Back to the Ghetto

Hello friends and happy Monday! A lot has been going on so I thought it would be a good time to check in with another Monday Musings post.

We moved…again!

As I mentioned in my post Good-Bye 2020, Dustin and I moved into my parent’s basement last year so we could renovate and sell our rental property. Our initial plan had been to only live there for a couple of months while we sold our house and then buy a new house; but as 2020 taught us nothing ever goes according to plan. Long story short we actually ended up deciding not to buy a house and ended up right back where we started a year ago: living in a small rental home in, what my mom affectionally likes to call, the ghetto.

While it is true that some people would call our neighborhood sketchy (Exhibit A: The cover photo for this post is our local post office), I like to think of it as just having a lot of personality. There is always something interesting going on. Whether it is the local bike gang roaring around the neighborhood, fire engines and ambulances racing up and down the street (Madic’s personal favorite) or our drunk neighbor practicing his drag racing skills on his four-wheeler at 2 am (Dustin’s personal favorite…lol, not really). While it isn’t really where we had envisioned ourselves being, I know it is where God wants us to be and that is all that matters.

Got Milk?!

In my post Hello 2021 I shared with you all my big dreams for this year. One of those “dreams” was to donate breastmilk. My main intent in becoming a donor was so I could clean out our freezer before we moved. At the time I had about 1000+ oz stored and I really didn’t want to see it go to waste. Thankfully I completed the qualification process for Mountain West Mothers’ Milk Bank right before we needed to move and was able to get rid of it.

Not long after that, we decided to give formula one last try and switched Emma to Alimentum RTF. While we were transitioning her over to formula I stumbled upon another milk bank: Tiny Treasures.

Did you know that there are milk banks that will buy your excess breastmilk?!

I sure didn’t. Tiny Treasures takes mom’s breastmilk and makes fortifier derived from human milk so that micro premies can have an all-human milk diet. They pay $1 per oz of breastmilk. While that doesn’t mean much to an average producer like me, for those of you that could have been a wet nurse had you been born 200 years ago it means good money. There was one donor mom that I read about that between her daughter and her twin boys donated over 81,000 oz of milk?! That blows my mind! Not just the fact that someone could make $81,000 from their breastmilk, but that someone could make that much excess milk!!

Becoming a Paid Milk Donor

Needless to say, I told Tiny Treasures to sign me up. While I would love to say that my main motivation in becoming a paid milk donor was out of the goodness of my heart, the truth is I did it mostly so we could afford to pay for Emma’s formula. Does that make me a bad person? I don’t know? But with formula costing upwards of $300 a month we had to get creative.

While pumping for money is definitely an odd job, I have to say that it is a pretty good gig. I can set my own hours, be my own boss, and work from the comfort of my own home. It also helps that it is going to a good cause…saving little babies’ lives.

One thing I have come across during this crazy pumping journey that I am loving is: Pumpin Pal Flanges

If you are a working mom, soon to be mom, or have to pump on a regular basis you need to check these bad boys out! They are amazing! As any nursing mom knows, pumping is a four-letter word. But with these flanges I can honestly say I don’t mind pumping. They are so comfy. The only downside is that they are a little tricky to get on, but with some practice, it gets much easier.

If you have any questions about being a donor for Tiny Treasures let me know. This is in no way sponsored I just know that living off of one income can be tricky and finding a work-from-home job as a busy mom can be even trickier!

Motherhood

You might be wondering why we chose to move Emma to formula, especially with it being so expensive. Well, there are a couple of reasons, but the main reason was this profound thought I came across by @freckledhan.

“Motherhood is a relationship”

For better or for worse, Emma has a variety of food intolerances. Over the course of six months, I did everything to work through those issues so we could continue breastfeeding. But at the end of the day, I realized that my desire to breastfeed Emma and the resulting stress that came with that decision was getting in the way of our relationship.

So we decided to make the switch to formula and it has made a world of difference. I am happier, Emma is happier and I feel like our relationship has significantly improved. I don’t know about you but sometimes I focus way too much on all the things I think I should be doing in order to be a good mother. It is nice to be reminded that it is not what we do that makes us good mothers. It is the relationship that we have with our children that makes us good mothers.

What is one thing you have learned recently that has made your motherhood journey easier?

Update on Big Dreams List

So it is about this time every year that I fall off the New Year’s Resolution’s bandwagon. This time I am blaming it on the move. But with things starting to calm back down and us getting more settled I have every intention of getting back on track.

Luckily, one thing we have kept doing is a weekly date night. We haven’t done anything crazy, but below are some of the fun dates we have done:

Cafe Rio picnic with a fire

Played Carcassonne {aff. link}

Finished our headboard! Okay Dustin finished our headboard and I watched.

The headboard is the one I am most excited about. It is an old five-paneled door. We turned it on its side and then Dustin added crown molding and painted it. We have had this old door since we first got married (almost 7 years ago). Talk about the longest project ever! But I love how it turned out! We also got some nightstands from the cutest custom furniture store: Four Sisters Furniture and Custom Frames. Dustin is going to paint them to match!

Now we just need to get some throw pillows. What color do you think would be a good accent color for our spread? I was thinking yellow or gold.

Travel

With the weather warming up we have started making summer travel plans. Our hope is to go camping once a month from May until September. Here is what we have planned so far:

May: Capitol Reef National Park + Goblin Valley State Park

Originally we wanted to go to Zion but with Dustin’s days off being limited we decided to hold off until we have more time to explore.

June: McCall, Idaho

July: Oregon Coast

This is going to be a LONG roadtrip with two small kids. Please tell me all your tips and tricks for helping your kids survive the long days on the road. One thing I have been looking for is something that will make it more comfortable for Madic to sleep in his carseat. Currently, he doesn’t nap well because his head flops all over the place.

August: Tony Grove

September: Smith and Moorehouse

I know it will be too cold to get in the water in September but it is still a beautiful area so we figured it wouldn’t hurt to go.

I also want to try and go to Antelope Island State Park in October but I haven’t had time to figure out if the campgrounds are still open that late in the year.

What summer travel plans do you have?

Happy spring!

Welp friends, I hope you have a great week and are getting out and enjoying the beautiful spring weather. Just a friendly reminder that if you don’t follow me on Instagram you should check me out. Later this month I will be doing a fun giveaway for National Parks Week that you won’t want to miss! You can find me @adventures.after.kids. Until next time!

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