Growing by TWO!

I am excited to share that we are expecting two, that's right - two, little ones in May 2017! As a planner, I like to schedule everything out, including having kiddos. We wanted them to be three years apart so I had time to get my office back in tip top shape and I knew the logically the only time to welcome a new one is during the Summer. I run a non-profit membership association by myself with the aid of a few rockstar work study students from the local college.

Anyhoo, we found out we were having twins at our 8 week appointment and had our world turned upside down! We have no genetic history of twins, we didn't use any fertility treatments, and I'm not of the advanced age where my ovaries would be having a "clearance event" on eggs ☺ So, we were shocked. Once the initial shock wore off and we figured out logistics we began to get excited. I've made a list of monthly pictures and joined my local Mothers of Multiples club. Can I just say the Club is like the only tribe you'll need in life! They welcomed me with opened arms and I am just so excited to get involved and get advice from mamas who know what's up.

In the next months, we will take this journey together. Next check in will be when we find out what we're having!!

Camera & Photo Themed First Birthday!

As I mentioned in Documenting the Life we Created post, I carried the photography theme through to Noah's birthday. He's made such an amazing and special impact on all our lives, I wanted to take this time to celebrate Noah and the wonderful moments we made in the last year.

Invitation
It all started with the invitation. I often go to the internet to find inspiration and then go off on my own tangent. While looking for a Polaroid type invitation, I ran across a good search result for someone who stuffed their wedding invitation in a film canister. Why not take a step further and roll it into an actual film cartridge! I got a box of discarded cartridges from a local processing shop for free and the rest is history! Just kidding, I measured the cartridge reel and made strips of invitations on regular paper and rolled them up. I'd say this is the most amazing thing I've ever created and to this day, it's my creative pride and joy.

Party Decor
I created the main setup with a banner of both Noah's monthly growth photos and framed his camera shots to make the main display. We then printed around 500 of daily pictures of Noah, pictures with family, him doing funs and silly things, and some from our professional photo shoots. Then hung them on kraft paper to decorate the empty wall and pillar space in the back yard. There was essentially no wall overlooked for a chance for photos :) Hardly overkill...right?

The rest of the decor was in complimentary colors of film companies; blue, yellow, and green and covered in balloons. I utilized the remaining cartridges for food item cards and balloon weights, and made time capsule cards for guests to fill out. These are in a box for Noah to read when he turns 18. It was a fun way to see what people think he'll do and for him to experience his life before he could remember!

Games
Most of the kiddos who came to Noah's party were older than him, but still toddlers so games were pretty easy. We had a kids' table covered in kraft paper with juice boxes, stickers, chalk, and bubbles for Noah's friends to decorate and an inflatable pool filled with plastic balls, pool noodles, and bouncy balls. The ball pit was such a hit, two friends borrowed it for their birthday parties and we bring it out quite often!

Cake
We got a simple sheet cake with a camera outlined iced on top, and a mini cake for Noah to eat. Which he did with gusto!

Yes, the camera on the sheet cake is upside down. An important lesson on communication with your baker :)

Documenting the Party I Created <-- see what I did there
We hired a photographer to come and shoot the party. A client of Matt's asked him to do the same for her son's 5th birthday and it seemed to be a great way to just relax and not have to worry about getting pictures. I also created a Polaroid cut-out for guests to take pictures that had the birthday party mark.

It was a lot of work, but I really love the outcome. I know so many people scoff at large baby parties but as an event planner, it was something I enjoy doing and makes me happy. And it was really a celebration for me as much as him. I know many don't see kid's birthdays that way, but I had quite the journey in Noah's first year and this was the most magical way to look back and see the whole forest through the trees.

Underrated Baby Products

Last week, I covered products that are complete garbage. Let's take a look at items that no one seems to use or promote!

Boon Teether - This guy is ah-mah-zing! Noah chewed on every portion of it and I think the orange part massages sore gums.

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste - Outside of prescription diaper cream, this takes the cake! It cured 95% of all diaper rashes...word to the wise, it will stain fabric.

Dr. Brown's Bottles - I hear so many moms and blogs talk about "the old school" nipples. If that works, great! If you have a boob baby or a gassy kiddo, Dr. Brown is yo' man.

Medela Steam Bags - These are just so darn easy for cleaning. Living in the desert, I hate wasting water and these bags use almost none at all!

Nosefrida - I never used the blue bulb, because it seemed really tricky and I honestly thought I'd suck out Noah's brain. I've never gotten snot in my mouth or even close to the filter and I've gotten a lot of snot out of his little nose. 

IKEA toys - I really, really wish I had read this on blogs before ordering every single item listed but for 3-4 times the price! We love all the wooden toys, now that Noah is older we use the eating pieces, and his little table is from Ikea. Plus, most items have lasted since he was at least a year old!

Kiinde Nipple Brush -  I mentioned this in my breastfeeding post, but I have to reiterate how clean these get nipples and other pieces! The brush is so great on Dr. Brown's bottles and all my Medela pump pieces getting into tiny crevasses. And like no one knows about them! The kiinde system is pretty cool, especially for travel, if you don't have a picky bottle feeder :)

Distilled Vinegar - I now use this for EVERYTHING! I wipe down all new toys, use a diluted solution to disinfect and deodorize Noah's playroom and stuffed animals, and lastly for getting that pesky spit up smell out of clothes in the wash. Plus, you can use a diluted solution as a natural cure for early onset thrush (what!).

Let me know if you have any items you think are underrated and can't live without!

10 Useless Baby Items

Every child is different. I never thought a baby, who just came into the world, would have so many darn opinions! So these are things either me, Noah, or a both of us hate. If you like them, let me know if I used it wrong.

Nursing Covers:
I can count on one hand how many times I used a cover in the two years I nursed Noah. I realize not everyone has the same level of "don't give a flip" as I do but stay with me. The formal nursing covers are horrible! They are very heavy, have a tiny head hole, and attract so much attention. I feel like I was comfortable nursing uncovered because pretty much no one knew I was doing it. I wear loose 'boyfriend' type shirts, which is totally in fashion right now and makes nursing super low-key. I started by wearing my Bellyband so my tummy wouldn't show when I lifted my shirt and in the few times I covered up, I used an infinity scarf. It was something I would normally wear so it didn't attract attention and was easy to manipulate for how much coverage I needed. You can easily find all different weights for hot or cool months and vary in price. My favorite cool weather infinity scarf is from Cost Plus World Market and Loft has great lightweight options! Most moms I know also used a receiving blanket, because you will most likely will have that on hand.

Mamaroo:
I read a blog about how to consolidate baby items and the Mamroo was recommended to be a rocker, bassinet, and something else. I was SOLD! Amazing! One product to minimize clutter, yes! We bought that sucker and it has been used a handful of times and now creates clutter and collects dust. It's generally too slow for most babies and I don't know if it was mine but it sounds very mechanical. We got the first model so that might be fixed, but it was a pretty big issue.

Burp Cloths:
We used receiving or swaddle blankets because we always had those with us and they covered more surface area. Some people swear by them, I found them to be too thick and a waste of space.

Teethers:
We bought all the teethers and only one was used...Sophie...bless that little giraffe! Noah would chew on wet washcloths or Sophie and hated everything else. I also found a lot of luck in a teething necklace, this is the exact necklace I bought, I like that it looks nice and not like a mom thing.

Scratch Mittens:
These fall off, socks fall off, I used a nail buffer to file Noah's nails and never had a problem.

Nursing Tank Tops:
I know a lot of moms will argue with me on this, but being busty I still had to wear a bra and that darn thing opened from the top, so my boob just spilled out the tank top. Nothing made me feel more gross than those tank tops.

Shopping Cart Cover:The few times I used this I almost dropped Noah. I used a receiving blanket to wrap around him and called it a day.

Baby Wipe Warmer - Don't do anything you can't take on the road or that will create a "situation" during a 2 a.m. change. Unless your house is like 50 degrees, the wipes are warm enough.

Pacifier Wipes - I wasn't over cautious about Noah having things that dropped on the floor, granted he never took a pacifier, but anything else got a dunk in water and right back to him. He hasn't died from it yet and I just can't imagine whatever chemicals on those wipes are better than just run of the mill dirt. I would carry a few pacifiers if he did use them, but these wipes seem to be one more thing to spend money on that will dry out in your bag.

Baby Einstein Neighborhood Friends Activity Jumper - Even on the lowest setting, this jumper is really high so your kiddo just dangles and Noah hated it for that reason. I got the ExerSaucer® Life in the Amazon Triple Fun™ Saucer which we loved. It is a playmat, exersaucer, and like play table in one. We mainly used it as a playmat and exersaucer but the things on it are great!

Breastfeeding in a Meadow...

I wanted to celebrate this week and help increase the normalcy of breastfeeding and also bond all mothers together no matter how you feed your baby. A fed, growing baby is the right way to do it, plain and simple.

Giant's Causeway

This is my story...(play MTV Truelife intro...)

I had a breast reduction in 2008 and so when I found out I was pregnant I was afraid wouldn't be able to breastfeed. Noah latched pretty well right after birth and in the hospital, like most mothers, I was sure we weren't doing it right. I went back to the hospital to visit a lactation consultant and called many times in that first week just stressed out that Noah was going to die of malnutrition (he didn't). The doctor was a little concerned with his post birth weight loss being exactly at 10% which is the limit for what's considered 'normal' so we had a follow up the next day to re-weigh and low and behold Noah had gained half a pound! I remember just breaking down in tears that it had clicked. Noah and I had found our rhythm, and it was pretty much smooth sailing from then on.

I nursed Noah whenever he wanted it, and that was always! Being able to keep Noah like attached to me was immensely helpful since my maternity leave was me working about 20-25 hours a week from home. We tried a ton of bottles for my return to work and he settled on Dr. Brown's which are great! They have a thousand pieces but they mimic the breast and limit air intake, so good for all kinds of eaters!

I was never an amazing pumper, and when Noah was around 6 months my boobs were like 'nope' to the pump completely. First, I thought my Medela pump crapped out and the AMAZING people at Medela sent me a brand spanking new one after we troubleshot 4-5 different things over the course of a week. It wasn't the pump, maybe it was, maybe my body was just so stressed at work that I couldn't get it going, who knows. A friend of mine had a Medela Symphony pump that she let me borrow and bless her because that is what kept me pumping and my sanity. I wasn't ready to stop at 6 months and Noah was not having any formula.

By the time Noah was 13 months old, we had him sleeping through the night and drinking regular milk during the day. I continued to breastfeed at night, in the morning, and when he was sick. We finally weened a week before his second birthday.

I used a 4 night trip for work as a jump start to ween Noah and it was pretty hard for me and relatively easy for him. I'm happy I waited, it was an amazing bond that we created together.

Things That Make Breastfeeding Easy!

Boppy Pillow - So many moms put this on their "don't buy" list saying that you can just use pillows...no...I love my boppy so much I got another for my mom's house because I was over there so much and hated using pillows.

Boppy Cover (extra) - Babies spit up, or you'll drop food on the pillow whilst eating over a breastfeeding baby. Don't be like me trying to keep a receiving blanket on top of a pillow and get an extra cover.

Infinity Scarf - I didn't really ever cover up while nursing but when I did, I used an infinity scarf for so many reasons that will be explained in my next blog.

Medela Quick Clean™ Breastpump & Accessory Wipes - These make pumping as dreamy as can be. They are super moist so I would use one wipe for the whole day of pumping and never had to figure out where to wash my parts.

Medela Quick Clean™ Micro-Steam™ Bags - I put everything in these bags. Each one has like 20
uses so they go a pretty long way.

Extra Parts! - Not a damn person I know wants to wash each pump piece every single night. I got a spare and washed bottles and parts every other day. I also got an extra ac adapter so I didn't have to crawl under my desk to take it home.

Cooler - I found the Medela version on clearance at Target. But any cooler is fine, it keeps you from having to store milk in your office fridge.

Kiinde Nipple Brushes - Oh. Em. Gee. I don't know how people wash bottle nipples or any pump parts without this brush. I tried many different brushes and they all sucked. This brush is short and stiff (lol) but gets all the milk out easy peasy.