This Unfamiliar Road

I've had this post floating around my brain for a while now, and it feels good to finally get it down on, er...paper.

As a working Momma of two little ones, it is easy for things to get away from me. I find that from the moment I wake up, I am running non stop. Not a bad thing, in general, but I'm usually just spinning my wheels-going from one task to another. When I finally stop, I take a look around and realize that nothing feels completed. Dishes may be done, but toys are everywhere. Toys might be put away, but laundry is overflowing from the basket. Every task completed comes at the sacrifice of something else being incomplete.
I realize that this is probably the norm in most homes. Honestly, I have learned to embrace the messy house and occasional chaos in my home. My kids are happy and that's all that matters, right?

Right! Or is it?

As mothers, we often sacrifice our own health and wellness to take care of our home and family or ALSO go to work! I get it. Even something like a home fitness video is difficult to do unless kiddos are napping. And please...the last thing I want to do when I finally get that time to myself is exercise. If we're being honest, I want to (and sometimes do) sit on the couch and watch Dateline NBC while eating Cheetos. Seriously.

Diet? I try to eat a well-balanced diet but again, time. Do you know what I had for lunch yesterday? The crust off of my 3-year-old's peanut butter and jelly. Yup.



But this sacrifice of self cannot go on forever. I know what you're thinking- I will sacrifice anything, including my own health, for the happiness and health of my children. Me too. But is that beneficial for our kids? We are not heroes by putting our needs last.
My family is the most important thing to me, and they deserve the best version of me. In order to give them that, I have to make my health a priority. At very least, what an awesome example to set-actually showing them that health and wellness is important!



My nutritional program kickoff begins soon. It's simple to follow, so I won't miss a beat in daily life, which is just what I need! I'm nervous but excited as I think this will be life-changing in more ways than one. I don't quite know what to expect, but hey...I'm just following This Unfamiliar Road and I know it will be GREAT!

Making the decision to add to our family was not one we took lightly, yet it was almost "expected". We knew that we wanted to have more than one child, and that we preferred them to be somewhat closely spaced. I knew adding a family member would have a huge impact on our family, so I began preparing Peyton very early on.
We read books, watched shows, and talked nonstop about what it was like to be a big sister. Towards the end of my pregnancy, the guilt set in. Peyton's life was about to be turned upside down. It would change, and in mostly negative ways for her. Of course babies are hard work, but Ben and I would get a lot out of this-a new bundle of joy! What would Peyton get out of having a newborn in the house? I knew that someday she would love having a sibling, but just would not be able to appreciate it right away.

I. Was. Wrong.

My sweet Peyton has enjoyed being a sister from Day 1. I mean truly enjoyed. The pure love and adoration I see on her face when she's interacting with Eliza will absolutely melt your heart. She begs to wake her up, to hold her, and to play with her. I constantly catch her singing to her or telling her "You're the sweetest baby!" And the feeling is mutual. Eliza already looks up to her big sister, and smiles any time she's around Peyton.

Daily request in our house: cuddling in bed in the morning, then playing in the rocking chair.




I'm so happy Peyton proved me wrong :)

It's been about a month since we began potty training, and I can finally say that life has almost returned to normal. Don't get me wrong...the 3-Day method worked very well for us, but having a potty-trained toddler was a lot more work than I ever thought!

{Disclaimer: This is a post about potty training....so you might see words like pee and poop}

Overview: This method is a program designed to potty train your child in 3 days or less. There are a lot of 'spin-off' methods where people have tweaked the rules, but I say stick to the original plan! Basically, on day one, you put your child in regular underwear and let the accidents commence! Yes, they pee in their pants a lot on day one...but the idea is that by the end of Day 3, the child makes the connection between the sensation to pee and actually making it to the potty!
The E-book is available online, or you can contact me and I will be happy to send you the PDF!

I strongly recommend that you read the program plan because there are quite a few variations out there that might actually make things more difficult!

www.3Daypottytraining.com

What this program is not: 
-It is not keeping your child naked from the waist down for 3 days. Having underwear on is important for them to realize the sensation to pee, as well as a acting as a 'reward' system for keeping pants dry!
-It does not involve frequent trips to the potty just to try, or constantly asking your child if they need to go potty.
-There are NO diapers or pullups involved here...including sleep times!


To Prepare: It is important to block off at least 3 days at home to ensure success. Prior to Day One, be sure that your house is cleaned, laundry is caught up, grocery shopping is done, and easy dinners are planned. Essentially, you will be following your child everywhere they go until they 'get it'.

Supplies: I would recommend about 30-40 pairs of panties (thin cotton, not training panties), potty treats (we used mini nilla wafers), and a quick clean mop for wood/tile bathrooms.
We began 'preparing' for potty training last December by buying Peyton a potty chair and lots of books about going potty. By having it in the house and discussing it for so long, it wasn't such a new 'surprise' to her once it came time to ditch the diapers :)


How it worked for us: Day One was rough and I am thankful that Ben was home to help me! At one point, I counted 12 accidents in 15 minutes...yikes! We expected this as Peyton was working to understand the relationship between feeling the sensation to pee and actually putting it in the potty. By the end of Day 1, she had figured it out and we experienced no more wet accidents on Days 2 and 3.

Sleep Times: This method enforces no diapers/pull-ups during sleep times. I was especially nervous about this because I really count on Peyton's naps to get things done/catch some zzzz's myself. During the day time, I cut fluids off at 10am with sips of water at lunch time. Prior to 12:30 nap, we make sitting on the potty part of our wind down routine. For bedtime (7:30-8pm) we cut fluids off at 5pm with sips for dinner. Again, we make trying to potty part of our bedtime routine. ALSO, we get her out of bed and sit her on the potty when we go to bed (typically 2-3 hours after she's been sleeping). Even in diapers, P did not wake up dry so this works best for us getting through the night!
 At first, P had a lot of false alarms and was in and out of bed constantly, with the most wet accidents happening at sleep times. Now, we have a great system, Peyton has learned to trust/hold her bladder for longer, and our sleep has returned to normal!
An ABSOLUTE MUST for sleep time training: Goodnites Disposable Bed Mats. These mats have an adhesive back to stick right on the sheets, and they don't crinkle! These things saved us a ton of time and hassle of changing sheets in the middle of the night! Whew!
Public Places: This just took time for us. At first, Peyton was terrified of the big potty, and our first meal out consisted of 6 (unsuccessful) trips to the bathroom and a very wet accident all over the high chair. We tried the chair cushion, the portable potty....everything. After lots of practice and time, Peyton has just become accustomed to the big potty and now we have no issues when we are out and about! What a relief :)

One Month Later: Things are really going well and we very rarely have accidents. Now, we are working on pulling panties on/off by herself. Currently, we still have to go with Peyton every time she needs to go potty, but sometimes I will pull her panties down and have her walk to the potty and go by herself. I'm trying to get her used to that because I can't imagine having a newborn and running to the potty with P every 10 minutes! I highly recommend this method (when done the correct way!) and I am so relieved that we did this prior to Bean arriving. I anticipate some regression with the arrival of a new baby, but it will be temporary and not starting from scratch! I am so proud of my big girl :)

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! This was already a lengthy post, so I did leave out some details. I am happy to help out because I believe in this method 100%.
Happy Training :)

Warning: Things are about to get personal :)

As a mother/baby nurse, I spend a lot of time helping new moms & babies learn to breastfeed. I know just about every trick to getting a 4-hour-old-sleepy-baby awake and nursing. I thought I knew almost everything there was to know about breastfeeding. Boy, was I wrong. Now that I'm a Mom, here are a few things I've learned the hard way:

Dedication I am always preaching to my patients that breastfeeding takes a lot of dedication at first. "It will get easier" I tell them. HA! 
Of course, it does get easier on some levels-baby learns to latch/feed better, Mom becomes more comfortable, feedings are a little more scheduled, etc. However, breastfeeding is HARD work. But it's also something that I thoroughly enjoy. I don't mind putting in the effort and time because I love doing it! 
I can compare it to running. Running is hard work, and takes a lot of dedication. Personally, I despise running so I don't do it. I don't think less of anyone if they choose to bottle feed their babies because I know how much it takes to exclusively breastfeed, and if you don't enjoy it, it's probably not worth it.


Wardrobe Ugh...I have spent countless hours standing in my closet searching for something that is both flattering to my post-baby body and nursing-friendly. If I find something that is V-neck (making the girls more accessible for feeding), it's often too revealing. And let me warn you about dresses. If you can't pull the top down to feed, be prepared to pull the whole thing UP-and feed in the nude.

Being Fat Speaking of post-baby body...
Everyone talks about how much weight women lose when breastfeeding. "You burn about 500 calories a DAY!" Yeah, but you have to replace those calories so your body can make more milk. DUH!
I have lost all but about 10 pounds of my pregnancy weight. The one week I decided to monitor my calories, my supply noticeably decreased. So, I have resigned to be at a not-so-ideal body weight until I wean. Best advice: Eat to your hunger; Drink to your thirst.