LAST WEEK

Last week was ... full of moments I left my comfort zone.
Visiting the school my girl will attend, was like surreal, just yesterday we were strolling her around, changing diapers (thank God thats over) and now school?! 6 years can fly by, believe me. Finally feeling so much better I put a skirt on and then, after therapy feeling so bad, so I couldn't meet up with my ig girlfriends in Ljubljana. Yesterday and today by brand mia & mika is at BazArt at Fürst haus in Ptuj. You can visit us also between the tradicional carnaval that will be today, just come and say hi // I am the swan.

LAST WEEK

Last week I was finally, after a very long long time feeling better, feeling a little bit more like myself, again.

I had to celebrate this, so I took myself to my first real sushi restaurant and had a vegan feast.

I just love the roses I got for my son's birthday, looking great still after 6 days.

My mia & mika brand / shop is slowly growing! That makes me so truly happy, I can not describe it. In all this time, I was so sick, that I couldn not even dress myself, I was thinking about this... how I would start, how I would make beautiful little baby moccasins from the best vegetable tanned leather that is toxic and chrome free... and now I making them and they are getting great reviews from my first customers. Thanks to each and single one of you, who believed in me and my moccasins, you know who you are! 

 

For spring I started to make some new colorful models, you can see them soon in my store www.miaandmika.tictail.com but you can also follow me on www.facebook.com/miaandmika.shop &

instagram @miaandmika_shop.

I am still vegan and I will stick to it, because I just feel so much better that it is hard to describe. This is my vegan avocado & sweet pepper sandwich that got me the most likes on instagram last week, funny but really  delicious!

Have a nice Sunday everyone & till my next post I wish you all the best,
love Jelena

ROUTINE #2

 I tackled my first routine goals for September and here are my thoughts:

• if you want to wake up early, go to bed earlier
• 
  
• when the alarm clock is on, just stand up and start the day, regardless how good it would be to lie in the bed a few minutes more... 
• 
  
• if you find a fun and efficient exercise routine you will also do it, if it isn't the first or the second, you won't stick to it, the pure truth
• 
  
• you would like to try something new, or try something again, just do it, don't wait, look up for classes, look up for prices and schedules and just call and arrange you first class, because later mostly becomes never, never ever
• 
  
• you daydream about something, maybe it's time to do something more then just dream, invest your time and thought into it and follow your instinct, because the time in now

I hope my simple and short advice inspired you, but maybe you have something to add? 

 

LAST WEEK

This week was special, with a lot of firsts. The first visit with the kids to the mountains. I tried a lot of new vegan recipes as you can see and found some vegan ice cream in Maribor, but sadly my homemade ice is still better.  I even "by-the-way" found some perfect leather ballerinas and trousers, that never happens.

But, the pictures of the refuges, can't go out of my mind...

What I have learned at 32

Today is my birthday, 32 to be exact, so I wanted to write a short, honest and say meaningful list of all the things I learned so far

• Health - is more important than you think, do not wait till you lose it, to cherish it.
• Time is relative - we can do a lot of things in life, but maybe not all at once.
• Motherhood - is the hardest and the most important thing I will ever do in my life.
• Learn to let go - things and people.
• Everything happens for a reason - they say: "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers".
• Nature - enjoy it, there is nothing more to ad.
• Read.
• Intuition - follow it,  as Albert (Einstein) said, the only real valuable thing is intuition. 
• Simplify - everything and stop with the glorification of busy.
• Fashion - if you decide to buy a pair of expensive shoes, buy a pair you will wear everyday. 
•  

& remember (my favourite quote for life) TOMORROW ISN'T PROMISED! The time is NOW! 

WORKING MOM #2 OR 15 TIPS FOR A STRESS FREE SCHEDULE

Good afternoon, I hope you all had a great weekend? Today's post is all about this months topic WORKING MOM and how to manage your WORKING DAYS.  It will be posted a little bit later then usual 5 AM CET, because I was and still am sick. Yes, mom's also get sick, but just occasionally, here and there.

Last week I wrote about, how to reevaluate you time, more you can read here and all about the Working mom topic you can find here.

Having children is the best thing that can happen, but it also becomes an organisational challenge  when the maternity leave is over and especially, if you are a full time working mom or even more, if you are a single parent. My mom was one.

Here are a few of my tips to for an simple and stress free schedule on a working day like today:

1. Download a weather app on you phone, so it will take you just seconds in the morning to check the forecast.

2. Prepare all the children stuff and clothes in the evening, if you have a girl, you can lose a lot of time in the morning finding/feithing about what to wear to kindergarten... she can choose her outfit the night before by herself and then you just check it.

3. Wake up early, it will save you a  lot of stress!!!

4. If the children are a little bit older, from 2 to 3,  they can dress alone.

5. For the breakfast, you can also prepare the table the night before, my children do it by themselves.

6. Find a beauty routine that works for you (and it's fast) ...

7. Organize your closet and shoes, so you will only have things that fit you and you will feel great in them no matter what occasion. You will no longer use time on "What should I wear?", for sure!

8. Prepare your purse for the next day or if you have many bags, just create a storage section, where you put everything out of your bag and then in the morning, when you decide to take another bag, you just put it all in, and nothing is lost or forgotten.

9. Take care of your "transportation" from shoes, bike to a car, it is bad when they leave you half of the way to work...

10. Eat lunch, so you won't come home hungry as a wolf.

11. Don't plan to much activity at the second half of the day, you and your children are already a bit tired, so enjoy you time together, play go outside...

12. Prepare a easy cooked dinner, mostly we cook or make salads for ourselves. 

13. Remember to do the house work with you children, they can help you dust and vacuum clean. Before bed, they should put all the of the toys, that are laying around the house, into their room. 

14. After the little "dragons" are asleep you should take the time for yourself, do or make something that makes you happy, from blogging to reading a book, but don't go to the kitchen and clean!!!

15. Least but not least, go to bed early there is never enough sleep for us.

Hope there was a tip for you, that can help you simplify your everyday. If you have some more tips for me, just share them below, I am really interested.

To all of the Ladies out there, have a great week!

A POST FOR MOMS

Let's talk a little bit about post - breastfeeding. Yup, the subject doesn't come up very often, but to all the moms to be, you should know, the cup size changes, most of the time. First it is up and then down. Here you have it. It is the truth, isn't it? Like the alphabet I went from the start A, B, C, D almost E and then back to B, but stopped at A. And what I have learned in this time, that big brands like H&M stopped making small bras. Also some shops that are selling just underwear do not have something smaller then B... no comment. So when the sale started this year, I wanted to buy some pritty things for underneath, but everything that I found nice was already sold. I knew we have an Agent Provocateur shop in Ljubljana, so I hoped they have the sale. Boy, I was right! To all of you who know how much AP costs, I got my cheapest bra for 10 euros and the staff was really amazing. They got a new customer and with the next sale, I will go back for sure!

WORKING MOM #1

Today, finding the balance as a full time working mom with small children is almost impossible, or you can get the burn-out syndrome. There is a lot of words written about this subject. So this is my view, my words, how I think and see this challenge.

The first and most important thing is to acknowledge, that a day has only 24 hours, nothing more and nothing less. It is up to us how we will spend them. We need to and we would like to do some things, but how to balance it all out? How? 

My tip, just ask yourself what is important to you, really important, what are the things that matter the most? Make a list of 5 to 6 things, that make your life precious and then find the time for them. It sound simple, but it isn't because, you have to let go all of your semi-goals, expectations that are not so important, you just have to re evaluate how and on what you are spending your time.

Just think about it till next Monday and prioritise!

WORKING MOM

Yes, after a month I can say I am a full time working mom and I love it! The feeling I get after doing a good job and a small pay-check at the end of the month is just amazing. Do not get me wrong, I was at home for almost 4 years, and my kids almost 2,5 and 4 years enjoyed it as I did, but I went for school with and for a reason. I have some goals that I still want to accomplish, so here I am kicking back.

But with all that said, I realized it can be really hard to manage it all in the 24 hours we have. So my plan is, for me and also for you, to write about how to simplify our daily life to get everything done, from a daily routine, house cleaning, cooking, having the time for yourself, what's this? I will make a combination of what I have learned, read and what I found is working for me. Of course all of you are very welcomed to comment and give your tips and strategies of juggling your daily lives on. I will post every monday, so let see how you will like it and find it helpful. Remember, any tip or advice is very welcomed, so just comment below. 

I link up with the wonderful Sonja from Wert-voll, here. 

a happiness review, NOT

It was time to write this post, a happiness review, not! More a reality review. Our lives are full with happy and not so happy memories. We remember the good and suppress the bad, so I wanted to write down the other half, that I normally do not mention. 

I am not so happy about to carry my heavy bike two times a day up and down a rail underpass because the contractor did not do his job properly! So now I have severe pain in my back, carrying that bike up and down in my bobby's.

I am not so happy about that I finally found the perfect photo book, made already two beautiful albums just to find out the shipping is 53$, more then the books together... 

I am not so happy about that my kids do not appreciate white walls and ironed clothes, that every time you come home from shopping the apartment looks like a bomb exploded?!

I am definitely not happy about drinking a cold  coffee every morning, because Nespresso Aeroccino gave up after 2,5 years of loyal service. 

I am not so happy about the lack of time to edit all the old posts, because they do not look good in the new layout, to get the girl who did the layout, help me to finish the details, but she takes her time..., to take the time to blog and not to fall asleep at 9.00PM, to add new content I am not too comfortable about.

Just you know, I believe that we should not emphasise the word happy, everyone is talking about this days. I personally just try to think, that things are things, not good or bad, they happen for and with a reason. We should just take them, as they come and carry our head up high with glory, no matter what! 

time can fly, but a cameleon brings me back in time...

The other day I meet a childhood friend who has a son, just two months old. He was so little and happy sleeping in his stroller. I told my friend, how you forget how fast time can fly, But every time I see a Bugaboo Cameleon on the street, (there are just a few in my city), I can clearly see my girl & boy, as newborns, babies, toddlers, how we were strolling around for miles...

When I was selling the Cameleon I realized that my children are growing up to fast!!! Now they are using bikes for transportation, not bad either...

life balance

What is a life balance for a full-time working mom?

And how to have or maintain one in this crazy world?

• I don't really know.
• I don't have a clue.
• I don't have a full time job, I have no job... that is from my view my only problem. When this one will be solved, I will be happy, but at the same time I know that hundred new problems in association with time management and life balance will emerge.

My two friends, bought have a full time job, small children, no domestic, babysitter or dog-walker help, ... have problems managing it all. Mostly they save time and energy on themselves, they don't even find the time to cook for themselves. How horrible is that?

We just have 24 hours a day.

And we use them very differently.

An average full time working mum that I know works from 8 to 10 hours per day, 5 days a week.

Then they spend 1 hour to get to work and I would say one additional hours to bring and pick up kids from Kindergarten. 

That together are 10 hours or half a day, that is already gone. 

If we add 7 hours for sleep we have 7 or 5 hours remaining for her to:

to get up, to dress, to do make-up or not, to eat, prepare the kids, to walk the dog - 1, to eat lunch, to walk the dog - 2, to make dinner, do eat dinner, to clean, to shop, to manage finances, to put kids to bed, to do some sports, to prepare herself for bed, to walk the dog - the third time

& to be a good mom, wife, daughter... just a rough version.

By my opinion, to manage all or some of this things on a level that makes you proud and happy, is the ultimate goal from all of us. 

But how to do it? 

Would like to read your thoughts on this subject, so just comment below. 

Love, Jelena

MY BOY

My little boy is now officially two years old. 

Just two, but such a confident little soul, like an old wise man in a small body. 

I like to watch him how he does new things, like eating tortellini with truffles, the expression on his face... or exploring new things. Then I want to take a photo to remember it all, but then again, I am not doing it, because I want to have it all in my heart.

When I think of my children, this little souls, I always go back to this poem by Kahlil Gibran:

          On Children 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

BABY ESSENTIALS #SLEEPING

I posted a list of BABY ESSENTIAL ITEMS, if you haven't read it, you can find it here. Our second part of this series is sleeping. I have put down just a few things, the essential I would say:

CRIB is just a place were the baby will sleep, so if you want to spend a lot of money, you surely can, but if you don't, you can find a new Ikea crib for 35 euros. I always had a thing for this Leander bed, but it was never in my price range. 

MATTRESS 

How much do you think this mattress will be used, one, two or three years? It is again up to you, what is important for you, I just both the Ikea mattress in a middle price range and it did it's job.

MATTRESS PAD was bought when my girl ended using the diapers at the age of two, but you can buy it from the start to save the mattress. When choosing think about the material and the right size, I prefer a cotton one. 

BEDDING follow your imagination and budget, now limits here.

BLANKETS one for the summer and one for the winter, depending where you live, cotton or flannel and wool are my choices. I saw the new Bugaboo wool ones, here, they are just my style ;)

I don't know way, but in Slovenia it's really hard to find nice cotton or wool blankets in any size, from small to big. 

* LEANDER CRADLE 

When I first saw that cradle, I thought this is great product, worth investing money in it. You can find more about it here.  But remember, it all depends from the child, it could be the best or the worst spend money.  My girl was using it for all her day naps from day one till the 7 month and she loved it, she could play in it ... but my boy, he couldn't stand it.

 

As Stig Leander wrote about the cradle, the link is here:

" The free way in which the cradle moves helps to stimulate the child’s sense of orientation. The sense is in the inner ear and it is not only crucial to our balance. It tells us about the body’s position in relation to the surroundings and about direction and speed so, for example, we know how we should place ourselves when we are to catch a ball. It also helps the brain to sort out the many impressions so we can concentrate better.

The sense of orientation also contributes to strengthening the body’s muscles in relation to balance. If the sense is poorly developed, the child has difficulty sitting on a chair and it can be difficult to concentrate on learning."

I think this cradle is rally something special and in my case was worth all the money, but it is not an essential item. On the other hand, I would put this cradle before any rocking chair or play-blanket, definitely.

BABY ESSENTIALS #TRANSPORTATION

Last Monday I posted a list of BABY ESSENTIAL ITEMS, if you haven't read it, you can find it here.

All the stuff that I suggested was put in different categories by color. I will write something about each categorie, from my personal point of view.

CAR SEAT +0

If you have a car, you will need one. You can find two types, one where the baby is lies down like in a basket, they are more expensive and can be used olny for a shorter period of time. The second one, that we used is the 0+ from birth to 13 kg, or till the cild doesn't grow out of it. 

There is also the Isofix, that should even give more safety, but it can be used olny in newer cars that have some anchorage points, you can check the list here. We didn't have them in our car, so Isofix didn't make it to my baby essential list.

You can find all different brands of car seats, in various price ranges, but before you buy one, go and try it out in the store, compare the models and the prices. I would buy a second-hand car seat olny from a person that I know and the older they are, the more fragile the plastic becomes, so that fact should also be considered. 

STROLLER + BUNDLE BAG or  FOOTMUFF

Whit strollers, there are some many possibilities, but remember BUY ONE THAT WILL SUIT YOUR LIVESTYLE, because you will be using it every day, for two to tree years! So if you walk a lot, like I did, or if you have a dog, like I have, it must be one that is more then just pretty.

I had 5 different strollers from Bugaboo Cameleon, Maclaren Triumpf, Maclaren XL, Maclaren Volo to a Peg Perego Si. A Lascal maxi buggy board was also used. My two children are born 18 moths apart, first in July second in January, so the weather was a factor to think about, when we were buying a stroller.

Today strollers can cost a fortune and it all started with and because of the Bugaboo Cameleon. It was the first stroller with a price tag, that was until then unthinkable high, but when the purchasing boom happened all the other company's followed the trend. And here we are today, with strollers that are costing more the 1000 euros. 

For our way of live, the Bugaboo Cameleon 2, was the best (from all the five strollers that I had and all that I have tried out from friends). I loved it from day one, my girl went home from the hospital with her Bugaboo... then we bought all the other ones, every single one of them was good, but as said the Cameleon was for us the best. Main reason, for me were: 

• basket & seat, not all in one
• easy folding and unfolding
• reclinable and reversible seat
• city and rough terrain wheel position, suitable for sand and snow, really!
• adjusting suspension
• high adjustable handlebar 
• the super big sun canopy
• the only bad thing I found was the brake. 

Today you can also accessories your buggy. I also did, but as I found out, that a product is not giving me any favors, I sold it. The olny things that were used from the start till the end were the Bugaboo footmuff and cup holder. The Bugaboo footmuff can be used from the start till the end off buggy time, they are now also selling a high performance footmuff, which has two detachable covers that can be changed depending on the weather. 

I was also searching for an organizer, something like this, but I couldn't find it, then when it come on the market it wasn't needed anymore. 

DIAPER BAG, I bought it also from Bugaboo, the isolated side pockets practical, everything else wasn't, so it had to go. After that, I just used a canvas bag to put it on or underneath the stroller. It was cheaper, lighter, had a lot of space and was more easy to wash, but if I went somewhere I put it all in my Vuitton Mezzo Piano. 

BABY CARRIER we also used. I bought the Ergo baby carrier with infant insert. A friend told me about it and when I saw it in Austria, I just went home with it. The thing was, that my daughter didn't like it, she was 5 months old to first sit in it. My son, on the other hand loved it from the start, but at the time he was 10 weeks old I saw and felt that there was something wrong. He was the diagnosed with a hypotonia of one body side, so the carier was strictly forbidden from the doctor. 

Note: If the Bugaboo Donkey would been on the market at the time I had my second child, I would definitely bought him, it would save me a lot of nerves.

Baby essentials ...

Mondays will be dedicated to motherhood, so lets start at the beginning, with baby essentials.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was totally overwhelmed with all the baby stuff on the market. I couldn't figure it out, what will my baby and I really need from day one. So now is the time to confess, I made some very bad choices, that cost a lot of money. I should listened to my mom's advice to buy just the essentials, but how, if I didn't know what they where!

So I put together a list of most essential items, by my opinion, that you will need to buy in the first year:

• CAR SEAT +0, if you have a car
• STROLLER with a BUNDLE BAG for the winter, big enough from the first to the last day
• BABY CARRIER if you would like to carry your baby
• DIAPER BAG, to carry around when you need it, you don' have to buy a specific diaper bag, if you have a bag that is the right size and easy accessible, that just it

• CRIB
• MATTRESS
• MATTRESS PAD and 
• two sets of BEDDING
• I would add two BLANKETS, one for the summer and one for the winter, depending where you live

• CHANGING TABLE if you have a table or a dresser high enough use just them and a
• PAD with two
• PAD COVERS

• CLOTHES DIAPERS, they are good for everything, you will see

• DIAPERS, don't buy a lot of them just by one company, try different ones, to find the best for your baby
• WIPES
• RASH CREAM
• ASPIRATOR
• SALINE DROPS
• NAIL CLIPPERS or SCISSORS
• DIGITAL RECTAL THERMOMETER
• TUB if you don't have any suitable bucket
• TOWEL one is enough
• BABY SOAP
• HAIRBRUSH
• TOOTHBRUSH
• TOOTHPASTE

• NURSING PILOW 
• BREAST PUMP
• MILK STORAGE BOTTLES OR BAGS
• LANOLIN NIPPLE CREAM
• NURSING BRAS 
• NURSING SHIRT
• BREAST PADS all if you will breast feed or

• BOTTLES small and big one
• FORMULA MILK
• BRUSH for cleaning the bottles

• PACIFIER/DUMMY or something like GIRAFFE SOPHIE, not all baby's like the classical baby pacifiers

• HIGH CHAIR from 6 months on...
• TRAVEL CRIB if you travel a lot, it can be used as a 
• PLAYPEN
• SAFETY ACCESSORIES, for electrical socket, doors, stairs...

• CLOTHES & co. will get a post of its own as
• BOOKS & TOYS.

Remember, ALL BABIES ARE DIFFERENT.  What is loved by one, will not be liked by the other, so don't buy everything before you get to know your baby. My two little angels, were totally different, as you will see in the upcoming posts, where I will write about specific baby products, that were loved by one or both of them. 

What do you think, did I forget something?