Have We Forgotten The Point?

If you're reading this, you probably have some sort of access to Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, and the like). If you're like me, you have a variety of friends on these platforms; friends from high school and college, previous coworkers, your church community, and of course your friends and family. You also are probably part of a few "Groups" or "Community Forums". Or check some sort of forums based on your interests. The one thing that all these people have in common is this: the Holiday Season.

Personal posts of the "30 Things I'm Thankful For this November", The "Elf on the Shelf Mischievousness"; pictures of your loved ones, children with Santa, Christmas Tree's, house decorations, Starbucks cups with holiday drinks, and holiday meals. These are all things we're seeing as we scroll through our various newsfeeds. And I love every single moment of it.

Until I get to THE post.

We all know the one I'm talking about.

"Looking for toy X for little Billy and they're all sold out everywhere how will he ever live without it??"

"Just paid 18 million times the regular price for this super cool toy that is all the rage for Susie."

"I can't wait to see my kids face when they see the whole room exploding with presents on Christmas Morning."

Have we forgotten the point?

I get it, we love to spoil our children! I almost always walk out of Target with SOMETHING for Josiah, whether it be a new outfit from the clearance rack, a new bath toy, or a new flavor of puffs. But when did this time of year, when we were just spending so much time talking about how thankful we were for all we have in our lives, turn into "I HAVE to get my child everything on their Christmas list and then some, and if they don't have THE toy, they're going to hate me forever."?

I see parents spending hundreds of dollars on toys and trinkets and the "must have" items, only to see posts in a few months of how big of a disaster their child's bedroom/playroom/living room is with all these toys. And buried somewhere underneath all the Lego's, stuffed animals, Barbie's, blocks, and train tracks is that toy. The one they HAD to have. The one you spent a month worrying over getting for them. The one you traveled out of your way and spent way too much money on. There it is. Probably stepped on, broken, and never to be played with again.

Don't get me wrong. Josiah will have a few presents under the tree with a block sorter, musical instruments, and balls for the ball pit we got used at a consignment shop weekend. And yes I know he's young and he doesn't know about the cool toys, or that all his friends are asking for XYZ and so he has to have it too. But it's not because we don't love him that he won't get a lot of gifts.

Our focus as a family isn't the gifts. It isn't how much money we spend on each other or our friends and family. It's about the gifts we are given every single day from Jesus. He has given us so much in our lives and provided so much to us, that we celebrate Him on his birthday. We give to each other as God has given to us his gift of eternal life with him.

One thing we have done for years, and I'm so excited to have Josiah be part of this tradition now, is we give back. Mike and I have been working with the Youth Group at our church for a few years, but this year we've really gotten to connect with some of the kids and pour into their lives. We also give back in the physical sense of we take ornaments off our church's tree and buy gifts for children who may not have otherwise gotten a gift, so they know they are loved and cherished. Josiah came with us this year as we picked out gifts for children and even though he's only 8 months, I hope he is seeing the love we're pouring into others less fortunate than ourselves.

So, have we forgotten the point?

I don't want to be super corny and say "Jesus is the reason for the Season.", because although that is true for our family and our religion, it isn't the case for everyone who celebrates Christmas. Even if you aren't a follower of Jesus, that doesn't mean you can't do good things for those around you. Buy a friend a cup of coffee. Bring your neighbors some cookies. Donate to a local charity. Even if you can't do any of these things for whatever reason, you can still be kind. Smile! Genuinely ask the person ringing up your groceries how they are doing. Say Thank You!!!

So what's MY point?

Be an awesome human, because we all are human at the end of the day. And remember why we celebrate and gift give this season. Don't expect anything, but Jesus gave everything!

Xo
Amanda

Updating the Blog I've Forgotten Since Having JP

As I sit in my office on this freezing (literally) November day, I was asked by my boss "Do you still write that blog of yours?" And then it dawned on me: nope. I hadn't.

So what better time than the present to give a life update.

Life. Is. Crazy.

So Josiah is about 7 1/2 months old now and is definitely keeping us on our toes. He is in the process of getting over Croup and a cold at the same time, as well as his top 2 teeth are coming down. But besides being miserable from being sick, he is growing and becoming such an independent little boy. He rolls all over the place to get to toys or whatever he's looking for. He also can sit up on his own for long periods of time. Only problem is he hasn't figured out how to get to a sitting position on his own yet, so he gets a little frustrated with that. 

He also is getting up on his hands and knees and rocking, as well as doing planks and downward dog positions. He is SO close to learning how to crawl forwards, rather than the backwards crawl that he does now!

When it comes to eating, he's quite the funny one. He loves to eat Mama and Dada's food whenever possible! Sure, his puree's and puffs are great, but have you seen Mommy's steak and potatoes? Or Daddy's pizza? Way better than mushy squash. So typically he gets a little bit of our food at night too, which is fine with all involved! With the 4 teeth he has now, he has no problem with little pieces of food. He even picks up pieces on his own now!

JP talks non stop it seems. Most of it we can't understand, but when he said DaDa for the first time a few weeks back, we definitely heard that loud and clear! He also has a distinctive sound for Kitty and LOVES when they come play with him! They're getting a little more adventurous and coming closer to him as he gets older, and let him pet them!

Sleep is non existent at this point with his cold, but we started crib training him right before he got sick, so it's been a rough ride. He finally sleeps in his crib as opposed to in our bed all night, and typically does the first half of the night in his crib. Which for me is AMAZING because I get a few hours of sleep not worrying about where in the bed JP is. 

So How are Mom and Dad

We're tired. Always tired. But we're making it through! We are looking forward to the Christmas season and seeing the excitement of everything through Josiah's eyes. We may or may not have put up our tree yesterday, and Josiah wouldn't stop staring the entire time! He helped put a few ornaments on the tree and loved every minute of it. And of course Mama is excited that the tree and lights are up and the house just feels happier! 

As we approach the holiday season, I'm so thankful for the gift we have in Josiah. He has been such a blessing (except with sleep hahaha) and I can't believe we've had him for 7 months. The joy he gives to everyone who meets him is amazing. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm hoping to keep up better with this blog, and hoping to have better things to say than just an update on how life is. 

Love you all!

Amanda and JP

 

Exhausted

I don't know about you, but life is all of a sudden really exhausting.

Now yes, a lot of this is from not sleeping at night thanks to a certain adorable nearly 6 month old nugget. But it's so much more than that.

I feel stuck. I'm stuck between figuring out how to be a mom and how to remain Amanda. I'm trying to figure out how to be the woman Mike married 3 years ago, but still tend to the needs of a baby.I'm trying to figure out how to still be a good friend to the people I love while also having time to just be me.

Right now, life just feels like it's on autopilot. I wake up, bring JP to daycare, go to work, pick JP up from daycare, go home, eat, go to bed. And repeat.

Now sure, he doesn't go to daycare everyday, so that changes things up, and on the weekends I don't work, but I just feel like every day I'm waking up and just looking forward to going back to bed. I don't mean that to be depressing, but I'm just so tired. It's not even noon and I'm just ready to crawl into bed and sleep.

Becoming a mom is hard, and not just in the "holy crud I have to take care of a tiny human" way. It completely changes everything you've known about your life.

For example:
Last night I had an event at the church, which I figured I shouldn't bring JP to, but then was told by the person running it that of course I could bring him. A year ago, or two years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about going to this event. It would have been marked on my calendar for months and I would have been looking forward to it every day. Now? Now I not only was worrying "ok can my mom watch him since Mike works late? Is he going to need a bottle while I'm out? How many diapers should I pack him? Should I bring my pump with me just in case?" And that's after I've taken days to weigh out the pro's and con's of going to an event at night that I wasn't exactly sure when I'd be home.

So after some encouragement, I went, with JP in tow. Did I have a great time? Absolutely. Was my spiritual cup empty when I got there? Double absolutely. But those few hours, even though I did have Josiah and had to worry about nursing him and changing him and all that sort of stuff, was exactly what my exhausted life needed. Yes I woke up this morning tired as can be, but I woke up with joy in my heart and with a spiritually full cup.


As I was talking with a friend this morning, I was reminded that just because I don't see them often, or even if our friendship has gone from one of seeing them almost daily to sending snapchats every few days and commenting on FB, that doesn't make our friendship any less. I know, as we are both moms, that it's hard to get together, although you might think it wouldn't since we both have little humans and we just "get it". But some days, I really just want to stay in my baggy sweats and leave JP in his onesie and not have to leave the house. And I know she feels the same. Would I show up to her house in my sweats and no make up and hair pulled back from not showering for days? Absolutely. But the motivation can be hard sometimes.

It's not that I don't love my friends. It's not that I don't want to spend time with you. It's not that I don't want to know about your life and all the hills and valley's you're going through. Because I want to be there for you. I want to rejoice in your victories, and pray for your sorrows. But I'm just not use to this new life of being a mom and juggling everything, and I just can't give the 110% I want to give.

I've always struggled with needing to be everything for everyone, but after having Josiah, I've learned that I can't be everything for everyone. I can't be a perfect friend, coworker, mom, wife, daughter, and the list goes on. I just can't do it. And I hate that I can't because I WANT to.

I'm so grateful for the people in my life who get it. Who understand that I want to be there. I want to come hang out, go out for dinner, spend time with you. I completely get it now when I would see my friends disappear after they had a child. Not because they wanted to, but because they HAD to. They needed time to figure out how to balance their lives out.

So now I'm thankful for the people who understand I'm trying to figure out this new chapter of my life. To my amazing husband, who has been working so hard for our family and has been so understanding when I'm just not me. My family who has swept in and helped love and care for JP. And of course my friends, who even though it might be a simple message on FB checking in, have made my day and brought smiles to my face.


We've all got a lot of stuff. A lot of baggage. And sometimes we just need a season in our life to just breathe, and catch up from the exhaustion.

XO
Amanda

Parenting Choices

Who knew that at just 4 months old, I have had to make a TON of decisions that are super controversial in the society we live in. I know many moms have similar views as I do, and I know many moms who don't, and that's totally okay. But here's what we're doing, how we're doing it, why, and some details of our amazing boy!

Since we had his 4 month appointment today, he got his second round of vaccines. I know, I know, starting in hot right out of the gate. For my husband and I, it's a no brainer to get him vaccinated. We both were as children, and are all the better for it. If we knew that he had reactions to the vaccinations, or they would do more harm than good to him, we wouldn't. But since he has no allergies that we know of yet, I'd rather protect my son with vaccines than run the risk of him getting a horrible illness.

And let me just put this out there so that y'all remember this- Vaccines do NOT cause Autism.

Alright, we've got that out of the way too. (And also, if it did cause Autism, would you rather your child die from one of these horrible disease's or LIVE?)

Any ways...


We also starting about a month and a half ago sending him to daycare 3 days a week. As amazing as being a stay at home mom would have been, and how much I respect SAHM's since it was a LOT for me to stay home for 3 months let alone YEARS, I needed to get back to work. Not just for the money, because money isn't everything, but I needed to get out of the house. I love my job and my boss is amazing, so I wouldn't have traded it for any other job in the world. I still feel super guilty leaving Josiah 3 days a week at the daycare, but the only saving grace is that my mom is with him at the daycare, so I know he's in loving and good hands. (And it's only 3 days for about 6 hours a day so it's the best of all worlds).

Since I'm back to work, Josiah is bottle fed at daycare and on Monday's when he's with Mike. We are still nursing when I'm home at night and on the weekends, and I pump during the week at work. I am SO proud of both Josiah and myself for nursing for 4 months. We had a hard first few weeks with supplementing formula, but my body has found it's rhythm with Josiah, and we're doing awesome (especially since he's 17.4 pounds now!)

Our life has been crazy with trips to NY to finish cleaning out my grandfather's house since he moved in April, having family and friend's stay at our house for weekends to visit and see Josiah, going away parties, birthday parties, game nights, and just typical every day craziness, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Josiah is thriving! As I said, 17.4 pounds, 26 inches, and just a ball of energy and love. He doesn't like to be laying down still unless he's sleeping. Loves to laugh at Mike and I, and is always keeping us on our toes. I'm still up with him at least 2 times during the night, but that's okay because he's a baby! And I secretly love the middle of the night nursing cuddles that we get. Although I do miss getting more than 3-5 hours of sleep straight a night.

I really don't have much else to say. Blogging has been on the back burner, and I know I probably only have like 2 people that enjoy reading them, but when I have the time, something semi important, or just have the energy, here we are!

Lots of love from us!
Amanda and JP

Back to Blogging

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

I've obviously been a little distracted to update the blog and keep things interesting, but here I am, I'm BACK. I'm back to work, Josiah starts daycare  next week, so I'm hoping to get more into a routine than I've been in for the past 3 months.

Yup, 3 months ago today I had Josiah. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?

REPEAT: WHERE. HAS. THE. TIME. GONE?

 

*Quick Josiah Update*

So Josiah is 3 months old, 15.6 pounds, and aprox 25 inches (I think he might be a bit shorter than that but it's not so easy to measure a squirmy baby!). He holds his head up on his own, loves to smile and coo and talk (mostly to Daddy, and mostly in the morning). When he does tummy time, he does the super man (head and arms and legs lift up and he supports himself from his chest), and he LOOOOOVES anything Mickey (especially his lovey blanket).


Anyways....

I'm hoping that the blog doesn't get completely consumed by Josiah, but this is my blog, so really it can be consumed with whatever I want it to be! Although I may now be a mom, I am still me. Just an updated version. I still am a wife to an amazing husband. I still work at my amazing job. I still sing at church (finally back!). I just now do all of this AND have a baby in tow!

Yes it's been a bit stressful having JP in the office with me off and on. I don't feel quite as productive as I once did, but I still get the job done, just while tiptoeing around a sleeping baby, or while feeding him.

Yes I don't sing at church as much as I use to (it was like every other week for a while there), but we're getting back into a routine. I'm on once a month on Sunday's and a few Thursday nights (like tonight) so we can still spend time as a family after church most week's rather than me be tired from a long morning.

And yes, Mike and I still go out! Even just the two of us sometimes! For our anniversary we went to Dave&Busters (and for those of you who don't know it's an arcade with alcohol lol) by ourselves and had an awesome time! We've gone grocery shopping/regular mall shopping without him. But to be completely honest, it's really weird going out just the two of us. We always are checking the back of the car thinking "where's Josiah??" or we'll go to grab the stroller out of the car before entering the mall and realize "oh that's right we don't have him for a few hours".

Watching Mike become a father has been amazing. He is so good with Josiah; so loving, supportive, and does diapers! He understand that after a day at work, or a day at home, with Josiah, when he get's home I need a little break. I know that he's been working all day so I don't take too too long, but it's nice that they get that bonding time, and mama get's to pee without worrying if he's going to wake up screaming, the cats are going to jump on him, etc.

Becoming a mother has been the most natural thing to me. I am not the perfect mother, and I have a lot of moments that I need support. Mike has put JP to bed the past few nights because I just was exhausted and drained and didn't have the patience. But being Josiah's mother just feels like what I was always meant to do. All the waiting was for this exact moment. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in parenthood than Mike, and we couldn't have imagined having a more perfect child than Josiah.


So I'll leave this post here. I'm hoping to make posting a weekly thing, and hoping to have some sort of outline of things all over the board to post about (Motherhood, world events, my walk with God currently, Josiah, do's and don't, and really anything you guys want!). If you have anything you want to know about me, my opinion on, or anything you might want to see on the blog, feel free to drop a comment! I love hearing inputs!

Now excuse me as I go take my 3 month old's picture and cry that he use to be so small.

X's and O's
Amanda

What JP's Taught Me (In Pregnancy)

It has been a WHILE since I've blogged. I wonder why? Probably this cutie that I've spent the past 9 weeks at home loving up!

 

A few weeks before Josiah was born, I started writing this blog post entitled "What JP's Taught Me". I would fill in this drafted blog post every once in a while about things that were changing in me and around me and how my son had a hand in all of it. Reading back on it now, 10 weeks post partum, I can't believe all the things I went through over the course of EXACTLY 40 weeks, and all of the things JP has taught me in the 10 weeks he's been Earth side. That blog post will come at another time, but for now, here's What JP Taught Me in my pregnancy.

 

What JP Taught Me

March 8th, 2017

2 Weeks Prior to Josiah being born.

I know he's going to be a world changer. Want to know how I know? Because he's already changed mine. He's taught me so many things in these past 38 weeks.

He taught me week 1 that things aren't always going to go as planned, as seen back in June when we started our first cycle with the IVFNE doctors and had so many complications getting the medicines ready and here on time.

He taught me in week 4 that miracles happen every day, whether they're as small as the elevator being on the right floor when you press the button, or as big as seeing those two pink lines on a pregnancy test.

He taught me in week 6 that God is ALWAYS in control, and to trust him, even when you think your entire world is crashing down (when we thought we were having a miscarriage and went to the hospital).

Week 7 he taught me that people can be amazing. In a world with such negativity, when we announced that we finally had gotten pregnant, everyone forgot who was a Christian and who was an Atheist, they forgot who was married, single, straight, gay, black, white, republican, democrat, rich, and poor. And even if it was for a moment, so many people forgot those things and joined together in congratulating us on our pregnancy.

Week 14 he taught me that everything is just a season. The bad times don't last forever, and that there is always something to look forward to. For me, it was the ability to actually eat food and not feel sick 24/7. And that was one of the best lessons for me so far because man I missed eating real food and not just a bowl of cereal and a few crackers!!!

Week 19. Week 19 was the week we found out that he was a he. And that week my little miracle taught me I'd be a boy mom. And I NEVER thought I'd be a boy mom. My best friend and I always joked that she was "called" to be a boy mom and I was "called" to be a girl mom. Well, guess who's due with girl #2 a month after nugget comes?? We were just so excited that everything was going well with the pregnancy that it didn't matter what baby was, but as soon as I saw that it was a boy, my heart completely changed. I had NO idea what being a boy mom meant. I still have no idea. But I'm so excited to see where this adventure takes us!!!

Week 28 munchkin showed me that my life is no longer my own. Up until about this point, I had had nausea, and felt kicks, but that was about it. Around the beginning of the 3rd trimester, I started to feel the pressure (literally and figuratively) of carrying another life inside of me. The weight continued to pile on, the bump got bigger, and the days got more uncomfortable. I think the physical comfortableness of the 3rd trimester is the truest form of love because man, to endure this last trimester (and birth) takes a special person. Unconditional love. Lots and lots of unconditional love.

And here at 38 weeks pregnant, he's teaching me to be prepared for anything and everything. He could literally come at any point now. We're all just waiting on him. I don't sleep (so don't even tell me to sleep now while I can), I pee all the time, he pushes in weird ways out of my stomach and low in my pelvic area. Every little twinge is me saying "is that him coming? Is my water about to break? Was that a real contraction?" The symptom spotting at the end of pregnancy is just as bad as symptom spotting the week before your period is due trying to figure out if you're pregnant. But I know he'll come when he's ready.

The patience I've learned through out this whole pregnancy is amazing. I never found myself to be a patient person, even though everyone around me would say I am. When it comes to work situations, volunteering situations, and things having to do with other people, I am extremely patient. But when it comes to myself and things being done when I think they should be (like, getting pregnant on our honeymoon, or this baby coming today vs in 2 weeks on his due date) I'm so impatient, and that's something I'm working on. JP has certainly helped with that, because I know he will come at the perfect time, just like getting pregnant happened at the perfect time, whether I saw it that way or not.

Mom Bod

We've all heard the phrase "Dad Bod". If you haven't, Urban Dictionary defines the Dad Bod as "A guy who has kids and was once in shape and still has guns that can crush beer cans but also with a belly that says I drank those beers and I can eat 6 slices of pizza in one seating."There are a few other hilarious definitions you can find here if you want to read them. The gist of it being that the guy has a beer belly.

But today I want to talk about the "Mom Bod". Urban Dictionary defines the Mom Bod as "A woman who looks like they just had a kid. They have the attributes of saggy boobs, flat butt, hair in a bun at all times and a resting b**** face. Lastly they have at least one kid." Wow. Rude sauce. I have a LOT to say about the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum "Mom Bod" that goes WAY beyond what this definition says, but I just had to put it out there. First of all, my boobs are anything but saggy 2 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding. My butt will NEVER be flat. But yup, you can bet your butt that my hair is in a bun at all times, although that is no different than Amanda the past 10 years.

Pre-Pregnancy Bod

I would hardly say that before I got pregnant that my body was perfect. Muscles could have been more toned. I could have been working out and had not only a flat stomach, but abs. Over all though, I had a great body by the text book standards. I've always been the "skinny friend". Friends as far back as I can remember always would say "I hate you you're so skinny and perfect looking." And while yes, I was super skinny, I hated that it defined me. I hated (and still hate) the stigma behind skinny girls, that "Guys only like thick girls, and that only dogs like bones". I didn't choose to be skinny. I wasn't starving myself. I wasn't working out excessively to maintain my skinny body. I just was skinny. And it was totally okay by me. I loved my body. I loved myself, and isn't that all that maters? We preach that all women are beautiful, but then glare at the "skinny girl" and make assumptions about her.

Pregnancy Bod

When I found out I was pregnant, I was over the moon. It was all I had been dreaming of for my entire life, but even more so for the 2 1/2 years before we got pregnant. So when I finally DID get pregnant, I was so excited and was ready to embrace everything that came with it, especially the bump. Each week I'd get a little bigger than the last, and I couldn't wait for the "oh you're so cute when are you due" comments. And each week would go by, and I wouldn't get those strangers saying odd things or wanting to rub my belly (apparently this actually happens). I was WELL into my third trimester before I was at Cumberland Farms getting a slushy (or frozen drink whatever) and the woman in front of us in line said "Oh did the baby want that??" And I got the most giant smile on my face and proudly said "Yes, yes the baby did!" And I rubbed my belly and basically skipped my way through the rest of the day. Mike probably thought I was weird for being so excited, but I had waited YEARS for this.

As I got closer to my due date, I would look back at pictures of my belly from the beginning of my pregnancy and smile knowing that my body was making this human. My body may have started off small and only looked like I had eaten too many taco's, but it was growing Josiah from those first few weeks of morning sickness, all the way though to being so large (for me at least) that I couldn't do anything comfortably anymore. As excited as I was for my giant belly and being very noticeably pregnant, I was excited to be in the postpartum life, because even if I hurt in new places, at least I could get in and out of bed without looking like a turtle who had fallen over the wrong way.

I weighed myself the day before Josiah was born and I was the biggest I had been my entire pregnancy, heck the biggest I've ever been ever. I was 149.6 lbs. I was so proud of my body for all it had done. I had gained 32 pounds from the lowest point of my pregnancy (117) and 24 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (125). Even weighing just under 150 pounds, people would be envious of my weight saying they wished that they could only be 150. And then there's me. I was just so excited to be at 150 pounds and to have grown this little nugget that it didn't matter to me after pregnancy how much I weighed or how I looked. I just wanted this little man with us and happy and healthy.

 

 

Postpartum Bod

Everyone (ok, not everyone, but a lot of people) kept saying "Oh you're going to bounce back right after you have the baby. You're going to lose all the weight when he's born. You're all baby." Now, if you told me this, don't feel bad. I've said these things too. But I took these things with a grain of salt. First of all, I didn't want to put pressure on myself to lose the weight. I wanted/want to focus my time and energy on my son, not on what a number on a scale says, or what I look like in the mirror. Josiah doesn't care if I have flat abs or if the scale says 125 lbs. He doesn't care if I have stretchmarks or not. He cares who is holding him, who is loving up on him, who's feeding him, and who is physically there. I'm happy to say I have focused only on those things. I haven't put any pressure on myself, and I have spent the past two weeks just loving on my son, and being the best mom I can be.

I was curious to see how I was doing losing weight, because as each day went by, I noticed my stomach going away. I went from having this beautiful almost 8 pound baby inside of me to carrying him around with me everywhere and pretty much my stomach disappeared before my eyes. The day we came home from the hospital, I stepped on the scale. I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting or hoping to see, but the number 134.6 flashed on the screen. Two days after having my son and I was down 15 pounds. I certainly didn't look like I was 9 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but that drop proved that everyone was right, that I was all baby.

I am proud of all the things my body has done. It took a lot longer than we thought it would take, and wasn't how we expected to become pregnant, but I'm proud that I carried my son for 9 months. As of today, two weeks postpartum, I am at 122.8 lb. I never thought my body would actually bounce back this quickly. I certainly don't look the same as I did 9 months ago when I was 2 weeks pregnant, but I love my body in all the stages it's been in over the course of my life. I wouldn't trade my body for anything else. My son grew inside of this body. So yes, I have a few stretch marks, and my stomach isn't as flat as it was 9 months ago, but I would say that my body looks pretty good for 2 weeks postpartum and not being able to work out. All I do is nurse, change diapers, go to the grocery store, and eat lactation cookies.

So yes, I just birthed that child I'm pushing in the stroller. Yes, he's adorable. Yes, he's tiny (even though I think he's huge). Yes, he's perfect.

Be proud of your bodies mama's. Whether you lose all the baby weight in the first week, or never shed those last few pounds or inches. You grew your miracle(s) in that body. Does anything else really matter? Will they care if you're a size 2 in your prepregnancy jeans or still wearing your maternity jeans? Nope. And I'll tell ya what, my son prefers my prepregnancy jeans because it means Mommy is happier! And when Mommy is happy, Josiah is happy.

XOXO
Amanda and JP

Josiah's Birth Story

HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

I am in absolute awe. I'm a mom. Where did the past 40 weeks go? It literally feels like yesterday that I was starting my medicine for the IUI that brought this miracle to us. There will be a blog post more on all those feelings coming soon, but I know a lot of people have been asking about our birth story and how everything went, so here it is!

*Disclaimer, there may be some not so pretty details in this blog post.*

Sunday 3/19/2017

So on Saturday night into Sunday I was up for a good solid 24 hours having what I thought were contractions. I was timing them and found them to be about 7-10 minutes apart. I called the midwives in the afternoon to see what they wanted me to do, and since they had gotten closer to 5 minutes apart, they told me to come in to labor and delivery and they'd check to see what was going on (setting me up on the NST system to see contractions and his heart beat). After about 30 minutes they said that he looked great, and that they could see where I was having "uterine pains" but that they weren't actual contractions. They also checked for dilation and such and I was very high and closed so I was sent home. They did tell me that because they checked me, that it could get things going (wishful thinking) so to just be on the look out.

 Monday 3/20/2017

Monday I stayed home from work after not having slept all night into Sunday and just needing to sleep. I was uncomfortable, massive, and just ready to have this baby. In the tub that night I lost my mucus plug so I got EXTREMELY excited. I waited to see if I'd have any contractions, but nothing.

 Wednesday 3/22/2017

When I got home from work on Tuesday afternoon I was extremely tired and very sore. My back was hurting a little bit, but when wasn't my body hurting at this point? By midnight, I couldn't get comfortable in bed because my back just hurt SO BAD. I tried going on the couch, laying in every position possible, and figured, hmm, maybe I should pay attention to this. Maybe, just maybe, this is labor! I pull out my phone and bring up my contraction app. After 20 minutes, I realized that this might be real labor. I had contractions every 3-4 minutes. I go into the bedroom around 4:15 AM and wake Mike up going "Hey babe? I think this might be it." I hopped in the shower to see if that would help with some of the pain, but it only kept getting worse. I called the hospital and they said to definitely come in.

5:50 AM

We got ourselves checked into the hospital and got set up on the same system I was on Sunday. I was really just waiting for them to tell me that it was false labor again and send me home. One of the Dr's on call comes in and looks at my charts and says "You're definitely in labor let's check your cervix." When he checked I was at 3-4 cm dilated. It was official. I was in labor. 

They got all my papers in order and ready to go. By the time that all the paper work was taken care of, the nurses were switching shifts. The nurse that came in and was with me for the next 12 hours was absolutely amazing, and I couldn't have been happier to have her by my side.

I decided that since I was in a little pain, I'd take a second shower to get some heat on my body and distract me from pain in my back and it worked wonders. I wasn't sure at this point if I would have my Midwife there for the day or if it would be a doctor. About half way through my shower I hear the door open and the most angelic voice say "Amanda it's Sharon how are you doing?" My midwife was there. I was SO excited.  I also laughed after that she just walked right into the bathroom while I was showering (I mean, she'd be seeing a LOT more of me by the end of the day, so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal).

10:30 AM

By about 10:30 I was starting to get very uncomfortable. I was trying to prolong getting any medicine or the epidural. I wanted to do my labor and delivery naturally if I could. I didn't go in saying "no I don't want an epidural at all", but if I could do it, it'd be awesome. So at 10:30 when they checked and I was at a 6cm dilation, I decided to move my labor from my hospital room to the hypno-birthing room. I spent about 45 minutes in the giant bath tub laboring there. It didn't give me much relief from the pain per say, but being able to take a bath and relax a bit with the low lighting and my worship music playing on my phone.

12:30 PM

Around 12:30 I was starting to be in a bit more pain. The nurse showed Mike how to do counter pressure on my back to help with the contractions, and I got on a birthing ball to try and open my hips a bit. Pretty frequently (I couldn't even tell you how much, maybe ever 2 minutes?) I would call Mike over to do the pressure. He'd sit down just in time for me to call him back over. It helped so much to have that pressure on my back, but I needed more. I asked them to bring in the nitrous oxide gas to use. I was even hesitant to use this, but I needed to try something else. I was going from hurting a little bit in my back to my whole lower area from belly button to lady parts and all the way around were hurting. For me, the nitrous oxide was helpful for a little while, but I wasn't the biggest fan of it. It basically made me feel extremely drunk for about 30 seconds to a minute. That didn't really help with the pain per say, but it was a nice distraction!

2:00 PM

Around 2 PM I was hurting. It wasn't the worst pain I've ever felt, but I knew my body was getting there. I called the nurse in and asked her to get the Midwife to check my cervix again. I knew if I was ready to push I would just push through it (literally!) and not get the epidural, but if I wasn't progressing that I was going to need it before things got REALLY bad. When she checked, she said I was about 7cm pushing towards 8cm. I knew that things either could go very quickly to 10cm, or could take a long time, so I got the epidural. Again, this was when my nurse was just amazing. Her and the midwife coached me so well through getting the epidural. Apparently my posture was too good and it took a bit longer to get me into the right position, but once it was done, I felt a million times better. I am SO glad that I got the epidural when I did because things were about to get fun.

3:30 PM

The epidural was making me only feel a little bit of pressure every 2-4 contractions (only know I had contractions because of the monitor). I noticed those few times I felt pressure though that it was completely different than anything I'd felt so far. I call the midwife in again and said "I know you just checked me, but can you check me again? I feel a lot of pressure right now." When she went to check me I felt the weirdest feeling ever. I was about 99% certain I had just pooped all over my midwife who was right in that same spot checking my cervix. I looked at her and I said "I am so so sorry! I just pooped on you didn't I..." and she giggled and said "No, when I went to check your cervix I accidentally broke your water! No poop, just your water. And you're at 10 cm dilated and +3 station." I asked her what we did now and she said "Since you're still not feeling the pressure to push I'd just wait until the pressure gets to a 9/10 for you then we'll check and push if he's ready to go!"

4:10 PM

**Disclaimer this is where things might be less that glamorous** 
Have I mentioned how glad I was that I got the epidural? At 4:10 I had the midwife come in. I was ready to push. She looked at Mike and said "Want to hold her leg?" We hadn't ever discussed him holding my leg or anything like that. I just assumed that he would stand next to me and hold my hand or pat my head with a wash cloth. NOPE. He was right there in the action ready to go! So they showed me how to do it, he turned on my Labor Playlist on spotify (shuffled playing not in any particular order. Remember that.) and we started pushing. When we started I asked how low he was and the midwife said "Oh honey I can already see his head from where you're laying." Of course when I think you can see the head, I think the Hollywood style birth and that the head was about to come out. That isn't the case! He had to get around my pelvic bone first. So we pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Throughout my pushing time, I would ask Mike after pushing how he was doing. Not sure why I felt the need to ask him how HE was doing, but apparently it was important to me. He watched EVERYTHING going on so he was able to give me the dummy version of what the midwife was saying about my progression.

Maybe around 5:15-5:20 I had my first contraction where they told me NOT to push. I'm just going to say it right now, not pushing during those contractions were one of the worst parts of the entire labor. Pushing gave me something to focus on and a slight relief from the pressure of the contractions and him coming. So not being able to push was absolutely miserable! But his heart rate was going down a bit from all the pushing which was why they had me take a few breaks.

I could see a look on my midwife's face that something wasn't going the way she wanted. Nothing was wrong per say, but something wasn't right. She told me she might have to do an episiotomy to get him out safer. We did a few more contractions with pushing to see if he would come, but she knew he needed to be out soon and it would help to have the episiotomy. Poor Sharon felt SO bad having to do it but I told her anything to help get him out. So I had the episiotomy done. And it tingled a bit, but it wasn't horrible. This was maybe 3-5 contractions before he came, so it obviously was what needed to happen. I kept going and finally we got to the last push. She had to cut again during my last contraction to help him get out, but in the end it was worth it.

5:49 PM

Josiah Peter made his way into the world at 5:49 PM. The 2 1/2 years of infertility, the 9 months with morning sickness, back pain, sciatic nerve pain, constant peeing, no sleep, was worth it. He was here. When he came out, the song Good, Good, Father was playing. I will never forget that song playing as I pushed him into this world. God is Good, and is perfect in all of his ways! But the other reason I won't forget that song playing was that when he came out, Josiah made instant eye contact with Mike. And that was when Mike, the man who said he wouldn't cry when our son was born, cried. He was put on my chest quickly and he cried a little bit, but then was just absolutely perfect. Mike cut the cord, and then possibly the most painful thing I've ever been through happened.

The Placenta.

We think it may have been so painful because of the hemorrhage I had at 5 weeks pregnant. When Sharon went to deliver the placenta, it wasn't coming out the right way or something, because the next thing I know, the nurse is pushing on my uterus from the outside (ya know, right after having a baby), and Sharon is basically elbow deep having to physically take my placenta out. It was absolutely the worst part of the entire labor/birth. But once it was done it was such a relief. I had said since day one the only thing I cared about in giving birth was that he was here, and that I didn't see the placenta (which I didn't). And the midwife said "if you didn't want to see a placenta before, you don't want to see this one." She then spent a good chunk of time sewing me back up from the episiotomy (which was just awkward feeling) and they took Josiah to be weighted and measured. 7 lb. 15 oz, 21 1/4 inches long, and a 13 inch head. Sharon said they didn't think he would be that big from the ultrasound I had at 37 weeks. I have NO idea how I carried a nearly 8 lb. baby but yet here he is, big, and just absolutely perfect.


So there you have it. The long anticipated birth story of our miracle son. We have had the best first few days with him, and can't wait to see the person he becomes.

Xoxoxo

Amanda, Mike, and Josiah

Little Nemo's Nursery

I had to strategically take all of the photo's of his nursery as to make sure that his name (which appears a few times in his nursery) wasn't showing, as his name will be a surprise to the internet until he is born. But we have had quite the time putting his nursery together! From the beginning stages of the nursery when Mike, my mom, our friend Joe, and I were all stripping wall paper, to mudding the seams, to priming and painting, and then the fun part, organizing everything! I couldn't be happier with how his room came out! So here it is, our Finding Nemo Nursery!






This is the one wall we decided to paint a different color. We painted it in a light blue as to accent all of the blue in the room, and to make it a little under the sea feeling and less like a "plain" nursery. I loved watching Mike put up all of the stickers above his crib, which is more of a dark cherry wood than black. I LOVE the fact that this room already had a sink in it! At first I couldn't figure out how it could be useful, and first and foremost, the cabinet under the sink and behind the mirror creates additional storage for things like hand soap (so that when it runs out I'm not having to run to the bathroom with poopy hands), baby medicine, and things like Diaper Genie refill containers! Add in that there's a SINK IN MY BABIES NURSERY and it's just a win win win win win for all! It also worked out very nicely that we were able to hang up some Dory Christmas lights that were given to us as a gift around the mirror!


Look at the little Dory and Nemo in his crib! So stinking cute!

A painting done by a friend of ours with the best quote EVER

 

Moving around the room, (the sink is just out of sight to the left of the closet door) is his changing station. Again, Mike did an awesome job with decorating the wall behind the changer, as well as hanging up the floating shelves! For now, some of Nemo's friends are hanging out up there and watching over his room (Squirt, Crush, Hank, an otter, and Mr. Ray), but of course as he gets older they will be all his to play and cuddle and love on! I'm in LOVE with the changing table cover and bins we found to give the room a more nautical theme and less "little kid tons of Finding Nemo everywhere" room. The drawers are filled with diapers, wipes, ointments, bibs, swaddles, and just a bunch of miscellaneous items!

 

I didn't take an updated picture of the closet, but it has a TON of size one diapers, all of the new with tags clothes NB-3 months hanging up, and his diaper bags (for now of course, since starting VERY soon we'll have to be USING THEM!!!) 

The Guest "Books" from my first two showers! We had done the same for our wedding, so it only seemed appropriate to do the same for our baby showers!
 

Moving on to one of my favorite parts of his room. First of all, the painting you see above his dresser was painted for him by his Tio Joe and Tia Jess and it matches his room PERFECTLY. It means so much to have this piece of their hearts in his room, and for this scripture to be over him while he sleeps. Of course, there are some more of our Nemo friends Destiny, Bailey, and baby Dory and Nemo. The little ball in the middle of the dresser? That is a light projector that has Nemo and his friends on the outside, but when the lights go off, and the projector turns on, it lights up his room with fish, seaweed, and bubbles (yes, some are even hidden Mickey's!). Inside of his giant dresser, he has a "junk drawer" that isn't junk, just doesn't have a home yet (woops), a drawer exclusively for socks and mittens for those tiny adorable hands, and then there are two drawers full (and I mean FULL) of hand me down clothes (one drawer of new born, one drawer of 0-3 month) from a few friends. I seriously can't get over your generosity and how much you guys love us and our son that you just GAVE us so many beautiful pieces of clothing. The bottom drawer (which is a double drawer) is packed tight full of,  you guessed it, more diapers! One day I will have to do a blog post about diapers and building up a stock pile and how it worked for us, and all the diapers given to us at showers and all that stuff, but that'll be a while.

Next to his dresser is my favorite corner of his room. We made a crate night stand (I'd link a how to do it link here, but it was simple. Stain it, drill it together. The end) which I am in LOVE with because it is a similar color wood as the rest of our room's furniture, and holds a LOT of items. Right now, it has the cutest Finding Nemo lamp on top, the top shelf is FULL of "Mommy and Daddy's Hands" books (special books, or paper books that he would rip to shreds as a youngling), and the bottom shelf has some of my nursing supplies in it.



On the other side of my rocking chair, I have a basket with some of my pumping supplies, and then Nemo's shelf with some toys and board books (I told you he has a LOT of books!). Not all of his toys that he's gotten are out (he has some links that are in a bucket in his closet as well as MegaBlocks), but the teethers and rings and some blocks are out. I also love having his first pair of mouse ears on display, as well as a beautiful piece of art done by a friend, and his "growing" blocks (currently displayed as 9 months for Mommy's belly age).

Above that shelf (as sort of seen in the previous picture) there is another floating shelf that has Marlin, Nemo and Dory on it, but it also has letter blocks with his actual name on it that I painted in an under the sea theme (blue with a little wave and Nemo sticker's of course!) Once he's born and we've shared the name I'll update and put a picture of that (because it's really stinking cute!) on here.

That's really it for now! I am beyond excited with how his nursery came out and I can't wait to have some of you over in our home to play, cuddle, and love on baby Hyde once he gets here (which could be any day now!)

Thank  you to all of you who have made this nursery possible, both in physically setting it up and organizing it, to those who gave us gifts, hand me downs, furniture, decorations, and for all of you who have prayed for this boy. He is going to be so loved, and pretty spoiled, but in the best of ways.

XOXO
Amanda and Nemo

36 Weeks

I find myself saying this all the time, but I still can't get over the fact that I am pregnant. You would think by now, at 36 weeks pregnant (and also exactly 1 month till my due date) that it would have sank in. And yet here I am, waddling around, peeing all the time, barely sleeping, and I can't believe I'm pregnant and get to be a mommy to this precious little boy.

It seems like forever since I've blogged. Actually, it seems like forever since I've really done anything that isn't work, church, or baby related. Yesterday I sat down at the piano and played/sang for a good solid hour. I couldn't tell you the last time I just sat and worshiped at a piano. I never thought I'd be one of those parents who forgets about their own loves and needs, but yet here I am, spending most of my time reorganizing his clothes for the 17th time, restacking diapers, moving toys from one shelf to another, and just sitting in his room.

I literally find myself just sitting in his room for hours.

Now, part of that is definitely because I get into one position that is comfortable and I don't want to move out of fear of not being able to be comfortable again. A lot of it though is because I just enjoy being in his room thinking of all of the time I will spend in there over the next however many years we're in our apartment. I think of all the diapers I'm about to start changing, all of those books on the shelves that I'll be reading. I find myself crying and just thanking God for the miracle inside of me, and praying for the space to be a safe place for our son and that he grows up into an amazing man like his father.

Let me tell you though, as excited as I am to have this guy in our lives in a matter of weeks, I'm completely terrified all at the same time. As much experience as I have in the education field, as much babysitting as I've done, all the diapers of other children I've changed, all the bottles I've prepared, all the songs I've sung to put kids to sleep, it's never been MY child. I've given those children back to their parents after a few hours or after a day at the daycare. I clock out, get paid, and go about my life. And it terrifies me that there isn't that option anymore. It's my child. I'm the one that has to pick him up at 3 am and feed him. There is no "break". There's no "I'm going to just run to the store and grab a few things" anymore. I will ALWAYS have him on my mind. Did I feed him enough? When was the last time I changed his diaper? Is that diaper rash because of the diaper or because of the cream I put on him? Was that a sneeze? Is he allergic to the cats? Did he scratch his face? Does he love me?

All these doubts and fears come in waves, and usually not very often, but when they hit it's like I'm pulled under water and can't escape out of those thoughts. There are so many days where I think it'd be easier if he just stayed inside of me forever. He's protected from the outside world there. He doesn't have to worry about who's president or what the cool brand of sneakers are when he's 12, or if it's going to snow or rain tomorrow. He's safe. And it frightens me the world he's going to grow up in.

Then I look at the people he'll be surrounded by. His immediate family (Mike and I) are obviously going to love him beyond measure, and love each other even more than that, and God even more than that. I think having that family unit centered around Christ and Love will be the biggest contributor to how he will be as he gets older. Growing up in a home full of love for God and for ALL people. But not only his immediate family, but his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, his cousins, his extended family out of that. They all are going to love him so much, and each bring such unique things to his life and upbringing. I couldn't have hand picked a better family for him to be born into, both on my side and on hubby's. Add into that the amazing teacher's he'll have at daycare, the amazing friends I have made through different jobs, and church, and even you, dear friends of the internet. I have no doubt that he'll grow up knowing he's ALWAYS loved.


I feel like all of my blog posts have been super scatter brained recently (if you can call the fact that I wrote my last one nearly 2 months ago recently), but yeah, things are good. Uncomfortable as it's the last few weeks of this adventure, but good. Here's some updated pictures on how huge I'm getting.

 

Photo's from our Maternity Session (Photo credit to Laura Elaine Photography)

8 Months vs 9 Months

 

XOXO

Amanda, Mike, and Bump

Baby Regisry Breakdown

I started building my baby registry pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I was excited. I didn't care who knew I was pregnant. I wasn't scared of the "what if's". I wanted to just be happy and live the pregnancy life.

When we first were first married, Mike and I were living in a small one bedroom apartment. We wanted to start our family then, and we knew if we got pregnant in that apartment, we would have to have a very minimalistic registry since we didn't have the physical room for all the different things that are offered for babies.

Now that we are in a much larger 3 bedroom apartment, with a nursery for baby, my first thought was "I need to fill up this room!"

And then I took a step back.


If you go to any website to build a registry (we personally used Babies R Us, Amazon, Target, and then combined it all on Babylist) they will give you a "Checklist" to go through to build your dream registry with everything baby "needs".

Here is a sample of the lists.

http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=17082946

Now, is this super useful? Absolutely! I do like that this shows you a "needs" list and a "Good to have" list. However, I wanted to write this blogpost to give you my list of things I think are "needs" and "good to have's" and a third category of "You don't need this but someone somewhere decided you needed this".

So here it is, the blog post we've all been waiting for...

What You Actually Need For Your Baby

Now, I'm going to put a little disclaimer right here. My son has not been born, so once he's here, I will probably write another post that says "why did I think I needed/didn't need ____" because I know I'm not right all the time.


I personally am in the mindset that less is more, and encouraging play and natural movement is very important. It could be the teacher in me. It could be the fact that I grew up with a teacher as a mom. But I was always playing with my dolls and playing dress up as a kid. I didn't have a "gaming system" until I was a senior in high school, and all the games I was allowed to play on the computer growing up were educational games that taught me to either type faster or how to spell or learn Spanish. So for me, it just made sense to start our child off in a minimalistic mind set. Just because we have the space doesn't mean we need to fill it.

What you ACTUALLY Need

• A place for the baby to sleep (Preferably a crib, or if you decide to co-sleep, your own bed)
• Clothes
• A car seat
• A way to feed your baby (If you're not breast feeding, bottles/formula. If you are breast feeding, a pump/bottles if you won't have the baby with you 24/7)
• Diapers (Cloth or Disposable)
• Wipes

If you really think about it, that's all an infant NEEDS. I've been very blessed and have either been gifted a lot of these items, have gotten items on sale, or the items have been bought off of our registry. If this baby came today (please cook longer baby), I wouldn't be freaking out because he doesn't have something he needs. He would be okay to come into this world and live at our house. Currently in our nursery, we have a glider, a dresser, a changing table dresser, and a night stand that we are making from crates. With the exception of the crib (which has been bought off of our registry), our nursery is ready to go.

What's Good To Have

• A way to store baby clothes (dresser/bins for in a closet/hangers)
• Burp Clothes/Bibs
• Stroller
• Carrier (Ergo/Wrap)
• Diaper Bag
• Baby Bathtub
• Baby Monitor
• Teethers

When it comes to the "good to have" list, I really looked at this list as "if we have all of our needs met and had extra money, what would be the things we would go out and buy." Now for us, we already have a dresser so that's already checked off. My stroller has already been bought for us as well. I think having a wrap to wear baby (like this one) is probably the first item I would buy if nothing else was bought off of our registry. I love the idea of wearing our son and keeping him close to me rather than having him in a stroller all the time, but realistically a stroller can be easier for those long walks around the mall, and that's okay!!!! And for us, because of the layout of our apartment, we really don't NEED a baby monitor (which by the way, I'm talking basic $30 sound only monitor), but once he's transitioned into his room full time it would be great for those late night feedings.

What People THINK You need, but you really don't!

• Mobile
• Sound Machine
• Crib Bumpers
• Diaper Stacker
• Diaper Warmer
• Car Seat Toys
• Pacifiers
• "Containers" for Baby (Don't worry, I'll explain)

*I'm just gong to put this here, but I KNOW I'm going to get some strong opinions over this, and that's okay*

When I originally had the idea for this blog post, I was going to make it a "things you'll never see on my registry" post, but really there are only 2 things I feel strongly about not having that it would have been a short and probably bitter blog post so that changed. I will say that the list of things you don't really need, I have some of these items on my registry, and that's okay! I have pacifiers on my list, but I'm not going to go over board about getting them because I don't think baby NEEDS it. But he maybe could.

The real thing I want to address here is the crib bumpers and the "containers". I have a crib bumper of sorts on my registry, but it's breathable mesh and more of a bumper for the top of the crib for when baby can pull himself up so he's not hitting his head on the hard wood. The typical crib bumpers are a huge safety issue in my opinion because if they roll over next to it and can't breathe against the cloth...problems.

The other thing is the "containers". A container would be things like swings, bouncy seats, jumper-roo's, rock&plays, and the like. I am not opposed to these items, as I have most of these things on my registry, but it's when they are excessively used or used for the wrong purpose that I have a problem with them. I know that this is a very unpopular opinion, but I will not be registering for a rock&play. Many many many moms have told me they were life savers when their children were younger because it could be used as a bassinette in their room at night, and for babies with acid reflux it was a life saver. After doing a lot of research, I know I will be putting my child in either his crib from the beginning or in a pack and play next to our bed flat on his back. I know people want their child to be comfortable and want the padding and pillows and like the recline of the rock&play, but a child should be sleeping on their back on a flat surface as an infant to prevent SIDS. This is my belief, and it's ok if you believe differently. Moms will probably say "my baby was fine and didn't die from SIDS from being in a rock&play to sleep" and that's GREAT for you. But there have been too many cases of babies sleeping not on their back for long periods of time and their airways getting cut off or suffocation from the plush materials of these products that I'd rather not risk it.

As for the other containers (swings/bouncers) these items ARE on my registry, but if they aren't gifted to us at showers, they probably aren't items I would go out of my way to purchase on my own, just because I would rather be engaging with my child/having them explore their environment rather than be stuck in one spot looking at one thing for an extended amount of time.

I hope that wasn't too harsh, it's just my opinion and I know I'm not right on a lot of things (especially since this kid isn't even born yet) but these are the things I have learned from a few years of teaching, being friends with mama's, and being the daughter of an infant teacher.

Quick baby update: he's awesome. I'm just about 30 weeks and he's measuring perfectly with where he should be for size, and his heart beat is perfect. Can't wait to meet this nugget!

XOXO
Manda and Nugget