The moment we delivered our first baby I was pretty sure I was never going to have another baby. The experience was not something that I was fond of, something that I surely did not want to go through again. Yet, throughout the past year or so we have found ourselves in so much love with our little man that we wanted both a sibling for him and we felt ready for another.

Before I was pregnant with this second child I started seeing so many baby announcements that in some way or another used COVID as the reason the baby to be conceived and if that is your humor then that’s great, just not my cup of tea. So, I knew that people would ask if it was a planned pregnancy or if we really wanted another one and so on and so forth. It came as questions from those I was not expecting, as they assumed we were not having another. Entering into this pregnancy we already knew that things would be different because some people would not be supportive, some would think it was a mistake or unplanned and some would be over the moon and happy for us.

Heading into my first doctors appointment I was very nervous, I had to go in by myself and meet with the doctor, of course to confirm pregnancy. Then I had my first ultrasound scheduled soon after that and my husband was not allowed to come in for that. I went the first 19 weeks of my pregnancy to all appointments alone. On one hand it was something special to have all my attention focused on this new baby, but at the same time it was as if I was venturing through this chapter alone as my husband could not be there for anything.

Today was the first time that he was allowed to be in the office as it was the anatomy scan ultrasound. It was surreal having him there with me. I kept looking over the screen at his face and seeing how happy he was made it all the more special. We were able to see this babe and finally experience part of this pregnancy together.

Now, I have no idea how things will play out in the months to come, but here are the things that I have learned thus far in a pregnancy during a pandemic. I have learned that already I must be vigilant in taking care of this baby and myself as there are so many unknowns. I never know if someone we know will get COVID, or if someone at my husbands work could possibly pass it on to him. There is no known for how it will be at the birth or how much or little a mask will need to be worn during delivery. I do not know if anyone will be allowed to come over to our house to meet the baby without quarantining beforehand. Part of me wishes that it was like my first pregnancy where we flew out to Utah and traveled around the state multiple times, but I know that everything happens for a reason and we are so grateful that we are having a healthy baby who is growing and developing.

I have learned that I must take control of the situation instead of letting in control me. I was very sad at first having to go to all appointments alone, but I will forever cherish the moments I was able to hear the heartbeat of this baby by myself. The drives to and from the office where I could feel the kicks, and the excitement of that first ultrasound.

If you know anyone who is pregnant during this all who has been pregnant before, give them grace. Understand that everything that was familiar about the first one is all new this time around. Wearing a mask is not always comfortable, but knowing we are keeping our babies safe as best we can is all we are trying to do. If a pregnant mama does not invite you over or head out with you for dinner, it might not be because she is upset with you or that she does not want to be around others it might be that she feels she is doing the best she can with what she knows for this little life that is growing inside her.

Parenting undoubtedly comes with hundreds of moments when you question your decision, you question the future, what your child will grow up like, what they will accomplish or where they will end up in this life.

As the mom of a toddler I am constantly trying to make the best choices for my child that will benefit him both now and in the future. Yet, sometimes it is hard to not give-in to those people who always know just how to push my buttons and of course they always add in the well-known “good for you” so somehow whatever they are saying should be taken as a compliment instead of a upsetting remark.

The reasons someone has to belittle you as a Mama are so vast it is incredible to think that we are listening to them instead of banding together to support one another, because being a parent is HARD. It is hard in every season of life, there are joys and triumphs and pitfalls and sorrow.

How often on the internet have you or someone you know posted something about your child, a picture, a sentence, a story and you have seen those comments on them saying something negative.

I cannot imagine using my words; the only thing that is visible to others through this keyboard, to hurt another Mama. I cannot imagine using my words to in person belittle a Mama or take away from the joy she is experiencing, or even worse to add to the pain or uncertainty she is feeling.

In the same breath someone once told me; he will start talking more eventually but good for you that he is talking now. How in the world was that supposed to come off in any way other than a piercing blow?

I will have you know my son is a fantastic little speaker and was already saying many words for his age, yet they were comparing him to another child who was “only a few months older”. Comparing and the blame game are hard to not fall into as a Mama in this current culture.

It is easy to see what some other Mamas are achieving and to feel like you should be doing so much more, it is hard to hear what a child has accomplished and wish your child had done the same.

Maybe instead of backhanded “compliments” or “good for you” when we are jealous we use those words and really put the meaning back into them. Maybe we as parents find the voice to help and put into words how desperately support is needed in the current times.

If you are immune to all negative comments and never feel under attack for your parenting choices or styles then lets hear the tips! I know that I have fallen into feeling less than and to overthink so many conversations pertaining to my child once they are over, but I have a hope that as time goes on and I become more confident in my choices, and have a bigger voice, that I use that to help out others and to raise up as many Mamas as I can and to be part of the positive “good for you” group!

Have you ever found yourself in that moment when you are asking yourself how did it come to this? How have we lost our ability to have fun? What can we do to spice up our lives?

There is this sudden shift that happens once you become a parent that you might not see coming. Once you have a child you are busy falling head over heels for your little one, trying to keep up with diaper changes, feedings and laundry. Then one day you wake up and that baby is no longer a baby. You have a busy toddler and the time has flown by. The nights when you are exhausted and days that the chores seem to pile up, make you crave sleep.

It has been 17 months with our little blessing and we could not be more in love with every day. There are moments when we are exhausted, days when we are ready for bedtime from the start of the day and days we laugh until we cry. Parenthood is a delightful mix of beautiful and difficult times.

The amount of trips, dates and nights out we had before a child was countless. It has taken so much time to remember just how important dating your spouse can be to your marriage. We have lost so much of our “sparkle” as a couple when we cannot date each other. It has been multiplied with the inability to go out over the past year due to the pandemic.

The fact that we have not found a babysitter and for so much of the time we had a young baby that we did not want to leave with just anyone did not help our dating life. Here is a list of tips that I think will help any parents who have toddlers. Not every tip will fit your lifestyle, but you can find a tip or two that will work for you!

1. Remember what you loved to do before you had kids and add those things back into your life. If you loved going to a brewery and sampling a new beer or two with your significant other, then buy a couple bottles of beer you have not tried before and have your own little tasting at home! We tried this and it was so fun! We even had pretzels and a few different little snacks to make it fun!
2. Use anyone that offers to watch your little one (that you trust of course!) and take the time they offer you. Maybe your mom offers to watch your babe for an hour or two so you can shop or clean or whatever it may be. Use that time. I cannot stress how important it is to be thankful for every moment you get with your significant other once you have a baby.
3. Try new things. If you have never cooked a meal together then go for it! If you have always wanted to start running, maybe do that together!
4. Make at-home dates an occurrence that you don’t skip out on. Whether it be having a glass of wine together after the babe is in bed, or playing a board game that you both love-DO IT! Watch a show that you both love or try out a new show that you might both like!
5. Do the chores together. I am serious! Doing small things together can make your relationship more in-sync and you can find that by doing that you will be able to find the good in your days which will lead to laughter and the ability to date more and more.

What are your favorite tips that you use to date your significant other?

How many times have you been frustrated or overwhelmed because your child is not sleeping well? Have you ever wanted to cry or ask for help because you felt like you were at the end of your rope with your child not sleeping?

As a parent of a now 16 month old baby I have been humbled over and over again when it comes to sleep. I have been proud of the nights when my little one slept through the night and overwhelmed on the nights that he lay awake or woke up every few hours crying.

I read countless books, poured over websites and tried my best to compile what I thought would work to keep my child sleeping well. It turns out that most of what I read was interesting yet I was again overwhelmed trying to find the best choice or plan to solve any of the sleep troubles we were facing at the time.

Again and again I seemed to read information about how long your child is awake in correlation to how long they will sleep. I read that it mattered if I pay attention to his waking and sleep cues as well as keep track of how long he is awake before nap and bedtime.

Throughout the past 16 months we have had may small sleep victories when our little one slept through the night and then we hit a really rough patch. Our babe was barely sleeping through a two hour period of the night at a time and he needed us to constantly go into his room and either rock him, hold him or lay with him so he would fall back asleep.

After several weeks of us going into his room to comfort him at night I knew that we needed a new solution! If he woke up and was scared or crying then of course we needed to go and tend to him, yet when he woke up and was simply talking that was not necessary for us to go and help him back to sleep.

It took nearly two weeks of us shortening the amount of time that we were in his room or the times that we would go in for him just talking to really start seeing a difference.

I know that as a parent you never want to hear that you “should” be doing something for your child. Whatever someone is telling you or saying is often something you have already attempted or it is something that does not go with what your parenting style is or your beliefs.

This is for those parents who feel the dread of bedtime or naps; thinking of the child waking almost immediately. I will by no means say there will ever be perfection just work towards a goal that works for YOU!

Every child is different, every scenario is unlike the next but the important part is to know that you are doing what you feel is best for your child in regards to their sleep and yours!

Children can learn so much from watching their parents or caregivers or doing everyday tasks. When we first bought this for our house we did not even have a child; but we did have a toddler niece who really loved playing with the different tools. For a few years, until we had our own child we decided that this would be nice when we did have a child so that they could discover “play cleaning” as well.

Our child loves playing with this toy. He is absolutely in love with watching everyone else clean, he loves pretending to sweep with the broom or “brush” everyone’s hair with the duster. This toy has allowed him to play clean while I am cleaning the house and I would highly suggest it for any toddler!

The leaf blower is a toy that we bought for our nephew for his second birthday. His dad is a caretaker and so we thought it would be a super fun way for him to be like his dad and use his leaf blower at the same time as his dad.

It is one of those toys that is loud and so it is a great gift to give because the child gets so much joy out of it, but you might not love buying it for your own child.

That is what I thought until my child loved playing with his cousins leaf blower so my husband bought it for our child as well. When he first opened the leaf blower he did not really want to play with it that much. I decided to make him fake leaves using ripped up pieces of construction paper and he then started to enjoy this toy because it actually blows a tiny amount of air that made the paper fly around.

He really started falling in love with this toy when we had to get rid of all the leaves in our backyard and get them to the street for leaf pick-up and he was so excited to use his leaf blower just like we were using the actual one.

Our son received this tee and baseball set for his first birthday from his Godfather. He was so excited to see it but then had no idea what to do with the bat or ball. With the help of his dad he was able to use the bat and ball and place it on the tee and pretend to hit it.

It was not long before he started using the tee and put any and every ball he could find on the tee so that he could try to hit it off with his bat. He has gotten so much better at swinging the bat and hitting the ball over the past few months.

Overall, he loves this toy and it is a great first start to introduce your child to baseball if you want something that can be used indoors or outdoors.

This slide has been so great for his gross motor skills! I put it on the list for his birthday. I did not really pay attention to how big it was and I was a little surprised when I opened it and it was so large.

Our son quickly found out that it was so fun to go down the slide with or without assistance. It took him only two days to find out that he could climb up the slide without anyone helping him and go down it alone! Of course we were right next to him and always kept a hand an inch from his back in case he started to fall or slip, yet he surprised us and was great at going up and down it alone!

We used it in the house as he received it in the fall, at it was a bit chilly to be using it outside. After a few weeks he started to try to climb back up the slide instead of going down it so it became something that we would let him do every few days instead of every day and then we put it in the garage until the spring.

One of the best things that he received before his first birthday was the farm set. This was a set that most children play with for a short time and then they get bored of the different parts of it. Our son loved this and his favorite animal has been the horse for months. He took it on car rides, when he goes up for a nap he loves to have it with him.

This set gave us a wonderful opportunity to teach him the names of animals and what sound they made. The easiest by far was the cow, as it is easy for a child to say “moo”. He then liked the sheep with saying “baa”. Recently he has started saying “cluck, cluck” for the chicken.

This set is both fun and helps your child develop skills that they will use for many years to come.

As a parent who was once a teacher I feel all the pulls to decorate with my son. It’s hard sometimes to remember that he is just only over one, so there isn’t a ton he can do.

We decorated for Fall/Halloween at the end of October. It was a fun memory together I used Saran Wrap on his tray for his high chair and then just gave him paper cut outs of pumpkins to decorate with paint pens (kid safe) and then with actual paint.

It went over well until he decided to lick one of the paint pens…that was far from delightful! Yet, he had so much fun and there was so much joy during his art time!

I know some parents shy away from arts and crafts and decorating with littles because it can be MESSY!!!

From experience I can tell you that this may be the case! Yet, learning and developing is so important with littles! It is so important for them to experience different textures and to get hands on experience with their parents/caregivers on helping to decorate.

Here are some tips on decorating with little ones!

• Have all supplies ready before you begin, including clean up supplies!
• Cut out all shapes beforehand for extra little ones!
• Use paint pens from Crayola as they are great for clean up and do not cause as much of a mess as paint brushes.
• Only use paint that is safe for little ones, if your babe might have a chance of putting it in their mouth make sure it’s safe…or make it yourself!
• Base activities and decorating on their fine motor skills! (If they can rip paper, then do that! If they can cut it then let them!)
• Give them options. Do not only give them one color to choose from! They should be able to explore!
• If you do not like messes, maybe try one craft or decoration at a time. If you’re overwhelmed, chances are no one will have fun!
• Let them explore!!!!

In the last few months my little one has transitioned from baby to basically a little man. He went from laying in his little seat and swing, to using a bouncy seat to now just walking everywhere!

It has been incredibly exciting watching his transitions and I am so proud of him! Even though this is exciting, I still have to get things done! I can’t always be playing on the floor or helping him discover new toys.

That brings me to when I am cooking or doing dishes in the kitchen. I try to plan my kitchen work around when he is going to eat so he can be in his high chair, I can entertain him and he can be a happy little man.

The best plans don’t always work though. Do they?

So I’ve discovered that by using things that are ALREADY in my kitchen he can learn so much!

Here are a few things I have done and will continue to do so that he can have fun and also I can get things done in the kitchen with him!

• Pick a Cupboard: this might be scary for some parents, having their child given the ability to open a cupboard door, and pull things out, however it has been such a learning tool. I have been able to show my little one how to open a door, close it gently, pull things out and play with them and put them away after. We have baby locks on 99% of our cupboards, especially those with cleaning supplies in them or heavy objects. Yet, (we have a TINY kitchen) I have one cupboard that no matter what I am doing I can see what my child is playing with and he has discovered so many fun things all on his own this way.
• Let them Play: maybe it sounds obvious? One of the biggest things that helps with imagination and development is allowing children to discover things on their own. The first time he played with bowls on the floor, he got them out and he stacked a few, smashed another few together to hear the sound and just played with them. Part of me probably didn’t love the smashing them together sound but he wasn’t hurting anything, was enjoying it and he found out that some fit inside others.
• Do not be Afraid to say No!: if your child is running over pick up something that they definitely should not be playing with be sure to let them know. Help them understand when something is not safe for them. At the same time, it’s been freeing to let my child make discoveries and play on his own for little chunks of time. I have the ability to make him feel bad for playing a container or spoon or I can encourage him to discover uses for them.
• Use your Words: one of the best things that you can do for your little one while they play is to comment on what they are doing. “I see you playing with a bowl! That bowl is blue!” Something as simple as those sentences can help build your child’s vocabulary!

Now, back to what I mentioned before. If you aren’t comfortable letting your little one make discoveries and you don’t have only items that are safe for them to play with DO NOT let them play in the kitchen with you.

My kitchen is super small which allows me to always have him within arms length and never out of my sight. I still watch him like a hawk and often times have to pick him up and show him what I’m doing, washing dishes, loading dishwasher, putting things away. I never hold anything sharp or leave out anything sharp while he is in kitchen. There is no safety in things that are hot or sharp being available for a little one to stumble upon.

The last fun little idea is to give them a fun challenge during snack time. We practiced putting one of his blueberries under a silicone measuring cup, then him lifting off cup to eat it. He laughed and was so excited, all the while I knew this was building his skill set. He also on his own discovered that a larger measuring cup would sit on top of and “hide” the smaller cup and he could repeat what I did with the blueberries on his own with just the cups.

Little ones are so much fun, the possibilities of what you can use to help them discover their world are endless, just start somewhere!