LONDON ROSE // SEVEN MONTHS

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Man oh man, how is London SEVEN MONTHS old. She's creeping up on her ONE year birthday and it makes me want to crrrry. I was looking at little toddler shoes last night and seriously wanted to cry thinking about her walking around, I just can't imagine it...please stay little a little bit longer my love.

 

LONDON AT SEVEN MONTHS

WEIGHT: I haven't weighed her since her 6 month doctor's appt at and she won't be weighed until the next one at 9 months so I have noo idea, ha. I'm guessing she's around 18/19lbs! She eats a TON of solids and has the sweetest thigh/arm/wrist rolls!

HEIGHT: Same as weight, I guess I could measure her but it takes too much effort, ha.

WEARS: She's in size 6-12 month clothing! I seriously can't get enough of her in rompers, dresses, bloomers and little tanks! How adorable is this gingham romper!? 

SLEEPS: She usually sleeps 11 hours straight from 7-6am, I then feed her and try to get her back to sleep for another hour but lately that has been hard, ha! I like it when she wakes me up at 6 because then I get some quiet time to myself BUT I don't want the whole gang waking up at 6am. Soooo I'm really hoping she'll just start sleeping that extra hour!

Here's her sleep schedule:
7am wake up nurse play eat breakfast
9am nap 1 (1-1.15 hours)
10:15am wake up nurse play go out eat lunch
1:00pm nap 2 (2 hours)
3:00pm wake up nurse play go out
5:00pm nurse dinner play
6:30pm bottle then bedtime routine
7pm bed

She's still napping like a champ! I shorten her morning nap so I can get some double nap action in the afternoon. Those two hours to myself are GLORIOUS!

HIGHS: Taking her to NYC was so memorable. It was seriously so special to have that one on one time with her. We experienced so much of the city together and it was so nice to spend some time with my brother and sister in law!!!

I also love her sweet personality. She's starting to babble more (still won't say dada, poor James!) And she's not afraid to tell you when she's happy or mad (just like her mama!)

Her and Luca's relationship is developing more and more and it is just the sweetest. He makes her laugh more than anyone else. Can't wait to see it grow even more. 

LOWS: Her sleep wasn't the greatest in NYC. We did not follow her normal schedule and she was napping on the go a lot so she woke up a couple times in the night. It made for one tired mama but other than that she's been a dream.

PARENTING: Like I said before, going to NYC with just London was such a treat. Obviously we missed Luca but we so appreciated the one on one time...especially James. It was so sweet to see them bonding so much. When you have older kids, it's pretty much impossible to give the babe 100% of your attention (because I need to be making sure Luca isn't falling into the ditches on our property or trying to escape through our hedges!!) 

POSTPARTUM: Still haven't gotten back on BBG :(  But I'm hoping to start this week. I have it all scheduled in so please keep me accountable! I'm a couple pounds lighter but I think it's from all the stress from our perimeter drains being redone and Luca catching HFM :/ 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Our family shoot booked in June! We've hired our fave photog in Victoria, Rachael Alexandra and we're going to get some special photos of London and I. She's at the same age when I had these photos done with Luca so it will be so nice to have some of London and I!

XOXO,
Laura

LONDON ROSE // SIX MONTHS

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Baby girl is officially half a year old!!! I really, truly cannot believe it. The past six months have been a complete whirlwind and I'm really hoping time will slow down so I can enjoy some time with my baby before she turns ONE!

LONDON AT SIX MONTHS

WEIGHT: 17lbs 8oz....baby girl gained almost 3lbs since her last weigh in at 4 months! Her thigh rolls are seriously amazing!
We started her on solids at 5 months and she has fallen in love with food! 
I looked back on Luca's 6 month chart and he weighed 17.7..almost exactly the same!

HEIGHT: 26.5 inches...grew about two inches over the past two months. She's in the 85th % for height, so she's on the taller side but she has tiny feet!

WEARS: She's just started to grow out of her 3-6 month clothing...so sad :( But I have a lot of fun 6-12 numbers! I cannot wait for warmer weather to dress her in all her cute little dresses and rompers. How darling is the little romper she's wearing above? And how gorgeous is this little white dress? Shopping for a baby girl is seriously addicting!!

SLEEPS: Okay so from month 4-6 she was still waking up 1x a night somewhere between 4-6am...and some nights she would wake up twice (when dada forgot to put her in a night time diaper...) BUT last night she slept 6:45pm-6:45am STRAIGHT!!! So I'm realllly hoping she will continue that 12 hour straight thang and we won't have to night wean her. 

She is still fully sleep trained (goes down wide awake and puts herself to sleep) and we started to do a bottle before bed so she wouldn't be dependant on mama to put her to sleep. She finally started taking the bottle like a champ last month! She obvs prefers mama but she will drink some expressed milk/formula (between 2-4oz)...which makes me so happy because I can go out and not worry!

She loves THIS bottle best but still uses this one too.

She is a champion napper. In the past two months the only nap she has refused has been the last cat nap so we dropped that one. She sleeps for at least an hour for her morning and 1.5 hours for her afternoon nap. Honestly, I am soooo thankful she's been such a great napper. I've managed to overlap her and Luca's nap so I usually get about 1.5 hours to myself in the afternoon...which is GLORIOUS!!!!!!! 

Here's her new sleep schedule:
7am wake up nurse play eat breakfast
8:45am nap 1 (1-1.5 hours)
10:15am wake up nurse play go out eat lunch
12:45pm nap 2 (1.5-2.15 hours)
3:00pm wake up nurse play go out
5:00pm nurse dinner play
6:20pm bottle then bedtime routine
6:45/7pm bed

She's actually doing pretty well with the four hour wake time before bed! My goal is to stretch her a bit more during lunch to a 3 hour wake time.

HIGHS: Oh man, so many! Feeding her food for the first time was so awesome. She devoured it, just like her big bro did when he first had it! I guess we make good eaters, ha. She still lights up whenever Luca glances at her. He is her absolute favourite person (despite him trying to push her :( 

LOWS: The only low for me has been getting up to night feed her but honestly it's not that bad! She is such a happy baby. I was just telling my bestie tonight how full of joy she is. She rarely cries. She screams when we don't feed her fast enough and when she wakes up but it's more like HEY MA COME GET ME! 

PARENTING: She's such an easy baby if I stick with her schedule! She needs food, sleep and cuddles which sounds like the good life!! She's now sitting up and when she's on her tummy, she's starting to push her bum up...I'm not ready for her to start crawling!!! Our house is 100% baby proof but now I gotta watch for tiny things Luca leaves around!

Speaking of Luca, he's reallllllly testing my patience these days. All of a sudden he started pushing London :( He was so good with her, and I know it could be a phase but please send me your toddler tips!!! It just breaks my heart because she just ADORES him.

POSTPARTUM: Well I started BBG strong but then had a number of days where James was either working alot or working on church album or both which meant by the end of the night I was just tooo tired to function! I've cut sweets out until NYC and that has made a difference (down 3lbs) BUT I still want to get back on BBG next week when things aren't as hectic!

LOOKING FORWARD TO: NYC IN MAY!!!!! I honestly get giddy just thinking about the adventures we'll have....and only taking care of one child for 5 days, lols. Obviously we will miss Luca soooo much but we're very excited to create special memories with London, where she will have our full attention. This trip is going to be such a blessing!! And obvs can't wait to see my bro and sis in law!! Send us your NYC recommendations please!

I just adore you my London girl.

XOXO,
Laura

TIPS ON KIDS CONSIGNMENT

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Can I tell you a secret?

Well, it's not really a secret and if you really know me, you probably know this. I am the WORST thrifter. I just can't do thrift stores. You know those people who find the most amazing things every time they go thrifting? Well, I did not get that anointing. 

Seriously, I get waaaay too overwhelmed in thrift stores and the smell drives me crazy. I love the idea of recycling clothes, I just never can find stuff that fits me or looks good!

But consignment I can do....especially kid's consignment! Do you know how many clothes these tiny people go through? A LOT! I was just talking to James how unfair it is that babies grow up sooo quickly (we were chatting how London will be standing up and then walking later this year!!!) Why didn't God make the baby stage two years?!! But regardless of my opinion, they go through clothes very quickly. So one of my favourite places to find clothing for my babies is at my local consignment store. I have found such amazing numbers for my babes and I highly recommend consigning if you haven't done it before!

Consignment tips:

1. Stick to the same consignment store. I know what you're probably thinking...why would I do that when my chances of finding gems is higher if I go to different places!? But the thing is....you're a mom...your time is precious and you don't have all the time in the world to hunt through a bajillion consignment stores! Also, when you start bringing in your own stuff, you'll build credit at that store, and it has more value in the store than cashing out!
   If you're in Victoria, I highly reccomend Thistle & Wren in Fernwood. The owner Candace, is sooo lovely and they only take good brands so you'll always find something great!

2. Make a list of what you need before you arrive. Yes, it's fun to go nuts on kids clothing but it can add up! So before I go, I make note of what I need. The last time I went I made sure to look for a windbreaker for Luca and cozy pants for London. (In the top photo, you can see that I found what I needed...Columbia windbreaker and Zara leggings!)

3. Establish a colour palette. If you want to set your hubby up for success when dressing your babe, this is a MUST, ha. Honestly, if you only have certain colour clothes, you will find that you will get a lot more wear out of the clothes because everything goes together! For London, I usually try to only buy- black, white, cream, denim, rose, light pinks and grey. 

4. Buy a size larger than you need. Ok, this may be a given but definitely buy pants one size up for babies because you'll get way longer wear out of them. Once they're toddlers, you kinda need to shop in their size but you can getaway with larger t-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets! Remember, these tiny humans grow QUICKLY!

Do you love consigning or are you more of a thrifter?

XO,
Laura

LONDON ROSE // FOUR MONTHS

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London Rose is now 4 months old!! Well....almost five months, ha. MAN February FLEW BY. I'll do my best to remember last month, ha.

LONDON AT FOUR MONTHS

WEIGHT: 14lbs 15oz

HEIGHT: 24.5 inches

WEARS: She's now out of 0-3 months and is fitting nicely into her 3-6 month clothing! Buying little girl clothing is SOOOO ADDICTIVE. I had some credit at my fave consignment store and bought her a few things, but man, I want to order EVERYTHING! How cute is this number from baby gap? And this coat from h+m!!! #DYING

SLEEPS: Well this past month we officially sleep trained her! I have a whole sleep training post in the works but what sleep training means is a baby can put their self to sleep on their own instead of being nursed/rocked/swaddled/soother to sleep. We had our girl's conference at our church and I needed James to be able to put her to sleep. So I had my last night of nursing her to sleep (I had been nursing her to sleep about 50% of the time.) We did a bit of cry it out/fuss it out but never let her cry for more than 10 minutes.
We also transitioned her out of being swaddled (did one arm out for a week and then both arms out) and also the dockatot. She took it all really well. She still wakes up once a night to eat (somewhere between 4-6!) but for about a week she was doing twice a night...thank goodness she went back to once! 
If she doesn't drop the last feed by 6 months, I will night wean her then but for now it's not too bad. 

She's been napping amazingly lately! Her regular schedule looks like
7am wake up nurse play
8:30/9 nap 1 (I usually wake her up after 1-1.5 hours)
10:00 wake nurse play
12:00 nap 2 (usually 2 hours!)
2:00 wake nurse play
4:00 nap 3 (I usually only let her sleep for an hour here!)

HIGHS: Hers and Luca's relationship developing. I feel like it took him 4 months to realize that she's not going anywhere, ha. It's like something switched and now all he wants to do is cuddle her. It's seriously the sweetest. And she just LIGHTS UP when he looks at her. I'm pretty sure he is her favourite person.

LOWS: We're still working on the bottle situation. She finally took the Nuk bottle but so far has only done 1.5oz. Another low was us all getting sick AGAIN. Seriously, cold season, you can go away anytime now.

PARENTING: She's definitely more aware and interactive these days and it's so fun! Everyday I try to get a bit of time on the floor with both kids...it's my favourite.

POSTPARTUM: Oh man, this is still SO HARD. I still haven't run yet but I want to, ha. I still have 19lbs to go until I'm pre-Luca weight and my goal is to get there by the end of the year but guys, it's MARCH so I better start doing something!!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO: We booked a trip to NYC in May! We'll be leaving Luca at home and just taking London. I'm excited to have that special time with her but obvs will miss Luca sooooo much! I'm also looking forward to her starting solids next month!!!

Oh London, I LOVE being your mama.

XOXO,
Laura

LONDON ROSE // THREE MONTHS

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Sweet girl, London, is now three months (well almost four months, ha.)

LONDON AT THREE MONTHS

WEIGHT: 13lbs 15oz
I weighed her just after we got back from Mexico and she was almost 14lbs! Baby girl is chunking up....so many delicious baby rolls!

HEIGHT: I haven't measured her height in awhile but I'll know in a few weeks when I take her to her 4 month appt!

WEARS: I still have her in some 0-3 month clothes but she's starting to fit into 3-6 and it's breaking my heart! Why do they have to grow so flipping fast! 

SLEEPS: She's been doing anywhere between 8-10 hours straight pretty consistently. I usually put her down between 7-8pm and she wakes up between 4-6am and then goes back down for a couple more hours. If you follow me on instagram, you'll know that I'm starting to transition her out of her swaddle with one arm out. It's going pretty well. Her naps have been mostly 1-2 hours but I know I'll have to start full on sleep training her soon as I'm still nursing her to sleep about 50% of the time. Not looking forward to that but I'm slowly getting there and knowing that 12 hour straight sleeps will happen soon after that definitely helps!
She's still on three naps a day and will probably be until about 5/6 months.

HIGHS: Dressing her in the cutest little sundresses in Mexico was soooo much fun! Summer baby girl clothes are 100% cuter than summer baby boy clothes, ha. She won so many hearts. Her giggle and sweet smiles are also one of the highlights of my day.

We recently started family reading time before bedtime and it has been so special. Luca is slowly getting used to having a sister. Sometimes he cuddles her and sometimes he tries to hit her. He calls her Lala and James and I have adopted that nickname too!

LOWS: Things have been really great with her this month aside from her refusing to take a bottle!!! Pleeeeease send me your tips on giving her a bottle. We have the comotomo and Luca took that one like a champ but London just refuses. We've tried fresh breastmilk, frozen breastmilk, and formula but no dice! We've tried the comotomo bottle and the avent one but she won't take either...please please please send your tips! We're trying everyday but it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

The other low was we all got sick AGAIN right before Mexico. London had it pretty bad and then Luca got it and now he's sick for a third time. We're washing hands and using essential oils but man, it seems like we can't catch a break! Cannot wait for spring!

PARENTING: London is the easy peasy one right now, ha. She doesn't move or throw tantrums. Her brother on the other hand is "learning to communicate". Oh, toddlers.

But on a positive note, I started the study Intentional Parenting by Bill Johnson and it is so so so good. I highly reccomend it if you are a Christian parent!

POSTPARTUM: Well, I finally have started to get my butt in gear. I did three workouts last week, yay! It's a slow start but I'm finally feeling motivated again! 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Her sweet personality coming out! She's seriously super sweet and I know that in the next few months it just gets better and better!

XOXO,
Laura