Veggie Fueled Mama

In my previous post, I wrote about how I was determined to make myself a priority after I had my second baby, because I wasn't even on the list of top five priorities after I had my first. I vowed to change that the second time around, and I've stuck to it. My second time with a newborn was exponentially better than the first, and I believe it was primarily the result of my commitment to myself. I know sometimes mothers, especially new mothers, can get sucked into this viciou

I am over a month into life with another newborn, and it is going MUCH more smoothly

I recently delivered our second baby, and the experience was vastly different from when I delivered our first.

My daughter is starting to refuse the lunch I provide her from home because her buddies at daycare are having something different.

At first, I wasn't even sure I wanted to try for a second child because I could not imagine having to share my heart

I know we are all feeling it in one way or another. The stress this pandemic is causing. I believe some of it is exaggerated (not the severity of the virus or how contagious it is), but it is serious no matter what. Some of us fear contracting the virus, either because of our own health or because of the health of our loved ones, and some of us fear the unknown, such as when we'll be able to go back to work or when we will be able to buy basic food items, like flour and rice.

I was dreading it, but we did it. Specifically, I did it. I survived. We traveled to see my parents, and that meant flying with our daughter for the first time. I was very anxious about it even though it wasn't going to be a long flight, thank goodness. As usual, I knew this would involve lots of planning on my part if I wanted to make the experience as stress-free as possible. One of the things I did was get our family TSA pre-check. My husband and I both applied and did our

My daughter is 15 months old (on the date of this writing) and she's not quite walking on her own yet, though she has made many strides over the last few weeks. She likes to practice a lot by crib-, couch-, and coffee table-walking. She also likes to walk around with her little walking stroller. Typically, she will stand, clap and smile with glee about her standing, and then she will either launch herself into my arms like she's doing a forward trust fall or squat down and pr

Well, this is the time for milestones! A recent major one was celebrating our daughter's first birthday. Shortly after that celebration, our daughter began her transition to her new class at daycare, which is what this post is about. She was in the infant classroom for eight months, and we were genuinely sad to say goodbye to her teachers. They clearly loved her so much, and she clearly loved them so much. Thankfully, they are in the same building and are not too far away if

Almost a month ago at this point, we celebrated our daughter's first birthday. We had a very, very small party a few days before her actual birthday. While her party was tiny, there was still A LOT of planning that took place in my brain and through Pinterest. I am not really into planning events, though I would really like to be. I figured this would be a really good introduction for me to see if I could do it. And I did! The party was a success. Not only did it go off witho

Since becoming a parent, more things used to stress me out than they used to. Which probably makes sense and it probably happens to a lot of parents. Those who know me know I tend to over-think things, and I try to work out every possible solution to a hypothetical problem, which genuinely makes me feel better about the situation. It drives me a little nuts while I'm working it out, but it's something I NEED to do. If I can solve the problem before it happens, I am much more

This post was inspired by a text conversation I was having with one of my baby's daycare teachers, and I think it's a good follow-up to my last post, which was about not being a helicopter parent (read it here). I wrote to her and asked her if they make any art for Easter using real eggs. They make really cute art for most holidays, and I was sure they'd be making something for Easter. I figured it wouldn't involve real eggs at this point, but I wanted to confirm so I could b

For as long as I can remember, I knew that, if I ever became a parent, I didn't want to be a "helicopter parent," one who hovers over her child at every turn. That serves no purpose other than to stifle your kids' independence. I appreciated that my parents let me learn some things the hard way and they let me live my life, all while remaining involved parents. I believe I am who I am today partially because I was given the opportunity to do things myself and to experience fa

As I mentioned in my very first post, I knew if I had a child I would want to raise him or her as a vegan. Well, here we are, almost 8 months into my daughter's life, and she's a vegan! And, as I mentioned in my last post, I am 99% plant-based, 1% junk food vegan. For the time being, my baby girl will be part of that 99%. The food we provide our baby is from the earth, and it will be a while before we start offering her meat, dairy, and egg replacements, because she's just ge

**Before I get too far into this post, I'll put this out there for anyone who doesn't know: there can be a huge difference between something that is vegan and something that is whole food, plant-based. Something that is plant-based is necessarily vegan, but something that is vegan is not necessarily plant-based. For example, you can eat Ritz crackers, Fritos, Oreos, and Swedish Fish and be eating vegan, but these things are obviously not plant-based. "Vegan" is also, for the

I knew from the beginning that I'd be going back to work after I had my baby. Even when I was on maternity leave and would get sad at the thought of leaving her, I knew I'd be going back. For us, that meant we'd be sending our baby to daycare. I never had any qualms about sending her to the place we chose. It's a wonderful place and the teachers there love our girl! However, always knowing that I'd be sending my baby to daycare came with also always knowing she'd most certain

Ask anyone who has had a baby if she has had any issues with postpartum self-image. If she tells you she hasn't, she's lying. There’s a deep, dark voice in all of us, and some have a quieter one than others have. But it’s there, telling you that your body will never be the same again and that that’s a bad thing. For some, that voice is a motivator that lights a fire and whips them into shape as fast as possible. For others it can become a degrading nag when they put themselve