Hello friends! Welcome back to my blog! Today I just wanted to throw together a quick post about toddler daily routines. Specifically, these are Josie’s daily routines at 12 months, 14 months, 16 months, and 18/20 months, plus her nighttime routine which has pretty much been the same since she was a little baby. I am a person who thrives on consistency. When I first brought Josie home from the hospital, my normal day-to-day life was totally flipped upside down. I had an insanely hard time adjusting to the lack of consistency with having a new baby. Over time, though, I came to recognize Josie’s patterns throughout the day –…
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Cleft Palate Versus Cleft Lip
When I tell people that my daughter Josephine was born with a cleft palate, many of them respond by saying something along the lines of, “Wow, really??? You can’t even tell!” This is because, when people hear the word “cleft,” they automatically think of cleft lip. But a cleft palate is something totally different (though the two often occur together). Don’t feel bad if you’ve made the same mistake. It’s totally understandable! I don’t think many people even know what a cleft palate is. So I wanted to write this post to break it down for you! Cleft Lip A cleft lip is a gap in the upper lip. According…
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10 Ways To Support A NICU Parent
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. Having a baby in the NICU is one of the most difficult experiences a parent can go through. It’s so important to support these parents in appropriate and helpful ways. I’m sure most of you know already that my daughter Josephine was born with a rare birth defect called Pierre Robin Sequence. As a result of her condition, she had a lot of difficulty breathing and feeding for the first few weeks of her life, so she spent that time in the NICU. My husband and I…
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Josie’s 20 Month Update
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. Hi there everyone! I realized that I haven’t posted a “Josie update” here in awhile. A few people have asked me how Josie is doing nowadays, so I figured it was the perfect time to fill everybody in. Josie is 20 months old! I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by. It feels like yesterday that she was learning to crawl. Now she is running around the house, “reading” books all day, playing pretend, and even helping clean up her toys. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing…
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Mega List of Baby Registry Must Haves: PART 2
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. Hey everyone! Welcome to part 2 of my MEGA LIST of new mom must-haves! These are all the products I found to be the most useful as a first time mom. It can be so overwhelming to figure out what stuff you’ll need and what you should add to your baby shower registry. These are those products that I wish I had put on my own registry! If you’re pregnant and feeling overwhelmed, hopefully this list will help you out. To read PART ONE of this list,…
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Mega List of Baby Registry Must Haves: PART 1
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My pregnant friend recently posted on her Facebook asking for recommendations for must-have baby products that she should put on her baby shower registry. It made me think back to creating my own registry, and how overwhelming the process felt. I had never even HELD a baby before my daughter was born… How the heck was I supposed to know what I would need to care for an infant?! There are just so many baby products on the market now that sometimes it seems impossible to narrow…
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Josie’s February 2020 Adventure to the Central Florida Zoo
Happy March everyone! We are already starting MONTH THREE of 2020! As I mentioned in this post, my main goal this year has been to go on more adventures with my daughter. I really want to get out of the house more, and take Josie somewhere fun at LEAST once a month. Unfortunately this plan did NOT pan out in January. I had scheduled a trip to the Central Florida Zoo – then I threw my back out. So I rescheduled our zoo trip for the following weekend – then I threw my back out AGAIN. (If you couldn’t tell, I have a lot of back issues. I’m basically an…
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11 Tips To Soothe Baby Eczema
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. If you’ve ever dealt with baby eczema, you know that it can be a frustrating and exhausting experience for everyone involved. Having an itchy baby is so hard! They’re uncomfortable and sad, and by scratching they can cause further issues like scarring or infection. When Josie was around 2 months old she started to develop red eczema patches on her cheeks. As time went on, the patches spread to her shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, and ankles. It was so itchy and uncomfortable for her. I just wanted…
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A Complete Timeline of Jaw Distraction: Josie’s Journey, Part 2
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. It’s time to talk about jaw distraction! My daughter Josephine was born with Pierre Robin Sequence, or PRS. (You can read my brief explanation of Pierre Robin Sequence in my blog post What Is Pierre Robin Sequence? Josie’s Journey, Part 1.) When I was first told that Josie had PRS, I had a mile-long list of questions and worries. And of course the question at the top of my list was, how do we fix it? The answer, in Josie’s case, was mandibular (jaw) distraction. What Is…
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How To Celebrate Valentine’s Day With A Young Toddler
Some links may be affiliate links. I may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. Can you believe it’s already February?! Valentine’s Day is around the corner! I’ve been trying to bring some holiday spirit into my house for every holiday since Josie was born… but honestly, there’s only so much fun you can have with a 1-year-old. Specifically, Josie will be about 16 months old on Valentine’s Day, and she doesn’t have the attention span (or really the desire) to do any themed activities with me yet. So I’ve been trying to keep things short, simple, and fun. Heart Shaped Treats…
