4 month little human!

It's amazing that in 4 short months a heart can fill with so much love and joy! 

Tomorrow London will be 4 months old and she has already changed more than most people do in a year.

The above pic is a face she makes all day while making a humming sound that might be the cutest thing you've ever heard. 

She's drooling like a monster and seems to be starting to teethe. Oh joy!

She's very vocal.

Loves the outdoors, starring up at trees and admiring all the colors and sounds.

She just started sleeping in her crib this week. 

Bye, bye Rock n' Play (a must buy for any new mom) and mommy/dada's room. BIG SIGH.

She sleeps like a champ at night, but her naps need some work.

She's in her big girl stroller as of a couple weeks ago as well. This was a little premature, but I think she's happier than she was in the car seat snap and go. 

About two weeks ago, she discovered her feet and I think she likes them more than me.

She's already 26 1/2 inches long.  Not sure how much she weighs, but we'll find out next week at her 4 mos. doc appt. 

She still loves the bath, but long gone are the days where she just lays back and lets us dump water on her.  Now she kicks and creates a water park in our kitchen.  We might have to retire the infant tub soon.

 She did great in Vegas for my annual conference. Bringing a humidifier was probably the best advice we received pre trip.
Next stop Seattle for my Cousin Trent and Sarah's wedding at the end of this month.
Gotta go make dinner, duty calls!

XO,
S



3 MONTHS OLD and a Swimsuit for Mommy!

I sound like I'm on repeat, but holy warp speed batman, time is a flyin. Little London is growing and changing so fast, I can't even handle.  I'd say let's stop the clock, but every day brings something new and wonderful.  I miss that teeny tiny newborn stage, but love the cute little baby girl she's becoming. 

We recently had our friend Geena from Colors + Things Photography take some current photos. 

 I was told to have photos taken often because babies change the most in their first year of life.  Geena was a pleasure to work with and Franklin Canyon was a beyond beautiful location.

Geena has a great eye behind the lens and can really capture gorgeous light. 

Here's some of my favorites from our shoot!

Head is getting stronger and stronger, making tummy time less and less torturous!

STREEEETCH!  (this is one of my favorite things that she does)

 

That face, I just can't get enough!

 

Cute, even when she cries!

 My favorite headband from Snugars.

My material girl!

The love of our life!

One cool family!

In other news....
I recently bought my first one piece (aka. mommy suit), since my teenage years.
I know you don't have to be a mom to wear a one piece. 
In fact, they are quite popular these days, but it took me having a baby to hop on the bandwagon.
Here it is!

Hoping it looks cute and I feel a little more comfortable tending to baby in it. 
It's one thing to lose the baby weight, it's another to get back your tone...

In due time. 

You can buy here.

 

Still hoping to blog more.  So much to write about and NO time to do so.

 

TTFN!

XO,
S

Time is flying...

... and Lo is getting bigger by the minute!

Work, baby and hubby are keeping me VERY busy, hence the lack of blogging.

Baby girl is such a good baby and we CANNOT get enough of her!
She loves EVERYONE.

She's a good sleeper (knock on wood, I'll probably regret putting this in written word, but she deserves some credit for how well she's slept since such a young age).

She laughs and smiles especially in the morning when she first wakes up.

She's starting to grab and hold on tight to things (we call things like this tricks).

She loves tummy time, now that we've elevated her on a boppy and got a new snail friend (must have toy for tummy time aka. tummy torture, before boppy and snail friend).

She gets grumpy in the afternoons and can be a real wah wah baby butt (but so can I).

She's still sleeping in our room, but we'll probably try to start transitioning her to her big girl crib or at least her room SOON!

She's growing out of clothes like crazy (I get sad packing little things away).

She's a trooper in the car.

She loves nature and being outdoors.

Enough about the bug (my nick name for her- bug, buggie...), here are some recent photos.

Looking cute in Ethan's onsie after peeing through her diap (oops, mommy forgot a change of clothes)- First walk of shame! ;)

Her BFF's James (left) and Ethan (right)

They've known eachother since they were in our bellies. 
This was their first playdate and as you can see, they are clearly super entertained by one another!

Tummy time!!!

We recently tried Stroller Strides (not exactly strolling) & Mommy & Me Yoga!

We go to a Mother's Gathering Group every Monday at a Mother's Haven, where we learn new songs, exercise and discuss milestones and motherhood, it's amazing.

Life is full and complete, I'm a happy mommy and wife.

Looking forward to a fun summer that's bound to fly by!

XO,
S



8 Weeks NEW!

I cannot believe it's already been 8 weeks!

Time has flown and seemed like an eternity all at the same time.

We've had a blast getting to know our baby girl.

We fall more and more in love with her each day.

She's sleeping really well (knock on wood), 6-9 hour stretches at night! 

So momma is feeling GREAT!

She's been swimming twice and has loved the water (just like her daddy).

Looking so forward to a summer of fun in the sun!

This week we started a Mother's Gathering Class at the Mother's Haven in the Val. 

It was awesome meeting other ladies with babies the same age, learning songs and activities (yes, hard to believe, but their are activities even for 8 week olds)...

I look forward to this support group and going through milestones all together.

So much more to write about, but I'm blanking. 

Hopefully in weeks to come, I'll be better about blogging about the latest and greatest.

Meanwhile, here's an 8 week collage of our Lil Smush!

She's really into putting her hands in her mouth (thumb sucker? teething early?).

She's getting better and better at tolerating tummy time.

And recently discovered the birdies on her swing and has a cooing fest while looking at them (it might be one of the cutest things I've ever seen).

Perfect timing, gotta run, she's waking up from her nap!

XO,

S



4 Weeks Old Already!

Time flies when you're having fun!

I can hardly believe it's been 4 weeks since we brought London into this world. 

She's filled our lives with more love than we could have EVER imagined.

Every day brings something new.

In no particular order, here's the latest and greatest! 

Lots and lots and LOTS of visitors.

She's smiling and giving us more and more eye contact.

She's a pretty good sleeper (knock on everything), sleeping 4-6 hours a time at night, but like any baby, she has her rough nights (grunting like crazy).

She loves being held by everyone.

And gives us all a giggle with her expressions and toots while both sleeping and wake time!

We recently got a CD with her name in every song that I play loudly on the TV, as I dance around the house and amuse her!

You can get a CD with your child's name at this darling store in the Century City Mall.

Here's a few pics of her at 4 weeks!

Her favorite time is bath time (ours too), she lets us get water on her face and boogies out of her eyes and doesn't whimper a bit.

We've recently given her a paci (thanks to Grandma Bon Bon). The verdict isn't out on whether she's a paci girl or not?!

She got her first pair of Sunglasses (pic to come) and doesn't seem to mind wearing them. Maybe it's because she's too young to know how to rip them off her face or maybe she's growing tolerant of her accessorizing momma already?! Time will tell.

  

Looking so forward to what the next days and month will bring.

Tonight D3 (aka. Grandpa Steve) and Uncle Jason are coming to meet Lo for the first time.

And this weekend G'Ma (Shane's mommy) will be visiting for Mother's Day.
As a mother of 3 boys, she's beyond excited to meet her first grandchild that's a GIRL!

Lots of family time and MORE pics to come.

XO,

S

Nursery Time!

So much to post, not enough nap time!

Jillian took some amazing pics of London's little nursery that I've been dying to share.

I (we, my mom, Shane and I) had the best time hunting and piecing it together London's nursery.
I'd have ideas, share them with Shane, he'd approve and my mom and I would search to find the perfect items at great prices. Teamwork people!
Home Goods, West Elm, Pottery Barn, Overstock.com, Walmart, Target are just a few of the places we bought items from.

Pic on the left: 

• The stripes were painted by my neighbor and friend Dan and myself. Click here for more on striped fun!
• The canvases above the crib were an inspiration from a baby decor blog (ontobaby, laybabylay...), can't remember which one.  My husbands graphic artist took the prints and made them into jpegs and I had them printed on canvas at Costco. The canvases are light weight and I velcroed them to the wall, so the peanut will be safe in her crib once she's sleeping in there.
• The crib is from Walmart and looks like many of the modern cribs I liked, but for less than half the price.

Pic on the right:

•  A cute curio shelf thingy I bought at an antique store in Hermosa Beach when I lived down there.  It was originally green has been used in many rooms of various apartments I've lived in.  We painted it white to soften it's look for the baby's room and it's a perfect nik nak holder.

Must say something about the beautiful blankie hanging on the crib.  That's a Bon Bon original.  My mom put a lot of work into it and it paid off.  We love it and it keeps lil Lo warm each and every night. 

Pic on the left:

• The glider is a must have in every nursery.  I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed rocking and nursing my sweet baby girl.  Won't get into the fact that it's still a loaner because the dumb company we bought it from has not delivered ours.  NIGHTMARE, but I'll keep this post positive.
• The awesome Baby Love Pillow was a gift for my shower from our friend Megan.  Click here to see the Etsy boutique it was bought from.

Pic on the right:

• The dresser was my first furniture purchase in college from an antique store in SLO.  We had it refinished to match the espresso and white mixed furniture we went with in the nursery.
• Shelves are from Pottery Barn and while they look great, I don't recommend them. They are more than a pain to hang. 
• Shelf items: Cute silver owl- West Elm, Rocking Chair on shelf- Pottery Barn, Frames-TJ Maxx, Piggy Bank was a gift from Nordies, Glass canister being used for baby's headbands-West Elm

These darling crowns were a little find at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Handmade knit hearts, a chalkboard from Michaels and the most darling Cynthia Vincent dress (my daughter has cuter clothes than me) hang from these hooks!

The day bed has been a huge hit.  Ever end up in a friend's nursery while she's nursing, changing the baby, or the babes are playing and wonder where you can sit and sip on a much needed glass of wine?  Well I have.  Thus the inspiration to have seating in our nursery.  Luckily, it's a spacious room and this fit perfectly.  It's also a great nap spot.  You can buy here.  The pillows are a sale combo.  The white ones were a steal from Pottery Barn, someone must have returned them and I snagged them way on sale, love when that happens!  The beige pillows are from Restoration Hardware and were also on sale, woohoo.  The Pottery Barn baskets underneath the bed will be filled with shoes, toys and other London stuff as she gets older! 

Lastly, this is our changing station/dresser.  Love the functionality of having a dresser under the changing station that we won't need forever.  The dresser is another buy from West Elm, click here.

Lamp is from Home Goods.  The London banner was decor for my shower and made by a college friend Rachel Golden, check out her facebook page for all kinds of hand sewn children items.  I love, LOVE, LoVe the chevron pattern right now and got the changing pad cover and bed skirt to match from this website. 



 

Happy Friday! 

XO,

S

London Eve Ball

Where to even begin...
I'm overwhelmed with love and a peaceful happy/content feeling that life is JUST PLAIN OL GOOD! 
London Eve Ball came into our lives at 11:51 a.m. on April 11, 2012.  She weighed a whoppin 8 lbs. 6 ozs. and was 20.5 inches long. 
Our Birth Story:
After some discussion with our doctor, we decided to induce on my due date.  So unlike the old fashion way, we weren't rushing to the hospital when my water broke, it was planned, like much of my life (Shane likes to tease that I had to have it this way, so I could put her birth on the Outlook calendar! Heehee).  Even with planning, our birth story started off with some unexpected excitement! We got down to our car with our bags packed, birth ball in hand and sure enough, my car wouldn't start.  Thankfully, it was just a dead battery, so after a quick jump start, we were instructed to drive around for at least 30 minutes.  We called the hospital, let them know we'd be late and headed over to Brian's Shave Ice for a final snow cone before baby!

Can't get enough shave ice with sour spray, YUM!

We got to the hospital around 9:30 p.m. and it wasn't until the first nurse came in to start filling out paperwork that it all hit me.  It was time, in less than 24 hours, I would be experiencing labor (which I was terrified of) and meeting our baby (my life long dream).  Let the waterworks begin! Everything  at that moment became real and hit me. 
They hooked me up to a baby monitor and watched all our vitals.  A magical nurse gave me the dreaded IV and it was NOTHING.  I was so worried about this IV, I even lost sleep over it and I have to say, it was honestly NOTHING.  I could not believe it. 

After the IV, I was feeling pretty invincible! 

Super Sam!

We then waited for the Cervidel (inducing agent) to be delivered and the nurse explained what it does and how long it would take. We were told that I'd probably start feeling contractions the following morning and that my doc would be there to check in on me at around 9 a.m.   They gave me an Ambien, which I stupidly shared with my husband and told me to get a good night's sleep.  YA RIGHT?!  I tried to sleep, but basically just watched Shane sleep and stared at the fetal monitor.  At around 2 or 3 a.m. the fun began, I started to feel a tremendous amount of pain.  I tried to sleep and ignore it, but I finally gave in and called in a nurse.  She was the ONE mean nurse we experienced and probably the one I needed most to be nice to me.  She came in and I said can you check me, I'm in a lot of pain.  She said, it's probably "just cramps" from the Cervidel.  I thought to myself, if these are cramps, I don't know if I can do this?  She then said, what's your question?  Well nurse lady, I do not know, I've never given birth.  Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with what I was thinking-Am I supposed to feel this much pain this early?  I was told tomorrow?  Are you sure they aren't contractions?  Mean nurse lady then said again, "yes, they are just cramps, try to get some sleep, you're going to need your energy to deliver tomorrow."  Sure, I'll just go to sleep while I'm gripping the bed in pain, so simple! BITCH (pardon my French London). So I basically stayed up all night, holding onto the bed for dear life.  At around 5 a.m. I woke Shane up and said, babe we've gotta turn on the lights, TV... and get a nurse in here to check me.  I think am dying (insert a super dramatic Sam).  Thank goodness the mean nurse lady was off and I had a new nurse.  She came in and checked me.  I was dilated to 4 cm and definitely in "active" labor, having contractions.  OKAY, now that's an answer that makes more sense. 

At this point, I ask for an epidural.  It takes some time to get one and by the time I did, I was probably at 6 cm.  My labor was moving along rather quickly.  Dr. Pushkin (isn't that the best name for an OBGYN?) arrived and checked on me and said things are going great, she'd be back to deliver our baby after a c-section, sometime around 2 p.m.  

But NO, NO, NO, lil miss London wasn't going to wait that long.

I got an epidural (another thing I was dreading more than life) and it too was not bad at all.  And oh boy, let me just tell you, this epidural was my new best friend.  Once I had the epidural, I was laughing, joking and happy as could be.  I was ready! 

The morning went by and my awesome nursing team checked me again and sure enough I was 10 cm.  They said, let's do a test push and see if we should call the doc.  Sure enough it was time.  They told me to hold tight and Dr. Pushkin was there a few minutes later.  They taught me how to push and less than 30 minutes and some pushes later our beautiful baby girl was born!  I pushed for dear life, all I could think about was getting her out quick, so A) her head wasn't all cone shaped and B) I could hear that first cry C) so she didn't get stuck in the birth canal.  I pushed so hard, I broke blood vessels in my head and neck. 

Holding London for the first time was indescribable and a moment I will never forget.  Our lives had been forever changed and our story as a family of 3 had just begun!



Just a few of my favorite pics from her first moments of life, thanks to our dear friend Jillian Rose that arrived to the hospital within 30 minutes of her being born!

So much more to write and catch up on, two photo shoots, meeting lots of aunties, uncles and some of her grand parents. 

London is a keeper and we couldn't feel more blessed!

XO,

S