A Mini Stay-cation & Shang Chi...

In the last post, I told you about rebooting and that is what I did this week. I cannot tell you (because I cannot remember) the last time I took time off to just do nothing. If my guess is right, it might be about 4 plus years ago. Most times hubby and I take time off, we go places hours away from home then come home only to go back to work the next day!

Not this time. This is time to rest and take care of me and my family.

According to my dictionary: stay-cation is “the art of not going anywhere for a vacation but staying at home”

To begin with my stay-cation, I got my hair done and went to a movie! Then we took the lil ones to the St. Louis Zoo. My oldest loved it, the toddler… he was like what are you all doing here 🤣😁 See the short video of the trip below

Most of you who know me, know I love a good super hero movie and knowing that Shang Chi was out in theaters had me longing to go see it! I made sure that this was my one treat during this time off work!

The movie theater I must say was different … a lot has changed! I joked with the person at the ticket counter, I told him the last time I went to see a movie was almost 5 years ago! A lot has changed since then.

I went by myself this time. I wore a smile behind my mask and sashayed into the theater! There were about 7 people in the whole theater. Let that sink in a bit!

I enjoyed the movie! It was good, really good! It's so good watching movies and seeing superheroes that are from different cultures and races speaking their languages and dialects and also with accents that are not only American, British or Australian. I loved watching Black Panther, loved watching Shang Chi too and I am excited to see what’s next.

I would not give you any spoilers for the movie, you have to go see it yourself or watch reviews on YouTube.

I’m home now and planing the remainder of our week-long stay-cation

With having little ones, time is like gold- one has to mine for it. I try to plan for things that will keep my oldest occupied and also make sure my 1 year old is not excluded from the activities- it’s not easy but we try.

So this time off, we have learned to make slime, we will make some tie-dye shirts which i’d try to show you on Instagram when it is made. And last but not least, we might make something edible, i’d have to figure that one out 😉

The question I have is why did it take so long to do something good for myself?

New hair 😍

Rebooting

Where have I been?

So much has happened:

• Work

• Kid got done with pre-school and the decision to home school or send to elementary school

• Dealing with RSV and what that was like

• Little man celebrates 1 year

• Trying to balance work, school, raising kids and or doing school

Need I say more? So much has happened and I will share as soon as I can with so much more

I am excited.

Expect something soon…

Too Many Banana’s

I have been in a slump lately, making it hard to do anything extra aside from working and then coming home to the kids. Has that happened to you?

I have also had a lot of ideas of what to post and write about but then I second guess myself or time just passes me by!

I prayed to God for help and also for Him give me strength and wisdom. I needed help to do things I needed to do and today, I can say that I am encouraged to begin with what I have and start where I am.

So here goes a new beginning of something beautiful, the beauty of using what I have to achieve needs to be done.

An example is this; baking and cooking. After a long and busy day at work, these hobbies help me unwind.

A few days ago, we had gone grocery shopping and had got bananas. When we came home, we noticed that we had not finished the ones we had got previously causing us to have too many bananas at home! The one issue I have with bananas is that they all get ripe at the same time which is what happened here at home. I planned on using it up but the question is for what?

I decided to bake banana bread (with blueberries in it).

Here is my go to recipe for banana bread. I stumbled upon it and quite honestly, it’s the best banana bread recipe I have tried before.

In the comments section of the recipe, the other bakers who have used this recipe share their tweaks to the recipe. One baker shared one thing that makes the banana bread stand out- apple cider vinegar. By just adding two table spoons of apple cider vinegar; it will take your banana read to another level! I added the apple cider vinegar and the rest my dears is history, super yummy banana bread.

I’d ask you, how do you unwind from a long day? And do you add anything to your banana bread?

Ps..

Tell me if you tried the recipe!

Have a great week!!!

Look Up, Child

Hi There

How have you been?

As a parent, an adult, and as an individual, how have you been? Lately, there has been a lot online about mental health and it has got me thinking. I will say it is quite easy to shrug it off and say it does not apply to me but if we should look deeper, there have been times I will say it does apply to me.

How is my mental health? How is yours? Especially as a parent How are you doing?

Let me say a little bit about myself- I have been tired more so tired from nursing and not sleeping much, and if after work I will add mentally too. Work has been busy and when I come home I would like to just turn on the TV and shut everything out and just be entertained. I do not want to think too hard since I had been thinking a lot at work. Alas, as a parent to young ones, that is not ideal, there are mouths to feed and kids to take care of. There are dishes in the sink (don’t tell me to ignore then and rest because they pile up if left and it’s worse tomorrow than today), feeding bottles from daycare to clean and food to prepare for the family.

Sometimes as parents, it’s very easy to forget ourselves as we care for others but I want to encourage you to look up. Yes, like the song says: Look Up Child by Lauren Daigle.

I am sitting here writing this with the TV on in the background and the little ones asleep and I want to share what has helped me keep sane:

1. Keep your relationships going. Call friends, text them, even if they do not call or text you first. Do not be an island like the saying goes. Sometimes reaching out to others makes me feel like I am not alone in this craziness. Call your parents or that one crazy person that puts a smile on your face. It will be amazing how conversations make you feel.

2. Hug your little ones- they are god’s gift to you and the smiles on thier faces are worth seeing daily. Yes they will probably ask you a bazillion why’s about things happening, like just a plain old why is the sun round, why is there a black hole 🕳! Be creative and tell them something. Sometime you could even come up with a story and have them help you make it up as you go along. The Pandemic has had us cooped up inside the house and it can be overwhelming as to how much energy the kids cannot burn but as a friend said, this Pandemic gave my family the best vacation ever and money did not buy it. Hug your kids, thank me later ☺

3. Go outside. The beauty of spring is coming up every where at this time of the year and the sun on our faces, the gentle breezes and budding flowers and trees around us causes us to be hopeful that there is hope. No matter how dark or cold the winter is, spring always comes around

4. Look up, child! Yes look to Jesus- Hebrews 12:2a states: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” This month alone, my family lost a family member to sickness. At the same time, I have seen God work in the life of another family member, doing a blessing for them that most people have waited decades to see happen. God hears prayers and that is a major reason to look up. There is nothing He cannot do, even for our mental health!

5. Finally if you need to seek a professional counselor, check out this link or check with your church.

   Have a great day and you and your family a very Happy Easter!

Letter to Breastfeeding and Working Mom's

Congratulations on your new baby!
A bit sad that maternity leave is over right?
For me I was sad that maternity leave was over because I felt like I was just getting the hang of being a mom to a new baby, figuring out how much sleep I can have when the baby is asleep.
But alas you gotta change that all over again!

One thing I have not heard a lot of is how to be a working mom. The example that I have is of my mom when I was growing up and her sisters...
For my mom, I knew she went to work and came home, prepped food for us, helped with homework and then she went back to doing her schoolwork- she was doing her grad school program then. Nothing was ever mentioned about pumping at work.
He sisters who came to stay w my family for their maternity leave got help; we helped care for our baby cousins while momma and sisters hung out.
They also never mentioned that if you're breastfeeding or nursing a baby and working, you had to do something like pumping at work or coming home earlier than usual to feed the baby.
🍼👼

So you are going back to work, and if you are breastfeeding / nursing like I am, then you have plans to pump at work.
Your work place might have a designated place to pump or your department might have a spot they make for you. If they do not, make sure you request for one.
Here are a few tips from my experience about pumping at work.

1. Not everyone will be excited about your doing so. Depending on where you are pumping, some might claim you are using the spot that was open all the time, some might ask if you were still pumping after 6 weks? And so on…

Here is the link from the US Department of Labor regarding what employers are required to do for nursing mothers.
It says:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, known as the “Affordable Care Act”) amended section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) to require employers to provide “reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for one year after the child’s birth each time such employee has need to express the milk.”

Check out the link here for detailed information
Momma, do not feel guilty about it. Your little one is relying on you to provide food and if you're like me and exclusively Breastfeeding, then that is all the reason you need to not feel guilty.

2. Unless there is a designated room for pumping or Breastfeeding, momma, lock the door to the room you are using to pump for privacy. For my first kid, I shared an office and for courtesy, I left the door unlocked but closed. She knew when the door was shut, I was ppimg and she didn't bother. One day though, one of my managers was looking for one of us and came to the office, he opened the door, good thing I was sitting with my back to the door and I was not exposed. This second time around, I got smart. I have an office to myself and printed a sign that had a cow saying:
Pumpin in progress, comeback later.
There was an incident where someone came looking for me and walked to my door and opened it. Good thing it was locked,
It would have been a different experience...

3. Stay hydrated! It is very easy to get busy and some workplaces especially Healthcare do not allow you to have drinks in the lab / desks etc that we seat at. However, I will say that to keep producing your milk, you need to be hydrated. I get busy so here is how my 8 hour day goes

- arrive at 8: have coffee with milk
Drink water and go back to work.
I have an office / desk so I can do this
- 10am drink coconut water infused drink
- 11am or 11:30 pump and store in refrigerator
- 1pm eat lunch and drink lots of water
- pump again at 3pm
Finish up my work and then go home when my day is up

4. Do not forget to take nursing pads and your pumping equipment with you. I had forgotten my pumping equipment and my breast hurt. Good thing my husband worked later in the day, he brought the equipment to me at work.
One of the days, a colleague pointed to me that I had leaked through my scrubs and I had one dry boob and a wet one showing. I would not have known if she didn't point it out. I had been super busy on this day and had missed the time I set to pump. Oh well, I went and then pumped and used the extra pads I carried in my pumping bag. I put a coat on for the rest of the day to cover the wet spot.

5. You got this! Do not fret

Do you have any experiences you would like to share?

This it what happened and I noticed I had forgotten to wear a nursing pad in the bra 🤦🏾‍♀️

Being hydrated helps with milk production, otherwise it’s just a little bit of milk.