life, love & puppy prints: packing for baby.

Mom-to-be: Check out this list, by Carolyn, of what to put in your hospital bag, for the big day!
 
Blog post here: life, love & puppy prints: packing for baby.

Carolyn from life, love & puppy prints

A day in the life of a mom....you think you are the worst mom in the world.

I am nearly 9 months into being a mother and already have had countless moments of angst. Am I doing everything right? Is there such a thing as "right" in parenting? 

The logical side of my mind knows that my little man is loved, fed, clothed, has a home that is warm when it should be and cooler when it needs to be. But when you hear lower percentile numbers at a doctor's appointment, when he doesn't roll over when he "should", that first big fall happens and your heart not only sinks but breaks at the same time who else is there to blame but yourself, right? 

Now this could easily be explained by genetics. I have the good Irish Catholic genes of guilt: if in doubt blame yourself is my basic mantra. The good and bad news is that I am not alone. It would seem that every mother I speak to is in the exact same boat. The really scary thing is that I don't think that it ever ends! Mommy guilt stays with you for as long as you are a mother which is FOREVER!

An article I read recently tells the story of one mother's struggles. One statement really hit home for me "Here's what you need to know: You are already a good mother. You already are." So every time I hear myself getting on the mommy guilt trip train I will remind myself that I already am a good mother. I already am. 

Nobody can love my son more than I do and that's a good starting point in parenthood.

And that's a day in the life of a mom.

Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Frozen Watermelon Lemonade

 Source

Frozen Watermelon Lemonade
By Lauren from Much Ado About Somethin

Ingredients (for 1 tall glass)
1.5 cups lemonade (I used Nantucket Nectars)
1 cup frozen watermelon cubes
3-5 ice cubes

Directions
Cut watermelon into small cubes and freeze until hard (several hours).
Remove as many seeds as you can before you freeze!
Add ingredients to blender.
You can add more or less ice to get the desire "freeziness".  I ended up using 3. 

Last week’s drink was:
Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Ultimate Summer Picnic Punch

Getting baby ready for the beach....lessons learned the hard way.

You think you are doing everything right. Baby is wearing SPF attire so all should be well in the world. And then it comes time to take it off. That's where the real fun begins. You noticed that the neck seemed pretty snug when you were putting it on but boy oh boy once it is wet it is a whole other ball game. What you need is a zip! Thankfully there are some amazing options out there that consider sun safety with UV protection but are easier to manage. Most importantly, they will ensure your baby will still have a head attached to his/her shoulders after a day at the beach/pool!

This fun option for the little girl in your life is from REI and is currently on sale for only $23.93!

Haiden Surf has wonderful options for the soon-to-be surfers out there.

Last but not least does it get any cuter than these suits offered by SwimZip?

Also check out:

Protecting your baby from the sun - Part 1

Guest blog post: 5 Tips to Safely Swaddle Baby

Our BabyBundle, which is geared towards a newborn baby, and includes curated products just for him/her, includes the Woombie swaddle, amongst the other items! 

We especially love the Summer and Air swaddles we have in stock, perfect for the heat this time of year!

 
We are so excited to have teamed up with the inventor of the Woombie, Karen Barski’s, for this post on tips for swaddling, included below!

Daycares around the country have started to ban swaddling since 2011.  Is swaddling really dangerous?  We think not so long as you are aware of the risks and follow five safety tips listed below to ensure baby is safely swaddled.

Swaddling is an age old practice that helps babies to sleep longer and sounder. When done properly, swaddling can be the single most important sleep tool a mother or daycare provider can master.

Some key benefits to Swaddling:

• Swaddling helps to mimic touch, which is so important for your baby.
• It also recreates the confinement felt in the womb easing the transition from "womb to world."  
• Swaddling prevents the startle reflex (arm jumping) so baby sleeps longer without intermittent wake-ups from having free arms.  
• Swaddling also helps to maintain the "back is best" sleep position.
• The most important benefit is a good sleep pattern for mom and baby.

Known risks with traditional swaddle blankets:

• Traditional swaddle blankets, when wrapped too tightly, can reduce necessary movement in the hips causing hip dysplasia.  
• Strong babies can easily break out of traditional swaddling blankets which unravel and cover baby's face (potential suffocation risk)
• Blankets too thick or layered can cause overheating, which can be linked to SIDS.
• Swaddling with a blanket is not an easy technique to master; parents and caretakers can swaddle baby incorrectly (too tight for example).         

The good news is in today's market, there are many great options! For example, the Woombie baby swaddle is a great alternative and is the original peanut-shaped swaddle that requires no wrapping and has new technology to allow excess heat to escape (prevents overheating).

Five safe swaddling tips for parents and caretakers:

1. Always place your swaddled baby on his/her back to sleep.
2. Use a swaddle where baby can have good hip range of motion- this will prevent hip issues.
3. Use a swaddle that will not unravel - this will prevent blankets from ending up covering baby's face.
4. Once baby is actively rolling, consult with your Pediatrician for next steps. Also, try an arms-free swaddle to help the transition such as the Convertible Woombie.
5. Don't over-swaddle your baby or double swaddle - be mindful that overheating baby is linked to SIDS.

*This is a guest blog post written by Karen Barski, BSN, RN, Mother of five, Certified Infant Care Specialist & Instructor, & Inventor of the Woombie Baby Swaddle

About Karen:

Karen has been an RN for 18 years, and has worked in many different nursing roles. As a Certified Infant Care Specialist, Karen counsels thousands of families yearly on a multitude of issues relating to pregnancy and infancy. Also, as a mother of five, she has invaluable experience and tips to share.

Since 2007, Karen’s company, KB Designs, has invented a line of signature baby swaddle products that have helped parents easily transition their new babies from womb to home. There are multiple designs and sizes so that babies can enjoy the comfort and security of the Woombie up until the time they begin to roll. The newest design called the Woombie Air has special features to eliminate risks explained above.
Features of the Woombie that eliminate multiple swaddling risks:

• 4-way stretchy fabric cocoons baby but allows for hip movement.
• The Woombie will not unravel like traditional swaddle blankets. Prevents issues such as startling, face scratching, overheating and dangerous loose unraveled blankets from covering baby's face.
• Light and breathable -- new Woombie Air technology allows for excess body heat to escape creating the first ventilated swaddle.
• Easy for mom to use: just put baby in and zip (2-way zipper for easy diaper changes); moms who swaddle their babies are less likely to put their babies to sleep on their stomachs when exhausted.

Each product has been created and designed by Karen because of a need she identified in her life with her five children. With convenience, safety, and fashion in mind, KB Designs has helped over a half million babies…and counting!

Read Karen's story on how she invented the Woombie in the middle of the night on her grandmother's sewing machine which turned into a million dollar mommy business. Read Woombie Baby Swaddle Story.

We are also linking up with Kristin from "Busy Bee!"

Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Ultimate Summer Picnic Punch

 Source

Ultimate Summer Picnic Punch Recipe 
by Cheeky Kitchen on QuickDish by Tablespoon

Ingredients
1  mini seedless watermelon
8 ounces lemon juice
2 cups frozen strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups ice 

Directions
Slice the mini watermelon in half, using a spoon to scrape all of the fruit from the center of the melon. Place in a large blender.
Add the lemon juice, strawberries, sugar, and ice to the blender. Blend until pureed.
Pour lemonade straight from your blender, or pour into a pitcher. For an extra fun way to serve this drink, pour it into the two empty halves of the watermelon, add a skewered strawberry and lemon for garnish, then slurp your lemonade from a straw!

In case you missed it:
Last week’s Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week was Virgin Hurricane!

How Miny Moe: Diaper & Nursing Pad Sampler Co. Came About

Today we have a special guest blog post from Heather. She shares her story about how her new company, that helps take the confusion out of buying diapers and nursing pads by letting you sample a few brands at once, Miny Moe came about. See below!

My husband and I welcomed our little one into this world on Christmas Day 2012, after a grueling 50 hours of (natural – OUCH!!!) labor. I had been an avid researcher and reader-upper on all things pregnancy and childbirth but what became painfully obvious was that I hadn’t prepared for what to do once the baby arrives! Whoopsie!! I remember the nurse coming in after a couple of hours and asking if we’d changed his diaper yet. She was met with 2 blank stares and a bewildered “Um, no? Not sure how…” Thankfully we quickly got the hang of it, and even more thankfully dear ol’ nurse took care of that first doozy of a diaper filled with the toxic tarry meconium!!

The hospital sent us home with a nice starter pack of Pampers Swaddlers and things went smoothly for about a week. Then, we switched to the mega pack of Huggies that I’d registered for. Not sure why I’d chosen Huggies, I think I researched a bit, got overwhelmed with conflicting reviews, and just kinda eenie miny moe’d it! Suffice it to say, Huggies did NOT get the job done. They were gaping on my little one’s legs and he left a puddle of breast milky poo everywhere we laid him. It was a nightmare, a complete nightmare! I’m a new exhausted mom with exploding painful boobs trying to figure out how to handle this new bundle of joy and now I’m up to my ears in poo-soaked laundry, too!? Not cool, not cool at all!! Off went my hubby to the drug store up the block to buy the tried and true Pampers Swaddlers again. But they were so expensive! I wanted to try a cheaper brand, but was terrified they wouldn’t work and we’ve seen how that can be! No one sold small packs, and living in Brooklyn without a car doesn’t exactly make running off and buying various economy packs of diapers an easy thing!

Fast forward to when my little one was about 3 months old and finally sleeping through the night, I was lifted from the newborn haze and my mind drifted back to the issues we had with diapers. He’s been through 4 brands by this point! Wouldn’t I have loved to have had a sampler to try out some different brands quickly and cheaply? YES!! So… why not make this possible for other new moms and dads?! And thus Miny Moe was born!!

Miny Moe currently offers 6-brand diaper sample packs, including Huggies Little Snugglers, Pampers Swaddlers, Luvs, Earth’s Best, Wal-Mart Parent’s Choice, and Target Up & Up. We carry Newborn and Size 1, and you can buy the regular pack (5 diapers from each brand), the mini pack (1 diaper from each brand), or the NB/Size1 Combo (3 diapers from each brand from both sizes). We also include a handy dandy score card, so you can rank each brand in various categories. Tally up your scores when you finish the sampler and the brand with the highest score is the best for your baby! We also include photos of the diaper and the manufacturer’s pack, so you can easily spot it in the store.

Striving to be a one stop shop for nixing all leaks in the new mom’s world, we also carry nursing pad samplers! Mama’s Mega Pack has 7 brands – 4 washable pairs (Bamboobies, Itzy Ritzy, Mother-Ease, and Philips Avent) and 3 disposable pairs (Johnson’s, Lansinoh, and Nuk). You can also get a sampler of just the washable nursing pad brands, or just the disposables.

If you’re an expecting mom, you can add these products to your online Baby List registry! If you know an expecting mom, these make great gifts (we offer gift wrapping!). And if your little one is already here? Well, you’ve probably already experienced some diaper dramas, so don’t delay – order your sampler today!

What’s more? FREE SHIPPING! Hoorah! And don’t forget to like Miny Moe on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for great promotions.

*Heather is Owner of Miny Moe, Blogger at US-Japan Fam, and most importantly mom to a chubby wubby 6 month old! Follow her at @Mama_Heza and @MinyMoePacks.

Happy Father's Day!

A day in the life of a mom....relieved...

Just a quick follow up to a post from earlier this week where I was anxious about a doctor's appointment for the little man. Thankfully all is well. Deep sigh of relief! I just have a long, lean, string bean of a son. I wish I had the same problem! I was also encouraged by the doctor to be more aggressive on the sleep training front to break out of the waking up every 2 hour pattern we have been in of late. I am happy to report that there has been improvement on that front also!

Persistence and patience...the two P's of Parenthood.

And that is a day in the life of a mom.

Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Virgin Hurricane

Hurricane Recipe
Source
Ingredients:
•    2 oz Orange juice
•    2 oz Cranberry juice
•    1 oz Grapefruit juice
•    1 oz Apple juice
•    Crushed Ice
•    Orange Slice

Directions:
Be blown away by the amalgam of fruit flavors of Hurricane Mocktail by simply mixing all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake it well until the fruit juices are fully infused. Pour it over a cocktail glass of your choice and add crushed ice. Finish it of with an orange slice and savor a hurricane of fruit flavors burst in your mouth.


From 10 Mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails/virgin drinks) Fit For Any Occasions

Also check out:
Strawberry Watermelon Spritzer
Virgin Peach Bellini
Virgin Sangria

A day in the life of a mom.....worried....

Towards the end of my pregnancy my mantra was "let the baby just be healthy, let the baby just be healthy". Once the little man arrived I was relieved; he was on the smaller side, had an "interesting" placenta but was healthy.

I am a self admitted nervous nelly but have really tried to be a relaxed mother, well, as relaxed as a first time parent can be. That all went out the window when I spoke to a nurse at my pediatricians office this morning. After a quick chat I got the reaction you never want to hear from a medical profession "oohhh that's not good. Your doctor is out of the office today but can you make 10:30am tomorrow?". I am sure that everything is fine. My son is just blessed with his father's metabolic rate and isn't gaining weight as quickly as he could/should be. He is healthy, happy, active, developmentally where he should be.

I know everything is fine. BUT for the rest of this day and I'm sure up until I walk out of the doctor's office tomorrow morning I will be worried. Simply because I cannot begin to imagine everything not being fine.

And that is a day in the life of a mom.

Top baby products our readers recommend!

We got some great comments for the Baby Bump Bundle Father's Day Giveaway! We figured we would share your advice on the best products out there, since the items listed would be great additions to any expecting moms registry and they are all useful gift ideas for baby showers too (beside our Bundles of course – which by the way we were glad to see many of the items you listed are already in them). Here are a few of your favorite baby items:

1.       Blankets

2.       Books

3.       Boppy pillow

4.       Bottles

5.       Breastfeeding essentials (nursing pads, relief products, etc)

Read more »

Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Strawberry Watermelon Spritzer

 Source

Check out the Strawberry Watermelon Spritzer recipe directly on Buns in My Oven!

More Recipes:
Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Virgin Peach Bellini
Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Strawberry Agua Fresca
Thirsty Thursday Mocktail of the Week: Fresh Melon Quenchers

What to Wear Wednesday: 6 Maternity Wedding Gowns + Blog Link Party!

The Lark
Anastasia Gown with Diamante Sash
Elissa  
Floral One Shoulder Chiffon Maternity Dress - DB Studio 
Long Ruched Maternity Dress with Beaded Neckline - DB Studio
Ivory Juliette Gown                                                                                                                    

Now let's link up....
Grab our buttom and share below!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://babybumpbundleblog.blogspot.com" title="Baby Bump Bundle"><img src="http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t623/BabyBumpBundle/83101ccb-4db1-435b-bd0e-7b3a033b5cb2_zpsd4c42e4f.jpg" alt="Baby Bump Bundle" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

In case you missed it: 
6 Maternity Wedding Dresses for Expecting Guests 
To the Gym We Go!
Six Diaper Bags for Dads

Protecting your baby from the sun - Part 1

We all know how important it is to use sunscreen. Most people, myself included, like a "healthy glow" look although articles like this make me question that. There has been a lot of debate about infants wearing sunscreen and as always it is best to go with what your pediatrician says. At Hugh's 6 month appointment I was told to use it and it appears 6 months is the cutoff. Babies less than that should be kept out of the sun full stop according to the FDA. Of course parents want to do what is best for their babies but the chances of not being outside at all this summer is slim so I am starting a series of posts about my picks for sun protection.

Starting from the top...literally. Your little one needs a hat and this is the one that I purchased for my wee man.

This is the iPlay Solid Flap Sun Protection Hat. I know it doesn't look so trendy but it reminded me of the hats that my cousins in Australia would wear to school and if any country knows about sun protection they do.

What I like about this hat is:

• first and foremost it has built in sun protection as the fabric is SPF 50.
• the peak is solid and provides good coverage of the face.
• the neck and ear area, where us adults often get burned, are protected by the flaps.
• the elastic gathering ensures that it is on nice and tight which is great for mothers of children with tiny heads like my son.  

Speaking of which he just woke up, the sun is already out on Cape Cod so it is time to put the hat to work!