Sometimes Making Mommy Friends is Hard

So being a first time mom, I had a few handful of friends who were moms before me, or new moms just like me.  I knew it would be healthy and beneficial for Holden to have some other interaction with babies his own age.  So using the site meetup.com (which is a site that has a bagillion different groups from mommy groups, to photography, to book clubs--go check it out!), I searched for mommy groups in my area.  I found a bunch, but two in particular caught my eye.  One was a Christian Mommy group, and one was a Hip Mommy group.  I had such high hopes, and RSVP to lots of meetups they had scheduled and got ready to make some mommy friends!

 Well, without going into too much detail, I was kicked out of both those mommy groups!  I know, can you believe it!  I was dumped!  The first group had WAY too many rules, if you don't un-rsvp in time, you get dinged; if you don't come to enough events you get dinged; if you do a no-show b/c your child is sick you get dinged!  These moms just didn't seem very welcoming to the new girl in my opinion.  I would try and join in conversation, and they would just barley acknowledge me.  :(  I would suggest a meetup, and they would just give me a half smile, and suggest what they thought was better. I have some pretty thick skin, and these momma's got to me.  It's like they were sizing me up, that I wasn't good enough for their group. No bueno!  So I got the email from the founder, telling me that they had dump me because I wasn't committed to their group.  Whatever!  Oh wait, it gets better!  Then the second group I joined, the mommies were awesome!  Very welcoming, pleasant and so sweet!  And the kiddos were just as great, and lots of babies Holden's age!  Well, then a few playdates later, I got the email from this founder dumping me saying I was "changing the dynamics of her group".  I simply just suggested to have some baby play dates since all the playdates seemed toddler oriented, and there were quite a few babies in the group.  This group I had made a few mommy friends, and was so sad to have been dumped, and was gonna lose them!  It wasn't a good day for me when that happened.  I felt like if they didn't like me because of my parenting style, and that made me question myself as a mommy.  That's never a good feeling.  I know I'm a good Mom, but geez man, can I catch a break!??! 

Soooo, needless to say after getting dumped twice, I was a little bit in the dumps about being able to find new mommy friends outside of my small group of friends who had babies.  I didn't want to feel like I had to put my best face on and sell myself to them. I didn't wanna get butterflies in my stomach showing up to a playdate wondering if I would fit in.  I just wanted to be ME. 

In light of all that, my sweet friend and close neighbor Candice and I wanted to start a mommy play date group.  We wanted it to be Christian based and very welcoming to new mommies, to be mommies and all mommies!  Candice and I had both been part of those two mommy group I got dumped from, difference is she didn't get dumped!  ;)  Lucky her! So we brainstormed one night, sent some emails back and forth and got the juices flowing.  We know what we didn't want for our group, one with no rules, no demands, no judgment, just a fun group! So we came up with Moms of Faith.  We invited the mommy friends we made in the other groups (take that mommies who dumped me!  ha!) and they joined, and we grew like wildfire.  We made a Facebook group and Facebook page, and spread the word every chance we got.  That was back in June, now three months later we are 56 member strong! 

We have awesome playdates, I have made life long friendships for myself, and for Holden.  It's a great group, great camaraderie and it's most importantly FUN!  We have a different play date scheduled a couple times a week, so moms can pick and chose which one is best for their schedule.  Holden and I love our story time on Monday mornings and open gym time on Friday's.  We are so proud our little group. 

So if are looking for a mommy group, don't be discouraged!  It takes some time to be the new girl and to make those friends.  Just as nervous as you are, those other moms could be ten times more nervous than you.  They just have a really good game face!  So don't let those groups that dumped you or didn't let you in get you sidtracked!  Go join another group, your mommy group is out there somewhere!  Ask a friend, look within your church, or just talk that mommy at the playground or waterpark who is sitting next to you.  We all have something in common, so when all else fails talk about the kiddos or pregnancy!  :)  Happy findings of your mommy group!

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie

Birthday Planning Full Speed Ahead

So Holden's 1st birthday is right around the corner!  AAAAAHHHHH!!  1.  I am not ready for my son to be one.  2.  I am not ready for my son to be one! 

So since I am such a bad procrastinator and put things off to the last minute, I got a good month head start on planning his party.  We are having a Mustashe Bash!  Oh yes, it's going to be epic!  I will have so many DIY tutorials to make after this for all the stuff I made myself, it's gonna be awesome!

So stay tuned because I made......a mustache pinata, burlap birthday banner, neck tie goodie bags, photo booth setup, cupcake holder, mustache sign....that's all I made as of now.  Who knows what will be made between now and October. 

I had to make a entry for this month to get my butt in gear to get back on here more often....I love my blog, I just forget to jump on.  Till next time!

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie

Homemade Hamburger Helper

I've eaten my fair share of boxed hamburger helper....and it's always WAAAAAY too salty!  So I thought I'd make my own, that way I can control how much salt goes in.  :)  And I can make it spicier, 'cause in the Haus of Hughes we like it a  little caliente!  cha-cha-cha!  So here is what I threw together....and it was pretty dang tasty! 

Step 1:
   Brown 1lb hamburger meat/drain excess grease

 Step 2:
  Add your 2 cups elbow maccoroni

 Step 3:
  Add 2 cups of milk

 Step 4:  
  Add 2 cups of HOT water

Step 5:
  Add spices once combined

          Spices                                                                       Mixed spices in bowl


 Step 6:
  Let noodles come to a boil, the cut to low heat.  Let it simmer with lid on till noodles are done.

                   I forgot to take a photo of this step.  :(  oopsie!


 Step 7:
  Add cheese

 Step 8:
  EAT & ENJOY!!!!

 
 







INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground beef
• cooking spray
• 2  cups milk
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

 INSTRUCTIONS:

Brown hamburger meat over medium-high heat, and drain excess grease.  Add pasta, milk, water and spices.  Stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat to a simmer.  Cook mixture covered for 10-13 minutes, or until pasta is done to your liking.  Stir in cheese to combine.  Serve to your loved ones!  Enjoy!

DIY Pacifier Corsage

I am helping put together a baby shower for a friend this week, and I wanted her to wear something cute!


Materials:
Gerber Daisy Flower (two or more colors if making multi-tone corsage)
Hot glue gun
Pacifier
Safety Pin
Ribbon (optional)


Step 1:

Take apart flowers by removing the middle piece and separating the petals.

 Step 2:

Stack the petals from largest to smallest.  Put a dab of hot glue in the middle of each petal to adhere it safely to the next.

Step 3:

Hot glue the safety pin to the back of the corsage.

Step 4:

Hot glue the pacifier to the corsage.  You can use double stick tape if you want the pacifier to be used....but be forewarned, it might stick very well!

Step 5: 

 Add ribbon

Final product!

DIY Baby Sensory Bags

I made these for a baby sensory playdate with some mommy friends of mine.  They were a big hit!  And super easy to make!  Try it yourself!  :)


Materials:
Gallon Ziploc bags (wal-mart brand because there is no label/printing on the bag)
Decorative Duct Tape
1 bottle of CHEAP colored hair gel (green, yellow, pink)
Water
(there are items I used, you can use whatever you like!)
Pom Poms
Buttons
Pony Beads
Googly Eyes


Step 1: Pour 3/4 of the containter of gel into ziplock bag.  Add a little bit of water, I'm talking like 2-3 tablespoons.  Squish it around till gel is a little watered down.  Add more water or gel if needed, it won't hurt to have the whole bottle of gel.  Just depends on how much you want in the bag.

Step 2:  Add the sensory items of your choice.  I added the entire pom pom and button packages I bought.  For the googly eyes and pony beads, I added half of each package because so many came in them.  Squish them around some in there.  Add water to your disgression of suqishability.  :)

Step 3:  Close the Ziploc bag.  Make sure you get all the possible air out that you can.  Once done, start to duct tape each side, front and back.  It is easier if you do one edge at a time: do the front, then back, then go onto next edge.  Your all done!  

Texas Footprint Flag

Here is a super cute and fun craft to do with your little ones!   My son is 9 moths old and we had fun doing this!

Materials:
washable paint in red, white and blue
scissors
blue construction paper
large Popsicle sticks
glue stick
sharpie
paper plates
art sponges on a stick
toothpick

Step 1:  Take one piece of blue construction paper and folded it in half once, then in half again.  When you unfold it there will be 4 squares.  Cut them out the four squares.

Step 2: Pour the desired amount of red, white and blue paint onto paper plates.  First paint baby's foot with art sponge (left or right doesn't matter) white paint.  Put baby's footprint on blue paper.  Rinse foot with water.  Repeat process with red paint (use same foot as before) and put baby's foot print directly under white footprint.  Rinse foot with water.  Again same process, but we only need to paint the baby's heel with blue paint.  Put heel print on the baby's heel prints of red and white.  Let dry.  (be sure to wash out sponges, they can be reused many times!)

Step 3:  Take toothpick and draw a star with white paint.  Slowly and carefully fill in star you drew so that it is completely filled in with white paint.

Step 4:  Put a genrous amout of glue on the top 1/3 portion of popsicle stick.  The top of the popsicle stick should be in the middle of the blue paper when you glue it on, so you will have enough room to hold the stick at the bottom. 

Step 5:  Write baby's name and year on bottom of flag for keepsake.  Let dry and show off!   :)

3 Months of Catch Up!

I know....it's been 3 months.  I am getting back and slacking at my blogging.  Nothing in particular has stopped me from blogging, other than sheer laziness and not making time for it.  A lot has happened in the past three months.  Let's see what I can re-cap what's happened since April, and go!

--Holden has been in his helmet now for almost 3 months now, and doing swimmingly!  He is now at 7mm, when we started at 15!!  The goal is to get to 5mm or below.  We have a follow up in one week, so stay tuned!  He also got a custom designed helmet courtesy of his super duper cool Uncle Donald.  Check out the before and after helmet.

Here is the Camo helmet......and the super cute camo overalls Holden's Pappy got him!

                                               
                          And here is his custom made STARband helmet. 

 

The front has his name on it,                                 The back says "Fixin' My Flat!" and below his name it says "Firefighter".  
                                                                        

       
                                              

--My mom came to visit for the entire month of May.  It was amazing, fun, and not long enough.  Living a thousand miles away from your parents, who are now grandparents, is hard on both sides.  We had  blast and can't wait to see her again, and Pappy!

 Holden and Grandma Sharon the day she got here!
 

 --I quit pumping the end of May.  It was time....and my freezer could only hold so much milk.  It was a little harder easier than I thought quitting....but it was still emotional.  Good thing is though that I have enough to last Holden till he is a year, and that was my goal!

--Holden had O.T. a few times and some follows up with a developmental specialist for his torticollis.  He did great with all the sessions we had and has full range of motion to turn his head to the left side.  Still working on the tilt, but that will just take time and patience.  He is not a big fan of the stretches and exercies.

--My friends and I started a mommy group called Moms Of Faith, and have met a whole lot of mommy friends, who I LOVE.  Holden and I go on about 2 play dates a week with them.  We are loving getting out and seeing new things and meeting new mommies and babies.

So yeah, that about sums up the past three months in a nutshell.  We are loving life and enjoying every minute of it.  Nothing earth shattering has happened, just living an everyday normal life, and happy to be just that, normal.  :)

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie