Sunshine and Holly

10 Ways to Fight Postpartum Depression

By sunshineandholly on July 9, 2017

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*I am not a medical professional. Please talk to your doctor if you are experiencing postpartum depression.*

I’ve mentioned before that I experienced postpartum depression after each of my children were born.

Postpartum depression is something that isn’t talked about enough in our society and something that a lot of people still don’t understand. It’s not just feeling sad and crying all the time. It’s a medical condition, usually caused by a combination of imbalanced hormones, lack of sleep, stress, and lack of support. A mom suffering with postpartum can’t just “cheer up” or “get over it.” Something is wrong in her mind, and being judgmental about the condition will only make things worse.

If you feel like you might be suffering with postpartum depression, please please please reach out for help. Reaching out for help is the hardest part. Once you’ve asked for help (from someone who will take you seriously) everything gets easier from there. It’s scary to admit that something is wrong because of the attitude our culture has regarding depression and mental illness. But for your sake, and for your family’s sake, please get help.

That being said, I wanted to share 10 things I’ve found helpful in my battle with postpartum depression.

10 Ways to Fight Postpartum Depression

Five Skincare Favorites for Adult Acne, Sensitive Skin, and Anti-Aging

By sunshineandholly on July 7, 2017

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Happy Friday!!

This week may have been short, but it felt super long. So ready for the weekend!

I wanted to talk a little about skincare today. I’ve always struggled with acne and eczema, and I currently have both on my face. (Totally unfair!) I’m not sure how it’s possible to have dry, itchy, eczema right next to adult acne…my skin must be extra special. Ha!

I’ve used prescription acne medicine and prescription eczema medicine in the past, but nothing has truly cleared up my skin. Maybe I haven’t found the right dermatologist? Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favorite non-prescription skin care products that you can find in your local drugstore or online.

Five Skincare Favorites for Adult Acne, Sensitive Skin, and Anti-Aging

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family | Family Fun | fun | kids activities

Fun Volcano Kid’s Activity

By sunshineandholly on July 5, 2017

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We had a wonderful low-key 4th of July! We hung out at the pool, ate tasty food, and went to a cook-out at our friends’ house.

As far as celebrating goes, we didn’t feel like traveling far or fighting the crowds to see fireworks. But we did see an explosion – right in our front yard! We did a super fun volcano kid’s activity, and I’m not sure who enjoyed it more – the kids or my husband!

Quick and Easy 4th of July Cookie Pizza

By sunshineandholly on June 28, 2017

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We’ve been making cookie pizza for years. I remember making one to share with my classmates back in college and it was a huge hit! And while there are tons of different recipes for cookie pizza on Pinterest, my quick and easy 4th of July cookie pizza is great because it starts with a pouch of store-bought sugar cookie mix. It’s also a super versatile recipe – you can customize it for any holiday. A heart pizza for Valentine’s Day, a Christmas tree for Christmas, a margarita shaped pizza for World Margarita Day. Ha! (It’s in February FYI.) The possibilities are endless!

My kids absolutely love making fruit pizza. They like spreading the frosting, placing the fruit, and drizzling the topping. And the fruit totally makes this a healthy recipe, right?

My quick and easy 4th of July cookie pizza is a perfect dessert to take to a 4th of July potluck or barbecue. Just wait and arrange the fruit and drizzle the marmalade at the last minute. It doesn’t keep well (it starts to get mushy) so make sure you eat all of it in one sitting. Which isn’t hard for my family to do!

Quick and Easy 4th of July Cookie Pizza | sunshineandholly.com | flag pizza | fruit pizza | 4th of july desserts

5 Tips to Make Playing with Your Kids More Enjoyable

By sunshineandholly on June 26, 2017

I can’t be the only one out there who doesn’t really enjoy playing with their kids, right?

Am I alone in this?

Let me back up a minute before the haters start hatin’.

I love my children. They are the sunshine in my life. I love exploring new places with them, playing outside, taking walks, traveling, going on adventures, doing puzzles, cooking together, doing crafts together, and watching movies with them.

But sitting on the floor in the playroom all afternoon?

No thank you. Not my idea of a good time.

I can’t be the only one who feels this way! In fact, I think playing with our kids for hours is a relatively new thing in our society. I’m sure Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Ma was way too busy milking the cows, washing laundry by hand, and baking bread from scratch to sit down and play with Laura and her sisters for hours. And all I saw Betty Draper do on Mad Men was sit in her kitchen and smoke. Yes, I know it’s just a TV show. And her kids didn’t turn out well anyway… But you see my point!

So with all of that being said, if you’re reading this and you’re the type of mom that loves nothing more than playing dolls, legos, and action figures all day – that’s great! Props to you, mama! But I’m not that type of mom. And please don’t judge me because of it.

I’ve learned over the years there are a few things I can do to make playing with my kiddos a little more bearable.

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