Wedding craft

So my best friends wedding is this weekend and I was in charge of adding the colors of the wedding to the flower girl basket and the ring pillow. Below you will see what I started off with and what I ended up doing. Enjoy!

Items above: ring pillow, flower girl basket, thin teal ribbon, wide brown ribbon, medium brown ribbon, small brown ribbon and glue gun.

For the ring pillow I took the small brown ribbon cut them up into even pieces to form a box in the center of the pillow and hot glued it. I then took the thin teal ribbon and cut it to the same size of the existing ribbon in the center of the pillow and sewed in the same spot.

For the basket I took the medium brown ribbon hot glued it all the way around the top edge of the outer part of the basket. I then took the thin teal ribbon and rapped it around the entire handle, I sewed the ends in the inside part of the basket. I took the same medium brown ribbon and tied cute bows on each side of the handles with a small piece of the teal ribbon tied in a knot on the bottom part of where the bows sit.


Xoxo
Maria

Zoo Day!

Last Saturday we celebrated my 5 year old niece's birthday and because it was fathers day weekend daddy's got in FREE!  Hope you enjoy!

Sleeping through the Night!!

    I'm extremely excited and proud to say that my daughter is finally sleeping through the night!!!!! We are going on week four and so far so good. It has been a really long process but my hard work is finally paying off. I use many different methods and eventually it all works well together.

              my methods: Try to keep her awake during the day time
                                   A warm bath with Johnson's bedtime bath
                                   A heavy bottle with cereal before bed 

                                   Let her cry for a few minutes until she exhaust herself (last resort)

                                   Spoil her rotten ( I cant help it)

    Trying to keep her awake during the day time isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I use different methods for this as well. I make sure the room is always bright that there is consistent noise. I give her a break while she is feeding, so if she is drinking four ounces of formula after two I'd put her in the swing until she would cry for the rest. Once she is done with her milk instead of just rocking her to sleep I'd lay her in the bassinet on her back until she eventually fell asleep on her own or until she cries to be held. Now it's to the point where she has gotten use to being up in the day time that sometimes she stays up until her next feeding in the swing or bassinet. By keeping her awake longer in the day time it makes her extremely tired at night which in return she sleeps longer. 

    I always give her a nice warm bath before bed so she can get use to that being part of her bed time routine. I use the Johnson's bedtime bath with chamomile to help naturally sooth and calm her to sleep. You would think babies don't know, but boy you'd be surprised. One night I didn't want to give her a bath because she had a runny nose all day and I knew she was going to get sick. That night she cried so much simply because she was uncomfortable and was already use to her bath before bed. As soon as I gave her a bath and put her in her nice warm pj's she fell asleep. Starting your baby off early on a consistent routine schedule is the best thing for them and you.

     A heave bottle with cereal before bed is essential. I started giving her cereal at three weeks old, technically your not suppose to give newborns cereal because of choking hazards but what I've been doing is giving her a little bit of regular plain formula after and make sure I burp her really good so she doesn't throw up. My daughter burps like a grown up for the most part and burps multiple times, I call her my little Peppa Pig (a cartoon on Nick Jr.) Anyways, now by giving her a more heavier bottle before bed time this slowly prolongs her sleep and in return she is awake more often in the day time. As part of her bedtime routine I also make sure that everything is dark, dim, and silent. Creating a calm and quiet atmosphere lets her know its time for bed.

  

    I usually mix 3 teaspoon of cereal for every 2 ounces of formula. Her pediatrician recommends
1 teaspoon per ounce. You want to make sure you start of slow. So for a newborn between 3 weeks
to a month old start off with 1 teaspoon per 2 ounces then gradually add more to make it heavier so they can get use the texture. I wouldn't recommend more then 3 teaspoon for every 2 ounces. Now you cant use just any regular bottle, you need a bottle with a nipple that has a wider opening than the usual bottles. Most bottles like Avent have multiple little holes to make the flow of milk easier for the baby to drink. The age appropriate nipples do work according to your baby s age. The born bottles have the nipples where they get wider as your baby grows which you would change accordingly. If the born nipples don't work then you can always cut a small hole into any one of your regular nipples. Born and Avent bottles are pretty pricy so if your looking into cutting up nipples I would recommend to get a less expensive bottle and keep it aside simply for cereal feedings.

    Letting her cry until she exhaust herself has happened very few but it has worked. There are just those moments where if she has been bathed, fed, burped and still nothing we just have to let her cry it out. After I feel she has cried enough I simply pick her up and sooth her and she falls asleep within seconds. I really don't like to do it but its my last resort and it actually works. 

    The last thing I do is spoil her rotten. This is also something I hate doing but when you get to the point that your so exhausted  you can barely open your eyes you could care less about spoiling your baby. While Vale is sleeping her 7 to 8 hours straight I always like to sleep a little extra so if its not time for me to wake up and she starts fussing early in the morning I simply grab her from her crib and bring her in bed with me. That always gets me two more hours of sleep. If that doesn't work which it hasn't in several occasions I just give her two ounces of milk and she goes right back to sleep. She absolutely loves sleeping in bed with me, even after I've slept my two extra hours she'll sleep for one more hour which gives me a little bit of time in the morning to attend to Vince, which I absolutely love.

    For any new mommies experiencing the issue of transitioning your newborn to sleep more at night and less in the day you can try out my methods and let me know if they work. Hope this helps and your more than welcome to email me personally at  mykidsmyallmylife@gmail.com

Xoxo
Maria

   
   

Tutu photo shoot!

Fuchsia: Gymboree

                             Teal: Crazy 8

 Lavender: The Children's Place

 Yellow: Crazy8

Xoxo Maria