3rd Month Favorites

Month three really allowed Emma's personality to come out and it showed with her interest in certain things. We of course still have our favorites, but Emma certainly has shown interest in many things.....one of which includes trying to watch the television....bright lights, music, etc....who wouldn't love it!

1. Wubbanub: Since day one this child loves to comfort suck. We have always had a pacifier on hand otherwise she would be attached to me 24/7. I love this little guy because she can grab onto him and feel the different textures on his body, look at the different colors and get the sucking motion that she desires. He also lies next to her so if the pacifier happens to fall out of her mouth its pretty easy for her to find her way back to it.

2. Avent Bottles: We got several of these guys for free when we registered for the baby shower. Since we switched over to a new antacid, it was really difficult to get her to take it, because she hated the taste. So what did I have to do? Pump breast milk and feed it to her mixed it. It actually helped me to establish a supply of breast milk for when my return to work happened and got her used to a bottle as well.

3. Sleep Pillow App: This free noise machine app has been a life saver for the past two months. Emma loves to fight her naps and sometimes we need white noise to push her over the edge into dreamland. Her favorite sound is the rainfall.....must take after mommy!

4. Coverall Pajamas: Since Emma hates having her arms swaddled we have been concerned with her getting chilled overnight with bare arms while she sleeps, especially with the night getting progressively cooler (YAY!) We wanted to make sure that she was comfortable and warm to ensure good sleep. We bought a couple new pairs in 3 months, 3-6 months and 6 months to get us through the fall. The fact that she looks so adorable in them is a bonus!

5. Wherever You Go My Love Will Find You and Goodnight Moon: We started a bedtime routine this month and it has worked out like a charm. Bath, read books and ready for bed by 8:30pm. This seems to be the best way to make her nod off into dream land. Does it work every night? No, but most nights it does. These two books are my favorite to read to her because of the content and great pictures. 

6. Baby Einstein Ocean Exploration Play Pad: She LOVES this thing. Anything with bright colors and music is totally up her alley. I sing to her and she gets a big smile on her face. This thing gets her kicking her feet and bright eyed staring at it. Really great for development. Sorry Grandma....she bought Emma this toy to give to her for Christmas but because Emma loved it so much, we got to keep it.

7. Sophie the Giraffe: This is a new introduction, but were suspicious of teething and decided to give this a whirl. She loves staring at Sophie, but not necessarily using her for her intended purpose. She will attempt to reach, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of reaching and grabbing her just yet. It's very soon though.

8. "Part of Your World" This is her most favorite song. I put this on and I get big time smiles and her attempt to sing along is absolutely heartwarming. Again, anything with music makes this babies day. Daddy is super happy that this is her favorite song because he intends to take her on the Little Mermaid ride in December when we make our first trip to the Magic Kingdom.

First Month Favs!

Since our little girl is almost two months old I thought that I would make a list of all the things that we, as parents, loved during her first month. Since they are so small they really don't start to form "opinions" about things right away so most of these are from mommies point of view. Next month she seemed to give me certain opinions about which products to use! Tee hee. So here we go:

1. My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow: I love this nursing pillow. Honestly it's my nursing crutch and I have a really difficult time nursing without it (maybe I need to start practicing.) For the first couple of days I used my Gia pillow from Dr. Browns, but she kept slipping off or rolling into my breast and it was just difficult to use. At our first doctor's appointment they let me use this guy and we immediately went out and bought it. It supports the baby well and gives a firm place for her to lay, it also has a back support and straps to you so it wont shift around.

2. Lanisoh Lanolin: In the beginning when we were both getting adjusted to nursing, my nipples were cracked and raw! This stuff helped to give me great relief! I still use it ever so often, when we are going through a growth spurt and shes attached to my breast all day, but I don't really use it daily anymore. I must mention that even though it's not pictured, I used a nipple shield to help heal a really cracked and bleeding nipple. I recommend those as well if you are having a problem.

3. My Little Snugabunny Cradle n' Swing: I cannot say how great this little thing is! She loves to lie in it and swing back and forth or side to side! I love that it plugs into the wall so we don't have to spend a fortune on batteries and that it plays soft lullaby's and spins the little birds to for some stimulation. It's great to be able to put her in if I need to eat, or just need to give my arms a break for 5 minutes!

4. Huggies Little Snugglers: We got lots of different brands and styles at my baby shower of diapers so we really got to see which ones we liked. These diapers do a great job of holding in messes without being really bulky. I love that the "wetness indicator" line goes all the way to the back (some don't) and that they are easily adjusted.

5. Carter's Onesies: When we brought little miss home it was ungodly hot. Middle of July means what do we put the baby in to sleep? We didn't want her in long sleeve gowns or long johns so we improvised and made her onesies her "pajamas." They were perfect. Lightweight and really long to accommodate her 21 inch body. They are soft and really durable too!

6. Sprout App: This is a pay app for the iPhone (don't know about android) and I can't even tell you how much I love it! It keeps track of feedings, diapers, sleeping, pumping, medical information and appointments, milestones and it gives you little tidbits on development as well! Great app!

7. Johnson's Baby Oil: Emma started to get a dry scalp at around 2 weeks of age. Well this momma panicked and thought that it was becoming cradle cap. Whenever we washed her hair we brushed her scalp in a circular motion and then applied baby oil all over her scalp. After about a week and a half of this all the dry, dead skin lifted and we have a perfect little head!

8. Aiden and Anais Swaddle Blankets: We swear by these! Along the same lines with the pj's, we wanted to swaddle her without overheating her (I am paranoid about SIDS.) These are gigantic so they can provide a really tight swaddle all while still being really breathable. LOVE LOVE LOVE these.....worth the price!

9. Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper: Since we are all rooming together, this co-sleeper is perfect! She's right there next to the bed so it makes for late night feedings really easy as well as over cautious mommy who just wants to stare at her and make sure shes ok. It's really wonderful and just large enough to not take up a lot of room either!

Tuesday Topics Favorites

I haven't been participating in these Tuesday Topics for a very long time so it's quite easy to pick the ones that were my favorites over the last 16 weeks. 

From the last round I would have to say that my favorites were:

10 Things That Make Me Happy

and

5 Songs That Bring Back Memories 

 With the honorable mentions being: 9 Photo's of Your Spouse and 8 Goals which I can say I mostly accomplished! Score 1!

For this round I would have to say my favorites were:

8 Photographs of Nature and 7 American Cities You Want to Visit

I can't wait to see what the next round entails! Happy Tuesday!

Reasons Why He Loves Me

A couple weeks back I saw a post that inspired me to have my hubby write a little blurb for my space on the internet. You always hear about the people in bloggers lives, but usually never hear from them first hand. I asked the hubby to give a couple of reasons why he loves me. I asked him to think outside the box, and my notes are after

People always list the reasons why they love their significant others.  So today I would like to do the same.  I have been married to my beautiful wife for almost 6 years now while being together 11 years.    Some of the reasons that I love her are, she is always looking out for my best interests, she is always there for me to talk to, she is always there to lend out a helping hand, She’s creative, and likes to goof around. 

Diane is always looking out for my best interests.  When I say best interests I mean, I’m diabetic and she will always give me pointers on how to improve my control.  And tell me not to eat that second helping of ice cream. Seriously, my hubby has the worst sweet tooth! I try to help him out by asking him if that's something he should have, or if there is a better option. However I am not perfect and sometimes eat the junk right along with him! 

I love the way that Diane is always there to talk to.  I might have had a bad day at work I know that I will always be able to talk to her about it and she will give me advice or just be an ear to listen. Well isn't that what love is about.....for better or worse? I of course am there to hear about his troubles and if I have any advice I will certainly give it! 

Diane is always willing to lend out a helping hand.  She is always willing to help friends plan a wedding, plan various parties, or use her amazing skills with Photoshop to edit photos for wall art in our friend’s houses. Haha....this is so true. Ask and ye shall receive. 

Diane is there to help me out in times of need also. Such as if I need help scratching my back.  Even though she hates doing it! Honestly, it's just gross to think about another person's dead skin cells under my finger nails. I bought him a back scratcher, but he says it's not as good....and honestly I used it and am now willing to scratch the mans back. That's love. 

Diane is very creative.  She is always finding new projects to do on Pinterest and putting her own little spin on them. I love to create....it's just in my genes. He used to say what a waste of time Pinterest was until I started finding awesome recipes and now he doesn't complain! It's the best place for EVERYTHING! 

I love how she also enjoys goofing around.  One time she went to Wal-Mart and got two water pistols and put a note on it for me to find when I got home that read “Games ON”.  That was a lot of fun.  Even though she CHEATED!!!!! Ok, let me clarify this....I did not cheat. He chased me onto our balcony and then shut the door, so everytime he opened the door I had a clear shot straight to his face. Clearly I had the advantage....by his choice! Hehe. Come to think of it, I need to bust out those water pistols again! 

Those are several reasons why I love my beautiful wife but I really couldn’t imagine my life without her. 

Awe that was such a sweet note that he wrote. Some of the things I thought he was going to say is how I am constantly singing songs, and knowing most of the words....70% of my brain is song lyrics. I also dance, A LOT. I'm always wiggling around our apartment. Also there's the fact that I can never finish a load of laundry in the same day.....I just let it pile up until there's like 4-5 loads to put away. I know, just do it all at once, it's faster.

So there you have it, some of the reason's my hubby loves me!