If you saw this post on Saturday when it was half done in your blog reader, I apologize!! I accidentally hit PUBLISH instead of preview so you saw half of this month’s and half of last month’s rewind. FAIL lol
Let’s talk about the month that was March!!
Photo Captured This Month
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5 Things About My Life This Month
1. Riley is crawling & pulling to stand & scooting around the couch holding on (not really walking but shuffling)…..but sleeping terribly: She’s learning so fast and doing so much….time is going so fast!! But it’s so slow from the hours of bedtime-630am because she has hit the dreaded 8 month sleep regression and my perfect sleeper has turned into a nighttime gremlin. I’m not going to lie, I’m really struggling with not sleeping again and it’s hard not to feel frustrated but alas. REMINDING MYSELF THAT BABY SLEEP IS NOT LINEAR (one of the many lessons I’ve learned as a mom)
Practicing her presidential wave
2. I finally got a new blog theme — my theme I had up until this month was one I had when I first self-hosted in 2012!!! I was LONG overdue for a new theme. I’m still working on my blog header, the one I have is placeholder for now, and I’m working on a bunch of theme things behind the scenes to get it all pretty but I’m really happy with it!!! I would HIGHLY recommend Restored316 (where I got my theme). Mine is the Market theme in case you are curious! It was a tough decision because I honestly liked a few of them a lot! I covered this in my blogging essentials post but I’m on the Genesis Framework and have been since 2012 and I am still so happy and the Restored316 themes work great with it! I go through Studiopress (so many great themes for different kind of blogs) to find my themes and that’s how I discovered Restored316 actually.
3. I also launched a newsletter: Well, I haven’t officially sent OUT my first newsletter yet but I set it all up so I can. Baby steps, over here. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I honestly am really excited about it!! I’m using Mailerlite (I did a lot of research and determined this was THE BEST for what I needed — it’s FREE for up to 1,000 subscribers) which was pretty simple to set up minus one snag with integrating it into the form boxes but support helped me fix it!! If you want to sign up, I’d love to have you!! I promise I won’t spam you!
4. We were actually really busy in March…nicer weather = we leave our house again: I had brunch with my friends, a solo Panera date to get stuff done, Riley got to hang out with her cousins, we took so many walks, went to this awesome kids consignment sale, had lunch at a brewery we love, went to a bridal shower, and god I can’t even remember what else!
5. Snowy weather!!: The first storm at the beginning of month gave us an impromptu weekend sleepover at my mother in law’s: The winter storm knocked out our power and overnight it dropped down to 57 (Riley snuggled in the big bed all night so nighttime honestly wasn’t that bad plus our bedroom is like 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the apartment) but we left the next morning because BRRRRR. It ended up being a nice weekend for Riley to hang with my MIL and her husband. The second storm brought a decent amount of snow.
6 Songs I Loved This Month
I put all my Monthly Rewinds in a Spotify playlist so you can listen to them here !
1. My Enemy — CHVRCHES
2. Made To Find You — Belle Mt
3. Us — James Bay
4. Nervous — The Neighborhood
5. Black Car — Miriam Bryant
6. Over My Head — Echosmith
Check out the rest of my March playlist for more of what I was listening to this month!
Books I Read This Month
I read two books this month (minus all the kid’s books on repeat here):
The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte: I’ve been not doing so well in my “read a personal development book once a month” goal BUT maybe we need to change that to “read a personal development every 3 months” goal. It was okay…not what I’d hoped it would be! You can check out my full thoughts on The Desire Map here!
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory: This one was one of my most anticipated book of 2018 and it was goooood but not my favorite and as amazing as I kept hearing it was. It was a cute romance with a trope I love (the pretending to be together when they aren’t trope) and I LOVED Alexa. It was solid but just not AMAZING to me.
Favorite Quote This Month
5 Most Popular Posts This Month
I posted 10 times in March!
1. My Blogging Arsenal: In 8 years of blogging I’ve rarely written ABOUT blogging but I got so many questions in my Q&A form about what I use for this and that when it came to blogging so I laid out what I use and all the things I consider my MUSTS in my blogging life. I’ve loved the feedback I’ve gotten from some of you who said you tried some of the stuff I suggested!!
2. My Answers To Your Questions: The Blogging Edition: OH MAN were some of these questions to blogging-related questions hard but I was happy to answer them!
3. Grieving What Should Have Been: I’m still in awe with all the amazing responses I got to this post. Thank you for sharing YOUR stories and for listening to and supporting me!
4. 21 Things I Need From Target Right Now–– You guys are my people!! (And also my people because you were into more retail therapy this month with my shopping for bookends post!)
5. If We Were Having Coffee: I always enjoy catching up with you guys! I had other posts I planned on writing but that week I really felt like I mostly wanted to slow it down and do one of these posts.
Post I Wish Got More Love
Hmmm you guys showed me ALL THE LOVE this month but I would say maybe my 3-6 Month Favorites post though it’s SO highly specific I can see why it wasn’t so popular. That’s okay..I like sharing our favorite things!!
5 Posts Starred In My Blog Reader This Month
1. Egg Roll In A Bowl : I love a good egg roll. Saving this to make for lunch soon!
2. 5 Ways To Stop Resisting + Learn To Flow with Life : I needed this post!
3. Notes On Not Comparing Timelines: This is something I’ve been guilty of a lot in life!
4. Jump While You Still Can: Oh man this reframed so much in my mind with this line.
5. A Daily Ritual That Makes You Smarter: Since we got Finn a few years ago we took up walking and I have to say when we are really doing it I can feel the benefits. I hate that I’m SO resistant to do it in crappy weather because especially in the winter it would do me a lot of good.
3 New Obsessions This Month
1. Our new Bob Jogger: So we have this trail near our apartment that we love and we made the mistake of trying to go on it in the fall with our regular stroller and HAHAH we had to turn around immediately. I don’t know WHAT we were thinking but this winter we were shopping around for a jogger for when it got nicer and we got one this month! We’ve been out and about SO much with it. It’s such a smooth ride and easy to maneuver (I used to haul the boys I nanny around in a double City Mini jogger, which I loved, but I think I may love this one more!!). Riley seems comfortable in it and that’s what matters, huh?
2. Grammerly:-So this is such a nerdy obsession but I am, errrr, not talented when it comes to perfect grammar all the time. I’m a reader and I love words and I got all A’s in English class and whatnot but I just….am not great. I forget how I stumbled upon Grammerly last week but REVOLUTIONARY. It’s an add-on to your browser (I use the free version) or you can download it to your operating system and it helps alert you to your writing mistake. I wish I would have had this in college. GAH. Would have helped so much.
3. Popsocket: So this was a thing I didn’t know I needed!!! I had seen these on some fashion bloggers IG stories on their phones and some teens in the mall and I had NO idea what they were but I was curious. Then I got a really awesome promo package for the book, Emergency Contact, and they had a customized one for the book in the package and I was like WHAT IS THIS THING? And then Will had to explain it to me and I’m like OHHHHH I have been wondering what those things are! So now I have one and I LOVE IT.
3 Things I’m Looking Forward To Next Month
Question Of The Month
What’s the latest life-changing thing you’ve discovered? Could be small or big!
Pick a category (or 5… or all of them) and tell me what went on in YOUR life this month!! What sort of things were noteworthy for you this month? New obsessions? Any new song recs?? Best books you read this month? Great posts I missed on your blog? Answer to my question of the month?
Lauren @ Bookmark Lit says
Everything But the Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe’s is my lifechanging find of the month, for sure! I’ve added it on so many things lately, like roasted veggies, avocado toast, eggs… ugh it’s so delicious.
Jamie says
IT IS THE BEST EVERRRRRRRR. I’m so glad Will and I aren’t the only ones with an unhealthy obsession with it!
Tizzy Brown says
Sounds like you had a pretty good month, overall. Sorry that your daughter isn’t sleeping well, they go through so many phases like that, it’s hard to cope with when you have started to get used to good sleep again. I’ve had Grammarly for about a year now and it’s such a lifesaver.
Jamie says
I keep trying to tell myself it’s just a phase…like everything else. I know she can do it again..just trying to be patient! And omg I was just telling Will that it IS so cruel that she took away all that good sleep lol. I think it’s easier to deal with when they are newborns because you are expecting that newborns suck at sleeping. But 8 months in and being lucky to have a great sleeper makes this all the worse lol
Tizzy Brown says
Yes, it’s the worst! My daughter had another sleep regression a few months ago when she was nearly two, she kept having night terrors and waking up screaming :(. When she was newborn at least I was off on maternity leave, but it was not fun trying to function at work on 4 hours sleep! I was a zombie for about three weeks. Then suddenly she just started sleeping normally again. I was so relieved. I hope that was the last of the sleep troubles, but I guess it will be a whole new ball game when we start potty training. Oh, the joys of parenting.
Kristin H. says
I know exactly what you mean about feeling uncomfortable in your post-pregnancy body. I lost my “baby weight” fairly quickly, and people were always complimenting me, telling my that “I didn’t look like I had just had a baby.” But I *did* and I certainly felt like I did and even though, as you said, the number on the scale is the same or really close to it, my body will never be the same. Some things just won’t go back where they were before, and that means I felt uncomfortable in a lot of my old clothes. I have nothing else insightful to say – just wanted to affirm your feelings because it reminded me of a tough struggle I had for a year or so after my daughter was born that I didn’t feel like I could talk about openly with anyone. Love reading your thoughts about motherhood! You’re doing a great job!
Jamie says
YES I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels like that. I know I should be “happy” that I’ve lost the weight (though I def think I’ve put it back on since January..not all but some) but I’m just NOT. My body is just…different. Hard to reconcile haha. Trying so hard to be accepting that it will never 100% be the same and be in awe of what my body did! So hard though haha. And thank you! <333
Alexandra says
My new obsession is calligraphy! My best friend has an Etsy store selling prints and decorative things for nurseries and small humans, and so I’ve been seeing her beautiful calligraphy coming up in my Facebook newsfeed for a little while now…and then I read a magazine article about it, and I was like, “Right, I actually want to try this for myself!” My friend got me a couple of ink pens for my birthday, like the metal nib ones that you dip into an ink pot, but I’m actually really loving the pens that look more like felt tips (specifically, the Pentel SES15C Sign Brush Pen) because I find them much easier to make thick and thin lines with, whereas with the ink pot and stylus pen, although I feel all fancy and elegant while using them, I can only seem to manage to make thin lines. So I’ve been doing lots of practicing letters in the last few days.
Also, just in the last week or so, I made an account on Creative Market which I saw from one of your blogging posts, and have been REALLY enjoying looking through all of the amazing, creative things on there. In the last six months or so, I’ve been learning how to use image editing software to do more digital art, which has been a lot of fun. So, I guess to sum up, I’ve been exploring doing a couple of different creative things outside of my familiar, creative writing sphere, while I still have free time – my first bub is due in June. 🙂
Oh, as for book recs – one non-fiction one that I’ve read recently and enjoyed is Megan Devine’s “It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand”. The author explores grief and the way our (Western) society doesn’t really know how to handle it without pathologising it (and the people who grieve), and looks at some different ways to look after yourself while you grieve. I didn’t agree with everything she says, but there’s a lot that’s really true and really helpful. Because of your experiences of grief, I wondered if might be something you’d be interested in, but you might need to be in the right frame of mind for it!
Jamie says
Oh calligraphy is one of those things I want to get into!!! Very cool!
And yay I’m glad you signed up with Creative market! I buy stuff from it but oh it’s worth it just for the free downloads every week! And yes omg yes DO ALL THE THINGS BEFORE YOU HAVE A TINY HUMAN. I wish I would have soaked up every free moment lol They are so precious now. GOOD THING THESE BABES ARE SO CUTE.. But I will say…you WILL get back to things you love eventually. I mean, Riley is only 8 months and I’ve been blogging for a few months now. Certainly not to the capacity as I was and I don’t have a lot of time to do all the things I want…but you get some time back and you learn what IS important for you when you are forced with less time. So excited for you though! Are you having a boy or girl??
Ooh that book sounds FASCINATING. Thank you for sharing. Definitely an interest to me!
Alexandra says
We’re having a little boy. 🙂 So there’s a good chance that in a couple years time, my obsession(-by-necessity) will be dinosaurs, haha.
NP re the book – it’s an interest area for me too. I work as a child psychologist, and one of my post grad qualifications is in grief, loss and trauma counselling, so I’ve done a fair bit of reading in this area, and this one is one that is very much grounded in reality, in what it actually feels/is like to grieve someone, and is written for the griever and the people who love them, rather than for the researcher/clinician.
Rachel @ Never Enough Novels says
I’m constantly terrified of hitting Publish instead of Preview hahaha! That Grammerly add on is genius. Adding it right now. Good luck with the workout routine!!
Jamie says
I feel like I have only done it a handful of times but this time I didn’t even notice for like 15 minutes and I might NOT have noticed if I hadn’t gone into my feed reader to look at my saved posts for THAT post lol.
And isn’t it genius?? My college self really could have used that!!
Krista says
Totally just downloaded Grammarly! Can’t wait to have my grammar be spot on.
Jamie says
Yay! Hopefully we will have better grammar together this year!!
Emmah says
I feel so bad that I haven’t been commenting as much! I’ve mostly been in such a reading mood this year! And then on weekends my auntie comes over and stays with us for a couple of days to get away from where she’s currently living.
I’m going to have to check Grammerly out! I’m pretty good with mine, but sometimes I’m like DID I WORD THIS RIGHT?! I wish extensions worked on Kindle Fire’s because I’m on that 99% of the time! So much easier than a laptop.
My mum got sick of Redbox only giving us 1 day to watch movies, so she signed us up for DVD.com at the end of March and omg, loving it. Already watched 3 movies through it (Justice League, Wonder, and Valerian & the City of a Thousand Planets)! Thor: Ragnarok is on its way now and hoping they’ll send Pitch Perfect 3 next.
Oh man… best book I read in March? “Royals” by: Rachel Hawkins! 5 stars. I loved it so much. (Not from Mqrch, but I just finished “The Poet X” by : Elizabeth Acevedo and absolutely adored it!)
New song obsession from March? “In a Crowd of Thousands” from the Broadway musical Anastasia! Derek Klena was the perfect Dmitry! The girl that played Anastasia with him was perfect too!!
Also still loving Kelsea Ballerini’s album “Unapologetically”!
New shows I’m liking… Rise and Life Sentence!
Heather says
I hit publish instead of save draft last month too! It took a second to realize and then I was like “oh s$%!.” Ugh. I started guitar lessons last month so that’s been my obsession. Um, it’s a bit harder than I thought. But super fun. 🙂
Eva says
Hi Jamie! I feel like we should be blog friends because we’re both moms with young babies (mine is 14 months) who are blogging about books! I started but didn’t finish a bunch of books this March. The only one I finished was The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, which was pretty good except I was disappointed about the ending. Hmm… I’m not really selling that, am I? Here’s to a great April full of brilliant books and beautiful babies! (And yeah, the sleep thing… As soon as you think you’ve got it figured out, it changes! My baby just transitioned from 2 naps to 1, so that’s been fun.)
Kerri Wigle says
She is soooo cute!! Also, popsockets are the best!
Kathleen says
the greatest life lesson is to definitely not take any day for granted 🙂 great photos!