How do you decide how to dress your child? Do you use their preferences or do you dress them how you would dress yourself at that age? Do you dress them just like you, or do you try and give them a unique style that you would never pull off yourself? Do you like to dress them in the latest trends or only designer clothes?

One thing I've noticed about how I dress Everly is that a lot of her clothes are gifts, so everything is pretty eclectic. A matter of fact, I've only bought her something myself a handful of times (like online just now) because she has been pretty stocked up to this point. Here are some of the things I just bought her at The Children's Place:

Moms need breaks.

For many a "break" means an alcoholic beverage. But when you've been pregnant for half of your life, you have no idea what that even tastes like any more. So instead you host a slumber party at your house with babyless friends who stay the night to indulge you, make mocktails (1 part orange juice, 2 parts cranberry juice, 3 parts gingerale), and line the rim of a wine glass (because you don't have martini glasses) with sprinkles to be cutesy.

It felt like I was in college again. Only in college I didn't look like a bloated wreck of a mess (at least not all the time). We stayed up until 2am talking, watching movies, and eating chips, Bagel Bites, and white macadamia nut cookies. I woke up around 4:30am with vicious heartburn but it was worth it. I was with two of my best girl friends and we never skip a beat when we get back together. It's as if we're the same girls that used to dance on stage every Saturday at our favorite club.



The same girls only now we look at Scentsy stuff, talk about upcoming weddings and my upcoming baby (along with the cutie I already have) and bond over stories about our significant others being ridiculous. The conversation has changed a little, but the friendship always seems to pick up right where it left off.

Here are some of Everly's favorite things, at the ripe age of 13.5 months, soaked in wisdom and sprinkled with life experience.

Finally getting around to completing this, almost 2 months late.

Our beautiful girl, growing up! I love the 2nd, 6th, 9th, and 11 month pictures the best. I'm going to do the same thing with baby boy when he gets here.

Can't wait.

There's a post at Girls Gone Child that touched me today when I read it called The Changes that Occur Overnight.

I can relate to most of what she says, though admittedly I was probably way less of a party girl than she was before becoming a mother. Still, this really struck me:

"The truth was, shallow as it sounds, I missed the party. But parties (as one so quickly learns) never miss you back."

I encourage all mamas to go read and relate.

And to continue allowing motherhood to inspire us.

"Parenthood has become something to fear - like age itself - the responsibility of taking lives into our own hands and raising them. How quickly we forget that we've come this far taking care of ourselves, that sometimes it takes having a child to grow out of being one."

1) Even if she just ate and her tummy is full, whenever I eat something she scurries over and screams, "Ah! Ah! Ah!" until I give her a bite of my food. While endearing (yes) it can also be... a little soul-stirring to never again have a single meal where I can just eat without a tiny seagull claiming my food.




2) Turns on and unlocks my iPhone. Sigh... I knew this day would come but this soon? Really? Watching her slide her tiny, chubby finger across the screen to unlock it is adorable (and makes me kinda proud, I'll admit) but gone are the days where I can give her my phone as a worst case scenario distraction. Sorry if you've been getting blank texts.

3) Grabs her blanket (and whatever stuffed animal is in the crib with her, if there is one) and holds it close to her in the morning so that she doesn't leave it behind when you pick her up. She gives the sweetest smile in the world and then tucks her blanket beneath her chin tightly and coos and points while you walk toward her. Bliss.

4) Plays with anything that is not actually a toy. Some favorites? Her diapers. Wipes. Remote controls. My phone. Video game cases. Xbox controllers. Coasters. Paper towels. Clothing items.

5) Turns the TV/Xbox on & off about 400 times in a row. Haven't found a solution to this one yet, but am impressed with her persistence. Husband is terrified.

6) Stands up in the bathtub, over and over and over and over and over again... and apparently she does not respond to the command, "Sit on your bottom," because no. She will not do it. And the more you tell her to do it, the more she will stand up.

7) Seeks out the dog's water/food bowl like a bat on a grub worm. No matter where I put it, she will find it. Then she will put her hands in the water and slosh it around. Then she will pick the bowl up and turn it over. Then she will scoot her body through the spilled water. If there is food left in the bowl (which I rarely allow there to be these days) then she will stuff it in her cheeks for preserving. Millie has learned to eat her meals fast & messy. I assure her that I completely understand.



8) Points at the ceiling fan and dog when I ask where they are. Everything else is meaningless to her and she will not point at it unless she wants to.

9) Points when she wants to distract us from something. If she's getting sleepy and we go to pick her up and sway her back and forth, she'll start pointing at items in the room as a last attempt at fighting sleep. She gets this from me, no doubt. We don't go down without a fight!

10) Causes actual pain in my heart on a regular basis. I don't know if it's physically becoming larger or what (if it happened to The Grinch it can happen to me), but when I look at her, I love her so much and so intensely that it just hurts. It's a good pain. The pain you get when you have a sore muscle and press deeply on it and think, "Owwwww," but it somehow also feels wonderful? She slays me. I love her, I love her, I love her.

I have seen this question asked on message boards over & over again:


I'm usually just as curious as the original poster, so I'll scroll through the replies for a couple of pages. These are what the answers usually resemble:



This is a great, healthy menu for a toddler... heck, even for an adult (okay minus the breast milk... well...actually...no I won't go there). But I honestly do not know where these women are finding the time or energy or money to make all these handmade foods, steam all these fruits and veggies, and then they kind of brag about it and it makes it worse.

I think nutrition is one of the most important gifts we can give ourselves and our children. However, realistically I can't really make this type of meal plan fit into my daily life without giving it constant thought, and I have other things I'm thinking (and doing) that are important, too. I don't think I'm as good at managing time as some of these moms.

I'm not putting down moms that put so much time into their children's diet (and I am not referring to moms that have to do this because of allergies or special needs). I'm trying to say that I'm not one of those moms and I'm not sure that makes me any less of a caring, nurturing parent than they are. But maybe it does make me lazier?

Should I throw in that Everly has been sick one time in her life? Does that give me any more credit? No? Crap.

I kind of do what they do in moderation, though. I do believe in buying quality, organic ingredients when you can. I do believe in balancing each meal if possible. I do believe in offering a variety.

But unfortunately, I also use lots of packaged products... and even if they are high quality, that will earn me a slap on the wrist from most "crunchy" moms. However, I have a feeling a mom like Mandy would probably high five me and totally understand what I'm talking about. And then we'd get dirty looks.

So I'm sure you're wondering what Everly's meals look like, then? Well... not much different... minus all the homemade stuff. At 13 months old, this is a typical day's meal "plan" for her (with all these meals she drinks organic milk & has water for snack times):


So what do you think of using packaged foods for your baby, even if they're organic, no sodium added, wholesome, etc.? It saves me time and money, and I feel like Everly is getting the nutrition she needs. Sure, I do still use fresh produce as well, but frozen vegetables are as healthy as fresh vegetables, so I wonder what's the point sometimes?

If you're a mom that's horrible at cooking and would rather fall of a cliff and break all your bones than plan every meal your child is going to eat for the day, I'm right there with you. I hope you're not beating yourself up over the trendy "make your own food or it will harm your baby" movement or the claims people make of feeding their baby only things they grow themselves. These things are great but not always necessary.

I'm not saying go feed your baby Fruit Loops with chocolate milk and ice cream all day, by the way.

I do agree with many of the sentiments made about children's food today (Everly has had fruit juice like 3 times in her life because it doesn't make sense to me, I don't give her food with red dye in it, I watch the sodium content of foods, etc.) but I also think moderation is key.

Maybe the reason more people aren't eating healthier or feeding their babies healthier is because they feel overwhelmed and pressured? Our current culture seems kind of obsessed with it, too. And while I think it's great and optimistic to shout, "Cooking can be fun! Grocery shopping, too!" that's just not the case for everyone. Some of us hate both, and although I am sometimes a little envious of these households that eat so amazingly smart, I'm also kind of okay with just being in the middle. And what if we encouraged more people to just ride the middle line instead of crossing all the way over into kale smoothies for breakfast and apple slices with almond butter for every snack? What if they just need to start with using Whole Wheat Bread instead of White or No-Salt Added ketchup on their hot dogs?

Baby steps. For the health of our babies and the health of each other.

What do you think?