Bathing Beauty

March 5, 2015March 9, 20153 Comments

If you’ve ever seen my daughter around water and seen how excited she gets, you’d already know that bath time is just like “the best thing ever!” Huntley loves loves loves swim class, her water tables (yes, she has two), but most of all – she loves bath time! I bathe her once, twice, and sometimes three times a day! Not because she’s always dirty, but just because she loves it so very much! As I mentioned before, she even broke our converter on our bath faucet so that we’d all ONLY be able to take baths until we got it fixed almost five months later… Many times when Huntley gets cranky she runs to the bathroom and tries to get in the tub, saying “mama-mamaaa- ma-ma-ma” so many of the times I give in. For some reason the water seems to really calm her down. Tanner even calls her his little seahorse (for more reasons than one). Anyways we were recently asked to become part of the Nuby USA Parent Bloggers team and are extremely excited about the idea of sharing our love for their products we already own and reviewing some new products that are soon to come! This Nuby Octopus Bath Time Toss was given to Huntley when she was first born by her Wela and Gramps and these days she just loves it so much since she actually knows to how to play with it.

Waking up with Hammers

March 3, 20152 Comments

Living through construction being done on the home is not the easiest, especially when it comes to nap time… The worse part is that the construction is being done right outside Huntley’s nursery…but, luckily I’ve been working away on Penelope’s nursery on the other side of the house and we even have the crib up (as you might have already seen on my Instagram) so it makes naps seem a little more feasible.

Poor Huntley woke up in a sweat this morning from her first nap…her hair was drenched and I’ve only ever seen it like this when she’s had the fever…our foreman and his construction crew showed up randomly around 10AM to start working away, when normally they come at 7AM. Hammers were being hammered, drills were drilling, and power tools were being used left to right of the house… After rushing to her room to comfort her and let her know everything was alright, her mood was instantly changed. I can’t help but think how awful it must be to wake up to all those sounds…hopefully it’ll all be done soon!

Real Life vs. My Wannabe Pinterest Life

March 3, 2015March 3, 20152 Comments

With all the construction going on at our little Home with Walls, I’ve been pinning away ideas on Pinterest and dreaming of all the beautiful homes! Every time I look at the spaces I actually have to work with, it becomes a challenge! Do any of you have this problem?

Take for instance, our tiny little galley kitchen. It use to be just two sides of ugly cheap cabinets, sink, and stove/microwave combo with ugly thin brown laminate on the floors and tacky countertops that would lead to a plain wall at the end (I wish I could find you the before photos to show you). Before we actually moved in, we had it gutted and decided on creating a U-shaped workspace (which went against our contractor’s suggestion, but even he agreed in the end it came out way better than what he suggested) this gave us more cabinet space and counter space. We also put in clean white cabinets with granite countertops. Sounds great and finished right? Nope, as any homeowner knows, there are always endless projects in a home!

So here’s our project, that for two years, we still haven’t started/completed. We don’t have a backsplash. Watching HGTV and seeing all these how-tos on Pinterest had me thinking I could do this myself. And I’m sure if I had all the tools I needed, maybe I could…but I have given up…I know I know… like I said, I didn’t even start! But c’mon, how many of the DIY ideas you pin actually get done? And how many of those ideas did you actually do or “nailed it!” (click for laughs). Mine would probably end up on that link I just posted…so yes, I’m planning to have someone else come and do it for us…if you have any suggestions on what you think might look best as a backsplash in here, do share!

Another thing about all those Pinterest homes I pinned to my boards, how often do those homes look like that in reality, especially the ones with kids? I just don’t understand…please tell me they are all done up for pictures and not always perfect like that? Even my with my own kitchen at it’s cleanest, my countertops are covered in baby gear! If your house always looks Pinterest-worthy all the time, please let me know what you do to keep it that way!

Even here I forgot to put away Huntley’s first art piece on the fridge!

Little Sister to Big Sister

March 2, 2015March 3, 2015Leave a comment

Since the day Huntley was born she always had another baby to look up to, follow around and copy. And at only ten months apart from her cousin Kaitlyn, she made it known that she’d catch up to her quicker than we’d all think she could! Their relationship is deeper rooted than cousins already since they see each other probably more than they see their dad’s during the weekdays, they’re almost like sisters! Or at least that’s what Huntley thinks! Her main reason for becoming mobile so quickly was to catch up, you know crawling at four months and taking those first steps at seven months. Kaitlyn was also great at being a big sister for Huntley always giving her helping hands when she wanted to stand or even try to walk. She even grabs her Wubbanub pacifier when Huntley would fall and cry and stick it in her mouth to calm her down! I credit some of Huntley’s new favorite skills to Kaitlyn’s big sister lead. If only she would be as gentle and careful around the new baby as Kaitlyn was with her.

These days Huntley loves to copy and mimic everything I do, or what other people around her do. She likes to rip paper towel sheets off the roll and wipe tables, counters, and even her own high chair. She likes to take her cleaning set and follow me around the house pretending to sweep and mop too (thanks to our friends the Feavels for this gift!) she likes to pretend she’s washing dishes too in her play kitchen when I’m washing dishes, however she wonders why it takes me so much longer than her and hates waiting for me to finish… She likes to wipe her mouth, face, and hands and yours too, with a napkin after every bite. She likes to feed others her food and will even share her cookie or Popsicle with you if you let her feed you. She loves to rub her own lotion on her body (it’s a hoot to watch her rub it on her belly, we love it so), and she’ll even rub it on you, same with Eos chapstick! She likes to wash you with a sponge and rinse you with her cup during bath time, although she might miss pouring the actual water on you! And she likes to give kisses on her own terms, not when you demand one from her. She’s little miss independent these days and loves learning new things like drinking from a water bottle and trying to turn to put the cap back on. A bit worried at first about how she would be with a new baby sister, but I’m beginning to realize that she’ll probably be a great big sister! Here’s to hoping that all these new skills of hers will play a role in being a role model to Penelope! Now we only need to work on her being “gentle” since she hasn’t grasped that idea yet, but rather still grasps a whole chunkful of Remy’s fur and then pulls on it…(that’s our little Elmayra there)

Kung Fu Baby!

February 27, 20154 Comments

Baby kicks – just about the best “physical” feeling in the world!!! They’re what makes me so in love with being pregnant! Is that weird to say?!

Oh gosh, I can sit in quiet by myself and just feel baby kicks for hours on end like I do at night during my pregnancy insomnia. When I was pregnant with Huntley I could feel them as early as 10 weeks! My husband was able to feel them at 11 weeks! This time around, it seemed like forever before I felt the first kicks – I believe it was near the 13th or 14th weeks that I felt them. Tanner didn’t feel them until the 15th week and even then they were seldom and faint. Recently Huntley has started to feel them too, however she thinks I’m creating those little bumps and even tries to imitate them with her own belly! Her favorite move right now is lifting my shirt to give me and her little sister raspberries, which we think is just about the cutest thing ever!

Something about these baby kicks – so magical! Maybe it’s the fact that they are so uncontrollable and sporadic. Or maybe it’s that they’re like little reminders telling me I’m growing life within me! Whatever it is about them, I love them so!

So please keep on kicking you’re little kung fu kicks my sweet Penelope!

Daddy, mommy and sissy can’t wait to feel the real thing!

A Home with Walls – Master Bath Ideas

February 25, 2015Leave a comment

With our foundation poured and some wood replaced due to termites (ugh, yes, we’re tenting too), our foreman and his crew will be framing the walls to our master bedroom addition and we’re getting very excited about it all! Our contractor has told us to start picking and purchasing all our pieces for the master bathroom and boy was this harder than I thought it would be, especially to stay within allowance. We’re really hoping to have a very clean and simple feeling master bath with a few luxe elements like carrara marble and an extra-wide Kohler tub. Here’s our idea board as of right now, but of course this can all change.

Round Two with Two

February 24, 2015February 27, 20152 Comments

As the months, weeks, and days inch closer and closer to our due date I reflect back on those few hazy days after giving birth. Before having baby, Tanner would tell me that we could handle our newborn all by ourselves since he was taking a couple weeks off of work and could help with diaper changes, baths, etc. I don’t blame him for anything, as he was just so optimistic and so excited about starting his little family – our little home with Walls. But in all honesty, I was nervous about this. When his parents offered to come out for the week after baby was born, his first reaction was no thank you. However, when the time came, I had to have a talk with him and just be completely open with him about how I was feeling (nervousness, anxieties, etc.) and he happily agreed that it would be a good idea that they did come. Truly having his parents here with us for a week was like a godsend which I/we am forever-forever thankful for!!!

Whether it was the extra push to get out of the house and go feel normal for a bit or when we needed to just get a little shuteye during the day or night, we have our family and friends to thank for this! To be honest, I never thought I was going to be the kind of new mommy that never gets out of the house. I would always scope out family friendly places while I was pregnant or take note of how my sister dealt with getting out of the house with a newborn/baby. Tanner jokes about me being allergic to staying in if it’s been over three hours.

It all started shortly after we left the hospital. We didn’t even get home yet when we both decided we were hungry for real food and with his parents on their way and almost to our house we decided to meet them at Island Burgers (yes, this is Huntley’s first outing, outside of the hospital, and she was a doll!) Luckily we knew that this chain of restaurants is a no-fail for families! When we got there with our carseat they had a carseat carrier ready at our table and Huntley slept through the whole meal.

Within the first week we had meals at home delivered by family and friends, and we are still so appreciative of those meals, especially the ones that people brought us in the hospital! Getting to see friends and family over easy take-out meals (that are hassle-free clean-up) at home and having them meet baby girl was a great treat after being stuck at the hospital. Within that week with his parents helping us around the house (laundry, food, watching baby, etc.) we were able to go eat at some of our favorite places like O’Malleys at Seal Beach (walked the pier) and Slaters 50/50 to name a few. Despite having had an episiotomy and third/almost fourth-degree tear I felt fine enough to go out, even if I had to bum a seat on one of those neck pillows wherever we went (thank you Tanner’s mom for stopping to pick this up at a Rite-aid for me! So incredibly thoughtful!) I was definitely lucky to be able to move about and healed rather quickly!

With this pregnancy I feel more ready to take on those new parent challenges, particularly those first days in the hospital. I know how to breastfeed now, he knows how to thaw breast milk and make formula if needed, we know to bring a pacifier (since we’re definitely ok with having another binky baby, whereas before we weren’t, until we caved two days later – another thank you to his parents),we know how to quickly change diapers in the dark, we know to make shooshing sounds and use white noise makers, we know to use swings and bouncers to free our hands a bit, and so much more than we did the first time around!

All in all, I’m really hoping we have this new parenting stuff in the bag! And hopefully this could let up some more time and energy so that I can help my pregnant friends 😉

My Baby You’ll Always Be

February 23, 2015February 23, 20152 Comments

These days We can’t seem to catch a break with sicknesses in the Wall house. Baby girl has yet another cold to get over… As I lay here listening to her on the monitor, her little horsey coughs and raspy breathing, I can’t help but want to just go pick her up and put her next to me in bed. However she hates sleeping with us and sleeps so well in her crib alone… I miss her here in my arms…

Recently I was reminded that Penelope would be born in a little over three months – it’s still hasn’t hit me yet to be honest, or at least until now. It’s easy to forget how life is going to change so much, yet again. This pregnancy has been fairly easy, considering my first was filled with aches and pains (sciatica, morning sickness all three trimesters, and fatigue, just to name a few). I only threw-up once during car sickness before I even knew I was pregnant and also during Christmas when I caught the stomach bug. Other than that, up to 25 weeks, where I am now, I was feeling perfectly fine and mostly normal this pregnancy. However these last two weeks have been full on growth spurts for my belly!

This bump is getting out of control and I’m really starting to realize, we’re having another baby! I’ve started to contemplate on the ideas of what life will be like once Penelope arrives. How will Huntley feel about it all? Will she be jealous or not even realize because she didn’t get to be the only child for much time? Will she be upset about not getting as much attention?

And there she is on the monitor again, red dots moving and all. She’s crying now…

We moved her rocker/glider into Penelope’s nursery tonight since we finally rolled out the new rug and I wanted to see how it would all look. After all we weren’t using it in Huntley’s room anymore. Well, tonight might have been a good night to have rocked baby girl back to sleep if she’d let me. Poor sick girl. I nose Frida’d her little bitty nose and she cried and cried some more… I held her in my arms. Her little/big 23lb body lain over my growing belly. And I held her close and held her tight, the way I did when we took a bath and breathed in the hot steam just before clearing her little nose passages. And I walked and rocked my little girl back to sleep and let the sounds of the rain hitting the window soothe her.

Laying here in bed, I can’t help but think, these last few months will be the last months she’ll be my only baby. To be honest I’m starting to feel a bit anxious and overwhelmed by the thought of it. I’m starting to feel a bit sadness for our little Huntley, yet at the same time excitement for our Penelope!

Maybe it’s just my out-of-control hormones speaking (the ones that seemed to be hibernating until now), but I’ve got to remember that no matter what she’ll always be my first baby. She’ll always be the baby that made me a mother. She’ll always be my baby.

My baby you’ll always be.

Newborn Essentials

February 21, 2015March 4, 2015Leave a comment

Before our first baby girl, Huntley, arrived I had done a lot of research on the best baby products and gear before registering and purchasing ourselves the necessities. I wanted the best of the best, or what other’s (with experience) thought were the best! I read reviews, forums, blogs and even made comparison charts (yes, I made charts!) If you asked me what I thought were “newborn essentials” before finding out we were going to have two under two, it might have been different, but here’s my NEW LIST of newborn essentials with the insight of becoming a second-time-around mommy.

1. The Breast Pump – Madela Pump in Style Advanced is my pump of choice, but of course there are so many brands and styles out there to choose from and with ObamaCare we can all get one now! For more info check this out. I prefer this double electric breast pump since it’s super easy to use and gets more milk out at once versus a single pump. Just make sure to empty out the milk. I once left this running for 10 minutes while watching tv and didn’t notice how much milk I had in the bottle already and the milk back-flowed into the tubes… 2. The Chair – The Bumbo Floor Seat is the perfect chair for new sitters/soon-to-be sitters. It helps baby to sit upright and is made of super comfortable and soft material that is easy to clean since there are no grooves on top – simple and smooth to wipe down or wash. You can also purchase the matching seat tray, making it an awesome way for baby play with his/her toys. This tray was also perfect for Huntley when she started baby-led weaning. She eventually transitioned to the Stokke Tripp Trapp as mentioned here when she was a full sitter/eater. 3. The Bottle – Whether supplementing or full on formula feeding, I find that the ComoTomo bottle to be the best! More info here as I’ve mentioned before why we love it so much and why it’s are absolute favorite. Another bottle that we use around here is the Born Free bottles, which are great for colic babies and have a unique design to simulate a natural flow. Huntley loves these bottles and although I prefer the glass one’s I just know she rather carry around the plastic ones. I also like that these ones (glass or high-heat resistant classic) are dishwasher safe. Which is a plus in my book since I hate hand washing all the pieces! 4. The Easy Swaddle Wrap – SwaddleMe Organic Adjustable Wraps are perfect for newborns and are a cinch to use! Honestly I wish we had brought these to the hospital the first time around when we had Huntley. They’ve become lifesavers through the first nights! The only complaint I’d have about them is although the velcro are fairly quiet and makes the blanket easy to adjust, sometimes in the middle of the night when I want to give a little skin-to-skin bonding while feeding or when needing to change a diaper – velcro isn’t the quietest… However I would like to try the Miracle Blanket for this reason, if anyone has any insight about these please let me know. 5. Swaddle Cloths & Burpy Bibs – If you had follow me on Instagram you might already know how much I love love love Aden and Anais Bamboo Swaddle Cloths and we already have a good collection going on!!! I recently bought these ones below which are Nordstrom Exclusives for a girlfriend of mine who we Sprinkled yesterday – love these prints so much and want them for myself!!! The bamboo collection cloths are super soft and I sometimes would even use them as scarves, especially with all the pretty patterns. The Classic A+A Swaddling Cloths work just as well, but without the added extra softness (which to me makes a big difference). However with both kinds of A+A swaddling cloths the size is what is incomparable to the rest! They both measure a nice 47″ square which can also be used as a quick infant carseat canopy when you tie one end together around the hood/visor of the carseat! They also work great as burp cloths, but if you are looking for one in particular I am also a big fan of their Classic Burpy Bib! And when you think baby is ready for a real blanket, the A+A Dream Blankets are amazing and a great transition to the materials baby is already so use to, but more about that in another post. 6. For Good Clean Fun – Giving baby his/her first bath at home is one of the most nerve-wracking, yet also most exciting “first” moments, or maybe that was just for us (I taped it and love looking back at it). Anyways, I had registered and was luckily gifted a starter pack of Mustela Bath Time Essentials and am completely hooked! The scent is amazing and unlike any others. (I’ll go into conditioners in another post as well, since we didn’t introduce this until Huntley had had more hair.) And just for fun – although any baby bath will work (some other mama’s favorites Puj and Angelcare Bath Support, we used the Blooming Baby Bath for the first few months! 7. The Kitchen Counter Takeover – With a dishwasher that hasn’t been so trusty this past year, we do a lot of hand washing of dishes and such, those including our nipples and bottles, etc. The Boon Lawn and Grass have become part of our kitchen decor – LOL. You can even attach cute accessories to help dry nipples and other smaller pieces like your Madela breast pump pieces. I would also suggest getting a bottle drying rack or tree, we use the Skip Hop Splash. A good bottle brush and nipple brushes will help you get all milk residue out! 8. Binky Baby – WubbaNubs have became our lifesavers, especially for Huntley! We’ve boughten over 15 already, but half have been lost or ruined… It’s become her attachment object, aside from her Angel Dear Pink Kitty Lovey. My favorites are the Mary Meyer collection WubbaNubs! 9. For Feeding Support – My original plan for breastfeeding Huntley was to get to the “One and Done” and I loved breastfeeding her and didn’t have any issues with it, however, with our unexpected pregnancy and my production decline I had to wean a bit earlier than expected. Using our Boppy Bare Naked Pillow with slipcover(s) to transition from breastfeeding and bottle feeding made it easier than expected. I would still lay her back to take her bottles and we luckily didn’t have any issues with this. In the newborn stages I would have two Boppy’s floating around our house, usually one in our room or living room and one in her nursery on top of our rocker. I love my Pottery Barn Boppy and Slipcovers for their super luxurious and soft fabrics, also, if you really wanted you can get the covers monogrammed. I would also highly suggest getting the Water Resistant Protection Liner to use in between the Bare Naked Pillow and slipcover for spit ups and such. 10. The Bassinet – With our small master bedroom and nowhere to put a real bassinet, we had to use our original Bugaboo Cameleon Stroller Bassinet as Huntley’s main sleep space. We then transitioned her to our bed (co-sleeping) into the Baby Delight SnuggleNest, which we thought worked out well, probably even better if we had a King sized bed. This time around, with our soon-to-be newly constructed master bedroom I am excited to have the Halo Bassinest Swivel Sleeper Premier Series and can’t wait to use it! With all the positive raving reviews and the fact that it swivels 360 degrees and has a bendable side is amazing! I also love the pretty silver damask print! I would also suggest having a Graco Pack ‘n Play to use in the living room, preferably one with a baby changer and bassinet, I was lucky enough to purchase my neighbor’s older version, but I just loved the designs and ruffles, similar look without the ruffles here! 11. Have Baby, Will Travel – When I was researching travel cribs, this is when the comparison charts really came into play! I wanted the easiest to carry and the most lightweight (yet still best quality) travel crib I could buy. I chose Phil and Ted’s Traveller Travel Crib! It’s the lightest in it’s class at only 7 lbs and folds easily into a yoga mat sized bag! I also have dealt with Phil and Ted’s customer service care when I needed to order a replacement seat for my Phil and Ted’s Lobster after an accident I had with washing it…and they were super easy to work with. My second choice was the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib (light), which my sister has and loves, which weighs only 11 lbs and folds into a case. Another product I would recommend is the OXO Tot On-the-Go Travel Drying Rack with Bottle Brush as it’s the perfect size to throw into your luggage since it’s super compact and does the job while traveling! And how about the Travel Boppy, I personally don’t have one, but my sister does and used it when we had all travelled to Europe for two weeks with her then 3.5 month old. 12. Baby Wearing – I loved the idea of baby wearing from the get-go and was excited to try out all the different types of baby carriers (there are so many!) My personal favorite is the Ergo Classic and we have two of them (Camel and Galaxy Grey), although I love the idea of the new Ergo Four Position 360 Carrier and would love to try it out! If you have it already, please let me know what you think. . Another favorite of mine is the K’Tan as it’s super easy to use, I call it the “wrap for dummies” (like me who never got good at the Moby or Solly, I gave mine away) or at least not fast enough for quick trips to the grocery store (although I hear great reviews on both of those other products). What I’m really excited to use is our Sakura Bloom (ours in Maple) I love how beautiful they look when being worn by all the super stylish mamas and papas on Instagram and can’t wait to use ours with baby Penelope! I would imagine it to be a lighter fabric than the beautiful Rockin’ Baby Sling we borrowed from my sister when we had Huntley. All in all, I would highly suggest BABY WEARING for all! 13. The stroller(s) – We had a good run with our wonderful Bugaboo Cameleon and BOB Revolution SE, but as soon as we found out we were having another (as I’ve mentioned, two under two), we knew we would need a double stroller. Again, pulled out the chart-making and reviews and made comparisons between all the top double strollers! It was decided after reading multiple raving reviews (including video reviews and demonstrations), I had to get the Baby Jogger City Select with Double Seat and you know I had to pull it out and start using it ASAP! If I had originally knew that we would have children so close in age, I probably would’ve gotten this stroller from the very beginning. The number one thing that sold me on this stroller from the rest was the fact that it can transition for a single stroller to double and even triple if you count the glider board! It can also work with the bassinet attachment (yes, I got that too, alongside ALL the other add-ons) or with your carseat (with attachment). Also loved the fact that both seats are “full sized” unlike the others I compared it to. And of course (like the Bugaboo) I went with all black! And did I mention all the different seating positions?! 14. The Bag – Although I love having different variations and name brand diaper bags, those including Kate Spade and Marc Jacobs, it all comes down to the best for a newborn on this list! So I will have to go with the most popular of choices out there, the Petunia Pickle Bottom ‘Boxy’ Diaper Bag, which comes in multiple colors and styles of fabrics (however I must say – glazed is your best bet at keeping it clean longer)! The bag has a zippered fold out diaper changing pad that can be detached. There are so many compartments, the side pockets are perfect for milk bottles and water bottles, the inside pockets can hold just about everything, why there’s even pockets when you fold out the changing pad! 15. Toys & Teether – Sophie la Giraffe, aka Sophie, is still one of the most world popular toy/teether you can get and if you say her full name correctly she’s perhaps one of the fanciest named baby toys! She is made of natural rubber and food paint and is one of the softest rubber toys you’ll ever touch! Although she is technically a teething toy (as marketed), she also makes for a nice entertaining newborn toy with her easy to grab long neck and legs and is easy squeeze to squeak. Another toy that I find essential to entertaining baby is a hanging carseat handle toy, preferably one that baby can start to pull and tug at. Like this one we got at Target. I just wished that there were one that would attach to a toddler seat 😉 16. Baby on Board – A great carseat is an essential-essential, not just talking about for fun, but you really need it!!!!! My choice is the Maxi Cosi line of carseats for their high quality and again, being the lightest on the market for infant seats. I have the Mico and Mico AP (in all black yet again) one in each of our cars, although they do have some newer model infant carseats in the market right now which I would trust with my experience (customer service and all). However, there are tons of different carseats out there! I would definitely suggest trying them out and getting a feel for it before purchasing. 17. Hands-free Care – With a newborn it’s easy to want to hold and cuddle all the time, but even mama’s arms need a break! The Fisher Price Snugabunny Cradle ‘n Swing we borrowed from my sister was amazing for us! This time around I am hoping to get the space saving Mamaroo since I love the idea that it has a car ride feature which always seems to put Huntley to sleep. A nice bouncer is super light and portable, we have the Fisher Price My Little Sweetie Bouncer, but any bouncer should work well. For those moments when I would crave a warm bath or shower I would place baby in the bathroom with me fastened in the bouncer while she slept with the door wide open (keeping it well-ventilated). This way I could peek over the tub or out from the shower curtain to check on her. 18. The Sound Machine – We love the Cloud B Sound Machine Soother Sleep Sheep for it’s “rain” and “ocean” sounds and it’s 45min timer. Perfect for nap time to help soothe baby down. We later realized with sleep training that having a constant white noise is like the best thing ever! I even enjoy the fact that we sleep better hearing it through the monitor! My initial choice after carefully researching was the Marpac, but then realized that the Sleep Easy had ranked just as high but with less reviews, but so many positive reviews and was a fraction of the price!

19. Sleep Safe, Sleep Sound – Having a baby monitor was absolutely one of our highest priorities! We decided to go with the most trusted Motorola Baby Monitor and we’re lucky enough to have been gifted this as a baby shower gift! Now we just need to buy the second camera for Penelope’s nursery.

20. For Extra Soothing – We used the Cocalo Perfect Calming Center and loved it! It was a bit sensitive to sound and movement but luckily comes with a remote to stop and start the soothing vibrations. For a inexpensive alternative, perfect for naps to start getting baby to sleep in the crib we got the Munchkin Lulla-vibe prior to moving to a whole pad so that the vibrations would last longer.

If there’s anything missing on my list that you found to be an essential newborn item/product – do please share!

Mammoth Fun – Our Valentine’s Day Weekend

February 19, 2015February 19, 2015Leave a comment

As you know this past weekend was Valentine’s weekend and we spent ours with good friends and family. Since we all have babes under two, we decided to do Valentine’s weekend on the slopes of our favorite home away from home Mammoth Mountain where my brother-in-law and sister have a large spacious cabin/condo perfect for three families! Breakfasts were had in-home (bacon and eggs with toast, etc.) and lunches and dinners were enjoyed outside with the cooler weather and beautiful sceneries! Although I didn’t get to snowboard, yet another season of being pregnant, however I did get to enjoy breath-taking views! Also, having three beautiful little girls running around with laughter and joy in their hearts wasn’t too bad either. I just wish I could say that Huntley loved the snow as much as she loved the ocean, but I’d be lying if I did.