It's no secret that I have recently gone through one of the more negative life changing events, divorce. Honestly, it all happened very fast. Last Thanksgiving the thought really hadn't crossed my mind and by February of this year, my husband had moved out and the process began. I am not writing this post to air my dirty laundry or "ex-husband bash". When it all went down, I asked him to move out and he obliged. I think we had both realized that the relationship was either on it's way out or had actually ended a few months prior. It was slightly emotional but honestly, there were never any huge cry sessions on the phone, never massive brawls on who did what (not to say we did not have a handful of arguments over the kiddos), or never any talks of missing each other or getting back together. We both seemed to resort to an auto-pilot co-parenting mode and began our new lives immediately.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Luvs at Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.


Every momma who has had more than one baby knows that baby number 2 is much less stressful, and your patience has become the ultimate virtue. In this post I am going to share a few tricks to making "momming" with an infant much easier.

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While all tips and lessons are my very own, this post is sponsored by Luvs

5 Lessons from an Unconventional Yet Experienced Mom


BROW AND BRIDGE RUBS

Both of my boys loved to be soothed to sleep with a gentle humming of a lullaby and their face to be traced with my fingers, especially their brows and the bridge of their nose. All of 5-10 minutes and your little one will be catching Z's.



BE NOISY

I baby who sleeps super light leaves a mommy that is forced to take breaks during nap time. It is great to catch up on sleep when your little naps but realistically, if you are a boss mom like me, you are trying to knock out a huge laundry list of tasks in that short hour. Make sure you condition your infant to block noise while he or she sleeps. A good way to do this is to save vacuuming for when your little naps from day one. If you do this, you are setting yourself up for success for at least the following 5 years because your little will sleep like a rock through thunderstorms, loud company, etc.



BABY STATION

I love to use Pandora's Lullaby themed music station for night night time. All of the songs are gentle, sweet, and some even inspirational, promoting security and comfort in the crib. James also knows that bed time has come when the music plays. I only use it at night so that he can distinguish between nap time and bed time.



REFLEXOLOGY

Both of my sons love foot massages. Yes, I do believe I have created a little monster for the women that they fall in love with later in life, but these Reflexology routines seem to calm their little minds and put smiles on their faces. This is also a great little bonding moment as you can be face to face and talk to your little about the different points. Obviously they won't totally understand what you are saying at first, but looking into your baby's eyes and speaking to them promotes confidence for the future.




HOOK YOUR HIGH

I have purchased a stick on plastic hook from Walmart and have attached it to the back of James' highchair for hanging bibs. It makes bib storage super convenient and handy.



LUVS DIAPERS

One thing I have definitely learned with baby number two is that spending more on diapers doesn't necessarily mean a better product. In the AM when I am changing James from his overnight sleep, he seems to be dryer with Luvs. Of course he still potties the same amount of times but Luvs seems to be super absorbent. Why pay more? This Sunday, August 26th, you can save EVEN MORE with Walmart's brandSAVER coupon that will give you an additional $2 off two bags or one box of Luvs.



Want to share these lessons with your fellow mommy friends? Remember, it takes a village so share the wealth! Pin the "pinnable" image below!

I have been to several blog conferences but this was the first time I have attended The Blog Societies' TBSCON. The convention was in Avalon, GA at an upscale boutique hotel, The Hotel at Avalon.
Upon arriving, I went up to my room and met my fabulous roommates for the weekend, Julia of GlitterandJuls and Megan of BeingMrsFowler. We spruced up and headed on over to the Opening Night Cocktail Party.



There were so many really great activities, cocktails, and brands! The brand networking opportuniteis at this event were amazing!






NO! I was not sleeping. I was just caught mid-blink! For once in a class setting, I was able to keep my brain focused to soak up all of the knowledge that was being thrown at me. I must say, the entire time my wheels were turning and ideas were flying from every angle! Thank goodness we were given a super cute notebook in our welcome bags because I sure did fill mine with all types of creative notions.








After a full day of classes, we attended a cocktail SWAG Grab where there were all types of goodies set up and again, we were able to meet with more vendors.






I was totally amazed at all of the new things I was learning! I have been blogging for over 3 years and honestly thought I knew everything by now. One thing I learned at the conference is that the industry is ever changing and you must do your due diligence to stay in line with the evolution and bend with the changes.


After our lunch and full day of lectures, we broke out into a champagne and creative flower crown making session! What a perfect way to end this fabulous conference! This is BY FAR my new favorite annual blog event and I am so honored to be a part of The Blog Societies' prestigious community.

When it comes to shopping watches, I have found my favorite site, My Gift Stop! They have amazing watches, shoes, bags, fragrances, and MORE. I am going to share my top 5 favorite designer watches for women under $500 from their site, as well as an opportunity to get $300 worth of free stuff from My Gift Stop.

Are you opening up a shop but have no clue how to negotiate a commercial lease for retail space? In my latest online course I teach you the details on commercial lease length, how to negotiate commercial lease build outs, and so many other very important aspects of commercial lease negotiations.

If there is one lesson that I have learned in my 30's that I am extremely grateful for, it is the lesson of Living Free. Now this concept can be a little confusing, but if you can understand and implement it in your life, I promise your mental health will strengthen and your love for life will flourish.

Does microblading work? What is Microblading? Only the best thing that has happened to my face since I had eyebrows! Yes, yes, you all know I am a product of the 90's fashion and with that came a Rachel cut and thin brows. Unfortunately, thin IS NOT IN, and my brows never got the memo. Thanks to my new discovery, I can kick my shapers in to gear and get that great structure back all in about 2 hours! In this post I will be sharing my experience and my microblading before and after.

Now I have 2 courses created! So excited to announce my Boutique Brand Builder course! This is for the shop owner or aspiring shop owner who either wants to strengthen their brand, change up their brand, or actually create a brand from scratch! In this post, I am going to give the deets on this awesome lecture series.