If you're new to hampersandhiccups.com, let me catch you up. I have a 17 month old Sweet Girl, and we just welcomed our new bundle of joy – Pipsqueak. You probably don't want to do the math, so I'll tell ya – that equates to me being pregnant for roughly 18 months out of the last 26. 69%! While both pregnancies were relatively uneventful and, dare I say, easy, they were still pregnancies! As I'm sure you've heard, no two pregnancies, births or babies are the same. I can agree with this and I'm going to share with you 7 of my pregnancy differences.
How to Survive the Final Month of Pregnancy
Hey all! This is an exciting post for me! I'm writing it at 36+1 which means I'm about 4 weeks from the estimated due date of our second baby, and officially in the final month of pregnancy! To say the time has flown by would be an understatement. There was so much I wanted to have done before #2 comes along, and it doesn't seem like the To-Do list has gotten any shorter, even though I've been running around like a crazy person for the last 6 weeks. In my final month of pregnancy I'm dedicated to tackling the list and getting everything ready for our sweet new arrival.
The final month of pregnancy is fraught with apprehension, curiosity, excitement, and an overwhelming need to get shit done! Each day I'm hyper-aware of every little movement and feeling, wondering if it's time. This excitement is immediately followed by slight panic when I realize I have virtually nothing ready for going to the hospital!
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So, instead of actually getting this stuff done, I'm writing about it – haha. I'm bringing you into my home for a glimpse at what my final month of pregnancy is looking like in hopes that you can find some motivation and comfort in your own final month of pregnancy.
How to Earn Money While Pregnant
I may have mentioned a few times (here, here, here, here, here, here) that I'm currently pregnant with our second little angel. If you signed up for my free 5 day email course, you'll also know that my go-to nesting habit is to purge. And it's seriously awesome.
Haven't had the opportunity to sign up for the course yet? I'll make it easy for ya.
So, if you haven't already guessed it, the way I made well over $600 from my pregnancy was by initiating a purge (or 3) and selling a lot of the excess! I don't have an accurate total because it was money gathered over time (and I wasn't yet in the blogging mindset), but I will outline what avenues we took to selling our things.
The Most Delicious Holiday Leftovers Round Up
It's here already! No, not my latest amazon parcel. Although that was pretty exciting, too. I'm talking about the final post of my September Christmas Series!! Wow did that month go by fast. Meaning, our new baby is due to arrive, like, any time. EEK! Okay, before I get sidetracked with onesies and little hats, let's talk about Holiday Leftovers.
Yep, this week we're talkin' food. And oh. em. gee. let me tell ya, I had a helluva time staying on task when I was doing this round up. Do you know how freakin' awesome food bloggers are at photography?! Seriously. If the recipe is good, there's no need to torture us with the tantalizing pictures. Not to mention the drool on my laptop. Oops.
Lucky for you, I'm sharing all those photos here! Don't worry, I won't judge if your tongue hangs out the whole time and your phone screen ends up soaking wet.
How To Keep Your Kids’ Routine Over the Holidays
As I'm writing this I'm marveling at the fact that we're already at week 3 of my September Christmas series! Which has me realizing…less than three weeks from now is the expected due date of our second sweet baby! Meaning – I will have 2 kids to keep on track this Christmas. 2 kids with different routines, nap times, etc. It's bringing me up to some tips and advice for keeping your kids' routine somewhat normal over the holiday season.
Week 1 – Adorable Christmas Treats
Week 2 – Christmas Mess
Special Post – DIY Christmas Gifts
Routine is super important with babies and children. While older kids can handle it a little better, all little ones need structure in their lives. It doesn't take long to notice when your children have been out of sorts for a few days. They become grumpy, non-compliant, tired, and easily irritable.
Last year was our first holiday season with Sweet Girl. Before she was born I had decided I wanted to try sleep training via The Baby Whisperer method – highly recommend. I'll explain in a future post, but we had her sleeping through the night after 5 days of trying this at 2+ weeks old. Because of our structured routine, Christmas was slightly nerve-inducing for me. I wasn't uptight about it, but I knew I wanted to keep some semblance of normal in her little 8-month-old life to avoid a set back.
Since we were paranoid first time parents, we implemented a few strategies to help keep her on routine. And, lucky for you, I'm here to share them!
The Best Ways to Keep Up On Holiday Mess
Here we are at week 2 of my September Christmas series. In case you missed it, last week I posted a quick roundup of some adorable Christmas Treats. Today we're going to tackle the dreaded Christmas Mess.
Arguably the busiest time of year for a lot of families, it seems like the Christmas season has become synonymous with clutter, mess, and havoc. Because we're running here, there and everywhere, we have little time and energy to clean up around us. Not to mention all the new items coming into our homes.
If this isn't you and your family, please, tell us your secrets! The rest of us struggle year after year with energy-zapping Christmas mess. I'm going to help you by outlining a few strategies to implement in attempt to keep the clutter and mess to a minimum.
The Absolute Cutest Christmas Treats
Happy Fall Y'all! Here we are in September and all I can think about is Christmas. Yes, you read that right. I'm dreaming of sugar plumbs and pretty wrapping paper. Today, specifically, I'm thinking about Cute Christmas Treats! All the yummy goodies we get to indulge in during the holiday season.
And it's totally acceptable because it's the holidays! And that New Year's Resolution is right around the corner.
This month I'm taking a break from the regular fall work to post solely about the Christmas season. Yep, September is Christmas month over here at Hampers&Hiccups. Imagine garland and tinsel strewn about my office, Christmas carols blasting from my speakers, and bells a jinglin' as I dance around my sewing studio.
Hey, I need to do something to get me in the spirit of things!
To kick off this month-long series, I've rounded up some adorable ideas for Christmas Treats. They're so cute you'll be dying to try them all.