Monthly Mama Spotlight: Kim (Our Mama)

 

Journey to motherhood

After being married for a few years, I was so excited when I found out that I was pregnant with our first child! Although my body experienced ALL of the challenges of becoming a host for a beautiful life, I was blessed to repeat the process two more times within 7 years! My husband, Shawn, and I welcomed 2 beautiful daughters, Lauren and Carmen, and one gorgeous son, Joshua!

What it means to me

Having the responsibility of taking care of innocent children, protecting, feeding, educating, and staying attune to their development can be a daunting task. However, I loved every moment of it! I loved that as a mom, I could put my fingerprints on the fabric of their minds, praying all the time that the mistakes I made would be covered enough by my heart for them, that they would know how much their dad and I wanted the best for them.  Although they are all grown now, and, yes, I have to back off a little, I have to trust that the lessons they learned as children would be good soil for words of wisdom to grow in.

Any lessons of encouragement to share

I can still remember the advice  that my mother shared with me when our second child, another daughter, was born. I was talking to her on the phone, describing Carmen to her, and she said, “Now honey, you have 2 daughters and each one is different from the other one. Don’t treat them the same way. Get to know each little girl as an individual.”  Momma said! Boy, was she correct! God has blessed each of us with different everything or else we would be clones. Learn your children as individuals. Love them the way they need to be loved!

Apologies

Raising kids can be HARD! Making sure they do the right thing when you’re not around is even harder. Sometimes they don’t always listen to our sage advice. But just as important is teaching them how to respond to their mistakes. When I received this note from a child who got in trouble being mean to my son I was elated in the lesson her parents were teaching her. A little goes a long way sometimes with kids. Making sure they know how to properly apologize is incredibly important. Kudos to that kid’s mama! – Lauren 💗

Monthly Mama Spotlight: Anna

Hi all I’m Anna!!! I’ve been married for five years and I am a Momma to a beautiful, energetic, lovely two year old boy named Holden Michael. As we ALL know, Motherhood is no walk in the park. No matter how much you read, practice or dream – it can never fully prepare you for a babe, especially a first babe.

I had an awesome pregnancy and an awesome labor and delivery. Exactly six hours from water breaking to holding him on my chest. All natural!! Postpartum Anxiety hit me from the jump and I had NO IDEA. I was fully prepared for PPD – watching my thoughts and feelings, but I was happy. I just couldn’t settle. I was so tired, but I couldn’t relax enough to sleep. Then anxiety eventually turned into depression. My body had changed so much. I was unmotivated to workout, eat right or even get out of my house. I have a summer babe, so it was too hot to take him outside. Then he was still too little to be out in the cold, in the winter. So I just stayed inside eating and THEN I didn’t even want to go out because I didn’t want anyone to see me! I withdrew from everyone and essentially became a recluse. A crazy, vicious cycle! (Carmen can attest – she practically hunted me down/also fun fact I’ve known Lauren and Carmen for more than 20 years!)

My husband is the bread winner and he was doing his job beautifully and I felt like as a SAHM…the baby/house is MY job. And you never want to complain to your spouse about the best job in the world…so I didn’t talk. I tried to keep everything perfect (outside of myself) until I started to crack. And that’s what kept me in my cloud for so long. I used to want 6 kids and to be a Wife and a Mother. I’d dreamed of that since I was a little girl. But when I became a Mom, and being raised by a Mom who was fulfilled being a SAHM…I had a very tough realization that I LOVE my Baby, fiercely. But I do not always love being a SAHM….and that is O-K-A-Y! And once I realized that, accepted it and talked about it out loud…that’s when my depression broke. And that was January of this year (my son was born July 2017!) That’s a long time, Girls! Too long!

So my encouragement to you is – if you are feeling these things – anything – TALK! Just talk! Open your mouth and talk to someone. Your spouse, find a Mom’s group in your area to join (this is what really helped me- Moms Time at my Church) or connect with someone in this community. We carry A LOT as Mommas and it is okay to want other things and it is okay to BE FULLY satisfied being home with your Babes and killing the SAHM Life! And it is okay not be perfect. None of us are – Welcome to the Club!!👏 Your crazy is welcome here and so are you!! Bc I know mine is 😁

Now, I have my own Communication Coaching business and I LOVE it! I get to stay home with my Baby, but also take Mommy-Mind Breaks and focus on something I really love encouraging others and it fills my cup back up! And by doing that – I enjoy my baby and motherhood SO much more! We are all different, but we are all in this together! You’re amazing, Momma!!!

Self Care

SELF CARE!!!!! I haven’t bought bras for myself in YEARS. I have finally been at the point where my sagging, stretched out bras were causing me back pain because they just weren’t holding the girls up anymore. So guess what? I took my three year old and I went and got new bras so I could take care of ME. Self care isn’t always about getting away or having a glass of wine. Self care can be just as simple as taking the time to make sure you have the right size bras to ease aches and pains. Make sure your self essentials are taken care of so you can take care of others.

❤️

Sunday Recipe

It’s SUNDAY!!!! For many families, gathering around the table for a meal on a Sunday is tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof Music) and often times the mama is responsible for whipping up a delicious meal. If you’re drawing a blank with what to make try this yummy and EASY Sweet and Sour Pork recipe. We will be making it tonight with you!! Let us know how it turns out 💗💜
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Cook the rice separate but everything else together!! Enjoy!! ¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
2 clove
Garlic
12 ounce
Pork Chops
3 teaspoon
White Wine Vinegar
1 unit
Vegetable Stock Concentrate
2 unit
Bell Pepper
2 unit
Scallions
1 tablespoon
Cornstarch
1 tablespoon
Soy Sauce

Sweet and Sour Pork

Monthly Mama Spotlight: Laura Beth

This is definitely my favorite stage

…is what runs through my mind with each milestone that my girls reach. I decided early in my twenties that I was gong to wait until I was 30 to start a family. I wanted to wait because that was how old my mom was when she had me, and my mother in law was 30 when she had my husband. What I DIDN’T take into consideration was the fact that my husband and I are both the youngest, so our mothers didn’t actually start at 30. They started in their twenties. I realized all too quickly (and much too late), that I was going to be an older mom. Oddly enough, it seems to be the “in” thing these days, but that doesn’t make things any easier for me. After giving birth I quickly realized (much to my chagrin), that being a mom is hard. I had postpartum depression, difficulty getting them to latch, trouble losing the weight (it’s going to come off any day now!), and I missed going out with friends and having drinks. Thankfully, though, I love my little girls so much that it makes up for all of the other stuff, and I settled into motherhood, trying to drink in every moment so I won’t forget all the yummy cuteness that comes along with raising little girls.

When they were newborns, I just knew that was going to always be my favorite stage, because they slept so much and were so calming to hold and so completely reliant upon mommy. Then I realized 6 months was the best stage, because they could sit up and giggle and flap their little wings with drooly smiles and bright blue eyes.  But once they started talking, I realized THAT was my favorite stage because everything they said was funny and entertaining, and it gave me stuff to talk about at work. Then toddler-hood was the best stage because they were out of diapers but would still hold my hand and with complete trust and love, follow me without fear or questions.

Then the questions started, and that’s where we land today. The girls are 7 and 4, and they are definitely in my favorite stage! They help set the table, feed the pets, pick up their shoes, and they are able to play with friends down the street so mommy can have some alone time. Daisy asks “why” a million times a day and Ella tells me every day that I am beautiful, especially without makeup. We are at a unique point in our lives where I feel like a married single mom, because my husband travels for work so much. It’s usually around the 4th dad-less day with 2 kids and 2 pets that I realize, being a mom is a young woman’s game. My kids have too much energy, and I have none. They want to go swimming and play at the park but I’m  barely able to drag on pj’s because I’m exhausted from work but I still have to muster enough strength to feed and bathe them. But then the evening comes, and with daddy gone, we all pile into my bed, watch YouTube videos, and snuggle until we snore. We have long talks and lots of laughs, and they pray over me when I complain about my aches and pains. These kids are my whole world, and it this is DEFINITELY my favorite stage.  Until the next one…

 

Summer and Spiders

Heads up this post is about spiders. I used a cutesy spider picture in an effort to make them less gross and to make sure you all kept reading.

So who is excited about summer! I know I am! I love that the kids are stress free from school and I love hearing all of the giggles as they spend hours in their imagination land. But what I don’t like are the influx of bugs. Especially around my kiddos. I live in Arizona, which I am positive is like a baby Australia when it comes to all of its deadly and worrisome insects. And this spring/summer season has been horrid with all of the creepy crawlies. Like most of the country we have experienced and unseasonable cold and wet winter. Which for my fellow Americans in the Midwest and East Coast has probably been super annoying, but for us in the dehydrated desert, it has been MARVELOUS! Apparently the month of May hasn’t been this cool in like 30 years. All the neighbors are smiling at each other, no one is making a mad dash to their cars to keep their skin from melting off. I’m telling you its been bliss.

But now that the summer has begun, our ecosystem has been thrown off and there is an extra amount of foliage and dampness that the bugs are thriving off of. Thus, we’re now paying for our extra unexpected months of basically no A/C bills. And unfortunately, my four year old son became collateral damage in a spiders quest to ruin lives. Just kidding, was that too much? Yeah probably. But in all seriousness, he did end up getting cellulitis from his spider bite.

It is so important to trust your mom instincts, even in the seemingly mundane things like bug bites. I really felt like this wasn’t a time to utilize my Thieves oil. Situations like this I would not recommend be handle by homeopathic remedies. I am ALL FOR all natural, homemade, homeopathic remedies. But because of the potential severity of things like cellulitis, I would say that having professional medical intervention is super important. Bug bites aren’t always serious but cellulitis should be taken seriously if it happens. The emergency room on a Thursday night at 8pm when your husband isn’t home yet, is not an ideal time to make that trek for a bug bite, but I knew in my gut he needed to be seen.

My son has allergic reactions to almost all bug bites, but what caught my attention with this particular bite was the fact that it basically was not healing. Most of his bites, become hard, hot to the touch and really really swollen. But within a day or two they go down. Not only was he not seeing any relief from those symptoms, but his wound was also seeping. Like basically leaking.

The symptoms of cellulitis caused by a bug bite include:

• pain and tenderness that radiates from the bug bite
• inflammation
• redness
• swelling
• red streaks or spots near the area of the bite
• skin that feels warm to the touch
• skin dimpling

If cellulitis isn’t treated, it can develop into a serious infection. Signs of a worsening infection include:

• fever
• chills
• swollen lymph nodes
• pus or drainage from the bite site

So because he had most of these symptoms we decided I should go ahead and take him to the ER. Once we were seen, the doctor confirmed our suspicions of cellulitis. He was put on a 15 day antibiotic and we got home at 1 am. While it was not the way I wanted to spend a Thursday night, I am obviously very glad we decided to go ahead and take him. Honestly, we were actually worried about his bite being a result of a brown recluse spider (I’m telling you it’s for real the wild wild west out here) and had no thoughts about cellulitis. I wanted to share our story because it is so super important to catch things like this early because infected bites can get worse very quickly. If you think your child needs to be seen by a professional take them as soon as you can.

And finally, if you think I am a mom who is like really great at keeping up to date on whats going on with my children’s body’s because I was watching a spider bite, calm down. Because while we were at the hospital I was informed that my kid was like super constipated……. You win some you loose some I guess.

❤

 

 

 

 

**https://www.healthline.com/health/cellulitis-from-bug-bite**

Monthly Mama Spotlight: Kemi

Married mother of three Princesses (Mommy is Queen of this house)

So of course, I’m writing this post about 9:30pm the day I promised to have it completed.  My four year old keeps busting out of her room to tell me that her two year old little sister won’t stop laughing. Concentration is harder and harder to find these days with three kids, a husband and owning my own business… but it’s my norm.  I’ve finally came to the place where I accept my family dynamics and I own it 100%. What we perceive “motherhood” as from a society perspective is dang near impossible to achieve, you will drive yourself crazy trying to do it. Trust me I’ve tried and was on the brink of a mental breakdown every other week!

The ages of my three daughters are two, four and fourteen, yes I know, the age gap is huge!  My husband and I had our first daughter just shy of turning 21 so we needed time to mature before having more kids.  He and I are both 35 and have unique work schedules with him being a firefighter and myself as a salon owner and stylist.  My oldest daughter is a serious track runner that takes up much of our time and having 2 that are four and under explains itself.  As mother’s we aren’t taught what this journey will be like and not one mother is identical to the other. We literally must put on our big girl panties and figure it out as we go.  

Self-care, expectations, definition of success, parenting styles, routines… were all topics I considered writing about.  Motherhood is something that must be experienced to truly understand how intricate it truly is. So here it goes, my attempt at pinpointing what I feel are some of the more important things.

I’ve learned to love the eccentric rhythm of my life and dance to the beat each day offers.  One thing the age gap of my kids brought me was a new appreciation for my children. They each require something different from me and at the same time they each teach me something different.  When you pay close attention to your kids it’s like looking in a mirror as they are little reflections of us. There comes a day when they will be too big to hold, no one will be following your every step, they will leave your home for the first time and all you will have are the beautiful memories of those precious moments.  Each stage is beautiful but there won’t be those memories if we don’t make time for them. That is what bridges the gap of the next chapter between mother and child. With that being said, put off the laundry to have a pillow fight with your child, let them stay up a little past their bedtime to spend extra minutes cuddling… MAKE THE MEMORIES!

My children are my medicine at times.  Their kisses and hugs instantly reduce the stress and worries I may be facing that day even if just for a moment.  The passing of energy, the skin to skin contact with my kids is something I can’t explain in words. I once followed a woman on Instagram: @fightlikemiles, who documented the journey of her two year old dying from cancer.  She posted pictures of her holding her son for the last time and I tear up thinking about it as I type (I think about her often). Myself and thousands of others were in that fight with her until the end, we were all connected as mothers.  I promised myself I would always be grateful for my children and all the chaos that comes with them. I love my crazy, tiring, ever-changing life as a mom. It’s the best ride I’ve been on so far!

Monthly Mama Spotlight: Julie

Name: Julie

Enjoying this adventure called life with my Hubby and 6 kiddos.

On this journey called motherhood for (almost) 15 years

Current place of adventure: Idaho

Life is a journey. It seem so obvious, but I don’t think I really discovered that for myself until I became a mom.

Motherhood found me at a young age. Life got challenging real fast. That overwhelming feeling that comes from knowing another human is entirely dependent on you added with sleepless nights and lots of crying makes those early days of motherhood feel like an eternity. But somehow the days did pass and before I knew it I had 3 kids in 4 years. I really don’t remember much of the first 5 years at all. Then came baby number 4, the curveball, the one who taught me more about life in one moment then I ever would have learned in my entire lifetime.

One moment, one moment was all it took and one moment was all we had. I have never felt more aware of the importance in being a mom then in those few minutes I got to have with my son. And then he was gone. But he left me a different person. He taught me about what true love really is. He taught me about what really matters in life. He made me a better mom.

After enduring the pain of losing a child I felt like there wasn’t a curveball life could throw my way that I couldn’t handle. And boy did life try. 2 more kids, a serious medical diagnosis, a move across the country to what felt like a foreign land, starting over, another move across the country to another new state, making friends and then having to make new friends again. The only difference was that now I cherished it all, every moment, even the difficult ones.

I’ve learned that you can’t control what life throws your way, but what you can control is how you react, how you choose look at the situation. Is life not fair, always getting you down? Or is life a journey? One in which you hang on for the ride, excited for the next adventure, learning and growing from the bumps along the way, and cherishing the moments in between? For me, I choose the adventure. No matter what happens there is always good to be found.

Like any journey life has its struggles as well as its triumphs, but the beauty of this journey called motherhood, well it is found in the mess of it all. The heartache and struggles, the joy and triumph, the pain, the good days and the bad days, the crumbs, the diapers, the laundry, the whining, the sleepless nights, the new experiences, the chubby little hugs, the laughter and the love, oh the love. This is where the beauty lies, because there will be one day where all you have left is the memories. Make them good ones. (My son taught me that)

Monthly Mama Spotlight: Saceria

Being a mom… is sacrificing my alone time in the bathroom! I have one standing at the door telling me about his day (b/c it just can’t wait until I’m done 🤦🏾) and the other tugging and pulling up on my legs, drooling everywhere. I just want to potty in peace again! 
Hello mamas my name is Saceria and I’ve been blessed to share this journey of motherhood with my two boys. 10 1/2 years apart, my oldest is 11 years old and my baby boy is 8 months. With all the challenges and rewards it has to offer, motherhood has by far been THE BEST thing that’s happened to me. It has shaped me into the woman I never imagined I could be. I was told when I had my oldest that I might as well put modeling to the side because that dream is over. I did at first but later realized that I can be a mom & have the career I WANT! Here I am a mother of 2, model, singer, teacher/mentor and entrepreneur, pursuing all I want! I am that example to my boys showing them that no matter the obstacles placed in front of you. You can always overcome them and be whatever you want to be. Don’t let anyone tell you any different That goes to all the mama’s out there as well!

It’s a blessing and I thank God everyday for giving me the greatest love I’ve ever felt!  #Momlife #Boymom #BossMom