natural birth...ouch!

Let me start by saying I LOVED my epidural with Thatcher. Seriously, it was great. That little button you get to push? A thing of beauty. That being said, after I had thatcher I never felt like I had experienced labor. I didn't truly felt like I'd been an active participant in my birth. 

So as soon as I found out I was pregnant with Olivia I decided I wanted the whole experience this time. I spent months reading countless birth stories and experiences, books, breathing techniques and blogs. I was so prepared. I had this! Easy peasy. 

HAHHAHA. oh, sorry. 

On the morning of July 15th we got to the hospital at 545 in the morning. Id been having contractions basically all night and hadn't slept more than a few hours. Some of that was probably due to the fact that I knew I'd be spending the day away from thatcher soon which made me anxious and sad. 

After getting hooked up to the monitors I was told my contractions were already coming every 3-4 minutes. We decided to stay and walk around the hospital and wait for Dr. Bierer to come. I was still contracting around 8:30 or so when he arrived so I had him break my water to speed things up. He broke my water and then together he and Jeff gave me a priesthood blessing, which was amazing. I'm so grateful to have a husband and a doctor who are able to give me that comfort and strength in a time of serious need.

After my water was broken I labored on my own for about 2-2.5 hours. While still consistent my contractions weren't getting too much closer together so we decided to do just a bit of pitocin to get my body in a 2 minute pattern. 

People aren't kidding when they say pitocin is ROUGH. Being hooked up to the iv and monitors was so hard. I wanted to walk and move and get in the bath, but I couldn't which made those contractions come crashing down all the harder. I had been breathing through them and really using and appreciating my birth affirmations up until this point but it started to get pretty painful. My labor wasn't in my back like I'd expected, it was in my front. Almost like I had to pee SO SO SO badly every time. There wasn't much massaging or rubbing I could do to help it because it was right where she was. So, I screamed. BOY, did I scream. Loudly. Incoherently. Unabashed screaming. My sweet friend Jessica was there and while Jeff massaged my back and shoulders, swayed and rocked with me and wet my face with a wash cloth she cheered me on and offered different positions that may help. 

In my agony I shot down every wonderful suggestion she had. I. Was. Miserable. 

But my goal was the bath. I really really wanted that bath. I'd heard wonderful magical things about laboring in water. I needed the water. After I made it through the worst of the pitocin contractions, I still had to stay hooked up to the monitor for thirty agonizing minutes. It was torture and I begged, earnestly now, for drugs. 

Finally I was able to get in the bath. Before I got in my delivery nurse said, "if you feel like you have to push or poop at all you CANNOT get in the bath!" Of course I didn't, i said. 

I lied. I lied so badly. BUT GUYS! I earned that freaking bath! I was only at 5 cm dilated anyway, so I had time. 

Haha! Time. Right. 

So I got into my bath, which did help a lot. I still screamed loudly during my contractions, but it was more tolerable. I think I only had about 2 contractions in the bath. Then, I started to push. I can't describe it, but I really felt strongly that I needed to push. I couldn't even think about what it meant, I just had to. I told Jessica weakly and at first she thought I was mistaken. No way, I'm only at a five. Then I must have said it more urgently because she ran to call the nurses in. 

They knew baby would be coming soon so they'd began to set up the delivery things. Jeff and Jessica cheered me on and assured me that we were so close--look at all the delivery prep! I got into bed and my nurse checked me again. At this point my contractions were peaking--I was so so so done. I looked Jeff in the eyes and again BEGGED for that epidural. I did NOT want to do this. WHY was I doing this?! I was at 8 cm now and though they said I could have the epidural (which Jeff realized I was so serious about and actually asked them for it, too) they said it wouldn't kick in. I was close. In my mind I'm thinking "well I'm not paying for it not to work. Screw it, I'm dying anyway." I'm a little dramatic. So, we decided no epidural. 

Suddenly, the urge to push was completely and totally overwhelming. While I was in fact pushing i wasn't in control--my body was pushing that baby out regardless. I screamed that she was coming and the nurses scrambled around. Some finishing up delivery prep, some calling for my doctor, and my delivery nurse checking me. In the few minutes I asked for the epidural I had reached 10 cm. the nurses screamed for me to stop pushing but I really couldn't. It went against everything my body was doing. 

I should point out though that at this point I had no idea that my baby was being born. They kept telling me not to push and I kept yelling at them, "IM JUST POOPING! Let me poop!" Which I believed. Until Jessica and my nurse got inches from my face and said "Taylor. That's your baby's head. Stop!" So I guess if I had to equate child birth to anything, it's the #2. 😉

Also, any fear I had of pooping in labor was out the window in that moment that o literally thought I was. 

Okay, proceed. 

They called my doctor again, called the on call doctor and the charge nurse. I remember hearing my nurse saying that she didn't feel comfortable delivering the baby and I had to wait. Uh- yeah right. So while I'm pushing and screaming (I was literally screaming "get out" at the top of my lungs) my delivery nurse pushed Olivia's head back in. BACK INTO MY BODY! Which freaking hurt because, hello, not how that's supposed to happen. Two times Olivia's head was born and two times the nurse held her back in. 

Finally the on call doctor sauntered in. He literally sauntered, slowly, into the room and proceeded to make small talk with me. I snapped "I DO NOT WANT TO TALK TO YOU" while the nurse yelled that he didn't have time and she was coming. He rushed to get a gown and gloves on while I continued to push. He barely caught Olivia. My legs weren't even in the stirrups, she just came out on the bed and he cut the cord. Which really upset me too because we'd opted for delayed cord clamping but I figured since it was kind of a rushed situation what could you do. As soon as the cord was cut my doctor walked in and finished up. 

From the time I got out of the bath and into bed to the time she was totally born was TWO MINUTES. Which probably would have been more like 30 seconds had they not kept her from coming out. I didn't realize it was even that fast until I watched the video that Jessica took. 

It was so intense and fast and insane. And while I was pretty miserable during transition, I'm so glad that Jeff and Jessica kept me on track and didn't let me get the epidural. I'm not sure yet if it's an experience that I'll have again, but it's an experience I'm so grateful to have had. 

I have so much respect for birth. Natural, C-section, epidural. It's all so amazing that were able to house and birth these tiny humans. Our bodies are seriously perfect.

And now almost two weeks later were so in love with our Olivia Ona. She's a sweet, mild girl who eats ferociously and snuggles perfectly. 

Her name makes her even more special to us, too. Ona comes from Jeffs grandmother who is one of the strongest, most intelligent and caring women I've been blessed to know. We can only hope that our little Ona will be like her namesake. 

 

 

 

Just a Mom

Something happened to me the other day. It's something that's happened a handful of times in the last two years and it feels like it's time to speak up. 

I recently reconnected with an old friend. After catching up a bit and talking about life he asked if I was super successful like he'd thought I'd be when we were younger. After hearing that I quit college to stay at home with my kids he said, "so wait.. you're just a mom?" I have to admit, it stung. Even though it's not the first time that someone who isn't caught up with my current life has made a comment indicating that I have "given up" what could have been a great career or "let myself quit" school, which I was actually pretty good at, it still hurt. 

I am not "just a mom." I have not "given up" anything. In fact, the way I see it I've gained a great deal more.

"Just a mom" seriously implies that what I'm doing isn't enough, important or valued. "Just a mom" means that I've somehow lowered my standards or my ambition and settled for something not as worthy. In reality, isn't being "just a mom" more than that? I'm not just cleaning up spills and building block towers. I'm not just kissing knees and washing diapers. I'm choosing to put aside most of my previous identity, my time, my sleep, and every bit of me to raise another human who will (hopefully) become a productive and moral adult.

And in my eyes, I haven't "given up" all that much in the process. 

I've gained more patience, more love, and more of an understanding of sacrifice than I could have ever imagined. I've learned so many things outside the realm of academic knowledge and I've been given the gift of time with my babies. 

School is wonderful. It's great--but it isn't for everyone. I'm extremely proud to be a mother. I'm happier not having my degree than I can even explain- and in the process I've found things I'm truly truly passionate about.

My life is more than "just a mom." 

Peek inside of my Jujube BFF

I've had a lot of questions and comments on my diaper bag. I guess Petunia Picklebottom is pretty popular in Utah, so it's not as common to see a jujube? I'm not sure, but I thought I'd just blog about my bag instead of answering multiple questions.

This is my diaper bag fully packed for one baby. We're having another baby in July, but it'll basically be the same things give or take a couple items. 

The front pocket, or the "mommy pocket", has things for me. Usually it's: wallet, keys, hair ties, hand sanitizer, chapstick, pen & glasses. I usually have a ton of room left over. 

This is the main inside pocket packed. 

It always amazes me how much it holds. I have: 

Day planner, 2 Thatcher books, a mama book, bib, burp cloth (to wipe runny noses), tiny book of mormon, 4 or 5 cars, a spatula (aka best toy ever), Han solo riding a tauntaun, mummy toy, usually 4 or 5 snacks (which generally I keep packed in a breastmilk storage zipper bag inside the bag but it's in the wash), changing pad (has its own pocket on the back of the bag), 2 cloth diapers, wetbag (bag you put dirty diapers in while out and about), 2 or 3 cloth wipes, homemade bum cream and tissues. 

Usually a sippy cup is in the side pocket. I still have lots of room for more diapers, cloth breastpads etc when we have two. 

I seriously love this bag! It's so roomy, never feels over packed or too heavy and I love that it can be a backpack or messenger bag. Basically you all need a jujube! 

:) 

Why Cloth ROCKS!

It really surprises me that we didn't cloth diaper Thatcher from the beginning. Before I had him I had always talked about cloth diapering and knew it was something I liked, but when you're at the hospital and they give you free diapers and you have people graciously buying you box after box of diapers (seriously, you all rock, we had free diapers for almost a year!) it is just kind of assumed you'll use disposables. 

We decided (okay, I decided) to start cloth diapering when Thatcher was younger, probably around 9 months or so. But then his perianal abcess came around and we didn't know how long he'd have it, how to deal with it and didn't want to change any of our routine in case it came back. Plus, there was the whole fact that I'd decided on pocket style diapers and they have a bigger start up cost, and you know the whole poop issue. 

Yes, the poop issue. The first thing most people think about when you tell them you cloth diaper. What about the poop? It scared me, and forking out a few hundred in diapers and supplies scared my hubby, even if we were saving money in the long run. 

So we waited. 

Until last week. I made an AMAZING discovery. The all-in-two system of cloth diapering. I could seriously hear a chorus of hallelujah angels in my mind as i gobbled up every bit of information I could online about these blessed diapers. And so, at three in the morning, I decided we were going to make the switch. 

Now, we're three days (and one explosive poop- ew!) in and I AM IN SO MUCH LOVE. It may be premature, but I thought I'd write a little about why I'm completely obsessed with cloth diapers now-a-days. 

The Cost

Obviously, cloth diapers are cheaper. Every month we had to buy a 20-30 dollar box of diapers on top of 10-15 dollar wipes, I cringed. Seriously shuddered. We hated the fact that we were spending hard earned money on something that was literally a portable toilet for our baby. Something we threw away to fill the landfill (more on that later). 

Like I said, we were very turned onto cloth diapering by the all in two system. Upon further research however I discovered an even cheaper option: prefolds and covers. This is the only style we've used, but it is so unbelievably cost-effective! Seriously, we bought 7 covers and 22 prefolds and we're set to cloth diaper full time doing laundry only every three or four days for SIXTY DOLLARS. That's it. We ordered a few more supplies (wetbags and detergent) that we could have easily done without and we're set. No more buying diapers every month, no more throwing money down the diaper genie. 

The Environment

I've always been cautious of my impact on the earth. I want to leave a beautiful place for my kids and their families, so it's important to me to make changes where I can to reduce my imprint. In the US on average per year 27.4 BILLION diapers are used and tossed into landfills. Our country spends 7 BILLION dollars a year on diapers that are thrown away and it takes 200 to 500 years for a diaper to decompose. That's a huge impact, and when I think about the vast number of diapers we used in the first 15 months on Thatcher it makes me ill. Our cloth diapers however can be washed, re-washed, sunned and stripped for years and last us a few kids since they're made to fit from 8-35 pounds. That's a lot of waste eliminated! 

The "Squee" Factor

Hello? Have you SEEN an adorable fluffy bum? The size alone is adorable but the prints they make now days are TO DIE FOR. Harry Potter, Star Wars, Cat in The Hat, Dragon Scales, the list goes on and on and on. Seriously, if you can imagine it there's probably a diaper cover for it. And I LOVE it. I have a list seriously 30 plus long of diapers I'm dying to buy. They're dang cute, and that's a factor for me! 

Comfort/Guilt

I never noticed how disposables feel like paper. And while maybe it isn't uncomfortable if that's all a bum knows, wouldn't it feel much better to be covered in natural materials like hemp, cotton or bamboo? I feel way better putting soft yummy smelling cotton against Thatcher's little bum than I did the disposable diapers. It just feels right! 

These are just a few things that I've noticed in the last few days we've done cloth. There's a big misconception out there that they're more difficult to use and harder to get clean, but that just isn't so. I spend maybe 5 seconds more per diaper change and washing is a breeze thanks to websites like fluff love university and local cloth groups. We've had numerous changes, poops (even explosions which are rare) and have done our first load of diaper laundry and I think it's very very safe to say that while it may not work for everyone, it's definitely the life for us! 

Now to wait "patiently" by the mailbox for our first fluff mail to arrive so I can squee over our cute new covers! :-)

Hi, I'm Taylor and I Breastfeed.

Whew, I'm glad we got that out there. Lately it feels like you almost have to whisper that fact as to not offend anyone or have unwanted advice thrown at you, and that's not fair. 

Thatcher and I had the opportunity to attend the Big Latch On last year. It was such a fun thing to be a part of a world record while raising awareness for breastfeeding and normalizing it in public. I even met some really cool mama's that share a lot of my own interests.

Next month there will be another Latch On and I'm really excited to go with another little nursling. But it also makes me remember the pain it caused last year as well. 

 At first, I was overwhelmed by the amount of negative or non-understanding comments about a picture that showed less than a bikini. Just as a disclaimer I will NEVER EVER get angry or offended that you believe differently than me.. on anything. Seriously, we may not agree but I think that some things work for some people that may not work for others; to each their own. So I hope that my discussions with breastfeeding never get taken that way. I will however, try to educate because it's an issue that is close to my heart and so important to many mothers and dads out there. When the negativity came raining down I cried a lot, which isn't like me. I have pretty tough skin. It wasn't because I was hurt or because people were disagreeing or criticizing my choice to feed my baby in public. It was because it was all at once. It was like standing in a room and being shouted at by ten different people and not being able to say anything to my defense. It was a little paralyzing. 

But just when the negative comments and messages (and not all were negative, some were simply curious) were becoming too much I received almost as many positive ones. I received messages from a handful of friends and acquaintances who are currently expecting and a handful from some who have babies. The former expressed their gratitude to my desire to educate people on breastfeeding and my desire to make it normal in any setting. Some said that they didn't plan on breastfeeding because they knew it could be isolating and made harder by others because they knew they would be judged or lectured, but because of my passion and love for it they wanted to try. The latter expressed thanks that I was brave enough to do something that they felt they couldn't do without dealing with negative consequences. 

And then I remembered that's why I do it. That's what this is all about. If I can help one woman to overcome that fear of being criticized to feed her precious baby however she wants (whether it be in public, private, a car, a store, covered or uncovered) my goal is accomplished. We need to remember that we are a sisterhood of mothers and that our choices can impact others more than we realize. 

So to clear things up, this is why I choose to breastfeed in public without a blanket. 

Because Thatcher hates having a blanket over his face. He was a summer newborn and got in the habit of pushing away a blanket early on because it was HOT! And I don't blame him! 

Because breastfeeding isn't sexual and it's not necessarily intimate for everyone. While you can feel strong emotions of love and adoration while breastfeeding when it comes down to it milk is milk and babies need to eat. I will not be held responsible for other's sexualization of something.  

Because I used to breastfeed in private and it was the most isolating feeling I've known. Sitting for an hour at a time (and even now for minutes) while others are out enjoying company of each other is a bummer. 

Because I've met so many women who give up because of lack of resources or information and don't trust their bodies when in reality they were doing everything perfectly. 

Because I've met so many women who have given up breastfeeding purely because someone disapproved or shamed them in public. 

Because feeding my baby should be so normal that others don't even notice or bat an eye-- it shouldn't cause an uproar. Businesses should accept a mother nourishing her child in any way so long as she's doing it safely. 

Because for us, it's right. 

I believe that every parent and child are different. And that's why mother's should be able to feed however they please and not be shamed. Breastfeeding is hands down my favorite thing about being a mother. It's the greatest ability that God has blessed me with, and I will fight for the right of those who choose to do it publicly however they feel comfortable. 

Mothers already have a tough job with long hours and little time to socialize with others. Imagine how amazing it could be if we stood with each other instead of tearing each other down. 

"How's He Sleeping?": Why You Should Stop Asking That Question & Our Gentle Sleep Experience

There are a lot of "stereotypical" questions that get asked when you become a parent. It's like there's an unwritten list of things to ask new parents upon seeing their little one, and at the top of that list is usually "How do they sleep?"

This is frustrating for a few reasons. Firstly, a lot of new parents don't expect their newborns or young babes to sleep through the night or to sleep well at all for that matter. So when we begin bombarding them with questions about sleep habits, routines and the overall soundness of their sleep it can really make them doubt something that shouldn't be doubted in the first place. Secondly, these questions are frustrating to new parents because they're usually followed by advice or comparisons to babies that sleep "better" without taking into consideration that A. All babies are different and B. Situations in the home are different. 

When Thatcher was first born I woke him up every two hours on the dot to eat. This was very early in our breastfeeding relationship and I wasn't feeding on demand during the nights yet. I wanted my milk established, even if it meant giving up a few night time hours. After we stopped doing this a month or two in he would give us good five hour stretches--it was great! Then we hit four months. He was cluster feeding more and more and ended up in bed with us a lot of nights. We were exhausted. From that point out he woke every couple of hours to feed barring a couple nights here and there where he'd give us a good stretch. It made me very self conscious when people would ask how he was sleeping because I didn't feel like we had a problem. Weren't babies supposed to feed a lot at night? Wasn't this pretty normal? 

It's pretty obvious that we are anti CIO (Cry It Out method of sleep training made popular by Dr. Ferber). To me personally there is nothing that a newborn or baby under 12 months really learns from being left alone at night to "self soothe" and work things out on his own. I've always firmly believed that I was a parent 24 hours a day and not just during the daytime. I also believe that all babies and kids are different (they're people, I think we sometimes forget this!) and that they hit milestones at different times. Sleep is a milestone. It's something that baby will do when they're developmentally ready. Just like I wouldn't force Thatcher to crawl or try solids before he was ready I wouldn't expect him to sleep through the night any sooner than he was ready either. So, we continued our routine of nursing to sleep, night waking to nurse often and having no tears nights. (Again, this is us personally..no judgement if you've done CIO, every baby is different!)

When Thatcher turned one I began to notice that he was telling me he was ready for better sleep and a different routine. Jeff and I were exhausted too, and wanted our bed back for more than a few hours a night. Thatcher was becoming increasingly grumpy during the days and at night when we'd usually nurse until he drifted off to sleep he began to eat then push me away before falling asleep in my arms. What I took away from these cues is that he wasn't getting enough rest at night and that he didn't really care to be nursed to sleep anymore. It seemed like when he woke at night he really wanted to get back to sleep on his own, but grudgingly took the breast for a few minutes when he couldn't do it on his own. 

We had to do something. I felt awful that I let him go so long getting poor sleep and felt determined to do a better job for him. 

Like any 21st century mom I scoured the internet for ways to help him get to sleep and stay asleep better. 

I was overwhelmed with the amount of CIO posts and Ferber posts that I couldn't even finish my search. I knew there had to be a gentler way to approach sleep that still helped him transition. I also started to realize that there are two types of babies; those who benefit from crying for a minute or two and fall asleep, and those who got more worked up from crying and became more awake. Guess which one Thatcher was! 

This was our plan: 

1. No night nursing unless he's gone 5-6 hours before waking up. At 12 months I noticed that the majority of the time he nursed at night it wasn't hunger nursing. He could comfortably go this amount of time without nursing, especially since he nursed on demand all day. I hoped this would help him learn that he needed to sleep a little longer before getting milk. 
2. Alternate comforting. I realized to my horror that I had never ever given Thatcher the chance to be soothed in ANY other way besides nursing. Of course that's what he needed at night. He'd never gotten used to being rocked to sleep, or sang to sleep, or anything besides nursing. It's just so much faster and easier! Until it becomes a habit five times a night. I decided to begin by nursing him until he was drowsy. As soon as his eyes would shut I would unlatch him and rock him in my arms. After a moment or two of rocking (usually however long it took for him to stop crying because he'd been unlatched) I would lay him in his crib. This is when the HUGE freakout would start. He'd never been laid down awake, ever. I would lean over and shush him while i put a hand on his back or belly or rubbed his leg. If he really kept freaking out then I would pick him up and start over at the rocking.

The first few nights were rough. Really, really rough. But after a week, he didn't fight it anymore. I also introduced a flat pillow, which I think helped a lot. Soon, he would nurse until he was drowsy and I didn't have to rock him in my arms. I could just lay him in bed, shush him for a minute or two and he'd curl up to his pillow and drift off. For the first time in his life I saw him stare at the ceiling and slowly close his eyes to sleep, and it was precious!
In two week's time we went from taking an hour and a half to two hours to put him to sleep then sneaking tip-toed out of the room to twenty minutes on a bad night. We went from waking every couple of hours to waking every 5-8. And even when he did have a bad night and wake before our 5-6 hour timeframe I'd pick him up, put him back in bed and shush him back to sleep in a matter of minutes instead of spending an hour a couple times a night in his room! It was heaven!

It's now been almost 3 months of doing this method. He has his rough nights when he's sick, teething or travelling but he's for the most part consistently giving us six to eight hour stretches of sleep with only one wake up at the most. Lately he's been teething which means sleeping six hours, waking up to nurse then sleeping another two and sometimes needing to nurse again in the morning, but we're all so much happier with the change that's taken place. We even had him night weaned before we left on a vacation that didn't allow us to keep that routine, but now we know it's possible.

I think my biggest advice to those of you seeking a better night's sleep is this; don't force it. Follow your child's cues and they will let you know when they're ready to hit that milestone, but it will happen. Keep heart and remember these moments are fleeting, before we know it they won't need us at night and we'll miss them.

Good luck and happy sleeping!

<3 

A Look at Our Week

For some reason I've gotten a lot of messages lately asking about our daily routine. I don't feel like we're doing anything wonderful or special by any means, but we've finally found something that seems to be working well, so I thought I'd share. 

Generally Thatcher wakes up anywhere from 6:30 to 7:30. He's been sleeping pretty well through the night now and usually gives us a six to eight hour stretch, so I don't get too horribly grumpy at the thought of being up so early (Translation: I fall asleep in the floor of the baby-proofed playroom while he entertains himself). Usually he plays with Da in the morning while I make breakfast and get things ready to get Jeff out the door. After Daddy is gone we almost ALWAYS do some independent play before naptime so I have a chance to get ready and have some mama time. And apart from cleaning up after meals or things that we do right away to keep the house tidy, I usually only clean while Thatcher is napping, so when he's awake we can do things together. 

That's always the same. I've found out the hard way, though that Thatcher I and both thrive off of routine. I'm a very organized person by nature, so I'm a little embarrassed it took me this long to incorporate it into our weekly routine. But finally we have, and it works!

Monday: On Monday I wash and hang dry (yes, we use a clothesline! Gasp! How old-fashioned!) our laundry from the week. In the morning while Thatcher is playing I plan out our week and round up any errands and things that need to be done. Monday is also one of Jeff's days off, which we take pretty seriously. We try to spend the whole day being together and doing fun things. Monday is also when we set our goal of what we want Thatcher to learn that week (ie: body part, new sign language, etc). 

Tuesday: Tuesday is spent folding laundry and putting it away along with our usual chores. We stay home almost all day and get the things around the house done. We also go to our local library for story and discovery time each Tuesday, which is just down the street and gives Thatcher a chance to interact with other littles and see new things. Tuesday is also our arts and crafts day, so we aim for all of our activities to have some sort of artsy theme.  Usually we do one or two activities which last anywhere from ten minutes to an hour depending on little Thatch's mood. We do painting, sidewalk chalk, crafts, coloring, and anything else we can think of. Thatcher wasn't a huge fan of getting down and dirty with art projects in the beginning but he's really warmed up to it. Usually I hang up whatever he did that day and when it's dry I show him and I swear that baby feels pride. His smile is just heart-melting. We generally end each day with Thatcher helping make dinner. 

Wednesday: This is our errand day. We're usually out running errands in between naps, so Thatcher gets to get out and wave at everyone and be worn a lot. This is supposedly the day I have set aside to work on blog posts, but my three month absence shows that our routine doesn't always get followed to a T. (Does anything get done totally with kids, though?). 

Thursday: On Thursday I sweep and mop the tile areas of the house and vacuum the whole house. I end up vacuuming here and there every day (I can't imagine why...) so at least once a week I do a very thorough job. Thursday's theme is sensory play. Thatcher really loves this one. We have a whole notebook of activities that engage his senses and get him trying new things. He loves playing in oatmeal, shaving creme, with felt, anything that's new and exciting he adores. It's so fun watching him react to new things! 

Friday: On Friday during naptime I try to do one big organizing or craft project. Usually it ends up being cleaning out the fridge, working on crafts for the house or organizing the basement. It feels really great to get a big to-do out of the way! Friday is also usually the day we play with our friend Tracy and her kids, so it's a nice break to be with another adult. When we get home in the afternoon we focus on our Montessori activities. We do blocks, thread things (like pipe-cleaner through a colander), putting things into containers, sorting objects, and so on. We love these activities because they focus on letting thatcher guide his own learning environment with pre-determined stations. He goes from thing to thing and works on motor skills, critical thinking and working together to accomplish things. It's fun to see him learning and see things clicking in his brain. 

Saturday: Generally the week is so packed that Saturday is pretty free--apart from naps. We usually do things together like go to the farmer's market, the children's museum, splash pad or lunch dates. It's time to just have fun and play together. 

Looking at it all written out it looks intimidating to me now, but it's amazing the change I could see when we started getting into a good routine. We're both happier and more productive when we know what to expect each day, keep up on chores and make time to be together instead of occupying him while i catch up on housework (which happens, of course but I try to keep it minimal). I feel like being a stay at home mom is such a blessing and a responsibility that I need to really take advantage of!

That being said we do have different types of play. Usually our directed play (arts, sensory and montessori) are themed and have goals we'd like to accomplish. Usually we try to use toys and objects that aren't his over-flowing trucks, trians, balls, etc. We also have independent play, which Thatcher does every morning before his nap.This is when he grabs whatever toys he wants and does whatever he wants. I feel like it's so important to have a balance between independent play that fosters a lot of imagination and directed play that works on milestones and skills he needs to learn. 

We also read about five books a day because he's a boy obsessed, not that this mama is complaining! 

So that's generally how our week goes. Things come up of course and get switched around but we try to accomplish all of those things so that we're both busy and engaged with each other rather than phones, computers and TV all the time. We do enjoy a show every day (usually to make him last before a nap or to entertain him while mama cooks or folds laundry) and I refuse to let myself feel guilty about that. I think it's hard to say what a child needs or doesn't need in a day because every child is so different. 

For those of you who have messaged me, please let me know if you  have any other questions! 

<3