Parenting Method - Bribery

Lately, I find myself bribing my daughter in order to get her to follow directions. She has become so stubborn. Bri does what she wants, when she wants! I've been trying to teach the right way and explain things to her but in the end, I resort to bribing her to get her to do what I want. When I want her to brush her teeth, I say she can have a snack right after. When I want her to take a bath, I tell her that she's going to see her favorite cousin. Most of the times, this method works. Other times, she still does what she wants and doesn't listen to me.

I have read article and posts about being a  conscious parent. Most say if your child respects you, things will fall in line.

In the end, I know she's testing me and sometimes win. I just keep holding on and I believe eventually, everything will work out.

Christmas 2015

Brielle and Baleigh was blessed this Christmas! It was mostly attributed to my mom...their grandma made this year very special.

2015 Most Memorable Moments…

10. Terrible Twos

My little princess has turned into something else. Sometimes I don't even recognize who she is becoming. She can be disrespectful at times and is constantly testing me. I know this isn't long term and is just a phase but it's quite challenging.

9. Bed Time

We purchased a bed for Brielle in April in attempt to move her into the bed before the baby came. However, it didn't work out that way. Months later, she is still in our bed. We just couldn't commit to the consistency. Plus, I missed her sleeping next to me. :-/

8. Four days away

I reached a new record this year, I spent a total of four days and three nights away from my baby. I attended a work conference in September and left Bri with her dad. I called her everyday but she didn't seem to miss me. I felt so guilty because we haven't spent that much time away from each other. 

7. QT with Grandma

Since the baby arrived, my mom has taken the responsibility of picking up Brielle every Saturday night. This helps me out a lot because it gives me the chance to do chores around the house and even relax without having Bri around to entertain. And Bri just loves spending time with her grandma! I appreciate and adore their bond. Brielle is a grandma's girl! 

6. Learning to ride a tricycle

Bri was bought a tricycle last year for Christmas but she didn't know how to push the pedals back then. We had to use the bar to push her and steer her movement. After starting school, I see that she has picked up learning how to ride the tricycle and I was so proud. 

5. Trip to Orlando 

July 2015, we took a family trip to Orlando. I was about five months pregnant and we wanted to take a trip before the baby came. It was really nice to take a family vacation. Due to the 4th of July holiday, it was an extremely busy and packed. We spent four days and went to Legoland and Magic Kingdom. I loved spending time with my family and it's a moment in time that will always be special to my heart.

4. Christmas with Brielle and Baleigh

Christmas was so special because I had two beautiful children to share it with. Baleigh is only two months old and is unable to grasp the full experience of Christmas. Brielle is at the age where she is just able to understand and respect the holiday of Christmas. Bri went to my mom's on Christmas Eve and slept over. Baleigh and I came over Christmas morning. We had breakfast and then opened presents. It was a relaxing day. 

3. Daycare/school

Bri started school on November 12th and this was very special. 

2. Brielle turns 3! 

On October 4th, my little princess turned three years old. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I couldn't believe that my babylove  was turning three. It seem like just the other day, I was feeding her oatmeal for the first time. Bri had a fun filled day at the Wow Factory. She enjoyed every minute of it and I was happy to see her having a blast. While at the party, I was extremely nervous because my due date was only a week away and I thought for sure the baby was going to come early! Overall, we had a good time and hence the reason why it's number 2 on my countdown. 

1. Birth of Baleigh

Our second precious angel was born on October 20th via caesarean. I was actually due on October 17th which was a Saturday. That Monday, I went to the doctor to see what they were going to do. I was so ready to meet the newest addition to our family. After being in the hospital all day, doing tests and waiting, they said that baby was too big to risk doing a vaginal birth. The doctor said he would do a c-section first thing in the morning. He held me there overnight to monitor the baby. Before I knew it, she was here. At 8:33am, we welcomed Baleigh Olivia Rose. 

Balancing Two…

I had my second precious bundle of joy on October 20th. The first month was extremely hard because it was just exhausting taking care of a toddler not to mention adding a newborn to the mix. Life for the past three years has been about just Brielle. When Baleigh arrived, it took some major adjustment for all of us. I mean, I couldn't even get her name right for the first week. I kept calling her Bri.

I spent the first week home with my mom. Her and my aunt was extremely helpful. My aunt assisted me during the day and mom helped out at night. My baby girl scheduled demanded her eating every two hours. Although with a breastfed baby, there is no schedule…they recommend to feed on demand. It was so hard trying to feed her every two hours that I couldn't even attempt to feed on demand. My breasts were extremely sore and I wanted to cry each time she would latch. It was so bad that my toes would curl up from the pain. 

I approached the second week looking for resources to aide with breastfeeding. I tried contacting the hospital and they offered consultation but for a fee. That wasn't going to work for me. I also reached out to my insurance-provided nurse but to no avail. Finally, I went to the Women Infant and Children (WIC) office to see what services they offered. I discovered that they did have a support group but it was dismantled because of poor attendance. Eventually, I decided to move towards pumping exclusively. Although, there were times where I try to get her to nurse for a few minutes a day to maintain the milk supply.

Baleigh's personality is so laid back and she is just an easy going baby. All she wants to do is to eat and  sleep. She is just so AWESOME, almost like an angel. Meanwhile, Brielle is a toddler. She is running around with her tantrums in hand. It's like she went from this sweet girl to Tasmanian devil. 

Fast forward, I am going back to work next week. The two months went by so fast. Going back to work is bittersweet. I know this might sound awful…I am going to miss my babies but I am happy to get a break! Baleigh is going to be watched by my aunt on the days that Brian and I work. Brielle will be going to school three days a week and will be watched by my aunt the other two days. 

First Day of School

Drafted on November 12th 2015

Today was my little munchkin's first day of school! I was super excited for her to start this new experience because I felt it was overdue. For the past three years, she has been under the care of my aunt. Recently, we could just see that she was bored and craving for more. I have been wanting to enroll her in daycare/school because I know there was so much to learn but the funds weren't there. I've been researching daycares and the average is approximately $140-$160/week for part-time (three days a week). 

My employer offers this payflex dependent care option that I enrolled in. This option is pre-taxed and allows the money to be deducted from each paycheck. The accumulated funds is put into a bank and you must file for reimbursement each time you make a payment for tuition. The only downside is that you have use all the funds in the calendar year. This year, I was only contributing $20 per pay period. Therefore, I only was only recently able to file for reimbursement. However, with the new year approaching and open enrollment, I was able to adjust the amount being deducted from my account. 

Pregnancy #2

Drafted on August 26, 2015…

I'm 37 weeks today! Found out I was pregnant at the beginning of the year. I wasn't exactly thrilled because it was not planned. Since finding out, it has been a constant roller coaster with a lot of down moments. Also, my on again, off again boyfriend didn't want another child. But there was no other option for me, I was having this baby. As the months progressed, I realized what a true blessing this is opportunity to carry a child is. There are so many that aren't granted this ability. It has been a smooth pregnancy without no major issues but it was definitely different from Bri.

First of all, she's much bigger than my first pregnancy. I chalk that up to me not losing the weight from Bri. 

Secondly, I am not at all concerned about my diet with this pregnancy. With Bri, I craved Sonics, strawberry milkshake and chicken sandwich. This time around, I want milkshakes but forget the chicken, I want beef all day, everyday!

Lastly, I started getting swollen much earlier. I went to a work conference earlier this month and my legs and feet were swollen the entire time.

Overall, I'm ecstatic that this pregnancy is coming to an end. I'm anxious to see what I'm precious will look like.  

Hair Regimen - Two, Almost Three!

Bri's hair regimen as of late has been to either braid her hair up or have it in ponytails. While her hair is braids, it could last up to three weeks. Once I take out the braids, I would wash and deep condition her hair to try to get the moisture back. The products I mostly used was Shea Moisture for kids. In the past few months, I started to deep condition it with Mixed Chicks.

Recently, I took my cupcakes' braids out and decided to do a wash and go with all new products. I purchased E'tae Carmelux Treatment, E'tae Kids Shampoo Bar, and E'tae Protein Conditioner. The process took a little me over three hours. I have attached pictures below to show the end result. I noticed a few changes in her hair, 1) Her hair seems extremely dry even after the DC (although it was surprisingly soft) 2) None of the products I used to style actually froze her curls. After washing her hair, I used  Shea Moisture Curly Smoothie and Cantu Curl Custard. I couldn't just leave the hair wet after applying these products so I had to twist her hair and Bantu knot. Then, I let Bri's hair air dry for maybe two hours. When I took the Bantu knots down, her hair was still a little wet. See below.

In the end, some of the observations I made was 1) Bri's hair was still dry, 2) Bri's hair is not trained for wash and go's 3) Bri's texture is changing

I was left a bit perplexed after this routine because I have not been paying attention to her hair and didn't notice the changes. One question I would like answered is how do I nurse her hair back to what it was? Or is this the start of a new beginning?