Photo Inspirations

With my maternity session coming up and baby boy coming in 11 weeks I have been stalking pinterest and etsy for maternity and newborn photo inspirations. I thought I'd share some of them with you

All the pictures of the sweet little babies make me even more excited for my little man to get here!
(All images were taken directly from pinterest and etsy and when clicked on will take you back to the original site)

Keeping Busy

I've found that the easiest way to get through a deployment or a TDY is to keep busy. When I worked full time that was an easy thing to do. My days consisted of going to the gym, working and coming home to make dinner and veg on the couch before going to bed and doing it all over again the next day.

Now that I'm a SAHM it's not quite so easy to keep myself as busy as I used to. Especially when I put myself on a restricted budget since I have a whole list of baby things to buy these next two months.

Don't get me wrong. In some ways this time it's easier having the hubs gone. Gianna keeps me so busy, not to mention entertained that some days fly by in the blink of an eye. Other days I go crazy walking around the house with only a 1 year old to talk to. My mommy group is off for the summer and all my friends are on amazing beach vacations with their husbands who are all on leave due to upcoming deployments. So that leaves Gianna and I to ourselves. I try and jam the day full of activities. But face it, that's impossible with a one year old. By the time we've gone for a walk, played outside in the pool or water table, read some books, colored, played with stuffed animals and any other activity I can think of to stimulate her it feels like the whole afternoon should have flown by. But in reality I'm good if I can keep her entertained for an hour and a half straight. She constantly is on the go, wanting to explore and try new things leaving a pregnant mommy exhausted and praying for nap time.

And packing up a toddler and heading to the pool, beach or park by myself is not an easy task. I'm constantly chasing after her and my independent child wants nothing to do with me following her around or guiding her to activity after activity. She thinks she can do it all on her own!

And with baby boy due in 11 weeks, I've started to realize that mommy needs some mommy time and it will be healthy for Gianna to get some time away from me and get used to the idea that all my time and attention won't solely be on her after the baby is born. (sniff)

One thing I have wanted to do is find a good church to attend, one with small groups and activities oxides tide of Sunday service that the family and I can go to. And today I did. Although catholic I wasn't a fan of the only catholic church here in town so I tried a Methodist church down the street from my house. And I loved it. They have a military support group that meets once a week along with having play dates and other kid focused outings. Plus this church offers amazing small group options. Today I signed up for Parenting 101 which starts in a few weeks.

And with school starting and the end of summer approaching my Mops group meets back up, story time at the library begins and i have a whole list of activities filling up my calendar starting at the end of August. I am so excited for all the activities Gianna and I will have to fill up our days! Nothing like keeping busy to help the time fly until we see Daddy again. And as Gianna has gotten older I've realized that her and I do need time apart. It's healthy for us to be away from each other. She needs time to grow and socialize with other kids and mommy needs time for adult conversation. With the hubs being gone on and off for the next year and the addition of a new baby, my only time away and on my own will be during small group at church and during my mops meeting. When Gianna was a newborn I felt selfish wanting time for myself. Now I welcome and appreciate it.

And what I like about all these activities is that they only are for a few hours each day. Just enough time to get Gianna and I outta the house and around other people. So I'll still have plenty of time to soak up my one on one time with her. So bring on August. We are ready for you!



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Toddler Mom

When Gianna was born I didn't think life could get any better than it was right then. I loved the newborn stage. There was nothing better than snuggling all day long with my newborn baby girl. I didn't mind the sleepless nights, the endless breastfeeding or walking around in pjs for the third day in a row covered in spit up. I loved it all

And every stage after that has only gotten better and better. As Gianna has grown, reached new milestones and developed her own little personality I found myself saying. This is my favorite stage. No this is. And I realized that life with her just keeps getting better and better

Now that we've hit the one year mark I find myself looking at my daughter in amazement every single day. I can't believe how fast she has grown. No longer is she my pink, squirmy newborn but she is a walking, talking toddler. A very independent one! Two traits that she inherited from both the hubs and myself. Our stubbornness and independentness. A family of three stubborn people. Oy are we in for it later on!

But her independent and stubborn streaks really come out when she is playing. She may come over to me and show me the book she's looking at but me reading to her. Forget it. She wants to do it herself. And she will walk away to go find another book the minute I start reading to her. Completing a puzzle. Of course shell hand me a puzzle piece but as soon as I place it on the board she takes it off and does it herself! Yesterday by 9:30am we had read some
Books, played outside in the water table, gone for a walk, watched Doc Mcstuffins and played with our stuffed animals. And I was exhausted. Gianna of course showed no sign of slowing down

And of course that made me feel bad. Now at 28 weeks pregnant I have become so tired and sluggish lately. I plop myself on the couch and do what I can to stay awake. I try to keep her entertained as possible but some days it's hard. With her wanting to do everything herself and having a one minute attention span I'm running outta activities to do. I told ye hubs today I was going to run to Walmart and get markers and moon sand. Not sure if shes to young for that but I'm clueless as to how to entertain a one year old. Any ideas mommies

I just want to make sure I'm stimulating, educating and spending as much on one one time as possible with my baby girl


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