Oh boy, in trying to literally keep up with an actual school curriculum I have managed to include; Music- Piano Practice // PE- Playing Outside // Technology – IPads // Language Arts, Math and more, but one subject was a little left behind, ART!
So here are some free and low-cost ways to keep your kid’s creativity flowing during this extended time at home when they do actually need to get some work done.
We’ve reached the 8 month mark with our second child, Ayan, and now that we’re in a groove with sleeping, nursing and hormones have even balanced out, I wanted to share a few of my favorite newborn necessities. The 4th trimester is no joke and while it’s easy to accumulate so much unnecessary baby gear, I 100% recommend all of the items here.
The first few weeks are such a struggle and blur. The endless nursing, the long nights, and over fatigue from birth recovery. The snuggle nest goes directly on your bed and it’s so easy to just reach over to grab baby in the middle of the night to feed. No need to get out of bed!
We bought this stroller with my daughter, Nara, in hopes to expand it when we had our next child. It has been the perfect double stroller for my two littles! My toddler sits in the front and the baby goes directly on top with the car seat adapter. LOVE this stroller and how it has grown with my family.
The battlewounds of breastfeeding are real. SO REAL. The first two weeks of breastfeeding are never fun for me. In fact, they’re down right painful. Even with my second, I just know I have to make it through those two weeks. This nipple butter is god-sent: easy to apply and don’t need to wipe it off before feeding. It healed me overnight!
Why I didn’t think to buy these with my first child beats me. IT HAS SAVED MY BABY’S TUMMY AND MY PEACE! A gassy baby is a cranky baby. Occasionally we have used the windi to help immediately relieve Ayan’s gas pains. It literally whistles as they pass gas. It’s the craziest thing only parents find amazing.
The amount my newborn sleeps vs. the amount of noise my toddler makes. A constant battle. Having the dohm sound machine in my newborns room during the day has helped drown out my toddlers loud, high pitched, voice. Results: A well-rested baby. WIN.
Used this pillow with both kids. It really helps with support in holding baby while nursing and not putting as much pressure on your arms. It is also great to use for tummy time and casual laying post feeds since it keeps the baby elevated
Baby wearing is something I love to do. Especially when we go out in the early days with a newborn (no one can get in their face with germs), but also around the house when they are napping and you can’t afford to hold them for endless hours. It provides a great opportunity for skin-to-skin in the early days.
I’ve never been more thirsty in my life. Having a water bottle by my side is 100% a must-have. I need one that I can hold a lot of water and can operate with one hand—because let’s face it, that’s all I have these days.
I use this daily on Ayan. I mix one drop with almond oil and massage his whole body before bed. It really calms him down and he smells glorious. I give credit to this oil for making bedtime so easy with my little.
Lactating stains are not hot. I’ve been there with my first – sitting in a restaurant with a huge milk spot on my shirt. I quickly invested in these disposable nursing pads and still using them with my second.
I cannot say enough about this. I came across it with my second child and did not have to pump for a very long time. While I was nursing on one side I would attach the Haaka on the other breast to catch all the leaking milk. I just don’t have enough good things to say about it. TRY IT!
The most compact and easy to travel with pack and play. I can even move it around my house with easy or place it in the back yard while I play with my toddler. It really is the most efficient pack and play.
There are a ton of great baby items out on the market! I surely have not been able to try all of them. Pick the ones that suit you and your parenting style. Check out some of our other posts on parenting here.
The Boutique
Hope that you found this helpful!
Your Chick,
Neema
Check out my post on the importance of Dry Bushing here.
Living in the South, the sun is strong and HOT! As someone who loves the outdoors and spending time doing stuff with my kids means getting a whole lot of fresh air. There was time where I would wear wedges to the zoo, but thankfully, sneakers are trending with dresses, skirts, and shorts. Now it’s so much easier to be trendy and cute with a cute pair of white kicks. I do wear different sneakers for the gym and for family outings so I am going to focus on the later. I personally have about four pairs ranging from Adidas to Gucci, it just depends on the occasion, but a zoo outing for example is perfect for my Adidas Rose Gold sneakers.
Now that I have got my #OOTD together, my next thought goes to skin care. Neutrogena’s line of Healthy Skin Make Up has SPF 55 in it! It’s a great drugstore find that takes all skin colors into consideration and the fact that you plan to enjoy the sun. The liquid foundation has SPF 20 ( I am wearing color 100 Natural Tan) in and the pressed foundation has SPF 55 in it ( I use color 60 Natural Beige) !! It’s perfect for a family outing to the zoo! I almost always lather up with Neutrogena’s water resistant sunscreen lotion before applying makeup on days that I will be in the sun all day.
It has been years since I have given significant thought to the organization of my closet. Until I get the Vanderpump closet of my dreams, I needed an easy and preferably inexpensive way to make my closet feel more organized and, upgraded.
My shoes were piling up on each other! Unorganized and often not visible to me, I would have the hardest time keeping a proper inventory on my own shoe collection. Over the holidays I found this product from TrySmarter that changed everything! Let the pictures below speak for themselves.
Before And After : Shoe Closet Upgrade and Organization
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The Finished Look
My second tip to keeping everything in order in your closet is to get slip free velvet hangers. They are a game changer. Say goodbye to things falling on the floor! They also have half the profile of the plastic hangers so for tighter spaces, they actually create more closet space and look more uniform. At $22 for 50 hangers, you can’t go wrong!
Before And After : Hanger Upgrade
Before
After
Both options gave me more space (to add more clothes!) – which was an added bonus to an upgraded aesthetic and organization! I was able to fit double the number of shoes in the same amount of space!
