LOVE DAY

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OAKS SWEATER / JEANS 

MY SWEATER / JEANS

Love hurts doesn’t it?  No, but really it does!  Not just the love you feel for your husband, but the love for your kids.

It is almost worse with your babies..  At least thats how it is for me.  You’re worried about their every move.  

But with that said, it’s the greatest love of all.  Thats why it hurts so much!  

Guys, mom life is hard.  It truly is so challenging and if it looks like I have it all together, trust me.  I do not.   In fact, some days I just want to scream haha. 

Becoming a mom is the biggest life changer and it still feels that way.  Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way depressed like I was when I first had him with the postpartum and all.  But that doesn’t mean you don’t have your days where your patience is gone out the window.

It just comes along with being a mom.  I feel like every stage of their life is a new beginning of motherhood.

New moms, out there reading this right now.  Don’t feel guilty if you feel this way.  Don’t feel guilty if you want to have alone time for a day, just to do nothing.  Don’t feel guilty if you need to do NOTHING, but sit and relax during nap time.  (I have a problem with this one!) 

I have a hard time relaxing because I know the list of things that need to get done, and nap time is when they get done!  But don’t feel guilty if you don’t get them done and you truly need a break and you time.   I am telling this to myself too, as I type haha.

You aren’t selfish for wanting to go be by yourself and do something alone.  You aren’t!  You’ve got to have that time to revamp, and come back to being the biggest badass mom you can be!

So when you feel like you’re about to have a breakdown and you feel like you want to scream and yell at your babies… you NEED a break.   Take an hour to yourself and do something that makes you happy.  

That is what I have noticed that helps me SO much.  I come back refreshed and happy and ready to be a patient and loving mama haha.  The mom I know I can be!

Becoming a mom has been the most amazing experience.  I love living it everyday and watching him grow and learn.    

Take a deep breath everyday and just know there is so many other mamas out there, that feel the way you do right now!

What do you moms do to refresh and renew??  Would love to know!!

Side note.  making Valentines cookies was SO much fun, especially in our matching sweatshirts!  He is the light of our lives and is such a joy to have around!  I couldn’t ask for a more loving happy boy!  

Happy Valentines!  I love you all so much!  Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and comment.  It means a lot to me!  I love getting to know each one of you every day!

xoxo,

Sara Lynn

TREE LOT + 5 TIPS ON TAKING PHOTOS WITH A TODDLER

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MY OUTFIT

JACKET (SO CUTE HERE & HERE

TOP / JEANS / BOOTS / HAT 

OAKS OUTFIT

JACKET (LOVE HERE TOO) / JEANS / MITTENS /

HAT  (ALSO LOVE) / BOOTS

We were, in fact, freezing our butts off.  I got him this chocolate stick, so he would crack a smile… grabbed his bottle to help also.. he was NOT having it.

To get toddlers to for function for pictures is some SERIOUS work.  It is a lot different, from even 2 months ago.

Its almost like, you have to time it PERFECTLY.  Right after a nap, after a bottle, after some food… but not TO close to their next nap….  so basically… it’s hard!

Plus, when they’re teething, that doesn’t help.  He has been biting on his hands, so I pulled out my Tylenol and Ibuprofen concoction.  Every 3 hours you swap the two.  Works wonders.

Anyways, it’s been helping a little, but this time around his extra needy… 

Teething this time around is a little different than the last time he had a tooth coming in.  Man oh man!  Tips welcome!

SO back to my trick to getting your baby to smile during photos… which he only smiled once this time haha, but let me tell you, it took a lot to get him to this time around!  

Here are 5 tips I recommend, for taking photos with a toddler (14 month old, to be exact)

Tip 1: Bring their all time FAVORITE toy.  OR better yet, go buy a new exciting toy.  Oaks loves anything with lights and music.

Tip 2: Pull out the thing that makes them laugh the most, like Oaks loves playing peek-a-boo, and loves when I spin him around.  Also, what I was doing to get him to laugh was playing with the bottle and swirling it around, and pulling it away from his mouth.  That gets him to laugh. EVERY single time ha.  So the only photo you see him smiling in, thats the bottle trick!

Tip 3: Make sure your photographer knows the tricks, before you begin, so they can make sure to capture that smile before you start pulling those tricks out, that your baby loves so much.

Tip 4: TRY and time it good.  After a nap, after a bottle/food, and if they’re teething I recommend doing my concoction… thats, of course, after you check with your doctor first.  

Tip 5: Lastly, and this one is IF you want some kind of cute, cookie, candy, drink in the photo, which I think it’s so cute when they’re eating haha.  But grab a cute beverage they love, or candy/cookie and have them go to town haha.  I have done this my past three shoots with him and they’re so cute (hence the chocolate bar by the tree)  but make sure it goes with your theme, and set them up to where you want them, and it turns out so cute.

It’s also fun to clean them up afterwards haha. Oh well, we’re so used to that by now, right?

Okay, PS I LOVE these hunters for him, and he loves them also.  Best idea for christmas.  Especially through this Winter, it will be so nice to have for him.  Good investment.

Hope these tips helped all you mommas out there!  The struggle is real!  Let me know how you liked this post, and please oh please share your tips, if you’ve got good ones up your sleeve.  I am a new mom, so this is my first run to all of this.

Have a great weekend!