Hello, let me introduce myself first..
For the first 30 years of my life, everything was smooth and worry-free. I was my parents’ most beloved child, found my true love in college, and happily married him after graduation.
At work, I was my boss’s most valued employee. Whenever I was in charge of a project, colleagues would inevitably say, “Oh, then I’m totally at ease.” I was constantly named “Employee of the Year,” with generous bonuses every year.
Later, I started my own business. Within just three months, I had broken into the market and started making money. By the fifth month, I was earning twice my previous salary. Growth was steady month after month. Right when the business needed more hands, I serendipitously met an amazing partner, and the company reached a whole new level.
Really, it seemed like at every step, whatever I needed, a pair of hands would always place it right in front of me, just in time.
My Two Girls: Ellie & Mia
Meet Ellie, My Firstborn
In 2020, my husband and I decided to have a child. After trying for over a year, we finally got the news in 2021 that a little one was on the way. In 2022, we welcomed our first child, Ellie. She made me a mother.
She is utterly adorable—big eyes, rosy skin, chubby little hands. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but give her a kiss. She is pure joy, and I love her more each day.
But as a first-time mom, I faced unprecedented difficulties. The postpartum tearing wouldn’t heal, and the pain was excruciating. Clogged milk ducts made my breasts hard as rocks. The severe sleep deprivation… And what was even more crushing was that, with zero parenting experience, I was clueless when faced with her unexplained wailing, night terrors, refusal to nurse, constipation, diarrhea, fevers… I desperately searched online, longing for one accurate, truly useful answer!
It was during this time that I thought, once I make it through this “dark” path, I must leave a light on for other new moms.
And Then Came Mia
Ellie had just turned one when I got pregnant again. In 2024, we welcomed our second daughter, Mia.
Completely different from Ellie, Mia is a great eater and sleeper. Although she had her fussy moments in the first two months, starting almost from month three, she became super easygoing. She feeds on schedule, gradually sleeps through the night, loves her solid foods, and adapted quickly when I had to stop breastfeeding due to mastitis.
This made me realize just how vastly different babies can be! It made me even more determined to write about my experiences.
Why I Had to Start This Blog
The Catalyst: A Life Pivoted
After Mia was born, my business also began to decline sharply. I had no choice but to close it and become a full-time mom. My work no longer involves Excel and Word, but instead revolves around changing diapers, washing bottles, making baby food, and managing household chores…
This has been a monumental challenge for me. All my past achievements seem irrelevant now. Managing two young children has brought me a sense of frustration I’ve never known before.
The Daily Reality
They are always fighting over things. When one is in my arms, the other immediately demands to be held too. When I try to cook, Ellie wants me to read her a book. When I attempt to load the washing machine, Mia has a diaper blowout, and I must drop everything to change her…
By the time I finish all that, I see the cup of hot coffee on the table has gone cold again. And it’s not until evening that I remember, “Oh my goodness, the clothes are still in the hamper, unwashed!”
Of course, being a mom is filled with happiness, but that doesn’t negate how hard it is.
My Promise to You
Because I’ve walked this path myself, I won’t just tell you how joyful motherhood is, like many websites do. I want to share my real, unfiltered experiences so every new mom can find a “companion” here.
I want to tell you: you are not alone. What you’re going through, I’ve been there too. Your breakdowns, your helplessness, your moments of losing control—I’ve had them all. You don’t need to feel guilty. This is just a small, necessary stretch of the journey for every mom.
My Hope for This Space
I really want to share my parenting experiences—not just the warm, glowing moments, but to honestly document the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into, the tears I’ve shed, and the “survival wisdom” I’ve scraped together in utter exhaustion.
The Goal: A Mom’s Toolkit
I hope this blog becomes a “mom’s toolkit,” filled not with vague theories, but with:
- Practical Tips: Like how to quickly figure out why a baby is crying, tried-and-true methods for dealing with clogged ducts, or how to efficiently manage the daily grind with twins (or two under two) solo.
- Pitfall Avoidance Guides: Sharing the baby products I regret buying the most, and those “game-changer” parenting hacks. Letting you know which parenting anxieties you can let go of, and which principles are worth holding onto.
- A Community for Moms: I hope my stories connect me with more moms like you. We can cheer each other on in the comments, share our own tricks, turning the storms we face alone into a journey we walk together.
The Bigger Vision
My previous career taught me to analyze data, solve problems, and optimize processes. Now, I’m applying all those skills to this new “position” of Mom. I want to prove that a mom’s value is absolutely not confined to the home. The mindset, resilience, and creativity we built in our careers can shine just as brightly—perhaps even brighter—in this more complex, long-term “project” of raising humans, and can even be transformed into a force that helps others.
My hope is simple: that every mom who opens this blog can let out a sigh of relief and say, “So it’s not just me.” Then, she can find a bit of practical info, a dose of comforting solidarity, and return to her sweet, chaotic mom-life with a little more confidence and a little less weight on her shoulders.
This road? Let’s walk it together.
Re: Milestones!
Baby #2 Due 3/7/20
I think he's going to walk like at 15-18 months. He crawled at 9 1/2 months, sat unsupported at 9 months and such. He's a bit of a late milestone kid.
Other milestones he's reached - shrieking like a bat outta hell when you touch his bottle while drinking it. We try to tilt it up so he can finish it and he HATES anyone touching his bottle during mealtime.
He started to shriek again today at daycare because he took another boy's sippy cup (a toddler) and the boy took it back (nicely) and another toddler pointed at him saying "teacher!" He got so upset.
He never used to be this temperamental.
Says mama or dada since 5 months, but doesn't realize what it means. Then again, he's raised very bilingual, so I heard that it takes longer.
(And DS stacks like a champ but presses no buttons :-))
One thing I've heard for helping kids be bilingual is a technique called "one person, one language". We use it for Preston. We speak only English at home but my dad speaks only Spanish to him. Basically you assign each person a language and they can only address him in that language. The way it works is that it's easier for them to separate how to communicate with each person rather than figuring out which language is which. Right now Preston is already learning some commands in both languages. Our child development lady who comes twice a month told us about this cause she works with a lot of bilingual kids. She said we will notice that one day he will ask us for something in Spanish "comida!" And we respond with "you want food?" Then they start to learn "oh comida and food are the same thing but I say comida with Abuelo and food with Mom" that's when they figure out there are two languages at work the rule is pick a language and stick with it. It's hard for me to not say so e Spanish things to him and my dad tries really hard to not speak English to him. We can speak English to each other though, you just have to use the language bwhen addressing baby only. We are also starting some basic signs that we will all use which also helps bridge the language gap without being verbal so it's even easier for them to communicate back and make connections.
I live in a border city and my in-laws are immigrants from Mexico - they speak only in Spanish and it's rare for them to use English. The daycare infant teacher speaks only Spanish as well, and then my husband likes to use Spanish to LO so perhaps that's why he's not saying much or doing commands at all in my presence, since I'm the only one who speaks English to him.
I will say that baby being the hider in peekaboo is lots of fun until it's 7:50 am and you're late for work, and you're just trying to drive the kid to his daycare while also doing your make up in the rearview mirror, and baby is yelling insistently until you look up at him via the carseat mirror and rearview mirror to yell "Peakaboo, there's Miles!" so that he can smile and pull his lap blanket back over his head to repeat the whole process every 15 seconds for the entire drive. Not that this scenario ever happens to me... every morning... for the last month
Married: 11/2013
M: 6/2016 E: 5/2018
And @art+lea2013 I'm impressed that Miles can communicate with you via the mirror! our LO hasn't made this connection yet but then again the mirror is so rarely in place...
My husband said that when he took his mom and LO out to eat, there was a birthday party. They clapped after singing and LO, not looking at them, clapped his hands too
If I say "bravo!" he goes "baba" and claps
He doesn't babble mama or dada much anymore, but he does say 'ba' every time he sees a ball and used it this weekend while pointing to a balloon. I gave him credit, it's round like a ball. I think I've heard 'up' and 'hi' a few times, but not consistently.
Married: 11/2013
M: 6/2016 E: 5/2018
Jackie likes to clap when other people clap. Same with waving and (kind of) blowing kisses. No pointing yet.
He can sign for 'more' and 'all done' now and actually uses them pretty complexly. He'll sign 'all done' first and immediately follow it with 'more' so that we know that he's done with that exact activity/food but would like something else similar (done with veggies, wants fruit for example). We're working on drink, book, ball, and please. He knew the sign for milk at one point, but lost it when he started to crawl and could just get to my lap/boobs himself
Married: 11/2013
M: 6/2016 E: 5/2018
She has one funny gesture where she reaches her arm out but her palm is facing up, not out, so it looks like she is presenting something. We're not quite sure what it means but maybe she's just reaching out to us. No clapping or waving though, she just laughs when we do it.
Where I think we're pretty behind though is drinking. She can feed herself with her hands (we haven't attempted to give her a spoon or fork yet, because, eyes, and flailing) but she doesn't want to drink out of anything that isn't a bottle. I'm so sick of cleaning bottle parts and I would really love to try to move to a cup at least during the day but I don't know how to get her to use it.