Week One With Simon

We're sitting here looking through old photographs of Simon when he was brand new and we're both practically in tears over how tiny he was. Marcus is commenting on how he didn't touch him enough, we didn't look at his tiny hands and his tiny toes and feet enough, and we didn't kiss his little mouth enough, and now he'll never be like that again.

And while I know we looked and touched and kissed and snuggled all his little precious features quite abundantly, it's hard to realize, you can't ever go back and babies change so fast, but as much as I adore looking at those precious brand new photos, I also remember how incredibly exhausting that time was and how incredibly sore I was and I am grateful that that time has passed and we're on to a new phase that is also exhausting, but in my opinion more rewarding because there is some feedback. We get smiles and when we're really lucky, we get laughs and when he's nursing and I catch him looking up at me and it makes me smile and he catches my smile and comes off the breast to get a better look at me and give me the sweetest smile a mother's ever seen, I'm grateful that babies grow quickly and give you those all too fleeting moments of sweetness that help you deal with all the hard stuff that comes.

You guys, it just keeps getting better. I just keep falling more in love. It feels like strings are stitched between my heart and his and more and more keep getting threaded through, the bond getting stronger and stronger. I love my Simon boy, I'll love him 'til the end of time and for all eternity.

He'll keep growing, and we'll keep looking back at each stage, and we'll never get to look at him, or touch him, or kiss him or snuggle him enough, but we will have tried, and he will know we loved him 'til we overflowed, and that's something we will never regret.

sweater used as wrap c.o. oasap (buy here)

Laundry Day and a $650 Sweepstakes! Giveaway Now Closed

So, when Simon was born I went all paranoid-mom and decided to make my own laundry detergent using some recipe I found on Pinterest. I planned on just using it on Simon's clothes, but I ran out of our regular detergent a couple of months ago and just started using it for everything.

It was fine for day-to-day wear, just neutralizing normal life scents and reshaping clothes. The thing is, babies bring on a whole new set of messes (think blowouts, spit-ups, slobber, etc.) and I'm not just talking on their clothes--we suddenly needed to wash our sheets, throw blankets, pillows, towels and jeans way more often than normal and the serious stains just weren't coming out with the homemade concoction.

Enter Persil Pro Clean--a German-made detergent that Europe has been using for years, but they are just now making their debut here in the states (wish they would have stuck with the European branding, it's so darn cute!)! They contacted me about testing out their goods and it was just the right time in my life for such an experiment :) I had family coming into town to see the new baby and guests would be coming over to our house--the blowout stains in particular needed to be dealt with...So I tested out their regular detergent as well as their Persil Power-Pearls, made especially for whites.

Going from my scentless homemade stuff, the initial smell was a little strong for my liking, I'm curious to try out their other scent, but it was nice to pull the sheets out of the dryer and have them smell pleasant and fresh, rather than like nothing, BUT more importantly, the nasty stains were gone! YAY! Same with the second load (whites), our mattress cover that had old set in stains from long-ago puppy accidents (sounds gross, but I PROMISE we had washed it plenty of times, the stains just never fully faded until we used the Power-Pearls!) Double YAY! Bring on the house guests!

So, here's my opinion of the stuff, I'm definitely glad to have it in the laundry room and will be using it whenever the load I'm doing has actual stains that need to be worked out, and I will be using it on our towels as well, because I want my white towels to stay bright and clean instead of slightly orangey from makeup residue, that's the worst, isn't it? But I will probably keep using my homemade stuff when it's a load of mostly Simon's clothes that just need a little freshening up from sweat or drool, because, well, I'm still a paranoid mom and I just feel better about that.

Now for the fun stuff: Persil ProClean is running an amazing sweepstakes from now until April 12. You can enter by going to http://www.persilproclean.com/sweepstakes
Prizes include a $300 Nordstrom gift card, $200 to Open Table, $150 Uber card, plus a chance at a year supply of Persil ProClean!

CLOSED: I'm also picking 3 lucky readers to receive a coupon from me to try out your own bottle of Persil ProClean. Just comment below letting me know you entered the sweepstakes. Easy Peasy!

The Persil brand provided me with a sample of the Persil ProClean laundry detergent in exchange for a product review. Of course, all opinions expressed are my own. Thanks for supporting my sponsors as they help me bring you unique content.

Eat at Matt's

A few years ago I went to the Japanese Friendship Garden with my photography class and have been wanting to go back with Marcus ever since--last week, at the budding of Spring here in Arizona, we finally made it happen! It was so beautiful and gave us lots of inspiration on what plants grow here that we might not have thought of yet--so now we need to get to a nursery and start planting! 

(Arizona folks, do you have a favorite nursery, ours got torn down and I'm SO DEPRESSED over it!)

After a stroll through the garden, we were hungry and since we were so close, I finally got to introduce Marcus to Matt's Big Breakfast! It was late brunch time, so we didn't even have to wait :)

It as just as good or better than I remembered and we can't wait to go back again soon! Their new location is so stinkin' cute!

ergobaby wrap// (buy here)
blouse// old madewell (buy similar here)

He's wearing:

shirt//jcrew factory (buy here)

jeans//old navy (buy here)

watch//skagen (buy here)

shoes//aldo (buy here)

Wide awake Simon...

One minute later...

Out cold! #babylife

Insane waffle with homemade strawberry preserves and rosemary potatoes! Awhhhh! And Marcus' sourdough toast slathered in butter. OMG, we talked about it all week.

For Marcus' days off!

Bag o' Tricks

So, here's the thing: Being a stay at home mom is hard. There are all sorts of things you said you wouldn't do or think before you were a mom that you're probably going to do or think when you actually become a mom. 

Like, it's Crazytown. 

I remember when my sister had her baby, we'd ask her to go out to dinner with us or take a daytrip to the mountains and she'd rarely make it happen, using baby J as her excuse. I always thought, "She just must not really want to go...surely taking a baby along can't be that hard, I mean, have you seen how little those guys are?" But now that I'm a mom, I UNDERSTAND! 

Nothing is like it used to be and when getting yourself and your baby to the grocery store makes you feel like you should be given a gold medal of achievement, I now understand why a 'daytrip to the mountains' seemed an impossible feat. 

Sometimes it can drive you a little crazy, but the key is to find your tricks--because ain't nobody got time for a grouchy, coopted up mama--especially the mama!

For me, I have to get out of the house everyday. It can be as simple as going a few blocks over to my parents and playing fetch with Poppy in the backyard. I'm not much of a talker and my mom's not much of a babysitter (since she already had 8 kids of her own, she's kinda over it, I guess), so I'm still on full-time mom mode when I'm there, but at least there are other human speaking creatures around... and at least I got out of my bed.

My favorite days are Marcus' days off. He's been really good about humoring me with little family outings lately. Thank goodness he recognizes how hard it is for me, knowing I'm one who loved having a full list of 'to-do's' everyday and prided myself in checking them all off, now giving all my minutes to our baby and never getting any of my to-do's checked. These family outings make me feel rejuvenated and accomplished, plus I love seeing us a family of three! Simon is so much happier when we get out and are among crowds, or maybe it's just that he loves being worn close to mama all day and snoozing! 

Baby-wearing is another one of my "tricks." Simon is SO content when he's in the ergobaby wrap. If he's fussing in Marcus' arms or in the stroller, I wrap him up and he almost immediately calms down and then falls asleep. It's such a secure feeling and likely reminds him of being in the womb. It's a relief for me, knowing I always have that up my sleeve! Plus it's a fun conversation starter. People are always asking me about or telling me how much they love seeing people babywearing (learn about the benefits here). Adult conversations AND compliments? I'll take it :)

The last 'trick' I've discovered, so far, is making sure I get at least a few minutes of 'me time.' 

As a mom, you literally have NO alone time, I'm talking baby in the Bobby on the bathroom floor at times. Then there's the pup and the husband that want some attention too. So every night I pass Simon off for some daddy time and I go downstairs and clean--sounds super fun, right? But I'm telling you, it's the best. I'm alone and when Simon cries, I know there's someone else to attend to him, and I'm getting something done that I can see, and as strange as it sounds, it is like a little slice of heaven in my day! Haha #momlife

But guys, here's the moral of all this--even though Marcus' day's off have become as exciting as Disneyland, I finally lost my giant prego belly, just to basically put it back on everyday in the form of babywearing, cleaning up my house each night is my idea of heaven, and I've been pooped on twice this week, this is still somehow the best thing I've ever done and the most satisfied I've been in my life. 

Now that's Crazytown. 

And that's Motherhood.

Simon's first trip to the Phoenix Zoo

This post was sponsored by Ergobaby, but all opinions are my own. I truly appreciate the support from my sponsors since it allows me to continue creating fun, original content for you to read. Be sure and check them out!