Friday, June 29, 2012
4th Of July Food And Decorations
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
1 1/2 Years Later..FINISHED!
The day finally came, J graduated from his MBA program. I couldn't be more proud, or selfishly happier for myself to have him back! These past 1 1/2 years were hard not having him around as a hubby, and these past 6 weeks as a daddy. Let me just say, I have been soaking in the time with him. Having him here at night and weekends without having to share him is incredible. Whats not so incredible? All of the sudden having to cook dinner again every night! After all that time of only cooking a few nights a week, and even then sometimes less if he was studying late...its a transition;) But I am loving every second of having him back, and so is Braylen! That baby loves his daddy.
We celebrated with the rest of his class at a nice steak house this past weekend, and it was so great. The most incredible part were the speeches. While all other classmates were raising their glasses to themselves and their classmates, he made a speech raising his glass to me and all of the other spouses. He thanked me for my support and said how proud and in love he was. I was a crying mess!!! How did I end up with this man?! Here we were heading out for the night:
Don't be fooled by the dress though, this is more of what I look like on a daily basis these days:
Yep, thats poop. I was wearing him in the Ergo and it was my first day of cloth diapering him. Clearly I didn't have the fit right!! Still trying to figure it out!
So, what does this mean for the blog you wonder? Lots! Lots of projects in the future!!!! We are going to be back full swing. I am still trying to fully figure out this whole motherhood thing, but now that he is finished, projects will be happening with or without me:) Can't wait to share with y'all as we go along. Thanks for being so supportive this whole time with me not posting as much. I truly have missed y'all. If you want to have more peeks in to our daily lives, you can always follow me on Instagram: DreamBookDesign. For now, here is our little sweetie:
Neither of them are too sure of each other;)
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Vintage Pant Hangers
We finally got in the mail our vintage pant hangers and I am so excited! The only delay now is just waiting to have a mini photo shoot with the ever so talented Melissa Young. The photo shoot of Braylen and I was a blast, but we really want J in some of the photos! Once that shoot is done, we are going to choose 2-4 photos for the wall. I kind of want at least one of the hangers to have either a quote or verse hanging from it, but mainly photos.
For those of you wondering what exactly these look like, here are some great examples:
via
via
The hangers are going to go on the walls beside the dresser/changing table:
The crib skirt fabric is also ordered, but unfortunately on back order until mid-July. It is honestly driving me nuts looking at the crib without a skirt. It makes everything look so bare! Soon enough though. Besides, baby boy isn't even sleeping in his room yet, still with us! I'll leave y'all with a quick shot of the little man in the Fathers Day card I made for J...pretty sure he was pooping in the last one;)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
1st Month Mama Necessities
Last week I shared with y'all the things that I really found helpful in the first month of Braylens life, and now this is the list of things that helped me immensely. When I say me, I mean either physically helped me, or physically helped Braylen, which in turn helps me:) Hope you find this list useful.
1. Baby Connect Iphone App- Listen people- if you are anything like me {aka type A/worry wart} this app will be your best friend. Every time I feed Braylen I use the timer function on it. This way I can see exactly how long each feeding {even on each side} was, and it puts it all in to charts. Charts that show you timing, charts that show side differences, time differences, etc. You can also track dirty diapers, sleeping habits, doctors visits, everything. I love recording all of our doctor visits with his stats in it as well. ALSO- if you are having to use day care, or your hubby watches the baby a lot, there can be multiple users for the account. Such a great way to keep track of the babys day between care givers. I honestly can't say enough great things about this..GET IT!
2. Motorola Baby Monitor- This is one of the top video monitors on the market, hands down. The clarity of the picture- day or night- is impeccable. You can scan the camera from ceiling to floor and side to side. You can zoom in. You can make the camera play music just by hitting a button on your screen. You can talk to the baby through your screen. This thing rocks. Also, when more kids come along, you can have multiple cameras used with your one screen, instead of having to buy more monitors.
3. On Becoming Baby Wise- I'll just say this, Braylen isn't a born sleeper. Some babies are, mine is not. BUT this past weekend {at 5 weeks and a few days} he starting sleeping 5 1/2-6 hours at night. And he takes four 1 1/2-2 hour naps every day. True story. Also, if you want to do something like Babywise but dont feel comfortable with all the aspects of it {like crying it out,etc.} take what you want from it, and leave the rest!
4. BP Nordstrom Tank Tops- these tanks are fabulous because they are super soft, long, and stretchy. When you are whipping out your boob 7-8 times a day, you don't want to have to be messing with taking a shirt off, holding it up, etc. I love them, especially because I got mine at Last Chance for $2 each:)
5. Motherlove Nipple Cream- For the first couple of weeks breastfeeding hurts. Those people that say it shouldn't hurt at all as long as you have a good latch are full of crap. I'm sorry but I don't normally have someone sucking on me for 2+ hours a day normally, so it hurt in the beginning. This cream is fabulous..and natural. You can totally put it on, and if the baby needs to eat soon after, its fine. No need to be concerned about them having it.
6. Wine..any wine will do;)- Enough said. Just make sure to drink it wisely.
7. Bamboobies- These are fabulous. You can obviously go the route of disposable nursing pads, but you won't need to if you have these. They are supe thin, super absorbent, and cute. I mean, they are heart shaped! Unless you are wearing the thinest bra and shirt known to man, you won't be able to see it through your clothes. Best part, you wash them and reuse them. A million times. And never have to spend more money buying disposable. Good for you+good for your wallet+good for the environment=perfection.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Thursday, June 14, 2012
1st Month Necessary Baby Items
Just finishing my first month of being a mommy, I thought I would share some of the things that helped me a ton. I highly recommend any and all of these! I only wish there was a product I could buy that either instantly made Braylen sleep through the night, or made me feel as though I had;)
1. Summer Infant SwaddleMe. These swaddlers are the best ones I have tried. We have three other types, but for now we love these. They are impossible for him to get out of, and the leg pouch can be pulled down for diaper changes without having to un-do the arm part. 2. Medela Pump In Style Backpack. This pump is fabulous! Its discret enough to where if I wanted to bring it out in public, people wouldn't know its a pump. It works incredible too, I usually can get 5oz from each side with this bad boy. 3. Brica Baby In Sight Mirror. This mirror gives me so much peace of mind. When driving I always want to see how he is doing, but its not safe to continually be turing around and peering over his car seat. With this huge mirror I can see him perfectly from my mirror. Its large, but not too big that it impedes my vision. 4. Boppy Organic Slipcover. Im sure other boppy covers are nice as well, but this organic one is the softest thing ever! Another items I suggest for the boppy is to get the waterproof liner for underneath the cover. Saves your pillow from all the spit-ups or spills. 5. Boppy Changing Pad Liners {3-pack}. LIFESAVER. Or shall I say, laundry saver?! I have a really soft white cover for our changing pad, but it seems like whenever I put him down thats when he decides to either spit up, pee randomly, or rub his poopy butt around. These little liners are fabulous, because I can just lay him on this ON the changing pad and if he makes a mess, its just tossing this in the wash instead of the whole cover. He has fully peed on these liners too and not one drop seeps through to the actual cover. Wish I had gotten two packs of these! 6. Fischer Price Snugabunny Rock N Play. For babies in general, but especially babies with reflux- this thing is fantastic. It holds him nice and snug and upright. It is smaller than most bassinets, which is fabulous if you want him right by your bed. Any time he moves, it automatically does a rocking motion. The whole part that touches him is easily removable, and machine washable. Love this thing- and for only around $60, its much cheaper than most bassinets. 7. Lansinoh Breast Milk Storage Bag. I like these better than the Medela storage bags because these can lay completely flat. For storage purposes- that is huge! The Medela ones can attach directly to your pump, but in the end I cared more about room in my freezer than the extra two seconds it takes for me to dump the bottle of pumped milk in to the bag. 8. Aden and Anais 4-pack Muslin Swaddles. A lot of people use these as their swaddle blankets, but we just use them for anything and everything. They do swaddle great, but as I said before- we prefer the other ones. However, we use these all around the house for laying him on, covering him in the swing, etc. Especially great for AZ heat! 9. Graco Duo 2 in 1 Swing. This swing was given to us by Js sister! Such a blessing! In the beginning Braylen LOVED this thing. We could seriously put him in it for hours at a time. Now, sometimes he loves it, sometimes he wants out. The awesome thing specific to this swing is that the seat is removable. It comes off and then is a great bouncy seat with vibration. You can also have the vibration of the seat on while swinging. The seat is run with batteries, but the swing plugs in! Thank goodness! 10. Uppababy Easy Fit Car Shade. AZ summers... need I say more?! But really, I like this car shade the best because all the other ones were almost a plastic material, and I can't imagine that being great when its heats up to 115+ outside. This shade is much more of a material than plastic.
Hope this helps any new mamas or mamas to be out there. Again, there are a million and one other products that are great as well, these are just the main ones I have used and loved in this first month of motherhood.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
1 Month Baby Update
- At his 1 month well-check he weighed 10lbs5oz! That's two ounces shy of a three pound weight gain! What a fatty, makes mama proud!
- He started out super sleepy the first two weeks, but now is becoming more and more alert everyday
- He started to get some mild reflux at about 10 days old. Some days aren't that bad with it, others are..still trying to figure out if there is anything I can do/not do to help
- He is a fast nurser, sometimes finishing in as fast as 10 minutes. He only eats one side at each feeding, because his poop was green for a few days, and I figured out that we had a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Since we started the block feeding his poop is back to normal {just what y'all wanted to know, right?!}
- We started really trying to do Babywise at two weeks old, and so far its been great.
- We start our day at around 7am. Then he eats at 9:30, 12, 2:30, 5, 7, 11ish, and around 3:30. He usually wakes up again around 5:30am but I am able to get him back to sleep without feeding him, until the 7am wake-time.
- He loves to be held straight up with his face on our chests.
- He instantly calms down once we swaddle him, which he is during all naps and night.
- Just this past week I have been letting him cry {if he does at all} for up to 5 minutes while trying to fall asleep for naps. He almost always is able to fall asleep without me having to come in and intervene.
- He instantly calms down from crying when we Shh him, its like magic!
- He loves bath time, and doesn't ever mind getting his diaper or outfits changed.
- Everytime we have taken him out in public, we just keep him in his car seat and he sleeps like an angel.
- He falls asleep right away when we are in the car {thank God!}
- Sometimes he loves the swing, sometimes not so much.
- He just started pushing off with his feet last week...so fun seeing new developments! Can't believe they will just continue to happen.
- I love singing worship songs to him while putting him to sleep, I think it does us both some good;)
- He took his first bottle at 3 weeks, and thankfully we haven't had any issues with giving him a bottle when needed.
- My mom babysat him at 3 weeks so we could go to a friends graduation party, and then she also came and stayed the night {and fed him through the night, so I got a solid nights sleep!} this past weekend. Sleeping for 8 hours IN A ROW was heavenly!
- He made me a mama just 3 days before Mothers Day, so I felt super blessed to truly get to celebrate that holiday this year!!
- His sneezes are the cutest and almost always come in sets of four.
- When hes really hungry, if I put my face right in front of his, he will totally start sucking on my nose. It is the cutest/funniest thing ever!
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| First Mothers Day 2012 |
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| My 39 week belly photo |
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| First bath at home |
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| First night leaving him! So thankful to my mama for watching him |
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| Mid sneeze! |
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