Tag Archives: Mom Truth

Toddler meltdowns

Posted on by
Reply

My toddler is in a stage of meltdowns. Even though he talks he’s still not able to voice or even truly understand all his feelings. He’s still learning. There’s two main causes for them we have learned.

The newest thing that causes meltdowns is hunger. He gets so busy playing some mornings that he doesn’t eat or will eat just a few bites of his breakfast. I get so distracted with the baby sometimes that I don’t notice Ryder hasn’t eaten or barely eaten his food. By 10am we will have multiple meltdowns if this happens. And it’s all due to hunger. When the meltdown happens, if we sit him at the table and get food in him, it’s like he becomes a different child. His attitude changes and you can literally see him go from mad, to calm and happy.

The other thing that causes major meltdowns is tiredness. If he’s overly exhausted he doesn’t understand the feeling so he has a meltdown. The only thing to fix this is obviously sleep. And of course he has a meltdown when we tell him it’s nap or bedtime. If I keep him on schedule and get him down for a nap before the tiredness hits I can usually avoid a melt down. But there are days that he’s been super busy and even when I stay on schedule, a meltdown is just unavoidable.

The toddler stage is super difficult, for you and your child. You’re both learning to understand their emotions and what causes them to feel a certain way. 💙

Pregnancy Amnesia

Posted on by
5

Well I’m officially at 17 weeks. But I feel like I’m 7 months. I must have pregnancy amnesia because I don’t remember feeling this big and bloated with my other two kids. When I think about it, I honestly have forgotten almost everything (discomfort wise) when I was pregnant with my first two. I sort of remember feeling achy and having to pee a lot. But that’s all I remember. I have literally forgotten everything. Maybe that’s why I was ok having a third. I had forgotten all the pain and discomfort that came with the first two.

I do understand what they say about pregnancy being more difficult as you get older. One thing I do remember is having more energy with the other two than I do now. I definitely feel like I’m moving a lot slower this time around. Granted I am chasing after two little ones while pregnant so that definitely adds to the exhaustion. I’m also getting up earlier and staying up later than I would like. So I’m getting less sleep as well.

The exhaustion is definitely taking a toll on my body and making it harder to do things like workout. I remember wanting and liking to go workout with my first two. I had no issues working out other than just comfortably moving around thanks to my big belly. The motivation was there. This time around I have zero want to workout. Just thinking about workout makes me tired and I swear I can already feel my muscles start to ache even before I start.

I still have 5 months to go. A long 5 months! Somehow I need to find more energy and the ability to sleep. Definitely sounds a lot easier than it really is.

What side to sleep on when pregnant

Posted on by
1

An interesting thing I learned in my first pregnancy is that it’s recommended that you sleep on your left side while pregnant. Why? Because your liver is on the right side of your body. Laying on your left side helps keep your uterus off that large organ, which takes the pressure off your liver and also your kidneys. This means more room to function properly, helping with swelling issues in your hands, ankles, and feet.

Sleeping on your left side also improves circulation to the heart and allows for better blood flow to the fetus, uterus, and kidneys. This is because your inferior vena cava (IVC), which is a large vein, runs parallel to your spin on the right side of your body.

If left is ideal, should you avoid sleeping on your right? No. It’s safe to sleep on your right. And depending on where your placenta attaches, it may actually be more comfortable. There’s a very slight risk of compression issues with the IVC when you sleep on the right, but it’s very slight. It just comes down to what’s more comfortable for you.

Working out when pregnant

Posted on by
Reply

Recently I was reading an article about current health and fitness statistics on pregnant women and I was a bit blown away. Less than 25% of pregnant women exercise regularly!

There have been so many proven health benefits to working out while pregnant. I think women take “rest while pregnant” too literally. Yes you should rest often while pregnant. But that doesn’t mean laying around all the time doing nothing. I notice a huge difference in my joints and muscles when I exercise vs when I don’t.

If your doctor hasn’t told you, then any google search will tell you there are so many health benefits to working out while pregnant. It helps reduce back ache, constipation, bloating and swelling. These are major things almost every pregnant woman battles with. I had minimal swelling while pregnant with both my kids and I credit that to workouts and drinking lots of water! Additionally working out can lower your blood pressure and help prevent gestational diabetes!

My doctor actually encouraged me to continue lifting weights through my pregnancy to keep my strength up. The only thing she discouraged me from is lifting an extreme amount that I’m not used to, or working out on my back. You shouldn’t workout on your back when pregnant because the uterus puts pressure on a vein that brings blood to your heart. Lying on your back can cause your blood pressure to drop and limit the flow of blood to your baby.

I understand some people don’t have access to a gym whether it be to cost or location. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do things at home. Walking, running, push-ups, body weight exercises, or dumbbell exercises (every sporting goods store sells them and you can get away with one or two sets).

I know there’s that one person who always says “I just don’t have the time.” Working out doesn’t have to be hours long. 20-30 minutes a day is all you need! Obviously it helps to eat a healthy diet as well. When you’re pregnant just the idea of working out may be exhausting. Of anything, a walk is better than nothing!

Food Aversions

Posted on by
Reply

This third baby is taking a toll on my diet. I swear I can’t eat anything without getting nauseous. With my second baby I was sick for maybe a month and it went away. But this time around it’s stretching a lot longer.

Strangely enough, the only things that don’t make me sick are: Ice cream, a tortilla with peanut butter, avocado toast, milk, pizza, cheese and vanilla cheerios. You’d think milk products wouldn’t be easy on the stomach and would make me sick. But weirdly enough they don’t bother it!

One strange food aversion I’m having that I had with our second baby is with chicken. I can’t eat chicken cooked at someone’s house. It literally makes me start gagging. I can’t even cook it myself without feeling sick. But I can eat chicken from a restaurant! There’s something about the smell of it cooking in the house that makes me sick. Since I can’t smell the chicken being cooked in the restaurant, it doesn’t bother me.

The first three months I was really battling with food. But now I’ve found a few items I can eat regularly with no major issue. So every day, I eat pretty much the exact same thing. I actually don’t mind it much because I’m a creature of habit and love schedules. I’ve always had my meals planned out days in advance so I’m not doing too much different than my usual other than being limited on foods.

This is definitely proof that every pregnancy is different! I’m learning as I go with each one!

Embarrassing toddler moments

Posted on by
Reply

The other day while out to eat with my husband and oldest child, I had to go to the bathroom. I got up to leave and of course our little guy wanted to go with me. I figured sure why not, maybe he’ll need to go too. When we got to the bathroom there was only one stall open. We took that stall and I heard people coming in after us. We chose a busy time for the bathroom apparently!

Right as I sat down to use the bathroom, my child yells out “poop mommy poop.” I just looked at him and laughed and said “no mommy doesn’t need to poop.” But it continued. He kept cheering me on telling me to poop! Then if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, he yells out “poop out your butt mommy.” Oh My God! Why child, why?!? But wait it gets better….he then yells out “you’re peeing! Good job mommy good job.” At this point I’m a bit embarrassed because I can only imagine what the women in the other stalls and in line are thinking, but I’m also laughing SO hard. We have been working on potty training with him, so we praise him when he uses the potty. So he was praising me for using the potty. It was hilarious, embarrassing and absolutely adorable.

As we walked out of the stall people either avoided eye contact with me or just gave me an awkward smile. That made me start to laugh again because I’m sure this is only the start of our embarrassing toddler moments. I can’t wait to see what else follows. (Note there is sarcasm in my voice when saying that last sentence!)

Counting to 3

Posted on by
Reply

Ryder, my 3 year old, is in that rebellious toddler stage where he doesn’t want to do what he’s asked. He’s not overly mean about it or anything. He just ignores you and pretends like he never heard you. Even when you ask 10. So we have started doing the count to 3 method. It works every time. I will literally say 1 and he says “no no I’ll do it” or immediately begins doing what was asked of him. I don’t even have to count with my voice in a different tone. I just use my normal voice and he hops right to it like he knows it’s time to do what is asked of him.

But here’s the funny part…..I really have NO IDEA what happens if I ever get to 3. Literally no idea! He’s never gotten past 2. Every time I count I think to myself, omg please don’t let me get to 3 because I don’t know what to do next.

I know the day will come that he decides to push it and see what happens next. So I’ll definitely have to have a plan for when that happens. But for now I’m going to appreciate the fact that he does what’s asked of him before 2.

Potty training win

Posted on by
Reply

Want to know what the biggest early parenting win is? (In my eyes that is)……When your child finally uses the potty!!

It sounds ridiculous to be making such a big deal of something like that. But when you’ve had to deal with diapers, it’s exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Even if that light may be super far away.

Diapers aren’t cheap and if your child is like mine, they go through SO many. My child drinks so much water during the day. I swear it seems like I change his diaper every couple minutes. Yes that’s a bit dramatic and I know it’s not that often. But if feels like it!

Potty training itself isn’t terribly difficult. I would say the most difficult part for me was getting my child to actually want to go in the potty. A regular toilet scared him. I think the size was a bit overwhelming. So I got him a little kids potty. He didn’t like that I had it in the bathroom at first because it was close to the big potty. So strangely enough I moved it into the living room and tucked it behind a chair so he had his privacy. That’s when he actually showed a little interest in it!

I started by letting him run around naked and just reminding him he didn’t have a diaper on so he needed to tell me when he had to go potty. The first two times he didn’t even tell me. He walked right over to the potty, sat down and went! After that we had a few accidents. He peed on the carpet twice while playing. However he did stop himself. He started peeing then was like omg I don’t have a diaper on. He stopped, told me, then went over and used the potty. While I don’t love that he peed on the carpet, it’s all a learning process so I didn’t get mad at him.

I’ve figured out if I put “big boy underwear” on him, he can tell the difference in the feel of that and a diaper. So he will tell me he needs to go potty if wearing underwear. However, if I put pull-ups on him, he uses the diaper not the potty. It’s almost like it’s done out of laziness. He doesn’t want to stop playing to use the potty so he’s like ok cool I have a diaper on I’ll use that. So lately if we are at home, I have him just wear underwear (and pants) so he gets used to the feel and using the potty becomes a habit!

He does get super excited about using the potty. He would tell me he needed to go then when he finished he would excitedly announce that he used the potty. It was super cute! He gets so proud of himself.

I know we aren’t 100% done with diapers. But we are past the starting line! That’s a success in my eyes!

Back in the red

Posted on by
Reply

We are back in the Red in DFW. I don’t care what anyone says. I’m wearing a mask even when I workout. What inconvenience is it really to me? None. I put on clothes in the morning so a mask isn’t any different to me anymore.

I actually haven’t worn makeup since the masks requirement went into effect. With the exception of mascara of course but no actual face makeup. It’s been great! My skin has never looked so even toned and breakout free! I wash my face often or use face wipes. I also wash my mask regularly so that helps quite a bit to reduce any skin issues.

I really don’t mind wearing a mask even after the mask order is lifted. Honestly I’ve never gone this long without catching even just a cold! I credit that to the masks, over disinfecting and hand washing. I know masks are annoying to some but I’m one who doesn’t mind it. I’ll do whatever is going to keep my family and myself healthy! Better safe than sorry!

Drive through state fair

Posted on by
1

I was super upset when I found out the Texas State Fair wasn’t happening this year because of Covid. It’s one of the few things I really look forward to every year. I love trying all the crazy food and walking around looking at all the interesting things being sold. I even love going to watch the pig races! If you ask our oldest, he would of course tell you the petting zoo is his favorite.

When the State Fair came out with a drive through option, I was super excited. My mother made fun of us for wanting to go. She said it was ridiculous to pay that kind of money just to drive through the fair and it was something she wouldn’t do. But we didn’t care. No it’s not the real fair but it’s a different experience and we weren’t going to let anyone ruin the fun for us. We may not get to walk around but we still get to go get our fair food and take a picture with Big Tex. My husband and I actually don’t have a picture with the both of us and the kids together in front of Big Tex. We have never had anyone take a picture of all of us together. It’s either me with the kids or him. So I was super excited to get a full family pic this year! And have it be a professional photo!

We went this weekend and had a really great time. Once you drive through the gates they have the entire drive through decorated like the fair. They had food stands lined along the way where you could pick up each of your food items. We got 8 Fletchers corny dogs, 6 fried Oreos, 4 corn on the cob, 2 turkey legs, 2 sausage on a stick, 2 fries, 2 cotton candy, and 2 kettle corn! We definitely got our fair food fix for the year!

While it wasn’t the “real” state fair, it was a lot of fun. It was a once in a lifetime experience to do a state fair drive through! Although next year I’ll be looking forward to going back to the real thing! But this was definitely a fun backup experience since we couldn’t do the real thing!