Mom Life Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Favorite Books for Preschoolers

August 13, 2019 by Katie Haller

It’s back-to-school time, and I’ve always loved this time of the year. This is the first year in a long time that I am not busy getting my classroom ready for the new school year. I always loved teaching preschool. It’s such an important stepping stone in a child’s education. This year instead of taking on a classroom of 20 preschoolers, I get to focus on one preschooler, my little guy. Jack is at that preschool age where he is loving learning. Well, I guess he’s always loved learning, but now he is really eager to learn new things and explore. One of his favorite activities at the moment is reading. We read together all the time. I can never turn him down when he asks me to read to him. Read more

My C-section Story

April 18, 2019 by Katie Haller

Some of you may or may not know that Jack was born via C-section. I don’t think that I have ever shared my story about it, besides touching on it a little in my birth story post (HERE), but I never shared the whole experience. Since April is Cesarean Awareness Month, I felt like it was the perfect time to open up about my experience with my C-section. It’s something that I’m not 100% comfortable sharing for all to read, but I want to share my story because 3 years ago as I recovered and got to know my newborn son, I was feeling very alone. I hope that in telling my story, it might bring some comfort to another new mom going through the same thing.

I never ever thought that I would need a C-section. I was completely prepared for a long painful labor, but I never thought that I would need to have an unexpected C-section delivery. I didn’t research it at all. I watched a bunch of different birth stories on Youtube, but I never once watched one about a c-section. It was the last thing from my mind.

My labor with Jack started when my water broke 11 days before his due date. After not truly believing that I was in labor, I decided to hold off on going to the hospital until I started contractions. (Bad idea, don’t do this, but what can I say, I was a first-time mom.) My contractions started about 3 hours after my water broke and that’s when my husband and I headed to the hospital. I remember that drive to the hospital being extremely painful. It was something out of the movies. The contractions were strong and painful as soon as they started, and when I got to the hospital I learned that my labor was progressing very quickly. I was happy to hear that I could have an epidural as soon as they finished my blood work. It all seemed to go very quickly and before I knew it I was sitting comfortably with an epidural going through labor and waiting for my baby to arrive.

Finally, the nurse said it was time to start pushing. It started off slowly, but it started to get very intense after about an hour or so. No matter how hard I pushed, the baby was not coming down at all. It was so frustrating. The nurse had turned off my epidural, so I felt every contraction. After 3 hours of pushing, the nurse called my doctor and he said that the best option would for me to have a C-section. My other options were to possibly use a vacuum to help get the baby out, which all seemed very scary and traumatic for me and the baby. I didn’t want to have a c-section. I wanted a natural birth. I wanted to be the first person to hold my baby. I had this idea in my mind of what it would be like when the baby came out and c-section was not in that plan. I was also exhausted from pushing and in a lot of pain, so I took the doctor’s advice and went with the c-section. I was scared, but at the same time I was in so much pain, I barely thought about the whole idea of being cut open when I was awake.

I remember shaking uncontrollably on the table. The nurse told me that was normal and it was because of all the pushing. I was scared, but I just focused on my husband’s eyes. The nurses had him sitting across the room from me, I didn’t know why. I wanted him close to me, but looking at him just helped me stay calm and distract myself from the fact that I was being cut open while I was still awake. When I saw tears in his eyes I knew Jack was out. Then I heard the sweetest little cry ever. It comforted me to hear Jack and hear everyone in the room telling us what a beautiful baby he was. Finally, the nurse brought him over to me and we just looked at each other. I was too scared to move my arms so I just kissed him and told him I loved him. Kevin snapped this picture below of us which is one of my favorite pictures ever.

After the surgery, I felt great. The drugs were working wonderfully and I was on such a high just holding my beautiful new baby, but then the medicine wore off and the pain set in. It was scary leaving the comfort of the hospital. I liked having someone checking on us every hour that I could ask a million questions. Luckily my sister-in-law came to town and stayed with us until my mother-in-law could get to town. She had a C-section with my nephew and understood what I had gone through. Nursing was hard because I just couldn’t figure out a good position, plus Jack was tongue-tied and had a horrible latch, which caused a lot of pain for me. For the first week, all I remember was the pain from the surgery, the pain from nursing and crying every 5 minutes over nothing. I remember calling my mom and crying to her because I felt like I was a failure for having a C-section. I felt like I had failed as a woman. I didn’t have any friends at the time who had a c-section, and I especially didn’t know anyone who had one with their first baby. I felt so alone.

With time, my body started to heal and I started to feel better. Emotionally I felt better too. My feelings of failing faded, especially as I got more comfortable with my new role as a mother. Now 3 years later looking back, I don’t know why I couldn’t just accept the facts and enjoyed those first couple weeks at home more. In no way do I feel like I failed as a woman anymore. I am proud of the fact that I went through all that and came out with a beautiful healthy little boy.

I know that when and if I’m blessed with another baby one day, the conversation is going to come up about having a planned C-section. The idea of having a planned c-section is scarier to me than having an unplanned c-section. The first time around I was in so much pain I didn’t care as much about what was going on. Being aware of everything seems scarier to me. But it might be something I may have to consider when the time comes. It’s something that I’m not going to think about until the time comes.

C-sections are very common in this day and age, and no one should feel guilty or feel like a failure like I did. I know that it was helpful for me to have people in my life that I could talk to. I also should have read a few more C-section birth stories while preparing for my birth. You never know what God’s plans are, but usually, his plan is better than yours, so it’s best just to let him lead the way when it comes to things like childbirth. Healthy baby, healthy mom is the best birth plan you can have. I’m so grateful for my little blessing every day.

Practical Baby Gear

March 21, 2019 by Katie Haller

When it comes to buying baby/kid gear, I’d like to think that I’m a minimalist. I try to stick to only the necessities. When I made my baby registry back when I was pregnant with Jack, I tried to keep it to only the things that I would absolutely need. One item that I struggled with finding was a diaper bag. The diaper bag was the one item on our baby registry that caused a fight between my husband and me.

I wanted something practical, but I also wanted something that was cute that I could carry around. I completely forgot that my husband was going to be staying home with Jack half the week while I was working and he might want to use a diaper bag too. When we got the “cute” diaper bag in the mail as a gift my husband saw it and immediately vetoed it. His argument was that he was not going to carry around a “girly looking purse” diaper bag. Anyway, I ended up finding a simple black over the shoulder “gender-neutral” diaper bag for us to share. It worked fine and I carried it for about the first 6 weeks, then I just decided to throw everything in my purse when we went out, but we still used the black bag as his school diaper bag.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Birdrock Baby. All opinions are 100% my own. This post also contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will earn a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

Since I rarely used our diaper bag, I forgot how useful a diaper bag can be. It makes me wish that I had my diaper bag from BirdRock Baby sooner. This backpack style diaper bag has been so useful. It is spacious and has a spot for everything. I don’t know what I would do without it when we travel. I’m able to pack all Jack’s supplies and also keep my things in it. This diaper bag has thought of everything. It even has a charger in it for your phone. Did I mention that it’s gender neutral? There should be no arguments about dad not wanting to carry it.

Birdrock Baby is one of those small business that I love sharing, because they sell quality affordable baby products at a low price. Plus they give back. For every purchase you make from Birdrock Baby, they will donate a day’s worth of food for a child in need. Check them out on their website (HERE) or you can also find them on Amazon (HERE), which is perfect if you are putting together an Amazon Baby Registry!!

A New Year, A New Beginning

January 3, 2019 by Katie Haller

Happy New Year everyone!! I haven’t been spending much time blogging lately, because to be honest, I just haven’t been feeling it. It’s been really hard to keep up with my blog and social media the last few months and I started feeling like I needed to take a break. I don’t like to post things when my heart is not into it. That’s why I have just been only posting when I feel like it, instead of forcing myself to write up a blog post or post on Instagram just because I feel like I have to.

Today I just wanted to take a minute and look back on 2018. 2018 was a challenging year for me personally, but I am proud of my successes from the year too! It’s been hard for me to balance my family life, work-life and keep up with my blog that I truly love having for myself. Even though I’ve been disappointed with my growth lately, I really have to take a moment and appreciate how far my little blog has come this year. I’ve put out tons of new outfit posts, joined rewards style, worked with some really great brands and met some new blogging friends. It’s been so much fun to connect with other women who share the same interests as me and collaborate with them! I am also extremely grateful to all of you who follow along with me through my blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or however you found me. THANK YOU!! I use to be afraid to share my blog thinking I wasn’t good enough or no one would want to read it. Now not only do I write this blog for me, I write it to share it and inspire all of you!

Here is a little round-up of some of my personal favorite outfit posts from my Instagram this year, plus my favorite mommy and me picture with Jack!

2019 is going to be a big year for me and my family. We are going to be making some big changes, that I can’t really share yet, but you can stay tuned for that at a later time. (No it’s not baby news.) With all these things happening, life can get really overwhelming. When I get overwhelmed, I tend to get stressed out and depressed. That’s why this year I want to take it one step at a time. I need to slow it down. My first step is to get through January. I’m going to be solo for most of January because my husband is going to be in Florida for his upgrade training at work. I’m going to be feeling like a single mom for most of the month. It’s not the first time I’ve had my husband gone at training for a long period of time, but it will be the first time he’s been away that long since Jack was born. Luckily, he’s going to fly home on the weekends to be with us. I’m hoping to keep myself busy with the potty training Jack (or at least starting it) and I’m hoping to focus on my health and fitness routine as well.

As for blogging goals, I have a lot this year, but I’m going to have to start small. I really am lacking in time. Balancing motherhood, being a wife, working full time and having a blogging hobby has gotten to be too much this last year. That’s why I am hoping that this year will be my last year teaching. I’m not sure when and it’s not official yet, but I’m planning on quitting my job and focusing on my family more. This will also allow me to have more time to work on Thrifty Wife Happy Life. I’ve always said that I don’t want to blog as an income because that would make blogging a job. But if I can focus more on blogging and make a small income from it, I would love it.

I’m really looking forward to this year and seeing everything pan out over the next few months. I guess I can say that overall this year my main goals are to stress less and focus more on my family.

What are your 2019 goals?

Below are some of my favorite purchases from 2018!

5 Things I Didn’t Know About Motherhood Before I Became a Mom

November 12, 2018 by Katie Haller

It’s hard to believe that in a few short months, I will have a 3-year-old. Time is flying by. I absolutely love being a mom. Jack is my pride and joy. He makes me so happy, but it’s not always easy being a mom. When I look back on my pre-baby life, it seemed so easy. I sometimes question what I did with myself back then. Today I want to talk about what I didn’t know about motherhood before I became a mom. It seems like everyone tells you things about what it’s like, but you never really know what it’s like until you live it for yourself. Here are the things that I didn’t know about.

1.) The lack of personal time I would have- I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been alone in my house since Jack was born. It’s very hard to fit in me-time. Painting my nails after Jack goes to bed on a Friday night or sneaking in an episode of Very Cavallari is about all the me-time I get these days. I knew that becoming a mom would make me busy, but I think I imagined having a little more time for myself. I guess I imagined that I would have a child who would sleep and I wouldn’t be so tired all the time.

2.) How much I miss my husband- I see my husband every day, but I miss him. Jack demands a lot of my attention and sometimes I miss having one on one time with my husband. We do not have the luxury of having family close by as babysitters, so we don’t get to go on date nights every weekend like some people do. Occasionally, when we both have the day off work and Jack’s school is open, we will take him into school and we will go out and have a date day together. Those days are the best, but we haven’t done it since last winter. I look back on my pregnancy and I cherish all those outings we went on together because I didn’t realize then just how much our relationship would change when we became parents.

3.) The mom guilt- I didn’t know anything about this thing they call “mom guilt”, but it’s a real thing. I feel guilty all the time. I feel guilty that I work, guilty that I live far away from our family, guilty that I don’t pack Jack a lunch for school… I could think of a ton of things that I feel guilty about. It’s something that doesn’t go away, but you can manage it. All you can do is do what’s best for your family and tell yourself it’s okay.

4.) How hard it is to balance work and motherhood- Working is my greatest challenge as a mom. I feel like I was a better teacher before I was a mom. I don’t know how other people work full time and have more than 1 or 2 children. I give them a lot of credit because it is not easy. If work is such a hardship for me, then why do I still work? That’s something I get asked from people. My answer is because I’m working for our future. Most of my paychecks go into our retirement accounts. The more you save when you are young, the more money you will have in retirement. Basically, I work now, because I don’t want Jack to have to pay for any of his education, I don’t want Jack to ever have to struggle to pay off student loans like I did. My husband is going to be upgrading to captain early next year and the topic of quitting my job has been coming up a lot. I do plan to stop working one day, but as of right now it just doesn’t make sense to lose my income. Plus, we would need to pay for preschool for Jack anyway and he loves going to school. I would hate to take him away from his social life right now. Right now, I’m making the most of my working days and if I’m a bad cook and my house is always messy because of it, it’s okay because I’m a working mom.

5.) The amount of joy and pride a child brings- After saying all that above, I have to say that being Jack’s mom is my greatest title. I am so proud of that little guy. I love watching him grow and learn. He’s talking so much more lately and has his own little personality. He brings both my husband and I so much joy. Yes, I miss our life before kids, but I know that once Jack is grown, I will look back at this period of my life and miss it the most.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by making a purchase through a link, I will earn a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

PHOTO CREDIT: Chasity Jean Photography

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Graphic T-shirt Love with Top Crate

September 27, 2018 by Katie Haller

Who loves graphic tees? I know I do! They are so fun and trendy. I love how you can wear them with almost anything. They are perfect to wear when working out, running errands or just being lazy around the house. I feel like you can throw on a graphic tee with any bottoms and instantly have on a cute outfit without even trying.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Top Crate. As always my opinions are 100% my own. This post also includes affiliate links. By making a purchase through a link, I will make a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

I was recently contacted by Top Crate to see if I wanted to try out some of their t-shirts. I don’t say yes to every opportunity that comes my way, but when I saw their selection of graphic tees, I immediately said yes. Top Crate has a graphic T-shirt for everyone. From holiday theme shirts to food theme shirts, they have them all. You can never have enough graphic tee’s and that’s why Top Crate is perfect for graphic t-shirt lovers. They have a subscription box that you can sign up for. You will receive a box every month with 2 t-shirts that fit your personality and lifestyle. You can choose to sign up for 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. I always love a company that gives back, so I was happy to see that for every subscription box, Top Crate donates a T-shirt to a local women’s shelter. You can read more about Top Crate HERE!

I easily found 2 shirts at Top Crate that fit my personality and lifestyle. The first one is the Mom Life shirt. This shirt says it all. I decided to were it with a “mom life” outfit. This is my new errand running outfit for fall.

T-shirt (EXACT) || Jacket (EXACT) || Leggings (SIMILAR) || Shoes (EXACT)

My next t-shirt is from Top Crate’s Fall collection. Thankful and Blessed. I think this shirt is the perfect shirt to wear around Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to pair it with a cute plaid button-down as the weather cools off. One thing I forgot to mention about these T-shirts is how comfortable the material is. The shirts are nice quality, lightweight and they fit perfectly. I went with a small and it fits very true to size.

T-shirt (EXACT) || Jeans (SIMILAR) || Shoes (SIMILAR) || Bracelet (EXACT) || Earrings (SIMILAR)

I’m so excited for all of you, because Top Crate wants to share one of their T-shirts with you! You can go to my Instagram post HERE, and enter to win the Thankful and Blessed T-shirt that I’m wearing above. It’s really easy to enter, so I hope you will take a minute and enter!

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