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#MothersPromise

I partnered up with Pampers and Walmart to make a promise to my family.

The promise I'm making is to always make fun memories with my family and record every special moment by taking lots of pictures and writing about it!

Nowadays, everything is digital, including pictures.

When my husband and I first started dating, I made him a scrapbook for every anniversary.

Not one of those digital-made books, an actual handmade book with stickers and printed pictures with rounded corners punched out by hand, fun colorful pages, notes from each other, all our movie ticket stubs from films we had watched that year and wristbands/receipts of events and places we had gone together.

Every September 25th my "boyfriend" expected the scrapbooks, and loved them. He always told me how special they were since they were made by me, with my own two hands and creativity.

Flash forward to a couple of years later (we have been together for almost 9) I started getting busier, I was now a college graduate with a full time job. I was taking less pictures, and I had no time to look through pictures to print, and I had even less time to sit and work on pages and pages for a scrapbook, and there went my anniversary tradition.

Let me tell you that the day my 2TB hard drive crashed my heart sunk!

I thought all my pictures were safe and sound, so I didn't bother to print any for a long time, always telling myself "later, later, I'll print them later" and out of nowhere this happened to me.

Bye bye 10 years worth of pictures, 10 YEARS! I cried and cried. I called every lab I could find with great reviews and promises of "magic".

Thankfully I was able to recover most of them ($1,450 later) so I made a point to print out the most special pictures and start scrapbooking again.

(Mind you, this was also after one of my SD cards broke and I lost ALL pictures of Dexter as a little baby, Cooper and Zoey's first year home with us, birthdays, and pictures of trips I had gone on.)

I love that I am able to look back at videos and pictures and see all the fun memories I made with my family as a child. From school plays, to my first time at Disney, I am so thankful that my parents took the time to capture every moment. And now that I am a parent myself, I want to do the same thing for my kids.

I will keep my promise by making it a point to print out pictures and change our picture collages around the house so they are always updated, and also keep up with our scrapbooks and travel journal!

Here's what I usually use when working on a regular 12X12 scrapbook, you'll need:

• A Scrapbook- I like the ones with the 3 rings because they are easier to add pages in or switch them out. Plus, you can have a bunch more pages in there without having to expand it.
  I like this one for a more "serious" look or this one because they offer such fun/bright colors.
• Scrapbook Pages- Think about what you want your book to look like. Do you want it uniformed with a certain color pattern? Or do you want it to be loud and crazy and fun and have different themed pages for different holidays/events/etc?
  I like this pack because the pages are double sided, and if you want to save money you can actually decorate both sides of one paper! And I love this cute and colorful pack too!
• Extra Scrapbook Clear Page Protector Sheets- I like these full sized pages for the scrapbook paper pages to fit in, but sometimes if I just want to add a sheet of pictures I use these 4X6 pocket pages.
• Scissors- I really like EK Tools scissors. They have these awesome precision-cut scissors, and if you're looking for fun cuts, these cut pictures and papers into fun shapes.
• Glue Sticks- I love these Elmer's Craft Glue Sticks because they really glue well, and actual liquid glue is too messy, it sometimes morphs pictures or cut outs and it takes forever to dry! I personally never ever use them.
• Stickers- Depending on what you are scrapbooking, that's how you'll go about buying stickers. I really like this colorful letter pack, and of course this emoji sticker pack, because if you're printing pictures, why not bring those emojis out of your phone too? Haha!
• Printed Pictures- So I have a FujiFilm Instax Mini 8 that I love! I love that the pictures print right out, and I love the "old look" it gives the pictures. And while I use my FujiFilm Instax Mini 8...Well, I'm a bit of a cheater, I'll admit. I bought the Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer along with some packs of the Fujifilm INSTAX Mini Instant Film and I print some pictures from my phone, or even pictures from my camera so they can have that cute look, and that's what I made my pregnancy scrapbook with, all little Fujifilm INSTAX Mini pictures.
  Of course, you can just print the regular 4X6, 5X7, etc sized pictures, but for this one project I'm sharing, those are the pictures I used. Pictures that I either took with my FujiFilm Instax Mini 8 or pictures that I took with my phone or camera and printed using my Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer.

So for a quicker book, I wanted to share this little easy scrapbooking project with you all.

I used:

Project Life Small Album | Baby Bump Journal Pack
FujiFilm Instax Mini 8 | Fujifilm INSTAX Mini Instant Film
Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer
Pregnancy Stickers - Purchased at the craft store, I found some HERE and HERE.

I printed out my weekly bump pictures, that I only had digital copies of, and put them in the book and decorated them with stickers and little info about my pregnancy. So easy!

Another important promise I'm keeping to Emma, and all my future babies, are that I will always make sure to buy what's best for them, and that includes diapers!

Great diapers are so important, because you don't want your baby to get a bad rash or leak everywhere! So we use Pampers Premium Care Diapers.

You can find Pampers Premium Care Diapers at Walmart.
The things I love the most about Pampers Premium Care Diapers are that they are a top tier, high quality diaper. Their diapers are 5 Star skin care!

They are hypoallergenic, have wetness indicator, that you can see in the photo above, the little line turns blueish. I love that I can just look at Emma's diaper and easily be able to see if she is wet or not.

They also have an unique absorb away liner. Can you say no blowouts?!

They breathable inside & out, and have extra absorb channels.
Absorb, absorb, absorb. That is exactly what a diaper should do!

We just love Pampers Premium Care Diapers!

And just to show how long Pampers has been in my family, look who it is, 20-something years ago:

YUP! That is me, as a baby, in the 80's, rocking the Pampers diapers too!

So, what promise do you have for your family?
What is your #MothersPromise?
Make sure to leave them in the comments for me to see!

You can find Pampers Premium Care Diapers at Walmart.

* This is a sponsored post. I was sent a gift card to Walmart to purchase Pampers Premium Care Diapers to write a review and give my own honest opinion about their product. *

Piercing Baby's Ears

I have gotten a lot of questions about piercing Emma's ears ever since people started noticing her earrings in her pictures, so I figured I would write about my experience and share it with y'all!

I also figured I would write a little guide for things to consider before/after you pierce baby's ears.

Make sure both parents agree.

So first, you should talk to your significant other. I feel like every decision, not just baby's body "modification" (haha) should be made with baby's mommy and daddy together. Usually dad will agree and be ok with mom about piercing baby's ear (unless you are MY dad) but definitely make sure that it's a mutual decision.

Two conversations I knew I was going to have with hubby before baby was born were:

Boy- Circumcision & Girl- Piercing Ears.

When I found out we were having a girl, I brought it up to him:

Me- "I think I want to pierce Emma's ears as soon as I can, what to you think?"

Jaime- "I agree! I think it's cute and will make her look girly!"

That was easy! :) The only time he acted like it was my decision was in front of my dad, haha!

Decide on when you want to do it.

We got Emma's ears pierced on her 3 month check up appointment at the doctor's office.

I was all about doing it and so excited, but once the nurse brought in the kit and started marking Emma's ears I freaked out a little bit. I was like "oh my gosh I don't know, my poor baby", plus I didn't like the way the nurse was making the markings, so I guess I annoyed her and she just asked me if I wanted to mark them myself, to which I replied SURE! And I did. I must have erased and re-marked her ears like 6 times before I was happy with it haha. Also, her pediatrician advised that we do it as early as possible because the older baby gets, the squirmier and harder to hold down. So keeping that in mind, helped me decide to do it at 3 months.

Decide on where you want to do it.

Like I said, Emma got her ears pierced at the doctor's office. I'm pretty sure her doctor said that they don't do it past 4 months there. So, if your baby is older than 4 months and the pediatrician won't do it in the office, there are other places who will pierce baby ears. I have seen places at the mall that do it, and one of my friends even took her kid to a tattoo/piercing parlor haha!

But, wherever you decide to take your baby, if not the doctors office, make sure that the place is clean and safe, and of course make sure that they have trained and experienced people to do the piercing.

Be prepared!

Baby is going to cry. But I promise you she will be ok. Emma cried, she wiggled and screamed, and hubby had to hold her down with the nurse to get the second ear pierced. Make sure it's quick so you can soothe baby ASAP. After she was done, I picked her up right away, gave her a pacifier and cuddled her, and she stopped crying almost instantly. After that she didn't even seem to notice her ears at all.

Taking care of baby's new earrings.

I would say taking care of baby's new piercing is pretty much low maintenance. I was told to leave it alone for 2 days, and then clean it with alcohol swabs and turn them every day for 2 weeks.

Nowadays I just make sure to turn it every now and then, and dry it after it gets wet in the bath.

I can honestly say that I think I made a good decision by choosing to pierce Emma's ears when I did.

I was going to pierce her ears eventually anyway, so why not do it early when it would be easier for both of us? So that's what I did. And she looks even cuter than before!

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments and I'll reply!

Happy Ear Piercing!

Yup! I Co-Sleep!

So this is something that I've been wanting to write about for a little while, because apparently co-sleeping is frowned upon, and I don't understand why people can't also look at the benefits instead of just judging!

First of all, parents can do whatever they want with/to their kids. It's their choice!

No, sometimes parents don't do the "right" thing, but it's nobody's business but theirs!

It's sad, and I don't understand why some people think that they are entitled to say whatever they want and always put in their 2 cents, especially when nobody asked them.

But, those are things every parent probably has to deal with. Just smile and nod, lol, smile and nod.

So! We co-sleep in our house.

Not just with our baby...

But with the dogs too haha!

This is basically our life! Every night.
Except I'm on the left, Jaime is on the right, Zoey is on my head, Cooper is on Jaime's head and Emma is in between us.

Let me tell you a little story about the dogs.

We got Zoey and Cooper when Zoey was 3 months and Cooper was 2 months.

Right away I wanted them to sleep with us and right away hubby said NO WAY!

Super long story short, they ended up going from their crate, to our room, and eventually on our bed!

A couple of months later, I decided that I wanted them to sleep on the floor on THEIR bed, and guess who said no? YUP! My husband ladies and gentlemen!
So they stayed in bed with us.

Fast forward to having Emma.

Emma started sleeping in her bassinet in our room. She did so for weeks!

But... Because I was, and still am nursing, it ended up being that it was just easier to keep her in the bed with me, because every time she cried to eat, I could just feed her, and then we would both fall right back to sleep.
Also because I not-so-secretly loved cuddling with her all night.

Sometimes I wake up to find Emma like this...

And she loves to kick too, but not Jaime's face... My boobs!!! WHY?! I don't know.

But besides the back ache and sweaty baby head on my arm, you know what, I LOVE IT!
I love holding my baby all night!
I feel so much better knowing that she's right next to me the whole time.
I sleep much more peacefully (when I actually sleep), because if there's anything Emma needs,
I'm right there and she's right here.

Do I plan on co-sleeping forever? No.
Do I know exactly when I'll move Emma to her crib? No.

But as of right now I'm happy with the way things are going, and I'm happy to love on my 5 month old baby all night long.

So here's to all the moms and dads who co-sleep with their babies and/or pets!
Don't let mean people make you feel bad about it!

Emma - 5 Months

Sweet Girl! This month has been my favorite so far!

You have grown/matured so much, I can't believe you're only turning 5 months.

You have become extra silly, you laugh and smile so much, it melts my heart.

You found your feet and now every time Mommy is changing your diaper you stick it in your mouth.

You scream and laugh out loud and love to make raspberries!

You reach for Zoey and Cooper now, and you pay attention to them and get excited when they're running around being crazy.

Mommy let you try a lollipop (for like ONE second!), you just licked it a little bit and let out a YUM! and I also put a big, fat pretzel stick by your lips and you licked the salt haha.

You smile big when Minnie Mouse comes on TV, and when Mommy tries to make Minnie's voice you stop and listen and look for Minnie.

You had your First Valentine's Day! Last year you were only 9 weeks old and a secret in Mommy's belly! Daddy made fondue and you sat in your big girl high chair and joined us.

Daddy got you a little Minnie Mouse rattle toy, and a cool music projector.

Mommy got you clothes! Heart leggings, new leggings, a shirt and a onesie.

I can't get over how fast you are growing and how much you are learning every single day.

I love you more and more and more every second of every day.

Mommy

Weight: 13.3 lbs

Height: ? in.

Eye Color: Still Blue! They look green sometimes though!

Hair Color: Brown, it's getting a little lighter!

Diaper Size: Size 2

Clothes Size: 3-6 Months for the most part.

Sleep: Sometimes you sleep more than other nights... You've been weird about sleeping lately.

Eating: 4oz every 3 hours when Mommy is at work, then Mommy feeds you on demand when we're together.

Likes: Your Minnie Mouse with the glow bow, your little Sophie teether, the Jumperoo and the MamaRoo. When Mommy "sneezes", smells your "stinky feet", and kisses your neck, bites your thighs, and makes silly noises!
Dislikes: Sleeping by yourself, being put down when you want to be held, when the dogs bark while you're napping.
Milestones: You are almost sitting up, you laugh now, and you roll over. You scream, and when Mommy copies you, you do it back.
Firsts: First giggle, then eventually first laugh, first time at the beach but only for pizza, First Valentine's Day!
Personality: You are cute and friendly and such a funny and happy girl. You really only cry when you need something. Everyone that meets you falls in love.

10 "Silly" Baby Products That Are Actually Awesome!

So I'm going to start this post out by saying that nobody NEEDS any of the items in this list.

But, I put it together because I actually got these products and I do find them useful!

I always have to hear it from older moms saying "I didn't have any of this back in the day when I had my kids, and they survived!" and while I don't NEED any of these, I'm sure that if they were available back in the day, they would have at least considered getting them, don't lie, haha!

So for all those old school moms who love to make fun of me for having them, let me explain why I like them, and why I find them useful!

1- Bright Starts Sweet Song Birds Baby's Play Place Activity Gym- This mat is so cute and colorful! I put it on my baby registry and sadly didn't get it, so I finally bought it and I am so glad I did! The walls go up, so when Emma is playing my crazy dogs don't bother her because they can't just walk on it. Emma loves looking all around it because the colors are so bright, and they have adorable little birds and owls on the print, plus, the toys that hang are cute too! "Why spend so much money on a mat? Lay down a thick blanket, it works the same?!" Well, a simple thick blanket can't hold up cutesy toys for baby to reach for!

2- Carseat Canopy Baby Infant Car Seat Cover- "You know, you can just cover the car seat with a blanket, and it does the same thing!" Actually!!!! A blanket can fall off (or fly off if it's windy) when moving the carseat, this special car seat canopy has velcro straps that attach to the handle of the car seat, so it can't fall off!

3- Baby Bum Brush Diaper Cream Applicator Tool- "Are you kidding me?! You can't just use your fingers?"Yes, I can use my fingers, but I promise you this tool is GREAT! Not only does it do the obvious, which is keep your fingers clean from baby butt cream, but it spreads it out so nicely on baby's butt. I'm telling you, this is so worth it!!!

4- WubbaNub- The WubbaNub Plush Toy Pacifier is designed to give your baby comfort with a soft, bean-filled animal friend that not only provides stimulation for little fingers, but positioning support for the pacifier. I love that this "weighs" down on Emma a little bit, so she can always just grab it and stick her pacifier right back in her mouth!

5- oogiebear Ear & Nose Cleaner- Oogiebear has two sides, a loop-end for sticky mucus and a scoop end for removing dried mucus. I love this because you all know how teeny tiny baby's nostrils are! And it's so hard to get boogies out of there! Not with this cute little tool though!

6- NoseFrida The Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator- Ok, I was that mom that said I would NEVER use this because it's disgusting... Flash forward to your crying baby miserable because she can't breathe with a super stuffy nose, and the dumb bulb isn't helping at all.. Bring in the Nose Frida. Works wonders! And it has a filter so nothing goes in your mouth.

7- Baby Shusher- Basically a portable noise machine, it does exactly what it's called.. It shushes! It works wonders calming baby down, for real.

8- Aden & Anais Easy Swaddle- I loveeeeeeee these! Emma only sleeps for a long period of time if she's tightly swaddled with her arms in and these blanket bags are amazing! They're light enough for her to wear on top of her PJs, and they have such adorable prints too! "Why not just use a regular swaddle blanket?" Well, think of these as "Swaddle Blanket Bags for Dummies", it saves a ton of time, and you know as baby gets older he or she can totally get themselves out of a swaddle!

9- Dr. Brown's Bottles- A lot of people complain about the amount of parts each bottle has, but honestly, I think they are worth it! Emma has never had colic, and when I used to teach at a preschool, I remember a lot of babies in the baby room had these and their moms also loved them!

10- Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad- Click here to see my post on the The Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad. If you are interested in buying your own Smart Changing Pad use code 'LAURAPLUS20" to get $20 off!

So, what are some "silly" baby products you have purchased and love?

Let me know in the comments!

Love At First Sight

One Year ago today I got to see you for the first time.

And even though you were just a little spot, right then and there you stole my whole heart!

3 Months & 4 Months Favorites

To continue my "Favorites" posts, I combined months 3 and 4.

You can check out my Newborn Favorites here and my 1 & 2 Month Favorites here!

Bright Starts Sweet Song Birds Baby's Play Place Activity Gym- This mat is so cute and colorful! I put it on my baby registry and sadly didn't get it, so I finally bought it and I am so glad I did! The walls go up, so when Emma is playing my crazy dogs don't bother her because they can't just walk on it. Emma loves looking all around it because the colors are so bright, and they have adorable little birds and owls on the print, plus, the toys that hang are cute too!

Playmat- I'm not even going to deny it, I got this specific mat because of how it looks. I was never a big fan of those super colorful, rainbow ABC foam mats, haha. But! This foam mat is not only adorable and girly, it's soft and I use it for floor play with Emma, and if she's in the activity mat I always put at least a square of this foam mat under it.

VTech Baby Lil' Critters Spin and Discover Ferris Wheel- This is one of Emma's favorite toys because it lights up and sings. I like that it stands up straight, and it has a little suction cup under it so it can stay up and not get knocked over by Emma's little karate chops!

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Click'n Learn Remote- This remote is small enough to fit in Emma's little hands, and it lights up and sings.. Which is basically the pattern you'll see in this month's favorite toys, lol.

Minnie Bows-a-Glow Plush- This Minnie is sooooo cute! Emma is seriously in love with her. She has a huge bow that lights up in different colors and patterns, and flashes along with the songs Minnie sings! "Hello, Hello! Have you seen my bow?" Too cute!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Minnie's Bow-Tique- Don't judge, but Minnie Mouse is my babysitter sometimes! Usually in the morning when the hubby and I are trying to get ready for work. Emma loves Minnie and I purchased almost every episode of Minnie's Bow-Tique. Sadly, they're only like 3 minutes each, so I ended up buying Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Minnie Specials full length episodes.

LeapFrog My Pal Violet- Violet is a cutie! I love that you can customize her to say baby's name and other things like favorite food, and color, which obviously I can't ask Emma what her favorites are yet, but I totally just made them up! She sings songs, and there's a feature where she can play 5 minutes of music for baby to go to sleep.

Vulli So'Pure Teether, Sophie the Giraffe- I love Sophie! But right now, this special smaller teether is so much easier for Emma to grab, and hold on to without it falling from her hands and frustrating her. It also has different textures, which I'm sure feel great on the gums!

Bumbo Multi Seat- Apparently this is a step up from the Original Bumbo, but I just went ahead and got this one right away. I like the tray, it helps Emma from falling forward since she's still a little wobbly, I also like that if the tray isn't being used, it just fits in the back of the Bumbo. I never ever leave Emma sitting in this Bumbo unattended, and since she's still so little I only use it as a floor seat for now. It does have attachment straps to convert it from a floor seat to a booster seat when she gets older though. We used it for floor play, and it's usually on top of her Playmat.

Fisher-Price Rattle and Rock Maracas- These maracas are such a simple and silly toy, but it was one of the first toys that Emma could actually hold on to. I usually have the soft side up, so Emma can chew on it, she tries to fit the whole thing in her mouth, it's pretty hilarious to see!

Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo Jumperoo- So we JUST started using this with her, and so far.... Not too crazy, she's not hopping or going crazy in it yet, but it definitely keeps her interested. She likes the lights and sounds, and she can hold herself up extremely well in it! I can't wait until she goes H.A.M. on it, haha!

Now tell me, what were your baby's 3 & 4 month favorites?!

Leave them in the comments, I would love to get suggestions of what else I can get for Emma.

Pampered Mommy Box

As moms, we tend to devote most of our time to our kids, and lets face it.. Our Husbands!

But it's important to remember to take some time for yourself!

Pampered Mommy Box delivers awesome bath and beauty items, and perfect cute gifts every month to help us Mommies do just that!

I wanted to share my Pampered Mommy Box, which I loved!
I got the January Pampered Mommy Box and here are all the goodies that came with it:

1. Organic Bath Co. "Stress Less" Body Scrub- This body scrub smells so good! It exfoliates the skin while it hydrates it, removing dead skin and dirt. It makes your skin so soft!
2. Kenra Platinum Blow-Dry Spray- My hair was so soft after blow drying! It also reduced the frizz.
3. KnotTwisted Headband by Magsoul- So cute and so soft! I like that it didn't give me a headache after wearing it for a while.
4. Lavender Soy Candle- Smelled sooooo good! And it burns longer than paraffin candles!
5. EyesTea by Jane Inc.- I haven't used this yet, but I'll make sure to update you when I do! I'm saving it for date night... Whenever that will be, haha!

You can choose from any of their auto-renewing plans and once you sign up, you'll begin receiving your Pampered Mommy Box. Their cute hot pink boxes are delivered right to your door and ship out around the 20th of every month.
Make sure to use my special code "LAURAPLUSCO" for $5 off your purchase!

Please note that you will not be able to purchase the January box, as the window for orders has closed.
They are now accepting orders for their February box - the deadline for February orders is 2/19. 

Emma - 4 Months

My Squishy! I can't believe how much I love every month more than the last.

Even though I cried the other day watching teeny tiny baby videos of you with you, I love that each month you are learning so many more things, and getting so smart and sillier.
You are so smiley and funny, and super friendly!

You cry with Daddy sometimes, and as soon as Mommy takes you, you stop!
Which is kind of mean, poor daddy! But Mommy secretly loves it because it shows that Mommy is definitely your favorite, hooray!

You love Minnie Mouse, and you smile when we put it on for you to watch.
Mommy got you this big Minnie with a light up bow in Atlanta, and you love her!

You did such a great job on our drive to Atlanta, on the way up you slept almost the whole way, and on the way back home you just got really fussy the last hour.

You almost laugh now, you are so smiley and you smile big when Mommy kisses your neck.
You have "stinky feet" sometimes and you also smile when Mommy smells it and yells at you for it.

Every month gets better, can't wait till the next!

I love you so so much silly girl!
Mommy

Weight: 12.5 lbs

Height: 25 in.

Eye Color: Still Blue! They look green sometimes though!

Hair Color: Dark Brown.

Diaper Size: Size 1

Clothes Size: Depends on the brand! But mostly 0-3 months.

Sleep: You gave Mommy a super hard for a few weeks! I guess you were going through a growth spurt because you woke up every 2 hours. Sometimes all it took was a super quick snack, sometimes you wanted to play around, but you were waking up and wanting Mommy.

Eating: Still every 2-3 hours. 3oz, sometimes 3.5oz, sometimes 4oz.

Likes: Minnie Mouse, your car seat toy bar, iPhones and iPads, when people talk to you in a silly voice, when mommy "steals" your nose. BATHS! *This is the same as last month!*
Dislikes: Daddy after 9PM haha!!!
Milestones: You are almost sitting up and rolling over. You now react to people's tones and facial expressions.
Firsts: First Christmas, First New Year, First Time Out of State to visit Uncle JP and Lindsay in Atlanta!
Personality: You are so funny! You grab Mommy's hair and face, you "talk" and "scream". You're smiling big and almost laughing.

Emma's 4 Month Visit - The Rude Doctor!

So I wanted to tell you about the super unprofessional doctor I had to deal with.

Please note that this post was not written to bad mouth doctors/pediatricians, I wrote it because I wanted to share my experience with ONE doctor.

Clearly I choose to take Emma to the doctor to make sure she is healthy and growing.

I am not against doctors at all, I listen to them and trust their professional advice, but I also trust my instincts and have comments/opinions of my own as a parent.

With that said, here we go...

So I took Emma to the doctor for her 4 month check up and her usual doctor didn't see her, it was another doctor.. It took me by surprise because I had never met him before, and I wasn't told another doctor would be seeing Emma. But, no biggie, I just let it go.

The doctor comes in asking if everything is fine, asking about how Emma is eating, and how she's sleeping and I mentioned that she sleeps well, but for the last two weeks she's been waking up about every 2 1/2-3 hours to snack, that I would offer her the boob and she would take it for a few minutes and go right back to sleep and that I was guessing that she's probably just going through some growth spurt, or just wanting mommy time...

He told me to give her cereal because it sounds like she's hungry and because maybe she's not getting enough nutrition from my milk, that it's about quality, not quantity.

(Wow! Because my super chunky and healthy baby looks malnourished right? I let it go...) 

So he asked how much she is eating and how often, so I said she eats about every three hours and she gets 3 to 3 1/2 ounces of my milk in a bottle when I'm at work and when she's with me I just feed her on-demand. He asked if I was supplementing and I said no, so he brought up the cereal again and I told him that I heard that cereal is not that great, so I would wait and see how the next few days would go before I considered it, and that I don't mind feeding her more often if she wanted it.

Well, that was it...

He starts going off,  that I can't believe everything that I've read on the Internet that he is 71 years old and he has been a pediatrician for over 40 years and he has never told a parent to do something that's "bad" for their children, that I can do whatever I want but that's his opinion and from his experience that's what works the best... Basically he got super defensive from the ONE comment I made and I just sat there listening to him go on and on and on about all his qualifications and everything that he's done and how great he is and blah blah blah so I just sat there quietly nodding my head ok and hoping he would leave already cause I was over him, and I could not believe the tone he was using.

I didn't even seem upset, because honestly, I wasn't upset, I was pissed at how he talked to me, but before he left he goes, "I see that you're upset and I don't like leaving my patients upset", and I told him I wasn't upset, and again, he said, "Well you can't believe everything you read on the Internet this generation just reads everything on the Internet, everything they want to know they look it up on the Internet, and anybody can write anything they want on the Internet, you can't trust the Internet. And after he was done saying INTERNET 27 times in a row, I said, "well, actually, I didn't read anything from the Internet I have a lactation consultant and I have been working with her ever since Emma was born". So then he says (with an attitude) "well you didn't tell me that you're working with a lactation "person"" and I said, "you just assumed that I was looking on the Internet", and he says again, "well you didn't tell me that, but anyways I fight with "them" lactation "people" all the time, what are her qualifications?" And I said "she is a professional just like you are!!!!"

Basically he kept arguing!!!!!! He wouldn't stop!

He kept saying again and again that he's never told a parent to do something that's "bad" for their child, (bro, when did I say that your advice was BAD?!?!?!?!) and that for 40 years he has treated all these kids and they're all fine and healthy and grown, that he is 71 years old, and he has 7 grandchildren, and he treats all of his patients the same way he treats his grandchildren, and he just kept going and going!!!!! Can you believe it?!

I was just appalled at the fact that not only was he talking down to me, but the fact that I have never met the guy, and I was NOT prepared for another doctor to come in the room!!

I just wanted to share this story, to show how ridiculous this guy was, and trust me, I made sure that I will never see him again because I cannot believe the way that he treated me.

Do not let a doctor talk down to you, or use a tone with you.

You should feel comfortable asking a doctor ANY question and saying WHATEVER you want to say without getting "yelled" at.

This individual was super unprofessional and he chose to let ONE comment push him over the edge, and defending his ego was clearly his priority.

P.S.- Guess who slept a WHOLE night last night?

Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad

Let me tell you about this extremely cool product I got, it's called The Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad. What is The Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad you ask?

Well, it's the coolest, most awesome changing pad there is!

Here are all the things you can do with your Smart Changing Pad:

• You can track baby's weight gain.
• You can chart baby's growth.
• You can keep track of all diaper changes, selecting: Wet, Dirty or Both.
• You can track baby's sleeping time.
• And my FAVORITE- You can track how much baby is eating at every feeding! This is amazing! Exclusively breastfeeding, I don't know how much Emma eats at every feeding, so to be able to weigh her before I feed her, then after and seeing how many ounces she "gained" I can see how much milk she's drinking at every feed, which helps me determine how much breast milk to put in her bottles for when I'm at work and can't feed her myself.

You download the Hatch Baby app for your phone, and you get notifications on the go!

Whether you’re doing errands or at work, you can always know when and how much your baby is sleeping and eating anytime, from anywhere.

You don't need to use the pad every time you want to track something, meaning that other care takers can also log information, and it's a great way to add information if you are out somewhere and don't have access to the pad.
Even if you don't own The Smart Changing Pad, they have a great free app for parents who are trying to keep track of their babies milestones and information.

Like I mentioned above, my favorite thing about The Smart Changing Pad is the scale.
I can see how much breast milk Emma eats at every feeding.
Being a breastfed baby, there's no way of me knowing how much milk she drinks since I'm not measuring milk in a bottle every time she eats.

I love being able to track her weight whenever I want, instead of waiting to find out when we go to her doctor appointments. I used to always look forward to her doctor visits to see how much she's growing, but now with The Smart Changing Pad I don't have to wait anymore!

I click the bottle button on the screen, lay her down on The Smart Changing Pad to get weighted, then I go feed her.
After she's done breastfeeding, I go back to The Smart Changing Pad, once again click the button on the screen and lay her down to get how many ounces she "gained", meaning, how many ounces she drank.
It gives me a peace of mind to know that I'm producing enough milk to satisfy my baby's hunger, and by tracking her feedings, I can make sure that she's always drinking a good amount of milk.



I love how soft the plush pad is. It's also machine washable which is kind of a must for me since accidents are prone (do) to happen (all the time) on a changing pad, haha!

And it also looks great in Emma's nursery. When you spend so much time decorating, making sure everything matches and the room looks cute, the last thing you want is a big ugly thing hanging out in there! The Smart Changing Pad is sleek and modern looking, and a great addition to her dresser!

Check out The Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad!
You can get $20 off today by using my special code "LAURAPLUS20".

Also, make sure to tune into Shark Tank this Friday 1/15 to see The Smart Changing Pad creators pitching their awesome product!

What A Difference A Year Makes...

One year ago today I woke up expecting it to be that time of the month, and to my surprise it wasn't here yet. Thinking about it, I had been waking up hot and sweating in the middle of the night for the last couple of nights, and my sense of smell was crazy. I had a test under the sink so I thought, why not? I started getting dressed, went back to the bathroom a few minutes later where I looked down at the test on the sink and saw 2 lines. I took a picture, hid the test and went to work as if nothing happened. I thought about it all day. When I got home after work I took another test and again, 2 lines!

Today I woke up to a hungry baby girl crying in her bassinet, waiting for her mommy to feed her. I fed her, then left her in my bed where we cuddled for about 20 minutes before I had to get up and get ready to go to work, where I'll think about her all day, and count the hours until I can pick her up and love on her all night.

Chibebe Snuggle Pod

I wanted to share with you a super cute bean bag that Emma got.

It's called The Chibebe Snuggle Pod!

When I received my Chibebe Snuggle Pod I was so impressed with the packaging!

It comes nicely folded in a snap bag with the following items:

1 Chibebe Base
1 Harnessed Seat Top for Baby
1 Non-Harnessed Toddler Seat
1 Instruction Booklet
1 Warranty Card
and
1 Designer Tote

Here are the features I love the most about the Chibebe Snuggle Pod:

• The Snuggle Pods Baby Bean Bag allows baby to be safely and comfortably nestled in a resting position, it include a layer of padding in the seat for additional support and comfort.
• The special shape of the bean bag is designed to help prevent GERD (reflux).
• The soft seat helps prevent flathead.
• It was designed be used from birth right through to pre teens. By simply swapping the detachable harness seat to the toddler seat that's included- at no additional charge!
• You can easily wipe them down or dab them with a good fabric cleaner to get rid of stains and messes, the pod has a water resistant backing on the base, as well as on all seats, helping to prevent fluids from reaching the beans. It's also machine washable.

And my favorite feature of them all is that you can build your own pod!

You can pick the design, the seat type and the color, how cool is that?

I chose the Serendipity Polka design with a blue top, doesn't it look so cute? 

With the pod, I also got The Pod Rocker.

All you have to do is place the Snuggle Pod on top of the Pod Rocker and that's it!

Your pod can move and soothe baby, it's like a comfy rocking chair.

Emma loves her Snuggle Pod!

Make sure to check out The Chibebe Snuggle Pod!

Use code "BUMP" for $10 off your order on top of any offers from the website.