Category: SLR camera

daphne {week 48}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // tee: Carter’s (old) // jeans: Gymboree (old) // rattle: Manhattan Toy Company}

{week 48} 5 weeks. Guys, 5 more weeks. How is this baby going to be ONE already?!

Look at that belly Daph! This is one of my favorite shirts of Eloise’s which is an 18 month size, but with Baby D’s belly, I knew we had to try it on earlier (plus I think Carter’s runs a bit small). And sure enough, it fits her perfectly!

I am going to leave this short and sweet because Daphne turns ELEVEN MONTHS on Thursday and I will do a big monthly update!

And here is Eloise’s 48 week update.

Happy 48 weeks Daphne!

M

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daphne {week 47}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // onesie: Primary // jeans: babyGap // socks: Cat and Jack for Target}

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{And here is the outtake for this week which is a great representation of what almost all but a couple of the photos from our weekly shoots looks like! Always. On. The. Move.}

{week 47} 47?! How is this possible? We are getting so close to 52 weeks and it is so bittersweet. Daphne is such a joyful little soul and as much as I want her to stay little and be my baby, I am so enjoying watching her grow and become a little person.

I mentioned last week that we are still nursing in the morning. This session lasts about a hot minute because there are always SO many things for Daphne to look at or do during this time. So I am not sure how much volume she is actually getting, but for now it seems to work for her. And, these feeding sessions are apparently when Daphne likes to work on her acrobatic and contortion skills! It really is amazing that she can be still attached to me and maneuver herself all around. Again, I am hoping to keep this feeding session until she is one, and then let her self-wean (which Eloise did at 14 months).

Daphne’s newest trick (thanks to Aaron!) is that she will stick out her tongue if she sees you stick out her tongue. Guys, this is the BEST! If you go “Daphne!” and then stick out your tongue, she will stick out hers too. And she is pretty proud of herself. Simple pleasures, right?

Daphne is sort of in-between sizes right now as she is almost too long for 12 months onesies but too small for 18 month onesies, and tee shirts don’t stay down over her belly! We have the plain white Carter’s onesies in about every size, but since I moved Daphne into the 18 size, I dislike the sleeves. They are too long and seem really wide? So unless I roll them way up to her elbow (which defeats the purpose of long-sleeves, right?) they just stretch out into a big old mess. Anyways, this is all to say that the Primary onesie that Daphne is wearing in this week’s photo fits her really well. She is in a 12 to 18 month size (so I would say it runs slightly small) but the sleeves fit well because they are cut to be more slim! I think I will pick up a few more of these long-sleeved onesies (the peter pan collar is adorable) in this size and the next size up!

In the last week I have watched Daphne stand on her own for about 2.5 seconds before she realizes she is standing and sits down. And she has always had something in her hands. Which made me remember that someone told us when Eloise was this age that babies are much more likely to stand if they have something to hold (since they forget they are standing and focus on what they are holding). It makes sense and I remember this being true with Eloise. I am surprised, given the fact that Daphne was rolling and crawling so early, that she isn’t walking at this point, but I know it will happen overnight! So, I am trying to prepare for that…

And I was chatting with Aaron just this week about how crazy it is going to be that in just a few weeks we will have TWO toddlers! {Though Eloise doesn’t seem like much of a toddler these days!}

And here’s Eloise 47 week update.

Happy 47 weeks Daphne!

M

This post contains affiliate links.

guest room/office: styled hydrangeas {sponsored}

Every New Year I find myself wanting a fresh start and get into cleaning/decluttering mode as well as “buy all the new things” mode. Great for post-holiday sales but bad for my wallet since it was just Christmas, right?

So this year, I have been in purge and decluttering mode (you should see the stacks and bags full of things in our office ready to go OUT) but have also been trying to re-style and refresh some of the spaces in our home.

In an effort to save on the amount of things we have (as well as saving money) I have been extremely selective about what has been coming into our home. It is easy to just buy all of the things, especially home decor, in order to fit the empty space, but I have taken a new approach and have really enjoyed it much more. Instead of the constant buying, styling, and getting rid of (and then rinse and repeat) I have been editing pieces out of our decor that I don’t really LOVE and then shopping around the house to see if there is something we already have that would fit what I am looking for. Sometimes I can restyle a piece in a new space and it’s perfect and sometimes I do need/want something new and then it goes on my to-buy list for when I am shopping.

One newish thing that I have been really liking in some of our spaces is faux flowers. In the past I wasn’t a huge fan, but some of the faux flowers are really good! So when Silk Plants Direct reached out late last year to see if I wanted to style and blog about silk flowers, I had to say yes!

There are tons (and tons) of options on Silk Plants Direct, so if you are shopping, I would highly recommend setting some filter criteria. I sorted by flower type (hydrangeas and peonies are right at the top for me) as well as by arrangement (I wanted something already in a vase or container). And then it was onto shopping! Faux flowers (good ones at least) tend to be a little pricey, but I think it’s worth the cost. If you buy real flowers, you know how expensive of a habit that can be, and you don’t have to replace faux flowers every week (or change out the water).

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I loved this purple and green hydrangea arrangement and I knew I could style it in a couple of places in our home (office, bedroom, living room). At least for me, I like a simple arrangement (flowers and color) in a simple container (no big designs or graphics) because it is easiest for me to style it with other things. For the time-being, this arrangement will live in our office/guest room on one side of the dressers, though I am sure it will move around the house once I start to get the itch to re-style!

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And after having this arrangement in the house for a bit, I have been really happy with them. The flowers were a little smashed from shipping in a box, but I gently fluffed them up which worked well. From a distance, I think these are pretty good faux hydrangeas, and even the “water” looks pretty real. I will definitely peruse Silk Plants Direct if I find I need more faux arrangements for some of our other spaces and also really love the idea of a faux flower plant for outside during the spring and summer.

Be sure to check out Silk Plants Direct on social media (depending on what your preference is): Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest.

AND Silk Plants Direct is offering 10% off for blog readers for any order (except custom orders) if you use the code BLOGGER10 at check-out.

Do you have any faux flowers in your home decor?

M

This is a sponsored post brought to you in collaboration with Silk Plants Direct. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog!

 

daphne {week 46}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // romper: Primary // keys: Amazon}

{week 46} It has been a BIG week around here with Baby D, and the weeks are just flying by. I keep looking at the calendar and just can’t believe we are getting so close to March 1st. Commence party planning.

Daphne’s official first words are “good girl.” We have been noticing her saying it for a while, mostly around Sadie, but will almost always say it on command and also when she sees Eloise. It’s the cutest! We have a video and I will be sure to post it soon. Daphne also says “mama,” “mimi,” “bop bop,” and occasionally “papa” but none of those things are in context, so I think they are just sounds at this point.

Also, Daphne is officially waving AND clapping. Guys, I remember this from when Eloise was this age and it was the best. If you say “Hi, Daphne” and wave at her, she will most certainly turn towards you, smile, and give a big arm wave. Like her entire arm. And she also likes to spin her arms around during mealtime (or when she is in her highchair). Cute, but not amusing when there is food on her tray. And clapping, oh clapping. Daphne has been working on getting those hands together for a little while now, but she finally got it. And there is lots and lots of clapping these days.

Daphne is so, so fast and she is into everything. And if you can’t find her, it’s a sure bet that she is in the bathroom pulling all of the toilet paper off the roll and clapping!

We are still doing well with one morning nursing session and four bottles throughout the day. At first we were starting with 3 oz bottles since we weren’t sure exactly how much she was consuming (that’s one of the tricky parts about breastfeeding) but it seems like she wants more like 4 oz. I also updated some of her bottles to the Level 4 nipples (which increases how much milk comes out) and now she can down a bottle in a matter of minutes. It’s really impressive.

We have also been really trying to offer Daphne water at mealtime too (since she has a formula bottle before meals) in either a small cup (a shot glass to be specific) or a straw cup and she LOVES it! About half of the time she will swallow the water once it is in her mouth, and the other half it just falls out of her mouth. She got this silicone pocket bib from Santa though and we have been loving it! I like the pocket and the adjustable neck strap. Plus, it is super easy to clean and dries really quickly. I may pick up another one!

And here is Eloise’s 46 week update.

Happy 46 weeks Daphne!

M

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daphne {week 45}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // sweater: made by Aunt Kelly // top: Old Navy (old but similar) // leggings: Target (old) // slippers: Hanna Andersson}

{week 45} This week we have been at Mimi and Paga’s house (my parents) for the week to attend my cousin’s wedding and to have a late Christmas celebration with family.

The drive over was long (10 and a half hours) but Daphne did SO well! She is really such a great little traveler. We woke up the girls early (6 am) to head out of town and Daphne was back to sleep within a few minutes of leaving the house. She also was in a really happy mood when I woke her up which always helps! We kept to the regular routine with mealtimes and naps, stopping for breakfast and lunch, and then Daphne put herself to sleep on the road. Her naps weren’t quite as long as they are when she is in her crib, but she wasn’t fussy so no complaints!

Daphne has done pretty well sleeping. A few nights she has had really good nights where we put her down and she doesn’t make a peep until morning, but we did have one night where she was up and crying for hours (HOURS) before I finally rocked her in the living room and slept with her on my chest on the couch. That entire night was kept thinking “this stinks, please go to sleep” but also “thank you so much for not doing this every night!” We have been using this travel sound machine and it is awesome! {Our old one went thru a crazy amount of batteries but this one is USB. We looked high and low for a good travel sound machine and finally found this one!}

The biggest thing that happened this week was that Daphne learned to clap! And just in time for the wedding. Daphne spent nearly the entire wedding ceremony on Saturday clapping and babbling! It was really sweet and everyone couldn’t stop laughing at her! She is also working on waving too. A big, full arm wave. I love this stage.

And here’s Eloise’s 45 week update (also on my parents’ living room rug)!

Happy 45 weeks Daphne!

M

This post contains affiliate links.

daphne {month ten}

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{alligator: Jellycat // shirt: babyGap (old) // pants: Target (old)}

{month ten} TEN MONTHS?! Ahh, March 1st is way too close. I am not ready for this. Especially when I was putting together our yearly review and seeing all of those tiny baby pictures of Daphne. Where did all that time go?

This picture perfectly captures Daphne’s sweet little belly. Oh my gosh guys, we love this tummy! It is so round and rotund, especially after mealtime, and we have had to start sizing up in shirts in order to cover it! I don’t remember Eloise having quite a belly, but I really hope Daphne’s sticks around for a while.

The biggest change this month has been that I started weaning Daphne which is a pretty big departure from where we were last month! As I have been mentioning in her weekly updates, I started weaning Daphne from the breast to a bottle because she was biting so much. I slowly started dropping nursing sessions and we have been offering a 3 ounce bottle instead and the transition has been super smooth. We had some frozen pumped milk that we alternated with formula in the beginning, and now we are completely on Holle formula (now Stage 3). It seemed like Daphne had a little bit of tummy trouble (crazy diapers!) when we first started with only formula bottles, but she seems to be doing well now. Just yesterday I dropped the lunchtime nursing session so Daph is just nursing first thing in the morning before breakfast. I am still sad about feeling like I needed to wean before I was really ready, but it has been nice at the same time. With Aaron home on leave now, being able to offer bottles gives him more of an opportunity to care for Daphne (and for me to not feel stuck at home). Anyways, we will keep up this current system (hopefully) until Daphne turns one and the formula bottles transition to cups of cow milk.

Despite our guesses, Daphne still isn’t walking or standing on her own yet (we suspected in the fall that she might be walking by New Year’s) but I am thankful. She is already so mobile and for those first few months of walking, there are so many falls and close calls. I am definitely okay on waiting. Daphne doesn’t seem too interested in trying to stand on her own yet and will just drop to her bottom if she wants to move or can’t hold onto something. She is cruising on everything though and has mastered the side-step for sure! We did put up the extra gate in our upstairs hallway to keep Daphne out of the stairwell and entryway. She is learning about stairs still and does well climbing up, but still is pretty far from being able to do stairs well.

In the past few weeks, Daphne has moved into a 4 hour feeding schedule. It has been nice to have more time in the afternoon before she goes down for a nap, especially since Eloise does “quiet time” rather than nap time now. The naps move around a bit depending on what we are doing that day or whether Daphne is more or less tired, but have been averaging 2 hours each!

7:30 am to 8:30 am – wake-up and nursing

8:30 am – breakfast

10 am – morning nap

noon – bottle and lunch

2 pm – afternoon nap

4 pm – bottle and sometimes a snack (if she sees Eloise eating one)

5 pm – occasional 30 minute catnap

6 pm – bottle and dinner

7:30ish pm – bottle and bedtime

And lastly we fully moved Daphne to her convertible car seat since she had outgrown her infant seat (in height, not in weight). Plus, she was getting heavy enough that I couldn’t very easily carry the infant seat! We picked up a new Britax Boulevard with Clicktight for her during Amazon’s Black Friday sale and we have been pretty happy with it. It is basically the updated version of Eloise’s seat so we aren’t learning an entirely new seat (really nice). The Clicktight feature is new for us though (we didn’t opt for the upgrade with Eloise) but it makes installing the seat so much easier! Daphne seems pretty content in her new seat and can see Eloise better now (she is rear-facing while E is forward-facing) and she likes that. She also has more access to her toys (we have this storage console in the middle seat) which is helpful! A rear-facing seat is a little tight in our current SUV since it requires the passenger seat to be pretty far forward, but it works well enough.

{weight} 20ish pounds. we don’t have a scale, so I will weigh her later in the week!
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} two bottom middle teeth, top four teeth, one more on the bottom cutting in.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 9 months and 12 months, 6 to 12 months, starting into 12 to 18 months.
{diapers} size 3 {from the honest company}. At home we are doing cloth (Grovia) and disposables when we go out and overnight.
{feeding} nursing in the morning around 8 am. 3 oz bottles at lunchtime, after naptime, and at dinner. bedtime is around 7:30 with a 3 or 4 oz bottle.

{likes} watching and chasing the Roomba, eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, sucking on her hands, being tickled, talking (cooing).
{dislikes} having gas, lying down flat right after eating, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.

{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.

And here is Eloise’s ten month update.

Happy 10 months Daphne!

M

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daphne {week 43}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // tunic: Target (old) // leggings: Target (old)}

{week 43} This past week has gone so quickly, mostly because we were leading up to Christmas!

Daphne visited the dentist last week for her first check-up. We were already taking Eloise in for an appointment (she goes every 6 months) and since Daphne had teeth this time, the dentist went ahead with the first check-up. Mostly it was just having the hygienist clean her teeth with a gauze pad and then having the dentist check to make sure her teeth are coming in correctly. And while Daphne did NOT like having her teeth looked at, everything looks good!

And on a related note, I noticed this week that she has another tooth (on the bottom) making an appearance and it has already cut, so here’s to SEVEN teeth for little Daph!

We got to get together with some of Eloise’s PEPS friends late last week for a play date and chose the Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center play gym since there were so many big kids. But Daphne had a good time climbing around and playing and watching all of the kids (nearly all were bigger than her). The only tricky part was that Daphne was really interested in trying to climb on all of the big bikes and scooters… keeps me on my toes!

Weaning is still going well and I am holding strong on the first morning feeding. We have had some biting during that feeding, but not too bad. I just am not ready to completely give it up yet! But I started weaning her from the lunch feeding, offering just one side, and it has gone well. So this week I will completely wean her from nursing at lunchtime and offer her a bottle instead. And at some point the bottles will become cups of milk. Crazy that we are so close to that!

We also celebrated Christmas this past weekend, and since it was Daphne’s FIRST Christmas it seemed extra special. She has been in love with the Christmas tree (and specifically the lights!) but has mostly left it alone. I was a little worried that she was going to destroy it or try to eat all of the needles, but she has done a really good job still. I can’t blame her for being curious about it since it sits in the “play area” of our living room, and it sparkles with lights, and there are presents underneath. Daphne would help open some of her presents if we started ripping for her, but mostly she just wanted to chew on everything. So Eloise was happy to help her open everything up! We started letting the girls open one present starting a few days before Christmas because there were so. many. gifts. And even then, Christmas morning was overwhelming! It took us all day to open presents and there was so much over-stimulation. Daphne was interested in some things and the ribbons, but there was just way too much going on. I think next year we will take a note from our Jewish friends and spend 8 nights opening Christmas presents!

And here is Eloise’s 43 week update.

Happy 43 weeks Daphne!

M

Pinterest Christmas {2017} : Photos with the Christmas Tree.

Welcome back to the last week of Pinterest Christmas! {See week ONE and TWO here.}

It is a stretch to call this a Pinterest Christmas project because it is just a photoshoot with the girls in front of the Christmas tree and with lights, but since there are a zillion posts about how to take pictures with Christmas trees and with lights, I am just going with it! Mostly it is helpful to reference any of those posts to figure out what manual settings you should set your SLR camera to in order to capture the glow of the Christmas lights in a dark-ish setting without being too blurry.

So without further adieu, we head into the Christmas weekend with a ton of pictures of the girlies!

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And see Eloise’s Christmas photo shoot here.

Outfits: {Eloise: jammies: Hanna Andersson // hairbow: Adaline’s Bow Line // Santa hat: made by Aunt Kelly} {Daphne: jammies: Hanna Andersson // Santa hat: made by Aunt Kelly}

Did you take pictures in front of the tree this year?

M

This post contains affiliate links.

daphne {week 42}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // jammies: Hanna Andersson // Santa hat & blanket: made by Aunt Kelly}

{week 42} This week has been fun (& a little different) because it is the start of Aaron’s paternity leave. Well, the second half of it; he took the first half in the summer. So we have had a lot more time with Papa which has been so fun!

This week’s photo really captures how Daphne is these days which is that she wants to be up and interacting, and not lying on her back. At all. She is go-go-go and never wants to keep a hat on!

We have also started being a lot more consistent with water in a cup at mealtimes this week. I know we are approaching a big transition soon where Daphne will go from a bottle (or breast) to a cup and we just haven’t been offering it, mostly because it is just one. more. thing at mealtime. Sorry Daph! But she is learning how to drink and swallow out of a cup (we use a plastic shot glass which actually works so well since it is small enough for her little mouth) and she LOVES it! And Aaron re-taught her how to use a straw the other day and now she is drinking out of a straw and (mostly) swallowing the water. We haven’t started offering (breast) milk or formula in a cup yet, but that will probably be starting soon.

The biggest update for this week is that I had to start weaning Daphne from nursing to a bottle for two of her feedings (late afternoon and dinner). I have mentioned it before, but I have had SO many issues with Daphne biting while feeding and I got to the point last week where I was just done. I want to continue nursing her and will try to do so for her first two feedings where biting doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem, but I guess blood was the end point for me. I don’t want to bleed while nursing! So, I am still nursing her when she wakes and right before lunch, but then we are offering bottles (4 ounces) in the late afternoon, evening, and at bedtime. We still have some frozen breastmilk available that we are using along with Holle formula. It has been a change for me/us but Daphne doesn’t really seem to be phased at all (which is great)! Since Aaron is home now during the day on leave, it has been nice to feel like we have a bit more flexibility in the afternoon since I don’t have to be home or with Daphne to nurse her. It has been a little hard for me (mostly emotionally) because I am not ready to wean Daph just yet, but I think it was a good decision for everyone.

And here is Eloise’s 42 week update.

Happy 42 weeks Daphne!

M

This post contains affiliate links.