NMM9-2
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!!
Your name:
Kelly

Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m a Jesus loving wife and mama from Georgia on a mission to find and create joy in every day.  I love the SAHM life but I’m also a dance teacher three nights a week so I like to think I get the best of both worlds.  I am currently pregnant with my second little boy and am due at the end of September.  On my blog you’ll find a little bit of my journey through motherhood/second pregnancy and a good helping of DIY!
 
How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

I guess I technically have 2! Gavin (aka Mr. G on the blog) is 3.5 and Roman (aka RC) is currently in utero and due September 25th.

How do you find your “me time”?

Most of my me time is found after Mr. G goes to bed.  I’m a bit of a night owl with morning person tendencies so I’ll stay up a little later at night to browse a few more Bloglovin’ posts or catch up on a project even if it means less sleep when the little man wakes up.

What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?

The only book I ever really went all in with was the classic “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”.  I read that thing religiously when I was pregnant with Mr. G.  The only other book that I read in regards to parenting was “1-2-3 Magic” once we started preschool and wanted to use the same discipline method as they do.  If you’re looking for a great discipline system, I highly recommend it!

What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?
Since I couldn’t breastfeed my first due to the medication I had to take, I relied on bottles for feeding.  The Avent microwave bottle sterilizer was the best thing that ever happened to us!  Forget to clean those bottles for yesterday? No problem! Rise, pop them in the sterilizer, and just a few minutes later you have clean, sterile bottles ready to go!
If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?
He’s ok, you’re ok, you can do this!
How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?
Not too much to tell you the truth.  I didn’t take any classes, not even birthing classes, and I don’t feel like I really missed out too bad.  I  mainly read materials about the pregnancy, visited the pediatrician (very helpful and necessary!), and did a hospital tour.
What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
Trust YOUR instincts.  Nobody is right or wrong when it comes to raising their own child, unless they are harming them of course.  So whatever you choose to do is what works for YOU and YOUR baby.
What is your best memory so far of being a mom?
It’s seriously hard to pick just one but I have to say it was the first moment they laid my son on me, seconds after delivering him.  I have never experienced such a flood of joy in my life.  It as a feeling of “You’re finally here!” and “Oh my gosh, I’m a mom!“. 
Give us the short form version of your birth story.
I remember walking around the mall, it was the middle of January, the day before he as born to try to coax Mr. G into coming out.  I just didn’t “feel good”.  That was the only way to describe it and sure enough, 3 AM came around and my labor had started.  I had no birth plan other than I wanted an epidural and whatever the doctor thought as best for the health of my son and me.  I was not dead set on having a natural delivery, if I suddenly needed a C-section, than so be it.  But that as not the case, he just took his sweet time, 20 hours to be exact, and was delivered naturally.  For the full story, you can check out my birth story post.
Lastly, for fun, define motherhood:
It is joy, it is frustration, it is terrifying (at times), it is the epitome of the phrase “all the feels”.  You can have so many emotions, sometimes all of them, all at the same time!  But above all, it is joy.

To hear more from Kelly be sure to visit her blog The Little Things and follow her on Instagram.

NMM9

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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