July

Hello blog!
As I'm laying here in bed I remembered that I have a handy dandy app on my phone just for blogging. So here I am.
Insomnia ain't got nothin' on me!

The kiddos are doing really well. Chaps is a complete mess and is often seen wearing multiple costumes at once. She's really into music right now and likes to perform for all of our friends. It's pretty funny. She's not really into kid music... She likes: Adele, The Beatles, Fun, Coldplat, Phish, that goyete guy- the list goes on and on.
After she hears a song a few times she has the entire thing memorized. I mean the entire.song.
Her memory is proving to be quite amazing as we've realized that she has tons of her books memorized. Word for word. It's kind of strange when she "reads" to us, getting 90% of what's on the page correct. We know she isn't really reading, but I'm impressed that she can memorize a 30 page book!
Smart child... God bless us all.

Collier is still a sweet little angel boy. He's just happy to be here. Ugh we love him so much! He's so dern edible.
He started sleeping on his stomach 3 days ago-- he can't be stopped! I tried flipping him at first but it's a lost cause. He's still babbling a lot- dadaaa mamamma babbabab are his faves.
Still takes a paci unlike his sis at this age. I'm still giving him a bottle of b milk most days.
Hmmm... Thasss about it for the kids!

Collier Update

I cannot believe it is June already... and almost July!

Time is flying.
I don't have time to make this at all interesting, but I wanted to jot down a few things about sweet Collier.
Collier will be 6 months old on July 11th.
We've been giving him baby food for a few weeks now.  We tried a little earlier but he just wasn't interested, and since he's been sleeping awesome without it... it didn't really matter to me.
At this point, I'm giving him solids about twice a day.  Today I think he'll get solids 3 times.
He is eating four 7 ounce bottles of formula (every 4 hours) and at least 2 meals a day.  Until a few weeks ago, he was getting half breast milk and half formula.  I still have a lot in the freezer, but I get lazy about thawing it out since he takes formula so well now.  He is on Similac Advance.

Collier goes to bed around 7 pm every night and wakes up around 7 in the morning.  Some mornings it's a bit later, sometimes it's a little earlier.  It just depends.  He eats his bottle and we put him right back down.  He sleeps until around 9:45-10am.

Collier is so damn sweet.  He is seriously an angel child.  He never cries.  I mean seriously.  He rarely fusses.  Sometimes right before bed for a minute, but usually not even then.  I've never been around an easier baby and he makes me want to have 10 more!!  So.easy.going.

We dropped the swaddle a few weeks ago.  He's doing great!!  The first night he was upset for about an hour (which was horrible since he never gets upset), but after that-- we were good to go.

He's started babbling a lot and says mamamammama, dadadadadda-- but this time around I know that he's just babbling.  I'm quite sure he doesn't know what mama or dada mean at this point.  It's still sweet to hear.

C man likes hanging out in his bouncy seat, exersaucer and being held.  He doesn't get much floor time since he seems to be always sleeping/eating/hanging out with mommy and daddy.  We are embracing this baby stage since we know it goes by all too quickly.

I often say I'm trying to delay his milestones... I don't want him to crawl or walk anytime soon-- we love holding him!!!

Just wanted to jot this down... Happy Monday!!

My favorite {baby} things

Yo.

I have a lot to catch up on, but I've been thinking a lot about my favorite baby products-- and how much they have changed this go around.

I've had entirely different experiences with my two babies. They probably all revolve around the fact that I didn't really breastfeed the first go around, and this time, I am.

I'll just start with numero uno.

1. This magical little cream called All Purpose Nipple Ointment. Yup, I said it. Nipple Ointment. You're blushing, aren't ya? I won't go into details, but there were a few days there that I would just cry every time I fed Collier. Nursing hurts. People make you think that if you are doing it right, it doesn't hurt. That's not true. In extreme cases, like mine, it hurts reaaaaaaaaaal bad. And this stuff helps.

2. Nummmmero dos. The Medela Freestyle Hands Free Breast Pump.

Now... this little lady ain't cheap. BUT, it's hands free... AND rechargeable. I can't tell you how handy this thing is. It's about the size of a pop tart. I freaking love it.

I've actually stopped nursing-- I'm exclusively pumping... {btw, I hit 12 WEEKS YESTERDAY!!}

Can you tell I'm proud of myself?? I only made it 6 weeks with Chaps and I was supplementing after two weeks. I'd be lying if I told you that I enjoy pumping, but it's working and I'm not quitting anytime soon. This pump makes it as enjoyable as possible. I've pumped all over this dang city...

3. THE NAP NANNY.

Holy Moly. We think our little guy may have reflux because he will consistently sleep through the night (and has been for a little while) if he is sleeping on an incline. For the longest time we let him sleep in his carseat because he loved it, and slept so soundly there. Well, a couple weeks ago we tried to get him to sleep on his back. That didn't work out so well folks. He wakes up uncomfortable every 3 hours. No fun for anyone. MiMi bought this contraption for us and it works like a charm. It's not to be used in the crib, only on the floor. Little man currently sleeps about a foot from my face on the floor in his nap nanny and we are all sleeping. This makes for a happy fam. I'm dreading the day I have to break the habit and put him in the crib... but for now I'm just going to enjoy what we've got going. I keep telling myself that Chappell didn't sleep in her crib until her 4 month birthday, and she's a great sleeper-- so we have time, right? He won't be officially 3 months until April 11th.

4. Summer Infant Swaddlers!

We didn't swaddle Chappell. It made her mad and we just gave up. Boy were we dumb. Swaddling is the best thing ever. Once the baby gets used to it, I swear it buys you hours of sleep. They don't startle themselves. Nuff said.

5. Summer Infant Monitor-- This is the only thing that was on both of my "favorite" lists. I use this at nap time. This has been the best investment I've made thus far as a parent. It helped us through every stage with Chappell-- from infancy, to making the move to her big girl bed. Only now do I feel comfortable using a sound-only monitor with her. Kind of perfect timing-- the video monitor has been handed down to C-man. I thought about getting a new digital one, with multiple cameras... but this seems to be working just fine for now.

6. Double Jogger. Thank you Windsey for telling me which jogger to buy. At 133 bucks-- this baby is cheap. And works just dandy I might add. Reed and I have enjoyed a few booze strolls already with this monstrosity. Kiddddding... well, sort of. We actually do like to stroll while sipping on lovely Abita Strawberries this time of year...

The only con to this stroller is that it is ridiculously heavy. I don't know if all joggers are... but I was surprised.

7. Aden + Anais blankets. Love them.

8. Fenugreek --- Herb that helps you make more milk. Pretty sweet. Only con, you smell like syrup. But there are many worse things you could smell like...

I think that's it for now. My grammar is horrendous. Sorry bout that. No time to proof read :)

iPhone duuuu dump

iPhone pics...

Collier Hutcheson Williams