Oh hello Santa

I loved Santa growing up! Even after I figured out that Santa wasn't a real person I loved Santa! I loved the idea of him! I always enjoyed going to see him at the mall when I was growing up. So naturally now that I have my own child I couldn't wait to take him to meet Santa!

I just love how Hunter and Santa have the same expression! We went with my SIL, BIL and nieces. We are going to go next year too. It will be a tradition! Can't wait! 

I'm losing my mind & my hair...

 Well I'm losing my mind over losing my hair! Postpartum hair loss is real and it sucks!!

I always had thick beautiful hair before I got pregnant. When I got pregnant and started pre natal vitamins it just became more thick and beautiful. While I was pregnant I did read about postpartum hair loss but didn't research it too much because there were more important things to look up on google! haha But now I'm wishing I had looked more into it.

My hair was fine until about the time Hunter turned 4 months. Then my hair started falling out...not just a couple strands....like clumps! Every time I take a shower I lose more and more. I have to brush my hair standing away from the sink because a ton of hair falls out. I am constantly finding pieces of my hair every where...on my baby, on my shirt, on my pants, on my pillow, on the floor, in my food (ewwww), on the cats! I'm literally shedding!

Do you see how it's like all around my hairline??? I can't stand the way it looks...I don't wear my hair up because of the thinning!

I need to do something about it. I need to figure out how to make it grow back...or how to stop losing it! I'm worried I'm going to have no hair eventually.

I really just want my old hair back...

Anyone have an advice for me??

Hunter's first taste of cereal

Now that Hunter is 5 months we got the okay from his doctor to start rice cereal! We were sooo excited to be able to start giving him some more "solid" food! You see I think Hunter would drink as much formula as we let him if he had it his way. He drinks 6 oz every 3 to 3 1/2 hours but he loves to eat and cries when the bottle is empty!

So we sat him up in his bumbo seat and put the tray on his bib on. He was probably thinking what the hell is going on? I don't drink bottles in here! He is still working on sitting up completely in the seat. He still leans forward often. So while I was feeding him J helped him sit back. Overall he did really well. He seemed to really like it and attacked the spoon everytime it was in his mouth! I'd say it was a win!

first bite...

After...love his face lol

The only thing that made it difficult was that his doctor said to give it to him 1 hour before his bottle. This made things difficult because usually he is sleeping an hour before his bottle. So we kept him up longer than we normally would and he was a crank! I think he would have enjoyed the cereal if he weren't tired.

Last night we were out and about and he didn't nap between feedings so I decided we would just give him his rice cereal and then his bottle and then bed. Worked like a charm! He was soo much happier during the cereal because he was hungry! He actually cried when it was all gone! lol

Can't wait to start baby food next month!

5 months update

Dear Hunter,

Today you are 5 months old!

I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday I gave birth to you and we met for the 1st time. You have changed so much each month. This month we celebrated your first Thanksgiving. Sorry you didn't get to eat turkey...next year.

Stats: We had your 4 month dr appointment on November 30th. You are 14 lbs 11 oz and 26 1/4 inches.

Eating: You love to eat! You've always been like that. Now you are eating 6 oz every 3 to 3 1/2 hours! If your sleeping you can go 4 hrs. We still have to stick a paci in your mouth after you finish a bottle because you scream for more! lol

Sleep: You are a great sleeper. You have been sleeping through the night for a couple months now. Once and a while you have a bad night where you wake up early...or don't sleep well. But for the most part you sleep great! Daycare broke you of the swaddle about a month and half ago...so now it's all sleep sacks.

Mood: You are just such a happy baby! You are always smiling and laughing! Mommy and Daddy feel soo lucky to have such a happy baby! You only cry if you are hungry or tired!

Clothes: You officially started wearing 6 months clothes. You have been wearing 6 month sleepers for a while know because you are so long. But you still can wear most 3 months clothes as well, but they are getting smaller. Some 6 months clothes are big...like pants. Sorry kid you have no butt like your mom and dad. lol

Likes: Since you figured out how to roll from back to belly you do it all the time. Definitely a like! You also like your playmat and the musical sun on it. You like to swing and smile at daycare! Still like to suck and lick your hands. Sleeping on your side.

Dislikes: Being on your tummy too long. You like tummy time for as long as you are okay with it. When you've had enough you cry!

Baby's 1st Christmas

In just 3 short weeks we will be celebrating Hunter's 1st Christmas...and I am so NOT prepared! J and I haven't bought anything for him yet! I know...bad mommy.

One of the main reasons we haven't is because I have NO clue what to get him! I don't want to get him clothes because we always get a ton of that and he's not really ready for toys since he will only be 5 months.

I have looked at some toys though and I am thinking of getting him something musical. Hunter loves music. He loves when I sing to him and loves when music is playing. So when I saw this awesome fisher price music center I had to learn more about it.



I also think it would be cool to get him a jump activity center. Something like this...

Or maybe a musical tummy time mat..
.

or this baby einstein octopus..


I'm sure we'll figure it out...for all I know we will probably get everything for him! haha

Do you have any ideas what to get a 4 month old for Christmas?

My son is a picasso!

I am a full time working mom which means that Hunter goes to daycare or baby school as I like to call it! We couldn't have picked a better place. He has wonderful teachers who love on him all day. When I look back we had nothing to worry about before we sent him...but you know we are 1st time parents and it's normal to worry!

One of my favorite things about him going to baby school is the "art work" they do with him. Here are just a few of the pieces I will cherish forever :)

I just love the ones where they put his face on things! It's hysterical!

The baby foot prints aren't so bad either...love that we will have his tiny baby feet forever!

Why we didn't find out the gender of our baby

The biggest question I got during my pregnancy was...

What are you having?

And I would always respond with "a baby!" Then of course the person would say "Well yeah but is it a boy or girl?"

I would then say "We don't know because it's a surprise!"

When I said that I got several different responses from people...

Some people would say how they thought it was great that we were waiting to find out the gender while others were completely perplexed by this decision. They didn't understand why we would wait to find out when we could know now.

Honestly finding out the gender of your baby is a personal decision. But here are several reasons why my husband and I opted to wait...

1. Best surprise ever: I'll never forget hearing my Dr and nurses(who were my best friends during labor) yell out "It's a BOY!!". My husband and I looked at each other and grinned. When they placed that little boy on me I cried tears of joy!
2. You are already halfway there: By the time you can actually find out the gender you are already 20 weeks pregnant. That means that you have already waited 20 weeks without knowing. I didn't think waiting another 20 weeks would kill me.
3. Healthy baby: All that mattered to us was that our baby was healthy. Boy or girl...we didn't care.
4. Extra motivation: Labor is HARD! The hardest thing I've done in my life. The fact that I didn't know the gender of my baby made me that much more motivated to push him out! I was more focused and definitely think it's one of the main reasons I kept fighting when it got hard and didn't give up. I wanted to know if baby was a boy or girl!

5 things I would tell my pregnant self...

Being a new parent is probably one of the hardest things I've done in my short life. Don't get me wrong...it's wonderful...but hard! There is so much change in a short period of time. There is so much to learn in a short period of time. To be honest, there is nothing anyone can tell you when your pregnant that will really prepare you for those first couple weeks at home with baby. I thought I was going to be able to handle it well! How wrong I was! If I could tell myself 5 things I learned real quick during the first couple weeks as a parent here is what I'd say...


1. Get as much sleep as possible now.

        It's hard to get sleep in the last trimester of pregnancy but it's even harder to get sleep once baby is here! You will be up every couple hours feeding the baby or just trying to soothe baby back to sleep. Eventually you will forget what it was like to sleep past 5 am and what it was like to not fall asleep while watching TV at night. 

2. Do my research on breastfeeding.

          I was totally unprepared for breastfeeding. I thought that it would be sooo easy because its a natural thing. BOY was i WRONG! It was sooo not easy! While Hunter did latch on quickly....it was difficult for me to get him in a good position for both of us...and he sucked sooo hard! My nipples looked like a war zone. I ended up stopping breastfeeding after 1 week and started pumping. I wish I had kept with it and tried harder...maybe doing more research would have helped me be better prepared.

3. You think you are worried now...just wait!

      I'm a worry wart...i've been my whole life. I made a conscious decision when I found out I was pregnant to not worry and stress about being pregnant. I did a pretty good job of it and because of it I believe I had a good pregnancy. But that ALL changed once baby got here! It's like all the worrying I didn't do was bottled up and exploded once I had that baby! I was worried all the time the first couple of weeks! 

4. Give your baby a paci!

       Well this is my personal experience...but when I was doing my breastfeeding class I remember the lactation consultant saying that you can't give your baby a pacifier until after 2 weeks because it will cause nipple confusion. Well I absolutely wanted to follow that because that's what she said. I remember going to the pediatrician 3 days after Hunter was born and he was screaming and I was complaining about how my nipples hurt and i've been bleeding...she said "Why doesn't he have a pacifier? Babies like to suck...its calming for them". I told her what the lactation consultant said and she said it was fine and it wasn't going to mess with him. So I gave him the paci. Looking back I think that my breastfeeding experience would have been better if I had given him a paci since birth. Maybe my nipples would have felt a little better. lol

5. You cry at the drop of a hat but that's normal!

        Hormones are crazy after birth. I was an emotional wreck after baby was here and would cry all the time. It didn't matter what it was...I would cry. My husband would look at me and I would cry. I remember sitting with Hunter while he was sleeping on me and I was telling him how much I loved him and sobbed through it all. LOL

Welcome Baby Boyle (4 months late)

Well Baby Boyle is here....actually Baby Boyle has been here for 4 months already...but I've been adjusting to being a new mom so there hasn't been time to blog...but now that I'm starting to feel like I'm getting some of this under control I feel like I can blog again!! (YAY!!!!)

Introducing.....

hBw

July 11, 2015

3:06 am

8 lbs 6 oz

21 3/4 in

Having him has changed my life immensely. I look at everything differently now that I'm a mom...and I'll definitely be writing all about it here!

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Creating the registry

A couple weeks ago J and I decided to go ahead and start the registry for the baby. It was just a normal saturday and since we had nothing to do, and since my mother-in-law had been bugging me about starting a registry, I asked J if he wanted to head over to babies r us and create one. "Sure, he said.  So before we left I put out a post on facebook and asked some of my mommy friends for recommendations. Almost immediately I got plenty of responses. I was so excited and thankful for my helpful friends. However, one thing I didn't realize I was, was nieve! Oh My God, how stupid I was for thinking that registering would be easy peasy and quick! I was SO WRONG!!!! It was not easy, and definitely not quick! J and I were in babies r us for 3 HOURS!!!!! 

Now if you are a mom to be and haven't registered yet, don't let me scare you. It wasn't THAT bad...but it was bad only because I wasn't prepared. I thought that printing out a list from the internet and having the list they give you at babies r us would be enough! Well...I was wrong for so many reasons! 

Having those 2 lists were helpful for sure, but there was just a lot to find in the store. I honestly didn't realize how much stuff a baby needs.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't that stupid and thought that I only needed like 2 things. I knew a baby required a lot, but I didn't know just how much. Plus there are just soo many choices for one object. For example, a baby carrier. There are like 10 different types and brands of baby carriers and if you go in blindly like me, you have no idea what to get and you beg your husband to read the boxes and make a decision. 

So if I had any tips for you moms to be who are going to create a registry:

• Do your research! 
• This is my biggest regret! If I had done by research, I wouldn't have felt so overwhelmed by all the different choices. I recommend narrowing each item you need down to a couple that you really want to see in store and then make your decision.

• Ask other mom friends!
• I can't tell you how helpful my facebook post was! If I had never posted my question and asked my friends who were moms for recommendations, I would have been up a creek! Seriously! They helped me tremendously, especially with strollers!

• Get comfy!
• I wore comfy clothes and toms and I was still dead tired by the end of 3 hours! I literally sat down in the middle of the aisle looking at swaddles and telling my husband which ones to scan! LOL it was a sad sight, but I was an exhausted pregnant woman and didn't care. But in all seriousness, wear comfy clothes and shoes. I don't know how I would have survived if I wore heels and a dress!

• Don't feel pressured to get it all done in one day!
• I honestly thought that I would get everything registered and done by the end of our times at babies r us. WRONG! Once I realized how long it was taking, I quickly talked myself into just getting the "big" things done. By "big", I mean things that I felt I needed to see in store such as stroller, car seat, high chair, pack and play, swing, etc. Smaller things like bibs and pacifiers can be picked out on the store's website.

• Do register at more than one place.
• If you told me that before I registered I would have told you no way! But the next day after the babies r us fiasco, I created another registry at Target. We didn't go to target, I just did it online. So much easier! But the reason I think people should register at more than one place is because of options. At babies r us for example, I didn't see many bibs I liked. But on target.com I saw a ton! So it's basically to have a variety!

Creating a registry can be a fun thing...I promise! I have since checked out and edited our registries several times since we created them. Plus think of all the fun things your friends and family will get you for the baby!

Vacation Over...

So I'm sure you've noticed that I've been gone for some time, but I'm back now and with some pretty awesome news!

J and I are expecting a BABY!!!!!

That is kind of why I took the break to begin with. Let me explain. See this past summer we decided we wanted to start trying to conceive. After about 2 months of trying I got discouraged and pretty down about life and ultimately decided to stop writing. It probably wasn't the best thing because I think writing through my frustration would have helped. But you live and learn right?

I have been keeping track of my pregnancy in a personal way, but now i'm ready to share with the world!

I'm officially 26 weeks pregnant and due July 2, 2015! So far things have been great! I will say I was one of the lucky women who didn't get morning sickness at all! I literally had 1 day where I felt queasy but other than that I've been fine!

I've been trying my best to take pictures often...some weeks I remember and then I skip a couple. But for the most part I have a nice collection of the growing bump and I will definitely do a post with all the pictures!

I hope that with me actively keeping track of my pregnancy on here I will record things that I may not have remembered if I didn't write about it here!

Anyway, here's to being back from "vacation" and our baby in July!!