Wow! How has time slipped?

Hi Guys! I feel terrible about not blogging lately, although I don't know how many people actually read my blog! Ha! Life has been pretty crazy. We have another new baby boy, Theodore, and our older son just turned two! We went on a few trips this year and did some new things around the house. Fast forward and it is already Christmas time!

In the past year, I have also taken up a new hobby of gardening which I will share on occasion with you guys. I have a cut flower garden. I am starting my flowers as seeds in my garage then planting them outside once they sprout. It has been an outlet for me away from my crazy life and I have enjoyed watching them come to life as beautiful flowers.

I have a lot of new suggestions for toys, advice on managing two under two and personal family times I am happy to share. I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season!

God has blessed us with Theodore Najib on June 4, 2016.

You're Pregnant, Now What?!

A lot of my friends are pregnant and ask me about what they are supposed to do next or what is going to happen at their next doctors appointment. Although I am sure not all experiences are the same as mine, I wanted to share what I did so you have a general idea of what to expect!

You just received a positive result on a stick! Congratulations! Time to call your doctor. Chances are, you are around 4 weeks pregnant at this point so don't be alarmed if they do not schedule your appointment until about 8 weeks for confirmation of pregnancy. They just want to make sure there is a heartbeat instead of having you come back twice. Definitely bring your Hubby/BF to this appointment!

10 Weeks: Is usually when they like to schedule you to come in again. At this appointment, they will give you lab orders to get blood work done, do a quick exam, let you know of any risks, and discuss your family history. Your blood work is called First Trimester Screening. You will then be referred to make an appointment at 12 weeks for Nuchal Translucency Screening (N.T) to go along with your blood work. After your 10 week appointment, you will generally make appointments with you OB for every 4 weeks. They will check your urine for infections, chart your weight, use the doppler to check the Baby's heart rate, your blood pressure, and cover any questions you may have. In second trimester, they will also measure fundal height.

12 Weeks: This can be done from 11-14 weeks of pregnancy. This appointment will be an ultrasound where you will see a great shot of your Baby's profile. Fetuses with increased fluid at the base of their necks could have an extra chromosome. This fluid can be measured with ultrasound when the base of the neck is still transparent. The test mainly screens for Down Syndrome but an NT also screens for congenital heart defects and other genetic disorders. The results of this screening along with the First Trimester Screening blood work you had done at 10 weeks will tell you how high of a risk your baby is for chromosomal disorders. Some people can opt out of this appointment all together and get blood work done instead which also tells you the gender of the baby! My doctors don't find this test as accurate as the N.T thus I have not had it done.

Crib Transitioning Tips

As you may have read in a previous post, sleeping was not a priority for my son and was a real struggle. Because of that, I had him in our bed until he was 6 months old! I am not going to lie, it was pretty convenient for nursing to just roll over and we did feel a sense of security having him next to us but I was ready to have my space back!

 6 months was the perfect age to start the transition and begin a routine that we would stick with every night. After his bath and getting him pajamas on, we read him a book. Next I dab lavender oil on his jawline. This actually started because not only is the oil supposed to help with winding down and relaxing, it is supposed to help with teething pain. I think him smelling the lavender aroma also helps him understand that this is bed time and not nap time. We would have his bottle ready and give him the full 8 ounces of milk after reading his book. After book time, I turn the lights off and turn on the white noise machine. If you have not downloaded the app or have a machine, do it now! It helps drown out the noise in the house so if you drop something or are watching TV and it gets loud, they won't hear it! I keep him in my arms and rock him on the chair until I can tell he is drowsy and then gently drop him in the crib. He rolls over and gets in the position that he wants and is out!

I think the key is that I put him down when he is drowsy. If he were completely asleep, he would wake up thinking he just had a great nap. If he were awake, he would start crying and screaming and working himself up to the point that he wouldn't go to sleep! (I have tried both.) He definitely does not sleep through the night but does sleep in his room until about 6-7am. At that point, I change his diaper, make another bottle and actually put him next to me in bed and he sleeps till about 10:30am. I know some parents are lucky and have their kids sleep through the whole night but that is not our case! In fact, I am forever grateful to only have to wake up once considering the lack of sleep I had the first 6 months.

Some babies are great sleepers from the minute they are born and some, well, are like mine and take a lot of conditioning and training. I hope my tips are useful for you guys!

His favorite book. Soon you will have all the books memorized!

I know there are a lot of oils but this one is our favorite! Great to diffuse also!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Sorry I went MIA during the holidays again. Things got crazy with birthday planning, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. I loved receiving all the Christmas and Holiday cards from different families. We also received some great toys that Bobby is really enjoying at this age that I will share with you guys!

Happy New Year!

The Baby That Never Sleeps...

Yes, I had a baby that never slept. In fact, my husband and I spent FOUR months taking shifts holding the baby at night. My husband would stay up until 4am and I would take over from 4am. The only way our little guy slept was chest to chest and we were too afraid to fall asleep that way with him being so tiny and us being so tired. The baby would also sleep in the car, but as soon as the movement stopped, he was wide awake. We purchased every apparatus you could think of. We had the Mamaroo, Rock and Play Sleeper, two bassinets, a co-sleeper, bouncer that vibrates, The Day Dreamer, and Breeze Playard. NOTHING worked until we tried the good old fashion swing!

High Tea Bridal Shower

This Shower was EXTRA special because it was for my future Sister-In-Law. The Bride wanted to have a tea party and High Tea was a fun theme to work with! Everyone came with their dresses, gloves, and adorable hats! The Bridesmaids and I a great time setting up for this party and the Bride loved every little detail. Here are the photos. Enjoy

My First Attempt At Making French Macarons

I am not really into baking but sometimes I get the urge to bake something and most the time I never do it again. This wild hair came from my Domestic Idol, Martha Stewart. I would not say I did a great job, but for such a finicky and delicate dessert, I was pleasantly surprised by the way they turned out. Here is the link to Martha's Basic Macarons and below are pictures I took during my process of baking the French Macaron!

Whipping it on speed 4 in the mixer.

My circles were not perfect....