Family Time

Life in a pandemic. If you would’ve asked me a year ago today what I would be doing this time next year – wearing a mask everywhere I go, working remotely – all while helping my 5 year old with virtual kindergarten would not have been my answer.

But here I am. And here we are.

I try my best to be the person who sees the glass half full but 2020 has been persistent at testing my sunny disposition. And while it has been a challenge adjusting – I’m praying that on the other side of this pandemic, my family and I will be stronger and much more appreciative of one another in the years to come.

Studies show that spending quality time in large quantities is one of the steps necessary to achieving a strong family.

With the hustle-and-bustle of work obligations, school and extracurricular activities (what extra your child is able to do during this pandemic) winding down for Christmas and winter break – if you haven’t had the opportunity to spend quality time together as a family over the last few months – now is the perfect opportunity.

Here are a few ideas on things that you can do as a family that are enjoyable for all ages:

• Board or card games. Candy Land anyone? Our family has been playing a lot of slap jack, memory, and charades lately. Lots of laughs and a great opportunity to teach good sportsmanship to the little ones in the house.
• Dance party. Stream some Kidz-Bop and let the kids show you the latest dance craze (or you show ‘em how it’s done).
• Movie night. There are plenty of Christmas classics on now. Share your favorite childhood Christmas movie with your child(ren). Who knows – it may become their favorite to.
• Go outside and play. Sunshine and fresh air is good for everyone. Grab the jump rope, sidewalk chalk, ball and take the fun outdoors. Check to see if parks/playgrounds are open in your area and change up the scenery by going there. Just be sure to take hand sanitizer to clean your hands after using any equipment and wear a mask and social distance if you’ll be around others.
• Cook. Hey, we all gotta eat. Now is a great opportunity to teach the kiddos some basic cooking skills. Prepare a family recipe together or a dish that everyone in the family loves.
• Color. Does anyone else find coloring relaxing? Pull out the crayons and colored pencils and find some freebie coloring sheets online. Print and enjoy being creative together.
• Read. You can’t go wrong with a good book. Have your child read to you and you read to them. Any extra time your child spends reading is beneficial to their overall success in school – and life.

Hopefully, the wheels are turning now and you’re thinking about how you’ll spend some quality time together as a family soon.

What activities do you enjoy doing with your family? Share in the comments.

Pin & Share

Daffodil

Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods?! Well its 75 degrees where I’m sitting…and I’m not in Florida! I think we missed winter in the south. And that’s all too bad because no winter in the south makes for a painfully hot summer with lots of pesky mosquitos.

But since the weather is so nice – we’ve been making it a point to get outside and soak up some sunshine. Long live sunny days!

XOXO,

Erica

This little one is loving the spring like weather.

6 Things I’ve learned in the first year of mommy-life

1. I can accomplish a lot using one hand. I mean a lot. You should give it a shot. Seriously, tie one hand behind your back and hold a sack of potatoes in your other hand for about four hours straight and see if you can brush your teeth, comb your hair, load a dishwasher and make a bottle using one hand.
2. Mother’s intuition is real. There have been plenty of times when I simply hug my daughter and know something is not right. Or if she’s in her play yard and is really quiet – I know something is going down. That mommy intuition is legit – for real.
3. Once a child is mobile – she can absolutely destroy a whole room in like 10.2 seconds. I don’t know how she does it!
4. Accept help from family and friends. I’m a low key control freak/perfectionist. But I’m learning if folks want to help – I let them. AND I don’t freak out if it’s not done exactly how I would do it. I’m just thankful that I saved some time and energy. And trust, I need all my energy for baby girl.
5. I can function on less than four hours of sleep. I thought I left that skill back in college. But I still got it! *high-fives self*
6. Being a mom is the hardest, most important and most rewarding job I’ve ever had…will ever have. Hands down! I mean when you think about it – a baby can do absolutely nothing for herself. She totally depends on me for everything. Every. Thing. It’s been a steep learning curve and I’ve never worked so hard in my life! Seeing my daughter smile and laugh makes this mommy experience all worthwhile.

***So I originally wanted to do a top 10 list but cut the list down to six things I’ve learned in the first year of mommy-life because my baby girl went to bed and I had to decide on me time or going to bed early. I chose the bed.

XOXO,

Erica

Faith Baby a few days shy of one year old.

 

Hello 2016!

Christmas has come and gone and we’ve rolled right into another year – hello 2016! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and that this year is off to a great start. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday season with our Faith Baby.

Christmas time with a baby is a lot of fun! I loved seeing our baby girl rip wrapping paper…and then having to pry the wrapping paper from her tiny little hand so she would not eat it. As we all know, the wrapping paper and gift boxes were a big hit Christmas morning – much more than the new toys.

Faith is now eight months old and she’s mobile.  We’re spending a lot of time on the floor playing and crawling around. The girl is quick and keeps me on my toes!  Pretty soon Faith will be walking and two days after – running.

Last year flew right on by and I’m sure this year will do the same. I haven’t really stopped to reflect on all that our family accomplished in 2015 but I know it was an amazing year because we added a third member to our little family.

I know many of us get busy making goals for the new year but I encourage you to take a moment to think about all that you accomplished last year.  Even if there were some big line items on last year’s goals list that didn’t get checked off – be proud of what you did accomplish (big or small).

Cheers to more funny faces in 2016!

Happy New Year to you!

XOXO,

Erica

A New Season

Happy fall ya’ll! We are finally getting some fall-like weather in Arkansas. I’m looking forward to wearing sweaters and boots every day! I’ve been on a roll lately – working full time, taking care of wife and mommy duties – and have neglected to blog these last couple of months. Faith Baby is growing like a weed!  She’s seven months next week. I can’t believe how my sugar bear changes daily. She is such a sweet child. Her smile lights up the room!

Speaking of smiles, we took family photos on last week and Faith Baby really wasn’t for it. It was hilarious watching her hold-in her smile and smirk. For some reason, she kept giving our photographer serious stares. I guess she wanted to know where his cell phone was because in our house – you need a cell phone to take a picture.   I do think he managed to get a few shots of her smiling but boy was she being stubborn (thank you so much to our amazing photographer, Niguel Valley . He never disappoints!  And his beautiful wife, Kristen, who pulled out her best tricks to get Faith to smile).

Life is too short to miss out on making memories with the ones you love! I hope during this busy season, you’re carving out some time to spend with family and friends.

Photo credit: Niguel Valley

XOXO,

Erica

Four Month Old Sleep

Last week’s post was on my struggle to get Faith to take a nap. Well since that post, my husband and I also struggled a couple of nights to get her to stay asleep in her crib.  At a lost for why our baby girl – who once had no problems sleeping for long periods at a time – is now persistent about not going to sleep, my husband and I did what all new parents do – we consulted with Google.

A quick search using four month old no longer napping or four month old no longer sleeping at night will pull up many articles and blog posts on four month sleep regression.  Who knew there was such a thing!  We learned that around the four month mark, babies have to learn all over again how and when to go to sleep.  By the four month period a baby’s brain has vastly developed since she was a newborn.  With this development, they begin to sleep much more like we adults do. They are now beginning to start off in a light sleep and transition into deep sleep.

This all makes perfect sense to why my Sugar Bear would wake as soon as she felt her little head touch her crib mattress. Most of the advice we read online suggested starting sleep training or sleep coaching. The sleep training/coaching process basically means teaching your child how to go to sleep without her needing to be rocked, held or fed while doing so. My husband and I agreed to start sleep coaching the day before Faith is five months old – only another week or so from now.

In the meantime, we’re going to read more on this sleep coaching process and come up with an approach to use with Sugar Bear. If you have been through this sleep regression phase before – I’d love to hear what worked for you and your family.

A sleeping Sugar Bear.

XOXO,

Erica

Long Live Naps

My little sugar bear is growing fast! She’s 15 pounds of awesomeness! She is going through a no nap phase. She consistently does not take a good nap. She’ll fight going to sleep…and eventually falls asleep but as soon as her little precious head touches her crib mattress – she opens her eyes. What happened to those naps that lasted longer than 20 minutes?

For some reason, she has a thing for cat naps right now. I’ve heard stories from parents who can’t get their little one to nap past five minutes but Faith wasn’t that little one. She was doing so well with her naps. Three weeks ago she was easily taking two one to two hour naps every day! I hope this phase ends soon because her cat naps often make for a very fussy couple of hours before her bed time.

So you parenting experts out there – what’s the secret to get your four month old to take a longer nap?

XOXO,

Erica

Welcome to Such-A-Mom Blog

Today my baby girl turns four months old. Words cannot describe how much joy she brings to my life. I absolutely adore her. I love being her mom – even when I’m sleep deprived and she’s wide eyed and ready to play (I’m sure many new parents can relate).

Faith was born in April 2015.  She is our little miracle. Here’ a little bit of my story…I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 when I was 25 years old.  I had a second cancer recurrence three months after my wedding in November 2013. During the second diagnoses – while receiving chemotherapy treatments – I learned that I was pregnant (early August 2014). I decided from day one that I would stop cancer treatments so that I could have our baby. Many people thought I had clearly lost my mind…many had doubts about me carrying a baby full term. My doctors were very concerned about the fact that our baby had been exposed to the chemotherapy drugs I was receiving during the time of conception and there was a chance that she’d have developmental delays and other birth defects. But God!

I not only carried Faith full term (40 weeks) but I carried her an extra 4 days – all 8 lbs, 8 oz and 21 inches of her! She is completely healthy – not one birth defect. From the moment my husband and I knew we were pregnant. We prayed every day for Faith. No words can describe how I feel holding my baby girl in my arms. God is so much bigger than any circumstance we may face! Trust and believe Him. Stand on His word. He never makes a promise that He cannot keep.

I created this blog when Faith was first born. Crazy how this is the first post! Well, I’ve been busy with my little Sugar Bear. And my how time flies! I will definitely return many more times to post before she graduates high school and leaves mommy and daddy to go be an adult.

I hope that you enjoy my blog – so much so that you’ll come back to read it and you’ll share it with others.

For you moms (and dads) out there please share in the comments any nuggets of wisdom you have for new parents.

XOXO,

Erica

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. – 1 Samuel 1:27

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. – Hebrews 11:1