The mom-dentity crisis

Me and my little buddy at Dash Point State Park in June.

I haven’t blogged in well more than a YEAR. A pastime that has been a huge part of my life since I started my first blog in 2007. I have struggled with adapting my online identity with my identity as a mom. Pre-babykins (now toddler-kins), I used to write about travel, adventure, hiking, cooking, crafting and my love affair with graphic design. While I still enjoy all those things, parenting a teen and a toddler, being somebody’s partner and just getting my work cranked out each week is a bit all-consuming some days.

Someone asked me what my hobbies were when my little one was 4 months old and my answer was, “UUUUUUHHHHHHHHH…..?” Insanely long pause.

“… feeding my baby?”

Not that it’s a bad thing. But it’s a lot to wrap your head around after spending your first decade as an adult chasing education, climbing a career ladder and establishing a life that revolves around those things. Then your world turns inside out.

I feel like a lot of people in my demographic identify with this kind minor identity crisis when embarking on the parenthood journey. I’ve seen new mom friends I knew from college, women with powerful careers, ask “When do I start to feel normal again?” “When do I feel like ME again?” “I feel like I’m having an identity crisis.”

I had those moments too. Having a tiny baby was a magical time for me, but it took up almost 1oo percent of my physical, emotional and mental energy. But eventually you DO start to feel normal. Your baby needs you a little less and you find room for YOU. And that time where you couldn’t see past the next nap fades into soft memories that seem to have passed in a single heartbeat.

You begin to remember your hobbies and even find time for them now and then. You craft like a mad woman during nap time. You stay up late to meet a deadline on a project you are super excited about. You grab the baby carrier or stroller, load up your munchkin and have an adventure. You plop your toddler on the kitchen island with a bowl and spoon and have him help you make cookies. And you look back, and can’t remember how you used to fill the days when life was a little less full. You actually start to enjoy your daily 6 a.m. cup of coffee while your toddler watches Daniel Tiger and eats oatmeal. (OK, maybe honestly.)

So in a way, blogging about parenting is kind of perfect. It combines two of my favorite things. This crazy journey in parenting with writing and taking photos. And I find myself doing more art and having more adventures after all these days. It just looks a little different — more Crayola, less Macbook. It just took me a little while to figure out how to embrace it. And here we are. Join me for the journey with more soon!

Yay Friday: Bubbles

I’m going to let the pictures do most the talking this week, but bubbles are a favorite at our house. See those wide eyes? We love them so much we will be having a bubble machine at somebody’s first birthday in just two weeks. AAAHHH! I’m so excited!

Nesting advice and nursery essentials

Shopping for a baby can be overwhelming. Especially if you’ve never had one. I spent weeks researching products, because I had the have the RIGHT everything — even though much of it comes down to personal preference. The following is a note a wrote a friend who was expecting when my little one was about four months old. It’s nesting advice I would have written to my former self. Now I could go on and on about what you REALLY “need” for a baby, but I liked re-reading the words on my newborn-mothering self and thought it would be fun to share.

Don’t wear yourself out. If I could go back in time I would have spent more time sleeping!

Just about a month to go, how are you feeling? I don’t know how many mom friends you have but I thought I’d offer a little unsolicited baby advice for your final preparations. I had a very fussy baby for a while and thought I would share some shopping tips for calming your little one an other random things. Take what you will, but it’s stuff I would have loved to know:

• Target Up&Up diapers are like Pampers and Costco ones are like Huggies. Both way cheaper.
• If you don’t already have them, stock up on: baby Q-Tips, they are great for ears and noses; Little Tummies Gas Drops, boogie wipes, and saline nasal spray for stuffy noses. Also invest in a nice thermometer. I have a digital one that takes it in his ear, which is fast and much easier than other ways …
• Look for baby pajamas with zippers or even the goofy looking nightgowns with elastic at the bottom. You won’t want to bother with snaps during 2 a.m. diaper changes.
• Get a travel sleep sheep — it plays white noise. Bust it out at bedtime when she’s cranky. It’s weird but it works! Also make sure you have a nice swaddling blanket with Velcro, I have a Summer Infant one that is awesome. (Pictured above.)
• Will you be breastfeeding? If so, stock up on bra inserts for leakage, lanolin for sore nips and shirts that can easily be pulled down or up. Do yourself a favor and buy 5-7 nursing tanks now. Target has good ones in the bra section they are like shelf tanks with clips to undo the front at the straps. I had to send my husband to buy some for me while we spent a week in the hospital with our son. I wore them for weeks. They are perfect to layer under a top. Then you can pull the top layer up and the bottom layer down to nurse discreetly. Also get a nice nursing cover, Babies R Us has good ones I can nurse discreetly in restaurants and pretty much everywhere with mine.
• Our best big purchase was our swing. It’s his chair in the living room. We got the Graco Soothee and I completely recommend it! It vibrates, swings either back and forth and side to side, plays white noise and music and the seat comes off and works as a little cradle I can more around the house.

Hope these tips help and aren’t too annoying. I know you are probably getting tons of unwanted advice right now! I cant wait to see pics of the nursery and eventually your little lady! Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy! Treat yourself to pedicures and rest!

13 awesome reasons to get in the swing of baby wearing

Confession. I have three strollers — much to my husband’s chagrin at the expense and space they take up in our garage — and I love all of them. They all have a totally different purpose and I’m glad I have them. But my favorite way to stroll with my little one doesn’t involve a stroller at all. It’s baby wearing. Little did I know that my ErgoBaby Carrier would be one of my all time favorite baby items. I take it everywhere, even when we take the stroller “just in case.” So I thought I would share a few awesome facts about baby wearing:

1. It’s easy: Throw a wrap or sling in your baby bag and take it everywhere. No setting up a stroller, no taking elevator/ramp instead of stairs, easy to slip through crowds.
2. Look ma, no hands!: You can be close to your little one and have two free hands. Let’s face it, half the time we’re out and about I end up taking my son out of the cart/stroller/etc. and carrying him anyway and pushing the stroller anyway, at least for a bit. When I wear him it’s never an issue.
3. A happy baby: Proponents of baby wearing say babies who are worn a couple hours a day are calmer and cry less.
4. Strengthen your bond: All that time in close proximity strengthens the parent baby bond and makes you more in touch with their needs.
5. Less fussing while out: With a baby just under your chin it’s easier to know what they need and quickly respond when out and about.
6. Multitasking mama: Baby wearing means I can care for my little one AND get things done. Whether it’s a brisk walk, shopping or even dishes and laundry.
7. Great for travel: I’ve worn my baby in a wrap and Ergo carrier through airports, museums, aquariums, busy downtown areas, farmer’s markets and even on a halibut fishing charter tour.
8. No cheek pinching: Ladies always touching your baby’s hands and face in the grocery store and sharing their germs with your little sweet cheeks? While many people seem to have no problem crossing into a baby’s personal bubble, they are far less apt to touch a baby snuggled up under your chin in mama-bear’s personal space. And it’s easier to step away or put your hands between them and per-immunization newborn.
9. The view is great: Wearing a baby puts them at the caregiver’s eye level allowing them an excellent view of the world and learning ground during everyday activities.
10. Small talk: Having a baby that close makes it easy to chat and tell them about what you are seeing and doing. Talking, reading and singing to your baby are key to speech development.
11. All shapes and sizes: There are a zillion different wraps, carriers, slings and baby backpacks out there to suit almost any shape, size and lifestyle.
12. Nurse that baby: Close physical contact is key to establishing a good breastfeeding relationship in the beginning. Also, many baby carriers can be adjusted to a nursing position to help a mom discreetly feed her baby on the go.
13. Coping with colic: Some babies experience hours of unexplained crying in the early months where the only thing a parent can do is hold and sooth the baby for hours in the evening. Baby wearing can help parents and newborns cope with this difficult time.

Before you hop on the baby wearing bandwagon, please, educate yourself on safe practices. Use the acronym TICKS:

TIGHT
IN VIEW AT ALL TIMES
CLOSE ENOUGH TO KISS
KEEP CHIN OFF THE CHEST
SUPPORTED BACK

Here’s a great PDF with illustrations from the School of Babywearing.

Find out more about baby wearing safety at babywearinginternational.org.

Yay Friday: The world outside the window

Babies have excellent observation skills. I never cease to be amazed by the wide-eyed wonder of my son’s baby blues when taking in new sights. Sometimes sensory play isn’t about making noise or wild new experiences. Sometimes it’s simply taking a quiet moment to stop and admire the visual roses. I know any time my little guy gets cranky, a quick way to calm him is to stand at the window and enjoy the view. We talk about colors, the weather, animals and transportation. We take a couple moments every day to observe the neighborhood dogs and cats, cars passing by, airplanes flying overhead and whether it’s sunny, rainy, foggy, windy or snowing. On the very lucky Saturday morning pictured above, we saw a double rainbow.

I picked this tactic up when my mom was staying with us during the first few weeks. She would take him to the window and observe whether the neighbor’s red truck was home or not. Even at just a few weeks standing at the window brought a new perspective to a fussy afternoon.

Happy observation time. Have a great weekend.

Yay Friday: Mr. Piano Man

My son seems to have a special kind of love for music. Keyboards are awesome sensory fun because babies seem to love exercising cause and effect, and the effect of little hands banging black and white keys is immediate, easy and widely varying. Electronic keyboards are especially fun because you can adjust the tone, music style and even set it on special effects. Bonus, you can turn down the volume if their happy gets a little to loud for your taste!

Shake it up by playing a little tune yourself while your little one sits on your lap and freestyles.

Make some joyful noise. Happy Friday!

Yay Friday: Newspaper crinkles

Children never fail to find the wonder in ordinary objects. The picture pretty much speaks for itself here, but those junk mail flyers and newspaper inserts make cheap entertainment at my house. Crinkle the paper, show your little one how to rip it and let them go to town. Just watch out that they don’t make a meal of it.

Happy Friday. Get crinkly, my friends.

Yay Friday: Edible finger paint

Welcome to the second installment of Yay Friday: Edible finger paints. I’m pulling from the archives because we’ve all had colds and winter bugs around here and haven’t been feeling as playful. But the spring is back in our step now, and I hope to get back on track here.

Edible finger paints are great fun for little artists old enough to sit up. We used our high chair to contain the mess a little. There’s plenty of recipes online for edible finger paint, but we went with a simple one in which we already had the supplies on hand.

What you need:

• Cool Whip (or generic brand dessert topping)
• Food coloring
• Paper

Gel food coloring seemed to blend easy and work well. Make sure you dress your little one in play clothes as food coloring can stain clothes. I had some heavy card stock paper which easier for me to hold still and seemed to hold up well against uncoordinated little fingers.

At the time, I was a little apprehensive about whether I should let me 6-month-old taste Cool Whip when we were just introducing foods, but he was so enamored with the texture and colors that he didn’t even try tasting it once. Plus I made it in such small quantities, that he would hardly be able to ingest more than a tiny taste. However, I did have to hold the paper to the high chair tray (another option would be to tape it down), because my little teether DID want to nibble on the corner of THAT.

This activity was a blast, inexpensive and I’m excited to try it again now that he’s a little bigger and his motor skills are growing by leaps and bounds.

Make a masterpiece!

 

 

Yay Friday: Cheerios

Happy New Year readers! To tackle my New Year’s resolution to write more I’m launching a new weekly post: Yay Friday. Here I’ll post ideas for sensory and educational play with little ones. We live in a Fisher Price culture. But as The Ugly Volvo points out in her hilarious blog post, “A Ten Month Old’s Letter to Santa”,  babies are just as interested in real-world experiences and objects as they are toys (if not more.) Since I’m a full-time business owner and an all-the-time mom, I’m constantly trying to find ways to entertain my little guy and give him new experiences

This week we’re playing with Cheerios. Not only is it a great way for him to practice those awesome pincher skills (finger-thumb pick up), but he’s started to prefer finger foods over purees, so it’s a fun way to combine breakfast or snack time with play time. Food is fascinating to babies, giving them something for their hands, eyes and taste buds to do. To make it fun, I make little shapes and pictures, such as smiley faces, with the cereal and babykins sees how fast he can mess up my artwork. We count and make rows too. One could also do this with any kind of finger food. This is a great way to distract him for a few minutes while I prepare food too.

For more sensory play ideas:

I subscribe to ProductiveParenting.com, a super cool site that has tons of easy and inexpensive ideas for stimulating babies brains and senses. Parents can plug in their kids’ ages and get emails as often or little as they want with age appropriate ideas. I also scour Pinterest, other parenting sites and my own weird imagination for ideas. Sometimes my son surprises me with suddenly taking interest in something I had never thought of.

Happy playtime, my friends!

How to make a Barbie dreamhouse

Countdown the Christmas:

A series of DIY projects
and holiday inspirations.

With Christmas around the corner, I want to share the Barbie Dreamhouse my friend Kim and I collaborated on a couple Christmases ago. I’ve blogged about it elsewhere previously, but I’m so in love with the finished results of this project I had to show it off here. I have boys, so there probably won’t be any DIY Barbie Dreamhouses in my near future.

Kim wanted to give her then 5-year-old twins a Barbie dream-house for Christmas, but didn’t want to break the bank on something that might break easily. With four kids, she knows delicate a plastic dollhouse with lots of little parts and pieces wouldn’t last long. So we embarked on a shopping adventure to find the right tools to build our own, sturdier version.

Originally, we were thinking we would make over a bookshelf, but then we found this storage cube shelf and it was already pink! Normally, $50-$60 for one of these bad boys, we walked on a $20 sale at Fred Meyer. Plus we had an extra 15 percent off coupon for housewares. The shelf is perfect because it already has build-in room dividers. It’s simple with lots of room for young imaginations.

The whole thing was pink, so we lined the shelves with wood-grain contact paper to give the house wood floors before assembling the shelf per the package instructions.

We bought a variety pack of scrapbook paper at the craft store and covered the back panels with the “wall paper” using clear contact paper to adhere it and give them a protective coating.

I found a few unfinished wood jewelry/notions boxes at JoAnn’s fabrics that made excellent furniture with a little acrylic paint.

For area rugs we cut circles and rectangles out of a bathroom rug from the Fred Meyer home section (also purchased with aforementioned coupon).

We painted balsa wood strips mint green and glued them to the corners to create molding to give the rooms a finished look.

Santa somehow knew the girls were getting a Barbie dream house and brought the girls furniture sets like this bathroom set complete with a flat-screen TV mounted to the towel rack. Barbie is apparently one classy gal.

For a roof, we used a flag case from Michael’s craft store.

They seemed to like it.