Life is fleeting. Don’t waste time. Do what you love. This can be hard to remember when there’s piles of laundry, dishes in the sink, and groceries that need bought. Yes, sometimes we have to do things that we don’t LOVE doing but we need to make sure to fit in doing things that we do love everyday. At least one thing that we love everyday. Watering the flowers, bath time with our kids, reading a book or walking our dog are all fun things that I love AND help me feel accomplished. Reading a book, not as much, but it helps relieve stress and improve my writing skills. Do what you love…everyday.
Top 5 Photography Blogs
Hello and welcome to another episode of my Photography Series! Today, to stick with my Friday Finds theme, I’m going to do a round up of five favorite photography blogs. These blogs were highlighted for multiple reasons: 1. I’ve frequented them over the years. 2. The tutorials are well written. 3. They’re in terminology that I can understand!
- Inspire Me Baby is an awesome blog for inspiration. They have their site categorized by the type of photos you’re looking to shoot. They give tips on staging, what to wear to a shoot, and the basics on beginning photography. They also have guest photographers and you can submit to be featured for feedback.
- Digital Photography School is one of the top photo tutorial blogs. It’s free (biggest perk) and MASSIVE with submissions from hundreds of photographers! Literally any photo subject you can think to get better at, there will be a tutorial. I like how they have their site categorized by beginners but they also have a most popular posts section that is extremely helpful.
- Canon Blogger is a great site for me, because we shoot with a Canon EOS. It’s a great blog for classes, equipment, photo reviews and tutorials. Some of the articles aren’t Canon specific but deal with lighting, flash, composition etc.
- Clickin Moms is one of the very top photography sites right now. It’s basically the SITS Girls of photography. A wealth of knowledge from all kinds of photographers. You can even become a member to submit your photos and questions to get feedback on your shots. They’re also great for getting photo op ideas!
- Click It Up A Notch is one of my favorite photography sites to follow. I follow her on Facebook and Twitter because she always has an awesome post on a subject I want to learn more about. She also has a lot of Light Room tutorials which gets me closer and closer to buying that program every day! I really enjoy her photography style because it is so ‘in the moment.’
I feel so inspired when I look at every one of these photography blogs. These people know what they’re talking about in the way of getting the perfect shot. I hope you don’t lose too much time going to one of these sites because you could spend an entire day at each one! Set a timer. 😉 Any photography blogs I missed that you’re loving or have helped you in the past?
Top 5 WordPress Plugins
Hey techies! There are thousands of WordPress plugins. There are probably a hundred really awesome plugins. There are five that I LOVE having on my blog and I wanted to share those five with you today! These aren’t the core plugins that every WordPress site needs to function well but they’re still awesome at what they do.
- CommentLuv: This is my favorite plugin on my site. I love the community between bloggers. I want my readers to see what posts other bloggers are currently writing. I also like it because it’s an easy way to click over to someone’s site that has commented on my post.
- BJ Lazy Load: Makes a photo not load until you scroll down. This cuts down on load time immensely. I have a lot of photos in each post and it would take a long time to load without this plugin. My biggest turn-off for a blog is having it take too long to load. I’m too impatient. I don’t want that to be the reason someone skips out on my blog.
- Simply Instagram: I don’t use Instagram in the way of promoting my blog. Instagram is solely for me to post pictures of my life. I like having it on my blog so people can see what’s going on in my everyday life outside of my blog.
- Dynamic To Top: I REALLY dislike when blogs don’t have a ‘scroll to top’ button! A site that is easily navigated is critical in having return guests. A search function is another ‘must-have’ in my opinion.
- Engageya: Being able to have suggested posts at the bottom of each post is a great way to keep someone active on your blog. They might see my Life Planner post on Pinterest and at the bottom see my post about Magic Kingdom and click because they’re planning a trip to Disney.
Do you like these features on my blog? What are some of your favorite plugins? I might have some new favorite plugins after this post!
Life is Messy
Every day that goes by I’m learning to be a little bit more messy. Yes, I still need organization and some amount of cleanliness in my life but things are more fun when it’s messy! I never want Sophie to be denied fun because it’ll cause a mess or because she’ll get dirty. Kids are supposed to get dirty and most everything is washable or can be re-bought. I’ve known several people who’ve not let their kids do crafts or baking because it makes too much of a mess and it makes me sad. I want to be the type of mom that throws down a drop cloth and says ‘we’ll deal with it after the fun!’ Life is messy, so let it be messy.
How to Help a New Mom
Hello friends!! This past weekend I went to see my 3 day old niece Lyla and swooned over her for a couple of days! I was also able to help out her family with a few chores that were super simple for me but was one more thing off their list that they didn’t have to do. I had a lot of pain after giving birth and we had my husband’s parents come into town for a few days to help us out as well. I wanted to give some ideas on things that are helpful to a new mom or a mom who’s already knows the drill but has another child to care for as well. Knowing how to help a new mom is tough because it’ll be different for every mom but being there to offer a hand will be greatly appreciated no matter how you help.
For me, as a first time mom, I’d gone to all the classes, read all the books was extremely confident once we had Sophie but was physically unable to care for her for the first week. We also struggled during breastfeeding with countless hours of in-home lactation consultant visits and trips to visit the ears/noes/throat doctor. There is nothing that can prepare a mom for breastfeeding. Every baby is different, every mom is different and if you’re successful with breastfeeding from the beginning, count your blessings. One never feels as frustrated and inadequate as a mom who is unable to feed her new baby. The urgency you feel to help your baby stop crying so she can eat, so she can sleep, so she can grow and LIVE is immeasurable. The BIGGEST help was having Theresa come into our home. Being patient, calm, soft spoken and encouraging to me and Sophie through our first several weeks of trying to breast feed was exactly what we needed. I strongly encourage women to have an in-home lactation consultant come into their environment once to critique how you are feeding. The smallest adjustments can make a world of difference in the breastfeeding experience. If you’re trying to help out a new mom who you know is sleep deprived and frustrated about breastfeeding, suggest helping to pay for an in-home lactation consultant.
Taking care of other children in the home is another huge help to mom and dad. Keeping them quiet for mom to rest can be difficult, so take them to the grocery to pick up dinner or to the park to get some playground time in. Have them help you water the flowers or fold the laundry. Helping with meals, baths and naps is very helpful so mom and dad don’t have to keep track of routines with their sleep deprived brains.
Another super helpful chore is outdoor work. No matter the time of year, there is always something that needs to be taken care of outside. Mowing the lawn, weeding, watering flowers, raking leaves, picking up sticks and shoveling snow are all completely off limits to a mom who’s just had a baby and it’s very likely that dad is pretty worn out as well. You could also fill bird feeders, clean bird baths, or cut a bouquet so mom can enjoy her flowers inside.
Taking care of pets is a chore that can easily go unnoticed when you’re a new parent. Having my friend come over to walk our dog Lexi was a huge help in relaxing her and I. She was able to see a friend, get some energy out and be more calm around the baby. It is also helpful to make sure they get their food/water, brush them or give them a bath to help with the amount of hair. I get anxious with clutter and dog hair and everything was heightened when I’d just had Sophie so keeping our house clean meant a lot to me.
Snuggle their new baby if they say you can! I needed people to hold Sophie because it was uncomfortable for me to do so. She was happiest when walking around, which gets really tiring when you’re not sleeping. Being able to go to the bathroom, take a shower, get a snack when you need to is something that you take for granted when you don’t have a baby who needs to be held all the time. 
Give tips on what worked for your baby if tips are welcome. Some moms don’t want you to even give them suggestions because it makes them feel like you’re trying to tell them what to do or what they’re doing wrong. In other cases, there are moms that want all the help they can get and are happy to receive suggestions. I had the mentality that if something didn’t work, we’d try something else and then something else until it worked–all suggestions were welcome.
There are numerous things you can do besides bringing lasagna and baby clothes to a family with a new baby. Whether they’re a new mom or a mom that has a few kids already, everyone could use help. No matter how small or large the task, every little bit is helpful. Depending on how close you are with the new parents, cleaning their kitchen, making dinner, cleaning bathrooms or doing their laundry are things that are non-stop and can weigh them down with necessary stress. Know your boundaries and if you don’t, just ask! What are some ways that you’ve helped a new parent? Was there something that was particularly helpful for when you had a child?
Yesterday I was guest posting over at Dana’s site, This Silly Girl’s Life on how I made a Scrapbook of Love Letters! Go check it out!
