There is no doubt about it: Motherhood is hard. For some women, the hardships begin as early as conception. This includes the mere act of trying to get pregnant or possibly the length of time it takes to get pregnant. More than that, some women try for years or worse, experience heartbreaking loss. Then, comes the difficulties of pregnancy. Your newfound body, the constant aches and pains, and the first real introduction to anxiety... is baby okay? Next, comes the challenges of labor and delivery. The pain, the trauma, the recovery, breastfeeding. And subsequently, the newborn stage. Sleepless nights and the loss of independence. Your world is flipped on its head as you scramble to care for this tiny human being. And just when you thought you got the hang of motherhood, your precious baby somehow turns into an opinionated toddler. Where did my baby go? You wonder.

The demands of motherhood are real. On a daily basis, we are faced with challenges, adversity and moments that make us question our livelihood and ourselves. There is no harder job than being a mom, but, in the midst of these hardships, if you were to ask any mother if the juice is worth the squeeze, she would without hesitation answer, yes.

To me, this is the ​magic of motherhood.​ If you look up the word magic in a Merriam-Webster dictionary, you would find this definition: ​

Magic, as it is defined, is the perfect embodiment of how mothers are able to surpass the natural forces, or difficulties of motherhood, which are overpowered by the supernatural love they feel for their children. The minute our children are born, much less conceived, it's almost as if a mother is put under a child's charm, or spell, for life. Nothing can break the spell, and the magic continues to grow as the child grows. And in partnership with aden + anais, featuring their Harry Potter™ Limited Edition Collection, I wanted to capture the magic of motherhood told by real mothers, and also share my own favorite moments that depict the magic of motherhood.

Curious what my followers, thought, I took to Instagram to see what my mamas thought captured the magic of motherhood. Below are the 50 moments they cherished most...

It's hard to put into words what my favorite moments are and have been, but below are some that came to mind right off the bat...

Helping me celebrate the magic of motherhood, I have partnered with aden + anais featuring their Harry Potter™ Limited Edition Collection. Nothing says magic like Harry Potter. And this Halloween season, I love having a reminder that motherhood and childhood alike is full of magic. What are your favorite moments?

Click the button below to buy your own aden + anais, featuring their Harry Potter™ Limited Edition Collection.

 Hey mamas!

Baby weight. Whoa. What a heavy subject, literally and figuratively. Maybe for some of you, you've been able to elegantly and gracefully handle the pregnancy and postpartum weight like a champ. Maybe you have thoughts such as, "I love my body!" or "I just birthed a baby, of course, I have a ways to go." or "My body is rockin'." And maybe for others of you (those who I secretly love to hate - kidding, not kidding), you lose the baby weight within a matter of weeks or even months, so baby weight is a non-issue for you. Go YOU. Seriously. Okay, maybe I'm a little jealous...

When it comes to me, little old perfectionist, overachieving me... the same girl who had weight issues / an eating disorder in high school that took several years to overcome, I will be honest and say that I am not above the pregnancy and postpartum weight. The topic has been a raw source of heartache for me. When I got pregnant for the first time, seeing my body change and the scale go up was hard, and losing the weight? Oh, don't even get my started. Okay, well I'm already started, so here it goes...

My first pregnancy, I gained double the allotted weight requirement. Yes, I gained sixty pounds, and cried about it on a daily basis. Thankfully, I was able to lose the weight within a year without doing much of anything, but it certainly was a journey, folks. Then, my second pregnancy, I was older, wiser, and knew better than to eat for two. I really watched my diet and started exercising regularly over those nine months. I was beyond proud when I had only gained thirty pounds and knew I'd lose the weight in a matter of months because of how little I had gained. Oh, but no. Fate wanted to teach me a lesson, and my body clung to the baby weight for dear life. I couldn't drop an ounce of the 12 pounds I had to lose since I left the hospital. Not just that, I started gaining weight at six months postpartum. I got up to eighteen pounds over my ideal weight and had meltdowns regularly.

Not just that, but I spent thousands of dollars trying to figure out why I wasn't losing weight. What was wrong with my body? Why was I gaining weight postpartum? Even when my diet and exercise routine were still the same, if not even better and cleaner!?

I am the QUEEN of obsessing over post-baby weight loss. For gosh sakes, I started a company surrounding the topic of postpartum weight called the Postpartum Slimdown. If there were a reality show I were to ever be on it would be called “Losing the Baby Weight.” Seriously. I’m obsessed. To say that I've had heartache over pregnancy weight gain would be an understatement. But now that I've gone through this whole gain weight and lose weight thing three times, I have a little bit of perspective that I wanted to pass on from one pregnancy weight gain obsessor to another.

In hindsight, the weight I needed to lose wasn't on my body, but rather was in my mind. So, here are things to keep in mind on your journey....

Okay mamas, only when the time is right and you are ready to hit it hard to lose that baby weight, here are my recommendations. Again, you'll be the most successful after you have stopped breastfeeding and have given yourself at least six months post-baby for your hormones to chill out. The magic time for me is around a year postpartum.

​Here we go:

Some people are anti-scales. I get it. I used to be one of those people. I thought that scales made me obsessive, and in some ways they do. But when your goal is to lose weight, nothing better will hold you accountable than a scale, and not just any scale. What I love about the FitTrack scale is that it utilizes a free app on your phone that syncs to the scale. Among other things, the app tracks 17 indicators including:

• Body Weight 
• BMI
• BFR
• Muscle Rate
• Body Water
• Bone Mass
• Metabolic Age
• Weight History
• Allows you to add up to 8 profiles per smartphone device

​..and several other factors. By tracking your data daily, you will be held accountable. You'll be able to see where you've started and how far you've come with the app's history​ feature. Not just that, but you can add multiple people, so if you wanted to partner up with your spouse for further accountability, y'all can each have a profile.

The great thing about this scale, especially for athletes like myself, is that you'll be able to see how your weight loss regimen is affecting your body in ways other than the scale. Maybe you've gained more muscle, this may mean more weight, but a higher muscle rate. 

In sum, the weight you may need to lose after baby may not be on your body. For the first year, you'll need to consider any negative self-talk about your body and throw it out the window. Enjoy this time with your baby and try your best to love your body. It gave you the greatest gift of all and should be celebrated, no matter what the size. And then, when the year is up (or whatever time you determine is adequate) and you're ready to hit it hard and lose the baby weight, check out the Postpartum Slimdown Program and purchase a FitTrack Scale, and you'll be on your way to pre-baby weight in no time. You got this, mamas!

​As a mama, it's no surprise that a lot of us survive on coffee and wine. Just like the sign says, "Motherhood: Powered   by love, fueled by coffee, sustained by wine." Am I right? As beautiful as motherhood is, it is demanding and exhausting, and that little bit of pick-me-up or slow-me-down during the day is our little treat! The problem, in my opinion, with all of the coffee and wine consumption is that it can leave your teeth a nasty color. And as an orthodontist's granddaughter, who spent years with braces to achieve an attractive smile, I'll do what I can to protect it.
​

While whitening toothpaste can help to brighten teeth, I really rely on at-home whitening teeth kits to help get that bright white shine that I love. My go-to at-home teeth whitening kit is Snow® , also known as America's favorite teeth whitening kit! Snow® is the only formula engineered to react to the LED technology to accelerate whitening
​

• Fast results! Moms don't have time
• Enamel-safe professional formula; I'm all about protecting that enamel
• No dentist visit or prescription required!
• Recommended by dentists worldwide
• Super fast shipping
• 5x faster than strips
• Apple Watch + Phone compatible! (as well as Android)
• LED-activating light that accelerates the whitening process

​

You will receive...

• 1 mouthpiece with the patent-pending LED accelerating technology for faster results
• 3 whitening wands filled with advanced whitening serum to erase stains
• 1 extra strength whitening serum wand (contains double the whitening power)
• Control how white you want your teeth in seconds
• 1 teeth whitening progress tracker
• Results guaranteed and 5-year warranty

When your Snow® kit arrives, it comes with a brochure, as you can see above, with simple steps to follow.

1. Wash the mouthpiece with warm water.
2. Brush or wipe down your teeth.
3. Apply a thin layer of the whitening gel to teeth using the wand. 
4. Plug the mouthpiece into a device or port.
5. Insert the mouthpiece into your mouth for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Remove the mouthpiece and rinse the remaining gel.

 I love this kit so much that I am giving one away to my followers! Simply head to my @thesouthernishmama Instagram to check out the terms and conditions.

Rock on mamas! And keep your beautiful smile in check, even with all of that delicious coffee.

xx,

Brooke
The Southernish Mama

Hey mamas! 

It is crazy to think that we now have THREE little boys in our home... and in our hearts. Life is full right now, but also a bit crazy. Having a newborn with two older boys under the age of five means more to do and less time to relax. My older boys still need me throughout the day, chores still need to get done, and I still love to work a little on the side. As much as I am getting one-on-one time with my new baby, I am also having to multitask more. To do so, there are times when Beauden cannot be with me. But at the same time, I need to keep a close eye on him at all times. After all, he is a newborn baby. How can I be two places at once?

​With my favorite baby monitor, of course. 

With three kids, I've owned my share of baby monitors over the years. There are things that I have liked about certain monitors and things that I have disliked.

Some of the things that I don't like include the following:

• Use of WiFi Technology. While WiFi technology on a baby monitor seems preferable because you only need to walk around with a phone that includes the associated baby app, using Wifi also has major drawbacks. Because we live in a 4,500 square foot house, our WiFi range isn't great. Even worse, it is most often the spottiest where Beauden sleeps (in the furthest corner of the house). Because of the lack of range, our WiFi often cuts in and out. As you can imagine this is not only scary, but also can be dangerous. Many things can happen to a baby in moments. And with spotty WiFi, I'm not willing to take that risk.

• In addition to WiFi being spotty, WiFi also opens you up to strangers hacking into the network.  Yes, this probably is unlikely, but you'd be surprised at all the creeps out there! Even though we are on a secure network, there is the ability for our network to get hacked. You've heard the stories. I mean, how scary is that?

• Lack of Range. Another thing that drives me bananas about baby monitors is the lack of range most of them offer. Again, our house is huge and sometimes Beauden is sleeping and the boys are playing in the yard. While I never am further away than safety allows, there is nothing more annoying that a baby monitor that stops working when you go outside or downstairs. Sure, I need to stay close to my baby, but not so close that I can't be doing anything else in the house or in the yard.

With all of these drawbacks, I can happily say I've found the perfect baby monitor. Enter, Panasonic Long Range Baby Monitor. It has taken me three kids to find this baby monitor, but I've finally found it!

Here is what I love about this particular baby monitor...

• Instead of WiFi, the Panasonic Monitor uses Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT). Back to my first points about why I don't love the use of Wifi with baby monitors and the "spottiness" that happens in our house. Using DECT means no spottiness and no outages. That means I can see and hear my baby perfectly at any and all points without the fear of missing a beat.

 

• In addition to perfect shared footage is also the fact the DECT means no opportunity for hacking because it is virtually hack proof. No creepers allowed!

 

• The Panasonic Long Range Baby Monitor also provides 1,500 square feet of interference-free range. That is more than four football fields of range!  Once again, I don't use this feature so that I can go for a run and leave baby at home. I still practice safe protocols when leaving baby on the monitor, but it's nice to know that I can be outside with my boys without the monitor cutting in and out, or worse, not working at all.

 

• Customizable Smart Sensors + Alerts Function detects changes in sound, motion and room temperature and sends a notification to parent unit. I love this feature for many reasons. If your baby is making noise, the unit notifies you. Similarly, if your baby is moving, a little icon on the parent unit pops up so that you can see how much your baby is moving. Additionally, the changes in temperature are reported! I am crazy about keeping track of the temperature of the room that baby is in. Too hot, and the risk of SIDs goes up, so you better believe I am going to monitor that.

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A few other features I love that don't need explaining...
​

• ​Updated color night vision
• Pan, tilt and zoom functions
• Longer Battery Life—13 hours in standby mode (audio on) or 5 hours of continuous operation
  • Compatible with either A/C power or rechargeable batteries
• Built-in microphone and speaker functions for two-way communication
• Minimizes background noise
• 5 lullabies and 5 soothing sounds, including white noise. Who doesn't love white noise for their babies?

All in all, the Panasonic Long Range Baby Monitor has been a must-have baby item, even with baby number three. Heck, I wish I had it with my two others boys. What mama doesn't want the freedom to get things done or attend to her other kids, while also getting the peace of mind of keeping your little one secure.
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