People ask me this all the time....

"Scientists can put a man on the moon, but they can not answer the most basic question of early parenting: how to have a happy and contented baby who sleeps continually through the night like the rest of the family and a mother who is not in a perpetual state of exhaustion."

I constantly have teachers, other moms, business partners, and friends ask me "how do you get your kids to sleep 12 hours a night??" Here i was thinking this was the norm when I had my first child, who is now 3. and come to find out, it's not!!! Some people told me "you're just lucky to have a sleeper" with my first. But then when we did it with my 2nd, I knew it was a product of good training!  Why is it that we go to business school to learn business,  go to more business school to get an MBA but to open our minds about parenting or to pick up a book about how to teach your baby to sleep is appalling to many people!!! I'm saying this b/c i'm one of those moms that read and "did" Babywise. it's a book by Gary Ezzo called "On Becoming Babywise: teaching your children the gift of great sleep." and its a very controversial book. But it's funny...the parents that do it have the "best" kids! B/c they are getting tons of sleep and eating great which therefore leads to a happy disposition and a baby that barely ever cries. I'm serious! when my kids cried, i knew there was something wrong. It wasn't just that "normal thing that all babies do." it either meant they were hungry, tired, teething, or getting sick. I knew how to better assess the situation and how to fulfill their needs.
And because of this book, I'm able to do so many more things because i have a schedule. I have to thank my dear friend Vanessa Seavall who told me about this book. she does not have children yet but she had many friends that did and who all did Babywise. So on a quick trip to Austin one weekend when i was pregnant with Grace we ran to Half price books and picked up Babywise for a mere $4.97. My how that $5 has gone a long long way!!! So you can imagine that I thought this was the way that every parent did it! But when I encountered comments like "she sleeps so good, she's always happy, she's such a good eater, she never cries...." I began to wonder, Is this NOT what every parent is doing and Why!!!! After getting on the internet, I discovered the answer to my questions. so many parents were taking the book as regulation, managing,  militant schedule, only feeding 3 hours and never before or after, crying it out to the extreme or they never even read the book. They just skimmed it or heard about it from a friend!! and i even did this too for a bit with Grace. I was a little too "by the book" But Ive read this book so many times and referenced it so much, the front cover has come off! And it says " its a guide. let your schedule serve you. growing spurts you feed more often, a schedule is to help you learn how to assess their needs, teach them how to fall asleep on their own, give your child the GIFT of good sleep? I"m not going to go into how the book works or what it says. You can read that for yourself or visit the site i go to quite often in the early months of birth Babywise Mom
this site is amazing and answers every question you have. I was on this site constantly after my 2nd.

But its a book worth reading if you have babies and you can even start late. I once heard someone say "If I buy your opinion, I buy your lifestyle." I want the lifestyle of all babywise moms, which is why I don't by the opinion of the "babywise haters."

And this book has a whole series: Toddlerwise, PreK wise, TeenWise...etc. it's really the only parenting book I've ever read not b/c of favor or ignorance. It's just worked for me and I'm very happy with the results and the great lifestyle we live. I've been blessed with amazing kids, but I'd like to think I had a little something to do with it too! wink....in fact, we all have the ability to have amazing, disciplined, obedient, happy kids b/c how we choose to raise them is up to us.

But I haven't hit the Teen years yet! That's a whole 'nother monster i here. i'll enjoy the young ages while i can and save Teenwise on my bookshelf until further needed....

When a spouse travels....

Everything goes on hold...for me that is!! I learn to appreciate and find gratitude in the blessing of having 2 stay at home parents. B/c when one is away, the other with definitley NOT play! it's non stop! I'm a mom but I also have a home based business so when Richard travels for a business deal or an investment he is looking into (btw, why are these always in Vegas?? ...hmmm. anyways!), I"m literally on hold till he gets back or i'm doing work after 8 pm. And in all honestly, the only thing i wanna do after a day full of kiddos by myself is get in bed and watch some mindless tv like The Kardashians (my guilty pleasure) once they are asleep.  Can anyone relate? do you have husbands that travel for work? What is it like to be home with the kids if they aren't in school all by yourself? Insane! Some days...the most i've done it before is 4- that was a doozy! But it allows me to fully have appreciation for when he gets home and most times, I always get a little "me time" out of the deal....so I guess when i'm sitting at the spa in my white fluffy robe awaiting my massage, it's not so bad. It leaves me asking, "when's the next trip, honey?"

60 minutes

Why is it that a one hour dr's appt seems to affect the entire day? Those with newborns I know this affects you!!! If you run your kids on a schedule like i do, it affects us "tight ship" moms too. Ive truly learned to not schedule anything else on dr appt days....seriously!! b/c the day you do, the Doc is running an hour behind. I mean really, i'm supposed to sit in this little 10x10 room with a 3 yr old and a "curious, crawling, gotta have every electrical cord" 1 yr old and expect to come out happy??? it's definitely God's way of growing my patience level. When I prayed for patience the other day, I was hoping for something a little less brutal. But all things said, I wonder if anyone else feels the same way i do sometimes?? they need to have like a play area like Mcdonalds does or Chickfila! that would be awesome! But then i guess i could foresee the children never leaving and that would not be so awesome. So I guess we just look forward to the day they turn 2 (i think it is ) when we just go to yearly appts!!

Dinner: always a dull moment

Dreadful dinner!! Why is it that dinner time is always so dreadful in the Bond household? is it because I make it that way, because I don't really like cooking, I don't know how to cook, or I just hate the cleanup. I'd like to think it's mostly the latter, but also that most times I have absolutely no idea what to make. I really strive not to be a hamburger helper or "its pizza tonight!" every night kind of mom! Not that there's anything wrong with that....well, ok, there is a little something wrong with that. (psst..it's not healthy!) But those just aren't my choices. So while searching a pumpkin pie recipe (yes i'm in a dessert making mode right now), I found a great Paula Dean one that includes cream cheese, half and half..and a bunch more fattening things...why does all paula dean's stuff so full of dairy and butter??? anyways, that's not the point! I did end up finding Moms Who Think website. it has 8 weeks worth of easy recipes on it and they looked pretty decent. With a little healthy tweaking I think i can make it work. Ive also come to accept that even though dinner may not be perfect or the best meal ever, it's the time we spend together that the kids often reflect back to. I can't tell you how many adults I talk to that remember dinner time as one of their favorite parts of the day with their family. So here's to 8 weeks (or more like a lot more....let's face it.. going out to eat is still a family meal) of cooked meals. I just hope this idea lasts till tomorrow!

I do it all....but not really!!

I'm sitting in my home drinking a great cup of coffee while my amazing housekeeper, Maria, does all my family's laundry. She comes to the house once a week and does the laundry every other week. we pay her $45 . is that a joke????, I thought when she first told me what she would charge me if I asked her to do that!!! that's only $90 a month and do you know how much time that saves me on a weekly basis to do the things i want to do! This is the importance of delegation. Are you a mom that works full time? part time? or a home based business mom like myself? or do you just hate doing laundry!! LOL. You may want to entertain the thought of delegation.

Here are a couple really great quotes about delegation:

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt

No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit. Andrew Carnegie 

Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too. Robert Half


I used to have a really hard time with this b/c I wanted to be the mom, business person, wife, etc that  "could do it all!" But then after reading many books on leadership, i realized that the people we think are "doing it all" have a team of people behind them doing things for them!!! Yup! that's right! they are NOT doing it all!! Smart successful wealthy people DELEGATE!!!! 
So i started with my house and laundry! and for $90 a month, you can't beat it! I can spend that time doing more important things: building my business, making phone calls, going to lunch, running errands (that's my next delegation...although I never miss an opportunity to go to Target) spending more time with my family! (there's a thought) or just simply reading a great book instead of spending hours upon hours washing and folding. and for a family of 4, it adds up! Not to mention my 3 yr old who goes through like 3 outfits a day, each one with a bit of leftover chocolate milk, spaghetti sauce, dirt, whatever! we never seem to be able to keep an outfit clean. 
So I empower you to think of something you can delegate today! Give something away today and you'll be amazed with how much more "time" you have to do the things you want. 

A Quarter for your shoes

Grace takes after her father. leaving a string of clothes and left over items in their path so we know exactly where they have been. if this was a game of Clue, it would definitley be the winner. As the famous game goes..."Grace Bond in the living room with the red crayon." But unfortunately, this isn't just a game...this is my less than perfect home!!! That I will admit, i love having perfect and have pretty much given up that idea with 2 children under the age of 4. Really, i keep the downstairs pretty clean and stash all the mess upstairs! anyways, back to my point. oh yes, Grace takes after her father...of course. every time we walk in the door, it's off with the shoes and upstairs to put on jammies. I began to grow weary of my efforts of continuing to pick up after 4 people in this family....myself included. there's just not enough time in the day. and let's face it..people will not be all too impressed with the words "she was a clean freak" at my memorial service.  Instead why don't we teach the 3 yr old to clean up after herself! wow novel idea. I guess i just haven't been doing it b/c i figured she was a little too young to be cleaning already (unless it's a diaper wipe out of Savannahs box..then she loves to clean the tables) and I figured isn't this a form of child labor or something? But then hmmmm what if i started small? so i began with "a quarter for your shoes." I told Grace everytime she puts her shoes away without me asking, she'll get a quarter. It seems to be working..ive had to remind her more than not and i've even been met with "no i don't really want a quarter today" response. (wasn't expecting that one). But all in all, we are making progress. I even went upstairs one morning to check on her b/c she'd been up there for quite some time. I walked into her room and she was going back and forth from one side of her bed to the other. What are you doing? i asked....she responded "i'm making my bed!" with a big 'ol grin on her face.  Wow! I was impressed. I'd like to say my little plan is working....

No, we just went to Colorado!

Today, Grace and "daddy" were going to check out a restaurant investment called Top Golf in Allen, TX. We told her there was gonna be putt putt golf there. and immediately, she asked " are we gonna go up in the lift thing?" (referring to our recent trip to Colorado where we rode the ski lifts and went down a super slide with a finale of putt putt golf). We said no that was in Colorado.  I asked her if she liked it and if she wanted to go back. She said "NAH!!! we were just there!!" I realized in that moment the gift we are giving our children through travel. Grace is experiencing so many new things that will impact her life forever. I heard on the Oprah radio show the other day that if we can give the gift of experiences to other people, that is more impacting that things. Experiences last forever and get embedded in our memory.  I only hope these experiences bless our family with joy and gratitude for the life they have been blessed to experience. Check out Grace trampoline bunge jumping, which she very scared about doing at first and then decided to take the plunge!!

Yoga and Sweet Child 'O Mine

I went to yoga today in a studio that is next to a bar. it's funny that I've never really noticed it before but i noticed it tonight. I went in thinking...hmmmm this is interesting. To me, it was 2 completely different intentions and ways to spend your evening. As I went into the studio, i grabbed a place on the floor that was really one of the only spaces left and placed my mat on the floor. as i lay in silence on the mat, i began to hear thumping. I can hear the bar music right door! it was kind of funny throughout the whole class that i could hear conversations, pool balls hitting the side of the table and oh yes, a quite familiar tune....guns and roses! it occurred to me that we were all in the same "space" but getting completely different things out of our experience. some people were in a bar drinking, playing pool to relax and escape from their day in a sense, forgetting their problems for the day. while i was in a yoga studio right next door going through a series of poses trying to get more centered into myself and actually grateful for all that God has given me. My how life has changed.. a few years ago, I would have been in that bar hearing the music, drinking, not so much playing pool, but complaining about my day or talking about my problems. Today, I'm in a place of gratitude and awareness that everyday is a gift and that one hour of calm to "not so calming" music was just where i wanted to be.