Why I Started Crying in the Fitting Room

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

It’s very, very early in the morning. My husband and I are sitting in our living room, quietly scrolling through our phones. Despite our best efforts to stay positive, cheerful and productive, we have had extraordinarily trying days. We are emotionally and physically wiped.

Part of the stress, I realize, comes from having to pretend that everything is A-okay all freaking day. It’s absolutely not. We’re dealing with work and school and family and finances and self-doubt and clutter and all kinds of other stuff too. I realized today what I needed to do was just sit with the negative feelings, because I was wasting a lot of emotional energy trying to avoid what most people I knew would inevitably say. Continue reading →

Becoming an Adult With the Second Pregnancy

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ 3 Comments

Becoming an Adult With the Second Pregnancy | babydroppings

I don’t know if it’s that I’m weeks away from my thirtieth birthday, or that I’m heavily pregnant with my second child, but I feel my adulthood keenly. When I was 25 years old and expecting my daughter, I felt like I was stepping into this new and exciting phase of my life. This time around, I feel settled, tired, and a bit sore. Or, to quote Bilbo Baggins: “thin, sort of stretched—like butter scraped over too much bread.” Continue reading →

A Shout Out to Step-Daughters

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

A Shout-Out to Step-Daughters | babydroppings

My Mother’s Day started off in the most achingly beautiful way with a text message from my oldest step-daughter, Kayla. She sent me “Happy mother’s day. I love and appreciate you for everything I hope your sunday is awesome!!”

As I read the message over and over, I was transported back to what it felt like to hold her as she dozed off, still only three or four years old. I actually don’t remember how old my girls were when we first met. I just remember being so impressed with, and terrified of, these little tiny people. Continue reading →

Five Pieces of Technology That I Rely On As a Parent

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

Five Tech Hacks That Make Parenting A Little Easier | babydroppings

Every parent in every generation has a different set of tools that they rely upon, and well, technology hasn’t always been kind parents in the 21st-century. Because of the prevalence that screens and other advances have in our lives, we’ve become arguably more disconnected from each other than ever before. However, I can’t pretend that it also hasn’t made my life easier in a lot of really small ways. I catch myself using the same little hacks over and over again to make life a bit more manageable, and they’ve become nearly indispensable in the way I raise my kids. So I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my top five tech-hacks that make parenting a tiny bit easier.

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Peace of Mind with Cord Blood Registry

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

I love a good sale, especially when it’s on something that my family really, really needs. So I had to pop online to share the amazing offer that’s going on for one of my favorite businesses, Cord Blood Registry.

Cord Blood Registry, or CBR, has been around for quite some time. They’re the oldest and most respected cord blood banking system around, with over 800,000 samples stored. When I had Phoenix, almost four years ago, they were really the only show in town. I had never heard of cord blood banking before, and once I understood what it was, I knew it was something I wanted to do for my newborn baby.

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My Daughter Made an Asshole Out of Me

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment
My Daughter Made an Asshole Out of Me | babydroppings
Photo courtesy of Damany Campbell Photography.

I am a naturally affectionate person, and I love my kids like you wouldn’t believe. I was the baby of my family—the youngest out of all my grandmother’s grandchildren—so I never grew up around really little kids (and definitely wasn’t in charge of caring for any of them). So when I had my daughter I was over the moon with affection and oxytocin. I wanted to snuggle her non-stop and smell her little baby head. I knew I would be firm, but gentle. I would listen to her. I would be compassionate and engaged.

As the saying goes…everyone’s a great parent until they have kids.

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Honestly, I’d Rather Starve Than Cook

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

Phoenix & Damany Cooking | babydroppings

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not cook. I just don’t. It’s ironic, really, because for a really really really long time I wanted to open a restaurant. I love and appreciate food, I really do. I’m just…lazy. Plus, I married someone who cooks really well, and if I look pathetic enough, he’ll mostly give in and feed me. Continue reading →

For the Love of All That Is Good, Keep Your Sick Kid at Home

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

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Mommy. Mommy. My head hurts. My knee hurts. My elbow. Mommy. I’m so sorry, Mommy. I don’t feel good. Mommy, it hurrrtttts! No, Mommy, I don’t want it! No, ohhh, my diaper…Mommy.

This has been our soundtrack. For weeks. Not days, weeks. Our little Phoenix came down with the flu a week after the New Year. Fine, we said. She’ll get sick. That’s what happens in school. You know little kids and their germs, right? I even blamed myself, because I had been unsure about whether to get her the flu shot due to all the controversy and some rather vehement opinions from the grandparents.

After two weeks at home, she was excited to go back to school, see her teachers and friends, and get back into her routine. For six days. By the end of the sixth day, she was running a temperature, and the next morning, we were back at the pediatrician. This time, the likely diagnosis is strep. Continue reading →

The 2018 New York Baby Show (Sponsored) (Guest)

~ Allaya P. Cooks-Campbell ~ Leave a comment

NYBS 2018 | babydroppings

Okay, okay. I don’t exactly have a baby anymore–Phoenix is walking, talking and even potty training! That’s why I reached out to my friend Whitney and her lovely family to stop by the New York Baby Show. They’re perfectly adorable and were in the market for all the latest and greatest baby must-haves for their eight-month-old daughter.

Buyer’s remorse? It happens to the best of us, especially for new parents. You have that rabbit hole of the internet, your parents, your friends and even strangers giving you advice on how to raise your child. As a first time mom, I usually second guess if I have bought the right car seat, if there’s a better way to get her to sleep or if the food my baby is eating is the healthiest. This year’s New York Baby Show was the best place to get the scoop on the in’s and out’s of baby gear. Continue reading →