I would be lying if I said childbirth was easy. I have previously written about our birth story and our hospital experience. I think the difficult childbirth really impacted the relationship that both Brad and I have with Melody.
Baby Shower Elephant Balloon Guestbook
For my best friend's baby shower, I gave her a couple of options for a guestbook. Since she would be the one displaying it, I wanted her involved to an extent without giving too much away. I found some different options through Pinterest, and I let her pick. She thought it would be cute to have an elephant and balloons that people signed. So I took that idea and ran with it.
Melody's Newborn Schedule
After Melody was born, our pediatrician put us on a 3 hour feeding schedule. It took us a few days to find a schedule and rhythm that worked for us. We wanted a schedule that would provide us with some sleep, but also work with us once Brad went back to work. The first week at home, I pumped, and we supplemented with formula. After I built up a day's worth of breastmilk, we went exclusively breastmilk and no formula. This schedule was especially rough on me because I was pumping almost every feeding, but we eventually got into such a good routine that it really wasn't too bad. Check it out below:
The biggest trouble I ran into while pumping breastmilk was not having any free hands. This was troublesome for two reasons. One - this prevented me from being able to feed Melody AND pump at the same time. This was an issue only at night because I did that feeding alone, and I was ready to go back to sleep! Prior to my pumping bra, it was taking me 15 minutes to prep for feeding and pumping, 30 minutes to feed, and 30 minutes to pump. Then I had to clean up, change Melody, put her to bed, then go to bed myself. That was over 90 minutes! The second reason was that my hands would get super tired from holding the breast shields in place while pumping. I sometimes would slide my bra over the bottom of the shields, but it would still leak.
Baby Shower Diaper Thoughts
Originally I had not planned to do this at my best friend's baby shower. However, after doing her diaper cakes and stork bundles, I had some diapers left over. I decided that this would be a much cuter way to give her the diapers rather than throwing them in a bag. I designed a cute sign and used a picture frame from Hobby Lobby to put it in. I also found an adorable basket at Hobby Lobby that went with the color scheme that I put the diapers in. I bought Sharpies in a variety of colors and used a small vase to put them in next to the diapers. I put these next to the party favors for everyone to sign before they left!
DragonCon 2014 and 2015
I already kind of discussed DragonCon back in May when I was going over what Brad and I wear to it. I thought it might also be informative to discuss some of what we did at the last two DragonCons that we have attended. It is highly unlikely we will be attending DragonCon 2016 (primarily because we have a little one now, and we prefer she not get the ConCrud), but if you are and have never been, hopefully this will give you some idea of what to look forward to.
July 4th Dessert Idea
So this isn't a true "recipe" necessarily. I have already posted about how to make Oreo Balls in my Valentine's Day post last year. So you will need to visit that post for the recipe (I kindly linked it for you). Below is an example of an easy way to add a little bit of July 4th spirit to the recipe however!
DIY Hairbows
To match my Disney outfit while at DragonCon in 2015, I made my own hair bow. The one I made was really quick and easy! See below:
Baby Shower Pin Game
The baby shower pin game is one that most people already know about and do. But I did try to add some creativity in the way I presented the game to the guests at the shower.
DIY Cards for Dad
So now that it is Father's Day, I can share these adorable cards that I made for Brad and our dads. These will work for any dad, grandpa, great grandpa, or you can even switch them up for moms, grandmas, and great grandmas! They will work for just about any card giving holiday as well. Just change up the wording!
Baby Friendly Initiative Hospital Experience
I delivered Melody at Madison Hospital in Madison, AL. Madison Hospital is currently pursuing the "Baby Friendly" designation. The practice that I use only delivers at two hospitals locally. Both hospitals are pursuing this designation. We did tour both hospitals, and we were made aware of the hospitals goals at achieving this rare designation. During our tours, we really were not that concerned with this. One reason being that we had no choice. With both hospitals doing this, it really had no impact on which hospital we decided to deliver Melody in. The second reason is honestly, we did not realize the impact this would have on us (more about that below).
Shower Hostess Gift Ideas Part Two
About a year and a half ago, I did a blog post with a shower hostess gift idea. This was for one of my bridal showers. Below are the gifts I gave my hostesses of my baby showers. It isn't baby specific so these gifts can be given to a hostess of any shower really.
What to Wear to Disney World in September
As most of you know, I go to Disney World quite frequently. One of the most difficult tasks for me is what clothes to pack for the weather. This is primarily because Orlando weather isn't always the easiest to predict. However, in September, you can pretty much guarantee it is going to be humid, hot, and maybe even rainy! So dress appropriately.
DIY Baby Shower Invites
For my best friend's baby shower, I decided to design and create the baby shower invitations from scratch. Below is how I did the design, and then I also give some guidance on how I assembled them!
Introducing Melody Camille
On May 25, 2016, our world changed forever. Melody Camille arrived! She was born at 9:42 p.m., weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long. She is absolutely perfect in every way possible. See below for yourself:
Baby Shower Gift Table
For my best friend's baby shower, the theme was pink and gray elephants. I decided to make a cute sign to let guests know where to put their gifts for the mommy to be. I used white cardstock and found a cute pink picture frame at Hobby Lobby. I used the same elephants that I used throughout her baby shower and printed that along with the words "Gift Table" onto the cardstock. I placed the picture from on the table we were using at the shower for gifts. This is super simple and easy, but adds a nice touch to any party.
Nursery Completion
So we are finally finished with Miss Melody's nursery! Today is her official due date, so I thought what better day than today to post our final pictures. Of course, all that is missing from these pictures is Melody herself! Check them out below!
New York Planning and Trip Report
So our sort of "babymoon" was a trip to New York over Thanksgiving. We started planning our trip, however, before we knew I was pregnant. Hence the "sort of" babymoon. New York was something Brad had always wanted to do, and he really wanted to go before kids. So we investigated and planned away!
Cheesy Chicken Casserole
Cheesy Chicken Casserole is a really easy crockpot recipe. I found this recipe in my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I changed up a few things, but I primarily kept the basic ingredients the same. See below!
DIY Wine Charms
I came up with the idea of making my own wine charms when I was trying to come up with a good party favor. While I actually never used these for party favors, I still think the idea of making your own is ideal for any occasion. And if you aren't a wine drinker, they can still be used on any glass with a stem to help everyone identify their glass! You can easily change out the beads or even the charms to make each one unique!