My Sunday Best // 24 Weeks and 2 Days

 

Please excuse the little sliver of mess you can see in the background. My energy levels are at an all-time low recently. This outfit was most definitely way too cold to wear on Sunday. It was a bitter cold and I did not have on enough layers. I do really like the dress though - it's thrifted. I think I got the sweater online but I can't remember where and the leggings came from walgreens of all places. 9.99. I generally hate tights of all kinds but these were surprisingly comfy.

My Sunday Best! ( 5 Days Late.)

 

I have Pants!!! These are hand-me-downs from my friend meg and a shirt I bought from target a year ago (not maternity.) Also my beloved bola ball. I love that thing.

 

Still not feeling super stylish but I at least feel comfortable again!

 

 

 

The Nesting Bug

As I'm sure you've gathered by now I am pregnant again. We know she's a little girl and we already know her name. I'm officially 5 months pregnant today at just shy of 22 weeks and I've been gathering baby things for a while now. It's exciting and nerve wracking but I know I need to celebrate every day and so I am... by preparing. I thought I'd share the pieces I'm most excited about. Some are on my registry and some I have already. let me know what you think!

 

1. Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpack - Holiday in Hague. I saw a woman using the changing pad on this in the Juneau Airport and have wanted one ever since. It's truly genius! the front panel zips down into a full changing pad with pockets for diapers and wipes. the backpack straps and messenger strap unclip so you can choose which to use and the inside pocket comes off with Velcro. I worry a little bit about how the Velcro and the zippers will hold up as they're attached to more delicate fabric but that could just be because the exterior is so tough and sturdy. I've seen plenty of women still carrying these when their babies are no longer babies. either way it's crazy cute and amazingly functional... I'm already using it.

 

2. Lassig Lela Teether. This thing is really cute. I love the Sophie the Giraffe teether because I love all things French but I never loved it enough to register for it or buy it but I both registered for and gave in and bought this cutie already. Who doesn't love a baby deer? plus it's all natural rubber and it's German. Like I said, I love anything French but it was still super fun to get this toy in the mail and see the details all written in German... The baby will be 1/8th German after all.

 

3. Gdiapers. These seem so cool but I'm not 100% ready to commit to a full set so we'll play it by ear. I've heard good things. From what I've heard they're the best of both the disposable and cloth diapering worlds.

 

4. Badger Basket Moses Basket. I have high hopes for this company. everything they make looks amazing. I really wanted the corner changing table too but we were given a normal one. I'm still setting it up next to the crib so I don't have to change diapers sideways. Anyway, We already have this basket as well and I'm pretty impressed by it. it's nothing fancy but that's why I like it. you can rock baby to sleep in it and in the morning carry the basket into the bathroom with you while you shower or into the kitchen while you make breakfast. it's a super good idea, right?

 

5. Weleda Baby Shampoo. So I was given a sampler of Weleda baby products when Betty was born and they were all nice but this is the only stuff we ran out of and we ran out of it immediately. Why? The smell! I love the smell of this shampoo I would sit and sniff Betty's head for hours after each bath - it's heavenly. I have incredibly sensitive skin too but there's nothing irritating or fake in this... just goodness.

 

6. Graco Snugride 35. So if you've read my blog you know that Graco makes the safest and most well loved infant seat around so it was a given that I'd register for this particular seat. We had the Graco 32 for Betty but it has since expired. With Betty it was given to us when we were three months pregnant so it was a very gender neutral seat - super cute though. I'm really excited this time to get a super feminine seat for our little girl.

 

7. Wubbanub Lamb. This is really cute in theory and it has already been gifted to us but I have my doubts. I super hope it works but I know there was no way I was ever going to get Betty to take this kind of pacifier. Let's hope this little one does. We'll bring it to the hospital and let it be the first one she's given. think it'll work?

 

 

 

 

Five on Friday.

Today I am tired. I spent 90 minutes in the pool with Betty and it wore me out but if paid off! Right after we decided to stay in the pool for more than our usual hour Betty began to propel herself through the water without my help at all. (She did have pool noodles and a back bubble.) But for the last two weeks she has been absolutely terrified to let go of me. She chased me across the entire length of the pool five times today! I'm so proud. I know she was super pleased with herself too. It was a golden moment for sure. Anyway, My energy is spent and Betty's already twenty minutes into her nap - she never naps. So today is a Pinterest day! And here are the five pins I'm most excited about today.

1.

I'm really interesting in improving my picture-taking skills and this looks super easy to understand.

2.

 I love this. My little peanut is so sensitive and it's the hardest thing in the world to watch kids be purposefully mean to her. Every time it happens though I remind myself that it's just an opportunity to teach her a lesson about the importance of kindness.

 

3.

A.A. Milne has been speaking to me a lot lately.

4.

How cute is this! Adorable. Click on the photo - It's a link.

 

 

5.

 

I'm so excited to read more fairytales to Betty. She is already SO imaginative. I love her mind and all the worlds she creates.

 

 

 

there you have it - my Friday five. if one of my links doesn't work message me and I'll fix it!

Bon Week-end!

My Sunday Best

So here I am 16 weeks and 2 days pregnant and already plotting out my nursing attire for when baby comes. Last time I used a cover and my regular clothes - yes, even underwire bras. My reasoning last time around was that there were virtually zero places to buy nursing wear in our Alaska town. This time, however, I'm forgoing the traditional nursing designs because, well... they're gross. I hate the nursing tanks with the clasps on the straps - so frustrating. I also hate that most nursing shirts are also maternity shirts so that when the baby is out and the idea would ideally be to downplay the size of your belly, you're still wearing huge clothes designed to accentuate your floppy stomach. Why not design affordable nursing shapewear? why not design nursing tanks that can open from the front rather than the top? It seems like common sense to me but clearly I'm alone in this because it's almost impossible to find these things. Solution? I'll make and compile them myself. My other issue with nursing is that of the nursing cover. Yes, I believe in modesty but I also believe in being able to use both of my hands to care for my baby. I also know that those large nursing covers do little to detract attention from a nursing mother, in fact, if you're struggling beneath the cover the movement and odd shaped tent will only attract unwanted attention. Solution? Wear user friendly nursing tank tops (preferably with shape wear.) and flowy or ruffly shirts that will act as their own covers. I'm due in march and I was all jazzed about an infinity nursing scarf, I'm still excited about it, but I'm also due in the spring which means the majority of my early nursing will take place in the summer - not the time to be wearing a scarf everywhere. My whole thing is to embrace simplicity and eliminate unnecessary complications. I don't need a nursing cover to nurse in public comfortably, In fact, I believe it would only be an impediment, so why drag it around? Anyway. I've been thrifting and shopping and pinteresting and here is my first maternity outfit that will eventually double as a cute nursing outfit, although I'm sure I'll stretch out the tank top long before then and need another. I'll be making them and I'll show you how I do it soon!.

 

I like this blouse a lot because it has long sleeves and the back is super cute, look at the buttons! plus it's flowy enough to act as it's own nursing cover. Even though nothing I'm wearing is designed for nursing mothers, I could easily and comfortably breastfeed while wearing this. plus it's cute maternity wear.                                                                                                       

 

Blouse - Thrifted. Tank Top - Delias.com. Skirt - Target Maternity. Bra - Wal mart spaghetti strapped bandeau bra.

My Least Favorite Baby Products

So for part two of this little baby item installment I'll cover the items that I ultimately considered a waste of money. Most of the baby websites out there have registry suggestion list that make new moms believe they need to buy everything on them or your baby won't be awesome. That's just not the case. The only reason they put so many items on that list is so that you'll spend money on them but you do not need all of it. Here is my list of baby items that we would have been better off not having.

1. A Wipe Warmer. This thing just took up space. We put wipes in it occasionally but it really only served as a wipe holder. The whole concept is flawed as you will not always be right next to the wipe warmer when changing diapers. What happens when baby grows accustomed to warm wipes and then suddenly has the shock of a cold wipe when you go to a friends house for dinner? Sorry baby. This item is definitely not worth the money.

2. Diaper Genie.
 I know lots of people love their diaper genies but I thought it was gross. We were given a hand me down one and it still had an odor to it (I may have been more aware of it because I was pregnant.) But at any rate we replaced it with a brand new one but it still grossed me out. you have to shove the diaper through the slot so hard that the contents can squish out on your hand or on the sides and it fills up super quickly which I found quite inconvenient. Also it didn't eliminate the odor like it was supposed to. We ended up just using a normal trash can because if we're going to have to change it regularly we might as well have something easier to change.

3. The pacifiers with a thermometer built in... or rather any thermometer other than the temporal artery thermometers or rectal thermometers.
I still don't recommend rectal thermometers but at least the work. Betty would never use a normal oral thermometer - she hated them. The pacifier one simply does not work and the strips you're supposed to hold to the forehead don't work either. Oh, and the ear thermometers are completely inaccurate. The Temporal Artery Thermometer works really well. everything else is just frustrating

4. Changing pad covers.
These things got so dirty so quickly they were all in the dirty laundry before I even had a chance to wash them. My baby had some pretty explosive diapers (sorry) and I'm told that that is to be expected of newborns. We ended up just using washcloths under baby's bum so that changing it would be easy and we'd be able to do it with one hand (are you noticing a pattern here?) if it can be accomplished with one hand instead of two I support it. There are just too many times when it's inconvenient to put baby down and, for me, that was one of them.

5. Apron style nursing covers.
I don't hate these. I used mine a lot and it was very pretty but looking back it was awkward. I always had to sit with my back against the wall or else my back and side (with flab and stretch marks) would be exposed. Betty would kick it off and leave me struggling to cover myself and both of my arms would be monopolized underneath the cover. This time around I'm using an infinity scarf nursing cover like this one. Your back and sides are covered, you have one arm free and it's light enough to breathe and falls in the right place to monitor baby without covering your entire front. Plus it kind of just looks like a piece of clothing so it's not as conspicuous. The Apron style covers are supposed to be for discrete nursing but lets be honest, everyone knows what's happening while you struggle to get situated under your tarp... especially if it's bright yellow or something which seems to be a pretty popular color choice. Uncomfortable.

What are your least favorite baby items? Do you strongly disagree with any of my picks? let me know!

My Favorite Baby Things

So if you're very observant (or if you've spoken to me at all in the last six weeks.) you'll know that I'm pregnant again! We've seen our baby three different times and we heard the heartbeat for the first time yesterday! We're pretty excited as I'm sure you can imagine. I've already begun collecting supplies for new baby. I was searching the blogosphere this morning for posts about registering for a second child and I found a post that was quite interesting over at alphamom.com. in it, Amy detailed the products she found both the most and the least useful for her two children and I was shocked to discover that three of the items she'd listed as least useful were some of the most useful for me when Betty was a baby!

But how can that be? My baby loved them so they must be universally well loved, right? clearly not. both of her babies were boys and, I have never met them so I can't even guess at their temperaments, but I do know that Betty was a very easy baby to care for and a girl. She didn't gripe a whole lot about anything and was pretty happy for the most part. I'd take credit for it if I could but I can't. I just got lucky. My doctors called her a "sucker baby" as she was sure to sucker me into having another one that might be trouble. Anyway, this got me thinking and I think I'll share with you my own personal list of the most useful new baby things I had when Betty was little. They were great for me but my baby is my baby and your baby will be your baby... He or she might hate all of them. I guess that's part of the "fun" of the first part of parenthood.

here's the link to the other list"
http://alphamom.com/pregnancy/the-five-most-and-least-useful-baby-products/

Betty's Best Baby Things:

1. Our Graco travel system. ( the car seat being the most important part - Graco makes great car seats.) Of course you need a good car seat but the great thing about having the travel system, other than that it matched and looked so cute, was how convenient it was. I honestly can't imagine trying to travel across the country, like I did several times, without it. Traveling with a baby with multiple connections is stressful, especially if you're lugging all of your stuff through the airport. The travel system was great because I could click in the car seat, shove the car seat base into the storage basket underneath, put my tickets in the main compartment on the handle and put my purse/ diaper bag in the stroller seat underneath the car seat along with any blankets or lovies I may have brought with me. this way I avoided checking her precious car seat (which can cause tremendous damage to the seat making it less safe)  and I had a very convenient way to get everything around without actually weighing down my body. I even got a professional massage in Seattle while Betty napped peacefully at arms reach. it was AWESOME! another reason this is great is that if you've only bought one seat and planned your little one to ride as a lap infant you can still have your car seat on hand if another seat opens up. It is, of course, much safer for the little one to be buckled into their own secure seat while flying in case of turbulence. The first thing I would do when getting to my gate would be to ask if there was an open seat and more often than not there was. People would gladly move to make room for me and we never had to pay for the extra seat. Only a couple times did Betty have to ride on my lap and when that did happen. I just dropped her stroller and car seat (already clicked into the base so as not to damage either) at the door of the plane before boarding and it was waiting for me when I right outside the door when I got off the plane again. The lot of it was so easy to operate and put back together that I could easily do it with one hand. people were often very impressed with the stroller. I honestly can't say enough how great it was.
this one is very similar to the one I had.
 P.S. Chad just told me that he loved having the Graco travel system for when Betty had fallen asleep in her carseat. It is really nice to be able to transfer a sleeping baby from car to stroller or vice versa without disturbing them. We literally used this every time we went out for a long time. It made life much more enjoyable.

2. A messenger style Diaper bag, or cross body bag. I have never been able to understand how other parents cope with the regular "purse" style diaper bags like this one. I tried wresting with one of those for like five minutes before I decided it was garbage and needed to be destroyed. I love the cross body bags because you don't need your arms to hold it so your arms are then free to hold baby which is great for travel, but also great for every day life. If you've got a massive bag on your arm and a baby in your arms also, how are you supposed to fish something out of your bag when you need it? You're not. You have to stop and put your bag on the ground (yuck) and then kneel or squat with your baby and fish through it awkwardly. If the bag is just hanging from your body you can hold baby with one arm and search with the other. you don't even need to stop if you're bag is well organized. everything is right within reach. So much easier! I honestly don't think I would've ever left my house if I didn't have a good bag, I would've been way too stressed out about it. For Betty we just bought a nice red and brown Timbuktu bag from ebay. My thinking was that it would be manly enough for Chad to use which was right but he didn't end up using it all that much. Big shock, haha! As mommy, and stay-at-home-mommy, at that. I will be the one using the bag so this time I opted for something more attractive. Side note: chad now uses the Timbuktu bag daily as his lunch box so I was right about it being manly enough. This is the bag we have for this time around. I'm really not too worried about it being too girly for Chad when he does use it though as he has grown accustomed to holding my purse when we shop or when I take Betty to the potty or whatever. I think at this point he's secure enough with himself to use a bag with flowers. haha.

3. The Ergobaby carrier. We didn't discover this little peach until Betty was already a couple months old but it was an amazing addition. We had a couple different types of carriers before finally buying an ergo on ebay and no matter how we adjusted the straps my back would be in crazy amounts of pain and Betty didn't look comfortable either. It was hard to go for walks which was hard because we tried to go for walks often. I never tried slings. Here's why. And for trail walks the stroller was just not practical but the ergo was a God send. it is so comfy and so easy to use. you can strap yourself and your little one in without any help from anyone (I bring this travelling also.)  And you can wear it several different ways. It's a front carrier, a backpack and a hip carrier all in one. I highly recommend the Ergo carrier to everyone with a new baby. We'll be buying the infant insert for this one to see how that works but I've heard great things. Here's the ergo we have.

4. The Fisher-price Rainforest Open-Top Cradle Swing. I did not register for this, I didn't even know it existed, but my aunt and uncle and cousins bought it as a baby shower present and it was amazing. Betty loved it. This one was great because it swings baby either front to back or side to side which is great because Betty didn't always want to be swung the same way she had been the day before and also, when friends came over with their kiddos, they could use it too and it would swing just like their swings at home. I was able to get so much done that otherwise would have been impossible because of this swing. It plays music or rain forest sounds and it plugs in or can be battery operated. It does take up a lot of space so I'm not quite sure where you would take it that it couldn't be plugged in but whatever. I'm sure such a place exists. Anyway, we don't have it anymore but it is a must-buy for sure this time around.

5. The Fisher-Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse. We had a nice crib soother but Betty slept in a bassinet in our room so we got virtually zero use out of it. This seahorse was awesome because we could put it next to her wherever she slept - it went to daycare with her every day. Betty had some rough nights and she loved white noise. We'd run the shower, the vacuum, the washing machine, whatever worked but the thing that was most successful (luckily) was this cute little seahorse. It would just put her right to sleep and then glow out. It has no buttons or small parts all it takes is a squeeze and its back on. Super handy.

6. Our Papasan style bouncy seat. This was great to have in addition to the swing for when I just needed half a second to myself, like when I had to go to the bathroom. I set the papasan just inside the bathroom door and showered or whatever I needed to do while baby looked at the toys hanging from above her or the steam from the shower. Our batteries ran out after a while but Betty didn't seem to mind too much when it stopped vibrating - although that feature did seem to put her to sleep pretty quickly. She was never out of my sight or more than an arm's reach from me and I still felt free to care for myself. I was definitely on a timer though so I had to hurry.

7. Mylicon drops. We only needed to use this a couple of times but when we used it, it worked! For those annoying burps that just wont burp and make baby scream and scream. Or for tummy bubbles that just wont stop. I was hesitant to use anything but I read up on this and it's designed for itty bitty little ones. another mother recommended it to me and I was certainly glad to have it when I needed it.

8. Little Noses Saline Drops. These, again, were a huge help when needed and were another surprise gift from another mom. I never would have even thought of it. the weird nasal aspirators do work but only for a few minutes it seems. one little drop of this stuff and Betty was breathing clearly for the rest of the day.

those are my favorites. let me know what yours were! I'm always interested in new discoveries!

My Sunday Best // A Day at the Air Show

Today was a very nice day so we decided to venture downtown and eat lobster rolls and hot dogs in the park. We weren't exactly close to the airshow but we were still able to see a lot of what happened and it was pretty impressive.

We all wore matching flowers today! Betty's was the biggest.

 Here's my dress. It was eight dollars.

Our outfits kindof complimenteach other. (nerd)

Just chillin

Dizzy girl

Giant Betty!



This is her sneaky face.

Pictures are fun

Bye Bye!



My Sunday Best // Thrifty Finds

I found two really cute dresses for  $8.00!

Dress Number One   

Dress Number Two

Dress #2 is my favorite. I bought the first dress because it's from Patagonia and I'm pretty sure I can sell it but I'm definitely going to keep the plaid wrap dress because It's super cute and comfy.

I really love this bag I thrifted too. It was also less than ten dollars. 

What thrift store treasures have you found recently?

Family Comes to Town

Wow! I can't believe we're already halfway through August and I haven't paid any attention to my little blog in nine whole days. sorry everyone. I know how you all wait so patiently for me to fill you in on my super exciting and amazing life (mild sarcasm.) But seriously, We had a lot of fun as a family recently. Two of Betty's Aunts visited our home for the very first time and we had a very full weekend. Lobster dinner, the county fair and the beach. It was a ton of fun. Here are some pictures!






I have SO many pictures more but I think I'll stop with these ones. What do you do when your family visits?