Leaf and Steel

motherhood - growth - living

May in Review

Today I’m sharing the not-so-great and the good from May.

May was sweet and slow. I spent so much time outside with my family! Really living the American dream over here.

I feel like I’m slowly coming out of survival mode that started when we got our Vizsla puppy in March.

Here are some highlights from May!

The Not-Great

Hello anxiety, my old friend. It’s baaaackkkk. Due to recent events in the news, I feel like my anxiety is in full swing. Doing all the things to get in back in check.

Didn’t write as much as I wanted. The reason why I didn’t write as much is because I’m out of my writing rhythm and I had so many guest posts. I need to take my own direction and get rid of my writer’s block!

Can’t seem to wake up before 7a.m. I don’t know why! Every night I set my alarm for 6, and every morning I turn them off and sleep until my kid wakes me up. I really, really want to get back to where I was B.B. (Before Bodhi), getting up at 6 and writing before everyone else woke up. Maybe this month…

My puppy still bites. And he bites hard. Only in the backyard. Only me. I keep telling him I’m getting him a one way ticket back to Pittsburgh.

Life with My 8-Week-Old Vizsla Puppy

The Good

My puppy turned a corner. Okay, so he’s not all bad. He still bites and he’s still so much work, but I think I’ll keep him. For the past 2.5 months I’ve had to keep my puppy separated from my toddler, which has been pretty taxing on everyone. I had been putting her in a pen in our kitchen when the pup needed to be out and would count down the minutes until his nap time. 

Towards the end of May he finally calmed down enough to be around the toddler without a leash. I have to say, they are both doing an amazing job respecting each other’s boundaries! I’m now getting that puppy-baby cuteness I was looking for!

Bedtime yoga is a game changer. Most nights, I did a ten minute yoga routine in my bedroom in the dark with just a candle. Since I spend all day contorting my body into weird positions for the sake of SAHM life, stretching at the end of the day has given me more restful sleep. I’m not a huge routine person, but I can see the allure.

Getting rid of news. My post here has more information. I’m a big believer that “you are what you eat”, and after taking an inventory of what I’ve been consuming, I decided to ditch the news. I can still stay current on what’s happening in my area and a general idea of the state of the world, but I gave up subscriptions to news publications that I was compulsively checking, as well as my personal Instagram. (I’m still active on my Leaf and Steel Instagram).

Guest posts galore. Want to guest post? I’d love to have you. Through WordPress and Instagram I’ve met so many lovely souls who have featured their articles on my site! Check out the guest post FAQ here.

How was your May?

Did you do anything fun or learn anything new?

Let me know below!

O.

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10 Mom-Influencers I Follow for Inspiration

If your Instagram feed has become dull and boring, try following some of these mom influencers for inspiration!

Have you ever heard the saying “you are what you eat“? Well, the saying can apply to anything we can consume – especially social media.

I limit my Instagram use to maybe 10 minutes a day, if that. That’s 10 minutes a day of looking at other people’s lives (and inadvertently comparing myself to others).

For me, having social media on my laptop and not installed on my phone drastically cut down on how much I was on the site.

I used to have the app on my phone and would scroll constantly until I realized that it just didn’t make me feel good. All the “connecting” and peering into friends or strangers lives felt really weird.

It’s still super weird, if you think about it! We post carefully curated pictures of our lives in hopes that others will literally “like” us.

A few months ago I had that revelation that social media wasn’t doing it for me. I would much rather be here, blogging and being honest, than posting photos trying to make other people feel some type of way.

Especially since becoming a mom, I felt like there was so much comparing on the app. Everyone had expensive baby gear or was down to their pre-pregnancy weight after like two days and it just didn’t make me feel good.

Worse, my baby hit some milestones later than other babies, so then I was comparing my baby to other babies on social media.

I hate to admit that, but it’s true.

I wasn’t feeling connected or inspired, which I consider the point of Instagram.

It was making me feel like a worse mother, wife, and woman.

That’s when I knew I needed a change.

One of the best things I did was a massive unfollow of any account that did not feed me.

More important than who I kept on my feed was who I left behind. I wrote about my experience with the dark world of baby sleep pages below. I’m so glad that I was able to see what was going on with me when I was constantly viewing those pages.

Your Baby Doesn’t Need to Sleep Through the Night

So, I did this massive unfollow and I muted dozens of friends or acquaintances that weren’t bringing me joy.

My feed is pretty sparse now, and I like it that way.

There are a few influencers I did end up keeping.

And I’ll tell you why.

I was craving honesty after my baby was born. I had such a great group of friends who gently told me hard truths of parenting. I wanted more. I wanted to see other moms who didn’t have their life together, ones that didn’t have it all figured out yet. I wanted to see other people standing up for what they believed in when it came to motherhood, not just women desperate to make a quick buck off of exploiting their kids or dragging out a gender reveal (what even are those) for a week in a half to boost engagement.

The mothers on this list aren’t constantly shilling unethical companies or just trying on clothes in front of a mirror. They are honestly sharing their stories of motherhood or doing so with style and letting you in on the behind the scenes of those perfect photo shoots.

They aren’t doing the most snarkable influencer move – making you feel inadequate so that you spend money and they get rich.

I wanted to see pictures of authentic motherhood without bounds.

I hope you check out the following accounts and let me know what you think! I think we could all use some inspiration and connection in these cold winter months!

Here are 10 mom-influencers that you can follow for some carefree parenting inspiration!

  1. Amber Fillerup Clark (@amberfillerup)
  2. Bekah Martinez (@bekah)
  3. Juila Dzafic (@lemonstripes)
  4. Steffy (@steffy)
  5. Kristen Lemmon (@kristen.lemmon)
  6. Taylor Giavasis (@g1avasis)
  7. Marissa the Milk Mom (@marissathemilkmom)
  8. Krystal Duhaney (@krystalduhaney)
  9. Aspyn Ovard Ferris (@aspynovard)
  10. Ashley Stock (@littlemissmomma)

Do you have social media? Who do you follow for inspiration? Are you familiar with any o f the accounts above?

Let me know below!

O.

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