Welp, she's almost here.

Not much left to do other than freak the eff out relax, hope for the best, and drink wine...lots of wine. 

So, here's what I got:

• Non-perishable food - Check
• Bottled water - Check
• Flashlights/batteries/candles - Check
• Phone/laptop/cameras charged - Check
• Beer/wine - HELL YES!
• Car filled with gas (Good thing, too...gas stations in the area are SOLD OUT of gas!  I've never heard of this happening.  Craziness.) - Check
• 2 gallons of paint for the living room/kitchen (Hey, it needs to be done...why not during a hurricane??) - Check

And, I think that's it.  If you don't hear from me for a few days, then my house/laptop is probably under water.  (Kidding.  Sort of.)  Seriously though...I've heard we probably won't have power for a few DAYS.  Kill me now.  Hopefully it won't be as bad as they're predicting!  *fingers crossed*

Stay safe, East Coast-ers!! 

Dear Irene,

I will make this short and sweet...

Please don't be a complete b**** and cause us to lose power for days on end.  Of course, I am worried for my family's safety, first and foremost...but, that aside, I have a very large freezer stash of breastmilk, and I would be absolutely devastated if my time/energy spent pumping these past 6 months went down the drain, literally.  I would really, really appreciate it. 

Kthanxbye.

Signed,
One Scared Mama

Do you Tweet?

Yes, I've taken the plunge.  I finally decided to see what the hype was all about and signed up for Twitter.  And, the verdict....I kinda like it.  ;-) 

I'm still pretty new to it, though, and trying to figure it all out.  Like, I still don't completely understand what the point of a hashtag is. (even though I use them.  lol)  I mean, if I tweet and say #baby and #blogging and #wine, what does that actually do?  Brings me to other Twitter-ers (Tweeps?  I forget.) talking about babies, blogging, and wine??  So, I can find new people with similar interests??  Does that sound right, or am I making this up?

Anywaaaays...so, yeah.  I'm on Twitter.  I'm not very exciting, unfortunately.  :P  But, sometimes I post (Tweet?  ugh, so much lingo to learn) cute pictures of my baby.  That's always fun, right?!  :::crickets::: 

Well, if you're interested, I'm MamaBruneau.  Come find me!  :-)

And, here's a cute pic...just because. 

Pretty girly

Seriously, Blogger??

Blogger keeps telling me that my account doesn't have permission to post comments, or something like that.  I've been trying to post comments on blogs all morning and I keep getting denied. 

Boooooo.

Is anyone else having this issue??

Let's go for a stroll...

In a few days, I will be the proud owner of this baby...

source

I'm SO excited, and I cannot wait to take Isabella for a spin in her new ride!!  ;-)  I've been eyeing this beauty since I was about 10 weeks pregnant!

Of course I'll be taking pictures to document her first time in a 'big girl' stroller, so I'll make sure to share as soon as I get it! 

*Mama's Must-Haves*

I always LOVE when moms do blog posts about their favorite baby items and things they can't live without.  It's always so helpful to know which items are worth it, and which items I could probably live without.  I know every baby is different, and what works for one child might not work for another, but, it's nice to have options when it comes to choosing what's best! 

So, I figured I'd do my own 'favorite things' post!  If I can help even one mom/baby out there, then it's worth it to me!  :-)

In no particular order, here a few of my favorite baby/mom products....

Halo Sleepsack Swaddle

 I don't know what we'd do without these babies!  Isabella has been swaddled since day one, and she doesn't really show any signs of giving up yet!  She won't fall asleep for even 5 minutes without being swaddled...it's crazy.  And, I've tried...trust me!  I'm just so thankful to have a product out there that keeps her happy, comfortable, and safe while she's sleeping.  It's definitely true what they say...happy, sleeping baby = happy, sleeping Mama!  :-)

 Cloud b Sleep Sheep On the Go

 Isabella LOVES her little sleep sheep.  This is also another product that we've been using since the day she came home from the hospital.  It has 4 settings for different sounds, and it works great as a white-noise machine to block out any little noises, as well.  Now that Bella is in daycare, we've actually brought her sleep sheep there in order for her to feel more comfortable and feel at home.  We now use this soothing sound machine at home, and she loves it just as much as her sheep.  

NUK pacifiers 

 Oh, the binky (or, what Mommy and Daddy call, her 'bink-a-link'.  What can I say?  We're dorks.  :P )...what would we do without you???  ;-)

This is another item that Bella could not live without right now.   And, trust me, I was all "my baby is NOT having a pacifier" before actually having a baby.  But, you know what?  When your baby is screaming and crying for hours on end, and the only thing that will soothe her and calm her down is the binky, then that's what she's going to get!  Again...happy baby = happy mama!  (especially in those first few days/weeks!)  Words to live by.  :-)   

Medela Pump in Style Advanced breast pump

 This one's pretty self explanatory.  I've been pumping since Isabella was about 3 weeks old, and have been building a freezer stash and bottle feeding her (when necessary, at the beginning...and now, for daycare) ever since.  I love that I can still provide Mama's milk for her, even when I can't actually be there to nurse her.  

Carter's 

Yes, that would be the clothing store.  I think Carter's should start paying ME to go there, since I shop there so much.  Seriously.  I love, love, love their clothes!  I honestly cannot even walk in there without coming out with something absolutely adorable for Bella.  I've been eyeing their new fall stuff like crazy, and I cannot wait to go shopping!  And, it's even better that stores like Kohl's and Macy's sell Carter's clothes, because then I can take advantage of my coupons for those stores, and save some $$ while I shop.  It doesn't get any better than that!  

That's all for this week's "Mama's must-haves"!  I'll be sure to make another list of my favorite items to share with you all soon enough.  I have a lot!  Enjoy!  :-)

Isabella: Months 2-4

I cannot believe in just two days my baby will be 5 months old already.  Again...where does the time go?! 

This is just a catch-up post of all the things that have been going on with Bella over the past few months...so, please bare with me if I'm boring you.  ;-)

~  At your 4 month appointment, you were 13lbs 1oz and 25 inches....my long and skinny gal.  :-)  I don't remember exactly what your weight/height was at your last 2 appointments, so, I'm definitely going to check with the Dr. when we go back for your next weight check and write all yours stats down.  (Bad mommy!)

~  You're still in size 2 diapers.  It definitely took us a while to figure out your diaper preference, though.  We started off in Pampers Swaddlers from the hospital, and then I bought Pampers Baby Dry.  After 3 months of you blowing out of almost every. single. diaper., I decided it was time to start looking for something else.  We tried almost every Pampers diaper, Huggies diapers, went up a size, down a size, and then I finally decided to give a shot with Luvs (I'd heard they were horrible and leak all the time, so I never ever bothered to try), and what would you know!  Luvs are the diaper for you!  Hallelujah!  

~  You're finally starting to grow out of your 3 months clothes.  :(  *sniff*   You're most comfortable in everything 6 months...onesies, pants, sleepers.

~   You're still 100% on mama's milk, and you BF on demand.  Things have been progressively getting better and better in the breastfeeding department, and I couldn't be happier.  I love that special time with you, and I think you're really starting to enjoy it again, as well.  I'm SO glad I stuck through the tough times and kept it up.  I'd like to keep going for at least a year, if things go well, so we'll see how that goes.  Right now I'm shooting for 6 months, and we're almost there!  :D

~  You're still such a good sleeper, thank the Lord!  I'm so happy you take after Mama in that aspect.  You go down between 7:30-8pm every night, and Daddy usually has to wake you up around 7am when it's time to start getting you ready for daycare.  You've gotten to the point now where I don't even have to rock you to sleep anymore!  It's amazing to me, honestly, since I used to have to rock/shush you for 20-30 minutes every night until you were completely asleep.  

You're a great napper, too!  Your naps are kind of all over the place at daycare, but, at home on the weekend you usually take three naps a day...one good morning nap usually for 2-2 1/2 hours, one afternoon nap, and one early evening nap, both about 1-2 hours.

She broke out of her swaddle that morning!

We have our nighttime routine now...bathtime, change/put pj's on, story time, and then I swaddle you up (yes, you're still swaddled at almost 5 months old!  You can't sleep without it.), give you a few kisses, turn on your sound machine, and leave the room.  Most nights you'll just turn your head to the side and you're out within 5 minutes.  It's great!  And, you do the same for naps, too!  You're such a good little girl, Bella.  I don't know how we got so lucky, but we are. 

~ You still LOVE bathtime!  You could hang out in the tub allll day long if I'd let you.  It's such a fun time to watch you play and splash.  

~  Speaking of splashing...we brought you into the big pool for the first time this month!  You LOVE it!  You splash around and kick your feet like such a smart little girl.  It's adorable.

~  You giggled for the first time around 3 months or so!  It's the BEST sound.  You've done it a bunch more times since then, but, it's pretty random when you do it.  Like, the other day, I was swaddling you up to take a nap, and you started laughing like it was the funniest thing I've ever done.  My little weirdo.  ;-)

~  Your favorite toys are your jumperoo and playmat.  Hours of fun for you!

Please ignore the bored look on her face.  I swear she's having tons of fun!  :P

~  You started daycare on May 31st.  It was one of the hardest days EVER, but, you were such a trooper!  You do so well there now, and everyone loves you so much.  Your teacher even said that you're one of the best babies they've ever had there!!  I'm definitely one proud Mama, that's for sure.  :-)

~  You've really started to recognize who Mommy and Daddy are.  If it's not us there with you, waking you up, playing with you, you definitely let whoever is there know that you want Mommy!  It breaks my heart, but makes me feel so special at the same time.  ;-) 

~  You've started 'talking' and babbling so much now.  It's the cutest thing ever, of course!  And, you LOVE to stand.  You stand on your changing table, in your crib, on Mommy/Daddy, anywhere.  Of course you do this with our help, but, you're getting SO strong.  It really amazes me how much you change from day to day. 

Don't worry...Daddy was right there!  

~  You've discovered your feet, and your love them, of course!  You'll grab and play with your toes all day long.  You even try and eat them...silly girl.

 

~  My nicknames for your are Baby Girl and Baby Boo.  I have NO idea where those came from, but, for some reason they've stuck.  You're my little Boo Boo and I love you SO much!

Baby Boo...Mommy and Daddy love you SO much, and you bring so much joy to our lives.  I don't know what we'd do without you, and I thank my lucky stars every. single. day. that God has given us such a wonderful, healthy, happy baby.  We love you to the moon and back!  XOXO

Just a few more pictures to catch up with:

Love the faces this girl makes

 

Bathing beauty