Thanksgiving 2016 & a Tooth for Coops

I had no idea just how fun it is to have a baby during the holidays!  I swear I must have teared up a half dozen times on Thanksgiving over how happy & full of life our home felt with Cooper in it.

We started Thanksgiving with playtime, breakfast & parade watching; one of my favorite parts of the day & the final float with Santa gets me every time. 

We hosted Eric's family this year & I'll be honest- the idea of cooking, house prep, taking care of baby & breastfeeding every few hours was daunting. But hubs saved the day taking on a combination of house prep with baby while I cooked up a storm in between feedings.

Even though Thanksgiving is over I had to share a few of the recipes we used because they're perfect for Christmas & the chilly days to come.

for Dinner

Roasted Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Mac & Cheese

Apple Crumb Pie

& for the Leftovers

Turkey Chili (with Leftover Turkey) YUM-O

Then lone & behold I noticed something wonderful after dinner- the sweetest little tooth popped up on the bottom left of Coop's mouth!  I've had a hunch we were getting close to cutting teeth but no idea just how close.

Then Sunday tooth #2 made an appearance right beside the first. That's right. Two teeth. One weekend.

Baby's reaction to cutting teeth wasn't what I expected. With the first he'd been up to feed every 90 minutes or so for almost a week (Zzzzzz), but with the second he seemed to have a harder time & had a full day of fussy periods.  What helped the most was cradling, feeding, THIS teether chilled in the fridge & Oragel.  We also had no desire for solid foods for a couple days. 

Then by nighttime Sunday there it was.

Of course I tried to get photos of the shiny new teeth but our little nugget keeps sticking his tongue out in protest.  I'll keep trying but in the meantime we did get one with his milestone card (& caught up with the solid food card too, which he proceeded to show off his eating skills with).
<3

I'd love to hear what we should expect next with teething, or if there are any teethers that you've found to work wonders during the fussy times?

Favorite Recipes for Fall

We're nearly through November (can you believe it??) & only about halfway through the fall bucket list.  But I'm convinced we can still squeeze in a couple more things before December starts (#optimisticnewmom).

I decided to forego the traditional apple pie recipe for THIS crumb pie version which is amazing, especially when topped with Cool Whip & French Vanilla Ice cream. We're hosting Thanksgiving & I'm definitely whipping another up for dessert that day. Yum-o. 

Next up- I'm also now obsessed with THIS crock pot cinnamon applesauce recipe.  Not only does it taste fantastic but it also makes the house smell like a Yankee Candle store at Christmastime. One thing we changed was to substitute Macintosh apples for Granny Smith (fresh picked from an orchard down the road- check that off the bucket list!). 

Coops & I have been spending as much time as possible outside soaking up the last few warm days of fall, & took the best hike at Youngs Pond last week. The leaves were GORGEOUS, the ducks were thrilled to see our bag of rolls & I've finally gotten enough practice with the carrier to wear baby without a second thought.

By the time the hike was done Coops was snoozing away & I was grateful as naps don't come easy in our house.

If love to hear from you- what's left on your fall bucket list & what's going onto the winter one?  And follow along on Pinterest for more of our favorite dessert recipes <3

Sleep Baby Sleep

If someone told me in those first couple weeks after Cooper was born that he'd someday sleep through the night I'd have told them they were crazy... & then asked if they could babysit for a hour while I caught a snooze after being up all night.

We learned during those first days home from the hospital that baby wakes up & goes from zero to wailing in less than two minutes. Which led to difficult/painful latching & had us staying up for hours at a time with a newborn that couldn't settle down.  

So we decided to beat Coops to the punch, & I began setting my phone alarm to go off just before he was due to feed.

When we started this we didn't realize we were doing the "wake to sleep" method, it just seemed like the best option to get a calm baby & better feeding.

How it works is this, Coops would wake up every couple hours on the dot. I'd set my alarm for about 15 minutes before that time & gently wake him with rubs on his back until he was ready to eat. Then we would follow feeding with the usual changing, swaddling & back into THIS rocker (which in itself is a lifesaver).

The idea is to interupt baby's sleep pattern by waking him just before he's ready to be awake. Doing this should help baby no longer wake at the specific time, which worked in our case. I gradually added to the alarm times, 15 minutes here or a half hour there, until we reached our first full night of sleep around 7 weeks.

Those first two nights of sleep I fell out of bed & landed on my face around 4am, thinking something had gone horribly wrong. That I hadn't heard the cries that had surely happened. But there was baby sleeping soundly & leaving me in awe & oh so very grateful for the extra shut eye.

Even better than the full night of sleep was that when we didn't make it all night the awake time gradually went down to a solid 25 minutes. Baby & I became very in tune with each other- 10 minutes on each breast, quick changing & a couple minutes of rocking before back into the (now) crib.

Now the rocking is more for me than Cooper.  We're fortunate in having a baby that will settle well in his crib during the night & who doesn't need craddling like he used to.  I know that with him growing so fast these occasional night feedings won't last forever & I've started treasuring the nocturnal moments we have left together.

I'd love to hear from you! What was your go to ritual for bedtime with a newborn? And are siblings similar when it comes to nighttime habits?

Baby Hugs & Christmas Wish Lists

The other day I was carrying baby, facing my chest, down the stairs when he reached up & wrapped me in the sweetest teeniest hug I've ever had in my life. It was perfect & will go down in mommy history as one of my favorite moments forever.

It seems like every day now we have something new going on, from crib rollovers to chatting with stuffed animals (#cutestthingever) to smiling at everyone that stops to say hello.  It's incredible to watch & I look forward to each morning like a kid does to a visit from Santa.

Even though Christmas is 6 weeks away I've been instructed by Cooper's Grandma (aka my mom) to stop buying him anything toy or book related that we're not planning to give to him on December 25th.  Over the past few months I've turned into a children's lit addict, but we'll have to shelf our monthly bookstore visits until January (pun intended).

Sharing a few things from our own Christmas Wish List (all but one are under $25!!) & I'd love to hear what you're eyeing for baby this season!

My First Toolbox Playset // Eric Carle Touch & Feel Stroller Cards // Evenflo Doorway Jumper
Wooden Maracas //  3 sprouts Shark Bath Storage // The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
Jumbo Foam Blocks Building Set // Catch Me Crabbie // Playskool Form Fitter

5 Month Photos & Favorites

Our sweet baby is officially 5 months old!  Time is, as always, flying by too fast & I don't want to miss a minute.

We're rolling over regularly & trying like crazy to crawl from the waist down (that little butt gets so far up in the air, plus the kicks- oh my!).  Coops also seems to prefer laying on his stomach to being on his back a few times a day which has been amazing for working on that neck strength.

Grasping has turned from difficult to a piece of cake & we also like to *turn pages* when reading.  Except on rare occasions, the only books we're interested in are cardboard (preferably with flaps) or made of cloth.  I'm thinking for Christmas I may attempt making a cloth book with crinkle material inside, but we'll see.

Baby is laughing & smiling like there's no tomorrow, & I swear his laughter is my favorite sound in the world.

Our closet is stocked with all 12-18 month clothes (helloo future basketball player) & it's amazing how fast this little guy grows.  We also had a growth spurt this week, which led to longer feedings & 6 days (thus far) of newborn style sleep patterns.  Throw in a fall time change makes for a very confused growing baby & one seriously tired mama.

5 Months

5 Month Favorite Things

Cloth Books

Tugging on puppy ears & tails (starting today)

THIS Jumparoo

Making "pfttt" noises

Chewing on EVERYTHING (like our 5 month milestone card above)

Looking forward to

Trying our brand new high chair & solid food for the FIRST TIME this month!  Coops is already eyeing our plates at every meal & even pretends to chew.

I also wanted to share THIS Thanksgiving oneseie that I'm eyeing as a comfy morning alternative to Cooper's dinner dress clothes (I mean- how cute would that bodysuit be paired with sweet little jeans??).

Thanks for popping by & wishing you all a wonderful week <3

Crazy Thursday

I feel like you couldn't make this story up if you tried.

Coops & I started out the day by heading to Target (their buy two packs of diapers get a $10 gift card is a regular event in our family).  We pull in the parking lot & baby makes the teeniest pft, blowing out his pants, bodysuit & into the car seat. 

By the time I get him to a changing table he's got poop from neck to knee to (somehow) hand.  It takes every wipe in the diaper bag, fresh clothes & lining the car seat with burp clothes but we make it out into the store for those diapers & now wipes too. Ironic right?

We get home & I get ready to give Cooper a bath, plop him in the tub & no more than 10 seconds later he smiles at me. But it's no ordinary smile- it's that super cute I'm going to poop any second smile. Before I even have a chance to stand up he blows out for the SECOND time & FILLS the tub.

I wait a few seconds to make sure he's finished. I mean the damage is done, right?  Then I pick baby up, get him over the edge of the tub whereupon he goes for the THIRD TIME on the bathmat, floor & vanity as I frantically try to get him wrapped in a towel. 

After Coops is securely bundled in terry cloth I whisk him off to his room, wipe him from head to toe with baby wipes & put on a fresh diaper. A moment later I have the monitor in hand & am on my way to pop baby in his crib & start cleaning our disaster of a bathroom.

You'd wouldn't think it could get any worse- that this is the end, right?  Nope.

As I walk out of baby's room, & pass the bathroom to put Coops in his crib in our room I see our cat shaking off what looks like water. Turns out she thought the tub was empty... & jumped in.

So we now have a bathroom & cat covered in baby poop. A baby happily squealing with delight in his crib (the only cute part about all of this). And my jaw on the floor because I was at a loss for words.

Two hours later (& with a lot of help from mom who lives nearby- thank goodness) we have a clean bathroom, freshly bathed cat (have you ever tried to give a cat a bath?? that was interesting) & a baby back in the tub for round two.

The funny part about it all?  After the first few moments of panic I laughed so hard that I cried.  This is one of those stories that we'll remember forever & I didn't mind a single moment.  Though tackling a cat under the shower spray while she tries to claw your legs like a scratching post was a toughie. 

(p.s. This photo was NOT taken when all of this happened.)

I'd love to hear your crazy baby story- be it messy or funny or both!  We've all been there, & I know at least one other person had their cat jump in a poo filled tub ;)

Halloween 2016

What a spooky wonderful Halloween we had this year!  It started with my poor monster pumpkin imploding & ended with a nighttime feeding that left me grateful for our sweet babe & excited for the next few weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

I wanted a super simple costume for Coops this year because we had one fall festival, one play group, a couple of family family visits plus Halloween to wear it on; meaning easy on/easy off & comfortable was key. So we started with THESE footed pajamas, added THIS hat & topped that with a pair of homemade detachable black cotton wings.

Then the pups got in the Halloween spirit with wings cut from black poster board & attached to their harnesses.  Seeing those two trot around the yard while we sat nearby was just beyond adorable.

October 31st was a bit too chilly for baby to just be in pjs so we replaced his wings with a grey hoodie.  Then I handed out bags of treats with Coops on my lap happily chewing his cardboard Halloween books.

This year will be our last (for awhile at least) handing out treats instead of receiving them & going door to door ourselves.  I'm excited to take our little out in the years to come but am already missing sitting on the front step with him last night, watching those books get soaked in drool & smiles go to every visitor.

Hoping you all had a fantastic Halloween & happy November!