Brilliant-Sippy cup suction strap

I love/hate when I come across such simple ideas that I could have created myself if I had just thought a little bit harder.  Adam and I are still waiting to come up with our million dollar idea.  Stay tuned on that lol!  Anyways, my mother-in-law purchased one of these sippy cup suction straps and it has been awesome!  Nolyn this past week especially has learned to drop and throw things that are in her hands and her sippy cup is probably her favorite.  While it is adorable to teach them to say "uh-oh" and while mama is cleaning the floor on a daily basis from the spills, this is a PERFECT solution.  They are super inexpensive and just brilliant in my opinion :)

 It's the little things that make me happy!

Awesome Lake Norman Photographer

Adam and I are so blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives.  Right after we had Nolyn, our friend Ashley Wise also did a photo session with us for our newborn pictures... Yes, we did two different newborn photo shoots!  That's the beauty of photography though!  We had two photo shoots with Nolyn a few days apart and the pictures are so different from each other and we are beyond happy with both.  Let's face it, when it comes to newborn pics of our babies we are going to be in love with them. 

Ashley Wise lives in the Charlotte area and is great with babies and has a really good eye for newborn photo shoots.  It was fun watching her set everything up because she was so comfortable posing Nolyn in such cute positions and she stayed fast asleep the entire time (with the exception of pooping on her white blanket).  Here are some of my favorites from our shoot with Ashley.  Shoot me a message if you would like her contact info to schedule a shoot!

Must have-The City Mini Stroller

Why do there have to be so many decisions and brands to choose from when it comes to babies?! 

Tommee Tippee vs Dr. Browns
Johnson and Johnson vs Aveeno
Huggies vs Pampers
Similac vs Enfamil
Graco vs Chicco

The list goes on and on.  I don't know about y'all, but I hate to do research!  I am all about word of mouth and learning about other peoples opinions that I trust... yes I am lazy.  When it came to deciding on a stroller and learning about all the options and brands, once again I listened to a friend who has a similar active lifestyle so I assumed she picked the right one.  Well, needless to say, sometimes what works for our friends isn't always going to work for us.  One day when my hubby and I were in Babies r us roaming around right after we had our baby girl, we stumbled across this awesome looking stroller.  It was extremely light weight, really easy to wheel around, and folded up tighter than any other stroller we had seen.  Taking all those factors into consideration we knew right away that this was the stroller for us.  We are always on the go and need to pack things up quick.  Introducing the City Mini.  It is all of the following:

-Affordable- Babies r us has them on sale often and use coupons!
-SUPER light weight
-Easiest to fold up
-Safe and supportive
-Great for jogging and walking

This is the exact one that I have.  I go running with it ALL the time!  It's so easy to maneuver and I love it.

Crystal Stokes Photography

You want to talk about amazing photography?!  My husbands cousin's wife (yes I know that may be hard to figure out lol) lives in the Charlotte area and is a incredible photographer.  She has such a great vision and is really good at capturing the real moments.  She is not into posing and cheese, her style of photography is lifestyle and effortless.  Be sure to check out Crystal Stokes Photography!  She has captured some of the most significant moments of my life including my wedding day and our baby girl's newborn pics.  Our wedding was actually the first one she ever shot and totally blew us away! Here are a few of my favorites!

IcyWakes Surf Shop Boat Show

Two weekends ago I had an awesome opportunity to hang out with the IcyWakes Surf Shop clan at the Charlotte boat show.  If you live up in the Lake Norman area, you have most likely purchased some sort of swimsuit or lake gear from their awesome shop!  If you haven't, be sure to check it out!  They carry everything from sunglasses, shoes, swim coverups, swimsuits, wake boards and more.  The store has brands including:

-Hurley
-Ripcurl
-Billabong
-Element
-Sanuk
-Von Zipper
-Roxy
-Oneill
-RVCA

I can't thank them enough for the gear they hooked me up with!  You can find this all at IcyWakes Surf Shop now!

Gestational Diabetes Meals

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had gestational diabetes while I was pregnant which was such a heart break initially.  I was so embarrassed and felt like there was something that I did to cause this (I did eat about a pack of sour patch kids every few days).  I always considered myself a "healthy" eater who likes to practice the burn it to earn it philosophy. 

Once I got over the disappointment, I knew the only thing to do was take care of myself the best that I possibly could because it was so important for our baby.  Once I met with a nutritionist, I was actually surprised by the things that I learned!  While I thought I was a healthy eater, there were many changes that I needed to make.  I had to start looking a lot closer at the food labels and put a lot more thought and planning into my meals.  For those who are familiar with gestational diabetes you know that your body has a harder time breaking down sugar.  It is really important for you to have a good balance of protein, carbs and dietary fiber in your meals.  Unfortunately, sugar is something that you REALLY need to keep out of your diet.  This includes a lot of fruits especially in the morning.

I won't lie, this was something really hard to battle especially for someone who has a sweet tooth like mine!  Here are some of the meals/things I ate (and still do) I really enjoyed that helped out cut down on sugar and keep my levels on target.

The bonus about having gestational diabetes is that it really helped me avoid cravings!

Breakfast:
-100 Calorie bread rounds  whole wheat kind with natural peanut butter and sunflower seeds.  This is AMAZING!  I still eat this everyday and two hard boiled egg whites.
-100 calorie bread rounds, scrambled egg and cheese
-Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon
-Egg whites and Canadian bacon
-Old fashioned oatmeal with vanilla almond milk, cinnamon and almond slivers
*If drinking coffee use sugar free sweetner or even better use almond milk!  Regular milk is really high in sugar!
*Be sure to avoid fruit, cereal, OJ, yogurt(also high in sugar)

Snacks:
-Cheese stick and apple
-Lite and fit yogurt with cottage cheese- This is a good balance of protein and this brand of yogurt is lower in sugar.
-Kashi trail mix bars. Low sugar and low carb
-Nuts these are my fav and are great to pack when on the go.  You can find these anywhere.
-Cucumber/carrots and hummus
-Edamame 
-Avocado, broccoli and balsamic dressing
-Handful of animal crackers
-100 calorie popcorn
-Handful of pretzles
-Cheese and triscuits
-Oh Yeah! Bars
-Pure protein bars 

Lunch/dinner:
-Turkey sandwich with with 100 calorie bread and cheese
-Turkey bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado (BLTA) sammy
-Spinach salad with chicken and veggies
-Slice of pizza with chicken, add protein
-Lean chicken and veggies
-Whole wheat pasta, lean ground turkey and pasta sauce
-Sweet potato with cinnamon
-Chili (lean meat and lots of beans are great protein)
-Lean burger with cheese

Dessert: Nobody is perfect, but I did find that my favorite dessert that I didn't feel quite as guilty about were the Skinny cow chocolates.  I also would eat the Kashi bars because they have some sweetness to them! 
 
Have any questions or want more suggestions?  email me!  mamasonthego@gmail.com

Being Pregnant- My "issues"

Nolyn, I love you more than I ever thought possible, but I did not like being pregnant.  You know that pregnancy glow saying that we’ve always heard about?  Yeah didn’t happen for me either… unless you mean the glow from the zit on my chin from the pregnancy acne that I am still dealing with nine months later.  I am hoping that after I finish breast feeding that a good old chemical peel will do the trick, but that may be wishful thinking.

While I was pregnant I did fear putting on the extra 70 pounds which a lot of my friends warned me about so I was really good about keeping in shape and eating right.  When I was first pregnant a few girlfriends told me the best thing I could do while pregnant was walk as much as I could all the way up until the day I delivered because it would make labor easier.  So, I did.  Even if it was for fifteen minutes and it was the best thing ever.  Believe me, I went through the rough first trimester where I felt sick past the morning sickness to night sickness and didn’t have the energy.  But for me once I got through the firs trimester hump I was back at it in the gym dancing at Kadi Fit shakin my tail feather as much as I could.

I work from home, so working out was a great escape for me.  In addition to fitness as I mentioned nutrition.  I never told many people at the time, but I had gestational diabetes while I was pregnant which had a major influence on the way I ate from 28 weeks pregnant to this day.  I didn’t really tell anyone at the time because to be quite honest I was really embarrassed and didn’t want people judging me.  For some reason it has a negative connotation in the pregnancy world.  When I initially found out about it I was devastated because I thought it was something that I caused and more importantly I was worried about how it was going to affect my child.  While it is a serious condition while you are pregnant if you take care of yourself the right way, you will be fine.  However that does mean sacrificing cookies, doughnuts, candy, fruit (yes most fruit, you can have in moderation) and many other great things, but it is totally worth it.

I now tell people I actually think it was a blessing in disguise because I think it helped me bounce back quicker post pregnancy and I learned a whole lot about nutrition.

Let’s see what else did I dislike about being pregnant other than the typical things- pee all the time, can’t sleep, hot flashes, indigestion, ect… probably for me was how much my hips hurt.  From early on I had major hip pain and towards the end a lot of back pain.  I just told myself  that all these things were God’s way of helping me prep for having a baby.

I’ll tell you who did enjoy me being pregnant was my husband and friends.  They had a guaranteed sober ride for 10 months and believe me they took advantage of it.

(At Clemson fball game preggo driving friends around)
You know though, you have to take the good with the bad and I would not trade a second of the outcome of a pregnancy for anything in the world.  When I look back while 10 months did seems like forever, especially at the end when I felt like a beached whale who couldn’t shave my legs, bikini line or paint my toes (my wonderful hubby did) I would do it all again… just not tomorrow

The mama instinct

Adam and I took baby classes in preparation for having Nolyn and I read all 67 books that you are supposed to read, but really and truly as much as you will spend time reading books, and searching on google, babycenter, thebump.com, kellymom ect you will discover that while the research is good for reference, we have this thing called “mom instinct”.

I was sooooo stressed out about breast feeding and how much to feed, how often to feed how much should she sleep, how often should she sleep, is the bath water too hot, does her room have circulation… the list goes on and on not to mention the whole added stress of SIDS.

I had confided in my mom, mother-in-law and friends a lot in the beginning who were all helpful and gave great advice.  Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions if you are unsure.  Family and friends LOVE to give advice just as I am doing right now.  But at the end of the day, trust your mom instinct.  It’s one of those things that when someone says it to you I just brushed it off initially and now totally understand what she was talking about.  You know your child better than anyone else so don’t second guess yourself.  You spend more time with you baby so use you best judgement and go with your gut when making decisions.  Whenever I am asking what’s my best mom advice for new mom’s I just tell them “you’ll figure it out”.

You have a special bond with your baby that no one else can take from you and your baby things that you are the greatest thing in their eyes which is such an incredible feeling.

Alright that’s my preaching for the evening.

Love this picture!

My sister took this tonight and it is my new favorite pic! I just love this child more and more every minute. She already has such a kind and gentle heart.

Breast Feeding

I am all about TMI (too much information) who doesn’t enjoy it?  Honestly?  Anyways, as I had mentioned in an earlier post, breast feeding was one of my biggest stresses and fears prior to having Nolyn.  I knew in my mind that it was something that I wanted to at least give a shot, but didn’t set high expectations for myself because I was afraid of failing.  What was I so worried about you may be wondering?

-Not latching on
-Not having milk
-Not having the “bond” feeling that mom’s talk about

If I could have gone back I probably would have taken a breast feeding class to boost my confidence a little bit because I only used the internet as my resource.  P.S.  YouTube has breast feeding videos that you can watch and are actually kind of helpful once you get passed the fact that you are watching another woman breast feed on YouTube.

So there I was in the hospital and Nolyn was fresh out of the womb and had just been cleaned off and in my arms and they asked me if I wanted to try feeding her.  Naturally I said yes, but in my mind I was freaking out!!!  All of my fears I listed above came back haunting me.  So I replayed the YouTube videos in my head and went for it…. sure enough she didn’t latch on and of course I already felt like a failure on day one as a new mom.

The nurses assured me that this is normal and that I just need to give it a little time and that I could meet with the lactation consultant in a few hours who could assist me.  I tried not to stress too much and just enjoy my new bundle of joy.  Then the time had passed and the lactation consultant came in to help out.  I still struggled for a day or two getting her to latch on which was extremely frustrating, but eventually we got it down.
There are a few things I wasn’t prepped for with nursing a baby:
1) How massive your boobies will get when your milk first comes in.  You can look in the mirror and feel like Pamela Anderson on Baywatch.

2)How terrible your nipples will crack the first 2 weeks of breast feeding.  I’m not going to lie it is pretty painful.  If you purchase the nipple ointment and put it on after each time you nurse it will really make a difference I promise!  It’s also pretty painful when they first latch on.  I would always count to 10 and then the pain would go away.  A friend had told me that 2 weeks after nursing the pain will start to go away and you nipples will start to heal up and sure enough she was right!

3)How challenging it is to wake your new born up to feed.  I don’t know about yall, but Nolyn was impossible to wake up!  We would even put ice on her feet to wake her up and feed her.  It’s a little stressful because everyone emphasizes how important it is to feel your newborn, but no one talks about how hard it is to wake them and keep them awake.

4)You milk supply can randomly go down.  I had no idea that this could happen.  I thought that once my milk came in I was going to be able to provide an unlimited amount of milk until I was ready to finish nursing.  I would say about 3 weeks after Nolyn was born I had to start using a natural supplement called Fenugreek which actually helps your supply come back.  I also drank Mother’s Milk tea which you can get pretty much at any grocery store.  WARNING: It makes you smell especially under your armpits.

Well, nine months later I am still at it and it really has been an incredible experience.  Prior to having Nolyn I really didn’t understand the whole bonding thing with breast feeding and my perspective has totally changed.  It’s not something you can really explain, but I would say if you are able to to it don’t beat it until you try it.  I’d say Nolyn is pretty happy and healthy!

Yes this happened

I walked away for thirty seconds and this is what I came back to.  Fortunately our dog Boozer is great with Nolyn and was happy to share. 

Baby Comparison

Don’t deny it!  As much as you don’t want to do it, we all do it!  And I hate it more than anything.  Comparing your baby to other babies.  I think especially when it’s your first child and you don’t know any better or have anythings else to base things off of, we are guilty of this awful habit.  I think women are even guilty of doing it while we are pregnant comparing our figures to one another.  We think “Ugh how did she only put on 15 pounds her entire pregnancy?” or “why does she not even look pregnant when turned around?”

I love having girlfriends who have babies around Nolyn’s age because we can have play dates and relate to each other on all of the various events going on in our non exciting lives and talk about our single friends who we still vicariously live through.  However when “Betty” comes over to the house for a play date and her child is doing a back flip (not literally) at three months old you start thinking in your head, dang I wonder when my baby is going to do that, or is something wrong with my baby since they can’t do that?  I think this is a completely natural feeling that all parents go through and we just have to get over.

Then there are all the baby books you read and the baby emails you get from the websites you signed up on.  You will read about the milestones your child should be hitting at a certain age and all the “tricks” they should be doing and you start to worry and think oh my gosh is my baby doing that yet?!  Just relax.

I have notice that as time has passed I have started caring less and less, or maybe I have just become more self aware and I am working on not comparing because at the end of the day I am so proud of my baby girl already and have realized that all of our little ones will develop at their own pace in the way that God created them.  Enjoy and embrace every milestone.  My little girl is only nine months and it’s already going too fast!

Let’s face it all of our kids are awesome and better our lives every day even if they can’t do back flips

Top comments you shouldn't make to a prego chick

You look like you’re about to pop!

-She’s hugeeee
-Wow, are you sure their aren’t twins in there?
-Your feet look REALLY swollen
-Man every time I see you, you get bigger
-Should you be eating that?
-You’re waddling when you walk now!
-Unless you are 110% positive someone is pregnant don’t ask when they are due.  Often times this doesn’t turn out well.  Either a women could have just had their child, or they may not even be pregnant at all.  We’ve all hear the horror stories.
What are other bad ones you’ve heard?

Angle Care Monitor

A lot of people have mixed opinions on the Angle Care Monitor and I am one who is totally FOR it.  Before Adam and I had Nolyn we decided from night one that she was going to sleep in her crib.  For us we felt like it was the right decision and we were fortunate where her room was so close to ours that we could get to her quickly if need be.  Since we made this decision while researching baby monitors I definitely took that into consideration.  When shopping around I talked with a few girlfriends to find out what they had and a few of them mentioned the Angle Care.  As you may have heard there are some pros and cons to the monitor.  I wouldn’t consider the cons a negative but it is all personal preference.  Here are my thoughts on the monitor.

-If your baby is three months and under and you are planning to have your baby sleep in a their crib I think it’s a great item to give you a better “piece of mind” and sleep better at night.  The reason I say 3 months and under is because this time period of their life is a much higher risk for SIDS.  Especially since they aren’t able to roll themselves over well at this age.  So many new moms don’t sleep well in the beginning because they are so worried about something happening in the babies sleep.   I went to sleep every night feeling confident that if something was wrong (she stopped breathing) the alarm would go off.

-The biggest negative I hear about this monitor is that the alarm freaks people out because there are many false alarms.  While this is true, the alarm did go off numerous times and nothing was wrong, I would rather have false alarms and there be nothing wrong than not knowing anything at all.  The reason the alarm goes off is because it isn’t detecting any movement in the crib.  Usually when our alarm would sound and I would go and check on our baby, she would have moved to a corner in the crib in her sleep.  When the babies are this young you want to turn up the sensitivity on the monitor because they are so tiny.  Proper set up with this monitor is imperative or you will have more false alarms.  I will admit the first time or two when the alarm goes off it is a little scary because you don’t know what caused it to go off and fortunately every time she was okay.  My thoughts are better to be safe than sorry.
-Once Nolyn turned three months old and she was rolling around decent, we started using a regular old fashioned monitor for sound and a Foscam which is AWESOME!!!  It’s a camera that we have in her room and you access it from your iPhone so we can watch her and see her from anywhere in the world.  I would highly recommend it.

First Father's Day

Adam for my first mother’s day bought me the sweetest most beautiful locket with Nolyn’s initial and baby picture in it.  He overheard a conversation I had one time talking about how lockets are such a timeless piece of jewelry and how I’ve always wanted one.  Needless the say he totally set a gift precedent for my first mother’s day which totally got me stressing about what to get him.   I don’t know if yall agree, but father’s day presents aren’t easy.  For women you can never go wrong with a simple bouquet of flowers or jewelry, but what do you get a man?  I didn’t want to go for the cheesy t-shirt or coffee mug with Nolyn’s picture printed on it saying #1 Dad so what was I to do?

Mother’s day brunch at Red Rocks

Adam and I had been talking about getting tattoo’s together for awhile and once I got my brain going I thought it would be a really cool idea for Adam and I to get tattoo’s of Nolyn’s birth date.  Aside from getting married, having a child together is something that will bond us for the rest of our lives and I just thought it was the perfect creative gift.


Of course I have been asked what am I going to do if we have six children?  I guess then I will have to get six tattoo’s
Now the problem is what do I do for future Father’s days?  Any good gift ideas?