Ingenue Mom

It was a really wonderful year! This was the year we became a family of 4! This was the year Isis really went from being a toddler to a child! This was the year I finished my first year of teaching & began my second year, which is wonderful because it's not considered an intern year anymore! Here was my top 10 for the year!   1. Isis turned 2 years old ! 2. We found out we were pregnant with baby #2 ! 3. I finished my first full year of teaching (& KTIP)! 4. Isis was potty trained !!! 5. Isis took her first swim lessons at the YMCA! 6. I joined the gym - which if you know me well you know that's CRAZY. 7. We found out we were having another girl ! 8. Lewis and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on October 2! 9. Lux Violet was born on October 12! 10. We celebrated 1 full year in our house, right before celebrating our first Christmas as a family of 4! And then in honor of the new year, here are 5 resolutions for 2013! 1. Read...

I've already packed my hospital bag, but I thought maybe I'd share what I'm bringing this time. There are a few things different from last time. For me: Pair of sweatpants/yoga pants the comfortable, not super tight kind 2 t-shirts comfortable, easy to pull up to nurse, so not tight 1 cute nightgown & a cute robe I got a cute nursing one at Motherhood Maternity. Last time I didn't bring anything like this. I just slept in a t-shirt. But I remember just feeling frumpy and I wanted to feel somewhat cute after birth. 4 pairs of underwear I bring extras because it's messy after birth & you never know. Also along those lines, I bring the older ones that are really comfortable - think your period pair, ladies. Another thought on this topic, if you have a preference on ginormous pads, bring your own, but in my opinion, none of them are comfortable so I just use the hospital ones. Nursing bra a comfortable one, notice the comfort theme C...

First of all, pregnancy milestone! Last night, Lewis was able to put his hand on my belly & feel the baby kick! I love it when the baby gets big enough that he can feel the kicks! He was very excited. We tried to show Isis this morning, but she wasn't quite as interested.  Now, on to other things, I've been thinking about the things I need for this baby and I've also been thinking about things that we don't need for this baby or any baby! Everyone gets so much advice about what to register for and what not to. While someone else may offer different advice than me and I always tell people to take everyone's advice and then piece together what works for you, I've decided to throw in my perspective on this! 1. Changing Table I got a changing mat and I just moved it wherever I needed to change her. It is really rare that you actually want to, in my case, climb the stairs to go change the baby on the changing table. If your baby room and everythin...

Luckily, having baby #2 has many perks, including the fact that we have most baby items we need! I kept a running list in my head of things I wish I had with Isis or things I would've used a lot. I made a wish list of things I'd like this time! 1. Glider I sat on our futon in Isis' bedroom when I would nurse her. I wish it had rocked or moved in any way. I would love a glider to go in the baby's bedroom this time! Options: Stork Craft Hoop Glider & Ottoman , Graco Avalon Glider & Ottoman , Stork Craft Tuscany Glider & Ottoman 2. Jumper We had something that was more like an exersaucer with Isis. She couldn't bounce like she could in a jumperoo like this. Every time we would go to someone's house who had one of these, she loved it! It would be fun to have this time. Options: Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo , Evenflo Jump and Learn Safari Friends Jumper   3. Baby Bullet We had a Beaba Babycook from Williams-Sonoma with ...

I have a couple of friends who are pregnant for the first time and I was having a conversation with one the other day. I realized that half the stuff I was talking about, I had posted about on here at one point. I decided to put together a little go-to list. The thing to keep in mind with all of it is that this is all from my experience and my experience. That'll look different for everyone, but I took from other mom's experiences & perspectives to piece together what worked for me, so take what works for you & leave the rest! Pregnancy Baby Stuff I Can't Live Without (while you're registering!) My Top 10 Pregnancy Tips Isis' Big Debut (Birth Story) General Info & Baby Sleep Books Parenting Books Coming Home What's Been Surprising (then I thought of one more )   The Hard Stuff (a post written in the middle of my baby blues weeks) 5 Ways to Calm Those Baby Fears New Mom Tips I did a New Mom Tips series with guest posts from other bloggers Pos...

2011 has been quite a year for my family. I slacked a little in the blogging, but mainly because there was so much going on! I love the New Year because it always makes me want to take time to look back & reflect on a year passed & then to look forward to possibility for the next year. January Isis turned 1 and we celebrated with a birthday party ! I reflected on what it meant to me to be a mother and what I was learning from the experience . We also put our townhouse up for sale in January!   February I found out in February that a bunch of my friends were pregnant ! Isis took her first steps ! I got a little frustrated that things had not yet regulated after having Isis. And I shared 10 of my Favorite Things ! March Isis dropped to 1 nap a day ! I shared some of her favorite books and some of her technology milestones at 14 months. I also shared why I think my choice to be a teacher was great for me as a mom and also great to my future stu...

I have been reading a lot this summer! Everything from books for entertainment to books for school! I thought I'd share some of the good (and not so good) so far! I posted earlier this summer about my summer reading plans . I've only completed one of them. It's Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. After reading that one, I read Linger and Forever , the second and third in the trilogy. I loved these books!! I enjoyed them a lot more than I thought I would! I was just checking these out, not really looking for something in the werewolf genre. But I loved them! I actually really liked the characters & the fact that they weren't weak or annoying. There were some strong girl characters, which can sometimes be harder to find in young adult books. I definitely recommend them! The second one is my favorite of the bunch, but I liked them all! I also started reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare from my earlier Summer Reading List. I haven't actually finished it yet. I...

Posting my list of plans for the summer made me also get in gear planning my summer reading list! I may not get through all of these, especially considering a couple of them I'm just giving a shot because they keep popping up on my Amazon recommendations. I'm guessing it's because I like Twilight and The Hunger Games and A Discovery of Witches. Anyway, here's my list! The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg I've been trying to get through this one for a while now & I'm planning on actually just making myself sit down & read it this summer! Every time I started to read it, I liked it, I just get busy & don't read it for whatever reason. Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado I'm reading this one because Donald Miller suggested it & that always makes me interested! Boundaries with Kids by Henry Cloud and John Townsend I read their book, Boundaries , last year when I was doing counseling for some family stuff. It was absolutely amazing & I ...

Avenue D Photography I am done with my long-term sub position! I have a job at the school in the fall! I am close to finalizing my plans for our new sitter for Isis in the fall! I am home with Isis until sometime in July when I will start setting up my classroom! Free time, here I come!! For the next few weeks until July, I've got plans! I had great plans to keep up with my blogging when I went back to work, but that really kinda fell through. I've decided I need to just take it easy on myself. I absolutely love blogging and I love reading blogs and keeping in touch with my blog friends. BUT, I also love teaching and I need to focus on that right now so that I can be the best teacher I can for my students. As I've said before , they deserve my absolute best. Isis also obviously deserves my absolute best & between being a mom, wife, teacher & blogger, blogging just took second stage and I think that's okay. I still make appearances - at least once every 2 weeks...

These are the books we read over & over at our house! They  may or may not be Isis' favorite, but we read them a lot, so I guess maybe they're the most familiar right now! Since we've read them a lot, she tends to point to her favorite people in them. It's so funny! I've been in the market for some new kids books lately! I have a running list of ones I like that I've heard of & read, but I'm always interested in adding to my list!! Please let me know your favorite children's books! Goodnight Moon Who doesn't love this one? I love the end: "Goodnight stars, goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere." Everytime we finish reading it, I'm wanting to just tuck myself into bed! Llama Llama Red Pajama We actually love all our Llama Llama books! We have Llama Llama Holiday Drama , Llama Llama Misses Mama & Llama Llama Red Pajama. I was looking for Llama Llama Mad at Mama at the bookstore the other day , but they didn't have...