Friday I'm In Love

As awesome as Christmas was, I'm ready to get back to normal and let things calm down a bit for the winter. I can't believe this is the last Friday of the year! I may or may not make a resolution, but I'll ponder that over my beverage tomorrow evening. In the meantime, Friday fun. 

I made cranberry white chocolate muffins for a little holiday brunch and again on Christmas morning at our house. They were a big hit and everyone keeps asking me for the recipe. You're welcome.

If you're in the market for a pair of leggings that feel exactly like pjs but look exactly like pants, here you go. I got these for Christmas and I actually could sleep in them. They are the perfect addition to my momiform.

It's unlikely you will ever see Fallon without a bow if she isn't wearing a hat. Partially because I think she's so flippin' cute with a bow on fuzzy head and partially because people call her a boy without one. And it drives me nuts! Our newest favorite shop has some adorable options for any baby girl. 

We are in the thick of sleep training and it's pretty clear Fallon likes to hold something to soothe herself. Have no fear, there's a Slumkerkins with her name on it (literally) on its way to us. 

My friend sent me this article and it was just what I needed to read this week. I'll be 30 next year and if I spend the next decade of my life tired, untoned and chasing after kids, then won't i be lucky?!

One of my very favorite clothing companies for babes, June & January, is having an end of year sale with 40% off! Their hoodie jumpers are the best and I wish I could buy them in every single color for Fallon. 

Happy last Friday of 2016!!

Cozy Slippers

I'm a KY girl right down to my bare feet in the summer time but I love wearing slippers all winter long. Now that I stay home with my kiddo, I can be found wearing some of my beloved cozy footwear all day long and even sometimes to the grocery! I have a nice little collection, that my husband endlessly makes fun of me for, but I love them all so much. If you think it's silly to have a pair of slippers for every occasion, well you're just wrong. I had my eye on some super fuzzy Uggs last year but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. This year I received them as a gift, immediately put them on and have barely taken them off since. Of course my sweet baby girl would decide to poop on them. Insert the Kevin McAllister scream here. While I go work on operation shit removal, check out some of my favorite comfy slippers for yourself. 

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Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all had the best day with your families and friends and some of you are probably still celebrating! There's this month long build up, all the anticipation and fun things leading up to the big day and then it's all over, just like that. Another Christmas in the books. But this year was so, so special spending it with our baby girl. 

Every Christmas Eve my parents host an open house for family, friends and neighbors. Honestly I probably enjoy Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas Day and look forward to seeing people I may not not have even seen since the party the year before. When my sister and I were little the party would end in the early evening and we would head over the river and through the woods to Grandpa's house. It was always one of Santa's first stops so we would walk in and see all the presents under the tree. We opened gifts, ate too many cookies and my dad would carry us half awake out to the car. This year we've resurrected the tradition for miss Fallon and let Santa know my parents' house should be one of his first stops. He got the message and apparently Fallon was on the nice list because she got a sweet little sack full of gifts. I'm already excited to see what he leaves in that bag for her next year. 

Christmas Day Chris and I used to run around all over town to spend time with everyone in our families. This year we hosted them all at our house for Christmas morning brunch and it was the best idea ever. We stayed in our pjs and opened presents while chowing down and Fallon took a nice long nap upstairs when she got tired. She was in such a good mood later on that we headed to my aunt and uncle's house so she could meet my dad's extended family. 

We've spent today playing with all Fallon's new toys and cleaning up from yesterday's festivities. It is so much fun to see her excitement and wonder and really I could play with her for hours. I don't wish her to grow up too fast but being able to interact more with her, teach her things and help her to develop new skills is amazing. We are so very thankful for the generosity of our families and friends but our greatest gift this year is having a baby girl to celebrate with. 

Holiday Hustle

When you're in a kid, the countdown to Christmas seems to take FOREVER. I remember my sister and I making those paper chains with red and green construction paper, hanging them up at our house and anxiously pulling one off each day. As the chain got shorter and shorter we got more and more excited. But when you're a kid, you get to enjoy all the magic this time of the year brings with none of the stress. I swear the older I get the faster Christmas comes each year and I never ever thought I'd find myself wishing there was just one extra week as we now have only days left until the big man in red flies his sleigh. 

Having a baby this year totally ups the ante. She's 5 months old so she doesn't understand who Santa is, she can't eat Christmas cookies and she only likes shopping because there's so many people to smile at. But I still want to do all the holiday things with her and show her those pictures of all the fun we had from her first Christmas. So we've gone to see lights and Santa, shopped and baked cookies, hosted a holiday brunch and watched all the Christmas movies in our festive pjs. I pretty much lost last week because I was feeling so crappy and now here we are, 5 days before Christmas and I'm suddenly in a panic over all the things I still have to do. Let the holiday hustle commence. 

Fallon's PJs / Bow / My PJs 

I've made my list and checked it twice, hopefully when it's over I'm still nice! Over the next 3 days I plan to somehow finish shopping, get wrapping supplies + wrap all the gifts, make more cookies (because someone whose name I will not mention ate them all), frost and decorate said cookies, complete 2 homemade gifts and prepare my house + food for Christmas morning when we will have our family over. Call me crazy but I think with a little help from the cookie monster, ahem, my hubby, a lotta hustle and a dash of some Christmas magic I'll get it all done. 

Anyone else wondering how Christmas snuck up so dang fast this year?!

5 Months of Fallon

Nothing makes your baby look so friggin big like seeing her next to a younger baby. Having my friend's 8 week old son around 3 days a week now makes Fallon seem like such a big girl. She's sitting up with minimal assistance, eating solids and bouncing around in her jumperoo and it's hard to believe she's already 5 months old. 

So far Fallon has not met a food she won't eat. She definitely loves bananas, apples and pears and could leave peas but she's eaten everything we've given her so far. Nursing is still where she gets the majority of her calories but we are very proud of what a good little eater she is proving to be. So far no teeth yet but she's gnawing the crap of out pretty much anything she can get her little hands on. Reading books has become one of her favorite things to do and she loves to help me turn the pages and look at all the illustrations. She's very into touching everything and feeling different textures, which is so hilarious to watch. Petting her kitties is very exciting and sometimes she gets a little too rough so we're working on it! I never thought I would say this but we finally have somewhat of a nap schedule down. The majority of the time our little Fally sleeps well at night, waking once or twice to nurse. She's wearing size 6-9 or 6-12 clothes to cover those long, long legs but we will not know her weight until her next check-up in January.

We are so excited to celebrate our little 5 month old's first Christmas this month!!!

Baking Babes + Holly Jolly Jams

Baking Christmas cookies was on my list of things to do with Fallon this year. Lately she's been very interested in food and I thought it would be fun for her to watch the whole process in the kitchen with me. So we spent yesterday afternoon making huge messes and forever memories baking our first round of Christmas cookies together. My friend's little boy was with us too and he was supposed to supervise but he fell asleep on the job. Men. We made snickerdoodles with white chocolate buttercream and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. My kitchen was a disaster by the time we finished but it was absolutely worth it. 

I don't know about y'all but I love listening to music while I bake. We broke out the speaker and put our Christmas playlist on repeat. If an afternoon of baking Christmas cookies with Christmas music blaring doesn't put you in the holiday mood I just don't know what else does! My cookie recipes are a secret (for now) but I thought I'd share our holiday playlist. Most of these are throwbacks and they immediately take me back to car rides to the Christmas tree farm with my family and dancing around in my room with my girlfriends. I'm excited for Fallon to grow up jamming to these same songs as we make new holiday memories. I'm sure I will keep adding songs as I think of them so let me know your favorites!

Holiday PJ Party

There is something about putting on pjs that just immediately lowers my stress level. I have my comfy clothes that sometimes double as clothes I wear out of the house but I really love me some cute pjs (that I almost never wear in public). Having a baby means I get to shop for pjs for both of us and oh man am I jealous of the selection for kiddos. Why don't they all come in my size?! It has already been so much fun rocking festive jams this month and you can bet we will keep it up until the new year. I could really go crazy buying them for every single day through Christmas but that would just be crazy. Or would it? In case you love having pj parties as much as we do, I thought I'd share some of my favorites for mama + munchkin.

Santa Baby

I was really excited for Fallon to meet Santa for the first time this year but I thought she might freak out sitting on his lap. I mean a strange old guy with a huge white beard and a bright red suit isn't exactly to kind of person most babies are used to seeing. But sometimes those screaming faces make the best pictures and maybe it's mean as parents to put our kids through it but c'mon, I don't think it scars any of them for life. 

We live near the Cincinnati Zoo and Santa sets up his temporary shop over in the Children's section during the annual Festival of Lights display. The zoo is magically morphed into this lit up wonderland and it's so pretty to see. Fallon is really into things that light up so she loved looking at all those colors and didn't even mind the stinky elephants. We got there early so we didn't have to wait too long to see Santa but I actually think it ended up being a good thing that she got to see him from a distance and then gradually get closer. I sat her on his lap when it was her turn and expected the frowny face followed immediately by wailing. I was wrong. She was far too interested in all the faces watching her to notice the big guy at first. And then she turned to him and just sort of took it all in for a beat before smiling up at him. It was the cutest and I was so happy they let us take pictures from the side so I was able to capture those sweet moments. I guess she finally decided she was in fact afraid, or maybe thought she was on the naughty list, so then she got the sad face. But I scooped her up before it went further South. 

Of course next year could be a totally different story, but we will always have these adorable memories frozen in time of our baby girl smiling up at Santa for their first meeting. 

All My Babies

When I started writing this blog I only had 1 cat and 2 dogs. The furbaby mama life was still pretty new and I was blogging as I was figuring it all out. While I can't say I have all the answers now with 3 dogs and 3 cats, I can say that I'm experienced. On the other hand, parenting a baby girl is all brand new. Blogging is not just my creative outlet, it's become an amazing way for me to document my life as it changes seasons, connect with all of you on different levels and figure this whole mom thing out as I go. So if you've been around since the beginning. I apologize that The Ruff Life has gone from all about the furbablls to all about the baby. I promise our dogs and cats have not been brushed to the side at all. Chris and I make the extra effort to ensure everyone gets the love and attention they deserve. But we consider ourselves pros in the furbaby department at this point so the focus of blog posts has overwhelming turned to mommy and baby topics. And I'll be honest, that's most likely the way it will stay. Now, that does not mean I won't throw in some furbaby focused posts here and there. I'm always open to suggestions and questions. I just feel like I have to keep this blog current and my life right now is very different than it was when I started writing. A rebrand may be something I look into eventually but for now the name and our home here will remain unchanged. So with that said, this post is about all my babies.

We did things a little differently than probably most people do as far as introducing the kids' new baby sister to them. Our dogs are excitable with children especially so we knew we wanted to wait a bit before allowing close up interaction. We let them all get used to Fallon's scent and understand she was a new member of the family. The cats came and met her each on their own time but we had to control her relationship with the dogs early on. It might seem mean or harsh if you don't understand dog behavior and I am not suggesting everyone else should do things this way. But it ended up working out really well for us so I'll share our process. 

We actually waited a whole month before we let any of the dogs see Fallon up close. The initial meetings were brief and we made sure to bring Fallon to them on their beds as well as kept her at arm's length from them. We gradually increased the frequency and length of the time we let each dog interact with their new sister and closed the gap between their curious noses and her face. Chaos still gets upset when she cries and it takes all his will power to remain on command in his place instead of charging to her rescue. But we have yet to have any accidental injuries, no one getting underfoot while someone is holding the baby and she hasn't been scared by a friendly but very excited brother or sister in her face. She is getting to the age that she is starting to reach out for them and touch their faces and their fur. We will teach her to be gentle as soon as she understands but these calm and positive interactions now are setting the stage for that later. We are far from the people who treat their furballs like children and then toss them aside when a baby comes along. I promise we still love all our babies and our family dynamic has changed only for the better, even if it is mostly behind the scenes. 

This picture for our 2016 Christmas card picture could not showcase our babies' personalities any better and we are so excited to send it out to all our family and friends. 

Trimming The Tree

Growing up both Chris and I always had a live tree for Christmas. We would go out to a Christmas tree farm and spend forever picking the perfect tree then eating our free candy canes on the ride home. I love the smell of fresh pine and I remember how dad would slice a piece off the trunk for my sister and I to each put in our rooms. We would watch Christmas movies and carefully select ornaments to put on the tree. I am so fond of those memories. Even though Fallon is too young to understand, we still want to start making those kinds of memories with her.

When I moved out I had a fake tree for awhile because I didn't think I could handle a real one on my own. But I missed having the real tree, despite the mess and having cats to contend with. This year we didn't make it out to the Christmas tree farm but we did go pick out a live tree at a cute little lot near our house. I wore green plaid flannel and Fallon wore Christmas jammies and boots and had the sweet old man working there absolutely smitten. She was so excited to see all the trees and I swear she "chose" the one we took home when daddy pulled it out. It was her first Christmas tree picking experience and it was better than we could have planned. 

Chris got the tree all set up in our living room and put the lights on it we had from last year for me. Then it was my job to decorate. Well, although fun, it's quite a job, and life got in the way. It took me a few days longer than I had hoped, but I finally trimmed that tree. If you followed my Instastory you know I ended up taking down last year's lights because I wanted "warm white" instead of "bright white". Of course I put them on backwards (with the plug at the top) and had to take them off and put them back on. WHY?! But once I started putting up ornaments and seeing ones from when I was a kid, I just got all the warm fuzzy Christmas feelings. I tied some ribbon on for a finishing touch and wrapped a $20 white furry blanket around the base (because I'm too cheap to pay $50 for a tree skirt!).

The lights are crooked and uneven. The ornaments don't all match. The ribbon has frayed edges because I bought the wrong kind. But when I turned on the lights and showed my baby girl, she lit up brighter than any Christmas tree I've ever seen and our tree instantly became perfect. One day when she's old enough, I will be able to show pictures of her first Christmas tree and remember the way she smiled, reaching for the colored ornaments and wiggling with excitement. 

Gift Guide: For Baby

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with family and friends, full bellies and full hearts. Our little Fallon certainly didn't mind being the center of attention and chowing down on some sweet potatoes! We usually head out to the mall on Black Friday, but not really for the deals. I like to be part of the hustle and bustle without the pressure of snagging a specific item or having a list to go down. All the decorations and shoppers and Christmas displays just get me into the Christmas spirit. 

If you follow along on Instagram you already know that Fallon turned our Black Friday into Brown Friday when she decided to have a blow out as soon as we got to the mall. She pooped right through her festive pants and since it was so crowded I had to change her on her mat on the floor by the candy machines. Oh yes we did. Of course I had forgotten to pack an extra outfit but we couldn't let that ruin our fun. I just left her in her hoodie, diaper and furry booties and she rocked it like nobody's business. 

Even though I didn't shop at the stores, I did get some great deals online shopping after baby girl went to bed. I'm not quite finished and have my eye on a few things we will probably purchase during the Monday deals. I have noticed that tons of the sales started Thursday or Friday and are just continuing through Monday so hopefully everyone gets what they want with those discounts! 

I love the idea of something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. Mommy and Daddy are sticking to that with 4 gifts under the tree from us. But who knows what Santa will bring if Fallon is a really good girl. Here are a few items on her list that your babes might enjoy too. 

Alphabet Tee / Hoodie Jumper / Interactive Puppy / Penguin Doll / Activity Cube / Radio Flyer Push Wagon / Plates / BabyLit Book / Polka Dot Dress / Bow Onesie

The Non Joys Of Parenthood

I want to go ahead and preface this by saying I am so thankful I have a daughter. I appreciate that she is one hell of a gift and do not take the fact that she is healthy and thriving for granted for a single second. BUT I can't honestly say that I enjoy every moment of parenthood. Does anyone? I don't think it makes us ungrateful, just human. 

As much as I love seeing all the beautiful captures of motherhood in those moments of glory, we all know they don't tell most of the story. The parts that make us want to rip our hair out, run for the hills, pour the wine at 10AM, scream, cry or beat up a pillow. The frustration, the mental exhaustion, the sleep depravation. So, real talk people, here are 5 joys of parenthood I don't really find so joyous. 

Blowouts 

Dear God, how can so much crap come out of such a tiny body? I lost count of how many times we've had to wash the car seat padding and refill the bottle of stain remover. Little girlfriend is all go big or go home when it comes to shitting her pants.

Spit Up

My kid seems to think no outfit is complete without some regurgitated milk. She waits until I dress her and then BAM pukes on herself and usually me. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't smell. 

Fussing

I get that babies communicate via crying when they need something before they can use words. But fussing aka whining grates on my last nerve. Probably what irritates me the most is my kid does it because she's bored and refusing to entertain herself. Heaven forbid I should leave the room to relieve my bladder.

Infant Car Seat

I know these things are made the way they are made to keep my baby safe and that rocks. But they are a bitch to use. They are awkward and heavy to carry and strapping in a screaming baby is sometimes the most challenging thing I do all day. It's like wrangling a tiny bronco. 

Naps

Or really lack there of. If these are so necessary why is it so hard to get them to happen? I'm lucky if my kid takes more than one nap a day, if one at all ,and 40 minutes is pretty solid for her. Multiple naps totaling 3-4 hours per day all the websites speak of are laughable to me. You're tired, I'm giving you the opportunity to sleep. Sleep. OMG JUST SLEEP. You mamas who get several hours worth of nap time hustle or relaxation, count your blessings. I'll just be over here attempting to accomplish all the things in 40 minutes or less, doing them with a 14+ lb baby attached to me or doing none of them because I'm pushing the stroller or driving the car. 

I love my baby so freaking much I can't even put it into words. And I fully accept that motherhood is mostly messy and chaotic and so far from a series of perfect little squares. I can take the bad with the good, roll with the punches and laugh about it later. Being a mom is an amazing job but I'm just never going to love poop. 

4 Month Fussies

I won't even pretend that I have really any part of motherhood all figured out, but there for a minute I kind of thought I had found my groove. And then Fallon turned 4 months old. I swear it was like someone supercharged her overnight and she woke up pissed off. The past few weeks we've been losing our minds desperately trying to figure out why she's been upset 75% of the time and doing all kinds of ridiculous things to keep her from having constant meltdowns. 

4 month sleep regression? Transition to the crib? Growth spurt? Teething? Developmental? Gas? Boredom? Some combination of any or all of the above? Or dear God is this just her true personality emerging and she's going to be like this FOREVER? 

We introduced solids, gave her gas relief drops & Tylenol, took long walks, car rides, sang songs and played with all the toys. But the fussiness just kept up. I was wondering how I was going to do this everyday without beating my head against the wall in frustration. Other mamas could empathize, but mostly it was I honestly don't remember if mine went through that. Probably because we block out these times as way to preserve sanity and keep the human race going. 

And then just as quickly as this salty attitude came on, it left the building. I'm not saying we suddenly have a happy baby all the time. I mean, is that even a real thing? But the last few days we've had more smiles than tears, more giggles than fussing and more fun than frustration. I feel like I finally found my way out of the rabbit hole and we're back in the game. We will never know what this little phase was all about. But it really doesn't matter. One thing is for sure, we aren't one bit sad to see those 4 month fussies hit the road! 

Friday I'm In Love

All around me the Christmas season has begun but I just can't get into it until after Thanksgiving. I mean, I'm super excited for Fallon's first Christmas but we are still in fall mode for another week around here. There will be no tree, no Christmas music, no cookies and no decorating until next weekend. I could say there will be no shopping but who am I kidding? It's just not Christmas shopping yet. Don't worry, as soon as black Friday hits there will definitely not be a shortage of holiday cheer in this house. In the meantime, one last favorites roundup until it's all Christmas Vacation, NSYNC & Mariah Carey on repeat, twinkle lights and toy stores. 

I'm pretty sure half of my closet is made up of Target finds. I also go for something else and come out with something new in my wardrobe. I just snagged this cardigan and it is the softest, coziest thing ever!

I love my booties this time of year but running around with Fallon all the time requires comfy shoes. It's pretty awesome that there are tons of cute and stylish sneaks out right now. I just got these and they literally feel like slippers, the perfect compliment to any momiform. 

If Fallon falls asleep while we are out and about the last thing I need is strangers getting too close. I love MilkSnob car seat covers and this new one for fall/winter is the cutest.

My friend sent me this article about what SAHMs really do all day. Even if you're working mama, this is a good one. I was literally laughing out loud.

This website has the coolest mom tees. I could make a case for this one, this one, or this one. Maybe all 3!

My mom hosts Thanksgiving dinner and didn't ask me to bring anything but I might show up with a plate of these anyway. 

There are countless sweet and cuddly stuffed dolls for kids out there but Cuddle + Kind dolls are extra special. Not only are they handmade, each doll purchase provides 10 meals to kids who only dream of Thanksgiving dinner. I melted seeing Fallon grab her doll's little hand. 

The Bedtime Routine

I'm up past my bedtime tonight to talk about Fallon's bedtime routine. Before we left the NICU and brought our baby girl home we got to give her the first bath. The nurse was telling us that babies do not need baths every day but sometimes it can be helpful to relax them before bed. I had heard from many people that creating a bedtime routine was so, so helpful for both parents and babes so Chris and I decided to jump on the wagon. 

Fallon's umbilical cord took a few weeks to come off so we just bathed her with a wet rag a handful of times during that period. And she hated every second of it. The first night we were finally able to give her a sink bath with her baby tub we figured she would hate that too. We were wrong. She actually LOVED it. She was so happy and really enjoyed being in the water. But we quickly discovered she did not like being taken out of the water. She screamed like the air was on fire. It was all kinds of fun trying to get her lotion and pjs on while having our eardrums blown. And then one night she decided it was actually kind of nice to be wrapped up in a cozy towel and have lotion rubbed on her. So now we all look forward to the bedtime routine. 

Around 7PM we kick things off with a bath. If it's been a super crappy day and Fallon is just all kinds of fussy at 6:30, we start then, but I try to hold her off until 7. Typically Chris is sleeping upstairs so we've just made it part of the routine to use the first floor bathroom. This tub fits perfectly in the sink and Fallon loves to just relax in the warm water for a while. She usually sticks her hands under the faucet at some point and sprays water everywhere. I give her 10-15 minutes and then wash her with Tubby Todd soap. I've learned to take her out of the tub before I turn off the water or she totally loses her shit. Yea, we've got a diva on a hands. I wrap her up and bring her out to the living room and lay her on the couch. I have everything I need set out and ready to go so we move right to the next step of covering her in lotion. She usually babbles while I do this and it's pretty damn cute. 

I slip this little guy on her foot then put her in her pjs and we go onto the next step, the boob. I used let her nurse right to sleep and then put her to bed but now that she's a little older, I don't want her to need to nurse to bed. So now she nurses and then we snuggle. After a rough transition to her crib, we went with the recommendation for this swaddle blanket and it's worked like a charm. I swaddle her up and either cuddle on the couch or head upstairs to her room to rock in the rocker. By 8 I lay her down sleepy in her crib and she usually drifts right off to dream land. 

Having this routine keeps Chris and I on schedule and has helped Fallon understand when it is time to sleep for the night as she has gotten older. We try to stick to this sequence of events of every night but we also believe in teaching flexibility so now that she is used to sleeping in her own room, we will start mixing things up a bit here and there. So far our bedtime routine has been working out extremely well and I'm really glad we started it from the beginning. 

Do you have a bedtime routine for your kiddos?

Beanie Babes

Most days I try to get out of the house with Fallon, even if it's just to run through the Starbucks drive thru. She's a high stimulation kid so staying home all day bores her. Now that it seems the fall weather is here to stay, I'm loving all the beanie hats for mama and baby. I run cold, always, and wearing a coat while running errands is kind of a pain, especially now with a munchkin in tow. There isn't really much room in the cart anymore and I need both hands when I'm out and about. Fallon can't wear a coat in her carseat so really, throwing hats on both of us is the easiest thing to do, plus they are basically another way to accessorize! I've linked some of my favorites currently out there for you and your mini in case you wanna be beanie babes too. Can you tell we like pompoms? 

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Happy Friday!