Newborns

I took a snapshot of my kids this morning. I intend to keep it close by, so it can serve as a benchmark. We have reached a turning point in our family. We have finally arrived at the point in life that most parents of small kids look to with anticipation for what feels like forever. Diapers have all been thrown away. Bottoms are being independently wiped. Mouths are being fed by utensils independently held the correct way (Well, mostly). As parents, we spend so many years training our children up to get to this point. Every time my kid runs her own bathwater, ties his own shoes, or fixes his own bowl of cereal, I almost want to run around the house with...

Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by Baton Rouge General.  Is it a Cold or RSV? For most healthy babies and young children, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is pretty much like a cold. But, because it may lead to bronchiolitis or pneumonia in those younger than one year old, some children get very sick with RSV. For parents, it’s common to mistake symptoms of RSV for symptoms of a cold, like coughing, sneezing and a fever. So how can you tell if those sniffles are something more than a cold? If your child has RSV, they may experience other symptoms too, including: Wheezing noise when they breathe Refusing to breastfeed or bottle-feed Unusually irritable Lethargic Trouble breathing or pauses in their breathing Signs...

I still cannot believe I had TWINS roughly two months ago, but here I am knee-deep in diapers (I should also mention that I have a 2.5-year-old still in diapers) and bottles. Literally, there are diapers everywhere! And I keep buying more bottles because I feel like I’m constantly washing them. There have been days that noon rolls around, and I have yet to wash my face or brush my teeth. There’s definitely been at least one day where my husband came home from work and I was still wearing my pajamas from the night before and never even managed to put on a bra. One day he came home and asked me if I watered the ferns, and...

I’ve always been the type of person that had absolutely no idea what to do or say when a loved one was hurting. I’ve always felt absolutely useless in these situations and as if I needed to step aside and let an adult handle it. Here are some things that stuck with me during a time I needed help: Don’t try to fill the silence. My best friend once said, “There’s not anything you can say to make it better, but there’s a lot you can say to make it worse.” Just let her be sad, hurt, angry, etc. It’s kind of selfish to fill silence just because you’re uncomfortable anyway, right? Buy a houseplant. Even if a mom thinks she has...

“Mommy, read.” As annoying as these words are to hear at bedtime some nights when we’ve already read four books, I still love them deep down. I love that I’m raising a reader. I’ve been reading to my daughter since she was a newborn. Don’t get ahead here and think I’m one of “those moms” that had reading all planned out, doesn’t let her get do screen time, etc. I’d bet money my daughter gets more screen time than your kid. No, I didn’t intend to be a reading mom. One of my great friends teaches elementary school. She told me a few weeks after having my daughter to start reading to her, even if it was just news articles. So, I started...