Thursday, November 26, 2015

Christmas gift Ideas for baby 6 months and up...

So we have an Amazon wish list...I know I'm not the only mom that utilizes this tool as a way of keeping track of all the goodies and gifties out there.  If you don't currently use a wish list then create one!  It's the easiest way for friends and family to see what you have and what you might like to have.  I combed through so many lists of "best" toys for Ava Rose that would last a while through hours of play.  Here are some of our top picks :-)

Manhattan Baby Stella Doll Clothes because Ava Rose's request for a Stella Doll was signed, sealed, and delivered to Santa.
Fisher Price Chatter Phone.  I owned one when I was a child and played with it for years!
Lamaze Stacking Rings, it's suppose to be one of the best learning toys for babies
Melissa and Doug Palace Pals Puppets, my girl seems to love puppets so far and it is a great way for her to get creative over the next few years.

 Melissa and Doug Pots and Pans.
EZPZ Happy Mat, the high chair tray mat debutes in December!
Lenox Bunny ornament, for my Easter baby!
Tomy Little Chirpers Hide and Squeak Eggs.
Boon Snack Ball, for puffs on the go!
The Polar Express, a book we need to own for our collection
A Snowman's Story, another highly recommended Winter read.
Little Blue Truck's Christmas.  Ava Rose loves Little Blue, she likes the rhyming and the animal sounds in the original book.

With Black Friday inching closer and closer I think we would all like to organize our ideas, these are my top picks for a baby that needs toys to grow with them.  Now to blog search ideas for my 11 year old niece...

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Ava Rose at 7 months...


It's getting harder and harder to get her to sit still for a picture.

Seven month facts:
  • Get in my "malph" - toes, fingers, bibs, chew beads, teethers, high chair straps, shoes, etc, etc
  • Still no sign of teeth
  • Still only rolling back to belly, standing assisted, can "walk" assisted, some "scooting" but it's more like wiggling like a worm on the floor
  • Can sit well by herself
  • Still loves books, songs, and bubbles
  • Very interactive, loves to be tickled, can give and receive kisses and hugs, and loves to play peekaboo
  • Still loves her teachers and lights up when we pick her up at daycare, recognizes and loves her little friends
  • October she learned about pumpkins, the color orange, leaves, cotton, and circles
Nicknames- Still all forms of Nugget, nuggie, nugs, nugs mcgee, and bunny rose.  In the mornings we call her rootie toot toot or root'n toot'n nuggie.  It's silly but nicknames just happen.

Weight - 14.25 pounds

Length: 26 inches

Eyes: Hazel, but some days you see the green more than others

Clothes - 3-6 month still fill well.  Probably by next month we will be in 9 month pants and sleepers.  We still wear size 2 shoes.  We tried on a few 9 month outfits and we can certainly wear them so for now we are trying to get as much use out of the 3-6 month clothes before we retire them.

Diapers - size 2 and I think we will be in the size for a while.  

Sleeping - We hit some sort of sleep regression and for a couple of weeks R and I were sleeping in shifts basically.  She was fighting the swaddle (yes we were still swaddling because our daughter still has a Moro reflex).  So for the past 4 days we have been swaddle weaning - cold turkey - I do not recommend it but each night has gotten a little better.  We are trying to get her to self sooth at night and are trying to lay her down drowsy.  She isn't exactly crying it out, we are there beside her comforting her, just not picking her up and I'm trying to wean her off the night feed.

Likes: Everything honestly, she is a very happy baby.  She loves to be in new places, see new things.  She loves riding in her carrier and being outside.  She loves when someone is giving her attention.

Dislikes: Not being able to crawl, she is so frustrated that she can't quite figure it out.  Dirty diapers, being overtired, monthly shots, not getting her way, any length of time between spoonfuls of food.

Feeding:  We have 3 bottles during daycare and free feed at all other times. She gets a jar of baby food during the day and she also gets a meal in the evening as part of the bedtime routine.  If she got a fruit during the day then we will do a vegetable at night or alternate.  She also loves yogurt and oatmeal cereal.  She has been loving the stage 2 "blended" style meals.  We tried a taste of a Plum Organic yum yum today but she lost interest pretty quickly so we will try them again in a few days.  Everything else she has eaten has been pureed but she does like to "squish" foods out of her feeder.  We are also using a sippy cup a little every day, just for practice.

Ava's Favorites:  Applesauce, mashed banana pieces, MAM teether ring, Nuk training cup (she prefers handles off), chew bead necklace (mine is from etsy seller MintedLane), Tula carrier, Aveeno Eczema lotion, Cloud B sleepsheep which we have been using more and more while sleep training.  She still loves her Bunnies by the Bay lovey.

Milestones: Sitting by herself, 6 month pictures, trying different fruits/vegetables/yogurt/protein, first state fair, first Halloween, first class party, first church outing, first hayride, decorated her first pumpkin, and first work event with mommy.  Oh yes, we had our first fever and survived weekends with mommy and daddy being sick.  October was not our month.





(I shared most of our month's pictures in our fall and 6 month professional photo posts)

Postpartum- Finally I appear to have more hair growing in than what I'm losing.  I'm still losing several strands when I wash and dry but it is better.  I went to my 6 month postpartum visit and everything appears to be going well, the doctor ordered a BMP and CBC and my lab results are normal. I'm exhausted but I think it's from sleep training.  R and I had a great date night this month and we are hoping to make it routine, it was therapeutic.  We thought we had hit a parent groove and then R got very sick for a few days with a stomach virus...a few days later I had it and a week later our baby caught hand, foot, and mouth - this kicked our groove right in the butt.  This is parenthood, ever changing and we've had to learn to pack it up and roll with it.  Oh and I have six more pounds before I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, it's a freaking miracle given what I eat in a day.  Breast feeding hunger is no joke, and now that I have more output and I can go a little longer between pumps I feel like I need to snack all day. I'll have lots of changes to make when I stop nursing.






Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Ornament Collections and our Baby's First...

My first  "holiday post" and I've waited three days into November, that may be a record!  It's never too early to think about holiday decorations when there are so many great coupon codes coming out this month.

Lets talk about lenox.

We are a lenox family, R and I have collected the annual Santa ever since we have been married and we have several special ones as well.  My mom has given us a few from the white Santa collection without dates.


I had a very difficult time selecting a Baby's first Christmas ornament but I think we finally found the one.


This is one that I'm on the fence about, I love it and my baby was an Easter baby, of course one of her nicknames is Bunny Rose so we need this right?  I haven't bought it yet but gosh it's the cutest. I'm definitely keeping it in mind and trying to justify why she needs two ornaments this Christmas...

Probably my favorite collection of ornaments is the Merry Moose...how cute is this one for a kids collection?  Every year Lenox comes out with a new one and its probably the most loved annual ornament for collectors. 
I look forward to new tree ornaments every year and Lenox has been sending several promotion codes for email subscribers.  They usually have a big promotion Black Friday weekend which makes the splurge more reasonable.  These are my picks but there really is something for everyone...classics, annuals, and whimsical.



Monday, November 2, 2015

Fall Festivities...

Lots of photo heavy posts lately, maybe one day when this baby decides to sleep for more than 2 hour increments (ugh, regression) then I might be able to post some actual content.  For now, I'm sharing family fun and sweet baby eye candy for our fall 2015 adventures :-)

That time we went to the State Fair and ate bacon on a stick and hot donuts...
 And met our girl's hero, Elizabeth Gardner...
 And walked the gardens (my favorite)...
 And picked our 2015 pumpkin (the wart-y one in the back left of the pic)...
 And went to a local farm for an afternoon of fun...
 And wore our Beck and Belle cat ears...
 *All the heart eyes on these two*
 And took pictures in the pumpkin patch...
 And with the cut outs...
 And took a fall "framer" with mommy...
 And gave lots of sugar to daddy...
 And took a hayride with the family...
 And had a blast at the fall celebration classroom party....
 And attended the church fall festival as 1920s flappers...

And decorated our 1st pumpkin in little foot prints that really just blended together...
 And showed off the little pumpkin from our classroom party...
 And made a memory or two...
with our little pumpkin<3 p="">

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Halloween 2015

Ava Rose had a blast her first Halloween starting with a Fall Celebration in her class with pumpkin painting and a "bear hunt".  We also took part in the town festivities - trick or treating in the downtown area businesses and fun in the park.  Baby girl took a quick nap while we strolled and was ready for some camera action with her entourage - mama, daddy, grammy, pappy, and grandma.  Our 2015 costumes - Mama Cat and her Kitten and I got a crash course in making tutus, a useful skill for girl moms.










Sunday, October 18, 2015

Six month Professional Photos

We celebrated Ava Rose's half birthday with a photo shoot.  I love getting professional photos of her first year and I'm so glad that our photographer offered a package that lets us capture all these sweet memories.  She was so happy the morning of the shoot and cooperated with Jasmeen, the resulting images are stunning!