Eisley Mae: 10 Months Old

Eisley Mae Harnois
17 lbs 8 oz
?? inches long (She’s napping but I’ll TOTALLY update this when I figure it out!)

Wow, friends. My sweet baby  is getting so big! This is her 10 month update, but at the moment, she is 11 months old and I have one month before I have a one year old. AHHHHH!  Eisley has been teething a ton lately, but STILL only has two teefers! The top tooth started to break through but then regressed back. I feel bad for my poor munchkin’s gums. Mean mean little teeth. Eisley hasn’t had any spells since her last monthly update, and I feel extremely blessed about that. Eisley is not only a full time walker but is like, running? YUP, I can do that. Which has created some spills, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She got her first non-falling into a wall boo boo at the park the other day. She fell in the woodchips and scratched her face. She seemed upset for just a moment and then was over it. My tough little cookie.




Eisley loves music, dancing (which has gone from swaying and bouncing to full on boogie time), singing, saying uh oh, mama, dada & puppa. She loves shaking her head no, Chewy, noodles,waving bye in the three different ways she’s learned how to, she loves giving hugs, and if you’re lucky she’ll hand out smooches too. She still hates getting her diaper changed, though I’ve mastered the art of distraction, being told no (which I don’t think will ever change), and the nose frida. Which she never seemed to mind before, but apparently we loathe it this month. –sigh-

What I’m REALLY loving this month is that Eisley is working SO hard to say Mom and really emphasizing her m’s when she’s saying mama. It’s become less gibberish sounding and more like an actual word that she understands. I love it and it’s so completely adorable. She also says uh oh all the time now and I can’t get over it. We might say Uh Oh a little too much around here because hearing her little voice seriously makes my day.

I’m totally being one of those photographer mom’s and taking multiple rounds of 1 year pics (the first round of which I will post soon) so you’ll probably see that before an 11 month update where I will be mopping like a mad woman. Prepare yourself.

♥ nicole

Eisley Mae, Queen of the Woodchips.

Eisley, Andrew & I went to the park last night. Eisley loved it. Eisley did fall in the woodchips and scratched up her face a little bit, but champed on quickly because playing at the park is wayyyy more important than a minor injury apparently. This age is so much fun and I can only imagine that it just gets better from here.

We are, however, having some sleep regression. I haven’t checked my Wonder Weeks app yet, but my guess is that we’re in a big ol’ cloudy leap. I will be really happy to not have to sit up from 2 am to 5am with an angry tired baby. Woofta.




♥ nicole

The Sweetest First Summer

(IMAGES CROSS-POSTED ON NICOLE HARNOIS PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG)

I can’t believe that it’s been almost an entire year since we brought this sweet girl home. In truth, this is technically her second summer. However, it’s the first that she’s able to enjoy and play since she was only a newborn last year. One of my most favorite things about being Eisley’s mom is feeling like I am experiencing everything for the first time all over again. Watching her run through the backyard, the sunshine in her hair , giggling and picking up sticks and flowers and handing them with excitement to her daddy brings so much joy to me. I seem to suddenly remember the way those same small details used to make me so happy. It surprises you how much of your imagination and wonder you lose when you grow up. I am so blessed to relive all of the joys of childhood through my sweet sweet girl.



♥ nicole

Eisley’s Six Month Photos │ Sweet Little You Photography

I just realized the other day that I never got around to posting Eisley’s six month photos and she will be 11 months in a matter of days! YEESH.

These images were taken by the INCREDIBLY talented Amy of  Sweet Little You Photography at their adorable Cedar Falls studio. Amy is an incredibly talented mama of 2 handsome little dudes and specializes in newborns, kiddos, maternity and family photography. 

Check out Sweet Little You Photography HERE and HERE!

♥ nicole

SORRY WIDDLE BLOG.

Sorry my sweet little blog. I’ve been so busy I’ve neglected to post lately, which is not good! I’m crazy busy with sessions (which is great) but it doesn’t leave much time for blogging my life atm. But I don’t want to neglect this blog, it’s my baby and it’s documented the most important time in my life so I will try and be better about posting!

Until then, here are some pics of my baby enjoying her first of many Pablos burritos.



♥ nicole

On my first Mothers Day.

Dear Eisley,

To you, my sweet girl. The tiny girl who made me a mother. The whole reason I get to celebrate this day at all.

You hold my heart. You are my entire reason for waking up, for breathing. You have made me smile and laugh more than anyone ever has. You have made me feel pride so strong I lose my breath and stumble over my words. You are more perfect than I could have ever dreamed you to be. You are sweet, you are loving, you are strong. You are silly like your daddy and loud like your mommy. I get no warmer feeling than watching you run across the room, arms in the air, with a huge smile on your face, so anxious to be in my arms.

Thank you, my sweet girl for everything you are.

- Mom

Happy mothers day, everyone

♥ nicole

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Cloth Diapering a Newborn

[ Just a note before I begin this series- the cloth diaper lines that we have tried are Alva, bumGenius and Kawaii. Other than those brands, I can not answer any brand specific questions as I haven’t used them but I would love to answer any general cloth diapering questions! ]

Before Andrew and I even decided to have a baby, I did a lot of research. There were a lot of things I wanted to do. I wanted a natural labor and delivery, I wanted to breastfeed as long as possible, and I wanted to cloth diaper. Having researched the buh-jeebus out of cloth diapers I started purchasing and collecting cloth dipes. From the second we found out that Eisley was the girl I waited for sales, found ‘Chinese Cheapies’ and started working on our ‘stash’ (which I will delve deeper into in another post). I was excited as all the diapers we bought stated they would fit from newborn on BUT being the worrier I am, I got about 10 alva newborns with regular and bamboo inserts and got two xs bumGenius diapers on a seconds sale.

THANK GOD I DID.


Eisley’s first time in a cloth diaper. bumGenius OS XS Hook and Loop Dipe

When we first went home and tried on one of our Alva and Kawaii BABy AIO diapers, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that we had purchased the newborn diapers. THEY WERE HUGE. We tried every trick in the book to try and make the all in ones fit and it was NOT going to happen on our 7lb 4oz little miss. In fact, though they said they fit starting at 8 lbs not a SINGLE Alva OR Kawaii that we had fit Eisley until she was over 10lbs.

Our initial love was for the bumGenius all in ones. They fit snug, they were much trimmer than the alvas and they didn’t sit on her belly button stump (before it fell off which was 12 days). One thing I loved about these, and all the other bum geniuses that we currently own for that matter, is that the fabric on the tabs is stretchy. It allows for THEE most perfect fit when putting the diaper on a baby.

The Alva newborns were a little harder for us at first. We had a hard time finding the right fit that stayed snug on her stick legs and didn’t cause leaking at first. One of the downsides we have noticed with Alva diapers is that even within the same series it is VERY common to get diapers that are not the same size. Sometimes the crotch area is bigger or smaller or the tabs are slightly different. It’s like they were made from COMPLETELY different patterns. It’s quite odd.



We finally reached a point where were getting into the swing of things. Both the diapers were working great for us, we weren’t dealing with anymore leaks and we never had a single blow out. We were on a roll for a while.
 
BUT THEN, Apparently Eisley’s bladder became a little more than the bumgenius dipes could handle. The unfortunate thing abou the one size xs dipes was that the liner is sewn into the diaper. We did get away with adding bamboo inserts into the newborn diapers (NEVER put microfiber directly against a newborns skin) but eventually the compression of those inserts started causing leaking again and we had to retire them.

By this point, Eisley was getting bigger we only used the alvas exclusively for a few weeks before she finally started fitting into her bumGenius all in one diapers. Needless to say, if there were ever a time I wanted to give up on cloth diapering, it was after being peed on 42342 times thanks to ill fitting cheap diapers. Not to mention, even with my tiny hands, the newborn alva diapers were HELL to stuff. If I could go back, I would have only invested in bumGenius newborn diapers and gotten a few of the size smalls for the in between time when we were waiting for the AIO dipes to fit. And that means a lot coming from me. Because I’m a cheap ass. There. I said it.

So as far as newborn cloth diapering went:

bumGenius:1
Everything else: 0

♥ nicole