Mommy Monday {Birthday Pictures}

The perks of being a photographer is I get to take pictures of my beautiful babies. I haven't as much lately as I would like. But doing their pictures once a year for their birthday has always been important to me. I got a little behind this year. Luckily their birthdays are just a couple weeks apart. Now I can get both of them done at the same time. 

While we are in Hawaii I really wanted to get some at the beach. Before we are off to the next place. 

Here are some of my favorites.

All Photos by Simply Beauty Photography by Ashley Reed

Mommy Mondays {hush little baby}

Hey guys I know it's been awhile!

We have had a long vacation and move to hawaii!! But we are finally here and moved into our new house. It's been a slow process but we are finally getting everything in it's new place and it's starting to feel homey. I will be blogging a ton of new stuff soon. Vacation, family pictures and of course hawaii! So please check back!

So my little monkey is turning 7 months this week! Already !! I know it's not fair how fast it's going.
A huge milestone for us is making it this far exclusively breastfeeding. Longer than I did with Riley. He is now a 14lb chunky little man. It took us a bit to get into our groove. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought it would be. But now we face the challenge of sleep. This kid still doesn't sleep through the night. He still sleeps right next to me in the pac n play. Now that we are in Hawaii I plan on setting up his room finally. I never had this issue with little miss. She was in her own room by this time. Some people have suggested his tummy isn't full enough. I tried baby food and nursing him and he still doesn't really sleep. The Dr said that it's more for comfort that he is waking up throughout the night. Have there been any things you may have tried that worked?

{Mommy Monday} Breastfeeding, the struggle is real!

I knew that when I got pregnant I was going to exclusively breastfeed. At least for a whole year. I breastfed Riley but because of slow weight gain they suggested I supplement formula. Being a young mom at the time I didn't question it and just have her the bottle. Then I got my wisdom teeth pulled and miscommunication with medication I couldn't breastfeed. She didn't want it anymore. I only got 5-6 months out of it. I even tried pills and tea to help me get my "milk" groove back. Nothing worked I was done. So I swore this time around it would be nothing but the boob juice. While there is nothing wrong with formula I am just a firm believer in the idea of "breast is best". I don't have the best health at all. My allergies turn into full blown colds that lasts for weeks. I am no

 stranger to an emergency room either. I want my kids to have the best they possibly can so I vote for boobies all the way. 

In the beginning I was on a roll he was gaining lots of weight and was good to go. I got permission at his two month check up to go a little longer between feelings. He went a little bit longer than every three hours. Sometimes as long as seven hours at night. I was grateful for the sleep for sure. If you know me you know I love me some sleep! Then he started spitting up... Like a LOT! After every feeding like everywhere and so much of it. I was told it was cause he was getting too much milk. So I backed off and started giving him one at a time at each feeding. 

Fast forward to his four month check up this last week. He had lost weight! He went from 9.6lb in February to 9.2 in a matter of two months. Let's just say I felt like a failure. One of the worst feelings is not being able to give your child what they need. It can be extremely frustrating and emotional. The dr again suggests supplementing formula. So I went out and bought some after our appointment. I  brought it home and wanted to cry. Here I was again not being able to give my child what they needed. So I stopped and practically slapped some sense into myself and texted another breastfeeding mom who gave me some tips. I decided to listen to my instincts and not what the dr said and here we are a week later extremely exhausted but gaining weight luckily. We immediately started nursing every 1-2 hours even at night. We are running a marathon and I'm surprised I am can even stand up straight. There have been moments at night where I can't even open my eyes. I've wanted to give up so bad. I've wanted to just give in and give him a bottle and get some rest. I just keep reminding myself to take one day at a time. One feeding at a time.

Breastfeeding is a hard job but so worth it. I'm really pushing through and trying to make it eight more months without formula. It's definitely a day by day experience. Some days are hard some days are slightly harder and some days are a breeze. Usually the days where I can sit on the couch all day and be a breastfeeding slave. But we are making it work. We are a mommy-baby team. I believe we can make it to the other side!


I've also been looking into lots of breastfeeding super foods.

Oatmeal
Leafy greens
Nuts {not so much, but I'm trying}
I even looked into lactation cookie recipes. Cause I mean come on who doesn't love a good cookie!
Any other ideas you can send my way feel free to leave a comment!

Mommy Mondays: Props to the Single Mom

I am wrapping up my very long 2 1/2 weeks as a single mom today. 

Being a military wife we have constant "single mom"days, weeks, and months at a time. 

With one kid I had a small taste, a tiny little glimpse of what it is like to be a single mom. But this was the first time alone with two kids.

Let's be real folk! No one is perfect and there are no perfect moms. I don't like the different stereotypes there out there. Or the constant mom judging that goes on on a regular basis. I know we've all been judged and I know we've all done some judging. But one thing I learned this time around. That infamous phrase that has been passed down through generations is so true. "Don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in there shoes."

....And let me tell you my feet are tired!!! I am so burned out this time around that I can't even imagine how moms do it with more than two kids. 

If you don't know what it's like to be a stay at home mom or even a stay at home mom/blogger/entrepreneur/photographer/home-schooler or whatever your vice may be. Let me give you a glimpse into our world. 

It's not always good days. 

It's not always hair curled and makeup done.

It's not always well-behaved children.

In fact I'm not sure I curled my hair the whole time. I barely wore any makeup and most certainly did not always have well behaved children. I do not always have it all together. I'm sure I'm not the only one either. I know it can't completely come close to being like this but sometimes I compare being a stay at home mom/mom in general to being on deployment. It's quite often a war zone sometimes not near death of course but playing referee to kids all the time can be exhausting. But I think it's mainly the on edge feeling. Being a mom you can't really let yourself relax.You have to be ready at a moments notice to jump out of bed to tend to a crying baby or child. With a newborn you are afraid to fall asleep in case they stop breathing, roll on their stomach, pull a blanket over their face. You have to be ten-twelve steps ahead of your child. Constantly thinking of consequences and different scenarios of a child hurting themselves. A million and one things can happen when you turn away to take a drink or bite to eat. Even take a shower or go to the bathroom. You can't be selfish even in the tiny bit. I wake up every morning doing my children's bidding. Feeding them, cleaning up after them. Being pulled in a million different directions. When I said we live on edge...I mean on EDGE!!! 

I am so blessed beyond measures to have the husband that I do. He cooks dinner/breakfast, he does dishes, he changes diapers, he brings me chocolate when I'm literally going insane. I'm glad that I have him. But some do not have a team-mate to tag in on those crazy days. So this one goes out to all the single moms/parents. They meet each day being brave and fearless. They keep it together not only for themselves but for those babies. They continue on most of the time without getting any kind of break. I salute you Mom's!!

So do something nice for a single mom/parent out there today.

They most certainly need it!

Mommy Mondays: stop growing!

                       

                                          

As I sit here still in my pjs with a sleeping babe and one off to school I pondered.......

So this is what life looks like as a mom of three? Two itty bittys and one angel baby. I still can't believe I've birthed three human beings. I don't feel old enough.. Ha I don't really feel young enough either. 

I'm in mommy limbo!

I am a week away from little man turning 4 months old. Where has the time gone? I'm still gathering my bearings here and I already have a 4 month old!! That's almost half a year and then what he turns  one!!?? 

When I sent my little lady off to kindergarten I was an emotional wreck. But now I have the blues! This is a real thing. The realization that time goes fast at a dramatic speed. And your once tiny little babies will be going to high school and getting married and driving cars before you even have the chance to blink. I have a hard time being in the moment with them. Because I'm trying sooo hard to cling to this age, this time in their little lives that will never happen again. I find myself staring {too long actually} trying to memorize every part of their little faces and little hands and little feet. 

Tell I'm not the only mom out there who does this? 

One thing they don't tell moms who bring home second baby. How instantly it makes your older child look like a giant. My sweet, precious little baby girl grew drastically overnight. I'm not even kidding her arms and legs were longer! Her hands were the size of human adult hands! She wasn't a baby anymore she's running around having grown up conversations with me. She's even reading to ME now!! I seriously want to cry! Time is seriously precious and is over  like that {snaps fingers}. No do overs, no pause and rewind buttons just one chance. 

I can't be bothered to waste time with silly things like cleaning, bathing or watching my shows. I have to spend every second just soaking up my time with them! Because I could never ever live without them! 

P.S I was kidding about the cleaning and bathing part. ;)