A "good mom"

Please tell me what those words mean... While reading another blog today (adding link here when I find it again) I found myself really feeling for the mother writing. Summary - she feels guilty sometimes about doing things she never thought she would with her kids like giving them chicken nuggets because she doesn't have it in her to make dinner or working and missing out on many things with the little ones. I agree I feel guilty about many things ...not breast feeding as long as I wanted to ...having to go back to work before baby was even 6 months ...every little bump that I think I could have prevented ...letting him see a tv screen before 2... The list goes on. 

Does any of this mean that I am not a good mom? No. Moms, Dads and most people in general can be overly critical of ourselves at times. We do the best we can with what we have and that's all anyone can ask for. 

As long as you are doing your best you can do with what you have to work with  for your child then you are doing a good job - end of story. 

Let them eat... food!

Well our little one is 3 months old now... and we have decided to start a little rice cereal a couple times/day. 

I have been patiently waiting for this moment - to start giving my son real food. Now I'm not really sure if you can consider rice cereal "real food" but it's close. So today, for lunch, I tried a little runny rice cereal off a spoon - he was quite intrigued and did very well with the spoon! Later on, I got a new Avent nipple for thicker liquids and put some rice cereal in his dinner bottle. He loved it! 

I was so excited that I boiled some potatoes and threw them in the food processor to freeze for later! I'm going to wait until he gets used to the rice cereal and take things slow... But now I'm reading that I can add some spices and things to his first foods too! So, now I'm off to look up baby friendly spices/flavoring options... :) so excited...

From Mom, To Mom

Warning: do not read this blog as if it were some kind of how to, manual, bible, or any of the like! I have a habit of doing just that with things I read!

Let's recap what I read and took too seriously (not including all the pregnancy stuff)...
Follow this guide to get your baby to sleep through the night... Reasons your baby cries... How to start baby off with good sleep habits.. Best ways to feed/breast feed baby... Don't ever do (insert just about anything here)
But guess what... I had to stop breast feeding before baby was 1 month old, I had to move baby from his crib in his room to an in-bed bassinet in our room to sleep, I let the baby sleep on his boppy (while I'm awake watching), I have no idea why he's crying half of the time and I just guess!
What I'm trying to say is that you are the Mom. Just like I had to figure out what would work for me, you will do the same. If by some off chance this blog can help, give you an idea, let you know what not to do, or just give you a laugh... Great! Just don't take me too seriously ...because I rarely know what I'm talking about ;)

You're going to spoil that baby!

How many times have we all heard this? New moms just love to get advice, don't we? Well one of the most common things I've heard is that if I keep picking up my baby whenever he cries, I'm going to spoil him. Or if I go to him, every time to check on him, that he'll be spoiled...
Now here's what I actually do...
Baby starts crying... I give it a few minutes to see if he's actually waking up or if he's just between sleep cycles (which means he'll fall right back asleep). I also check the clock to see what he may want - has it been a while since I last changed or fed the baby? He eats 4oz every three hours pretty consistently. If everything (basic needs) is done and the baby just wants a little attention we move on to step 2. So now I might give him his pacifier or I might just rub his back a little. I could distract him with a game of funny faces, peek-a-boo, or sing a song. Of course, I check to see if he feels too warm or too cold. Now if none of that works, then I'm going to pick up my baby! I don't think that makes him spoiled or me a bad mom... I think it lets him know that if he needs something he can always turn to family. It lets him know that he can trust people. Now all that being said, he's not even 2 months old yet. When he's older I may change this philosophy, especially when he gets older and he can start to communicate his needs. (I'm thinking about trying baby signing so he can communicate earlier)
I know that advice givers mean well, but they're usually the same people who also picked my husband and me up every time we cried (or did the same with their children). I know they're trying to save us from having to carry him around for the next 10 months, but hey, I think it will be good for my upper body strength!

Oh boy!

Okay, I wanted to start a blog about being a mom, having a boy, staying at home, and any other family related stuff that I want to write about... Problem was, that it didn't occur to me how busy I would be staying at home with a newborn...
My idea of being a stay at home mom before baby...
1. Wake up
2. Feed baby - eat breakfast
3. Baby naps - do dishes
4. Baby wakes - feed baby
5. Eat lunch & watch tv
6. Baby naps - do other chores or a craft
7. Baby wakes - feed baby
8. Baby naps - make dinner
...you get the idea
But this is reality...
1. Wake up, feed baby, go back to bed
2. Wake up feed baby, eat lunch while holding sleeping/screaming baby
3. Try to do a load of dishes or laundry OR take a nap
4. Feed baby
5. Make dinner (as easily as possible, because the baby is screaming or going to any second)
...you get the idea...
I have not yet figured out how to do it all... One day I might but I'm new at this and I am giving myself a break!
So, like I said, the blog got put off for a while... How long? My son will be 7 weeks old on Tuesday! How time flies!
The plan is to start with a weekly writing goal... Happy reading!

Baby's coming in 2 weeks! Probably...

So our son has a birthdate scheduled for 02-20. Thats 2 weeks away! I can't believe it! My hubby and I are going through a crazy range of emotions... Excited, scared, nervous, anxious, and every other thing you could think of... Absolute craziness! We are going to be parents... Holy crap!!!!