I’m fortunate enough that I get to stay home from work with Isla every other Friday and, of course, weekends. Evan has a weird work schedule and doesn’t get weekends off with us. I look forward to these 3-day weekends so much. I love our time together. It’s so nice to be able to sleep in and just lounge around until we decide to make breakfast. So as I’m sure you can guess, I’m going to be showing you how I entertain my 1 year old.
Whoa. You probably thought I was done with this whole blogging thing since it’s been a while since you’ve seen any new content from me. The truth is, there is a ton of behind the scenes stuff that goes on in my little slice of the internet. I’ve been updating the site, revising old posts, and moving stuff around a bit. New posts should be posted on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule from now on.
Okay, so who is watching that Marie Kondo show on Netflix? I watched the first episode the other night and my husband jumped up and basically cleaned the entire house, so Marie Kondo may be onto something. Only watch this show if you want to take every single thing in your closet and put it on your bed. And then do nothing with it until bedtime. And then shove it back in the closet, less organized than it was.
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Whoa. I just had 3 days of not even touching a computer. I’ve got to be honest with you, it was so nice taking a few days off and spending time with family. I had a few more Christmas posts planned but we had Evan’s family here for a few days and we had a pretty full schedule.
There is so much that goes into every blog post and they typically take about 3-4 hours to edit, keyword, SEO, proofread, add photos, make a pin for Pinterest, add those pins to a scheduler and a lot of other stuff too.
I’ve been blogging for almost a month. We launched on the 26th of November. I had been writing a lot longer than that but we decided to share with the world on that day. I’ve learned a lot in the last month of blogging and I thought I’d share some of that with you.
My last gift guide of the season! You know what that means?! Christmas is next week!! Who doesn’t love Amazon? I may have addiction but I can’t be the only one. You have 2 days left to order on Amazon and still have it delivered by Christmas Eve! No judgment here if you’ve procrastinated this long and haven’t bought anything. I am normally running around the week of Christmas trying to find the perfect gift. Fear not, here is a list to help you shop from the comfort of your recliner…in your PJs… while watching the office. Or whatever you watch on TV.
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, I will earn a commission, at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase.
We took Isla on a road trip to northern Illinois this last summer. She was 8 months old at the time and we learned a lot during the 12 hour car ride. Since the holidays are upon us and some of you may be traveling for the first time with your baby, I’d like to share some tips about what I learned from this experience. You probably already know to bring EXTRA outfits for yourself and baby, but if you’re on a road trip then you should already have those items in the car with you. I hope this list of road trip essentials for baby helps you to stay on top of things when packing for an upcoming trip.
Before I begin, let me give you some background info on Isla Rose. The longest car ride she had been on prior to this was the hour and a half it takes to get to Evan’s parent’s house. She might doze here or there, but never for very long. Even when she was a newborn the car NEVER worked. Oh, how I wish it had. Our baby is not a car seat sleeper. I thought it was because she hadn’t ever had to sleep in the car and she would surely be fine on a 12 hour road trip. Boy, was I wrong. She did not have a good time. She likes to be sitting up when she is awake and she likes to sleep on her stomach which is not ideal for the car seat.
So, let me tell you a few kernels of wisdom I picked up during this trip:
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I was so torn between going all out on Isla’s stocking and not doing anything for it because she is too little to really understand. However, my need to be the most awesome Santa ever won out and here are the things going in her stocking this year!
I am obsessed with everything nutcracker/ ballerina décor at Christmas time. I love it so much. It reminds me of when we would go see the nutcracker when I was little. I can’t wait until Isla Rose is old enough to enjoy the ballet. It is magical. I introduced her to the one on Netflix and she didn’t seem that impressed. Sigh.
Let’s get on with the gifts –
Isla Rose LOVES books. Not as much as she loves pushing the buttons on the remote control but we’re working on it. She loves to sit and pretend to read. It’s the cutest thing ever. She will come sit in our lap with a book before bed time and we read to her most nights. Her all time favorite is Goodnight Moon and my husband has it memorized and it’s pretty much falling apart. A tell tale sign of a well loved book.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliated links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Don’t you just hate it when your little one is sick and you don’t know what to do? I have spent countless on the phone with on-call nurses in the middle of the night and have stayed up googling symptoms that just seemed to freak me out even more. I thought that for my first December post that I’d share some helpful tips for when your little one is sick. These are all things that I’ve done myself and they really work. It’s a useful list to give you something to do while you are waiting for a call back from the Doctor.
Once again, I am not a doctor, just a Mama who has picked up a trick or two over the last 13 months. Flu/cold season is among us, friends. Keep this list of sick baby tips and tricks handy for when sickness strikes in your home.
When Baby has a Fever
- It’s so easy to forget if you gave the Tylenol or Motrin last and how much of which to give. Keep track of what medicine you gave and when with a chart that lists the last dose you gave. I usually have a notepad on the fridge to do this with but some people just write it directly on the bottle.
- Both of these medicines are given by the weight of the child. Ask your pediatrician to do the math for you and figure out the right dose to give. We weren’t giving Isla enough Motrin because we were going by the age chart on the bottle. Isla is pretty tall and weighs more than most 1 year olds so the dose didn’t seem to work until our doctor told us that were should be giving her more.
My 12-month-old has been eating solid food since she was 5 months old. We did a combination of purees (mostly so she would eat veggies) and baby led weaning (everything else). This is something I am really passionate about and you can read more about why I chose baby led weaning here. Let’s get into it! This is what my 12 month old eats in a day.
Here are my favorite tips for air travel with a baby. These are all things that we have done to make the plane ride a little easier but you’ll still get dirty looks from people for bringing a baby on the plane. It’s inevitable. Just kill them with kindness because you’ll never have to see them again and if your baby cries during the flight try to remain calm. It is not the end of the world and remember that your baby’s cries sound so much worse to you than to other people because you are programmed to respond to their cries and meet their needs.
