Tag Archives: lifestyle change

The time is NOW!!!(For Real) -July 2022 Update

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I know this is probably coming out later than expected for the July Update but honestly, it happens! We are getting very excited. My partner has just taken his parental only 3 months compared to the 9 with our first little one however it couldn’t be at a better time. I am so looking forward to the next few months to have a bit more time to “pretend” like I have a job. If you know what I mean by that!

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One thing I am looking forward to is really tackling getting my books finalized. That being said I have covers being created right now, I have one person doing all three since they are so similar due to them being a trilogy. I will explain more about them in the future obviously I would like it to be a surprise once they come out! I am so happy and yet so very nervous. There is such raw feelings and emotions in these books that I feel extremely exposed. Though I know I am not the only one who can relate to these. That is a huge step for me to see everything coming together in that regard.

I know you guys are probably super sick of hearing this but I am here to say it again for the 14th time. I am going to lose weight. I would say out of all my 2022 goals this is probably the hardest one to reach by far. I am really trying but I get so discouraged. I am sure a lot of you can agree reading blogs like this where I dont lose weight is probably hard. But I am totally taking advantage of the fact that my partner has parental and wanting to lose weight and get ahead of this next and final pregnancy when the time comes. And for the obvious reason that I want to be a healthier version of myself. This time I want to make it different. I want to look at myself and bring back habits when I was working and not able to eat the entire night on the couch. I am going to even be posting mini daily vlogs on my tiktok which you can follow here or at the username @StaySeeJ. I think this is a great way for em to be held accountable and to show you guys what it really is like being a picky eater. I know that I cannot be the only one here who eats this way and I want to show you all that life isn’t just about salads and you can do anything you want to do. This is why I mentioned here about this a little bit on the weekly blogs that for the summer every other week I will have a blog that is pre-written (as you know I do most of the times anyways) I really want to hammer down and show you guys that obviously my food habits are an issue but I can still lose weight or be better at not using toxic behaviors like binge eating nightly I can still have balance.

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As you know I will never limit myself when it comes to snacks and things however I will do things a bit differently in terms of eating. I dont count macros or micros or whatever ohs I always just counted calories. I am trying to think of healthier alternatives though like these reese bars . I also have a can of slim fast chocolate that I hope to put to good use. As I have said before the hardest part for me is when I at at night watching TV like I need to eat food. One big thing I did the other day was that I brushed my teeth early on. I was literally thinking why am I getting these chips. What is the reason? and the only thing I could think of was boredom so I got up brush my teeth and never ate anything else for the rest of the night. That’s progress to me.

Another thing I am so excited about is to be live more also too! Since May I have been doing fantastic in terms of streaming. I have been pretty good at keeping my schedule going. I have had some days off and I have had some shorter streams but knock on wood I have been doing great while trying to be regularly live again. Going live is something I enjoy doing and getting back into it and feeling as great as I do since before I had kids. I feel like I am finally putting it on the forefront again (Obviously with 2 kids I have a good enough reason to not be regular but as a parent we sometimes put ourselves last all of the time when we need to remember we also are important) Check out this blog here if you want to see how I put myself first in more depth. I also am excited to finally have a great background using these lights for my stream area. The two strings that I used fairy lights for one and the second set were round bulbs however not warm white like here the multi color version . The entire side and stream looks fantastic. I may even be preparing for a revamp/re brand here in the near future! Even with a mascot too! I will be streaming now 5 days a week temporarily by just adding Tuesday and Thursdays which I am very excited to be live then. I will be live in the day time and keeping the other 3 days (Monday/Friday evenings and Sunday Mornings) And streaming from about 12 noon Atlantic time (11am EST) and going till about 4pm Atlantic Time (3pm EST). It will be a great time and I am so looking forward to it!

3 Shows We Avoid Watching with Our 2 Year Old

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When it comes to having your toddler or small child watching TV I think it goes without saying, you are the parent and you decide what they watch or how often they watch it. There is no right or wrong way to allow this to happen. That being said, I have seen places where they talk about not allowing any child under 2 watch TV. This might be particularly challenging if you have multiple children of various ages. Are you going to tell them no to a TV show because they have a younger sibling? Or are you going to compromise and put a TV show om for a period of time. If you decide to put a TV show on, here is the 3 shows we will not be showing in our household.

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The wiggles is a show that I honestly have not seen a whole lot about but know that once you start it can be very obsessive. This is based on the fact that whenever they were doing shows around the world pre-covid people all over my Facebook with small children would be posting how they want tickets or whatever for their little kids. For me, I am not a fan of any type of show that has adults jumping and playing and singing songs the entire time. I will admit I could be way off on this and the show might be OK but in this house we will be doing our best to avoid it at all costs. And before I hear “But Blue’s Clues has an adult doing those things” not really. It has a host yes, but the main character is a puppy ans they learn and do things. There is just something that I want to avoid and shows such as this or even the one that was popular when I was growing up “Imagination Movers” are shows that I would honestly like to avoid when it comes to allowing my child to have any screen time!

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Baby Shark or Peppa Pig are shows we also are trying to avoid. For obvious reasons. Now as an adult, Peppa is a spunky pig. But as a child I do not want my kids to be learning how to be spunky and back talk me! Maybe when they are older and want to watch and understand that she is a bit out their in terms of defying her parents sure, but as they are learning no. Another reason why we aren’t watching shows such as Baby Shark is again the obsession it had caused. I heard this song far more often before I had kids due to everyone talking about it or videos being made with the song that I honestly am just over it! We do not need to introduce a song that will lead to an obsession. Sure, they will probably like it. But as an adult, you don’t want to make it a problem where whenever your child is upset you put it on. Or whenever you turn it off you find yourself dealing with a temper tantrum. You as the parent are in control of what your child watches. I personally do not want TV to be an obsession or a way to relieve a tantrum unless maybe your little one is sick. Even then I dont want to rely on a TV show or songs to divert a crisis. My partner and I already sing enough of the Blue’s Clues songs we really do not want to add to that list of songs by these that you hear for months and months after the first are heard!

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And, last, but certainly not least. The number one show we will never ever ever play in our home, is Caillou. This kid is a straight up brat. As a teenager or older child we actually made fun of how Caillou was. He whined and cried whenever he did not get his way. His parents kind of let him do it. And when he had a sister Rosie come along it was just the same! This is basically the exact opposite of what type of child we hope to avoid when it comes to raising our children. Not to mention the fact that he still never changes through all of the seasons. Be still wants everything to be about him with everyone around him. His grandparents, neighbors, friends and everything else. The fact that this show has finally also been cancelled due to the fact that the kid is a menace. Apparently some episodes are even banned by PBS due to the fact that the kid is a big old meany. Sure, as kids grow up they have to be able to learn things and explore how to properly behave but when it comes to Caillou there really is no learning in the many episodes where he properly learns to behave with nearly a melt down every single show.

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I am sure there are plenty of other shows out there that can be really off putting and parents avoid at all costs. These are just the shows that I will continue to try my best to avoid at all costs. And mentioned in the blog post here where I talk about the top 3 shows we watch, we really limit our TV time with my son. TV shows are not babysitters and if you are going to put something on to grab your child’s attention for a few moments than that is totally fine. My son watches a bit of TV every day but it is never excessive. It is mostly before bedtime or even the occasional moment when I am prepping food or trying to get him to watch something while I run up and down the stairs to switch over loads of laundry on different levels.

Do you allow your child or toddler to watch TV?
Is there any shows that you choose not to allow to be shown in your house?

Let me know in the comments below, I know there must be some I missed!


Overcoming a Crummy Relationship

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Overcoming a crummy relationship can really be subjective in the sense what one person may find what someone else does may be something totally different. As usual, these are things that I have found to help or even friends have found to have helped them when they are finding themselves in the middle of a break up.

To be fair, I have only ever had one break up in the romantic sense. For me, I was ready for it to be over so that made things easier. However this was when I was 18 til just turning 20 years old. He was abusive and we had broke up once before. However I was blind and thought I would go back for a second year like that was a good idea. These are some things that I did to help time pass and move on with the fact I was again single!

I focused a lot on friendships. In my situation I was almost isolated from my friends. When we had broken up I found support in friends whom I had disconnected with before. We did a bunch of things like going for drives, or even partying downtown. For the first few years I was legal to drink in Nova Scotia I never did. As I said I was isolated from things. I felt the need to just let things happen and experience the night life that everyone my age was wanting to experience. I feel like I really caught up to a bunch of friends who had been veterans to the bar scene. Getting to spend time and catch up with them was great for me. Some people I had seen across social medias but never had the time or opportunity to really catch up and see what was happening. Focusing on this also helped me to see what healthy relationships they were in, if they were, and kind of remind myself that the relationship I was in was toxic and not healthy.

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Another thing is time. There is no amount of time that you can take to get over a relationship, whether it ended mutually, whether it ended on good or bad terms. You have to be the one to decide whether or not it is time to move on. Sometimes people can move on from a relationship super quickly, other times they can take a long time to move on from a relationship. It really just depends on each individual person. And each relationship can also be different too. Maybe your first one you got over it super easy and the second one took a long longer. There is no right or wrong way to deal with a relationship and how much you need or how little you need to move on.

Another thing I did to try and get over the one relationship that I had that really impacted me was going back to things that I loved. Not just spending time with friends but I mean activities that I also loved. I liked to play games, and I liked to do art. I tried to do these things more often because I never had the chance to before. I put myself into working a bit more due to the fact I was spending most of my money on my ex, I was working a bit more to spend it on myself, finally. Even just chatting on the phone or updating socials and spending time outside can be huge. Sometimes in relationships that might not be great we end up losing a bit of ourselves and pushing aside things that you might regularly love, only to find yourself revisiting that when you are in a healthy and happy mindset.

One thing that I really wanted to do when I felt like looking up towards a relationship again was take my time. My current boyfriend of nearly 11 years understood that when I explained it to him. I wanted to really get to know him before we started to get serious. Just spend a lot of time together before hand and understand what we both wanted in life and with each other. My previous relationship I barely knew the guy and felt like I became trapped. This time it was super weird and I was happy that my current partner and I were able to build that strong foundation to be where we are today. It honestly still feels like a dream and I feel very fortunate to be able to call him my life mate.

Regardless of how long you have been with someone, or how it ended, remember, no one can dictate how you feel or how you are supposed to overcome any relationship, especially crummy ones. Sometimes being along and binge watching a comfort show on Netflix is the way to go. For me, I wanted to reconnect with people and just enjoy all of the things that I was held back from for so long. Including the bar scene, and other things like hanging with friends, going for drives for junk food and listening to old school music. I also wanted to just enjoy the freedom of being able to do whatever I wanted without restrictions and someone telling me what I could or couldnt do. That was huge for me especially with being stuck with the dumb ex for the previous 2 years. I am glad when I was transitioning to this relationship that I am currently in that I was able to really find who I was again, and not rush into another one. I feel like the break for me was completely necessary! And for some, maybe the break is not necessary at all either! Every person is different.

Have you ever had to overcome a crummy relationship in the past?
If so, Was there anything that you remember doing, that you are glad you did to help you move past this difficult time?

Let me know in the comments below! Some other readers might also be looking for some new tips and tricks too!

Getting Through The 1st Trimester

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Finding out that you are pregnant can be a very exciting time in anyone’s life! I know when we first found out we were pregnant with my first child, and now our second one we were excited! However I feel like my first pregnancy I was a bit lucky because I barely had any symptoms except for being tried. When I was tired I would just sleep But now having a toddler and being pregnant for the second time things are way more challenging. Here are my tips to help me get through the first trimester (With or without a toddler!).

SLEEP! In the first trimester you are probably losing a lot of sleep. Not only that but suddenly your bladder seems to be super small and you are running to the bathroom nearly every 3 hours especially in the middle of the night even if you did not do that to begin with before. Thought I was really lucky that my partner was home often I was able to sleep when I felt like it because he would watch our son. However, if he was working late I would still try to nap when my toddler did. It can be hard though because some days I would be super tired and go to sleep and would have one of those days where my son nearly never slept his nap time. However a lot of times it works really well to be able to nap when he does. It may not seem like a lot but it really is a decent amount of time to be able to sleep and not over sleep. Though be warned that sometimes I tend to find myself more tired after this. But catching up on sleep is really important if you are able to sleep during the day. I will say, going into the second trimester there is some relief in terms of when you need to run to the bathroom from your sleepy slumber but in terms of the increased bathroom visits. They will still be a lot due to the fact your body is housing a baby! Try to also drink water early in the day (Something that I do not do) And limit it late at night so that you find yourself hopefully nearly empty when it comes to having to get up to relieve yourself!

Prepping for morning sickness or food aversions was something I did with my first pregnancy and now this one even though I did not think I needed it much. I had certain staples in my kitchen such as ginger ale, little sour candies that would help with morning sickness. I also had carnation instant breakfast’s as well. They really helped in the morning when I was not interested in eating breakfast a lot and still filled me up though to be able to function at some point. I still have been pretty lucky even with this pregnancy in terms of morning sickness. Even when I did have it it was mainly after supper and by that point my boyfriend was already home and was able to take the the lead when it came to putting my son to bed and getting him ready for his sleep. Having things like this was a huge help especially the ginger cookies which I would have a few snacks on in the mornings when my stomach was just a bit more upset though.

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Make it fun and have an app or two! When I was pregnant with my son I used two in particular, they were Ovia Pregnancy and then What to Expect. These are super fun to use because you are able to pick a subject to compare the size of your baby! When I was pregnant with my son I used the “fruits and Veggies” theme for both. Every week was a milestone and it would compare the growing baby inside to whatever fruit it was comparable to! This time around I have chosen to do one for 80’s and 90s nostalgic items, and then another one in the “Fun and Games” category. This is a great way to compare the size of your baby to things you know the size of already. With baby number three I assume knowing myself I would be picking a different category to compare the size of the baby to! Another thing that is huge when it comes to these apps is every day or so it will post little tips and tricks about what is happening with the growth of your baby. From things developing and changing. Sure you may have multiple children but still is exciting to see how things develop since you may not remember when things happen as they happen.

Regardless about what you try to do when it comes to surviving the first trimester, there is really multiple things you can do to make it through. Another positive thing to remember is that even if the first trimester is rough, chances are things will slowly level out towards the 2nd trimester. I have been lucky and have found that whatever symptoms I have been feeling does normally seem to disappear a bit. However on rare occasions there are people out there who have to deal with major symptoms in the second trimester also. However, there are also medical interventions that you are perhaps able to take for things such as morning sickness if you talk to your doctor about how you are feeling.

Lastly, remember that there is also so many reasons to sick it out because at the end of everything no matter how sick you get you will have your little bundle of joy to be thankful for! When you see your child you suddenly forget all of the heartaches and sickness you may have felt as it just melts away!

Is there anything that you did when you were feeling a bit wonky in the first trimester?
Do you follow any of the tips and tricks that were mentioned above too?

Let me know as I am sure a lot of other readers would love to read about it also!

What is the “Nesting” Phase Really Like in Pregnancy

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You might be new to pregnancy, or you might be someone who knows all about it. For me, I have only ever experiences “Nesting” once. while I am currently waiting to find out if I do the same things for the second time also. Since every pregnancy is different I will be curious to see if there is anything majorly different between the two of them!

What people think nesting is, is a period of time before a baby is born where you are doing the weirdest, and over the top things. Typically people claim this is the time you scrub everything so that it is in tip top shape for when the baby arrives. This includes when you are prepping the room, hospital bag, cleaning and washing cupboards and dishes and walls. You are making sure that everything that can be is ready for when the baby is born. You are probably making sure you have more than enough clothes and then you are washing them also so they are nice and fresh for the new baby too. A lot of people would consider nesting the period in which you get that little boost of energy for a small period of time before you give birth to your child. I would say I agree with this however I dont know if at the time I knew what I was doing was nesting or if I just took advantage of the new found energy!

What I thought about for nesting and what actually happened I think are two different things. I did not think I would really have a big nesting period when it came to having a baby. Looking back now I would say that my nesting period was about the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I started with trying to get everything in place for the baby’s room. Washing clothes, decorating everything also. We did the Harry Potter theme for my son and that was something I worked on a bit as things went but I really tied it all together when the time came. We also did really good on trying to get everything prepped and ordered in terms of tools and trinkets we needed too. Lotions, body washes, socks, diapers, wipes everything in between we would try to get ready. After that I wanted to focus on our basement. Since moving it the place was a mes and since my Uncle was off work we really tried to get it some what organized before Vincent was born. We went through boxes and labeled things and got things ready to be thrown away. Everyone knows when you have a child you have a lot of things that you acquire as the time passes and it is important to really make space for that or you can be overwhelmed.

Aside from these two major things I cant really think of a whole lot that we really did before the baby came in terms of nesting. I think I did this stuff also around 35 weeks so that I was ready and able to spring into action if something happened. I wouldn’t say I really did anything outside of the box in terms of cleaning. Our home was not really bad in terms of clean. However maybe if we were stuck waiting and were over due with the pregnancy I would have done a lot more in terms of trying to get the action moving!

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Now, I am pregnant for a second time! Currently at the time of writing this I am about 18 weeks, still a long way to go! And by the time this is released and you are able to read it I will be in the middle of a move across provinces in Canada! I think if I was to predict the future I will be doing things to be able to prep for the baby by getting their room ready, we are not trying to do anything too serious or big until we know the gender. I have a few ideas on how to do the room however other than that we are just waiting to see. Another thing would be if we are having another boy I will have to re-wash some of the things that we used for my son and prepping those to get ready for the newest addition! I would like to think at the time we will be doing things to get the house up to our standards by painting, organizing and things like that. Nesting for this pregnancy also might be a lot of prepping my son for the arrival for his new sibling! Being an only child and suddenly having to share his parents might be an adjustment for him. Especially with Covid and not really socializing with people much either. Another reason why it might be a bit different is that we will be close to my family and the opportunity for them to help us might also make nesting a bit easier or look different than with our first since we were basically here alone.

There really is no right or wrong way to nest. Maybe you wont even find yourself nesting at all! For me I didn’t really think about it at the time that I was nesting until it actually was done and over with and even a few friends pointed it out! Whenever you do, if you do notice you have this little burst of energy I would for sure use this moment to the full potential for things you might have put off til closer to the birth! I know that is what I will be doing, and Ill be updating you all on if or when I notice my second pregnancy nesting and what I have done if anything differently than my first!

Did you know when you were in the nesting period?
Did your spouse notice that this was what was happening to you as it was happening?
What kind of things did you do when you were nesting?

Let me know in the comments below! Maybe we had somethings in common!


3 Things I Would I Tell My Younger Self

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Looking back at when I was a teenager in particular, I can say that I was legit a rotten kid. I was combative with my parents, I tend to have been rude more often than not and I felt like they were out to get me. Not that I am 30, have a son and another child due towards the end of 2021, it really has given me some perspective that I didn’t think I would have if you had asked me as a teenager. Here are 3 things that I wish I could tell my younger self.

Number 1 : Your parents are not the enemy. Growing up I would say my parents were leaning more towards strict. We, meaning my siblings and I grew up in the era without cell phones til we could pay for them, and to follow the street lights. In high school we we not allowed out past 10-11pm depending if there was things we were doing and we had to check in regularly if possible too. Even though we were secretive with things as most teens are, we still had a pretty good means of communication though. I felt like my parents were the people who would do things just so I wasn’t having any fun when looking back now it really wasn’t. I know my sister mentioned this before and she agrees. There is a reason why we had to be in specific times, why is this you might ask? Because there really is nothing out here after 1030pm that is for teenagers. Not only that but a lot of times when I would hear my friends who had parents who really did not care what they did and were out all hours of the night, they often were the ones who would be getting in trouble with multiple people and in multiple places. So I guess by them being more strict than some of my friends at the time they really were doing us a favor.

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Number 2: Do better in school! I know this probably comes as no surprise but for me it was something I put on the back burner and really did not focus on. I was too busy smoking cigarettes and hanging out with the stoners.. maybe partaking in that as well, to be bothered with good grades. The funny part in all this was I never missed more than 4 classes. I always was there so that I could get exempt from exams we were allowed to miss. I wish I could tell myself to focus more on grades both in high school and collage because it may have helped a lot more when trying to apply. I went to community collage and while nothing is wrong with that, looking back I wish I had some sort of honors in school. I was just scrapping the bottom of the barrel to get by that I never really thought grades were that big of a deal. I wish I had even applied for scholarships or put some effort to maybe help myself financially by achieving good grades or even by just applying for things. I know that I failed chemistry and advanced math in my first year but I think if I had not of gotten lost in the mix of weed and wanting to look cool than maybe at the end of the day I would have been able to go to a university easier instead of collage.

Number 3: It does get better. I know this may seem like it never will but it does get better. When I was in high school everyone liked me. I could be everyone friend. I was however, never close with people. Coming right out of high school and into collage I was in an abusive relationship. It felt never ending and it felt like I was essentially trapped there for all of eternity. I wasn’t Fast forward to now, I am a 30+ year old women, with a solid relationship of almost 11 years, one son and another baby on the way. Things DO get better. The friends i made in high school who I was really close with which is not a lot, we still talk semi regularly. However a lot of people I am close with are from collage or even just friends from before high school and things. Even friends that I made from work are still around. You do not need to jump through hoops in order to feel secure. At the end of the day being popular in high school or collage does nothing for you as far as a career goes. It might help with social skills but other than that it wont get you good grades, or promotions, or job interviews. You get those on your own. And even if you are the bullied kid or you are feeling like you are lost without a specific clique to belong to, that wont matter when you are 20, or when you are 25, or when you are 30. You will find your people or they will find you and when you find them you just know.

Those would be the three things that I would tell my younger self. Im sure the longer I sit here the more things I would be able to write about what I would say. Not to mention if I was to write this in another 10 or so years I would assume that there would be more or different points that I would want to tell myself also. Everyone I am sure has something that they would tell their teenage selves. Even if it was just to let them know that everything is going to be okay!

Do you have similar things that you would want to tell your younger self?
Is there anything that you did as a teenager that was risky and are surprised that you are still kicking now?
Is your life in the spot where you expected it to be after all these years?

Let me know in the comments below!


7 Things I Do To Unwind

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Before I begin, what someone does to unwind is really subjective in the sense that what I may do to unwind may be something that you absolute hate doing. That is totally okay though! This is just my experience in things that I do to help me unwind when I am feeling stressed or overwhelmed or even just wanting to look after myself with a bit of self care. There is no right or wrong way, though if you are doing something and it is not helping to relieve whatever you may be feeling it may be safe to say that you are not successfully unwinding!

Baths are something that I enjoy doing the most. Though when I am pregnant it is not as easy since I love them to be super hot and in the first trimester they kind of frown upon having really hot baths due to the fact that you can raise your body temperature up significantly which is not good for a growing fetus though! I love relaxing in the bath especially when my spouse is home because I can just lay back and put a facecloth over my eyes and drift away. Sometimes I will read a book, sometimes I bring my tablet in and attempt to watch a movie or show depending on how the WiFi is there which is not normally good. I also have the lights usually dimmed so that it really is a darkened space where I can just relax. I know easier said than done since sometimes my minds just too filled with thoughts but regardless the laying in a tub still does help me feel better especially if I am feeling ill also too.

Coloring, especially in adult coloring books has only just started to become popular in the last 10 years. With multiple books coming out for adults with complex or simple designs for all of your creative needs. My only question for this is why has it not become popular sooner! That seems insane that it really just started to become popular! I have a bunch of different books and sometimes I just like to sit with a show on in the background or light music and just color or chip away at a page that I had already started. The possibilities for coloring and changing how an image can look really can help pass time. There has been days where I have colored and literally hours have passed by and it felt like only a few moments!

Binging Netflix is something that I love to do. I don’t normally do this with my significant other due to the fact we only watch so many shows at night and he also does not like to fully watch a series he likes to savor them. If it is an evening where I am not live with streaming and playing games I love to find a good show especially crime shows and just binge the show to the entirety! Sure, it is a bit of a bummer when it is all over but that just means I have to find another show to do it all over again with to!

Gaming is something I never used to do unless I was live, Now it is something that I find myself doing more either by myself or when I get a moment to spare like when my son is sleeping. Sometimes I play with friends sometimes I play by myself, it really doesn’t matter. Gaming is something though that I have done before, thought it would help me unwind, when it really doesn’t at all. Some times I think gaming is going to be a great way to de-stress and unwind when really it does nothing and I end up not gaming after a few games.

Art or crafts is something i routinely come back to. Especially if I have just gone to the dollar store to get some new materials or I have seen a new hip thing that is happening across Facebook or Pinterest too. I love to create things and if it is something I Have the things to make I am all for it. Sometimes I even do bits and pieces though when I do things and end up finishing a project a few weeks later but honestly I cant stress enough how freeing creating somethings can be though. I love to do anything and everything, from painting, gluing things together, sewing sometimes and even just trying to re-invent things too!

Notes or list and planning is on my list, and I know what you are thinking, it really is not as boring as you might think! I actually love planning things. Making a list and making things that I can see what is happening in the coming month or weeks and planning what I need to do around the house makes me feel like everything is in it’s place. It makes me really feel like I have my stuff together even though it really is quite the opposite! I especially feels good to do it at the beginning of the month and putting everything in my calendar and planner so that I don’t miss anything. This just helps me to plan writing, house work if there is something that i need to do specifically, doctor appointments if I have any, streams, and things of that nature too!

And last, but certainly not least, doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS TOTALLY FINE! Sometimes at the end of the day, I have no cleaning to do, I heave no streams or planned gaming, I am caught up on blogs (rarely but it does happen!) and Iegit just lay on the couch doing absolutely nothing at all. Sometimes I watch a show I recorded or netflix or amazon prime video, sometimes I sit on my phone and creep the web for the gossip and memes of the day across, sometimes I just do nothing. And there is nothing wrong with doing that.

As you can see I think I have a pretty standard list of things I do to unwind, there really is endless possibilities as to what you do that makes you feel more at ease in the world.

What do you do when it comes to unwinding?
Is there anything on my list that you also do and it helps you too?

Let me know in the comments below, I am always looking for new and creative ways to unwind at the end of the day!

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Sleep Training Sucks

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Sleep training is not the bees knees so to speak. It is super challenging and the hardest part is listening to your little one crying because you aren’t in the same room as they are. We tried to start sleep training my son when he was becoming too big for his bassinet. The reason why we did this was that when he had his arms spread open he would have to bend them as his arm span was far to big now. The hardest part was making that decision. If you are like myself and my boyfriend, we had the bassinet right beside the bed since he was born. Making the decision did not come easy especially when they are so young when you see how small they look in the big empty crib. Have no fear, If we can do it anyone can!

Choosing a method can be challenging at best. You have the cry it out method which we a lot of us probably grew up on. This is where you put them in their crib and just let them cry it out. You make sure they have a dry bottom and are in no distress and you just let them cry cry cry til they fall asleep. They also have the pick up method where they cry and you reassure them everything is okay and put them back down. You typically let them cry if out for about 5 minutes, go check on them, let them cry it out for 10 minutes, and repeat extending the time you take to go in between reassuring them by 5 minutes. Then there is also the one where you sit in the same room as they are. And slowly as time passed or days I could say you you move the chair further and further away from the crib.

We chose the mix between the cry it out method and cuddling them to sleep. We thought this would be the best route as it didn’t seem as harsh as the cry it out method either. The hardest part as you can imagine would be to wait til you have let the amount of time pass that should pass before rushing in to the room. the fact is your little one is probably just fine they just have to make the adjustment to not being right beside you all of the time especially sleeping. It took a few days of this and he seemed to be on a good pattern. Since every baby is different too, it may take your baby a bit longer or less time than others. The important thing is consistency.

Like anything you decide to do with your baby as they begin to age and have some independence, including sleeping in their own room, it is not without struggles. It really is painstaking when you are trying to get them to sleep and you hear them crying. Though after you go in, for what feels like the millionth time and they are perfectly fine. Or they even have a dry diaper, or they have their soother there really is no need. The separation is the hardest part seeing your little bundle cry for you there knowing you aren’t in the room.

Some don’t that we learned pretty quickly were that you have to be dedicated to this. When my son was going through tough times when it came to sleeping we did everything. You can read more about that in this blog. This was extremely essential when it came to sleep training our son because when he was about 6 months of age to about a year old he would wake repeatedly throughout the night. This got so bad to one point I would go in at 2am and he wouldn’t go back to sleep until 4am. And so on and so forth multiple times. It was only after a few weeks of this we decided to let him cry it out when he was waking. We would check obviously to make sure he was dry, we knew he wasn’t hungry since he had been fine for the longest time over night, and we knew that he wasn’t too hot or too cold. This sucked because in the middle of the night all you can do is lay in bed and wait and see how it goes. we did this for 2 nights and suddenly he was starting to sleep better.

Though I don’t want to attribute this just to him sleeping either because we let him cry it out over night. Suddenly he went to one nap a day and that seems to be huge. Though it is tough when you only have a “break” in the middle of the day. He typically naps for anywhere from 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. I would much rather him sleep a smaller one nap instead of 2 small naps in the day and then barely sleeping at night. Him having one nap in the day time and then having slept super well at night is huge especially when thinking about having another baby around eventually too. The occasional time though we have had to go in and give him a soother if he has dropped it on the floor or if he cannot find it. Other than that though he does so well it is incredible how fast the change happened. Though going to one nap this soon was kind of a shock due to the fact that we know dropping to one nap a day normally happens a few months later and for us it was right around when he turned a year old!

Finding what method works for you can be hard and cause a lot of rifts in a relationship. I know with us it was tough not running in and trying to pick up our son when he was crying. Now that we have another baby on the way I am thankful that he sleeps as good as he does, next step would be to remove the soother from the situation however that will be happening after we get settled into our new home in the not so distant future (If we aren’t already there!).

What are some methods you experimented with when you were doing sleep training?
Was there anything that world right for your family, or some you absolutely hated?

Let me know in the comments below, I might need them with our next one!

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Our Game Plan for Our New Home!

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If you have been following our housing journey thus far you will know that it has been nothing shy of a roller coaster. BUT I am super happy to announce that we do in fact have a house! We closed and are waiting for the final things to happen. We officially own the house on June 30th however we won’t be moving until the following week or so. We want to be able to hopefully hook up internet on a day that my dad is off and he can check a few things.

The house we bough is straight from the 70’s. There is wallpaper in some rooms not completely but there is some which we will be removing thank god. And on top of it there would be some shag carpet that has got to go. Cosmetic wise there is not a whole lot. It is a split entry, 3 bedroom upstairs, downstairs has a place we can easily make a 4th bedroom for when our kids get older and want their own space. It also has a living room upstairs and downstairs it also has a rec room. We will eventually open up the space a lot more but for now the focus will be a lot of the upstairs. I will be taking the opportunity to be paint the entire house first upstairs and then downstairs. And the flooring my dad will be able to help us as well too. That will be huge save on money as we will just buy the flooring and he will help us when he is off for a day. This shouldn’t take too long but these simple fixes will also be nice to make the place our own. I already have colors picked out for them, my boyfriend is basically giving me all the freedom in terms of paint colors. Right now it has pale yellow in the kitchen, as well as white walls everywhere and a super retro bathroom also too.

Now on to the major things. The bigger things that we needed to have done was number one electrical. The electrical is dated for sure. Hopefully we can find a reliable person to check it out after we do our 2 week quarantine. This is a bigger issue we need to have fixed. The inspection had said there was an outlet in the bathroom that was humming. Due to being dated and for whatever reason. There is also a few plugs like one in the hallway that doesn’t have power to it. We need to address these in case something were to happen. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive however this was a huge thing that we need to address immediately before it becomes a bigger issue.

Next is there is a few cracks in the foundation. They are about or under a centimeter. I’m not entirely sure as I never received the reports (Boyfriend handles this thankfully!) and they also need to be checked. Whether they be repaired and see what happens. What we do know is that they are not leaking which is a huge thing. If they were leaking that could be a lot more problems for us in terms of mold or what not. But the fact that it is not leaking is great though the cracks being the size they are is a reason we want them addressed quickly. We do not want to have to worry about leaking in the future or if they were to get worse. The fact is a home over 40ish years old having cracks is not abnormal. It’s just taking care of them before they become un-fixable.

Lastly there is just figuring out the home and what not. Most of the things we would like to do is cosmetic. And once we get some of the bigger issues done we would also like to do things in terms of creating a backyard oasis. The good thing is behind our home is forest to there is not going to be any one building behind thankfully. We would like to get a fenced in yard as soon as possible whenever that might be. Not the entire yard but some of it so that the dog and kids can play safely. We also would like to have a gate towards the back to be able to explore and what not when the time comes too. This year we will probably get a quote and see what happens with the other two issues before doing the fence. Just because it might be pricey. We will be doing it in metal due to the price of lumber and so hopefully that is the cheaper alternative.

Overall we do want to get things like a swing set, an above ground pool, build a fire pit hopefully this year also. A fire pit will probably only cost a few hundred bucks for the bricks as we would like to build it. This is more of a nice relaxation spot for us when we have a bit of downtime to sit by the fire and relax and hang out in the cool air while roasting marshmallows or eating hot dogs too. Not to mention smores also! This will be a nice change and since we haven’t really ever had our own nice fire pit before this will be a good thing we both are looking forward to. We also would like to kind of map out the yard though to plan a bit where everything will go from the pool, to the hot tub eventually (Boyfriend would like one of those not me!) and then the fire pit and swings. The home is on septic so finding out the pipes and things will be huge in planning the backyard but I believe we have plenty of space to figure this out though.

Overall I know there will be some work to be done but this is our forever home and we couldn’t be happier. With the market the way it is there could have been a lot worse things happening in terms of housing and any house unless built under the last 5 years will have some sort of problems. It just is how much are you willing to do to it? Not to mention, if we were to pay more for a home with the same problems it might have been super skimped on trying to upgrade it and make it our own.

Oh yeah, And before I forget, Yes! I will be adding a section for home renovations to this blog so you can see what is being done in terms of before and after’s. I will also be posting these on pinterest as a lot of our inspiration has also come from there. Plus with a home so dated, why not share the progress as well with everyone!

Have you ever done major home renovations?
What was some of your biggest challenges for it?

Let me know in the comments below so I hopefully don’t make the same mistakes!

– Stacey

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We’re having ANOTHER BABY!!

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By the time you are reading this it will be about 12 weeks into pregnancy.  I will slowly release some updates until I catch up by going month by month ( or about every 4 weeks) and comparing them to my previous pregnancy noticing any changes and things along the way!

First things first! Yes, This was a planned pregnancy just like our first. We are beyond thrilled when we found out. To say we were shocked is also an understatement due to the fact that we had only tried for literally one month and it had caught. We half tried the “shettles” method in attempt to have a girl. This is when you stop doing the dirty a few days before ovulation since apparently the girl sperms survive longer then male sperm. Does this work? Who knows because I never tracked ovulation with strips so I only followed my app which seemed to be right when it comes to when my period would start and stop.

Another thing is that I broke the cardinal rule when it comes to conceiving. I tested early. I use the app Ovia which I have used for years. A little less when I was pregnant and used their pregnancy version however with trying to conceive and the last few months I had also tried to track my cycles just to be sure.

What happened was on March 13th (Saturday) I tested form the dollar store pregnancy test. I knew it obviously would be negative but I couldn’t help myself especially since I was starting to feel off. My shoulder really started to hurt randomly. My boobs felt weird in the shirt I was wearing. I felt different. These were things that I felt when I was pregnant with my son however I didn’t think too much about it and just thought that I was gaining weight. Since we were trying and this was the 1st month I though right away this could be it. I also still broke my rule, and tested again the Monday March 15th. I used 2 tests that I had just  a drug store brand. There was still a very very faint line. on both of them. I then took another dollar store one but that was negative and a second one which was neg. I know. Stupid me. So I waited til the 26th on Tuesday March 16th and also took another dollarstore test. That did come back with a very very very faint pink line. So this much be starting to have the hormone grow then. And as I write this (I told you way before hand!) on March 17th, Wednesday, I took a test that was a name brand and 6 days sooner and yes, it did show pregnant.

It’s super crazy to think that my son JUST turned one and here we are having another baby. Though we are not getting any younger. And we always said that we wanted to have all of our children close in age and what not. This is for sure getting us on that track! If everything is correct my due date will be around the end of November of this year. So that is kind of neat to be having a baby 2 years in a row. Not to mention I will NOT be having the baby in Quebec so I will be in Nova Scotia where the nurses and things actually speak English which is great.

I wouldn’t say a lot of things are worrying me right now. The thing that makes me worried is the c-section thing again. However knowing that I gave birth to my son naturally and without medication. I hope to give birth without medication to the next one however we will see what happens when the time comes though! I also am nervous about morning sickness. I was really lucky with my son to not have a lot of morning sickness and whatever I did have was basically my own fault from making food with too much milk (It was mac and cheese..) I just hope I don’t have much or it is very low due to the fact that I can no longer just go to sleep I have a kid that I have to look after and with morning sickness that would be a bummer!

I have to fill out a form though and get put on a list for the clinic that I was able to go to through pregnancy. However it will be a lot easier I think knowing I wont be in the province for the birth because well, why would I want that! I will need to do a few appointments as well as some blood work probably since there is some early on that you need to do. I also will hopefully get the gender ultrasound here in Quebec. That is one thing I would like to do here. Just because with moving things could be tricky to time everything just right for it.

I cannot wait to update you along on this journey. It’s something I never thought about doing since I only started the blog the year that my son was born in 2020. At that point I was nearing the end of pregnancy and couldn’t really track it with people. Here we are second pregnancy though and I cannot wait to compare how different or maybe not so different these pregnancy will be! Will we have a girl or a boy, and will the symptoms be different if the gender is different too? Will I have a bunch of new symptoms and have another boy? Will they be the same symptoms and a girl? Who knows. They really do say that every pregnancy is different and I cant wait to see what happens with this one!

WE ARE REALLY HAVING ANOTHER BABY! I am going to be a Mom of 2 under 2!

Do you have children?
Did you feel just as excited with the first as you did with the second?

Let me know in the comments below!

– Stacey


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