Friday Favorites

Happy Friday Friends! 

Today I am linking up with the wonderful Andrea over at Momfessionals :)

I don't know about ya'll but its been a LONG week. I am happy to see Friday come and am looking forward to a long weekend with my family. 

Greek Yogurt Bars

Have you guys tried these yet?! Amazing. And if your doing weight watchers they are only 2pp :)

The weather 

Although this forecast shows a lot of rain, its warming back up :)

The Bachelorette

Have ya'll been watching? This season is so crazy already! I am really glad to see Kaitlyn was picked and I can't wait to see this season play out! 

Date night! 

My sweet hubby & I have a date night planned for Saturday night. We havent decided where we are going but narrowed it down to 3 choices! HAHA I just cant wait to spend some 1:1 time with him again. 

Until next time friends, 

XO Jessica 

It was harder than I thought...

 

 

Yesterday Rachel over at Floral and Fudge did a really great post on breastfeeding. If your a new mom or soon to be mom I really recommend it.

 

Her post got me to thinking about something that has weighed on my mind since I became a mom myself.

 

My experience with nursing...it didn't work out & it was harder than I thought.

 

 

In November of 2011 when I became a mom to Dominick I didn't nurse. I was younger then and felt so/so about doing it. I just knew in my heart that if I wasn't 100% committed it wouldn't work. Well during my 49 1/2hr labor that went far from how I planned and a NICU stay, it was honestly the last thing I was worried about. I just wanted my baby healthy & home with me. But that's another post for another day :)

 

Fast forward to November of 2013, Yes my babies share birthday months...in fact they share a birthday month with their mom & my dad too!

 

Aidan - 11/05

Dominick - 11/29

me- 11/23

my dad 11/22

 

November is a busy month around here!! :)

 

This time I decided when I found out I was pregnant with Aidan that no matter WHAT happened, I would nurse. I was committing to it & I wanted that bonding experience with my baby.

 

At first it was easy! He nursed right after being born. He had a great latch & it didn't hurt. I was so happy it was working for us. He nursed several times through the night our first night in the hospital & all of the nurses were so impressed, in fact my milk came in the day we left the hospital!

 

We came home and things went well, he was nursing a lot at night but I was expecting the cluster feeding. I could hear the sucking & swallowing so I knew he was eating. I was so proud of my body and that I truly felt it was doing what women's bodies were created to do. And then.... it wasn't.

 

Aidan was having plenty of wet diapers but it seemed like he wanted to eat constantly. He wasn't happy unless he was eating. I would lay him down and he would cry. He wasn't sleeping and neither was I. We were going to weight checks two-three times a week and he was constantly loosing ounces. I cried in the pediatrician's office on more than one occasion. I felt like I was failing him.

 

The NP suggested we try supplementing with formula, I would give him 2oz of formula and he would drink it as fast as he could & then cry out for more. I felt as though I was literally STARVING my baby.

 

After close to 4 weeks I stopped. I was driving home from the pediatricians office one afternoon and I cried the whole way home. I took the baby to Walgreen's and got a can of formula and we went home. We got home & I handed the formula and Aidan to my sweet husband and simply said "I can't starve him anymore".

 

My husband was so beyond supportive. He didn't want me stressed out and he obviously wanted the best for both of us. He assured me that I didn't fail like I felt like I did. The nurse practitioner suggested I tried pumping to see if I was making enough, I knew I was but refused to try it. I was full of emotion & tired, I just felt like a failure.

 

A few weeks later we found out that Aidan had silent reflux after weeks of not being able to keep anything down and projectile vomiting ALL the time, even in Target once. We had to put him on medicine which he stayed on until he was about 10 months old.

 

The doctor told me that's probably why he wasn't gaining weight but I still felt guilty.

 

To date, that is still my biggest parenting regret. I feel like I gave up too easy & I should have fought harder. IF its in god's plan for us to have baby number 3 then I will try again & this time I will try harder.

 

 

Until next time friends,

XO Jessica 

Show & Tell Tuesday: Momfessionals

Today I am linking up with Andrea over at Momfessionals for Show & Tell Tuesday :)

This weeks topic? Momfessionals. What is a Momfessional you ask? Confessions about things you have done during motherhood. 

Motherhood is HARD. Posts like these remind me that we are all in these trenches together. 

So let's get started shall we?

Target

Sometimes I will tell my husband that I need to go to the store to pick up a few things which we really do need but I will spend an extra 20 mins or so just walking down aisles because I am alone and I can actually LOOK!

Checking my e-mail

Sometimes I will sit in the driveway after a particularly long day and check my email while letting the kids just watch a few minutes of paw patrol. They are quiet & contained. 

I weigh my options

If I need to run an errand I usually weight out a pro/con list in my head to see if its something I can avoid doing. Going somewhere alone with a 1.5 year old & 3.5 year old boys can be work ya'll!

Bath-time

I loathe bath time. It used to be easy when they just sat there & you could get in and out. Now its a big old mess. Water everywhere, fighting over bath toys because they both love baths so much that one has a stroke if they cant get in the tub when they hear it filling. I bathe my kids every other night unless they are sick, sweaty or a big mess. It started when D was diagnosed with eczema, it dries out his skin. I def wipe them down every night though :) 

Allergies

Dominick has food allergies & he always wants to eat what your eating. Sometimes If I don't want to share I tell him it might have egg or peanut in it so he can't eat it. Terrible I know...but sometimes you just want a meal without toddlers fingers finding their way in!

Saying "I'm sorry"

Do ya'll ever have those days where you just have no patience. I feel like I have them way more than I care to admit. Every little thing will drive me crazy. By the end of the night when all my tactics for keeping my cool fail, the "mommy monster" as my dad calls it will come out. As soon as those sweet little's are in bed & settled and I have a moment to reflect on my day. Its that time when the mommy guilt kicks in HARD. I usually find myself crawling in bed next to D to apologize for loosing my patience and letting him know how much I love him. I might end up regretting that in the long run but I feel its important that my babies know no matter how frustrated I may get I always love them so much it hurts. 

So there ya have it! Whats your Momfessional?

Until next time friends, 

XO Jessica 

A day in the life

Happy Friday Friends!! 

I LOVE day in the life posts, I have been meaning to do one for awhile now...we are in a very busy "season" in our lives and  I want to remember it! 

This is a LONG post so if you give up, I understand! :)

I wake up around 545 am and check the news to see the weather forecast before jumping in the shower...

After showering I munched on some strawberries & an english muffin with a cup of coffee while getting ready :)

I check the monitor while getting ready to see my youngest is still snoozing away :)

I make our bed EVERY morning when we get up, I feel like it makes the room look "put together" 

I make the boys breakfast/snacks/lunches for the day, my boys have food allergies so I send everything for the day with them. 

Quickly wipe down the counters & get my snacks together for the day :)

Wake up my sleeping beauty :)

Poor baby is getting over 5th's disease so his cheeks are still rosey :(

Get A dressed & ready for the day, surprisingly hes the easy one to get ready!

Make A's bed :) Yes, we know....he has a lot in his bed. I take most of it out once he falls asleep. Baby likes his friends in bed with him :)

Empty the dishwasher quick while convincing Dominick to get dressed...

Make D's bed super quick...

Daddy takes the boys to daycare most mornings, so I kiss my boys & off we go...

Its about 725 and Momma is on her way...

Arrive at work around 742 and start my day! With another cup of coffee of course ;)

Mid morning I take a quick 15 minute break & consult my planner to see whats going on today...

Not too much going on today...

Close to 2 I ordered lunch from Jimmy Johns, I had intended on grabbing a salad from downstairs but I was WAY TOO BUSY yesterday...

Turkey Tom, ya cant go wrong :)

Around 3 I had a meeting with my team leader...

A little after 4 I give my desk one quick look to make sure its picked up before heading off.

Momma is on her way to get the boys! :) 

Picked up my favorite little guys, don't worry we were parked! :)

A quick trip through costco with my 3 favorite guys! I love their 2 seater carts! 

We get home around 550 and the boys play while I put dinner together quick. Usually we eat together but we were supposed to do dinner with friends this night, we had to cancel because G has not been feeling well :(

We had salad & pizza on the grill, typically I cook dinner but like I said we cancelled plans last minute. 

A few selfies after dinner with my baby :)

He loves to cuddles & he LOVES blankets. 

a little after dinner playing :)

Bath time! :) 

The boys get to watch one episode of cartoons before bed, they chose Blaze on Nick Jr. 

After the boys are in bed, I clean :) I swept & mopped the kitchen. Cleaned the counters up from dinner & loaded the dishwasher. I dry dusted the house & picked up. Through out the day things find there way to normal drop off spots so I go through and put these things away! :)

A little essential oils running to hopefully help everyone feel better :) 

I fold & put away a couple loads of laundry :)

I sat down with my sweet hubby to watch the season finale of Grey's & The blacklist before heading to bed for the night around 10 pm :)

Its busy & most of the times hectic but that was a pretty normal night in the P house & I wouldn't have it any other way! :) 

Have a great weekend! 

Until next time friends,

XO Jessica 

Friday Favorites....on a Thursday!

Happy Thursday Friends! 

I am posting Friday favorites a day early..I am planning a fun post for tomorrow so I mixed things up a bit ;)

Linking up today with Andrea over at Momfessionals :)

1. The Bachelorette premier on Monday 05/18! Who else will be watching?! They are switching things up a bit this season and starting with TWO ladies and the 25 men then decide which lucky lady they want to pursuit. Sheer craziness and you bet I'll be watching ;)

2. Good deals- this momma loves to save $$ at the store! I pre-planned my shopping trip for the week and hit Target. We usually get groceries from Target or Wegmans, all depends on what we need, whats on sale where & my mood. HA. Yesterday I made sure to load up my cartwheel, I had 22 spots filled up ya'll! I also had two target mobile coupons and my red card debit! I set myself a goal to remain under $150 for groceries for the week. This would include diapers & wipes, personal care items & cleaning products. My total came to $147.72 after all my savings were deducted. I saved a total of $31.87 that trip! Woot Woot! 

3. Sunshine & warm weather! Our 10 day forecast has a lot of mid 70s weather coming up and I can't wait. Although there's many days with chances of rain, I will take what I can get! 

Make sure to pop back over tomorrow & check out my fun post!

Until next time friends,

XO Jessica 

[Life lately]

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

 

I THINK the germs finally left the P house for the time being & we can all move on with life, amen.

 

I thought I'd do a quick photo dump to show what we have been up to lately! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time friends,

XO Jessica