Relationship Changes After Baby

Honestly it has been pretty tough for me to balance out our married life with the new baby. I know its still quite early and its probably normal for the mom to be attached to the baby the first few months, but having the new baby definitely changed our relationship for both the good and the bad.

We both feel extremely blessed that Emma is now in our lives, but we definitely do miss being able to have our alone time. It's hard since I am exclusively breastfeeding now and my husband has been working quite a lot recently. I know I can pump milk and have someone watch her for a few hours, but honestly I just don't feel comfortable having someone else watch her yet.

It was upsetting my husband for a bit because I hardly took notice of him after the baby was born. It was wrong of me and I totally understand why he was feeling the way he was. Its true, I was too caught up with the baby all the time, but I do think its normal for a first time mom to do. It was just hard for me to find a balance.

I love my husband very much so I felt pretty terrible I was pushing him in the corner and only really asking him things I needed help with. So with all this going on the past two and a half months, I set aside some time to really think about how I can better our relationship now with the baby.

First, I realized how important it is for us, especially now to be in the best communicative and physical state of our relationship now we have a child together. Our baby is going to be learning by watching us so it just makes sense to continue to have an active and healthy relationship.

Second, I told myself to relax and don't stress too much about the little things having to get done right at that moment. I tend to stress and start nagging if the house isn't clean or garbage is around etc. In the beginning I'm not sure if it was the postpartum hormones, but I would ask him to help or do something in a tired and nagging way which pretty much annoyed him. I was obviously just stressed and overwhelmed about the house not being tidy and things like that. Now that I realized how wrong of me that was, I truly have been trying to be more relaxed and calm.

After working on these things for the past few weeks things have been much better between us and we have been happy learning and developing as a bigger family.

Family time watching anime :)

Celebrating Nabi's 1yr Birthday :)

Nabi, my corgi turned 1yrs old last Friday, April 12th! It feels like we had her so much longer haha. She still acts very much like a hyper puppy. Its pretty rough at times controlling her crazy energy but she is nonetheless a very sweet and playful dog we have grown to love.

Ever since Emma came in to the family she has been pretty much the same. She barely takes notice of her. She just wants to smell, lick her then move along. But she is still a hyper jumpy dog so it will be awhile until I let Emma and her stay too close for a long time.

So for her 1st birthday I baked her pupcakes using this recipe. It was super easy and luckily I had all the ingredients on hand, so I didn't have to go out and buy anything new. One thing I wish I had was some cottage cheese so I can make it look like frosting on top.

She enjoyed them very much!

She got so big!! And she looks so different from when she was a pup. I believe she is about 3-4 months old on the left picture.

Nabi and Emma relaxing on a Sat. afternoon :)

-Jess

Cloth Diapering!

I have been cloth diapering Emma starting from her second month. So it's been about a month since we started. I've been using pre-folds and covers (Flip, Thirsties and Econobum) for her so far and I've been really loving it! I also use cloth wipes with water. The fact that I save so much money on diapers is a huge plus. I haven't had any trouble with leaks esp. overnight yet, so I'm very happy about that.

Laundry is done every other day with 'All Free and Clear' detergent and all diapers are air dried inside, but when the weather is nice I put them out for the sun to get rid of any stains. I'm so happy that I chose to take this route in diapering because when I was using disposables the first month, it was scary how many diapers we were going through a day.

But honestly I think I'm able to cloth diaper only because I am a stay at home mom now. If I was working I probably would just stick to disposables.

The covers I've been using have been working great. I try to use the Econobum and Thirsties only during the day and the Flip at night. I feel like the Flip is more leak proof. However I don't really like the Flip inserts. I feel like it gives Emma diaper rashes, so I stopped using them for now. I'm gonna strip them and then see how they are on her. The Osocozy and the Econobum prefolds are working well for us now.

Econobum Set

Flip Cover

Thirsties Cover

OsoCozy Prefolds

Here is how I set up our changing area:

I also have some pocket diapers which was given from a friend, but I haven't tried those out yet because they are too big for Emma right now. I'll start using them once they fit her and see how they are. We also always keep disposables handy since we do still use them when we are out, but probably will stop soon and use cloth diapers exclusively.

-Jess

Loving Every Moment

It's 5am now and I have baby Emma in the ergo waiting for her to fall asleep. She has been up all night. Luckily tonight she's not screaming bloody murder. Haha. The night before I was also up until 6am but she was crying hysterically all throughout. She hasn't been up like since her first month. I really have no idea why she isn't sleeping!

Anyways I'm pretty tired, but I'm really loving every moment. I know she wont be this small for long. When I'm about to fall asleep in the middle of the night and she starts to get fussy, of course inside I'm wishing so bad she stops and goes to sleep, but then when I pick her up to soothe her she starts giving me the loveliest smiles and cooing sounds. I can't help but to smile back and play with her! I know it's not a good habit to do this at bedtime, but I just want her to keep going! These are the moments when I just want her to stay in my arms forever.

-Jess

DIY Earring Stand!

I've never been a huge jewelry person, but recently after deciding to dress myself up a little more at home (instead of being in PJ's all day), I decided to also start wearing some of the jewelry I have. I really don't have much, but they needed some re-organization. Since all of my jewelry were scattered in different boxes and hidden, I was always too lazy to dig through them.

So finally yesterday I decided to do some organizing. My hanging earrings were first on my list. I don't have much space on my dresser so I wanted a narrow stand. All the ones I saw at the stores were either expensive or bigger than what I needed. I went to a local thrift shop and found this kitchen tool (not sure what it's exactly used for), that was the perfect size with holes perfect for hanging. It only cost me 5 bucks!

All I needed to do was to decorate it so it wouldn't look so metal on my dresser.
Here is the finished result!


























Supplies used:
-Ribbon
-Fake Pearls (used for beading)
-Super Glue
-Scissors
-Needle and Thread

1. From the top of the square I inserted the ribbon, weaving on either side up to the handle. I knotted the ribbon around the back of the handle as tight as possible.



























2. I made a separate bow and sewed it on to the handle and knot at the back.

3. I took a separate ribbon and wrapped it around the handle and then sewed it down on the backside.



























4. Lastly, I super glued the pearls around the square on top of the ribbon.


Here is another item I picked up from the thrift store! it worked perfectly for my stud earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets! This glass tray was only $6.00! It's in great condition too.





















Most of my jewelry used to be stuffed in to the two drawer box on the left.

-Jess

2 Month Update!

I cant believe Emma is already two months old! Seems so surreal. We went to her two month checkup today and she is now 11lbs 12oz! She went up to the 90th percentile!! I couldn't believe it. But I'm glad she is growing well! Her height is in the 20th percentile and her head in the 10th. It is a big difference from her weight. The doctor didn't seem too concerned so we shall see in her next appt.

Eating:
Breastfeeding has been going well. I'm still nursing every 2-3hrs. Now that she is getting older our nursing sessions are much shorter than the beginning. Now she finishes in 15 mins or less opposed to almost 45 mins! My supply has been pretty good so I stopped supplementing with formula as the doctor suggested. I think eating oatmeal every morning is helping!

Sleeping:
Sleep is still unpredictable and we are still co-sleeping. She naps 3-4 times during the day, each being between 45mins to 2hrs. At night she goes down around 11-12pm (when we sleep), and wakes up at 2-3am for her first feeding then at 5-6am for her early morning feeding. After her first morning feeding we go back to sleep and wake up for the day between 9-10am.

The schedule above is a good day. On a bad day she doesn't go to sleep until 2am :(. Also she only goes to sleep at night with a pacifier in her mouth. This is the only way we have been able to have her fall asleep. Its not a good habit but...it works. During the day we hardly ever give it to her unless we really need it.

Misc.
Other new things for this month include Emma smiling and cooing more frequently. She loves it when we make her smile. I've been trying to do more tummy time, but she doesn't like it too much. Instead I started putting her down on a play mat, which she enjoys much more.
Also this week she found her hands! She started sucking on her little fists.

Playtime with mommy :)

Enjoying her playmat.

These pacifiers are awesome! So cute.
Wubbanub infant plush pacifier.

-Jess