Monday Mama Montage Vol. 11

"Take a deep breath." I love this theme for the month of January for the Influence Network, a site created by one of my favorite bloggers Jess Connolly. January is all about taking a deep breath. It is so easy to allow the hustle and bustle of the holidays to carry over into January with the hype of 'resolutions' and all that we actually never pause and reflect. January is the month to stop, breath, reflect, plan, and be thankful. I know I am super thankful.

Over the past six months I have had the great pleasure of getting to know some amazing women. . When my daughter was first born, I was definitely not in the 'pause and take a deep breath' phase-nor was I anywhere near that.  I reached out to a couple different Mom groups in my area at first, but just didn't seem to connect. I then found a couple groups a few months later and was super stoked that they were small and were just starting out.  These two groups have now since merged into the group it is today.  

The power of community is so inspiring and powerful-it lifted me to higher ground for sure.  I was in a pretty scary place during the first few months of motherhood, but having this lovely community of women by my side has helped me stand, thrive, and truly helped me take a deep breath.

This year I am looking forward to growing with these women and their beautiful daughters (yes, we all have girls in this group.) We are looking forward to some 2nd annual festivities this year, as well as our 2nd Mom's night out!  Woop woop!

I encourage you to take that leap into community-finding like-minded individuals and people on the same page as you.

Community is 

beautiful, 

messy 

and completely worth it

Doing life together

Monday Mama Montage // 5 ways to Engage your Toddler Vol. 9

     My 14 month old is very active, as I am sure are most other 14 month olds. As a stay at home mom, I have found it challenging to keep my daughter preoccupied with exciting activities.  Since finding her new found talent of walking, she has been on the go and it has been quite challenging fulfilling her bottomless pit for adventure and stimulation.   I have found her activity level and overall demeanor to be much happier throughout the day with these five things:

1.  Books: "Moo like a cow"

                My daughter loves being read to.  She will go and pick out a book and come sit on my lap, and it is absolutely my favorite :)  I found that after the first few times reading her books she seemed to be completely bored of them and would close the book before we even finished.  I noticed the books with more stimulation, fewer words, and noises where her favorites- So thus was born the "Moo like a cow" philosophy.  I add in all sorts of noises, questions and comments to those books that may not have as much stimulation going on.  I think it is a great way to learn even more and heck-its fun really trying to Moo like a cow-a real cow. I find we can actually get through all of her books now since I add in different noises and comments to those books that may not have any.

                                                    2.  Park Play time (interacting with kids)

                 I am so thankful for parks.  Oh what would I do without you?  Riley loves them-the swings, the wood chips, the kids, the slides, the wood chips, the sidewalk, the wood chips.  Yes parks are the best, we are there a lot + a great way to meet other people. Win win

                                                 3.    Mom play groups (interacting with kids)

                 Meetup.com.  How I found this site I am not even sure, but it was divine indeed.  Riley was about 8 months old when I really started to get serious about finding Mom groups.  Within just a couple of days I found 2 groups in my town and signed up!  The two groups have since merged into one and we are going strong with 6 consistent member and 6 babes! I am so thankful for these ladies :)

                                                4.   Interactive Workout with music
             
             I will say with great honesty that this doesn't happen enough-but when it does I am always amazed at how entertained Riley is.  I have some TRX straps and some workout balls in Riley's play room so I have worked out while she was playing a few times- which turned into her just laughing at me as I jumped around.  This always turns into me running after her, and all sorts of other crazy things which result in an epic sweaty workout!

                         

               
                                                                5.    Sensory Boards
         
            This little gem I found on Pinterest and made my own!  Yay for actually doing something I pinned!  I made this for her first birthday and is has reaped some good wholesome benefits.  Sensory boards are great from 5 months to 4 years of age.  There are so many gadgets and gizmo's you can attach that will keep your child highly entertained for- well I was going to say hours; but lets be real here.  I would say about 20 minutes. :)


What ways do you engage your toddler? What kinds of activities will you do with future children?