Mother's Day Gift Guide for Every Kind of Mom
Mother's Day is right around the corner and I have put together the ultimate gift guide! Shop by genre or mix and match from them all! Categories include: Gifts for the Fashionista, for the Homebody, for the New Mom and for Sentimental Mom (which is totally me!) Happy almost Mother's Day, everyone!
*This post has affiliate links, meaning if you choose to buy something, I will make a small percentage of the sale so I can continue to write and support my family (at no extra cost to you). It would mean the world to me if you like an item you see, to purchase it directly through my link.
FOR THE FASHIONISTA
FOR THE HOMEBODY
FOR THE NEW MOM
FOR THE SENTIMENTAL MOM
What's the best gift you've ever been given for Mother's Day? Mine was a homemade three tier plant stand that Perry made out of his grandparent's old barn house wood.
Photography by Brittany Renee
Like most households, this time during quarantine has presented logistical challenges for parents. Perry and I are doing what we can to make our work schedules fit around the kids’ needs. Winter has not attended pre-school since the beginning of March, so twice a week, I use Lennon’s naptime to have a pre-planned Mommy/Daughter date to be able to spend quality time with her. Below are the three go-to’s she always asks for.
Lennon is starting to wean and is really only nursing in the morning and before bed. It’s such a bitter-sweet time for me because I am truly honored to nurse him, but I am also ready to wean. I am ready to end the chapter of baby making, baby growing, baby birthing and baby nursing. I don’t take any of these experiences for granted even for a minute, but I do look forward to moving on from this stage of life.
My dear friends asked me what I wanted to do to celebrate my 35th birthday this year and I immediately reverted into my punk rock/rastafari teenage self (cue Bob Marley music and purple-tipped hair here) and said “oh, let's create vision boards.”
I went straight back to my fifteen-year-old self when every single one of my school binders was covered in magazine collages highlighting my celebrity crushes (hi Brandon Boyd from Incubus), words that inspired me, places I wanted to travel to, and more.
Woah. Talk about a major break from blogging. I have been so swept up in motherhood and in launching my wellness company, Mindful Mamas, that I haven’t even had time to breathe let alone write for Love & LaRock.
It’s been my biggest honor to take you behind the scenes into my life. Shy away from the hard topics? Not me! I’ve taken you into the depths of postpartum depression, the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood, navigating career changes, and more. Today, I want to pull back the curtains a bit and talk about what it’s been like to pour our entire life-savings into my new business venture, Mindful Mamas—a wellness company geared toward teaching moms and moms-to-be how to live their best life through self-care and mindfulness.
So ready to get the deets? I am answering the top question I have received on how running a start-up company has affected and enhanced my marriage. Let’s do this.
Oh the holidays. Now that we have two kids, we are traveling less to be with family, and inviting the family to come to us instead. I don’t know about you, but I find that I vacillate between two buckets of thinking when it comes to the holidays. Bucket A includes ecstatic emotions, smiling as big as Buddy from Elf when he finds out Santa is coming to the North Pole, and becoming fully engrossed in daydreaming about how our family traditions will be experienced by my two small children. Bucket B, on the other hand, rudely points out that I have two full time jobs, I have little to no time to do things like clean the house, and I have massive stress about the logistics of hosting. What will everyone eat? What activities should I plan?
This summer, I made a conscious decision to better nurture myself in the morning. I was so used to waking up and diving headfirst into the hustle and bustle that by the time 9 AM rolled around, I was already feeling depleted. I partnered with MegaFood® to bring you 5 quick and effective ways to make sure you are making time for self-care in the morning.
The mantra, “Sometimes the body takes a back seat while the heart is busy” came during a thirteen hour work day. My partner and I were preparing a pitch deck for a potential investor that wanted to see our plans to bring The Mindful Mamas Club to life in the form of a self-care and mindfulness app for mothers and mothers-to-be. We had been working tirelessly and during a quick stretching break, we were laughing about how tight and stiff our bodies felt.
Today, I am sharing ways to incorporate mindfulness into our reading practice. I’m excited to be featuring Dr. Seuss’ book Oh, The Places You'll Go! as it’s about exploring and dreaming with our purest intentions and goals—a journey into mindfulness.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! was given to both Winter and Lennon as baby shower gifts. My hope is to bring the book along on our journey with the children, as they grow, learn and evolve. I was given the sweetest advice by another mama, to have each of my children’s teachers sign the book at the end of each school year, and to continue this tradition all the way to their high school graduation, where Perry and I give it to them as a graduation gift. This allows them to see the places they have been, each person who has had an impact in their lives along the way and to bring a renewed excitement for the places they will go.
So a few weeks ago I posted a story series announcing our decision to sleep train. I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who wanted to know how it went, so I decided to write up a quick summary on our experiences. While most people were curious, I did get a few hateful messages about our decision and so I kindly ask that you read this without judgement.
It is pretty difficult to be so transparent about my life on such a social platform, but I do it because the positives outweigh the negative. I think the coolest part about parenting is that there isn’t a one size fits all philosophy. YOU get to decide what’s best for your children! So without further rambling, here is our story.
It’s no surprise that parents like us are getting creative when it comes to juggling our kids, work, and “me” time. I am often asked how I am able to fit in my meditation practice while I have both young kids at home in quarantine. Simple answer: I include them. Today I am partnering with Brilli, to show you three easy ways to set up your mindfulness space with kids (even if it’s in the middle of the kitchen).