Before meeting my husband I had never really articulated to anyone (including myself) what I wanted in a future husband, let alone the future father of my children and I’m almost embarrassed to say that this exercise (of really digging deep and explicitly identifying the qualities I thought a husband and father should possess) was one I only recently completed. And was prompted by an episode of Married at First Sight (my guilty pleasure). Fortunately for me, I never had to do this…

May is mental health awareness month and I feel it is something that is so incredibly important not only as it relates to overall wellness, but also as it relates to parenting. It probably goes without saying that if you aren’t able to keep up with the emotional, mental and physical demands of parenting then it can become that much more challenging. So I regularly try to keep all of the above in check… heavy emphasis on the “try”.,.

Over the past year I have been extremely in touch and in tune with my mental health. Possibly because so many more people were being transparent about their struggles last year… but primarily because I wanted to feel “better” overall. I wanted to feel more in control of my emotions and my responses to certain… stimuli if you will. Truth be told there were so many days I felt like a hot a** mess… (inside and out) because everything was… a lot.

If you have a younger kiddo, you have likely heard of baby led weaning. You may have done a little digging to see what it was all about. You may have jumped right on board and gave it a go. You might have been a little skeptical like I was and laughed at the thought of a six-month old baby eating salmon. REGULAR salmon. Not some pureed salmon-like jar food, but actual salmon and just about any other food you decided to let them try out.

When my pediatrician first mentioned baby led weaning at our twins’ 4 month appointment I was shaking my head like I was all on board… but in my head I was thinking HELL-TO-THE-NAW. I was not about to give my toothless babies broccoli florets, and chicken, and crinkle cut carrots or whatever other “great” options the doctor mentioned.

This post might not resonate with many, but I want to be open and honest for the people that might be able to relate. If you read my post about knowing when my husband and I felt it was the “right” time to try for another baby, then you know I was a little on the fence about having two. That said finding out we were having twins was… a lot.

I’ve talked a time or two before about my immediate feelings when we found out, and I’ll just say excitement wasn’t at the top of the list. For the first few weeks (ehhh months) it felt surreal, and I kept thinking about how much would change going from one to three overnight. Whatever I wasn’t already considering, people were sure to bring to my attention (e.g. possibly needing a bigger car, daycare costs, finances in general, lack of a social life, etc. etc.), and while it wasn’t helpful, nor was it what I needed in the moment, I kept smiling.

Of course some of those logistics crossed my mind but they seemed “solvable” and more “point in time” than what was actually consuming my thoughts… which was just having three kids - period.

The pandemic ignited a fire in so many women. So many women discovered their passion, pursued their passion, or poured into their passion in ways they hadn’t before.

Maybe it was the extra time at home…

Maybe it was the desire to find a greater purpose…

Maybe it was women leaving the workforce and tapping into new ways to earn income…

Maybe it was the constant reminder that life is short. And that in the blink of an eye, everything can change.

Whatever it was, the motivation was real, and before Women’s History Month comes to an end, I wanted to highlight some moms that have tapped into their passion during the pandemic. Moms who launched or elevated their business or brand, or who learned to pivot to keep pushing their passion forward.

When did you know it was the right time to try for another child? People have asked me this a time or two before and my answer is pretty much the same as deciding to have your first child. There is never really a “perfect” time… and even if you think you have stumbled upon one, whether or not you actually end up bringing a child into the world according to your personal timeline might be out of your control. So, whenever someone ask… my non-answer “answer” is that you have to do what feels right for you, and your family.

As a mom of three, my “events” these days are usually centered around my kids, and over the past year we have put together three pandemic birthday parties. Naturally, I’m feeling like an expert now. Lol. Just kidding… but here are some tips that have helped ensure they were just as fun as they were in the good ole’ days, a.k.a. BC, a.k.a. Before COVID.

This past weekend we celebrated my son’s “Super Sweet 6th”… and I honestly can’t believe he is six years old! I know everyone always says how fast time flies, especially with kids, but it truly does. And now that we live in a world where we are all so inclined to take pictures and videos of everything, it makes it that much easier to see just how much our kids change year over year.

Almost one year ago to the day the world was shutting down, and the Black Mirror episode that was 2020 kicked off… (egghhh). This was also when we decided to cancel our son’s original 5th birthday plans and opt for something smaller at home as opposed to the huge kid-centered funhouse (read - Petri dish) we originally booked.

How are we supposed to get our twins to cut their self-soothing habits? Seriously. I have mentioned a time or two before that we used sleep training for all three of our kids. The whole point of sleep training is to teach your children how to self-soothe so that when they wake up during their normal sleep cycles (which happens several times a night), they can easily put themselves back to sleep. Kids might employ any number of different self-soothing tactics… and the ones my kiddies rely on are finger sucking (baby boy), and a pacifier (baby girl).