Wordless Wednesday



Breastfeeding number 3

 

Back in 2012 I wrote a post urging all mother's who breastfeed to read about my experience so what happened to me, won't happen to them. You can find that post here and then another one here talking about breastfeeding with muscle knots. I plan on writing another post soon on how I've been doing since then.

 

With that being said, I am still going strong with nursing Mariam, well I wouldn't call it strong since she gave up on the left breast when she was about 10 months old, but still doing fine with just the right. She got tired of the slow letdown on the left and decided to just nix it all together. I guess she gets some of her impatience from me. Mariam is 18 months old now and I'm glad we have made it this far. She nurses 3 times a day, sometimes 4 if she insists. Upon waking up the first thing she says is "alk...alk!" which means milk. She nurses for about 5-8 minutes and is done. Since she was a newborn she's always nursed for a short amount of time. Not that short, but still short. Just a few days ago she has started to say "all done" when she's finished. It is a little strange and makes me feel like she's a bit old for breastfeeding if she's saying "all done", but it's still good for her that she's getting these nutrients and it's a great bonding experience for us. She has definitely been my most attached baby. I never thought I would be nursing an almost 2 year old, but never say never because here we are. At this point I'm not sure how long we will continue but for now I'm in the I'll let her wean herself camp. I don't see us going past 2 and a half though, but it could be sooner than that.

 

Even though it was nursing my second Layla that caused the muscle knot issues it's not the breastfeeding itself now irritating the knots. I always support my arms or am laying down. The issue really now is lifting these heavy girls, especially lifting them into something higher like the highchair or my SUV. Like I mentioned though. I will go more into detail when I write my follow up post on that issue.

 

Have a great Tuesday!

 



Where the happiness hides..

I feel like I haven't really blogged with intention these past few weeks. Honestly it's been really hard to just sit down and write, and the thing is I love to write. Sometimes I'm not inspired and sometimes I have to decide what's more important to work on. My mind has been clogged lately and I've realized that I've been focusing a lot on all the things that can go wrong rather than thinking positive and imagining all the wonderful things to look forward too.

 

Maybe I've been hard on myself and maybe I'm coping well. I don't know. I feel a lot of pressure and I work to hard. I've been terrible about relaxing and doing fun things just for me. I feel like I have no life other than my family and my business. I spend all day with the kids (who aren't easy on me) and after they go to bed, I'm working on my business. Rinse, repeat. I love staying home with the girls and I love my job. I think some guilt has started to creep in because I feel like a bad mom for saying that I want to spend a little more time on my business other than just naps and bedtime. I only just realized this was a source of my frustration the other day. This is for them and this is for me. My husband makes good money and I don't have to work, but I've always been independent and 3 girls are expensive. I want them to have things I didn't have, and I want to be able to help others. The thing is I don't want to send them to daycare, just the thought of it makes me feel even more guilty--the thought of dropping them off and leaving them. I'm very attached to them and them to me. Not too mention I don't want them to pick up colds and also having two in daycare is an expense that is not smart for us right now. It's not just wanting to spend more time on the business though, it's the fact that I need a break. I finally made a move on Monday and registered on a care website where I searched for nannies and emailed three. Right now I think the best thing to do is to find somebody that can come for a few hours a week. That way they are home with me and I won't be worried and I could also get away if I need to for doctors appointments or to run errands.

 

I've been pretty stressed lately and I don't want to be. I want to adapt the hakuna matata mentality again. I'm just struggling with it. There's also been the divorce of my parents that happened over a month ago and....geez just writing that makes a lump in my throat. It's hard and I'm trying to stay neutral. It's probably also a little hard because my mother moved to South Africa right after the divorce was final. Halfway across the world! Crazy crazy, but if she's happy and this is her way of coping than there's not a whole lot I can say. I know my dad is coping right now and has his good days and his bad days. I just want them to be happy. Time heals all things though, and I just have to remember to not let worried thoughts creep in so much and know that it's ok to be happy in my own life-even when those I love are struggling with theirs.

 



What Mariam wore {Polka dots}

 

 

Leggings: c/o {Isabella Couture Shop}

 

I had forgotten how much I love pink, black and white together. ;)

 

Have a great Tuesday!

New Decor Line!

 

{FHJ Baby}

I'm so excited to announce that the new décor line is now available and up on my shop's website! Take a look and let me know what you think. As I mentioned before, this is a big step and it's come with lot's of nerves and apprehension but most importantly, excitement! It's been in the works for the past 2 months and I'm just so glad everything is finally finalized and listed. I hope everyone loves the new items as much as I do.

 

 

Have a great Monday!



Layla's 3rd Birthday Party

I think I mentioned last week that I did a really small birthday party for Layla this year. Like really small. Like only family and not all the family was there either. Regardless, it was stress free and Layla had fun. There was food, there was cake, a happy birthday song, and a birthday girl happy and healthy. That's all that really matters.

 

I can't believe my baby is 3 though. It's gone by so fast it's just not fair. I love my little bum-bums so much. The night before she turned 3 I cried. In fact I couldn't fall asleep because I didn't want it to be the next day yet, knowing she was going to be one year older. I'm crazy about her. She's just so sweet and helpful these days and I can't get enough of her.

 

I love this picture because it's Layla the day she was born on her daddy's shoulder and again on his shoulder 3 years later. So sweet!

 



 

Have a great Wednesday!

 

Shop Giveaway!

Happy Monday!

 

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday. Just wanted to pop in today and talk a little shop. The date has been set for when the nursery décor line drops. It's going to be next Monday May 19th!

 

To help spread the word I'd LOVE it if you entered the giveaway on my Facebook page by liking and sharing today's post. You can win this gorgeous wooden love script. The contest ends Thursday May 15th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Friday.

There will only be one winner selected but as a thank you for entering, there is a code for $5.00 off anything in the shop!! Offer valid for US and international contestants.

 





Birthday outfits!

My mom was unable to be here for Layla's 3rd birthday party so she insisted on buying the girl's outfits last week before she left. We first went to Macy's and I immediately fell in love with a white lace dress for Layla. It didn't hurt that it was marked down heavily. I actually liked two different lace dresses and it was so sweet to see Layla try on clothing in a dressing room for the first time. I always just buy something for her without trying it on since she's a toddler, but I wanted to make sure the dress I picked fit right. After trying them on and deciding, my mom came across a mint lace outfit for Mariam and then of course we had to get Serena something too to match her sisters.

 

{Pink & Violet Dress}

{Mint lace top & leggings}{Purple lace top}

 

{Cut out ballet flats}

 

I had to join in on the fun too so I wore my lace Agaci top and white jeans from Pac Sun.

 

 

 

I'll post more birthday pictures next week. Have a great weekend!

 

 



Happy Birthday Layla!

 

Today my baby Layla is 3. Though the time has gone by too fast, I'm thankful everyday I get to be her mother.

 

Birthday Party pictures to come.

 





Nail love

 

 

I'm crazy about Ella + Mila vegan nail polishes (see original post here) so I was stoked when they sent over a few bottles for me and the girls and asked me to shoot a few pictures for them. Painting the girl's nails was pretty challenging since they kept messing them up, but it was still fun. The pictures above are a few of my favorites.

 

Have a great weekend!

 



Let's catch up shall we?

 

I feel like I haven't really sat down and just breathed in like.....well forever. As a mommy of 3 and a business owner there is just always something to do and I'm usually juggling several things at once. I thought I'd back track a little and jot down what has gone on these past couple of weeks behind the scenes.

 

Family wise, I attempted to potty train Layla 2 weeks ago. I thought I would do the 3 day potty training method and just go cold turkey with no diapers. Well the first day started out great with her using her little potty and I rewarding her. The second day didn't go so great, and the third day was even worse. (Wait a minute here, it's supposed to be called the 3 day potty training method--so why isn't there progress!) Anyhow by the fourth day let's just say I was really stressed out with accidents. It was a good thing I had decided to roll up our Persian rug in the living room before we started this. The final straw was the H-E-B grocery store incident. Little miss stubborn held her pee all afternoon and I made the mistake of not putting a diaper on her when we went to the store and let's just say she opened up the flood gates in the bread aisle all over half of my groceries. I. WAS. MORTIFIED.

 

Serena helped me clean up most of the groceries with paper towels and wet wipes and I drove home crying that day. I remember I got home and told DH to get the girls and the groceries and I went straight up to our room and just laid in bed and cried. I had had it with her. I had had it with potty training. It really made me question even being able to parent any of my children. Part of the reason I was already stressed out was because I had also been working with getting my latest seamstress on board with how the bibs were made, and I was in the midst of completing my biggest wholesale order to date at night with my mother.

 

So the following week I took a break from potty training. Judge me as a parent all you want. I had to take a break for my sanity. We are starting up a new method next week and this time I'm armed with more information and helpful advice from my friends. This is actually my first time potty training really. With Serena years ago, I was working full time away from home and my best friend who babysat her trained her. Serena really gave me no trouble.

 

Speaking of Serena, I'm so proud of my little songbird, She made honor roll recently and also sang at her school districts choral festival. She was one of 10 students from each school selected to sing. Tears welled up in my eyes hearing such beautiful music come from all those kids.

 

 

Last week was a bit calmer. The girls still gave me a hard time during the day but I felt slightly less stressed and workwise, business was steady. Collaborated with P.S I adore you and I received the paperwork from when I filed to become an LLC recently.

 

This week my mom has been staying with us but she's leaving tomorrow to South Africa for 3 months so the girls and I have been spending a lot of time with her.

 

Have a great Thursday!