Personal – Kate Fredrick

August 27, 2018August 25, 2018

Bannor Toys Recommendation {Mommy Talk, Antioch IL Photographer}

Becoming a mom I’ve found I live for mommy recommendations and reviews! I don’t think I have bought anything baby related or read any mommy books without reading reviews first. I wanted to share with you a toy company that Andrew and I just adore, Bannor Toys! They are a small business located in Iowa run by the most adorable little family.

Bannor Toys makes the most beautiful high quality wooden toys I have ever seen. Everything they make is safe for little nibblers and educational as well! I feel these toys are so classic in their design that they double as decor and toys. Bannor Toys has such a great range of toys for little babies to older toddlers that you are likely to find something for your little one!

One characteristic of these toys that I love is the fact that you can personalize just about every toy! You can get your little one’s name or a sweet message engraved in the toy for a special treat. How cute for your little one to have a toy with a special message from a loved one engraved in it to keep forever?!?! One of my favorite products that they have are these super cute State Rattles. You can customize the color disks and add birth stats to the rattle. What an adorable keepsake toy or birth gift!

Bannor Toys also has this very addictive toy release schedule that may cause me to frequently make sure I get packages before daddy gets home! Every two weeks they release a Bannor Limited Toy that is only available for two weeks or while supplies last. Let me tell you…these toys are always so stinkin’ adorable you need some strong will power to not buy everything! I will also confess that Andrew is the proud owner of quite a few of these limited toys.

One of Andrew’s current favorite toy is the multi stacker. He will sit quietly for a good 20 minutes pulling off and putting on the different shapes. We got this toy personalized with the family last name for a cute extra touch. Not only is this toy great for working on Andrew’s fine motor skills with putting the shapes on the pegs but it’s also a great way for him to learn his shapes and counting. We can count the shapes and talk about the different shapes. A win for mommy and Andrew!

You can find more info about Bannor Toys from their social media sites and website.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bannortoys/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BannorToysCollective/
Website: https://bannortoys.com

I would love to know what toy your little one would love?
Also, if you are interested in getting a toy be sure to use the Coupon Code: LOYALTY5 for a 5% discount on your purchase. (Some exclusions do apply.)

(This review is 100% unsolicited…I’m just a mom who loves these toys and wanted to share!)

August 20, 2018August 20, 2018

Life with a Two Year Old {Mommy Life, Antioch IL Photographer}

Hi Friends! I know it’s been a while since I’ve last posted. After becoming a mom I decided to take some time to spend with my family. I had to figure out this crazy new life of being a mom. I’m now back and so excited to use some of my mommy skills during your photo session!

But what have I really been up to lately with a two year old?

Learn to splash in puddles.

Having a curious kid who loves water has been such a blast this summer. We embrace every puddle, pool, bath possible! At first my fear kicked in of not letting him drink the water but now I no longer worry about a little dirt. Why the change? Andrew decided to put a handful of real dirt in his mouth and let me just tell you how impossible that is to get out.
Lawn work really isn’t that bad

To say Andrew is obsessed with lawn mowers is an understatement! He screams with delight when we talk about mowing the lawn and he is more than willing to help right besides us. The joy that he finds in the simple tasks take away the drudgery of doing the task. It also gives mommy great photo opportunities.
Have fun everyday.

Jump like no one is watching…I know the saying is really dance like no one is watching but when you are a 36 year old mom bouncing along in a bounce house you have to release your fear and bounce like no one is watching. Little kids don’t care who is around them or what they are doing, they are going to have fun and we should too! I can often get caught up in my never ending to-do list but sometimes you need to pause and do something enjoyable. Your little one is only going to be this little once in their life.

How has your summer been so far? Are you taking time to spend with your family and embracing the joys of being a kid?

Kate

February 15, 2017

Mommy Chat: Surviving Our First Winter

If I were to write a mommy manual one of the first chapters I would write about would be how to survive your first winter and it would simply say: “Stock up on boogie wipes and stay away from other people until Spring.” I might even give advice on how to hibernate for the winter months or how to live in a bubble, keeping every germ possible away from your family.

While I understand that our little ones have to build up their immunity to all the germs we encounter in our lives, why does this have to happen all at once? Can’t it be a gradual rising?

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This winter we fell victim to a combination of flu bug, ear infections, pink eye, and the most stubborn colds we have ever experienced in our lives. I never realized how horrible it is to see your baby sick and for you to be sick at the same time. Being a new mommy in this area has been quite the learning curve for me. I will confess we did the panicked call to the doctor on Christmas Eve. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the first nor will I be the last mommy to do that…

But the one piece of advice I have heard that gets me through each day is that “Your first winter is the worst.” It will get better, you will get healthy again, you won’t be carrying around rolls of toilet paper because you ran out of kleenex and are too sick to go to the store to get more anymore, your nose will stop producing massive amount of snot, your voice will come back to sound like your voice and eventually, you will feel human again. While I know we aren’t out of winter, yet, we have turned a corner and have been healthy-ish for the past month. This is our longest stretch of no illnesses and it has given me the hope that we can make it through our first winter! Don’t get me wrong, we still have boogie wipes all over the house for any sign of a nose issue and we have restocked our supply of kleenex…but, we are hopeful that we will make it through these last few weeks of winter.

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How did you survive your first winter with your little one?

February 14, 2017February 14, 2017

Valentine’s Day 2017

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Regardless of if you have a significant other in your life or not, I hope you feel love by someone in your life, family or friends!

I believe, now, post being married, that Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday. And while my husband and I don’t exchange any form of gifts on this holiday, I do believe, that we should celebrate LOVE.

I want Andrew to grow up knowing how much love he has around him at home and to learn how to love others. So since this is Andrew’s first Valentine’s Day we are starting a few Valentine’s Day traditions!

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Making Valentines – This one I am super excited about because I’ve been dying to bring up my Pinterest board full of cute DIY Valentines. Unfortunately, I quickly realized, after a few Pinterest fails and white paint all over the two of us that resulted with one of us in tears (and no it wasn’t the 8-month-old), that Andrew is too young for any DIY Valentines. Instead of a typical DIY valentine, we did a photographer’s version of DIY and had a themed photo session to make cute little cards with the photo instead.

2. Wear appropriate themed Valentine’s Day clothes – I admit it…I dress my child for the holidays and actually plan his outfit for that occasion. We have turkey pants for Thanksgiving, monster pants for Halloween, Santa on our butts for Christmas…he needed something special for Valentine’s Day. I found the absolute perfect little Valentine’s Day shirt from Etsy (I think I need to join an Etsy anonymous group ASAP) Since for Halloween Andrew was Darth Vader I decided to carry that theme through to Valentine’s Day with an adorable little Yoda shirt that says “Yoda one for me.”

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3. Read a Valentine’s Day book – I am a huge proponent of building a library for your little one and the power of books to a child’s learning and development so it’s a no-brainer that we celebrate this holiday with a book or two! I got Andrew two little books about Valentine’s Day. The first is LOVE from the Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s a sweet tiny book sharing cute little love sayings…our favorite is “You make my heart flutter”. The second book we got was Huggy Kissy. This book teaches us all the different types of hugs and kisses we can get from all the different people in our lives. I personally enjoy acting out all the different ways to hug and kiss Andrew and so far he’s not complaining.

4. Valentine’s Day Treats – Again, this one I will confess that I have a huge Pinterest board just full of yummy treats to make with Andrew when he gets older. But…this year, trying to avoid the same issues we had with making Valentine’s and since we only have the inkling of teeth to enjoy any of these treats we are enjoying some mushed up strawberries as our treat this year. Time will come when we will be decorating cookies or bars for his friends and I will be ready; Pinterest board in hand, for those moments.

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What fun things do you do with your little ones for Valentine’s Day?

January 30, 2017

Mommy Chat – Breastfeeding

Bottle Feeding - 1

Oh nelly…It’s about to get very open and honest here…

Want to know a little secret…My little man was fed 99% on formula.

Before you start to cast judgment and think “How could she do that?!?! Doesn’t she know breast is best?”

I do!

And I honestly put 100% into trying to feed my baby with the best possible food source there is…but, in the end, it just didn’t work for me. I tried pumping around the clock, I spent hours on google and Pinterest trying every different pumping schedule possible, I took 5 different herbal pills that either made me smell like maple syrup or gave me terrible migraines, I spent money on nasty tasting lactation cookies that were dry and gross, and I spent time meeting with lactation consultants who said my little man’s latch was perfect, yet through everything I tried, nothing worked. I was lucky if two days’ worth of pumping resulted in 2oz of milk for my little man, who was eating 4 ounces every 4 hours. And I know that even the littlest amount is better than none…so, I continued to struggle and work at it for three months. At that time I was down to making less than 2 ounces in three days. I finally realized that I was missing out on spending time with my little man for very little in return and I stopped everything, the pills, put away the pump, deleted my saved Pinterest pins and I went to play with my little guy.

I could sit here and try to blame the fact that he was born via C-section and I had a rough recovery or that he was put in the NICU for 5 days after delivery or the fact that we never got any good skin-to-skin at the beginning because of my recovery or his monitoring cords and IV in the NICU but what good would that do? Nothing, but bring up those feelings of not being good enough or fear that others will think I didn’t really try.

They tell you in your breastfeeding class that everyone can feed their baby, it’s natural. But that’s a lie. A lie, to make you feel like you are failing and something is wrong with you if you can’t feed your baby. But I want all the mommies who have struggled with feeding their babies to know that it’s ok! We are still amazing moms who love our babies just as much as every other mommy out there!

Bottle Feeding - 3

I remember being so afraid to leave the house when my little guy was first born because I didn’t want someone to see me giving him formula and judge me. Then I would read people posting online about the struggle breastfeeding mommies were going through and part of me wished I would have that struggle…but I didn’t. We tend to forget about the other side of the coin in situations.

Instead, I realized that no matter how I fed my baby I was open to scrutiny on my choices. The irony though is that it wasn’t a choice I got to make, it was a choice I was given. My wish is that the next time you see a mommy feeding their baby, no matter how they are feeding their little one, we show them kindness for they are taking care of the next generation and tell them that they are doing a great job! We need to raise each other up instead of tear each other down.

Bottle Feeding - 2

Learn to splash in puddles.

Lawn work really isn’t that bad

Have fun everyday.