Scrubba-Dubba-Dub: The DL on the Tub

I was being a good mommy yesterday and taking pictures with our actual camera and not just my iphone and got some adorable bath time shots.  Which then became my inspiration for a post on the scrubba-dubba-dub-time.

Pretty much from Day 1 Day 20 we've been doing the 4 B's Bedtime routine:

Bath

Boob

Book

Bed

I do think starting a bedtime routine as early as possible is important and is key to establishing: 

1) The day vs nighttime sleep in newborns

2) Learning how to self-sooth to sleep (and thus being able to STTN earlier)

Not only that but, if your like us, it's a nice moment of family time.

Here is the shots of one of our little Lyla Lou Who's very first baths.  She was about 2 weeks old in this picture and oh-so-itty-bitty:

When preparing for our baby's arrival I set out to look for an alternative way to bathe our babe other then in the traditional baby bath tub.  We have only one small bathroom and I just wanted to avoid have that bulky thing in the way all the time.  I found {this} Puj Flyte Tub and I thought it would be a great alternative.  It folded up small and we could just stash it under the sink when it wasn't in use.  HOWEVER we ended up not liking it at all.  Lyla's little body would slip down it and she never looked comfortable.  

So after a while of fighting with this thing we finally gave into buying a baby bath (we bought this one) and we LOVE it!  

Here we are, 8 months later, and still using this guy.  

Some of my other bath time loves are:

1) This adorable toy holder

2) These super cute bath toys 

3) This yummy bath wash

California Baby is kinda expensive.  

We use our Costco size wash in the tub and save this as a little treat for when Lyla gets her post-messy-meal kitchen sink bath :)

So there you have our bath adventures.

What is your thoughts on baby bath time?

Bookworm

A little while ago I posted this picture on facebook.

A lot of women commented on it sharing with me how they read this same book to their kids and also told me other books their children loved.

This all inspired me to document just what books Lyla and I enjoy at this time.

I want to start out by saying that, in the last couple of weeks, Lyla has really started to enjoy books.  Not only does she love to play with them (her little fingers finally can turn the pages) but also she loves for me to read to her. 

I've been reading to Lyla ever since she was a newborn.  In fact, I made it a point to make the first book I ever read to her to be Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.  I grew up reading this book whenever I was at my Grandparent's house and it was always special to me and I wanted to share it with my child.  Up until recently, Lyla would sometimes sit still while I read, occasionally looking at the pictures, and I was lucky to get through the entire book before she was over it.  But I pushed it anyways.  But now, I can just tell that Lyla is actually listening to the words and paying attention to the pictures.  We are finally reading together and it is so sweet.

So without further ado, here are our favorite books:

I Love You Through and Through is the perfect nap time book.  It is short and so so sweet.

Goodnight Moon is such a classic and I pretty much think I could read it with my eyes closed at this point.  I think I'm going to get this book to switch things up a bit:

Hilarious right?

Please look at it {here} and watch the video clip.  It will make you laugh.  I can't wait to get invited to another baby shower so I can buy it for someone.

Here's some of my favorite books to read to Lyla:

Did you notice there's a book in there with Lyla's name on it?

Someone gave us this book for Christmas.
The sweet part is that it was her granddaughters book and, after search for a long time for it and realizing it's not in print anymore, she gave us her already loved on book.  
How special!



Here's some of Lyla's favorites: 

Hello Bugs has captured her attention for a long time now.  It's black and white with touches of color so it really caught her attention as a newborn.  Even now it seems like she is still drawn to it over other books on the floor.

The Sassy Look Photo Book is definitely a hit.  She loves both of the books we have like this.  I think because it's light and easy to turn the pages and fun to chew on :)

The infantino stroller book is a top choice as well.  It's perfect to attach to her stroller, car seat or restaurant high chair and it will entertain her for a long time.

After I took that picture I wanted to add the adorable Skip Hop Soft Activity Book and then I got photo bombed by my baby.   Told you she loves her books.

She also loves to get into everything.  
I was literally looking down for .5 seconds as I was editing these pictures and I look up to see this:

Gotta love that she now can move in lightning speed.

I also then noticed that she had this in her mouth.  

Where and when she got it is beyond me.

Note that as I was taking that picture she was already into something else.
Oh boy.

Weekend Round-Up

The weatherman was right.

It snowed here in Anchorage.

SNOWED.  

In the middle of May. 

Ridiculous.

Kathryn and I decided to push through the weather and to go ahead and walk the streets of Kempton Hills and shop at the annual neighborhood yard sales.  It started out a little rough since my car didn't want to feel left out from all the other cars kissing curbs that slick morning.  {That's another story that I will not being going into right now}.  But we ended up having a lot of fun and loading up the stroller with goodies.   

I love that we're eating hot dogs in this picture. 

Kathryn had to give into her preggo craving and I couldn't resist getting one too!

Here's my sweet snuggle bug.  She was a champ during the adventure.

Sunday afternoon we went to see Jesse's little cousins perform at their dance performance. I didn't get any pictures of them but I did get this adorable shot while we were walking through the parking lot.

On Monday we had fun hanging out with Jesse's dad and neice who were stopping through town.  It was nice to hang out outside for a bit 

{Yes, it is funny that I have a snow picture and a blanket outside picture both from the same weekend}

And finally, with some of my free time I was able to work a little more on my new business adventure.  Etsy shop will hopefully be opening in the next week or so but until then you can follow me on facebook: www.facebook.com/dotsanddarlings

There you have my little weekend.

What did you do?

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing week and have even more amazing plans for your weekend.

Jesse and I had a few tricks up our sleeves but then this happened:

Say whaaaaat?!

Gotta love Alaska. 

I guess my hopes for the weekend may not happen.... 

we'll see!

Sing a little song

What could be better than singing in the shower you ask??

Singing to a sweet babe in a high chair at breakfast.

The shower has that magical ability to make your voice sound like you could sing with Beyonce.  You know you've sung the national anthem for the Super Bowl, auditioned for American idol, or put on our own rock concert all while soaping up in there. Don't lie.

But let me tell you, that shower has nothing on the way you feel when you're singing to the captive audience of an infant.

Lyla and I have fun in the mornings. We wake around 8am (nothing sweeter than waking up to your baby contently blowing raspberries in the crib waiting on you to come get her) and I take her back to bed with me where I nurse her and we play for about 20 minutes. Then I take her to the kitchen, strap her in the high chair and give her a spoon and sippy cup to practice with while I make her breakfast and my coffee.

Then the show starts. 

I crank up Pandora on my phone (I love to play Pandora's stations "Family Folk Songs" or "Children's indie radio" at this time) and sing and dance my heart out while filling lyla with her fruit and oatmeal. The smiles I get from her are enough to make your heart sing too! Seriously, you will soon believe you are, as Mariah Cary would say, "hash tag pow"

Unfortunately my concerts are only Wednesday through Saturday mornings, since Jesse is home the other days and hes not as big of a fan of my show.



It's the small things in life that give you joy. 
I hope and pray to never stop being goofy with my children.
To never take life to seriously.
And to find joy in the simple things.

Weekend Roundup

Hi-ho 

hi-ho 

It's back to work we go

Okay so I'm a stay-at-home mom and not really technically going back to work... 

But pretty much, yeah, going back to the work week

We had a nice weekend together as a family.  Jesse was sure to make Mother's Day special for me and let me stay in bed all afternoon and not lift a finger all day.  Woohoo.

Then on Monday (Jesse doesn't go back to work until Monday night so our "work week" isn't until tuesday-ish) we had a little family adventure:

Check out the cheesy grin on that cutie's face!  

She looooved riding in her chariot.  She sat in her seat and waved her arms around the whole time we were riding.  Then when we stopped she just smiled and made a lot of grunting noises (which is happy sounds in Lyla-land).  It was just so nice to get out and get some fresh air and spend some quality time together as a family.  Hopefully we can sneak some rides in this week and this weekend too.

Oh, and another highlight of my weekend was snagging this little puppy:

Isn't is BEAUTIFUL?! 

I might have squealed for joy when we saw it at Salvation Army.

I can not wait to get my hands on this little one and paint it up (after a TON of scrubbing of course!).  The question is... what color should I do??

{Product Love} Feeding Favorites

I wrote {this post} a while ago and I decided to add it it a bit.  

Here is my list of feeding favorites!

1.  Spoons- I don't know what it is about these particular spoons but they are hands down our favorites.  Jesse and I both feel like there is more food in Lyla's mouth (and less on her face!) when we use these bad boys.

2. Easywipe Bibs- Why did it take me so long to purchase these?!  Instead of doing a bazillion loads of laundry from using cloth bibs every meal just go buy yourself some of these wipeable ones.  

3. Fresh Food Feeder- I mentioned in this post how much we love using these things.  Lyla seriously goes nuts with anticipation when we put her in the highchair so popping an ice cube of sweet potatoes in this thing will hold her over while I make dinner.

4. Mum-Mums-  Another great busy food.  

1. Disposable Bibs- Perfect for meals on the go.  After toting a diaper bag around for 7 months you are happy with having one less thing in there after you leave the restaurant!

2. Squeeze pouches- We make our own baby food but pack these things on the go.   We typically buy the Plum Organic ones.

3. Hand and Face Wipes- If your kid is anything like mine then you've got a mess on your hands once chow time is over.

4. Dispensing Spoon-  Hands down the best thing out there!  Pop one of these things on your squeeze pouch and you've got the perfect combination for feeding your babe.

So there you have my list of favorites.  

What are some of yours?