Mother Load

I told myself I wasn't going to be that mom with baby crap all over the house. 

I remember thinking "who would ever need more than one stroller for one baby?" Well, I bought our second stroller at eight-weeks😳 It's difficult to know what you actually need and what will work for your baby. I ended up reading tons of reviews and crossing my fingers Evie would like the things I bought. Here are our hits and misses...

Hits:

1 | DockATot Deluxe is my #1 recommendation to any new mom. Sleep is everything and Evie sleeps so much better in her DockATot. She had a 2-night trial without the DockATot and it was horrendous! 

2 | Aden + Anais Burpy Bibs are necessary for any mom with a spitter. Evie spits up around the clock and we go through 5 burp clothes a day (on average). These burp clothes are thick and absorbent (and cute)!

3 | UppaBaby Mesa Carseat & Cruz Stroller system are so easy to use. Maneuvering a carseat and stroller is very awkward at first. It's a process to unfold the stroller, get the carseat from the car, and attach the carseat to the stroller. It feels like everyone is watching you. This system makes it much easier. Everything just clicks together. 

4 | Thule Urban Glide Jogging Stroller is such a smooth ride! Jogging with a baby really does require it's own stroller. I like the option to lock the front wheel, adjust the handlebar, and attach the carseat (with a separate adapter). Plus, it's durable. 

5 | UppaBaby Mesa Cabana seems like it wouldn't be necessary, but it is! Anytime Evie is in her stroller she has the cabana on. It protects her from sun, wind, rain, bugs, and strangers😊

6 | 4moms mamaRoo is a purchase I didn't want to make. I really wanted to avoid a swing. They take up so much space and they're such an eyesore. However, being hands-free is no longer something I take for granted. It's nice to put Evie down for awhile and have her occupied (she loves the mobile) or sleeping (she loves the motion and sounds). 

7 | Angelcare Baby Bath Support makes bath time a breeze. We bathe Evie every night as apart of her nighttime routine. We keep this seat in our utility sink in the laundry room so bath time is always ready to go and only takes a few minutes. 

8 | Dr Brown's Natural Flow Bottles are what we've use with Evie since week 1 and she's done great! It's annoying how many parts there are to clean, but Evie likes them and they don't leak!

Misses:

1 | Boppy Pillow was not necessary for me. I don't like using any support pillows while nursing. It was always in the way. I'm going to keep the pillow for now and see if Evie likes it for sitting or tummy time. 

2 | Moby Wrap was too much work. I felt claustrophobic when I wore this wrap and I was always a sweaty mess when I took it off. I borrowed it from my sister so I'm glad it wasn't a waste of money!

3 | Halo Sleep Sacks were a surprising miss for Evie. She loved to be swaddled, but she wiggled so much the sleep sack would end up near her mouth. We just stopped swaddling a couple weeks ago. She did much better with old school swaddle blankets.

Random Snaps

It's been awhile since I've shared my camera roll. To be honest, it's mostly Evie these days!

Jammies all day

Mother's Day gift💕

The cutest little bear

The ahi poke salad from Boathouse 19 is killer

Sitting like a grown-up (then falling 3 seconds later)

One of my favorite houses on a beautiful spring run. It was my last run 2 days before my surgery

Arms are always up

Gifts from Nana always include books (and cute clothes)

Currently obsessed with avo egg sriracha toast

Such a good book! Love my Iowa mug😊

Weekend Update

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a quiet weekend at home. My mom is staying with us for three weeks to help take care of Evie while I'm out of commission. I had hip surgery two weeks ago and I'm still recovering. It was so nice to spend Mother's Day with my mom and my daughter💛

We didn't do much. I had my ortho appointment on Friday and I've been cleared to walk without crutches and do two stretches. I won't be able to run for year😳 I'm trying to focus on the positive... at least the surgery is over and I'm on the mend. 

Evie turned 12-weeks-old on Friday and celebrated by rolling over for the first time! This is how much she hates tummy time... she would rather just roll over lol. I caught the first roll on video, but wasn't convinced she could do it twice...she proved me wrong. 

Saturday and Sunday were a rough for Evie. I think she's in a growth spurt. She wants to eat every hour and boycott naps - exactly how she was during her six-week growth spurt. We got outside for a couple of short walks, but spent a lot of time cuddling and watching Billions and Catastrophe - we had to introduce our favorite shows to my mom!

Look at that face!

Tried Halo Top for the first time then immediately went to Target to stock up

My first Mother's Day!

This face reflects her weekend mood 

Content in Daddy's arms

Flowers from Cait!

Flowers from my dad! A dozen roses from my mom and a dozen for me😊

My faves!

This girl loves to nap on Nana

More bonding time with Daddy

Evie's favorite part of the day - bath time and baby massage

Three Months

12 weeks have gone quickly.

So far, each month has been better than the last. Starting a routine helped a lot this past month. We follow a modified version of the Mom's On Call schedule - I got the app and it's really helpful👌. It's pretty much a three hour loop of eat (30 min), play (60 min), sleep (90 min).

Evie started sleeping an eight hour stretch on week 8🙌. She goes to bed around 8PM and wakes at 4AM for a quick feed and diaper change. Then, she'll usually sleep another 3-4 hours. She had a very bad night a few days ago and was up every 3 hours. I attributed it to the greek yogurt I ate for the first time in 11 weeks... back to diary free.

Bath time is still a big hit with Evie. She's our little water bug. Tummy time has gotten better. She can hold her head up much longer, but she's still not enjoying it. Overall, she is a pretty chill baby. She really only cries when she needs something - usually it's gas and she needs to be burped. We're getting used to the constant spit-up. Laundry is never ending. 

Evie has found her hands! She is constantly sucking on her fingers and pulling at her clothes. She has become a little chatterbox. She loves long conversations with Brady. It's the cutest thing. She's also been doing this weird laugh right before nursing - she gets so excited to eat. It's so funny. We've been meaning to catch it on video.

Previous Posts: Two Months, One Month

Visitors!

We had exciting visitors two weeks ago! 

My sister and her family came to Washington for a little vacation and to meet baby Evie. It was so nice to see them! Brady and I haven't been back to Iowa since last May (for Brie's wedding) when we were literally home for 24 hours - post linked here. 

My niece, Elena, was born in July and this was my first time meeting her. She is so close to walking. I was hoping she would take her first steps here, but no luck. Mira is now three-years-old and she has changed so much! She is so sweet and helpful. She would surround Evie with toys and lovies when she was crying. It was the cutest thing. 

We had surprisingly good weather. We visited lots of parks, went for many walks, and took a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo. We didn't take as many photos as usual because three kids is a handful!

Cousin love

Elena loves to swing

Monkey bars were a hit

These girls could swing all day

Springtime 

Help holding baby Evie

Blue eyes 

Ruston

Family photo

Reading to Ev

Uncle Brady

My babe

Kent and Mira at 7 Seas

The girls

Full chair

Green eyes (and chocolate milk)

Hugs and kisses

Zoo time

Parental selfie

Mother Load

Motherhood is the best, but this postpartum journey is a different story. It's uncharted territory for me, but it seems like once I overcome an obstacle there's a new one in its place. 

It took three weeks just to physically recover and be able to sit comfortably in a chair again. It took another three weeks for breastfeeding to be pain-free (we struggled with our latch on the left side). Now, I'm 10 weeks postpartum and still have to lose 11 lbs to return to pre-pregnancy weight😩 Unfortunately, I'm not one of those women who loses all the weight by breastfeeding. This is definitely more of a process than I expected.

It's difficult to focus on anything other than Evie. I'm preoccupied with baby thoughts - number of hours slept, amount of spit-up, last bowel movement, etc. However, I have realized the importance of taking care of myself. I'm trying to return to being a normal human. I'm very motivated to get back in shape. I'm exercising six days a week and eating a clean diet. I've started painting my nails again (which feels so good) and I actually finished a book for the first time in months😱

I'm definitely a work in progress, but this little babe really does make it all worth it...

Smiles for Daddy

Furrowed brow

Pensive 

Curious

Cheeky