Rubber Ducky you're the one.

Hi guys! I want to get on a regular posting schedule so I'm hoping to do that soon. Also my boyfriend and I are talking about vlogging a couple days a week! So look for that. Today I think we will talk about bath time and what we do. 

I give Larkin a bath twice a week for the most part. I wish I could give him a bath every night just because it's a cute bonding experience and he seems to like it. Also he's so young there aren't many activities we can do a day. For right now it's just two days a week. He looks worried the entire time I'm giving him a bath but I can tell he's enjoying it.

I've found that baths do make him sleepy so I tend to give them like at 8/9 pm. Depends on his day. 

So here's everything we need/use. 

First here's the bath! It's from the brand summer and it sells at Target. I believe it's like 18 dollars and I love how functional it is. Larkin seems to be comfortable. I love the edges of it to keep him in a little more. I don't think he will be in it for a long long time but he really likes it for now.

We are really lucky with Larkin that he doesn't have sensitive skin. From the get go we've used this body wash and it hasn't bothered him. We always wash his clothes with regular detergent now. The only problem I have is that it is a little drying for him so I'm thinking about switching so I can bathe him more often. 

I got these as a shower gift. I love them! They are from Target. The elephant just really picks up the soap and makes it lather like I can't with a wash cloth. I do like the cloths because they are thicker than the other ones I have. They are the brand circo. 

When he gets out he always looks so cute in his little Target circo towel. I love these things. They keep him warm and they wash really nice. We have a ton of them. I got some as shower gifts and had some hand me downs. 

After he's done with his bath I do a baby massage. He giggles the whole time and smiles plus he smells sooooo nice after this. I just want to eat him up.

Then I put something like this on him. I like the zip up sleepers bc they are easier to for night time changes but I'm not too picky. Just anything to keep him warm. 

I then brush his ton of hair! This little man not only has a full head but it's thick! So we comb and brush it really quickly before it drys :). 

Not every time but every other I use these on the outside of his ears. They get some soap stuck in there every once in awhile. 

When experienced moms tell you to steal the nose sucker from the hospital, they aren't kidding. These things are AMAZING. I haven't used any others but I have no need too. I loveeeeeeeeee these things. If you haven't had your little man yet I highly recommend this! 

&& that's all! Thank you for reading. Xoxox - chels. 

Reminder to self , you are not super mom

I hate that term , super mom. I always thought I had to be perfect. I think it came from being a nanny. It is easy to have tons of energy and do everything right when you're a nanny. You get to go home at the end of the day and get a full nights of interrupted rest and your days off are spent doing whatever you want.

Being a mom is a lot more demanding. I am completely responsible for this little man. The minute someone talks about going somewhere I think about his needs first. How much food do i need? Is the temperature okay? What time do we leave so he naps in the car. Being a nanny I didn't worry about that stuff. As they say with more responsibility comes the bigger reward. I would give everything I have for the smiles I get from my little guy. 

With all that being said my little guy turns two months this Saturday and for the first time since giving birth I had a breakdown.. I've only left him for two hours once. Other than that it's been small little I run out the door and back within thirty minutes. And I only leave if he's sleeping. So hence my breakdown. I felt not myself , like I needed alone time. Which is crazy but that's what I needed. A mini break.. And it made me feel like an awful mommy. Because there is no one I love more than him but I needed a break? Now I didn't tell my boyfriend or my mom bc if I did they would have sent me out the door and told me to get better And it doesn't make you a bad mom.. Instead I hid it and just became grumpy. Not mad at Larkin at all, in fact he was the only one I wasn't mad at. I know all this is crazy but it's what I felt. 

I didn't get that break yet but I'm sure I will but just talking about it makes me feel so much better. Trusting in my soulmate that he will let me have that break and give me a chance to breathe.. I guess the point of all this rambles is : you deserve a break. No one is super mom . I hate that expression and I'll never use it again..  I'm the best mom to Larkin. That's what I am. And that's all he needs, doesn't need no super mom. 

 

Thanks for listening here's the little man today :) 

Xoxo - chels 

Larkin loves : BYE BYE.

I don't know how any other babies are at two months but our little guy loves to go! He's so good when we go out for the day it makes it easy. My cousin twins just hit one year old so she didn't need her stroller/ car seat set. So she gifted it to me. It was actually the one I wanted but green instead of red. Which is completely fine. 

It's the Chicco cortina set in zest. We absolutely love it! It's been a lifesaver.  Not only is it nice looking but it rides so nice and has tons of room. My diaper bag fits in the bottom and I put my phone and drink at the top. I'm glad he can grow with this set. Its also easy to clean. The material is great. We went to the beach and the sand wiped right off. 

Now it is a little pricy but safety first ! This is your childs life you're talking about. The extra bases are $85 a piece. 

It's very easy to unfold its a one button / trigger , so I can do it with one hand. Plus it's not too heavy.

Now when we are on the go larkin of course needs entertainment so he has some favorite toys. We also have a mirror so we can see him! He likes the mirror too :). 

I did have some owl straps on his car seat but it was interfering with safety so I ditched them. Ill picture everything below :) 

One of my favorite baby items I didn't know I was going to love. It's an absolute must. This isn't the exact one we have but I couldn't find the one so I found one that looks like it. I had the Eddie Bauer owl one but I didn't like the way it hooked.

These are the little mans favorite toys. The owl is something you can find at target or discount stores. The froggy is actually from his activity set but it's his favorite. He will giggle and talk to the frog all day. It's so cute . 

Ah here's the adorable owl strap covers that I can't wait to use when he gets a little bigger. They are so cute and you can find them at target. 

That's it for now anyone else have a travel system they love?!

What's in my diaper bag?!

I tried something new. While I was pregnant I watched oodles and oodles of videos and this was one of my favorites . So here you go..  

http://youtu.be/dV6-5I7JG-8

Larkin loves: Sleeping <3

Larkin loves sleeping! Just recently he's been sleeping then eating. I think it might be a growth spurt. So during the day he sleeps in his bouncer which I'll show down below. We currently all live with my mom ( I loveeeee) so its a bit tight. Even if we did have room for Larkin to be on his own, he wouldn't be sleeping in there at night. I really enjoy having him right beside me as he's snoozing. He doesn't sleep thru the night by a long stretch . I'm not a schedule junkie so he sleeps when he wants and eats when he wants. Right now he's 8 weeks old and he sleeps in 2-3 hour stretches still. Most nights he falls asleep at 10 and is up by 12-1. Then he wakes again at 3-4. These usually last around an hour. So it's still been tough. 

This is my first must have for sleeping. The first month of his life he slept in babies r us sleepers. I loved this one because it has a zipper and that makes nights easier. Now he simply can't sleep in them because we live in florida and it's way to hot. But for the first month he was comfy.

Now this thing is amazing. I know that everyone has an opinion on how baby should sleep at night but this works for us. We do use the pack n play bassinet but most of the time he sleeps in this. I put it right beside my bed and just rock him to sleep . 

This is the set larkin has and we use every piece. Now last week if you would have asked we never used the swing but he's found an interest in it this week. During the day he sleeps in the swing or the bouncer. I would pay so much for that bouncer. He loves it so much.

I don't think we could have a blanket on him as much as we do without this company. Aden and Anais have the best blankets.they are breathable and light weight ( great for florida )  Now I do let him sleep with the blanket but I tuck it all the way around his bottom. Like swaddling his bottle half. 

This last one is hit and miss. Sometimes we use this to put him to sleep. He only likes nuk brand or tommee tippee pacifiers. 

 That's it for my sleeping must haves for my little guy! 

 What's yours? 

Larkin loves : Feeding!

 Ahh, eating one of babies favorite things. It's such a controversial topic as to what is best for baby and yourself. When I was pregnant you couldn't even get me to look at formula choices. I had my mind set. No matter how hard everyone said it was going to be I was going to breast feed. I got books about breast feeding and got all the gear. I knew it was what my body was designed to do and what was best for Larkin and I. At one point I even remember thinking why wouldn't every mom breast feed? 

 Then I had a c section. Not to say that a c section is the complete reason for me not being able to breast feed. I was just in a lot of pain from the surgery. Larkin also didn't latch well. In the hospital for three days all we did was breast feed. Besides one night of giving him the formula supplement. I pumped in the hospital as well as expressed. Spoke to a lactation consultin for over two hours. She told me this wasn't going to be easy but I was still determined. 

  When I got home and was alone all day with larkin I tried latching all day. Positioning the boopy in every way possible. Looked up crazy techniques and usually it ended up with him and I crying. I kept trying but he had a jaundice problem and I didn't want him to have to be admitted again. So we supplemented . I had bought bottes for pumping so luckily we had that gear. We also purchased a breast pump and had all the free formula. We were armed and he wasn't going to starve. I became a pumping machine . I pumped every two hours every day for twenty minutes at a time. That almost made me crazy. I never got more than an ounce and a half out of one side. For around four weeks I did this. I also tried fenugreek, a nipple shield, and drinking so much water I threw up. None if these things worked for me and it was stressing me out. 

  

   Enough about my failures and let's move on to Larkins feeding essentials.  He is now seven weeks old and these are things that we couldn't live without for the first seven weeks!! 

The boopy! Now larkin isn't a small guy. At birth he was 9.7 and had a strong neck. If you have a tiny one this might not be a huge help yet. We had the original boopy along with two extra covers. I use this a lot during the day. I can put him in it and feed and after he's done we talk/play. He loves it. 

 

Ah, steam bags. Super easy, space saver and fast. Takes two minutes cost around five dollars. They last way more than 20 uses each. We use these at least once a day. 

The bottle. We had bought Tommee Tippee everything. I had starter kits and bottle sets. I really liked the look and the feel of that bottle. Because of Larkins latch issues the tommy tippee nipples just didn't cut it. Since I had the avent breast pump and I could pump into these I tried them . Immediately less leakage. He really is doing well with these. They are easy to clean and aren't too expensive. 

The food. This wasn't an easy journey. First it was breast milk along with emfamil that came from the hospital. He always had bellyaches and I didn't like that. So around three weeks we found gerber gentle for breastfeeding supplement. He used that up until last week. Last week I had to go to the store to buy more and read about this. So far his digestion is better and he seems to like the taste as opposed to emfamil which he is not a fan of.  [momny note : at seven weeks larkin still takes two ounces a feeding but feeds every two hours sometimes more. I'm no an OCD mommy he eats when he's hungry. 

Formula dispenser for on the go! This one is from tommee tippee and it came free as an extra inside my steamer I returned . You can find them at target. I love how convient it is. They don't fit inside my bottles but I put them in the pockets of my diaper bag. It's cheaper than buying on the go formula.

Last but my life saver. As I said our little guy had latch issues which also is a problem with bottle feeding. He spits up as he eats. I love these guys. I don't like using bibs so we slide this under his chin as he's eating and boom less of a mess. They are from carters and I see them at kohls all the time. 

 That raps up my feeding post did I miss anything?