I have written this post many times in my head and I guess it's time I finally put it into actual writing (typing?). I guess I just have been holding on and not wanting to do a yearly update because then I'd have to admit my baby is a one year old. To be exact she is now 14 months old and has grown so much in the two months since turning one. 

This post was created in partnership with Milestone World but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

Hey guys! It's been a while since we last chatted. Let me explain my absence a bit. If you remember from this post I gave extra income ideas as I was playing with ways to make money since our family was downsizing to one income. Obviously when Sophia was born that happened. 

At the beginning of this year, I started babysitting at home and it has been a challenge as I'm use to Sophia's independence and when I finally have a breather I just want to curl up on the couch with a good book which is what I have been doing (many book reviews to come). However this has gotten me behind on my monthly updates of Sophia.

This post is sponsored by HelloFresh but all thoughts, opinions, and adorable baby are of my own.

Imagine me loading up a 91 year old woman and a 9 month old baby to take a trip to the grocery store because that is what literally happens every other week. Sometimes I make a list, sometimes I don't, it is what it is. One of two things happen, I either forget an ingredient and I absolutely will not reload everyone back up for just one or two items, or I overbuy because why don't they sell fresh cilantro in sticks?? Like I do not need the whole thing, I need maybe a handful of leaves but that is it and I am done. I have even tried growing my own cilantro (remember my garden box? Yeah nothing survived).

This post was created in partnership with DockATot but all thoughts, opinions and night sleeping are of my own.

Once upon a time, there was a baby who did not like her mother to sleep. She needed to be near her mother and felt the need to wake up every one to two hours to ensure her mother was near. This little baby was my daughter, Sophia.

There was a time when she did sleep and only woke up twice to nurse in the middle of the night but after our vacation, time change, sickness and a new tooth, Sophia decided to act like a newborn again. When she was a new born I coveted the DockATot but I honestly didn't feel comfortable spending the money not knowing if it really worked or not.

However, this momma was desperate for sleep when Sophia's sleep regression stepped in. DockATot did provide me with my DockATot Grand but I am really kicking myself for not using all those Visa gift cards in the beginning to start off with the DockATot Deluxe. I think it would have saved me many nights of sleep lost.


For the past month, we have been doing the same nighttime routine almost every night and Sophia sleeps approximately five hours before waking for her first nighttime feeding.

Side Note: I have always purposely not followed our routine at least once a week because I do not want Sophia to become too dependent on routine to the point that she cannot fall asleep otherwise so we shake up the routine at least once a week.


After dinner, Anthony usually has one on one playtime with Sophia in her room and once we notice she is getting sleepy (rubbing eyes, overly whining, etc), we know it is time to start our bedtime routine. We do not have specific times or an amount of time we do any one thing, we follow Sophia's cues to know when to start or stop something within our routine. This is something we have found that works best for us and our daughter.

Bathtime 

Anthony and I take turns on who will bathe her. Whoever is not doing bathtime, is preparing the rooms for bedtime such as turning lights off, turning on lullaby music, setting up humidifier, undoing bed, getting out pjs, etc.

The one who is bathing her allows her to play in the tub after washing (we only wash her hair once a week due to cradle cap and this has helped tremendously).

We try to always take her out on a good note as we had a bathtime regression for a few weeks where she hated baths and mommy had to bathe with her so now we sing and play and watch her carefully to be sure to take her out before she is fussy.

Pajamas

The same person who bathes her also dries her off, puts on a fresh diaper and her pajamas. If the house still isn't ready, she is distracted for a bit.

Devotional

Anthony and I take turns reading a daily devotional to her from my childhood devotional book. Sometimes I nurse Sophia during our devotional and sometimes I do not, it just depends on how tired or fussy she is. For the most part, we can do this without nursing.

Nursing and Lullabies

Anthony turns off the light in the nursery while I rock Sophia in our rocking chair and I nurse her to sleep. FYI, I know there is controversy over nursing to sleep but this is what works for my family at the moment and we are perfectly okay with that.

I use to check my social media, catch up on blog stuff, etc. while I nursed her but I noticed the light would distract her from falling asleep no matter how dim I have it so now I put my headphones on and tune in to a podcast (I am currently listening to Read-Aloud Revival and A Delectable Education).

DockATot

Sophia is typically asleep by time I finish a podcast episode so I will text Anthony to come help me move from the nursery to our room. I take the headphones off and leave my phone on the end table in the nursery and Anthony grabs the iPad that is playing the lullaby music and follows behind me to our room.

The DockATot is in the middle of our bed and I lay Sophia down in it as Anthony puts the iPad on our nightstand. Every once in awhile, she will wake up during the transition so one of us will try to get her back to sleep.


We started this whole routine in November (and we actually use to follow this routine before our vacation expect Sophia would put herself to sleep) and received our DockATot in December. It wasn't until we started using the DockATot that we saw real progress for how she use to sleep before the regression. The first night in it, Sophia slept six, S-I-X, hours and the next day she napped for a whole hour and a half in it (nap regression is a whole other story).


Now I seriously cannot imagine life without our DockATot and I am really wishing we would have gotten it sooner. Thank you DockATot for giving this momma and daddy more sleep!

Have you tried the DockATot? What does your bedtime routine look like?

I have been a customer and window shopper/lover of Freshly Picked since I became pregnant with Sophia last year. I was so excited when we purchased her first pair earlier this year (we chose the newborn ivory pair) as they were super easy to put on and stay on.

Technically, Sophia has been out of my belly for almost 41 weeks and she was only in my tummy for 37 weeks but no need to be technical. Let's just say I was pregnant for about 9 months and Sophia is now 9 months old. She has been out in the world for almost as long as she was cooking in my belly, when she was being knitted together.


To celebrate this, I wanted to share comparison photos of what Sophia looked like 9 months in the womb and 9 months out the womb, as well as share 9 things I have learned since becoming a mom.

So guys, I normally have all my Christmas shopping done and presents wrapped but not this year. I am so behind mostly due to budget but also to timing. And I suck at gifting Anthony because I always give it away. I gave him his Father's Day present early. I was suppose to surprise him with a date night for his birthday but told him at lunch that we were going out baby-free that evening. So, its kinda good that I haven't gone shopping for him yet so I don't ruin it, haha.

Without my gift ruining, I am at a lost of what to give him as we don't have much money to spend and whatever I do spend, I don't want it to be something that is just eh, you know? I have been peeping other's gift guides for him but why does every one else have gifts that are super expensive or that are so fancy like cuff links, like my guy likes video games, music and I need ideas along those lines.

After doing my first mommy and me mini session (see here), it inspired me to do more mini sessions (see more here). Particularly ones that go with the changing seasons or holidays; I did a Back to School Mini Session (see here) back in August and again while on a play date at a Pumpkin Patch, I was able to capture some shots of Blessing and her beautiful daughter.

Hey guys! Long time, no hear huh? Things have been crazy busy around here. Sophia is on the move and since being home from vacation, she picked up some not so nice habits of wanting to skip naps and sleep in our bed and wake up a million and one times throughout the night and not to mention the poor kid is still teething and not a single tooth has broke through yet! So this mama is tired and doesn't have the time to dedicate to blog as much as I wish I did. I have tons of ideas and I have photos for the posts, I just need to draft it but by time Anthony is home from work, it is straight school mode or we relax and enjoy each other's company. I mean you guys get it. Life happens and there are certain seasons you enter that are crazy hectic and exhausting but I wouldn't change this season we are in for the world. Being a mama is my dream and I am getting to live it and I love it with all it's challenges and rewards.

With all that said, I did manage to sneak some time for a Halloween tutorial, yay me! Honestly, this tutorial can be used for anytime or any occasion. The color of tissue papers you use is what makes it fit the occasion. For me, I created this purple and metallic silver garland for a Halloween movie night I hosted for my sister's 30th birthday. I wanted the decor to be simple yet fun so I decorated my TV dresser (we are using a dresser as our TV stand) as if it was a mantel because we don't have one and I provided a popcorn bar (I unfortunately did not get pictures of this because, let's be honest, I suck at this professional blogging thing. I did get inspiration from here so check Jessica's post if you are interested in how to set up a popcorn bar).



Anyways, this project was free for me because I am a tissue paper hoarder. I am that person that carefully opens gifts and folds all the tissue paper neatly and saves the gift bags/boxes to reuse and I am also that person that tells people to not rip the box or tissue paper that I put their gift in because I can still reuse it another time. Don't judge.












I broke the steps down and tried to make it as dummy proof as possible, I even contemplated making a video tutorial but with a talkative and active baby, I only get one shot so I didn't try but if your interested in that kind of thing, let me know in the comments and I will update the tutorial if needed!


The greatest part of this tutorial is it is basically free or cost very little money.

So be honest, who else is a tissue paper hoarder?

It's been while since I have shared some photography sessions as I have been trying to keep up with my almost 8 month old. Like holy cow, next week I will have an 8 month old baby; I plan on sharing her 8 month update soon but for the meantime check out her 7 month update.