Sometimes I try to remember what my life was like before I became a mom.

Eric and I often talk about what we did with all of our time. LOL. We gave more attention to our dogs. We saw more movies in theatres. We went to sleep and woke up whenever we wanted.

Honestly, we had a lot more time to ourselves.

While all of that sounds like fun now, we dreamed and prayed about when it would be our turn to be parents and have a little one of our own.

When we finally got pregnant, it was one of the best days of our lives. In the coming months I started creating lists of things that I would need to prepare. What should we buy for our future baby? What room would we use as the bedroom? Omg let’s buy the cute little baby shoes!

When she was born, it was the BEST day of our life. At the same time, I had noooooooo idea what I was in for. There was so much to learn and so much to practice. I am STILL learning today and I will be for the rest of my life BUT I wanted to put together a list of things that I have learned thus far.

So, here we go:

1. Baby shoes are pointless
   • There is literally no use for them. Cute as they may be, babies don’t need shoes. Now, socks, I can get on board with. Brynn actually didn’t need a real pair of shoes until she was walking.
2. You don’t need all the clothes
   • Especially when your baby is young, you really don’t need 20 pairs of clothes in each size. In my experience, Brynn grew so fast that we couldn’t get her in all of her clothes quick enough (Thank you Mom and Cheryl, we still appreciate it, she needs 3T, just saying LOL)
3. Fed is best
   • I put soooooooo much pressure on myself to breastfeed. Before I got pregnant, I told myself I was going to breastfeed until she was 1. That was NOT the case. AND it caused me to put a lot of stress on myself for no reason at all. Breastmilk or formula, it doesn’t matter. So long as your baby is being fed.
4. Have a sleep schedule
   • For us, we put Brynn on a sleep schedule the minute we got home. We didn’t really plan it that way either. I guess my subconscious realized that I thrive on a schedule so we kind of just naturally put one into place. We would give her a bath at 6pm, then pajamas, books and bed by 7pm. Obviously, she wouldn’t sleep through the night right away but we would never stray from that schedule. I believe that sticking to that nighttime routine significantly helped us. She has been sleeping through the night from 7pm to 7am since she was 1 month old (until recently, hello toddler nightmares).
5. Mac and Cheese is completely fine
   • There are some days that Brynn will only eat mac and cheese. Literally. Mac and cheese with hot dogs. For the longest time I would beat myself up about making sure she eats all the food groups. I have even gone so far as to make the veggie pasta, fresh shredded cheese, seasonings, voila! But in the end, it really doesn’t matter what she eats! She will eat when she’s ready.
6. Invest in those disposable placemats
   • I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. Toddler’s don’t need plates lol The food ends up everywhere anyway. Buy some of those disposable placemats that you stick on the table and throw away when they are done. You’ll thank me later. https://www.amazon.com/Neat-Solutions-Neat-Wear-Disposable-Protection/dp/B002FKE4UU/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=disposable+placemat&qid=1590181818&sr=8-5
7. Make some time for yourself
   • Set aside an hour in the morning or an hour in the afternoon for whatever makes you happy. Whether that be working out, reading a book, personal development, bible study, a hot bath, watching that episode you’ve been holding off on, etc. It is crucial to your sanity. Trust me.
8. There is no one right way to be a mom
   • This one speaks for itself. You can listen to all the advice you will be getting, and as a new mom it’s often information overload, BUT you don’t have to actually apply that advice to your own life. Just because something has worked for another mom, doesn’t mean that it will feel right for you. Do what works for you!
9. Use figurines for your bath toys, not those squeaky ones with the holes
   • While the squeaky toys may be cute and fun, you have to squeeze all the water out at the end of every bath or they will get mildew. The day I realized this, I went to Brynn’s playroom and threw some of her figurine toys in the bath and now my bath time problems have been solved. You just rinse the toys and magically there’s no more mildew! https://www.amazon.com/Toy-Story-Disney-Friends-Little/dp/B07JP4LPZ9/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=toy+story+figurines+set&qid=1590182663&sr=8-6
10. Enjoy those little moments, even the loud and crying ones
    • Yes, you read that right. I often look back on the days where Brynn wouldn’t stop crying no matter what I did (I literally sat in the bathroom one time with the blow dryer on as white noise). While in the moment it seemed so stressful and tiring, I often wish I could relive that again. Childhood is fleeting. One day I’m going to wake up and she will be going off to college. Cherish every day you have.

I’m sure I’ll be able to create another list as Brynn continues to grow and hopefully (God-willing) from our next baby.

Let me know if any of these tips helped you in the comments! I love to know who is reading my blog!

Until next time,

Jess <3