This post is part of the New Mom Monday series! A series about moms and their advice to new moms! Books and videos can only teach us so much, but there’s something special about hearing from real life moms. Honest, true, and always beautifully inspiring!!
♥ What’s your Name?
Kristin
♥ Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m a SAHM/WAHM of two and I feel like it all happened overnight! My husband and I bought a house in 2009, were married in 2010, had our little guy in 2011, and our little lady in 2012. The years since have flown buy and the kiddos are reaching school age.
♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?
Our Little Guy is 5 and just started kindergarten and our Little Lady is 4. My husband’s daughter is with us part-time and will be a teenager in a few days.
♥ How do you find your “me time”?
This is something I’ve struggled with so much! Ever since our second child I have stayed home, but I have also put a lot of pressure on myself to try to help provide for the family. I got into blogging as an outlet when I was home with the two babies, but I then started putting some pressure on myself to try to earn some money. My blogging me-time suffered when I started working from home, and I don’t think I had any real “me time” for the next few years. Recently, I have stopped working that job and tried to focus on enjoying these moments with the kids. My me time lately comes in the form of trying to get stuff done once the kids are in bed. I guess I haven’t really gotten this figured out just yet… haha!
♥ What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?
When I as pregnant A Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy was the best book I found because it was so relatable
♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?
My sling baby carrier. I’m lost without it. I love it because I can go to the store, park, zoo, state fair – pretty much everywhere and my baby will sleep, sleep, sleep while I take care of things and have both of my hands free.
♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?
I would say “relax, Momma, you’re doing fine. You don’t have to do it all, just nurture these awesome babies.” It something I still have to tell myself because, in an effort to be there for my kids, I put a lot of pressure on myself to have everything else all together when I really should be enjoying these fleeting moments. It goes so incredibly fast, just be present and enjoy it.
♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?
I didn’t do a ton of planning – of course, we had the nursery and gathered supplies, but the best things came naturally as we learned about our little ones and our needs. I would say not to plan too much, this will be totally different than expected. Don’t buy too much from the start, because you won’t end up using a lot of it. As you find out what you could use in your daily routine and what will work best for your family and your little one, then make those purchases.
♥ What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
These all really tie in together: Try not to put too much pressure on yourself. We’re all trying to do the best we can and there is no right or wrong way. Also, be flexible and do what works best for you and your little one. Last, don’t compare yourself or your baby to others. Each parent, family, mom, baby, etc. has their own strengths and weaknesses and everyone is different.
♥ What is your best memory so far of being a mom?
My best memories come from simple moments with my kiddos. Watching them enjoy things for the first time, watching them grow, each new milestone… My best memories are the moments were we all climb into bed together to read a book and cuddle.
♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.
With my oldest, we started with a midwife and I didn’t have much of a plan. I had no idea what to expect so I didn’t want to make any specific requests or decide to have a natural or medicated birth. My blood pressure started to rise toward the end of the pregnancy, so I ended up not even seeing our midwife for the birth and going with a regular doctor. When we got to the hospital in the middle of the night, it was a pretty long labor and I eventually went with an epidural. We also started to have a bit of stress just before delivery. I hardly recall it all because it seems so perfect in my memory, but we had a lot of monitoring and our little guy had to be taken right away shortly after I delivered. He turned out just fine and has been the healthiest kiddo ever since. With our second things were so much quicker! She came in no time and I remember hardly anything about that day. 🙂 No matter how it happens, those memories always turn into good ones.
♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!
Motherhood to me is a beautiful, rewarding, and loving responsibility. You’ve received the best gift of your life and now it’s up to you to do the best you can to shape these little people into a better version of yourself. It’s the best job you can ever do. I can’t imagine my world without them.
To hear more from Kristin be sure to visit her blog Exploring Domesticity and follow her on Facebook.
If you would like to participate in New Mom Mondays please feel free to message me by using
my contact form! I would love to not only feature you on my blog but learn from your answers, as I’m sure many readers would too!
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