5 things I would tell my pregnant self...

Being a new parent is probably one of the hardest things I've done in my short life. Don't get me wrong...it's wonderful...but hard! There is so much change in a short period of time. There is so much to learn in a short period of time. To be honest, there is nothing anyone can tell you when your pregnant that will really prepare you for those first couple weeks at home with baby. I thought I was going to be able to handle it well! How wrong I was! If I could tell myself 5 things I learned real quick during the first couple weeks as a parent here is what I'd say...


1. Get as much sleep as possible now.

        It's hard to get sleep in the last trimester of pregnancy but it's even harder to get sleep once baby is here! You will be up every couple hours feeding the baby or just trying to soothe baby back to sleep. Eventually you will forget what it was like to sleep past 5 am and what it was like to not fall asleep while watching TV at night. 

2. Do my research on breastfeeding.

          I was totally unprepared for breastfeeding. I thought that it would be sooo easy because its a natural thing. BOY was i WRONG! It was sooo not easy! While Hunter did latch on quickly....it was difficult for me to get him in a good position for both of us...and he sucked sooo hard! My nipples looked like a war zone. I ended up stopping breastfeeding after 1 week and started pumping. I wish I had kept with it and tried harder...maybe doing more research would have helped me be better prepared.

3. You think you are worried now...just wait!

      I'm a worry wart...i've been my whole life. I made a conscious decision when I found out I was pregnant to not worry and stress about being pregnant. I did a pretty good job of it and because of it I believe I had a good pregnancy. But that ALL changed once baby got here! It's like all the worrying I didn't do was bottled up and exploded once I had that baby! I was worried all the time the first couple of weeks! 

4. Give your baby a paci!

       Well this is my personal experience...but when I was doing my breastfeeding class I remember the lactation consultant saying that you can't give your baby a pacifier until after 2 weeks because it will cause nipple confusion. Well I absolutely wanted to follow that because that's what she said. I remember going to the pediatrician 3 days after Hunter was born and he was screaming and I was complaining about how my nipples hurt and i've been bleeding...she said "Why doesn't he have a pacifier? Babies like to suck...its calming for them". I told her what the lactation consultant said and she said it was fine and it wasn't going to mess with him. So I gave him the paci. Looking back I think that my breastfeeding experience would have been better if I had given him a paci since birth. Maybe my nipples would have felt a little better. lol

5. You cry at the drop of a hat but that's normal!

        Hormones are crazy after birth. I was an emotional wreck after baby was here and would cry all the time. It didn't matter what it was...I would cry. My husband would look at me and I would cry. I remember sitting with Hunter while he was sleeping on me and I was telling him how much I loved him and sobbed through it all. LOL

Welcome Baby Boyle (4 months late)

Well Baby Boyle is here....actually Baby Boyle has been here for 4 months already...but I've been adjusting to being a new mom so there hasn't been time to blog...but now that I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some of this under control I feel like I can blog again!! (YAY!!!!)

Introducing.....

hBw

July 11, 2015

3:06 am

8 lbs 6 oz

21 3/4 in

Having him has changed my life immensely. I look at everything differently now that I'm a mom...and I'll definitely be writing all about it here!

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Creating the registry

A couple weeks ago J and I decided to go ahead and start the registry for the baby. It was just a normal saturday and since we had nothing to do, and since my mother-in-law had been bugging me about starting a registry, I asked J if he wanted to head over to babies r us and create one. "Sure, he said.  So before we left I put out a post on facebook and asked some of my mommy friends for recommendations. Almost immediately I got plenty of responses. I was so excited and thankful for my helpful friends. However, one thing I didn't realize I was, was nieve! Oh My God, how stupid I was for thinking that registering would be easy peasy and quick! I was SO WRONG!!!! It was not easy, and definitely not quick! J and I were in babies r us for 3 HOURS!!!!! 

Now if you are a mom to be and haven't registered yet, don't let me scare you. It wasn't THAT bad...but it was bad only because I wasn't prepared. I thought that printing out a list from the internet and having the list they give you at babies r us would be enough! Well...I was wrong for so many reasons! 

Having those 2 lists were helpful for sure, but there was just a lot to find in the store. I honestly didn't realize how much stuff a baby needs.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't that stupid and thought that I only needed like 2 things. I knew a baby required a lot, but I didn't know just how much. Plus there are just soo many choices for one object. For example, a baby carrier. There are like 10 different types and brands of baby carriers and if you go in blindly like me, you have no idea what to get and you beg your husband to read the boxes and make a decision. 

So if I had any tips for you moms to be who are going to create a registry:

• Do your research! 
• This is my biggest regret! If I had done by research, I wouldn't have felt so overwhelmed by all the different choices. I recommend narrowing each item you need down to a couple that you really want to see in store and then make your decision.

• Ask other mom friends!
• I can't tell you how helpful my facebook post was! If I had never posted my question and asked my friends who were moms for recommendations, I would have been up a creek! Seriously! They helped me tremendously, especially with strollers!

• Get comfy!
• I wore comfy clothes and toms and I was still dead tired by the end of 3 hours! I literally sat down in the middle of the aisle looking at swaddles and telling my husband which ones to scan! LOL it was a sad sight, but I was an exhausted pregnant woman and didn't care. But in all seriousness, wear comfy clothes and shoes. I don't know how I would have survived if I wore heels and a dress!

• Don't feel pressured to get it all done in one day!
• I honestly thought that I would get everything registered and done by the end of our times at babies r us. WRONG! Once I realized how long it was taking, I quickly talked myself into just getting the "big" things done. By "big", I mean things that I felt I needed to see in store such as stroller, car seat, high chair, pack and play, swing, etc. Smaller things like bibs and pacifiers can be picked out on the store's website.

• Do register at more than one place.
• If you told me that before I registered I would have told you no way! But the next day after the babies r us fiasco, I created another registry at Target. We didn't go to target, I just did it online. So much easier! But the reason I think people should register at more than one place is because of options. At babies r us for example, I didn't see many bibs I liked. But on target.com I saw a ton! So it's basically to have a variety!

Creating a registry can be a fun thing...I promise! I have since checked out and edited our registries several times since we created them. Plus think of all the fun things your friends and family will get you for the baby!

Vacation Over...

So I'm sure you've noticed that I've been gone for some time, but I'm back now and with some pretty awesome news!

J and I are expecting a BABY!!!!!

That is kind of why I took the break to begin with. Let me explain. See this past summer we decided we wanted to start trying to conceive. After about 2 months of trying I got discouraged and pretty down about life and ultimately decided to stop writing. It probably wasn't the best thing because I think writing through my frustration would have helped. But you live and learn right?

I have been keeping track of my pregnancy in a personal way, but now i'm ready to share with the world!

I'm officially 26 weeks pregnant and due July 2, 2015! So far things have been great! I will say I was one of the lucky women who didn't get morning sickness at all! I literally had 1 day where I felt queasy but other than that I've been fine!

I've been trying my best to take pictures often...some weeks I remember and then I skip a couple. But for the most part I have a nice collection of the growing bump and I will definitely do a post with all the pictures!

I hope that with me actively keeping track of my pregnancy on here I will record things that I may not have remembered if I didn't write about it here!

Anyway, here's to being back from "vacation" and our baby in July!!

Let me introduce myself...

Well I figured I should probably introduce myself for anyone who reads my blog :)

Hi! I'm Amanda! I'm just a normal 30 year old trying to figure out life, one day at a time.

I'm originally from New York...and yes I'm one of those people who LOVE NY and always brags about how wonderful it is and how nothing can compare to it. I know this is obnoxious, my husband tells me all the time. haha

Love that skyline

After 18 years living in NY, I moved to Florida for college. This is where I met my awesome husband, J!

We got married in 2010 in St. Augustine Florida. It really was the best day of my life. J makes fun of me all the time because he says I accomplished a life goal when I got married...but it's true. I'm not gonna lie, I always wanted to be married.

We moved up to Maryland, where J is originally from, in 2011. Now, I love NY, but I also really love Maryland. I never really enjoyed living in Florida...I really like the change of seasons, and you don't have that in Florida. It's Hot all year long. I feel like Maryland is where I was supposed to live all long. 

I'm a teacher for the local school district. I teach Pre-K! I know what you're thinking...how the hell do you do that? LOL Honestly, I love it. Teaching is my passion. It is not an easy job, however, it is the most rewarding thing I've ever done. 

Best part of teaching besides knowing that I am making a difference in my students lives is having the SUMMER OFF!

I am a big Baltimore Oriole's fan! J and I love going to O's games...it's one of our favorite things to do in the spring and summer. He goes for the baseball...I go for the HOT guys :)

Do we have anything in common?

High 5 for Friday!!

Oh Friday...you are my favorite day! Even when it's the summer and I haven't worked all week, I still love you. Let's look back on my favs this week...

One: 
Now that Jinxie is groomed he gets cold easy, which means he likes to cuddle! This rarely happens to me, as he loves his Daddy way more, but you bet I savored every single minute of this! I love this little lion so much!

Two:
We had a girls night at a local winery! Every Thursday they have "Good Life Thursdays". It's basically a free event with live music, wine, food and good friends! I really wanted to go for a long time, but something always came up. So glad it worked out this week...I had a blast! Even though I had wisdom teeth surgery next Friday, I'm still gonna go to Good Life Thursdays! LOL

Three:
We have curtains in our bedroom! We finally decided on some, and I love them! I will admit, I didn't like the color at first, but they go really well with our wall color. They are from Ikea, one of my favs place! Anyway, they were too long, so I hemmed them. So proud that I actually threaded the machine all by myself!

Four:
Since summer is almost over and I go back to school in a little over 1 week, I am trying to savor every bit of relaxation! That usually involves sunshine! I've been trying to lay out a little bit each day...you know to keep my awesome tan going! Until winter comes...

Five:

These 2 are sooo cute! Jinxie loves his Daddy and needed some cuddles before he left for work!

Bring sexy back....

I totally have that JT song stuck in my head...and I'm sure you will to. I apologize :)

Anyway, Jinx got a haircut and is bringing sexy back! Every year we try to get Mr. Jinx groomed. Since he is long haired his fur mats easily and it's not comfortable for him. We wouldn't have to groom him if he likes to be brushed, but he doesn't. He will growl and bite, so it's just easier to have him shaved.

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