With Love, Mommy

Welcome Fall!  Here in the desert, we are finally starting to feel the season change!  It's no longer 100 degrees, and I'm celebrating by wearing hoodies and scarves and drinking pumpkin lattes on a daily basis.  I really do love this season.  Tis the season to be thankful for what we have and who we get to share our lives with.  Of course, this year I have so much to be thankful for.  I have a wonderful husband, an amazing little boy, and a very supportive and loving extended family.  I have a very comfortable house, plenty of nutritious food, and a flexible new job.  What's new in our house?  J is walking!!!  He has figured out that walking can be an actual mode of transportation, not just a fun thing to do every once in awhile.  He is a problem solver!  If he tries to play with something and it doesn't work, he doesn't just cry for help like other munchkins.  He just tries something else until he figures it out!  What a smart boy.  I cannot wait to share

Let's get one thing straight: motherhood is tough!  I think every mother on the planet would agree that it is the hardest job out there.  Moms work 24 hours a day, even in their sleep.  They don't take breaks on weekends or holidays.  Everyone has heard the list of mom's responsibilities, including nurse, teacher, playmate, diplomat, cheerleader, and so much more.  And if moms don't have enough on their plate, they have to deal with this "Mommy Guilt" and these so called "Mommy Wars."  I never knew what the big deal was, until I was pregnant with Baby J. It started early, with people telling me about the "research" about genetic testing, about the importance of vaccinating/not vaccinating, and for goodness sakes, put those swollen pregnant feet up!  Then J was born.  And on top of the opinion of all of the other mom's on the planet, I had my own guilt.  I wanted to give this precious baby everything, but it's just not physically p

I saw a sign recently that I must have!  It said "Excuse the mess, the children are making memories."  I love it!  My house is always a mess now, but I have recently made the decision that I would rather be spending my time playing with my son rather than scrubbing floors constantly or spending hours working out to attempt to get my body back.  Of course, I do clean (especially when it comes to anything that can go in my little boy's mouth) and the hubs and I have been making a real effort to wake up before the baby and take turns working out.  But, when there is a decision to do some exploring/playing that may get messy, the answer is always... YES!!!  This weekend was definitely a hands-on celebration of baby J turning 10 months old.  I also wanted to have some fun this weekend because I am officially done with my Masters Degree!  Our celebration included making a fort and Baby J's first finger painting.  J loved the fort, crawling in and out of it and laughing. 

I am so excited to share a few more Disney crafts with you!  I have been Disney crazy all my life, but the last few weeks I have been going a little overboard.  I have been making crafts for baby J and the whole family.  J is a growing boy and loves his snacks (aka every flavor of Puffs ever created), so I made a snack tin for our trip our of an old almond tin, some paper, and a whole lot of mod podge.  It says "Meeshka Moushka Mickey Mouse Mix."  Here is the finished product: I will be posting some other mod podge projects soon.  I entered late into the mod podging world, but now I'm here to stay! The next project I moved on to was for my mom's birthday.  I found this cute idea on pinterest, and I tweeked it, like I usually do for sewing projects.  I thought my mom needed something Disney inspired.  And although she doesn't drink coffee, she does like hot cocoa, tea, and apple cider, so I thought she might appreciate a Mickey coffee sleeve on a cute new t

Time for a craft!  In preparing for our Disneyland trip, I am making lots of crafts for the trip!  All of my crafts are either Mickey Mouse or Buzz Lightyear, because that seems to be Baby J's preference.  The craft that I'm showing off today is based on those pacifier clips that I see everywhere, but it has two clips instead of one (my baby boy is not a fan of the paci anyway).  I can think of about 10 ways to use these right off the top!  I liked the idea of two clips so I can use this to clip a light blanket to the stroller so it doesn't fall off.  I will also be using this to clip toys to the stroller so the beloved Mickey doll doesn't get lost.  It can be used to clip a blanket around your neck to make a quick nursing cover.  Or I'm sure it will be used to turn burp cloths into bibs, since we always have 5 burp cloths with us but can never seem to find a bib.  So many uses for these simple clips!!!! Supplies: -2 Suspender/Mitten clips per item (or other

This month, my family will be going to the Happiest Place on Earth.  I was raised to have a deep love and respect for everything Disney, as was Hubby.  We carried on this love by spending a year as Cast Members in Walt Disney World.  So, naturally, Little J will be raised in the magic.  In true Disney fan fashion, baby J will be taking his first trip to Disneyland this month, at 9 months old.  We are so excited! I am busily preparing for our trip.  I want to make this trip as magical as possible (yes, I know that he will not remember this).  Last week I spent hours mod podging a special snack tin for little J's puffs.  I will post pictures of the "Meeshka Moushka Mickey Mouse Mix" tin soon, turned out so cute!  I have a wonderful friend who made adorable bag/stroller tags for the trip, and the cutest trip journal, which will also be a great scrapbook!  Now it's on to more crafts for the trip!  This weekend, I will be making suspender onesies (Mickey Mouse, of course

September is Craniofacial Acceptance Month!  Please take some time this month to learn about some craniofacial conditions and teach your children about acceptance!  Our family was thrown into this craniofacial world, and I have to admit that I did not know much about any of these conditions.  Baby J was diagnosed at 2 months old with Sagittal Craniosynostosis.  With the diagnosis came fear, frustration, anger, sadness, and a whole bunch of new friends. As a new parent, I thought the difficult part of living with a newborn would be sleepless nights and dirty diapers.  But that was nothing compared to a doctor telling us that our baby would need surgery.  Craniosynostosis affects about 1 in every 2000 babies.  The bones in a baby's skull are all separated by sutures, and do not fuse together until much later in life.  Craniosynostosis is the premature fusion of one or more sutures, which causes the baby's head to grow in an abnormal shape, and does not allow for proper formatio

Last week was the Perfect Storm at our house. We just kept getting hit. Last weekend, the hubs got sick. Not just the sniffles, but full out stay-in-bed-for-40-hours type sick. No problem, right? I can handle a sick husband and an 8-month old. Ha...that's what I thought. Cut to the scene of me pleading with baby J to just go to sleep while trying to make soup for the hubs. Little J picked a hard time to try to drop a nap. For 4 days, this baby refused to take naps, would not go to sleep until after midnight, and woke up often during the night. Thursday was another adventure, for several reasons. J woke up with a fever and a runny nose. I was so upset. And within hours, he was fever-free and playing like normal. Let me just say, this is one of the best things about breastfeeding. This child is resilient!!! He gets all of those good antibodies that my body is building up in order to fight off the hubby's sick germs. In fact, he has only been sick twice, and neve

This was absolutely my favorite year of the Olympics ever. I have to admit, I was never obsessed with watching before. This year, I decided to make it a bit special. We had an Opening Ceremonies here at our house, complete with a paper torch and lots of decorations. Baby J even helped by coloring his first drawing. Then we had our own Olympic games. That night, Mommy and Daddy played fun games with Little J, but he won every time! Can you believe it? He won at "Sitting like a big boy," "Being the cutest," the "5 foot crawl" and of course the "Messy Eating contest." We had so much fun! Over the last few weeks, J has really shown us what a little Olympian he really is. His favorite new sport: chasing the dog and kitty. Fortunately, we have great pets who really enjoy the attention from baby J. I love to watch my little man interact with my "Fur-babies." Another Olympic sport at our house is standing on everything. Anything

As I see those developmental milestones whizzing by, I find myself begging J to slow down on a daily basis. It becomes really apparent when I talk to a family member who I haven't seen for a week. I find myself rattling off a list of things that J has learned to do in the last week. Holy cow! My sweet baby boy is now crawling (and is belly flopping much less). And boy, does he just take off... after the dog... after the cat... away from Mommy's tickle hand. About a week and a half ago, J learned how to pull himself into the standing position using toys, the couch, whatever is closeby really. Now he thinks he can stand on his own and walk, which may not be entirely possible. One of the things I love most about this baby boy is his reaction when he falls down. When he falls hard, he looks right at me and smiles. Then within seconds he is up again. I am so amazed at his resilience, my strong little boy! I just wish he would slow down a little bit so I have time to get

My baby boy is 8 months old today. Happy 8 month birthday, baby J! I love celebrating these little birthdays every month, taking a lot of pictures and making it a little special. This month I cannot help but be a little proud of myself as well as my little J. I have made it through 8 months of Mommy-hood! Sure, no one said this would be easy. Everyone told me about sleepless nights and poopy diapers. But that is just the newborn stage. The hubs and I only had about 3 months of little sleep and our transition into parenthood. What I really needed to know was how hard breastfeeding would be, and how many times I would just want to throw in the towel. What I really needed to know is what to do when your pediatrician tells you that your 3 month old would need a major surgery within weeks. What I really needed to know is that I would be okay once I left the hospital with this tiny new baby (and they do not let you take one of those nurses home with you to help, I asked). But now

We love Infantino’s new product, the Pop & Swap Gym!!! I would absolutely recommend this product for babies, which they can use as they grow. My son is 7 months old and it is his new favorite toy. He is captivated by the music, the dancing lights, the hanging toys, and the interactive pods. The gym can be set up on a stand for baby to lie under or they can sit in front of it. The legs easily come off and the base can be attached to baby’s crib or set on the floor for some tummy time fun. It is very simple and quick to attach and detach the legs to the base toy. My son loves to sit in front of it (perfect height) and it helps him keeps his balance while he is learning to sit. My favorite part of this new toy is that it can be changed to keep it fresh and keep baby curious! The hanging toys can be removed and changed out or attached to other things. And the pods are genius! Each pod has a strap (which is hidden when it pops into the gym) so it can be attached to the stro

Well hello and welcome! I am hoping that this blog will be a way to share my experiences and my fun times with parenting! A few years ago, I went to an amazing conference with Nancy Thomas, who spoke about issues of attachment. She said something that really stuck with me: "If you are not having fun with your parenting, you are doing it wrong!" So that is my goal with my son: having fun!!! Seven months of having fun and counting! When my son was born 7 months ago, I started my very first letter to him. It was really very simple: J, Welcome to the world! I'm so happy to be your Mommy. With love, Mommy Since then, I have been writing my little boy letters and notes in his very own journal. These letters have shown how proud I am of my little boy and how much I love being his mom. As a first time mom, I am learning right along with him! I am loving every minute of it! With Love...