Purée the first four ingredients in a blender sparingly with milk. Add milk little by little until smooth.
Baby loved this! I got a small, personal-cup-sized blender this weekend and baby will be eating what we eat (as often as I can), going forward.
This made about 1 cup of food and she ate almost all of it. Super impressed. She's growing. So fast that I'm hoping this will stick in her belly to make it through the night :> xo
Ok, let's talk about this photo for a minute, shall we? :>
One of Estéanna's favorite sleep positions is putting her hands up to her face, all cute-like (see below). That's where her hands were before the above pic.
Then, I adjusted my sitting position. And, when I did, was when she moved her right hand to my chest.
Baby's are smart and being so intimately close to them is the funnest part about being a mom.
Estéanna loves being held. And if/when she thinks there's a threat of being let go of, she will peep open her eyes to check to make sure I'm still there or, like in the pic, will place her hand to claim her territory. Nui Nui did the exact same thing.
Very cool and why I named this video Something I Love About Breastfeeding. xo
Just a few days after I've brought her home and less than a week into the world, baby E has already begun to smile. This totally caught me off guard, as it was not something I was expecting in the slightest.
As I write this, just over a week old, I've witnessed her smiles to continue and at multiple times throughout the day no less.
Honestly, as painful as breastfeeding is, this makes it so worth it :> xo
Interior decorating is by no means my forté but, after seeing baby room photos posted by Instagram mamas I follow, I was just curious to see what other ideas are out there. So, of course, I took to Pinterest.
That said, this is by no means my idea. However, I did execute the idea in a slightly different way. I believe the pin I saw used paper mache letters, which might have been easier to implement because you can pick them up premade at Joann Fabrics. Each letter, however, costs $3.50, so I was looking for something a little more affordable.
I was with a friend at Joann's who happened to be eyeing a Cricut for a while now— not that I knew what it was but have since learned. She offered to make me the letters, which is what you see up on my wall.
The paper is fancy cardstock, which are available in pads and single sheets, and I hung them up simply using masking tape.
Shout out to crafty mom friends :>
I have some more blank wall space and might consider some other DIY projects. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I'm all ears. Leave your thoughts or links in the Comments, and I'll be sure to check them out.
As for 'baby room', that might be a misnomer. This is my room. But what's mine are my kids' :> xo
When I brought Nui Nui home from the hospital, I can't remember if I packed her a 'going-home' outfit. I probably did but didn't end up using it. A first time mom, I brought her home in her hospital shirt and cap, no pants. I swaddled her throughout her first few days of life, pantsless. It was a warm day. I probably covered her with a blanket. I thought she was fine.
I remember, though, the nurse commenting— 'you don't have an outfit?' Must've stung a little, since I remember it to this day.
Recently, I've been seeing a number of friends on Facebook posting pics of their newest family members and noticed these outfits. Apparently, it's a thing? So, the pressure was slightly on. So ridiculous, I know.
I asked a couple of friends if they had these 'going-home' outfits. One said yes. The other said probably but she couldn't remember what it was exactly. Honestly, I'd have brought my kid home swaddled if it weren't for the driving/carseat/safety issue.
So, I said to myself, with just a little over a week before my due date, that I'd try to look for an outfit but won't kill myself over it. I did go to a number of places but all were local and not out of the way.
This weekend, on a mother-daughter/(big sister-to-be) outing, I did end up finding something...
I think the most important thing is, is that I ended up having a great day with my firstborn on this outfit hunt. I think the other important thing to realize is, as my friend reminded me, that I just need to do me, no one else. Love hard, be me. The rest will fall into place.
That said, H&M has a really good, affordable kids selection of clothing, if you're on the market. Just saying :> xo
It's been a busy couple of weeks. Nui Nui started her new school, had her first dentist appointment, and continues nighttime potty training.
As for me, I finished the last of my 'manual labor' baby-prep tasks, though still have more setting up to do.
In my 34-week OB checkup, I got a little educational session, as I asked my OB about a bunch of labor and delivery questions, so if you're expecting, hopefully it might be helpful information for you, too :>
In my 35-week OB checkup, I didn't gain any weight from the previous week and I talk a little bit about that.
I'm officially LESS THAN 4 weeks away from my due date! It's been quite a journey and I look forward to keeping you updated. Thanks to all of you who have supported me along the way! This is the #dream. :> xo
There are many ways you can discover what gender your baby is when pregnant, if you choose to find out ahead of time.
When I was pregnant with Nui Nui, I didn't have anything planned. At the time, I didn't actually know or realize some people chose NOT to find out. I didn't necessarily feel adamant about it one way or the other but did lean on the side of knowing. So I just found out at my 20-week ultrasound, when they do the fetal anatomy scan. Check out Nui Nui's gender reveal blog post!
The reveal was definitely a moment both I and my mom will remember. She came with me to the ultrasound that day. I didn't even know how they'd tell— I was blissfully ignorant during my first pregnancy. What felt like all of a sudden, the tech showed me the legs and I was told. All I can say is: shock. That was my reaction.
It's funny because I am so thankful to have a girl. I'm sure I'd be thankful either way, really, though.
You can't have too many expectations when you're pregnant. It's dangerous. Because, when you do, you have to work even harder to change your mentality to deal with the unexpected.
This time around, I gave it more thought about how I wanted to find out. Options I found and have seen been done before included:
Filled Dessert: Cover a cake (or cupcakes or cakepops) with frosting or hide some goodie inside the cake. You can do this with pie and other desserts with hidden agendas too :> Cut the cake and the interior will reveal the gender. ie. Chocolate or tinted blue cake=boy; vanilla or tinted cake=girl.
Balloons: Fill a box with a particular color of balloons to represent a particular gender. Open box to find out gender. Alternatively with balloons, fill it with a certain color of confetti and pop the balloons to find out.
You get the idea. Hide the secret information, open it up to reveal. The possibilities are endless, really.
This time around, I could have found out my baby's gender as early as nine weeks because I elected to have a blood test checking for genetic abnormalities then. This blood test is new and wasn't available when I was pregnant with Nui Nui. But I didn't choose to find out the gender until I was out of my first trimester.
I had my OB write the gender on a piece of paper and give it to me in a sealed envelope. I held onto it for about a month— I was still working on coming out of morning sickness. I didn't have a party or anything. It was just us— mom and Nui Nui— and one of my/Nui Nui's BFFs.
The idea was for Nui Nui to open the envelope and read us the gender (because I was confident she could read the words 'girl' and 'boy') :> I think when the time came though, with the cameras and anticipation and excitement, she just got nervous.
What do you think it'll be? Leave your guess in the comments before you watch! :> xo
I must've been feeling really chatty. My days have been filled lately and I just had a lot to talk about-- OB's bad news, baby preparations, Mark Zuckerberg, and career goals, to name some.
