Lessons From A New Mama

"Lead by example..." I don't know if your parent ever used this one on you, but it's my Dad's go to phrase. It's something I have been thinking a lot about now that Jackson's here. Parenting is so much about settings good example for your kids. I know that a lot of my parenting philosophies and a lot of who I am personally are a result of how my parents raised me. Therefore, I have some examples that I for sure want to set for Jackson.

1) Reading anything and everything. My friend Emily has a little boy and he loves books. He will sit quietly by himself for the longest time and just look at his books. Since he loves them so much he has mini libraries all over their house so that way books are available to him. I love this idea! There was a study recently showing that parents who read in their free time are more likely to have children who like to read. A lot of it has to do with them copying what their parents are doing but still they end up loving to read. Now in today's world of technology books are becoming obsolete and since I'm not planning on buying Jackson an e-reader any time soon I have packed away my nook and have gone paperback! I did this because I want him to enjoy BOOKS, to practice holding them properly, turning the pages etc. So, I'm leading this example by having books myself...I have to admit I've kind of missed them.

2) One thing that I remember most growing up was family dinner time. My mom was always in the kitchen cooking up something new to try some were good like eggplant lasagna and some were epic fails like veggie burgers ( sorry if you like them I'm not a fan). It wasn't just the family meal though that I remember it was the quality of the food. My mom and dad always made sure that we had a healthy me with as many of the food group represented that they could manage. My dad was always a stickler about healthy food choices for snacks and even when we would go out for dinner we generally made wise choices. Now I do have to admit as I got older and was able to decide for myself what to eat I didn't always stick to my roots, but now with Jackson I want him to experience healthy foods the way I did growing up. Now I'm not saying that we won't splurge and give him chicken fingers or pizza, but I do want those to be as few as I can manage. To link this back to my topic of monkey see monkey do...if I make healthy choices for meals/snacks maybe he will too.

3) I have not always enjoyed exercise, especially if it's hot outside...yuck! However, I also believe that inactivity with children is a learned behavior. If kids see their parents just bummin in front of the tv or just hanging out in front of their computer or phone then kids are going to do the same with tv and video games. So, I want Jackson to be healthy an active which means that I need to show him how. If that means I have to lay on the floor and play peek a boo for a hour, take the dog on a million walks during the week, or dance around our kitchen like an idiot then that's what I will do. I want him to see that there is more to the world than our living room and tv.

Out for a nature walk at the River House

4) It doesn't get much better than family...the are there for you no matter what! I want to make sure that Jackson has the same strong family foundation that Jason and I both had with our families growing up. We want to definitely have rules and boundaries, but we also want him to be able to come to us for answers, and support.


I know there is a lot more that I need to model for my son so that he grows up to be a wonderful young man...but that's where I'm going to start! Any parenting philosophies you got from your parents you want to share?

4 Months Old!

I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by and I cannot believe how big my baby is getting! I know I will probably say that every month, but it's the truth. Jackson has changed so much over  the last month that I cannot believe it. Some of his biggest development is that he can roll over from his front to his back and he loves to do it..especially when mama isn't looking. Jackson has also started the long, agonizing process of teething, which means drooling and everything he can get his hands on going straight to his mouth. Jason and I have already seen the start of his first tooth coming in on the bottom.

This past month has been a busy one for our whole family, but I must say that Jackson handled everything great! We traveled down to Missouri for graduation over night and he slept the whole way! Then after graduation we headed up to South Dakota for 2 weeks of visiting family and friends and he was able to win over everyone he met. He was even able to meet his great-grandparents for the first time which was pretty exciting. The thing that made Jason and I most excited that through all of this traveling and staying overnight at different places it didn't interrupt his sleep schedule at all! Yay!

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma

Jackson is now sleeping through most of the night. He will wake up sometimes at around 4 am for a little snuggling and feeding but then usually goes right back to sleep till about 8 or 9. He is still taking 3 naps a day, but it seems like the morning ones are getting shorter and shorter usually lasting only 30-45 minutes with a long 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

Two new developments over the past week is that one he discovered his voice! He loves to talk to us now, or screech I guess. I think that the reaction that he gets out of Jason and I is what really keeps him talking. The other is that I bought him a jumperoo and he loves it! It has gotten to the point where he will fuss and fuss until we put him in there and then he will just start laughing. It is probably the best toy purchase we have made to date.

We just went the other day to the clinic and got  his four month vaccinations which are never easy for me to watch, but he did so well and was even able to muster a few smiles for the nurse at the end....he didn't really care for her during the shots, but they were good again by the end.

Reading Review

I thought that this month with us traveling so much for Jason's graduation and for our vacation back home I would have so much time to read and just relax...well, that didn't happen. However, I did manage to read two books this month.

I know this isn't the typical book that I would write a review about, but I feel that for any parent who is struggling with napping/sleeping babies this is the book to read. Jackson was the hardest baby ever to put down at night and getting him to sleep for long stretches of time was not happening for us. As a desperate parent I searched the Internet, blogs, read articles and finally bought this book. The Sleepeasy Solution provides tips on how to establish a routine, how to travel with a child (which was really helpful this month), and how to ween off of night time bottle feeding (now that Jackson is 4 months we have to start doing). A lot of this sleep schedule things we weren't supposed to start until he was 4 months old, however we did implement a few so that way we could slowly transition into longer stretches of sleep.  I would highly recommend this book to any parent who is struggling at night.

I don't know about you, but I am a huge Jodi Picoult fan! However, I am  not able to read multiple Picoult books back to back...I think they just get to intense for me. The Storyteller will not disappoint any Picoult fan though. Sage is a young baker who tries to hide from the world. She has very few friends and enjoys her solitary life. One day an older gentleman named Josef shows up at Sage's grief group and then he shows up at her bakery and strikes up a conversation with Sage, the two quickly become friends. Sage begins to look forward to spending time with Josef until one day he makes and unbelievable request...he asks Sage to assist him in dying. Josef reveals that he is not the small town neighbor that he has made everyone believe, instead he is a former Nazi from the SS guard who worked at Auschwitz. To Sage this is a horrible truth to find out not only because she is Jewish, but her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz. This new truth sends Sage on a quest to find out the truth about Josef, and to find out about her grandmothers experiences during the Holocaust. The big question is, will Sage forgive Josef for his horrible crimes? Will she assist him with his request to die?

May Weight Loss

"Do as I say not as I do..." I think that this is the quote of this months weight loss. I would like to plead my case to the court, or give a long list of excuses as to why I gained a pound this month instead of losing.

1) I was moving...which for those who have done it know that it is the most stressful experience ever, especially when you have a ton of people staying at your house to help you with the move (so happy they were here to help though!)

2) We then went on vacation back home where between Mom's cooking and my Mother in laws baking I'm surprised I didn't gain 50 lbs!

3) My child is teething...I know this probably has nothing to do with my weight, but I'm throwing it out there.

So yeah needless to say it wasn't a successful month. I am hoping that now that I'm home and getting settled I will be able to get things back on track! Shout out to my sister though who is doing great with her weight loss..she is definitely motivating me to get my act together and get this baby weight off.