Mama Monday #3

Happy Monday!! I have decided that there is just no way I can regularly post on the weekends. I am just too busy spending time with Chris and Harmony to be on the internet. So, onto Mama Monday!

This past week I have been thinking about all of these things that the internet and all of those new parenting books are telling us moms to do these days! There is so much pressure and stress put on new moms about how we should be taking care of our babies. First of all, I think all of the emphasis on interacting and stimulating your baby is a little excessive. Of course you shouldn't just ignore your baby all day, but every baby needs alone time to take everything in on their own terms. I know my parents weren't always entertaining me when I was a baby and I was an early walker, talker, and reader. Same with my husband and his parents. I read on Babycenter groups that I belong to about moms who are feeling guilty because they dont feel like they can provide enough entertainment for their babies all day long when babies are entertained on their own! Every single thing is a new experience to them, they dont need us constantly shoving toys in their faces! We are being told that if we don't interact and do these developmental activities with our babies they will be slow and stupid which is completely not true. These are all new philosophies that our parents and their parents before them didn't take part in and we are all fine! I think this is such a problem because new moms already have so much stress to deal with and all of this stuff just piles up and makes us feel guilty and inadequate and that is the last thing we need at this time in our lives. Follow your instincts. Babies do not get bored! If you continually entertain your baby they will think that is what they need and then they will grow up to be children that need entertainment. I admit in the beginning I felt I wasn't doing enough but my baby is hitting her developmental milestones right as she should be, so I want other moms out there to know YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB! DONT STRESS ABOUT YOUR LEARNING BABY! Take time for you and get some food in your body! :) I know this post is probably a little all over the place so sorry about that. I just want to encourage moms to be themselves and take care of your baby the way that feels right to you and stop reading all of these articles that try and make you feel like a horrible mother! Your baby (and your brain!) will thank you.

Currently....

Reading:  Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  I probably should have read this book back in high school, but none of my teachers assigned it to me. I also should have finished it months ago since thats when I started reading it! I was given my copy from my favorite teacher my junior year and I never got around to reading it but I have been trying to read all the books I own before I buy anymore. I have quite the library already!! I've also been reading the classic children's books Are You My Mother? and Go Dog, Go! By P.D. Eastman to Harmony every day...she loves the pictures! She smiles every time I turn the page, too cute!

Listening to: Classical, classical, and more classical! Our local classical station here, KUSC, has been playing a special series this week called "The Magical Mystery Tour" and basically every hour they play 3 songs that have to do with a certain location in the world (although one hour they did the moon!) Listeners are encouraged to guess where the tour is at for that hour, it's really fun and interesting.

Working on: My very first first knitting project. I am attempting to knit some mary jane slippers in a really nice deep purple/burgundy color. I really hope they turn out right!

Thinking about: My growing daughter! She is 9 weeks this week and I just can't get over how big she seems already! All of the noises, smiles, and personality that comes from that girl just amazes me and I can't stop thinking about all of the fun times ahead.

Watching: Chris and I always end our day watching an episode or two of the series we are currently hooked on. Right now we are watching Arrested Development (he has never seen the whole thing!) so we can finally watch the 4th season. We are also watching Death Note which is my favorite anime and I have been begging him to watch it with me. We are half way through and he totally likes it just like I knew he would.

Loving: My life as a stay at home mom. I wasn't sure I would like it at first, but I'm really starting to get into a routine of sorts and I'm excited to get more productive in the weeks/months to come. I love being home with my baby and I also love that Chris gets to come home for lunch every day to spend some time with us! Of course, the weekends are my favorite :)

This post was inspired by Danielle at Sometimes Sweet

Mama Monday

Happy Monday everyone! This weekend was so busy with Father's Day stuff that I couldn't get around to posting about June Boom! Week 2, but I will admit that last week wasn't as successful as Week 1. I still managed to eat semi-healthy, but I didn't have as much time to exercise because Harmony is just so unpredictable with her sleep/feed pattern right now! Better luck this week I hope!

Anyways...its Monday and so its time to reflect on being a mama :). 

This may seem kind of morbid to some people, but I have a bad habit of thinking about our short stay here on earth. I have always had a severe anxiety about death and dying. Since I got married I cant stop thinking about how our entire lifetime just isn't long enough to spend together. He is my best friend and I just don't ever want to think about the end. Now that there is another little person in our family, there is another person to worry about losing. I never imagined the kind of love I would have for this baby. She is my world! I hold her so tight and look at her all day with tears in my eyes. I can't imagine losing this girl. EVER.

5 years ago my older brother passed away. At that time I was so selfish with how I handled his death. I was 19 and just completely lost. I took my anger and devastation and turned it into a path of self destruction. I was selfish because how could I think that I was the only one affected by this loss? I knew my mother was upset of course, but I couldn't fathom the depth of her grief until now. Knowing how I feel about this beautiful child of mine, there is just no way I could have handled that loss as gracefully as my mother did. She deserved so much more love and support than I gave her and there isn't anything I can do or say to make it up to her. 

Being a mother has made me realize so much and has helped me mature in many ways. I think the realization that my parents love me the way I love Harmony is really the most important realization anyone can have when they have children. Our parents loved us this way. Wow...what an ungrateful little nightmare I was!! I hope I can show Harmony (and my husband) every day how important family is and the kind of love we have for each other is immeasurable. I also hope I can show my parents how grateful I am for the years of love and PATIENCE they showed me, because you never really know when it will be "too late"

California Adventure on Thursday

This smile...

Love

Sunday picnic 06/09 - Making new traditions

This past Sunday we went on our first family picnic. It was such a beautiful day and we thought it would be a great day to go sit in the park and watch Harmony take it all in. We intended to read on our picnic but didn't really get the chance - oh well!

I made us some sandwiches and a big salad as well as celery with peanut butter and some watermelon. It was all so delicious and refreshing we decided to make it a new tradition of ours. We will try to go to a park every Sunday and pack a healthy meal and bring some books. Hopefully we stick to it!

The salad was super tasty. I used:

1 romaine heart

1 yellow bell pepper

1 cucumber

baby spinach

italian dressing

The bell peppers gave the whole thing such an awesome flavor! (I used to not like bell peppers so this was a big deal to me) 

Overall, it was a fantastic day and I can't wait to go again. What are some of your favorite sunny day activities? 

Mama Monday

Happy Monday everyoneI am going to be starting my own Mama Monday series where I will be discussing things that I have encountered/noticed and learned as a new mom watching this angel grow week by week! Here we go :)

One thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is how Harmony sees me. Since I had the privilege of carrying her inside of me for 10 months, I already loved her the day we first met. She was the most beautiful and magical thing I have ever seen. Now, 8 weeks later, I am growing to love her more each day. The thing that I find strange is that I don't really know her. She is like a tiny little stranger living in my house that I am completely responsible for. I have no idea what type of person she will turn out to be or even really what kind of child she will be. She can't tell me what she likes and what she doesn't like or that she loves me. In fact, I don't think she does love me at all, she just knows I am the person that gives her food and is there to comfort her all day, every day. 

When Chris comes home from work she is like a different baby. She is smiley, makes all sorts of cute noises, and just loves to interact with her daddy. When I am alone with her all day I have to try so hard to get her to smile. Chris tells me its probably because she is just used to having me around, like I'm not a new fun face for her because we spend so much time together. I think a lot of new moms experience that feeling that their baby doesn't like them. I know I get that feeling a lot!! But when she is distressed and she is crying her head off, I am the only one who can calm her down and that feels pretty damn good. 

So, even though she doesn't know she loves me yet, I take solace in the fact that she does know she can trust me and her love will grow from there. Then, when the time is right, she will finally be able to tell me how much she loves me and all of this uncertainty and hard work will be so so worth it! I love this journey of motherhood already and I am so happy it is just beginning.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic...Did you every feel your baby didn't like you? Did you instantly feel a connection with your baby? 

JUNE BOOM! Week 1

This month Chris and I decided to set some goals for ourselves and we decided June would be called JUNE BOOM! Our goals are:

1. Stick to our diet - Which just means eat healthier and not out at restaurants!

2. Exercise regularly

3. Journal regularly

4. FINISH A BOOK - We both made the goal at the beginning of the year to finish 25 books by 2014 and it hasn't been going very well for either of us!

5. Finish a knitting project - This one is just for me. I started to learn how to knit while I was pregnant and I got the basics down, I just haven't had the chance to actually try and knit something that I can use yet.

So, it is now the end of week 1 of JUNE BOOM! and I am feeling amazing! I started mediating every day just for 5 minutes at a time. I find it so challenging to just clear my mind, it's something that I have always struggled with, but it definitely has gotten easier over the week. Tomorrow I will start doing it for 10 minutes so we will see how that goes!

I also have been sticking to the exercise goal which is pretty hard with a tiny baby always needing me! In the morning when she has her first nap I make sure I meditate and then do some yoga. If I feel like I have extra time I will do some strength training or pilates before I take a quick shower. Once she wakes up I wont have time to do any of that stuff so sometimes it does feel a little rushed. Im just glad I get to do anything at all! It feels so nice to use my body like that again after my long pregnancy. Also, Chris and I have been taking power walks in the park when he gets home from work with the baby. Its a great way for us to get outside and move our bodies while also getting a chance to talk about our days and just be together.

As for our diet, we did very well this week. We ate tons of salads and fruits and managed to eat all of our produce for the week as well as all of our leftovers! Success!

I have made some progress on my book that I am reading but I did not get to write in my journal or knit at all this week...Guess we can't win them all!

I will be posting about JUNE BOOM! Every Sunday evening this month..

I hope every one had an awesome weekend!

Do you have any goals set for yourself this month or this season? How do you try to stay healthy?

Motherhood - And getting back on my feet!

On April 15 our little baby girl Harmony May was born. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced as well as the most difficult and rewarding! My husband was the most amazing partner through it all and I couldn't be more grateful for all of his help and support. He was with me and the baby at home for the first month and so we went through the highs and the lows together all day every day for 4 weeks and it was intense! (Thanks for putting up with these hormones babe ;])

It has now been a little over 7 weeks since she was born and I'm finally starting to get the hang of this stay at home mom thing. I am determined to get a routine established so I can start doing some more things for me! The more she grows the more she wants to be stimulated and so it is very hard to get much accomplished throughout the day. I want to start making this blog more of a priority so hopefully I can stick to it. 

With my new life brings all kinds of new ideas and goals for myself. I would like to use the time I do get for me being productive with creative projects and crafts. I will be using this blog to share my ideas, projects, and thoughts on motherhood. I am thrilled about being a stay at home mom and raising this beautiful baby girl. We are so blessed! I couldn't be happier or more in love with her, my husband, and this life I get to live!