Parenting Archives – Jamieson Diaries

Natural Hairstyles for Kids

March 27, 2019 Comments : 3

How many of you or your children are on the natural hair journey? Taking care of natural hair can be a chore in itself, but it’s worth the work. My daughter started paying more attention to her hairstyles about a year ago. After I braided her hair she ran to the bathroom mirror to admire her hair and tell herself how beautiful she looks. This is when I decided to have a little more fun and switch her hairstyles up every week.

I post Jordyn’s new hairstyles on social media (Facebook and Instagram) on Mondays. The more styles I post the more people are interested in the hairstyles. On numerous occasions people have recreated the styles on their little ones and told me how much they love them. This is when I decided to keep track of her hairstyles to share with other parents for ideas.Read More

All Posts, Dear Diary, Family Love

Happy New Year!

January 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

Happy first Friday of 2018! We’re five days into the new year, and it’s already been a busy start for the Jamieson household. Being a military family always means constant changes in family life and schedules. However, this year, the changes will be a little more drastic considering we’re adding another baby girl to the Jamieson clan on, April 22nd! Yes, I am currently six months pregnant, with one very active and extremely loved baby girl named, Riley. We found out in late August about my pregnancy, shared the news with loved ones in October, and had our gender reveal in December.

As if my pregnancy isn’t enough change for the new year, the hubby will be gone for the first three months of this year for various work activities. The great news about the hubby is, he is officially Tech Sergeant Jamieson. He sewed on his new rank the 1st of this year. Hopefully, this new rank will finally bring us orders to an exciting state, this year. (Preferably orders to the DMV area. Prayers are definitely appreciated!)

The last few months of 2017 brought a lot of events and growth for, Jordyn. She is 90% potty trained (only wears pull-up to bed), was a flower girl in her godfather’s wedding, and started playing organized sports for the first time. She played soccer followed by basketball. Although she enjoyed both, it was very evident Jordyn is a “hands on” type of athlete, so she enjoyed basketball more. She’s extremely excited to be a big sister and hugs/kisses “baby Riley” all the time. She likes to ask in the sweetest voice “can I give baby Riley a kiss and hug?” Melts my heart every single time. Her vocabulary is quite extensive, she’s unbelievably intelligent for her age, and she’s turning into such an independent (head strong) child. I don’t know where the time is going, but I wish it would slow down just a little bit.

If I’m honest, this pregnancy hasn’t been the easiest. Especially considering how easy my pregnancy was with Jordyn. Riley, not so much. Ha! Kris and I have known for a while that we would only want two (biological) kids, so we knew this baby would be our last (planned- lol) pregnancy. I think Riley was listening because she’s making sure this last pregnancy is memorable LOL. However, no matter the amount of nausea, sciatica nerve pain, or tiredness, as long as Riley continues to grow healthy and strong, I’ll continue to be thankful for every second of this pregnancy and this baby girl.

With all of the craziness happening this year, I wrote my goals down, and broke them up into three categories for more organization, and easier accountability. Personal, financial, and blogging/business goals. I made a vision board for the second year in a row, but I hung this year’s vision board up in my living-room to consistently see for motivation on those days I need an extra push. The one goal that directly relates to you all, my readers, is my consistency with publishing posts and being active on social media. It is easy to get caught up in everyday life and lose sight of passions dear to us, but I’m going to actively be and do better, for all of you, but myself especially.

My hope and prayer for all of us this new year is to change and excel in ways we once upon a time didn’t think possible. Whether it’s expanding your family, taking better care of your health, repairing a broken relationship with a loved one, getting a promotion, having the courage to quit that job you’ve always hated, starting your own business, moving out-of-state etc. Let 2018 be the year you do so. We have a brand new, clean slate, year and should use this time wisely. Life is too short to not be the best version of ourselves.

Happy New Year to all of you and I look forward to this year of blogging and journeying with all of you!

All Posts, Dear Diary, Travel

Vacation Checklist for Toddlers

April 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

Exactly one week from today we will be landing in sunny California for some much-needed family and friends time. I’ve been counting down this vacation since we booked the tickets a few months ago. We have so many great events planned out and restaurants to try for the first time. I haven’t been to California in a few years so this will be a nice refresher. Especially since I’ll be going to a few places in California for the first time. Example: San Diego.Read More

All Posts, Dear Diary, Family Love

Valentine’s Day 2016

February 15, 2016 Leave a Comment

Happy Monday everyone! It is the day after Valentine’s Day, and I hope this past weekend was a great start to your week. If you’re one of the lucky folks, you have today off for, President’s Day. We had a very simple but perfect Valentine’s Day weekend. We decided to go to dinner on Saturday evening to avoid the crowd on the actual day, and not only was the food good, but a couple we met while in line waiting for our food paid for our meal. I’m still smiling due to their enormously sweet gesture towards two strangers. We bought them a bottle of wine to thank them for their generousity. They insisted it wasn’t necessary but we wanted to let them know how much we appreciated what they did for our little family. They shared and spread more love to others and that is what Valentine’s Day is all about.

On Sunday we decided to hang out and relax as a family. One of my husband’s favorite foods is cinnamon rolls so I decided to make him some, from scratch, using a recipe I found on Pinterest. They turned out super yummy and took SO long to make! But he was happy and that made me happy. He bought Jordyn a teddy bear and a pink soccer ball for her Valentine’s Day gifts and she LOVED them. When she saw her ball in his hands, her face lit up, and she yelled “BALL”! It was absolutely adorable. Jordyn made her Dad a beautiful canvas painting with her hand prints and message saying “I <3 DAD” for his gift. Dad loved it. 🙂

Later that evening we went to the community center on base to play some basketball, and run around the gym with Jordyn, before we came back home to make/eat a homemade heart shaped pizza, and watch a movie together.

I got my Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby earlier this morning when I went to a local spa/salon to have a two hour, Caribbean Spa Treatment, done. I can’t think of a word strong enough to explain how amazing this treatment was so I’ll just use GLORIOUS. It was a much needed and much appreciated Valentine’s Day gift from the hubby. He is the best.

Whether you spent the holiday with a significant other, friends, family, or even by yourself, I hope you felt and shared love in the process. Valentine’s Day is all about love and there is more than one way to love, show love, and spread love. I hope you are all recharged and enjoying your evening. Have a happy rest of your day and even though it still isn’t Valentine’s Day, tell someone you love them, today.

Brie <3

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All Posts, Dear Diary

Black History Our History

February 1, 2016 Leave a Comment

Today is February 1st, 2016, which means it is officially the first day of Black History Month. As a Black woman who has gone through life being taught to celebrate every aspect of what makes me different from everyone else, it’s a month long celebration I both enjoy and will always believe is much needed. If you’ve been paying attention to anything regarding the media in the last year or so, you have without a doubt seen much talk about race, and specifically what it means to be Black in this country. We don’t even need to go in detail of how critical this years presidential race has been in proving racism being an issue. As nasty as some people can be hiding behind their keyboards, talking about race and what makes us different, and causes us to lead different lifestyles, with different opportunities, is a LONG overdue discussion. There will always be people who immediately go on the defense when discussing racism. Then there are those who have expanded their minds enough to want to talk about it, and learn as much as they can to make the people around them feel comfortable.

However, to those of you who get uncomfortable when talking about anything racially related, I challenge you to learn how to be comfortable talking about race starting this month. You would be amazed how enlightening it will be for you and your friends when you sit down and have intelligent but passionate conversation about uncomfortable topics. The biggest lesson I hope all non-people of color (and people of color) take from Black History Month this year is the understanding that celebration does not equal exclusion. I have plenty of friends, who are not Black, who enjoy and celebrate Black culture the same way they celebrate their culture(s). You don’t have to be Black, or a person of color, to pick up a book or research: Black activists, actors/actresses, doctors, inventors, musicians, politicians, teachers etc. and learn what contributions they made to this country that directly effect you every single day. Your eyes will also be opened to learning there are more to Black people, and we have contributed so much more than slavery, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to America as our history books have taught us since elementary school.

My challenge to people of color this Black History Month is to take the time to teach your children about the thousands of amazing Black people who have done amazing things in this country. We can no longer use the excuse of school not teaching our children when the information plus more is available at our finger tips to teach them ourselves. As parents and guardians, we are our children’s first teachers, and we should be teaching them to celebrate and understand the bravery and sacrifice those before us endured to get us where we are, today. Have your children read a book, or go to a museum, to teach them about people such as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Du Bois. How else will the children learn about their history if we don’t teach them what isn’t taught at school? Which is almost everything about Black History -_-.

To those of you who know me, you know I am a person who has family members and friends every shade of the rainbow. I love the people in my life, and to love them I celebrate the important aspects of their lives which makes them who they are. I expect the same in return, and one of the largest parts of being, Brienne Jamieson, is being a Black woman. Don’t tell me you’re “colorblind” or “you don’t see race“, because you are denying a large part of ME. If you move to, or visit, another country you want people to know you’re an American, right? Or on the flip side, if someone from another country moves to America we don’t expect them to reject their heritage, and all of a sudden call them selves an American do we? No. So think about these examples next time you tell someone you’re colorblind. Don’t let my Blackness, or anyone else’s Blackness, make you uncomfortable. Instead, see us for who we are and join in the beauty, celebration, and struggle, of being close to someone who loves her heritage. In turn we get to celebrate one another through our differences and similarities year round.

Happy Black History Month everybody.

Always remember Black History is Our History.

Brie <3

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All Posts, Dear Diary

January Goals Accomplished!

January 31, 2016 Leave a Comment

At the beginning of the year I shared a post outlining 12 goals I am striving to accomplish every month of 2016. Click here to read the post if you haven’t already. As of earlier today, I have accomplished all 12 of my goals for the month of January with one day to spare! Yeah, go me! I will share a picture of each goal for the month of January below.

Date Night:

While my Mother in law was in town the husband and I went on a few date nights this month so that was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of us at a stop light on our way to see the Hateful Eight for a day time date. 🙂

New Recipe:

I follow the Tasty page on Facebook and decided to make the shepherds pie stuffed baked potatoes for my new recipe to try for dinner. It was an instant hit and I’ve made it twice this month for dinner!

DIY Project:

I actually almost forgot to do my DIY for this month, but thankfully earlier today I was bored and decided to do one anyway. How about that timing? I re-purposed an old t-shirt I never wear into a workout shirt.

Twitter Chat:

Thanks to a good friend who is a social media strategist I learned about the “My Creative Connection” monthly twitter chat. Not only did I love the Q&A but I learned so much from the first chat to help better my blog and brand. They do this #BlkCreatives chat on the second Monday of every month. It’s safe to say they have a loyal monthly chat customer now. 🙂

Natural Hair Style:

This month I did a nice and easy, wash n’ go, natural hair style but it looked great! It has been my favorite wash n’ go result thus far. Talk about a selfie worthy hair style. 😉

Periscope Cooking Broadcast:

I did my first ever Periscope broadcast (@BrienneJamieson) for cooking. The first meal I shared on Periscope was my yummy Potato Corn & Bacon Chowder. I know it’s yummy because my family loves it and I have gotten some excellent reviews from fellow followers and readers who have tried it out. Thanks again to those of you who watched and tried the recipe!

Nail Color:

I have a drawer filled with nail polishes I haven’t worn in over a yea,r or ever, for that matter. I decided to try one of the colors I have never worn before. It’s called Russian Navy by OPI and I loooove it! I had to show it off with my lovely workout gloves while at the gym haha.

New Book:

The book I read this month was The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I love Jodi as an author so it shouldn’t come as a surprise how much I enjoyed this book, but I was still impressed and emotionally drawn in. If you are looking for a tragic yet relatable book to read I highly recommend this one.

Jordyn Activity:

Although Jordyn and I play and have fun all day everyday, I made it a point to do something each month that we’ve never done before. This month we built our first “fort” and we both had a great time eating snacks and watching TV/movies. It was the perfect cold and snowy day to do so too. 🙂

Workout Reward:

I made a commitment of having to workout at least 20 days of each month in order to reach my post baby body goals AND buy myself a reward of $25 or less to keep me motivated. As of Friday night I hit my goal which gives me two off days before starting again on Monday for the month of February. I was happy to achieve this goal!

The last two goals of the month were performing a random act of kindness and doing something nice for my husband. I didn’t take pictures of either of these “acts” because 1) I didn’t even remember to do so at the time and 2) some things don’t have to be shared through pictures. However, I will share what I did for each. While out running errands, and buying dinner for the family, I randomly decided to stop and buy some pizzas for the cops who guard the gate on base. It put smiles on their faces which made me super happy. For my husband, while out running those same errands, he had accidentally broken one of his PS4 controllers earlier that day. I bought him a card that very sweetly said “I love you” in mushy card ways and I put a Game Stop gift card in it. It made him smile and tell me how much he appreciates me so I think he loved it. Making people smile always makes me smile and that’s what it’s all about.

What goals did you set for yourself in the month of January? Did you accomplish them? If so, congratulations and I hope you have a great February as well. If not, what can you do to make sure you adjust and execute for the month of February? Feel free to share below.

Have a great Saturday evening and rest of your weekend everyone!

Brie <3

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All Posts, Family Love

Jordyn Denise: 1 Year 6 Months

December 19, 2015 Leave a Comment

Today my not-so-little cutie pie munchkin is officially a year and half old. We went to her 18 month check-up and her pediatrician was quite impressed with how advanced she is for her age group. As a mother, you always feel you are biased in saying how amazing your child is doing, so it feels great to hear her pediatrician reassure you that you are doing an a-okay job.

She has perfected the words: please, thank you, up, down, sit and calm down (when yelling at Ares), Mom, Dad, eye, nose, mouth, and teeth. When counting numerically she knows the numbers three, five, six, seven, eight, and nine. When saying our abc’s she knows a,b,c,d,e…and then she’s over it haha. Oh, and Daddy so sweetly slipped up and said the word “SH*T” in front of her on Halloween night…as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now…Jordyn added that word to her extensive vocabulary as well. Mama wasn’t very happy about this. She hasn’t said it in about a week or so. Cross your fingers that she’s forgotten it with all the new words she’s been learning recently!

Jordyn still loves to dance (she even dances to the vacuum cleaner sound LOL) and still loves her doggie. Grandma Toni has been out here spending the holidays with us, and Jordyn has become her shadow. She wants to be with Grandma Toni ALL THE TIME. Mama doesn’t mind at all either because it has been nice to get a break!

With all of this advanced learning has come advanced attitude -_-. She went through a “spitting when mad” phase that we ended pretty quickly with time-outs and “pow-pows” lol. Now that she isn’t allowed to spit, she yells at us when we tell her “no” or to stop doing something. I can already see her teenage years are going to be a blast in the Jamieson household!

She’s still very much so a daddy’s girl and it’s only gotten worse. I’m pretty sure most days she thinks I’m just the live-in cook and maid. Whatever, maybe one day I’ll be her favorite again haha. Until then I’ll keep enjoying every second I get to spend with my Princess. I have so much fun with her and I’m excited for what the future holds in store for this amazing little human being. I’ll be back in a few more months for another Jordyn update. We love you guys! <3

Brie <3

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