Hello Everyone!

   I was wracking my brain to determine what I should write about this week and was having some troubles .. Especially considering my days are mainly focused around sleep, changing diapers and eating a quick meal. Since my whole life has changed and become all about baby I thought what would be a better thing to write about than that? I decided I would let you know some of what I have learned in the last 6 weeks since becoming a new Mommy. 

1. Don't worry about what the house looks like.

Easier said than done. I am a person who gets stressed and anxious fairly easily if my space is messy and dirty. I think this is due to the fact that my Mom owns her own cleaning business and I know what happens if you leave things neglected for too long. (Thanks Mom!) If you too are like that it is time to let it go. You will have to come to the realization that the house is no longer going to look absolutely pristine at all times. There are going to be some dishes in the sink, laundry in the hamper and dirt on the floors. I found this especially hard when we had company coming over when the baby was first born. I wanted the house to look great because I was worried about being judged if there was crap sitting around. Here's the thing though, nobody cares. Everyone is too busy looking at your beautiful bundle of joy and will completely understand if your home is messier than usual. Take it from me. Your time is going to be far better spent catching up on zzz's or taking a shower.

2.  Sleep when the baby sleeps... No seriously.

I am still having trouble with this, and still kick myself in the arse when I don't actually follow this rule. (For example she is sleeping right now and I'm blogging ..) I know it is hard to change your sleep schedule (and I am so exhausted!) but I find sleeping in the day is just difficult. Plus I am always thinking there are other things I could be doing, but they will still be there later.. Trust me. I find I can handle colic episodes at 2am far better if I feel somewhat rested. If I haven't slept much than those late night/early morning events are harder to maneuver. So no matter what try and get some sleep, even a quick 20 minute nap is better than nothing. I find curling up with the blankets pulled up to my chin helps me to fall asleep and (if possible) a dark room. A trick I recently learned is to blink really quickly and I find it does make you sleepy. If all else fails I use sleep meditations to help me fall asleep or some white noise. The app I am currently using for meditations is Insight Timer. Thank you Mom for telling me about this great app!

3. Take time for yourself. 

I know it is difficult when you have a new baby and have no routine at all to find time for yourself. Especially if you are dead tired and just want to sleep whenever you can and the last thing you want to do is hop in the shower or do a workout, it will do you wonders though. I find that exercise has been a real help with my mental state the last week. Of course you can't do anything exercise wise at first because you just gave birth but, once you get the OK from your doctor go ahead. I have never been 100% dedicated to exercise and have started to find it really therapeutic instead of a chore. I think because I have always worked being stuck at home is driving me a wee bit nuts. Exercising just helps me to escape and feel better about me, knowing I am taking care of myself makes me feel better and more energized. Meditation is another good way to give yourself a boost of energy, it also helps to clear your head and give yourself some me time. When you feel like you need to relax hop into the tub with some epsom salts, this is also great if you have stitches like I did after a vaginal birth. It helped to heal them and make things not hurt so much. Maybe even bring a new book along with you to read.

4. When the going gets rough take a break.

There have been many nights where all she does is cry for hours, I've learned that setting her down and walking away for a minute is OK. There have been some nights when she has cried for hours straight and nothing I do helps. It makes you feel awful and in turn can upset you. A rattled Mama is not going to help calm baby, so set her/him down and walk away. Take the monitor with you to the kitchen and make a tea. Once you have had a few minutes to collect yourself go back and try some more. You are only human and feeling overwhelmed when they are still crying is normal, I myself have had a few cries late at night when I am feeling this way. 

5. Find an awesome show to binge watch.

Having something to watch is always nice because you are spending lots of time alone with babe and they aren't much for conversation. We have Netflix and I have always wanted to watch Gilmore Girls. Now, with many late nights spent alone with my girl binge watching a show is great. It gives me something to look forward to at night and helps to keep me awake when I need to be. And, if you haven't seen Gilmore Girls yet you need to. Honestly it has quickly become my favourite show next to Friends. 

That's it! I hope these tips help you and if there are any you can think of that I haven't mentioned leave them in a comment below. Having Mama's sharing knowledge is helpful and it's nice to feel supported and understood. This is the biggest change in your life and knowing other women are going through it helps. 

Thanks for reading and I look forward to chatting with you next week!
xo Jenna

Hello Everyone!

   With another year come and gone I figured it was a great time to reflect on the past year. 2016 was the busiest, craziest, most exiciting year I have had in my life yet. It was full of new beginnings for me and I wanted to take some time to thank 2016 for everything it brought me. 

Thank you for the beautiful wedding, where I got to marry my very best friend and life partner. 

Thank you for my beautiful family. They were so supportive and made our special day go off without a hitch. With them it was more fun and full of so much love and happiness. They weren't there for just our wedding either. They are with me every single day, I know I can count on any of them and they would be there. They are the very best people in the world and I have no idea where I would be without them. What I do know is that my heart and soul would not be complete without any of them. 

Thank you for my loving fur babies. They are full of pep and unconditional love and I know I can count on them for a cuddle no matter what is going on. 

Thank you for teaching me to love my body, physically and mentally. I think my pregnancy helped me the most with this, knowing I could carry a person and create something so beautiful taught me to love myself. I got to thinking, how can I preach self-love if I don't practice it myself? How can I raise a confident, happy person if I don't feel it myself? I turned my thoughts around, making sure that I was doing my very best to think positive about literally anything. Sure there were days where it was a real struggle to think 100% positive, and yes I failed at that sometimes. But, just the effort I put into it made me feel a lot better. In forcing myself to think this way it has just become the norm. I no longer put myself down, I don't judge as quickly and I am happier. I always thought before that I was a happy person but I have now realised that what I have is enough. Of course I still want things, but I am happy and content with what I already have. Instead of thinking "If I had this I woud be happy." or "If I looked like that I would always be happy."  I now think about what I have and list it, this forces me to realise all the things I do have an be grateful for them. "What I have is enough, I have food in my belly, a roof over my head, a loving family​, my own home that I can enjoy, etc." 

The greatest gift I received in 2016 and what I am most grateful for is the birth of my daughter. She was born on December 2nd @ 2:24am and she is so perfect and beautiful. There is no love like it, I never knew you could love someone so much from the moment you first meet them. Having her has been the very best experience and certainly the most humbling adventure I have ever had. 

 For 2017 here are the things I am looking forward to and my resolutions.

• I am going to continue practicing self love.
• I am going to start taking better care of my body by exercising and eating far better than I do. (Treat it as a temple, as it should be.)
• I am going to continue meditating, and want to start making it a daily ritual. Not just meditate a few times a week.
• I am going to get my life organised. Starting with my home .. I have crap squirrled away in the most random places. This madness stops here.
• I want to practice yoga, and seriously this time. I have dabbled in yoga many times before but never got into a habit. I want to be able to bend and twist my body into the more difficult yoga positions.
• I am going to save any little penny I can (or nickle since we technically no longer have the penny here lol!) to build our dream home on our lot. I want to be able to start building our home by June of 2018 so let's do this! (This is by far the biggest and most desired thing I want to achieve.)
• Finally I am going to focus more on my blog and my YouTube channel. I love doing it and really need to have a hobby and something that I can do that is just for me. (It also helps give me a quick kick in my rear to follow the items listed above as it would actually give me something to write/film about.)

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So here's to 2017 ... Bring it on because this year is going to be amazing!

​Sending you love and light!
xo Jenna

Hello Everyone!

   Long time no see, it has been such a busy summer at work that I have just been unplugging from everything at the end of the day and not wanting to be bothered with computers. With that being said it is finally fall! (My absolute favourite time of year!) I know there will be a few of you out there thinking I'm absolutely crazy BUT I have never been a lover of summer. Not that I hate it but, you know, it's not my favourite time of year. I love the smell of fall and the coloured leaves with the cooler weather that suits more of my fashion style. (If you can even call it "style".) Also Thanksgiving is coming which is one of my favourite holidays. Why you might ask? One word .. Turkey, duh! 

Anyways, over the last couple of months I have been getting my nails done. I just decided to start taking better care of my hands since I was no longer out cleaning and now in the office. I called a salon in my area and asked about them after doing some research online and finding the Brisa Gel Nail System. I have had acrylic nails in the past (as I squinch my face.) and hated them. I felt within a few days like ripping them off because they drove me nuts. I also felt like every time I had to do dishes (or anything that a normal person may need to do) they hurt when banged against something and just in general felt like they were in the way. On top of that it is just really bad for your overall nail health. I asked Erin at the salon about the Brisa Nails and spoke to her for about 15 minutes or so. I decided to go ahead an book an appointment for the upcoming Saturday. It took about an hour and a half to put them on and put my wallet back around $80.00 (plus HST and a tip of course!) They looked great and I decided to go with a nude coloured pink as I didn't want to too crazy with colour just yet. They did not feel like I was wearing any sort of attachment on my nails and felt practically normal which surprised me. 

I have gone every two weeks since to get my nails refilled which takes about an hour, costs me $40.00 plus HST and a tip. I have absolutely loved having my nails look all pretty and it has actually made me take better care of my hands which is also a bonus. I also took a picture for you lovelies to see what the nails look like on just their own without polish. (I think this may actually be my favourite way to wear them!)

Here is a picture of what it looks like with regrowth, this was after exactly two weeks!

I apologize for the state of my hands at that point, they were super dry and not pretty looking! My only tip would be to not have them so squared off like I do in my pictures. I have been getting them more rounded because they were chipping a little where the corners were.I hope you guys enjoyed this blog and found some of this helpful. I will talk to you guys soon.

Thanks for reading!
Jenna
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