April 12th, 2017, I found out I was expecting a tiny human. This also happens to be my husband’s birthday- you can imagine our mutual shock at that surprise birthday gift! 9 long months, and 5 hours of labor later, we welcomed Athena Elizabeth into the world with GREAT HASTE at 7:16am, December 19th, 2017. She was 6lb 13oz and 19 1/2in long.
On December 4th, 2019 after reading our Advent study, I took a test expecting it to be negative- it was almost instantly positive. After 2 hours of active labor and 6 minutes of pushing, Eleanor Margaret Jane came into the world screaming before she was even full out!
I have over 15 years of childcare experience between church nursery, Vacation Bible School, babysitting, nannying, and working in day care. This has given me a great wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to all things children! On top of it, I have a degree in Secondary Education, which means plenty of psychology and development classes. All of this to say, I’ve had a number of years to come up with fun stuff, observed a number of parenting styles and skills.
Under this category you will find stories of motherhood, activities, favorite products, and MORE! If you have any posts you would like to see, activities, questions about how I am handling certain “trainings” or milestones, let me know from the contact tab at the top!
Life with Athena
Chatting with a friend who happens to have been a behavioral therapist for children, she said something along the lines of, “and your blog is going to be such a great resource and encouragement for other parents who have gone…
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Life with Athena, Part II
If you didn’t read the first part of this series, I definitely recommend going back and reading Life with Athena. There’s a good chance this post won’t make much sense without it. Figuring out *most* of the pieces of Athena’s…
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Life with Athena Part III
Meltdown life. Toddlerhood is already a bucket of fun. Living with the real-life equivalent of a Sour Patch Kid. Athena is like living with an extreme version. In the last 18m we have had to learn how to decipher the…
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Why I Went to an IBCLC
I’ll start with what an IBCLC is. It’s an “International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.” This means that they have gone through over 90 hours of education including baby development, pre and post natal care, anatomy, biology, and more. Many, also…
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Pregnancy
As I mentioned in my post about Eleanor’s Birth, finding out we were pregnant again was petrifying for me. Not because I was afraid to be a mom of 2. Not because I was afraid of labor & delivery. No.…
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Eleanor Margaret Jane
After buying a house in August of 2019, Ethan and I decided to hold off on having another baby and trying to get pregnant until fall of 2020. On top of this, we were still doing therapy with Athena and…
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Lady Eleanor
Considering I wrote a whole 3 part series on Athena, I think it’s fair to share about Eleanor some too! In all fairness, I have written about her Pregnancy, L&D, and our early experience working with an IBCLC and her…
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Toddler Cake Decorating
Do you think I’m crazy? Before you go down that rabbit trail, I won’t lie, I’ve even impressed myself with this creativity. I saw a puffy paint recipe on Pinterest and I had a top 10 idea. I mentioned in…
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Easter Baskets
Some people may think our Easter Baskets are a little extra, and they would be right. Athena’s birthday and Christmas are 5 days apart. That means in general, there’s no other “gifty” holiday during the year for her. It all…
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Stayin Alive-Surviving Indoor Weather with Littles
We are in Pennsylvania, one of the states that experiences all four seasons; sometimes in one day. But usually between about November through April-ish we are more or less stuck inside. I say this as today was 56° and sunny…
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Beyond the Box
With 2 girls, it’s incredible how quickly and easy it is to be overrun with STUFF. Stuffed animals, baby dolls, kitchen toys…. From the time we knew Athena was going to be a December baby we have worked hard to…
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Baby & Mom Registry Must Haves
PHEW. 2 tiny humans in 5 years. It’s amazing how much came out between Athena & Nora being born. BUT the biggest thing I came away with between the two was KNOWLEDGE. One of the main things I wish I…
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Mud Kitchen Crib Repurpose
Eleanor has become a sheer escape artist. What was once a once every few montha occurrence became a daily- jumping out of her crib. We were still sharing a bedroom with her, so taking the front off daybed style to…
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Easter Baskets 2022
In case you were unaware, I love a good theme! Whether it be for parties or gifts, I like to base them off of a central idea. It helps keep me focused because I have the gift, and problem, of…
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The 4 Es
Exposure Explore Experience Evaluate Over this school year, I have started really diving in to the concept, of what I call, “The 4 Es-Exposure Explore Experience Evaluate.” It came about from the response I provided to a question on Instagram,…
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1000 Hours Outside
It should surprise no one when I say I love outside. From mud pie cooking shows as a child, to summer camp, to our gardens now. I was instantly in love when I learned about 1000 Hours Outside last year…
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Toddler Bible Time
Part of homeschooling for us, includes Bible Time. I use this term loosely but stick with me. First, we are hitting the age where she is really learning songs and latching on to them. Not only does she ask for…
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The Nurtured Bee 