View Post

Mid-Year Reset

In Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry4 Comments

  In my “When Life Needs White Paint” post, I talked about a mid-year reset to start fresh. Although I’m no longer in school, I love the idea of starting new habits and intentions at the beginning of the school year. There’s something SO much more inspiring about starting new goals and routines in September than in the middle of the winter in January. Anyone with me? Today we closed on our new house. There is more work to be … Read More

View Post

When Breast Isn’t Best

In Family, Pregnancy by Madison Mayberry19 Comments

Last week, I posted about breastfeeding (or rather, not breastfeeding and choosing to formula feed instead) on Espresso and Cream’s Facebook page. As I should have anticipated I got a lot of responses, some good and some filled with outrage. Because Facebook is short-form, I’m not sure my intent and thoughts behind my post were conveyed properly and with the clarity that I intended. I thought perhaps it was worth devoting a post to further clarification and explanation. When I … Read More

View Post

Stay Healthy, Mama

In Family, Pregnancy by Madison MayberryLeave a Comment

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and healthy mama® , but, as always, all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #gethealthymama Having experienced a couple miscarriages before getting pregnant with Ainsley, I was more than a little paranoid about what I put in my body. I was constantly worried about doing something that would compromise the health of my baby and desperate for a little peace of mind when I wanted … Read More

View Post

My Little Sister’s Wedding

In Family by Madison Mayberry5 Comments

We traveled to Idaho last week to celebrate my baby sister’s wedding to Alex! They got married in the most beautiful location in the mountains and we constantly found ourselves in awe of the beauty around us as we celebrated their marriage and new life together. I haven’t attended many smaller weddings, but after this one I’m pretty sure that keeping the guest list down to just close friends and family is where it’s at. It was SO much fun … Read More

View Post

Mommy + Mind Update: 4 Months

In Family by Madison Mayberry19 Comments

I’ve talked a little bit about going back to work after having a baby, but I realized that for the most part I’ve been pretty quiet about my return back to the working world and how our family has been adjusting to the change. Truth be told, before I became a mom I couldn’t have ever pictured myself even entertaining the idea of staying home with my baby. “Not for me! No way!” I would boldly proclaim. I was raised … Read More

View Post

Trust me, new momma. It gets better!

In Family by Madison Mayberry6 Comments

Man, oh man. Those first few weeks and months of motherhood? Let’s be honest, they’re pretty dang hard. I was really discouraged by everyone who told me about the difficulties of new motherhood, but guess what? They were right. When I think about how my baby is getting older and bigger by the day? I think I’m supposed to be super sad about the whole thing. Sometimes when I look at those tiny little clothes I’m packing away I do … Read More

View Post

Budgeting Post-Baby: Cutting Cable

In Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry18 Comments

Having a baby has a way of making you seriously re-examine your budget. You start to think about the little luxuries you enjoy every day and then realize the money spend on those luxuries could (and probably should!) be going toward more important things your child’s college fund. Although we felt we were in a position to have a baby, when we sat down to re-evaluate our budget post-baby, it was a big wake-up call to make some changes. We … Read More

View Post

Ainsley 2 Month Update

In Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry5 Comments

Likes and Dislikes: This month has been so much fun because her little personality is really emerging more and more every day. Joe and I say every day that she is more fun than the day before. Ainsley Loves: having people sing to her, smiling at friends and family, eating, playing on her baby gym, playing with her daddy and practicing rolling over, hanging out in the Ergo and dancing around the house with mom while music is playing in the … Read More

View Post

I didn’t realize how selfish I was until I became a mom.

In Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry25 Comments

Before I had a baby, I promised myself that I wasn’t going to talk about how hard motherhood is. I had heard so many other women tell me that motherhood was the most difficult/wonderful thing they had ever done, but quite honestly I was discouraged by those stories because they made me dread, rather than anticipate, what was to come for our little family. But now that I’ve been doing this motherhood thing for about six long and incredibly short … Read More

View Post

Ainsley 1 Month Update

In Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry7 Comments

  I can’t believe that our little baby is 1 month old today! The last month seems to have been the longest, shortest, best, hardest month of our lives; motherhood is such a study in contrasts, isn’t it? I’m tempted to say that I want to go back and do it all over again, this last month, but that wouldn’t be true. Although the last month has been wonderful, adjusting to life with a new little person is a huge … Read More

View Post

Hey, first time momma. This post is for you.

In Pregnancy, Uncategorized by Madison Mayberry11 Comments

Photo by Gina Zeidler  http://ginazeidler.com/  http://ginazeidler.com/blog I’m so very sorry that posting has been so sporadic lately. I really should have just anticipated that I was going to need a full month of blog maternity leave to adjust to life with a newborn and life as a family of three. Of course, I though I was going to get so much more done than I’ve actually accomplished, despite what I had heard from veteran mommas who have much more wisdom about this parenthood … Read More

View Post

What I’m Packing in My Hospital Bag

In Pregnancy by Madison Mayberry34 Comments

Joe and I have been in full-time baby preparations lately, getting everything ready for our little peanut’s arrival. At 36 weeks pregnant, the car seat bases and car seat have now been installed, the baby clothes are washed and we have plenty of wipes, diapers and all the practical things that a baby needs. My most recent project has been packing my hospital bag so I’m ready at a moment’s notice. I’m not all the way there yet, but I’m … Read More