Both of my kiddos were born in September, so we’re going to try to do joint parties for them for as long as possible. A two-for-one deal! For their last birthday, we did a Mermaid and Pirate theme. There are so many adorable ideas on Pinterest for a mermaid pirate birthday party and I went all out with the theme for the food and decorations!
The invitations were made by PixelPerfectionParty. So cute!
I know, I know – there are probably a million recipes on Pinterest for orecchiette with peas, pancetta, and parmesan. But my recipe is made with all pantry and freezer ingredients, so it’s a super easy meal to throw together on nights when you just don’t want to adult anymore. Or those days when you don’t feel like taking two kids to the grocery store.
It’s a #lazymomapproved recipe!
This is my story about my personal experience with postpartum depression. There is so much of this story that I’m not proud of, so much shame. But I feel the need to share it anyway. May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and it’s inspired me to put my story out there. I experienced postpartum depression after the birth of each of my children, but it was much stronger after my second child was born. I’ve never sat down to write out my experience and my feelings until now. I’m hoping my story will help other moms out there, moms like me who may not be aware that they’re suffering with PPD.
One of our favorite spring activities is strawberry picking at Washington Farms, a local strawberry farm. The kids love running up and down the rows, filling up their buckets and sneaking a few of the fresh-off-the-vine-strawberries. After a few minutes, their clothes and fingers are stained with strawberry juice. And of course, I love cooking and baking with the berries. Strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, strawberry salad, strawberries with cream, strawberry jam bars – the yummy possibilities are endless!
He was 4 weeks early and I never made enough milk after trying countless strategies to increase my supply. I wanted to breastfeed so badly and although I knew how blessed I was to have a beautiful, healthy son, I couldn’t get over the emotional aspect of not being able to exclusively breastfeed. He was supplemented from the beginning in the NICU and eventually quit breastfeeding at 5 months after he realized the bottle was faster and easier.
Looking back, I really believe now that my low supply was the entire reason I ended up with postpartum depression. I felt like such a failure – my body let me down. I also felt judged by others and felt like I had to defend myself every time I pulled out a bottle for Graham. (In hindsight, no one cared how I fed my son. During Graham’s entire first year of life, I only had one instance of someone judging me and making me feel guilty about not breastfeeding.)
But even with a low milk supply, Maddie nursed until she was 17 months old. And I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished.
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