Product Recommendation: NoseFrida

Let me tell you about my love affair with the NoseFrida.  Be warned, this post is gross!  

The Boogie Wipes and nasal aspirator (although were great until the awful cold Xavier recently caught) didn't get the job done.  He was still stuck with a gross, runny nose.  I was at a mom's get together a few weeks ago and someone mentioned how awesome the NoseFrida was.  Ok, so here's the gross part - you place one end in your baby's nose, the other end in your mouth, and you suck, suck, SUCK THAT SNOT OUT!  Ugh, I was so grossed out, until Xavier got this cold.  Poor little guy fusses so much because he can't breath.  So, I tried it ANNNNND now, I'm the newest member of the NoseFrida cult.  Xavier's nose hasn't been this clean in over a week!!  It is soooooo gross, but it's the only thing that cleans him out.  I'm considering buying several more to stick in my purse, diaper bag, car...  Don't worry, the product is designed so there is absolutely no way snot will get in your mouth.  You have to trust me.  If you still don't believe me, fine.  But, get online and read the reviews.  Then, get your credit card ready.

Post-snot sucking.  Seeeeeee.  Happy Baby!

Let me know how your experience goes!!

Sleep Training: 101

Now that Xavier is older, bigger and filled to the max with baby chub and drool, he is sleeping through the night (YEA!).  He's always been an okay sleeper, but now after we put him down at 7PM, he usually doesn't cry for us until 7 the next morning or sometimes even 8.  *counting my blessings*

Preemies always sleep a lot when they first come home from the hospital and we found that to be true the first 2 months.  The question was whether to put him in our room or his own.  I'd heard different opinions on both.  The first night home, we put Xavier in our bedroom, but those loud baby grunts and groans kept me from sleeping.  Starting with night #2, off to his own room we go!  In case he woke up and was bored, we placed pictures of us on the ceiling, placed these art cards and some toys along the crib railing.  We had a 3 hour rotation.  We occasionally heard him wake up, play with the toys, and fall back asleep.  He slept 2 hours of every 3 hour rotation.  

Around 2 months, he kept the 3 hour rotation, but during the night he'd usually sleep up to 5 hours (finally!!).  We had occasional stretches where he'd wake us up several times during the night, but I'd just rub his tummy and hold those green hospital paci's in his mouth until he fell asleep.  Most of the time, this worked, but many times it didn't.  It was around this time that I went back to work.  Sleepless nights like this made me thankful for daycare - I could go home early from work, nap, then go pick him up.  It amazed me how the motherhood gene lets you get 3 or 4 hours of sporadic sleep in a night and still be able to function.  Somehow your body adjusts to no sleep.

When he turned 4 months old, he started waking up all the time, every night.  He seemed to completely forget how to sleep in long stretches.  So we tried doing a bath every night before bed, that didn't work as he seemed to start hating baths.  We tried letting him cry it out, but that only lasted for 5 minutes.  I couldn't stand to hear him crying like that for me.  I'd go in his room, rub his tummy, make "ssshhh"-ing sounds, all of which seemed to calm him down.  The pacifier always fell out of his mouth, so I had to stand there and hold it, until my dad bought him the NUK.  Once we let him cry long enough to get tired, we gave him the NUK and he was out in no time.  It took a few tries some nights, but that NUK is the best invention ever!  One thing I never did was pick him up during the night, unless of course I thought he needed a bottle.  I think he got used to knowing I would only rub his tummy so he shouldn't expect otherwise.  

My sleep training with Xavier revolved mostly around him and what he seemed to like.  I did make him always sleep in his own room/and crib, never picked him up, and that's about as harsh as I was with the training.  I didn't force him to cry it out long periods of time and never put him to bed at 7 (or whatever time we chose for the age he was) if he wasn't tired.  Once he started sleeping 5 hours a night, we tried to put him to bed around 10.  As he slept in longer stretches, we moved bedtime up until eventually we got to the 7pm-7am routine.  Sometimes we'd put him to bed at 5:30 if he seemed sleepy enough.  We just went with the flow and it seemed to work out.  I'm sure baby #2 will be a sh*t show.

Every family has their own opinions on sleep training and some babies are more difficult to train than others.  Xavier was easy to train, but some babies may require a more strict schedule/harsher training.  We still run in to our stretches of sleepless nights (usually when he's sick), but it was never as bad as it was when he was younger.  So far, I've learned that it gets better.  Hoping the trend continues.  Happy training!

Easter Basket Goodies

I mentioned before that holidays are way more fun when a kid is around and can join in on the excitement.  Plus, I'll take any excuse to celebrate with my little babe.  Although he can't enjoy the white chocolate drizzled popcorn w/ Easter M&M's (oooh, but I can!), I wanted to give him a basket filled with goodies to remember his first Easter.  I thought I'd share some things we'll be putting in Xavier's first Easter basket.

Pat the Bunny (touch and feel) Book
My First Easter bib
Bubble wands - from Walmart
Guess How Much I Love You book
Sock Monkey toy
Fisher Price Stack N Sounds Blocks
Plastic Easter Eggs filled with beans, pennies, etc. that make noise when he shakes

We got Xavier's basket from Walmart.  It's very simple.  But, for you girl-moms out there, the baskets from Pottery Barn Kids are adorable!  You can choose from tons of different cute liners and can even have her name engraved on it.  My personal fave is this one.  We didn't get one for Xavier because even the boy liners I think are a bit too girly.

I did some quick holiday decorating around the house, too!

Plastic eggs from Target

And made this amazing popcorn to snack on.

Glass jar - Heritage HIll small canister from Target

Update on Easter traditions - things have changed since we were kids.  I saw a cute idea on Pinterest where you can put glow sticks (bracelets might work better) in the eggs and have a glow in the dark egg hunt!  I think we'll do that for Xavier since he is so intrigued by lights.  And, we will be leaving bunny bait for the Easter Bunny (recipe found here, I like to replace the pretzels with plain Rice Chex) and planting magic jelly beans that turn in to lollipops.  Some other things I've heard the bunny is up to - there is an app you can download to your phone where kids can receive calls from him, he leaves jelly beans in the toilet and adds a sign that he forgot to flush, and leaves a cotton ball/jellybean/candy trail leading out the front door.  The Easter Bunny is a very, busy bunny.

I can't wait to start family traditions for all the holidays to come.  I am really getting into this stuff!

Daily Routine: 6-7 Months

Oh, this is by far my favorite baby age!  Just look at his royal cuteness!

Crayola Washable Finger Paint found here

It was an eventful two months.  So far, I've seen the biggest developmental changes during these two months.  He also is growing faster than ever!  I recently had to pack away all his 3-9 month clothes.  Yes, this baby is wearing 12 month -18 month outfits.  It was a sad day for mama because he will never be able to wear those cute little sleep sacks again.  Or the Sock Monkey suspenders.  But, now that this little guy is here, I totally have a reason to celebrate more than ever!  Starting with the half-birthday.  Yea, I've never heard of this pre-Xavier, but I will go with any excuse to celebrate and party with the little chub!  The theme was "half", so half the room was decorated, half the cupcakes had sprinkles, we cut the subs in half, and no half-birthday is complete unless the celebratee only gets half his presents!  

We had 6 month photos taken, he learned to sit on his own, and he continues to babble all day long.  He really is starting to act more like a real-life person!

Our daily routine:

Wake up at 7AM, usually twisted 180 degrees in the crib and on his tummy, and flashes a HUGE smile when he sees me because he just slept through the whole night and knows he's about to get smothered in mama kisses!  He has breakfast (8oz. bottle) then I sit him on the floor to play with his toys while I get ready for work.  I drop him off at day care and he takes a morning nap around 9 or 10.  He has another bottle (6 oz. bottles are fed the rest of the day) around 11 and then plays with his buds at day care.  He has his first serving of solid foods (stage 2) around 12-12:30 and it's mixed with 4 Tbsp of oatmeal cereal.  He listens to music or makes a craft (seriously cannot get enough of the handprint/footprint animals he makes at daycare!) then goes down for another nap around 2.  He wakes up and is fed another bottle.  When that settles, about an hour and a half later, he'll take his second serving of solid foods mixed with oatmeal cereal.  I pick him up from day care around 5.  He's usually hungry for another bottle when we get home.  I find that he eats more at home on the weekends than he does at daycare.  Probably because he's so stimulated around the kids, he forgets he's hungry.  I'll let him play in his jumper while I change and put something together (VERY QUICKLY) for dinner.  Around 6:30 he starts rubbing his eyes.  I'll change him, give him a bath if it's bath night (we do baths twice a week unless it's bad blow-out season), then I give him his final bottle.  I didn't really push him in to the 7AM to 7PM routine, he just sort of fell into it on his own.  If he doesn't fall asleep after the bottle, I'll rock him with a pacifier and read him a story.  Usually stories stimulate him, so I try to do stories during the day.

Honestly, he is such a good baby.  So easy to take care of, so curious to look at everything when we take him out of the house, and content most of the time.  He usually only fusses if he's bored or tired.  He's never bored at day care with all the kids and toys, but at home on the weekends, it can be difficult to keep him entertained.  My best advice is to create the best routine and sleeping environment as early as possible.  The sooner your baby catches on, the sooner you will be a happy, happy mama!

See all daily routines here.

What's In My Diaper Bag?

I have a Fisher Price Fast-Finder diaper bag that has tons of interior pockets for pacifiers, bottles, hand sanitizer, a big shoulder strap so you can wear it cross-body, and it's a neutral gray color so Steve can carry it too.  I really wanted to get a Petunia Pickle Bottom bag because the boxy backpack is so big it was sure to hold everything I needed.  It also appeared easy to carry the bag and baby at the same time, but the designs are so diaper-bag-esque.  I couldn't find a design that didn't scream "Look at me and my diaper bag!!"  And, I swear they did not have this PPB bag for sale when I was looking for a bag or I might have gotten it (but it might be odd to watch Steve to carry it-don't want to discourage your baby-daddy's from carrying the diaper bag, trust me!!).  We considered getting the Diaper Dude for him, but I'm glad we have only one bag that's unisex.  Keeping one bag stocked is hassle enough!  

A Word on the Essentials:

Changing pad  - usually included with the diaper bag you purchase, or you can buy a Diaper Changing Station to stick in your bag

Bibs - keep the gross, carrot stained bibs at home, and get these nicer bibs from Dwell Studio for going out in public

Dr Brown's Container for pre-dished out Servings of Formula, can be used later for solids

A Word on the Extras:

Itzy Ritzy Cart/High Chair Cover - I like these because there will be a bit of extra room when you place baby in the chair/cart.  These are good for filling up the extra gap so he's snug and not wobbling all over.  You could also use a blanket or swaddle.

Itzy Ritzy Snack bag AND Itzy Ritzy Sealed Wet Bag - These are more fashionable than using ziplock baggies or the Kroger plastic bags, and more fun too!  I put pacifiers, chapstick, tissues, anything small in the snack bag.  The wet bag is good for diapers, swimwear, beach, travel, etc.

Daily Routine: 3-6 months

Xavier:  master bubble-blower

Big changes I noticed during the 3-6 months stage, was that Xavier had longer periods of "awake" time from nap to nap.  He also started sleeping longer during the night.  And by that we are talking like 5 hour stretches which felt AMAZING!!!!  I always rewarded him with bunches and bunches of kisses when he let me sleep that long.  I also started to realize how much I despised that baby monitor!  I literally wanted to throw it out the window.  Xavier was a noisy sleeper starting from day 1 with all those baby grunts during the night.  I started to get more confident that if he really needed me, he would belt out the cries.  And.  He.  Did.  Too bad it took me until month 4 to get comfortable with that.  Would have saved me from lots of sleepless nights!

Look at all this pinchable baby chub!

Our daily routine was very similar to the one I mentioned in the 0-3 month post.  Change his diaper, feed him a bottle, sit up-right about a half hour now since he was taking more formula, let him play for 1-2 hours, then put him down for a nap in the swing or bouncer.  Playtime consisted of more tummy time with help from the boppy, playing music on my iPhone (Baby Einstein has a great baby station on Pandora), placing books infront of him, time in the doorway jumper, exersaucer (an absolute favorite!!), and bumbo seat, time under his activity gym, and stroller rides around the neighborhood/mall.  His favorite napping spot was in his swing.  At some point during this stage, he started smiling and interacting more with me.  We're not talking big changes in that department, just more swats at things I placed infront of him and more eye contact with me.  The best part is when he started smiling!  Those toothless grins are the most adorable ever!  I also started feeling a little better, anxiety-wise.  When Xavier started reaching milestones, like propping his head up during tummy time, smiling, rolling on his side, I started to feel less anxious.  I was getting used to having him around, more comfortable with the whole take him to daycare/go to work routine, and I really started to miss him during the day.

The first outfit I bought for Xavier when I found out I was pregnant.  Unfortunately, he only got to wear it a couple times.  Babies this age grow super duper fast!

We kept Xavier exclusively on formula until very close to his 6 month birthday.  Once he started drinking 55-60 ounces a day, we started him on solids.  See that post here.

Some random observations during this stage:

--I was never going to let my kid watch as much TV as other moms I knew, buuuuuut, enter parenthood.  Now that Xavier was staying awake for longer stretches of time, the TV was becoming my best friend for calming him down during those fussy, evening hours between 5 - 8 PM.

--I have never been so sick in my life, until this little guy entered my world.  Wow, daycare is infused with so many germy kids and it seemed Xavier has had a runny nose every day since we started him there around his 3 month birthday.  He is now 7 months old and still snotty.

--When your kid is sick, nothing else in the world matters.  You will stay up with him all night, rock with him to keep him from crying, call off work and not think twice about it, anything you have to do.  Xavier had the worst diaper rash in history close to his 4 month birthday.  Red sores covered his cute little tooshey and he screamed whenever I dabbed it with a wipe.  I frantically texted every mom I knew about how to cure it, called the emergency nurse line, laid on the floor crying with him because he wouldn't stop crying..... oh it was awful.  I was so worried I felt like vomiting.  But once it cleared up the next morning and I could stop worrying, the biggest feeling of relief, bigger than I ever thought possible, came over me.  You've never experienced real relief until you have a kid.

See all daily routines here.

About Me

Wife to Steve & Mama to Xavier.  I love online shopping, photography, decorating, and holidays.

I met my husband,Steve, through friends at a cafe one night.  It was love at first sight.  We quickly broke up with the people we were dating so we could be together.  We got engaged at this same cafe about a year later, were married in Barbados, and have an adorable son, Xavier.  I am originally from the Cincinnati area and Steve is from the Toledo area.  We both are graduates of The Ohio State University and love everything Columbus has to offer.  I believe we will be retired before we leave this wonderful city!

Xavier James was born on August 15, 2013.  He is the most wonderful thing that has happened to us and this blog documents my journey as a new mom to him.