Opinions are like belly buttons

Isn't that how the saying goes? "Opinions are like belly buttons, everyone has them." 

And for some reason, people feel it is their duty to share their opinions with new moms, old moms, and pregnant ladies. Once that bump starts to show, it's as if it's the magic key to opening up the flood gates and letting those opinions flow.

A couple of my favorites:

• Don't put your hands above your head, it'll wrap the cord around the babies neck.
• (in response to an upset newborn) Have you tried feeding them?

There are plenty more that I've heard over the past year plus. They always come in the most random ways. In fact, I had someone share their opinions with me in line at Kroger today. The lady first applauded me for buckling my daughter into the grocery cart, apparently a grandma had let her grandson stand in the cart and he flipped out and landed on her head recently. Then she decided to give me some advice: have someone come play with baby while you nap or shower. Okay, that makes sense and isn't too harmful, so I just smiled and nodded and said that we already do that if I needed it. Then she goes to tell me about how she paid her son for his good grades instead of an allowance. Starting in first grade...Uh okay? I don't know how I feel about paying my kids to go to school, and if you do this then whatever works for you, but why are you sharing that with me? 

My go to response is just to smile and nod. And then forget the advice just given., baby brain is really good for forgetting things like that. People mean well, they truly do. Yes, the advice that they share isn't the best advice and doesn't really pertain to what you're going through, or the advice might just be ancient and old news, but in their ignorance they really do mean well. 

What are some opinions and advice that you've been given? 

Like A Morning Cup of Coffee               The Not Quite Military Wife

From Here To Eternity               Words About Waverly

Pardon My French             Beautiful Family Affairs

My Delicious Adventure                  The Life Of Faith

Running From The Law             The Olive Tree 

         

May 8:          Taming the Temper Tantrums

May 15:        Weaning from Breastfeeding or From Formula to Cow’s Milk 

May 22:        Dealing with Mommy Guilt

May 29:        When People Share Their Opinions and How to Lovingly Handle it

June 5:         Traveling with your Toddler

June 12:       How to get your toddler to eat their veggies…or their food at all

June 19:       How to make time to blog in the busyness of motherhood

June 26:       Bedtime Battles (nap or bedtime)

An InLinkz Link-up

Without music, life would be a mistake. - Friedrich Nietzsche

I always knew that I would play music for my littles when they were in my belly. It worked out well when I was pregnant with Bug. I spent most of my day in a little office tucked away in the back of the counselor's suite at my school where I was alone most of the time. I hate silence. I like lots of noise and work better with lots of noise. So to help the day seem not so lonely, I listened to Pandora. I would go back and forth between different playlists: Disney, Mumford and Sons, Jack Johnson, and Tyrone Wells. Sometimes I would throw in some Backstreet Boys and N*Sync just to liven things up.

As I was listening to these songs, I was avidly listening to one that would become "Bug's song." Listening to Tyrone Wells one day in my little office, when his song "Beautiful World Beautiful Girl" came on. Immediately I knew this had to be her song. Something with the lyrics just made sense. So from that moment on, every night we would play this song for her and let her listen to it. 

It's amazing what music does for her now, and specifically, that song. She was less than a day old and we were still in the hospital and she was extremely fussy. The nurse was trying to do the hearing test and she just wasn't having it. Nothing would soothe her. So what did I have the hubs do? I told him to play the song and let her hear it. Within the first measure of the music, she calmed down. It was amazing what one simple song could do for her. It was as if she knew that everything was going to be okay because she knew that song and it was familiar to her. 

Still today, if she's extremely upset and won't calm down, I'll play that song for her and it'll soothe her like nothing else will. It's amazing.

Now, we've got another on the way and I knew that I wanted to do the same with him. I wanted him to have his own song to love and be comforted by. I always joke that he's gonna love the songs from Frozen the best. "Let it Go" will be his "go to" song. That wasn't going to happen. So I went to my go to guys: Tyrone, Jack, James...that whole crew. It's much more difficult to find a song for a boy than for a girl. Bug's song just came to us, I had to look for little guy's. But I finally stumbled upon the perfect song for him. Like with Bug's song, it just fit. It felt right.

I'm hoping this'll have the same effect on little guy as it did with Bug. It's also the song that I hope to play right after he is born. I hope that it'll help ease his transition into the world (does that sound as cheesy as I think it does, oh well).

If you are pregnant, or planning on getting pregnant, I highly recommend finding a song for your little one. If you already have a little one, did you have a specific song that you would play for them before they were born? 

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

Hey mamas!

Welcome back for another great week of Mommy Moments Link Ups! Thank you for linking up and for spreading the word last week! We had some awesome links last week as usual. 

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

 The top viewed link this week belongs to Casey and Alexis from This Crazy Cass Life and her post Panick Attack 1: Being A Mom Is Hard! I'm not surprised that this was the top viewed post, after all! We all know that seasons of motherhood are especially hard and it's always nice to read about someone else's fears and struggles along the way. Thanks for sharing Alexis!

The Life Of Faith

 The Not Quite Military Wife


Beautiful Family Affairs, 

 Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Now, link up your post!
Post can include anything related to mommy-hood, children, homemaking, pregnancy etc. If you aren't a mom yet, feel free to link up your preparation for motherhood, your journey as you try to conceive, or even a post that would be encouraging to the other moms in the party!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends! 

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

Tweet

We would also love it if you could add the Mommy Moments button to your post or blog so everyone knows where you are linking up!

http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank">http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17 
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

Guilty as Charged

Oh mommy guilt...how it plagues the best of us, even though we don't like to admit it. Deep in our hearts we wonder if what we're doing with (or without) our kids will scar them for life.

Will they resent us?

Is this going to send them to counseling later in life?

Okay that's a bit dramatic, but those questions have crossed my mind on more than one occasion. 

One area I have been struggling with mommy guilt recently is the thought of bringing in another child to our family. I feel mommy guilt on both ends of the spectrum. I worry that Bug is going to feel like she's being replaced, that she's going to feel like she wasn't enough, and that she is going to resent her little brother. How do I keep her feeling loved and that having a little brother is just letting the love grow? On the other hand, I worry about Little Boy. We haven't done nearly the things with him that we did with Bug. I would read to Bug all the time when she was in my belly and play music too. When we found out we were having a girl with her, we immediately picked out a song to be "her song" and would play it over and over again for her. To this day it is still the only song that will calm her down when she is absolutely inconsolable. We've known for 10 weeks that we were having a little man and have JUST NOW found him a song! I feel like I'm really behind on the eight ball with this little guy!

 I feel almost ashamed sharing this with y'all, but I know that I'm not the only one out there who has felt this way. There are many other times that I feel that mommy guilt creeping up on me: Bug being sick for the past month is one. I just wish there was something I could do to make her all better.

But the thing with mommy guilt is that we don't have to feel it. It's a lie. We don't have to feel that guilt or worry. For me, it's a matter of trusting God. I will do the best I can, but I trust that He will make up for where I have failed. And I accept that I will fail, but I know that He is much bigger than the guilt and failure. 

Like A Morning Cup of Coffee               The Not Quite Military Wife

From Here To Eternity               Words About Waverly

Pardon My French             Beautiful Family Affairs

My Delicious Adventure                  The Life Of Faith

Running From The Law             The Olive Tree 

         

May 8:          Taming the Temper Tantrums

May 15:        Weaning from Breastfeeding or From Formula to Cow’s Milk 

May 22:        Dealing with Mommy Guilt

May 29:        When People Share Their Opinions and How to Lovingly Handle it

June 5:         Traveling with your Toddler

June 12:       How to get your toddler to eat their veggies…or their food at all

June 19:       How to make time to blog in the busyness of motherhood

June 26:       Bedtime Battles (nap or bedtime)

An InLinkz Link-up

Mother's Day and a Bump-date!

This Mother's Day started off with a few hitches. We were supposed to camp Saturday-Tuesday. But due to weather and a certain little Bug our camping trip was postponed until Sunday.

Then we get to our campsite. The hubs gets there first and starts setting up. Bug and I aren't far behind. We finally get there with the rest of our stuff and start unloading. Bug misses the majority her nap, so she's not the happiest. As we're setting up, Bug is exploring. She's walking right beside me and missing a step and trips up onto the concrete driveway. Lands face first...Blood everywhere. It was horrible and we're still dealing with the side effects of said fall. It was brutal and it still breaks my heart. 

So that set this mama's stress level through the roof. Not the best start to Mother's Day. 

But things got better. We had two beautiful days and one night at the campsite. We didn't end up staying Monday night just with the way Bug was feeling. But we did enjoy the time we had.

A must for any camping trip: a kiddie pool! We used it while we were setting up (after the fall) and just put her toys in there and had her hang out in there without water while we busied ourselves. Then we were able to bring it by the lake and fill it up for her to splash around in. She's definitely a water bug!

She got her own camping chair for the trip and loved it! This was after the fall and you would have no idea that she was hurt there. Also, note the phone in her hand...she's a talker too. It must be a girl thing.

That tongue! I just can't get enough!

This girl made me a mommy and I am so lucky to have her as my daughter.

Where our site was must have been duck central. These two (husband and wife as we later found out) kept coming over to us. Our poor dog hated it. But Bug loved watching them.

Oh baby baby: 25 Week Bump-date!

I'm actually 24 weeks in this picture.

How far along: 25 Weeks

Trimester: 2nd 

Baby size: Rutabaga

Toes: It's sad, but they're getting harder to see every day!

Gender: BOY! It's still hard to believe...

Movement: He is a mover and a shaker!

Cravings: Spinach?

Aversions: My aversions are starting to change daily. 

Symptoms: Heartburn and hip pain is the worst.

Maternity clothes: There is nothing wrong with maternity clothes and I will proudly wear them. Baby has nowhere to go except out and my pants just don't fit anymore.

Best moment of the week: It's actually been a rough week. Bug got an infection from her fall and now has hand, foot, and mouth. It's been brutal and I'm ready for things to get back to normal!

What I'm looking forward to: The beach in just a few weeks.

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

Hey mamas!

Welcome back for another great week of Mommy Moments Link Ups! Thank you for linking up and for spreading the word last week! We had some awesome links last week as usual. 

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

 The top viewed link this week belongs to Paula from Beauty Through Imperfection and her post Dear Moms With and Without iPhones.  I absolutely loved this post and Paula's encouragement to stop comparing ourselves to other moms to see how we measure up. Instead, let's look at our kids and see how they are doing!

The Life Of Faith

 The Not Quite Military Wife


Beautiful Family Affairs, 

 Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Now, link up your post!
Post can include anything related to mommy-hood, children, homemaking, pregnancy etc. If you aren't a mom yet, feel free to link up your preparation for motherhood, your journey as you try to conceive, or even a post that would be encouraging to the other moms in the party!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends! 

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

Tweet

We would also love it if you could add the Mommy Moments button to your post or blog so everyone knows where you are linking up!

http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank">http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17 
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up