Willow's Two Month Update

My smallest baby girl is already two months old today (yikes!!), so I thought I'd share a little update all about baby Lo!

Age: Two months.

Nicknames:  Lo, Lo Lo, Monkey Jr.

Stats: 23 inches, 11 lbs 10.5 oz - about 60-70th percentile for both height and weight 

Clothing size: 0-3 months, but I can't see it lasting too, too much longer!

Eating: Lots!!  Lo has been doing a mix of nursing and formula feeding since she was born.  She is doing really well with it and I enjoy doing both too at this point - best of both worlds I guess?  She eats every couple hours still and seems to have a very healthy appetite! :)

Sleeping: We've come so far with this in two short months!!  It's obviously still a little bit rocky, but as of very recently, she'll go to bed around 9:30/10:00 and will sleep up to five/five and a half hours straight (YAY!) before waking up to eat.  Lo just kind of cat naps throughout the day unless she's being held.  I'd love to get on some kind of a schedule during the day but it is SO nice to have a little bit of a schedule at night so I'm not complaining right now. :)  She does wind up in our bed some nights if she just won't sleep without cuddling, but for the most part is happy sleeping in her pack n' play in our room.

Favorite things: Eating, being held, her activity mat, her big sister, bath time.

Lo has been such a perfect addition to our family!! Ellie loves having a baby sister, she will proudly show her off to anyone who asks and will gladly help me bathe her + get her dressed (and even do her "make-up").  Lo was Ellie's twin when she was born and I do still think they look alike, but she's slowly looking more and more like her own little person.  She likes to keep moving, is always fidgeting like her big sis and is getting pretty proficient in hair pulling. ;) We can't imagine life without her and have loved watching her grow so far. We love you so much, Willow Grey!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!  I remember thinking to myself before we had kids that if I ever got to be a stay at home mom, the weekends wouldn't be as exciting because I'd already get to be home every other day of the week.  Clearly I was telling myself big, fat lies because there is nothing like having your partner in crime home with you for two whole days and I can't wait.

A few favorites to share today, first up being the June & January release tonight at 9pm EST.  I am loving the tank swings, but might be more obsessed with the play rompers and wish they came in Ellie's size too!  Get 15% off your purchase using this link!

Target has a big baby sale going on (spend $100 get a $20 gift card, spend $250 get a $50 gift card).  This includes pretty much everything from car seats to formula, as well as their Cloud Island collection.  Spending $100 is so easy to do on things like diapers + wipes (unfortunately), so grabbing a few things seems like kind of a no-brainer.  Using the gift card on something a little bit more fun afterwards also seems like a no-brainer. ;)

I've gotten a few questions about Ellie's unicorn jammies, you can find them here + they're crazy cute!  There are even matching slippers that might be have to be added to someone's Christmas list this year.

The girls got some clips + headbands from Aves and Maddie a couple weeks ago and have been wearing them almost every day. There's tons of cute styles to choose from, but the snap clips in Ellie's hair might be my most favorite!

Yay for fitting into "normal people" clothes again!  These jeans are my very favorite, I just treated myself to a couple new pairs for my birthday.  They're already at really good prices but are an additional 25% off through today (no code needed)!

I know we are coming up on blueberry season over here and this blueberry breakfast cake recipe sounds like something we might need to try.  Any excuse to eat cake for breakfast, right?

Lastly, I'm so, so excited to have just ordered our essential oils starter kit!  I've been wanting to try them out for awhile now but finally decided to make the investment.  Ellie's sleep habits have been getting worse lately and we (yes, Tyler too!) can't wait to try out a natural alternative to getting things on track.  Okay, we're really looking for anything that might work, but I'm excited to try oils out in many aspects of our lives!  I honestly know next to nothing about them in the grand scheme of things but am looking forward to getting started.  That being said, if you're into oils and have any tips/favorite uses/etc., please send them my way! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Baby Number Two // Newborn Favorites

Baby Lo is six weeks old already, time is flying! I'm not sure when the newborn stage officially ends, but it feels like Lo is growing into more of a "baby" and less of a "newborn baby" every day... if that makes any sense!

Transitioning to two kids has definitely been a little bit of an adjustment.  I love having two girls but I'd be lying if I said things don't seem a tiny bit like a circus every once in a while.  Sitting down to feed Willow while (usually a diaper-less) Ellie is "playing" all too quietly in the other room more often than I'd like to admit means she's doing something she probably shouldn't be - like attempting to flush half a roll of toilet paper + a couple still-in-their-wrappers tampons down the toilet.  There's never a dull moment and I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't thought to myself "why did I ever think having one kid was hard?!".  Yes, I'm sure people with more than two kids are laughing at that right now and rightfully so. ;)  With this being our second time around with a newborn, I thought I'd share a few of my all time faves as well as a few baby products that have made the adjustment to two a little easier.

Angelcare bath support //  This tub is a definite favorite of mine!  It works in our kitchen sink, which is so nice to avoid bending over to wash baby (especially nice while recovering from a c-section when bending at the waist feels pretty horrible at times) and it also works awesome in the big bath tub.  I was a little nervous about giving the girls a bath together with Lo being so little since Ells can get a little wild + out of control in the bath sometimes, but she's been so good and there's plenty of room for both of them in the tub when we use this!  I know we'll be able to use it for months to come and am so happy we grabbed it for baby number two.

Swing //  Willow loves to be held while she's sleeping, but I obviously can't spend hours cuddling with her on the couch, especially when it's just the three of us home all day.  Our swing has been kind of a lifesaver, Lo definitely prefers snoozing in there during the day over her crib or the pack n' play.  Ells was not a fan of her swing or bouncer, so finding any kind of baby contraption that Lo likes was a huge bonus!

Swaddle blankets //  I've talked about these swaddles so much on here already and we continue to use them every single day.   Willow doesn't like to be swaddled in her sleep just like her big sis didn't, but the lightweight material makes them the perfect blanket to use for just about anything, especially this time of year!

Solly wrap //  Our Solly wrap has definitely been another lifesaver!  I've used it while we were out + about, on walks, around the house and most frequently while playing in the yard with Ells.  It could totally be a phase, but I can put Lo in the wrap wide awake and she'll fall asleep within seconds, not waking until I take her out again.  I'm so happy she seems to love being worn, it's made a big difference in our days and I know I'll be using it for awhile!

Baby gown // I love these baby gowns made by one of our very favorite companies!  They're super soft and come in the prettiest colors.  There are tons of cute baby clothes out there, but most of the time Lo can be found wearing a gown, our fave jammies or just her diaper because it's 90 degrees + humid.

A pacifier and burp cloths are also necessities at this stage in the game.  There are obviously more baby products that we use every day and really love, but these are just a few of my very favorites as of late!  Not pictured: coffee + our Netflix subscription (Moana and Trolls on repeat!).  I do like to try to keep Ellie busy, but am not against turning on a movie to be able to get something accomplished while she's distracted or even taking a few minutes to sit down on the couch myself.  It's all about balance... and keeping my sanity. :)

I'll leave you with a snap of my tiny two week old baby Lo - how has she grown so much so fast?!  And where did all of her hair go??

Kicking Off Twenty-Eight

This past week we celebrated my twenty-eighth birthday.  At this point, birthdays really aren't all that exciting, but I always kind of think of it like I'm starting a new year with a blank slate. While life as an adult (especially as a mom) isn't always the most glamorous, I'm doing so many things I've dreamt about doing for years right now, and my late twenties aren't looking so bad.  In fact, this "season" of my life might be my most favorite yet.

Twenty-seven was a pretty awesome year for me - I left my desk job for my dream job (getting to stay home with my babies every day), we sold our house + moved into our forever home, and of course welcomed another beautiful baby girl into our family.  Twenty-eight has some pretty big shoes to fill, and I'm so excited to see what the next year has in store. :)