I was interviewed

Here are 5 questions that I was asked by my friend Liz. This sort of interview has been going around in the blogs I follow recently so I asked to be interviewed too. Here are the 5 questions she came up with.

1) Braeden seems like such a happy little guy. I really enjoy getting peeks into your life with him. As you are expecting number 2, are there any major things that you are going to change in how you parent this next wee member of your family? If so, what are they?

Well parenting this next one is going to be quite different because I will be doing it alone this time. Mark has been with us 100 percent of the time since the end of June which has been so awesome. It does mean big changes for both Braeden and myself! I am worried about how he will adjust with Daddy working AND a new sibling! We are working on trying to get him to be a bit more independent right now and with this new babe...he/she will be a lil more independent I think just because Mark won't be there and it will be normal parenting circumstances to deal with. House needs cleaning and meals need making and with only one person to do it you can't be with the baby all the time so that will be one major change and all I can think of at this time!

2) Your family recently made a big move across the country. What are the big things that you appreciate about living out East?

The space and beauty! I love that my children are going to have lots of room to roam around and be free. Also, Mark's family are almost all within 3 hours away which means the kids will grow up with lots of love surrounding them. I am very thankful for that although I do feel extremely guilty for taking that away from my family out West, especially my Mom and sister who absolutely adore my son.

3) I know you have Rocco, and I thought I heard mention of another puppy, but maybe it was just a visiting puppy. Also, I don't remember hearing what happened to the owl you used to have. Animals!! What kinds of advice would you give to new parents who already have pets in their families, or to parents who want to introduce a pet in their home?

Well, we have a border collie who is mostly an outside dog, and we have Rocco who used to be very much our 'baby'. I would say that you need to do the introducing slowly and make sure that you still spend time with your pet so they don't feel too jealous (can't be helped completely) as they get used to the new family member. Don't get mad at them, try to include them as much as possible. That worked well with Rocco and now they are friends! In the early days they just didn't pay much attention to eachother after the initial meetings but now they play :)

4) There are so many delightful and trying moments, in the daily life as a Mom, what is the best part of your daily routine?

The best part of my routine...honestly I love it all! True, the temper tantrums and lack of sleep do get to you but they are totally made up for in the mornings as you have quiet snuggling time and during the day when you are playing and discovering new things and in the evenings when you are reading books and again snuggling. So the best part for me is the snuggling. My son is such a sweet lil guy. I love him so much and am so proud of him!

5) I don't know if we have discussed this, or not, but I'm curious... Where do you find that you get your parenting perspective? What "system" (if you can even try to adopt a system as a parent) do you think you, as a parent, follow?

That's a hard one. I don't know what system exactly but I would say that I am strict with love? I try not to enable any bad behaviors like temper tantrums and such and reward the good behaviors. I am hands on in my approach. But no one is more hands on than his Daddy! I have never been so proud of him and felt so much loveas I do when I see him with his son! It's positively beautiful! Hope this kinda sorta answers the question!

Thanks for the questions Liz!

If anyone else who has a blog wishes to be 'interviewed' let me know and i will ask you some questions :) it's a fun way to get to know more about your friends!