Happy Leap Day!

February 29th.  It only comes around every 4 years and this one happened during Ayden's first.  That's pretty cool if you ask me!  

Today was yet another great day!  We practiced some side lying nursing this morning.  It's good to nurse in a variety of positions because each position focuses the suction towards different ducts.  The more positions you use, the more efficiently your breasts are emptied.  The majority of women who suffer from plugged ducts or mastitis are usually nursing in the same position all the time.  In the hospital I used the foot ball hold.  Now cross cradle is our go to but side lying is nice because you can rest while you nurse.  Rest sounds nice so I'd like to master that one...

He nursed to sleep and we spent a while snuggling belly to belly.
Definitely a wonderful moment to remember!

Today was also another good nap day!  I pull his little bed into the bathroom with me while I get ready so I can talk and sing to him and lately he's been falling asleep.  I turned on his sleep sheep to the weird whale setting and he took an hour long nap.  I took the opportunity to finish getting ready and have lunch.

Leftover chicken yam and chard soup
and my favorite show!

After lunch we attempted to go visit some friends but plans fell through so we ventured to Kohl's to pick up a few things.  I guess I pushed my browsing limit because he got hungry and started to cry so I headed to the checkout lane. While I was waiting in line, an associate proceeded to pet my child's head to try and calm him...  I realize that she was being kind and caring.  I really do, but it's bad form to touch a stranger's child without asking or invitation.  I am far from a germaphobe but that really did bother me.  I just smiled and tried to keep pushing the stroller past her when what I really wanted to do was say, "Stop touching my baby! The only thing that will calm him right now is a boob in his mouth and I don't think you can help with that..."  Here is where baby wearing comes in very handy.

In order to touch or even get a good look at your baby, the person has to actually invade your personal space which much less likely.  Why is it that we respect the personal space of adults, but not children?

Even though Ayden is pushing 6 weeks (what?!?) I finally got around to taking the pictures we plan to take every month for his first year.  I wish we had taken it when he was a newborn and on his 1 month birthday but I wasn't quite together yet.  We shall take them on each month birthday from here on out though!  It will be so fun to compare them all come his first birthday!

His 1 month and some change photo. Such a cutie!

He looked like such a big boy sitting there in the chair.  Some people think that babies are so fragile and that they need to be constantly supported and sheltered.  I do think they need lots of TLC but I also feel like they should be challenged. The more opportunity you give them to hold their heads up on their own (or to do whatever skill/ability they are working on), the faster those little muscles will strengthen and develop.  Our little boy is strong, healthy and loved to the moon and back!  We are so proud of how far he's come already!!  

Tomorrow is March 1st which means Spring is on its way!  It is my favorite season and I can't wait to share it with Ayden for the first time :).

Do you have any stories about strangers touching your babies?

~Sarah

Sick Day

Not for Ayden or myself (thankfully)... But David has a terrible cold.  It started last week with drainage and a sore throat and now its moved down to his chest.  The poor guy stayed home from work today.  My job as a stay at home mom is, of course to care for Ayden and stimulate his development, but also to keep our house in order.  When I woke David up at 6:30 worried that he had slept in and discovered he was staying home, I debated on whether or no that meant the day off for me too...  I did a couple of productive things but a day off will always win in my book! Here are some pros and cons to treating a week day like it's the weekend...

Pro: Someone else was here to take pictures of us.

David snapped a picture of our morning snuggles <3

Most of the pictures that I have of Ayden with me I have taken myself...

Pro: Quality family time. We slept in together, went for a nice long walk together (it was a B-E-A-uitful day today!!), napped on the couch together, watched Netflix together... You get the picture ;).

Watching our evening episode of Heroes on Netflix

Ayden was so awake, alert, happy and just hanging out with us while we watched Netflix.  So fun and so cute!

Pro: David got some extra bonding time with this guy.

Yay for diaper changes!! :P

Since David was under the weather we had our new favorite homemade soup for dinner. We used to go for canned chicken noodle whenever one of us was sick; but since we're trying to eat only whole, clean and semi-paleo these days we needed to make some (sans noodles) from scratch.  

Pro: Delicious dinner with lots of leftovers.

Con: Someone had to be sick for us to think of making it...

Chicken Yam and Chard Soup

Here is the recipe.

Biggest con of all: When a stay at home mom takes the day off, the house looks like this at the end of the day...

But it's not going anywhere so I'll tackle it tomorrow.  It was totally worth it!!

In other news, I noticed a couple of days ago that Ayden is loosing his adorable peach fuzz (aka lanugo).  

Adorable fuzzy temples, you will be missed!!

I knew the day would come but I miss it all the same.  He's not our newborn anymore, now he's graduated to an infant.  I know it's cliche but time really does fly once you have children.

What is your go to meal when someone in your family is sick?

~Sarah

The Napping House

One of my favorite children's books by my favorite children's author and illustrator duo!!

Source

Our house was a napping house today!! It was a napping day for the record books.

Ayden had his morning cat nap in his bouncer while I had breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen.  This was the second day in a row that he's drifted off to sleep for about 15 or 20 minutes while enjoying the vibrations on his bum and listening to the built in nature sounds.  Maybe it's become part of our morning routine along with window time??

When he woke up, I was ready to take my shower so I put him in his swing as usual.  I always peek out every so often to check on him and about half way through I saw him snoozing away. 

Oh those feet are the cutest!

That one lasted another 10 minutes or so.  When he woke up he was ready to eat so I fed him.  He was a little gassy and fussy during his feeding so afterward I was walking with him on my shoulder, trying to get him to burp when I walked by a mirror and saw that he looked sleepy yet again.  I decided to try putting him down awake in his bed to see what would happen before resorting to the Moby and here's the kicker... He fell asleep on his own and slept for TWO HOURS!!

So proud of him!

There were also two more naps in there that I didn't get pictures of.  One in my lap on my My Brest Friend pillow for about an hour after a feeding.  I did some one handed work on the computer while he slept. Then he had another two hour nap in the Moby this evening while I prepped/made dinner and cleaned up the kitchen.  Maybe he's getting ready to grow?

Speaking of dinner, I made stuffed peppers for the first time (using this recipe) and they turned out delicious!  We used italian sausage for our ground meat and it really hit the spot!  A neat tip I learned from the recipe:

Since cutting off the bottoms to make them stand on their own can make them leaky, just leave the bottoms in tact and use a muffin pan.  Genius! 

The finished product, complete with marinara sauce.

De-Lish!!  Let me know what you think if you try the recipe.  Now we're off to bed!

~Sarah

Ayden's Favorite Things

Being an Early Childhood Education major, I've spent a lot of time around children.  In college, I was required to complete field studies, observation hours, practicums, and student teaching.  I also assisted in the childcare center on campus in the infant, toddler and preschool classrooms.  Then I went on to teach preschool and kindergarten for 4 years following graduation.  I teach the pre-dance program at my mom's dance studio, have nannied during Summers for years and have 4 nephews and a niece. Needless to say, I came into motherhood with a little bit of experience under my belt...  

I've always been fascinated by child development and have enjoyed observing it take place among all of the children that are/have been in my life.  I had no doubt that it would be amazing to witness the development of my own child but I had no idea just how amazing it would be!  The professional in me is always assessing his development and trying to think of ways to foster and encourage it.  The mommy in me is enjoying just watching it all unfold.  

Ayden is really starting to come to life these days.  He's focusing on things for extended periods of time, gaining great control of his neck, beginning to tolerate being dressed and put into the car seat.  He really is already growing up before our eyes.  There's no question that he's already developed the ability to express his likes and dislikes.  I have a feeling he'll take after his daddy in this way too :). 

1. He LOVES to have his diaper changed:

He can be throwing the biggest fit and we can lay him down and disrobe him and all of the sudden all is well with the world.  He just lies there with his little legs curled up and looks around.  He'll even smile and is starting to coo.  We always try to give him a little bit of "nakey time" during diaper changes because he loves it so. 

2. He prefers to sleep vertically.  The bed we have for him next to ours is the Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper and has a bit of an incline.  He takes his longest naps in the Moby and on my shoulder.  He can sleep flat but definitely prefers to be vertical. 

<3

3.  He LOVES taking baths!

Last night, David thought he might like to actually be submersed a little in his tub so we took out the infant seat and David gave him a waist high dip.  He absolutely loved it!!!  Some of the biggest smiles we've had yet:

We have a water baby on our hands! 

His cute little personality is really starting to show and we love getting to know our little man!

What are your babies favorite things?

~Sarah

Happiest Baby On the Block

We had some green poop today and we all know what that means... It wasn't the most fussy day we've experienced but it wasn't the happiest either.

There's a calming technique we've been using recently and I have no idea why we didn't utilize it sooner! I think I first heard about it back in college (my degree is in Early Childhood Edication and I think it was discussed in one of my infant classes) but I had forgotten about it. It's called "The 5 S's" from The Happiest Baby On The Block. Here is a segment on it from The View:

I seriously SWEAR by this technique. Every new mother should know about it. If you try it, let me know what you think! I'll try to get some video of us using it on Ayden during our next fussy day. I'm telling you, you'll be amazed!

Wrapped up in his calming burrito.
We LOVE swaddle me's!

David made sure I had some me time today!! I did some yoga and painted my nails. It made me feel rejuvenated :). Ayden got hungry in the middle of it so I stopped my yoga for a feeding break but I was able to finish once I got him settled again (with the 5 S's actually). We had a pretty low key day We just hung around in our PJs, both did some computer work and just hung out as a little family of 3. Tomorrow is grocery day. I'm going to try to do grocery haul/what's for dinner videos this week. I'll be sure to post them on here if I do!

5 weeks old today and loosing his newborn look.
Bitter-sweet but so cute!

Magical Music

Holy moly we had another amazing day!!  Is this real life?? (If you've never seen "David After Dentist," YouTube it. Hilarious!) It may be a cooincidence but i think the one month mark might have been a turning point for us.

Morning Smiles

If you've read my "About Me" page then you are already familiar with David's and my story.  If you haven't, here it is in a nutshell:  We met when I was 15 and he was 17.  We were high school sweethearts.   Before every big event in our relationship so far people have told us, "Just wait, everything will change when..." This March we will be celebrating 12 years as a couple and we are better friends and more in love than ever. Somehow after all of this time together, we've managed to keep the spark alive and still have the desire to go out of our way to make the other feel special.

David has always been a very romantic guy (poetry, "Happy Tuesday" flowers just because, a promise ring when I was 17, the list goes on and on).  The most romantic thing he's ever done to date was on our wedding day.  

We walked onto the dance floor for our first dance, planning on dancing to the song that we had deemed "ours" in high school, when all of the sudden the music slowed and stopped.  Just when I had thought our first dance had been ruined, another song started to play.  I'll let this video show you the rest:

He wrote and recorded a song for me and surprised me with it.  I had never felt so special (or lucky)! Now it is our song.

Before we got pregnant, we had heard that babies who hear certain songs in utero will often recognize them when played after birth.  We decided to use our song to test this theory.  We played "Thank You For Loving Me" for Ayden while I was pregnant several times a week.  We got the chance to try it for the first time when he was upset in the hospital and it was magical.  The intro to the song alone was enough to calm him.  We still use it now when he's upset and we need a little something extra to help us calm him.  It still works like a charm as long as he's not too far gone ;).  

It's just so awesome that a song that is so special to us is also so special to him.  I wonder if it will always be one of his favorites...

~Sarah

Tummy Time!

We had another awesome day today!!! Somebody pinch me :).

The temperature was above 60*... Bizarre weather for February, that's for sure! We went for a nice long walk and enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air. We're supposed to be getting thunderstorms tonight. Where's the snow??

I had Ayden do his first official tummy time. We have had him lay on his tummy on our laps and chests before. He will lift his head and can move it from side to side but he had never been on his tummy on his own. I had read recently that if you wait too long, babies might not like it and will get frustrated easily. He actually loved it! I was so proud of him and can't wait to see him acquire new skills as all of those muscles develop.

Ayden napped on his own again! It was still a pretty short one but I laid him down awake and he fell asleep on his own so I'm giving him some credit where it's deserved :). I think the key is loud(ish) music. Maybe I was wrong about no sensory input... He is totally his father's son with a love for music already!

We also took Maverick to get groomed today. If you didn't know, huskies shed. A LOT. When he starts to blow his undercoat we have to vacuum everyday (though we don't so it gets pretty furry around here) and he kind of looks diseased with clumps of fur coming out of his hips and shoulders. I was worried we might lose Ayden in a tumbleweed of fur so I made a grooming appointment. We were 20 minutes late because Ayden decided he was hungry as we were heading out the door. Someday I'll be on time for things again, right? Once Mav is groomed, he's back to our beautiful dog and we only have to vacuum once a week. $45 well spent in my opinion!!

My mom came over tonight to visit with Ayden. She had a chest cold and hadn't seen him in a while. I swaddled him and put him to sleep when she got here and left him with her while I went to pick up Maverick. It was my first time ever being without him in the past four and a half weeks, or since I found out I was pregnant if you want to get really technical. It was bittersweet... It was nice to have some "me time" (though driving to the groomer and back wouldn't exactly have been my first choice but you have to take what you can get I suppose). It was nice to have some space, but I thought about him the WHOLE time and was so happy to see him when I got back.

He barely woke up to eat about a half hour ago and went right back to sleep while nursing. He hasn't slept this soundly since his first week. Maybe he's gearing up for a growth spurt?

Tomorrow's Friday and I have to take him with me to teach dance. I'm hoping he'll sleep the whole time so I can get some choreography done. I'm a little behind from my maternity leave. Wish me luck!!

Good night!

~Sarah

Best. Day. Ever!!!

Today was an AMAZING day for Ayden! It's only 7:30 so the night's still young (I hope I'm not jinxing myself) but we haven't had a single gassy episode AND he napped on his own. Double win in my book :). I know that there will always be rough days amongst the great but I'm just so happy to be having more great ones sprinkled in there. It gives us something to hold onto during the more difficult times.

Here's the play by play:

We woke up for the day around 8am. Ayden had his window time, hung out in his bouncy seat while I had breakfast, hung out in the swing while I showered and hung out in his rock 'n play sleeper while I got ready. He was awake and happy the whole time (requesting to nurse a couple of times in there) and listened to me sing along with my favorites playlist. We were just hanging out together and it was wonderful.

When I finished getting ready he was ready to nurse again and this time fell asleep afterwards. I just sat in the glider soaking up every sweet moment: Listening to his uneven sleepy breaths, watching his little eyes twitch and mouth smirk while he dreamt, feeling his soft hair and smelling his sweet smell. A moment I hope to remember forever and also hope to repeat many times over!

I finally decided that I needed to be somewhat productive so I strapped him into the Moby where he continued his nap for the next couple of hours while I tackled some housework. When he woke, I changed and fed him then put him back in his rock 'n play sleeper to give him a stretch break from the Moby. I put my music back on and sang to him while I put away some clothes. I walked out of the closet to discover that he had fallen asleep on his own (with no sensory input!). He only slept for about 20 minutes but I'll consider it a small victory!!

Napping all by himself!!

When David got home we all went for a walk. Ayden usually fusses the whole time but I decided to set the seat back on the stroller up a little for him and he LOVED our walk. Don't know why I didn't think to do that before, we had it laying completely flat from when we first brought him home... He sat wide eyed, looking all around and punching his little fists into the air above his head like he was on a roller coaster. Once we were back, David took him upstairs and played guitar for him while I made dinner for some father/son quality time (Ayden usually gets fussy just in time for David to get home so they don't get that very often). Again, just wonderful. Now we've finished our dinner and Ayden just nursed to sleep on the Boppy while I write this post.

Maybe it's too much to ask but I'm kind of hoping tonight goes as stellar as today did, maybe sleep in 4 hour stretches...   Hey, a girl can dream can't she??? ;)

I know that not everyday can be like today but it really was so great that I wanted to type out the play by play. It might be nice to come back and read it on our next fussy day :).

~Sarah

Early To Bed

Today was kind of opposite day over here... Usually Ayden has a great morning then has a rough afternoon but today was the opposite. I finally got him to nap in the Moby and when he woke up he was in a stellar mood. Just goes to show that when you think you have them all figured out they are quick to remind you who is really running the show :).

Fatigue has really hit me this week. I've had pretty bad headaches the past couple of nights and it's getting harder and harder to wake up throughout the night. We usually watch Netflix before bed while Ayden nurses and sleeps. Tonight we are skipping Netflix and are already in bed. Ayden is nursing as I type this (left handed on my phone none the less...) and as soon as he's asleep I'm going to follow suit hopefully achieving at least 3 hours of sleep. Wish me luck!!

Sleep Solutions

From about our third night home, we've been pretty lucky with Ayden's nighttime sleep schedule.  Like I've mentioned before, he usually sleeps in 3 hour stretches and he definitely has his days and nights in the right order which is AWESOME!  He also wakes up in the best mood after a good night (there are still a few rough ones every now and then...).  This morning he gave David so many big smiles before he left for work.  Such a great way to start the day!

Morning smiles are the BEST these days!

Our only sleep problem is with nap times during the day.  If I am wearing him in the Moby or Ergo, he'll sleep for hours.  I love wearing him as it's nice to have him close and snuggly and I don't have to worry about running to check on him or carrying around the monitor.  My only issue with wearing him is that my upper back gets very fatigued after 6 or so hours wearing him throughout the day (broken by a feeding or two) and he's only going to get heavier!  This week I am starting to try to get him to nap a little on his own.  Today after he had been awake for most of the morning, I decided to swaddle him before a feeding, then I fed him and bounced him to sleep on our stability ball (works even better than our glider).  I laid him down and he slept for about 10 minutes and then his eyes were wide open like he'd never even been asleep. 

Before waking up from his disco nap...

I had thought that he was sleeping so well at night because I was swaddling him and wearing him gives the same sensation as swaddling too I'm sure.  I thought surely he'd get a nice nap if swaddled during the day but I was wrong so we are back to the drawing board.  I will continue to try to get him to nap on his own everyday and then resort to the Moby when/if it doesn't work.  Any suggestions on getting a 1 month old to nap without sensory input (ie. bouncing, swinging, wearing, etc.)?  He obviously can sleep without is since he does at night.  Is it just still a little too early to have such an expectation?  Hopefully we'll get it figured out before he weighs 20 lbs!  :)

~Sarah

Sunday Funday

Our weekend fun is definitely looking different these days...

We stayed up late on Friday and Saturday night and I am feeling it!  It used to be no big deal because if we went to bed at midnight, we'd just sleep until 9 or 10 and think nothing of it.  Now if we go to bed at midnight, then endure the nighttime changing/feeding routine and then wake up at 8 or so for the day, it makes for a groggy Sunday and a major headache.  Lesson learned.  I also think that contributed to our rough day yesterday.  I guess even babies as young as our little man appreciate routine.  Next weekend we are going to experiment with keeping our weekday sleep schedule during the weekend.  Hopefully we'll all come out feeling more rested.

Hanging out in bed this morning.

Speaking of routine, Ayden seems to enjoy looking out the window in the mornings and it's become part of our morning routine.  After I change and feed him once we're up for the day, I put him back in his bed, open the curtains and push him over to the window.  He proceeds to stare out for the next 20 minutes or so and is in such a happy mood during this time (this is when I get the most smiles).  I looked from his perspective to see what was so amazing and I think that the blinds and the light that comes through between make for a pretty cool high contrast pattern for him :).  

Window Time!

Today was grocery day.  Ayden slept in the Ergo on David as per usual and the trip went well.  Our grocery cart was INSANE!  We're trying a semi-paleo diet and I've never seen a cart filled to the brim with produce like ours was today.  It felt really good to stand back and look at it knowing all of those nutrients were going to be fueling our bodies all week.  "Let thy food be thy medicine," right??  Maybe I'll do a couple of recipe posts soon...

I hope everyone had a fun weekend and here's to a great week!  

Good night!

~Sarah

4 Weeks Old!!!

What??? 4 weeks already?!?

I asked David yesterday if he could believe that it had been four weeks already. He said yes and no... The labor that we went through seems so far away and surreal but our time with Ayden has seemed to just fly by.

Snoozing with Daddy this morning

Today was a very fussy day. I tried to stop block feeding and don't think we were ready for that (his poop also turned back to green today). I can't say it enough but I am so grateful and lucky to have a husband who is so involved and helpful on days like today. I definitely have a whole new respect for single parents.

We have tried out a couple more of his big boy cloth diapers. I really like the Best Bottoms. We have both hemp and Stay-dry soakers and as of now I like them equally. They are a bit bulky (as all one size diapers are guaranteed to be on our eight pounder) but we didn't need the cross over snaps. This makes me think that they may have fit him as a seven pound baby. They just would have been so bulky we would have had to skip on newborn clothing.

Best Bottom

We also tried our Itti Bitti Tutto. It is so soft and snuggly but I'm not so sure about the so called "patented poo fence.". Ayden's poops aren't blow out quality quite yet but the one he had while wearing that diaper made it past the poo fence and almost out of the leg gusset. We'll definitely be wearing it again but that so called poo fence needs to keep the poo in check!

Itti Bitti Tutto

The last diaper that we tried this week was his Charlie Banana. He's only worn it once but so far it gets an A+. Not TOO bulky for a one size and I really like the new bra strap like elastic for sizing. It came very clean in the wash and air dried very quickly. We did need the cross over snaps on this diaper but I still feel it would have fit him earlier. I had heard that the fact that the opening for the insert is in the front was annoying for boys but that didn't bother me at all.

Charlie Banana

I'm definitely having fun trying out all this fluff for the first time but we are still using pre-folds for the majority of the time. His newborn clothing gets very snug when he's wearing his pockets and hybrids. I would go ahead and put him in 0-3 month but the arms and legs would be way too long and he's also still pretty skinny in the mid section. So until he grows a bit more, we'll just try them out around the house where I can leave the crotches of his sleepers unsnapped. :)

Unsnapped crotches are in this season...

~Sarah

Lessons In Efficiency

Here I am, 4 weeks into mommy-hood and already learning lessons from Ayden.

Before he got here my days were free and relaxed. We did this on purpose so I could have a low stress pregnancy and so I would have adequate time to prepare and rest. You'd think my free days would have been filled with productivity, right? The thing is, having a day without a schedule or structure would often lead to letting an entire day pass without doing a single thing. "I have all day, I'll do it after I watch this (or 10) YouTube video(s)...". I would always accomplish more on days when I had an appointment or something that made me think, "Okay, I have 30 minutes to complete x, y and z" and I'd knock it all out.

Since becoming a mommy, my whole day is a race against the clock. "Okay, I have an hour until his next feeding, I need to dust and vacuum" or "He could wake up any second, I should switch over the laundry..." etc, etc, etc. Because of this constant race against time I have automatically become a more efficient and productive person (I don't know if my house ever stayed this tidy for this long!).

It's amazing to think that such a tiny person can have such an impact on who you are. I know that he has even more in store for me in the years to come and I am so eager to learn.

All Smiles!!

Well... At least in the mornings ;).

Ayden gave David his first social smile on Valentine's night and it was so cute. He then gave me a little one the next day but we couldn't get him to repeat it on either occasion. Then today happened...

We were up for the morning and I had nursed him the put him back in his bed awake while I made our bed, opened the curtains and such. When I was done I went back over to him to say hi and he looked right at me and gave me the biggest smile. Talk about melting my heart! I quickly grabbed my phone and mustered the silliest voice I could in hopes to catch another sweet smile on video. He did not disappoint.

 After promptly sending the video to David and our families (isn't that what anyone would do??) I went to get our DSLR and that's when I got these shots.

You want to know the best part? These smiles were induced by my kisses. I think I've fallen in love with him all over again <3

~Sarah

What To Wear?

This morning I got up before Ayden again.  I started a load of diaper laundry and cleaned up the aftermath from our Valentine dinner and then I heard him start to cry on the monitor.  I went and scooped him up, smothering his chubby cheeks with good morning kisses and then he fell right back to sleep before we even made it downstairs...  Sometimes you just need a cuddle I suppose.

Snoozing while I made breakfast.

I didn't have much on my to do list today since the house has stayed pretty tidy (it seems to be easier when you just stay on top of it! Who would have thought?!?) so my only to do's were to put away some clean laundry and venture out to the mall to exchange some nursing tops. 

Since Ayden weighed in at over 8lbs at our midwife appointment on Monday, I decided to give some of his big boy diapers a try.

Gro Via Hybrid

We tried it out all day and overall I really like it.  Though it looked very bulky, it fit well enough to catch anything he threw at it.  The inserts caught everything nicely so the shell stayed clean, which is a very nice feature in a hybrid.  I think as he grows, and it becomes less bulky, this will be a diaper we reach for often.  Now I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't somehow ruin it in the wash (I had a situation with our Lil' Joey's that's made me paranoid)!  Maybe we'll give our Best Bottoms a try tomorrow...

After we worked on the laundry, restocked all of the diaper stations with clean pre-folds (we have 3, one in his bedroom, one in our bedroom and one downstairs in our pack n' play) we took a nap then headed to the mall.  I'm a big people watcher so it was nice to finally venture out to a place with so many people.  Ayden really enjoyed the bumpy tile floors :).

He looks so tiny!  

 He was content, just looking at all the sky lights for a while and then he fell asleep and stayed like that until after we got home.

After walking around for a little while, we made it to Motherhood Maternity where I had purchased some nursing tanks at the end of my pregnancy.  On my due date, actually :).  My pregnant self tried on the tanks and determined that I would need mediums.  Then my non-pregnant self tried them on after having the baby and they were like tents...  They no longer carried the style nursing tank that I wanted so I decided to exchange them for actual nursing tops.  Before today, I only had three that I was rotating (with a few non-nursing tops here and there).  I now have seven... That's one for every day of the week :).  

My four new tops

It was my lucky day because Motherhood was having sales on nursing tops.  Buy one get one free on clearance items and buy one get one half off for regular priced items.  I went in with 3 nursing tanks and came out with four tops and only had to pay $2.30 for the difference.  Not bad!! These are all the kind you pull down so they are a little difficult to nurse discretely in.  I will definitely need to remember to pack the nursing cover.  I bought tanks because I like to layer with cardigans in the winter and also so they'll easily carry over into Spring and Summer.  

When we got home we walked the dog with David (the weather is still uncharacteristically warm for February here) and then we all made dinner together.  

We love the Ergo!

Did you invest in a nursing wardrobe?  Do you have any tricks for making your pre-pregnancy clothes work for nursing?

~Sarah