Baby Sanity Tips

Oh My God! I have a BABY!

So, you've decided to have a baby! What fun you will have! Going out to find everything you need and everything you don't (it's ok!). What now?? Well... take it from someone who has 3 of them living under her roof. You'll be okay...no matter how fragile they seem, don't worry for a second on who will actually rule your household. Do you remember that cat or dog that used to be "the prince/princess"?? Guess what? They become the dog/cat. All the things that you used to think were critical will come second to none to the little bambina(o) that cuddles in your arms.

How are you going to take care of this little creature???Well, first, you're going to be overwhelmed, so expect it. Don't spend a lot of time reading a lot of books. Like Old Man Dr. Spock says.. "trust yourself and your instincts". You really WILL figure it out. And you will laugh at yourself and your efforts. What you think is logical with your first child, you'll "peshaw" with your second. You really are the best and only expert of your kids. Trust your instincts, go with your gut.... don't fall into the mass media mayhem.. if you want to go back to work; it's really OK.. if you don't; God bless you..welcome to the hardest job you have ever had.

Please feel free to email or post to me anytime.. I have a 5 1/2 year old, Mackenzie - an almost 3 year old, Sydney and the newest addition, Cassie at almost 8 months.

I won't profess to being the expert, but my goodness, have I learned a thing or two by default!

Good Luck............

Welcome

Dear friends,

I have been meaning to get this blog started for awhile. I feel as though I have let down a few newly-pregnant friends by promising to get them the information that is going to be contained here within by putting this off for so long. I guess "newly" pregnant is a dated term at this point since most of you are at least half-way through your prenancies now. But - tis the season, so I know there will be more babies a plenty soon enough.

First order of business is to introduce myself. My name is Jennifer, and I am a 33 year old mother of a daughter named Sadie Jo, whom we were blessed with after two miscarriages. I live in Chicago and work from home as the Director of Marketing for a North Carolina based software company. My husband, Rewdy, also works from home as Mr. Mom in addition to doing some free-lance web maintenance and design work.

Second - I want to explain the background and purpose of this blog so there are no misonceptions about my intentions - particularly for the benefit of anyone who stumbles on this site who doesn't know me. I am NOT a parenting expert. I am NOT a doctor. I only have one child of 8 months and she is an absolutely angelic baby. Thus, I have not really had any major "trying" moments. She's not even crawling or talking yet, nor has she even gotten her first tooth. Thus, I want to make it clear that I really have no idea what I am doing as a parent. Strategies change every day so I will try to refrain from making any commentary or judgement on what anyone should or should not do with their children, aside from love and cherish them for the miracle they are.

What this site is meant to be is a resource to information that I have found helpful. For instance:

• Pregnancy and Parenting Book Cliff Notes: I read a lot of books - and have found most of them to be alarmist crap. But every once in awhile I will find a little tidbit of knowledge that has helped me. So, I'll try to spare you from reading entire volumes and just provide the cliff notes.


• Cool Links to Cool Stuff: I keep coming across such cute stuff - and my daughter, Sadie, can't possibly ever use all of it, nor does she need it (she has so much already), but I'd love someone to take advantage of them so if you're looking for something unique there'll be plenty of places to look.


• Baby Preparation Tips: One thing every mom can give advice on within the first few weeks even of baby coming home is what you need and don't need for baby's arrival. I have a few documents that were passed down to me from five previous moms with details on everything from what you should register for, to what you will want to bring to the hospital, to what you shouldn't waste your money on. I'll be posting that stuff post-haste. My friend Blair was the one that gave a lot of this intial information to me. She got it from her cousin Sally, whose friend Jeaneane started it all...so it has been and still is a work in progress. Just want to attempt to give credit where credit is due, especially since I don't even know who the original person that spent all the time writing this stuff down was.


• General Sanity Support Network: Hopefully this will be a place where all my current friends, and possibly even some new ones, can come to exchange information about what it is like being a parent. In that way, we'll all know that we're not alone...and more importantly that we're not crazy...

The world of baby stuff changes every day. Sadie is only 8 months old and so much has already changed. Thus, please, please, please add your own advice, suggestions, revisions by posting comments to my entries.

So...with that said I will start uploading all the resources I have collected and will go ahead and pass the torch to my co-author, Kristen to introduce herself. She's more experienced at this whole mommy thing with three princesses running around her domicile.