Welcome to part 2 of the Diary of a Working Mom series! Today, we’re talking about getting ready and looking presentable for work or other activities when your baby is screaming, you’re trying to put dinner in the crockpot, and fold last week’s laundry all at once.
We’ve all had mornings like that.
I find I either look like I just stepped out of the salon, or like a homeless person. There is no in between.
Prenatal vitamins were my least favorite during pregnancy. The original pills I got made me throw up after taking them. I was advised to switch to gummies, and I did. They didn’t make me throw up but they still made me feel icky. Prenatal vitamins are chock full of vitamins and minerals known to induce nausea, and yet, pregnant women, who are already probably pretty nauseous, need to take them. Pregnancy as a whole sometimes really feels like the short end of the stick, doesn’t it?
I took my vitamins off and on throughout pregnancy. Some days I didn’t remember, some days I did. When I did, I would take them before bed so that I could sleep through the ickiness. My morning sickness was awful enough without the vitamins making it worse.
When Sawyer finally came, even though the circumstances weren’t great, I was relieved for a lot of reasons. A big one being no more sickness! So you can imagine my dismay when my doctor told me upon discharge to keep taking prenatal vitamins as long as I was breastfeeding.
My preeclampsia symptoms stuck around for a few weeks after delivery, as is customary. The ickiness I felt after taking the vitamins didn’t help this! Of course I wanted to breastfeed and of course I wanted Sawyer to be getting all the vitamins he needed. And they supposedly make your hair and nails grow faster too, right? But, I still wasn’t consistent with taking them because I didn’t like they way they made me feel.
Then I came across Mommy Water. The very first drinkable prenatal vitamin! It comes in a powder that you mix with water, and it tastes great! It tastes kind of like emergence if you’ve ever had that. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals that they found most prenatals to be lacking. And it actually contains pyridoxine which helps alleviate nausea and vomiting rather than encourage it. It’s sweetened naturally with stevia so that expecting mamas with gestational diabetes can still drink it!
Mommy Water is so much better than taking a giant chalky pill every day, or even chewing on gummies. You get all the nutrients you need for you and baby with something that’s delicious and refreshing, sans the ickiness.
Mommy Water is great for your digestive health, bone health, and weight management. It contains brain boosters, iron, and electrolytes. It comes in lots of different flavors including berry splash, lemon zest, and grapefruit mint. Mommy Water is great for expecting and breastfeeding mamas! I would highly recommend to expecting and breastfeeding mothers looking for a better prenatal vitamin. One that meets all your needs. They even have a Mommy Bar, coming soon! Click here to check out Mommy Water and get some for yourself!
Already love Mommy Water? Use this recipe from their blog to make a mocktail!
You’ll need:
- A cute mason jar
- 1 lemon grapefruit or other fruit to your liking
- Ice cubes
- 1 packet of Grapefruit Mint Mommy Water
- 1 spoon for stirring
- 1 cute straw
Directions
Pour your packet of Mommy Water into the mason jar. Fill it with water to 1 inch below the lip of the jar. Stir completely or put a lid on the jar and shake if you prefer. Add ice, fruit, mint and a cute straw to taste. Enjoy!
Follow them on:
xoxo.
Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for review but all opinions are my own.
My baby is 3 months old. Where has the Summer gone? As fall is upon us, we’re so excited to start some family traditions!The holidays are just around the corner and Kurtis and I are so excited!
I’m in awe of Sawyer’s development. He’s currently sitting in his seat in front of me, watching Mickey Mouse Club. Yes, he actually watches TV, and he loves it! Of course, he has no idea what’s going on but he just loves to look at colors and shapes. As long as we put on a colorful cartoon he’ll stare at it forever.
His neck is getting stronger, he laughs a little bit, and smiles all the time! He loves to talk, which is so fun for us. He’s always going to be a little bit behind in his development, because he was premature, which we constantly have to remind ourselves when we’re bummed he isn’t laughing all the time yet.
No check up during the third month, so I’m not sure how big he is now, but he’s definitely growing. He’s officially in 3-6 month clothes! As it gets colder, we’re having fun putting him in actual outfits rather than just onesies all the time!
He sleeps so well. We usually put him to bed in his own crib (we have a video monitor that is mounted on the wall and can’t move. So if we want to put him to bed early, and monitor him, it needs to be in his own crib!) for a few hours before we go to bed. Once we go to bed we bring him into the bassinet in our room. He’ll usually sleep from 9pm until about 6 or 7 am, then he gets fussy and wants to be picked up. So we’ll bring him in bed with us and try to get some more sleep until about 8 or 9. Sometimes Sawyer falls back asleep, and therefore I get some more sleep, or sometimes we just end up talking and playing in our bed. We love lazy mornings! And don’t worry, when he’s in bed with us we move all the pillows and blankets to the floor. But we really have been blessed with a great sleeper! We have the Baby Wise method to thank, if you’re expecting or you have a newborn, you have to pick up this book. The method works wonders, Sawyer was sleeping 5-7 hour stretches at night when he was only 6 weeks old.
This age is so fun. Kurtis is really loving it now that he can interact with Sawyer more. On the off chance he laughs, it’s at Kurtis. Little Man doesn’t like to laugh for Mama so far (doesn’t he know I birthed him?). But we love being able to watch him learn. When we wave a toy in front of him, go for a walk outside, or put him in front of the TV, it’s so fun to watch his eyes grow wide as he excitedly takes in the world around him. I don’t know if there is anything better as a parent, than watching your child learn something new.
I’m back at work which has been a huge adjustment. Leaving him is incredibly hard. The days are few and far between when I don’t cry leaving him. But it get’s easier every day and my coworkers have made the transition so easy on me. I get a break every 3 hours to pump so Sawyer is still 100% on breastmilk!
He still loves to be swaddled, worn, and nap in his Mamaroo. And he still hates wind, being cold, and lately, being alone. He’s starting to have a little bit of separation anxiety, and gets fussy when he can’t see one of us. We’re starting to get on more of a set schedule with his nap time, and he’s a much happier boy when he stays on schedule. If something happens to disrupt his schedule, then God help us all because he will be screaming all night! This boy needs his naps!
The older he gets the more he plays and interacts and the more fun we all have! I was devastated to lose my squishy newborn but I have to say, I really love this stage.
Before Sawyer was born I wrote piece entitled I Don’t Know if I Can Share You because I was nervous about sharing my husband’s attention with our then-unborn son. I didn’t know how a baby was going to affect our marriage. I knew it would be in a positive way but I just couldn’t get used to the idea of not being the most important person in his life anymore, and him not being mine. I couldn’t wrap my head around someone else being the center of our attention rather than each other. Absolutely everything was about to change.
And change it did. Watching my husband become a father has been the most amazing experience. It blesses me so much to watch him interact with Sawyer. I know he would do anything for him, and that makes me love him even more.
How could I know? How could I know that our child and his attention-stealing self would make things feel so much more whole? I feel like we are now complete, and our lives have a love that we have never known before, and we are left with this question: how did we even exist before him?
Sure, life was great. We had nothing tying us down. We could go out whenever we wanted, I could have a glass of wine without having to worry about it affecting my milk, our schedule didn’t revolve around his next feeding or his next nap. Some would say we were free. But now, we stay home more, we drink less, is that really a bad thing? We spend more time together. As a family. And I’m surprised as how good it feels to say that.
Kurtis and I were a family before. If we had never had children, our family would still be whole. However, our family grew and it brought us closer together. I didn’t know we needed to be closer together, I didn’t know we could be. I didn’t know a lot of things before Sawyer was born. And even though our love is now shared, there’s more than enough of it to go around.
People often think of love stories as the events that lead up to two people ending up together. And sometimes they are. But the true love stories are about your lives together. The family you create. Whether two people simply grow old and have lots of adventures together, or have lots of little ones, and experience whole different adventures.
I’m experiencing a new kind of love. The love I have for my husband has changed, because of the love I have for my son, in the best possible way. Our story has only just begun.
Sawyer LOVES bath time! It doesn’t matter if he was screaming his head off 3 minutes earlier, as soon as he hits that warm water he is just so, so content.
However, Sawyer, just like lots of babies, has extremely sensitive skin. We live in Colorado where the air is extremely dry and so is our skin. Here, lotion is an absolute necessity. When he was a newborn, we tried everything to no avail. Even Honest Co products made him break out! 
Then, we found Little Green Cares. Little Green Cares is children’s bath products formulated for sensitive skin. They are hypoallergenic and gluten free! I had such a great experience with them, and they were confident Sawyer wouldn’t have a reaction to their products. And so far, so good!
The founder of Little Green was inspired to create the collection when he noticed his grandchildren suffering from allergies and delicate skin conditions. After researching top selling brands that cater to babies and children, he found that nothing worked. His goal was to create a collection of products that live up to its claim: safe, gentle and pure. That’s what we have today, and we hope to help your little one with his sensitive skin as well!
They sent us the Baby Essentials Set. It came with Baby Shampoo and Body Wash, Nourishing Body Lotion, and a Soothing Balm. We tried them out and loved them! They smell great and Sawyer hasn’t had a break out or rash! And the Soothing Balm is so great and has quickly become a diaper bag must have. It can be used to nourish your skin and lips on the go. Sometimes I even use it for myself!
I would reccomend Little Green Cares to all mamas, especially those whose children have sensitive skin, it works wonders and we’re hooked!
If you are interested in Little Green Cares you can purchase products here
And make sure to follow them on Instagram!
What are your favorite bath time essentials?
Xoxo
Breastfeeding is hard.
Ridiculously hard.
I had no idea how time consuming it would really be, how hard it would be physically and emotionally. I feel like my whole day revolves around Sawyer’s next feeding.
When Sawyer was born he wasn’t set on my chest. We didn’t get that skin to skin time. Kurtis wasn’t allowed to cut the cord. They plopped the baby down next to me as I was being wheeled out of the operating room and that was the first time I touched him.
About an hour later, after our family and a few friends had been in to see him, my nurse announced it was time to try breastfeeding. She positioned him correctly, and waited. I was amazed that Sawyer seemed to know exactly where to go and what to do. He tried and tried to latch but couldn’t. The nurse and my best friend, Jessi (who is also a nurse) tried everything to help, and after about 10 minutes of trying, we had to give him a bottle.
“This happens a lot with babies who are extra early,” My nurse said “you might just have to be a pumping mom.”
The next few days went the exact same way. Every 3 hours a nurse would come in and try to get Sawyer to latch. After 10 minutes of no success we would give him a bottle. On day 3 my milk came in with a bang. Holy cow, was it weird to go to bed with the chest I had known all my adult life and wake up with them literally 5 times bigger. And they were heavy and painful.
That afternoon a lactation consultant came in to help us. She was amazing. So patient and nice and she taught us all the tips and tricks we could use to help Sawyer latch so I could breastfeed like I wanted to. She introduced us to our saving grace and worst enemy, the nipple shield. We tried it out and like magic, Sawyer latched. I was so so happy. And although I have nothing but nice things to say about my lactation consultant…that was it. Once the shield worked, she left, with no instructions on how to wean him off of it.
And trust me, I’ve tried. It’s okay, really. It’s a blessing and a curse. I would so much rather use the shield our whole breastfeeding journey than have to exclusively pump. I am incredibly blessed to be able to breastfeed at all. But, as a result, I have to be extremely prepared. I always have one in my diaper bag, an emergency one in my car (learned that I needed that one the hard way), and all over the house. And let me tell you how hard it is to nurse in public with one!
I hated nursing in public to begin with. I know that breastfeeding is natural, and no one should give me a hard time about it, but still. I hated it. The covers never covered enough and trying to hold my shirt up, unclip my bra or tank, put on the shield, and get him to latch, all with a fussy, squirmy baby in my arms was the worst. And 9/10 times Sawyer would knock the shield off because he was so flustered, and I would have to put it back on multiple times before he would eat. All underneath a cover. I dreaded nursing in public and decided I would pump in advance and give him a bottle if I knew we had something going on during a scheduled feeding, which was almost just as hard.
But then, someone suggested a nursing poncho. I was intrigued and looked them up. I found Milkmaid goods on Instagram and knew I just had to try one. What makes them easier is that they cover your full torso, front and back. What made me so insecure with a regular cover is that the sides and back were open, and I felt like I was constantly flashing everyone, and I probably was considering how much trouble I always had with it. Now that it’s getting cooler, if we have a day out, I can just wear my poncho as part of my normal outfit, it’s so cute! When it’s time for Sawyer to eat, I actually usually run to the bathroom, take my shirt off and put it in my bag, attach the shield and then just add baby! I’m so much more comfortable, there’s no more wrestling with my cover to make sure it’s covering what it needs to (it never stayed in place). It’s so much lighter than my old covers as well, so Sawyer and I aren’t too hot. I want one in every color!
Oh, and did I mention it also doubles as a car seat cover?
I love Milkmaid Goods so much, I’ve teamed up with the owners, Stefanie and Amy, to give my readers a 15% off discount! You can check out their shop here and use code “lovely15” at checkout! They also make adorable swaddle blankets for your littles!
Did you have any issues with breastfeeding, especially breastfeeding in public?
Xoxo.
Disclaimer: I recieved this product in exchange for review but all opinions are my own.
Today marks year 5 for Kurtis and I! (Since we’ve been together that is) I was 17 when we first got together a now here we are, 5 years, a marriage and a baby later.
It’s so weird to think about when you first met people who became so important to you. Because, who could know? How could 16 year old me know that the boy she just met in the dance room at school would one day be my husband and father of my children? How could I have know that my crazy, dramatic, on again off again high school romance would actually mature and grow and end in the creation of a family.
5 years seems like nothing in the grand scheme of things. But so much has happened it blows my mind. We don’t celebrate this anniversary anymore (we have a wedding anniversary now!), but this day is still so so special to me. It’s the day we decided to cut out the on again off again nonsense, and be together for real. Because even at such a young age, we knew we loved each other.
Forgive me for being so sappy and reminiscent, but I’m so proud of how far we’ve come. And we got the greatest gift ever out of it, our son, and watching each other become parents.
I wholeheartedly support everyone’s right to believe their love story is the most magical. I sure believe mine is.
9.24.10
I’m so excited to kick off my Diary of a Working Mom series! As most of you know, I went back to work this past week. Thankfully, I am only working part time so I still get 4 days a week to hang with Little Man, and the 3 days I’m working he hangs out with my mom or my mother-in-law so I know he’s in good hands and surrounded by family! We were so happy to avoid daycare!
I get stressed out and overwhelmed easily. I knew if I was going to juggle work, a 3 month old, a dog who acts like a 3 month old, bible study, housework, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, working out, etc. I was going to need one heck of a system, and I needed to be more organized than I’ve ever been before.
And…I did it (huge shocker). I put a strict schedule in place, and for the past 2 weeks, I’ve stuck to it, and things haven’t gotten as out of control as I thought they would. I have a cleaning schedule, calendar with all our events, and a weekly dinner menu all posted on the fridge. It’s easier for Kurtis to help me out if he can visually see exactly what I need done around the house that day, or whose house Sawyer is going to for daycare that day, etc. I have nicknamed it the FOS (Family Organization System…yes, I’m lame).
Cleaning
My personal method of cleaning is to do one or two chores per day, rather than trying to tackle everything on my day off. When I was working full time before Sawyer was born, that was how I did it, and because of that, my days off didn’t really feel like days off. They felt like my “housework days”. I’ve found it extremely helpful to do it this way! I give myself a few more tasks, or the more daunting tasks on my days off, and lesser tasks on my work days. I still have a list of things that need to be done daily, which I incorporate into my routine for the day. As well as a small list of things I need to do before I go to bed. It’s important to remind myself to take my wallet out of the diaper bag and put it into my work bag, pack up the breast pump, and Sawyer’s stuff for Grandma’s.
Schedule
I use just a regular calendar from Target to write out what everyone is doing. It usually has when I work, when Kurtis works, which Grandma Sawyer is going to, events, dr appointments, etc. It’s hung on the fridge where we both can see and access it. This isn’t the where I break down my day and my schedule, I use my planner for that (more on that later). But it’s easy to glance at and see what time my husband should be home, or be reminded that I have a baby shower that weekend.
Meal Planning
This is something I’m new to. I usually just walk into the grocery store and grab what we needed and what looked good. Then, when I wanted to make a meal, I would run back to the store to grab the ingredients I didn’t have. That got old, fast. So I actually started planning out our dinner every night, and lunches to take to work, looking up the recipes, and buying all the ingredients!
I use pinterest for the most part to find my recipes, and secret boards to store them. I have one board for 2 weeks worth of recipes, and I label all of them with the date I’m going to make them. When the 2 weeks is up, I move them all to another board entitled “used recipes” and find 2 weeks worth of new recipes to add to the meal planning board and so on and so on. I use the “used recipes” board to recycle recipes and use them again in future weeks meal plans!
You have to make your meal plan based on your schedule. For instance, Tuesdays and Fridays for me are always crockpot meals because those are 2 of the days I work. Mondays and Wednesday I cook because I’m off of work, and I also make sure I have a few days off from cooking as well.
Mama Hack: Days off and yo-yo meals!
It’s important to have a day without chores. For me, its Thursday. It’s not really a day off , because it’s actually my busiest day of the week, which is why I don’t assign myself any cooking or cleaning on that day. On Thursdays I have Bible Study in the mornings, and work in the afternoon. I have about an hour after getting home from Bible Study before I have to leave for work, and I don’t want to spend that hour running around putting dinner in the crockpot or cleaning the bathrooms. I want to spend that hour cuddling my baby before I have to leave for the day. And I do!
Yo-yo meals are something my mom used to do growing up. Yo-yo stands for you’re on you’re own. So, I don’t have a meal planned for that day. I keep things in the house that would be easy to throw together or warm up because I’m not cooking! On yo-yo nights we might quickly make panini’s or spaghetti (something easy), heat up leftovers, or order in. I definitely have these on Thursdays since it’s my busy day, and one or two other days during the week.
Planning is my jam
I love planners and to-do lists. I will add things to my to-do list that I’ve already done, just to have the joy of crossing it off! I currently use a Vera Bradley planner that I bought last year, long before I knew my life would be this hectic. It really really helps me to write things down. That way I can physically see when I need to clean, cook, work out, etc.
Since I have so much more going on, I’ve been looking into getting a more in-depth family planner. With lots of room, extra pages, color coding, all that lame stuff (that I just adore). Right now I’m leaning towards Plum Pages but I’ve been researching other brands as well.
Attempting to juggle it all may be the hardest thing I’ve done so far, but I’m doing all I can to make my life somewhat easy. I haven’t had a complete meltdown yet, and it makes me feel accomplished to know I have things semi-under control. What are your favorite ways to stay organized when life gets hectic?
Today I’m sharing a monthly subscription box that I’ve fallen in love with.
Rocksbox is a monthly jewelry rental box. It allows you to rent unlimited pieces of designer jewelry every month! You create a wish list of pieces that you like, and stylist sends you 3 pieces she thinks you would enjoy based on your wish list. The best part? You can send your box back and get 3 new pieces as many times as you want! So, if you don’t like a piece, you can just send it back for something different! And, your stylist asks for your feedback so she knows exactly what to send you. If you love any of the pieces, you have the option to buy it as well! Just keep it when you send the rest of your box back.
Shipping is fast and easy! They send you a prepaid label with your box to cover the shipping back. Simply hold on to the packaging it came in (it can be reused), and use the prepaid shipping label and send back at no cost to you!
I’m an accessories dummy. I’m great at putting together outfits, I’ve always loved dressing up! But almost 100% of the time, I’ll get to whatever event I’m going and think huh, maybe I should have put on a necklace or at least some earrings! Jewelry always slips my mind! I hardly ever shop for it, and it can be so expensive. That’s what’s great about Rocksbox. It designer jewelry, but since it’s rented, you’re not spending a bunch of money on something you’re only going to wear a few times.
My Rocksbox experience has been great so far. My first box arrived and I was so excited! I received some stud earrings, a statement Kendra Scott necklace and a smaller bar necklace. I loved the Kendra Scott necklace! But I wasn’t super crazy about the other two items. So when I sent it back after I had worn them a few times, I told my stylist I wasn’t crazy about the smaller necklace, and would really like to see a bracelet and some statement earrings.
And she delivered! This time I got Kendra Scott statement earrings, a Moon & Lola gold bangle, and a Perry Street crystal necklace. I’m in love! I highly recommend Rocksbox to anyone who loves fashion and jewelry.
Want to try a month of Rocksbox completely free? Click here and enter code katielovelyyxoxo at checkout.
Do you have a monthly subscription box that you love?
Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for review but all opinions are my own.
xoxo.
Is it possible month two went even faster than month one?
Sawyer is so much more alert these days. He spends a good portion of the day awake now and smiles and coos and interacts with us so much more. The newborn stage is truly almost over and while I’m sad, I’m excited to watch him grow!
He had his 2 month check up last week and it went well! He is 10lbs 7.5 oz, 22 in, and a 16 in head circumference. He was in only the 9th percentile for height and weight, but the 85th for head circumference! He got his second round of shots which wasn’t our favorite. He was pretty cranky for a few days afterwards, but we survived, and had lots of cuddles.
He still loves his pacifier, car seat, mamaroo, and being worn. And still hates being cold, diaper changes, and wind.
He’s really started smiling the last week or two and we love it. It’s the first real interaction we get to have with him, it’s so much fun! He’s also started appreciating colors, sounds, and shapes. He loves toys and mobiles!
This past weekend we had our first trip out of town with baby! It was a learning experience and boy, did we have to bring a lot of stuff, but he slept the whole 3 hour car ride there and back! We went to the Brown Family Reunion and had a blast! We stayed in houses by a river and played volleyball, games, kayaked, paddle boarded, slack lines, and hung out with family. And we found he really likes to interact with other babies! Me and two of Kurtis’ cousins, and one of his aunts all were pregnant at the same time and had babies within two months of each other, so there were lots of babies his age for him to interact with! I even found that if he heard another one of the babies being fussy, he would start crying as well.
He also suffered his first injury while we were out of town. A family member was holding him in the yard when someone accidentally knocked a bike pump off of the porch and it hit him in the eye. It broke skin and was bleeding pretty good, but it looked a lot worse than it ended up being. Luckily, Kurtis’ cousin is a doctor and checked him out right away. He was such a trooper, I cried longer than he did!
I’m heading back to work next week and I’m heartbroken. While I love my job and am so blessed they’ve been so flexible, I’m so sad to leave him. It will be good to get out of the house and to contribute financially again, and to see all the members and my coworkers! I’m so thankful to have had the past 2 and 1/2 months to be home with him while I adjusted to motherhood and we go to know each other. I’m only working 3 days a week and Sawyer will go to either my mom or my mother in-law which is so great for so many reasons! I hope one day to be able to stay home but that time is not now.
I’m still exclusively breast feeding and Sawyer still has not been able to latch without the shield, but that’s okay. I don’t mind using it if it means we can breastfeed rather than pump. Although I do pump every night after he goes to bed to add to my freezer stash. I’ll be pumping more after I go to back to work in an attempt to keep him 100% on breast milk. So when I’m gone he’ll get the pumped milk in a bottle, and when I’m home he’ll still be breastfed. I’d like to avoid formula if I can. Although I have nothing against it, breastmilk is free and it’s best for him.
We sent out birth announcements last week! I designed them myself and was really happy with how they turned out. They were more expensive than we anticipated so we only sent them to family. So, I wanted to share here with the rest of you!
He’s learning more and more every day. I can’t believe we’ve had our sweet boy for 2 months already. Here’s to month three!
xoxo
