Newborn - Three Month Favorites

I'm now at the age where it seems like everyone I know is having babies. Quinn in three months old and I still think it's weird that I'm a mom of two. The other day during dinner, I kept repeating that over and over and Matt was looking at me like I had gone insane. Now that my friends are having babies, it's even weirder thinking of them as mothers because they are the same girls I've always known. When I was younger I guess I thought that mothers were supposed to fit into this mold where they were completely different people than they were before. In reality they just get more awesome because they have little sidekicks who essentially grow up to be the best parts of them. (Sorry for the rambling, it's just one of those things that the more you think about it, the more it freaks you out).

With all of the pregnancies and new arrivals around me, I thought it might be helpful if I did a round up of all of my favorite newborn - three month essentials. Some of these items I used with both babies, and others I wish I had found the first time around.

Solly Baby Wrap
This has been one of my biggest life savers, especially since I am constantly on the move chasing after an always active toddler. 'Parker, hands away from the dog's butt', 'Parker, don't climb the changing table', 'Parker, stop stealing toothpicks from the pantry.' Wearing Quinn which keeps her calm all while keeping tabs on her sister and being hands free, has saved my sanity. We used the K'Tan and Ergo carrier with Parker which worked for the colder months, but since Quinn was our summer baby, I knew I wanted a carrier that was soft, lightweight and breathable. The Solly Baby Wrap was just that and more. It comes it so many beautiful colors (I went with the grey and white stripe), and it's extremely stretchy and easy to wear. I throw it on when I go to the grocery store or when I take the girls out for walks (we're procrastinating with getting a double stroller), and Quinn falls asleep almost instantly. I always recommend this wrap whenever I can, I wish I could carry Quinn around in it forever ;).

Aden + Anais Security Blankets
We received these when we were pregnant with Parker, but since she didn't take to them right away we stored them away. When I saw my friend's baby take to his and calm right down whenever he held it, I knew I had to give them another go with Quinn. I would give her the blankets each time when she fussed or when she went down for a nap and after a few goes, I noticed that they would calm her down and she would be at ease. She always holds them up to her face and sometimes chews on them, but they are so lightweight and breathable that I don't have to worry about suffocation. Regardless, they keep her happy, so we're keeping them around!

Aden + Anais Zip Muslin One-piece
There's no denying that I am on an Aden + Anais full on bender. They just introduced their clothing line and I had to grab up a couple of their long sleeve muslin one-pieces. I love that the fabric is similar to the security blanket just a tad bit more dense and with a little stretch. It seems to keep Quinn at a comfortable temperature all night regardless if she has a blanket over her or not.

Old Navy Zip Cotton One-piece
Notice a theme here? It seems like we had a good 2 month stretch where Quinn needed a new diaper every 10 minutes so the zipper on these things were extremely necessary. There are countless options for the snap closure one-pieces, but I found that the zipper ones were hard to come by. That's why when I found these on Old Navy's website, I picked up a few different colors. These are also a good budget friendly alternative to the Aden + Anais one pieces. The fabric is so soft and they come in so many pretty colors! Quinn lived in these when I was on maternity leave and I plan on getting more to accommodate her growing self.

Honest Company Lotion
I love using this lotion on the girls! It leaves their skin softer than any other lotion I've used and afterwards they smell like creamsicles.

Puj Tub
We have two full bathrooms in our house, both of which are on the smaller size. We don't have a lot of space to use (or store) a full blown baby bathtub. The Puj tub has been great so far. We used it with Parker when she was a baby too! The tub is made out of a soft foam that folds to create a little cradle, which you then place in the sink and lay the babe in. It has tiny holes in it so you can keep the water running during the back (huge plus since this allows the water to stay warm and fresh). After your done, the tub unfolds flat and we hang it on the back of our door so it stays off the floor and takes up virtually no room what so ever.

throwback Parker picture ;)

Dreft Scent Boosters
My friend Kellie turned me onto these and I am obsessed! You know how warm baby clothes smell fresh out of the dryer? Amplify that scent by 10,000 and you have the Dreft scent boosters! I've been using these with each wash (probably a little excessive) of the girls clothes and people always comment on how good they smell. There's nothing better than a delicious smelling baby!

Little Crane Headbands
If your a baby headband fanatic (like myself), you will love Little Crane headbands. They are so simple which allows them to be more versatile. Also, the elastic is extremely flexible so it won't fit too tight on your babies head.

I hope some of my mommy friends (and even friends without babies) found this helpful. All of these items would make excellent shower gifts, I am always excited to put together little gifts and include some of my favorite items in them.

Quinn 3 Month Update

Here I go with the most cliche phrase in history, but how does time fly by so quickly? It’s been three months since our giggling, squishy Quinny girl joined us and even just thinking back to those earlier days leaves me feeling accomplished (and a little sad). The sun and fresh air this summer must have fared well for my little beauties because they have both grown so much from May to now.

Quinn started to get settled into her own little schedule around two months, but now that we are in month three, I’m back to work and the girls are in ‘school’, and it's just now that things are really starting to settle into place. This has been one of the biggest saviors for me and one of my biggest heart breaks combined into one. Since Quinn started daycare, she has become such a happy baby. She’s starting to smile at strangers, laugh with her sissy and is often pretty content just hanging out as long as her appetite doesn’t get the best of her. She’s starting to get more routine naps in and has started getting tired and ready for bed around 730pm. This is an entire new concept for us since Parker was our night owl (and often times still is). When Parker was a baby, she would often stay up until around 9 or 930 which gave me plenty of time to play and snuggle with her before she was down for the night. Now that our household is busier and Quinn goes to bed at 730, I only get to enjoy a couple hours with her during the work days. The more I think about it, the harder it is on me, especially when I see how much of a difference one week makes in a growing infant. Luckily, we have Miss Sass to keep us on our toes the hours after putting Quinn down that I don’t have much time to think about it. At the end of the day when both girls are sleeping, I can appreciate how lucky we are to have them in such a great place learning and interacting with their friends and building their social life. ;)

It took us a while to get Quinn into a sleep routine since she really was the cuddliest baby ever. She slept in bed with Matt and I for the first two months, which worked out best for us given her nursing times. We found out early on that she is a side sleeper, which is the cutest newborn sleeping position in my opinion. I loved waking up and seeing her cuddled up next to me on her side and her chubby cheek pressed up against the sheets. Around two months, we transitioned her to the crib. I make sure she has her security blankets that she is obsessed with and lay her on her side, and she usually goes down without a fight. Sometimes I’ll feed her to get her a little bit more sleepy but she’s most often times content with her blankets and noise machine. She goes down around 730, will fuss a couple times and then usually we don’t hear a peep from her from 9pm – early morning. She tends to wake up around 4am and I’ll sneak into her nursery to nurse her, and put her back down so that I can get one more hour of sleep and then start getting myself ready for the day. By the time I’m done getting ready, both the girls are awake and ready to start the day. Teething stages are right around the corner so I know this will change soon, but for now she is loving her sleep routine.

We got extremely lucky this time around with nursing. Parker took a while to get the hang of it and in return lost some weight in her early weeks which ultimately led to a mama breakdown, but Quinn was a pro from the get-go. She hardly lost any weight after she was born and has been packing on the pounds ever since. I was really looking forward to nursing this time around so I am so glad that it worked out. We also learned quick in the early weeks that she has a high sensitivity to dairy. I've since then had to cut it out of my diet which has been harder than I ever could have imagined. I am a cheese girl all the way so it's been challenging not to take bites of Parker's macaroni and cheese or to not eat a regular piece of pizza. When the day comes that I find Quinn is more tolerable, no cheese is safe around me! At three months Quinn is eating anywhere between 3 – 5 oz. in the morning and 2-3 oz. throughout the day every couple of hours. Now that I am working, I do have to pump while I am away which isn't the most convenient but it helps keep up my supply. I took advantage of my longer maternity leave this time around and made sure I started an adequate stash of breast milk before I returned to work so that in the event of her weaning, we had a little extra to carry us through. It’s one of my favorite things to watch Parker take in the glorious experience of pumping. She calls it plumping which is probably the cutest thing ever. One day I was folding her clothes in her room and she came in with my pump parts and held them up to her chest and proceeded to tell me that she was plumping for her Elmo.

Parker is still the best big sister in the world to Quinn and I love to watch them together.  Their interactions are getting more amazing by the day as Quinn grows a bit older. She lights up as soon as she hears Parker’s voice and will smile endlessly at her, even when Parker’s trying to pull her across the bed by her baby ankles or when she’s squeezing her cheeks trying to get her to make her fishy face. At times it’s absolute chaos at our house with both girls crying (and occasionally I join that party), a messy house, and dinner burning in the oven, but I wouldn’t trade one second of my time with them for anything because I know they will only be this small for so long.

Life Lately

As you can imagine, things have been a little hectic around here. Between getting into a new rhythm of being a family of four and soaking up the sweetness of summertime, I'm having trouble finding time to keep up with the blog. I'm trying to commit at least 10 minutes a few times a week to dedicate to writing because the days are fleeting and I know I'll be so happy I did in the long run.

Where to start? It's been almost two full months since Quinn entered our lives. Needless to say, it's been an adjustment but we are making huge strides. A really adorable adjustment, but an adjustment none the less. When Parker was first born it took me a couple of weeks to get out of the house. Once we did, I had some major anxiety about her getting upset in public and disturbing anyone around us. With Quinn, we were out and about just a couple days after she was born. I admit that I think I overdid it in the early weeks, trying to keep up with the housework, errands,  being there 100% for both of the girls and basically trying to keep up with my life as it was pre-baby numero dos. It all caught up to me around week 4 and 5 and I was EXHAUSTED. That's when I decided to slow things down and just soak in the days with Quinn while she's still so small. No one looks back on their maternity leave and thinks about how clean the house was, so I'm trying not to stress about it and just enjoy this time.

We decided that it was best for Parker to continue going to daycare during the week so that I can focus on Quinn and catching up on sleep. Parker loves to play with her friends and she gets to participate in so much more than she would be able to if she stayed home with us. The fact that it tires her out for an 'easy' bedtime doesn't hurt either. And of course if it's a nice day, she plays hookie so we can spend the day at the pool or at home playing outside while Quinn hangs out in the shade. At this point it doesn't take much to entertain Quinn so she's perfectly content sitting in her car seat listening to the birds and watching leaves blow in the wind. I'm not sure if we will be having another baby so I am trying to make the most of this maternity leave and take advantage of the time off to hang with the girls making memories.

Now that we are rounding the second month, Quinn and Parker's sleeping patterns have finally settled into somewhat of a routine which makes a WORLD of a difference (for everyone). We still have the occasional night when the girls take turns crying throughout the night but they are very rare. Quinn stays snuggled up with Matt and I in bed for now because let's be honest, I am at the lazy stage where I can't bear to walk to the nursery out of a dead sleep to nurse multiple times throughout the night. She also sleeps on her side facing towards me and it's impossibly adorable so we'll keep her there for now. ;)

As for myself, I feel like I'm in a good spot. I'm getting more rest, am getting in exercise at least three times a week and have mastered when to eat before the little one demands my undivided attention (probably the biggest learning curve). I've lost all but 8 lb. of my pregnancy weight which I'm not terribly concerned about because I'm sure they'll be around until I am done breastfeeding.

So that's my dissertation on the first two months thus far! I plan on doing more in depth posts on Quinn & Parker updates and also a postpartum update down the road. It's amazing to me how quickly you learn and get in a routine that works for you once you bring home the little game changer. The first few nights you question if you will be able to do it, and weeks later both you and the baby are making huge strides. I am embracing all of the ups and downs now because I know how quickly a year can go by. 

Quinn's Newborn Photos

Guys, I am so excited to share some of my favorite shots from Quinn's newborn shoot a couple weeks back. Looking through these all, I can't believe how much she has grown already. It's really crazy how you forget how little they were when they were so new. This is why I am so thankful that we had our wonderful photographer and now friend, Mary Dougherty, capture that point in Quinn's life that we might have not been able to remember otherwise down the road. I hope you enjoy the pictures!