Late Night Thoughts

My birthday was this week, and I am now 28… such a weird thing to say. It’s not bad, just different. I remember turning 18, fresh out of high school, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I was in a high school relationship headed nowhere and barely deciding I was going to just go to a community college and get into early childhood education. Fast forward 10 years, I did the school thing, I went out and partied, I dated, I got my heart broken a few times, and I learned so much about myself and the shit at home that will forever be part of who I am today. I always said I wanted to settle down by the time I was in my late 20s, and, here I am. I am a mother, exploring this new chapter of my life and soaking up every minute of it. I used to get all dolled up and make plans to eat at fancy dinners and get drunk and dance the night away. Last year, I spent my birthday throwing a gender reveal. This year, I spent it with my love and our son, baking my own cake and enjoying day time outings. Despite all the craziness in my life, I am so thankful that God allowed me to make it another year and be blessed with the good things that have happened to me 💗

Anyway, here’s a pic of my pistachio and brown sugar cake 💗 she looks a little funny, but she was delicious and she’s giving beach vibes 😂

And here are some journal spreads I dedicated to myself as well 💗

How do you make time for self-care?

Managing time for self-care while having a baby and trying to get as much done around the house as possible before his dad gets home is usually based on going with the flow of the day. I try to use the early morning hours before my son wakes up, to get my morning skincare routine done and take my son for a 30 minute walk. I also try to get a work out in and make time for any craft projects I can squeeze in. Those are the days I get off the bed at 4 am. At night, I wait until both of them are sleeping, so I can do my night skin care routine before calling it a night for myself, which is usually before 9 pm. Showers are also best taken when baby is napping or right before bed, otherwise I have to rush it. At least twice out of the month, I also dedicate time to baking from scratch just to make myself happy.

Baby’s Learning Journal #1

Fun fact: I used to be a preschool assistant for more than five years. Another fun fact: I was always in charge of putting together the crafts for the kids.

My son isn’t old enough to do arts and crafts yet, so I decided I would put together a series of learning journals grouping certain topics together. And while I know there are so many books out there already to teach him these things, I feel like it’s more personal being able to make them at home and decide what I want to put in them.

For his first journal, I’ve decided to go with the basics: letters, numbers, shapes, & colors.

Here are a couple of alphabet pages I’ve made so far:

What’s the most annoying trope in books or movies?

The good girl & bad boy trope. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved the storylines. My track record in men shows it (lmfao), which is why I can confidently say that it is so unrealistic. The idea that this female embodiment of light comes into a guy’s life and makes the darkness go away would be great, but you can’t magically erase years of learned behaviors and habits. No amount of patience, love, and understanding will ever be enough to change someone, unless that person is willing and wanting to change for themself. Young girls get hooked on these stories, because they have yet to reach an age and gain enough experience to know that situations like these are massive red flags. And, so, the concept of someone having some magical personality that can tame those flags is annoying.

Things I Did Last Week

Goooood morning 🙂 I’m currently downing a protein shake, getting ready to start the day. I went to sleep early last night and I’ve been up since 4, so let’s see if I can keep up this schedule throughout the week. Anyway, last week was a bit more focused on not pushing myself too hard and just following the motion of things. There were a few days I felt unproductive, just because I hadn’t been able to take some time to myself to work on my projects, but that’s where I have been working on just letting it be. I did, however, get a few pages of my son’s learning journal finished, I got 2 junk journal spreads completed, and I baked some snickerdoodle cheesecake bars. When I first started, I wanted to have a schedule of what I would work on and when but honestly it feels much less like work when I just do whatever I can get to and feel content doing at the moment. Right now, I’m sitting in front of my son’s scrapbook and once that’s done, I’ll be getting a work out in before this boy is up. Hope you have a great start of the week!

Late Night Thoughts

What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?

Ten years ago, I had just ended things with my first real boyfriend. We had been together for 2 years, I was only 18, and fresh out of high school.

Our first Valentine’s Day, he had bought me a bear and for some reason the music box never worked. I would randomly press on the button every now and then to see if maybe it would work, but it never did.

Anyway, since this was my first break up, it was very dramatic for me. So, I decided to take a pair of scissors and cut open that bear in the middle of my mom’s kitchen floor. And, while I was gutting the bear, the music box suddenly decided to start playing. I remember crying right after that.

Balancing Hobbies While Being a Mommy

So, it’s been about two weeks since I started making more time for my hobbies and posting content about it. The first week was easy, just because I had already had a few videos ready from previous projects I had already put together ahead of time. This past week, however, has been a little more hectic. My son is six months old, and I noticed he has been a little more fussy and clingy lately, so I am spending more time bundled up with him. Which, in itself, is definitely not a bad thing, because I do love him very much, obviously. But I did notice how frustrated I began to feel when I was unable to get him to relax all day yesterday. I was working on the same thing for hours, going back and forth between feeding and holding and playing and trying to get him to nap while he was fighting his sleep. And then there are chores I still have to throw in there for the day, even though his dad says not to worry about them so much, but I can’t handle too much of a mess. I’m also trying to work out every day again and start reading all the books I haven’t touched on my shelf. My baby’s needs will always come first, but I’m on my way to figuring out how I can still balance time for me. I might just have to start getting up at 4 every morning like his dad, so I can use the early hours while my baby is sleeping. I might also just have to start wrapping my baby on me more often like I did when he was tinier. Hopefully, next week will be a little easier! And I hope anyone going through the same thing right now feels loved and appreciated, because you are seen!

Late Night Thoughts

If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why?

If I could go back in time, I would relive the day I gave birth to my son. For months, I was waiting to meet this little human growing inside me. I screamed and I cried, and things got very scary, but that feeling of us meeting for the first time, nothing can ever replace that. Hearing him cry for the first time, embracing that first skin to skin contact, and carrying him in my arms as they rolled me in a wheel chair down to our room. It was a scary and heartwarming, all at the same time. That fear of not knowing if I was going to get everything right. That feeling of actually becoming a mom. It all just hit at once. And even though I felt like I suddenly had no idea how to do anything, just looking at down at this little bundle in my arms, I knew I was going to figure out how to make everytthing right for him.

Starting New

So, I created this blog a few months ago, and life, unfortunately, got in the way. I honestly hadn’t decided how I was going to organize my thoughts and little projects on here either, but at this point I have decided to just wing it. There’s nothing more authentic than just being yourself and putting up whatever feels right at the moment. This week, I just started making little content videos of my junk journal spreads and my baby’s scrapbook and learning journal. And even though I’m starting small, I have found motivation to keep focus on completing my projects. And so, this is me starting new, and planning on blogging more frequently too 💗