Food, Family, and Life
It’s hard to believe that I’ve had three babies and never shared some of my favorite newborn items with my readers! I have to admit, my list for my first baby would probably be way different than it is now. By the time you’ve had three babies your list of must-have items is pretty minimal. It’s really exciting to buy a crapload of the most expensive stuff when it’s your first baby. But now it’s really quality over quantity.
Have you heard of Stitch Fix? I feel like every blogger has tried it at least once and if not they are thinking about it. I learned about Stitch Fix a year ago. Then when I went to Influence Conference the founders did a presentation on how they started their business. I was pregnant at the time but told myself I would give it a shot after I gave birth.
If you haven’t heard of it Stitch Fix is a service where you pay a $20 styling fee, fill out a questionnaire about your style and someone will pick five pieces of clothing/accessories to send right to where you live. That’s right. No awkward and/or sad moments in a fitting room at the mall. Sold yet? I was.
When I found out I was pregnant again one of my first thoughts went to the challenges of breastfeeding. I could not get our struggles out of my head. Although I was excited to possibly get another shot at the whole thing I was nervous. I just didn’t know if my heart could go through another breastfeeding failure.
From the very beginning of Brigham’s pregnancy I decided the best thing I could do was to arm myself with as much information possible about breastfeeding.
I have decided to write out my breastfeeding journey in three parts. That may seem like overkill but really I’m just separating my experiences by my three children. If I wrote about all three experiences it would be novel-length. I really don’t think I would be doing anyone any favors by pretending that breastfeeding has been this amazing, beautiful experience for me. Yes, there have been parts of it that have been amazing and beautiful. But it has taken quite a bit of trial and suffering in order to get there.
I have been terrible about getting my DSLR out to take photos of our girl. With my iPhone always within reach it’s so easy to grab it and take photos with it instead of my nice one. I am so out of practice. But the first year flies by so fast. I knew I had to get it out and start trying to capture some nice photos to remember these early days. I don’t want to forget the little details.
I think everyone who reads this blog or follows me on Facebook and Instagram knew how badly I wanted to go into labor at the end. Once I was considered full-term I immediately started doing all those natural things that are rumored to start up labor. I was ready. So ready for her to come out after being sick for weeks upon weeks. The never-ending cough severely bruised my ribs and it was excruciatingly painful to do much of anything. I finally decided to go out of work early because I could barely drive without crying. The rest was good for me, I think. I felt better but still not 100%.
Valentine’s Day is coming up quick and what better way to mark the occasion than with a beautiful new piece of jewelry for yourself (or a loved one)! When Blue Nile contacted me about offering one of my lucky readers this gorgeous sterling silver branch necklace I jumped at the chance. I love their website and I’ll let you in on a silly little secret. Before I was engaged (circa 2005) I used to hop on their website and design engagement rings when I got bored. Try it. It’s super fun. Especially when you design yourself a $650,000 diamond ring. A girl can dream, am I right?
Sawyer Rebecca has arrived. And she’s absolutely perfect. Six pounds, twelve oz and 19 inches long. Birth story to come. We are so deeply in love and forever grateful.
You are the sunshine of my life That’s why I’ll always be around, You are the apple of my eye, Forever you’ll stay in my heart
I feel like this is the beginning, Though I’ve loved you for a million years, And if I thought our love was ending, I’d find myself drowning in my own tears
Ahhh, Christmas has come and gone already. I honestly can’t believe it’s over! I must say, one of the things I was most excited about on Christmas day was gearing up to give my dad his awesome gift. I wrote about giving my dad his first smartphone from Walmart mobile in November. Plus, I’m giving him three months of free phone service!
The phone sat in the top of my pantry just waiting to be opened and admired! I was a little nervous with what my dad’s reaction would be. My parents have both been talking about upgrading their old-fashioned flip phones for forever! I think new technology is a little bit intimidating for them. But I was ready to assure my dad that I would help him get it all set up.
I love my parents but man, do they need to upgrade their cell phones. They’ve been talking about it for over a year now. Right now they have very basic phones through their service provider. I’m not even sure they can take pictures with them, which is sad since they have five grandchildren (soon to be six!). And they are old phone versions too that don’t work very well. So when I signed up for the Walmart Family Mobile campaign I knew exactly who would be getting a new smart phone for Christmas!
I know, I know, it’s November! Why in the world am I talking about baby swimming tips in November? Well, let’s just say we’ve had swimming on our minds. We are planning on taking our first summer vacation to the beach as a family of five (!!!) next summer. By that time our little baby will be nearing six months and I’m sure we’ll have her in the pool (and maybe even a dip in the ocean) wherever we go. So I was happy to read and share these tips about swimming with babies provided to me by www.zoggs.com!
I participated in this program on behalf of Seventh Generation and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
I’ll admit, I am not the “greenest” mama out there. I try my best to stay up-to-date on things that might harm my children and make decisions that are in line with their best health. Sometimes I choose convenience over going green – like using paper plates and paper towels (sorry, mother earth). But I am always interested in hearing more about how I can make our home healthier.