Categories
Babies

Merino Kids Toddler Sleep Sack

I think all toddlers thrive on routines. I know mine do. And thus our bedtime routine goes like this almost without exceptions ~ after giving hugs & kisses all around, J & Zach go back to our room for his final pre-bed sippy cup of milk. Lucy & I hang out in the den to get her prepped for bed.

After one last book, L will say “sleep sack” & “mommy time”. Those are her code words for it’s time for her sleep sack & nursing with me. L gets her sack on & she knows it’s almost bedtime. She’s also begun asking for “sippy” cup of milk in between “side” {her word for wanting to nurse on the other breast}.

I’ve talked before {toddler must haves} {Halo sleepsack review} about our love for sleep sacks. And that hasn’t changed even as Lucy’s on the verge of being 2. Daycare does blankets for nap & L has asked for a blanket a time or two during weekend naps, but overnight, we do sleep sacks. While I have loved a fuzzy one for winter in the past, I was thrilled when I was recently contacted by Merino Kids in regards to trying out one of their organic cotton & merino wool toddler sleep sacks.
Merino Kids sleep sack packaging

I chose {& quickly received} their gorgeously packaged sleep sack in Honey Oat. This sleep sack is by far the softest & most luxurious one I’ve ever felt. The light brown is very gender neutral, so if Lucy will share it, Zach will be able to enjoy it too. The weight has been great for winter temps & yet will be light & cool enough to easily take us through spring & summer.

Bedtime Lucy Merino Kids sleep sack
Merino Kids sleep sack on, sippy in hand & paci/baby/bunny close by, Lucy was *ready* for bed!

I ordered the toddler size 2-4 years, so they could grow into this sleep sack. And as you can see, Lucy does have quite a bit of growing room! At this point, it’s a bit hard for her to walk in, but I typically carry my sleepy girl into her crib as well as pick her up and carry her into the den in the mornings as well. The length makes sure she has room to kick & roll in her crib as much as she wants at night.
Morning Lucy Merino Kids sleep sack

The Merino Kids sleep sack design has the zipper going from under the arm to the bottom of the sack all along the side. I really like the way you don’t have to be tugging at a zipper under the babe’s neck for a late night or early morning diaper change.

Merino Kids sleep sack Lucy & paci
check out this cool feature too ~ the Merino Kids sleep sacks are stroller & car seat friendly with the front & back flap for the latches!

I love this sack so much I’d put Lucy in our Merino Kids sleep sack every night if I didn’t occasionally have to wash it. 😛 And speaking of washing, the instructions that came in the pretty package recommended against putting the sleep sack in the dryer. So that’s kinda a bummer as I don’t have a ton of hanging space in my laundry closet. But so far, not drying has meant that this sleep sack doesn’t have any of the unsightly {& itchy} piling that can come with drying cotton fibers.

You can order a Merino Kids sleep sack from their babysleepbags.com link or Amazon where you’ll see that the price is a bit on the higher side, but like many things in life, you pay for superior quality & comfort. And if yours are like my Lucy and wearing a sleep sack on a nightly basis, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth out of the Merino Kids sacks.

I was provided a Merino Kids sleep sack at no cost to us for purpose of this review. I was not otherwise compensated & my opinions expressed are solely my own

Categories
Family/Travel Motherhood Reading

Why We Read

There’s a newish blog out there co-written by a group of busy moms who champion their continued love of books, we still read. And while I haven’t been able to keep up with all their posts or {even recently} my own reading, I love the idea behind managing to find little bits of time to keep up with book reading in between raising kiddos & sharing it online.

Wednesday night, as L & Z sat together sharing their toddler elephant chair each with their own book & then L jumped in my lap while we tried to capture a still photo of Zach stacking up his current favorite books then sitting on them to read on his own, I thought, THIS is why I read. This is why I read to them. This is why they will sometimes see me reading. Raising little readers (lil book nerds!) brings me so much joy.

Snow Day Reading

Categories
Food Motherhood

ReLearning to Eat

From Nov 7th 2011 until very recently, I’ve been eating for three {or 14 weeks for four}. At first, that meant pouring through mom of multiples books for sample eating charts, foods recommendations & recipes to try to reach the goal of 3000 {then 2700} calories a day. I was told to add all the protein & fat I could because I was growing multiple babies {who’d most likely be preemies} & needed all they could get before they arrived. I switched to higher fat milk & subbed extra real butter on everything. Gone were any low calorie yogurt, cheese, cream cheese, breads, crackers, etc.

Then Z & L were born & my hard work eating all.the.things paid off as they were huge in comparison to their other NICU residents.

And boom. I was told by NICU LCs & MoM breastfeeding books to up my calories & fat again after L & Z were born to keep up my milk supply. So I was once again eating everything I could plus sticking with my ice cream before bed routine. In about 9 months after they were born, I’d lost the 50 lbs I’d gained pregnant plus 20-25 more. I was wearing clothes I hadn’t dreamed I’d ever fit into again while eating whatever I wanted {pretty cool, right?! Breastfeeding FTW}.

Then even when L & Z started eating solids as their main nutritional source & we started cutting nursing sessions, I kept up my big breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner & dessert routine. It’s what I knew & what my stomach was telling me I was hungry for. I was busy & tired & usually somewhat overwhelmed by life & just doing what I could.

Cue 19 months post-partum. Today. I’m still nursing L before bed & Z during 1-2 dream feeds a night. Yes my 19, almost 20, month old son doesn’t STTN {& nor do I} but that’s a whole other post. I’m still trying to drink a lot of water {although thankfully not the 100 oz I was doing while pregnant & EBFing} & maintain calories of hopefully healthy food to pass through in my milk. But honestly, my eating is kinda of a joke some days. My constant {especially strong post-nursing} sweet tooth & the holidays didn’t help.

I’ve gained back 15-20 of those pounds I’d lost. My post-multiples lower belly is a mess of chub & stretch marks & my boobs will never be where they once were. I do have kick ass arm muscles for someone my size thanks to carrying 50+ lbs of toddlers multiple times a day though. Multi-mom bonus!

I’m okay with my body shifting. Hello, I grew babIES! And at some point, I’ll find time from somewhere to work out & see about tightening up those stomach muscles. But my priority now is relearning how to eat. This might sound crazy, to some, but it’s been 26 months since I was eating for just me & I’ve kinda forgotten normal portions!

It doesn’t help that I’m on my own with getting all three of us up & out the door in the mornings. My prior life breakfast routine of leisurely eating cereal isn’t an option as I’d have L & Z going after my spoon or food while I run around the house. This past weekend, we hit up Trader Joe’s for some quick & healthy week night meals {L & Z like to eat by 6p which makes recipes with a lot of effort or cooking time a non-option} as well as their organic milk & yogurt & breakfast items for me. So I’m going to admit that instead of my usual two bagels with cream cheese when I get to work at 830, yesterday am, I ate a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese at home. While I peed. & L & Z dumped out their sock drawer. Because that’s the 5 2 mins I had to eat.

I bring my lunch to work most days & have started to pack less. And I’m cutting out my mid-afternoon snack since we usually eat dinner early.

Dinner is tough because, like I said above, it has to be made quick & I still want high calorie foods to bulk up L & especially Z. I’m not a short order cook & I want us all eating the same thing.

And I’m not ready to give up my beloved dessert forever but have cut it out some nights this week. I’m motivated. But not that motivated. 😛

So, long long long story short, I’d love to hear how, post-baby{s}, you got back to normal or the new normal.

Categories
Family/Travel Photography Toddler Life

Pumpkin Patch {take 1}

With my parents in town last weekend, we headed to a local pumpkin patch Saturday morning. We’d had fun with tiny Z & L there last year for their first pumpkin patch experience & decided to go back.

Oh how pumpkin patch photo ops are different with running toddlers vs not-yet-sitting-up infants!
Zach-and-Lucy-Pumpkin-Patch

Saturday L & Z were all look at the dirt! & mud! & balls {aka pumpkins!} & trucks {driving by quickly on busy road}. And yes, we brought home 3 gourds because they wouldn’t think of putting them down!!

Lucy-and-Zach-Pumpkin-Patch-2013

There was lots of wrangling & smiles, but sadly, not quite the perfect family/group pictures we’d hoped for.

Pumpkin-patch-2013

Since we plan to go to VA & another patch this upcoming weekend, stay tuned for take 2 next week!

Categories
Toddler Life

Weekend Park Fun

Before I had a chance to post photos of two weekends ago at the park, Zach, Lucy & I met friends there this past weekend. So this is a two-in-one post filled with lots of park fun.

Zach and Lucy Park Fun
Zach was all smiles & Lucy was trying to decide whether or not she was a fan. {she decided she wasn’t last Sunday.}
Zach and Lucy Park Fun
Swings, slides, tractor rides, playing in the mulch & taking a break in the stroller!

My aunt came with us last Sunday afternoon. The park was very busy thanks to the warm, sunny day. {I learned last weekend earlier is better. Hit it up at 9 am, you’ve got the place to yourself!}

Zach loves it- the sand, dirt, climbing, swings, cars & slides {although he was kinda being shy on Sat}. Lucy isn’t so sure about sand/mulch/slides, but she’s finally liking the swings on her own. Seeing the other kiddos having fun this past weekend made her brave enough for a bit to try some new things.

Park Play Date
Zach checkin’ out the big kid slide, Lucy crashed out on the swing, me helicopter parenting on the jungle gym, our not so great attempt at a lil kids group photo, B snuggling Z, swinging fun on their own & Z with his park bro H!

Another benefit of the park? Wearing the lil guys out! L literally fell asleep while swinging! And stayed asleep in the stroller, car seat then on me once we got home. Too funny.

Looking forward to more park play dates with friends as these occasions were too much fun to not repeat!