Boyd Meets Girl

Oh, bath time. When I just had one kiddo, it was actually enjoyable to bathe her regularly and relatively drama-free. My oldest loved to play in the water and only cried about getting out or pooped in the bathtub occasionally. Enter second child. Enter extreme sleep deprivation and being overwhelmed. All the sudden bath time wasn't so much fun anymore. 9 months into being a mother of two, I can say with confidence that bath time is more like the bath time I used to love and cherish - enjoyable! But not without the help of a handful of products that really make bath time more enjoyable and safe for both me and my sweet little angels. As a mom, I'm constantly looking for products that make my life easier and keep my kids safe.  Without further adieu, here are some of the best (in my opinion) products for bath time! (disclaimer: some of the links provided are affiliate links, which will result in a small amount of compensation to help fund my freelance writing efforts if cli...

Colic. Fussy baby. Crying all the time. Needy baby. Spoiled baby. WHATEVER you want to call it, if you have a baby who is fussy A LOT then you know how hard it is. I, with a 4 month old who has been described as all of the above, am speaking from experience here. It is not fun. But, from what I read anyway, it goes away. Hopefully by the time she is 18 years old. Lord, help me. I actually hate the term "colicky." It doesn't really tell you WHAT the problem is. Just that there is one and that is supposedly goes away. I'm a problem solver. If there is a problem, I want to solve it. (Check out my hook while the DJ revolves it)... Really, from all that I have read and heard, the best "cure" for colic is time - which is the hard part. Because let me tell you, these months have been long and frustrating, and I'm only assuming that there are more months to come. Here are some tips that I have gathered in my desperate search for relief from the colicky baby. ...

I never thought I would be that parent . That parent who yelled . Not that I have something against raising my voice, but I never thought I would be a yeller. But I am. And I am sorry. I'm sorry I yelled. I'm sorry I yelled when you fought your diaper changes. I'm sorry I yelled when you wouldn't stop crying. I'm sorry I yelled when you wouldn't go to sleep. I'm sorry I yelled when you made a mess.  I'm sorry I yelled when I couldn't get dinner on the table before you were hungry. I'm sorry I yelled because I had to get to work, and we were running late. I'm sorry I yelled when you couldn't find your shoes.  I'm sorry I yelled when you didn't want to be in your car seat. I'm sorry I yelled when you wouldn't sit in the buggy at the grocery store. I'm sorry I yelled when you whined. Incessantly. I'm sorry I yelled when you came in to "help" when I was getting your little sister t...

So, I kinda knew I was going to freak out when I had my second daughter. A) I don't deal with any change very well and B) the freak out from having my first daughter just 21 months prior was too fresh on my mind to ignore. I wrote about it ( read it here ); I asked for tons of advice. Come April 2015, I braced myself and experienced the inevitable: complete (but manageable) chaos for basically 4 months straight. Some people have easy kids. That's great! These must be the same people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight, never get sick during pregnancy, and have kids that slept through the night when they were 2 days old. Although so thankful for my little cherubs, my kids aren't what I would categorize as "easy." Probably a good thing or I'd want to add more little soldiers to our army. Being the Type A personality that I am, I have always felt the need to be prepared. I did my research and made a list of what I thought that I needed for my ...

Other than the "prize" you get at the end of pregnancy (the baby) and maybe the nesting, my favorite thing about pregnancy is taking maternity photos! I am not one of those women who love pregnancy, and I'm fairly certain that the feeling is mutual. Both of my pregnancies have been laced with such atrocities as severe morning sickness, gestational diabetes, rare eye conditions, PUPPS, and high blood pressure, just to name a few lovely occurrences. So, why even schedule a photo shoot if pregnancy is so horrendous, you may ask? Because women are crazy, that's why - and even though I despise almost every second of being pregnant, there will come a time where I will look back on the time fondly (since I am no longer being held captive by the baby who has taken over my body) and be GLAD that I captured pictures of it all. Between the two times I have been pregnant and had maternity pictures done, I have come up with some tips that can help you (hopefully) when you ...

HUGE GINORMOUS DISCLAIMER: Please read this before you read anything else. This post wouldn't even exist if I didn't wholeheartedly believe that breast is best. So, this is not a formula vs. breastfeeding debate. Nor is it a discussion on which is better, easier, more natural, whatever. It is simply my personal manifestation on why I chose to breakup with breastfeeding. I chose the wording on this very carefully. I chose "breaking up" because, for me, breastfeeding was all about the emotions. All the feels. My self expectations on what it meant to be the best mother I could. The visions I had of lovingly nursing my little cherub(s) and knowing that their weight gain, their thriving, their BEING was all a result of ME and MY super milk. I don't think that formula is bad or else I would never give it to my children. So, here goes my story..... With my first daughter, I was bound and determined to nurse her. I had my pump rip roaring and ready to go at, like...

Confession time: I totally thought that motherhood would be a flippin' walk in the park compared to going to a 9-5 job. When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I had visions of mommy and me classes, baby yoga, cooking extravagant meals while my angelic child played quietly in the living room. These visions that would not be happening because I had to work. I longed for the opportunity to stay at home each day as I drove my little cherub to daycare and dropped her off. I felt huge amounts of mommy guilt (read more about that here ) and settled on working part-time so I could also spend time with my first born at home. The best of both worlds, I thought at the time... (I was wrong --- read about THAT one here ). Enter the impeding birth of child #2. (By the way, did you know that the last month of pregnancy is THE LONGEST MONTH EVER IN EXISTENCE?!?!) Hooray! We have jumped the gun and made the decision for me to stay at home and become the coveted, cherished STAY-AT-HOME MOM. A...

Every now and again, I get an email with a title that catches my eye, and I actually open it and read it. (Yes, I am one of those people who have 4,597 unread emails - not kidding - and one of these days I will guiltily click "select all" and "mark as read" because I can't handle it anymore) But I do absolutely look for the important ones.  The email I read yesterday was about Toddler Food Throwing on the What to Expect Web site . Now, I'm including the above link so you can take a gander yourself - there are some good strategies listed there. And I'm not trying to hate, but it is prompting me to share with you guys our mealtime strategies and how they might be a little different than what the peeps over at What to Expect are suggesting. (Disclaimer: This is what works for our family and specifically our 21-month old. A younger child under the age of 1 might have different needs. Your kiddo might have feeding issues or weight gain problems. So, I abs...

As a mother, I am constantly amazed by little things that I didn't think my little one could do, and what do ya know? After a little time and effort, viola! I am guilty of not letting her do certain things because it's too messy or seemingly dangerous. Totally guilty of that. Thankfully, I have a different perspective to balance my mommy point-of-view. As a speech therapist, I routinely evaluate kiddos on their speech development, and with that, their global overall development is also looked at by a developmental therapist. Time and time again, I observe kiddos who haven't developed skills because of pure non-exposure. This is NOT meant to knock the parents down. After all, I appreciate and acknowledge your desire to not have your little one go tumbling down the stairs or pour grape juice all over the carpet. I get it. But these are some things that you can work on with them to help them safely develop these skills. (Disclaimer: My kid is just past a year and a half, s...

In this day in age of mom-on-mom hate, every mom is type-casted.... labeled.... if you will. Well, moms, I'm a lazy mom. Yep. Lazy as can be. And I let my Lazy Mom Flag fly high. I'm makin' it rain with the lazy mom dolla bills. I'm a lazy mom because my kid stays in her pjs, sometimes all day. But guess what? She is comfortable in them and able to move around her surroundings in the house without restriction. Plus she can't pull her socks off if she is in footie pjs (bonus). I do (usually) change her into actual clothes if we are leaving the house (and leaving the car, who am I kidding? if it's just a car ride, jammies can stay on!). I'm a lazy mom because if my kid is arguing with another kid about a toy (she is 20 months), I sit back and let it play out. I'm not going to get involved in kid politics unless someone is going to get hurt. I want my daughter to be able to fend for herself and know that disagreements happen. Things aren't always go...

As a parent, I have a lot of dreams for my kids. Actually these dreams have more to do with the characteristics that I want my children to have, hopefully in part due to my amazing parenting skills. Being a good eater, having manners, respecting adults, excelling at and liking school... these are all things that I think most parents hope for as they are raising their little tots. It's scary to think that the way that we approach these philosophies even when they are 1-2 years old and can't even really talk yet absolutely do have an effect on how our kiddos will act when they are older. I mean.... most of us parents are taking it day by day and just hoping for the best, and that is ok! A couple of days ago, a mom on one of my parenting groups posted a question about how to raise an independent child. Because this parenting group is a good one, she got a plethora of responses... and all of it really got me thinking. What I heard was an echoing chorus of the same memories and st...

1-2 weeks pregnant - This is technically before you are actually pregnant, but unless your pregnancy happens accidentally (well lucky you!), you are definitely thinking about it. Oh yes. Ovulation. Fertile window. Some of us are checking basal temperatures, checking out our bodily fluids, peeing on ovulation sticks. All that good stuff that probably makes our husbands think we are cray-zay. During this time, you are simultaneously forecasting due dates based on several assumed conception dates. If you really got it bad, you are seeing where important pregnancy milestones fall if this is your lucky month! ( Ok, first trimester would be done right around Halloween, so we could totally do one of those cute pumpkin pregnancy announcements, yessssssss! ) 2-3 weeks pregnant - Google and Baby Center become your sick addiction. You are googling things such as "EARLY EARLY signs of pregnancy," or "is peeing while running an early sign of pregnancy?" You are also insa...