling, so I think it's time to share it with my online community.
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Being a mom is hard. I know this because I've hidden in my closet and cried hot tears of exhaustion and frustration. I know this because my body has sustained injuries, aches, and pains as a result of becoming a mother. I also know this because our culture reminds me at every turn how hard motherhood is, but how worth it!
It's all true. It's hard and also worth it.
But sometimes I fall into this trap of feeling at once self-satisfied AND indignant about everything I have suffered in the name of motherhood.
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In the past, my options to whiten my teeth were to use white strips from the drugstore or get my teeth professionally whitened at the dentist. I always found the white strips to be a bit slimy, and I could never get them to stay on my teeth long enough to do what they were supposed to do. Getting my teeth professionally whitened would be extremely expensive and would mean bringing a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a 9-month-old along. That does not sound fun or relaxing.
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My third baby in 4 years just turned 9 months. It feels like I've been pregnant or nursing for eternity! This stage of life can be depleting, both physically and mentally. All of your extra energy goes toward growing and raising these little human beings who can't fend for themselves.
Our baby is finally sleeping through the night, so it's time to start restoring balance to our home life. I'm back to setting an alarm to wake up before the kids, my husband and I are both working out first thing in the morning, and we're starting to prioritize our marriage again.
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Yesterday as I was leaving my OB-Gyn appointment with all three of my young kids in tow, my doctor made the kindest comment to me. Before I share it with you, though, I need to set the scene:
The baby was screaming in his stroller with snot running down his nose. The two-year-old was trying to put his toy laptop in the basket of the stroller, effectively tripping me and getting his foot run over in the process. The four-year-old was asking questions about my "yearly exam" while standing directly in the path of my stroller in that narrow hallway. I tried to answer her as vaguely as possible over the din of my unhappy baby while smiling apologetically at the nurses.
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The weather in Florida lately has been pleasantly chilly, and we've been reveling in the chance to wear pants and long sleeves. Ever since we moved here two years ago, it hasn't really gotten cold until at least February, and even then the chill only lasted for a few days.
Temperatures in the 60s and 70s are prime mom uniform weather, and these days my "momiform" starts with a base of black leggings or black skinnies. Almost any top looks good paired with them, and they can be dressed up or down.
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If you ask most moms of young kids who are "working on their fitness," there is very little time or money to spend on their health habit. Of course as moms we make due with what we have, but it often means skimping on equipment we could use or washing and rewearing the same workout clothes multiple times a week.
If you have a woman in your life who also happens to be a mom, and if she loves all things health and fitness (or wants to), here are a few items she may not spend the money on herself that would make the perfect gift.
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I've never been good at doing holidays. I'm a classic under-buyer, so I hate spending money on decor. I'm a very type B personality, and love winging it when it comes to plans. So what ends up happening is that a holiday rolls around, and I haven't decorated, haven't done any seasonal activities with my kids, and haven't prepared how we're going to celebrate.
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I was the perfect parent before I had kids. My kids would NEVER get snacks at church, and they would sit quietly with just a crayon or pencil for the whole service.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Needless to say, that is not my reality.
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I vividly remember reading in Stephen King's memoir On Writing about how when he and his wife, Tabitha, were first married and struggling financially, he would lock himself in the laundry room to write whenever he had free time. I was 15, maybe 16 years old when I read that book, but the image has always stuck with me. I suppose it's because I found it incredibly romantic - the aspiring author dedicated to his craft, sacrificing everything to get the words out on paper. I wanted that.
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Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SimplyBonding #CollectiveBias
The funny thing about parenting is that the longer you do it, the more you realize how little you know. Breastfeeding my first two babies came with its share of struggles, but bottle-feeding was one thing I had down pat. I started out nursing each of them, but ended up needing to supplement with formula around the 6-month mark both times because of weight gain issues. Both took a bottle with ease. We didn’t need to try different brands or warm up the bottle, and I scoffed when I saw parents going to great lengths to make the bottle just right for their baby.
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Let me begin by saying that before I had my third child, I was the mom you wanted to punch in the face. Babies 1 and 2 were excellent sleepers right from the start. They were both sleeping through the night by 3 months, and never experienced any regressions. I couldn't necessarily relate to the fatigue other new moms were experiencing.
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I had been feeling empowered. Proud of my effort and discipline to get back in shape after having the baby. It’s my third baby, third C-section, I’m 29, and I have diastasis recti (separated abdominal muscles), so I had no delusions about sliding into my skinny jeans or having a flat belly mere weeks after giving birth. I knew it would take lots of time, hard work, and good nutrition to help me stomach get back to “normal,” but I felt I had made incredible progress in the past few weeks. I had just started the MuTu System (affiliate link) to begin healing my core, and I had also been taking my nutrition very seriously, going so far as to cut out the creamer in my morning coffee - the ultimate sacrifice. I was feeling strong and confident, content with how far I had come.
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I was making great progress until about week 8 or 9, when I hit a weight loss plateau. By no means am I upset about this, but I did some research and brainstorming about how I could break through and continue to change my body composition. Here is what I'm changing up, and some things I'm continuing to do!
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On Sunday evening we rolled back into town after two weeks of vacation in Wisconsin with our families. The usual 18 hour drive from Florida to Wisconsin ended up taking closer to 22 hours both ways. We always drive through the night when we make that trip, but this time we had to pull over at rest stops a few times to get some sleep. It might have something to do with having a newborn in the house...
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The smell of coconut and banana scented sunscreen perfumed the sticky summer day as my sisters and I prepared to jump back in the pool. My mom had a "no TV before 6 p.m." rule every summer, so we took full advantage of the pool in our back yard. Our neighbor friends would flock to our house, because when you have 6 kids, what's a few more? We spent those long hot days playing "lemonade" in the pool, then laying on our towels on the driveway to let the sun dry us off. We then migrated to the front yard for an obstacle course or a round of capture the flag or SPUD. Our entire summer was spent in swimsuits, play clothes, and those parks & rec department baseball tees.
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Does anyone else go through so many pajamas when their babies are little? Between spit up and blowouts, it feels like we fly through our stash of pjs faster than I can do a load of laundry. I can never have enough pajamas for the littlest member of our family, so when goumikids offered to send us some items from their shop in exchange for a review, I jumped at the chance!
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