PheMOMena

This is motherhood: here I sit, at 2:45 in the morning, watching Caribbean Life on HGTV and trying to quietly type my thoughts without waking a very talkative 18 month old. I swear that being a mom is really just undercover ninja training. Being THIS quiet is hard! I want to exhale loudly... especially if putting Baby K down takes an extended amount of time (which has been the case lately). But NO, quiet is a necessity for at least 20 minutes after she closes her chocolate colored eyeballs.  Being quiet at night is also really messing up my late night snacking life. I end up eating whatever makes the least amount of noise... which is never anything exceptionally good. I mean, chips come in crinkly bags, so guess who is eating pickles or canned fruit in the middle of the night? Not that there is anything wrong with those snacks, but, uh, if I have had to "mom" all day, I want some salty chips or great candy that I don't have to share.  Really I just want some qui

Exactly two years ago today hubs and I made my pregnancy "Facebook official" with this picture. The caption read: ' Well now, it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be a new kind of adventure at our house... #NewParents #Preggo #MomToBe #DadToBe #Pregnant #AprilBaby #PregnancyAnnouncement.' Amazingly, it took more than a few of our friends a little while to realize what we were doing in this picture. Maybe they were already tired of autumn scenery on their Facebook timelines? They did get it though and this is one of our most liked pictures on Facebook.  How did you announce your pregnancy? If you are having another child, how will you announce it?

After Baby K was born I struggled with how I was going to introduce myself to her. I mean, I spent months talking to her while she punted my internal organs around, but once she was born, how would I let her know who I am? How could I make sure that she knew that I look a little different on the outside, but it was my heart that she was hearing beat for all those months? Most importantly, how could I ensure that her first word would be...mama? (It is a thing I have... don't judge me). As soon as we knew she was paying attention (and able to follow our fingers), we started pointing to our noses and saying our names. Round a bouts of "mama, dada, Kenzie" were heard over and over again. She seemed to love it. Laughs were had. After a month or so, she joined in. She would point to my nose and it was my job to say "mama" so I did. About 8,000 times. I didn't care. Have you ever heard a six month old giggle? Heaven. Plus, when we got past the cooing stage, Ba

Who remembers the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter? That is totally playing over and over again in my head. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back. Now it is totally running through your mind-- you're welcome.  Welcome back, to me!! I took a little self imposed hiatus from blogging this summer, so I could enjoy quality time with my little pumpkin eater. It has been outrageously satisfying watching her grow, taking her on trips to museums and farmers markets, letting her try new foods and watching her interact with new people. It has been a blast! Now there is a chill in the air and we are getting into a more home bound schedule, freeing up more time for me to type about our adventures. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back!  Let's get after it, y'all! 

Summertime in the city! The weather is fantastic and here in the Midwest everything is in bloom. Our garden is growing like gang busters and we are loving the life of fresh fruits and veggies that we planted and watered. A few years ago we planted berries (strawberries and raspberries). This year the raspberries have done so well. We can get a couple handfuls every other day. The strawberries have not fared as well-- the ants are eating them before we can pick them and the size of the berries have declined. What is a girl to do? Put everyone in the car and drive an hour west to Troy for everything strawberry!! A few weekends ago we did just that. June is a weird month for us. The weather is wacky (either too hot or too rainy), my mom's birthday is a week before Father's Day, my brothers and sisters are getting out of school and summertime activities are kicking off. We are crazy busy. So, even though it has been 5 years since I moved back to Columbus, we have not ventured out

A few months ago (I know, I know... a few months. Sincerely, I thought I would get to this sooner, but the way my crazy life is set up...) I ordered some products from the Grove Collaborative . I had the idea that I would try out more natural products in our home and I am even more excited to do so since we have a walker in the house now. She gets into everything, so if I can clean with a little less toxicity, I'm down for it. Also, the Grove Collaborative was having a deal at the time - four gifts with a purchase of $20 or more, with free shipping. One of the most important things you should know about me? I LOVE a good deal. So free gifts AND free shipping? I was all the way in for that.  As you can see in the picture the items I ordered are: a multi surface cleaner (in two scents: Lemon Verbena and Peony), dish soap and hand soap in Peony, antibacterial toilet cleaner (scent: spearmint {I'm concerned}), antibacterial bathroom cleaner (also in spearmint), walnut an

This is going to be more of a catch up, what's been going on entry... because SO much has been happening around here. First of all, WE HAVE A WALKER!! That's right, Baby K is making her way everywhere, mostly on her own. For a few months she has been participating in assisted walking, which really just means that she was dragging me and hubs around the house for balance. She still crawls and does her little bunny hop, but she added (non assisted) walking to her repertoire on May 28th. To be fair she put together 3 steps on the 27th, but really took off the following day. Her new thing is to walk towards you like she is going to bless you with her presence and at the last minute she turns around and goes the other way-- it is very entertaining... for her. Next: she still hates baths. Like, crying fits, hates them. She will get wiped off with little to no problems but the whole immerse her body into water is a constant struggle. She hayed the little seat that you put in the bat

Ok, so I had this cute little post that was scheduled to go up today, but I postponed it. I postponed it until later this week because this attached video made me cry. Listen, I know that this blog is rather new, so y'all readers may not know, I am not a cryer. I mean, that is just not my emotional response. But this video? This video made me tear up. Also, I have vowed that THIS blog will not be overtly political. I have tons of political opinions, but I tend to keep them over here (please feel free to explore, if you like). So, I am leaving this video here, presented without my sassy political commentary. I think it is important and Jimmy's story is important... and the health of all children is important. Take a look!

Y'all. We are under attack. Right now, as I type, our household is being held hostage.. by a teething toddler. Seriously, sweet baby Jesus, WHY???? Now I will say this: until now, hubs and I have been spared. Baby K has 8 teeth, 4 on the top, 4 on the bottom. They all came in with no problem. Like, zero problems. She wasn't extra clingy, no fever, no crying. Just excessive drooling... and, given the alternative, I can deal with that.  Well, when we went to her 12 month check up last week, our pediatrician told us that all of her molars are coming in-- at the same time. That day she didn't seem to bothered at all. She happily ate very berry Cheerios, drank breast milk, ate purees... attempted to eat baby wipes (what can I say? My baby is an adventurous eater). Fast forward a week. Lucifer has entered my sweet child and forced her to terrorize us. Oh my good god.  Last night she had a slight fever. Now, I found out, long ago, that Baby K does not tolerate Tylenol we

Ah, the joys of pregnancy. Amirite, ladies? What you will discover VERY early on is that pregnancy is about growing a healthy baby AND getting examined. Exams, exams, exams... and a few blood tests. Trust me, readers, I am certainly no prude, however, there is nothing that prepares you for the number of times your doctor (and whoever is assisting him) will see your nether regions during this 10 month time period. I mean, it is like a party where you don't wear pants. Pantless party - population you and one sturdy pair of stirrups. Mercy!  It starts rather early too. It isn't like they give you a chance to get comfortable with the idea of going from a pap smear once every two years to throwing your feet above your head every other office visit. They don't really ease a girl into this. As I recall, you are safe for the first visit because they don't REALLY know if you are carrying an energy zapping parasite , er, baby. You go in and say "hey, I think I might be

With all these letters, I feel like I am on 26 episodes of Sesame Street! Today I am going to talk about two types of delivery: birth and my writing style.  Let's start with BIRTH. As you can read in my Birth Story Recap, part one and two , I delivered Baby K via a scheduled c-section. I chose to deliver this way WELL before April 12th, 2016. Hubs and I talked about my medical history and concerns almost as soon as we found out I was pregnant. I brought up my concerns with my doctor and got a second opinion-- we all came to the conclusion that a c-section would be my absolute best option. Baby K clearly had the same plan because when we went in for the c-section, she was lying transverse in utero... so I was going to have to deliver by c-section anyway. (I feel bad for the ladies who are not mentally prepared to deliver this way because it was high stress for me and I knew what was coming). If you read some mommy blogs there is a nasty little group of mamas that talk so b

It has occurred to me that I just started this blog without introducing myself. I guess that I always figured that the only people that would read this would be my family and friends, but what better way to kick off a blogging challenge besides some sort of introduction, right? I mean you want to know how large a raving lunatic I am before taking my parenting advice, right? You need to have some idea about exactly how sarcastic I can be, right? FYI- my sarcasm level is off the charts. Every day, all day.   Let's see if we can't shine some light on the lady behind this blog, shall we? Here are 15 fast facts about me. These are in no particular order... * I am rarely sappy. My go-to emotion is sarcasm or jokes. Mostly sarcasm.  * I never thought that I would have a child. Like, ever... but I do love Baby K more than words can express.  * Hubs is my best friend and even if I told him every day how invaluable he is to me, it still would not be enough.  * I am rather

Welcome to April, folks!! There is so much on deck for this month. We will be celebrating one whole year of parenthood-- and it seems like this year has flown by. In an effort to continue to write down all the feels/frustrations/celebrations/milestones that we will see or have seen, I have joined the A to Z challenge for the month of April. The rules are simple: Every day of the month (except the first 4 Sundays) is a letter in the alphabet, April 1st = A, April 3rd = B, etc. Because April starts on a Saturday, the last Sunday will be the Z entry. Twenty six letters, twenty six entries. Both blogs. Should be a lot of work... but also fun and exciting. I am going to HAVE to schedule most of these posts in advance because toddler life is unpredictable, but I am excited to write more-- even if that means missing out on some nap time. Hopefully all these posts will be up before 8 pm, but no promises on that because, again, toddler life is traumatic for the mama! So, stay tuned... I think

Welcome March! It seems like it was just yesterday I was heavily pregnant, praying for a safe delivery and a healthy baby. It wasn't yesterday... it was a year ago. One year and two weeks ago, we had a lot going on-- it was the first weekend we had free (we travel a lot to see one of my brothers play basketball), we took a baby care class (and yep, we were the oldest folks in that class) and we had a baby shower!!  Baby showers are a huge deal. I didn't know that prior to getting pregnant. I mean, I had been to showers before, but I had never had to be hands on during the planning process. I just showed up, usually with diapers, cruised the dessert table and hung out with all the not pregnant people. Cool, right? Well, last year, I found out what baby showers are truly all about. First, I had to get invitations. I will make a different post dedicated to invitations, just know that it is a process. An intense process. I had to REGISTER for gifts, figure out a guest list, he

If  you have seen the PheMOMena instagram account, you know that my cute family just took a little trip down to Savannah, GA. I was really nervous to make this trip because it was Baby K's first trip on an airplane AND there was a layover heading down there and coming back home. A ten month old, plane ride, air pressure, layovers = sounds like a party, right? Yeah, to say that I was a little less than thrilled would be an understatement. But, after complaining a moderate amount, I decided that it is better to see how my little darling will react to being in an airplane on short flights... with complete strangers that I never have to see again, so off to the airport we went!  Our flight out of Columbus was scheduled for 9:15 AM. Why?? Well, hubs got these tickets months ago for an event, and we wanted more time to hang out with folks at that event. The event was ultimately cancelled and we could not get our money back for our airline tickets, so we decided to fly into the orig

My Facebook Memories just informed me that around this date last year, hubs and I were on our way to our chosen hospital for a maternity tour. Fun and excitement, right? I mean you are anywhere from five to fifteen weeks to meeting a little person that looks like you, so why not go see where this being is going to be delivered? Don't you want to see a mock up of the room where your Labor and Delivery nurse will take a crying blob, with your husband's nose and a head full of amniotic fluid soaked hair, and place it on your chest? Good concept... the actual visit though? Uh, no.  So, I LOVED my hospital experience, I loved the staff, I wanted my daughter to be born at The Ohio State University hospital (just like I was, and my sister... and my mom). What i didn't like was the fucking maternity tour--stay with me here. I wanted to make sure that I did all the "mom to be" stuff, especially after hubs and I decided that Baby K was going to be an only child, so I w