Hello, Again

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. Actually, I can.

The last time I started a blog was not long after I had moved and gotten married. Being back here again reminds me of my feelings after I moved then. You see, our family has recently moved again. My husband's company offered him a job in our dream city, so 3 months after we had our second baby, we were out here house hunting. As if having a second child isn't already stressful enough, add to that, selling a house and even more stressful than that, buying one.

I'll be the first to admit. We (husband and I) like really nice things. We have certain expectations and finding that new home ended up easier than I thought it would be. We love being out here in the Hill Country. Austin simply rocks. I love the coolness of this town and even the diversity of those who are different than me. The wine. The scenery. But with this move has come something I didn't really expect, especially with little kids.

Loneliness.

Yup, that's me. Lonely. Juggling the different schedules based upon the needs of my kids has me land locked to my home most days. Granted, summer has just concluded and school started back last week. I am signed up with one mom's group (MOPs) that will begin soon. But the past few weeks since we've been here have been just that. Lonely.

Most days the only person I talk ends up being my 2 year old. You know how those conversations go?

Me: What would you like to do while sister naps, A1?
A1: Dance party. Get up, mom!

Me: How was your first day of school?
A1: {Silence followed by in his whiny voice} I want a snack! I want applesauce!
Me: We will be home in 5 minutes, you can have a snack when we get home.
A1: But I want a snaaaaaaack! APPLESAUCE!

Bless his heart. Or maybe, bless my heart. I look forward to having friends. Maybe not the process of getting them, because let's be honest. It takes a lot of work and a lot of effort. A lot of putting yourself out and being vulnerable. I sometimes am not sure if I am ready for the effort and pushing myself again.

Hopefully God puts some fun other moms in my life here that will help make this transition a little less lonely. One can have hope.

hope in a jar

My sister-in-law, Jess, reminded me today of how much I love my new skincare products! Philosophy has changed my life. Ever since I had my little Awesome, my skin has felt dull and drab. 

 

NO MORE. 

 

Let me tell you. I picked up this little kit at Macy's right before Christmas:

 

"think beautiful thoughts" kit consisted of:

Purity Face Wash - My skin rocks after using this. My dry skills seems to come alive with this along with my Clarisonic Mia. My skin is so soft and smooth. It doesn't foam up like I prefer, but the softness and smell seem to make me forget that I don't get the foamy feel that I'm use to. But it sure cleans my face!

Hope in a Jar- I love this stuff. It's light and fluffy yet seems to give my skin nice moisture. It's not heavy either, which will be great for the summer months here in the South. Again, the smell reminds me of a spa. It's not fruity nor repulsive. It smells like healing, if healing has a smell.

Eye Hope- Ah, thank you! My eyes love you for this. It's light yet moisturizing.

When Hope is Not Enough- I've been using this every morning, not that I am using Help Me at night. I use this bad boy after Hope in a Jar and it gives my skin another level of moisturizer that it so desperately needs right now.

Microdelivery Triple-Acid Brightening Peel- So in this kit I received just 1 of these bad boy pads. Seriously, a tease! I'll need to buy the product not that I'm hooked. My skin was glowing for days after. I used this product one evening after washing my face with Purity. I followed with the peel and then with my moisturizers. 

A few other products not contained in my kit that I love, Help Me and Keep the Peace. Help Me is used at night and is helping to even my skintone and reduce the reduce. I'm loving it. Keep the Peace is awesome in the mornings after I moisturize, but before I apply my foundation. It helps mellow out the redness in my face and provides a nice primer for my foundation. A total win! 

If you haven't checked out the Philosophy line yet, I encourage you to do. It's already made a huge difference with my skin in its texture and appearance. I normally breakout fairly frequently, but using these products have cut down on the amount of breakouts. I'm just now waiting on the discoloration and scarring to lessen. I'll keep you updated on that!

i heart coffee

Do you? I really get a thrill out of going to Starbucks or getting a cup of coffee when we go out to brunch on the weekends.

Every morning, I enjoy that cup of coffee. I grab my k-cup flavor of the morning and pop that sucker in. I normally try to enjoy my cup when my little man is down for his nap, but now that morning naps are starting later and later, I have to have my cup when he's up. But when 3pm rolls around, the Keurig is a brewing my cup of choice! I love it.

Do you own a Keurig? What are your favorite k-cups? We have a local coffee k-cup superstore that I shop frequently. They have EVERYTHING and are always great on advice on ones to try. They also let you buy the singles, which is nice. You no longer have to buy just a box and find out later how much you don't enjoy it.

I enjoy more of the light, flavored coffees like Donut House's Chocolate Covered Donut, Gloria Jeans Macadamia Cookie and any hazelnut flavors. My husband, however, enjoys the more bold, richer flavors. I'm always looking for something new to try. What do you recommend?

biting and screaming? oh my!

My sweet, adorable baby boy has begun something new. And it's not so sweet and adorable; biting and screaming. He mainly bites me out of frustration, and he mainly screams when he's in his highchair and is wanting me to hurry up and give him food.

I'm at a loss at how to handle this. The pediatrician gave me one tip when he's screaming and biting. Well, we've tried that several times today, and all he does is look at me and laugh.  The biting is another thing. He is currently cutting his 1 year molars, so the pediatrician just thinks he's beside himself with his mouth not feeling well. I guess my next step is time outs. It's hard to do time outs sometimes especially when it's nap time.

So for you BTDT mommas, what did you do? He's 12 months old and just as cute as can be, but I feel this is something I need to nip in the bud, especially so he's not biting other kids at church and MOPs.

I got them back!

Yes, after 12.5 months of breastfeeding and 9 months of being pregnant, I got *them* back.  I have to admit, this morning I was a bit sad.  Okay, I may have shed a few tears that this was the end of something special. And the beginning of something new. Today was the first day that I did not breastfeed. Thankfully my little guy snuggled with me as he drank his milk/yogurt combination. So I at least got some snuggles in.

But what's a mom to do now?!

I think a trip to Victoria Secrets is in order. No more nursing bras. YAY.  And for this, I am excited.

Moms, how did you get your snuggles in after weaning?

i did it!

I can't believe it. I did what I set out to do. Lots of hard work and determination have paid off! And I'm quite proud of myself, and my son, that I was able to complete my mission.

My mission when Baby A was born was to breastfeed for a full year. And to be honest, when I first started out, it was hard work. He seemed to be attached to me ALL. THE. TIME.

There were times when I thought my supply was lacking and friends and family did their best to alleviate the stress I was under, by reassuring me that I could formula feed him. The thought of feeding him formula made me cringe, given that I could breastfeed and that he had no issues with it. I really wanted to do my part and for me, my part was providing him the best that I could. Granted, he was never colicky, never had a milk protein intolerance, never had any issues. And I'm so proud of myself that I stuck to what I really wanted. To say I was determined is probably an understatement.

When Baby A was born, we were told that he was moderately tongue tied and that he would benefit from having his tongue clipped. We had hoped to accomplish this before we left the hospital, but given the holiday schedule, no doctors were available. So our first day home, we spent the majority of the day at 2 doctors' offices and were finally squeezed in for the procedure. While I do think it helped him and will help him in the future, that day spent away from the comfort of my home, I believe it didn't set my supply off on the right foot. We were gone from 9-3, and I'm too embarrassed to say how little I was able to feed him. Then the remainder of the week was rather stressful due to some events with my in-laws.

Around the 6 week mark, I really struggled with whether he was getting enough or not. He was never a great sleeper at first. Up every 1-2 hours for the first several months. The thought of bottle feeding crossed my mind and sometimes happened to allow me some sleep. Around the 3 month mark, I remember going to see my lactation consultant to do a feed and weigh and guess what? He was getting plenty!

As my time of breastfeeding Baby A is coming to an end, due to his lack of interest, I'm left with bittersweet feelings. Granted, him biting me when done eating is making the weaning much more easier, I'm a bit sad for the morning moments when I could cuddle with him before the day actually started. He has more interesting things to discover and see! 

Next go around, there are a few things I will change. While Baby A did receive a bottle of formula later into his first year for when my husband would put him to bed, I have other plans for the next kid that hope to remain formula free.

They are:

1. Stay home the entire week in the comfort of my own home, stress-free of certain relatives, and feed on demand.
2. Learn to pump sooner to help build supply and a small stash for those weekend night feeding for my husband to help.
3. See the lactation consultant sooner if I am in question of my supply.
4. Make sure my pediatrician is on board for pro-breastfeeding (granted our first pediatrician never pushed formula on me, but I'd like one who knows more about breastfeeding)

So for those mommas who were able to breastfeed, formulafree, for a year, what tips do you have for those that want to? 

While I had plenty of friends and family who did have to formula feed, everyone must choose the best way for them and their baby. And feeding a growing baby is the #1 goal.

A Whaley Cute Birthday Party!

Happy 1st birthday to my favorite little man! I cannot believe how fast his first year has come and gone. Boy do we have some great memories. :) Being a first time mom, I never knew how sappy of a mom I would be, but I can tell you this, I am one of those moms! Preparing for the party was very bittersweet. I'm excited to see who my little man will become. But I sure do miss the itty bitty baby boy that he once was. I enjoy the baby stage so much. The cuddles and snuggles, 2am feedings (yes, I actually do miss this sometimes!), wondering if I'm ever going to sleep again (and yes, I did), and wondering how long he's actually going to nap at each nap.

I don't post photos of Baby A on Facebook for various reasons, but wanted to share some photos from his party for family and close friends to see. We went with the "whale" theme given a onesie he had at 3 months that said "I'm whaley cute". And I think whales are just too cute to use for a little man's birthday party!

 

 

So without further adieu, Baby A's first whaley cute birthday party:

I made this door sign using Photoshop along with a few downloads from Etsy.

Our entry table hosted photos of Baby A from the past year and included this little whale picture that I created on Photoshop using the same graphics I purchased on Etsy. 

  

My favorite was our mantel. Each month I took a photo of him in a white onesie with a month sticker on it. I then had them printed out from Mpix and strung them with a thick string.

 

 

I created this banner also on Photoshop (I love Photoshop). The sign said "Happy 1st Birthday Austin". 

I created the "austin is 1" sign with my new Silhouette Cameo. 

Baby A's party hat that he had no interest in wearing. I also made the sign below that says "i am 1". Yes, again, Photoshop (smile).

 

When we had our gender reveal party back in July 2011, a local bakery created the cake for us. The cake turned out so cute and was delicious that we had to use them again for his 1st birthday. They created this smash cake with a whale fin on it. 

 

And here is the "big" cake that was layered on the inside in blue and green. The whale was made out of fondant icing. 

 

Baby A  getting ready to smash his cake!

 

And he loved it! We only let him have a few bites before taking it away. But he thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

And what party wouldn't be complete without opening a few presents? Baby A is greatly blessed and received so many fun toys and clothes!