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.