Life passes in an Instagram week 8

Week 8 of Life passes in an Instagram: Starting Monday, February 20, 2012 through Sunday, February 26, 2012

Activity products for babies

I wanted to share some great activity products for babies, of course we haven't tried others now that our little one has arrived, but we did our research before she arrived and have been really pleased with what we chose...

Skip Hop Treetop Friends Activity Gym
The first thing that drew me to this particular activity gym was the colors. It was the only large activity gym we found that wasn't covered with farm animals, clowns, or super bright colors. I love that the little pillow, mat, and squirrel can be washed in the washing machine and take less than 12 hours to hang dry. Everything, including the other hanging toys, wipes down really easily and withstands even the drooliest of babies.

Setting a routine pt 2

The other day I shared a little bit about the method we chose to help us set a routine with our little one and how it was working. I'm here today to share how it has been going after we gave it a little bit of tweaking.

Here's a quick recap:
-We chose to follow Tracy Hogg's The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.
-We started out on day 1 implementing her EASY method, but struggled getting her to sleep on her own. She loved being in our arms or on our chests a zillion times more than the pack n' play or crib.
-We sought out a little bit of advice from my friend that used Ms. Hogg's method with her kids, which leads us into part 2, how EASY looks now...

How does EASY look at a glance now (8 weeks+)?
E-I feed for 20-45 minutes every 3 hours during the day.
A-We change her diaper, have face-to-face time, tummy/back time, mirror time, Bumbo and toy time, etc. She typically has a 30-45 minute activity time.
S-We put her down in her crib for the remaining 1 1/2 hours or so.
Y-You time is splendid these days.

How does EASY look in a 24 hour period?

Setting a routine pt 1

We knew before getting pregnant that we wanted to set a routine for our children. The question was which "theory" to follow. In the end we chose Tracy Hogg's The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.

Now before I go any further I'll go ahead and state that I am simply sharing what we chose to do, not saying that this is the best way or that everyone should do it. I think everyone should do their own research if they are interested in trying to set a routine. Why? Everyone has their own needs and views. What one family may need is not what the next one might need. So again, I'm just sharing what we've done and how it has turned out.

I've shared before that I waited until the third trimester to really research and learn about our little one. I just didn't want to overwhelm myself with baby items, birth, and baby all at once. But when the time came I knew who I wanted to solicit for advice and what I wanted to research.

Life passes in an Instagram, week 7

Week 7 of Life passes in an Instagram: Starting Monday, February 13, 2012 through Sunday, February 19, 2012 (2-4 are all from February 14th)

3 months old

Sweet girl, you are officially 3 months old and we could not adore you more! Every single day you capture our hearts and give us so much joy. We absolutely love watching you soak up with world around you with those beautiful eyes. We love you so much and are honored to be able to love on you every day.

Homemade foaming hand soap

I was inspired by Pinterest a few weeks back to make our own liquid hand soap. By the way, the Pinterest app is a-w-e-s-o-m-e for moms during feeds, but then again we don't have the same amount of energy we used to to actually re-create everything we want.

Anyway..I was inspired.

I followed this pin to this post and got to work. For the directions, head to The Farmer's Nest post because I don't want to reexplain it all, but I will share some tips and mishaps. :)

Life passes in an Instagram, week 6

Week 6 of Life passes in an Instagram: Starting Monday, February 6, 2012 through Sunday, February 12, 2012

1: Mirror play time.

2: Button nose.

3: Baby Girl and her sunshine-y diaper.

4: So honored to have watched this little angel grow up these past 12 weeks!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a special day in our household and in case you aren't sure why, here's our story as shared back in 2010..

"My plan was to take you to the lake so that we could look at the stars, unfortunately it is cloudy out tonight. But, all I really want to do is talk to you anyway." Well, before I get to that let me start at the beginning..

On Monday, February 13, 2006, I met up with Peter's roommate, Jeremy, so that I could get Peter's truck keys. I then proceeded to move a white laundry basket filled with goodies and red and white tissue paper in the great Abilene wind from my car to his truck. You see, I had put together a basket for him, but  I knew that it would be too awkward to carry to him, bring out when he picked me up for our date, or have someone put in the room.

Mirror redo

The one thing the nursery was missing was a mirror. I knew what kind of mirror I was wanting I just couldn't find one so I figured I'd just wait until I found the one.

Cool part about it? The one ended up being the mirror from the room my mom and I always stayed in at my grandparents' house.

My Grandma passed away several years ago and my Grandpa just moved in with my Uncle, so we went out there to see if there was anything I wanted. I've learned over the years to not get things I don't need so I made sure the few items I chose not only held memories but also purpose. I walked away with my Grandma's stainless steel measuring cups I'd seen her use time and time again, an old suitcase that still has the smell of her closet, the mirror, and Peter got a few tools. Their house held so many memories for me so to have a little memento from there in my daughter's room makes my heart so happy.

I loved the mirror the way that it was but it didn't go with the nursery, so I got to work antiquing it up since I wanted to keep some of its original color.

Favorite newborn items

Now that we have two and a half months under our belt with our little bundle of joy I thought I'd share our favorite newborn items of the typical items purchased and some other items that we found to be extremely helpful in the first two months.

Being new parents we started out with a little bit of everything and as time has gone on we've narrowed it all down to the best of the best..or at least the best of what we have. :) I know several of you are expecting so I thought this might be helpful for you and a fun record for us to have in the future.

Valentine's crafts

I posted these projects last year, but I wanted to share them with you all again in case you missed them. Both of these projects were inspired by some of my favorite blogs..

Craftaholics Anonymous made this adorable twine heart and of course I had to make one for our home. Why? I love hearts and I love twine. I actually used jute, which was about $3.00 and the wreath was $3.00 as well. I didn't even use half of the jute, but it did take over an hour and a half, so a movie would be a good choice of entertainment if you choose to make one!

Life passes in an Instagram, week 5

Week 5 of Life passes in an Instagram: Starting Monday, January 30, 2012 through Sunday, February 5, 2012


I've started participating in the #photoaday challenge (where specific photos are requested) on Instagram as well, so some of my photos will be used for both #photoaday and #lifepassesinanInstagram, some won't, i.e. "my view today" was Wednesday's #photoaday.

Cloth diapers

I've mentioned before that we chose to use cloth diapers with our little one. Seeing as quite a few of you are expecting your first little one soon I thought I'd share our take on it all.

When we found out we were pregnant I waited until the first trimester was over to really begin researching things. I wanted to do my best to keep myself healthy and enjoy each step of the pregnancy, even the 24/7 nausea because I knew firsthand what a miracle getting pregnant truly is.

Once we had the green light I let loose. I researched e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I used the second trimester and beginning of the third trimester to get to know brands, what is used for what, where to go when we have questions, what is considered the best of the best, etc. I used the second half of the third trimester learning all about baby.

When it came to diapers I knew I wanted to research cloth diapers. I had come across several articles and blogs prior to the pregnancy that had sparked my interest.

Valentine's countdown

In case you missed my wood project series back in July and August of last year, here is one of the projects that I'm using for Valentine's Day..a wooden countdown board. (The rest of the series can be found with the wood projects label.)

I love Valentine's Day because of Valentine's Day 2006, when my handsome Hubby asked me to be his girlfriend. Since then I've loved reminiscing that night, and celebrating love. I love Christmas even more so I also use this board for a Christmas countdown..

I had wanted to make this ever since I came across these (see below) cards from Pretty Little Studio on Etsy and this craft on Pinterest.

Our family

I love our little family. (Not pictured, Butterball.)

There is nothing that makes me happier than being with my three loves.

Comparison

Who does Brynlee look most like, baby Daddy or baby Mommy, or a blend? Leave your votes in a comment!