As for me, I've been a busy lady! My almost sister in law and I have started a baking business, Sweet Cinnamon Bake Shoppe. We don't have a store front at this time but rent commercial space to do all of our baking. We are currently providing local delivery as well as shipping across the US! We've been working hard planning a vendor & craft fair to take place Saturday October 22 from 6-9 pm at the Goddard School of Howell located at 65 Kent Road. We have 20 amazing vendors... Avon, Lia Sophia, Tastefully Simple, Recreated Jewlery by Laura, Wipers & Diapers, Tutus by ME, Sweet Pea Cupcakes, The Stylish Diva and MORE! Its definitely going to be an fantastic night of shopping so grab the girls and your wallets and come check it out!
Be sure to check out our website....
Receive 10% off your first order with us.... Fall and Halloween Specialty items are now available! You'll be hooked to all of our home baked goods!
I've also been keeping up with doing Zumba. It has tremendously helped me both physically and mentally! I love it so much so that this Sunday I will be training to be certified to teach! Its going to be a crazy long day, and from what Ive been told, an amazing day. I am so excited about this new venture for me... now just to get over the slight fear of teaching a room full of people :-)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Baby Getting Big Blues
I cannot believe that Ryan is 6.5 months old already. The time I feel like goes extra quick the second time around, especially when the older one is only coming up on 2.5 years old. Jack keeps me running all day long and sometimes I miss the fact that I don't have all the time I did with Jack just to sit and stare at him.
Ryan is doing AMAZING! He went from commando crawling to real crawling to pulling himself up on things and getting into standing position within the past couple weeks. Its crazy! Where has the time gone. I feel like I just had him and here we are half way to his first birthday.
Maybe things are different this time around because Ryan is most likely the last baby we're having and I absolutely adore the baby stage. I so badly want to pause life sometimes or at least do things in slow motion once in a while. I can't help feeling a little bummed out that Ryan isn't just mush in my arms anymore, that he wants to just get down on the floor and go. Yes, I get this is what is supposed to happen, they are supposed to grow and develop but why does it have to happen in the flash of a second?!?!?!
Jack is doing incredible. He is so smart and his vocabulary absolutely amazes us, we sometimes forget how young he still is. He's growing into a very funny little man! No luck on the potty training frontier but hey he is my stubborn child. Some days he is a little chimpanzee, wild child. His energy seems to be endless and boy does he know how to push the limits... somedays I think I need a nap more then him. Jack has decided to be a clown for Halloween this year.. he's got a thing for the circus at the moment. His costume came today and it is absolutely adorable and he spent most of the day wearing it... hoping the costume survives to Halloween LOL! When he's not pushing my buttons he does and says the funniest things. He always has a completely logical answer to everything so yes, the two year old wins debates sometimes.
The most incredible moments are those when he is being gentle and sweet to Ryan. I don't think there is anything more amazing then watching Jack make Ryan do a real belly laugh, hugging and kissing him and even pulling him away from things he could hit his head on.... Jack trying to fee Ryan a goldfish tonight, not so great HAHA. Seeing the boys play together is absolutely incredible and I certainly wouldn't trade any of if for anything in the world!
Ryan is doing AMAZING! He went from commando crawling to real crawling to pulling himself up on things and getting into standing position within the past couple weeks. Its crazy! Where has the time gone. I feel like I just had him and here we are half way to his first birthday.
Maybe things are different this time around because Ryan is most likely the last baby we're having and I absolutely adore the baby stage. I so badly want to pause life sometimes or at least do things in slow motion once in a while. I can't help feeling a little bummed out that Ryan isn't just mush in my arms anymore, that he wants to just get down on the floor and go. Yes, I get this is what is supposed to happen, they are supposed to grow and develop but why does it have to happen in the flash of a second?!?!?!
Jack is doing incredible. He is so smart and his vocabulary absolutely amazes us, we sometimes forget how young he still is. He's growing into a very funny little man! No luck on the potty training frontier but hey he is my stubborn child. Some days he is a little chimpanzee, wild child. His energy seems to be endless and boy does he know how to push the limits... somedays I think I need a nap more then him. Jack has decided to be a clown for Halloween this year.. he's got a thing for the circus at the moment. His costume came today and it is absolutely adorable and he spent most of the day wearing it... hoping the costume survives to Halloween LOL! When he's not pushing my buttons he does and says the funniest things. He always has a completely logical answer to everything so yes, the two year old wins debates sometimes.
The most incredible moments are those when he is being gentle and sweet to Ryan. I don't think there is anything more amazing then watching Jack make Ryan do a real belly laugh, hugging and kissing him and even pulling him away from things he could hit his head on.... Jack trying to fee Ryan a goldfish tonight, not so great HAHA. Seeing the boys play together is absolutely incredible and I certainly wouldn't trade any of if for anything in the world!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Live and Learn!
Live and learn right?!?! If my husband and I learned anything from our first son it was that we waited way to long to allow him to learn to self soothe. I know there are plenty of you that may disagree with the ferber method but it works! With our first we tried every gentle method we were told about or read about and nothing worked with jack! He was absolutely horrible! We didn't get him to sleep through the night until he was a year old. Jack is now a little over 2 and the night time can still be a struggle some nights!
Ryan will be 6 months old on the 26th. Everything ice read says if you wait much linger past 6 months they start to understand much more and will protest. Getting Ryan to sleep isn't the tough part. The tough part is getting him to stay asleep. We could have gotten him down at 8 but from then until 11/1130/12 he'd be up three times. After that point he'd sleep a little better but still get up at least twice a night. So to the point... Last we decided to start the process. He is still little so I am not stoping feedings. We however decided that he needed to be laid down awake and allow him to fall asleep on his own, after finishing a bottle of course... In the middle of the night last night he woke up maybe 10 mins after finishing a bottle we decided to let him cry it out... Hearing him cry for 30 minutes was nearly unbearable but I know that in the end he will be a better sleeper which means well rested and happy! We stuck it out! Today for nap he cried 15 minutes then took an hour and a half nap! Tonight he cried 5 minutes and has been sleeping since 8!!! Progress is happening so much faster then with jack. We pray we can get through the frying part fast and that sleep time becomes a simple thing with baby 2!
Ryan will be 6 months old on the 26th. Everything ice read says if you wait much linger past 6 months they start to understand much more and will protest. Getting Ryan to sleep isn't the tough part. The tough part is getting him to stay asleep. We could have gotten him down at 8 but from then until 11/1130/12 he'd be up three times. After that point he'd sleep a little better but still get up at least twice a night. So to the point... Last we decided to start the process. He is still little so I am not stoping feedings. We however decided that he needed to be laid down awake and allow him to fall asleep on his own, after finishing a bottle of course... In the middle of the night last night he woke up maybe 10 mins after finishing a bottle we decided to let him cry it out... Hearing him cry for 30 minutes was nearly unbearable but I know that in the end he will be a better sleeper which means well rested and happy! We stuck it out! Today for nap he cried 15 minutes then took an hour and a half nap! Tonight he cried 5 minutes and has been sleeping since 8!!! Progress is happening so much faster then with jack. We pray we can get through the frying part fast and that sleep time becomes a simple thing with baby 2!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Challenges
When you first discover you are pregnant there are so many emotions that go through your mind... joy, excitement, nervousness, pure love... there is no way of truly knowing what challenges are ahead of you. You can have some sort of idea of what it will be like when you have a screaming baby at 4 in the morning that despite your every effort, just doesn't want to calm down. We have all been there right? But then there are the little bumps along the road of parenthood that I don't think you can foresee.
Mommyhood, and yes daddyhood too, is far from a simple thing. The loving your child/children unconditionally with everything that you are is the simple part. You would do absolutely ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to make them happy, to keep them from feeling pain, to keep them healthy. Ok so thats the very general plan right? Raise them to be strong, independent, smart, successful, kind and loving but how to get there is the challenge.
I always thought having one very active and incredibly smart little boy was a challenge. Things are now just a little harder with 2 little boys. Jack learned to push buttons and with every stage of growth came new challenges. The hard part is that I always had this plan in the back of your head as to how I would deal with each situation, how I would react when they decide to throw a box of rice on the floor, or continually climb way too high, when they take a marker to your newly painted walls. Is it just me or does the great plan not always work out perfectly. I feel like this is such a tough topic because as a mother I feel like I should be prefect and that is so not the case and in a way I feel ashamed of my reactions and frustration some days. I admit that there are times that I raise my voice louder then I should, that I overreact, that I have overly high expectations for a 2 year old.... Everyday I try to be better and some days go so smoothly and then there are days I just want to crawl into bed and cry... is this normal?
Ryan is a little over 3 months old and demands so much time but so does Jack. How do you explain to a 2 year old to be patient while mommy works on getting the baby to fall asleep? How do you relax your mind to the point that you can just hangout and have fun? I feel like I always have a million things going through my head that its so hard for me to just forget about what needs to get done around the house and just PLAY. Between cooking, cleaning up, laundry, Avon, diapers, pumping.... my mind just needs a break and I feel like I am on overload sometimes. I try so hard to make every mishap an opportunity to teach Jack something, but sometimes the aggravation gets in the way and it just makes the situation worse, no lesson learned and then we're both upset. I'll gladly take any coping advice. I sometimes worry that Jack not listening to us is all on me and Steve, that we are screwing up but I don't see where the problem is. I stick to what I say, I don't let him get away with things, I let him know when he has done something that is not ok.... is it just because he is only 2? Don't get me wrong, Jack is such a smart 2 year old, he amazes me everyday!! He is so kind and loving I just want to squeeze him with the hugest hug most of the time. Its just those little things throughout the day that sometimes challenge me. Is it maybe because we tend to have big reactions to everything that he can't tell the difference between us joking and playing with him to when we are serious?
I guess its all a learning process... its always something new and we are always trying to adapt to the kids needs. I understand that each stage of their lives requires an updated parenting approach.... now how to accept that I will never be perfect?? Please feel free to share your thoughts and advice in the comment section!
PS.... If you enjoy reading my blog please "follow" me! Lets me know someone is reading!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Stationery Card
Jolie Bebe Blue Baptism Invitation
Shutterfly cards for Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Birthdays & more.
View the entire collection of cards.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
My Zumba Addiction
My husband and my brother are always making fun of me and I'm pretty sure they think I've lost my mind but YES I am totally addicted to zumba!!!! I have never been great at the gym going routine, it's bored me to death which leads to me giving up on it really quickly. I have to thank my friend Jamie for getting me into it because it was her idea for us to look into it. I went once, sweated my butt off and felt great afterwards, I was hooked!! Of course who knew I was going to get pregnant just 2 months after starting, more on that later.
I have found the most incredible instructor, Alexis 'Zumba' Roe. She has started up her own thing that runs out of Station 55 Firehouse in Jackson NJ. I highly recommend you give her classes a try. The other instructors there are great as well!! I am a mom and wife first and always but I truly believe that everyone needs at least one thing that is all for themselves.... Zumba is my thing! I am so excited to be part of a group of really great women and Slinky too.... They are kind, strong and motivating. Zumba gives me a chance to step away from diapers, bottles and Yo Gabba Gabba for a bit... When that music is blasting my mind gets to focus on that moment and only that moment, not the long list of things that need to get done. It gets my heart pumping and though I may not look great doing it, it makes me feel strong and good about myself.
It's funny because I only gained 17 lbs when I was pregnant with Ryan. I actually did continue to do Zumba until I was around 8 months. After giving birth I dropped 13 of those lbs. Ryan is now 10 weeks old and I now weight a few lbs less then what I was before getting pregnant... This is great, I know that but still it's driving me nuts because I feel like it's not enough and I am in some big rush to drop more weight. I've also started taking a tushie and tummie class which is also great! I was sore for days after! I'm going to keep with it and hopefully I'll start seeing more results. I love that I am able to do this a few days a week thanks to my hubby supporting my addiction lol! I definitely think everyone should give it a try!
PS... If you enjoy my blog please click "follow"!
Also... I'm an Avon independent sales representative so Check out my site www.youravon.com/slemoine
I have found the most incredible instructor, Alexis 'Zumba' Roe. She has started up her own thing that runs out of Station 55 Firehouse in Jackson NJ. I highly recommend you give her classes a try. The other instructors there are great as well!! I am a mom and wife first and always but I truly believe that everyone needs at least one thing that is all for themselves.... Zumba is my thing! I am so excited to be part of a group of really great women and Slinky too.... They are kind, strong and motivating. Zumba gives me a chance to step away from diapers, bottles and Yo Gabba Gabba for a bit... When that music is blasting my mind gets to focus on that moment and only that moment, not the long list of things that need to get done. It gets my heart pumping and though I may not look great doing it, it makes me feel strong and good about myself.
It's funny because I only gained 17 lbs when I was pregnant with Ryan. I actually did continue to do Zumba until I was around 8 months. After giving birth I dropped 13 of those lbs. Ryan is now 10 weeks old and I now weight a few lbs less then what I was before getting pregnant... This is great, I know that but still it's driving me nuts because I feel like it's not enough and I am in some big rush to drop more weight. I've also started taking a tushie and tummie class which is also great! I was sore for days after! I'm going to keep with it and hopefully I'll start seeing more results. I love that I am able to do this a few days a week thanks to my hubby supporting my addiction lol! I definitely think everyone should give it a try!
PS... If you enjoy my blog please click "follow"!
Also... I'm an Avon independent sales representative so Check out my site www.youravon.com/slemoine
Friday, June 3, 2011
Ryans Here!!
It's been four months since I last wrote and so much has happened! Here's an update...
On Saturday March 26th at 330 am I got up to pee for the 100th time and just like with Jack, my water broke (even funnier is that it's almost exactly the same time with Jack at 300 am). Yes, again I fall into the small percentage of people that have their water break before having any contractions. So we got everything ready to... I walked into Jacks room, woke him and said it was time to see the doctor to get baby Ryan out of mommys belly. Amazingly he did amazing! We had our family meet us there ASAP so Jack could hang out with them. After all the annoying paperwork I was admitted and prepped for the joys of labor... IVs hooked up, monitors on. At this point the contractions are coming several minutes apart and I was handling them very well. When I was checked I was only at 2 cm. Now I'm thinking wow it's going to be awhile! They start getting more intense but still I'm doing good and yes I refused an epidural just as planned. I had to have one for the c section with Jack and I knew i didn't want to feel numb during it all. Checked again, ive made it to 4 cm! Doing ok, Steve stepped out to get a bagel. No sooner did things flip a switch fast!!! Literally a few minutes after he left I got the most intense back pain, stabbing pain. I texted Steve to hurry back. From that point on the pain of the contractions was nothing compared to the back labor. My God, it was the worst pain I have ever felt and unlike a contraction, the pain is constant, no rest period what so ever. There was no position that gave me any comfort. So from going to handling everything amazingly well, I was at the point of standing leaning on Steve screaming and crying because the stabbing pain was so horrible. I remember the nurse saying "I think it's time to meet your baby, lay back in the bed".... The pain was so bad that at that moment I couldn't move so the nurse literally pushed me back in bed. I pushed for maybe 25 minutes, had an episiotomy and then the moment... The first sound from Ryan! I just broke down in tears. Ryan arrived at 940 am. Weighed in at 7lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. I do have to stay that I didn't experience the whole thing that everyone told me, that the worst part would be the head and shoulders... Again the back pain was so bad that the delivery didn't feel so bad.
So there he was, though I only saw him for a few seconds before they brought him over to the warming table... After what felt like forever, they handed Ryan to Steve and I finally got to hold my beautiful baby boy. What an incredible feeling and such a different experience then having to have a c section with Jack. Once I was a stitched up, Steve was able to bring Jack into the room. My little trooper was up for hours! He came right up onto the bed with me and leaned on me while I was holding Ryan. There was no jealousy, just a bit of confusion on Jacks part.
Tomorrow Ryan turns 10 weeks old. I have to say that it has been an amazing experience. Jack has been so great! He wants to help with everything and has the power to get Ryan to stop crying just by talking to him. It's certainly not easy with two babies but it's amazing. I love watching the two of them together and I so look forward to watching them run around with eachother. Its still so crazy to me that Steve and I have two kids!! We are incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family!
So, yes a lot of other thongs have gone on in the past few months but I'm pooped lol... Another day I will write about the amazing 2 year old Jack has become!!!
On Saturday March 26th at 330 am I got up to pee for the 100th time and just like with Jack, my water broke (even funnier is that it's almost exactly the same time with Jack at 300 am). Yes, again I fall into the small percentage of people that have their water break before having any contractions. So we got everything ready to... I walked into Jacks room, woke him and said it was time to see the doctor to get baby Ryan out of mommys belly. Amazingly he did amazing! We had our family meet us there ASAP so Jack could hang out with them. After all the annoying paperwork I was admitted and prepped for the joys of labor... IVs hooked up, monitors on. At this point the contractions are coming several minutes apart and I was handling them very well. When I was checked I was only at 2 cm. Now I'm thinking wow it's going to be awhile! They start getting more intense but still I'm doing good and yes I refused an epidural just as planned. I had to have one for the c section with Jack and I knew i didn't want to feel numb during it all. Checked again, ive made it to 4 cm! Doing ok, Steve stepped out to get a bagel. No sooner did things flip a switch fast!!! Literally a few minutes after he left I got the most intense back pain, stabbing pain. I texted Steve to hurry back. From that point on the pain of the contractions was nothing compared to the back labor. My God, it was the worst pain I have ever felt and unlike a contraction, the pain is constant, no rest period what so ever. There was no position that gave me any comfort. So from going to handling everything amazingly well, I was at the point of standing leaning on Steve screaming and crying because the stabbing pain was so horrible. I remember the nurse saying "I think it's time to meet your baby, lay back in the bed".... The pain was so bad that at that moment I couldn't move so the nurse literally pushed me back in bed. I pushed for maybe 25 minutes, had an episiotomy and then the moment... The first sound from Ryan! I just broke down in tears. Ryan arrived at 940 am. Weighed in at 7lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. I do have to stay that I didn't experience the whole thing that everyone told me, that the worst part would be the head and shoulders... Again the back pain was so bad that the delivery didn't feel so bad.
So there he was, though I only saw him for a few seconds before they brought him over to the warming table... After what felt like forever, they handed Ryan to Steve and I finally got to hold my beautiful baby boy. What an incredible feeling and such a different experience then having to have a c section with Jack. Once I was a stitched up, Steve was able to bring Jack into the room. My little trooper was up for hours! He came right up onto the bed with me and leaned on me while I was holding Ryan. There was no jealousy, just a bit of confusion on Jacks part.
Tomorrow Ryan turns 10 weeks old. I have to say that it has been an amazing experience. Jack has been so great! He wants to help with everything and has the power to get Ryan to stop crying just by talking to him. It's certainly not easy with two babies but it's amazing. I love watching the two of them together and I so look forward to watching them run around with eachother. Its still so crazy to me that Steve and I have two kids!! We are incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family!
So, yes a lot of other thongs have gone on in the past few months but I'm pooped lol... Another day I will write about the amazing 2 year old Jack has become!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)