baby travel tips

Soon Liam and I will get on a plane headed towards Miami. I am so excited to finally introduce him to so many that are near and dear to our hearts. I think my aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends will just go crazy over this little guy.

As excited as I am, I'm also terrified to get on a plane...alone...with a baby. I know I'll have to breastfeed at some point during the plane ride and those seats are so small and close together. I'm hoping he won't have a fit on the plane. That would be so embarrassing and annoying for the other travelers. And how will he handle the two hour time difference? I already decided I'm checking our luggage because I cannot handle keeping track of our bags and making sure he's okay. And thankfully I won't have to bring a car seat, stroller, etc because I'll be borrowing those items from my sister. So I figure I'll take Liam in his baby carrier. Any other tips from seasoned traveling mamas out there?? What must have items should I include in his diaper bag? What are some good soothing techniques? What's the best way to keep him from getting sick? How can I prepare him for the plane trip and the time change? How do I keep myself sane?!? :-)

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Liam stretching his dedos de gallina after nap time. 

First Family Photo Session

On Thanksgiving Day Alex's co-worker, who captured these lovely images, took us up to Boulder to have our first family portrait session with Little Liam. We wanted to go for a folk-y, rustic look with the mountains in the background. Jessica did a great job! Especially considering Liam wasn't in the best of moods. I can't wait to choose one of these photos for our Christmas card this year.

Thanks Jessica!

happy thanksgiving

Wanted to write a quick post wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
This time last year I was already pregnant...I just didn't know it yet. [Denial?? Haha]
Now we have been blessed with this wonderful little turkey. We are so thankful!

Hope you all have a great day celebrating with loved ones. I can't wait to stuff my face!

mom hair

Hello. My name is Kristel Acevedo and I have mom hair. I always said I wouldn't fall into the "ponytail rut," but here I am. How did this happen? It seems that I have a lot less time to groom myself these days. Don't get me wrong, I haven't turned into a slob. I still shower everyday and put on real clothes, even if it's almost always jeans and a v-neck t-shirt. I put on a little blush and mascara to try and mask my exhaustion. And everyday I brush my hair into a messy ponytail or bun. I'm stuck. I don't have time to blow dry and iron my hair. My hair isn't long enough to braid. And I'm not very skilled in the hair styling department anyway so I have no inspiration. I had decided that I wanted to grow my hair out [it seems I'm constantly in the process of growing my hair out] but now I'm thinking it may be easier to cut it all off. It'll be easier to style that way and I can get away from this ponytail rut. What say you, blog readers? To cut or not to cut? Any other solutions from hair style experts out there?

P.S. It's scary how much my hair falls out these days?! They weren't lying about that post-pregnancy symptom. It's a wonder I'm not bald already.

BabyConnect

I've been meaning to write a post about the BabyConnect app and now I finally have the time! I have to say that I love this app. Some people may think I'm neurotic, but I'm honestly not. It is just a big help to me since my memory fails me a lot these days and I didn't know much about babies prior to Liam being born.

This app, which I use on my iPad and iPhone, keeps track of everything! How often Liam eats and for how long. How many wet/poopy diapers. How much he's sleeping. Weight gain. How much I pump. What milestones he's reaching. Ev-er-y-thing. Sometimes when Liam is being crabby and I have no idea why, I'll look at the app and realize he's been awake for an hour and a half and is probably tired...or it's been two hours since he ate so he's probably hungry. I try to read his cues the best I can but when I'm lost or confused the app is a big help to me. It also helps me notice patterns. That's how I learned that when he's been up for more than an hour he gets cranky. That's how I learned that he sleeps an average of 8-9 hours a night (though certainly not in one block unfortunately!). That's how I learned that he can only go four hours from his last feeding of the night to his first feeding the next day (major bummer!). And that he's a once-a-week pooper.

I would definitely be lost without this app and will forever sing its praises! This app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android...and is also available on the web. I say if you're a new mommy you should download it ASAP.

And here are some cute photos of Liam, because it's not a complete blogpost without some Liam cute-ness.

Gap jeans and H&M cardigan...this kid is stylin'!

Playing with his o-ball.

Rolling from back to side!

daylight savings time is dumb

I've never been a fan of daylight savings time. What's the point? It just messes everything up. People get confused about what time it really is. And, sure, our phones and computers change time automatically, but what about the clocks in ovens, microwaves, cars...changing car clocks is the worst! And having a baby makes the time change even more annoying. Liam never got the memo and his nighttime schedule has been all outta whack. Poor guy has no idea what's going on.

So this is just my little rant. Abolish daylight savings time! It's dumb.

I love this guy. Even with all the lack of sleep.

three months

Today Liam is three months old! That's halfway to six months! Which is halfway to a year! Which means soon he'll be off to college! My sweet little man is growing up before my very eyes. I read this article yesterday and it totally resonated with me. I never imagined myself with a son but now that I have one I am head over heels in love.

At three months Liam is developing quite rapidly. He is starting to reach out to his toys and grab them. The first time he did it I was so excited! I took pictures and put them on instagram, twitter, and facebook! I just had to share with the world. Now when I put him on his activity mat he swats at the animals hanging down. I know it sounds like nothing. I think before I had kids I wouldn't have been very impressed but just seeing how he's gone from this floppy tiny little baby to this boy who is grabbing toys all by himself in just three months...well, I can't help but be impressed. He is also starting to sit in his bumbo. He looks so cute and grown up.

Liam is a very curious little boy. He likes to take in his surroundings. His eyes are always darting all around the room taking in every detail. He is smiling and laughing a lot too. When he wakes up in the morning and I say, "Hello, handsome. Good morning," he looks up to me and smiles. Melt my heart! He thinks Alex is just the most hilarious human being on the planet. Have you seen this video of him laughing at daddy's funny voices? I love it.

Without further ado, here is Liam's three month photo:

He is rockin' those leg warmers!

why I don't hate midnight feedings

Part of me really wishes Liam would sleep for 10 hours every night without disrupting me even once. I miss sleep, I crave sleep. But I get it. He's a baby. He's growing. He has a tiny belly that digests milk quickly and he needs to fill it up again. And despite missing out on some much needed sleep I really don't hate waking up in the middle of the night to feed my boy. I think those quiet and still moments where he's snuggled up to me are some of the sweetest moments I'll ever experience with him. This time I get to nurse him is so short in the grand scheme of things.

Also, it helps that he always goes right back to sleep when he's done eating. He looks so adorable when he stretches his little arms in the air. gives a little grunt, and drifts off to sleep. [I, on the other hand, have been having a terrible time trying to get back to sleep. It's so frustrating! Any tips??]

As much as I enjoy those sweet moments with Liam I'd like to start stretching his nighttime sleep a little more...five or six straight hours of sleep would be amazing! I ordered "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" and started reading it. So far it seems pretty great, we'll see what happens when I start implementing the suggestions in the book. I ended up choosing this book over some others because I do not want to make Liam "cry it out" and I don't really want to impose a strict schedule on him. So again, we'll see what happens. Pray for us, friends. :-)

Sushi Baby!

I love celebrating all of Liam's firsts, especially when it comes to holidays. It's so much fun to celebrate with him.

I wasn't going to dress him up for Halloween but at the last minute I got some scrap pieces of fabric and a hot glue gun and put together this little costume for our little man. He looked delicious!

I think next Halloween will be even more fun because we'll actually go trick-or-treating. I can't wait!

And here is our spray painted pumpkin family...

I'm already planning on how I want to decorate next year's pumpkins!

Hope everyone had a fun and candy-filled Halloween.