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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?

Fatima Torres

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m a mom of two boys and two pups, married to my soulmate. I’m also a freelance social media strategist and Family/Lifestyle blogger who is passionate about life and being social.
♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?
I have two boys and two pups. Sebs (3), Chris (1) and the pups are 5 and 11.
♥ How do you find your “me time”?
I find a little “me time” any chance I get. Oftentimes it means waking up earlier than usual to write a post or finish up promo. Sometimes I sneak in a few pages from a book I’m reading.
♥ What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?
Anything from National Geographic, which reminds me, we have to replace the dinosaurs book our youngest destroyed.
♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

I had a really good baby carrier we purchased when we had our firstborn. We kept it until our second child outgrew it and gave the carrier to a family member. It was a lifesaver whenever we went on family walks or even when I had to travel to events with the two of them.

♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?
“Remember, you’re going to be exhausted. Just don’t take it out on everyone.”
♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I did a lot of planning prior to having our firstborn, and even then I couldn’t predict I was going to be a mom at 23. Prior to meeting my husband, I had graduated college a year ago and found my dream job. I was hoping to move up on the ladder until I became pregnant. It happened, and I embraced it. All I wanted was to be with my child. We moved to another state and I was home with our little one until I started doing freelance work and blogging from home. It’s been a blessing. Thankfully, I learned a lot from my 3.9 years at the digital publishing firm. Sometimes I feel as though with blogging and side projects I’m running my own digital firm.

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

You are not just a mom, so don’t hold on to that title like it’s the end of the world. There’s more to you. There’s more to who you believe you are. Go find her! 😉

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

The moments when they’re finally down for a nap/bed after a very long day. Those repeat themselves often, but the emotions are always the same. I always look back at our moments together. Those are what count. Not the mess, not the tantrums. And believe me, there are PLENTY of both.

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

Our first child was born through C-section It was terrifying, and I was numb to the experience. I remember being told I had to breastfeed my child after everything was done. Silly me, I had told them prior to going into labor that I’d like to do so.

When our second, I went through a VBAC. It was a breeze compared to what we went through with our firstborn.

♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Motherhood to me is finding strength in things you never thought were possible. It’s breathing life into someone else and even giving a new meaning to your own. It’s tough, but it’s also life-changing.

To hear more from Fatima be sure to visit her blog Motherhood Through My Eyes 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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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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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?

Michelle

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m 29 years old and I live in Vancouver, BC. I had my son when I was 16. I’m currently a SAHM because I’ve been on a medical leave since September 2015. I love reading and binge watching shows on Netflix.
♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?
I have one little monkey. His name is Riley and he just turned 12 years old.
♥ How do you find your “me time”?
Since my son is now older, my free time happens while he’s in school and when he’s at his dad’s house.
♥ What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?
In all honesty, I didn’t read any baby books.
♥ What’s the most useful baby product you have? Why do you love it?

I loved the playpen. I loved that I could put Riley in there and know that he was safe. Plus, as he grew older and started crawling and standing, it allowed me to do things like cook and clean without worry that he’s going to get up to something not good for him.

♥ If you could say something to yourself when you first brought home your first baby, what would you say?
1. It’s going to be a difficult road ahead but it’ll be so worth it!
2. Don’t be scared, you have so much help around you.
3. You are going to be an AMAZING MOM.
♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I planned and planned. As in… I made sure that I got everything before hand and I had to organize how I was going to finish my schooling. I left the high school I’ve been attending since grade 8 and decided to compete it online so that I can be at home. You can’t plan for everything because in reality, everything is on the baby’s schedule. Everything else was trial and error.

♥ What do you believe are the top three pieces of advice a new mom or someone trying to conceive should know?
1. Always live in the moment. It’s going to fly by so fast… you won’t know what hit you.
2. Take lots of pictures! I love looking at all of Riley’s baby albums.
3. Start some sort of baby book where you can record all the baby milestones, you’ll appreciate the memories when they’re older.
♥ What is your best memory so far of being a mom?

In all honesty, that’s a difficult question to answer because there are so many memories to choose from! I took a mental video of when Riley was learning how to crawl and his first baby giggles and those are baby milestones that definitely stuck in my mind. I love watching my little monkey find himself. I love watching him learn and try new things. I love watching him not give up. There really are a lot of memories in the past 12 years.

♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.
I just knew that Riley chose his birthday – he decided to come 3 weeks early. The birth itself was super fast – only 3 hours and 12 minutes from the moment my water broke. He was born in a hospital and delivered by a doctor who was not my OB because my OB was delivering another baby.  I had my mom, a friend from school and my brother’s girlfriend at the time with me. I didn’t plan on taking any pain medication and in all honesty, there was no time for it. The birth itself was fast and with no complications. The nurses and the doctor was so surprised that I didn’t need stitches! Riley was slightly jaundiced and I had high blood pressure so we stayed two nights. I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep at all that night.
♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

It’s a crazy rollercoaster with its ups and downs. It’s exciting… stressful but so rewarding!

To hear more from Michelle be sure to visit her blog CoffeeHeartMind 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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The human body is a wonder on all its own, don’t you think?

We have hands that can move and touch things, our fingertips can feel the textures before them. It’s so easy to forget, it’s so natural to take our bodies for granted. Holding hands helps transfer heat and warmth. An embrace can make us weak at the knees. And if we work at it, train it, and feed it well, our bodies can do incredible things and achieve the highest praise in sports and acrobatics. Our legs allow us to walk to new places whenever we wish and climb and jump. Our feet can feel blades of grass poking in between our toes, or dig themselves deeper into the cooler sand. Our stomach is wired and geared to help process anything we give it. Working tirelessly to extract what we need and purge what we don’t.

What’s most wonderful and awe-ing to me is our brains and hearts. Our minds, so full of wonder and light as babes and so complex and misunderstood at other times. Our brain allows us to find logical answers to everyday puzzles and problems that arise. It helps us decide between right and wrong, it allows us to come up with individualistic and unique thoughts. It reminds us of our past and the lessons we have learned from it. Our brains gather information and allow us to dream, to plan in advance, to shoot for the stars.

Our hearts distribute the correct amount of blood to all our organs, think about that! It’s a machine of insane power that defines if we live or if we don’t. A heartbeat, unique and special. From the moment the first ultrasound picks it up our heartbeats provide comfort to all those around us and to the woman that carries us for it means that we are living. Then there are emotions that we attach to the heart because of how it affects our heartbeat, because of how it changes in the face of the love of our lives, and family, and that thing you fear most. Love, a chemical reaction. Fear and Worry which steal our heartbeats. Excitement and Surprise that lift our mood and changes our routine.

These bodies we get to call our own are our home, they are the shelter of our soul. They allow us to experience life in our very own way. We get one body in this life, and it grows and develops inside of another human body. Talk about a miracle. Talk about the most magical experience. Carrying life. Every minute, knowing a new tiny human is growing inside. Knowing that everything you do and put into your body will make its way to them. Seeing for the first time how wonderful a woman’s body is, for it can grow LIFE. Your perspective on life changes, and will continue to, through birth, through the early years and forevermore.

Every person’s life has different chapters, and some have chapters they are missing from their story. Some families yearn to get pregnant and struggle through infertility and invasive treatments to be able to grow life. Others have gotten pregnant, had their world changed and then had it changed again when they suffered a loss. Others have had babies that are now gone. There are many other chapters, I don’t know them all but if any one of these is you, know I’m thinking of you. Through this holiday you may feel many negative emotions, it may be hard, and I want to send you a big and warm hug and tell you I’m sorry you are going or have gone through this. I’m sorry you have to watch another Mother’s day go by without your little one, and I hope that you get all that your heart desires. IVF finally works, ClearBlue tells you, YES, or the adoption application goes through.

The human body is a magical mysterious and wonderful thing we have the privilege of owning. Some are different than others, some work in slightly different ways, but regardless of it all. I hope that today you can thank your body for all that it is. Your constant vehicle through this life. Your friend and partner in crime. Something you can’t very well live without. And I hope that it sparks some thinking as to how you treat it, and talk about it, move it and feed it. I hope you think about how you feel when you catch its reflection. Is it with loathing and disappointment or is it with gratefulness and a promise to do right by it. To care and nurture it. To treat it and talk about it like you would your best friend.

Mother’s Day means many things to me, but in my personal journey, it’s a constant reminder to be grateful for my body. To forgive it for what it has or hasn’t done. To be grateful for what it can do, for what it can become, and for what I know deep in my being that it will provide.

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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?

Corinna Smith

♥ Tell us a little about yourself!
I am a wife and homeschooling mom of nine.  I live in the Deep South and try to juggle everything, every day just like all moms do.  
♥ How many kids do you have? What are their names and ages?
I have nine kids – I can’t remember all of their names and ages (kidding, mostly)
♥ How do you find your “me time”?
What is “me time”?  Seriously, though, when my husband and I can get away for a quick bite to eat or even some shopping together is when I find “me” because I don’t have to worry about meeting the needs of all the little people in my life.
♥ What is the best baby related book you’ve ever read?
 The Baby Book by Dr. Sears
♥ 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?
Don’t listen to anyone except yourself.  Unless you specifically ask for advice on a specific issue, you know what is best for your baby.  Oh, and take more pictures of yourself with the baby.
♥ How much planning did you do before your baby was born, and how do you think that it helped or didn’t help?

I was not prepared for the birth experience at all.  I failed to take a class or even read a book.  So, that didn’t help me as I didn’t know what to expect at the hospital.

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

Research your options for childbirth.  Surround yourself with people who support you in your parenting decisions.  Don’t forget to take it all in and have fun!

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

So many!  I have great memories of traveling with the kids.  Love seeing new places together and old places through their eyes for the first time.

♥ Give us the short form version of your birth story.
My ninth birth was amazing.  We went to a free-standing birth center for the first time.  My water actually broke at home (also a first for me) and we quickly headed to the birth center.  A couple of hours later, our son was born.  No birth plan, no medication, and no complications.  Seven hours later we were home and able to recover in peace.  Loved it and would recommend it to anyone who is expecting or trying to conceive.
♥ Lastly, for fun, define motherhood!

Motherhood is the opposite of all things selfish and ugly.

To hear more from Corinna be sure to visit her blog The Mommy Clause 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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