Parental guidance, through Christ!

Hard times will constantly be there

-that won't change-

But so will Christ 

and with him we are able to overcome and conquer absolutely everything.

- Al Carraway

I always knew I wanted to be a mother one day. When I was younger I always loved playing with the little kids and dreamed about one day running after my own. I never knew the sacrifice, the sweat and the tears motherhood would come with. My mother and my older sisters, never really showed the hard and tough days. Or maybe they did, but I never saw the struggles of motherhood until I was the one struggling. I never knew that there was such a thing as "postpartum depression" or "baby blues". I never knew that a baby would rock your world to the max! I never knew that some women couldn't breastfeed and some would feel a disconnect with their child. There were a lot of things I didn't know, until I became a mother myself. 

The day after Noah was born, Ben and I were laying in my hospital bed, holding each other, in tears, wondering what in the world did we get ourselves into. Ben was taking 18 credits, he was super busy and we just welcomed a new baby into our family. We wanted this, we wanted a family, we loved our son so much, but we didn't know how hard it'll be. You don't know these things, you can't really prepare for these things either. I know that there are people out there that deal with much worse things than I do, no matter the degree, I couldn't have done it without Christ. I knew that He trusted us to be parents, and He was there at all times.

"As we make Christ the center of our lives, our fears will be replaced by the courage of our convictions." - Thomas S. Monson

I don't think I have ever prayed so much until I became a Mother. I literally pray ALL the time haha! Many might sound like this: "Heavenly Father, please help these kids fall asleep, so I can rest and stay sane", "Help me, help them" or "Heavenly Father, I don't know what to do, please help me. I feel like a terrible mother."

I have never felt so close to heaven until I had Noah. I knew Heavenly Father trusted me with his child. I just didn't know how much I would need Him to reassure me that that was the case. 

I read talks all the time about motherhood, because I know these words are from our Father in Heaven. I ask for blessings from my Husband often, and I know that the words spoken are from God. I couldn't do motherhood without the gospel in my life, without constant communication with my Savior. I used to think that I could do a lot of things on my own, but with Christ I can do so much more. I see His hand in my life, daily. I seek for it daily. It helps me more than I ever knew was possible.

Never be afraid to ask for help, don't be afraid to pray. God is there, just waiting for us to seek him. Whether you are a mom or not, seek Him daily and I promise you will see how He will bless you. 

I know that we each have our struggles, our battles and our weaknesses. You don't have to go through them alone, God is there for that exact reason. 

We are blessed by our efforts of trying, not perfection.

xoxo

Dads, you're the real MVP!

In family relationships, love is really spelled T-I-M-E

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I talk a lot about Mothers, and how awesome you are (because you truly are). I think sometimes we tend to forget about our partner in crime. We rarely hear or read about how awesome Fathers are, or we just don't give them enough credit. So this post is dedicated to my partner in crime, but also to all you awesome, dedicated, loving, loyal fathers out there. SHOUT OUT TO YOU!

The other day as I was at the park with my kids, I was chatting with other moms about life and girly things. Such as the "The Bachelor", getting our nails done, working out and more about "The Bachelor". I told them how I watch it with a group of girls every Monday (no judging, this season is great). Anyways, then one of the moms asked:

"Do you take the kids with you?"

"No, they stay home with their father" I replied.

"Oooh" she said, with a funny look on her face.

If you know me, you know I'm already giving her the "fatty" look.

Then one of my biggest pet peeves happened;

"Wow, do you always come home to chaos? Are you kids alive when you get back? She said, while looking at the other moms trying to get their approval.

The other moms didn't say a thing, they just stared at me (probably afraid of what I was about to do).

I wanted to reply something rude, but I refrained. Later that day, it hit me how I hear these things all the time. People making comments about dads like they don't know what to do.

If your kid isn't dressed fashionable enough, people automatically think "daddy dressed him". When you're out and about without kids and someone nicely comments "is daddy on babysitting duty today". Nope, he's not a babysitter. He is a parent. 

When he's at school, he worries about the kids. He asks how they're doing multiple times a day. As soon as he gets home, the mood changes and we are all so happy. He's the one to build the coolest train tracks. He is playing vroom-vroom on his knees. He is building a fort and playing peek-a-boo. He is sitting next to a little person while they go potty. 

Later on, he will be cleaning up the leftovers from dinner. We will find something new on our sons body and google "is this spot normal or is my son infected". He will get irritated, and then real happy 5 seconds later because Noah listened. He will read the same goodnight story without  complaining. He will wake up at night also because someone needs to potty. He will cuddle Noah while mommy gets to sleep. He will check the locks once or twice, to make sure we are safe. He will check the kids one last time before he's ready for bed, or study some more while I sleep next to him. 

Then, there's me. His forever companion doing pretty much the same thing minus building cool train tracks.  The kicker is, we need to keep the good dads in our daily parenting language. I know that there are less active or involved fathers out there. But lets not forget about the loving, caring, loyal, capable, "I don't care to look foolish" dads, all hail to you!

xoxo

Modesty with Lularoe

You can dress attractively without being immodest. Within the Lord's guidelines, there is room for you to be lively, vibrant, and beautiful both in your dress and in your actions.

- Thomas S. Monson

PC:Sydneyayles

Growing up, I always felt like there were a slim selection of modest but cute dresses for church. If you ask my mother, she will tell you how I rarely wore dresses. I always found myself rotating between the few "cute" outfits I had. Maybe it was because I didn't know about online shopping (which is probably a good thing), or I wasn't looking at the right places. Today, I have more dresses than I ever thought I'd have. I have so many friends that are Lularoe consultants, so do yourself a favor and find a consultant in your area. I teamed up with my friends from PennyandBoss and Savannah, and we are sharing different styles that they carry. 

I'm wearing the Amelia dress, it is absolutely comfortable, comes in many different designs plus it has pockets! You can never go wrong with pockets. I was debating between this color or a floral (black and white) one, but decided that I needed to step out of my comfort zone. 

Lularoe carries more than just dresses, they have darling leggings, skirts, shirts, you name it!

xo

Confessions of a Mama!

Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.

- Neil L. Anderson

Most comfortable Nelle striped Dress, perfect for spring/summer.

This quote has kept me going when I've felt like quitting. It is no secret that Motherhood is hard.

Being a mother of two, is a whole other ball game than one. Different kids brings different challenges. Here are some of my challenges and thoughts as a mother of two. 

First off, how do you give enough time and attention to both kids, while still be a supportive wife and take care of the house? I don't have the correct answer, while I like to think that I'm a superhero, I cannot always finish my to-do list every week. It is actually impossible, so I just had to accept it and move on. Do little by little without getting overwhelmed. 

We all know that newborns need our help for pretty much everything. Some newborns are more demanding than others, and I will admit that we watched a whole lot of movies that first month before I got the hang of things. I had to tell myself it was okay and to not feel bad about it.

 I expected Olivia to be the exact same baby as Noah. Noah went straight for the goods, but Olivia, at first had a little bit of a harder time to nurse. Ever since the hospital, Olivia has been a pretty good sleeper (knock on wood) while her brother had gas problems and woke up every other hour when he was younger!! Hence my permanent Gucci bags under my eyes haha. 

I was able to breastfeed Noah for a year before we weened him off, but it has been a different story with Olivia. Like I mentioned earlier, she had a hard time actually attaching when she was born. Since she was born, 2.5 weeks early, the doctor was a little bit worried she would lose weight. I swear every feeding session was 40min long, which felt like an eternity. Then, she would sleep for a long time until she was hungry again. Like most babies do, they lose weight during their hospital stay. Liv lost quite a bit, luckily not enough for her to stay in the NICU. We had an appointment two days later to make sure she was gaining weight. I made sure to pump, feed, pump and feed as much as I could. Fast forward 5 months, I got REAL bad mastitis, so bad that I was bleeding. Anyone that has had mastitis know exactly what I am talking about. I had a fever, I was hurting, uncomfortable, frustrated and scared. Every time I attempted to feed Liv, she would cry and so would I. I was heartbroken because I had to stop breastfeeding, I tried several times but it hurt too much. Guilt then crept in. I felt like a terrible mom, like I had failed her. I felt guilty for a long time, and I dreaded that question from other moms;

Why aren't you breastfeeding? Wait, I thought you were breastfeeding...what happened? Oh, you're using formula?

I must admit, that I have loved watching Ben feed her and watching them bond. My baby is getting fed, she's healthy and oh so happy. 

This is what God gave me time for. My day dreams aside, because raising children won't last forever. When I start questioning myself, they remind me that being a mother has been my #1 day dream ever since I was a young girl. 

I know that as I continue to put my children first, everything else will fall into place. Making it possible for all of my day dreams to come true in their own perfect timing.

xo

Some thoughts I wish I read before I had kids.

A post I wish I read before I had children. Before you read, know that these are my own thoughts and this may not apply to everyone.

PC: Cecilia Harvard www.dearestlou.com

With that being said, being a Mother is the greatest blessing I have received. Growing up, motherhood looked a lot different from what I imagined when I was young. Motherhood doesn't look like those perfect pinterest boards, full of creativity, DIY projects, perfect party favors that take way too long to make. Those moments are there, but those things do not make a mother.

While those things are beautiful, they don't really matter in the long run.

Do you know  what matters?

YOU

I've been blessed with fairly easy pregnancies. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen to everyone. I had a friend telling me " being pregnant looks nothing like on tv". I thought that was such an interesting comment. She was sick up until she had her baby, her ankles were swollen, she gained 50 lbs and hated the way she looked. 

Whenever someone would use the excuse of not being prepared yet, I would often come back and say "you can never fully prepare". Which to an extent I think is true, but on the other hand, you can totally prepare... Mentally! I know many people that have gotten depressed post-baby because they weren't mentally prepared for the changes. Changes as in; your body changing, your mood, being sick, etc. I think these are SO important to know before you consider anything, so it doesn't come as a surprise. We as women already struggle with body image, while we are creating something beautiful, it can be hard for some to accept those kind of changes. 

When having Noah, a lot of things were foreign to me. Although I had nanny'd and babysat a lot, he was my first child. I was responsible for him, ME!! We now live in a society where if we aren't doing what others are doing, we feel like we are failing. We compare ourselves, and our children (even if its unintentional) which creates a lot of self doubt. 

"Comparison is the thief of joy"

Our doctors tell us what our kids are suppose to do. Are they hitting the right milestones? Sleeping through the night? Sitting up? Crawling? Walking? Talking? Potty trained? I hated when people would ask me if Noah was sleeping through the night, unless it came from close friends/family. I felt many times that if I said no, they'd give me a weird look (as if Noah was behind). This often resulted to me feeling down, and questioning my parenting skills. This I know has happened to many of my close friends, and this also results in a mother lying because they don't want to feel guilt or get that weird look. 

I think it is so important to know that when a fellow mom comes to you for advice, they aren't looking for you to brag about your kid. Because, let's be honest, we all think that our own kids are the best ;) Instead, try to uplift and encourage and if you don't have advice then laugh about the situation. Besides, everybody has a different view of sleeping through the night!

Have you ever felt like you were failing as a mother because your child wasn't doing what another child was doing?  I know I have, multiple times. Here's the kicker, EVERY MOM HAS, at one point or another. We are not alone, we need each other to help one another. We are sisters, and we are all in this "hood" together. Next time you approach another mom, tell her she's awesome and she's doing an amazing job. If you are reading this, you are doing so much better than you think you are. Know that your little ones chose you for a reason. If you are currently pregnant, try to enjoy every moment, even the hard one. This too shall pass and I hear that 20 years from now you will miss it ;)

xo

You are doing better than you think you are!

Last week was hard, emotionally hard. Who knew a toddler could make you cry and then laugh historically 5 minutes later. Although there were many ups, there were a lot more downs. Motherhood is hard you guys, real hard. I applaud all you Mothers for your strength, unconditional love and for being plain awesome!!! While I was struggling with my toddler, trying to understand him and his needs, I was also just having a hard time with myself. Having a hard time loving me, and feeling worthy of this "mama" title. All these thoughts were just weighing me down, there were lots of tears and lots of prayers. I prayed for guidance to know how to help my children the best way. Most importantly, I needed to find that love and strength within myself.

It's easy to compare yourself with other moms, and sometimes feel like you should be doing more. Trying to be like that instagram mother you follow that seem to live the perfect life. Here's the thing, your children loves YOU, just the way you are. 

Elder Holland's talk came to my mind (which happens to be the talk of the week), coincidence?... Maybe... But I know this was inspired and I encourage every mother to read this talk often (here).

 " To all mothers in every circumstance, including those who struggle—and all will—I say, “Be peaceful. Believe in God and yourself. You are doing better than you think you are. "

Those words were exactly what I needed to hear, I know this was the answer I was looking for.

 I had scheduled a shoot with my new friend Becca (find her work here), but that morning started rough. I was frustrated with my look (mostly my hair) and felt insecure about our photo session. I wanted to do a holiday look, but not the typical (red, green, gold) look. I got this skirt and absolutely loved it, and decided to use it for my Holiday look. These pictures were a reminder to me to never doubt how strong I am, to be confident and to always love myself.

I shared one of these photos last week, and I got so many compliments from you. THANK YOU for making this girl grin from ear to ear. Sometimes you just need someone to smack you with a bucket of confidence, for you to wake up and look in the mirror and say "I'm sexy and I know it". I hope you enjoy the rest of these photos! Special thank you to Becca for taking these, and hooray for new friendships.

Photography: Becca (www.foundphotography.net)

Top: TJ Maxx

Dress: Shein I got size Small

Shoes: DSW

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!

xo