Prepping for Daycare

Thanks for hanging in there during my blog absence y'all.. It's been quite the emotional week over here for all of us! I honestly don't know how working mamas do it, I'm going through withdrawals not having my little buddy by my side all day. Since I've been a hot mess about the whole thing, I've been distracting myself with planning his little outfits in advance and labeling things. You know, type A mom things.

When we toured Rowan's daycare we were told that there was another little baby in his class with the same name. I was surprised because Rowan isn't a common name, which is one of the reasons we picked it. I figured it could eventually get a little confusing for the babies but they would get used to it.

Then I found out its a girl.

Sigh...

While that's one less name for his teacher to remember, it does complicate the bottle situation in the mini fridge. And basically everywhere else that the babies things are stored.

So I started searching for something that could distinguish my babe's bottle, food containers (for the days I remember homemade purees), and other baby things.

Enter: Minted's new name labels.

Wheeler Label. Monogram Tag Label.

There are so many cute designs (all designed by independent artists around the country - fun fact!) and even though I would typically look for something gender neutral, this was not the time or place.  

Give me all the baby boy things. 

Trucks? Yep. Manly? Definitely. Can I add my kid's cute face to them? Absolutely.

I went with the Wheeler Label and the Monogram Tag Label and they are so.freaking.adorable. Side note: I also love this Christmas card by one of the label designers... totally not planning ahead or anything. ha!

Anyway. I admit I was skeptical that they could be waterproof so I put them to the test.

I let his bottle sit in soapy water for a few hours (admittedly I forgot about it... mom of the year), ran them through the dishwasher, and sterilized them. The labels didn't budge! I even cut out the R from one label and put it on his paci. Still there!

Touché, Minted. I totally going to be that mom that labels his pencil box (do kids use those anymore?!) and all of his sports equipment. He's going to love it. 

Linking up with Natalie and Annie! 

I was provided Minted's custom name labels for the purposes of this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own! For our privacy, our last name on the labels has been blurred out with my amateur editing skills. 

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Soaking it up

This week I'm taking a little time out from blogging to soak up all the cuddles and to plant way too many kisses on Rowan's cute cheeks as he will be starting daycare next week.

I'm feeling allllll of the feelings about this transition. Like many new parents, we've gone over what seems like a million options and have decided this is the best for now.

Photo by Caitlin Thomas Photography

I feel so fortunate to have spent so much time with Rowan before he heads to daycare, I know a lot of mamas don't get the same opportunity. I was able to see him smile, laugh, and roll over for the first time. I also got to watch him learn to sit up on his own and crawl and that has been an amazing gift of working from home that I do not take for granted.

I'm confident he will love having some babies to play with and a short break from Ruby's endless kisses. 

I'll be back next week and there are lots of things planned for this little space of mine! Happy almost weekend y'all!

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Currently

Hello Fall! To mark the first official day of the best season ever I had planned to show some of the progress we've made on decorating the house + Fall decor, but I still have a few finishing touches to make (see below) until its photo-ready so stay tuned!

Let's play catch up, shall we?!

Loving: Fall TV shows are back (Mo Fam, Scandal, Grey's, and Homeland are some of our faves), cooler weather, and watching Rowan grow and change by the day. Months 6 through 8 are definitely a sweet spot, it's been so much fun with him! 

Loathing: When you excitedly put on your favorite pair of jeans and end up dripping in sweat because its way hotter than you thought it was.

See also, Rowan's pediatrician's diagnosis below. SMH.

A couple weeks ago Rowan was really out of sorts so after Googling his symptoms (always a good idea, right?), I was convinced it was an ear infection. Since it was a Friday, I wanted to get him checked before the weekend. We sat in the waiting room for almost TWO HOURS, only to leave with "fussy" as a diagnosis. Don't get me wrong... I was extremely relieved he was 110% healthy but she could have at least wrote "teething" or something that made me feel less like an a-hole first time parent.

Truthfully I couldn't help but laugh at its ridiculousness though.

Cooking: Skinnytaste BBQ Chicken Chili and Crock Pot Italian Meatballs with zoodles (I expect these to be on repeat this Fall, so good and easy to make!) and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

Attempting to Finish: Our coffee table! Ugh I've been saying this for months but I think it might really be finished this weekend! If you follow on Snapchat (HomeSweetRuby) you saw a sneak peek of this already... more details to come!

Planning: Rowan's first visit to Disney! Well... we're taking him to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. We are hoping he'll meet Mickey and tolerate a personalized Mickey Mouse ears hat while we sample some drinks and I eat my weight in pumpkin funnel cake.

Wishlist: These chairs for our casual dining area, this cozy sweater, and new skinny jeans (share your favorites, I'm hoping for a slightly distressed pair that aren't $200?!).

Hope you've had a great week so far!

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Fall To-Do List

With the official start of Fall just a week away and the cooler temps we've been having (insert praise hands emoji) its safe to say summer is long gone in my mind.

You'll notice a few of these are not that special but I'm setting my bar low because, mom life.

1. Fall Manicure. Okay so the only reason this has anything to do with Fall is because I want to go with my trademark Fall polish, Essie Smoking Hot. I haven't had a mani-pedi since.... before Rowan was born? YIKES. It's time.

2. Drink all the Lattes, Pinot Noir and Pumpkin beers. Last year I was knocked up at this time so I couldn't enjoy these basic luxuries. I pretty much accomplished this one already so we'll just go ahead and mark this as "in progress." Something has to get me through a full day of work and deciding which tool Mickey's Clubhouse gang needs for its mission.

3. Bake Pumpkin-flavored things. I may even try my hand at slow cooker apple butter. Look out y'all, getting crazy over here.

4. Visit the Farmer's Market. We go to the Farmer's Market a lot but there is something about chowing down on my kettle corn with a scarf on and a cool breeze that makes it so much better.

5. Take cliche pictures of my kid. Think photos at a pumpkin patch, sitting in a pile of leaves, in his Halloween PJs and costume. Yep, I'm going full-on crazy Fall mom here and I don't care who knows it.

6. Wear something other than leggings.I got totally annoyed with wearing leggings last year while I was pregnant. Here's to skinny jeans this time around!

7. Hocus Pocus. Classic Bette Midler, no explanation needed. It's the best. 

8. Read Halloween books to Rowan. So far we have Llama Llama Trick or Treat and Room on the Broom (which is SO cute, I love reading it to Rowan) but we'll probably add more to the collection, like this one.

9. Carve Pumpkins. Love doing this the week of Halloween!

10. Take lots of family walks. We haven't been able to do this much with the humidity over the summer, but Ruby loves when we all walk together and Rowan just chills in his stroller taking it all in.

Honorable mentions go to making lots of soups and chilis for dinner, apple picking, beating my husband at Fantasy Football, and stop being sad that I have no mantel to decorate this year (yeah right).

What is on the top of your Fall bucket list? Anything I should add?!

Linking up with Natalie and Annie!

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What Rowan Eats

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! The weather here was glorious, so I decided to give social media a little break and just soak up all of the Fall-ish weather, snuggles with my boys (and Ruby!), and drink all pumpkin spice lattes.

I've had a lot of requests for this post so I'm just going to dive right in! As I was writing this post I just kept thinking, damn if only I ate as healthy as Rowan! Ha. And if you're not looking for baby stuff, don't worry I'm haven't gone 100% mommy blog on you.

We opted to feed Rowan purees over the Baby Led Weaning approach for a few reasons. Our Ped did not recommend finger foods at all (even if they are soft starter foods - you should have seen the face he made when I mentioned this) until 8-9 months because the risk of choking is too high. I'm a worrier to that was basically all I needed to hear. But the mess and time involved with BLW confirmed it for me. I'm sure it works well for other families, but it's just not for us. Always check with your Pediatrician first!

Rowan has been doing so well with purees, chewing and demanding more after eat bite, so I'm really glad we went this route!

It takes me about and hour on a Sunday afternoon to do a couple batches of homemade purees for Rowan. I stick to making about 2-3 purees at a time and I do it while I'm prepping our own dinner. Generally he has about 5-6 different purees in the freezer and I make them once a week, or every two weeks if I was ambitious with my last batch.

We do still buy a few all natural purees or pouches because they are easy to grab and go if we're planning to feed Rowan while we are out of the house or traveling.

Ninja Blender. Ice Cube Tray with lid. Steamer insert.

No need for fancy baby blenders or steamers, just get yourself a cheap steamer insert and use that blender you got from your wedding registry and haven't used in months. (Or is that just me?)

For basics and how to make each puree, I always consult Wholesome Baby Foods. Also I buy organic whenever I can.

It's pretty straightforward though:
1 . Peel, chop + steam (at Harris Teeter you can get sweet potatoes already chopped up for you!)
2 . Puree in a blender or food processor, add water to thin it out (more on that below!)
3 . Freeze in ice cube trays
4 . Transfer to freezer bags and label

At night I put cubes for the next day in small containers in the fridge. I serve the fruits cold, and warm the veggies in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Make sure you test it to make sure its not too hot!

Thinning: At first I thinned his food with breastmilk before serving, rather than prior to freezing. I still do thin some of the thicker purees with breastmilk but more often I just add water while blending the puree.

Easiest purees vs. hardest: Bananas and avocados don't need to be steamed, just mash them up with a fork! The hardest purees for me to make so far have been green beans and peas. They don't come out really smooth because of the skins, but Rowan doesn't seem to mind.

Rowan's Feeding Schedule

Just before he turned 5 months old, at the direction of his Ped, we started by feeding Rowan oatmeal cereal once a day. We upped that to twice a day for a month before moving on to other foods. (Again- this is what our Ped suggested so we went with that)
 
Now we feed him purees three times a day, about an hour after he nurses.

Breakfast: Oatmeal cereal + Fruit
Lunch: Oatmeal cereal + Fruit + Veggie
Dinner:  Veggies + Fruit
(Dinner this is around 4 PM, he still gets about 9 ounces of pumped breastmilk for his last feeding at 7 PM)

He has tried almost all of the fruits and veggies I can think of at this point. We introduce a new one every 3-4 days so we can pinpoint an allergy if there is one. (So far so good!)

Favorites: Basically any fruit, especially pears, bananas and blueberries. Sweet potatoes. Green Beans. His new favorite combo is sweet potatoes, apples, pumpkin and some cinnamon.

Tolerates: Avocados and Carrots as long as they are mixed with his favorite fruits. 

Hates: Butternut squash! The kid will gag and give me the most hilarious, angry face. I don't blame him though, that one isn't a hit with his parents either.

So I know this may seem like a lot of effort, but even as a working mama I still enjoy making his food and I think it's worth it!  It saves so much money and I know exactly what is going into his food.

Feel free to ask if you have questions!

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Mom Fears

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! As always, it went by too fast over here.

I didn't get nearly what I wanted accomplished because... surprise! Our little man decided to start crawling! I might have shed a few tears thinking about how grown up he seems all of a sudden! This has by far been the funnest stage yet, and I hesitate to say it but I think we're finally getting the hang of things 7 months in.

No one ever tells you how exciting and scary parenthood is at the same time. One minute I'm cheering him on to crawl, the other I'm hurling my body in front of whatever it is he could potentially hurt himself with or find on the floor to eat. 

Photo by Caitlin Thomas Photography

It got me thinking about how much anxiety I have as a mom. It starts immediately when you see those two pink lines on the pregnancy test and it never ends. It's the reason you turn in to mama bear at the slightest sign of danger, the fear that causes you to drop hundreds on baby gates, outlet covers and foam padding. 

But what has been one of the hardest adjustments for me as a parent is a different kind of fear. The fear of taking Rowan out in public, not being able to predict if my angel baby will join us at Target or the crazy version that squirms, whines, and drops everything I give to him. (Toddler mamas are rolling their eyes at me, I know... I'm well aware that we have a lot of these moments in our future)

All it takes is one or two bad outings. I find myself waiting until my husband comes home to watch him so I can run errands and make sure Rowan won't miss his afternoon nap.

At first we were good about taking Rowan out to restaurants, he slept the whole time and it was no big deal. But the older and more alert he gets, the more unpredictable he becomes. I know we are lucky, he has been the sweetest baby and the good days far outweigh the hard ones.

I'm sharing this because I get a sense that a lot of new mamas might feel the same way. To the mamas with newborns: my advice is to get out of the house. Even if its just for a walk around the neighborhood or a trip through the Starbucks drive through. The fresh air will do you good and although it feels like leaving the house is the longest process ever, it gets better and easier every time you do it. Hopefully I can follow my own advice there even with an older babe.

I read somewhere that your baby should fit in to your lifestyle, you shouldn't mold your lifestyle around the baby. While that is a bit unreasonable (this mama will definitely not mess with the bedtime routine!), it does make me feel a little more encouraged to do more things with him outside of the house!

Wish us luck!

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Friday Favorites

Happy September, friends! I know we're already 4 days in but I was a bad blogger this week, so I'm playing catch up. This weekend we're planning to finally hang things on the walls in the house, finish our Restoration Hardware-inspired coffee table, and this mama gets to have her hair done and do some Fall clothes shopping!

Onto my favorites from the week, linking up with Christina and April!

Fall. I admit I'm not going full-fledged Fall crazy just yet. (Anyone else with me?) But I'm going to pull out my favorite pumpkin candle this weekend and stop by Hobby Lobby for some inspiration. Hopefully that will motivate me to decorate this weekend considering I never actually put any non-seasonal decor around the house since moving in. Oops.

College Football. Rowan's first football season! He is oblivious but we're so excited to put on our coordinating Gator gear this weekend. I've been singing our alma mater to R in place of lullabies since I'm a super mom and only know two lines of Mary had a Little Lamb, but I'm confident we're starting him out on the right track.

Halloween. Rowan's costume is picked out, cute jams have been purchased, and I might have to get him one of these Halloween treat bags, so so cute! I've never been a big fan of Halloween (though I do love me some Hocus Pocus) but with a baby its a whole different story!

Apple Cider Donuts. I made these last year and can't stop craving them since I came across this post this week!

Random but have you seen the new changes to Instagram or am I just late to the party? You can now share landscape photos and combine multiple photos in one post without needing another app. Direct messaging has also been improved!

Also I'd love for y'all to check out the newly minted Home Sweet Ruby Facebook page! I kept putting it off but alas, I succumbed just like I did to Twitter. Looking forward to making it a little prettier and filling it up with some good Fall things in the next few weeks!

I hope you all have a great weekend! Cheers to the three-day weekend with this fall sangria in my hand!

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