I love this idea of documenting your pregnancy in a neat keepsake book like Johanna did. I have to admit, I wish I had thought of that. But then again, I’m not one super talented photographer like she is.
This baby will love reading this book when she is a little bigger. What a neat idea! Didn’t I say that already? lol And the design, font choice…everything is just perfect! Check out more pages of this awesome book here.
Like many new mommys, I wanted to have a photo shoot of my new love… like those amazing pictures of them all bundled up and sleeping. Well, since Mavi wasn’t a small baby… the whole bundling up did not work and the sleeping even less. Maybe I should of taken pictures when he was just a few days old (not sure that would of helped) but instead we did a photoshoot when he was 3 weeks old. Here are a few pics of the shoot.
I love this little guy. Even if he was being difficult, crying and pooped all over the place that day. (yup you read right) I think we got some sweet pictures.
Shopping for baby shoes can be fun. Even if they don’t wear them long. So when I saw these handmade shoes by JoyFolie I had to share. I especially love the baby girl shoes. The ruffles, the prints. Too cute. Why can’t boys wear ruffles and flowers. Why?!?!
Be sure to check out their Website and Blog for the latest updates.
It all started off with the already painted wall. Purple-ish gray hue with white wainscoting. We had painted this room when we moved in our house taking into account this would “one day” be the room of baby. I wanted something that was neutral so we could either go boy or girl with pops of color. I love gray so it was only appropriate to incorporate that in major elements in the room.
I chose tone on tone gray houndstooth fabric for the modern glider that would fit perfectly in the corner of the room. A gray shag rug which would be placed under the dark wood crib would accent the gray in the glider. I was getting custom bedding made and because it would be handmade, I wanted to choose colors that were gender neutral so that I can use this amazing bedding for baby #2 if we happen to have one I wanted modern prints; stripes and dots in bright colors ; blues, yellows and green.
Theme? Well you can say that I went pinwheel crazy. I guess that’s the theme. Modern Bright Pinwheel gender neutral nursery. Phew… that is a long title, but seems to be right on the dot. I loved pinwheels as a child and realized it was something that wasn’t being used much in nurseries (well anyway I haven’t seen any) … so I went all out. Making this colorful paper toys was a great inexpensive DIY project and I scattered them all around the room. I made a wall of custom art (all designed by me) framed in white frames (so that they would pop on the gray wall) and added a couple of pinwheels to the layout.
I also added some pinwheels in the pom clusters I also DIY-ed. I didn’t want to have a mobile in the room so I figured having a cluster would be a more modern way to go about it. I included 2 white paper lanterns I took home from my baby shower as well as green and blue paper lanterns I found at the party store. They fit perfectly with the greens and blues in the bedding. Lastly, I wanted to incorporate typography somehow, so I got custom letters made out of bamboo and hung them from the cluster.
I am really happy with the outcome of the room, I just hope baby boy will too.
Here is a movie I made of a mini tour of Mavi’s nursery. With custom bedding to DIY frames and PomPom clusters, this blue, yellow, green and gray modern nursery is perfect for this little boy. (Well I seem to think so)
For those interested here is the cost break-down of the nursery decor.
Hi everyone! My name is Mandy, but I was also Mrs. Dumpling on Weddingbee, and some of you may know me as The OMG Mom. I get myself into a lot of trouble on a regualr basis, but especially when I was pregnant. One of my Bee friends is pregnant and she was talking about the very difficult time she was having painting her toenails…well, I guarantee it’s not as difficult as my first and last toenail-painting-while-pregnant experience.
So, to save money during my 9th month of pregnancy, I decided to paint my own toenails. Pedicures are $20 and I tip $5 (because they get out my ingrowns so well) and I was going twice a month. Add that up…..$600/year spent on getting my toenails painted. I figured I better start saving that money for diapers, butt cream (for both of us…trust me, you’re gonna need butt cream on your own hiney after you deliver…have fun sitting down.) and formula and I decided to do that during my 9th month of pregnancy. Remember when I told you about pregnancy brain? Well that shit was in full force at this point and I was doing all kinds of ridiculous stuff (like one morning accidentally putting shampoo on my toothbrush in the shower instead of Colgate….and HELLO last night’s peaches ‘n cream oatmeal).
But back to my story.
Here’s my bathroom situation…. Our house has 4 bathrooms. My husband uses the one in our bedroom and i use the one in one of the guest rooms. It’s a messed up situation, but basically I don’t like to share and I don’t like to clean up after myself, so we use separate bathrooms. We don’t even use the same shower. We each have our own. In my bathroom, I have a little black metal stool that I use when I’m putting on make-up or drying my hair because I don’t like to stand up because I’m lazy. It looks like this:
I sit on that stool and I usually prop my feet up on the counter.
Anyways, saving money meant no more pedicures. One afternoon while the hubs was at the gym I decided to paint my toenails OPI red. You know the one- the really really blood red one that makes your toes look slutty/bloody? That’s the one I wanted. So I sat on that stool, propped my leg up on the counter and started painting. Now remember, I was 9 months pregnant and 50 pounds heavier than usual and had the biggest belly you have ever seen….
Me, getting my belly measured.
So there I am, big fat pregnant ass sitting on a rickety old metal stool with my leg on the counter, trying to bend over and reach my big swollen foot.
uh oh….what is that wobbling…..whaaaaaaa…..
BAM!
And I hit the floor. The freakin’ stool buckled underneath my weight.
At this point you might start feeling sorry for me and wonder if I got hurt….Oh, boy DID I.
Down I went onto the tile floor and down with me went the OPI red. Not only did the glass bottle break and spill out onto the WHITE bathroom tile, but it somehow flung itself across the room leaving streaks of red on my mirror, the white bathrobe I was wearing and the bathroom rugs. I quickly scurried to pick it up before it could spill out anymore, but I managed to drop it yet again, only this time the rest of it spilled out on my leg.
*PANIC*…..no, not because I was worried about the baby (i knew she was fine), but because my husband was about to be home and there was red nail polish EVERYWHERE and I was all out of nail polish remover to clean it up. What was I going to do??? Well, kids…I put on my t-shirt and maternity shorts and hobbled it down to Walgreens on Pecos and Wigwam to get more polish remover. Let me paint this picture for you, shall I?
There I was, about a million months pregnant and running into Walgreens with red nail polish streaming down my leg…from the TOP of my leg….and yelling at the 17 year old manager to GET ME SOME FREAKIN NAIL POLISH REMOVER RIGHT FREAKIN NOW if he wanted to live to see his 18th birthday. **Blank stare, cough** “Yes, ma’am…(trembling)..ok, ma’am..right over here, ma’am” “are you ok, ma’am”
WHY are you calling me MA’AM?? Get me the stuff so i can go!!!
I’m sure it looked like I was giving birth right then and there, what with the red polish looking like blood and my belly being so large and me hee-hee hoo-hoo’ing my way out of there, but whatever. I needed to get this crap off my leg and off the bathroom floor, walls, mirror and rugs before the hubs came home.
So i get home and basically soak my bathroom in nail polish remover and get everything out except the stains on the rugs. I really didn’t think it was safe for me to soak my pregnant leg in acetate solution, so I googled how to get nail polish off your skin and decided to sit in a warm bath and let the paint chip itself off. OMG that took forever, so I started rubbing and scratching it off. Well, now my leg looked like it had been beaten to death because there were still big splotches of paint and now there were big red marks (almost bruises) from me rubbing my skin raw trying to get it all off to go with it.
I had to get out of that bath and get to Target to replace the bathroom rugs, like NOW, if I wanted to save myself anymore embarrassment from the hubs (who also told me I wasn’t allowed to paint my own toenails anymore the week prior). So I got the polish stained ones and put them in the washing machine to pretend like I was washing them to buy myself some time. I got in my little car, raced over to Target and demanded that THAT 17 year old manager point me in the direction of the bathroom rug section so I could buy a replacement. OK, great…they don’t have one like what we had…so I had to buy something totally different. I’ll just say I was redecorating (how’s that for saving money?) and got these nice new rugs. Yeah, Good idea, OMGmom.
I got home, switched out the rugs, made sure all the evidence of the great red nail polish fiasco was gone and went on about my business.
Everything was working out and the nail polish did finally come off of my leg. Awesome.
Hi honey! What do you want for dinner? Ok..I’ll call it in. Hey, can you throw some of my stuff in the washer with yours? Thanks.
Whew…I was in the clear. He’ll never know.
***OH SHIT***
“Honey, why are your bathroom rugs covered in red nail polish and sitting in the washing machine?”
Operation Cover-up:FAIL. I forgot to get rid of the old rugs. CRAAAAAPPPPP……
Imagine how embarrassed I was when I retold the story about how I was bending over to paint my toenails and hit the floor because the darn stool gave out…..
The moral of this story, my friends, is to stop being a tight-wad and pay someone else to paint your toenails if you’re pregnant. That, and if you want to show your face again at Walgreens then you shouldn’t assault the 17 year old store manager. (But really, he should not mess with a pregnant lady with blood-paint streaming down her leg. Just sayin’)
Well hello there! My name is Brooke and on any given day you can find me rambling over at my blog, Claremont Road. Kelly and I became blog-friends during our days as wedding bloggers over at Weddingbee — you may also know me as Mrs. Cupcake — and I’m delighted to be guest blogging for you all.
In honor of the newest addition to Kelly’s family (hi, baby Mavrick!), I thought it apropos to share with you some of my absolute favorite nurseries that I’ve stumbled upon while perusing the web. There are no kiddies on the horizon for me and my hubby quite yet, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been saving these gems in my back pocket for when the time comes!
I am a color girl. These rooms just feel so happy and cheery to me, without being so colorful that they make you dizzy.
I love pale aqua tones with splashes of yellow and red…
…and then there are the more artsy interpretations that aren’t traditionally “baby,” yet they are still perfectly charming and appropriate for the little ones:
Ahh, babies. The joy they bring when they coo, smile for the first time, crawl, and take their first steps. Before you know it, they’re talking up a storm! Mobile toddlers, and even babies, will eventually need a space to call their own, whether it’s in the nursery or a play room. A lot of families struggle with a lack of space and “oh my goodness, where are we going to put all of this stuff?!”. It’s even more difficult when one parent works from home and needs their own home office space as well. What is a family to do? If you have the room, a combination home office/play room might be the solution your family needs! You can keep an eye on the little one as you attempt to go about your normal routine (wait, nothing is “normal” anymore, but you know what I mean!).
My name is Kristin, and I am the owner of Bien Living Design. Interior design is my passion, and I have a new service that allows anyone, anywhere to work with a designer through the power of the internet. Now, I’ve come up with a plan that busy working families can adapt to suit their own needs. This one comes in the form of a creative mom who happens to love pink, and her little boy (sound familiar?!). Also, play rooms can be well designed and look great – they don’t have to be filled to the top with plastic toys.
What does all of this mean? I’ll explain below:
Light grey walls in Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl will be the common element that draws both spaces together (and circles!). I’ve also chosen a rug for each side of the room, with grey as the background color. The individual pieces is what will set them apart. I’ve chosen the ever popular Expedit bookcase from IKEA to act as the divider between the space. Mom can take the top shelves and organize them using slide in drawers or cubes to house business materials and paperwork. Baby will take the lower cubes and use collapsable fabric cubes to hold everything from stuffed animals to trucks and beyond. Function is the key word here!
Starting with the playroom side of the space, I’ve chosen fun, non-fussy pieces that will grow with your child. This adorable hopscotch rug is playful and functional (and can even be used in a modern living room!). These fun swivel chairs can be used for years – hiding from mom or a place to curl up with a book – and are some of my favorite items for kids. Toss a couple of throw pillows inside for a cushy nook.
This play table also adjusts as your child grows. Envision art projects and other quiet play activities here. I also like to incorporate multiple tactile things that kids can do, hopefully entertaining themselves long enough for mom or dad to get some work done. There are various ways to acheive this, including chalkboard wall paper circles (can be a fun DIY project with chalkboard paint), easels, round mirrors dotted around and hung at toddler height – perfect for visual fun and acts as a dry erase board for art – and areas for active play (load up on a bunch of inexpensive throw or floor pillows for this!).
For the decorative elements on this side of the room, we’ll keep it simple with window treatments…we don’t want anything that Junior can grab and make into a rope swing. Avoid anything with cords and floor length fabric. As they get older, you can swap them out with coordinating drapery from the adult side of the room Mirrors will also help the room feel larger. Art work can come in the form of personalized wall art or any other bright, fun work.
Moving over to mom’s side, I wanted the space to be functional and luxe all at the same time. The grey walls and this inexpensive but pretty rug are a perfect backdrop to the white book case and furniture, and we’ll incorporate other white and light elements as well.
Keeping it simple and coordinating, this white desk is minimal yet has a large, functional work surface. Storage comes by way of filing cabinets, which will flank each side of the desk. Resting on each, this pink twist on the classic stacked ball lamp provides a touch of glamour. Creative types tend to be visual, and this french memo board will keep important things handy. In the event that clients may be present, these white leather side chairs are compact and chic. Window treatments will stay light and airy, and the round disks make them a fun, modern take on a basic sheer. You don’t need a whole lot of things for a functional home office (and office furniture can look GREAT!), and these simple solutions will keep any mom or dad who works from home happy and well organized.
Interested in finding out more? Head over to my website, Bien Living Design, and join in on the conversation!
Finally, a BIG congratulations to the new family!!
Hi! Some of you may know me, I’m Amber from Ambergontrail and also Mrs. Kiwi from Weddingbee! I’m now the mom of a seven month old daughter, Piper. As I’ve gotten used to motherhood, I’ve realized I’ve had a ton of things I’m super glad to have (although I don’t know if some items are available in Canada, but let’s hope they are!), and others I’ve not used at all. As with almost everything that has to do with parenthood, a lot of things are really up to the baby, and will be found out in time.
For instance, I had purchased a Boppy pillow early on in my pregnancy, despite not wanting to buy anything until I was 20 weeks and we knew the gender. So why did I buy one? Because it was the cutest pattern: as seen here. It came as a two-pack along with the Boppy itself for $30.00! Total bargain, and I had seen it before I was pregnant and really wanted it, but didn’t want to jinx myself, so I let it go. It was a sign. Anyway, I never used it for breastfeeding. I brought it to the hospital (the nurses LOVED it and had never seen one like it before) to use, and only used it to slightly prop her when I needed a second for myself. When we got home I realized two flat decorative pillows stacked upon each other or one standard bed pillow was way better for breastfeeding. I’m short (5’1″) and I have really large breasts so the Boppy brought her too close to my breasts and I would start to smother her with one if I wasn’t holding off her face. And at night the last thing you are doing is paying attention to exactly how you’re holding your baby- the sleep deprivation is so bad you nod off while feeding. In the end I stopped even trying to use it to breastfeed and attempted to use it as an infant propper. Until I got…
The Boppy Newborn lounger! Man, this thing was awesome. It is almost like a donut shape, but instead of not having a middle at all like the Boppy pillow, it’s slightly filled in, but enough to leave a hole for the baby’s tush to fit in. This is for pre-rolling babies, for sure, because once they roll they can just launch themselves right out of it and off the bed. Piper was in this thing a lot- when I had to get ready for work, when I wanted to play with her and not just sit her in a bouncer or swing. It was wonderful and SUPER useful.
My second must-have was a small manual breast pump. Luckily I was given one and didn’t have to buy my own, and I’m lucky breastfeeding has worked out so well for us- if I didn’t have it as a gift I would have bought one. The one I have and love was the Avent Isis. From day three (took two full days for my milk to come in) I had a very high supply, more than Piper could eat. I DID pump and save a bit, but mostly I just used the pump to make it so Piper could fit her mouth around the nipple/areola to feed, too engorged and she could choke. The cup part has soft pads that flex in and out to simulate a real sucking motion on the breast, and didn’t forcefully suck the milk out, this was more like baby’s sucking, totally comfortable, too, and very easy to use! It came with a 4oz bottle to just screw onto the pump. LOVE IT. I brought it to work with me daily for weeks until my supply and Piper’s demand regulated itself. While I do have a big electric pump, I can’t seem to pump more than an ounce at a time with it, my breasts are so used to the sucking of my baby and won’t let down milk sufficiently to make setting up the pump, cleaning the parts and taking the time to sit there and pump worth it. In my opinion, it’s better to have a small manual pump around to be sure you’ll need it before you buy an electric pump (as they are pricey, mine was a gift).
Another item we never go anywhere without is Piper’s lovey, the Taggie. A few books I read said that you should introduce your baby to an item they can hold onto in exchange for Mama or Daddy. That way their attachment phase can often be transferred to an item like a blankie, taggie or “baby” instead of you. Piper has her lovey with her at all times, and sucks on the various tags putting herself into the warm and snuggly zone, instead of needing to hold my hand or touch my hair (as it was with my Sister in Law’s son).
Something I think all new Mommies should have around at first is a small container of formula (we got some free from our hospital) and a few bottles. I know it’s been said that having formula in the house makes it easier to give up if breastfeeding is challenging. I disagree with this. I had my moments, cracked nipples and things like that, but I was so intent on being able to breastfeed that never once did I get tempted. Although I was adamant about breastfeeding exclusively, I knew many people who were unable to, and I didn’t want to punish Piper with my stubbornness should I not been able to, so I kept all the bottles a friend had sent me and the formula samples. Luckily, we haven’t had to use them yet- knock on wood. I think every mom to be would be smart to have at least one bottle (like a Playtex Drop-In Set $21.99 at Amazon) and a can of formula. Let’s face it, while you may totally think that you or hubby can run out to the 24 hour store to pick up formula at 3am, do you really WANT to? Just take the samples you’re given and put them away for that rainy day- hopefully you won’t use it, but why take the chance?
If you have room in your nursery (heck, even your living room or bedroom), I think a glider or reclining rocker is a must. My aunt gave this to me as a gift, after having baby-sat for my cousin’s three sets of twins, my aunt determined THIS was a gift that would get a lot of use, and BOY was she right. Every single day I sit in this chair. I feed her in it and rock her in it. It’s so smooth. In Piper’s early days, I spent a majority of time there, so I wouldn’t wake my husband Paul up with her crying, since he still had to work. Seriously, WONDERFUL. The arms are just the right height to hold her high enough. Tip: ALWAYS GET PADDED ARMS. Otherwise your forearms will be bruised all to hell. I had this one from Dutailier at Wal-Mart.
Now that we have a small family, we find buying in bulk a lot more appealing. This means less trips out to buy toilet paper, snacks, other paper goods, canned goods and things like that. So, we got a membership to Costco. I have found their wipes are a much better bargain than any other wipe brand out there. There is no overly strong smell, the wipes are thick but not too wet, and they come in single packs of 100 wipes- nine in a box. Costco also has bargains on baby clothes (and bathing suits for babies, too!) all the time, which I admit is super dangerous. Still, I feel better buying Piper a $5.99 romper instead of paying $10.00 for it in the store, those four dollars mean a lot over time.
Another must is Diapers.com. Not only do you get 10% off your first order of anything, but they have free shipping if over $49.00 of merchandise! Their shipping is no joke, I have gotten things the next day after ordering at 3pm the day before. Fantastic. Their deals aren’t spectacular, but they do give out some email coupons here and there, and usually most are at least the same price as Babies R Us, if not cheaper. The smart thing to do, when not in newborn sizes, is to buy a CASE of diapers. If you buy a Jumbo pack at $9.99 for 36 size 2 diapers it equals roughly $0.28 per diaper. If you buy a case of the same size/brand of 184 size 2 diapers at $40.49 it equals $0.22 per diaper! I know $.06 doesn’t sound like like a lot, but $9.00 a month (at the least, five diapers a day for 30 days) is three Starbucks grande hot chocolates! If your baby is like Piper, and has been in a size 2 diaper for months, then it makes sense to buy a bigger case, thus equaling less trips or less orders to place, less tax on two different items… Less running out at midnight to get emergency diapers. I truly think it’s foolish to get a small pack for more money when you could get more diapers for less. It’s science! If you find a better deal online, too, Diapers.com can match it, so it’s a win-win. If you sign up, please use me as a referral! The referral code is: AMBE3220 . I get rewards for every person I refer, to lay my cards on the table. Now, even if you don’t use me as a referral, sign up, it’s great.
Since I went back to work at 6 weeks (damn you, American maternity leave) with my daughter, she spent a lot of time in the early morning asleep in her car seat snapped into her stroller. Although I have a pack n play at work for her to nap in, once you have a sleeping baby, you do NOT want to wake them in order to place them somewhere else. So I got paranoid about flat-head and got her a Boppy Noggin. There is a hole in the back to keep her head from getting pressurized from being flat against the stroller. It can be used in car seats, swings, bouncers and strollers- since it’s not good to have a head flopping around on an unstable neck, you might as well get an insert that is more comfortable AND relieves pressure from the back of the head. Seriously, under $15.00 for it, and we literally use it every day- and no flat head!
When she was a few weeks old, Piper finally stared sleeping in her bassinet. This is also when she became a congested baby! She was also a bit of a shifter, so we’d find her face pressed into the padding in the bassinet. Totally freaked me out. So I decided to get a sleep positioner wedge. The wedge is great for babies with tummy relux and all sorts of ailments. The one we got is here, and up until she was moved into her crib (at 5 months or so, I think), she used it every night. In fact, it took a bit of getting used to for her, to be able to sleep without it in her crib.
When I was trying to plan out our registry and her room, this book was a huge help. Every now and then they come up with a new edition, with additions and corrections, and even sometimes marking a company down a grade or something for various things (like excessive recalls). I was a big fan of Bridal Bargains, and when I got pregnant this was my go-to. It has all sorts of information ranging from cribs and strollers to baby leashes and online stores. Get it, it’s great, and saves you money!
Finally, a major must-have for a new mommy who is overwhelmed with her stroller choices: the Graco Snugride stroller frame. We bought this right before she was born. It is seriously the best ever, has great storage space and folds up easily, and it’s nice to not have to wake up the baby to move her to a stroller. This isn’t as bulky and unwieldy as a travel system, and saves money because you can wait until later to get the stroller you want- after getting to know your baby and what they like. Gives you more time for research! There are other kinds for different infant car seats as well, so keep an eye out. I’m glad I didn’t get a fancy travel system because the frame is just what we need now, and later I’ll just get an umbrella stroller (as we have a jogging stroller already) when Piper has outgrown her infant car seat.
For more Mommy tips and stories from our life, visit me at my blog, Ambergontrail, and follow me on Twitter!
If you find a better deal online, too, Diapers.com can match it, so it’s a win-win. If you sign up, please use me as a referral! The referral code is: AMBE3220 . I get rewards for every person I refer, to lay my cards on the table. Now, even if you don’t use me as a referral, sign up, it’s great.
