A Girl Can’t Have Enough…

Bags.

It’s a lot harder now with having 2 littles to carrying around a nice little purse, but now that we’re back in California with a car I decided it’s time to not just be a mom, but also feel nice with what we’re able to accessorize with and still be functional.

I wanted a diaper bag with a lot of compartments and leather to really feel like this is a nice bag. I also wanted one that could give you the option of being a backpack when necessary.

It took awhile, but I found my dream bag at a designer brand called Lily Jade.

Seriously, here’s why:

• Leather is so soft!

💟  P.S. sneak peek of Addison’s room – we clearly love the color grey. The London storage bins are from KaiKai&Ash – city collection.

• designs are clean/colors are lovely

• just enough compartments inside and outside the bag

• it gets better – 12 compartment tote inside the bag can be easily taken out to leave with the “grandparents” while you go out with your non-mom items!  Fear not, there are still compartments and zippers to store your goodies when the tote is removed.

💟  P.S. I have some of my favorite essentials from Bebe Au Lait (they have the cutest patterns!).  Pictured is the Muslin nightingale nursing scarf and hot air balloon wet/dry bag sitting on the Muslin moon crib sheet.

• big enough to put your laptop in as well so you don’t have to use it just as a diaper bag (or maybe your little too)

• did I mention there is a removable tote inside so if you’re the type that really wants to use your Longchamp’s bag with not enough compartments or need to make a quick bigger bag change, you are able to put a little “Lily Jade” in there for a quick transfer of your little’s necessities. How well thought out is that?
• And of course, you can wear as a backpack to be hands free. Yay!

I’ve had my Lily Jade bag for a bit now and it’s been perfect for all types of weather and adventures. Oh yes, in California we can get to the snow driving in 1.5 hours.

Cheers for now and yes, this bag is everyday perfect. #lilyjade

#musthave #inlove

The Big 3.

Wow, it’s finally 3 months and I’ve noticed one big thing.

I’m losing so much hair I’ve even clogged the shower drain. Does anyone have any remedies for hair loss? I don’t even recall with my first little to have lost this much hair so early on.

P.S. if you’re wondering how to unclog a shower drain “naturally” – baking soda and white vinegar with boiling water.

Snuggle Muslin blanket from Bebeaulait

Anyhow, happy 3 months my little panda bear. A little note to you:
Dear Addison, 

You’re 3 months now. You are full of smiles to us, laughter with daddy as he tickles you, and staring inquisitively at your big sister since she is always up in your face. 

You are a handful but still manage to let us get some rest. Your first time flying was to Spain and you were wonderful. 

Current loves. 

• bath time
• feeding time
• “bicycle” time
• Out and about 
• Sound of the ocean 
• Ewan the dream sheep 

Current dislikes. 

• being in a room by yourself 
• loud noises
• pooping

Love, 

Mum

Wondering about Ewan on Addison’s loves? Well, this is one stuffed animal to get.

Ewan will play for 20 minutes soothing noises to calm and hopefully settle the babe to sleep. There are 4 sounds to choose from easily on his legs along with a pink glow to make it like mummy’s womb.

Ewan the Dream Sheep

I can say with certainty my little loves it and my first little loves hugging and making sure baby sister always has it.

Wait, maybe she watches Shaun the sheep and remembers seeing them spread out around town last year.

We also got the mini Ewan (just as soft) with satin legs and velcro tail to attach a dummy or teether to. Perfect size to bring out and about as it’s machine washable and dryer safe. P.S. classy diaper bag is from Fawn Design. Love how functional yet so gorgeous it doesn’t even look like a diaper bag.

To note, the heartbeat and womb sounds are actual recordings, not computer generated (paediatric research suggests that these sounds have been proven to have an extremely calming effect and can help settle babies with COLIC induced pain).

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. xx

The Rollercoaster Ride of Being a Mum.

Seriously, it’s been a roller coaster ride getting this breastfeeding down. The art of supply and demand with production of milk is definitely a work in progress and it has been rough with engorged and clogged milk ducts (thankfully, no mastitis).

I didn’t give much of a try to nursing my first and opted to pump and supplement with formula as I didn’t have much milk after a month.  Now I understand why I didn’t have much – the contact with nursing seems to be play a huge factor to building your milk production.  The sounds (cries) my babe makes now even causes my boobs to tingle and milk come out! WHOA, our body is crazy on what it does. 😯

This time around I decided my goal was to nurse and pump to maintain my sanity in saving time on cleaning/sterilizing the pump and bottles (Ok, I’m being lazy but that’s like 10 minutes of extra sleep in!).  My hubs is thinking the big savings on not spending money on formula. 💲💲

Pumping 

I decided to get a new pump because I wanted it to be smaller/travel friendly.  With all the research I did, I opted for the Nuby Natural Touch Digital Electric Breast Pump based on the size and how it looked.

• 💟 After using it this past week – I’m in love for the following reasons: 
  • simple to use (on/off) with 5 settings for suction and speed.
  • stimulation and expression functions to get the let-down going and then express function starts automatically to get the milk in the bottle (you can continue watching that show with no interruptions)!
  • small and portable (I think you can get a battery pack for it as well)
  • EASY to clean/sterilize (so important)
  • suction for the boob is made of silicone so it’s comfortable! yay for our boobs!

Did you know?

Nûby is the UK’s No.1 teether and No.2 cup brand (source: IRI 52 w/e 16.06.15) and has won numerous prestigious awards including Mother&Baby, Practical Parenting, Prima Baby and Loved by Parents for Newborn Feeding, Drinking, Teething & Toys which are all independently tried and tested and voted for by parents themselves. Nûby provides high quality, innovative products that are inspired by nature and make the lives of babies and parents easier, simpler and more fun.

OK, so one of the bigger questions I had was when can I introduce the pacifer to the babe since I was scared she would get confused on how to latch on?  Addison didn’t have to wait too long (approx. 2 weeks old) to get a pacifier, so of course, we got an adorable clip to go with her paci.

Product LOVE: Blue Brontide

• This amazing mama run shop of organic baby accessories has handmade products in her England studio along with eco friendly sourced products. Super cute and an one stop shop to sustainable accessories. 

📷: Organic dummy/pacifier clip by Blue Brontide

And when you get one present to a little, you have to give the first little something as well.  We decided to do breakfast in bed this past Sunday with her since she told me that Addison and I were always in bed drinking milk. 😜

📷: Fruit in bed with 2 adorable products sold by Blue Brontide:

• Wooden rabbit plate 
• Bunny placement – love this, so easy to clean and keeps your sheets clean and your table! 

📷: So in love with using wood products (as you can tell!). Don’t forget – I partnered with Jord Watches to run a GIVEAWAY where one winner will receive a $75 gift card and every ENTRANT will automatically receive a $20 gift card toward any watch. 

Cheers for now and thanks for reading! xx

That’s My Sleepyhead.

Product LOVE: Sleepyhead / Dockatot

Oh wow, all the hype about the sleepyhead / dockatot rings true – I’m a believer now that it really creates a magic portable bed for my newborn to sleep soundly in.

FYI: the Sleepyhead is what it is called in Europe (and also where it originated) and Dockatot is the USA name. 

We got the Sleepyhead Deluxe and it’s perfect for our cozy little London flat as we only have 2 bedrooms. Who needs another crib when you can use this to approximately 8 months.  If you would like to see our flat/episode from House Hunters International, I finally got it posted on my website under sprinkles.  The hilarious bit now is seeing the comments that people post on there – so “kind” behind a screen, I must say. 😯

Anyhow, I want to note a couple things about the Sleepyhead and the already noticeable personality differences between the girls that make this product work for our family of four. 

• My first loved her Rock n’ Play and being patted and rocked. Addison just wants to be held and not moved so Sleepyhead is perfect for her.
• Addison was breeched until 38 weeks so I think being in this “womb” like pod is ideal as she absolutely loves being swaddled where Abigail hated it.
• We realized from our travels with Abigail that we need to get a travel cot that is compact and light and not have to create a baby bed with a now extremely active toddler. The Sleepyhead fits perfectly what we are looking for. It is mobile to be in the flat and out. It will be easy to use for bed sharing, play pod, tummy time, sleep positioner, etc. 
• With the tight quarters in our London flat, we have utilized all the space so having this has made it easier for us to move our newborn around quickly (but not with her in it!) and find a spot for her to sleep peacefully without a million kisses from her sister. 😘

Muslin swaddle blankets LOVE to small shops (pictured above photo). 

• Small Stuff – based in the UK with limited edition clothes and products for our little bears. This mama picks the cutest things.  We love our monochrome goodies from her at an affordable price.  
• The Bobbin Belle – based in Florida, USA. Handmade blankets on my favorite Muslin material. This mama customizes and has so many colors to choose from (newest is oombre). I wish she has blankets in adult size! 

Cheers for now and thanks for reading. 

If you’re toying with the idea of getting a sleepyhead / dockatot, I would say hands down, “donut” worry, you won’t regret this purchase! 

♥️ Addison

Oh Dear, Gestational Diabetes.

What a bummer it has been to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes at week 33. I used to eat whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted, but that has all changed drastically to not fail the test (4 times daily).

It’s a little different from UK to USA so I’ve heard. For UK, the target glucose level (1) hour after a meal is 7.5 mmol/L and before breakfast (fasting) is 5.3 mmol/L. For USA, they calculate over 130 mg/dL as being too high. Also, I got tested at week 31 and looks like USA tests before 28 weeks.

Back to the diet changes – wow! It’s like a tough battle of trial and error on what I can/cannot eat especially for breakfast.  I’ve figured it out so I can have peanut butter on wheat bread. Cut out the fruit and milk. Lovely.

Meals have turned into nuts, eggs, minimal wheat bread/pita, japchae (Korean noodles), chicken, and sadly more veggies.

📷: broccolini & bell peppers stir fried with the best soy sauce in the world #wanjashan – vegetarian mushroom sauce. This sauce is thicker and not salty so extra easy to cook without bringing out some sugar and starch from your cabinet to mix with your soy sauce.

To add more salt to the wound, Abigail is now on summer break until September 6. This is definitely making the last trimester a little harder. I can easily say the 2nd pregnancy is harder than the 1st now since it is less relaxing and more outings with the little.

📷: playdate with her mates

📷: Day 1 at the park. She took a tumble shortly after this. Ouch.

📷: Twirls on this dress from @peytonslane is a yes. Love this shop – check it out for some adorable patterns on her handmade products! And of course, rocking her Freshly Picked moccasins.

Wrapping it up – I now understand what it feels like to have dietary restrictions not by choice. Dreadful, but thinking optimistically – it will hopefully be easier to lose the baby weight after baby is born.

Cheers for now.

May The Force Be With Us.

We (I mean Abigail) are super excited to go to Disneyland Paris for her birthday present this Friday (taking the Eurostar – a faster ride than driving to Vegas from SoCal). We are also to the moon happy this has gotten her to take showers instead of baths.

She’s got her Mouseketeer Scout bag all packed and ready to go with her essentials to the happiest place on earth.

• #lovebooksbyAJ: sneak peek of H is for Hippo about special events during the year
• Daylong sunscreen – my absolute fav’
• Sunnies
• Minnie headband which will get taken off quickly to wear a bow

Recommended product: Salt City scout bag

• Biggest thing about this amazing mama/owner behind Salt Cities.  She’s also a company that gives back like me!  Besides donating their bows to a good cause, they also donate $1 from each sale to this great charity, Cranio Care Bears, that functions off donations from cranio families and good samaritans all over the world, along with the sales of cranio gear from their own shop. They work tirelessly to make sure that any family that wants a care package for their cranio baby gets one free of charge. Wow, can we say awesome?!
• Check out her stylish products from bows, clothes, bags to swaddles – even one of my favorite, gorgeous Instagram mom’s (Amberfillerup) kids rocked her outfits and accessories!

Like before, I like to highlight some fun facts. These are about what makes the Paris park differ from the others. Facts courtesy of Pierre Michonneau from Buzzfeed. Love!

• The Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris is the fastest of the five in operation. It is also the only one that goes upside-down.
• At its opening in 1992, Disneyland Paris had trouble adapting to the local cultural traditions of France and Europe. For example, none of the restaurants served wine, which was quickly corrected. According to Philippe Gas, CEO from 2008 to 2014, the park had to learn to “remain Disney, while integrating with the local culture.”
• The castle at Disneyland Paris is one-of-a-kind. At other Disney parks, the castles take on the appearance of those typically found throughout Europe, but in Paris they might suffer from comparisons with local European architecture. It was decided that the castle at Disneyland Paris would be deliberately fanciful, evoking the imagery of fairy tales instead of historical buildings.
• The castle at Disneyland Paris is the only one of all the Disney parks to house a dragon in its vaults. This dragon, which moves and lets out the occasional roar, is the largest animatronic character in the park, measuring over 75 feet long and weighing over 5,500 pounds.

May the force bring us sunshine and sweet memories. 

📷 loc: Shoreditch next to the park as of May 14, 2016

📷: Copying her buddy – #hangingtough

One more thought, we did our research and decided on staying outside the resort since we would mainly just be sleeping at hotel after a long day at the park. After scouring hotels, we decided on this the Explorer Hotel based on a couple points.

• Nice swimming pool/soft play.
• It was decorated as if we are still the park.
• Free shuttle to/from park.
• More to come whether that be the truth. 

Thanks again for joining my blog and the birthday wishes to my bugaboo.  Cheers for now!