Trip to San Francisco

Two weeks ago we decided we wanted to cross off something off our list of places we want to go while we are living in CA. This was after some friends of ours found out they were moving back home and went to one of the other places we also want to visit before we leave (Yosemite).

So last minute we booked a hotel and some other arrangements and committed to go.

Things we wanted to see an do were Alcatraz, Giants baseball game, ride a trolley, and see the golden gate bridge.

We left for our destination on Saturday morning, originally planned on leaving after Bubbas feeding at 5 or 6am but he decided to be awake from 1-330am so this mama needed more sleep than that before hitting the road. We all woke up at 730am and started getting ready to go. I fed Bubba and got Boo Boo dressed and Hubs packed up our car with all our stuff we had packed the night before.

I packed a tote bin full of snacks (raisins, pretzels, granola bars) books boo boo hasnt read in a while, a couple hot wheels, his chuck truck and some play foam. We put it between the two car seats so Boo Boo could rifle through it on his own with out asking for this and that.

We live about 4.5 hours from there so we expected it to be a long trip. What we didnt expect was that Bubba would want to eat every 2 hours on the dot, it made for an extra long trip there.. but we had to stop for gas and potty and food anyways.

We stopped in Livermore, CA for lunch at Mikes Mountain Pizza, and it was awesome! I nursed Bubba in the parking lot and Hubs and Boo Boo ordered food and found the arcade, that Boo boo did not want to part with to eat or leave.. Big surprise right.. lol

Once we finally got there we went straight to golden gate park, to check it out.. Well that didnt last long because there was no where to park anywhere. It was crazy busy and there wasnt much we wanted to do there anyways with both the boys. So we headed to the hotel to check in.

We checked in and all took a nap, it was a long day already and we were exhausted.. Around 6pm we decided to go look for dinner.. haha we walked down to pier one that was a couple blocks from our hotel and found great burger joint called Gotts Roadside. It was no ordinary burger place however, we ordered a bottle of wine, and I got Ahi Burger and hubs got Wisconsin Sourdough, and boo boo got two mini hot dogs and fries, and we all shared some chili spiced sweet potato fries. It was so incredible! Mmmmm

That night they delivered boo boos roll away bed and I honestly didnt even think about bedtime being a issue, but we followed our regular routine and it took him about 30 mins to whine down and fall asleep. Meaning him asking whats that noise about 500 times.. lol It was hard but we just laid in bed and ignored him and if he got up we just put him back in bed and said nothing. The next night he did awesome and fell asleep in about 5 mins.

The next day hubs and boo boo woke up around 8am and quietly got dressed and let momma and brother continue to sleep. They walked to the park and chased pigeons and then on the way back stopped at the safeway and picked up some breakfast!

Once we were all full we headed down to the pier again to check out the ferry marketplace. It was pretty cool, lots of little shops of homemade breads, cheese, candles, froyo, beer, wine, and others. We walked around there for about and hour and half, someone got too tired and wanted to be carried lol and then headed back to the hotel for nap time.

ERGO is my best friend!!
This kid is 34lbs and I could barely feel him back there!

We had plans to get on a tour boat for the big fireworks show under the golden gate bridge for the 75th anniversary. We had to get on the boat at 8pm, so after naptime we headed down to the pier agan to hop on the cable car to get down to pier 39 where the boat leaves from. Well we stood in line forever and then we decided we would rather get a ride from one of the bike taxis instead of being cramped in the cable car..

We made it to pier 39 by 600pm and went to find the restaraunt hubs wanted to go to, and there was a 40 min wait.. but we had time so I went shopping in the souvenir shop and the boys went exploring. I had to learn how to nurse bubba in my ergo carrier while we were out because there really wasnt anywhere I could go to nurse him. Fortunately we figured it out quite easily and it was no problem. Actually it was much easier then fighting with a silly nursing cover.. only problem with nursing him in the baby carrier is that people dont realize thats whats going on till they have already poked there head in to see the baby lol..
I got alot of funny comments while nursing him while standing in line for the bathroom.. "He is getting the best meal in the house" and "Oh your going to be able to tell him he was at the 75th Anniversary of the GG bridge!" LOL and alot of "just wait till he is up here and running all over the place," trust me lady I know that one I got one outside.. lol!

It was a brisk day and luckily I grabbed our blankets for the boat ride because once we got down there it was really starting to get cold. After dinner we walked to the boat and there was a line that went all the way down the boardwalk which was about 700 people it seemed.. All waiting to get on the same charter! We wrapped up in the blankets and stood in line for about 30mins before we got on.
The fireworks were amazing! Even though it was really cold and windy out on the water it was worth it! We also got to see Alcatraz up close both ways and that was pretty sweet too. Its alot closer to the city than we both expected.

Alcatraz Prison

Once we got off the boat there were so many people trying to get on the cable car and buses again so we just decided to walk back.. It was a very long walk! We were so tired once we got back to the hotel I think we all fell asleep within 5 mins.

San Francisco from Treasure Island Naval Base

The next day we got up and got the room all packed up and checked out of the hotel. We drove around the city a while then headed to ghirardelli square to get some bfast. We hit up the chocolate shop for some ghirardelli hot fudge sundae to share and then walked down to the shore and got some hot dogs lol We saw the line for the trolley and decided not to wait, we had a Giants game to get to. So we hopped in the truck and drove through union sqaure and then parked at the stadium. We had awesome seats at the game, but unfortunately both the boys had enough after 2 innings. Basically was too cold for how we were dressed (bad planning on my part) and boo boo was tired. So we walked around the stadium and checked it all out, stopped at the bathrooms and then headed back to the truck to hit the road.

Bubba ready for his first MLB Game!

At Ghirardelli Square

Trolley at the Giants game

On the way home we stopped in Turlock for dinner, Red Robin which we havent had in forever. Then I got super pumped when I remembered that there was a Dutch Bros in Fresno on the way home. So we stopped there for some Fantastic coffee and switched drivers. When we lived in Oregon & Washington Dutch Bros was all over the place, so I really miss it alot living down here where there isnt any. We didnt make it home until midnight! But both the boys were awsome in the car both ways and it was such a fun first trip with our new family of four!

I will add more pictures later when I upload them from my phone.

One Month Old!

Bubba is one month old!!

I cant believe how fast the last month has went by. Things are so incredibly different from before Bubba was born, but better because we are so blessed to have two healthy happy boys!

Bubba is already 11.5 lbs and 22inches long, he no longer fits in his newborn diapers :( or his newborn clothes! He is nursing like a champ, and is growing like a weed. He is most awake from 5am to 6am and 4pm to 8pm. He hasnt really taken a liking to a pacifier yet, but when dads holding him he will suck on one. Bubba really enjoys listening to his big bro and daddy talk, he will just lay there and stare in their direction and listen. So cute. He is such a good baby, so far he doesnt fuss too much unless he is hungry or wants to be held. I think we got thrush so he has been a bit more fussy at feedings lately so we are using the gentian violet method so bubba has some purple lips and mouth. It is only painful on one side for me so I am hoping we caught it early and wont have it very much longer. Otherwise I have my six week postpartum appt next week I will bring it up then. Bubba's next well baby appt isnt until June 20th.

Boo Boo has had his days, but so far he has adjusted to being a big brother pretty smoothly, he is eager to help us out with the baby, and we have tried hard to give him the positive attention he needs. When Bubba is crying Boo Boo runs for the closest nuk, in which I think he keeps tabs on. lol. He also really likes to "help" change diapers and burp bubba. Boo Boo also has taken up the task of cleaning the house for us, haha. He really enjoys washing the dishes (aka rinsing them and putting them in the drying rack, and lots of splashing in the water) he also likes to help sweep the floor and vacuum the crumbs, carry in groceries, and move the dirty clothes to the laundry room. Boo Boo was very lucky while grandma was out here to help us after bubba was born because she bought him a new bike with training wheels! We were so impressed when he got on and was able to pedel a few strokes by himself. We were even more proud a week later he was already making circles around the island in our kitchen! He learned to ride it so fast, half the time it is inside the house because its easier for us to watch him, but he also does very well riding around the block also. Such a little smarty pants!

Boo Boo just turned 2 and a half and he can count from 1 to 28 and knows his abc's, all his colors, and shapes. He has been singing while he plays alot, it is super cute but we dont really know what he is singing.. He does pretty well at playing by himself for about 30mins especially his trio blocks! He loves building things like robots, boats, towers, wind turbines lol, and monster trucks.. It is one of his favorite things to do with dad right now. His other favorite toys are his coloring books & crayons, legos, his lightning mcqueen suitcase he puts stuff in and totes around, and his new trampoline and sand and water table from us. He also really enjoys watering the grass and making bubbles in the puddle with dawn soap and his bubble wand.

His favorite phrases are: "Guess What Mom: my school friends and miss jen, spike, abby, avery.."  " Whos that"  "Where'd Daddy go?" "Great!" What Happened to Daddy?' and "Look-it"

Probably the biggest challange going from one child to having two is you only have two hands and one is most likely always holding the baby. So this first month has really been just getting used to juggling things one handed and getting things prepared before the day or before they need to happen. For instance getting Boo Boo's lunch made before I pick him up from preschool, and getting him started on an activity that requires no help from me before I have to nurse Bub. It is difficult to always be thinking ahead, and if I ever get time at night I will be preparing meals then because no matter what I do, dinner never gets started before 530pm lately and we already starving.. lol

Another struggle we are having is groceries. It is nearly impossible to go to the store with both kids and a full grocery list, the problem is I refuse to grocery shop in town because the prices are so high. In order to save money I drive 45 mins to the next town to get our groceries. Well this makes it an entire day trip, not to mention super exhausting! So I try to go on days Boo Boo is in preschool but the last couple times I planned on that Bubba needed to nurse after dropping Boo Boo off and that takes about 45 mins to an hour, and we only have 3 hours before we have to pick him back up from school. That doesnt leave anytime really to drive down, shop, then drive back.. So I have been buying few groceries here and there at the store in town and its getting expensive. I know every mom knows you just have to stick your guns out and do it with the kids but its so embarassing when you get to the check out and everyone in the store knows your kids name because you been calling him in every aisle to stay by you because the store doesnt have double carts for both kids to sit in and your older kid wants to push his own little shopper cart. LOL

This past weekend was Mothers Day, we were so lucky to have such an awesome friend come over early in the morning to watch both the boys so me and hubs could go out to brunch to celebrate. It was super yummy at our favorite restaraunt in town Don Juans which serves South America fusion food. With our meal we had a choice of champagne, white wine or pink moscato. The white wine was AMAZING! It was made by New Age Winery in Argentina. Its a blend of 90% Torrontes and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. What is even more amazing is that both of us liked it. My hubby usually likes the drier, full bodied, dark reds and this white wine is nothing like that but is more like a sparkling hard pear cider that is extremely refreshing. We were both so excited about it we instantly looked it up when we got home and bought a case. haha. This is the perfect wine to serve to anyone, those that like sweet wines and those that like drier wines because the process they use to ferment the wine creates a slightly sweet, semi-sparkling wine! The also make a light bodied rose' that we also got that I am eager to try. Both are very reasonably priced.

Hubby went back to work full time last week, after being home the previous week helping me out and working when we all took naps. It went pretty smoothly, we were late to school a couple days from sleeping in, and we had to eat fast food one night but we survived. lol We were so fortunate to have such awsome friends bring us dinner one night and it was amazing! We really appreciated it!

By now were on a pretty good schedule, heres what it looks like:

8am wake up, get boo boo juice and bfast in his chair, start feeding bubba.

9am clean up, playtime/tummy time for bub

10am nurse bubba again to sleep while playing simon says with boo boo.

10:30 -11 tv time for boo boo/ computer time for momma

12-1 outside play for boo boo

1pm naptime for boo boo and nursing bubba

1-3:30 Naptime for all!

4pm potty/ wake up/ nurse bub/ snack time for boo boo

5pm figure out dinner/ grocery shop/ walk to mail box

6pm make dinner

7pm nurse bub/ dinnertime for all

7-8pm playtime with daddy

8pm bathtime/ book

9pm bed/ cluster feed bub till 10:30pm/ watch How I met your Mother.. lol

10:45pm bedtime

1am nurse bub

5am nurse bub

Here are some photos from this month:

Thanks for reading!

Baby Shower Gifts

This being my second child I didnt feel the need to have another baby shower. We had two when we had Boo Boo and we received pretty much everything we would need. There were only a couple things I wanted to splurge on for our second child, a nice changing table/ dresser, wipes warmer, and lots of cloth diapers & wipes.

When I was pregnant with Boo Boo our first child I found an excellent book "Baby Bargains" by Denise Fields and Ari Brown. This was an awesome guide to all that is baby stuff. In the book they review all products in every category you can think of from baby bedding to pacifiers. This is how I narrowed down the list of stuff I wanted to register for. I highly recommend the current version of that book, to anyone who is a first time mom/ dad and is looking for a place to start.

You learn alot about what works and what doesn't with your first kid and you can only hope you can remember those things when your second comes around. But one thing I didnt expect was all the new products that have came out since Boo Boo was born 3 years ago.

I have compiled a list of products that I have found essential with a new baby. So if you looking for a gift for a mommy to be I recommend the following:

Bubba Swaddled in his Aden & Anais blanket

1. My Brest Friend: I didnt have this nursing pillow when I had Boo Boo, I just used either a ton of pillows or my knockoff boppy that really didnt help much for support while breastfeeding. My SIL showed me this when she had her second child, at first I thought it looked uncomfortable, but I liked how it had a pocket to store little nursing things in. She raved about it especially for newborns because it had great back support and made getting a proper latch easier. So after Bub was born I ordered one and I have had it for a week and it is amazing!!!
2. Lansinoh Latch Assist: This is a little device you use before nursing to help get a better latch. Im not going to go into many details about this, but from the beginning Bub has been a rockstar at nursing on my left side, the right side however we struggled with for 2 weeks. I used the nipple shield with Boo Boo which I had a love/ hate relationship with, it was nice but easily lost and I became dependent on it and I didnt want to do that again. So after struggling with the right side I looked online for some other options and I found this. It is also a lifesaver I dont have to worry about trying to get him to latch on for 10-15 mins anymore! Lansinoh also sells my favorite breastmilk storage bags and lanolin cream, which are also essential to any nursing momma.
3. Aden & Anais Swaddling Blankets: These are the softest, nicest, swaddling blankets ever! They are big 47" x 47" and come in alot of cute prints. Either they werent available or I must have thought they were too expensive or something when I had Boo Boo because I didnt register for them and I didnt get any. They can be expensive if you dont buy them on sale, but they are worth the price!! I have 6 now.
4. Prince Lionheart Warmies Wipe Warmer: It is a luxury to have a wipe warmer, seriously! If I was a baby I would be so happy to have my butt wiped with nice warm wipes.. LOL I didnt get one of these before because I thought it would be a PITA if we were out of the house and the baby was used to having warm wipes and etc. This time around I realized who cares, its a 3 second job and I wanted to use cloth wipes and this warmer was for both disposable and cloth. So far it is awesome and works great! Keeps the wipes warm and moist and you just need to refresh the soaker pad in the bottom every week or when you run out of wipes..
5. CJs Butter: This is a cloth diaper safe, butt cream to prevent/ heal diaper rash. It comes in a ton of amazing scents or unscented. I actually won this on facebook from Kissed by the Moon, and I choose Blueberry Crumble scent, it seriously is so yummy smelling. haha I love putting it on my babies butt just so when I open his dirty diaper it doesnt smell like anything but blueberries.. LOL Bub has yet to get a rash but alot of moms rave about this product working great.
6. Medela Double Electric Pump: I love my pump, it also is a lifesaver when it comes to breastfeeding. It helps boost your supply and decrease engorgment. I can pump for 10 minutes and have a bottle ready to go if we are planning on being in the car for a long stretch of time. It will also come in handy when he gets older and isnt nursing at night I can pump before bed and/ or during the night to keep my supply up. I like having the option to pump one or two at a time. Medela makes excellent quality pumps and are backed by a warranty. This is actually my second pump they sent me an new one when my old one wasnt sounding right.
7. Booby Tubes: are filled with all-natural flax seed. Use warm or cold, to soothe after nursing or ease engorgement/ unclog millk ducts. I got them because in the beginning Bub had jaundice and was only nursing every 4 hours and I was getting plugged ducts and it was painful. These are great, you just pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds and then put on inside your bra for 5 mins before nursing or pumping.
8. Baby Comfy Nose Sucker: this is another item that just hit the market this year. I thought it was gross at first, but after hearing from others it works great and the kids arent as fussy about getting their noses sucked as with an aspirator. I had to get one and see. I have used it twice and it works better in my opinion because they arent fussing, and you can control the suction speed.
9. Cotton Nursing Pads: I decided to buy some washable nursing pads this time around, I didnt like how itchy the disposables were. I found these on amazon and they are so nice!! I recommend buying 2 of the 6 packs because one is only a 3 day supply.. I also recommend Bamboobies nursing pads, they are kinda pricy but work great, I havent had a leak yet!
10. Nursing Tank Tops: I have several different kinds of nursing bras and tank tops, but I find that the tanks are the easiest to wear and provide enough support. Target sells a good one: Gilligan & OMalley® Womens Side Sling..., I also have one from Old Navy, and Walmart. If you are going to exclusively pump this one is perfect.

This is obviously a very biased post about nursing products but its what I have found that works and is the best.

I was in no way asked to promote any of these products by any of the companies listed, I developed this list on my own and it is solely my top favorite items for a new mom.

I will do another Baby Shower post in a couple months on products for an older baby, like the bumbo chair and sophie teether.

Thanks for reading!

Ways to be Green

The last couple years I have been becoming more and more "green". Why you might ask? Well my reasons are simple.

1. To save money.
2. To save time.
3. To help the enviroment.

You can save yourself alot of money by investing in reusable products. Things such as cloth diapers, unpaper towels, reusable water bottles, reusable snack bags and shopping bags. These products are made to be reused so they are crafted out of quality materials therefore are more money initially but in the long run will save you money.
You will also save money by using them. For instance at some grocery stores you will get a discount if you tell them at the checkout you are using your own shopping bags. By using reusable unpaper towels you will never run out (save time) or need to buy more towels for cleaning. Instead of wasting a ton of ziplock bags for snacks, buying a few reusable snack bags you can wash and reuse you wont run out, or have to buy anymore.
By reusing all of the following you will save the enviroment from wasted resources.

Here is a bunch of ways you can be green too:

Reusable Products:
Foldable water bottle:
http://vapur.us/
Reusable filtering bottle:
http://www.waterbobble.com/
Reusable grocery bags:
http://www.envirosax.com/
Unpaper towels:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/95598071/reusable-eco-friendly-snapping-paper?ref=v1_other_1
Reusable snack bags
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75937170/lemon-drop-mamamade-eco-friendly
Reusable Cloth Diapers:
www.softbums.com

Pinterest ways to be green:
Toilet Paper Roll Art
Reuse creamer containers for snack containers
Use old hanger clips for snack bag clips
Reuse salt pour top on a canning jar.
Rain water pour off into a garbage can, reuse water for watering plants/ yard.
Reuse plastic bags for trash bags
Reuse toliet paper rolls for seed germination
Reuse old laundry jugs to store nails & screws in the garage
Make a reusable swiffer duster with fleece fabric
Reuse wine corks to make art in your house
Reuse milk jugs to use as watering can.

I hope I have inspired you to make one step in becoming a "green" person. I think it cant hurt if everyone is more green in some way.

I'd like to hear how others try to be green. Post below if you want to share.

Thanks!