Thrifty Wife Happy Life

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Bedtime Routine- Favorite Products

by Katie Haller

*This post contains affiliate links. 


My evening bedtime routine with Jack is a very important part of my day.  For the first year, Jack had a very hard time sleeping through the night.  I tried everything to get him to sleep.  During that time, I did a lot of reading for advice, and the one thing that seemed to be consistent in my research was to set up a daily bedtime routine.  This was something I did right from the start.  I feel that it’s so important for young children to have a predictable and comfortable evening routine.  Not only does our nightly routine calm down my little guy and prepare him for bed, but it’s also a special time for us.  It’s the time of the day that I get to spend the most one on one time with him. 

Today, I wanted to share with you some of our favorite products that we use during our evening bedtime routine. 

 1.) Honest Company Bubble Bath– My friend sent me a care package from the Honest Company with some of her favorite products when Jack was born.  My favorite product in the box was this bubble bath.  I love the smell and how gentle it is on Jack’s skin. 
 

2.) California Baby Shampoo and Lotion–  I got this set as a gift at my baby shower and I love this brand.  The shampoo is super genital with no fragrance and so is the lotion.  Living in the desert makes it hard to keep Jack’s skin from drying out, but this lotion does a great job of keeping his skin nice and soft. 

3.) Foam Bath Letters and Numbers– Jack got these foam letter bath toys for his birthday and he loves them!  They are perfect chew toys for babies and great for older toddlers and preschoolers who are learning their letters and numbers.
 
4.) Skip Hop Zoo Bath Stack and Pour Buckets– These are another one of Jack’s favorite bath toys.  He loves filling the cups and listening to the water.  He loves these cups so much that he plays with them around the house and outside too!


5.) Blanket Animal- Jack loves sleeping with his little blanket animal.  He loves how soft it feels.  He calls it “ni ni” because he knows that he sleeps with it.  It helps soothe him at night, and as a mother of a child that could not self-sooth themselves for 12 months, I love his little blanket animal too.


6.) Carter’s 2 Piece Pajamas–  I just love freshly bathed babies in their jammies.  There is nothing better.  I love the 2 piece pajama sets.  They are much easier for diaper changing.  I’m a big fan of Carter’s clothes because they seem to hold up pretty well and their sizing is pretty true to size.  Jack has this pajama set with dinosaurs, but obviously, we would love to have the airplane set!

 7.) Huggies Overnite Diapers- I can’t lie, I buy a lot of generic brand baby products, but sometimes there are just things that you need to buy name brand.  One of them is overnight diapers.  These diapers have been a game-changer for me.  Around 12 months Jack finally started to sleep longer stretches through the night, but he would still wake up around 3 am with a soaked diaper that had leaked through.  As soon as I started using Huggies Overnite Diapers, he started sleeping through the night without the 3 am wake up.  This makes me a very happy mama!


8.) Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?-  You always have to have a good bedtime book.  This is one of Jack’s favorites.  This series of books are perfect for toddlers because they are repetitive and do a great job keeping your little busy body’s attention.

That’s my list for my favorite products that are apart of our bedtime routine.  What are your favorite bedtime products?

Confessions of a First Time Mom- Pregnancy

by Katie Haller

Lately, I’ve been seeing so many people I know announce that they are pregnant with their first child.  I always love seeing this, because it wasn’t long ago I was in their shoes.  It brings back a lot of memories and emotions about my own experience.  I was so excited for the future, yet so scared of the unknown.  Today, with Mother’s Day being at the end of the week, I wanted to share my personal experience of being pregnant as a first time mom.
I had a difficult beginning to my pregnancy.  I learned that I was pregnant not long after experiencing my second miscarriage.  I never thought that I would go through anything like that when the time came to have a baby, so it caught me off guard and left me with a very distraught feeling that wouldn’t go away.  The first time I miscarried, I was very disappointed, but also hopeful.  The second time that it happened, I felt very alone.  We had only been living in Las Vegas for a couple months and I hadn’t told anyone that I was pregnant.  I was so saddened by the whole experience, that I was afraid to try again.  It wasn’t long after that second miscarriage, that I felt like something was off.  I kept waiting for my period to start, but nothing happened.  I decided to take a pregnancy test and sure enough, it was true.  I kept it to myself, in fear of it being too soon to tell, so I took one more test later in the week.  Sure enough, it showed I was pregnant.  The next morning I threw up and knew it had to be true.
18-week baby bump

My first trimester was long and miserable.  I threw up almost every day.  I was so tired and sick.  I remember feeling so sad because I thought pregnancy was supposed to be an exciting and happy time in my life.  I was worried all the time because I thought that something bad was going to happen to the baby.  The one thing that saved me during this time, surprisingly, was going to work every day.  As sick as I was, I never called in and I never threw up at work.  It kept me busy and kept my mind off how yucky I felt.  When I hit 12 weeks and was still sick I got concerned that the morning sickness would never go away.  Then one day, probably around 15 or 16 weeks I didn’t throw up my breakfast.  After that, I magically started to feel like a human again. 

Once I got over my morning sickness, I started getting excited about my pregnancy.  My ultrasound at 18 weeks was definitely a high light.  I found out that I was having a boy and that everything was developing well.  I was able to worry less and start to enjoy myself a little more.  My belly popped out right around 20 weeks and that’s when I got really excited about styling my bump.  I started my weekly maternity post on my blog which I really enjoyed. (You can check those out here) I felt good in my second trimester, for the most part.  I did start to feel very uncomfortable around 22 weeks.  As the baby grew, my body grew and stretched in ways it never had before, making it very uncomfortable. 
28-week bump
By my third trimester, I had the perfect size bump and I felt as good as I could feel.  I do remember feeling extremely anxious.  I started watching people’s birth stories on youtube and reading lots of other blogger’s birth stories.  I prepared myself for the worse.  I was ready to get my little guy out, it didn’t matter how.  Despite all my research, when the time came and I went into labor, I didn’t believe it.  I had to google “water breaking” over and over again.  It wasn’t until I started having strong contractions that I believed I was in labor.     
It was a really weird feeling when I finally got to hold my little man in my arms.  I was in awe of him and couldn’t stop thinking about the whole experience.  As much as I was ready to get him out, I immediately missed feeling him inside me.  I wanted to be pregnant again….if that made any sense? 

Snuggling with my newborn
I would love to have another baby someday, but I’m not in a rush.  I’m enjoying all the moments I can with Jack right now and our little family of 3.  I do miss that feeling of being pregnant at times, and I look forward to experiencing it again one day.  It makes me a little sad to think that nothing will be like the first time, but it does excite me to know that the next time I am pregnant, I will be sharing it with Jack too.  I look forward to the day that I can make him a big brother.

What was your first pregnancy experience like?  How was it different from your others?

Confessions of a First Time Mom- Boy Mom

by Katie Haller

I always imagined my first baby to be a girl.  At the beginning of my pregnancy, all my friends and family were convinced that I was having a girl.  People thought that I was just too girly and could only picture me with a girl.  Well, that was not what God had in store for me.  

When I found out that I was having a boy, I was completely thrilled.  I love little boy babies!  They’re so cute and always love their mommy’s.  I wanted to have a mini version of my husband, and that’s just what I got.  I know that my husband kept his parents extremely busy, and that’s what Jack is doing for us.  He has been giving me a run for my money since day one.  I knew when I was pregnant, that he was going to be an active little guy.  He never stopped moving.  Sometimes he moved so much that I would worry he was trying to kick his way out.  After he was born, Jack was always moving around and kicking his little feet.  He started rolling around the house at 4 months, so we had to baby proof the living room quickly.  At six months, he was army crawling and by seven months he was full out crawling, standing and running on all fours.  On his 10 month birthday, he took his first steps.  By 12 months I had a full-on toddler, which makes for a very long toddler stage.

I have nothing to compare Jack to since he’s my first, but I will say that having a little boy has already saved me money when it comes to shopping.  Boys don’t need very much.  Whenever I go shopping for Jack, I always get distracted by all the cute little girl clothes.  There are so many cute dresses, bows, shoes… I’d have a hard time controlling my spending if I had a little girl.  For boys, their clothes are simple…pants, shirts, shorts.  The downfall of shopping in the boy’s department is the selection.  I can never find the cute things I want in Jack’s size, especially when shopping in the clearance section.  Even when buying sippy cups or pacifiers, they never have enough of the boy colors.  I guess the stores think that boys don’t need as much as little girls.
 

Overall, I’m having a lot of fun being a boy mom.  Jack has been a really good baby.  He’s smart, cute, loving, funny.  He’s also extremely curious, stubborn and wants to be independent.  He’s so busy, it’s hard to get a cuddle in these days.  I recently had someone tell me that “the days are long, but the years are short, so enjoy it while it last”.  I find this to be so true, so I take in every little snuggle I can get from this little boy.
If your a mom of both a girl and boy, is there a big difference?

The Pros and Cons of Child Care

by Katie Haller

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now because I’m sure that there are a lot of new parents out there struggling with the idea of daycare.  It’s never easy to think about leaving your baby in someone else’s care, but many parents do it every day.  I have been working in early childhood settings ever since I graduated from college with my degree in child development.  I’ve been an infant teacher, toddler teacher, and administrator at child care centers, so I know what it’s like to work in a child care center and take care of other people’s children.  It’s not always easy.  I also understand now just how hard it can be from a parent’s perspective.  I dropped off Jack for his first day of daycare when he was just shy of 8 weeks old.  It was not an easy day for me.  I remember that feeling of having to trust a complete stranger with my precious baby.  This is why I feel like I am the perfect person to write a post on the pros and cons of daycare. 
It’s often a personal or a financial decision to continue to work after having a child.  For me, it was a mix of both.  My husband and I felt that we weren’t at the financial place we wanted to be at to support our family with just one income, so I continued to work.  Plus, I actually like my job.  It has been the best job that I’ve had since I graduated college and I wasn’t ready to give that up yet, so after a short maternity leave, I went back to work.  I’m grateful that I don’t work too long of hours and I do have a lot of flexibility with my job if needed, plus it was nice knowing that my husband was able to be home with Jack most days in the beginning.  For the first 9 months, my husband stayed home with Jack 2-3 days a week, which was nice. We found a small Christian child care center close to our home that had the right price.  At first, I had my concerns about leaving him, but overall I’m happy with the setting and Jack seems to love it.  His teachers are very sweet and I can tell when I drop him off that he’s in good hands.
So what are the cons of starting your baby in child care?  Here is what I came up with. 
1.) It’s not you 
If you are planning on heading back to work after having a baby, one thing that you have to accept is that no one is going to take care of your baby the same way that you will.  I knew that things would be different if it was just me taking care of Jack.  It’s hard for teachers to care for your child the same way that you would because it’s a different setting and there are other children that need their attention too.  You have to accept that your baby will eat differently, sleep different and play differently while they are away from you and that’s okay. 
2.) Child care staff turn over
Child care jobs are some of the lowest paid jobs out there.  Many places require the bare minimum qualifications of their teachers and pay them minimum wages, while other higher quality programs have higher standards for their teachers and still only pay them a little over minimum wage.  This is why many child care centers are a constant revolving door.  Just in the first few months that Jack was at his center, he had a number of teachers come and go.  As a parent it makes you question what is going on behind closed door.  All you can really do is trust that anyone who takes a job to work with young children has there heart in the right place.  
3.) Germs and Illness
Unfortunately, children can carry lots of germs and with germs comes illness.  I’ve seen lots of children start in a child care settings and then get sick quickly, because they have never been exposed to the foreign germs.  My best advice for that is to start your baby early.  The earlier you expose them to the germs the more their little immune system can build up a tolerance. I’d also recommend breastfeeding.  Breastmilk has antibodies in it that help protect against infection.  The month that I stopped breastfeeding Jack, he got his first ear infection.  He never even had a runny nose before that.
4.) No one-on-one care
Most centers have a 1:4 ratio in the infant room, which means that your precious little one and only is going to have to share the attention.  It’s impossible for the teachers to attend to your baby perfectly, so in some cases, they might have to cry and not be held and comforted right away.  They might have to wait for their food longer than at home.  It’s just the reality of not being the only one to care for. 
After listening the cons, I have to end on a positive note and tell you the pros of child care. 
1.) SOCIALIZATION! 
It is so cute to see Jack start to interact with his friends.  He’s the first child in our family, so he doesn’t have any siblings at home to interact with and learn from.  I love that he can go to school and play with his little buddies.  You would be amazed with how early children start to engage with their peers and learn from each other. 
2.) Helps build up their immune systems
I mentioned that illness is a con of daycare, but on the opposite side of that, the germs that they are exposed to can also be a benefit of child care.  It definitely helps build a child’s immune system.  Parents who keep their kids at home until preschool or kindergarten often find that their kids get sick all the time.  As I said before, the earlier you expose them to germs, sometimes the better. 
3.) Curriculum 
Most child care centers have a curriculum that they follow, even with babies.  They do learning activities with them throughout the day. They paint, read books, dance, do sensory exploration, it all helps meet their developmental needs.  When choosing a center, I would ask about the curriculum and find out how they implement it with the infants and toddlers.

4.) Cheaper than a Nanny
My husband and I had thought about getting a nanny who could be flexible with our schedule needs, but after doing the math it was just not worth the cost.  It was much cheaper for us to pay for full time care at a child care center than it was to pay for part time care with a nanny.  When looking into child care, look at the price and see what they offer, but you are almost always going to find that a child care center is cheaper than a private nanny.

Honestly, child care can be a really great thing for you and your baby, but you really need to decide if it’s the right fit for you as a parent.  It’s a personal decision that you have to make as a parent. 

 Are you a parent looking to enroll in child care?  I’d be happy to answer any questions from a parent or teacher’s perspective.

Confessions of a First Time Mom

by Katie Haller

 I have to admit that I am a total first-time mom.  As a first time mom, I am learning every day how to figure out this whole parenting thing.  I never thought it would be easy to be a mom, but I honestly never knew it would be as hard as it is.  I learn a little every day on how to be a better mom.   Many of my friends from high school and college are at the same place in life as me, with little kids at home, but we are all scattered across the country.  We don’t get to talk every day or see each other all the time.  I don’t have any other mom friends that live near me to talk with about babies.  That’s why I thought it would be fun to create a series of posts called “confessions of a first time mom”.  I thought it would be a nice way to share my experiences and thoughts on my journey through motherhood with all of you!

As a first time mom, I am constantly concerned about doing things “the right way”.  I’m always questioning myself about the way I do things.  What I’m finding out is that there is no right way to raise a child.  You kind of have to find out how to do it on your own.  You can read every book and blog out there on parenting and it still won’t have the answers, because every child is different.

I will stress out over the silliest things sometimes.  Recently, I was overly concerned about how to wean Jack off his bottle.  He was really starting to love his bottles, especially his evening one.  I was so concerned that he was going to have a fit and cry and make giving up bottles so hard.  But then one day he went to bed without a bottle.  Then the next night he went down without a bottle.  Now I have him completely weaned off the bottle and he’s sleeping through the night now!! (at least most nights.)  I can’t remember why I was so stressed out.

My baby loves to read.

We love to read together before bed.

I’m learning that parenting is not as hard as we make it out to be.  It’s a live and learn kind of thing, full of trial and error.  You make mistakes, then you learn and move on.  I hope that I will learn from all my parenting fails with Jack and not make them with the next baby, but somehow I know that I will still be learning even as a second time around mom.  That’s just how life goes. 

I hope to share more of my motherhood thoughts soon! Thanks for reading! 

9 Ways to Wear a Cardimom

by Katie Haller

If you haven’t already read my review on the CardimomⓇ by Multiwear.co, I suggest you go back and read my last post on this great little piece of clothing for moms.  The one thing that I really love about the CardimomⓇ is how versatile it is with my wardrobe.  I’m all about making the most out of my wardrobe.  I love to find new ways to wear my clothes so that I don’t have to repeat my outfits all the time.  The CardimomⓇ is perfect for that!  Honestly, I had a hard time finding clothes in my closet that it doesn’t go with.
Today, I wanted to share 9 outfits that I put together wearing my CardimomⓇ.  The great part about these looks is that they would all double as maternity looks, as well as look for nursing moms.

This is my go-to running errands look, with my converse sneakers, distress jeans, and stripe tunic. 
This is another running errands look.  It fits perfectly into my life with a blush tank, distressed jeans, and flats. 
The CardimomⓇ works great for layering over button-downs.  I’m a huge fan of gingham, and I love how the green cardigan looks with it. 
I also like to wear my CardimomⓇ as a poncho.  For this look, I belted it up with a pair of jeans, nude pumps and a colorful statement necklace.  This would look cute for an evening out for dinner or a casual church look.
I love to layer a cardigan over a sundress.  For this look, I took a simple black sundress and layered my CardimomⓇ over it.  I accessorized the look with my ankle booties, perfect for a transitional look for spring. 
It doesn’t matter if you’re pregnant or not.  We all like to have a big oversized cozy top on sometimes.  This look is completed with leggings, boots and a gold pendant necklace. 
If you’re not in the mood for the poncho look, you can always flip it up and make it a cardigan look.  This is the same look as above, just worn as a cardigan, instead of the poncho.
For this look here, I wore a long-sleeve stripe dress with some black strappy wedge sandals and a statement necklace.  This is another great transitional spring look.

Last but not least, I love wearing my CardimomⓇ with my yoga or workout clothes.  It’s the perfect way to accessorize your workout look. 

  Those are my 9 looks with my CardimomⓇ.  Don’t forget to check out Multiwear.co to see what other great mom accessories they have!

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