Francesca and I took a nice long walk yesterday, over four miles actually. I only lost one pound last week so decided I needed to take it up a notch this week. Anyway...
Toward the end of our walk we headed over to Costco to pick up a few things and as I was crossing the street I saw a lady with a stroller and two little ones who looked like she was struggling so I asked her if I could help her, thinking I could maybe hold her stroller or something while she puts it all back together (I know this struggle well.) But it turns out she didn't speak much English and was standing at the corner looking for help with a sign that said "Anything will help. God Bless."
My heart sank. I asked her what she needed. She said she needed money for rent but one thing I have always believed is to not give cash. I am all for giving but you never know why they are in the situation they are in (drugs, alcohol, etc.) and cash can buy any of those things. She didn't look like she had any issues with those substances but you never know. Anyway, I wanted to help the children most importantly so I asked her what I could get her from Costco and she requested diapers. That I could handle and not feel guilty about not giving nor for giving her cash and not knowing exactly what she would do with it.
As I walked away all I could think about was how terrible that would be to be in her situation and how much of a reality check it was for me. Here I am worrying about making less money while on maternity leave and hubby and I trying to figure out if it's possible to survive on one income if we wanted to... and there she is standing on the side of the road, no older than 25, with an infant and a three year old. It broke my heart and really made me realize how lucky we really are. We're not struggling to pay rent or put food on our table, we're struggling with our own selfishness because we want to go out to dinner when we want, go on a weekend getaway, go shopping...
So needless to say I went in and bought her baby diapers. Yeah the diapers were $40 since Costco only has gigantic sized packaging and we don't really have that money to waste but it was far from a waste. A quote I read recently popped into my head when I was looking at the diapers... "No one ever went broke from giving." So I didn't feel bad for spending the money on her and her family.
When I gave her the Costco sized box of size 2 diapers, her face lit up and it made me happy to be able put a smile on her face. The language gap was huge but I could tell that it was something that she needed and it made me happy to help in whatever way I could. One phrase she knew in English was "God bless you." She continually said it to me and I'm not sure if it was because I gave her the diapers or because I actually came back with the diapers when I told her I'd buy them for her half an hour before.
I felt closer to God in that moment. I was reassured that God will give you what you need and often times it's a message and that message will come to you when you're least expecting it but when you need it most.
Mommy Lesson:
1) Be thankful for what you have and give when you can.
xox
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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
I finally get it...
I finally understand what moms mean when they say a daily shower is a luxury...
3) There are days when your baby is just going to want to be with mama and that's okay. In the long run there really aren't that many days like that so soak them up. Let the dirty house stay dirty, let the laundry go undone and let the hubby reheat something for you guys for dinner because you can always clean tomorrow but you can't always enjoy the snuggles of your little one. Your newborn isn't going to be damaged forever because you snuggled her too much. Babies are made to be loved, so go for it.
Thursday and Friday were tough days for this mommy. I love my little love bug more than anything but somedays its tough to be more than a mommy. Like days that you have lots of things on your plate, on top of the everyday mommy things. Last Thursday and Friday were a couple of those days.
Thursday is my clean house day and Friday I didn't have set plans but it happened to be one of those days where eight thousand things were thrown at me that I had to get done. It turned out that Frankie didn't think either day were good days for mommy to do anything but hold her. She didn't want to be put down for a nap, or in her swing or her bouncer or anywhere but mama's arms. And me, being the somewhat control freak that I can be, got a little flustered because I had things to do.
**Lesson of mommyhood... it's not about you anymore. You don't make the rules, baby does (at least at this point.) You can try all you want but especially with a 5 week old, it's all about her. So just let it be about her and let go of control, you'll be a happier mommy.**
Then it dawned on me, I can put her in the Moby wrap (a mommy's BFF if you ask me) and be somewhat productive. So that's exactly what I did on Thursday afternoon. Put her in that and then took a quick walk. I'm not sure if it was the fresh air that calmed baby (or mommy) down but she fell asleep after a few minutes and mommy got to get most of the cleaning done on Thursday... no shower though.
Friday (which was a repeat of Thursday) when miss Frankie was cranky again and was against napping in her crib or cradle, I swaddled her and put her in the buggy and went for a nice long walk. It was the best thing for mommy and baby. We got some fresh air, ran some errands and mommy got her work out in. I even managed a shower Friday night when we got back, since thankfully she was still sleeping. It was the most rejuvenating thing EVER.
Mommy lessons learned:
1) Take a shower whenever you have the chance, best if it's first thing in the morning because it helps start your day right but if it doesn't happen first thing, squeeze it in whenever you can. (This is one my mom told me but I learned for myself through practice and couldn't preach it more.)
2) When you're flustered, take a nice walk and get some fresh air. It's good for both of you.
And most importantly...
3) There are days when your baby is just going to want to be with mama and that's okay. In the long run there really aren't that many days like that so soak them up. Let the dirty house stay dirty, let the laundry go undone and let the hubby reheat something for you guys for dinner because you can always clean tomorrow but you can't always enjoy the snuggles of your little one. Your newborn isn't going to be damaged forever because you snuggled her too much. Babies are made to be loved, so go for it.
Those are the latest lessons this new mommy has learned. No one is perfect and I'm learning that being a first time mommy is a learn as you go kind of thing and I'm enjoying (almost) every single moment of it. I wouldn't trade any of these moments, even the flustering ones, because baby and I are learning and growing together and it's one amazing experience.
xox
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tweet Tweet Mommy Blogging
Hi! I'm Tweet Tweet Mama... aka Alex. I'm a mommy of my beautiful daughter Francesca (who we often refer to as Frankie and Tweet Tweet mini) who is just over 5 weeks old and wife to my wonderful husband Bobby aka Tweet Tweet Bobby.
I decided to blog because my career (which I'm on leave from currently) is social media so I figure this will be a way to keep in touch with my social media side. Plus its something I've always wanted to do. Since I love to cook, craft, be a wife and a mommy (on top of so many other things) I'm hoping this is a creative outlet and it will be a good place to put all of my ideas, plans, recipes, work outs, tips, etc. and keep them somewhat organized. Wish me luck!
I became a mommy January 15, 2013 and it changed my life in the best way possible. She is the best surprise I could have ever imagined...yes I said surprise. Thank you hubby (;
My husband, then my boyfriend, and I found out we were pregnant on Saturday, August 18th, when I woke up and took a pregnancy test. Why did I take a pregnancy test you might ask? Because I couldn't lose weight to save my life. I was doing EVERYTHING (healthily of course) to lose weight and nothing working and I was only gaining in my tummy (a place I never used to gain.) So my mom, being a mom, said, "Just take a pregnancy test. I know you said there's no way you could be since you're on birth control but just take one to be sure." To my shock, it was positive...how are moms ALWAYS right?! (guess I'll figure that one in the next 20-some years) PS I was on the pill and the kind where your period was nonexistent so missing my period never made me worry.
The lines weren't 100% clear, so I took another one and another one and another one... all positive.
My mind raced as to what I was going to do. We weren't married, although he is undoubtably the man I was going to marry one day, we weren't even engaged, lived in a one bedroom, had old cars and his wasn't suitable for baby...needless to say my mind was on overdrive.
Me, being me, had to go to the doctor to make sure that I really was pregnant, because four at home tests simply aren't enough. That Thursday, Bobby and I went to see a nurse practitioner and after she warned us that we may not be able to hear a heartbeat or see much of anything since we were coming in so early, we had another surprise. Not only were we pregnant, we were halfway there, 20 weeks pregnant. I saw a profile of a face and they played her heartbeat then I lost it...tears, lots and lots of tears came rolling down my face.
Happy tears and sad tears. She's been in my belly for turns out 20 weeks and I didn't know, how did I not know? I was kicking myself. I had been living a normal non-pregnant life that included travel, long hours, roller coasters, wakeboarding, tubing, wine-drinking, sushi, racing, girls nights, lots and lots of things that you are told you're not supposed to do when you're expecting. Thankfully God, being the amazing God that he is, had baby girl in his protection from the day she was conceived.
God also made sure that mommy and daddy would be just fine too. From the minute the first pregnancy test came up positive Bobby had a smile on his face that he just could not wipe off and as much as I already knew he was the man I was going to marry, that day just solidified it.
From August 18 to January 15 we did a lot. Moved, bought a car, read lots of books, crammed on how to be great parents, made our new place into a home, had four baby showers, got engaged, planned a wedding, got married and both worked full-time during that time too; not to mention had the holidays and four trips up to my home town squeezed in there too.
We did A LOT in those five months but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Our baby girl showed up two days late and as healthy as can be.
I decided to blog because my career (which I'm on leave from currently) is social media so I figure this will be a way to keep in touch with my social media side. Plus its something I've always wanted to do. Since I love to cook, craft, be a wife and a mommy (on top of so many other things) I'm hoping this is a creative outlet and it will be a good place to put all of my ideas, plans, recipes, work outs, tips, etc. and keep them somewhat organized. Wish me luck!
I became a mommy January 15, 2013 and it changed my life in the best way possible. She is the best surprise I could have ever imagined...yes I said surprise. Thank you hubby (;
My husband, then my boyfriend, and I found out we were pregnant on Saturday, August 18th, when I woke up and took a pregnancy test. Why did I take a pregnancy test you might ask? Because I couldn't lose weight to save my life. I was doing EVERYTHING (healthily of course) to lose weight and nothing working and I was only gaining in my tummy (a place I never used to gain.) So my mom, being a mom, said, "Just take a pregnancy test. I know you said there's no way you could be since you're on birth control but just take one to be sure." To my shock, it was positive...how are moms ALWAYS right?! (guess I'll figure that one in the next 20-some years) PS I was on the pill and the kind where your period was nonexistent so missing my period never made me worry.
The lines weren't 100% clear, so I took another one and another one and another one... all positive.
My mind raced as to what I was going to do. We weren't married, although he is undoubtably the man I was going to marry one day, we weren't even engaged, lived in a one bedroom, had old cars and his wasn't suitable for baby...needless to say my mind was on overdrive.
Me, being me, had to go to the doctor to make sure that I really was pregnant, because four at home tests simply aren't enough. That Thursday, Bobby and I went to see a nurse practitioner and after she warned us that we may not be able to hear a heartbeat or see much of anything since we were coming in so early, we had another surprise. Not only were we pregnant, we were halfway there, 20 weeks pregnant. I saw a profile of a face and they played her heartbeat then I lost it...tears, lots and lots of tears came rolling down my face.
Happy tears and sad tears. She's been in my belly for turns out 20 weeks and I didn't know, how did I not know? I was kicking myself. I had been living a normal non-pregnant life that included travel, long hours, roller coasters, wakeboarding, tubing, wine-drinking, sushi, racing, girls nights, lots and lots of things that you are told you're not supposed to do when you're expecting. Thankfully God, being the amazing God that he is, had baby girl in his protection from the day she was conceived.
God also made sure that mommy and daddy would be just fine too. From the minute the first pregnancy test came up positive Bobby had a smile on his face that he just could not wipe off and as much as I already knew he was the man I was going to marry, that day just solidified it.
From August 18 to January 15 we did a lot. Moved, bought a car, read lots of books, crammed on how to be great parents, made our new place into a home, had four baby showers, got engaged, planned a wedding, got married and both worked full-time during that time too; not to mention had the holidays and four trips up to my home town squeezed in there too.
We did A LOT in those five months but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Our baby girl showed up two days late and as healthy as can be.
There's a little background in case you didn't know me and my family's story. See ya next time, here's to keeping up the blog (:
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