Custom Quilt for Baby Emma

This child is going to be a blanket baby just like her momma and daddy. With the amount of blankets that she received at her baby shower you would have thought that I would have decided to make her something else. I was feeling guilty that I never made her anything but I couldn't figure out something to make her that she didn't already have being store bought or made from my family. I had started a diaper bag, that has yet to be finished, but will be similar to this bag I made for my dear friend's son Aidan. That will be her overnight bag and I will post that when I have it completed.....seriously it just needs snaps and velcro and its done.

So that left me with making her a blanket. She didn't need another one, but I needed to make her one and especially one with her name on it. I took to Pinterest and found this pattern. I was in love and made it my mission to make this quilt!

Here's how to make it:

What You'll Need:
(4) Fat Quarters
1 yard white fabric per quilt for the center
1-1/4 to 1/2 yard fabric per quilt for backing (We had to piece the back because the original pattern said 1 yard and it wasn't enough
1/2 yard fabric per quilt for binding
Batting
Heat N Bond Lite
Colored thread for applique

Directions:

1. Cut the fat quarters you want to use for the border so that they are 5″ x 10″. You will need a total of (14)  5″ x 10″ blocks.

2. Sew (4) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

3. Sew (3) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

4. Cut your white fabric to 29 3/4″ x 29 1/2″

 

 

5. Sew one of the 3 block strips to the 29 1/2″ side of the white fabric. Repeat by sewing the other 3 block strip to the other side. Press.
6. Sew the 4 block strips to the other 2 sides of the white block. Press. Trim off excess if necessary.
7. Quilt as desired.

8. I used my mom's Cricut machine to find a font I liked. I also liked the idea of having all the letters lowercase. Trace the letters backwards onto the slick side of a piece of Heat n Bond Lite. Cut out roughly and iron onto wrong side of fabric. Cut out. 

9. Iron onto fabric according to directions. Hand stitch around all the letters.

Simple, straightforward and absolutely adorable. She loves to lie on it during tummy time, or nap in her pack and play with it!

If your interested in seeing the original head on over to Polka Dot Chair and give her a shout.

2nd Month Favorites

Our second month had us still learning all about our little girl and what products were especially important to keeping our little one happy. She at this point hasn't really shown any interest in many products so again these are from our point of view.

1. Destin. Due to the dairy intolerance and trying to figure out what I am eating we were left with some caustic poops and that left some diaper rash as well. We tried the butt paste but it never stayed on long enough to actually help and heal. Maximum strength Desitin to the rescue. Our pediatrician told me to "layer it on like frosting on a cupcake.....you know, for someone who loves frosting." I guess thats the best way to describe it and it TOTALLY worked. Diaper rash gone in a matter of 48 hours.

2. Summer Infant Baby Wifi Monitor: This thing is magic when we need to leave her for naps. Not only does it rotate and have night vision, but it also has an app that we can access from our phones which is nice for when babysitting occurs.

3. Chicco Cortina Stroller: While our little one absolutely HATES being in the car seat, she is perfectly content with just wheeling around in the stroller, even when in the dreaded car seat.

4. Graco Pack and Play: Since we took our very first trip this month, we needed to have a place to put our little one. She was still small enough to use the changing station and it was perfect to have on us, She slept in comfort and ease our entire trip. This was worth the cash. It also sits downstairs for various naps that need to be taken on the first level.

5. Pampers Swaddlers: I know I said we loved the Huggies Little Snugglers last month, but in going up a size we realized that the huggies gapped a lot around her legs, which lead to some un-welcomed leaking. The swaddlers fit so much better and when we go through our stash I will buy more of them!

6. Taggies Soft and Snug Bouncer: This cute thing has been discontinued, but I am so glad we have it. Emma hated it at first and I thought it might have been a waste, but one day I pulled it in the bathroom so I could take a much needed shower, strapped her in with the vibration feature on and she fell asleep while I showered. This is a godsend to those who need a moment to just let the water run down! 

7. Little Remedies Gas Drops: With reflux and a dairy intolerance comes a lot of built up gas. To ease her pain and discomfort these were treated like gold in our house! We have since got the gas under control, but it was a life saver in the beginning!

There you have it, our second month favorites!  

Watch Emma Grow - Month Two

Hi there all my fellow readers! I am typing away from our newest addition the iPad keyboard in hopes of being able to bring you content on a more consistent basis. With a new baby it seems hard for me to sit down at the computer. I mean I want to stare at her while shes sleeping instead of a computer screen, but in life there must be balance. I can now stare at the computer screen and her! Haha.

So you came here to read all about her second month. It was an eventful month and also one of a little stress. So lets begin. When we last left off we had discovered that lil miss had a dairy intolerance, so that left me with the choice to either cut dairy and soy protein out of my diet completely or begin giving her formula. There was this hole in my heart about deciding what was best for her. I didnt want to stop breastfeeding because it is the best way for her to feed, But if my milk was making her sick I didn't want that either. So I buckled down and really started label reading. Most sit down restaurants and fast food restaurants are out. Most packaged food is out. Basically its like being on a paleo diet....as I discovered scoping out Pinterest for recipes that didnt have dairy in them. I have learned all the terminology for different words that means "milk" and "soy" and trust me.....its a big list. Do I feel any better healthwise? Not really.....it's obvious that I don't have an allergy to it, plus I still crave cheese big time. But if its for my child I am going to do it! Around week five we started to show signs of reflux. She would throw up her feed after a large wet burp and it started to become consistent. We discovered this on our first ever trip. We went to visit D's grandparents in Nevada and made a special trip into Lake Tahoe. She loved being up there.....hated the elevation, which we had prepared for. Poor baby girl wailed coming through Mammoth Mountain 8,000 ft level. We also had a scare of what I thought was a  yeast infection....little did I know that it was just normal discharge....color me embarrased! Once home from the trip the vomiting became more consistent especially when I would feed her on both breasts. I determined that she just must be over eating and that was the cause. A couple of days later and we had vomiting with screaming while at the breast and now this momma was concerned. Another trip into the peds office and we were diagnosed with infant reflux and colic on top of the intolerance. Poor baby girl! We were put on a new antacid, Prevacid, and a whole new baby was born. She was always a good tempered baby, but with many fussy episodes. After figuring out how to take the medicine, we had a gorgeous happy, smiling, cooing, almost laughing baby and my heart sang with joy!

Around six weeks she discovered her hands and they are constantly in her mouth. She tries with all her might to fit her whole fist in there. She had a competition with her uncle to see who would win, but his teeth got in the way. She still hates her car seat, probably because she gets really hot in it. I took out the infant insert and that helped a little, but laying a lightweight cotton blanket underneath her to protect her body from the polyester lining helped the most. She loves it when I sing to her. We sing nursery rhymes and disney songs. She coos and tries to sing along with me. Her favorite song at the moment is Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Daddy is excited because he intends to take her on that ride in December when we make a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. He wants her to know every song for that ride....silly! Were working on the tummy time. She still hates being placed on her tummy but will stay on it for longer periods. She has taken an interest in toys being dangled over her head and will follow them with her eyes and sometimes will bat at them. She LOVES staring at the ceiling fans. She watches them go round and gives the biggest grins! She can hold her head up for a really long time, and very rarely do we get a bobble. She continues to amaze me each day with how much she changes.

Monthly Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 10 ozs (43%)

Height: 22.25" (44%) 

Head: 15.74" (80%)

Last Month Stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz (14%)

Height: 21" (77%)

Head: 14.25" (56%)

Eat: We are still exclusivley breast feeding. During the day we go for about 2.5 to 3 hours in between each feeding. I am trying to stay on one side unless she still seems hungry then I will offer the other breast. She is still gaining well and since I started pumping I know that I can get a minimum of 3 ounces out of one side alone, so that tells me shes getting what she needs.

Sleep: Naps are still a bear. I discovered that she likes her first nap in her swing around 11am, sometimes it's 20 minutes, sometimes its an hour and a half. Then around 2-3pm she gets put down again. Hopefully (unlike today) she will fall asleep on our bed with the help of a pacifier and she will sleep anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. Sometimes I get a nap in with her as well this time also. If she has a short nap then she normally falls asleep between 6 and 7pm. We are really sticking to a bedtime routine and it has really helped getting her to go to sleep. At 8pm she is fed, then is given a bath, and then we read two to four little books. Most times she falls asleep during the books, but in the case when she doesn't we rock her or lie her on the bed with her pacifier until she falls asleep. She then gets a dream feed around 11pm and will stay asleep until 1:30-2 on a regular basis and then will be up somewhere between 4 and 5am to eat again. If the sun is in our window she usually stirs and I will pull her into bed with me until about 9am. I will usually feed her back to sleep around 7am to guarantee that I will get to 9am.

Diapers: We officially transitioned into size ones around 7 weeks. We were trying to utilize all of the newborn size, but there were too many blowouts happening so we just switched to save our sanity and her poor booty. We still love the Huggies, but the Pampers Swaddlers are better in the larger size so that will give us another option too. According to my app we changed 261 diapers, with an all time whopping total of 629 diapers.....and probably a ton more wipes! 

Milestones to date:

Bringing her home: July 2nd (1 day old)

First Bath: July 4th (3 days old)

First Holiday: Independence Day (3 days old)

Held Up Head: July 11th (1 week old)

Lost Belly Button: (8 days old)

First Walk (2 weeks old)

First Smile: (3 weeks old)

First Trip: Lake Tahoe/Carson City (5 weeks old)

Found her hands: (6 weeks old)
First Swim: (6 Weeks old)

Here's a photo dump from month two:

Great Grandma Anderson Holding Emma for the first time

Emerald Bay Overlook

They sleep the same....hehe

Big smiles

Giant flower hat that we all thought was hilarious

!

Little feet with our wedding rings

There's nothing like a love like this!

Found our hands!

Momma made me a quilt with my nickname on it!

I love being outside!

Ceiling fans are hilarious!

Mommy's first shower alone with Emma!

This adorable smile!

and this one.

First Swim!

What's in my Diaper Bag - Newborn Edition

Hey guys! Three posts in one week? I must be getting the hang of this nap thing huh? Well maybe not because I had to stop writing this three times today because every time I put her down she slept for maybe 10 minutes and then woke up. I meant to write this post before little Emma came, I was going to write it the day I was induced actually, but I think it's a good thing that it came after. I have really been able to see what I like and need with the diaper bag.

For weeks I scoured the internet trying to figure out what to pack in the diaper bag for a newborn. I knew I didn't need to overpack it with a million items, and many moms that I know warned me of unnecessary items, like books and toys, but I still needed to know the essentials of things to have with me at all times. I mean I have never done this before so even asking family/friends and Mr. Google doesn't really prepare you for all the things that you will need to have.

Lets start off with the bag itself. I have two diaper bags. The other one is the bag that I packed for my Hospital Bag and was given to me by my sister in law at my baby shower. When I need to start carrying more items, I will switch back and forth. The bag I am using now it a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag. Its the Sashay Satchel in Classically Crete. I love the print and the fact that it looks more like a purse than a diaper bag. It has loads of pockets and can even convert into a backpack! It's so cute and user friendly. I love the detailing and the comfort of the straps. I haven't used it as a backpack yet, but I am sure is will be just as comfortable. Here's what I pack inside:

1. An extra blanket and burp rag. // 2. A change of clothes for the inevitable blowout and a spare pair of socks just in case her little tootsies are cold. // 3. Custom Wet Bag (made by my wonderful mommy) to store those wet clothes and diaper trash bags. // 4. Extra diapers, wipes and changing pad. The wipes case and changing pad came with the bag! // 5. Pacifier holder and pacifier. // 6. Nursing Pads // 7. Hand wipes, nail clippers, thermometer and booger extractor. // 8. Tissues, boogie wipes and hand sanitizer. // 9. Diaper Rash Creme.

Since there are so many compartments in my diaper bag, I have a whole pocket that's dedicated to my stuff too. It's been advised for mommy to keep an extra shirt in the bag for spit up, puke or other messes but I have yet to do so, hoping I don't regret that! So here's what's in my pocket! Not glamorous but its what I need:

1. Car keys! // 2. Clutch wallet to keep my cell phone, a few cards and ID in. // 3. I am in love with the Extra Watermelon gum....been chewing it for YEARS! // 4. Sunglasses // 5. Makeup Bag: Chapstick, BB Creme, Powder, and mascara. Not pictured is my nursing cover.

Well there you have it. It's not much and I am sure it will change as the life stages do also. I will probably update when it changes. What am I missing? Do you keep a full stock in your diaper bag?

First Trip and the Custom Cradle

When little miss was about 10 days old we went to spent a couple of days up at my parents house. It was of course just a quick and relaxing trip and we didn't go anywhere but my dad (Papa) hadn't met Emma yet and we just felt that we needed to go. We of course brought the camera, but most of the photo's ended up on my mom's cell phone so I don't have many shots! It was great to visit with my parents and of course this is when we discovered the dairy intolerance also. It was wonderful to introduce her to Gracie, my parents 70 pound boxer who was super protective over her all weekend. So adorable. Emma also got to be a part of her first party! Her daddy turned 31 so we had a cake and candles and sang him happy birthday! He told me that Miss Emma was the best birthday present I could have given him! <3

Sleeping with Grandma

Snuggling with Papa

Happy Birthday Daddy

Gracie on watch

We did end up getting great shots of a truly special gift that Emma received at the baby shower. My uncle built a custom cradle for her. It's truly an amazing piece of furniture. Of course my mom proceeded to make a custom mattress and bumper pads for it in my favorite colors...grey! We like to put her in it when she catnaps and it will be a perfect place for her to rock her own baby dolls to sleep when shes older! I can't believe that this beautiful piece of carpentry belongs to her!

I know that we have many more adventures to come and we can't wait!!!!

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!

The First Month

I am sorry that this post comes two weeks late. We went on a little trip and then when I went to finish the post, blogger completely messed up and all my work was deleted! 

I cannot believe that our little girl has been in our lives for a month! It is true what they say about not blinking because they truly grow right before your eyes at warp speed! Here's what been going on for the first month!

Our first week home was relatively easy, but just figuring out her, her needs and our new roles as parents. We came home sleep deprived (who doesn't) and had an interesting first night. D had gone to rest and my M.I.L. was holding Emma. I asked him to set an alarm at midnight just in case I fell asleep so that I could feed her. At 12:15 I woke up in the chair and Emma was asleep with my M.I.L. We said goodnight to her and I went in the room. I asked D to wake up the baby while I went and got some water. He looked at me and said "wake who?" I told him the baby and he replied "what baby?" Pure exhaustion mixed with low blood sugar doesn't work for my hubby. My hormones caused me to break into tears and he woke up and realized what he was saying. Later that same night.....around 4am I finished feeding her and asked D to change her diaper, to which he replied "I just did!" Again half asleep and not realizing that it had been over two hours. Needless to say our first night home was very interesting and comical now. He felt really bad and now when he's a little loopy I tell him to test! We had our first Dr's appointment with an all clear for jaundice, yay!, but we lost 9% of weight from our birth weight. My milk came in the next day and we were able to go back up half of what was lost. Whew! We celebrated Emma's first holiday and first bath all at once on Independence Day. We had an epic mommy and daddy fail. We gave her the bath on the kitchen counter, directly under an a/c vent! Mistake one. Then in the bedroom we dried her off and put lotion on her under a full blast ceiling fan! Mistake two. Needless to say our little girl was cold and really upset! We learned our lesson quickly! But after that she was content and happy on the boob. She's been an alert baby since day one with awesome head control!

Week two was a continuation of the learning curve for mommy, daddy and baby. Figuring out her cues and learning all about breastfeeding. We went up to visit my parents and Papa got to officially meet her! It was a relaxing weekend but we started to have some interesting stools which we cause for some concern and a lot of googling, more on that later. We just soaked her in and enjoyed every minute of her.

Week three. After our check up, the doctor determined that miss Emma may have a dairy intolerance. I was asked to remove all dairy from my diet, which is so hard because milk protein is in everything! After a couple of days things were back to normal, until I made the epic error of eating a chocolate cookie. Back to having the bad poo's. Sigh. Weight gain was not where I would have liked to see it, so we kicked into feeding and eating focus all week. She also had a growth spurt during this week so all she wanted to do was eat anyways. I don't think I showered until someone got home everyday this week. Man is it difficult to try and get a newborn on a schedule. We worked on tummy time, our neck control and started to really love to look at lights. She also started to smile in recognition of things.

Week four was more of the same things. I went shopping and looked through everything in our house to determine what I can and cannot eat. Sandwich bread was the big shocker there, as was salami. We went to the doctor's again and it was determined that she does have a dairy intolerance. She can outgrow it, but it could take anywhere from 4 months to a year to do so. We haven antacid that we give her if her tummy seems upset, but really all that needs to be done is for me to watch my diet. It's pretty strict and difficult, but its not something that I cant do. She is getting so big, and as you can see is starting to hold up her head really well! Our hair also started to fall out! *Tears!* But I know its only temporary and it will grow back.

Monthly Stats:
Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz (14%)

Height: 21 in (per hospital measurement 77%)

Head: 14.25 in (56%)

Eat: We are exclusively breastfeeding and we are doing it on demand. I was told to limit her to 20 minutes on each side, but I didn't feel that was working well for her so I decided to let her go until she is done on one side and offer the other. We had some latching issues at the beginning that caused me some nipple rawness, but I got a nipple shield and it helped to heal her up. Now we don't have any problems and she latches like a champ! I have a breast pump, but I haven't started to use it yet. We feed every two to three hours during the day. Overnight we get one lump that lasts from three to four hours.

Sleep: We haven't set a schedule yet, although I need to start. I think that sleeping in various swings, or in peoples arms either makes her not get a deep sleep, or she is a night owl because without fail every night at 11PM she is wide awake and wanting to look at the lights. Our first couple of weeks was really good, but we seem to be in this cycle. Hopefully I can get her on a nap schedule and try and get those overnight spans to be a little longer. We get a good span from 1AM to about 4AM. We found out quickly that rocking her in the recliner and white noise from either our box fan or the bathroom fan helps to put her to sleep. We also swaddler her to help keep her sleep. We discovered that she hates to have her arms swaddled. I woke up one morning to discover her arm out through the bottom of the swaddle and pushed the blanket up over her face. Thank goodness it was a thin muslin blanket, but we don't swaddle her arms anymore!

Diapers: We are loving on the Huggies little snugglers. We are still using diapers from my baby shower and have only had to buy one package because we didn't bring enough to my parents house....oopsies. We like the snugglers because they do the job without adding a lot of bulk and have only had one "accident" thusfar and it was minimal. We also learned quickly to turn off our ceiling fan while changing her or else we will have more laundry to do. We downloaded the Sprout app for recording input and output, which is also a great way to keep track of how many diapers we have gone through.....a whopping 358 in 6 weeks!

Milestones:
Bringing her home: July 2nd (1 day old)

First Bath: July 4th (3 days old)

First holiday: Independence Day (3 days old)

Held up head: July 11th (1 week old)

Lost belly button: (8 days old)

First Walk: (2 weeks old)

First Smile: (3 weeks old)

Here are some photos from her first month!

Going home!

First Holiday (Independence Day)

First Bath

Sleepyhead

Looking uncomfortable in her bouncer

First Walk

Sleeping in her custom cradle

Celebrating daddies birthday

Lounging with Uncle Ryan

Lost her belly button

Tummytime!

Watching sports with Daddy