Merry, Messy, Managing Mom

2021, what a year. People are posting about how great it was or how awful it was and honestly I'm still not sure how I feel. This year was kind of a blur to me if I am being completely honest. On one hand this year brought me new friends, new experiences, and my beautiful little Emma. On the other hand, this year brought me hyperemesis, post partum depression, and pure exhaustion.  As most of you probably don't know me very well, let's get into it. I found out I was pregnant with our second in December 2020. This was a very different experience with pregnancy because we actually planned this one (I know what a concept). Starting at 6 weeks of pregnancy I became extremely ill. I was in and out of triage getting fluids, meds, and monitored 12+ times during my pregnancy. I needed multiple iron infusions to try and avoid blood transfusions and ended up with not one but two hemorrhages. All of this while also starting nursing school at about 10 weeks pregnant and only taking one...

  Alright moms, is anyone else tired of reading reviews online that are vague or claim you'll use this item all the time but you get it at your baby shower and then don't touch it? Yeah, same. I always want to know the real life situations. All bottles say they're easy to clean and have the perfect flow and blah blah blah. I want to hear from moms like me what isn't a complete waste of money. So far, these are my favorites.  1. Baby Merlin Sleep Suit   https://amzn.to/3A4nvyK I truly do not know what kind of magic they put in this sleep suit but I think it saved my life. For reference, neither of my children liked to sleep as babies. I wish I had discovered this with Charlie because she only slept 2-3 hours a time at most until she was 9 months old. Emma is quickly following in her footsteps and let me tell ya, I am TIRED. So I did what anyone would do and made a quick google search that led me to sleep training but I am weak and can't bring myself to sleep train. N...

 Alright it's time for part one of the series everyone has been waiting for....Charlie-isms. If you are not aware, I have a three year old, Charlie. Charlie is sassy, incredibly smart, loving, charismatic, and what is going to make this the most fun, hilarious. She looks very sweet and innocent (as seen below) but she can really throw out some zingers. Whenever people come up to me and say things like "Haha you'll never believe what Charlie just said," I beg to differ. At this point I have come to expect the unexpected. She says the darndest things at the darndest times and I wouldn't change it for the world. Read below for just a tiny bit of the humor we experience everyday.  I made dinner one night about two weeks before Christmas. We went to sit down at the table and when Charlie pulled out her chair it fell backwards. Charlie: “Oh no! Christmas dinner….it’s ruined!” Bowling and Charlie gets a gutter ball.  Charlie: (stomps her foot) Oh Dammit! Me: Charlie you’...

Recently, a friend sent me an inspirational message about watering your own flowers. No not your flowers outside, I am in the midwest and its winter. But theoretical flowers you are given by others in the form of compliments.  This post hit me hard. It was about someone receiving a compliment and brushing it off. We have all done it, let's be real. However, when the person receiving the compliment began to deflect, the person giving the compliment stated "I'm gonna give you your flowers, you can water them or not." Now this person who sent me this is someone who can NEVER take a compliment. She truly thinks she does not deserve them and I'll admit, I often relate to her in this area. When people compliment me I always wonder if they really mean what they are saying or if they are saying it just to be nice. However when people compliment her and she deflects them, I don't understand. All I see is a badass mom, a genuinely good person, and one of the absolute be...

  If you pay attention to what you read on the internet or to the marketing geniuses, I am sure you think tummy time is the end all be all of good newborn parenting. Let me tell you a secret, I didn’t do it and my kids are just fine. No floppy necks, not late bloomers, they’re perfectly normal (physically lol) children. Tummy time was never easy for us. My first would just fall asleep if we tried tummy time and my second would scream. So I just didn’t do it.  Now obviously don’t take my advice over your pediatricians advice please, I am not a doctor. I’m just telling you that there are other ways of strengthening your babies neck and a lot of it I think they do on their own. Tummy time is a pretty recent thing parents have been told to do but you don’t see a whole lot of old people out their struggling to hold their heads up.  Let's talk ways to avoid tummy time but still ensure your baby is building those muscles. My personal favorite is sitting them on my lap facing me....

Let's talk about why we are all here. Why is it that no one actually talks about what happens to women when they grow a whole human, have that human, and then have to raise it. We talk about the glowing of pregnancy but we don't really talk about the nitty gritty. We talk about how labor is hard and painful but we don't talk about how vulnerable it is. We talk about how postpartum is exhausting but we don't talk about how lonely it can be even though you're surrounded by family and friends.  So let's talk. Here are the things I didn't know about pregnancy. Nothing held back here so be prepared.  -morning sickness sometimes isn't just morning sickness. Ever heard of hyperemsis gravidarum? Google it please. Us mommas who have it would love to stop hearing that "everyone gets a little sick, its normal." -body hair. I grew hair in places I never expected. Hello long chin hair I have never seen before. What on earth. I thought I was supposed to feel...