Wordless Wednesday: Fire Woman Liv

What A Difference...

So last night during the normal Brown house dinner time shenanigans where Liv sits on my lap, I try to eat over her, when she is digging her hands in our plates, taking her bits of food, trying to feed me, and yelling OFF CoCo (In my liv voice). I could help but think...What a difference a few months make in a toddlers life.  Over the last few months Liv has become her own little person and 20 months has definitely been where it’s at with my tiny tot.

Not only has she found her voice and a ton of words, I can totally carry on a conversation with her. Of course, there are the times that she babbles endlessly and get super hyped about the story she’s telling and NO ONE understands her but, guess what those times are rare. I no longer have to be afraid that if Dom and I leave her with others they won’t understand her because everyone who encounter Liv these days...Speak Liv lol. Oh and let me tell you she also eats much better than before. Y’all remember my Battle ofWheels post I wrote a few months back well the battle is over. She ask for the foods she wants, and has the nerve to grab your hand and walk you too them sometimes.

I just love it and had to come share how amazed by my little toddler I am with you all. 

Fellow HeartBEATS

Do you ever sit back in amazement f your children?

Looking Forward To Mondays

Over the last two weeks I’ve seen some really great mom post so I wanted to share them here with you all...

Running On Empty

Ok now let’s dissect these two mom voices.

When you watched the video or read the article what’s your first reaction as a mom? 

When in mommy mode do you take time for yourself? Would you put your own oxygen mask on first?

I can tell you now my first thought is my child so in my mind I always figured that I’d disregard the flight attendants advice and put my baby mask on first. Right, wrong, or indifferent I’d rather sacrifice myself first, and when I said this to myself I thought...if you are not whole how will you  take care of her Sheena. This thought then lead into many other thoughts and internal back and forth with me lol.  However, seeing/reading these mom perspectives let me know its ok to take care of me sometimes and made me think about the ways I choose to take of me. 

The biggest thought that came to mind for me was I take care of me by looking forward to Monday’s lol.  You can judge if you want to. However, believe me when I say this, there is no greater love for me than the one I have for my daughter, she gives me so much joy, she is the light of my life, and I just love her life. She’s by far my greatest accomplishment but after a weekend of busy little Liv, Monday’s are just what the doctor ordered. I get to recuperate and recharge my batteries for another week of toddler goodness with my External Heartbeat. 

Vacation Nerves

Happy Friday Luvs!

I’ve hinted that I’m going on vacation but the fact of the matter is the hubby and I are headed on vacation...just the two of us without our sweet Liv. Like headed to an adult only resort where she isn't even invited if I wanted her to come :-(

We're heading out of the country for the first time since we found out we were expecting and my nervous are shot.  Although, I’m leaving my external heartbeat in the care of my trusted cousin Meka and huge local and extended support system it hasn’t stopped my mom-xiety (sure did just make up my own wordJ). Since my Motther’s guilt post we haven’t spent more than a night away from one another and that night she was still with her dad. So, leaving her for the first time has had made me nervous about so many things like...

• How are we going to cope without each other (I’m sure she’ll do much better than me?)
• Will Meka be able to handle all of Liv’s energy for the two days she doesn’t have daycare?
• Did I brief Meka on everything she needs to know about caring for my external heartbeat?
• Did I leave enough cash for incidentals?
• Does daycare have enough milk and diaper to get through the week?
• How will I communicate with my baby each day?

I know these things seem small and she’s in good hands, but the short of it is I’m going to miss my baby like crazy.

I’ve been planning for this much needed vacation for some time now (so I thought anyway). Then this week came storming in and there wasn’t quite enough hours in the day to get everything done at work, for my house, for my Liv, and lastly for myself.  And to top it all off my veteran mom Mrs. Tabby hit me with the unthinkable by letting me know now that I’m a parent there’s are few documents may want to have in place in the event of an emergency.  To which my response was...

• Emergency?
• Huh?
• What’s that because in my world those just don’t happen?
• I can’t see it. Don’t want to hear it. And you better believe I am not thinking about it. But, go ahead and send me a copy of the documents and I’ll take a look at them.

Just the thought of a hypothetical emergency left me on the other end of the phone hyperventilating but, the truth is she’s exactly right. And you better believe that I’ll be at my bank getting everything notorized this afternoon. However, it’s another friendly reminder that the day my external heartbeat came into my world it changed forever.  The care free do whatever, whenever mentality I used to have no longer exist, and my world revolves around her...I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

On another note these little unthinkable documents Tabby mentioned are the last item on my to do list so I hope that once it’s complete I can relinquish myself from my mom-xiety and enjoy a little fun in the sun. See you all in about a week J

A Moment in Baby Hair

Since its Wednesday and normally I post a wordless post I’ll make this brief.

I came across the photo below and had to share it with you guys because it truly depicts the struggle I have when trying to keep Baby O’s hair looking semi decent.

The worst part about this photo is I spend an hour putting up with these shenanigans only for her to wake up the next morning with her hair looking a week old 😊

Wordless Wednesdays: Blurry Usies

Wordless Wednesdays: Best Friends

Toddler Buffets

Happy Friday!

Yesterday I received a text from my dear friend Shavonn (who I’ve known since 7^th grade and just love to pieces) after she read yesterday’s post. Shavonn had seen a creative, fun, and all around awesome kid’s party food suggestion of a Toddler Buffet on Pinterest. Which, she thought it would be the perfect thing to try during dinner time on my picky eater.

What’s a toddle Buffet...It’s your dinner options served in an ice trayJ.  Placing a little of each selection in the cube slots not only divides the food but helps the tiny tot feel like they have options or are eating something different than the norm. TALK ABOUT GENIUS! When I received Shavonn’s text I profusely thanked her and immediately made a mental note of what would be on last night’s toddler buffet.

On my way home I received a call from Tabby. During our normally chit chat we discussed my dinner time shenanigans with Baby O in which I told her about the buffet plans and how I was I’d hope my tiny helper would assist with putting it together. To which she responded “you should try having her help you cook.”

Baby O loves to help in any way she can these days so I thought both suggestions were great. I added them in during last night’s dinner, and even found a way to make it a numbers game by counting our food. Below are few photos that I was able to capture during the process...

The most important thing here is last night’s dinner was actually a success. She didn’t eat everything on her tray but, she at least tried a little of each sampling and had a ton of fun helping. So thanks a million ladies :)

Side Note: During my daily recap with her teacher yesterday we discussed her eating habits during the school day. While she informed me that Baby O eats a lot throughout the day. She also stated that there are days where she will refuse school lunch as well. Apparently if Little Miss Personality doesn’t like her school lunch option, she will get up from the table, push her chair in, and walk away, then come back when her milk is served...No matter who else is eating...or what anyone has to say. Huh? I can’t deal. All her teacher could say was... “There’s no in-between with her. She either LOVES it or HATES it”

Battle Of Wheels (Update)

Hey loves,

Last night while going through my nightly dinner time battle with Baby O I realized that I never updated you all on how things were going with Battle of Wheels.

So here it is...

At this stage in Baby O’s life she is absolutely a picky eater with a very strong opinion about food yet, loves to snack. When it comes to full meals either she loves what’s placed in front of her and will devour every last drop. In such a manner that you’d awesome she never ate before or, she HATES it and will run around the house or kitchen kicking and screaming if you try to convince her otherwise...smh.

The worse part about these dinner shenanigans are the fact that they are very inconsistent. One day chicken is broccoli works and the next day it doesn’t. One day she wants it because mommy and daddy are eating it but, the moment you thing you’re going to give it to her again hunty acts all sorts of brand new on you lol.

That’s her play cooking her dinner from last night (aka feeding it to the dog) because, she didn’t want to eat. Mind you this is the exact same chicken breast she ate of off her dad’s fork the night before...I can’t deal

Although, I can laugh about all this in hindsight, I am very aware that in the moment this is/can be a frustrating ordeal. Especially when I pick her up from school the next day and her daily charts says she ate all her food. I totally go all...Huh? What the heck are they doing that I’m not? What the heck is in their food? Then I have to remind myself that kids are influenced by those around them and everyone else is sitting and eating like a big kid she will as well. I can’t lie that little fact annoys the heck out me but, I try to turn my annoyance into gratitude because in the grand scheme of things she atleast she gets in one balanced meal a day.

As, for our nightly battle I’ve learned to no longer fight with her about it.  I try to avoid force feeding her and instead I take the approach of this is your only option. If she chooses to eat it great, if not I’ve learned to be ok with that too.Especially, after I recently received this article in my inbox...Picky Toddler Eating. It gave me a ton of perspective and, taught me to trust her judgment when it comes to this food thing. After all she knows her body best :).

Fellow HeartBEATS

Is your toddler a picky eater as well? What are some of the things you’re doing to resolve the issue?

Wordless Wednesdays:Beach Buds

Little Miss Personality

Happy Monday Loves!

My apologies for going all MIA last week but I spent the week diligently working on another project (will share details soon) and by the time I came up for air it was the weekend lol.

Any who. I'm back like I never left and ready to share some updates. 

Baby O is officially 16 months and although there aren’t any major milestones to share there are some silent developments taking place.

What’s a silent development?

To me it’s the subtle changes that show growth that we often take advantage of. The ones we see but happening daily but because it’s not crawling, walking, or talking we don’t feel the need to share.

For instance my tiny tot has TONS of personality and I swear it crept up on us.

Honestly it didn’t I’ve been watching it develop since birth and, have been living a life of denial about it lol. And, now that she’s a little mover and shaker I can no longer hide the fact that I know which is cool...I guess. Because, at the moment the real question is what in the world am I going to do with her little strong, independent, determined, loving, and funny self? I totally didn’t expect all this at 16 months.

Battle Of Wheels

I'm sure from this title you thought this article would be about Olivia and her little hot wheels. Ummmm it's not, but check this photo the hubs got of her in her ride couple of Sundays ago.

Now, the main purpose of today’s blog, in my house there is a real battle of WILLs going down.

I’ve finally realized that Baby O is whole heartedly a toddler and has really be trying my patience. Yeah we have some... She tried it (in my Tamara voice) moments.  The crazy part is I didn't realize that’s what she was doing until I was chatting with my friend Amber, about some of my recent dinner time experiences with Baby O. Over the past couple weeks the shenanigans at dinner time have simply been getting out of control. Of course, I blamed teething (because I blame everything on teething lol) but in reality she was pulling these stunts, because she knew she could. Talking to Amber helped me realize what was going on though.

But, I honestly wasn’t 100% convinced that she was playing me until I arrived at her school that same day. When I arrived to pick her up from school her teacher informed me that Baby O is learning to self sooth in the classroom. Of course, I inquired to see what self-soothing technique they were using, turns out when my tiny tot gets upset they walk her over to a little plush chair, explain to her that all is well, she has her moment and comes out when she’s ready to play again.

So my child gets the concept of time out? Really?

You better believe I left the school in total shock. Home girl listens to everyone but me lol (it's not funny but it is)...

For the first time in a long time I was the soft one. Totally thought I left that ish back in my childhood with my rough a** brothers. Guess I was wrong because home girl be punking me y'all. That night at dinner I put some base in my voice when speaking to her, how about home girl ate her entire dinner...oh it's ON. Bet I won't be around here letting a tiny tot get over on me anymore. It's her will against mine, and she may have won a few battles, but I promise I'll win this war.

After all it's simply a matter of respect. Which is not optional in our house.

Fellow HeartBEATS

I'll keep you all posted on our little war but for now is like to know when you first discovered the Battle of Wills in your home?

THAT MOM

During a few recent conversations with my co-peeps (coworkers) I discovered that I’m THAT MOM at Baby O’s daycare. You know the mom that everyone tip toes around, The one they have secret conversations about but smiles when they see her. Let's not talk about how they hate to have to call with a problem, but will call for every single thing...

Hi Sheena I’m just calling to tell you that Baby O coughed and although she’s fine I just wanted to inform you.  Yup that’s me and I shamelessly OWN it LOL

I know at this point some of you are probably thinking  I’m only acting in this manner because I’m first time mom and please feel free to think that way, but I’m here to tell you that’s not the case. I wouldn’t care if I had 99 other children and knew everything in this world about raising children. I am very invested in my child’s (and future children) lives, so when things go down while mine is in your care I WILL always properly assess the situation. Need to know who, where, why, and plan going forward, to think about it that’s just how I am naturally (I want all the details so that I determine how I’ll handle things with the person in question going forward). Not to mention, when paying college tuition for my child to be in your care the expectations are HIGH and nothing less so be prepared to do what grown-ups do and communicate.

Needless to say I’ve had more than a few run-ins with Baby O’s school...

1. No one knows where thess scratch came from? (Mystery Scratches)
2. Did she really just say that? (The Teaching Experience)
3. So you won’t potty train her until she’s 2? (More details to come)
4. I referred two people but have yet to receive my referral bonus?
5. Excuse me did you just say my child got bit? Is this that first incident with this child biting?
6. My child isn’t being stimulated enough in her current classroom is it possible for her to move up early?
7. Based on my calculations your fundraising total is incorrect and we actually raised the most funds.

LOL those are the only ones I can think of at the moment, but were all reasons for me to start a conversation then head to the schools director based on the response I received. Since, I’m comfortable in my own skin (in my Beyonce voice) I’m perfectly fine with being that mom. Actually I’m PROUD to be that mom and advocate for mines J. What I didn’t realize is my hubby is THAT DAD as well. Y’all last week he went in on the administration at the school about the ingredients in some Honey Nut Cheerios LMBO. I'll spare you all the details but check out his response to their request that we not send Baby O to school with Honey Nut Cheerios...

Here is the exact label on the box. It was my understanding that pre-2006 Honey Nut cheerios contained actual ground almonds, but now it has a "natural almond flavor" which really isn't almonds at all. Maybe they changed the formula to save money.

However, in the sake of safety we will no longer bring honey nut cheerios to school.

"Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by the General Mills cereal company. The second variation from the original Cheerios, it is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. While this product used to be made with actual nuts, as of 2006, the nuts were discontinued, and natural flavor is used instead."

"What is, "natural almond flavor"?

Well according to Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation it's benzaldehyde which in turn is generally derived from peach and apricot pits. 

Can't say I blame Cheerios on this one though. Do you think "Honey Benzaldehyde Cheerios" would sell? It just doesn't seem to have the same zing and really, what good are ethics when it comes to sales?"

I was too done yet proud that he too will stand his ground in honor of our lovebug.

Fellow HeartBEATS

Have you ever felt like THAT PARENT?

Wordless Wednesdays: Baby O is 14 Months And...

A Year of 1st Board (Tutorial)

As I mentioned in my post about this board here it was truly an emotional labor of love.  So, I’m sharing this tutorial for those of you interested in capturing some of your memories in this manner.

Supplies

• White wood board(I picked mine up from lowes for $12.)
• Chalk
• Photos
• Chalkboard paint 
• Wet towel
• Hot glue gun and sticks

   Step by Step Instructions

1. Wipe board down

2. Paint board with two coats of chalkboard paint

3. Let paint dry and settle for 48 hours

4. Spread chalk across the entire board

5. Wipe board completely clean

6.  Frame *See framing instructions below*

7.    Glue pictures unto framed board (as you would like).

8.    Take chalk and decorate your board with reflective words (as you wish).

Deatils on Framing...

I originally had planned to frame this board myself but didn’t have the proper tools. Going to Michael’s or any other framing place was out of the question for a board this size.  So of course I turned to my favorite handy couple The Killings. These two love taking a on home improvement project (Finished their whole basement, laid their own hard wood floors, etc) and if nothing else I knew they would have the tools. Get this tho, Denise also twist my hair lol (yup my friend is multi-talented and a mini perfectionist). Any way when I reached out via text (sent her a few photos of the board) she let me know to bring it over during my upcoming hair appointment so Des could work on it for me...SCORE. I took my painted board with me and Des (another mini perfectionist) worked on it the entire time. Unhappy with his initially product he kept it. I got it back a few days later and it looked Amazing.In writing this tutorial I reached out to team Killings for framing instructions and they provided the following.

Framing Supplies

• Pneumatic nailer/stapler,

• finish nails,

• Wood filler,

• Sand paper,

• Miter saw

• Woodgrain Milwork (door/window trim) 11/16in. x 2-14 x8in.

• Metal L shaped bracets for support

• White paint

Step by Step Instructions

1. Measure your board (mine was 36 x40).

2. Using the miter saw cut the wood corners at a 45 degree angle.*Please note: The cuts should be slightly longer than the board (just in case there are changes that need to be made)*.

3. Use nailer at the corners to nail the frame together.

4. Apply wood filler to fill-in nailer holes and let it dry.

5. Once dry sand with sand paper to make smooth.

6. Paint frame and let it dry.

7. Once paint dries put the board on the back of the frame and screw the L brackets in each corner for support.

Happy crafting fellow heartbeats