• millymill | April 16, 2018

    Don’t be a Hopeful Side chick

    “Girl, he loves me. He’s attached to me more than I am to him”

    “I am not worried about his wife, I’m just having fun!”

    “I see him everyday. He spends more time with me than his wife.”

    PSA Ladies. I mean side chicks, you can never win. First and foremost remember there’s a thing called Karma. God will never open up a door to a decent life to someone who is helping a man break up his home. Second, did you ever stop and wonder “Why am I a side chick?”. Why not be the girlfriend, wife? Why are you okay being a secret?

    The best thing to do is run the other way if a married man tries to talk or “date” you. I’ve heard girls say “he spoils me so why not?” or my favorite “I didn’t make a commitment to his wife, he did.”

    So here it is! If you as a woman are able to get a man to take care of you then you can get a single, rich man to do that. As far as the commitment goes, you’re right. You aren’t the one who made a commitment to his wife but out of respect for yourself and for his marriage it’s probably best to not get involved. If you’re smart enough then you won’t take this route. If you do, stay tuned. I have a bit more advice for you.

    You are going to get hurt!!! You are going to invest your time and your feelings. You are going to become so hopeful that he’s going to be in your future plans. I don’t care what he says to you, there will be NO future. None. Only possible future for you two to continue to hide, continue to hang out in the car, continue to only see each other at weird hours, continue to only eat take out because he can’t be seen with you. As time goes on you will expect more and more from him. Your feelings will only get stronger so your expectations will start to change. He will feed you all types of lies or false hope. Oh, don’t forget, while you think he loves you he will more than likely have a few other side chicks like yourself. You will be livid when you find out because in your mind “you two have something special” LOL! I am sorry! Just stating facts here. Not to mention you won’t even bother dating anyone while you are messing with this married man because he’s conditioned you to view it as cheating. Yes! Cheating on a married man! Therefore you’re whole involvement will eventually be a waste of time but hopefully a lesson learned.

    If you’ve never been a side chick but have thought about it, take notes. Don’t do it! You won’t win.

    If you are a side chick, then honey, you need to leave before you are left. Even if you have taken him from his wife or feel like you can, keep a few things in mind. The same way he cheated on his wife with you, he can cheat on you with someone else. This will be a life long battle because you already know what he is capable of. Be very careful and mindful. Oh, don’t forget what they say. “Same way you got him is the same way you will lose him”.

    Have any side-chick stories? Fill me in!

  • millymill | February 13, 2018

    Fever & Cold Remedies for Kids

     

    When 3 kids under 4 are all sick with the flu you have no choice but to turn to something other than Tylenol or Motrin. Home remedies are always preferred in my home so anytime I don’t have to use meds I don’t and won’t. Fevers can be very scary, especially when the baby is under 6 months. Now, don’t get me wrong because a fever is a good sign of a healthy body. It’s when the body is trying to fight off a virus/infection. The downside is it can be very uncomfortable and cause headaches and come along with other nasty symptoms. Symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, stuffy nose, etc.

    So let me give you the run down on my remedies.

    • For a fever I do vinegar soaked socks for 3-4 hours at bed time. One part vinegar, two parts water. Soak wool socks in it and put them on the kid. Over top of the soaked socks put another pair and leave them on for 3-4 hours. I normally do this at nap time and bed time to make sure they can get a good night rest. The vinegar is supposed to pull the fever into their feel and leave the body that way.
    • Onions in the socks.  Onions have helped my kids with congestion and bringing the fever down a bit.
    • For their coughs I’ve made these chest/back wraps. I used flour, ginger, honey and a bit of olive oil. I am terrible with measurements so I just mixed it all together until I got a non-sticky patty. You have to make sure to put it on their chest but away from their heart. Also keep on for about 3 hours.
    • Heat up honey and rub it on their chest and put a paper towel over it so it doesn’t get all over and have everything sticky.
    • Pineapple juice is also awesome to break down the mucus. 3 times a day until the cough is almost gone.
    • Instead of saline drops I normally use breast milk and I’ve seen a huge difference.
    • For pink eye I use breastmilk instead of an drops. Works wonders.
    • Lots of liquids. Water, fruit juices(real), tea with honey.

    We were all sick at once and it was not easy but there are no meds from most of the symptoms. We had to try all different remedies and I believe each remedy helped in it’s own area.

    If you have any home remedies you swear by feel free to comment and suggest them. I look forward to learning more.

     

  • millymill | February 2, 2018

    Breastfeeding

     

    Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things I have done in my life. Breastfeeding is also one of the best things I can give to my kids for their entire life. The benefits are endless and worth all the pain and frustration that it brings. I often see debates about breastfeeding vs. formula feeding and the response I see is “Fed is best”. I totally disagree with that response. Of course you have to feed your child but I don’t believe that’s the best answer. I also don’t have anything against formula if you absolutely can’t breastfeed. I’ve heard moms say “I was too tired to breastfeed”, “I didn’t have enough milk”, “It hurts when I breastfeed”, “I didn’t want to ruin my boobs”. I can go on and on but let’s leave it at that.

    Breastfeeding 3 kids I feel like I have it all figured out. I probably don’t so feel free to comment your tips and tricks. With each one of the kids I have breastfed and pumped. They were ok with being on the breast and eating from a bottle from day one. I loved it that way because if I had to go grocery shopping or just step out they were ok and I didn’t have to rush. First 4 months I normally fed them and then would pump right after. It was super important to me to build a stock since I work full time and the baby was/is with the nanny.

    Now, I have to be completely honest. The first six weeks of breastfeeding is the hardest. With my first daughter there were nights when I made a few bottles of formula but I felt so bad giving them to her I dumped them out and went ahead and breastfed her. Not to mention the growth spurts when they want to eat every single hour. How about the cracked nipples and the excruciating pain at first? It’s by no means easy but it is so worth it.

    How do I produce more milk that needed? 

    • Pump after each feeding 5 minutes each breast.
    • Power pump anytime I had time. Power pumping is pumping for an hour with breaks in between. This tricks your body into thinking you need to make more milk.
    • Have a comfortable/convenient pumping station. Pumping bra, 2 bottles/bags, and a book or your phone.
    • Drink Mother’s Milk tea.
    • Take Fenugreek vitamins.
    • Eat healthy and well.
    • Eat lots of oatmeal.
    • Drink lots of water.

    Benefits of breastfeeding.

    They say babies that are breastfed grow up to be less picky eaters.

    It’s free.

    It’s made up of antibodies, white cells and enzymes.

    Great defense against UTIs, ear infections.

    Helps Emotional Development.

     

  • millymill | December 14, 2017

    10 Tips to Surviving your first year as a Mother

     Everyday I look at my first born and realize how quickly they grow out of the baby stage. Yet it seemed like it was never ending when first experiencing it.

    1.Accept that you will not be getting any sleep for the first 3 months(at least).

    This is probably the biggest issue many moms deal with. Being sleepy and tired is just a part of          being a mom. Until I accepted this with each one of my kids I was so miserable waking up for each feeding and cry. Once I accepted it I was much more patient and ok with waking up every 3 hours. It’s so normal now.

    2.  Stay Off of Amazon during late night feedings.

    I can’t tell you how many times I would order things in the middle of the night. Usually baby things, things that I thought would help my kid/s sleep better(sometimes educational toys, books, etc). A lot of times I wouldn’t even remember that I ordered something until it came. So save your $$$ and stay away from Amazon at night.

    3.  Don’t expect everything to happen by the book.

    My first born did everything by the book. She slept through the night at 2 months, was rolling over at 3 months, sitting up at 6 months and got her 1st tooth, etc. Once my 2nd daughter was born I expected the same thing to happen. I was so wrong and only stressed myself out. She started eating solids way later than 6 months. Her teeth didn’t start coming in until she was about 8 months. She was barely crawling at 9.5 months and finally started walking at 14 months. Now, she can barely stay still! Every baby is different and do things on their own time.

    4.  Stay away from Google.

    Don’t google! It’s so hard to stay away but it will save you so much stress. Google seems to give the most severe cases and sends you into a panic. If you’re concerned about something just take your kid to the doctors. 90% of the time you will realize your child has no issues. I remember when my daughter woke up with a lazy eye and I started googling and researching things. I thought she had a tumor(God forbid) because that’s what google was saying. I took her to the doctors and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. She was just tired and didn’t get enough sleep.

    5.  Accept Help.

    If people(close friends and family) are volunteering to help you, accept it! I still struggle with accepting help but when I do it’s such a relief. Accept meals, accept for someone to come sit with the baby while you shower or even take sometime to enjoy a hot meal. You don’t have to leave your child to accept help. I only say that because I know a lot of first time moms don’t want to leave their baby with anyone because they feel guilty. I know I did.

    6.  Breastfeed or Don’t.

    Don’t kill yourself trying to breastfeed because that’s what everyone is telling you to do. To some it comes very natural and easy and to some it’s complete hell. Whatever you choose make sure you’re happy and stress free. Millions of kids are not breastfed and turn out just fine. Don’t feel bad if you can’t. If you can then great! I breastfed all of mine because I always had a lot of milk so I felt bad wasting it and not giving it to them. Also there are a lot of advantages, so for me it just worked.

    7.  Learn your Babies Cries.

    Your child does not have to be fed every time they cry. Sometimes they will cry because they are hungry. Sometimes they will cry because they are wet. Other times they will cry because they just don’t want to be left alone laying there. They will also cry if they are too tired and you aren’t leaving them alone. This will come with time and experience.

    8.  Take lots of Photos and Videos.

    Time flies by so fast once you have a kid. It’s scary how quickly they grow up. I love looking back at pictures and comparing my kids. Who was chunkier, who was taller, but my favorite is recreating pictures with each one. I have 1000s of photos of each kid.

    9.  Do not listen to anyone! ONLY your heart and gut.

    Everyone and their mama will be telling you what to do and how to do it. Put your foot down from day one and let people know advice is not needed unless asked for it. Mommy knows best!! Don’t let anyone control or manipulate you because it’s your first time.

    10.  This will pass.

    There are so many phases that kids go through. So many! Some are stressful, some are exhausting, some are exciting. The ones I am referring to are the exhausting ones. Every stage lasts just long enough for your patience to not run out. I always give myself small talks about sucking it up and trying to enjoy them because before we know it they will be teens who want nothing to do with us.

    Bonus Survival tip for you and the baby.

    Hug and kiss even on the bad days. Always tell them no matter what is happening you love them and are there for them.