Welcome to our second week of Mama Mondays! Link up all of your mama related posts and grab our button or link back to us!

Has anyone tried baby lead weaning? I heard about it for the first time when Hampton was around 6 months old. I decided to try it out. He only has 2 teeth, but his doctor said that because his gums are so hard, he would be fine to chew soft foods. So far, Hampton is doing really well with fruits, toast, and green beans. Carrots on the other hand… yikes. Let’s just say Pippa eats her fair share of carrots.

Have you tried BLW? What BLW foods have been successful for your baby?

Happy Labor Day!! I love a long holiday weekend! To me, this weekend means family, food, beach time, laughter, and another one of Hampton’s firsts. I have absolutely loved celebrating his firsts this year. First time going to a restaurant (and then his first time at each (named) restaurant), His first Sunday at church, his first laugh, his first Easter, etc. It has been quite a year watching him grow and change so much. I hope you are all enjoying your day celebrating with your loved ones and most importantly – relax.

I’m so excited to start Mama Monday’s with Leslyn! She came to me with this idea a couple of weeks a and I loved it! I am a big fan of a place where mothers can come together to support one another in the happy times and difficult moments associated with parenting.

If you’re new around here, my name is Logan and I have a 10 month old, Hampton. You can read more about me here and more about him here.

I wanted to start off the first week with a funny/slightly terrifying story. I am extremely grossed out by roaches. I’m not afraid of them, but they are so disgusting to me that I feel dirty even being in a room with one. I just can’t deal. So one day, Ryan left to go to a lunch meeting and about 5 minutes after he left, I realized I had left my camera outside earlier from where Ryan was taking pics of one of my outfits. I went out onto the porch to grab it and when I turned around, I saw Hampton sitting just outside of the door chomping down on something. Just as soon as I looked at him, he all of a sudden got a terrified expression on his face and screamed in a way I had never heard him scream before. He freaked out. I ran to him and grabbed him up, running inside, and then I saw it. He had some how put a live roach in his mouth. Live, people.

That thing was going crazy in his tiny little mouth and it was scaring him. I forced his mouth open and saw the roach go down his throat. Hampton started choking and when he coughed it up, I was able to reach in and grab the roach and slung him on the floor all while screaming and crying myself because I was petrified. My son was choking. He was choking on the one thing I vowed never to touch.

It’s amazing what you will do for your kids. Hampton got a really good scrub down and I brushed his mouth/gums/teeth like crazy. I will never forget that day because it was one of my most terrifying experiences as a parent thus far. Of course, I can look back at it now and laugh, but at the time, it was horrible.

Has your child ever eaten something that repulsed you? What is a crazy experience you’ve had with your baby?

It’s time to link up your mama post of the week! Grab our button or link back to our blogs. I can’t wait to read all of your stories!

Here are a few facts about my life since having my baby (9 months ago).

Our house will not stay as clean as it was before.
-I have a really good cleaning schedule at our home. Laundry on Mondays, floors on Tuesdays and Saturdays, etc. It helps keep our house clean for the most part, but we have toys now. They stay out all the time and they are all over the place. I have been mysteriously finding my plastic spoons and spatulas thrown about the house as well as tupperware. Honestly, I love it. I love that my house is clearly lived in. My sweet baby made that mess and therefore I love it.

We will not be able to watch a T.V. show or movie without hitting pause for…the foreseeable future.
-This one is a shame. It takes us 2 hours to watch a 1 hour long show and sometimes we don’t even get to finish it until the next day. Thank goodness for DVR, right?

We will not have an uninterrupted meal.
-We take turns tending to Hamp while we eat. He hates it when we eat and aren’t paying him as much attention. He also decides he is hungry again every time we sit down to eat. Gotta love him. Hopefully this will get better with time. It’s just an attention seeking phase…right, moms? Anyone?

I will never take enough pictures.
– Ryan laughs at the amount of pictures I take of our son. I can’t help it. I want to remember everything. There are some things I’ve already forgotten like his first couple of months. It is all a blur and I don’t know what I would do without all of the pictures I took. I want to remember every face, look, smile, cry, and laugh.

Date nights are needed often, but don’t happen often.
-Before having Hampton, we could do and go wherever we wanted when we wanted. After having him, our date nights are not as often (naturally) but we now take full advantage of them. Before, we took them for granted because we saw each other all the time. Now, it is a treat and something we look forward to.

I will never travel peacefully again.
– When we went to Orlando, I left Hampton for the first time. I cried and cried. It was so tough for me to enjoy the trip without constantly thinking of him and wondering what he was doing or if he was okay. Did I forget to leave something for him? etc. When we left him for the second time while we were in Chicago, I had the same thoughts. It wasn’t as bad that time because we stayed so busy, but the plane rides were rough. By the time we got home, I was so anxious to see him. I’m hoping this will also get better with time.

I have a new-found confidence and less fear.
-I have lost some of my fears because having a baby does something to you. It makes you strong in ways you never were before. Motherhood also brings about new fears. Obvious ones. Of course you worry about your child constantly, but you will also grow and mature in a whole new way. You no longer get to be the child. You are the mom. This tiny person looks to you for comfort, food, and security. That gives you strength.

Some months I feel like I’ll never sleep again.
-Hampton is 9 months old, but he still goes through phases where he wakes up many times a night. I don’t know when this will get better. I am constantly wondering when we will sleep again. Sometimes he does great. He will sleep through the night for 2 or 3 weeks and then just when we feel like we have it all figured out, BOOM. He wakes up 4 times in one night and then it begins again. He won’t sleep for weeks. It goes back and forth. Can you tell I haven’t slept much the past 3 weeks? Can you tell by this sleepy rant? (haha okay, done)

We will not ever experience a love like this again…
-…until we have another child, of course. Hampton has filled my heart with so much joy and love since the moment I found out I was pregnant. Since he came into this world, it feels like my heart is crawling around our home. He is so precious. I can be in a terrible mood and he looks at me and smiles or does his sweet little chuckle and I forget about it all. The world around me fades and everything is better. He is the biggest blessing to mine and Ryan’s lives and I can’t imagine life without him now that he is here.

Bottom line, it’s worth it. To all of my friends and followers who are expecting their first child, cherish this time with your spouse. Things change so much once that little one comes into the world. You will have tons of time to focus on your little one, but you only have a limited time left to spend with your spouse like this. Go on dates now. Don’t wait. Children are a huge blessing from God and they bring so much joy to you and your home. They are worth it. Hampton is worth every T.V. show I haven’t watched. He is worth every bite of my dinner I didn’t get to finish, he is worth every day I haven’t been able to shower and every frustrated tear from a very tired mother. He is worth everything.

What changes have been made in your home since having children? How often do you go on a date with your husband?

This week has been a very strange one. Hampton woke up with the sniffles on Sunday and then Monday he woke up with a cold. He sounded terrible. It has been pretty pitiful. There is nothing worse than your child feeling sick. Tuesday morning, I woke up completely congested and feeling terrible. It was not great timing because I had to deep clean our entire house for a meeting that night with our new realtor.

If you remember, I talked earlier in the year about us putting our house up for sale. It has been on the market for over 6 months now. We haven’t had any bites, but we have had many showings. For the record, selling your house is not pleasant. It has been rather miserable trying to keep the house spotless with a 9 month old who is into everything and also working from home…with your husband who is now working from home. When our contract ran up with our other realtor, we decided to search for a new one. While I am very confident in our new realtor, I’m not confident in this housing market. Since we put our house up for sale, 10 others have gone up in our neighborhood. Not great odds. It’s been a stressful and long process and we are really ready for it to be over. We need a larger house with a little bit more space and an office so that we don’t have to work on our coffee table anymore. It’s not ideal. I know that God’s timing is perfect and I am trying to be patient and know that it will sell when it’s supposed to. Until then, I’m just going to keep swimming and make it better with a lot of prayer and a little retail therapy. Swoon.

Hampton and I are feeling much better today, and I am looking forward to a semi-quiet weekend with my sister who is coming to stay with us tonight! I can’t wait to see her and have some much needed sissy time!

Click here to see if you won my blogiversary giveaway!

Have you ever sold a house? Have any pointers for me? What are your weekend plans?

1. You will think about someone else a million times a day.

2. You have an all new respect for your parents.

3. New challenges arise every day.

4. Poop and vomit no longer phase you.

5. You will look like an absolute fool just to see a smile on that sweet face.

6. You have a new-found inner strength.

7. You’ll listen to an hour of Sesame Street every day for a little bit of peace.

8. Your belongings are no longer just yours.

9. Your showers and potty breaks are now communal (yes, I said potty)

10. You have more love and joy in your life than you ever thought imaginable.

Kimono: H&M here
Tank: Target here
Shorts: Old Navy here
Sandals: DSW here
Sunglasses: boutique similar

What do you think about the kimono trend? What are you loving this summer?

I’m so excited that Helene and Sarah chose this as the #TotalSocial topic for this week because I’ve actually had this post written for a while. I just haven’t hit that publish button. So here is my #9to5 :

I am a work at home mom. That means that I work from home while also keeping my 7 month old. I have worked many jobs and have had a part-time or full-time job since I was 12 years old. I worked from home for 2 1/2 years before having my baby. It was my full-time job. It still is. I just added a baby to the mix.

Are you a stay-at-home or work-at-home mom? I applaud you. A lot of women openly admit that they work to get a “break” from their children. Seriously, I’ve had multiple friends and family members say that to me. While I think that is so sad, I can also understand. Being a full time mom is so stressful. It is literally the only 24/7 job in the world. You are always on call.

Trying to work while also entertaining a baby is tough work. Can you imagine doing both at the same time? I do it every work day. In fact, about 90% of my weekends, I’m also having to work to make up for all that I didn’t get done during the week. I feel like a lot of people don’t understand what a WAHM does or what that means. A WAHM has a job that she works from the home while also raising her children. I’ve had a lot of people laugh at me and say I do “nothing.” HA, if only they knew.

Personally, I made the decision a long time ago to stay at home with my children. I feel a sense of responsibility for my child because I chose to bring him into this world. I wanted him. I prayed for him. I want to raise him and spend as much time as I can with him. Motherhood is about sacrifices, and I’ve had to make a lot, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I work as a web content manager for local lawyers and restaurants during the week, and if you missed my post a couple of weeks ago, I am now the BOM coordinator and social media expert for ALWB. Doing these along with my blog is a lot, but I enjoy every minute of it. Sure some weeks I could rip my hair out, but most of the time, I genuinely love working from home, raising my child and blogging about all of it.

Want a little bit more of a glimpse into what it’s like to be a WAHM?

I’m on a conference call while tending to a screaming child and wrestling with my mute button on my phone to try to sound like I’m not dealing with a screaming child while trying to conduct business in a professional manner.

I know the importance of a nap not necessarily because it’s good for my baby to sleep, but because it is my one opportunity to finally get some work done, uninterrupted.

I start working early with the intention of actually finishing on time only to realize it’s 3p.m. and I’m not only still in my PJs and showerless, but I’ve still got hours worth of work to finish. Sigh.

I have mastered the art of feeding my baby with one hand while talking on the phone and answering emails on the other.

I understand how hilarious it is when people say things like “oh, you don’t understand because you work from home” or “you have time to do this, I mean you just work from home.”

Do you work from home? Are you a WAHM?

I’ve been contemplating it for quite some time, but I had to close my eyes, and hold my breath when it happened. I love my hair. I’ve worn it long for many years. I have curly hair but it is easy to straighten. Because of it’s natural body, I’ve always preferred to wear it long. Plus, there was the whole I have to get it in a bun thing #ballerinaproblems.

Something happens to you when you have a baby. Lots of things women don’t warn you about. One of those things is you apparently lose your hair at alarming rates. I’m talking hand fulls in the shower every morning, and cleaning out your brush every day. Sometimes multiple times a day to the point where you almost become depressed about it. Definitely self-conscious. It makes sense because your hair thickens while you’re pregnant, so I guess when your hormones balance back out, you lose that extra hair? I don’t know. That’s my theory. Anyways…add that to my 6 month old pulling out my hair a thousand times a day (rough estimate) and I was fed up with it.

I talked to my cousin at her wedding a couple of weeks ago and she was telling me that she was going to cut her hair and donate it to Locks of Love once she got back from their honeymoon. I thought, wow what a great idea! I have thought about donating my hair since my sister did it several years back. Because I wanted to get my hair chopped any way, I thought why not donate it? So I did.

I went all Miley and got my hair chopped off.

When I was sitting in the chair, I had to literally close my eyes and hold my breath while Abbey (my friend and hair-stylist) cut my hair off. Turns out, I kind of love it. It is so much easier to deal with and Hampton hasn’t grabbed it as much. It is a huge change, but I’m enjoying it. So, this is the new me…at least for now. I’ll probably grow it back out, but for now, this is a nice and welcome change.

Do you ever get tired of dealing with your hair?

My first Mother’s Day was such a blessing. Hampton and Ryan brought me roses in bed and Hampton gave me a clay print of his tiny little hands. It was the sweetest most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received and I will treasure it forever.

We went to lunch with my mom and spent some time with my family yesterday afternoon which was also a huge blessing. I haven’t spent time with my whole family like that in a while, so it was nice to have everyone together.

While I’ve got you here, feel free to enter this giveaway that I’m a part of hosted by Shana at Organized Chaos. 🙂

How did you spend your Mother’s Day?

Being a mother has been the biggest blessing of my life. Even through the tough moments, I look at Hampton and still can’t believe he is here. He is all mine! It is bizarre. This little tiny human is my precious baby boy. He brings me such joy. He makes me smile many times a day. My heart has been so full since the day I met him. Being a mother is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s the best thing. I feel like this is what I was meant to be. This is the journey God meant for me. Motherhood, there’s nothing like it.

Hampton, I will never forget the way you hold my finger while you are eating your bottle, or the way you look up at me with those big brown eyes and smile so big and bright. You melt my heart. I hope I will always remember you as you are now. You have such a kind and gentle temperament and I love to watch you play with your toys and discover new things. You are growing so fast and are so curious. I love you to the moon and back. You are my biggest blessing. I’m so glad God chose me to be your mommy.

Happy Mother’s day to all of the mothers out there! To those expecting their first child, enjoy your day. To those who are trying to start a family and have been unsuccessful, my heart is with you today. Don’t ever give up.