Favorite Reads: Halloween Special

We are big fall & Halloween fans here in the Lough house & what better way to share our first October with Cooper than with a few spooky reads!

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin

This is probably my favorite of the bunch. Super fun illustrations as an adorable tiger chooses the perfect pumpkin to use in a jack-o-lantern carving contest. Coops loves all the word sounds (like Plumply Dumply) & chats along happily each time we read this one. 

The Teeny Tiny Ghost

This book is longer than what we usually read, but the spooky sounds are fun to say out loud & baby responds every time I do with his own squeals. A story about a teeny ghost with his tiny cats that learns to overcome his own fears, despite misadventures along the way. 

Where is Baby's Pumpkin

We first read this board book in our library play group & Coops was captivated by the shimmering pumpkin & Halloween surprises hidden behind each flap. So much so that I went home & ordered our own copy the very same day. Now we curl up with our own copy every night before bed & never tire of it. 

Penguin and Pumpkin

I am a penguin collector & love all things that have to do with those little tuxedo clad darlings. So when we saw this board book at our local bookstore last month I had to scoop it up.  A perfect story about siblings, fall & lots of pumpkins with beautiful illustrations on the last page especially. 

The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest

A few weeks ago Cooper's Uncle Chris came across the most wonderful box of books in storage; the kind of reads that we 30somethings grew up with, & he gave the entire carton to Coops. So now we enjoy The Berenstain Bears on a weekly basis & the Ghost of the Forest was one of Eric's favorites growing up.  This book isn't about Halloween at all but it is about camping fun & spooky visitors. 

For even more books on our wish list check out Cooper's Library on Pinterest & we'd love to hear your favorite Halloween reads or fall book suggestions!

More Blogging + Babies

I had the honor of guest blogging on The Saltwater Wife again this week.  After writing my first post for Annalee (blogging + business + bab(ies)) I was left inspired & started work on a follow up article the very next day.  It took a few weeks of breathing (those of you who read the first post will get that reference) & business soul searching (see below) to finish but here we are!

Sharing 8 more things to remember when running a home business or blog with baby & be sure to check out The Saltwater Wife for more fun posts about mommyhood & Annalee's adorable twins.
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Lower the Bar

This advice was given to me pre-Cooper. We're taught to be super moms but the reality is mommying is hard. Whether you're a SAHM, work full time, or a combination of the two motherhood fills a day like nothing else in the world. So instead of thinking you'll get 10 things done settle on 1-2 of the 10 that are important on that particular day, then chip away at the rest throughout the week.  This one thing saved me from tons of frustration & even though I accomplish less each day the trade-off is a better feeling of accomplishment in the long run.

Baby Steps

This is an extension of Lower the Bar- Baby Steps accomplish BIG things. For example, I jot down blog ideas on my phone's Blogger app while nursing.  Something as simple as a title or few sentences, enough to trigger my memory later when I have more than just a few free moments. (Side note- that's how this post got its start!)

Have Fun

My business, for the past three years has been painting glass. Cue baby & a totally new lifestyle. Suddenly I found myself not enjoying painting as much &  day dreaming about writing & creating products geared toward family & baby instead. As soon as this reality hit I cut dozens of products from my shop & have started replacing them with things like THIS teether & THIS tote.  Pieces that better fit our new life & that I get a thrill out of creating. Does it feel like a leap of faith to change paths like this? Absolutely, but in the words of my husband, if no one tried anything new we'd all still be watching TV on giant round televisions instead of flat screens.

Skip the Perfectionism

I learned this one real quick after Coops was born. I am a self proclaimed perfectionist. When it comes to work, certain house things, whatever.  But who has time after baby?  NO ONE.  Now I'm not saying to leave laundry on the floor & stand proud saying you can go without picking it up, but going an extra day before washing what's accumulated in the basket is okay, unless it's covered in baby poop. Then wash the clothes.

Work Smarter & Less

Babies make inefficiencies apparent. I had no idea before Cooper that there I was wasting so much time throughout the day. After those first sleepless weeks it became obvious that what I used to do in a few hours now had to be crammed into a 45 minute nap time. I was overwhelmed at the mere idea of it. So what I started doing was planning during baby's awake time. Figuring out what order things should go in to accomplish the most & what could actually be done with Cooper (like the snicker doodles we baked yesterday- yum!).  After a few weeks of doing this exercise I'm blown away by what I can accomplish in just a couple hours throughout the day. 

Change What Doesn't Work

This goes along with working smarter & less. There were a few things in our product list that I'd create by hand, but turns out didn't have to. For example, the tote bags we sell used to be 100% hand painted.  When you have amazing wholesale accounts that order in the 100s, fantastic bachelorette parties filled for several dozen & single orders on a regular basis I look back with amazement at all the handiwork I did on those first pieces. While enjoyable to make, baby comes first which led to creating those designs on the computer & screen printing them instead.  One huge bonus to doing this? I can create more intricate designs without sacrificing family time.

Don't Lose Yourself

Losing yourself to motherhood is super easy to do. There's minimal time for self & maximum time for baby chatter (which is the cutest thing in my world right now) & other similar baby things. But you matter. So communicate with adults. Join a mom support group, baby group or find something to do WITH baby that involves sharing YOUR interests. This is why on my blog, Loughs in Love, I post book children's book suggestions a couple times a month.  I'm a huge reader, but haven't had time to sit down with more than one book since baby arrived 4 months ago.  So to fill that love Coops & I frequent the library or bookstores weekly, read together daily & I started Cooper's Library- a Pinterest board with our book wish list.

Give Yourself a Break

I read a THIS blog post by Casual Claire the other day that focused on how well moms are doing, even when they think they're not. Mommying is hard & it's easy to rain down on yourself for not doing what you consider to be enough. But the reality is you ARE amazing & doing fantastic things with your little. Just think of how far you've come in the days, weeks, months (in our case) or years since baby was born. It gets easier. Sleeping through the night will happen again. And life, in all forms, is beautiful.

I'd love to hear from you!  What lessons did you learn when balancing life with a new baby?

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4 Month Photo & Checkup

It's official- our sweet baby is 4 months old. Where has the time gone?? And with that monthly birthday came a checkup with the pediatrician & regular shots (meep).

When Coops got his first round of shots he was a trooper. Crying for no more than a minute as I held him throughout all three pricks & latching immediately after when the nurse suggested breastfeeding as a soother. His temperature went up to 99 degrees at one point later in the day, & the only other difference we noticed was an  increased number of naps over the next 24 hours.

All of which left me optimistic for round 2 with the self proclaimed "wicked witch of the west" shot giving nurse, who is actually sweet as pie.

Checkup day got off to a rough start, not sure why but Coops was having one of those I need mommy don't do anything out of the norm I'm overwhelmed kind of mornings.  Which led to doctor office screams over everything from getting his onesie off to sitting in the scale to the actual checkup.  

When it came time for shots I expected the worst but what we got was a quick cry with smiles & laughter a few seconds later. It was like there was an on/off emotional switch & I was beyond relieved to end the visit on a happy note.

To top it off I wanted to share a few of Cooper's favorite things at age 4 months & I can't wait to look back on this when he has that 6 month checkup come December <3

Favorite Things:

Grasping Toys

Chatting, Squealing & Vowel Sounds

Reading to Mama & turning board book pages.

Toes. Anything related to toes. 

Standing with Support

Knocking down block towers. 

THIS Jumparoo

Height: 28"

Weight: 17 lbs. 12 oz.

When Baby Meets Dog(s)

A friend recently told me that her sweet cat is having serious concerns with all things baby that are now filling their home, & all before baby arrives in a few weeks.  Listening to her inspired this post because bringing a little human to meet your fur-children is a seriously nerve racking thing & even when you map everything out perfectly it may not go according to plan, but sometimes ends up being even better.

When we first came home with Cooper the plan was for the dogs to have already smelled something of his, a hat for example. Then per instructions from our vet Sierra (our 9 year old Corgi Bassett) & Scooter (our 5 year old Bassador) would be home when we arrived.  I would go into the house first & greet them since it had been longer since they had seen me, combined with all my new smells, then Eric would follow with baby in his car seat.  Tail wagging would ensue & everyone would be instant friends. Right??  Nope.

When you have the complications I had (read Cooper's Birth Story HERE for more on that) you're on bed rest in the hospital while coming off of the medications. So for the day after Coops arrived everything was on Eric.  I couldn't even get out of bed to change baby or take his picture, let alone carry him.  My only task was nursing.

The following day was a little better, I could shuffle slowly around the room but would get shooting back pains from the epidural causing me to lose my breath & stop moving until the waves passed.

So needless to say the puppies never got a chance to sniff something of Cooper's before we arrived home. And on top of that they were still staying with friends when we left the hospital.

The plan turned into when we get home & settled, Eric would go fetch the dogs (dog pun intended). Nope again. About 20 minutes after arriving I about collapsed in our hallway from pain & chills ensued.

Cue mom who, thank goodness, came immediately over to help.  There I was, less than 30 minutes in & bedridden with a 3 day old newborn.  Per our midwife even a slight fever with me meant going back to the hospital.  What. The. Heck.  Thankfully no rising temperature & turns out I just had some serious epidural side effects that began subsiding shortly after.    

Eric ran out to get a few things my midwife said would help (i.e. LOTS of Motrin) & gather up the fur-children. When they arrived Eric let them in a room to meet Coops one at a time. They were beyond excited to sniff EVERYTHING, even pushing open the door to meet baby.  

But immediately following that our younger pup decided he couldn't be in the same room as Cooper & proceeded to sulk for weeks.  We were completely torn over what to do but gave Scooter the time he needed, which as it turns out was the best thing we could have done for him.  Over the following days he went from spending evenings in his crate to laying at the top of the stairs, to sitting at the bottom of the stairs to perching on the couch next to us to curling up by me when I nurse.

Our older pooch (Sierra) was perfect from the beginning.  Immediately going into protector mode, not letting baby out of her sight, even going so far to check on him before she'd start eating her dinner.  It was the sweetest most wonderful experience from the get go with her.

Fast forward to 4 months & the only problem we have now is Scooter (younger pup) trying to play with baby & not realizing he's being too rough. But in a couple years I can already see the three of them running around the yard, a far cry from those first couple weeks home & everything I ever hoped it would be.

What Motherhood Taught Me

I had the honor of guest posting on Faithfully Beautiful earlier this week about what the past few months with baby have taught me.  It feels like my whole perspective has changed, starting the moment Cooper was born.  And I can't believe, as I'm writing this intro now, that our sweet little bean will be 4 months tomorrow (#timefliesbytoofast).  

Sharing the same article here, but be sure to also check out Shannan's blog for more mommyhood posts, & I'd love to hear your thoughts or about how becoming a mother changed you.

<3 K

P.S. At the bottom of the post are a couple mom-inspired books to share with baby, both of which bring tears to my eyes every time we read them.  Amazing reads!

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My whole life I wanted to be a mother. The dream job changed (I wasn't quite meant to be a ballerina), the dream house changed (the home from Miracle on 34th Street the re-make wasn't for sale), but the yearning for a sweet babe stayed throughout.

Photo by Alex Corey

What I didn't know was how much motherhood would change me from the second we found out I was pregnant, to the birth of our son a few months ago.

I didn't know that the world would become new after seeing Cooper learning things every minute of every day.  And that it would teach me to stop & breathe it all in because the days, then weeks, then months fly by too fast.

I learned to accept that life is crazy & will be for a very long time. To love the little things, right down to those adorable baby toes & that I never appreciated glorious sleep when I had the chance.

There are days when I cry because motherhood is hard, others when I tear up over the beauty of it & even more when I get a lump in my throat because of not knowing what to do for a few minutes before remembering to breathe & that it will all be okay.

Sometimes the 90 minute nap will last 25 minutes & you'll only get 3 of 6 things done which is exasperating (#myeveryday).  It's hard to remember at the time, but the reality is you amazingly got 3 things done, which is far better than nothing & nothing short of amazing when compared to life with baby a couple of months back.

It's okay to ask for help.  From your husband, your family or even a post office employee when you're trying to balance a car seat & have a wholesale order that's too big to carry with one hand.

You'll miss the sleepless nights, the first few days of breastfeeding that felt like piranhas were attached to your nipples, even being in labor.  Because every moment was perfect, in itself or its imperfection & you'll never be the same for it. 

We are HUGE readers, visiting the library every week & even doing a play group there on Fridays.  You Made Me a Mother & Love You Forever were gifted to us before & after Cooper was born & both bring me to tears at the end because of relating so deeply to the love each author expresses for their boys.  Seriously good reads or gifts for any mother.

What has motherhood taught you?  We'd love to hear from all the wonderful mamas out there who have book recommendations of their own or stories to share.
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Peach Fuzz & Sweet Hats for Fall

It seems like overnight Coops sprung up a full head of blond peach fuzz & we're in love with it.  Plus that mixed with the random inch long dark strands from birth makes it all the cuter.

But with fall here we needed to cover that cute little head up on a few occasions already, & finding equally sweet hats is becoming a favorite past time of mine.  

Sharing a couple hat finds that are already in our closet & a few I have my eye on (be sure to also check out THIS ONE, just in time for Halloween!).  I'm especially in love with THIS fox beanie with its bright orange color & planning to order THIS baby bear beanie in time for Cooper to wear on his first Christmas.   

Sherpa Lined Bubba Hat // Navy Knit Beanie // Mad Bomber Hat
Grey Knit Hat with Ears // Jersey Hat with Ties
Fox Beanie // Baby Bear Beanie

Wishing you all a happy middle of the week & 

I'd love to hear about your cold weather baby hat finds in the comments below!

Happy October

At my shower in April we were gifted the most adorable Halloween costume of Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.  But Eric & I were blessed with a giant baby who outgrew his 6 month size costume at 3 months.  So I snapped a few photos in September while it still fit, but was determined to wait until October to share.

Cooper's actual costume is going to be a bat & because I didn't want to spend a fortune, especially when baby doesn't walk &/or go door to door, we're combining THIS hat with either THIS pair of footed pajamas or THESE pants with THIS bodysuit.  Simple & perfect.  Stay tuned for photos of that one in a few weeks <3

I'd love to hear what everyone dressing their littles as for Halloween!! I'm still debating whether to dress up with baby & craft some bat wings for the pups to match while we pass out candy.