New. New. New. {Wrap Review Included}

New baby. New routine. Crazy house. Routine managed. Cool down.
I'll echo the other bloggers out there, babies make life crazy and when life is crazy the blog is pushed away. Not that I haven't been thinking about it. I have posts falling out of my ears over here!

Baby is 5 months old. Darn near 6 months old. So many catch up posts to do. Also, we hit up Disneyland in March. That is a monster post (or posts) of it's own. Baby was 2 1/2 months old. Yes, we took a 5 year old, 2 year old and 2 1/2 month old to Disneyland and we survived! 

Baby ended up being carried most of the trip but hey, totally worth it. I bought a wrap to carry her in and she hated it. I hated it. It was bad. About a month after we got back, I got the Wrapy.

A nice stretchy, fabric wrap. Don't let it look intimidating, it really is super easy to use. Just give it one practice try and then the next time you're good! Below is a picture of my sweet 2 year old giving it a try. 

She is about 25lbs, I don't remember off hand what the weight limit is but she was absolutely a perfect fit. I had my brother help me put her in the first time around just to make sure it was secure before baby was set in for a try. Hands free toddler wearing? Yes please. She loved it. Though after a bit of housework attached to mom she was ready to be free to run. But seriously guys, look at that. 25lbs, hands free. 

Yes I did put baby in, I'm not sure where those pictures ran off too, but I'm sure they'll pop up in a baby post update. Now before I forget, this is darn near the same wrap as another (more expensive) I previously had. More expensive doesn't necessarily mean it's better. 

My two littles and my Kindergartener and I definitely approve of this wrap. We've used it so often lately that I actually forgot it was given to me for my honest review. I mean it just feels like it's been with us forever. Isn't that what you want?  There isn't anything negative to say here. It fits great, instructions are easy to use. It fits back into the bag easily. It's fairly breathable considering it's a large amount of fabric. 

For those of you that are interested in getting one for yourself (or like me, buying one as a baby shower gift) I have some coupon codes to get you 15% off. Head on over and check them out. You won't be disappointed. I definitely wasn't.

One Month.

I can't believe our sweet baby joined our family a month ago already. At her 5 day Well Child Check she weighed 7 lbs, exactly what she left the hospital weighing. 

At her 2 Week Well Child Check she weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces and grew to 21.4 inches tall! She also did great during her heel prick, and proved that she's a great bleeder just like her mama. Thank goodness for hydrogen peroxide, and it's great job at making our clothes blood free.

She's been a great nighttime sleeper, she will give us a 5- 6 1/2 hour chunk of sleep every night then another 3-4 hour chunk. It's perfect. If only her 2 1/2 year old sister would do the same. (We're dealing with some separation anxiety for sure.)

She is constantly being kissed and loved by her big sisters who want to help with her and hold her any chance they get. She is still so very sweet and loves to just look you in the eyes and listen to you. She's a very smiley little girl and is often caught giggling in her sleep. 

I don't remember time going this fast with my first two, but it is for sure flying with her. 

Baby #3: {Birth Story}

I love reading birth stories and love knowing that I have my girls' written down. Here is Baby #3's birth story.

Let's start with how surprised I was to wake up December 23rd still pregnant. It was the furthest I'd ever been. My first born at 39 weeks- my water broke at 38 weeks 6 days. My second born at 38 weeks 4 days- again my water broke. I thought- and so did my doctor- that baby number 3 would come around the same time. 

 At 39 weeks 1 day I was walking into the hospital to be induced. At 7:10 am an IV was started and I was dilated to a 2 still. 

At 7:25 they went ahead and started Pitocin. At 8am my doctor finally made it over (later than he thought, we had a wonderful storm that morning that slowed everyone down). He then broke my water and said I was 3cm, 40% and baby moved to a -1 station while he was checking. He guessed baby would be here around 2 or 3 that afternoon. He also said he would be back at 12 pm to check on us. 

I was able to make it till 8:50 before getting an epidural. After that I didn't get checked again till 11 am. At that point I was at a 6. My husband asked the nurse how fast things could happen from there and she told him "sometimes it takes 10 minutes to go from a 6 to a 10 and sometimes a few hours." Well at 11:40 I started to feel a bunch of pressure and sure enough when the nurse came in, it was time to go! 

The doctor arrived at 12 and after 3 pushes our sweet little girl joined our family at 12:10 pm.

She weighed 7lbs 2 oz and was 20.5" long. Since the birth of my second daughter the hospital had changed a few things and baby got to stay in the room with me the whole time. She left twice in our whole stay and it was wonderful. I never got the chance to attempt nursing my first two until a while after they were born so being able to try right away was a new, and great experience. She came out knowing what to do and ready to do it! 

We were moved to our recovery room a couple hours later and after her bath (in our room!) and after the feeling returned to my legs our sweet big girls got to meet their new baby sister. It was amazing. She did have a hard time keeping and was dealing with some jaundice (Combs problems- her blood type and my blood type are different and her body was having a hard time passing the bilirubin as fast as her body was breaking down the blood cells.) that threatened to keep us in the hospital through Christmas, but over night and with lots of cuddles and some time in front of the sun filled window all her little problems disappeared. 

So on Christmas Eve, we traveled home as a family of 5, read The Night Before Christmas and snuggled in and waited for Santa. 

It was absolutely amazing and such a great start to our Christmas. This sweet miracle baby has changed our family so much in such a short time. She has been so very sweet since day 1. She is the perfect mixture of her sisters & we are so very blessed to have her here with us.

{Our Elf} Snowflake.

I knew the end of this year would be crazy. All the holidays and then throw in a new baby due to come December 29th (inducing on the 23rd though!). I was so worried that I would forget something. I've been making list after list for months. And finally last week I made our Elf on the Shelf list. I kept it pretty simple. I wanted to make sure whoever had to do it while I was away at the hospital with baby wouldn't hate me. 

I know there are TONS of list around and I'm not saying mine is the best but I did want to share my ideas with you. Now I numbered mine but plan on doing whatever I feel we need most that day, but wanted to make sure I had Snowflake's adventures all planned. 

1. I'm Back letter! 
2. Hide in the Christmas Tree. 
3. Bring a Christmas Coloring page.
4. Elf plays candy cane golf. (Candy canes & marshmallows)
5. Elf puts googly eyes on pictures.
6. Elf brings or suggests we watch a Christmas movie as a family.
7. Elf brings Christmas stickers!
8. Brown paper bag races with other dolls/stuffed animals.
9. Hangs from dining room light with snowflakes.
10. Brings sugar cookie mix, frosting and cookie cutters.
11.Sleeps in dollhouse bed on kitchen counter.
12. Elf hides in the stocking.
13. Brings food coloring for green pancakes!
14. Elf brings stuff to make snowflakes!
15. Brings money to buy present for baby sister!
16. Elf hangs from coat hooks in the girls' room.
17. Elf gets trapped under a cup.
18. Elf is fishing for gold fish crackers.
19. Elf is hiding in the cookie jar.
20. Elf brings stuff for a gingerbread house!
21. Brings hot cocoa and popcorn for a movie night!
22. Elf brings a new Christmas book.
23. Brings stuff to make reindeer food!
24. Christmas Pajamas and a good by letter.

Extras-

Bubble bath with mini marshmallows.
Brings stuff for bubble bath for the girls.
Makes a snow angel with powdered sugar on table.
Draws a map on chalkboard table to play with cars on.

Do you do Elf on the Shelf? What is your Elf's name? Have any fun ideas?

Conducting Helps.

Thank goodness for YouTube. Seriously. In November I was released as a Primary teacher in our ward and was quickly asked to conduct the music in Relief Society. I made a quick decision and said yes- even though I am growing to have a love/hate relationship with it.

I took piano lessons for a brief time when I was younger which have proved to be a very small help but it still didn't prepare me for this. Counting and figuring out the odds and ends have been hard for me. It has taken me a bit to find these awesome resources and in the off chance that I can help someone else I want to share a few of my favorite finds! 

Lds.Org Helps

Using the Hymn Book.
I feel like this is pretty much what you find in the back of the Hymn book, the stuff you stared at while you were a child, thinking you could totally do it too. Helpful but not quite all you need to know. I'd use it more as a refresher if you've done this before and just need to be reminded. Or if you're like me- flip between this and the Hymn you're about to conduct 400 times to make sure you've got it right. 

Conducting Course.
105 pages of good information but not quite all that I needed. I still needed more, I had a hard time getting through this, I felt like it needed to be a video course instead so I could work while watching someone. I tend to second guess myself and this didn't have enough for me.

Hymns.
I am so very lucky to know ahead of time what songs we'll be singing so I can practice conducting them beforehand. I use this online hymn book to help me practice.

YouTube Helps

How to Conduct Music- Michelle Willis
10 short videos that really break down the basics. Super helpful to watch, she's calm, clear and just overall really great at teaching. I felt so much more confident after watching her videos. The very first week I had to conduct I felt it was doable and even though I didn't quite do very well I survived and felt that with practice I would survive this calling. 


How to Conduct Hymn #211- David Potter
6 Hymns-How to Conduct
This hymn has been driving me crazy for 2 weeks now. It has to be the toughest one I've been asked to conduct (my 3rd song ever). So luckily I was able to find this man & his wife teaching you how to conduct it. It looks like they have a few other videos of specific hymns. Best day ever when I found this. 


Now I'm still just learning and still probably need years of practice but just by finding these few places I finally feel like I'm right on track to actually learning how to conduct some of these hymns. Now to get over the fear of being in front of people. Thankfully no one seems to stare while you conduct and I just watch the hymn book anyway. 

Hopefully if you stopped in for help you got it. If you didn't come in for help hopefully you learned a little!