Mom Life Feature: Katie @kemperfam

Meet Katie, Aussie Mom (or Mum if you're Aussie) living in British Columbia, Canada with her hubster and two kidlets April (turning 5 in July) and Micah (3 1/2 yrs).

About Katie

Katie owns Kaye Kemp Book Polishing and works with (mostly fiction) authors to edit their books so they are the best stories they can be.

Katie says, "I guess it all started with my love of books, a bit of fangirling (if I’m really honest), and a mild (just kidding, it’s pretty extreme) obsession with the English language. I started the business because I loved working with manuscripts and the authors. I love the interesting stories and ideas and (of course) the romance that these incredibly creative authors come up with."

"I’ve been a lot of things: a missionary, a dancer, a bookkeeper, a youth worker, a Mum of a little Insta model, a secretary, and now an editor. I love reading, looking after my (kind of enormous) houseplant collection, hiking, lying on the beach, and tea."

On Motherhood

Motherhood is about loving my kids and raising them to be the best people they can be. They are my legacy, my biggest contribution to the world. Teaching them to be kind, to love, to view and treat every single person as someone who is valuable and worthy of love is my goal.

I love seeing my children love each other. Their friendship is everything. I love that they are so free with their affection with each other, with me, with my hubster. Their giggles are my favourite sound in the world.

Pre-conceived ideas

Some, but I don’t think my ideas were unrealistic, if that makes sense? Or my ideas turned out to be worse than the real thing.

Most Challenging Time

So April was a demon child for the first nine weeks. Like right from her first night on the planet. She screamed non-stop that first night home from the hospital, and I sat in the spare room with her on my chest screaming with tears running down my face wondering if I was actually cut out for motherhood. Two weeks into her life and she still wouldn’t sleep unless I was rocking her and only for about 30 minutes at a time. I’m not going to lie, I kind of hated her, and I hated myself for even thinking that.

Thankfully, one of my friends told me about sleep training. I know not everyone is on board with it or even likes the idea of it, but I was at the end of my rope. I was not being a good wife, a good mother, or even a good person. I was sleep-deprived, unhappy, and pretty much a wreck. I should probably say here too that my hubster suffers from a chronic illness. Because of his illness, he can’t miss sleep or he can’t function during the day (aka work). So a majority of the childcare and housework is my responsibility.

Anyway, we got the book “Save Our Sleep” by Tizzie Hall and I studied it like it was going to save my life (which it basically did). Then we put April on the schedule for her age. It took two weeks and a lot of tears (hers and mine), but it worked. From 12 weeks on, April slept straight through the night (7pm-7am).

On Baby Advice

I think the best advice given to me was to trust my Mum instincts when it came to my own children.

I had suspicions that something was wrong with my son (he wasn’t speaking even at two and we had a lot of issues breastfeeding), but I was dismissed by our doctor at the time and several child health nurses (they told me that it was just because he was a second child and a boy). I finally asked a new doctor to check him for a tongue tie (he was 2.5 at this point), and sure enough, he had a significant tongue tie. He ended up having to go into full surgery to have it released because it wasn’t checked when he was a baby.

Katie's advice to a first-time Mom

Don’t isolate yourself. Find a tribe. Keep your friends and family as close as you can. They are your lifeline. Also, babies can sleep through the night from as early as 8 weeks. You don’t have to go through your child’s first year too tired to function and enjoy it.

Top Baby Must-Haves

• The book “Save Our Sleep” by Tizzie Hall
• The Koala Hugs newborn wrap and Sleepy Hugs sleep suits from Baby Loves Sleep
• The organic cotton Kippin comforters from Kippins.co

On Discovering Baby Loves Sleep

It was about the time when April was around 12 weeks old that I was introduced to Baby Loves Sleep, when Malou the founder of Baby Loves Sleep asked if April would be a brand rep. April was one of the first babies to use (and model) the Sleepy Hugs sleep sack, and boy was it a game changer. I still recommend it to all of my new-mum friends.

I have used all the Baby Loves Sleep products except the toddler range (they came out after my kids had grown out of them). Which is my fave? I can’t decide between the Hands In & Out sleep sacks or the Koala Hugs newborn wraps - both are fantastic products and I wish I’d had the wrap when April was first born like I did for Micah.

Where You Will Find This Awesome Mama
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kkbookpolishing
Instagram:www.instagram.com/kemperfam