Jess, Author at Bliss This Mess

In Family Fun

Being a Stay-at-Home Mom is The Best Decision I Ever Made

August 6, 2021 6 Comments

Have you ever watched the movie, Cheaper By The Dozen? Tom (Steve Martin) and his wife, Kate (Bonnie Hunt), live in a small town with their twelve kids. Tom is suddenly offered a college football coaching position in a new city. At the same time, a publisher offers to buy Kate’s parenting memoir she wrote while staying home and raising her kids. As a family, they packed up their lives to chase these new opportunities. They thought trading their simple, country life to make more money to afford a huge house and nice things for their kids was the end…

In Productive SAHM

How to Manage Motherhood: Multiple Kids Edition

August 3, 2021 3 Comments

I recently wrote a post, How to Prepare Your Toddler For a New Baby. In that post, I gave my best advice on how to prepare your only child for a new brother or sister. It is easy to forget how tough those first few weeks are after bringing your new baby home. You’ve done this before. But, at the same time, you haven’t done this before. So what’s the secret to managing motherhood with more than one child? Letting go of all your expectations and taking it one day at a time. I might have a few other useful…

In Family Fun

How To Prepare Your Toddler For a New Baby

July 30, 2021 3 Comments

Worried. Anxious. Stressed. Restless. Unsure. I remember those feelings dwelling in the back of my mind as my due date approached with my second baby. My son had just turned two. Even though this pregnancy was planned, I wasn’t sure how I was going to tackle taking care of two kids that depended on me so much. How was I going to shower, cook dinner, or even go to the bathroom? Was my son going to like his new baby sister? I felt so conflicted because I was so excited and eager to welcome our newest baby into our family.…

In Family Fun

Please Stop Feeling Sorry For The Only Boy

July 26, 2021 3 Comments

Most people take one look at our big family and see our son, Brody, surrounded by four little sisters. If I had a dime, for every time someone told me, “poor Brody,” I could afford to have ten more kids. You have no idea how bad my son wants a baby brother. I get anxious and nervous every time I have to tell him he is having another baby sister. My fear is that I am just going to do disappoint him. So far, each time, he exclaims “another sister,” followed by a long, dramatic groan. But when his sisters…

In Family Fun

Best Birthday Gift Ideas For Kids That Aren’t Toys

July 23, 2021 No Comments

My husband and my three eldest children have birthdays within a four week span. For this reason, it is extremely important for us to be very particular about buying toys or we get buried in them. Let’s be honest, new toys only have about a 4 hour lifespan (even that might be stretching it.) Then, they end up in our basement, untouched, until we decide we need to dig ourselves out. As the kids have gotten older, and the need for toys has gotten smaller, we have to be intentional on not wasting money on meaningless gifts. You may be…

In Productive SAHM

The Best Breastfeeding Tips for Success

July 20, 2021 No Comments

“Breastfeeding is so worth it!” I say that through clenched teeth while grimacing in pain from my 2 day old baby using my nipple as a pacifier. Not the introduction you were expecting? Let me explain. I have five kids. My oldest is eight and my youngest is now 6 months old. I breastfed all of them (currently still breastfeeding the youngest.) I did the math, out of the last eight years, I have spent fifty-eight months breastfeeding my children. That’s a lot! A lot of time for me to figure out all of the breastfeeding hacks, for lack of…

In Family Fun

Dear Husband, I Undeniably Need To Thank You

July 16, 2021 No Comments

Marriage isn’t always easy. Spending a lifetime with the same person takes intentionality and hard work every single day. God only knows how often my husband pushes my buttons. I half jokingly take credit for brining out the best in him. But really, we bring out the best in each other. My husband’s birthday is in a couple of weeks. To me, birthdays are a big deal. Even as we get older, it is important to celebrate another year with the ones we love the most. So while thinking about what to get someone who literally has everything, I started…

In Productive SAHM

8 Great Reasons to Start Waking Up Earlier

July 13, 2021 No Comments

Are you a morning person or a night owl? If you’re searching this topic, I’m going to take a wild guess that you’re a night owl. But you might be considering or attempting to become a morning person, which isn’t such a bad idea! There’s no judgement here! I used to hate early mornings. In fact, for the first few years of motherhood, it was rare that you would find my kids and I awake before 9am (even that was early.) My husband worked a construction job, where he would leave way before the rest of us woke up and…

In Productive SAHM

10 Essential Items for a New Baby (From a Mom of 5)

July 8, 2021 No Comments

There I was, pregnant with my first, walking through Babies R Us to set up our baby registry and feeling so overwhelmed with the amount of baby gear and gadgets there were! I remember leaving that place and second guessing if we had added everything that we would need for our new baby. I didn’t know the difference between what I really needed and what was just a heavily advertised piece of junk. The more people I asked, the longer and more expensive the list got. Eight years, and five kids later, I have had many opportunities to figure out…

In Productive SAHM

My Secret to Having More Energy for My Kids

July 6, 2021 No Comments

You would be surprised to know that my secret to keeping up with five kids has nothing to do with any caffeine. I was recently having a conversation with a family member and had just finished getting her up to date on all of the activities our family was up to, when she asked what kind of person I was; a coffee or energy drinker? Surprisingly, I am neither. It hasn’t always been that way. After having my first baby, I bought a Keurig and enjoyed my morning coffee ritual. This eventually led to energy drinks, and needing multiple throughout…