How to Look After Yourself as a Working Parent

We all know how difficult it can be for working mothers to strike the right work-life balance, but making time for yourself can be another challenge entirely. Between your work duties and family responsibilities like preparing healthy kids meals, self-care can easily be forgotten, leaving you feeling drained and burned out.

Fortunately, having a job and children doesn’t mean you can’t find room in your schedule for a little self-care. These tips will help you find the time for yourself that you need to recharge and reconnect with your passions and interests.

Get Up Early

Your mind and body both need adequate sleep to be at their best, so you should always try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Even just fifteen to thirty extra minutes in the morning can be enough time to make yourself a drink or a light breakfast and relax a little before the busy day begins.

The early morning is typically the quietest part of the day, making it the perfect time to spend on the things you want to accomplish. Whether you’d rather work out, start a new book, or just have some time to wake up more leisurely, you’ll appreciate setting your alarm a little earlier.

This is something I do and have done. Twice a week I wake up at 4:10am to meet a friend for a 4:30am run. We run 3 miles and are done by 5am. Leaving me plenty of time to clean up, get dressed, pack my lunch and get to work on time. On days that I don’t run, I started setting my alarm just 5 minutes earlier, so I don’t feel so rushed to get out the door.

Set Your Own Goals

When you’re a working mom, it’s easy to let other people’s interests and goals become your own. While there’s nothing wrong with that, you may eventually feel like you need more space for your own interests and aspirations.

Try to take some time out of your day to work on your personal goals, whether they’re related to an interest, secondary source of income, or anything else. Having something to work on that’s entirely your own will be empowering and help you feel more confident.

Spend Time with Other People in Your Life

There’s no way around the fact that our children take up a lot of our time, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only people that matter to you. Partners, friends, and other family members are all important, so try not to let too much time go by without seeing them.

Some of these people may also be able to offer a helping hand with a few of your parenting tasks, so don’t feel bad about asking for or accepting help when you need it. It can be isolating and discouraging to feel like you’re taking care of these things all on your own.

Being a working parent is an incredible challenge, but it’s also a rewarding experience that allows you to focus on your family and career at the same time. If you find yourself spread too thin to focus on your own goals, keep these self-care tips in mind and try to make time for other things that matter to you.

We have a set bedtime in our house; this gives my husband and I the time we need to chat about our days without having to sensor your language and talk about things we might not want our child to hear.

I also make time for friends, as I mentioned above, I run a few times a week with friends and prior to COVID I attended a monthly ladies game night!

How do you look after yourself while being a working parent? 

Emphasizing Self Care as a Working Mom

I was recently asked by Yumble to share an article about working moms and self care. I was so excited to be asked because this is an important subject to me being a working mom and a runner. Running for me is stress release and a social scene. When I moved from Texas to Wisconsin the local running group provided fitness and friendship for me. Please continue reading to learn more!

{image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-using-gray-laptop-computer-in-kitchen-1251833/}

Do you constantly feel busy and stressed all the time? You’re not alone. According to survey results, many American families have busy lifestyles.

Unfortunately, those same results also indicate mothers are still expected to do most of the housework, even if both parents have full time jobs.

It’s easy to understand how that can lead to burnout. Self-care is the best remedy to guard against burnout. As a busy mother, you might feel you need to do everything for everybody, but this type of attitude will actually sap your productivity in the long run. Do yourself and everyone else in your life a favor by taking care of yourself.

These tips will help. If you’re not sure how to embrace self-care with your busy lifestyle, keep them in mind.

Wake Up a Little Earlier

 Getting enough sleep is vital if you want to stay productive throughout the day. If you’re not getting enough rest, your cognition will suffer, you’ll be more vulnerable to heart disease, and you’ll simply be too stressed to handle your daily responsibilities.

That said, setting your alarm 15 or so minutes earlier than you normally would can give you a little more quiet time to yourself in the morning. Those few extra minutes can be used for reading, meditating, or any other short activity you enjoy.

If you do feel the need to make use of this time for your family, preparing quick breakfast ideas, planning dinner, or fixing healthy, simple vegetarian meals for your kids to take to school is always an option, too. Try not to make this a habit, though. It’s still important to allot time for yourself, too.

Adjust Your Attitude

Mother’s guilt is a very common problem. Don’t worry if you struggle with it. As a mom, you want to give your loved ones the world. But, as a human, you can’t. Failing to meet your own expectations for motherhood can make you feel too guilty to care for yourself.

Fight back against this attitude whenever you notice these types of thoughts. Again, you’re only human. Having needs and tending to them isn’t a flaw. It’s simply natural.

Be Willing to Ask for Help

The more you realize you shouldn’t be expected to be Supermom, the more you’ll realize it’s entirely acceptable to ask other people for help when you need it. This is particularly important to remember when survey results show responsibilities aren’t spread out evenly in many of today’s families.

Maybe your spouse could do more to help around the house. Simply asking for a little extra help will give you more time to address your own needs.

Socialize

You aren’t just a mom. You may also be a spouse, daughter, cousin, or friend.

Taking time to socialize with the other important people in your life helps keep stress at bay, and research confirms it. Additionally, you may find it’s much easier to tackle your mom responsibilities when you give yourself chances to switch out of “mom mode” and enjoy other relationships.

Set Your Own Goals

Busy moms can be so focused on taking care of others that they forget to set their own personal goals. This can result in an unfulfilling lifestyle.

What are you passionate about? Maybe you want to create a side business or master a hobby. Perhaps you even have a dream vacation in mind.

Reaching these goals can take time if you’re a busy mother. However, setting them is important. They serve as reminders that you’re also a person whose sole purpose isn’t simply taking care of a family.

Remember, when you care for yourself, your ability to care for your family increases. Self-care isn’t selfish. It’s part of doing right by your loved ones.

Toddler Road Trip Essentials

There were a few products I wanted on hand for our cross country road trip and temporary living.

First there are the diaper bag essentials of disposable bibs and placemats.

Then we purchased a ez pz suction plate, a Go Anywhere Booster Seat and I cleared an old iPhone downloaded with Fisher Price apps for those moments when nothing else would calm her. And of course a Pack-n-Play.

I love the ez pz plate, it just sticks to a flat, even surface and your kid doesn't pull the plate up and throw their food all over the place!

The travel booster seat came in SO handy when we were staying at the in-laws and its great in our extended stay hotel.

I love the Fisher Price apps because I know they are geared towards kids her age and she loves the music and tries to sing along :)

The Pack-n-Play is good but for her it doesn't compare to her crib, she misses her mattress. I even bought a foam insert for the Pack-n-Play and that didn't work either. So we have begun to let her sleep on the bed and we have bought a bed rail so she doesn't fly off the bed.

What travel essentials have you found that work great for you?!

Memorial Day 2016

We had a wonderful weekend! We celebrated our wedding anniversary and we took Alana to her first trip to the zoo and splash pad.

We had some pretty crazy rains again this Memorial Day which caused some major flooding. But we were able to reroute our roads and celebrate our anniversary with a nice night out to dinner.

Sunday we had our first showing for recently listed house. We got the text at 8:30am for a showing at 9:30am. We haven't received any feedback or an offer but maybe its on their "maybe" list. I also took Alana to Potteryland to make something for Father's Day.

Monday we took Alana to the Houston Zoo for the first time. She loved it! She was very excited to see all the animals! Two of my longest friends also joined us which I was grateful for (SVHS Class of 2005!). And after a long nap on the ride home and some lunch we took her to our neighborhood splash pad and she had a ball! I was surprised she loved it so much, I was worried the water shooting out of places would scare her but it didn't.

Alana really seemed to turn a corner this past weekend. She is a little over 13 months old now and is FINALLY getting her first tooth! With that first tooth seemed to have brought on a whole lot of confidence with it - she started eating chicken nuggets, she started walking while only holding one of our hands instead of two hands and she has learned how to maneuver her walker instead of just bumping into things. 

I am also SO excited to be qualified for an all expenses paid trip to Puerto Vallarta next year with my company Nerium! So if you are interested in joining me on this amazing and wonderful journey visit my web page - www.acayce.nerium.com! 

Hope you too had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!

Daughter's 1st Birthday

Alana's first birthday party was a few Saturday's ago and here are all the details on the decorations!

I bought most of the decor and supplies at Micheal's or Hobby Lobby (mostly Micheal's). And I had a friend help me set it all up for the big day! I ordered some things like balloons, popcorn and her outfits from Etsy. We didn't have a specific theme but we had a color pallet of pink, gold and white. It was so beautiful! I am so happy with how it turned out and that everyone got to come a celebrate with our little one!

For food we kept it pretty simple with sandwiches, chips, dips and finger foods. And then we had the dessert/candy bar! I have always love the look of these so I was excited to have one of my own. With the colors of pink and gold I did some candy shopping during valentines day to collect the pink kisses. Gold was easy with Reese's and Rolos. And to add something unique to the table I bought some pink and gold-ish caramel popcorn from Etsy. And besides the candy we had amazing cookies from Oh! Sugar, chocolate covered strawberries and rice krispies drizzled with white and pink chocolate and gold sprinkles.

I did a lot of Target Dollar Spot shopping over valentines day to get pink and gold items, a deal I found was this little gold gift bags that were already covered in gold glitter. I just added "thank you" to the bag and let people fill them with treats. I of course ended up with A LOT of extra candy.

I loved the party and decor! I think I did a pretty good job! :)

Alana's Birth Story

Our baby girl is one! WOW. thats crazy! Time has passed in a blink of an eye. And since it has been a year I thought it was time to share her birth story. So here is the honest truth in all its messy glory! 

...

It was a Monday morning around 2am when I woke up to go to the bathroom. I felt what might have been some discharge start to come out so I moved a little faster to the toilet and as I sat down water literally gushed out. I yelled for Matt, it took a few times for him to get up and as he walked over to me I told him I thought my water broke. He didn’t believe me. Then we looked at my PJs and yep, it looked like it was time. We weren’t sure what to do since my due date was 5 weeks away. So we called the hospital and I explained to them what was going on and the nurse just said, “Yep, you’re in labor. Come on in.”

We quickly packed the rest of our hospital bag, I couldn’t stand for much more than a few minutes without feeling the need to sit and let the water gush out of me. I put a puppy pad in the car and hollered for Matt to hurry the eff up! I was pretty excited about meeting our little girl, not once did I ever think that 5 weeks was maybe a little too soon.

Since it was 2:30 in the morning the roads were clear, thank god, and we made our way to the hospital. I called my parents and told them to make the 4 hour drive over because their first grandbaby was on the way. We called my in-laws, who live 8 hours away, to head on down if they wanted to be there for the birth of their first granddaughter. And I texted my best friend who was visiting her grandparents not to leave town because I was in labor!

We got to the hospital and as I got out of the car you would have thought my lady parts had turned into a waterfall…all modesty was officially out the door as I walked into the Labor and Delivery Unit with soaking wet shorts.

I got all checked in, they checked to see if I was dilated by fisting me…something I was not aware of (since I never made it to my 36 week appointment). I was not dilated at all, so the waiting began. The nurses did a great job of warning me that I might not get to hold her right away because the NICU nurses would need to asses her first. Then if they felt like she was fine I could hold her for maybe 10 minutes before they took her back to the NICU for further evaluation.

My bff arrived and we asked her to go to our house and take care of the dogs for us and to grab some more things from the house and off she went, she is SUCH an amazing friend! Then my mom arrived (my dad would come later after his doctor appointment he had in the morning). And then my in-laws finally arrived. Everyone was here! I got my epidural sometime during the day even though I wasn’t dilated at all. I didn’t want to be one of those women who waited too long and then couldn’t get it.

The epidural was an experience to say the least. The B stuck me 3 times before she got it right. When they put the meds in only one side of my body went completely numb, and then my blood pressure dropped, I turned very pail, I couldn’t hear anything, I could barely keep my eyes open and they put an oxygen mask on me. They quickly stopped the epidural drip and brought a new anesthesiologist to make sure this didn’t happen again. They decided to only use a half dose. And then I vomited everywhere…

Everything was uneventful after that. My doctor came and checked on me a few times and before you knew it was 9pm and time for bed. I tried to sleep but it is had when you have to flip over every few hours and you have all these wires connected to you. They had started the Pitocin before my doctor left but I didn’t really dilate at all (p.s. after you’re water breaks they want you to deliver within the next 24 hours so you don’t have a dry birth). Around midnight, about 22 hours after my water broke they stopped the Pitocin and laid me on my side with my leg propped up on a table.  And badda-bing-badda-bom, I started to dilate…and fast! They called my doctor so she could make her way in and right around the 24 hour mark we started to push. The contractions didn’t hurt, it was the baby ripping out of my vagina that hurt! I didn’t really push for very long before she arrived at 2:54am Tuesday morning.

She let out the littlest cry, I looked up to see my husband shed a tear at the site of our little girl. She was 4 pounds, 13 ounces and about 19 inches long (counting her cone head). While they got her cleaned up and did what they do, I was having my placenta pulled out of me like one of those magician’s never ending handkerchiefs and I got 2 stitches. I was able to hold her for about 5-7 minutes, giving just enough time for both sets of grandparents to see her before she was taken to the NICU.

{these are my absolute two favorite pictures from the day}

After the epidural wore off and I was able to walk, we made our way down the hall to see out little angel.

Her time in the NICU was short but that doesn’t lessen the sadness we felt when we had to leave her there and head home without her. We spent two nights at home without our sweet girl. She was moved out of the main area and into sort of an “evacuation” room where they keep babies that are starting to do better and on their way out of the NICU. But once she moved in there she got jaundice and needed the UV blanket. I’ve read that most babies need this but for us it seemed like a one step forward and two steps back sort of situation.

We were able to stay at the hospital again for her last night because we had to do what they call Care by Parent. It’s pretty much the hospital making sure that you’re capable of taking care of the baby on your own. We must have passed because they let us leave the next day and we were on our way home as a family. Finally.

I honestly cannot believe it has been a year, it feels like yesterday. Does it always feel that way? Will it always be so vivid in my mind? Will she hate me for posting this later?! Who knows...

Working from Home

The past two days have been pretty crazy! We had a crazy storm come through Sunday night and caused major flooding on Monday and Tuesday. As a result of this the local schools were closed, which means daycare was closed too...which means we had to work from home. (p.s. I didn't know if school was closed, daycare would be closed #newmomproblems)

Working from home is pretty hard with a 1yr old. She did take some long naps which REALLY helped me get some things done!

{Creek near my house, Photo by Victor Molitor}

{Flooding in the Houston area, photos take off news site and Facebook}

{this is what working from home looks like}

We did have to go for a little drive so I could get her to fall asleep but it was quick and she napped for 45 minutes or so and I was able to get a lot of work done. It was pretty hard though, and your boss has to know you're really part-timing it since you have to feed, change and sooth your little ones multiple times a day.

Buying Second Hand

I wanted to share a little lesson learned about buying used clothes. I am all about trying to save some money and buy things used; especially when your little one grows out of stuff so quickly.

I have bought some used clothes from a neighbor and from a resale shop. I was able to pick and choose from my neighbors pile and the resale shop. Now I don't really have the time to sort through everything at the resale shop, it can be a bit overwhelming.

My last used purchase came off of a Facebook mommy page.  This lady was selling a bunch of 18month clothes and shoes for $80. It sounded like a good deal to me (especially since shoes are so expensive).

When we met, it was a fairly quick transaction as we were both in a hurry. When I got home and started washing the clothes I realized that the smelled pretty bad; not like cigarette smoke or anything but just like they lived in an old, stinky house. I have washed them 2 times and they still have that distinctive smell to them (plus the detergent). My friend suggested that I put them in a box with scented candles for a month and then see what they smell like. So that is just what I did last night. In about a month we'll see what happens. I am hopping that it wasn't a total waste. But live and learn I guess.

So when buying used clothes from NOT a resale shop make sure you smell them first and ask if they came from a non-smoking home.

11 Month Update

Previous Updates: 10 Months | 9 Months | 8 Months | 7 Months | 6 Months | 5 Months | 4 Months

Did last week fly by?! I felt like it went really fast! And we're already days away from April! WOW! I truly cannot believe how fast time has flown! Next month we'll have a one year old!

Alana
Alana is going great! She is getting so big and at 11 months she was 18.2lbs (remember, she started out at 4lbs13oz). She is crawling and getting into everything! She moves pretty fast too! She is starting to use her walker but we still need to be present for her to use it or she will fall. She also got her glasses and does a fairly good job wearing them.

She is doing a fantastic job sleeping! Sleeping from 8 - 8:30 pm to when we wake her up around 6 am.

She doesn't have any teeth yet and we are FINALLY moving towards level 3 foods (with chunks). Previously she would instantly vomit when we gave her anything chunky.

Mom & Dad (aka Alexa & Matt)
We are doing well. Just keeping busy with work, life and Alana. We haven't been able to sleep in or have any "us" time since our trip to Boston. We will be working on trying to get a date night planned here in the next few weeks.

We have been a bit on edge with our jobs; we both work in oil and gas and things don't seem to be getting any better for that industry. So there's that. All you can do is keep on moving forward and hope you're not one of "the ones".

I have also been busy starting to put together and craft all of Alana's first birthday stuff. I told my husband that I'll start decorating over the weekends to I don't have to do it all at once.

Letting go of the Baby Monitor

When is a good time to let up on the baby monitor?

When she was first born I was sleeping in the room right next to her. So I used the monitor more for visual needs than to hear her. And it was located right next to the pillow.

When I moved back into the master bedroom I would keep the monitor screen on (you have the to make it black because the screen is VERY bright) and the volume on 3. I would still lean over to check the screen to make sure she was okay and to see if she had moved.

When she started pulling herself up we had to relocate the monitor to the wall. And now, at almost 11 months, I am starting to turn the screen off at night, like I said, that thing is BRIGHT! And I turn the volume on 2 sometimes if her sound machine is making too much noise for me.

She is a pretty good sleeper. We have a few sleep set backs, you can read about our 4 month sleep regression and we had another one late last year. It only took one time of letting her cry it out for almost 10 minutes and then she just slept through the night.

I'm not sure when parents take the monitor down for good...maybe when they are 3ish?

Anybody reading have older kids? When did you take the monitor down? 

Miraflex ~ Baby Glasses

I had put Alana on my eye insurance during enrollment because her doctor had noticed a little crossing of one eye at her 4 month check up. She had already told me to make an appointment the with pediatric ophthalmologist because she had a lot of gunk in her eye and may need her tear duct opened up. After she didn't need her duct opened up I kept the appointment because of the crossing.

But then the crossing went away.

And then between months 10 and 11 months one eye started crossing again. I sort of panicked. I called the ophthalmologist immediately knowing he gets booked up pretty quickly. I was able to get an appointment 2 weeks out but told them if they had an afternoon appointment open up I'll take it. And they did! We were able to come in the next day!  

Alana did great during her visit, even the doctor commented on it. I was so amazed at how they handled her and got her attention so they could get her prescription.

Alana is farsighted (which means she can only see stuff far away). So when she was holding stuff close to her face she would focus so hard her eyes would cross. Then they would be so tired that one would stay sort of crossed.

Enter Miraflex, the no metal, unbreakable frames for kids and babies. Alana literally has the smallest size they make.

The first afternoon we put them on her she hated them and kept taking them off. But we distracted her with playing and toys and she seemed to do really well. And by the next day it was not an issue, she was keeping them on all the time!

I am a little sad that she needs glasses at such an early age. But glasses are inevitable for her since I have glasses, well contacts, all 4 of her grandparents have glasses and so does at least one of her uncles. But I am thankful that there isn't too much of a struggle to get her to wear them (I'm 100% sure there would have been if this started at age 2 or 3).

Did you have glasses when you were a kid? Or do your babies have glasses?

Balancing Act

There is no doubt that having a baby is hard. You have to learn to juggle your already crazy life + baby. I'm gonna come out and say it, we're not very good at it.

We finally decided that one of us will take her with us when we run errands and the other will get to work on the house: cleaning, laundry, yard work...the list goes on.

We did just that this past weekend and it worked out pretty well. I took Alana Saturday with me to a trip to Party City and Hobby Lobby for some shopping for her birthday while Matt cleaned the kitchen. Then on Sunday he took her grocery shopping while I tackled the MOUND of clothes that needed to be folded. They were gone for an hour and half and while I got everything folded...but it wasn't put up by the time they got home. I had hoped to clean our room too but that will have to be saved for next weekend. And we still have some yard work to do.

When we go out I wear Alana in my baby pack on my front. She loves being out and about but I really see it as a hassle. First I have to carry her diaper bag in and out of the stores with me. I would leave it in my car but Houston is known for its car break-ins and I wouldn't put it bast a crook to bash in a window for a diaper bag, so it comes with me. And I have a difficult time getting into my purse to pay when she is strapped on (I have forgone my designer handbag for a cross-the-body bag to fee up my hands).

When people tell me they are expecting again and then they will have 2 under 2 I try to hide the, "are you f**king nuts?!" look on my face. Matt says they are just better at it then we are, lol. And it may be true...but some of these people have family networks close by which we don't have. When we want to go out its not just dinner and drinks we're spending money on but its also the babysitter making the night cost close to $200+ depending on how many drinks we have.

I mean even after 10.5 months after giving birth I still have baby hairs growing back on my head (I have never used more hair product in my life to tame these sons of biotches) and I still have a very faint line from by belly button to bikini line from my first pregnancy. We still don't know if we want another, we're going to wait and see what Alana's needs are (I'll post about that at the next monthly update) before we jump in with both feet for another.


Do you want one, two or more kids?! Have a happy Wednesday! 

Picking the Right Sippy Cup

There are so many trial and error products you go through when you have a baby. I am sharing with you another one today...the sippy cup.

At Alana's 9 month check up her doctor told us that we could start to introduce her to a sippy cup. So we did. First we tried the Tommee Tippy sippy cups that have a hard spout, she didn't like it at all! So after a few weeks I called a friend and asked her what she did. She told me there are transition sippy cups that are sippy cups but with a spout made from the same material as a bottle nipple. The hunt for one of these was on!

I found the NUK brand transition sippy cup. She sort of would drink from it but not really. So one day, in an effort to get her to drink from it, I took a sip from it. It was actually really hard to get the liquid out! So I went to look for another brand, one with more flow. And I found the Philip Avent. And its perfect! She just drinks her snack from it right now but we're working our way up.

What sippy cups do you use? Did you get a winner on the first try? 

10 Month Update

Previous Updates: 9 Months | 8 Months | 7 Months | 6 Months | 5 Months | 4 Months

Alana

She is doing well! She has got the crawling thing down now and she just zips through the house! She is just like Lola and loves to go into our bedroom. She is pulling herself up and uses the couch as a guard rail and just walks up and down holding on. She knows how to sit from her standing position too and she can sit herself up when she is crawling around.

We are having some issues with her eating level 3 foods - every time we try to feed her a level 3 she throws up. And we are working on getting her use to a sippy cup. She also loves her Gerber Puffs and yogurt melts. 

We also found out that she needs glasses. So we took care of that and should have those pretty soon. If would recommend any parent take their baby to the eye doctor between 6 and 12 months of age. Getting vision issues caught early is key!

Mom & Dad (a.k.a. Alexa & Matt)

We are doing well. I am still saddened by the loss of Lola. Sometimes I still walk in and expect to see her. And I still talk about her all the time. We probably wont get another dog until some time next year - we're planning a long trip and don't want to have someone watch the dog or board it.

After 10 months post birth I can report that I am 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I am hopping the get the rest off this summer.

We have a pretty low key weekend ahead of us. What are your plans?

Exercise & Mom Guilt

So there is this thing every new mom gets called Mom Guilt. Its where you feel a little guilty for doing the things you like/love by sacrificing time with you little one.

I deal with mom guilt on weekly bases. Mainly when I come home from work and want/need to get something done before I pick her up. Resulting in her being in daycare for another hour. What I want to do is usually just go for a jog before it gets dark but sometimes its even just replying to emails uninterrupted. I feel bad about leaving her in daycare longer but I also need to run to feel good about myself. I know it sounds a little selfish but I worked really hard to get the body I had before I got pregnant and I really want that body back!

I ran with her in the jogging stroller for the first time over the weekend and it went well, although she did not love it - she mean-mugged me the WHOLE time. I think it was because we were on the sidewalk and its pretty bumpy in the stroller. So next time we'll try the road. And pushing the stroller added almost 2 minutes to my mile! But it just adds to the workout I suppose.

Although feeling guilty may be a side effect of alone time or quality time with your spouse its SUPER important for you to be the best you at all times and to be the best me I need to work out. And I think my daughter seeing me be active from a young age is really important and hopefully she will grow up loving fitness like I do. I cant wait to get her in swim classes!

hope y'all have a great weekend!

9 Month Update

Previous Updates: 8 Months | 7 Months | 6 Months | 5 Months | 4 Months

Time surely flies when you have a little one in your house. They grow so quickly its truly amazing to see and watch.So much has changed since the 8 month update. And I am already starting to plan her 1st birthday! 

Alana (16lbs 9oz)

Alana is continuing to crawl EVERYWHERE and tries to follow us where ever we go. She has started to clap on her own and LOVES it! She is generally such a happy baby and is always smiling! She is still only in the 23rd percentile for her weight but that is a big accomplishment since she started in the 0.06th percentile! 

Mom & Dad (Alexa & Matt)

We are doing well. We have a date night once a month which is good for our sanity. We have our first weekend away planned which will be fun, interesting and nerve racking all at the same time.

The Dogs
I posted about how we re-homed Coco and then, not even a month later we lost our sweet Lola. It has been a really hard time for me and I have cried many, many times about it. Its so strange not having a dog in the house...we will eventually get another furbaby but it probably wont be until close to the end of the year. Before we had a bulldog I never wanted to have the same breed twice because I felt like I would be replacing the dog I had (growing up we had a mutt, dalmatian and dachshund). But any bulldog owner will tell you that the breed touches your heart like nothing else; now I can't imagine my life without a bulldog in it.

HOLY Crap!

As my title states this weekend was pretty chaotic (and a reason why there was no post on Monday). Friday night was great, I went to a neighborhood ladies bunco night and then Saturday morning I went for a jog with one of the ladies. When I came back from my jog my husband said he wasn't feeling well and went back to bed...for the rest of the day!

My original plans for Saturday involved me using some gift cards and shopping at the mall but that did not happen. Y'all, I seriously don't know how single parents do it. Especially when the babies are young and can be very needy. Since I didn't want to stay cooped up in the house all day Alana and I went to Target, her first shopping trip with JUST mommy. It worked out pretty well, I wore her and had my cross body purse and her diaper bag. Here is the truth - we never really take Alana anywhere with us, we just find it easier not to. She just comes with so much baggage. And having to feed her on an outing usually doesn't work since she is so distracted by everything. I think I can count how many times we have taken her out somewhere with us, its definitely less than 10 times (not including doctor visits and photography shoots).

On Sunday my husband was feeling a little better and was able to watch Alana while I went shopping for clothes and groceries. But then Sunday night Alana wasn't feeling well, throwing up her bottle and food and then not wanting to sleep unless she was being held. Since my husband's stomach was still iffy I slept with her on the recliner. I never get good sleep if I am sleeping with her. I always worry about her falling off or burying her face into me or some blankets. So I'm only like half asleep and then waking up every 30 mins or so to see how she is doing. My fitbit said I only got 5 hours of sleep but I only got a sold 1 hour from 5-6am when my husband woke up to feed her while I got some shut eye.

So HOLY crap I was tired Monday! I also think I did like 5 loads of laundry because she kept spitting up on everything... life as a mom... its crazy but one look at her and you know its all worth it.

{Left: Target visit, Right: Cooking with Alana (our new TV show)}

Happy Hump Day!!

Why We Surrendered Our Dog After Almost 4 Years

I was really hesitant about writing this post, I didn’t know if I wanted to let the world know what we did or what lead to the decision. And then I saw an article on Yahoo! and it made me feel like it was okay in a way – we weren’t the only ones. And then I read this one and my insides were ripped out! But that article was written to make you feel bad, when sometimes the situation isn't what is best for the dog. 

Coco was my 2^nd wedding anniversary present. I had always talked about getting another dog. But since Lola had your typical bulldog problems (ear infections, skin issues and a heart condition) my husband thought an Olde English Bulldogg would be a good idea; she would look sort of like a bulldog but not have as many health issues. And maybe it was our mistake for getting a dog that wasn't as lazy a regular English Bulldog. 

Something we had to think about and consider when we had a baby was that Coco's personality is that of a 55lbs puppy. She is always going FULL steam ahead! She runs around the house, running into things and sometimes running into us. All I can imagine is our daughter walking around and being trampled by Coco – it’s not something I want to imagine but I have to be honest with myself; that scenario is 99.9% going to happen.

I am not going to get into all the details of it all but with Lola's heart condition and with Alana staring to crawl Coco was spending 12+ hours a day in her kennel and that is not fair to her. Since Alana started to crawl and the weather is cool I have been taking Coco on long walks to get her out of the house and out of her kennel.

We thought the best thing for her was to find her a new home through a bulldog rescue group. This was something I never thought I, a dog and animal lover, would EVER do. I feel like I am giving up on a child and I have been having such a hard time with it. But it is what it is and we need to do what is best for her. 

Now I am not saying what we are doing isn’t hard but life without her will become increasingly easier. We’ll have our dining room back (we’ll just move Lola in the laundry room. Coco had to see Lola to feel comfortable). We won’t be embarrassed to have company come over (Coco would always bark very loudly whenever anyone entered the house). And we can repaint the walls to get rid of all the droll markings (Lola doesn’t really droll). 

We found Coco a VERY loving home in Dallas (probably a better home for her than what we could have ever provided for her) and I made the difficult drop off on 12/20. I cried for about 30 minutes after it happened and I still cry when I think about. My heart literally ached when I dropped her off. I have seen pictures of her new home, family and playmate. She seems happy and loved which is all I want for her. I hope that if I am ever in Dallas I can stop by and see her. 

Insert Dolly Parton's I will Always Love You here...Coco-Mo-Jojo (my nickname for her) I miss you!

Changing the Function of an IKEA Kallax

I have been really bad about sharing our DIY and inexpensive creations for our daughter's room. But here is how we turned an IKEA Kallax into a functional changing table that can then just turn back into storage space.

First you need the Kallax. Then you'll need the inserts for it; we went with 2 drawer inserts (creating 4 drawers) and then 2 cabinet inserts. We also added some feet to the bottom to give it some height so it would be a little taller for the "changing table" purpose. I bought new nobs for it from Hobby Lobby and some cubby baskets from The Land of Nod. For the diaper organizers on top I found these cute boxes at The Container Store that matched perfectly and were WAY cheaper than the diaper caddies they sell at baby stores.

All the hidden storage space hides her diapers and wipes and things of that nature while the cubbies hold books and shoes and then the baskets hold all her toys.

I love that this will have a purpose after we are done changing diapers. We can take the inserts out and turn it on its side if we want or it can stay as is; there are so many possibilities with IKEA's furniture!

Goodbye 2015...

2015 was quite the year! So many milestones! Here is my 2015 in review:

January
We took our 3rd trip to the Hawaiian Islands (Maui, Hawaii and Molokai) while I was 20-21 weeks pregnant. I took a few precautions flying, like wearing compression socks to keep my feet and legs from swelling.

February
Just moved through the motions of weeks 24 - 27 of my pregnancy... And planned my baby shower.

March
My travel themed baby shower! When I saw the "Welcome to the World" baby shower theme on Pinterest I knew that this was the baby shower for me! I LOVED how everything turned out! Thanks to my mom, mother-in-law and my bff.

April
Much to our surprise our sweet baby girl arrived 5 weeks early (gestational age: 35 weeks, 1 day)! Even though she was in the NICU my husband said, "think of it as a blessing, we get to spend an extra 5 weeks with her!" and then I started to cry... one because he was right and two he never uses the word "blessing" so it was a very sweet moment and one I will never forget.

May
Alana turned 1 month old, and Matt and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary!

June
Still on maternity leave and loving it!

July
I went back to work and towards the end of the month my mother-in-law came to stay with us for 3 weeks to watch Alana before she entered daycare. It was such a blessing to have her and I know she enjoyed every minute of it! And it was the longest her and my father-in-law had been apart since they were 16! Quite the sacrifice!

August
I started a new job within my company.

September
Seems September was a pretty low key month since I cant remember anything that happened.

October
Alana turned 6 months old!!! Where did the time go? And we dressed up together as a minion family! And I became a Nerium Brand Partner!

November
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the 2nd time. We had tons of food and started decorating for Christmas. It was discovered that Lola had right sided heart failure :(

December
The Christmas celebrations were at our house for the first time! We had 5 extra people staying with us! And it was Alana's first Christmas so it was an overall joyous weekend! And we rehomed one of our dogs :(

Here is to an amazing 2016!