Archives for February 2017

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