Take A Moment…

Do you ever just sit in awe of the world around you? I am sitting out on our back porch and just watching and listening as the world turns around me. I’ve got a mommy bird in the hanging candle behind me laying on her eggs. I’ve got a woodpecker somewhere in the trees off our back deck, pecking away at a tree trunk. The fox just ran through our backyard (and no I am not making any of this up, this is what really happens in my backyard) heading to his home. Here I am, sitting and enjoying a hot cuppa whilst birds are singing, flowers are blooming and a perfectly blue sky is up above. It is such a magnificent sight to take in.

When the weather turns nicer, I love to sit out on our back deck whenever I can and take these moments and views in. It’s a little reminder to stop my busy life and just take a moment to really enjoy the world we live in. There is beauty everywhere you look- if only you take a moment to look.

I want to encourage you to do the same thing at some point every day or as often as you can. It really changes your whole outlook on not only your everyday, but your life. I know it may sound cheesy, but when you take a minute to come out of your own life and view something in nature it changes everything. If you can make it a part of your every day or weekly routine you will start to notice a change. A more positive outlook, a little more relaxation and on the whole just a happier approach to your days.

MiaLeave a comment

What a Week!

Gosh, it’s been a week! It started busy and ended with a little domesticity and a little relaxation.

The week started off with my Mother In Law leaving (after being in town for 2 weeks helping me out after a little fall) and a visit from my best friend, Aleta. We’ve been close friends for a couple of years now and she not only wanted to come and visit us, but also bring her daughter to the city (D.C.). It was such a lovely time! I can’t speak enough about how amazing she is and how much I truly cherish our friendship. We not only did some sight seeing, but we also did some tea drinking and A LOT of talking.

Her daughter also took some photo’s of us for The Cosy Book Shoppe (business), but also managed to capture some of me in all my pregnant with #2 glory. I wasn’t planning on doing any maternity photo’s this time around, just kind of capture some moments here and there, but nothing too formal. While we were taking the business photo’s she took a little time out to capture some of me that turned out really well (if I do say so myself).

With all of the excitement of having people in town for 2 1/2 weeks, I really needed some time to decompress and relax. I took a day to just take it easy and then took a little time towards the end of the week to do some cooking, baking, and reading! The weather has been warming up, which means I start making Potato Salad a lot- maybe a little too much sometimes LOL. The warmer weather also means a lot more time on our back deck and a lot of cold beverages and colder treats like smoothies, and cheesecakes/silk/satin pies.

I can’t believe that we only have a little less than 9 weeks to go before #2’s due date, although if he is anything like his brother it’ll be closer to 10-11 weeks! This pregnancy has really just flown by and as we are nearing the end, we are starting to get things for a new nursery. We don’t have to get too much, it’s more rearranging furniture and then a new theme/wall decor/bedding items. The biggest shift is moving our Little Fox (Little Man #1) to his new room. The room that he is moving into was our home library, so we had a lot of books to move! The books have all been moved, it is just the last bit of furniture that needs to be moved and then we can start figuring out what we want to do. I am trying to keep Little Fox in his crib for as long as possible (as close to two as we can possible get it to work) without having to buy another crib. Little Bear (Little Man #2) will not being going into a crib in his own room for a little while after birth, so we’ve got some wiggle room.

I’m starting to order some items and things are starting to once again, become real in the fact of us becoming a family of 4! It will be quite a change and I am trying to prepare us as best as I can for it. The biggest thing that I learned with Little Fox that I will be taking into this new chapter is to just “go with the flow”. We fell into a routine the first time around fairly quickly and while I know it will be different with two instead of one, I know that as soon as we get things established everything else will fall into place. The biggest thing is just going to be going with it until we get there.

That’s all I’ve got for today- it became a little more chatty than I intended, but sometimes that is just what happens.

MiaLeave a comment

Bad Habits as a “Stay at Home-r”

Good afternoon everyone and Happy Friday!! The week has come to an end and what a week it has been!! This weekend is also Easter, so a very exciting weekend! Today I am going to talk about something that I have noticed since becoming a person who is home more than not. I’ve always been a homebody, but it is different when you are truly a Stay at Home Mom/Employee/Wife/Whatever. It is very easy to fall into some bad habits when you stay at home most of the time and are busy-ing yourself with things around the house.

I work part time, own my own business and am a mom, wife, and homemaker. I blog as a hobby and enjoy it! With all of that, I found myself going down the rabbit hole with some of these habits. I’m hoping that I can help you identify these habits too.

1.) Staying in your pajamas all day. Get out of your pajamas! I don’t care if you just get out of your sleep clothes and put on sweatpants, just doing this one thing will change a lot in your mindset. It is so easy to fall down a rabbit hole when you stay in the same pajamas or clothes all day and all night long (even if you are changing your pajamas frequently it’s the mindset of being in clothes that you sleep in that makes a difference). For me, I actually put on a full outfit every morning that involves jeans, a skirt or a dress. You will automatically be more productive and feel better when you change your clothes after getting up in the morning.

2.) Eat and Drink Appropriately. Another one that I just can’t stress enough. A lot of times when we stay at home we fall into two different categories; eating everything or eating nothing. Neither one of these options is a good option. Try to space out your meals and/or snacking and make sure that if nothing else- you get a good breakfast to start your day off. I find that when I eat a good healthy breakfast in the morning, I snack less throughout the day. Another big thing to make sure you are doing is hydrating. Drinking plenty of water is a big thing and will also help motivate you to be healthier and make healthier choices throughout the day.

3.) Staying in the House Too Much. It is really easy to just stay in the house and stay where you are comfortable. It is even easy to say, I’ve got too much going on to fit in time to run out without it being errands or necessary. It is essential to leave the house a couple of times a week just to change your environment and scenery. I will be the first to admit that I don’t do this very well. I find that even taking a walk through the park and out in the neighborhood halfway through the week works wonders for our attitudes and our outlook. In our home we try to take a walk halfway through the week or run out to a store or do something and then our weekends tend to be filled with seeing new sights and running errands. It breaks up the monotony of the week and helps it you to not feel like you are stuck in Groundhog Day.

These are the three biggest things that I have discovered, although keep an eye out because I’ll be talking more and more about some other habits to get into and how to break some of the bad habits that we may have! What bad habits have you noticed if stay at home?

MiaLeave a comment

My Evening Routine

Good afternoon everyone and Happy Monday! I hope that this week is getting off to a great start for you! It’s been fantastic here in our home as my nearest and dearest friend is in town visiting for a couple of days. It’s already been a whirlwind of a couple days and I can’t wait to see how the next couple days go!

Today I’m excited to share a little glimpse into my evening routine. You can find my morning routine HERE and while I get a lot done in the mornings and have some “me” time, I feel like my evenings are where the real relaxation is. It’s a great time for us to spend together as a family and when we get to just enjoy the coziness that is our home.

I work from home and then once I’m done with work, I typically do my daily chores around the house. I consider my day “over” around 4:00-4:30pm. At this time our little man is typically waking up from his nap, so I’ll get him out of the crib and we will enjoy a little bit of time together in the living room. I’ll grab his leftover milk out of the fridge and we just relax for about 30-45 minutes with a little TV or playing on the floor.

Around 5:15-5:30pm I start on dinner. I make home made dinners every night, except for a Friday or Saturday night, when we either do something easy or order in for our date night. Because I am making dinner almost completely (and completely in some cases) from scratch it can take upwards of an hour to cook. I enjoy cooking and typically during this time, my husband will arrive home from work. I try to clean as I go, rinsing out dishes and doing what needs to be done.

Dinner time is typically around 6:30pm in our home and we like to sit around the table and just chat about our days. This is our time to catch up with each other and just chat. After dinner, I’ll get the kitchen and dining room cleaned up and my husband will either play with our little man in the living room or head down and do homework. One way or the other we will all end up on the floor in the living room playing until it is little man’s bed time.

We start getting little man ready for bed at around 8:30pm and my husband actually handles bed time for the most part. While he is getting little man ready for bed, I am taking my make up off and washing my face. I occasionally change into my pajamas at this time, but more than likely not. Once little man is in bed, we either catch up on some television or read in our living room until we are ready to go to bed. This is the time that we get to just relax and spend a little one on one time with each other, without little man.

So that is what our evening looks like! What is your evening routine like?

MiaLeave a comment

March Favorites!

A post on a Wednesday?! This was originally scheduled for Monday, but Monday just got away from me and I didn’t get the post finalized in time to get it posted. So, here we are.

It’s already April 5 (what?!) and while I can’t believe that it is already April, I am excited to share some of my favorites for the month of March. I am trying to do only products that I used the whole month, but there are a couple that slipped in that were only used for part of the month.

Ok, to start with, I’ve been really loving my new planning that I have started with in the month of March. I have been going round and round with planners as I am such a picky person and a huge paper planner. I had been using the Passion Planner, but it ended up becoming cramped and I wanted to have a little more space for notes and such on each date. I’ve been eyeing the Bullet Journal system for a long while now and decided to take the plunge for March. I’ve never been happier and more at peace in a planning system. I will be doing a separate post and series about this system, so stay tuned!

I finally bit the bullet y’all. I decided to go ahead and purchase the Ugg Slippers that I have been eyeing for years and years. I always went back and forth because, let’s be honest, they are expensive and I was always able to get a similar cheaper pair somewhere else. After throwing out my latest pair of slippers I decided to go ahead and purchase them as I know they are meant to last for a long time and I have heard only good things. I have not been dissapointed! I’ve only had these for about half the month, but holy cow they are fantastic! I’ve been wearing them everyday around the house and they have been so comfortable.

We are coming up on Passover and while I do not celebrate anymore, there are still a couple of food items that I love getting and eating. One of my all time favorites are the Manischewitz Chocolate Macaroons. This is the only way that I will eat Cocunut and I honestly gobble these down. I have been enjoying have a couple of these throughout the week (or maybe more than a couple) and they are just so delicious! I will be a little sad when they are retired for the year soon.

Lastly, this past month I have watched two movies that I love and am proud to call favorites in my collection. The first movie being, of course, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I could not ask for more in this movie and as an installment in the wizarding world! It is simply magical and just perfection! Newt Scamander is such a fantastic character and the niffler is by far one of my favorite animals/characters! The second movie is Trolls! I only just recently watched it when I bought it on DVD and it is the cutest movie! Our little man loved watching it as well with all bright colors and fun songs! Poppy and Branch are very dear to my heart as they are very much like myself and my husband in so many ways.

What are your favorites for the month of March?

MiaLeave a comment

I Hit a Wall…

I feel like it is an age old situation: Dispense good advice, don’t take a word of it yourself. This past week has been so hectic and at times just felt discombobulated. Side note- I’m super proud of that word choice 🙂 I’m very much a organized and have become a routine based person and this past week has just been crazy where that is concerned.

I feel like I say a lot that I am a routine based person. I can do spontaneous and I can have my days/weeks where it is off, but on the whole I love the way that I have my days and weeks planned out and I have found that it works really well for our family. This past week has pushed the “spontaneous” side of me a little too far and by the end of the week, I had firmly hit that wall of DONE.

We had a couple of appointments this week, which normally wouldn’t be so bad, except this week I had anticipated one appointment that was 30 minutes away. I had planned for just that one appointment and had figured that I could get everything else done around that. Then, it turned into two appointments on two different days both 30 minutes away. I also had a couple other errands to get done while we were out that added to the time.

My part time job picked up quite a bit in terms of being busy and having A LOT to do, so that was a factor. It’s tough when you feel like you are accomplishing quite a bit while working, but when you look at the numbers, nothing has changed. You clear out x amount of tasks to have y amount just added back to the mix. So, I know that that played a lot into my feeling of busyness and discombobulation.

Our sweet little man has been teething this week as well. I’m not sure what teeth are coming in, but it’s been a rough one for him. Normally he has a very happy sweet temperament, but with teething he goes hot and cold between smiling and crying. He typically wants to sleep more and has no interest in eating/food. He also becomes very clingy when he is teething due to the pain. He only wants to either be held or be in my lap. This is not a bad thing until things are not getting done. I still soak up the time for the most part because these moments are starting to become few and far in between.

So add together: extra appointments, extra large work load, irritable, clingy toddler, and a snowstorm at the start of the week and you get a mom who feels like she isn’t getting anything done! Normally I have a good handle on things and can pretty much handle whatever is thrown at me, but this past week just felt like so much at once. I hit a wall and actually ended up doing as little as possible on Saturday. We did a simple breakfast, leftovers for lunch, and ordered in for dinner. I did a little work, but overall just tried to relax and enjoy my time with my toddler.

It was exactly what I needed after the week felt like it was falling apart!

MiaLeave a comment

Storytime: Mom Knows Best

I’ll be completely honest right now, I don’t really know even how to start this post off. I think I’ve thought about writing it for so long now and I’ve actually written and re written it several times. I’m still not sure how this is going to go, but I really want to share this. Being a mom can be scary at times and even the most confident, will stumble at a time or two.

I know that this can lead to a sensitive topic for some, so I want to quickly say that weight gain is a serious thing and I know that. It can be a sign of a lot of potential problems and I took every bit of what we were being told (as well as some of my own instincts and research) in. I am not a doctor andI do know that there are times that I will need to listen to Doctors (and do!) and understand that they know better than I do, but on the whole I have realized that sometimes it’s best to also take your own judgement into consideration. Our issue was not that he was not gaining weight, but that his picture of health as a whole was not taken into consideration from the beginning. What I was seeing and how little man was acting as a whole did not match what we were being told.

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Sweet Little Man (around 12-13 months)

Our first son is 14 months old now and I can definitely say that I’ve learned a thing or two about being a mom and being more confident in myself and my decisions as a mom. Things that I will be keeping in mind as we welcome our second son this summer. One of the most important things that I have learned is there is nothing like Mom’s Knowledge/Intuition.

We struggled with Doctors and Colton. I should preface this with the fact that both myself and my husband are above average height with small to average frames. My husband is 6 ft tall and thin and I’m around average (ish) height and thin as well. Colton follows along the same line, which we realized very quickly. When he was born he was long enough to fit into 3 month clothing, but definitely not anywhere near in the weight department.

At Colton’s two month appointment, I had a Nurse Practitioner sit and insinuate that I was starving my child. That I was not providing enough for him. Now before you say, well what did she say, maybe your hormones blew what she was saying out of proportion. No. She said that I was not providing enough and he was starving. He had gained weight and grew quite a bit longer and I was struggling to reconcile what she was saying with what I was seeing. I could see the growth in my child. He was happy, eating healthily, meeting the milestones that he needed to be (although not many at that time) and I was in shock at what she was telling me.

*It was about a month after this appointment that we realized that my milk, while it had come in, my supply had not been able to keep up with the demand. So while he was getting enough from me up until this time, it wasn’t enough for a long term nursing situation.

If that wasn’t bad enough to be told as a first time mom, when your son is 2 months old, it got worse. The first time she said it, I was in a little bit of shock. The second time, my mommy instincts kicked in and I said “Ok. What do we do”. Instead of working with me and coming up with a plan, she just continued on with her statements. We went back and forth, with me trying to come up with a plan. If my child truly needed more, I was willing to do whatever it took to get that for him. In the end, after several times of asking, I decided that we would supplement with formula. Eventually we ended up switching entirely over to formula.

*Honestly, I could (and maybe I will at some point) write a whole separate post about this experience, but for now this little summary will do.

Colton continued to grow longer and started filling out a little bit. He started to surpass the developmental milestones that they are supposed to meet and again, I was looking at a happy and seemingly healthy baby. I had recovered from my complete breakdown after Colton’s two month appointment and everything was back on track. Then, we headed to his 4 month Well Baby appointment.

Again I was told that he wasn’t gaining enough weight, although he had put on a lot for him and grown much longer, and that I was not doing what I should be. Let me just say, I was letting Colton decide how much he wanted to eat at every bottle. I couldn’t force feed him more than he wants and he was eating close to 6 ounces every single bottle, if not more. He had surpassed most of his developmental milestones and was working on 6 month milestones. I could see with my own eyes that he was doing wonderfully, but I had a Nurse Practitioner (and then a doctor) telling me that I was failing. It was at that point that I said to hell with it, switched doctors, and started tracking things on my own.

It was clear to me that my son did not follow along the growth curves like other children did when it came to weight. He puts on weight, but he is more likely to grow longer than wider. His first doctor did not even bother to review not only his growth as a whole to include his length, but to look at how we, as his parents, were built. I was mad leaving his 4 month doctors appointment. My gut as his mother was continually telling me that he was just fine, healthy and that we were doing everything we were supposed to.

Things got better once we switched his doctor. We still have issues from time to time with the concern over his weight, but it’s not in a way of his doctor saying we are starving him. I take most of his weight gain concerns in, keep a watchful eye on how his eating is going, and overall watch how his behavior is. I am with him all day long and I am the first to realize when something is wrong. Realizing that I am his number 1 and best advocate and that at times, I will know best and will know better than the doctors has been the best thing both for him and for us as a family. By having this attitude, my son is not only happy, healthy, meeting milestones way above his age, and growing appropriately, but our family is also happier and healthier. I am happier and healthier.

MiaLeave a comment

Week In Pictures – A Family Visit and Shopping!

Hello everyone! Gosh, it is already 5-6 days into March! This past week has been a whirlwind as my husband went out of town for most of it for work and my mother came into town for a visit. We did quite a bit of shopping and just got to spend some time together. This was also my first full week in a new planner set up as well as adding some more to my journal. The week ended with some more shopping for the new baby as well as our little man.

I had a few things that I needed to pick up, some more spring/summer maternity clothes, some books and I had a few appointments throughout the week as well. This kept us plenty busy for the week and it seemed every day we had to do something!

I was able to get quite a bit of some new tops to gear up for the warmer weather (of course now that I have, it’s getting cold again) and I’m very much looking forward to spring and summer outfits that I can put together! Sweet Little Man and #2 also got some new clothes for summer as well. We’ve got everything saved from when Little Man was a baby, but with them being born at opposite ends of the year, there are some clothing items that we need to have. I also want to do a different theme for his nursery than we did for Little Man as they are different.

Little Man had a “woodland” animal/fox theme with Oranges and Browns in his nursery and I think #2 is going to have a mountain animal/bear theme with Blues for his nursery. I love what we have picked out so far and I think it is going to come together really well! We’ve still got to move quite a bit of furniture around and switch rooms around before I can decorate the new room, but I’m definitely in a nesting mode and think I will be for a long time still.

One other big thing that I did this week was to get my eyes re checked out. I’ve had glasses for a long time for when I’m reading/working at the computer/watching TV and when I was in school, but I’m one of those people that doesn’t typically wear them. I just strain through the situations and work through it. It has been steadily getting worse and I think it has some to do with the amount of migraines I deal with. I got a new prescription and some new glasses to go along with it. So far, it’s been such a difference! To be able to clearly see things has been so nice! No more straining to see for me.

How was your week?

MiaLeave a comment

February Favorites

Good afternoon everyone! I want to try something new out for the next couple months and that is doing some monthly favorites! These aren’t going to be specific to anything, but rather just some bits and bobs that I have started to or re discovered throughout the previous month. They could be just about anything, although I will try to stay away from books and tea’s as that is my business (although one or two may pop in from time to time), so that is handled on my business site and blog. If you are interested in that, The Cosy Book Shoppe can be found HERE. Shameless self promotion over now, so let’s get into some of my February Favorites…

To start with, I’ve been loving the Simple Moisturizing Facial Wash. I have fairly normal skin, but it can go from one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of being really moisturized or really dry. I used to use the Cetaphil face wash and I loved that, but I believe that they have recently changed the formula or they have removed the one that I used from shelves. The Simple wash allows my skin to continue that good balance between the two opposites and I’ve been loving it!

Along the same lines of skin care, I’ve re discovered a love of the Aveda Hand Relief Moisturizing Cream. I’m obsessive about hand washing, it’s almost an OCD factor that I have. With all of that hand washing, my hands dry out so quick. I use the Hand Relief in the evening and I find that it gives me some much needed relief at the end of the day. I use a lighter moisturizer in the morning and between the two my skin is very thankful.

A food favorite for you are the Girl Scout Thin Mints! I’ve loved these ever since I was little and selling them myself and they are the cookie that I treat myself to every single year. My husband came home this year asking whether we wanted to buy any this year and my response was “You have to ask?” Thin Mints are highly requested in our home and we typically end up getting at least 2-3 boxes a year. They never last long, no matter how hard we try, and we then spend the rest of the year trying to have all other sorts of chocolate mint options in our home.

Another food favorite WAS Cranberry Sprite Soda. Why was, you may ask? Well because it is no longer being sold in stores that we have around us (or around the country). I was first introduced to the Cranberry Sprite around Christmas and I absolutely loved it! So so good and I was eagerly awaiting the option to get home and get a whole case for myself. *Quick clarification, this is most definitely a pregnancy craving (although I would still drink it if it wasn’t) and I am definitely over reacting with my disappointment because of that.* We were waiting for the Superbowl soda sales to hit as we typically don’t drink enough soda to justify not buying it on sale and by the time that the sale hit, the Cranberry Sprite had sold out and been pulled from the shelves. I continually regret not simply purchasing the 12 pack when I could.

A couple of style favorites for you for the month. If you follow me or know me, you know that I am pregnant. This means no “normal” clothes buying and I was trying to hold out on buying some more maternity clothes until a little more into spring/summer. With the influx of warmer weather I found myself needing some tops and bottoms to accommodate them. I’ve been loving Liz Lange maternity for not only the price point, but also the fact that there is a good variety of styles to choose from. I find the clothes to run a little bit bigger, which is nice for growth, but it also means that when shopping that needs to be taken into account when picking sizes.

Another quick end of the month addition to my style favorites are the Xhiliration Sleepwear! I picked up a pair of their pajamas at Target this past weekend and I am obsessed! They are the most comfortable pajamas that I have ever worn and the designs are really nice. I picked up a floral pair and I think I am going to go back and get one more set with a different pattern to round out some summer pajama sets. They are fantastic!

Finally, for multimedia/tv/movies, I’ve been loving two things. The first being a TV Show called Six on the History Channel. My husband is in the military and is very much into a lot of military shows and movies. This particular show follows Navy Seals as they go through missions with an over arching mission in mind. It’s been a great show to watch and we’ve been enjoying watching the new episodes. The other thing that I’ve been loving is Ed Sheeran’s new releases in the music world. I’ve always loved his music and this latest album that he has coming out is no different! I’m looking forward to listening to the rest of the songs when it is formally released!

So, that’s what I’ve got for February! These won’t typically be this long, I’ll try and trim as I go moving forward for you. Has there been anything in particular that you have loved this past month?

MiaLeave a comment

Week In Pictures: Spring Weather Already?!

Good afternoon everyone! After all the craziness that I feel like February has been, this past week has been all about getting back to our routines.

I’m a planner and organized person by nature and love to have my routine. That’s not to say that I can’t be spontaneous at times, but I definitely like to have a general outline of things in order to feel sane. This past week was getting back into that bit of myself. I put my full cleaning routine back into effect (rather than the spot cleaning we were doing), decided to overhaul my planner and planning system, and started getting back into waking up early and having my “me” time in the mornings. These were all things that fell through the cracks when our month started getting busy and we were doing so much.

With that going on inside the house, some spring weather made a showing this week outside! We got a taste of 60-70 degree temperatures, which meant plenty of time spent outside for all of us. For a while little man didn’t like walking on the grass because it felt so uneven compared to cement or the flooring in the house, but after playing outside at the Cathedral, he has a whole new outlook when it comes to grass. He is now relatively unstoppable outside and both him and Copper had a good time running around! They wore each other out as well which was always nice for me as it led to a good nap and a little sleep in the next morning for little man.

We didn’t explore over the weekend as we had some errands to run and the weather wasn’t going to cooperate for long, but we still managed to get a little walk/hike in before the late afternoon storms started to hit! I absolutely love being in an area where we have nature all around us and so many different options to go walking and hiking. We like to be outdoors and get active so this area has been perfect for us so far!

It’s been relatively low key over here, which has been nice after what has felt like a constant movement/busyness of a month! February was full of so much and quite a few new, exciting adventures. I’m excited to see what March is going to bring to our humble home!

MiaLeave a comment