Jessica Tyler

Reality Moms •

Seeing the Forest Through the Trees: Life with Toddlers

We have all heard it before, “the days are long, but the years are short.” Are they? Are they really?? I keep pressing the fast-forward button, but my kid is still three. I hear that three and a half is magical, and that children turn the corner from beast to beauty, but I’m still waiting… I’m kidding of course. Little limit testers that they are, I love my boys more than anything in the world. As everyone keeps telling me, though, we are in the thick of it. Chasing around two boys is insanity.
Denver Moms •

Pumpkin Spice Everything Around Denver - 2019

So, is it safe to say that we’re all loving fall? Have you checked out our favorite area pumpkin patches yet and wandered through a corn maze or two? If you’re like us, you know that with the chill in the air comes all things pumpkin. If you’re a pumpkin spice lover, certainly you’ve been waiting for this moment all year For our friends in the Denver Metro area, here’s your guide to where to find all things pumpkin. Map out your plans now- National Pumpkin Day is October 26! Denver is filled wi
Filter Free Parents •

Trying to "Thrive" Right Now Is Bullsh*t | Filter Free Parents

Wake up. Check email. Walk dog. Break up fight between kids. Prepare son’s school work folder because I was too damn tired last night. Make coffee (AMEN). Make breakfast. Make another breakfast. Change diaper. Log on to computer. Get kids dressed. Conference call. Start online school. Argue with husband. Did I brush my teeth? (Hard no.) Pull on my last pair of clean yoga pants. And these are the days of our lives. I saw a video today on a parenting site featuring a parenting expert. She was h
Hand to Hold •

NICU Parent Perspective: When Depression Rears Its Ugly Head

My appointment reminder goes off and I silence it with a glance. Fifteen minutes until therapy. I swallow the “ugh” ready to come out of my mouth, thinking, “Therapy? No time for that!” This is the inner dialogue every week. Then I spend an hour spilling my guts to my therapist (on video of course, in these times of coronavirus). I’ve been in and out of therapy much of my adult life. Finding times of depression and anxiety, I will seek out a therapist. I begin therapy and go back on antidepress
Sammiches & Psych Meds •

Embracing Being the Okayest Mom Ever During Coronavirus

By Jessica Tyler of I Dream of Naptime Social media during coronavirus is a tricky thing. It’s entertainment and connection. I’m spending more time on there than ever, craving some human (i.e. not married to me) interaction. But in all these hours of scrolling, I’m seeing utter insanity. I see new hobbies. Insane fitness challenges. Home makeovers. Kondo-ing the crap out of all the things. Cooking and baking 24-7. Two-a-day workouts. Questions about “what do I do with all this free time?” And
Sammiches & Psych Meds •

No One Died Today and That’s Good Enough

Wake up. Check email. Walk dog. Break up fight between kids. Prepare son’s school work folder because I was too damn tired last night. Make coffee (AMEN). Make breakfast. Make another breakfast. Change diaper. Log on to computer. Get kids dressed. Conference call. Start online school. Argue with husband. Did I brush my teeth? (Hard no.) Pull on my last pair of clean yoga pants. Rinse & repeat. And these are the days of our lives…
Raise Magazine •

How Are You Celebrating Easter This Year? •

Easter is on Sunday. Don’t feel bad, it snuck up on me, too. I’ve been so focused on work/crisis homeschooling/new not-quite-normal that I forgot it was even happening until a few days ago. Since we don’t have family close by, I always work to make the holidays special. Big meals, lots of decorations, fanfare. My first instinct was to go even bigger this year. My poor kids are trapped at home, they can’t see their friends or go to school. This needs to be the BEST EASTER EVER! And then I rememb
Reality Moms •

Learning to Work From Home in the Time of Coronavirus

It’s been several weeks since school closed for…EVER and my husband started working from home. Isolation is wearing on us all. People (ahem, not me) are forgetting to brush their teeth. My husband just asked me what our zip code is…and I had to start picture schedules for all three of the males in the house—my three-year-old, my five-year-old and my 44-year old. I’m a work from home (WFH) pro. I’ve done it for almost 10 years now. For those of you who aren’t so well-versed in WFH culture, here
Reality Moms •

Learning to Work From Home in the Time of Coronavirus

It’s been several weeks since school closed for…EVER and my husband started working from home. Isolation is wearing on us all. People (ahem, not me) are forgetting to brush their teeth. My husband just asked me what our zip code is…and I had to start picture schedules for all three of the males in the house—my three-year-old, my five-year-old and my 44-year old. I’m a work from home (WFH) pro. I’ve done it for almost 10 years now. For those of you who aren’t so well-versed in WFH culture, here

Perhaps This is the Moment

My son’s school has a sign out front that has information about upcoming activities or on occasion, an inspirational quote. I usually give it a brief glance and move on. One day last month, it was updated to say, “perhaps you have been created for this moment.” It stuck with me, and I found myself inspired to rise to the occasion. This moment. But what was my moment? Life was very status quo, so I wasn’t sure. Enter coronavirus. A terribly challenging time, for sure. But what if it’s also our m
Hand to Hold •

NICU PTSD in the Time of Coronavirus

When Ben was in the NICU, I would wake up in the morning and for a moment everything was fine. For a brief second as I woke, I would forget. Then suddenly, my world would come crashing down, and I would remember where I was, and where he was. Reality would set in. We were in the NICU for sixteen days, but that brief hospital stay changed our lives forever. It changed me. When we arrived home, we worked to develop a new routine. We juggled early intervention therapies, parenting a newborn & a to
Reality Moms •

Finding a Calm Amidst the Corona-chaos

Last night, we received the email I’d been anticipating but still dreading. School is out for the next two weeks. Beyond that, I’m not overly confident we will re-start but that remains to be seen. Until now, COVID-19 or the coronavirus was something I saw on the news. I shopped a bit, preparing for the worst-case scenario but thinking I was a longshot. It made me feel better, protected. If I had the supplies, I wouldn’t need them. Schools are closing. People are struggling to figure out how t
Reality Moms •

Finding a Calm Amidst the Corona-chaos

Last night, we received the email I’d been anticipating but still dreading. School is out for the next two weeks. Beyond that, I’m not overly confident we will re-start but that remains to be seen. Until now, COVID-19 or the coronavirus was something I saw on the news. I shopped a bit, preparing for the worst-case scenario but thinking I was a longshot. It made me feel better, protected. If I had the supplies, I wouldn’t need them. Schools are closing. People are struggling to figure out how t
Raise Magazine •

A Mother’s Transition From Early Intervention To An IEP •

My son, Ben, recently turned three, marking an exit from the terrible two’s. Spoiler alert: threenagers are a real thing. His birthday also marked his graduation from Early Intervention Therapy (EI). Ben was referred to EI to help him reach developmental milestones when he was discharged from the NICU, and his team of therapists have been a part of our lives ever since. They became our extended family. As Ben’s birthday approached, we wondered if he would qualify for the next level of therapies
Wolf + Friends •

Early Intervention To An IEP

It seems like just yesterday that our Service Coordinator & Occupational Therapist came to our house for our initial Early Intervention (EI) meeting. I blinked my eyes and my son’s third birthday is staring me in the face. Three! Turning three means a lot of things. One, a fabulous party because, birthdays. Two, the end of the terrible two’s and on to the three-angers. Three, the end of Early Intervention. For the last few years, Early Intervention therapies have been a part of our daily life.
Denver Moms •

Denver Area Christmas and Holiday Events - The ULTIMATE Guide

The Christmas and holiday season is officially upon us in the Denver metro area, and we’ve got the guide to help you and yours get the most merriment out of this season! Check out our 2019 Ultimate Guide to Christmas and Holiday Events Around Denver! If you’re looking for something family friendly, and fun to do — we’ve got the ultimate guide! To make planning your family fun a little easier, we’ve created posts to help you find exactly what you’re looking for! Each of the below images will tak
Raise Magazine •

Life After The NICU •

Our time in the NICU was almost three years ago now. In recent months, I’ve finally started to breathe again. Benjamin is preparing to start preschool, something that we were told might never happen. I’ve thrown the crystal ball away and watched it shatter, taking away the fear of “what if.” There is a security in the passing of time and the strength of my sweet son. We work with what comes, some extra needs, but we work with them with a new team, and the strong spirit of a tiny warrior.
Reality Moms •

I'm A Pinterest Fail Mom When It Comes to Halloween

We have a countdown on the wall in our kitchen. We update it every morning, counting down the days until Halloween. For the boys, it’s a reminder of the days left until we gorge on candy and run around the neighborhood, laughing and sprinting from house to house. When I was a kid, my mom made me a costume every year. There was only one year my entire life that I had a costume from the store. Every other year, she spent hours with me at the craft store picking patterns, then bent over her sewing
Denver Moms •

Denver Area Pumpkin Spice Everything - 2019

So, is it safe to say that we’re all loving fall? Have you checked out our favorite area pumpkin patches yet and wandered through a corn maze or two? If you’re like us, you know that with the chill in the air comes all things pumpkin. If you’re a pumpkin spice lover, certainly you’ve been waiting for this moment all year! For our friends in the Denver Metro area, here’s your guide to where to find all things pumpkin. Map out your plans now- National Pumpkin Day is October 26! Denver is filled w
Reality Moms •

I'm A Pinterest Fail Mom When It Comes to Halloween

We have a countdown on the wall in our kitchen. We update it every morning, counting down the days until Halloween. For the boys, it’s a reminder of the days left until we gorge on candy and run around the neighborhood, laughing and sprinting from house to house. When I was a kid, my mom made me a costume every year. There was only one year my entire life that I had a costume from the store. Every other year, she spent hours with me at the craft store picking patterns, then bent over her sewing
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