my weekend in pictures.

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{I made Daphne some blueberry yogurt on Friday morning (roasted blueberry puree and plain Greek yogurt) and very quickly regretted it. She LOVED it but it was so, so messy. She’s super into wanting to help feed herself with a spoon which just turns into her grabbing the spoon full of food and smearing it all over… it’s super fun.}

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{She wanted me to take her picture, but then she did this.}

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{We had a play date on Saturday that called for costumes, so we tried on some old ones since I definitely have not finished even started the girls’ Halloween costumes yet. This lady bug was Eloise’s first costume!}

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{Eloise cracks me up! She wasn’t sleeping yet, but apparently was relaxing in bed.}

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{I packed up some orders to deliver locally and it got me much more in the Halloween/fall spirit! If you want a flag, it’s not too late!}

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{The official Halloween parade sign went up in our neighborhood. This is the best! If you are local and want/need a place to celebrate Halloween this year, come on over!}

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{The aforementioned costume play date. 12 kids and 6 mamas in 3 years. This is Eloise and my PEPS group and some of our very best friends! Seeing these littles and their little siblings is so, so fun!}

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{Aaron went to work Saturday afternoon getting our Halloween costumes ready for Ben and Sarah’s annual party. Any guesses?}

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{We had the sitter come at 6 pm – yeah, a sitter, wahoo! – so we headed for a quick dinner before the party started.}

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{Where’s Waldo (and Wenda)? Not the best picture (the other ones were worse, ha!) but still a really fun night. Our priorities for costumes are easy and warm. Plus, Aaron is the perfect Waldo.}

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{She has been asking all week and we finally went out to get pumpkins this morning. We didn’t make it out to a big pumpkin patch since they are all a pretty good trek from our house (maybe next year?) but our grocery store had a great selection and the pumpkin guy even gave Eloise a free one! So NINE pumpkins later, we are all set!}

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{Hot cheese sammies and tomato soup for lunch. And I look up and Eloise says “Do I have any soup on my face Mama?” Um, yes child, yes you do.}

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{Since Daphne was up from her afternoon nap a little early today she got to accompany me to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things (like all of the pumpkin things). And she LOVES being in the cart. Way more fun than her car seat since she can see everything!}

We had a bit of a cold and rainy weekend (especially in contrast to the heat wave we experienced in Mexico!) but it was a great fall weekend. We got to see lots of friends this weekend and even got a date night, so all in all a good one!

I am in complete disbelief that Halloween is next week and that we are already approaching the end of October. To do this week is to make the girls’ Halloween costumes. Wish me luck!

How was your weekend?

M

our trip to Mexico {2017}

We just got back from Mexico (in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday) and I wanted to share some photos since I know you all have been waiting (haha)! I posted some of these during the week on my Instagram stories (this is my favorite social media guys!) as well as Instagram and Facebook posts, but since there were more photos to share, I thought I would do a blog post as well. {So I apologize for the repetition.}

As some of you may know, we headed down to Cancun last week to celebrate Aaron’s cousin’s wedding. Since we decided early on to take the kids (Daphne was pretty much a have-to since I didn’t want to spend a week in Mexico pumping!) we decided to make it a family vacation and stay an entire week. Plus, it was a great excuse to get the girls passports (oh my gosh, passport photos for babies and toddlers, it’s the best)! The wedding was at an all-inclusive resort which wouldn’t have probably been our first choice for vacation (I am much more inclined to rent an Airbnb house) but it was great for the kids. Plus, the rest of the wedding party, including all of Aaron’s family that had made the trip were at the resort, so it was sort of a no-brainer. We stayed at the Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. It felt a lot like the Sandals resort we stayed in in St. Lucia for our honeymoon, but super family friendly.

We had a really good time and it was great to get away, just the four of us. Since we left last Tuesday, we had a day or two of just us before family started arriving for the big event. And it was great to see family too. Eloise was in heaven playing with all of her cousins!

The only real complaint that we had (#firstworldproblems) was that it was so, so hot and humid. It was about mid-80s temperature wise but with 85% humidity. That means the “real feel” temperature was around 100 degrees. I know, hard to complain about being on vacation in Mexico, but we were not prepared for that kind of heat! Luckily our room had A/C and we got an occasional ocean breeze.

Okay, enough chatting, I know you just want to see pictures! I didn’t take a ton of pictures since I was enjoying being unplugged (which just doesn’t happen much at home).

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{This is what traveling with both of the girls looked like. Not pictured: husband who was carrying a backpack, duffel bag (we love this one from Lo & Sons for travel!), and the diaper bag. Also not pictured: two car seats, two big suitcases.}

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{Hello LA! Early morning layover.}

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{We got Eloise a little digital camera for the trip and she was OBSESSED! She took about 100 pictures before we landed in Mexico… and many of the floor. Also, she loves her headphones which we only let her use when we are traveling.}

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{Hello Mexico! Perks of having a window seat, right?}

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{The beach. It was so beautiful!}

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{Eloise and I spent our first morning out on the beach while Aaron stayed with Daphne in the room for her nap.}

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{CHEESE! And so much sunscreen. My suit is old from TopShop and Eloise’s is from June and January for those who were asking.}

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{Daphne girl joined us at the beach after nap time.}

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{She LOVES the sand and just wanted to make sandcastles (and then destroy them) and bury our feet.}

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{We welcomed family since we were the first ones to arrive. Michael (Aaron’s cousin) and his wife Rachel with the girls.}

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{Love this Daphne girl. Even though moments before this happened she bit me. While she was nursing. It was not a great moment.}

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{Guys, sisters are the best! Maggi, the bride, gave the girls these adorable jammies.}

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{Poolside.}

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{Even though there were cabanas at the beach, they were pretty small once you got chaise lounge chairs under them. And we were all dying for shade! So I was happy to have brought this little pop-up tent for Daphne. And it was awesome to keep her from eating sand.}

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{We got her a new set of sand toys since the bucket we brought with us broke in the suitcase. It came in a little backpack which she wanted to take with us everywhere.}

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{This was perfect. And then the baby started moving towards the sand. But for a minute there, it was actually really relaxing!}

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{Eloise was a little nervous about the ocean but would go in if Aaron carried her.}

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{More sandcastles. And when Papa is around he goes to the water and gets the good, wet sand!}

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{We were so happy to see Kait! She was amazing with the girls who loved her so much. She’s technically not a cousin, but a cousin of a cousin, but that is just semantics!}

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{Ah, that smile!}

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{Eloise was not sure about this, but she wanted to be there since that is what her cousins were doing!}

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{Another morning at the pool and it was much too hot for Daphne to nap.}

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{Eloise was so brave and swam out with her Uncle David, Aaron’s brother.}

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{It took a lot of bouncing and rocking, but I finally got Daph to nap that morning.}

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{The wedding set-up. It was insanely hot, but so beautiful!}

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{Wedding selfie. Love this guy. And Baby D was not at all happy. She calmed down before the ceremony started though, thank goodness!}

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{The tables were gorgeous. I wish I could have greenery and flowers on my dining table all the time.}

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{And after the wedding was done, the kids played on the beach. And Eloise deconstructed the wedding flowers…}

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{For Mr. and Mrs. Czerpak!}

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{We only got a few photos of the four of us and even though the girls weren’t looking at the camera or smiling, I love this photo of our little family. And bless my husband who endured wearing a suit during the wedding ceremony because I asked him to. It was probably 100 degrees on the beach that afternoon, but I love him in a suit!}

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{Cutting the cake. The cake topper says “finally” since they dated for 7 years!}

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{Sami, the flower girl (she LOVED Daphne and Eloise) and Uncle Papi (Uncle Mike) who was the father of the bride. Our wedding favors were these colorful maracas and the girls were both obsessed.}

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{A dance party after dinner. It was so fun!}

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{Eloise with the bride.}

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{Eloise, Kendra, Daphne, and me. It was so hot but such a fun time!}

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{After dancing, we re-grouped and went back to the room to get the girls ready for bed. We gave her a bedtime bottle, stuck these earphones on her, and she was out for the rest of the night!}

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{Nap at the beach!}

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{And more time to play in the sand. All of the family had cabanas right next to each other so it was fun to see everyone, but still be able to hang in the shade.}

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{This is her “What Mama?” face when I say “Say cheese, Eloise!”}

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{Hydrating before pool time.}

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{And she’s off!}

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{Oh those cheeks and those lips sweet Daphne girl!}

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{A post-nap swim for Daphne. She LOVED the pool! Her rashguard/sunshirt is an old Crewcuts and her swim diaper is an old Honest Co.}

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{And Eloise insisted on getting back in the pool with Uncle Ben.}

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{The beach just outside our room.}

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{On our last night we hung out with family after dinner and Eloise was loving spending time with her cousin Jack. She was a blur the entire night!}

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{And Daphne crawling (and almost getting squished by Eloise!) in case you missed it on my Instagram stories.}

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{Waiting to get on the plane. Eloise loves airports and seeing all of the planes.}

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{And Daphne loves sticking her fingers in other people’s mouths… we are working on that. And moments later, she was out and slept until we were on the plane.}

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{Adios Mexico! See you next time!}

A fun family trip and makes me so excited to continue our family adventures, hopefully, all around the world with these girls!

And happy wedding day to Maggi and Greg!

M

Also, for those who were asking, my dress is J. Crew that I picked up at the end of the summer (so it’s no longer available). As soon as we booked our trip I started searching for a dress since I knew it would be tricky to find something I liked that was also nursing friendly. Luckily, this dress was so perfect!

 

daphne {week 33}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // swimsuit: Cat and Jack for Target // blanket: Lou Lou and Company}

{week 33} This was a BIG week for Daphne because we flew to Cancun for the week, marking her first international flight, first passport stamp, first wedding, and first time (sweating it) in paradise!

We had a super early morning flight down to LA (and then onto Cancun) and Daphne did so well. She was a bit confused why I woke her up at 2:30 AM but went right back to sleep in her car seat on the drive down to the airport. I wore her in a carrier (we have been liking the Tula recently since it adjusts for Aaron comfortably and doesn’t take as much time to set-up as the Solly) thru airport security and then onto the plane. We kept the girls on Pacific time for the trip down, and Daphne did great with feedings on the plane, including solids (so messy!) and napped a bit too. She was mostly just interested in what was going on on the plane and wished she could just crawl around all over the place.

Once we got to Cancun, it was so, so hot and it never cooled down. Daphne tends to run warm anyways, so she was super sweaty all week. But, she did well with the temperature change as well as wearing a hat and being covered up with a sun blanket when we were out without shade. There were some mornings that I think she was too hot to nap, either by the pool or the beach, even though we were in the shade, but she cat napped in the morning most days and then took her longer afternoon nap in the cool air conditioned hotel room.

Sleeping-wise, she was great. It was the first time we had all shared a room, but we had a Pack ‘N Play over on one side of the room with a blanket hanging over the side, so she got some more privacy (and wasn’t so distracted by everyone else). And the travel sound machine was a huge help too. She was up a few times each night, mostly between 8 PM and midnight, but once she had her paci, she was great for the remainder of the night. We got a few early morning wake-ups (like 6:30 AM) but mostly she would go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8 AM for her first feeding.

Daphne loves her solid meals and that did not change in Mexico. We had access to lots of fresh fruit and grilled veggies, so that is what she had for meals along with grilled chicken, eggs (hard-boiled), and Bambas that I brought with us (she is OBSESSED with these). Her favorites were papaya, watermelon, and kiwi which she would demand (by banging on her tray) if she saw them on the table as well as grilled mushrooms and zucchini. But honestly, we have given Daphne almost every type of fruit or veggie we have access to and she hasn’t turned down a single thing!

The biggest (and most exciting) thing that happened while we were away was that Daphne started crawling. Like hands and knees, official crawling! Aaron saw her one day take a few moves, but it wasn’t until the next day (the 17th) that she was really moving around. She still stays down on her belly and army crawls, but will get up and crawl around!

We had a really great time (I will re-cap our trip in another post) and Daphne was a great little traveler. She was her happy, joyful self and won the hearts of everyone at the resort. Seriously, everyone was like “Is she always THAT happy?” Yes, yes she is.

Also, she wasn’t really feeling the weekly picture this week and was way more into rolling around and attempting to fit that entire maraca in her mouth, so there’s that.

Happy 33 weeks Daphne!

M

daphne {week 32}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // onesie: Gerber (old) // peplum sweatshirt: Old Navy (old) // leggings: Target (old)}

{week 32} 32. A week into her seventh month and I still can’t believe it. The days are long and the weeks are short!

Now that Daphne is sitting up so well on her own, she is enjoying playing on our play mat much more. We have “Daphne safe” toys out for her, though everything on that side of the living room has to be safe since she is definitely not stationery. She can go from sitting to lying on her belly and then to her side and then sometimes can find herself back sitting again! It is amazing to watch her move around. I am always so amazed by how quickly babies learn to move, considering just a few months ago she couldn’t even control her own limbs! There is still lots of rocking on her hands and knees, but as soon as she moves forward, she slips down onto her belly. I say it every week, but crawling is just around the corner!

Daphne enjoys eating very much. Way more than I remember Eloise enjoying it. And now that we are doing solids for three meals per day, she pretty much demands it after finishing up nursing. It has been so fun to see her explore foods and learn to feed herself, but boy is it so much work. I am chopping and roasting and prepping food (seemingly) all day long, and then cleaning up after mealtime. It’s seriously a full-time job, just cleaning up from three meals at the house! We are still offering some purees (mostly fruits mixed in with yogurt*) but Daphne has a huge preference towards finger foods and really just wants to feed herself. Which is great, but makes for long and very messy mealtimes.

On Friday Daphne got her flu shot (the first booster and will have a second one at her next check-up) along with a single dose of MMR. We are leaving the country for a trip this week and our pediatrician recommended she get that specific vaccine, even though the course of MMR doesn’t start until around 1 year old. Apparently much of the research points to international airports as sources of introduction to infection. Daphne did really well for her shots and cried for about a minute, and then was fine. She didn’t sleep as well as I expected (normally shots knock her out!) but she also didn’t have any other symptoms (like fever) so I was relieved.

*Our pediatrician suggested that we introduce plain, organic yogurt right before we travel to help with any tummy issues that can stem from traveling and introduction to new foods. Plain yogurt is pretty sour so I have been defrosting some of her fruit purees and adding them in (and also because any flavored yogurt you buy at the store has SO much added sugar…why?!)

Happy 32 weeks Daphne!

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{I launched petite sized flags over on The Petite Flag Shop site on Friday morning. Right now the only pre-set design is BOO, but these flags can be customized just like the original ones. Head on over to the Shop and get your Halloween or Fall flags; use the code BOO for a free petite BOO flag with any order (and I will refund your shipping all month!) or if you just want a petite BOO flag use the code BOOSHIP for free shipping!}

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{Saturday morning shenanigans. Papa and Eloise coloring and Daphne always watching, while finishing her breakfast!}

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{So much packing happening over here. We leave in the middle of the night (5 AM flight!) on Tuesday! Be sure to check out my Instagram for all of our trip updates!}

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{I LOVE that these girlies are playing together now. Eloise builds and Daphne destroys. Haha!}

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{Cuddling and watching football (or in Eloise’s case commercials) before bedtime. We didn’t tell her that the UW game was starting after bedtime. She would have freaked over the full purple uniforms and shiny purple helmets!}

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{GO DAWGS!}

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{I packed Shop orders today to get out in the mail first thing in the morning. Thanks for all of the support!}

I feel like all I did was pack this weekend and organize things for the trip. And I am really trying not to bring all the things, but geez, there is so. much. stuff. I did sneak out for my Sunday afternoon Pure Barre class though and gave myself a pedicure. So there was that. (And I have a mani tomorrow while E is in school and on Mondays the nail salon has babysitters. For free! Yup, so excited about that.)

How was your weekend?

M

project baby #2 {nursing essentials}

Back in April I shared my newborn and post-partum essentials that were important to me in those first few weeks when Daphne was so tiny and new. (And see my post-partum essentials with Eloise here.) Now that we are seven months out, I wanted to update again with my nursing essentials since these are the things that are (or have been) important to me for a much longer amount of time and will likely be until Daphne weans.

Post-Partum-Essentials

{one} (Reusable) Nursing Pads.

For me reusable nursing pads are must and Bamboobies are my go-to. Even after my supply had come in and leveled out, I still found that leakage was an issue, so these help me from having to change clothes (or at least my shirt) multiple times per day. Plus, once baby sleeps thru the night and you are going 10 to 12 hours between the first feeding and the last, you want something that will help absorb. I like the thin, heart-shaped pads for daytime since they fit smoothly, but then I like the thicker, round ones for nighttime use.

{two} Nursing Bra.

Like most new mamas, I spent the first weeks (okay, probably months) in softer nursing bras meant for sleeping. Then once my milk came in I started wearing “real” nursing bras, including underwire ones (which you have to be careful with when your milk is coming in). I still had nursing bras from when Eloise was little but found that I needed/wanted a few new ones.

I kept seeing blog posts and ads about a new brand called ThirdLove and decided to finally buy when they released a line of nursing bras. I opted for the wireless one and have been really impressed. The biggest thing about nursing bras (for me) that you don’t have to think about with regular bras is how easily the cup flips or folds down; I have a few that don’t do this well and end up soaked in milk at the end of every feeding! ThirdLove’s cups are super soft and fold really well down plus a bonus that the straps don’t slip. Guys, this is life-changing!

The other secret to nursing bras (which I have shared before) is that Nordstrom will convert any regular bra into a nursing bra for a nominal alteration fee (like $15). Definitely worth it if you are particular about a brand, or have a unique band or cup size.

{three} Tanks.

As with Eloise, I don’t like nursing tanks. I think they can be great for those first few weeks, but beyond that, I like the support (and look) of a bra. But, I do wear a tank top basically every day so that when I do nurse, my belly isn’t exposed; I just pull down the tank when I need to nurse. I have multiple tanks with the thin (spaghetti) straps from both H&M and Old Navy in white, black, and grey that basically covers any shirt situation along with an old “nude colored” cami (similar to this) which is great for under white shirts.

{four} Boppy Pillow.

When nursing Daphne, I have found that I use my Boppy nursing pillow so much more than I did with Eloise (seven months out), like whenever I am home during a feeding. I find it is much more comfortable for me to have the support of a pillow and will probably continue to use it until Daphne is too big! This time around I also bought this beautiful pillow cover from MadlyWish which is made from the Rifle Paper Co. fabric line. Guys, it sounds silly, but this pillow cover makes me so happy. I wish I would have gotten a fun cover for the Boppy when Eloise was little. Instead I used the very juvenile ones that came with the pillow. So, get a Naked Boppy Pillow and find a shop (there are tons on Etsy or Instagram) that sells beautiful covers and you are set!

{five} Hydroflask Waterbottle.

Until about two months ago, I was using the same Camelbak waterbottles that I got when I was pregnant with Eloise. They worked fine and were great for keeping me hydrated during pregnancy and post-partum. However, when they started leaking (from the drinking spout) and becoming harder to clean, I started shopping around for something else. Enter: Hydroflask. I had heard great things about Hydroflask from other mamas but couldn’t get myself to buy a waterbottle that was so expensive! But then I did. And it was so worth it. Seriously. My water stays cold for hours or until I drink the entire bottle (usually the latter). If you are on the fence at all about one, do it. I got the wide-mouth one and added the straw lid because with two little ones, I never have two hands available to screw open the lid!

And along with these essentials, I probably should mention a breast pump. I didn’t have a great experience pumping with Eloise but we bought this new Naya Smartpump this time around and I really, really like it (well, as much as you can like a breast pump). A lot of people are surprised when they find out that I pump because I stay home with the girls, but sometimes I need to be able to be away from Daphne and we also give her a bedtime bottle which (right now) is pumped milk, so I am currently pumping twice per day.

What were your nursing essentials? Did they change over time or from your first kiddo to your second (or third)?

M

This post contains affiliate links.

my weekend in pictures.

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{Our plans for Friday evening changed at sort of the last minute, but we had a three different invites for things (apparently it was a very popular date). We headed over to Colin and Sara’s house to celebrate Colin’s probationary period being done and him becoming a full-time firefighter. Congrats!}

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{And then on the way home we stopped by Sami’s surprise birthday party. And here is Aaron showing off his Super Papa skills and holding two kiddos at once; one toddler and one milk-drunk newborn.}

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{On Saturday I headed to a mid-day Pure Barre Empower class (like Pure Barre but way more intense, more cardio, more planks, more push-ups and more weights) and left Aaron to feed the girls lunch. This is a picture of Eloise after sticking a piece of elbow macaroni in Daphne’s ear… oh boy! Obviously she was delighted. I laughed when Aaron told me, but we had to sternly tell her that noodles do not go in Sis’s ear!}

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{Holy hard work-out. And loved snuggling with this one when I got home!}

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{Eloise would NOT nap on Saturday afternoon but we really needed her to since we were going out later that evening, so Aaron took one for the team and went down to lay with her. Next thing I knew they were both asleep!}

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{We hit up Frelard Pizza Company with our new neighbors (4 adults and 5 kids!) and it was so fun! Good food, good company, and 90s music all night long.}

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{Our neighbor Cat was reading to all the girls and they were giggling so much (it’s a super silly book). It was so sweet!}

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{Cleaning up after lunch this afternoon. And look at those teeth Daph!}

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{Aaron and Eloise spent the afternoon getting some new plants in the ground.}

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{A post-barre trip to TJ’s. I always forget how crazy that place is on Sunday evening, but I didn’t have either of the girls, so it was like a mini-vacay!}

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{Love this crew!}

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{We are normally Colts fans, but when they come into town, we are still loyal to the Emerald City. Go Hawks!}

This weekend we had lots of social stuff on the calendar for the evenings and it was so nice to see friends and catch up! We had two late nights (Friday and Saturday) but the girls did pretty good (we did have one toddler who didn’t want to leave a birthday celebration) considering they were out way past bedtime. And, for some crazy reason I scheduled TWO Pure Barre classes this weekend! I am going to be so sore tomorrow…

We had a great weekend, but I am in complete disbelief that it is October…

Also, there’s a Fall #Instasale happening over on the The Petite Flag Shop’s Instagram until Wednesday, so go check it out!

How was your weekend?

M

daphne {month seven}

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{alligator: Jellycat // top and leggings: Tea Collection // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{month seven} Happy Girl! Seriously, she is just so happy. I really just hope that we all can be as happy as Daphne girl, even just once every day.

Daphne LOVES to eat and is now eating three meals per day. She eats so much (I usually just cut her off since she will just keep eating whatever you offer her) and it’s always after she has nursed! In a few months we will switch and do solids before nursing (as she transitions off milk and onto “real” food) but for now, nearly all of her calories still come from breast milk. We are still offering purees (that I defrost before every meal) along with chopped fruit (apple, banana, pear, mango, peach) or roasted veggies (zucchini, broccoli, squash, cauliflower, sweet potato). And while we still have a ton of purees in the freezer, Daphne seems to prefer hand-held food that she can feed herself. Even when we do purees on a spoon, she grabs at the spoon and wants to feed herself! It seems like we are going to be transitioning off of purees a bit earlier than we did with Eloise, but the frozen purees in single (ice cube) servings are super nice when we are on-the-go; I just put a few cubes into these reusable pouches and it is perfect when we are out to dinner.

Nursing sessions these days are pretty short since Daphne is a much more efficient drinker and also because everything, especially Eloise, is such a distraction! Daphne probably spends 50% of the time sitting up or otherwise looking around. Her first nursing session in the morning (usually around 8 am) is always 20 solid minutes, and then she is off to start her day! On a few occasions in the last few weeks we have been out during Daphne’s morning nap, so it has been very short or non-existent, so that second session (right before lunchtime) as been a super quiet one and sometimes Daphne has even fallen asleep! It seems like it has been SO long since Daphne would fall asleep during nursing, and I am trying to hold onto those sweet moments.

Daphne is still on the go and has managed to army crawl even faster than ever! If I set her down on the play mat, she will be off of it and headed to Eloise’s kitchen (across the room) in about 20 seconds. She still isn’t crawling with her knees underneath her yet, but she is surprisingly mobile, going from sitting to her belly to rolling on her side to spinning around (on her belly). It is impressive! She will chase toys down (like her ball rattle or round blocks that roll) and loves to give big sloppy kisses to stuffed animals and dolls. She also really likes books and even though she wants to chew on them, she will sit and listen to a story before bedtime or play time and grab at anything that is brightly colored (she seems to really like red).

I almost hate to bring it up, but it is what everyone who sees us asks (strangers, friends, neighbors): sleep. Daphne, from day one, has been a great sleeper partly because she is a good self-soother. She naps at least twice per day (with a third catnap on days her afternoon nap is early) with one nap being about an hour and the other nap being close to 2 or 2.5 hours; generally her afternoon nap is the longest (especially if her morning nap was short or we were out of the house) but sometimes her morning nap is nice and long (which is glorious on mornings when Eloise is at school). Daphne goes down super easily and without much effort which is mostly out of necessity in the form of a toddler big sister. Sometimes I feel bad that I don’t spend time rocking Daphne before she sleeps, but it is also great that Daphne can go from wide-awake to sleeping completely on her own. She likes to have two pacis, one in her mouth and one in her hand, and she switches them out while she is awake. And she also needs her lovie to snuggle with or to hold in her hand if she is sucking her thumb. I just bought her another identical lovie since I couldn’t find time to wash her original one and figured she is attached to it enough that it probably won’t hurt to have a back-up down the road.

We are still cloth diapering and it seems to work well for us. Eloise’s old bumGenius diapers don’t seem to fit Daphne as well around the legs though, and she tends to leak when she wears those. Frustrating, but it happens. I will try again in a few weeks and see if it works! Until then, we are only using the Grovia ones that we got from a friend. I really like these Grovia ones and they fit Daphne really well! Cloth diapering is a bit more challenging once you start solids, but not terrible. I just roll any solids into the toilet and then wash the diapers like I always did. And because I am flushing away nearly all of the poop, our cloth diaper pail doesn’t smell (as compared to a diaper pail full of poopy disposable diapers night). Plus, did you know you are supposed to flush solids from disposable diapers? Yep, it’s in the instructions! (Crazy, right? Though it makes a lot of sense.)

And finally, Daphne is so chatty! She is making so many sounds these days and is chatting during most of her awake time. Mostly we hear DA, MA, and BA which are the same first sounds we heard from Eloise. Daphne does say “mama” a lot, though I know she isn’t calling me Mama. But when she is upset, it is a very sad “mamamamamama.” Daphne also shrieks with excitement when she is really happy or when she sees Eloise. It’s the cutest.

{weight} I would guess close to 17 pounds.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} two bottom middle teeth.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 3 to 6 months (pants only), 6 months and 12 months (Carter’s), 6 to 12 months.
{diapers} size 3 {from the honest company}. At home we are doing cloth (bumGenius and Grovia) and disposables when we go out and overnight (and add a cloth cover).
{feeding} nursing every 3 to 4 hours during the day, starting around 8 am. feeding sessions last around 10 to 20 minutes (still both sides). bedtime is between 7:30 and 8 pm with a 6 oz bottle.                                                                                                                         {likes} eating, watching big kids or babies, crawling, 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.                                                                 {nicknames} Daph, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.

And here is Eloise’s seven month update. It’s interesting because in real life I think Eloise and Daphne look so similar at this age, but in these two seven month photos, I don’t think they look as similar!

Happy seven months Daphne!

M

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daphne {week 30}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // shirt and cords: babyGap (old) // teether toothbrush: Amazon}

{week 30} Gah, 30 weeks?! It feels like such a milestone number. And in my brain I keep thinking “Gosh, only 22 weeks until she’s one!” and then I realize that’s nearly as long as she’s been alive!

Just in the past few days Daphne has started sitting really well on her own. I try to put her down on her bum with some toys around, but before she would almost immediately tip over and get to her belly (so she could crawl around). She’s much more interested in sitting up now and can spend quite a bit of time sitting, playing, and staying upright. I don’t think she’s sturdy enough to leave on the hardwood floor without someone within arm’s reach yet, but we are definitely getting there! I remember loving this stage with Eloise because I could sit her down and she would play and stay in the same spot; not so much with Daphne because it is just a matter of time before she gets to her belly and starts rolling and crawling all over!

And much more in the past week Daphne is up on her hands and knees and really rocking back and forth. I know this is a pre-cursor for full-on crawling, which we have been expecting is just around the corner. Daphne also spends a lot of time planking (forearms on the ground but up on her toes) which is impressive and will also help her build strength and coordination for crawling.

Daphne is LOVING solids still and has gobbled up everything we have given her: salmon, beef, broccoli, sweet potato, egg, apple, peach, and the list goes on. We are using the same mentality for food that we did with Eloise which is to expose Daphne to as many flavors and types of food as we can, even though Eloise is much pickier now, she is still a really great eater! I have noticed that Daphne will often make a face (like a yuck face) when she first tries something, even if it’s something she has had before, but it only lasts thru the first bite, and then she happily eats it! This past weekend we introduced scrambled egg which she seemed to enjoy, but more importantly did not seem to have any allergic reaction to. I didn’t suspect that she would have an egg allergy, but we have a lot of baby/toddler friends with egg allergies, so I was on a bit of an alert. I think we need to continue the egg exposure, but for now I am not too worried about it.

Since introducing solids, I have noticed that Daphne is much more left-hand dominant than I expected her to be. When playing, she uses both hands, but when she’s feeding herself, it is almost always with her left hand! (This is sort of making my Mama heart so happy because I always wanted to be left-handed! Don’t even ask me why.) But, she is a right thumb sucker for sure, so maybe she’ll be ambidextrous? Eloise was basically born right-hand dominant (like without question) and I know some kids are as old as grade school before a dominant side or preference is shown, but I have a feeling Daphne may surprise us all and be a little lefty!

And finally this week we have retired her bibs (for a bit) because she just isn’t drooling as much. I suspect that her two first teeth are pretty much in at this point and that the next one(s) aren’t imminent. At least that is what I am hoping because even though she never showed signs that teething was painful, it’s got to be, right? And as much as I love her little bandana bibs, I am thankful for the (slightly) less amount of laundry I have to do, and that I don’t have to remember to put a bib on her when we are running out the door (which is basically always, especially during the week)!

And see an almost identical picture of Eloise here!

Happy 30 weeks Daphne!

M

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