Ok so since I kinda missed last weeks update I’ve decided to combine this weeks and last weeks updates. A lot has happened since I’ve last blogged. I’ve learned that I’m good in some areas and I kinda suck in others.
Onto the good parts. Well, let’s just say that my green bean plant came back from the dead and now it’s thriving! I’m having so many green beans growing it’s crazy. It’s fuller and thicker. Also a very shocking surprise that I had today was that I had my first cucumber grow! I checked it out the other day and I must have missed it. I do have lots of little ones towards the top but they aren’t growing as well. It tasted very sweet and my husband agrees that it was a very good cucumber. My other plants are growing very well outside too. I have a small variety growing outside that has grown a lot this week. I thinned them out last week so I think that helped a lot.
Even though I had some positives happen this week I also had a major blow happen. I ended up losing my remaining basil plants. I think it had something to do with the fertilizer. It was a good run while I had them but I still have more seeds for more basil plants in the future.
Overall, this has been so much fun for me to do as a hobby. Slowly I’m learning more and more about gardening. It feels great to know that That at least I know what I’m putting into my own body food wise. I think I’ve come a long way with gardening and this is something that I’m going to continue doing.
I have so many things to update you guys on. I have had both good and bad things happen over the course of the week. This week has been a whirl wind of things going on.
So to start off with the bad. I think that I may not be using the fertilizer right or maybe my plants just don’t like it. Every time I fertilize my plants die a few days after. I’ve already lost a basil plant. My plants outside are doing fine but it’s my indoor plants. Not only did that happen but I accidentally killed my large tomato’s. I made the mistake of not putting them in a pot with drainage holes. All the rain last week killed them. I’m so mad at myself for doing that. Also, if your probably wondering why I didn’t post anything last Wednesday it’s because I was sick for a couple of days. No it wasn’t covid and I know this because I was tested. Now I’m okay and almost feeling 100% myself.
Ok so onto the good. Where to start is the question. Well, let’s see my cucumber plant is doing really good so far. No cucumbers but is it growing like crazy. It’s flowering like crazy now. The next awesome thing that is happening is that I’ve got more green beans growing. I’ve seen a difference with those ever since I put the netting on. The new leaves are not as eaten up as the others. I think it took literally a few days for the leaves to be eaten up without the netting on at the beginning. Literally my mouth dropped this week when I saw the green bean plants. The leaves have come back to life and they aren’t half eaten. I don’t think that I will get a lot of green beans this year so I’m probably going to use the seeds for next years harvest.
So what is new around here you ask? You can kinda say that I got bit by this thing called the gardening bug. I ended up also sowing some new vegetables and herbs into my garden this past weekend. I’ve also become inspired by watching some YouTube videos of people who grow everything in their garden and have become somewhat self sustainable. My goal is to cut down on grocery costs. I’m also trying to get my husband, the accountant, into it as well. For one thing I think once he sees that it will make a difference in the long term then he will be more involved. Plus I think it’s a good hobby for us to do both together and eventually with our son. However, I also like the fact that it gets me focused on something other than just being a working mom. I don’t have to think about work and it is relaxing for me after putting my son down for bed. Plus it counts as a workout for me too.
So what new crops am I growing? Well, since our first frost date is for the end of October I’ve sowed crops that I will be able to harvest in about 75 days or so. I mostly tried to put out crops that we eat like cauliflower, lettuce and carrots and more tomatoes. Yes we have a obsession with tomatoes. We have to have them every Tuesday night for taco Tuesday. However, I did try to plant some crops that we also don’t normally eat as well like radishes. I also put in some new herbs such as oregano as well.
Also, last but not least I’m trying out a little experiment of using sandwich bags as a mini green house to make my super sweet 100 hybrid tomato seeds grow. I’m also thinking of maybe trying this on my basil as well. I still have my jiffy plastic container box started but I ran out of starter pods. I figured hey I have soil and I have all these pots why not do a little experiment.
Overall, I learned some new things this week that are both good and bad. I may not be the best gardener but I do have room to improve. I am determined to get my grocery costs low and to eat a over all healthier diet.
So this week I’ve made some changes in my garden that have both were positives and negatives. You can say that I’m still learning from my mistakes. I do have a lot to tell you guys so let get on to it.
The first thing is that I’ve made a few changes. The first thing that I did was I fertilized my plants so much so that some of the are dying. I know now that I over fertilized them. I literally killed my smallest basil plants. I also repotted my bell pepper and tomotes. I have two types of tomotes growing. One of them is a small type of tomato and the other is a larger type of tomato. I had one small tomato plant left inside and so I added that one to the black container outside that I already had of the same kind. However, the larger tomato I put in a pot that I had outside. I also bought these nettings to put over them. You can buy these nettings here. I love them so much I have already seen a difference in my other plants outside and the amount of vegetables that are coming in. The best part about these netting is that they keep out those pesky bugs. They aren’t just good to keep out pesky bugs but also animals like birds, squirrels and dogs too. The best part is that you get a set of 3 for under $10.00. I also have so many green beans that are growing now it’s insane. I’ve also cleaned up my cucumbers and green bean plants from the dead leaves.
My small tomato plant. My large tomato plant that I transplanted outside. These were getting too big for this container.
The second thing that my husband and I are working on is getting rid of the vines that are growing on our hill. Ok so it’s just my husband working on it. In Georgia we have what is called kudzo that grows here. If you know what kudzo is then you know that it grows back fast. Like really insanely fast. That is what is mostly growing on our hill. We have cut down a lot of the shrubs that were growing but now he is tackling killing the roots. We have found a solution mixture that has been killing it. So make sure you sign up for my email news letter and watch out for a new post on that.
The last thing that I did was I cut back some of the dead leaves on my green bean and cucumber plants. I saw a lot more green beans budding out and I didn’t want any more of my green bean plants to get sick. My cucumbers plant had a lot of dead leaves so I wanted to clean that up as well. I also tied some of the vines to the trellises with some special wiring that I got with the purchase of the trellises.
My green bean plantMy cucumber plant.
Overall, this week has been a crazy week over in our garden. I’m excited to be expanding our garden. I still cannot decide whether I want to grow my vegetables above ground or make a in ground garden. I do know that I really am enjoying doing this. Make sure you subscribe to our email for more weekly updates!
So your a new mom or maybe this is your second or third child and you keep on seeing ads for a subscription service called lovevery everywhere. You see it on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. You may have heard about it from a friend, family member or neighbor. As mom to mom or parent to parent I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t think that this was and is a great product. You probably have heard of the Montessori Philosophy by now and that lovevery is started by Montessori parents and lead guides. Well, I am a certified Montessori infant and toddler guide and a parent to a 1 year old and this subscription service is awesome!
I know you probably are thinking that this thing is really expensive or that Montessori lessons are really expensive. While yes this will set you back $40 a month, however, it is well worth it. For one thing it is not as expensive as buying Montessori materials on your own. Which is way more expensive then buying this subscription service. For another thing is that these materials that loverevery uses are really durable. They have literally survived a dog accidentally chewing on them. The Montessori guide in me also loves that it has a book that teaches parents how to use the materials with their child and what activities they can do to help shape their child’s mind and body.
My son loved going after the wobble ball!
Another reason that I love this subscription service is that it breaks up your child’s monthly milestone ages. This is partly so that parents don’t get overwhelmed with each of the products and that they can learn where their child is at developmentally. This really benefits first time parents. They will send you a new box with the next level of materials every 2 months for your child’s first year of life. You may think that the first box isn’t worth it but it really is. My son loved looking at the back and white cards and the back and white ring and ball set. The black and white cards in the first box helps the child with their focus the first few weeks of life as their eyes are adjusting to their environment. It may not seem like a big deal to first time parents but it is a lot of work to learn to focus to a small infant.
My son is focusing on a black and white spiral image.
The one thing that I really love is that it feels like I can bring a part of my classroom materials home. I have used many of these items in my own classroom. So if you can’t afford to have your child in a Montessori class then this is the next best thing. Seriously as a Montessori guide this is a awesome product. Their are specific lessons that give your child the sensory experience of feeling different textures and doing different tasks that use their hand/ eye and hand to hand coordination. One lesson that I love that they have and that I’ve always loved having in my own classroom is the object permanence box. It not only teaches them cause and effect but that an object will continue to exist even when it can no longer be seen. Another lesson that my son really loved when we got our first suscription box was the crinkle paper book. He absolutely loved looking at all the colored fabrics and feeling and hearing the crinkle paper.
The last reason that I love this subscription service is that many parents including myself don’t always really like loud plastic toys. My son is more so engaged with the lessons that lovevery provides than with the electronic toys that he received at his first birthday party. In fact he has a bunny that sings songs when you press its hands or feet that he absolutely hates. Montessori and the lovevery lessons provide opportunities where the child can play and learn independently.
I really do think that this is a great company! This is my honest review of this company. I and many other of my fellow Montessori teacher friends love this product. Montessori should be available to everyone. In fact the children that Maria Montessori first taught were children that came from the poorest parts of Italy. Also, if you still find that this subscription service is expensive for you then you can always put this on your baby registry.
This week I’ve decided to combine week 7 and 8 because of a few different reasons. One of them is because every day for the last 2 to 3 weeks it has been raining. So we do have a lot of growth but also parts of my plants are dying. The other reason is that I wasn’t feeling too well after my second covid shot. My body is still recovering from that. Overall, I’m excited to show and tell you some things that I have done this week.
Gardening is very calm and exciting to me. I love knowing that I can grow something that started off from a seed. These past few weeks I have transplanted my tomatoes into a bigger pot. I think I’m actually starting to run out of pots. I found an old pot that I had from our last house and transplanted tomatoes into because I noticed that it needed room to grow.
The second thing that I noticed was that I had some growth and my plants are somewhat dying outside. I know you are asking yourself how can your plants be growing and dying at the same time? Well, I think my plants are dying because of the insects eating it. I know is not from a lack of water because we have had rain for the past 3 weeks every afternoon. I’m trying to find the best netting that will keep out the bugs. I also have a lot of new growth as well. My cucumbers and green beans are starting to flower. I also may have accidentally not watered my indoor plants because I was sick these past couple of days. I hope the they will revive though.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with how my plants are doing. I was pretty sure I was going to kill them all when I first started doing this a few weeks ago. So far I think I’m doing okay. If you have gotten down this far then make sure to subscribe to my email list for more updates!
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So when my son was born I thought I knew it all when he was a baby. I had ten years of experience of teaching infants and toddlers. I thought I was so ready and prepared. Little did I know that his first two months were also the hardest.
When you become pregnant as a new mom you get all sorts of different advise from everyone and you read tons of books and blogs and you might watch a ton of YouTube videos. I thought that I had it all planned out because of my background in education. Well, none of it prepared me for the first few months. Yes even if you are a teacher yourself nothing will prepare you for your own child.
Nothing prepared me for the first month when he had tummy and gas pains. Almost every child gets this the first month they are born. It’s like buying a brand new house that has just been built. You hear all sorts of new noises and are praying that you don’t have a blocked pipe or a over flowing one. You want everything to run smoothly.
The first few days he had jaundice and it took his little system a while to start moving. That was a contributing factor but when he started to wake up and cry randomly at night we realized that something was not right.
I went through every possible scenario. At first I thought it was my breast milk. Then I thought it was the supplemental milk, which we changed anyways, and then I thought it was the bottles. I was also even pumping(bicycling) his legs to different songs and rhythms after a while to keep it fun and interesting.
I knew it wasn’t my milk because he was fine during the day when I gave it to him. However, at night he would wake up and scream a few hours after drinking the supplemental milk. So then I changed him from similac to enfamil gentle ease. He seemed better but still was getting bad gas pains. If you are going to supplement or skip breast feeding altogether then get the premise bottles and not the powder. You have to be careful with the powder and adding in water because even though you can put in the right amounts you can still make more or less formula in the bottle. Down below is what I used for the pre-made formula.
So finally I thought it was the bottle. I noticed one night that he was literally putting air into the bottle. So I did my research and the first switch that I made was from advent bottles to the anti colic Philips bottles. I thought that it would be the end of that. Nope! I was wrong again! Those didn’t work either. So I then did more research and found dr browns bottles.
Finding those bottles was like the heavens opened up again! He cried a lot less and was so much calmer! I’m saying this because sometimes it can be so simple such as a bottle switch. I thought that buying philips was the way to go because it was a wide nipple and a better fit. Boy was I wrong!
I sure am glad that I switched. He became a happy little camper and to this day at 13 months old he now opens his mouth up wide for that bottle. Figuring these little guys out is like a jigsaw puzzle and once you find that one piece that fits then it all comes together.
Overall, if your baby has colic it might be that they need to switch formulas or to a different bottle or even both. Just remember momma you got this and this too shall pass!
So this post is going to be for those new mommas who just had a elective c section or a emergency c section. I just wanted to get this off my chest and say that baby is going to come the way that it wants to come. Ok rant over. So now you are probably thinking what items do I need or need to get for my c section recovery ?
First, I just want to say that I was an emergency c section baby and my son was sort of an emergency c section. What I mean by sort of is that I literally told the doctor at the beginning of my pregnancy however he wants to come is fine by me. So with that being said I kinda packed for both a vaginal and C section birth and afterbirth. The items that helped me out the most both during and after are below.
1. The first item that I bought is depends underwear. Those are literally the best things that mankind ever gave to women. The amount of blood you will pass after is unreal. It doesn’t matter if you had a c section or not. I bled for weeks and I kid you not that those hospital pads or pharmacy pads will not help you one bit. In fact here is a little secret. I still use them at night because I hate waking up finding out that I bled through. Not only are they comfortable but now they have different colors and designs.
2. The second item that used were hot/cold packs to help with the pain near the incision site and the cramps that happen afterwards. You will have some cramping happen afterwards. These will help with some of the pain you will have from the doctor stitching you up. This is especially helpful to have after the nurses check out your stomach.
3. The third thing to have handy in both a vaginal and c section are compression socks. If you end up having a c section you will be in bed until the day after surgery and until after all the medications have worn off. Not only do they keep you somewhat warm but they are good to have if you have had any serious health clotting issues in the past. I had these on the whole time in the hospital.
This picture is from my own c section.
4. Most of all have a helpful and handy support system. You won’t be able to move the first day or two so having someone to help with diaper changes is helpful. I have to brag on my husband as a new father he was a rock star while I on the other hand was not in any shape or form to get up and move.
Overall, that baby is going to come the way that it wants. It may not be the way that you envisioned or liked but having these things with me helped me a lot. Honestly, I would 100% do a c section again.
So this week I had made some major changes to our garden. I not only managed to repot some plants but I somehow ended up buying more seeds to grow more flowers and vegetables.
The first thing that I did was I repotted some of the vegetables and flowers. Weeks ago I bought some special trellises that came in a pack of 3 and can hold up to 40 quarts of soil. So far they are holding up really well. I desperately needed to replant the green beans and cucumbers. However, my tomatoes are taking some time to grow so those won’t be getting transplanted for a while. I also replanted the Jumping Junipers and Sweet Williams into two flower hanging pots. Every thing that I bought off of Amazon is linked below. If you click on the Amazon link you will be directed where I bought my items.
The second thing that I did was I somehow ended up back at home depo to buy more vegetable seeds. This time however I bought purple coneflowers, bell peppers, and a different kind of tomato called a cloudy day hybrid tomato.
Overall, I’m excited to see our little garden grow! You can certainly say that I caught the gardening bug! I’m hoping to make our backyard into our own little piece of heaven.
So one thing that I really want to talk about and get off my chest is advise for new moms. This is something that I dealt with my whole pregnancy and the first year of my sons life. Everybody is going to give their own two sense about your child. When I mean everyone I mean everyone. While some advise is great, however, some of it is not so great. At first it was irritating but I’ve learned a few things a long the way.
The first thing is that you don’t have to please anyone. What I mean by that is you don’t have to say yeah I will do that. You can say flat out say no or say sorry but that doesn’t work for us parents. For example, when I was pregnant a lot of people told me oh you should get him pacifiers. I flat out said no because for one thing it will mess up his teeth and for another it will be a power struggle to get him off of them. However, when I had him he had to have a pacifier when he had jaundice to keep himself “occupied” so he wouldn’t pull down his mask while under Billie Rubin lights. I only let him have it then and after he came off of the lights I took away the pacifier because it was causing all of us sleep issues. It took him a few days to adjust but he was fine without it and we all slept better without it.
Secondly, you are the parent you know your child best. If you don’t like what someone is doing to your child or the unsolicited advise that they are giving you just say hey I’m the parent I’ll decide what is best for my kid. Better yet I would say that’s something that is between me and their pediatrician.
Lastly and most importantly follow your gut. If you agree to whatever advice is given to you then that’s great but if you don’t then that’s okay too. Just remember at the end of the day that you are the parent.
Overall, that is your child. As mom to mom and parent to parent no one knows how that kid is better than you. Take every piece of advise with a grain of salt.
