2018 / Mainly Marta :: A Motherhood + Lifestyle Blog

SLIDER

Welcome

What started as a digital diary to document a newfound journey as a stay at home mom / wife has quickly evolved into my own little corner on the internet where I share all that life brings my way -- the good, the bad, and everything in between. Thanks for stopping by; I hope you stay awhile!

12.21.2018

Educational Play ( + Gift Guide ) With LakeShore Learning


If there is one thing that I love it's toys that promote learning, imagination and education while my boys play. If that's something you're wanting for you little ones, may I introduce you to a brand that makes this their main mission?

LakeShore Learning has toys that encourage your little one to dream big and use their imagination. They have products for young scientists and fashion designers. They also have educational toys that help your little one make learning their ABCs and numbers so much more fun.


Felix recently received a spaceship and a wooden railroad track from Lakeshore Learning that he is absolutely in love with!

Every time I bring out these toys for play time, he squeals in delight. He spends hours playing with the cute little astronauts, their mini rover and their spaceship as well as taking apart and putting together his wooden railroad! I love that he gets to play with these toys and that his growing little mind is exposed to different jobs, scenarios and play that prompts him to use his imagination. I can't get enough of watching him enjoying these things!

Another thing that I love about Lakeshore Learning products is that they are super light and portable which means Felix can take them with him when he goes and spends the day at Grandma's house. It's so easy to pack up the wooden railroad and take it with us -- makes everyone's life so much easier and hassle free.



Gift Guide


Here is a mini gift guide composed of Lakeshore Learning products that any growing mind is sure to love playing with! I've numbered and linked each product down below for easier access.


Products 

No. 1: Doctor's Office
No. 2: Make Up & Hairstyling Doll
No. 3: Hands On Teaching Globe
No. 4: Dinosaur Adventure Backpack
No. 5: Young Scientist Microscope Set
No. 6: Super House Cleaning Set
No. 7: Feels Real Baby Dolls
No. 8: Let's Play School
No. 9: Puppy Purses
No. 10: Grandma's Dress Up Trunk
No. 11: I Can Drive First Fire Truck
No. 12: Toddler Safe Food Basket
No. 13: Deluxe Doctor's Office

Aren't these some of the cutest toys?! They're all so neat and fun! I can't wait to get my hands on some more of these goodies.

*Thank you to LakeShore Learning for sponsoring this post. 

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12.18.2018

Christmas Shopping + Present Haul (With Walmart)

Christmas shopping is probably one of the most stressful things about this season -- especially when you are part of a large family. I find myself struggling to come up with ideas when it comes to my parents and my teenage siblings. Why is it so hard to shop for adults?!

This year, Walmart reached out to me and invited my husband and I for a store tour and you guys -- it was awesome! Who knew that asking the managers a bunch of questions would result in finding the perfect gifts for everyone -- it was so fun and so informative to get the inside scoop on what is "in" this holiday season and what all the cool kids are looking at these days. 

The Walmart Holiday Shopping Experience 

Walmart's holiday section stretches into about 10 long aisles filled with gifts, decor and sparkling decorations that get you into the festive spirit as you walk around. There is enough wrapping paper, tape and bows to wrap all the toys in the store!


As I walked around the decor and wrapping paper aisles, I was a bit overwhelmed! There are so many pretty choices to choose from and for someone like me, who needs a theme, it took me a bit of time to decide what the wrapping paper colors for this year would be.

When I finally decided on my theme, it was off to the toy aisles and that was an experience in itself -- Walmart has all the toys and by all the toys, I mean allllllll the toys. Aisles and Aisles filled with toys for kids of all ages. It was hard to concentrate when we were surrounded with so many fun gadgets and play things. I felt like a kid again and my husband even put himself in our toddlers shoes and said things like, "I would have loved this at Felix's age" when looking at all the possible choices.



One of the neat things that Walmart has set up is a "hot stuff" table where they place all the most sought after toys. Legos, Elmos, and LOL Dolls all made the list this year. The most surprising thing on the table was Ryan's World Giant Surprise Egg -- we were told that these items are the fastest selling item next to bicycles. There was only one egg on the table and I felt guilty taking it, so we went to look on the shelf for these eggs and to our surprise, we only found one left in stock.

And that's when Walmart.com comes in! We were told that if you come into the store and find out that they just ran out of an item you were looking for. They have a neat little feature that allows you to purchase online and pick it up in store free of charge. Walmart.com also has a wider selection of toys and gifts, so if no store has what you're looking for, you'll probably find it online.


Another thing that I loved was the gift bundle / stocking stuffer section of the store -- cue shopping for all the adults in my life! They had so many bundles to choose from things like bath spa kits, lotions, fragrance mists, collections of hot cocoa and mugs, cute sets of lip gloss + nail polishes for the little divas and eyeshadow palettes for the make up lover.

I loved going through these aisles and thinking up of cute little bundles and self care packages you could gift. Gifts that have a lot of small things in them alway have made me the happiest because you can enjoy a little bit of everything!

I seriously had so much fun browsing Walmart's holiday section. After two hours of waltzing down aisles, debating with my on what would be the perfect gifts for our kids, siblings and parents, we had finally decided it was time to head to the cash register!


Lucky for us, the lines at the register were short, so we didn't wait long to get all our goodies paid for and to the trunk our car. But just in case you're in a hurry and want to avoid the huge lines, Walmart has implemented an awesome feature called Check Out With Me -- okay get this you guys: you can now ask a store associate to ring up your things from your cart without even nearing a cash register! How neat is that?!

Because this is fairly new, not all associates have the new technology on them, but when I asked a manager about it, he eagerly popped out his walkie talkie and was ready to get me someone who did! The staff at Walmart is seriously so helpful even though I could tell they had a million things going on.

Walmart staff in Tigard, Oregon was beyond friendly and helpful during our time there. They made the whole experience so much more fun!

Christmas Present / Gift Haul

We got home an unloaded the car and it was time to start wrapping all the presents, but not before I made a quick run back to Walmart to grab the gift labels I had forgotten on my first trip because you know, #mombrain.


Don't these just look so fun?! I had such a fun time picking each thing out and I hope the kids love all these toys. Here are some of the neat gifts that I found at Walmart which you can also find online! I've linked them down below.

It was really such a blast to get to work with Walmart this holiday season! I found great gifts at awesome prices and am so ready for Christmas to roll around so I can see Felix, Marcus and my siblings light up when they open their gifts. 

Special thank you to Walmart HQ for sponsoring this post and the Walmart staff in Tigard for making this one of the best holiday shopping experience I've ever encountered -- I'll be back next year! 



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10.29.2018

Review | Contours Options Elite Double Stroller



I went on vacation with two under two and I can honestly say that one of the things that made this trip  memorable was having the Contours Options Elite Double Stroller -- it's a total game changer.

I love that it's extremely light to carry. We went to Disney with this stroller and we had no issues lifting it up onto and off the tram. I saw a lot of families needing their stroller to be lifted by at least three adults, but with the Contours Options Elite stroller, my husband lifted it all by himself without having to fold it.

If it needs to be folded, this stroller does an excellent job by still leaving room in your trunk for other things! We opted to travel to Disney in a van with SIX kids and made it into a road trip and I was a bit worried about there not being a enough space in the back of our van with all our luggage and supplies,  but this double stroller folded up so nicely and still left us a TON of room for other things.


It's trendy and stylish too, but my ALL TIME FAVORITE thing about this stroller is how comfy my boys seemed to be -- especially my 22 month old. Whenever he saw that I was about to place him in, he happily complied which hasn't always been the case.

Even though we were in a super busy and loud place, the Contours Option Elite Stroller gave both my boys enough comfort to take super long naps (2+ hours!) which made me one happy mama.


TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CONTOURS OPTIONS ELITE DOUBLE STROLLER

CLICK HERE 




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8.20.2018

Look Book :: Disney Outfits For The Kiddos


We're going to Disney at the end of this month and I had such a fun time looking at outfits for the boys to wear while we're there. Like always, most stores I looked at had a very limited boy section and I ended up going to sneak a peek at the girl section even though I have no daughters. I just couldn't help myself from looking at their outfits too and O M G you guys, there are some super cute things out there. H&M and Gap are my favorite brands that Disney collaborates with, so here's a look book / catalog of a few Disney items that I loved from those stores! 












Are these outfits just adorable?! Where do you shop for your Disney gear? Let me know in the comments below and check back here in a few days because I'll be posting some of my favorite adult Disney gear in another post!
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8.07.2018

Review :: Lorena Canals Rug


If there's one thing I love, it's items that I can through in the wash because lately my toddler decided that it's okay to use E V E R Y T H I N G as his personal napkin. I was told that kids were messy and that having white / light colors in our home would be problematic, but of course, whites and beige is my dream color palette, so a few warnings didn't stop me.

I was invested in a trendy home, but also in finding things that weren't high maintenance -- annnnnd in swoops of Lorena Canals Rugs. Get this you guys... a rug that you can throw in the washer! I literally did a happy dance when I stumbled upon their Instagram and saw allllll the cute designs.

I love this rug so much. It's eco friendly 100% cotton and it's amazingly soft. I find pretty much any excuse I can to go step on it -- it's that great. Honestly, softness aside, I cannot get over the fact that I've thrown it in the was several times since received and it still looks as amazing as when it came! I cannot get over how happy I am with this product.

If you have a rug obsession like I do -- please please please check out Lorena Canals Rugs!



* product received compliments of brand, but review is my honest and personal opinion. 
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8.02.2018

Linktr.ee :: Why I Don't Use It + What I Use Instead


I bet you're wondering why I would be knocking on the tool that everyone has in their instagram bio.

Don't get me wrong -- the concept of Linktr.ee is absolutely genius. How wonderful to have all the links you want to share with your audience in one place?! It's convenient, easy to use and just smart. In essence, it's a great tool for bloggers except when their servers are down which is exactly why I opt out.

Why I Don't Like / Use Linktr.ee


Reason No. 1 :: when I was using Linktr.ee, I noticed that they don't notify you when their servers are down and in my opinion, that's disservice to it's users. Essentially, you are using their product which has their logo plastered at the bottom of the screen on the free version and it's brand name is in the url even if you pay to use their upgraded services, so you're technically giving them free publicity.

The least they could do is tell you when the service isn't working -- I mean, it's a hinderance to your blog / brand if someone clicks the link and they find a broken page leading them nowhere. It looks unprofessional and you wouldn't even know... possibly resulting in that person / brand not wanting to do business with you or never attempting to visit your blog again each time someone clicks the link in your bio.

Reason No. 2 :: It's an unnecessary step that doesn't help your numbers. I know that I click on a lot of links when I'm roaming instagram and sometimes I stop at the first page it shows me which is usually Linktr.ee. I mean, wouldn't it be nice if that first click contributed to your numbers instead of linker.ee's?

Reason No. 3 :: It's ugly. I know that's kind of blunt and slightly rude, but it's honestly how I feel about it. The page displaying your links is not only bland, but it's color options are boring.

I know that if you pay $5 per month, you have a few font selections and you can tweak the colors a bit, but $60 a year really isn't worth it when you can have the same type of thing for free.


What I'm Using Instead


What if I told you, you could have all the links you wanted to share with your community.. 
  • all in one place, 
  • be atheistically pleasing / look professional, 
  • represent your brand and your brand only
  • and contribute to your blog's -- all at the same time?!  

It would be a dream, right? Well, hold on to your hats mom bosses because I'm going to tell you that such a tool exists ... drum roll please .... within your own blog

That's right, I have a hidden page on my blog with a collection of all my links and I've posted it's url in my instagram's bio -- it represents my brand and my brand only, looks how I want it to look, helps my numbers, and I don't have to worry about servers being down or constantly check if everything is working properly.

It's really that simple ladies. I've listed the steps you need to take in order to get this going on your blog for anyone who's interested down below. 



How To Set Up A Collection Of Links Within Your Blog


Step No. 1

Make sure that your blog is mobile friendly website. 

This is important for the aesthetics of the page, but also because most people access these links from an app on a cell phone. 


Step No. 2

Make a page within your blog. 

Title it "resources," "links" or whatever best describes your collection of links. I'd advise you to keep the title short and sweet because usually the title of the page becomes part of the url you'll be placing in your bio and the shorter it is, the cleaner it will look. 


Step No. 3 

Get Creative & Customize! 

Do this by using buttons, graphics, script / fun font for your list. I used the dimensions 800 width x 100 height for my buttons, but how big you want them is up to you -- there are also a few websites online that can help you make a widget with pre-made buttons if you don't want to start from scratch! REMEMBER... This is a where you can put your brand's personal touch on the layout and really make it yours.  You can add your @ighandle at the top of the page if you really liked that about Linktr.ee -- the possibilities here really are endless. 



Step No. 4 

Link Everything & Make Sure All Links Work.

Because we want everything to run as smoothly as it looks.  


Step No. 5

Publish Page & Add Page URL To Your Instagram's Bio 

& Y O U A R E D O N E  -- see how simple that was? 


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7.30.2018

7 Things To Do When You're Feeling Stressed Out



Sometimes life can get brutal with all the projects, tasks and commitments we assign to ourselves which I thought I'd share some ways you can combat stress when you're drowning in the pile of work or those pesky laundry baskets.

1. Stop & Re-Evaluate.

If you're feeling worn out, stop what you're doing for a few minutes and re-evaluate the situation. Is the stress worth it, is the way you're feeling helping the situation, and would you be accomplishing less if you weren't stressing out right now? More times than not, the answer to all these questions are no because stress is a distractor and a mere roadblock to success.

2. Breathe. 

It wouldn't kill you to take a deep breath every now and again. No matter what is going on in that busy life of yours, it's always okay to take several moments to take a long deep breath. I always fine this an instant relaxer. I mean, breathing is something we take for granted, so why not take a few moments to really focus on how amazing our lungs are and fill those babies up with some air!

3. Take Time For Some Self Care. 

It's always nice to know that later, you've got something rewarding waiting for you. Plan a staycation, a spa day or a nice chunk of time to do whatever makes you happy -- read a book, watch a movie, grab some coffee, go for a walk in a pretty park, or just grab some extra zzzz by taking a nap!

4. Eat Some Chocolate. 

Because who has ever frowned while eating chocolate?! I mean honestly, I have never seen a person not smile when eating chocolate! Just remember to not go overboard because you may be frowning later when you step on the scale.

5. Make A Plan. 

One of my favorite ways to combat stress is make a plan. I grab my calendar, my fancy pens, and I start planning and brainstorming on how to accomplish what I need to do in order for my task to be complete. I set up a timeline and then I commit to it.

6. Exercise. 

When I'm stressed, exercise is often the very last thing I think about which is exactly why it's the perfect way to combat stress. It's a great way to release tension and just forget about what's going on. So grab some headphones, turn on some upbeat music and break a sweat and all the stress will drip away too

7. Start Over. 

Sometimes we're stressed because things aren't going in the direction we want them too and to that I say -- okay, fine, let's start over and do it right. There's no shame in wiping the slate clean and starting fresh with the thoughts of what didn't work out last time in the back of our minds.


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7.23.2018

Review :: The Ollie World Swaddle


When I had Felix, he was a master at escaping swaddles. No matter how tight I swaddled, within minutes, his hands were out and free. I had to give up swaddling pretty early on with my firstborn and that presented sleep challenges as he would scratch his face, wake up startled and start to cry.

When I gave birth to Marcus, I was hoping that he'd stay all wrapped up in a swaddle, but like his big brother, he was a master escape artist. I was feeling defeated when I remembered that I had something stored away in the closet that might help -- the Ollie World Swaddle. One morning, when Marcus had woken me up a little too early, I grabbed it and put it on my wiggly baby.

At first, I had a hard time putting the swaddle on and reading the fairly simple directions seemed like a chore, but that was probably because it was 6:05 am and I was running on four hours of sleep. Once I figured out how to put it on, I watched the baby try to escape.

I'm happy to report that with the Ollie World swaddle, I have found a product that I now rely on. It's an amazing product that delivers what it promises. I am now getting more rest and so is baby.

+ For More Info / To Shop Ollie World Swaddles :: Click Here +


* product received compliments of brand, but review is my honest and personal opinion.
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7.20.2018

The Blog Hotline :: An Introduction To The Series


Hi guys! I'm so excited to be introducing "The Blog Hotline" -- where on the second of each month, I'll be posting a blog post about the grit and grime behind social media, blogging and collaborating with brands.

When I first started blogging, I kind of just thrust myself into the realm with no prior knowledge. I reached out to a few insta famous mom bloggers who either didn't respond or gave me extremely vague answers that was essentially no help.

At first, I ran into all sorts of problems -- slow growth, gimicky collaboration requests, and the urging temptation to buy followers so I could catch up with people who seemed so far ahead [ gasp! -- we've all been there whether we want to admit it or not ], and the loneliness of trying to build a community when cliques and super inclusive mom groups rang within the halls of mom blogger instagram.

Even though I had no idea what I was doing, I went ahead and did it anyway. With a good amount of research, mistakes and restart ups, I made my blog become a little source of revenue. It's been a wild ride, but we're still on it and I'm honestly loving this platform.

I'd love to help other moms who are aspiring to blog or are feeling a bit lost. I'll be talking about all kind topics like...

  • instagram growth 
  • blog traffic / numbers
  • contacting brands 
  • giveaways
  • media kits
  • and so much more! 

It's my way of giving back to the community because without each other, we're essential nothing on this platform. If there's anything you'd like me to address in the series, let me know in the comments by sending me a message by filling out the contact form (found on the side if you're on a desktop or keep scrolling down if you're on mobile).


The first official post in this series goes live 

T H U R S D A Y :: A U G U S T 2 @ 7 A M P S T


.... so mark those calendars mom bosses and get ready to be equipped with information and tools to get your brand / blog where you want it to be!




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7.11.2018

Review :: Binxy Baby Shopping Cart Hammock


Having two under two brings a lot of chaos to the mix, but there is no great chaos than trying to go shopping with two under two. That my friends is a true H A S S L E. The screams, the tears, the dirty stares from my wonderful fellow customers, trying to fit everything in the cart -- it all piles ups and makes a mom want to never venture out and go shopping ever again!

I have found a fix to one of those problems and it's having Binxy Baby's Shopping Cart Hammock which you can attach to your cart. I love this product because it is a space saver and you don't have to deal with fitting all your groceries around a clunky car seat.

Besides the cute pattern and the fact that it's such an easy set up, I also really love how comfy and cozy baby is in the hammock. He literally slept the entire trip -- I kid you not. The only issue I had was big big brother was trying to feed baby a Rice Krispy treat, but I just slid and secured the hammock towards the end of the cart and problem solved!

The hammock holds up to 50 lb of baby, so this a product that I know I'll be using in the future because it really does save me a lot of room and the need for two shopping carts. For moms who don't want to deal with moving baby from and to the car seat, the hammock also can hold your carseat with baby in it -- seriously the neatest thing and a must have for all moms.

TO GET YOUR OWN SHOPPING HAMMOCK  ::  CLICK HERE +

* product received compliments of brand, but review is my honest and personal opinion. 
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6.25.2018

Marcus :: Pregnancy + Labor Story


While Felix's pregnancy and labor story was in depth and full of details, I feel as this one was a blur and went by super fast now that baby has officially been out of the womb for a month. I don't have any bump pictures (or any pictures for that matter) this time around because I was chasing a toddler the entire time and selfies are a thing of the past -- only thing I take pictures now is the kids and the occasional cold coffee sitting in a mug, but that's life and I love it. Anyways, without further ado,  here are all the details as I remember them.

How I Found Out + Reaction

This pregnancy took me by complete surprise. I thought I was pregnant about a month before, but all the tests I took came out negative. My husband told me to stop taking them because they cost a fortune and I probably wasn't pregnant if they've all been negative thus far -- I agreed. Late October I had planned to get my wisdom teeth pulled and the surgeon told me to make sure that I wasn't pregnant when coming in for the operation.

A week prior to the surgery, even though I felt fine and probably wasn't pregnant, I went ahead and took it upon myself to buy a pregnancy test just because you can never be to sure. And guess what, I was right -- the test came back positive!

I didn't believe it, so I took another test, and it too came back positive. I was pretty speechless to be honest. I stood in the bathroom looking at the tests for a bit before I went to break the news to my husband.

How I Told the Husband & Family

This time there was no surprise or creative way to tell my husband -- I literally walked out of the bathroom and stated "we're pregnant." He was pretty taken aback and didn't believe me until I showed him the positive tests. After the proof was brought to the table and he realized that this was not a drill, he was pretty happy.

I bought Felix a "This Is What An Awesome Brother Looks Like" t-shirt which he wore when he visited our parents and that's how we announced it to our families. Both our families were just as surprised as we were to find out that we were expecting.


The Pregnancy 

Being pregnant with Marcus was a blur. It felt like forever, but the months really did fly by -- if that makes sense. This time around, I had an easier pregnancy which means there was no high blood pressure, no UTIs, no complications and no visiting the doctor's office a million times. I was busy chasing around Felix which made this time harder, but the pregnancy itself was a normal, easy pregnancy (as if an "easy pregnancy" even exists).

I did have a serious sinus infection accompanied by the flu when I was 5 months pregnant (read about my experience with that HERE) and that was pretty brutal since I didn't take any medication. I did get through it and I think that was the most eventful thing during my pregnancy up until 7 months when sleeping through the night became non existent.

Towards the end of the pregnancy, I was miserable. Everything hurt earlier than it did with Felix. I wasn't as tired as I was when I carried Felix, but I still felt pretty tired most of the time. I honestly don't remember much about the pregnancy besides feeling miserable towards the end because I felt so occupied with Felix -- having a toddler and not having the time to focus on the fact that you're going to give birth eventually really made this time around so different.

I didn't take very many bump photos this time around either because I felt so big, but here are some of the ones I did take -- mostly shared on my instastory.

Labor + Birth

At 35 weeks, on a Friday, I had a doctor appointment to check on baby's progress and to my surprise, baby was already head down, I was 3 centimeters and 80% effaced. She announced that baby could come any minute now even though I still had a month to go. My doctor did tell me that if I went into labor before 36 weeks, the hospital I was registered at would transfer me because they don't deliver  late term premature babies unless the mom was 6 cm dilated when she comes in.

After I left the doctor's office, I quickly went to finish packing my hospital bag. Come Saturday, I had contractions off and on all day, but nothing close enough together to be able call in. I went to bed around 12:30 a.m. and right as I crawled in bed I heard a POP! and felt a pressure like I had to pee, so I rushed to the bathroom. Right as I stepped in the bathroom, a gush of fluid poured onto the floor -- you, guys... my water broke and it was exactly like it happens in the movies. I called the doctor's office and explained what had just happened and she told me to come it.

Because I was spending the night at my parent's house, Felix was already accounted for and my brother was able to drive me to the hospital since my husband was at work. I got to the hospital around one and by then my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and labor was in full throttle mode.

The nurse confirmed that my water broke and called my doctor as my husband arrived. They were rushing to get everything ready because I had walked in 6 cm dilated and they had no time to transfer me to another hospital -- ironically Marcus had listened to doctors orders on Friday and my doctor thought that was the funniest thing.

The preparations did not go smoothly this time around -- the nurses tending to me had some new equipment and ended up poking me a total of five times before actually finding a vein for the I.V. which made me furious because it looked like I wasn't going to get an epidural. Usually, I am a very pleasant person, but I felt like flipping the table over because it was taking so long and my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. My husband said I looked like I was going to hit one of them and that he's never seen me that angry. It was brutal.

The anesthesiologist stepped in, found a vein quickly, and then went to give me the epidural right before I completely lost my cool -- talk about life saver. I was 8 cm dilated and finally found some relief. It took a total of 10 minutes after the epidural kicked in that I felt a pressure and the doctor announced that baby was coming!

It took me a total of 10 minutes to push Marcus out and then, just like that, there he was -- my sweet little baby boy. Born at 3:29 a.m. 6 lb. 2 oz. on April 29th.


Because Marcus was considered a "late term" premature baby, we had to stay two days in the hospital. The nurses were testing his glucose levels every two to four hours and each time, it was low.  He also wasn't very interested in nursing, so we started supplementing with formula. In addition to that, he also had jaundice, so they kept a close eye on that too.

He was pricked in the heel so many times that to this day, he has marks. Luckily for us, his glucose levels stabilized and I was discharged on time. His jaundice required us to visit the pediatrician a few times the first week, but everything turned out okay and baby was growing at a good rate and his jaundice levels were in the "safe zone" and declining with every visit.

Thinking Back 

The pregnancy, labor and birthing process was a lot smoother than it was with Felix and this time around, it felt super rushed. I barely had time to breathe. I only gained 5 pounds this time around and since I'm 8 weeks and have gotten the a-okay from my doctor, I am on the road to getting my pre-babies body back!

All in all, life is definitely much sweeter with Marcus in it and we feel extremely blessed to be parents to such a precious baby --  all of us are so in love with him and are loving being a family of four!
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6.01.2018

Review :: Dock A Tot


Right after I had Felix, I noticed that the motherhood community on Instagram were all raving about one product time and time again -- the Dock A Tot. Of course, after seeing all those great reviews, I wanted one for myself because who doesn't want something amazing for their little one? I talked myself out of getting one though because I felt like I had too much stuff and didn't really need it, but deep down, I was always wishing I had gotten one.

Welllllll, when I got pregnant the second time around, there was no turning back -- I just needed to get my hand on one and I did. I can honestly say that I am so glad I did because having the Dock A Tot Deluxe in our home has been a game changer especially at bedtime.  From the moment Marcus has been home, I've placed him in his Dock A Tot Deluxe and am happy with how well he sleeps  in it. At the hospital, during our 48 hour stay, Marcus would wake up every hour during the night, but now, he's waking up only once, maybe twice a night -- letting my husband and I get the rest we need to tackle the next day. 



I love that the Dock A Tot is a multifunctional product -- it promotes safe co-sleeping as well as a playtime lounger. It's such a great lounger that my 18 month toddler finds himself crawling in it when baby brother isn't using it even though he is a bit big for it.

The Dock A Tot, designed in Sweden and handmade in Europe, comes in two different sizes -- Deluxe (0-8 months) and Grand (9-36 months). It's so lightweight and has been tested for breathability which lets me use it with ease. I'm not worried about safety when using the Dock A Tot because in addition to it's breathability factor, it's also all natural and 100% cotton. It's non-heat harboring and free of harmful substances, so when you're using it, you'll have peace of mind that this product is one of the best on the market. 



I really love that this product is portable / travel friendly -- it'll give the baby comfort of home when we're away from home. I've also used this product giving Marcus supervised tummy time and I love that the cushions on the side prevent him from rolling over. 

While Marcus is a small newborn and currently using the Deluxe right now, I already foresee us upgrading to the Grand because he loves it so much. It's a product I regret not getting sooner. Its that good.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DOCK A TOT :: CLICK HERE   


* product received compliments of brand, but review is my honest and personal opinion. 
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