Month: October 2016

Postpartum and what helped me

~ rachelereilly ~ 3 Comments

Hey guys as you know Adora is now 6months old. I wanted to talk about what helped me postpartum. Being a new mom IS NOT EASY! Theres no magical moment that makes your family just come together with birds flying and pixie dust, we wish mamas but theres not. So you have to make it work for you. This morning I met a mom with a 14month old who just now is working through her postpartum. She congratulated me for getting out and doing things all the time. In my brian I was like you have no idea I thought I wasn’t doing enough hahah, Go figure!

Truth is I go out because it helps me feel like Im doing something! It makes us feel like we are teaching Adora, getting her exposed to different things and teaching her through play. I just love her so much and I want her to have all the opportunities in the world and love learning. I get so nervous I’m not doing enough or that Adora should already be talking or something!

So to ease my anxiety and make me feel better I developed a schedule for us. No matter what we try to stick to it to make me feel sane. Of course the schedule will change based on Adora for the day or if we feel especially tired or have an appointment. It also changes based on free days, the museums or any type of festival that is going on. Also some days she will nap longer then an hour so mom can actually get stuff done!

 

6:40/7am wake up and feed also give lots of kisses and make LOTS of noise 7 Trapaso while mom makes coffee 7:30 walk with brother pup outside around the hood
8 take dad to UCLA go to the garden walk around 9 come home eat some more and play a few games -possible bath- 930 flashcards, rosetta stone or games till nap
10ish nap time maybe til 11

 

 11am feed and cuddle with mom 1130 take out pup to walk or get ready for what we are going to do for that day – possible park
12- mom makes food while Adora plays with her blocks or puzzles 1-4 activity outside of the house 4ish nap and food
5 help mom make dinner and yes Adora helps we go over what to make and how to make it 6/7 feed family 8pm start getting ready for bed!

*Mondays I TRY to take her to the beach or hiking

*Tuesdays are museum or art gallery days I find all the free ones great to go to!

*Wednesday is music class or library story hour and day & VIB baby hour

*Thursdays are free days at Skirll ball Center and other kid museums & gym class

* Fridays I try to take her out to the beach or on a hike/longer walk

*Saturday is family time and so is Sunday so we plan family centered activities! 🙂

The reason I share this is because sometimes as a new mom I used to look around on blogs for typical schedules other moms would do. It helped me to feel like I could figure out this whole new mom thing… Somedays I can’t do anything until 1pm and some days she’s up at 5am so these schedules don’t mean anything, but its nice to know what other moms do to make it through their day.

What do you do with your new baby, especially the first year? Leave comments and suggestions below for us! 🙂

 

Mama on the Go!

~ rachelereilly ~ 2 Comments

What does mama on the go mean to you? To me it just means that were an active family that enjoys doing lots of fun activities. These activities teach our daughter through play, doing, learning and socialization.

I see alot of comments on my instagram posts often scolding or mama shaming us for traveling and doing alot of things with Adora, our 6month old baby. While we do acknowledge every LO is different our baby really really really enjoys doing things. She can be miss FUSSY pants in her play area but as soon as we take her outside she’s having the time of her life. Babies are just like us adults, they love stimulation, they love attention, and they love to be doing things.

I think these pics say it themselves, Adora just wants to be “on the go” and so do I! 🙂 I really think that for Adora there are so many new things and experiences that she has to learn about and explore and shes curious about. So what if she won’t remember every little experience, she is still making an imprint in her little baby brain about each one. Each time her little 4month old brain process touching a fish, or a shell. Her little week old brian smells the ocean, and her 5month old brain goes back she starts to recognize that all these experiences are fun and safe and she will start to imprint the smells and colors and sounds and love them when she is older and can actually make a memory that will last her lifetime.

I am not just a mama on the go, were a learning team on the go! We learn from each other and develop things that make each of us excited to learn and curious about the world. After all learning is meant to be a fun interactive activity. I want Adora to know that life isn’t about making money to buy stuff, but exploring the world and leaving a more positive mark. It’s about learning and continuing to be curious the rest of her life. I want her to help to make a positive impact everywhere she goes and to continue to love everything about this world and learning. After all isn’t it better for me to take her to an interactive learning exhibit at a museum, or on a hike where she up close insects and how biodiversity works, and even uses a magnifying glass, rather then give her a toy that lights up and make noises. I give her expose to the Aurora in Canada that lights up the sky, or a simple rainbow mist exhibit that teaches how colors, prisms and light reflections. We build light boxes, make art work, build felt boards, make our own wooden blocks and make up songs to teach each other about the world.

So for us mama and baby team on the go means that we cant wait to learn, explore and make the world a better place by doing so. 🙂 We think shes a pretty happy baby! :)_