I'm a planner- always have been and more than likely always will be. As much as I wanted to {plan} and have everything ready, it didn't take long for me to realize that you can never be completely prepared for everything you are about to experience as a new mommy! All the crazy emotions, sleepless nights, worrying, panicking, and most of all {love} that you experience after a baby joins your family is unimaginable and indescribable. Being a mom is the most amazing thing I've ever done, but it's also been the hardest.
I remember thinking before Camden was born that I wanted to sleep as much as I could in order to prepare for the lack of sleep that I was about to undergo. Little did I know, that absolutely NO amount of sleep before he was born would ever amount to the sleep that I lost after he was born. Camden didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months old. I know now that I'm actually one of the lucky ones, and some kids go a lot longer before they ever consistently sleep through the night. I'll be the first to tell you that there weresome many nights full of tears and frustration. I tried everything I could think of, and nothing seemed to work! At least I can look back and laugh about it now. Well, maybe! He sure was a cute baby!
Because of the all the crazy thoughts and emotions, lack of sleep, and long days with messy hair and dirty clothes that new moms go through, when I got pregnant with Cora I just knew I had to prepare a little bit more for when she was born. This time around I knew I couldn't prepare myself for the lack of sleep, but I knew there were things I could do to make things a little bit easier for myself and everyone around me (hormones are CRAZY people!).
One of the things I really wanted to do was make freezer meals. Best. Idea. Ever. If you are pregnant right now, do this for yourself and your family! Especially if you are pregnant with your second, third, or fourth child. It seemed like we got a lot of meals after Camden was born, but with Cora it all changed and we were on our own! I didn't want to have to rely on something fast and easy or fast food. I spent some time on Pinterest, found some great recipes, made a list and headed to the store. My husband and I took a Saturday afternoon (about 3-4 hours) and made 15 meals! Here are some of my favorites! Click on the picture to go to the recipe!
If you are like me and get anxious when your house is a complete mess- get your house professionaly cleaned before the baby is born! I had a scheduled c-section (more about that in a later post), so I got our house cleaned just a couple days before that. It was {amazing} to come home from the hospital to a clean house! I remember with Camden that since people were always coming by to visit, I was always worried about trying to keep up with cleaning our house! I wanted to clean everytime he fell asleep, and with Cora I didn't have to have that on my mind at all! AMAZING!
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I remember thinking before Camden was born that I wanted to sleep as much as I could in order to prepare for the lack of sleep that I was about to undergo. Little did I know, that absolutely NO amount of sleep before he was born would ever amount to the sleep that I lost after he was born. Camden didn't sleep through the night until he was 9 months old. I know now that I'm actually one of the lucky ones, and some kids go a lot longer before they ever consistently sleep through the night. I'll be the first to tell you that there were
Because of the all the crazy thoughts and emotions, lack of sleep, and long days with messy hair and dirty clothes that new moms go through, when I got pregnant with Cora I just knew I had to prepare a little bit more for when she was born. This time around I knew I couldn't prepare myself for the lack of sleep, but I knew there were things I could do to make things a little bit easier for myself and everyone around me (hormones are CRAZY people!).
One of the things I really wanted to do was make freezer meals. Best. Idea. Ever. If you are pregnant right now, do this for yourself and your family! Especially if you are pregnant with your second, third, or fourth child. It seemed like we got a lot of meals after Camden was born, but with Cora it all changed and we were on our own! I didn't want to have to rely on something fast and easy or fast food. I spent some time on Pinterest, found some great recipes, made a list and headed to the store. My husband and I took a Saturday afternoon (about 3-4 hours) and made 15 meals! Here are some of my favorites! Click on the picture to go to the recipe!
For these meals, I just used large ziplock bags and wrote the directions on the bags!
This is probably my favorite website with freezer meals! We made a BUNCH of her recipes and they were all really good. Good enough to want to do it all again!
These were some of my favorites from Karrie's blog:
In order to freeze these ones I used aluminum foil pans, covered them with aluminum foil and wrote the directions on the top!
If you are like me and get anxious when your house is a complete mess- get your house professionaly cleaned before the baby is born! I had a scheduled c-section (more about that in a later post), so I got our house cleaned just a couple days before that. It was {amazing} to come home from the hospital to a clean house! I remember with Camden that since people were always coming by to visit, I was always worried about trying to keep up with cleaning our house! I wanted to clean everytime he fell asleep, and with Cora I didn't have to have that on my mind at all! AMAZING!
If you are adding another child to your family, I would really reccomend making a Big Brother or Big Sister bag for your oldest child. Camden is a Momma's boy, and I wasn't sure how he would react when Cora was born. I had two bags made, one for Camden and one for Cora and filled it with goodies to have them exchange at the hospital! In Cora's bag, I put a lamb that he built her at Build a Bear, a cute little book, and a Lil Sister gown I got off Etsy. In Camden's bag I put a bunch of different toys, activities, and snacks that he could have for the hospital. I included puzzles, a coloring book and crayons, monster trucks, toy cars, goldfish, etc. We just left the bag at the hopsital the whole time we were there and everytime he came to visit he had something to do. He was SO excited that Cora got him a gift, and I really think it started their relationship off on a positive note!
I hope these little suggestions help with your big adjustment!
Lots of Love,
Chandra
