Tag: happiness | Baby Doodah!

Enough is Enough – On Making Change and Being True to You

Posted on June 19 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I know I’ve talked about re-branding, changing the direction of my blog and having a whole new template, a couple times on my blog. I think I first brought it up about 3 months ago, in this post, On Starting a Business. However, here I sit with the same blog, across all areas. I’m not growing or changing, I’m just staying put. It’s a damn struggle, too!

On Being a Mommy Blogger

I love being a mom. It is the best job I’ve ever had, but I don’t have a passion for writing about it like I did when Emmett was first born. This is the reason that you’ve seen my post frequency getting less and less, I just don’t have the drive to write about it. Yes, I know, I’ve read the posts too, where you just need to force yourself to write and then the routine of it will create the drive. However, this is different. I am not avoiding writing altogether, I’m mentally avoiding writing about the topics that fit the niche of my blog. I just don’t have any interest in writing about them.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Starting a Business

Happy 300th Post to Baby Doodah!

Posted on March 12 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

I’ve hit a huge milestone, this is my 300th post!

Readers! Can you believe it? We’ve made it 300 posts, I’m so so excited to be celebrating this. I’ve started blogs in the past but they quickly fizzled, but I have found a passion in writing this blog and love every single minute of my time spent here. I also want to thank all of my readers because, writing everyday is more fun, knowing I have a dedicated audience. So…THANKS!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought that I’d share some of my favorites from the last 100 posts and also share some of your favorites!

Happy 300th Post Baby Doodah!

I think I’ll start with the most popular posts because many of those were my favorite too.

First up, the most important to me has been my admission to suffering with Binge Eating Disorder. Since coming clean on the blog, I have become more conscious of choices I make with food. I’m in no way “cured” but I am working slowly but surely, to that point.

You can read the posts that I’ve published so far, by clicking here, but start with this one, it’s my original post.

Another recent favorite of mine, and of my readers has been my series on Moving with a Toddler. Just a brief description – We found out that our landlord was selling the house we’re living in, and that we’d need to be out by the end of April. We immediately started looking for a place to live, which spurred me to write about moving with Emmett. Moving as an adult is tough, so adding a toddler into the mix is very different and I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. I came up with some great tips, though.

You can read my moving with a toddler post, here and my packing with a toddler post, here. There are more to come, as our move continues!

I’m always a sucker for my Dear Emmett posts. If you haven’t read one before, typically I write them monthly, and they’re a letter to Emmett, sharing everything that he did over the past month. Any developments or changes that he’s made, things like that. I love looking back on them already, I can’t imagine what it will be like when he’s 18 and going to college.

Dear Emmett – 15 months, {16, 17 and 18 months}, 19 months

Another fun post was my list of Valentine’s Activities for Toddlers.

I was pretty excited to roll out my new format for my link-up, My Finds Friday! Lasts week’s is still open if you’d like to link-up.

And finally…

My absolute favorite most recent post would have to be, this one. The video still makes me laugh and smile!

Your turn!

I’d love to hear what some of your favorite posts have been from my blog! Share in the comments below!

If you’d like to read my post celebrating 200 posts, check it out here.

Filed Under: All About Me, Family, Food & Recipes

Mighty Handle – Happiness in a Hook

Posted on September 3 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I’m not lying when I say that the Mighty Handle is happiness!

If you’re anything like me, you hate making more than one trip to your car for bags of groceries, your dry cleaning or any other heavy items, you want to collect it all and get it into the house all at once. The problem is that when you grab 4 or 5 bags (or other items) at once, your fingers start to ache or go numb from the heft of the items and the uneven distribution. The Mighty Handle can fix all of that! It might sound like an infomercial, but I assure you it lives up to it’s name!

When Bloggy Moms contacted me about trying out and reviewing the Mighty Handle, I was thrilled but I had my doubts. I’ve lived in the city for about 14 years and have never been able to find a way to make one trip into the house with all of my groceries, and that’s not for lack of trying. However, I kept an open mind, because anything is possible.

I wasn’t about to take it easy on the product, I wanted to put it to the highest test possible. Guess what!? It passed and with flying colors!

The first time I used it was for groceries. Seamus typically will take the heavier bags and run them in the house quickly, this time I grabbed them all. Bags with 3 or 4 bottles of Polar Seltzer, bags full of veggies and fruit and bags full of jars and cans. I loaded up the hook with the bags sitting on the floor of my car and then lifted, it was still heavy (obviously the Mighty Handle doesn’t reduce the weight of things) but it felt like I could have loaded it up even more. I managed to carry everything into our house without a problem. My hands and fingers weren’t aching, nor were they numb. In fact, if I had two of these, I would have been able to get everything in, in ONE TRIP!!!

Mighty Handle Stats

Mighty Handle’s ergonomic grip provides a more comfortable way to transport groceries and dry cleaning
Prevent spills with Mighty Handle’s unique Twist-Lock feature
Carry up to 50lbs per handle
Made in the USA
Produced from recycled material

If you’re looking for an easier more efficient way to load and unload your car, then look no further than the Mighty Handle. I’m assure you that you won’t be disappointed! You can order it on Amazon, here.

You can Like Mighty Handle on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

Your turn!

Have you ever tried a gadget like the Mighty Handle to help with lifting heavy items?

**Mighty Green Solutions provided me a Mighty Handle to try and review. As always, the statements and opinions are my own.

You can see my other reviews, here.

Filed Under: Reviews

Dear Emmett (12 months),

Posted on July 27 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

12 months! You have been alive for 12 months, this amazes and thrills me to no end.

This has been a busy month for you, but truthfully you’re busy every month, you just accomplish something knew. Emmett, I cannot believe that you have turned a year, that 365 days have passed since the very moment that I gave birth to you. We have had our ups and downs, but I’ve learned so much and grown even more, I wouldn’t change a moment of the past 12 months.

They made him a birthday crown at day care.

Last month, you were pulling yourself up, cruising along the edges of things, this month you’ve begun to take your first steps. We were actually doing FaceTime with your paternal grandparents when you decided there was something across the room that you wanted to check out. You pulled yourself up on your crib, wobbled a bit and then decided to take 4 stiff-legged steps to the toy you were looking for. I squealed (as I almost always do for your accomplishments), I was just so excited! Your grandparents thought you had fallen or gotten hurt because at the moment, your daddy had the camera facing him. Whoops! We were able to get you to do it again but only for 2 steps, you just know that crawling is so much faster.

As the month has progressed you’ve taken more and more unassisted steps, but crawling remains your main mode of transportation. I don’t blame you, you move so SO fast when crawling. You’ll get there before we know it and then the real trouble begins! 🙂

Another major physical development has been that you can now stand up from sitting without any assistance. You more frequently use the couch, but you are able to sit, then move into a squatting position and finally stand up, sometimes you’ll take a step or two but most of the time you’ll plop back down to play.

You also, sadly, had your first real fever this month, it happened so quick too. The day after the fourth of July your dad and I had taken off and were going to have a ‘date day,’ so we got up early and took you to day care. When I dropped you off, you were fine, happy and sweet but by the time I had gotten nearly home, your day care had called me to let me know you had a fever of 102.1. I turned around and went back and got you. Your fever got pretty high (104.1), so we went to the doctors but other than that, we spent the next 3 days just cuddling you and making you comfortable. Poor guy, just wanted to be held.

You’re a pro mimicker! It started with kissy noises. I had been nursing you and sat you up and blew you a kiss, you stared at me for a few seconds and then kind of puckered up your lips and made the kiss sound. It was adorable! I kept kissing your sweet little cheeks and you kept making the sound in response, but it has since developed into more. Now any time your father or I do anything, you try and do the exact same thing. The other morning, we were all in bed cuddling and your dad touched my nose, he knows I hate having my nosed touched but he did it so you would see and repeat it. Guess what? You did. Your dad was thrilled. Me? Not so much! Either way, it’s really cute having you try and repeat the things we do whether it be a sound or an action, you will try anything.

Most babies around your age start waving hello when someone walks into a room and waves at them. You are no exception, only thing is that you do it a bit differently and it’s THE cutest thing. You throw your arm and hand in the air, like you’re about to present someone and just hold it there. There’s no, flapping or waving of the hand, just a straight, stiff arm. So cute! Toward the end of the month you’ve changed how you hold your hand and now, sometimes you will actually wave. It’s amazing how just (less than) 30 days can change you.

You continue to be fearless when it comes to food, you will try just about anything we give to you. Some days you might not eat much or may not like the way something tastes but if we give it to you again, you’ll love the way it tastes the second time. Case in point, blueberries… you hated them the first time I gave them to you. However, I kept sending them for lunch and putting them on your tray for dinner. After about a week of doing that, you started devouring them, now we are forced (not that we mind) to buy the 2 pound container of blueberries so that there’s enough for the week. You almost always eat what we do, things like salmon couscous, grilled chicken, asparagus, ravioli, Naan, etc. etc. The only time we have to come up with an alternate meal for you, is when we’re eating something spicy and that’s mainly because we figure something hot (in spice) like that may hurt you and you wouldn’t understand why.

For Christmas, you received these Fisher Price Snap Lock Beads and you love them. You get so excited when we connect them all together and then you’re able to break them apart and look in the hole that is on one end. You also love putting them on your fingers, you’ll put one on your index finger and one on your pinky finger and shake your hand around, it pretty adorable and very silly. But anything that has a hole or indentation you love.

Your dad and I haven’t really baby-proofed anything up until the last week of the month. You were mobile, but we were able to wrangle, you in one way or another, so we avoided getting rid of or moving things that weren’t safe for you to play with. However, during the last week, you started pulling down daddy’s DVDs almost daily and getting into things that were completely unsafe, so we immediately started reorganizing and getting the house ready for a baby that is very active.

Has it truly been 12 months? Have I really written 11 different “Dear Emmett’s”? Holy cow! I find that so hard to believe but it’s very obviously true. You’ve come so SO far from that bitty baby that was born and would only eat, sleep and pee/poop. Now you play, hug, cuddle and love. You’re amazing and I have no doubt that you will continue to be this way for the rest of your life.

Happy 1 year birthday, sweet sweet Emmett! Mommy loves you to the moon and back!

Filed Under: Emmett, Emmett's Birthday, Family

Day of Birth Memories

Posted on July 23 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

365 days have passed since I gave birth to my sweet little boy, though it feels like mere minutes. Your day of birth was one of the most important days of my life.

I know so many people warn you that the first year (and each subsequent year) goes so quickly, but you just don’t understand until you experience it for yourself. I believe, for the most part, I took my time working hard to absorb every special moment, but I’m sure I still missed things or certain actions passed me by without noticing. It’s just so hard and until there is a means to slow down time or to travel BACK in time, we’re left with only memories.

This was Sunday night, 7/22/12. We had gone in that evening to begin the induction.

I’m a really sentimental person with everything in my life. I love sitting down with just about anyone and reviewing all the memories that each of us can remember from a particular situation. Something about doing that really warms my heart and puts a smile on my face, so over the next few days you will see a series of birthday posts made for Emmett. These are for his benefit, so when he’s older he can read through them but also for me, because I love reliving everything I experienced the day he was born and the days/weeks after.

During the C-section

Emmett has grown from a tiny baby who needed me (or Seamus) for everything to a toddler who is fairly independent. It blows my mind that something so small can change and grow so much, in only 365 days.

The very first moment I got to touch my boy.

I remember the way his soft cheek felt against mine and I remember thinking, I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything this soft. I do not regret having a C-section, it was what was best for Emmett and myself but I often wish that we’d been able to go naturally. We would have then had the time after birth for immediate bonding. The hospital was fantastic about ensuring he got to me within an hour, so that he could start nursing, so I truly cannot complain.

The fist time I held him in my arms.

Because the hospital was so quick to bring him to me once I was in the recovery room, his rooting reflex kicked in and he immediately started looking for my nipple. It amazed me, that a baby less than 2 hours old, had the ability to do something so important. He needed help latching but he somehow, instinctively, knew what to do. Once he drank a little colostrum, he fell into a deep, comfortable sleep. He knew he was safe and warm, back with his momma.

The best days of my life are ahead of us, and I had no idea!

Happy Birthday, Emmett!!

More to come…

You can read all about Emmett’s first days of life here.

Filed Under: Emmett's Birthday, Emmett's First Days, Family

Dear Emmett,

Posted on April 24 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

Do you realize that there is only 3 more months until you are a year old? This blows my mind! At this time last year, your father and I were anxiously awaiting your birth and here we are a year later, having the time our lives.

We celebrated your first Easter this month. Your dad and I didn’t decorate, dye eggs or get you an Easter basket because we knew you’d probably be getting one from your Grammy, we weren’t wrong. You got the cutest basket from her, it is a monkey’s head and inside of it was a stuffed peep (since you can’t eat the marshmallow ones yet), a VERY cute barn with 4 different farm animals in it that make noise and a chicky bird sippy bottle. I think there might have been one more thing in there but I’m drawing a complete blank. It was really cute stuff and I really love the barn, I can’t wait until your a little bit older and can play with the animals with me.

You are so SO mobile! I remember when we used to be able to put you down on the floor to play and you would stay there, now, no way! The second you hit the floor you move, move, move. You continue to do your army crawl, where your right arm is straight out, pulling, your left is bent underneath your chest pushing you forward and your legs every once in awhile will give a good push but mainly it is your arms doing the work. You still get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth but you haven’t yet done any “formal” crawling, who cares, though!? You are able to get around perfectly well the way you do it now. You’ve become really really good at doing planks and downward dog, obviously you have no idea they’re called that but you have inspired me to start planking or doing downward dog when you are doing them. So thanks for the motivation! 🙂

Going along with your crawling, you’ve also become really good at standing. Your dad or I can stand you up, holding onto your crib or pack ‘n play and you stand there all on your own for long stretches of time. You actually love it quite a bit because now you can watch your daddy cook. At the start of the month, you were just standing there for a little bit and then falling down, now you like coasting along the side. So if I am in my bedroom and you want to see what I’m doing you’ll slowly inch your way around to the other side so you can see me. You’ve also pretty much mastered sitting down from standing. Initially you’d just let go and fall, sometimes you’d land on your back other times on your butt but at this point, most of the time you land your on your bottom in a sitting up position.

We’ve even experimented with your toy motorcycle that you can use as a walking prop. When we set it up so that you can hold on and walk behind it, you’re pretty good at taking 3 or 4 steps before you stop and sit down. You seem to get tired or bored of doing this because you’ll only do it once or twice but you’re getting better and better. Sooner or later, you will be walking and then, everybody better watch out!

In your classroom at school they have short plie bar attached to a mirror and then attached to the wall. You love that thing! The second your teacher puts you up on it and you start looking at yourself in the mirror you start talking. You yell and smile, babble and grunt, you just adore it. Your teacher also tells us that you are very talkative, that all day you are making some sort of noises. I have a feeling your dad and I are in for it. But I’m pretty sure I was a talkative toddler, so it only makes sense.

Midway through the month, your dad and I started to get a little nervous that maybe you weren’t getting enough solid foods down. You were definitely getting enough breast milk but at around 9 months you start needing the nutrients from whole foods. We considered starting to give you more pureed food and we even pureed some sweet potatoes for you, but in the end our worries were for nothing. You are a champion eater! You are now eating and swallowing pretty much everything without any trouble, this includes meats like chicken, pork or steak. Vegetables and fruit are no match for you, you grab them tight and chomp away. It has been quite the experience watching your eating abilities grow with each passing week.

You love to play with everything but mostly with items you shouldn’t be playing with. Your favorites tend to be the outlet that is strangely in the floor, that we’ve put an outlet cover over but you still want to crawl on over and take it out. You also love grabbing for the cable box and Blu-ray player, which gives your dad a heart attack nearly every time (understandably). I’m personally, not looking forward to when you can reach the TV because that is one expensive piece of equipment and it would be very sad if it got damaged. We’ll just need to be extra vigilant when we get to that point.

We continue to teach you the signs for different words so that it makes it easier for us all to communicate before you are able to speak. Last month you conquered milk and continue to do a great job with that, this month, we’re pretty sure that you’ve mastered “more.” We use it mostly to ask if you want more food, or for you to ask us for more food. We’re still working on “diaper” and “all done.” I have no doubt you will get both of those very soon.

You and I are doing swimming lessons and you are having a blast! When the other babies are bothered by the chilly water or even just being in the water, there you are, happy as a clam, splashing and smiling. I’m so happy we can experience this together. Since before you were born I knew I wanted to do a mommy and me class but couldn’t find one that was the right fit for us, swimming is perfect and something I’m good at. My hope is to continue doing these classes together until you’re 24 months, when you’ll have to start doing the classes on your own with a swim teacher.

Speaking of water, bath time is a blast! Getting you squeaky clean isn’t the easiest because you like to move and squirm but once that part is done, playing with your toys is the best. I’m not sure how it got started, but one day I started calling your toes vinegar toes, now every time I wash them I say that, it’s pretty funny. You have started moving around in the tub to reach your toys or the hose and sometimes you’ll turn your little self around and moon your daddy and I, thank goodness it is such a cute dupa. You like when I lay you back and let you float with my hand underneath your back, it seems like you find it so relaxing. I think if your dad and I let you, you’d stay in the tub forever.

Your 9 month doctor’s appointment is on May first, so I don’t have any of your weight or height information to share this month, but I’ll make sure I include them next month. I am anxious to see what you weigh and how tall you are because you just seem so ginormous.

Well Emmett, my happy beautiful boy, I love every precious moment I get to spend with you and can’t wait to see what is on the horizon this go round.

Filed Under: Emmett, Family

Emmett’s First Swim Class

Posted on April 20 by Jillian416 • 1 Comment

A few months back I received a flyer from my gym advertising all the classes they offer, this included all of their swim classes. I had heard in the past that places offered mommy (daddy) & me type classes but wasn’t sure if my gym did. I was thrilled when I flipped through and found that there were indeed classes that Emmett and I could take together. I immediately signed-up! We went to our first class last weekend (and daddy came along to see another Emmett first and take pictures)…

When I was a kid my mom forced my sister and I to go swim lessons every single summer. I hated it, well, maybe I didn’t hate the classes, I hated the instructors. They were cold, nasty and forced you to do things before you were really comfortable doing them. However, it is because of them and my mom’s insistence that I am such a strong swimmer. I LOVE swimming and I’m really good at it, so it only makes sense that I would want the same for my son (minus the nasty swim coaches).

Last week was so fun! They had us get into the pool with the babies and just kind of bopped around to make sure they were used to the water and weren’t going to be scared. I was so proud of my boy, we got in and he was as happy as a clam, kicking his legs and splashing around. Not once did all that water, or even the temperature (it was pretty chilly at first) of the water scare him. Then we moved into some group songs, which believe it or not, were a lot of fun. Singing the songs and using Emmett’s arms/legs for the motions was just THE best (I know I’m a total mommy cheeseball). After the songs they broke us into two groups because the “Water babies” class goes from ages 6 month – 24 months, so they split us into the older and younger baby groups.

He was this relaxed the entire time!

In the younger baby group we played with a pinwheel, blowing on it and letting the babies catch it or try to blow on it themselves. Emmett didn’t quite understand that he was supposed to blow on it, so I blew and he caught it. Then they taught us how to properly lay baby back in the water so that their ears went under. They explained that many children hate the way it feels when their ears go under water so it’s important to get them used to it early. I’m totally bragging, but Emmett had absolutely no problem with this and I’m going to take credit for that because ever since he’s been big enough to take a bath in the big boy tub (around 6 1/2 months), I’ve laid him back and let him feel what it’s like to float (obviously with my hands underneath him), so his ears would go under then. I’m telling you, I want him to be as comfortable in water as I am, it’s such a great feeling!

The rest of the class we spent playing with little water toys and talking with the other babies and mommas. We ended the class singing, Happy and You Know It, but with a twist, instead of clapping or shouting Hurray! we would blow bubbles in the water or splash each other, so much fun!

I had so much fun and cannot wait for today’s class!!