There is Always a First Time

There are times that you think, I've lived past that stage but then, it happens.

I got my first nosebleed this morning.  That's why I look so shiny.  Plus it was taken by a phone in a poorly lit room.

Raven was having trouble last night sleeping so she ended up sleeping in our bed.  This morning she woke me up by wiggling then throwing her head back into my nose.  It didn't even really hurt.  My eyes didn't sting, nothing.  Then I felt something start to drip and felt like something popped.  I checked my nose and I was bleeding.  

I shook Tom and said, "Well, my nose is bleeding for the first time."

"Oh.  I've had my nose bleed once," he easily said.

This was a reference to when he was a kid and he bashed his head into an iron fence in Germany.

"Yeah, you had a nose gusher!"

I made my little plug and waited.

30 minutes.

I don't know if that's a bad bleed or not.

I am almost 27 and my baby gave me my first nose bleed.  That's even with getting a basketball thrown in my face, playing catcher without a mask sometimes...

I am always careful about babies' heads not hitting me in the face but Raven got me in my sleep.

Sneaky.

Parenting truly is all about firsts.

Summer Adventures

Evelyn just finished school and we surprised her with a few things.

A giant cookie for her to dig into...

and a blank SUMMER ADVENTURES Poster!

What is a Summer Adventures Poster you ask?

So that we don't get board and Evelyn doesn't forget what she learned in school, we decided to make a Summer Adventure Poster that will have all the things we want to do this summer as a family.

It's a fun way to start off the summer and helps you see the next couples months laid out.  Sort of.  I thought about splitting it into June and July, one month on each side of the poster, or even making each side one giant calendar month, but I didn't want to set ourselves on such a tight schedule because that just isn't what Adventures are all about.  We did half of our list of fun things and the other half educational things, not to say those things wouldn't be fun either.

During the summer, both the girls have their birthdays, so much of the things on our list don't take a lot of planning and some only cost a little gas and/or food.  We don't have much money coming in, Tom is a full time student remember, so we made sure a lot of what we listed wouldn't cost much if nothing at all.  Summer isn't about crazy planned out vacations.  Vacationing is vacating your normal life and I don't know about you, but I don't regularly have a watermelon eating contest in the back yard.  Fun and letting go is what summer time is about.  Adventures!
For children, a watermelon contest is a grand adventure.

I also made us a "pocket version" of our list to keep with us.
Download the Summer Adventures List!
As you might be able to see, I changed a few things on your list from my personal one according to where I live as well as how close our families are to each other geographically.  I have specific museums I listed and I also have the Lexington on my list!

Change your list to your family and your area!

Evelyn's First Year of School

This post is a long time coming and all pictures are extra large because this is an extra special post.  It originally was going to be written as "Evelyn's First Week of School" but it just took too long to post so then it stretched from her first week to her first year of school.

This post will be the 

Highlights of Evelyn's First Year of School.

 Daddy helping Evelyn get on her new shoes.

Evelyn putting her lunch away for the first time!

The first week was nerve wreaking for me but not for Evelyn.  She didn't even look at us when we dropped her off on her first day.  Her teacher had to tell her to say bye to us.  Oh, how they grow.  

School was very fun for Evelyn, all year long.  She made many friends and became The Girl That Hugs Everybody and when she hugs them, she would also lift them up.  Evelyn is the biggest in her class so it wasn't hard for her to do it but it is not safe in anyway for her to do it.  Every time, "Do not lift just hug.  No don't lift.  Evelyn I said not to lift him!"  Every time.  The kids loved it though and would ask her for hugs all the time.  Evelyn has always been the mothering type and school hadn't changed that in her.  She became more chatty and listened less to us since she started school but she became an even bigger helper.  Evelyn loves to help every one in any way she can and I'm glad that school only encouraged that.

Evelyn's school does fun extra days and I'm sorry that I didn't really take any pictures of her dressed up.  One of the first special days she had was for Dieciseis de Septembre (September 16th); Mexican Independence Day.  We live in Texas, and maybe it's just South Texas that does this, but we recognize  Dieciseis de Septembre because it was important that Mexico gained it's independence from Spain.  This often is confused with Cinco de Mayo which is actually celebrating a victory for Mexico against French invaders which became a turing point in the war.  Mexico gaining it's independence meant that later, Texas was able to gain it's independence from them.  Stepping away from the history lesson; to celebrate, the kids all brought something from or about Mexico to class and talk about what they brought.  Tio Stevy, by this time, was back from his mission in Mexico and he had brought souvenirs so Evelyn took two things to class and talked about them.  She was very excited and her teachers said she did well.

Thanksgiving came and Evelyn and I made a turkey.  We were given a picture of turkey to disguise so that it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving.

Can you guess who are turkey is impersonating?  Sheriff Callie!  We used scrapbook paper, penne noodles for the fence and went outside to find weeds.  The only thing we didn't do by hand was Sparky, whom was a print out.  We used him because "Sheriff Callie always needs Sparky!" as Evelyn declared.  

Christmas was when Evelyn's class was visited by an elf and left gifts for all the kids.  Evelyn had lots of fun at Christmas time.  We receive a gift from her for Christmas; a picture of Evelyn wrapped in green and Christmas lights.  She was a tree...so adorable!

Texas Public School Week was all about dress up!  It was fun!  One of the days was "Dress what you want to be when you grow up."  Evelyn first said, "Firewoman!" and said because that's what Daddy is.  A fireman.  So I asked her if she wanted to be an EMT or a doctor like Daddy too.  She was hesitant and didn't want to say no.  I could tell she didn't want to disappoint us by not being like Daddy.  I told her that she didn't have to be like Daddy, that she could be whatever she wants.

"Really?" she looked surprised.

"Really.  Now what do you really want to be when you grow up?"

Her eyes brightened and she shouted, "I want to be a race car driver!"

So my mother in law pieced together blue Dickies and a small men's work shirt to make a racer's jumpsuit.  I made felt patches of actual name brands.  She loved it.

Graduation was May 15th.  She did so well!  The kids sang for us.  Each class took turns on the stage while they all sang.  Evelyn's class was on stage for De Colores.  They sang four songs.  Evelyn was amazing and it surprised me how well she did, considering that she often got into trouble during graduation practice.

After we took our pictures with Evelyn, we took her home, she changed her clothes and we went to McDonald's.

50s Dance!

50's week was so fun also!  On Wednesday, we went to the school to watch the Pre-K 4 perform.  Evelyn had so much fun and did such a wonderful job.  We didn't get in the very front row but we still had a fair view.  The first class, my mom's class actually, finished first and when Evelyn's class went backstage, two people got up from the front row.  I ran, literally, to take a spot and I was able to film the whole thing from the front row!  Yay!

Ms. Benavides, Evelyn and Ms. Garza

All four of us in Evelyn's classroom after her dance.

Evelyn and Harvey Principal Ms. D. Mireles

Nurse Cox and Evelyn

Evelyn and Grandma Garcia

Evelyn, Grandma Garcia and Raven

After the 50s dance, we were able to take Evelyn home.  She changed her clothes and we went to McDonald's.

The last week of school, the last week of May, was all about fun!  Monday was Memorial day so the students didn't have school.  Tuesday was Field Day where the kids were able to play outside with water.  Parents were asked to send extra clothes and shoes and the kids were able to wear any shorts (that weren't short shorts) and also a hat.

Last day of school was a half day.

Teachers' gifts were given...

and surprises were made...

What Evelyn was coming home to.  Check out and see what the Summer Adventures Poster is all about.

Evelyn came in to take off her boots,  unbeknowest what awaited her. 

Gives Daddy her back pack for the last time this school year.

"Is all this for me?" 

"Yes it is!  Give me a smile and look at the camera!"

"Now dig in!"

And boy did she dig in!

Looks like she liked it!  We let her just eat as much as she wanted since it was the last day of school.

She ended up eating nearly half of it.  Good thing she just had lunch at school.

Later, after Grandma and Grandpa came home, teachers didn't get a half day, we went out to eat.

Then we went to McDonalds to get ice cream and let Evelyn play.

It was a great last day of the first year of school!

Evelyn's response when I asked her what she remembers about school:

"I remember about playing on the play ground.  I remember seeing my teachers around.  H* Elementary school used to be my new school.  Then we had new kids come in.  A long time ago, I remember, you were at my new school, Daddy was at my new school, Raven was at my new school and I was at my new school.  I was playing at PE this week all the time I was playing at PE, all week long and I would go to the cafeteria after PE then when we were all done eating our food at school we would put it in the trash can then when we were all done with our work we would give it to Ms. Garza so she could put the smily face.  That's all I need to remember."

I want to break this down for you, really for me to remember everything Evelyn was talking about in the future.

Evelyn put emphasis on Harvey Elementary not being her new school.  She's grown and school is not new for her anymore, and even though you can never get a first back, it is a nice feeling not being new to school.  When Evelyn talked about all of us being at school with her, she was remembering her first day of school.  I think PE was her favorite part of school first, then eating in the cafeteria with her friends.  The work she would give to Ms. Garza was their weekly homework they did every Tuesday.  Evelyn was so happy with herself when she would turn in her homework.  Getting her to focus on it was rarely smooth but she was so happy when she would finish it.  She would show it off to Daddy and which ever grandma we were living with at the time.

Evelyn did so well during her first year of school.  She had challenges, we as her parents had challenges, but she adapted very well to going to school everyday and doing homework, eating in the cafeteria, just about every part of school she did so well in.  She was great with her colors and shapes, though she didn't always give right answers to be silly, and she perfected the alphabet and cleared on her numbers!

We are so happy with our grown girl

EVELYN!

Evelyn's End of the School Years Teachers Gifts

This was Evelyn's first year of school so I have made several gifts for teachers this year but for some reason, maybe I didn't take them, but I can't find documentation of them.  No pictures.  Nope, not a one.  So when I made the end of the year gifts last night, I made sure to take pictures of what I did.  Even if I didn't put it here, I would want to put it in Evelyn's school memory book.

Picture Frame Message Boards!

So simple and functional!

These End of the School Year Teacher gift I made are 99% from The Dollar Tree.

Supplies:

• Picture frame (I used a 5x7 so there would be plenty of note taking room)
• Lined notebook paper (one of the only things I already had, I used FiveStar)
• Dry erase marker (I found a three pack at The Dollar Tree that had the eraser on the cap)
• Plain white gift bags
• Blue highlighter and red and black markers to decorate the gift bag (I already had these too)

I printed "Ms. Benavides says" and "Ms. Garza says" on regular lined notebook paper, cut to size and put it into the frame.  Pair with a dry erase marker and voila!  You have a gift that took 15 minutes to do including printing and cutting time.  At first I just put in the paper with nothing on it, but it looked too plain.  Personalizing it really rounded it off.

The plain white bags I bought are sold at The Dollar Tree in pairs and I used a fine blue highlighter to make the lines and a solid red Sharpie to finish it off.  I mimicked the font I used for the note and the paper in the frames on the outside.  I like things to be matchy matchy sometimes.

This note was changed several times and when I finally printed it, it didn't really rhyme.

"I looked around and you were always the best teachers to be found."  The rhyming words are too far apart that it didn't sound as good as I could've made it.  But I printed it already and it was late so I left it as it was.  I'm sure you could come up with something better and maybe even more personal for each teacher.

I also put a Lindorf truffle bar in the bag because your should always give something sweet to your teachers!

I hope every kid, parent and teacher enjoyed this school year!

WELCOME SUMMER!

Essentials for Breastfeeding

My cousin recently had her second child, another girl just like us, and she is trying breasting feeding for the first time and that got me to thinking; I haven't talked about breast feeding.

Both times that I have breastfed, I dried up after three to four months.  I tried to have the milk supply stay, but I couldn't.  It was just gone.  Even though I wasn't able to feed that long, I still learned a lot.  Now I am passing some of that onto you!

There are some things that every breastfeeding mother should have, even more so if this is your first time.

These are my essentials to breastfeeding.

Nursing Bras.

These Lamaze nursing bras are what I used this last time with Raven.  They are lacy which means they are still sexy (sometimes you really don't feel sexy when you can't stop dripping milk) and they have an underwire, that is still comfortable, for support.  Buy several of these, about five or more.  I bought only two and they wore out too quickly for the time I breastfed.

Nipple Shields

After I couldn't breastfeed Evelyn anymore, I was told about these nipple shields so I made sure to get one the second time around.  The hospital gave me this one; the Medela nipple shield.  They told me to only use it for no more than two weeks but I used it for about two months.  Raven didn't get confused and it helped me so much.  The nipple shield is used on inverted nipples, cracked nipples and used for babies that have a hard time latching.  Breast feeding becomes more tolerable at the beginning when using a nipple shield.

Nipple Cream

Use this nipple cream.  Really.  Truly take the time and use it.  I was so tired when breastfeeding Evelyn that I would so often just skip over this and because of that my left nipple cracked and bled.  I know now that not having this and the nipple shield, together, was the reason I cracked because I made sure that I used the nipple cream and shield with Raven and I didn't have a problem at all with cracking.  This cream is safe for baby.  Just make sure there are no globs of it when you start feeding.

Nipple Wipes

These nipple wipes are nice to have near by when breast feeding because they clean you up without drying you out like a burp cloth would.  This could be a one time buy that you use only when you first start breast feeding.  You can also use these occasionally to wipe off extra nipple cream if you just put some on and the baby wants to eat again.  You could always use regular baby wipes also but I like the feel of these better as well as the results.

Breast Pads

I got these Loving Moments washable breast pads from Walmart and they have been my favorite.  I have used Medela washable breast pads, Lansinoh disposables, Ameda washable pads, Avent washable pads and a couple other disposable but can't remember which brands they were.  The Loving Moments have been my favorite because they are the softest from what I've tried as well as the thickest.  I don't like disposable because with the few I've tried, the milk dried on me and then when I open to breast feed, it pulls on my nipple and before I even start feeding, my nipple hurts already.

Breast Pump

The electric pump by Ameda, above, is what I have.  I didn't have it for Evelyn, just Raven.  I don't have all too much experience with pumps but a double electric was so helpful and I think helped me feed for an extra two weeks or so because of it.

This manual Medela Harmony is what I used with Evelyn and even though it worked very well, it tired me out even more trying to pump with it.  I gave up using it after a few weeks since it would also hurt my hands.

Milk Bags

These are the Ameda Store-N-Pour milk bags and they are so cool!  You attach the plastic adapters to the pump and you pump straight into the bags.  So awesome!!!  Easier to store and you save more milk that way.  When you have as hard a time as me getting milk out, you are grateful for every drop you can save.

Documenting

Something I didn't have with Evelyn was an iPad.  I'm not saying, at all, that you need a tablet or smartphone when breast feeding, but using an app to keep tabs on how everything is going is so much easier than trying to write it all down.  This is what I used.

The Similac Baby Journal can be found on the App Store and Google Play or you can find the link at the bottom of their website.  This app is for breast feeding, bottle feeding, to track sleeping and also track diapers.  I only used it to track feeding.  I wasn't ever too concerned about sleep or exiting.  Other apps like this can be found for free, just like this one is, by doing a simple search.

Regularly Eat Snacks and Stay Hydrated with Water

I want you to notice that I said water.  Drinking lots of juice or soda just doesn't do as well for your body as water does because of how much sugar they have.  Same as drinking electrolyte drinks.  Lots of sugar.  Milk is good to drink, but I know that sometimes, you can't because Baby has a sensitivity, or you have been.

Kind Bars are expensive but they are so good to eat and I notice a difference in myself after I've been regularly eating them.  I have more energy than I usually do and more than what I get from other bars I've tried.

Infuser water bottles are an easy way to change up your water.  Add strawberries or lime or even both to keep your self from getting bored.

A one touch open water bottle is great also if you're like me and don't like to add anything to your water.  One touch makes it much easier to use and since it has a straw you don't have to tilt your head back, which when it was my very first time breast feeding, any small movement ruined the latch.  I know now the latch wasn't right at the time but that's part of the learning process.

Protein snack bars, like these Nature Valley type, are a cheaper alternative to the Kind bars.  When you pick your snacks while breast feeding, try to find snacks that are packed with protein.  It helps keep your energy levels up and when you get them in forms like these they taste so good.

Milk Supply Pills

Mother Love is meant to help you keep your milk supply.  I'm not entirely sure how well these worked but I started to take them when my supply started to drop but I probably should've taken them from the time we first got home from the hospital.  My cousin, the pediatric cardiologist, suggested these and Walgreens was the only place in our little town that had them.  Even though I took them, I still lost my milk eventually but it looks as if that's just me.

Prenatal Vitamins with DHA

I wasn't the best at taking my prenatal multi after delivery but this is something that was important for me to take when breastfeeding.

Nature Made Prenatal with DHA is what I start to use when we first start trying to conceive and I use it all through the pregnancy.  I also try to use it after delivery.  DHA is important for brain development and why not make sure you have enough to give to your baby?  When you are pregnant, they baby takes from you what ever it needs even if it leaves you on empty.  When you breastfeed it doesn't work quite the same.  You need to make sure, as your baby's only food supply, to be as healthy as you can be and provide as much nutrition as you can to her.

Mom's Entertainment

You will be breastfeeding at all times of night and day so you will need entertainment of your own.  Books and Netflix were my go to.

Nursing Beads

These Sassy silicone teething/nursing beads are not something I did get to use specifically but having something for the baby to grip and entertain herself is important.  Baby will eat longer and get less distracted if something is right there in front of her.  I always wanted to get some like this but they can be expensive and in some places, not easy to find in stores.  You could always make your own like this woman did here.  I should have found that earlier.  Maybe I'll make one of those for myself!  Raven is still teething.

These are the Extras

Pillow

Now the Boppy isn't a necessity but to me was such a back saver.  If I didn't use the pillow at first, when they are so tiny, then I never was in the right position and would get tired faster.  This cover was the cover we used for Evelyn.  When we discovered Raven was going to be a girl, I took off this cover and set it aside to be put in a quilt for Evelyn.  We got a soft pink polky dot cover for Raven that will later go into her quilt just like Evelyn's.

Nursing Cover

This Udder Covers was one that I got for free, just paid shipping, which was over priced but over all I still paid less for it than ones this nice.  I only used it when at my parents, who are uncomfortable seeing me breastfeed, and if we were out shopping.

Breast Pump and Accessory Wipes

These are not necessary at all but it helps with quick clean up.  It's just nice for convince between sterilizing.  You could also just use your nipple wipes to do the same thing.  You could use baby wipes for this also but they would always leave fuzzy lint behind when I would do that.

As you may have noticed, I didn't list a rocker.  I tried that with Evelyn, having a specific spot in the house that I breastfeed, but I didn't like it.  Breastfeeding is about freedom and ease for baby and mom.  Making a one spot for me to feed just didn't make sense to me.  It may work for you but for us it didn't.

I hope this all helped you.  What did I leave out that you use?  Or what of this list do you not like to use?  Let me know, I like to know how other Moms do things!