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Made To Mommy

Documenting my millennial mom life

Hello 2020!

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Holy moly it has been a long time since I wrote a post on this site. Once Jadyn started preschool my work got busy and I was just trying to hustle so I could enjoy some family time up in Oregon for the holidays.

I last updated you on Jadyn’s first few weeks of preschool and it’s now safe to say that she absolutely LOVES it. So much so I added an additional day this second semester. She has made friends and says “I had fun at school!” when I pick her up. It just warms my heart. Oh ya…now she’s two! I can’t believe I have a two-year-old. It feels like just yesterday I was updating this site saying that she had finally arrived. Now, I’m just maneuvering this thing called toddlerhood.

We kicked off 2020 by celebrating her birthday on the 2nd and just this past weekend we threw her official birthday party with all her classmates. She had a blast, and the parents did, too. We had her party at this fabulous place called Fox & Kit near our home and they were super accommodating. I usually take Jadyn there on rainy days because it’s just perfect.

One of my goals for 2020 is to be more diligent about updating this site! I want to do a better job of documenting how I’m handling everything in this crazy time in parenthood (can you say “terrible 2’s?!”) and also share any cool recipes, tips and tricks and lifestyle hacks.

Now I feel like we’re past the milestone phase and into keeping things fun with littles. I hope to see you in the comments this year!

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A Letter to Working Moms

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Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

From one working mom to another: you got this.

I don’t know how we do it. We spend nights caring for our sick babies and kids and then wake up early enough to get ourselves ready before we dive into our work email inboxes.

We take the time–during the workday–to sit on the floor with our little ones to play a game or complete a puzzle. We make sure that our kids eat their meals, often forgetting to feed ourselves until our stomachs growl so loudly. We make sure that our relationship with our partner or spouse is still strong, even though there are days when you just want to tear each other apart.

“You have the luxury of being at home with your little one while you work.” Yes, and us work-from-home moms love this, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Mom guilt comes into play: wanting to devote 100 to work and 100 to your kiddo is tough. To moms like me; I salute you.

To the moms who drop their little ones at daycare then head off to work and countdown the hours and minutes until you get to pick your little nugget up; I salute you. I don’t know how you do it.

To the moms who work a full eight-hour day, come home to their children, cook, clean and spend quality time with everyone, I salute you.

To the creative moms who can only find time to work on their projects while their little one’s asleep; I salute you.

To the first-time moms and new-again moms, I just want to remind you that you got this.

To the moms who just need a minute to cry it out, remember that you got this.

 

 

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Prime Book Box for Kids

There is absolutely nothing I love more than sitting down with Jadyn and reading her a book–or four. Reading calms Jadyn down, so nowadays I find myself reading to her more often since she’s teething (poor thing!); it’s a great distraction for her. However, reading the classics over and over again gets tiring for baby and mama, so when my boss at Red Tricycle shared a link to Prime Book Box for Kids, I had to sign up to hopefully be invited!

Fast forward a week or two and BAM! I’m invited to sign up. 🙂

Prime Book Box for Kids is a book subscription service (you can choose your delivery frequency) where Amazon editors curate top picks for different age groups. Jadyn is in the baby-2 age range, so she receives four board books every box, but 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 receive two hardcover books. I love that I can go in and select the books, too. For example, with this first box, Amazon editors picked Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss for me, but we already have it so I was able to exchange for a different one. Did I mention that it’s 35% off retail? Even better. For roughly $25 per box, I get four books. Not too shabby. Here are the books we received in Jadyn’s first box:

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Gossie and Gertie by Olivier Dunrea

The I LOVE YOU Book by Todd Parr

Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow

Backyard Bugs by Jill McDonald

I have read all of these to Jadyn at this point and I think she truly enjoys them. The bright colors really stand out and her interest peaks when she sees things she doesn’t recognize.

If you haven’t checked out Prime Book Box for Kids, I highly recommend you do and sign up for an invitation (only Prime members are eligible).

Did you sign up and receive your Prime Book Box for Kids? I’d love to know what you got in yours! Leave a comment below.

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Starting Solids

I can’t believe I have a five month old. Jadyn is not only talking up a storm and can almost roll from back-to-tummy, but she’s now on solids a few times a day.

At her four month well-check, Jadyn’s pediatrician said we could start introducing solids. I always thought I had to wait till 6 months, but by the time Jadyn is 6 months, two of her meals during the day should just be solids. At four months, I thought she was still a little young to truly start, so if I was eating a banana or watermelon or cantaloupe, I’d let her try some. But once Jadyn hit four and a half months, I really thought about it and started thinking of different things to purée. Here are my go to combinations right now:

  • Sweet potato + apple
  • Sweet potato + carrot
  • Mashed bananas
  • Zucchini + apple (completely tastes like apple sauce)
  • Broccoli + apple

What I plan on trying next:

  • Peas
  • Pears + spinach + kale
  • Spinach + apple + sweet potato
  • Apple + spinach
  • Chicken + sweet potato
  • Cantaloupe
  • Watermelon (she already loves sucking the juices from melon!!)

With fruits, you don’t need to steam them (obviously)–puréeing is just fine. However, in order to keep the nutrients in the veggies, steaming is better than boiling. And one of the best gifts I received from my baby shower was the Béaba Babycook. It’s a one-stop-shop to steam and purée vegetables for your little one. I use it three times a week to make Jadyn’s concoctions. You can find the Babycook on Amazon. And for more recipe inspiration, I’ve been browsing ThinkBaby.org’s recipes page. They have some great combinations I need to try and also some tips and tricks for when Jadyn is in the toddler years.

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courtesy of Amazon.com

Obviously starting solids was a slight learning curve for Jadyn since she didn’t really know what to do with a spoon, but since I have the Béaba silicone spoons, I let her play with them for a few days and every day when we eat, she’s learning that a spoon helps get food in her mouth. It’s so cute!

I also have to give a shout out to Inspired Start. They sent me a couple samples of their apples and wheat pouches to try out. What I love about Inspired Start is that each pouch contains a couple teaspoons of a common allergen like wheat, tree nut, peanut, seafood or soy, and masks it in a sweeter fruit. We’ve used the apple and wheat pouch a few times and can easily say that Jadyn does not have a wheat allergy! You can find Inspired Start only on Amazon. IMG_0644 2.JPG

I’m so excited to learn what Jadyn is going to enjoy next! It’s always an adventure with her.

What food combinations did you try with your little one when you introduced solids? Leave a comment below!

 

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The Perfect Spring & Summer Accessory

With spring finally here (I mean, we’ll still probably get rain, but oh well…) I’m excited to start dressing Jadyn in more outfits that are bright and colorful. She has so many outfits that I’m eager to put her in, accessorize and–of course–snap a photo.

One of my favorite Etsy shops to purchase hair accessories for my daughter is Lucy Belly Designs. Owned by my friend Nina, her shop features the most luxurious leather bows, clips and hair ties for little ladies, cuffs for tweens and moms and since she opened shop last year, Nina now offers bow ties for little (and grown!) gentlemen. Nina’s shop is truly amazing.

My latest purchase just arrived yesterday! One of my favorite pieces is the Oversized Jade Bow Mommy + Me set I bought a couple months ago. I purchased it in the color Sky and I can’t wait to match with my little nugget. I also had a custom order made featuring what I like to call a “lady bug” bow. She can make anything custom–all you have to do is message her on Etsy and she’ll work with you to make a one of a kind item.

Here’s my latest trio of Lucy Belly Designs bows:

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This is the Jade bow (named after my daughter Jadyn!) in orchid, the Aurora bow in quartz and the Sienna bow in tangerine. All classic sizes and I’m obsessed with these colors!

Listen, I’m not getting free bows for writing this review for Lucy Belly Designs. I have purchased almost every single one of Jadyn’s LBD bows (except for my baby shower gift set) and Nina’s bows are worth my money. I mean, can you see that I’m obsessed with these?

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She has a special offer going on right now, just in time for Mother’s Day. Use code LBDMOM15 now through May 5th and receive 15% off and ensure on-time delivery for Mother’s Day!

Have you purchased any Lucy Belly Designs bows? Snap a photo and share in the comments!

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What I’ve Learned About “Mom Guilt”

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Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash

Mom guilt. They’re two words one may hear while pregnant, but in reality won’t ever experience until your little one arrives. Sure, you prepare your home, family, your body for your baby’s arrival. You make sure you’re nourishing yourself properly to grow that little seed into a majestic human being. You give up caffeine (or if you’re like me, switch to decaf), walk for 30-minutes every day, take your vitamins and listen to your doctor’s advice and guidance to ensure your baby is growing as they should.

But what happens when your little nugget arrives? Well, you’ll lose sleep, forget to feed yourself since you’re so consumed in your baby, basic hygiene may go out the door for a week or two (granted, at some point you have to shower), make sure your animals that shed are kept in a separate area, if you have a winter or summer baby rack up that heat/air condition bill and you figure out your rhythm when it comes to nourishing your child.

Let me be clear. Mom guilt can happen to any mom for any specific reason. Your hormones are through the roof the first two weeks postpartum (you thought pregnancy hormones were bad, guess again…) that even a Pepsi commercial can make you cry.

What I personally have learned about mom guilt is that it’s 100% in my head. I am playing the mom guilt card in many different situations, and for me, it’s been mainly associated to figuring out the best way to feed my baby.

Since birth, my little girl has had a hard time latching. Every time we’d try, she’d get frustrated that she couldn’t latch onto my boob. She has a very small mouth, which can be part of the issue, but I blame my nipples. They aren’t the most ideal for breastfeeding. At the hospital, my body had to heal itself a bit before it could really think about nourishing my child, so I was self-expressing colostrum and finger-feeding it to her. Once we arrived home, I was pumping and trying to get her to latch. I was pumping every hour and a half when I got home that I had cracked and bleeding nipples and have since discovered a bruise on my right breast from the intense suction (a hospital-grade pump will do that to you).

I try and get my little one to latch every time, but in all honesty, we’ve had to supplement her with formula. The formula I’m using is from Happy Family Brands and is the Stage 1 Happy Baby Organic Formula. The reason I love this formula so much is that it’s modeled after breast milk and doesn’t wreak havoc on my little one’s digestive system. She handles this formula really well and I feel good when I feed it to her. At this point in our breastfeeding journey, it looks like my supply is dwindling down no matter how much I pump or how much Fenugreek I take.

Enter my main “mom guilt.” I keep beating myself up that I can’t provide more of my breast milk to my child. At this point, she is a formula baby.

While I know that the first month of life is the most crucial for my little one so she receives the antibodies in my milk to help build a strong immune system, potentially having to stop because my supply is getting smaller was never part of my plan.

Society puts a lot of pressure on moms to breastfeed their child. “Breast is best” they say. True, it is, but what about those moms whose supply isn’t there, or moms who just don’t have any milk at all? They give them formula. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, I envy those moms because they never had to even go through a bout of mom guilt related to breastfeeding.

When taking my breastfeeding class prior to giving birth, the instructor mentioned that it doesn’t matter what type of nipple you have (inverted, flat or pointy), you can breastfeed. What they fail to mention every time is that it’s not easy. There are so many situations that may come up that prevent successful breastfeeding:

  • Your baby has a hard time latching due to a small mouth, lips, etc.
  • Your nipples just aren’t erect enough for them to hit the roof of your baby’s mouth in order to stimulate suction (this is my problem).
  • You have little to no milk supply (granted, you won’t know this till the time your milk is supposed to come in). This is also my problem.
  • It’s a frustrating experience trying to get your baby to latch. You get stressed out and they get stressed out, resulting in nothing.

All in all, it doesn’t matter how you feed your child––whether it’s breastfeeding, pumping and bottle feeding, or straight up formula––the only thing that matters is that your child is fed, growing and healthy.

If you’re happy and not stressed, your baby will be, too.

Did you have any issues in the breastfeeding department? I’d love to know which route you took for your child. Let me know in the comments!

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Hello!

Hello!

Thank you for visiting Made To Mommy. My name is Leigh and I am so excited to share my experiences with you! Head to my ABOUT section on the site to learn more about me.

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For collaborations, reviews, sponsored posts and business inquiries, contact Leigh at madetomommy@gmail.com

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