Mommy brain

As I'm sitting here trying to think of what to write about I can't focus on more than one thing. I was already a 20 something year old with mild ADD. Now that I'm a mommy I can't focus. Having a nine month old is a lot to handle. He's everywhere. All day he is running around. Most days he doesn't stop. He hates being contained and sitting still. He's always on the go. He finds running from me exciting and he can't wait to explore new places. & I love that about him. It's the best and worst part of having this little guy. I love chasing him all day and I love seeing him develop and grow. 

I think being a new mom is just such a life adjustment. Finding myself these past nine months has been extremely difficult. I love being Larkin's mom. But who am I when he's asleep or away from me? I am for sure not who I was before Larkin was born. Being a stay at home mom is such a rewarding thing but it's also ... I can't quit find the word. It's like a silent reward. I don't get graded everyday on my performance . My son doesn't tell me "you get a raise today" . It's hard to define yourself . I mean you have doctors appointments and they say "great job" but you see then for five minutes. I think that every women's adjustment to her new life is allowed to take as long as she needs. Mine has probably taken longer than most. I don't really blame it on anything. I think I can attribute it to sleeping woes, family issues, and depression. 

Today I feel closer to finding myself. I think that I found out who I am through Larkin. I'm a strong woman who just loves taking care of people. I always thought I had to be the worker. Maybe it's because that's what I saw growing up. Honestly I love cooking, organizing, grocery shopping, teaching, planning, and just being the dependable homemaker . Many people may look down on that but it's okay. I love who I am becoming. I may have been on a bumpy road to get here but life is typically not smooth. 

xoxo - Chelsie 

Ps. Here's a cute picture of Larkin. 

Larkin's first Christmas

Larkin had the best Christmas that a baby could ask for . Many might say that he got too much but in my house his Christmas was completely normal. Like I stated before Christmas is always a huge deal in my house. 

Christmas Eve we spent with my in laws. He played with his cousins and cried a whole lot. I don't know if anyone else's 8 month old does this but Larkin only wants me or his dad. He refuses to go to anyone else. He's been like this since around 5 months. But it did seem like he had fun in between crying. 

Then we dressed him in his little Christmas pjs and brought him home to bed. He woke up on the button at 8 am. He woke up so happy. Talking away, I was making breakfast so we put him down to see what he thought of all the presents but he wasn't too interested. 

That was the scene. Larkin then got his stocking from us which had some happy baby organic puffs and some little cups that nest together and a sippy cup. ( 1 of 4 ) 

Then came the opening of the presents. Larkin really made out, he ended up getting so many things. I'm not even upset that he probably got too much. He has been having so much fun since Christmas. He wasn't really interested in opening. I'd rip it a little bit then if it looked colorful enough then he'd pull it back. But other than that we had to spilt the opening into two because he became so tired and needed a nap in the middle of opening.  This is a mini haul doesn't even have everything. I included none of the clothes that he got . He had a lot of shirts and pjs. 

Ah the first of many B toys larkin received. We were Christmas shopping one day and my mom picked this up to show to larkin and he played with it for at least 30 minutes. He loved opening all the doors. Now that he has it his favorite part is putting the ball in the top and letting it go.

This was a no brainer. I know that a lot of children like to pound on things . I know that Larkin loves to pound everything. So I just wanted to give him some tools to make music. The drumsticks have been his favorite toy thus far. 

Every since I found out I was pregnant this was one of my dream toys. I just love this B brand. The toys are so beautifully colored. I love the learning aspects of this particular toy. It's something that he will have for years. 

This one was a surprise to me. My mother got a good deal on it and Larkin so far has loved it. He knows exactly how he's supposed to push it around. 

The elephant! I have wanted this for a long time. So far larkin hasn't paid much attention to it. I'm sure once he gets the hang of it he will love it. 

I had to have this Mickey hoodie. His favorite character is mickey. Every time he hears his voice he turns and smiles. 

Let's start on the top left and go left to right.

Monster inc sippy cup

Little sully that talks

Small Donald duck stuffed 

Medium size Mickey Mouse

B. Fire truck 

Munchkin sippy

B. Cell phone

personalized mickey blanket

Mickey Mouse sippy

Owl sippy from target

Medium sized stuffed sully

Mickey plate

Some bath toys

Stacking cups

Dollar spot books

Lion o ball roller

Some tennis shoes

V tech cell phone

Mickey Mouse figurines

Play school stacker

Dollar spot books 

So that's it. He had such a good day and every since he's had the best time playing. 

Babies 1st Christmas

  It's the season to buy , buy , buy ! It's Christmas! I love Christmas and growing up it was always a huge deal in my house . My mom always made sure that the Christmas tree was full of things for us. It always makes me happy thinking about Christmas morning and my stocking and opening gifts with everyone. So this year having a little guy running around it just insane!! My excitement is just overload.

Larkin is turning 8 months old in a couple of days so it's not like he's really going to "get Christmas" but I still want to start some traditions. I will be taking him to see Santa! Some time within the next couple of weeks. But my main focus on this blog is going to be "what the heck do you buy an eight month old for Christmas?".

I really struggled with this at first but I think I found some handy gifts. 

1. The big present 

This is a Fisher Price elephant bounce stride and ride

It's available at walmart and the price goes up and down from 30-39$ 

I like this particular walker/rider because it does those things. Larkin is a very mobile baby and it's hard for him to sit still. He is always on the go so this will be great for him to learn to walk and for him also to bounce around. Other ones that I liked were called more "sit and push" or things like that and I feel like he would just not get use out of the sitting part. 

 2. BOOKS! 

Honestly reading at his age although important ,can be really boring. I like to read books to Larkin that I enjoy . Because If I'm interested and excited it's easier for him to hop on board. For example I love Monsters inc. so when I saw these half off at lowes I grabbed them. I also have picked up some books at Target Dollar Spot for stocking stuffers. 

3. Boy fun

Honestly these could be for a boy or a girl but larkin doesn't have any cars. I thought that these would be adorable for him to play with and maybe learn to push around. I love the B brand everything is always so cute. These are available at Target for $16. 

4. Clothes. 

I know boring. But he honestly needs so many clothes. Larkin was a big baby but I didn't think he would grow this fast this quick! He has just grown out of every size clothes. I feel like he was in size 6m for a week. He now regularly wears 12-18 month clothing. 9m pants are way too short. Also when I bought clothes ahead before he was born I didn't think he would be in winter clothes for 12 size so I have nothing. He has only a couple of long sleeve shirts. So on Black Friday Target had clothing 40% off and I got a ton of stuff. 

That's all I really have planned to buy him everything else is probably going to found on a shopping trip this weekend! Go ahead and tell me what you think he would like! 

Happy holidays!! 

Mobile Larkin

  I feel like I haven't really just wrote a blog post chatting to you about Larkin since he was a little baby. Now i feel like he's not even a baby anymore. He's in the in between stage. He doesn't just eat and sleep all day anymore. He's mobile and he has very sensitive feelings and he prefers to constantly be moving. 

Larkin is now a week away from eight months. That statement is crazy to me. Where does the time go when you have a baby? It certainly doesn't go to sleeping that's for sure. To say I miss the times when he just sat around and if he giggled at me it was a good five minutes seems to be weird. Larkin grew up fast. I know that every child is different and most parents think that they have this super advanced baby. Larkin honestly was babbling at one month. By two months he was telling me stories all the time. By five months he said "dada & mama" not to mention he started army crawling everywhere. At five and a half months he crawled on his knees and pulled himself up places. At six months he was the fastest little crawler and sat up very well. At six and half months all he wanted to do was stand and walk around furniture. 

Now at seven and a half months he has mastered all of those things and now prefers to stand up all the time while barley holding on or not holding at all. He also walks really fast around the furniture. That's his day . Sometimes he bumps his little head or he falls down but he gets right back up and tries again. Everyday he's on the move from the minute he wakes up until he goes to bed. It's such a fun stage to see him learning. The joy on his face is worth every second. I'm going to leave some pictures of him doing what he does best! 

All of these pictures are from 5 months and on. 

I used to just put him on this blanket and he would find his way around but it didn't last long

High chair shopping

After being a nanny for almost three years maybe more, I know a high chair is pretty important. However before around six months I don't really see the need. It was one of those things that we put off till we needed it. I took awhile to research what I wanted. 

 I knew that I really didn't care for the classic piece of plastic that you push around. It really takes up quite a bit of space and I just don't like the way it looks. Someone I'm close to has wooden hair chairs and I like the look but she claims it to be a pain in the butt. I watch some family vlogs and the Tripp trapp seems to be the "it" high chair. There is also the booster high chair option. Not really a fan of that. 

There are quite a few choices to consider. I really didn't want to spend a ton of money, our budget was to stay under $150. which I believe you can get a quite nice high chair for that price. It was a journey of looking at pictures after pictures until I ultimately went with one that I just couldn't get over.

All of the prices and pictures are from Target. 

graco $140

Like I said above I'm not a huge fan of these "big pieces of plastic" . Every child that I've nannied for before has had something like this. It is pretty easy to clean and move around. Taste wise it's just not my style. 

Stokke $250

This high chair is very trendy. I believe it's called the "forever chair". You can buy accessories for it, like an infant seat or a tray. So it could probably get really expensive. I do like the look and if I had the money I would probably splurge for it. 

chicco Polly $150

If I was going to get a plastic high chair this would be the one I'd pick. I just love chicco products and I like the cushion. I think it's cute. This one reclines and it "grows with child" . I did consider this for awhile. 

 Summer infant $125

And the chosen one! This was the best compromise that I could find. I love the seat design and it's plastic so easy wipe. The wooden look is perfect and sturdy. I just loved the look and Larkin has really enjoyed it so far. I take it outside everyday for lunch and he has the best time. He will stay it in for long periods of time. The only thing that I really could care less about is the strap. It clips from the top and around the waist. Larkin loves to move so I never use the shoulders straps when he is in the stroller or in his hair chair. He would hate it if I did. So I have shoulder straps kind of just hanging down. Other than that it was easy to put together and so far so good . I leave you with pictures of him chowing down! 

Affordable Convertible Car Seat Options

The time has come. Oh man, I didn't want this to happen so soon. It's happening though at seven months it's time. Just as every grown person is different so is every baby. Larkin is ready to move into a bigger car seat. I'm not a huge fan for several reasons. 

1. Our current car seat is so nice and safe.

2. He won't be able to be carried in this car seat from place to place.

3. We will have to get two . ( two cars ) 

So I'm not going to do an indepth look at the car seat I'm just going to do an overview of the ones I've narrowed it down too. We honestly don't have the money to spend 270$ on a car seat. I think the ones I have it narrowed down too are affordable enough and I like the style. Here we go! 

GRACO CONTENDER  $140 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Graco-Contender-65-Convertible-Car-Seat-Black-Carbon/33396182

I really like the style of the car seat and love that it has a cup holder. It also will hold him rear facing for up to 40 pounds . Then he will be able to forward face till 65 pounds. 

EVENFLO PROCOMFORT TRIUMPH LX $160

This one I love the color! It also holds up to 65 pounds. It is a target exclusive. It has cup holders , gel material and you can recline! I feel like you're getting a lot for your money with this car seat. Also I'm from the area where Evenflo is made so sometimes I can be brand loyal. Supporting my old hometown. 

 EVENFLO SURE RIDE DLX 100.00$

Honestly this one looks massive in store! It's a bit intimidating. Again it Evenflo and holds up to 65 pounds. I really like the all black option on this one. It is missing some if the perks of the others but it's rated pretty high by people that have purchased it. I have a coupon for this car seat from my baby packet when I had Larkin. And I do like it. It's just really big! 

Well there you go after three months of narrowing down to three options I'm stuck. Let me know If you have a convertible car seat that you love or if you have one of these! 

 Xoxo 

I feel horrible

When I first started writing this blog I had every intention of staying on a two post a week schedule. After all I'm a stay at home mom. I should have the time right? Wow was I wrong. The only person I let down is myself. So November is around the corner and I'm committing myself to posting at least once a week. 

Let's talk about what's happened since the last time I've posted something. Well I now have not just a baby but a baby that babbles non stop and army crawls all over my floor. Every day he melts my heart. Every single day. Let's talk about some milestones this little guy has hit! 

At four months I started solids! It was a joint decision between everyone whose important in Larkin's life. Including his peditrictian. We started with single grain cereal (Beach nut) and moved on from there. I will be posting an entire post about the food process. I make all of his food and it's so easy! 

At five months he got a tooth!! So exciting. He also fully sat up this month. It was also the first time he said "mama" really clear. He now says both "mama" and "dada" . He says them both clearly and often. Nothing in this world makes me happier. 

At six months he got his second tooth and started to army crawl! I started to put him on his stomach when he was in the bath instead of in his little tub and I noticed he was able to pull himself forward. Previously he had been crawling backwards and turning all around. Now he's everywhere. He pulls himself up from laying on his back and he's flipped from his back to his stomach at least twice. 

I can't believe I have this little guy who is so strong and determined. It's gone so fast. So join me on my journey with a mobile baby. Some post that you can look forward too are : convertible car seat shopping, high chair shopping, sippy cup diary and homemade baby food. 

 See you in a little while!