Sick Baby = Unhappy Baby

March 18, 2015March 18, 2015Leave a comment

As always, I am overgramming (instaflooding) your Instagram feeds if you’re following me and I apologize for that… I’m not quite sure why I feel the need to post just about everything, but it’s a habit that I just can’t seem to break… If you’re following me than you would probably already know that baby girl is sick…

For the most part, we are very social and love to be around other people and other babies, but yesterday was Saint Patrick’s Day and it sure was difficult to keep our part Irish sweetie from celebrating! We would’ve loved to have celebrated with our playgroup at the annual St. Patty’s Day party, but I’m glad we forgone the event and stayed home (wouldn’t want to get the other babies sick).

Huntley has been battling an ongoing/reoccurring ear infection and cold with sinus congestion and lots of coughing (she’s even learned to cover her mouth since she coughs so much). We stayed home and played through the construction (dust/loud noises and all), coloring, watching Sesame Street and re-runs of Yo Gabba Gabba, and playing with all her toys. We just came back from the pediatrician’s office, we were there last week on Wednesday for her 15-month check-up and shots, however our doctor decided against the shots since he found that the ear infection still hadn’t subsided…we went back again since Huntley seemed so lethargic and clinging these past couple of nights. Throughout the weekend and on Monday she seem to be in a good mood and very normal, we even went to Disneyland with my sister and niece to meet our friend’s Linda and Elle (from @BabyElleStyle – the most stylish ladies we know!) However come Monday night Huntley was vomiting non-stop, due to the congestion and drainage when she was in laying position… I gave her four baths throughout the night and once in the morning due to the vomiting and to help clear out her little nasal passages. I even dragged back from Penelope’s nursery Huntley’s glider so that I could rock and hold her to sleep, but she only got three hours of sleep that night.

By Tuesday morning no more vomiting, but lots of fatigue and tantrums. She was able to sleep through the night and in the morning when the constriction crew woke her up I was able to move her into our room and she actually rested on me for a bit, which hasn’t happened since she was a newborn. Can’t say that I didn’t like that, because it sure felt nice to cuddle with her again even though it’s because she’s unwell. The doctor diagnosed the same ear infection today. He told me that it still hasn’t cleared with the two rounds of oral antibiotics and had given her a third round (through two shots in the thighs) this afternoon, we’re hoping that it clears by Friday. If not, than Huntley might have to see a ear and nose specialist as it might actually be sinusitis.

All in all, despite being sick Huntley has been trying to stay in good spirits and even dances when she hears music, like today while we were out in the backyard (our construction crew had music blasting from the stereo).

[TooRahLoo Solid Infinity Scarf I Henry+Claire Moon Pullover I Gap leggings I Sperry Topsider Boat Shoes]

Nuby Sea Scooper – Bath Toy Scooper

March 12, 2015March 13, 20152 Comments

As mentioned in our last Bathing Beauty post – we are so beyond excited about being selected as an official Nuby Parent Blogger and will be partnering with the Nuby USA team to share some of our current favorite baby products as well as introduce you to some newer products of theirs! When we received the Nuby Sea Scooper Bath Toy Scooper in the mail today, Huntley got so excited and wanted me to the open the box right away! As soon as I took it out she knew just what to do with it – she took it to the bathroom and put it into the bathtub (it’s quite possibly her favorite spot in the house).

I always knew we needed some bath organization for all the growing number of bath toys Huntley’s collected this past year and with another on the way I knew the bath clutter would just get worse in there! So you can understand why I got excited about this new product of ours!

Installation was a cinch! The wall hook is held on by some powerful 3M adhesive strips and I’m always weary about adhesive strips not staying on well in areas that may get wet. However, we immediately filled the scooper with all Huntley’s favorite bath toys (those including the Octopus you see in our previous bath post) and put it on the wall hook to make sure it held on – and it sure did!

If you have a water baby like mine, bath time is one of the best times of day! And like I’ve mentioned, bath time is sometimes more than once a day for us. Huntley is the happiest when she’s in water and even happier when she has lots of fun interactive toys to play with in the water. Even though the scooper isn’t necessarily a bath “toy” per say, Huntley loved the idea of a big toy that can pick up all her little toys at the end of bath time. She even loved the adorable whale design and tried lathering up her new buddy with soap and bubbles as well!

She is a pro-bather (professional bather) if that were an occupation! What I mean by this is she knows how to lather her own soap in her hands, on her belly and in her hair – she evens tries to wash mama and dada! So it’s no surprise she would also know how to communicate to us when she’s ‘done’ with bath time. First step is to pull up the drain lift with second step being stand at the edge of the tub and wait for mama or dada to lift her out of the tub. With our new bath toy scooper, I knew immediately that Huntley would love to learn another step to add into the mix of things (a step that would help her parents out a bit too) and that is to scoop up all her toys before draining the tub. We turned it into a game and she knew right away what to do with the whale-shaped scooper and this game was a hit as she thought it was so much fun! Hopefully this step will continue to be a part of her routine!

Here are some product features you should know about the Nuby Sea Scooper – Bath Toy Scooper:

It’s Fun and Interactive.
Scoop all the toys and keep them together in one place
Clean up time is fun!
Allows toys to dry quick and easily
BPA FREE

Where you can find it:

Please visit Nuby USA!

I did not receive any compensation for this post, although as part of this program I received items to sample or review. As always, all opinions are my own and 100% honest.

“Star-Studded Affair” Baby Shower

March 12, 2015March 9, 20151 Comment

Although these photos are older – like a lot older, I thought with it being throw-back-Thursday, I’d throw it back to the first ever baby shower I had the pleasure of hosting! This shower was for my brother-in-law Jason and my sister Vivian when she was pregnant with my now two-year-old niece Kaitlyn! The theme was a “Star-Studded Affair” and was held at our little home with Walls with 85+ guests (near 100 that came and left) and one bathroom! Tanner and I had the pleasure of hosting this baby shower with Vivian’s bridesmaids and our friend Lauren (who handmade the adorable star mobiles). With as many guests who RSVP’d for the star-studded event, we decided to hire a taco man to feed the crowd which worked out perfectly. Since I was finally becoming an auntie, I was beyond thrilled and excited to host such an event!

[Decorations were done by Tanner and I]

[Complete with a onsies and hair accessories design station]

[Adorable star mobiles were handmade by our friend Lauren][Star cookie cutter favors were put together by Vivian’s maid-of-honor/best friend Kathy and I]

[Desserts were baked, created, and displayed by Vivian’s bridesmaid Amy]

[Tanner thought it would only be fitting to have cigars and a keg available for the men]
[I created this game myself “Bobbing for Nipples” which was hilarious, but in hindsight I would do things a bit differently such as exchanging the nipples for pacifiers and using a wider tub. The idea was still a hit with the guests and created a lot of entertainment for everyone!]

[We also had “Dress the Baby”]

[And of course the “Baby Bottle Chug” – which we learned first-hand from this baby shower to cut the nipples beforehand for easier flow during Angela’s “Little Peanut” baby shower.]

[These adorable star lanterns under the patio were found by Kathy.]

[Lauren also came up with the neatest tie-breaker game for the “Diaper Poop Guessing Game” winners. The tie-breaker was last minute and such a success – it was “Find the Safety Pins” which were hidden in rice and you wouldn’t think it was that difficult until you actually try it yourself!]
[The new parents-to-be, at the time]

[This is the only picture of the invitations we have, courtesy of mama Vivian’s Instagram, that Tanner I worked so hard on…sadly this picture doesn’t do much justice since the stars were actually very glittered (to this day two years later we’re still finding gold glitter around the house!)]

All photos were taken by mama Vivian as well, or on her camera!

Shopaholic Mommy, Shopaholic Baby

March 12, 2015Leave a comment

Bad habits are very hard to break! Unfortunately my daughter is already learning from mama and loves to shop. She constantly puts things in the cart when we go to Target or any super market, granted they’d be things like latex gloves and band-aid boxes (like today at Target when I found four boxes of those gloves and two boxes of the bandaids under the shopping cart…) but it’s really the act of shopping that she’s so fascinated with. Whenever we go out she insists on wearing her purse or anything that you can carry like a purse above the shoulder. She likes to keep her Wubbanub and a box of raisins or craisins in there. Today the doctor also gave her a scribbled out prescription, folded it and handed it to her with a sample diaper rash cream – and of course she immediately stuck them in her purse.

We went to Gap Kids today to utilize there current sales, including the 30% off all regular priced items and additional 40% off sale items (alongside our coupon code for Friend’s & Family). I also came home to find that I had another in my inbox waiting and added more online items into today’s shopping haul – how could I not, it’s on SALE! (You might have already seen my haul on Instagram.) Anyways, whenever we get to the clothes and Huntley walks around she instantly gravitates to bright things and loves to pull the hangers off the racks and bring me dresses and as if she’s laying it against her body to see how it would look – she always says “Ooh, wow!” (which I mentioned she taught herself to say when she was around nine to ten months old and it was hit when she opened presents for Christmas and her birthday). Huntley also loves to pull out credit cards and even knows how to slide them, which I should’ve never let her try in the first place, because now she is pro at it and Tanner IS NOT pleased… the women in line behind us however, always think it’s hilarious – even though we all know it’s T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Ok, so I admit – I have a problem and I really don’t want my daughters to have this same problem… now what’s the next step?

[TooRahLoo Plaid Scarf I Gap Navy Wool Coat I Levi’s Jeggings I Zara Boots I Handmade Hairclip]

Room Addition Progress: Framing Walls

March 11, 2015March 11, 20152 Comments

If you already follow me on Instagram you might already have seen the progress that is being made on the room addition. The raised foundation was poured, the floors were framed and recently put down, and now we are working on the walls! Waking up to half the wall in the front of our house being ripped out has been a bit detrimental to Huntley’s sleep patterns, however, we’re all trying to make it work for us. In the meantime, naps are taken in the car or stroller when we are out and about or in Penelope’s nursery when we’re at home.

These past few days Huntley has been extra clingy to me and I’m not quite sure whether it’s the teething (a tooth sprung last night!) or if it’s because she can senses that I’m pregnant – it might even be a bit of both. Huntley loves grass and flowers and we like to play in our backyard in the morning when the weather is nice and it also gives us an excuse to get away from the noises coming from the front of our house. Today she actually went and grabbed a coat from her room, which happened to be on the floor already, and walked over to the backyard sliding door saying “mama, dog dog” as if she had gotten ready to go outside and play with Remy. It was particularly funny to see her come out wearing this coat! Considering I’ve never seen her put on her own coat or sweater and it was actually quite warm outside.

[Cherokee Leopard Print Coat (on sale now) I Gap Peter Pan Collar Blouse I Gap Black Leggings I H&M Panda Ballet Flats]

Taking it Easy

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015Leave a comment

As I’m quickly approaching the third trimester of pregnancy – I’m really starting to feel PREGNANT! It’s strange because for the first two trimesters, or at least for the most part, I could go about my days as normal as they were before. A little over halfway through my second trimester I started to feel the weight of being pregnant – emotionally and physically! I didn’t understand the pregnant woman waddle until this second pregnancy, probably because I carried high with Huntley and never had this issue. This past weekend, particularly yesterday, I started to feel the waddle come on…my lower back is starting to ache, but doesn’t feel like sciatica like the last time I was pregnant and had back pain. With our construction going on, bringing in baby, bringing in grocery, taking out the trash and doing laundry is a bigger fete than before since I now have triple the distance to walk to and from the car and garage. Huntley’s little red Radio Flyer wagon has become my way of transporting all the above. And I really do think I need to start taking it easy for the rest of this pregnancy with all the exhaustion and pain I’ve been feeling lately. Today I let Huntley walk to and from the car and luckily she did not make a b-line into the pool!

[TiedinTwine Headband I Kid and Kind Panda T-shirt I HM Polkadotted Denim Shorts I Croc ‘Cayman’ Sandal]

Sunday Brunch & The Aquarium of the Pacific

March 9, 2015March 9, 2015Leave a comment

This morning we decided to take advantage of the sunny day and spent time at the Long Beach Shoreline Marina and Aquarium of the Pacific. We recently received this shirt from Moozega‘s new line, one of the awesome shops we are so lucky to be a brand rep for on Instagram and such. If you’ve never heard of them, you really must check them out! The shirts are all printed on American Apparel fine jersey cotton knit material and the print quality is just superior! The ink doesn’t fade in the wash and the designs are gender neutral and wonderfully unique! These are by far some of our favorite printed tees we own and this elephant one was requested by Tanner and I because we just love elephants! As you can see, we tend to put Huntley is shirts sized a bit bigger than her actual size, due to her Winnie the Pooh-like belly!

RANDOM, but here are some reasons why we love elephants! Did you know that elephants are pack animals that usually stay herds with their families. They are also known to be extremely intelligent and form very strong emotional bonds! An elephant’s memory is truly impeccable as he can actually remember an elephant he’s met hundreds of years ago if he ran into him again. Also, elephants will usually bury a fellow elephant that has died, even if they didn’t know that elephant! But enough about elephants, here’s a flood of photos from today’s outing!

[Moozega Elephant T-shirt I TooRahLoo Polkadot Bandana Bib I Baby Gap Shorties I Freshly Picked Neon Pink Moccasins]

After brunch (and a funnel cake for the pregnant lady, ahem) we had some photo-fun on the pier then took Huntley to Long Beach Aquarium, where we are lucky enough to be annual pass holders of (thanks to some of our mommy/baby playgroup friends)! Since it was Sunday and a perfect one at that, we knew the aquarium would somewhat be packed and decided to just hit up a few parts that we already knew were Huntley’s favorites such as the seals/sea-lions tunnel, the penguins, and the Baja California exhibit.

Afterwards, we headed home and took a much needed family nap! Luckily when we woke from our naps the weather was still warm and the sun was still shining bright so we decided to let Huntley play in the backyard for a bit with water tables and play set.

All in all it was a great Sunday spent! How was your weekend spent?

“Little Peanut” Baby Shower

March 7, 2015March 9, 20155 Comments

Today was a very eventful day as I got to help host and throw one of my best friend’s a baby shower for their “Little Peanut” baby Jax expected to be due in six weeks! The theme was chosen by the mama-to-be, Angela’s maid-of-honor Sara and it was a perfect theme for the location chosen for the new parents’ baby shower! The co-ed shower was held at a pool clubhouse in the Anaheim area and was already set in a blue color theme and tone, which worked out great for this blue, grey, and white party palette!

Happily put in charge of hosting the game segments of the shower, I started scouring Pinterest and various websites for fun ‘co-ed friendly’ games. Although there were so many wonderful game ideas, I particularly gravitated to the funny ones like “Pin the Sperm on the Uterus” but decided to forgo those types of games since I didn’t feel they suited the couple and their guests at this baby shower. I took a few notes and came up with the best five games that would work for this event, assuming that we wouldn’t go through all of them. Luckily, the games went fairly quickly and the wonderfully competitive guests were excited to start the next game as each one ended. Here are the list of games I put together:

1. “Tinkle in the Pot” – For every expecting mama there comes an array of pregnancy related symptoms and struggles, one those may include needing to run to the potty as fast as you can without peeing your pants! The object of the game is to “tinkle in the pot” without peeing on the floor! We had six players stand in a row parallel to to six wide-mouth large mason jars the “potty”. The players all donned pregnant bellies (using blown-up balloons) and held a ping-pong ball between there knees and waddled across to the potty (mason jars). First one to “tinkle in the pot” won.

2. “Change the Baby” – When I researched games, I liked two different ideas of this “change the baby” game and decided to combine some of the ideas together while also adding my own ideas into the mix. The idea of the game is to come out with a clean baby with a clean diaper and the diaper must be on correctly! This was another six player game and came with a few surprises along the way! I had set up six balloons (blown-up) with ‘dirty’ diapers on them and faces drawn on the balloon so you know what direction to put the diaper on. The stations included individual wipes, talc powder, and a ‘clean’ diaper. First one with the diaper on correctly, clean and powdered won the game. So here’s how it went. Each participating guest, the “parent” stood in front of their babes and on your mark, get set, go – change your baby! The guests opened the diapers and were surprised to find that baby pooped (smeared peanut butter) eww – surprise number one! Be careful – don’t drop or pop baby, newborn babies are fragile! The guest then opened their wipes only to find that, surprise number two, you’ve only got ONE wipe left so you must get all the poop off with only one wipe! The game was lots of fun to watch! The winner’s baby was checked to see if there were traces of poop (there shouldn’t be) and fresh powder and the direction of the diaper was correct!

3. “My Water Broke!” – This was a simple and fun traditional kind of game. I pre-cleaned and froze some plastic party favor babies in some large ice cube tray and had twelve guests play at the same time. The object of the game was to melt the ice using only your mouth (not your teeth, because babies are fragile and you have to be gentle with them) and come out holding a clean ice free baby. First one to get the baby out of the ice yells “My water broke!” Wins!

4. “Baby Bottle Beer Chug” – This is another simple and fun game and perfect for the non-traditional guests and beer drinkers. Of course you can make this more family friendly and child oriented with juice or milk, but we decided to have this be an adult-only game. I found six bottles that were a dollar each and with past trials on this game, I took a scissor to the nipple and added a slit to make it easier to chug. We filled the bottles with beer and handed them to our babies (volunteered guests). The object of the game is to finish the bottle as fast as you can, first one to finish wins!

5. “Feed the Baby” – Each baby is different, but feeding baby solids and getting to see their reactions for the first time is always an exciting moment in mama and baby’s life! I wasn’t too sure about how this game would go, but turned out to be a crowd pleaser with the guests. We had three teams of two (be sure to have two prizes for this game). I cut out holes at the bottom of three garbage bags to use as bibs. We had one team member stand behind the other who sat in a chair. The team member that stood behind the chair would play mom or dad and was blindfolded. The team member in the chair would play baby with a bib on. I handed each parent an open container of applesauce and a spoon. The object of the game was to have baby finish the applesauce and then quickly switch roles. On your marks, get set, go! First team to finish both cups of applesauce wins!

Sweet Kaitlyn’s Second Birthday

March 6, 2015March 9, 2015Leave a comment

March sixth marks a very important date on our Wall calendar! It’s Huntley’s Wela (grandma) Monique and cousin Kaitlyn‘s birthdays and now a fellow blogging mommy friend‘s newest addition Lewis’s birthday as well! We decided to meet up at only the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland, to celebrate K’s second birthday! It’s truly so much fun seeing these girls interact these days and I’m excited to see how they interact as they get older!

The Good Eater & Baby Led Weaning

March 5, 2015March 9, 20155 Comments

Ever since she started eating solids, heck, even when she was breastfeeding and when I had weaned her to a bottle, she’s always been a very good eater! There were moments in her life where she would go a week or two not eating as much as she normally does and I would wonder, was the ‘good-eating’ just a phase? Tanner would always have to remind me that when she’s teething or sick, the last thing she probably wants to do is eat. And he was usually right!

Not that I am a crunchy mama or anything, although I do find that I have some granola-mommy tendencies, I found that baby-led-weaning was the BEST tactic for us in teaching our child to eat. Although every baby is different and I’m sure Penelope won’t be the same as Huntley in the eating department. I just loved the idea and the essence of baby-led-weaning, being able to give her whole foods to begin with (of course, with our supervision) and if she likes it then she likes it, and if she doesn’t she doesn’t. Of course she liked/likes pretty much everything so BLW was super easy for us! It also works out well with our family dynamic as we want to instill dinner time as a time to spend with family. We simply set up all our meals together at the table and eat at the same time, same food, and this girl practically eats as much as we do. There’s no spoon-feeding Huntley first before we eat, she eats at the same time as us and we love it!

There are, however the consequences of baby-led-weaning, those including the mess – OH THE MESSES SHE MAKES! If you can get over this – for the most part it’s amazing! It’s amazing to see her eat and how much she LOVES IT! And I promise, if you’re patient and baby’s willing to learn, they get better. The mess we clean afterwards seem to be less and less and I am so grateful for this! Just out of curiosity, would love to know how and what you feed your child?