4 Tips for when Maternity Leave Ends

Welp, I went back to work last week.

Sad Robin. Via Reactiongifs

Or was it this?

Emma-worthy dance moves right there. Via Giphy

Friday Five

One of my secret dreams is to one day have a shop as part of this website. Full of things that promote strong women, of course! I want to share all the great things I find, my kids play with, and read with you all! Until that day comes, I’ll just have to share those things with you another way. I’ll be posting these Friday Five’s and include a little info about them and links to where to purchase them (if applicable) or where to read/watch the info if it’s an article or video.

Here’s your first edition of the Friday Five!

Two Kids: the First Two Weeks

Heaven help us, we have two kids!

If you saw my Instagram, you may have noticed that we had quite the busy week before and after baby girl #2 arrived. In a nutshell, here was our life those two weeks:

Graduation. Broken toddler foot. Back labor. Baby! Spinal headache. Blood patch. Spinal headache. Blood patch. ER trip for newborn who got whacked in the head by sister’s cast. Aaand spinal headache. Blood patch. Bed rest.

30 Lessons for 30 Years

It’s about to get thirty, flirty and thriving up in here.

Totally. Via Giphy

I’ve never been scared of turning 30. I have always enjoyed hitting age milestones and this is no different. Okay, it may have been nicer to not be 40 pounds heavier on my 30th birthday, but having a baby is pretty cool, so I can’t complain.

Motivate Me Monday: Working Helps us Parent Together

Some things just make me really grateful for my role as a working mom.

This morning as I was getting dressed, my daughter was playing in our closet. She started saying, “Hi Dad!” a few times, so I looked to see what she was doing. My husband had given her his old wallet to play with when he got a new  one. He put in some old cards and I.D.’s so she could play with them instead of ripping everything out of mine. There, sitting in our closet, was our almost two-year-old with the wallet open, staring at an I.D. with a picture of her daddy.

What my Toddler Needs from Me

If I were to write a book about raising toddlers, I’m pretty sure it would be called, “Why the crap are you freaking out now? And other stuff I don’t understand.”

Because toddlers are nuts.

Emotional, but won’t calm down. Tired, but won’t sleep. Hungry, but won’t eat. Love playing in dirt, but heaven help us if her Cream of Wheat touches her hands!

Strolling Thunder: Our D.C. Adventure!

I have been really lucky to have had many of those “I can’t believe that happened!” experiences. Some were things I wanted to do as a teenager that I was able to do as I grew up. Some were things I never considered, but kind of just happened. That was last week in D.C. with Zero to Three at Strolling Thunder.

Adventure!

You.Guys. It was great! We got back last Wednesday and I still can’t believe everything that happened just a few days ago. Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect out of this trip. We knew we were going to encourage Congress to “Think Babies” as they consider policy, but still felt really unprepared for what would actually happen. I kind of love that feeling, by the way. Not sure what will happen, but pretty sure it’s going to be awesome. So here are some highlights from the trip: