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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?

Annie Foreman

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!

I am a wife, mom, Realtor, and lifestyle blogger. My blog is where I share about my life, fun activities, fashion, food, Fresno, entertainment, kids, and much more.  I was born and raised in Fresno, CA and have grown to love and truly appreciate The Central Valley.  I married my high school sweetheart, Kevin in 2009 and we welcomed our first baby girl is November of 2011 and our second baby girl in May 2014.

♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

Emily Grace – age 3.5  Madison Anne- Age 15 months

♥ How do you find your “me time”?

Finding “me” time is very hard but I think the most important aspect of finding me time is having support from your family especially your husband.  My husband is WONDERFUL about giving me “time off” rather frequently.  Whether it’s dinner or happy hour with girlfriends and a night away to reboot.  I’ve learned that “me” time makes me a way better mom and wife.  As a type A mama I found it really hard to ask for help or not take on everything myself.  However, I learned (am still learning) that the breaks make me a better mom and wife.

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

Baby Wise.

♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

Baby Brezza is a great tool for steaming and pureeing food.  I made all my own baby food so having something to streamline the process was great.

♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

Ask for help.  You don’t have to be supermom.

♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?
I read a few books during my first pregnancy but always just felt that I was meant to be a mom so I don’t think I did an overwhelming amount of research.  The books I did read did help especially Baby Wise because the schedule helped me so much.  Also doing research gives you confidence even if you don’t agree with the point of view.  You can learn different ideas then take what works for you.
♥ What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?

Trust in God, You will get through it (whatever IT is), Ask for help

♥ What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

There are thousands of wonderful memories in my past 3.5 years of being a mom.  It’s nearly impossible to narrow it down to one memory.  Seeing my husband hold our first daughter for the first time was priceless.  I never had a father present so to see the ultimate love when he held her was breathtaking and indescribable.

♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.
My water broke in the early afternoon and our baby girl arrived not so many hours later at 10:14 pm.   When my water broke I wasn’t quite sure but after a few minutes of “leaking” I figured this must be “it.”  I called my husband to tell him, “I think it’s time.”  He rushed home and was anxious to get to the hospital but I wasn’t in any pain so I was in no hurry.  I told my husband to take a shower and get his things together.  I even made him stop at Whole Foods so I could pick something up on the way to the hospital.  Once we got there I still wasn’t have any contraction pain so they called  my OB/GYN.  He instructed them to give me Pitocin to initiate labor but once they checked me they were shocked to find that I was 4.5 cm dilated.  They called upstairs for someone to come get me.  By the time I arrived to the 6th floor the contraction pain had begun and was quite INTENSE.  I asked for an epidural and those next 30 minutes or so of waiting seemed pretty long.  As the anesthesiologist was numbing my back I heard him say, “Dad are you okay?” and dad responded, “yeah,” and then BOOM, dad hit the floor extremely hard.  Everyone ran to his side as I was having the worst contraction yet (my epidural was delayed needless to say).  I was so worried he was really injured but they took my husband outside while they finally gave me the epidural.  Luckily, a few minutes later he returned and was okay except for one huge bump and a headache.  They decided to check me right after the epidural and they were utterly shocked to find that I was totally effaced and dilated to a 10.  Labor went really fast, especially for my first baby.  At 7:55 I started pushing.  As quick as labor was, I pushed for almost 2.5 hours.  Towards the end my dr. gave me an episotomy and had to use the vacuum.  At 10:14 our bundle of joy was born.
My husband and I decided that only he and I would be in the room especially since this was out first baby and we didn’t know what to expect.  Looking back I am so glad we made this decision.  It’s a very special experience and the moment your baby is born is indescribable.  It was so wonderful that we got to share it together; with no other distractions.
♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

The greatest joy and hardest job in the world.  Motherhood is wiping bottoms, drying tears, cleaning up messes, losing sleep all with a giant smile on your face!

To hear more from Annie be sure to visit her blog The Real Housewife of Fresno and follow her on Instagram.

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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NEW MOM MONDAYS CHASING LITTLES
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?

Heather Koontz

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!

I’m a full-time working mom with lots of hobbies and dreams. By day, I’m a digital marketer. When I’m not working, I run a personal blog where I share musings, adventures, and DIY tutorials. When I’m not doing that, you can find me in my craft room, drinking wine, or watching Dateline.

♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

I have one 18-month-old little boy named Russell.

♥ How do you find your “me time”?

Full disclosure: I don’t think I even know what “me time” is anymore! But, I do try to take time at the end of every day (after working, cooking, cleaning, blogging, checking off my to-do-list, and maybe squeezing in a shower) to spend 30 minutes or so watching television with my husband. It’s our way to connect and relax, and I look forward to it every day! Outside of that, I like devote a portion of my time to self-improvement in the form of devotionals, reading other blogs, etc.

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

When I was pregnant, I was a big fan of the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” classic.

♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

Two words: gripe water. My son suffered from severe colic, and he was in pain for the first six months of his life. When we started using gripe water, we saw him get instant relief. It helped us survive the colicky months!

♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

It’s not as hard as you think! Yes, your baby cries all the time. Yes, washing around the umbilical cord area is intimidating. Yes, he is so small and fragile. But, trust yourself. You know what you’re doing, and you know best.

♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I’m nothing if not a planner. I have no less than five active planners and calendars at any given time, and I like to have everything scheduled and checked off. BUT. When it came to having a baby and bringing him home, none of those plans mattered. The perfect birth I planned went horribly against plan; my plans to work while my newborn slept did NOT happen; and the baby book I so thoughtfully planned to keep updated is pretty much empty right now.

♥ What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?

1) You can do this. There are times when it seems impossible, but girl, I promise you can do it. You became a mother for a reason, and you are the only person meant to be a mom to your baby. 2) It gets better. Colic? Crying? Sleep regression? Growth spurts? It all gets better. And believe it or not, you will look back and regret how quickly it went by. 3) Reach out. If you’re feeling sad, even a little bit, find someone you can talk to. Don’t remain silent if you’re suffering from any kind of emotional pain. PPD is real, and it’s dangerous. Reach out!

♥ What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

My son is a very sweet human being. He loves to hug and kiss and smile. The very first time he spontaneously hugged me is my best motherhood moment thus far. We were playing on his floor and when he looked up at me, and I could see his little eyes sparkling. His face softened, he started to smile, and he decided to stand up and wrap his little arms around my neck. It made me feel like maybe he realized – in that moment – who I am and how much I love him.

♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.

My birth experience wasn’t what I expected. In fact, it was pretty much my nightmare. I’d been leaking amniotic fluid for a week before realizing it, so an emergency induction, threats of an emergency C-section, and blood pressure scares followed.

♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Motherhood is sacrifice, anxiety, and lots of sighing. But, you’d never, ever want to give it back once you have it.

new mom mondays

To hear more from Heather be sure to visit her blog OakCityFolk 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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You failed. It happened, and now you can’t stop thinking about it. It’s ok, we’ve all failed before, and guess what, we’ll fail again. But we need to move past it! Here are some tips on how to finally STOP OBSESSING over that time you failed! Time to move on, move forward and get to the next thing.

1. Admit it, but don’t BECOME it.

Don’t let that one thing that didn’t go quite right define who you become. You do not become a failure, ever. Admit that it happened, but don’t let it touch who you are. You are a try-er, and these are the things you have to go through to get to the place you want to be! Our self-esteem drops when we decide to become our fails, and that’s not only damaging but it lowers our frequencies and slows down our progress. Nobody wants or deserves that!!

2. Feel what you feel.

There’s nothing good that’s ever come from ignoring our emotions. Figure out how you really feel and put it into words. Do you feel angry? disappointed? sad? It’s all ok, and guess what? It’s all natural! Allow yourself to feel what you feel. Once you do, it’s time to move on.

3. Turn it to ashes.

Writing something down gets the energy out of your body. Putting your emotions and situations on paper allows you to clear your mind. Truly. So take a moment, and write it down. The failure, your feelings. Put it all out there onto the page. And then, turn it to ashes. Burn the paper and let the ashes fly away and take everything with them. It’s a very freeing moment.

4. Sage it.

You’ve now gotten rid of all these negative thoughts and emotions that were swirling around inside you. Here’s the thing, though, energy lingers. I can’t seem to focus when I have a cluttered space or when it feels stuffy and heavy in the room or in the house. Ever feel that? Like no matter what you did, you still don’t feel quite right? it’s time to clear the negative energy and clean the space around you. Nowadays you can find these things anywhere, but go grab yourself a sage smudge stick and use it. Sage has been used for centuries to clean and purify areas. Make it work even more by saying some positive thoughts as you do this, or pray, whatever you’re into.

5. Let go of other’s opinions.

Sometimes, when we’ve failed it isn’t so much the failure that we get really anxious about, it’s when it’s a public failure. When people know. What will they think now? Deep down we all have this fear of not being respected or believed in, and failing makes us feel less than. But guess what? You’re not the first person to have failed. You’re not the only person in this world that things have not turned out for. So let go of the care for what other’s think of you because you tried, and somewhere along the way, you will succeed, and that day, you’ll know that it was all your hard work, your dedication, and your drive to stop obsessing about that one time you failed.

Love always,

Mariangelica

 

This post contains affiliate links. What does that mean for you? It doesn’t cost you anything extra but I get a small percentage of your purchase if you decide to purchase something from the post. I do this to make some side income while linking you to the great products I use. I will never write a post about a product I do not believe in, and no one has paid me to write this post. All opinions are always my own. Just like supporting a friend’s small business, by clicking on my affiliate links you are supporting a small time blogger who deeply appreciates it. You can read more about this on my about page. Thanks love.

 

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NEW MOM MONDAYS CHASING LITTLES
 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?

Sheena Lastoskie

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!

I am a Christian mom, wife to the love of my life for 8 years, and a family travel blogger. I was born and raised in Southern California and I don’t plan on ever moving away. I love to craft, from scrapbooking to wood crafts, I love it all. My new addiction is to adult coloring books, they are so calming to me. I could eat pizza and tacos everyday of my life as long as I have a rootbeer to go with it.

♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?

I have two children, ages 3 & 4. Shane and Scarlet

♥ How do you find your “me time”?

I miss me time. It is the one thing that I have not found time for in my last 4 years of motherhood.

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

I stayed away from reading mommy books. Once you start letting others influence your parenting you will be unhappy.

♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

The Nose Frida saved my sanity on numerous occasions. When my children would get a running nose, I was so scared to use those awkward nose suckers you get when you bring your baby home. The Nose Frida is the same concept except so much less stressful. Now when my children have a runny nose they ask for the Nose Frida because it clears them right up.

♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?

Your baby is not going to break. Don’t be scared of her, all she needs is your love.

♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I love to plan and I did a lot of it before I brought home both of my children but nothing could have prepared me to care for a new baby.  Going from a family of 2 to 3 and then from 3 to 4 is a huge transition.

♥ What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?

My husband and I struggled with infertility and it was some of the hardest times of our lives. The negative pregnancy tests seemed to be never ending. What I would say to those trying to conceive is that God has a plan for you, don’t let it consume your life, he will provide.  Enjoy the time with your spouse because once you have a little one, your life will forever change. Stay positive, as hard as it may be, this is just apart of your life’s journey, embrace it.

♥ What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

Watching all of my children’s accomplishments. Seeing them proud of themselves always makes me cry happy tears.

♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.

I suffer from extreme anxiety and when I was making my birth plan with my doctor we decided that we would induce and give me an epidural very early on to keep me from feeling any pain. I labored for 3 days and pushed for almost 4 hours. I was exhausted and hungry but had a healthy baby girl to show for all of my suffering!

♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Organized Chaos

NEW MOM MONDAY CHASING LITTLES

To hear more from Sheena be sure to visit her blog Shining Thoughts Blog and follow her on instagram!

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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11things

I was nominated by Lisa and you can check out her answers here! Here we go!

Would you rather be able to sing or dance?

This is a hard one! I love singing, I sing every day! But since I started doing pole dancing I have really wished I was able to dance naturally and flow form one move to the other. I think it’d be so neat to be able to hear a song and come up with a choreography to it!! I think I’ll have to choose singing for this one!!

What is your favourite thing to do during “me” time?

During my ‘me’ time I hop between many activities! It really all depends on my mood and what I’ve been into that week! These activities could involve reading pregnancy books, pinning baby articles on my pinterest, writing fiction, working on my beachbody business where I am a free fitness coach to those looking to get started on the path towards health and fitness, cuddling with my puppy, learning a new song on the guitar… I have way too many hobbies!

If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?

If I could travel anywhere I’d have to take my husband with me and go to Bora Bora because he’s always wanted to go there and it’s just so overly expensive that I think just a free trip will get us there haha.

High heels or flats?

FLATS. All day every day. I wear heels when I go out with my girlfriends out dancing but on a regular basis? Flats.

What time do you get up in the morning?

It varies so much, depending on what I’m doing that day, on a regular basis i’ll be up anywhere from 7am to 8:30am!

What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas for sure. I love Christmas music, Christmas decorations, family time, the smell of christmas candles and cinamon. It’s to pearly white outside. it’s a great time overall!!

What is the one thing you would splurge on even if you have no money?

Board Games! Endless hours of fun, you really get your money’s worth!! I am obsessed with strategy board games that may seem confusing to many and take like a full hour or so to LEARN. So fun.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate. Always!

What is your guilty pleasure song?

Any Disney song, Backstreetboys song, Avril – but def Disney, I can listen to Disney songs all day.

Where was the last place you ate dinner out at?

The Works!! It’s hard to find a good veggie burger, and then harder to find a place that has veggie burgers AND gluten free buns! I LOVE their Spicy Die Cut Chips!

Your favorite place to be in the whole world?

Home on the couch with my husband making plans for our next trip!

I nominate:

  1. Chasin’ Mason
  2. Loving Littles
  3. Discovering Parenthood

Here are YOUR 11 questions!

  1. What is your favourite quality in others?
  2. If you were an animal what would you be?
  3. What is the last nice thing someone did for you?
  4. What was your favourite subject in highschool?
  5. If you could travel somewhere for free where would you go?
  6. What would you tell your 18 year old self?
  7. What is your favourite hobby?
  8. If you wrote an ebook what would the title be?
  9. Why do you blog?
  10. What colour would your hair be if upkeep wasn’t an issue?
  11. What’s your favourite store? What’s the last thing you bought there?
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