McKenzie's Here! ~ Announcement and my attempt at being a Newborn Photographer

Now that these have all been delivered I can share! 

I ordered mine from Snapfish. I LOVE Snapfish. I've been using them for years! I store all my pics there (if something ever happens to their site I will be heartbroken!) I used them for all our Wedding pics, books, calendars and now for babygirl!

At 12 days old I attempted to take my own pictures of my babygirl. I thought I could save money and do them myself.. Well after a few days passed I knew I had missed the window (ideally newborn photoshoots are best taken from 10-12 days old..That way you can get the cute sleepy baby poses..) but was really regretting not hiring someone. 

Here's some I took myself (not retouched or anything.. I was going to but never did). This day was fun.. pee, poop.. it was interesting! It also took forever! I remember saying to myself, how the hell do actual photographers do this?! It took all day! I had to keep taking breaks to feed her to get her to go back to sleep.. then she'd poop everywhere.. and those naked shots.. we didn't have such goodluck!

 It's a little blurry because she immediately started peeing! But I had to get a naked baby 

shot!

In the end I think they turned out pretty good! Of course I would do some retouching in Photoshop but I also ended up finding a really good photographer whose packages were really afforable!

I found her on a Tuesday and she came over on Wednesday! She was awesome too, since I only wanted to pay for 1 hour she stayed over and didn't charge me because we had quite the time with Kenz. She would cry every time I tried to lay her down. In the end though we got a few good shots. Also Bob came home on his lunch break right when the photographer got there and (not expecting him- my hair was up in a clip and i had yesterday's makeup on) we quickly threw on black shirts and got a couple shots.

 XoXo Rachel

New Mama Favorites♥♥

Because really I wasn't nearly prepared for what Motherhood was going to be like in those first few weeks.

Those first weeks I couldn't wait to be over. And then I had a couple moments crying to my mom and husband that I wanted time to slow down because "I can't believe she's already going to be 2 weeks" .. "3 weeks"..

I say it now that woman are not as prepared or told enough about Breastfeeding.. but honestly my whole pregnancy and attitude about labor, I didn't really read the baby books or want to go to classes because I thought, "Hey everyone's different, I'll just figure it out as it happens"..Now I wish someone had warned me or gave me a heads up that those weeks were going to be the hardest days of my life.

Oh you told me that?

Well that shows clearly my attitude I had while pregnant.

Here are my must haves that got me through it all.

Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter-  I used a couple different Lanolin creams and they helped but I felt like I needed to apply it so damn much. After reading another blog friends recommendation for this stuff I ordered it and fell in love! I loved the "buttery" texture and a little went a long way.

Nursing Pads- I received a few different brands as baby shower gifts.. A couple that were the machine washable- which were crap btw!- I mean I heard they're great later down the road when I'm not leaking so much but in the beginning those things would soak up and leak right through! This brand was my favorite, you can't see I'm wearing it through my shirt and no leaks!

Nursing bra- As birthday presents I asked my mom to get me nursing bras! Oh so exciting! ;) My problem is I didn't want to spend hella $$ on a bra that I wasn't going to wear forever. So I turned to trusty Target and picked out a couple.. These were the "night" bras (that I wear during the day too sometimes).. So comfy!

Mombo Pillow-  Or the boppy whichever you prefer.. I chose or registered for this one because I liked how it had 2 sides..Soft side for lounging, and a hard side for nursing. It even has a vibrator inside! I also found slipcovers at TJ Maxx. Score! This pillow was so needed though, especially in the beginning of nursing when you're still trying to figure out your positioning and what's comfortable. Now (at 6weeks) I haven't used it so much 'cuz we seem to have down a lil.. Heck I can even nurse her standing up. (Yes I'm embarrased- sorta not really- it had to be done.. to admit that I had to nurse her in the Kohls family bathroom yesterday!) I could have gone into a changing room but was already needing to use the bathroom myself and she woke up!)

FYI a tip that I received from a friend.. If you're ever out shopping and she needs to eat go into a changing room.. just tell the dressing room attendant you need a room for her real quick and they should let you!

This is usually why I save these kind of errands for the last on my list.. so if I know i'm running into that time I can quickly pop into a room..

Nipple Shield- oh my heavens..my saving grace! Seriously this thing is now something I will always through in as a gift for baby showers if the mama will be BF'ing. It was perfect timing for me when I received mine! It was the day my milk came in and my breasts were soo engorged the baby couldn't really latch on. We already had her 2 day post follow up appt with the lactation nurse so she gave me one of these to help. These things you want to be a little careful with and not use it all the time (unless you have inverted nipples I guess? not my problem) because then when you need to go back to your nipple she may not want it and only want to use the shield. This was great though every other day for me in the beginning or during cluster feeding days to give my skin a little break! When she was cluster feeding especially she wants to eat every hour- my poor nipples! This thing helped- A LOT!

Rollerball perfume- The many joys of motherhood! Your new perfume will mostly smell of spit up and spoiled milk. And I thought being pregnant in the summer would be hell.. Well having a newborn is also not that fun! It's been so hot out I sweat! And mix that with leaking boobs, and a baby that spits up on you pretty much every feeding you'll just smell lovely! I knew I had to fix this because I DO NOT want to be that girl that others are talking about stinking.. I went to Ulta, looked around there rollerball perfume selection and picked out a couple. I love these because it's not all over my clothes and chest where Kenz likes to bury her face, but only on my neck and wrists so when I go to say hi and hug a friend or whatever they'll smell me all "pretty" and not gag! Plus I can just throw it in the diaper bag or my purse!

Diaper Change Clutch- I picked up this lil guy at TJ Maxx also (link is to Amazon). I love it! It holds about 4 diapers, comes with a wipes case and changing pad. I love my diaper bag but found that it's big and bulky and lugging that into Target with me everytime was kinda a pain in the ass.. So this thing I can either throw in my purse or clip onto the carseat handle - and along with a burp rag that's all I really need! 

Old Navy tank tops- At first I was pretty self conscious of wearing these after baby (they were my staple during pregnancy 'cuz they stretch!) because they were jersey material, tight and stretchy. I still have a lil baby pooch.. But these are the best tops to wear when nursing because you can so easily pull it down to nurse. Plus they're so affordable! All the nursing tops, even at target are kinda pricy. A nursing cami i bought (and then returned) from target was $20! These do the trick!

Dermoplast- I suffered from a couple tears during labor so with the stitches things got a lil uncomfortable down there.. This stuff was nice to spray on to help! P.S. My hospital gave me a can, but you can find it anywhere!

Ibruprofen!!- Hell whatever you get from the doctors for your post partum recovery! I only asked for Ibruprofen since I wasn't in too much pain..But I still pop these suckers every day.. My boobs get sore from let down after let down I just take some motrin to help!

I hope all of this is helpful for someone! :) If you have any questions please feel free to ask away!!

P.S. Don't forget- only a couple more days to use the discount 15OFF5 from Three Little Wonders Bowtique. See this for the details! If there are 5 orders, or even better, every 5 orders there will be a giveaway!! Discount is over on Wednesday!

XoXo Rachel

Beatrice ♥

Yesterday I ran into an older woman at Kohls named Beatrice.

She stopped us to admire Kenz. 

We stood there for about 15-20 mins as she just rattled off tips and advice.

From never trimming their nails in their sleep to how we can tell what the sex of our next baby will be.

Most came with no reasons behind it, just little things she thought I needed to know.

My favorite one though came with a long background story about her great grand daughter (who I saw pictures of and everything - and talked about about 9yr old girls' fashion). I forgot her name, but the story was about how she was not a fan of babydolls when she was little. The advice was to get McKenzie a babydoll. A particular one from Babies r Us that has little pockets to hide stuff.. Long story short Beatrice would get her great grand daughter to love babydolls (or at least this one) because she would hide little candies in the baby. Moving on to coins, and then as she got older the babydoll would be hiding dollar bills. She also loved this babydoll because her great grandmother told her that "Baby" (was her name) would be her best friend when she was mad at mommy or felt sad and she could tell Baby anything and Baby would keep her secrets. As Beatrice kept talking about her great grand daughter I had to start pinching myself because I was started to get choked up.

That thing about "Baby" made me realize McKenzie has no "great grandmother" like Beatrice to tell her things like this. And it made me miss mine so much. This made me think of my Grandma Fran (my dad's mom) whom passed away way too soon. Sadly I don't really remember much since she passed when I was young. I was in the 5th grade when she died and don't have too many memories about her..As I'm writing this and crying..  I just realized she does in fact have a great grandmother, Bob's grandma. But Gertie? Well she will be a GREAT great grandma but she is nothing compared to my Grandma Mukka.

I miss her so much and wish that she could have met my babygirl. But I know she is Kenzie's personal lil angel.

Here's babygirl with her Great Grandparents today :) These pictures are so special.

XoXo Rachel