Tubby Time {Mommy’s Bliss Sweet Slumber line Review}

I am a huge fan of bath time – for myself as well as my kids.  I just really enjoy that time with them in the tub – goofing off and whatnot.  Maybe it’s because when I am working, that is some of the only quality one on one time we get during the week.  Maybe because I like bath toys and goofing off with them.
I also LOVE the post bath fresh baby smell.  I am always looking for new bath products so I happily reviewed the Mommy’s Bliss Sweet Slumber line.  The line includes a 3-in-1 Baby Wash, a nightly Massage Cream and a calming bedroom mist.  Each product contains essential oils that are associated with relaxation and sleep (including English Lavender Oil, German Chamomile Extract and Ylang Ylang flower oil among other botanical ingredients) and anything associated with better sleep gets bonus points in my book.
Once we could give Aleesia a real bath – I tried them out.
The 3-in-1 Baby Wash has a really nice, gentle smell (I’m not a fan of anything with a big fragrant presence), lathered well and I felt like it got her nice and clean. It’s tear free (obviously) and didn’t irritate Aleesia’s skin at all. Gianna even used it as a body wash without an issue.

 (not really sure baths are fun yet)

After her bath, we used the Massage Cream.  Again, the fragrance wasn’t too strong and the lotion appeared to be moisturizing.  Aleesia has the usual dry newborn skin and this worked pretty well for that.

 (was not a fan of the after-bath coldness)

I did spray the bedroom mist near where she sleeps in our room – but I can’t say I was a huge fan of that.  This could have to do with the fact that, especially at night, I am hyper aware of smell!  I would try it again though, it certainly didn’t hurt anything.
As far as the “slumber” part of this product. The first night I used it, Aleesia slept 5 hours in a row for the first time ever.  So, I vote that it really does have a calming effect.  At least it did that night.
We have used the products for a week (and my sister even used them when she gave my niece a bath the other night!) and I still like them and will continue to use them.  They are gentle on the skin, and like I said, the fragrance is pleasant without being overwhelming.  All of the products are hypoallergenic (also gluten, soy, alcohol, sulfate phthalates and paraben free) and the whole line is 100% vegetarian and vegan with  100% recycled packaging. 
All of the products can be found at Walgreens.  The 11.5 fl oz body wash retails for $7.99, 8.25 fl oz massage cream for $6.99, and 3.25 fl oz Slumber Mist for $5.99.

*I was given a sample of the Mommy’s Bliss Sweet Slumber line to review.  All opinions are 100% mine.  All pictures are mine as well.

From Scratch

Aleesia has been here for a little over a month and, generally speaking, I pretty much feel like I have never had a newborn living in my house before. 

Or possibly that it really doesn’t matter how many children you have or how close (or far apart) in age they are because they are each different and therefore each time is different.  Parenting from scratch, if you will.

I am doing a lot of things differently this time, but still, I feel like I am totally out of my element in so many ways.  But really, two pretty major things.

The Sleep Sitch

My little peanut has a serious dislike for sleeping in her own bed.  This is totally foreign to me because Gianna slept in her crib every single night from the day we came home from the hospital. Aleesia wants no part of that nonsense.  I put her in there for naps and she wakes up by the time my feet hit the next floor.  I try to put her in there for night time and she wakes up even faster.  So, right now she is sleeping in the rock & play (that thing is AWESOME!) next to our bed.

I’m not going to lie – it is really nice in the middle of the night, I can just reach over and calm her and/or feed her without much fuss. And without getting out of my warm bed.  But also, I feel pretty strongly that kids and parents need their own sleeping spaces.  Any tips on helping her to transition/adjust to sleeping in her own room? 

She likes to be cozy – so we either swaddle her (even though she MUST have her left arm out!) or put her in a sleep sack at night, so that’s all fine.  I have considered putting her rock & play in her room for now (she likes the snuggly-ness of it, plus the incline helps her reflux) but I don’t know if that will just end up being one more thing to “transition” her out of in the long run.  I know she’s still teeny and maybe I shouldn’t make a huge deal out of her still being in our room – but it will be a huge deal to me when I go back to work.   And also, she sleeps pretty well how things are right now – she goes anywhere from 2-5 hour stretches at night.  Obviously, I don’t want to mess THAT up either! I cherish anything over 3 consecutive hours of sleep!

She isn’t a huge fan of the nap (although, she has been doing pretty good today) probably because she doesn’t feel so hot a lot of days.  She seems to have pretty intense gas pains, hiccups a plenty and reflux to boot (thankfully, it is not NEARLY to the degree that Gianna’s was at this point so I am hoping we can manage this on our own without meds. but, we’ll see) all of which contribute to her inability to relax/nap.  She sometimes takes small cat naps with a longer stretch at some point during the day.  Almost always the longer stretch is laying on me, occasionally she’ll stay asleep in her swing for an hour or so.  Again, not a huge deal right now – but I’d LOVE for her to nap in her crib  (or in the swing, I guess) for Mike when I am at work!  I’m sure she’ll learn to appreciate the nap eventually.

The Breastfeeding Sitch

This is all new territory for me so I am obviously learning this from scratch.  Overall, it’s going well.  She gets kind of lazy with her latch, so we are working on that.  I am not used to the “schedule” or rather, lack of schedule, associated with breastfeeding.  Aleesia will feed from anywhere between 10 and 40  minutes at a time and go 1.5 – 4 hours (at night, mainly) between feedings.  I’m sure she is getting enough, but the Type A part of me feels this need to know EXACTLY how much she eats each time (mostly because I need to make sure I pump enough for her).  I did do a weight before/after feeding with her last week and she only ate about an ounce that time.  Who knows if that is normal for her.  I don’t LOVE it or anything – but it is working so far.  I have noticed her reflux and fussiness (and possibly some dermatitis) is a little worse if I eat raw dairy especially (milk/yogurt/cheese).  I am going to talk to the pediatrician about it tomorrow.

Pumping can totally suck it though – I already know if I am going to make it to six months (let alone a year) of pumping/feeding I am going to need a lot of support.  I finally got the right size shield for my pump so that helps – but oh my goodness what a pain!  I know it’s worth it – but it is hard for me to fit in a pumping session during the day.  Or maybe I’m just not making a ton of time for it so far.  I know I need to work on this because I do have things going on in the evenings this week and every other week until I go back to work that she will need to eat when I am not home!  Any magical tips to keeping up your supply/making pumping more bearable?

I’m sure I will have a whole post dedicated to this eventually.  I really do feel clueless and I (irrationally) worry she isn’t eating enough a lot of the time.  This is tricky!

 

Overall – I just feel like everything is SO new and SO different from “last time” that I need to forget about “last time”.  Aleesia is her own person, she is going to test us in new ways and do her own thing.  I should probably take the perspective that any similarity she has to her sister (that we know/remember how to manage) is a lucky break for us!  I have gotten pretty good at managing my (non-existent) expectations up until now, but these two things are really throwing me off. 

Cousins

I grew up with sisters, obviously. But we really didn’t have cousins our age (at least me and Jacqui didn’t) so I never really thought much about the cousin relationship.

Until my niece came along.

Gianna ADORES Luci – she loves to play with her, make her smile and generally act goofy with her.

Luci likes it too.  she has the best smile!

Aleesia and Luci are only about 4 months apart in age – I know they are going to grow up to love each other like sisters.  And I think that is so awesome.

I also think it’s awesome that I will forever be able to torture all three of them with goofy pictures! I already have a plan for them next month that may or may not involve bunny ears and plastic eggs….

These are my three favorite girls I the whole world and it makes me all kinds of excited to see how their relationships change and grow as they grow up together. 

did you grow up with cousins? did you love it as much as you loved your own siblings (if you had them)? what kind of shenanigans did you and your cousins get into?! (I need to know what to expect, after all!)

A letter to my {second} daughter: one month later

Aleesia -

My little peanut, I have no idea month how you are a month old.  How just four short weeks ago I was walking the halls of the hospital waiting for you to come on out.

And today you are (finally) sleeping on my chest as I type this one handed, and your big sister is sitting next to us, in a princess bathing suit eating a sucker & watching the cat & the hat.  Just another day in our house!

One month is such a short time, yet I barely remember life before you were in it.  You have fit in to our family so well & all the worry I had about not being able to love you to the same amazing, endless degree that I love your sister was for nothing.  I love you different, but certainly not less.

You make me smile with your tiny voice and tiny noises.  (you can certainly assert yourself though and cry REALLY LOUD when you want)  The way you curl on my chest makes me melt and the way you look at me when you are eating is a special kind of look.  I don’t love every minute, but most of them are pretty great.

Sleeping has been a challenge – you aren’t a fan of your crib so far & really not a fan of naps (at least not anywhere but laying on me).  You have a touch of reflux – so far not as bad as your sister had it – but enough we can tell you are uncomfortable and hurting.  I’m sure this relates to the whole sleep problem!  You do okay at night though – we are still trying to figure out if you are a fan of the swaddle!  The binkie soothes you sometimes, but so far, you don’t HAVE to have it.  You seem to like the car and your car seat, which is great.  I am a big fan of your companionship so far – you run errands with me while Gianna is at school and are great at making people smile.  In fact, you DO smile when you are content – I can already see you have your sisters beautiful smile. Lucky!

I just moved the newborn clothes out of your dresser. Not because they don’t fit – but because you have so many other things to wear!  Your sister ensures you are always properly dressed and accessorized.  Probably, you should get used to that!

Speaking of your sister.  I have never witnessed a relationship so pure and loving as the one you two already have.  You make her smile like no one else can. 

She could stare at you and hold you all day – or until she is ready to play!  You look for her and don’t take your eyes off of her when she is near you.  Gianna is making sure you are growing up properly in her eyes – she gives you stickers, makes sure you like bows, crowns and “teaches you the princesses” at every chance she gets. 

Aleesia – you are the perfect addition to our family.  We all love you just as much (or more!) than we expected and I hope that you feel that love every second of the day.  I never imagined the love I could have for one child, let alone two.  I can’t wait to keep watching you grow, teaching you, seeing your relationship with your sister and your cousin (and the rest of your family), loving you.

love you peanut,

Mommy

Cooking One Handed with Minute Ready-To-Serve Rice #LoveEveryMinute

I am in the stage of newborn-hood that involves a lot of forgetting.  Forgetting to brush my teeth (you’re welcome), forgetting to shower and/or change my clothes (you’re welcome again) and forgetting to eat.

I have grand plans of getting meals prepared ahead, using my crock pot and serving food to my family that doesn’t require a toaster.  But then you know, the baby doesn’t want to stop eating, or stop being held, or stop eating long enough to make those plans a reality.  And it’s okay, if you don’t mind eating waffles and pop tarts for days on end. (Gianna has not complained, in case you were wondering!)

Then I was reminded that there are other convenient, healthy and EASY ways to make dinner (or lunch).

Minute® Ready to Serve Rice has been a staple in my food pantry drawer at work for over a year.  There are more than 10 different varieties and anything that tastes good after only being in the microwave for 60 seconds is a winner in my book!  So I picked some up at the store when I was out this week. (I got mine at Target this time, but you can get it at any major retailer/grocer)

So I put my thinking cap on.

And my baby (because, really, she dislikes sleeping a lot unless she is laying on me).

And made some dinner.

I decided on the brown rice variety and some grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce.  I cooked the chicken on my handy George Foreman grill, so it took no time at all to prepare the entire meal.  (although, to be totally honest – I wanted to make this with fish that I thought we had, but didn’t! so rice and fish is a yummy, easy, combo also!)

Easy, fast and most importantly TASTY!

As I was cooking the chicken, I checked out the inside of the Minute Rice packaging – look at this you guys!

So many yummy, different ways to make this rice – what a great way to add some variety to what can be boring brown rice.  And how much easier can it get?

And, my favorite part, a coupon to go get MORE rice.  I clipped that bad boy right out of there and will be picking up some more next time I hit the grocery store.

Gianna made it very clear that she wanted to be involved in the food preparation. 

But not really the food eating (surprise surprise).

I give the Minute Rice Ready To Serve Rice two great big thumbs up – it’s easy, yummy, and I can easily eat it with one hand! 

Minute® Ready to Serve Rice is an ideal portable solution for lunch or breakfast because you can eat it on the go, straight from the cup. In just 60 seconds, you have fully cooked rice for any meal or snack. You’ll never get bored with your lunch since there are 10 flavorful and wholesome varieties. If you’re looking for a healthy option, Minute® Ready to Serve Rice provides easy portion control since it’s conveniently packaged in two individual single-serve cups.

Visit http://www.minuterice.com/ for recipes, including Minute® Ready to Serve Stir it Up recipe ideas and more information about the Minute® Rice family of products.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Ready to Serve Rice.