Hello Baby Brown

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Brown Bumpdate / 20 Weeks (half way!!)

20 weeks! 20!! I cannot believe this pregnancy is already half way over. With both of the girls I wished the weeks would just hurry up and pass so that I could hold them in my arms! This is my first pregnancy where I feel the exact opposite. While I cannot wait to hold him and kiss him and see his sweet face, I really need the next twenty weeks to prepare for him! We're really focused on wrapping up Eric's moms estate and then we can start to focus on preparing our home and the nursery. We have more home projects than we'll be able to complete by his arrival, but I hope we can knock out a decent amount! We also really need to name him, something that is proving to be super difficult for us.

I'm definitely feeling unprepared, but I am so so excited for this sweet boy. I keep envisioning his sweet little face and how the girls will be with him. For some reason I really feel like he's going to look like Sloan did as a newborn, cannot wait to see (ok but really I can wait)!!

20 w e e k b u m p d a t e

Due date: August 25th, 2017

How far along: 20 weeks!

How many days to go: 140

Gender: BOY!

Baby's name: Baby Brownie (stilllllll... hopefully we find the perfect name soon!)

Size of the baby: He is the size of a banana, about 12 ounces in weight and ten inches long

Movement: He is super active at night when I lay in bed! His kicks are getting bigger, I am dying for Eric and the girls to catch one of his kicks.

Total weight gain so far: 14 pounds

Most recent doctor appointment: We got to see baby boy a few days ago at my 20 week scan. His heart rate was 150 beats per minute and he is super long! Everything about him is measuring big which terrifies me. The girls were peanuts as newborns and I have a feeling he is going to be a big boy! We got to see him suck his little thumb (which was so cute!), but he was super uncooperative when trying to get ultrasound photos! Seeing him felt magical. I love him so much already and keep envisioning our life with him.

Belly button in or out: in

Favorite maternity clothes right now: I am obsessed with the Blanqi maternity belly support leggings and support wear tank. I will be totally honest, I was a little gun shy with these at first because of the price. After wearing them for a few days in a row and feeling sad when I had to take them off and wash them, I am happy to report they are worth there weight in gold. I have never worn maternity leggings that fit so well and are so flattering, I highly highly recommend!! I plan on ordering the postpartum leggings before baby boy arrives and bringing them to the hospital with me. Seriously mamas you need them, you can thank me later ;)

Stretch marks: So far none!

Sleep: I have a hard time falling asleep and wake up a lot throughout the night... mornings are not my jam lately.

Mood: Not as emotional as I was a few weeks ago which is good! I've been a little sluggish these last few days, trying to recover from being super sick earlier this week. But overall I feel happy and normal.

Food cravings: Pretty much everything all the time. But more specifically... cheeseburgers, mangos, cutie oranges, spicy avocado hummus with pretzel crisps, milk chocolate covered cashews, and Cawston Press rhubarb sodas.

Favorite moment this week: Two things:

1. Seeing baby boy at our ultrasound!! Seeing him move and wiggle is so incredible, I love him so much already!

2. Sloan put her little hands on Phayre's cheeks and told her, "Phayre Bear, you need to pay attention to me right now. I need you to start watching what I do because you have to learn how to be a big sister. I'm gonna be mama's helper and I'm gonna hold the baby when she has to take care of you. But sometimes you might have to hold the baby so you needa watch how I do it." And then P started patting her belly and saying, "BABY! BABY! BABY!" They melt my heart those two sisters.

I'm missing: Wine and having skinny ankles.

Biggest complaint: At my ultrasound he was head down and already incredibly low. If I'm on my feet for too long and he gets too low, I feel a ton of pressure and have to sit down. It's super uncomfortable!! My skin and hair are also crazy dry which is kind of annoying.

Recent baby purchase: I bought him the sweetest little romper and it's so tiny and cute! I also got a super soft nursing cover and I love it, super excited to use it once he arrives!

Nursery: We haven't really made any progress... yet. But I did go through fabric samples with my friend Whitney from Madly Wish and chose the nursery colors!! You guys, it's going to be so cute! Cannot wait to get started and share.

Labor signs: none, thank goodness!

Photos by the oh so talented Lindsey Wiatt Photography.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Road Trippin with toddlers: what to pack

Video and photos by the incredibly talented Lindsey Wiatt Photography.

The girls haven't stopped talking about and reliving our recent Seattle trip! Phayre will start chanting "Attle" (Seattle) at random and Sloan gets so excited. We love getting away as a family and have a few more weekend trips coming up. Planning and packing can be stressful, but getting away is ALWAYS worth it! I love a quick change of scenery, I always come home feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new week.

I've had a lot of questions about packing for trips lately, so I wanted to share my packing list for quick trips. This is my slimmed down packing list, but it's just enough to have a comfortable weekend away! I also can fit pretty much everything for the girls into one bag which is key when road tripping.

On our most recent trip, I used the new Itzy Ritzy diaper tote insert and Ll Bean tote. It was the perfect size for all of the girl's things! I love that the bag was big enough to hold everything and I was able to keep all of their smaller items (like toiletries and pacifiers) in the diaper bag insert.

A few other things worth mentioning when it comes to packing for the girls...

-I always pack the girls an outfit for each day, plus one emergency outfit (I also always have something for them in my diaper bag as well so I guess technically I have two emergency outfits).
-I try to bring neutral shoes so that they go with multiple outfits.
-I bring one pair of pajamas for every two nights. So for a weekend away, I pack one pair per girl.
-I always have travel size toiletries on hand that I can take with us when we go-no use in wasting a bunch of space with full sized toiletries.
-If you've read my "out and about with two" post, you know that I cannot live without my Uppababy Vista double stroller, I bring that baby everywhere with us.
-I love bringing our Hatch Baby Rest with us because it doubles as a sound machine and night light while we're away (this comes in handy when we're all sharing a room and I can't turn the lights on).
-I always bring my Covered Goods nursing cover with us (even though I'm not nursing) and use it on highchairs and shopping carts. My girls have come home from a getaway and gotten sick a few too many times, I try to eliminate as many germs as possible!
-I usually pack a seperate small car bag for the girls with a few of their favorite books and toys and some snacks. I keep that between them in the backseat.

I hope this packing list is helpful on your next adventure!

Marisa

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Hatch Baby Rest / Night light, sound machine, and OK to wake

When Phayre was a baby I discovered Hatch Baby through their smart changing pad (an item I couldn't have lived without while I was breast feeding and struggling with supply issues!). Hatch Baby is an amazing baby gear brand that is incredibly innovative in solving parents everyday problems and concerns. I am always waiting to see what they will create next!

Hatch Baby recently released the Rest, a night light, sound machine, and OK to wake clock. We've been using it in Sloan's room for the past few months and I absolutely love it (and so does Sloan!). The machine itself is a great design, it looks nice in her room and is just the right size. The night light actually changes color and you can control the brightness. Sloan loves the rainbow setting! It has several different sounds to choose from and you can control the volume. Sloan usually sleeps in until about 8am so we haven't used the Ok to wake alarm, but I am planning on buying a Rest for P and utilizing that feature (she's been waking up earlier and earlier)!

The Rest is super easy to use and the buttons are discreetly located on the bottom. I've told you all this, but I haven't even told you the best part!! While you can control the machine at its base, you can also control all of it's features on the Hatch Baby Rest app. This is what sold me on the machine! You can control the night light color (and brightness), sound (and volume), and set or change your wake up alarm. You can also choose different "favorites" settings and even choose when they turn on. We have Sloan's sound and night light settings turn on at 8pm so that she knows it's bedtime. She is such a rule follower, she's so good about seeing her Rest light turn on and getting right in her bed and ready for books. It's almost like because we're not telling her that it's time for bed (but she has a very clear indicator), she doesn't fight it or have a hard time getting into bed.

You can learn all about the Hatch Baby Rest here, I so highly recommend this product! It's not only an affordable baby item, but one that will be useful for years and years. If you were to buy a night light, sound machine, and OK to wake alarm you would end up spending more than the price of a Rest. It really is such an innovative and useful product.

I actually plan on getting two more, so that each of my babes has one in their rooms. Phayre could definitely use all of it's features right now (especially the OK to wake indicator!) and I will use it as a night light in the baby's room during those late night nursing sessions. It's a product that will grow with him so I feel good about adding one to his nursery. Plus let's be honest, I love the design and think that it will look so nice on his dresser!

You can see Sloan's full room tour here.

I partnered with Hatch Baby on this post, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own!

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Sloan's Room Tour

I have shared little bits of Sloan's room here and there on Instagram, but I've never actually done a room tour! I figure this post is long overdue so I'm super excited to finally share! I love Sloan's room because it's a great combination of beauty and function. While the room is decorated and very girly (like Sloan!), it's also super functional and she loves spending time in there.

The girls have a playroom (full playroom tour here) on our main floor and that's where we spend most of our time, so their bedrooms don't house very many toys. Sloan loves having quiet time in her room so some of her favorite items are in there. She has a little table with a few art supplies and her tracing books, her princess castle, and a box of her favorite figurines. The little table is just a cheapy from ikea that I hacked. I got the idea from this pin on Pinterest (I couldn't find a tutorial when I clicked through, but there's tons on Pinterest).

We were lucky enough to work with Land of Nod (one of my absolute favorite children's brands!) on Sloan's bedding and I love the way it turned out. Sloan has the Jenny Lind bed in a full size. I had originally chosen her duvet cover in pink, but it was on backorder so we went with gray instead and I'm so happy we did. While Sloan prefers pink, I think the gray duvet will last her much longer. I love her floral sheets and polka dot shams, they go so well with the duvet. And because Sloan really does think she's a princess, we chose the 'How to be a princess' pillow :). The 'loved' sign above her bed is old and I couldn't find anything similar, I will update here if I find something!

Bed / Duvet cover / Down comforter / Sheets / Shams / Princess pillow / Bunny stuffed animal / Felt flower garland / Name blanket by Boco Baby

Sloan's bow's and dress up items hang from little brass bow hooks and they're probably my favorite things in her room. I bought the bow hooks when Sloan was a baby and hung them in her Seattle nursery (Oh how I miss baby Sloany!). I had originally hung one of Sloan's dress up dresses on a cute hanger from the bow hook, but Sloan took it down and put all of her favorite things up. I think it looks even cuter the way that she decorated the hook :). The photo above the bow hook is a photo of my grandma when she was twenty years old, right before she married my grandpa. Sloan loves the photo almost as much as I do.

Bow hook / Bow blackout curtains

Instead of a traditional nightstand, Sloan has a darling little gold chair where she puts her favorite bedtime books. She loves the lift and flap Bible and any kind of look and find book, we do one of those every night. I finally put her hamper right by her door and she actually puts her dirty clothes in it now! I hung some of Sloan's artwork in simple white frames and I highly recommend doing that with your little. She LOVES that her artwork is framed and feels so proud of it.

Gold chair / Hamper

Sloan has a simple ikea dresser, we just changed out the knobs to some cute ones I found at Home Depot. I absolutely adore the handmade wood sign above her dresser from The Graced House. I would order one of everything from that shop if I could, I love all the wooden signs so much! I'll probably get something for baby brothers nursery :). I always split a bouquet of flowers between two vases and put one in our room and the other in Sloan's room. I think it makes her feel grown up or maybe she just really likes looking at them, but she loves when I put fresh flowers in her room (isn't that so sweet).

Dresser from Ikea / Knobs from Home Depot / Wooden sign by The Graced House / Bunny ear mirror (similar mirror here) / wooden name blocks by Bannor Toys / Bow hook / Fabric bow holder by Belle & Blush

Sloan loves spending time in her room and really so do I. It's beautiful, but also super cozy and fun. It's oh so girly which screams Sloany! I'll link everything I haven't so far below, if I forget anything please leave a comment below and I'd be happy to share!

Xo

Marisa :)