Can I make a confession? I love junk food. There, I said it. I love chips and cookies and crackers. I love pizza and french fries and tacos. I’m a real junk-food-junkie. Eating well is not easy for me.

I’ve tried hard to develop healthy eating habits over the years. It’s just not something that comes naturally to me, no matter how badly I want to be healthy. Luckily, I’ve figured out some simple ways to make eating healthfully easier, even when it feels really really hard.

Make no mistake, though. There is no silver bullet for those junk food cravings. It’s still a challenge for me, even when I’m at my best. But these little tricks do help make it easier for me, and I hope they’ll help you too.

When I had my first baby, I thought breastfeeding would be a breeze. I mean, our bodies are made for this, right?! And my daughter started nursing right away with no problem. All the nurses and the lactation consultant at the hospital went on and on about how wonderful she was doing, especially since she was born via c-section. Little did I know, breastfeeding can be quite challenging, even if you get off to a great start.

Around the 4 month mark, my milk supply started to decrease. I *thankfully* was able to increase my supply enough to continue to breastfeed exclusively for a while longer. But my supply went up and down after that and I had to start supplementing with formula when my daughter was around 6 months old. And I now know what the problem was. I wasn’t taking very good care of myself.

Two babies later, and I’ve learned to put self care at the top of my priority list. I’m sharing my best tips today with support from Ergobaby who sponsored this post.

I’m so happy to have my blogging friend, Alison, as a guest today. She writes over at Tickling the Wheat and has some awesome posts on personal finance and budgeting. She has a very intentional approach to budgeting that actually helps you accomplish your goals. And since part of my 2016:Year of Intention is to be more intentional with our family budget, I thought I’d ask Alison share her method for starting a budget!

When you think about budgeting, do you get a little pit in your stomach? Maybe you know you need to start a budget, but the thought of restricting your spending (no more dining out?!?) fills you with dread. Or, maybe your spending isn’t the problem. Instead, you have an overwhelming amount of bills that you need to pay and your finances are stretched too thin.

I can hardly believe that my new little guy was born 2 weeks ago. Where does the time go??? It is amazing to me how this little person is instantly a part of our little family, as if he’s been around for ages. It’s funny how starting all over with a newborn makes you feel like a brand new mom again. You’d think that once you get to baby number three, you’d sort of have this whole motherhood gig figured out!

So there I was, going on about my business cooking dinner, when my 3-year-old walks in with her big blue eyes and a very proud smile on her face. “Here, mommy! I brought you your phone!” she says. And my heart broke a little.

I mean, no one wants to be that mom, do they? The kind of mom whose phone is a permanent accessory. The kind of mom whose kid doesn’t recognize her without her phone in her hands. The kind of mom whose kid thinks the way to her heart is to present her with her cell phone.