March 31, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Sharing five baby items that we never used to help others moms with registries and save them some money and time!

I can not believe our baby was this tiny! Tanner was 3 weeks here! 

1. Diaper Warmer- Tanner’s changing table is not the biggest so we never put out the diaper warmer. Also, living in Florida, we do not experience really cold winters.
2. Decorative Car Seat Straps– I registered for little bear straps for Tanner’s carseat, they are cute, but I never switched out the straps and pads that came with his car seat. I think it is safer to keep what comes with the car seat.
3. Bottle Warmer– I bought this after using a friends and I never opened it. Tanner drank his bottles at room temperature. If the breastmilk came out of the refrigerator, we ran it under hot water for 2 minutes. Also, something you can do if you are at a friends house or at a restaurant.
4. Cup to trap pee– I thought this would come in handy for a baby boy. While, I did get peed on once or twice, I did not use this product and chances are you will not either each time you change a diaper. Save your money 🙂
5. Manual Breast Pump– I never found myself in a situation where I needed a manual pump. I always used my Medela pump that plugged into the wall. I even had an outlet for the car which was extremely convenient when on the road or running errands!

With Tanner’s first birthday approaching, I wanted to share the 5 items that I still have never used/are unopened in Tanner’s closet. These items are just products that we have managed to live without. I do have some friends who enjoy these items, but for Tanner we did not find them necessary. As moms, I feel like it is great to talk about the items that we did not use so hopefully we can save a trip to the store or spending the money on pointless things. I do still plan on trying to take a few items back in exchange for diapers. What are some items that you never opened??

Keep in touch,
Dani

March 22, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

With Easter less than 1 month away, I wanted to share some items that you could put in your baby’s or toddler’s basket.

As some of you may know, I am all about holiday traditions! Every year growing up my parents hid our Easter basket somewhere in the house. It was SO EXCITING for my brother and I to wake up on Easter and look all around the house for our baskets! Even though our son will only be 11 months this Easter, we will begin the same tradition. So before church on Easter Sunday, we will “hide” Tanner’s basket. It may sound silly to hide a baby’s Easter basket, but I am looking forward to this grace-filled holiday and beginning a new tradition as a family of 3! You may be wondering what type of items can you put in a baby’s basket so I created this blog post to share some items that would be perfect for a baby or toddler easter basket.

1. Plum and Sparrow Hand Woven Basket

This basket will be fun for all year adventures

2. Fancy Frogz Knitted Bunny

Every baby needs a bunny for Easter

3. Baby Gap Sandals

a practical gift for spring and summer

4. Gerber Cookies

for children who are too young for chocolate, these are yummy, trust me 😉 put them in a cute bag for your babe to enjoy

5. Jesus Storybook Bible

perfect first bible for a children filled with all of your favorite gospel stories (adults will love this too)

6. Blah Blah Book and Doll Set

the cutest little knitted and a book to go along with the blush toy

7. Egg Decorating Kit

what kid does not love dying & decorating eggs?

8. Guess How Much I Love You Book

a sweet story with beautiful illustrations of a bunny and his mama bunny

9. Mini + Meep “Locally Grown” Shirt

adorable organic cotton t-shirts and onesies. 10% of proceeds go to children in need!

 

What are you putting in your kids baskets and what holiday tradition does your family have?

Keep in touch,
Dani

 

February 28, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Breastfeeding is the craziest rollercoaster-of-a journey that I ever could have imagined. I have been feeling inspired by all of my mama friends stories and struggles and felt like I needed to write this letter to any new mother. 

photo by Verance Photography 

 

Dear New Mama,

Congratulations on your sweet baby. Each baby is a gift from God and I hope you cherish this miracle. Your body took on a great challenge and grew your own human!! Be kind to yourself for months to come and remember is took 9 months to grow that precious angel.  You now have the best job AND the most important job in the entire world. Your job is not to breastfeed your baby, your job is not to choose formula for your baby, but your job is to take care of that baby until they are an adult. Your job is to pour love into that little person’s soul even on the hardest days. Your job is to be a kind and gentle mama, even when the rest of the world is cruel.

Breastfeeding a baby for the first time is a LONG journey. It is something that starts off slow and challenging. I had no idea just how much it would test my patience. There were both days and nights that I wanted to give up. There were days filled with tears. There were days that I was mad at my baby for not latching correct. New mama, remember each day is a new day and IT WILL get better. It will get better whether you continue to breastfeed, it will get better if you decide to exclusively pump, and it will get better if you formula feed your baby. Your identity as a mother is NOT in the method you decide to feed your baby. No one on this earth has the right to judge your method. Why? Because YOU ARE THE MOTHER of your child. And ONLY YOU know what will work best for you and your baby.

I learned that quickly. I believe as a new mother, I had this idea in my head about what our feedings should look like and it is really hard when they are not pretty and perfect. Most likely, it is not going to be pretty for several weeks, maybe even several months like my case. But finally it got better. After your baby is a toddler, no one will even care if you formula fed OR exclusively pumped OR breastfed your baby. All that matters is that you feed your baby and nourish them well. I am here to tell you that breast is not always best. Whatever works for you and your baby is best.  My hope is that all new mothers give themselves tons of grace and remember that no matter what you decide, you are doing your BEST.

I previously wrote a post about breastfeeding in the beginning of my exclusively pumping journey if you would like to read it. I am still pumping twice a day and starting to come to the end of my journey. I will write my final feeding update in Tanner’s 1 year birthday update post. I would love any feedback and love to hear your feeding journey, if you would like to share. I hope every mother knows they are enough!!

Keep in touch,
Dani

February 27, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

I have been sharing some photos on Instagram from our home photo session from the beginning of the month. We are cherishing these photos so much that I wanted to share the entire story with more photos in case some are interested in seeing them all! 

All photos taken by Verance Photography. 
Floral piece handing over our Master bed by The Wilding Collective

This month parks one year of Jason and I living in our first home. I have been wanting to having an in-home photo session for quite some time and I am glad that we had these photos taken before Tanner turns 1. I love being able to look back at photos of the house that my parents built just before I was born so I can’t wait to our baby to be able to share these photos of his first home for generations to come. Not only are these photos special because they are in our first home and with our first child, but our wedding photographer is the one who captured these photos, Sindy of Verance Photography. This month also marks Jason and my 3 year wedding anniversary! When Jason and I got married in Jacksonville, we were living outside of DC and Sindy was living in Tampa. Now we are all back in Jacksonville, living in the same small neighborhood, Murray Hill. I love how these photos tell such a wonderful story. Jason and I feel so blessed to have had Sindy come to our home and share her talent with us. Have you taken family photos lately? I would encourage everyone to have an in-home session! It is such a natural environment to take photos of your family in that will last more than a lifetime.

Keep in touch,
Dani

February 16, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

I am thrilled to team up with Boon to talk about the items you will need to groom or care for your baby.

These samples and post were sponsored by boon, however all opinions are my own.

Let me just start by saying, I honestly wish that I had this Boon CARE kit since day 1! Instead, I had bought most of the items individually. I randomly picked out whatever I thought looked good. I wish I would have registered for this on my Target baby registry. Since Tanner was born, I learned a few important health tips for caring for a baby. First, you should always take a baby’s temperature rectally. While I was still pregnant I bought an ear canal thermometer, little did I know that I would not need that until Tanner was over a year old. The most accurate way to check for a fever is using a rectal thermometer. The Boon CARE kit’s thermometer is really neat because you can use to check a baby’s temperature, temperature of bath water, and temperature in a room. Second, babies get numerous colds in the first year of life and one of the only ways to help baby feel better is with a nasal aspirator.  I had no idea that I would be “sucking” boogers out of my child’s nose! The nasal aspirator is a real life savor! I have used Tanner’s all winter with his runny nose.

Let’s talk about clipping a baby’s nails. Isn’t it the easiest thing you have ever done??? SAID NO ONE EVER! I have literally bought three nail clippers, one from target, one from babies-r-us, and one from CVS. I did not find any of them super easy to use or hold. While I still get really nervous to trim Tanner’s nails, the clippers in the CARE kit do fit really nicely in my small hands. I actually feel like I have control, so these are the clippers that I will use from now on. I was excited to see that the CARE kit includes a silicone tooth brush because now that Tanner is 9 months, I want to start taking care of his gums (he is still toothless). He is trying more and more foods and I was taught that dental hygiene should begin as a baby.

Tanner did not have cradle cap so I never had to get a cradle cap brush. Yet, this brush could be used as a regular brush too. Finally, I used the medicine spoon from the CARE kit for the first time this week. It is useful to have a medicine spoon on hand because you never know when your baby may need a little extra TLC. I would highly recommend Boon’s CARE kit for any new mama or any baby registry. I spent much more than $30 getting all of these products so this is a deal!! What are some of your favorite products on the market? Please let me know if you have any questions. A big thank you to Boon for partnering with me on this post!

Keep in touch,
Dani

January 31st, 2017 by Drafts & Crafts

Watching Tanner grow is the biggest blessing, but it sure is bittersweet how fast time is moving. How can my baby almost be 9 months old??? 

{Bonnet: Briar Handmade – Skirt: Rylee & Cru}

When I found out that we were expecting our first child, I decided that I wanted to write a tri-monthly updates about our experience. That way anyone who was curious about my pregnancy could be filled in and it would be a great way to keep a personal log. The last update that I shared was when Tanner was 6 months. Since our sweet boy will be 9 months in less than two weeks, I thought it was time for a quick update!

Tanner is learning something new every day. My mama heart bursts each time he accomplishes something. We took a trip to the doctor for Tanner’s runny nose and cough so I know that our ham weighs 22 pounds and measures 29.5 inches long as of today (around the 90th percentile for both)! The newest skill that Tanner has mastered is clapping.. all the cool kids are doing it! It is the cutest thing when he gets excited and claps! Our BIG boy still is not crawling, which I am totally fine with. Sure, I would be proud if he started crawling, but I also know that means much more work for me. Tanner does scoot around and can roll to where he wants to go if he is really determined. He has started to get up on all 4’s more so I think we will have a crawler soon.

Tanner is still sleeping through the night 95% of the time. He does like an occasional 3 or 4am snack. He does not have any teeth, but today the doctor mentioned that she can see a bottom tooth is very close to breaking the surface. With the way Tanner eats, you would not know that he does not have any teefies. At 22 pounds, the boy loves to eat. He wants to eat WHATEVER we are eating. I am loosely following the baby lead weaning technique by letting Tanner try all of the food we eat. Let me tell you, the kid loves carbs like his mama.

Tanner is still being fed breastmilk, but we had a big change this week. We are beginning to mix breastmilk with formula, bottles are now going to be half and half. Tanner nurses first thing is the morning, then I pump twice during the day now (I use to pump 6 times a day). Amen. I just want to get my life back and not be married to the breast pump. Tell me, how are you ladies doing? Anyone else over pumping out there?? I would love to hear about the milestones that your babes are hitting? Big or small, they are all so exciting!!!

Keep in touch,
Dani