Mother's Day 2016 and Little Bear's Dedication...

My husband fully executed my best Mother's Day ever :-) this year

Last year Ava Rose had colic and mostly screamed at me on Mother's Day so anything would have been a vast improvement, but he went above and beyond to make it special for me.  My day started off with a sleeping in (until 8 am), a hot shower, and a morning mimosa.

Oh and Ava surprised me with a locket that I've been wanting from a local jewelry artisan - it's a vintage locket with  pearls set along a gold chain.

We surprised baby girl with a new set of earrings, little pearls with screw backs in honor of her dedication.

Our moms and R's sister met us at church for Nugget's dedication, it was such a sweet ceremony.  We committed her to God and the Pastor prayed over the babies.  The babies receive a certificate and personalized bible and the moms were given a bud vase with a red rose.

We took some family photos:

Afterward had brunch back at our house - R made a breakfast casserole and created a donut tower. My sister in law made fruit salad and blueberry muffins and my mom brought mini ham and turkey sandwiches.  Gramma and Grammy spoiled our girl with affection and gifts for her special day.

We totally skipped dinner and had chips and salsa leftover from our Derby party and leftover sandwiches.  Of course for dessert R made brownies because they are our collective favorite goodie.

Oh and we got a full night's sleep without having to get up with Ava, which is still a rarity in our house. Chalk this one up in the record books as one of my favorite days!

Strawberry Picking...

We love our strawberries here at the Johnson household and we love strawberry patch season - so we had to plan an afternoon of berry picking at our favorite nursery.  Ava Rose had a blast!  We have enjoyed getting out this Spring and letting Ava Bear take advantage of the weather before it gets Hades hot. We plopped her down between two rows and let her "go to town" on those plants, she picked berries like a pro and sampled all the merchandise.

 This was after a wardrobe malfunction, her hair is so fine we lose our bows on the regular.

 

And because we had so many delicious berries we made little baskets to give our moms for Mother's Day - with a new photo of Miss Rose of course.

I made smaller versions for Ava's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week - berries picked by baby girl and a gift card to Panera Bread.

 I have a strong feeling we are going to need to get another bucket soon!

Ava Rose's 1 year photoshoot...

Ava nailed this photoshoot, the last in her 1st year baby series.  We had to reschedule it twice but third time was a charm.  She was happy and *mostly* cooperative.  She also loved her cake - homemade french vanilla with nutella icing.  My girl loved that chocolate!

Ava Rose at 12 months...

Well, it happened and we survived it.  Our tiny nugget is has entered toddlerhood...

Twelve month facts:

• Four teeth, 4!
• She loves the cat and gets crazy excited when she sees her.
• Loves to talk and is very good at making friends and holding "conversations".
• She's biting...everything.  This has been very challenging because she has a bit of a tantrum every time we tell her "no".  
• Still loves to nurse and still prefers a bottle to a sippy cup, another thing we have to work on.  She loves to drink out of a water bottle though.
• Finds every bit of paper, lint, etc on the floor.  Thankfully she usually offers it to one of us rather than put it straight in her mouth now.
• Doesn't care to bed fed any longer, she fights for independence now.  Only wants finger foods  and will let us assist her with a pouch.
• Cruises, crawls, and stands assisted.  She's strong and fast.
• She has ringworm, I'm not sure where she got it but we have to put medication on it three times a day.  It's the size of a quarter and I'll be glad when it's gone for good.

Nicknames: Nugget and Nuggie mostly.  But boogie, pook, bub, and bear have been popular this month.

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz

Length: 30 inches - we made our first mark on the height chart this month!

Eyes: She's my brown eyed girl

Clothes: We just moved to 12 month clothes, size 3 shoes.  We have several 18 month summer outfits so hopefully we can mix and match all summer.

Diapers: Size 3, we will be in them for a while.

Sleeping: Down around 8 pm and up anywhere between 5:30 am and 7 am.  She usually wakes around 2 am and can be patted back to sleep and is up again around 4ish and wants to eat.  We nurse and she usually goes back to sleep after about a half hour.  I hate night pumping so this works for me.

Likes: her teachers and friends at school, playdates, errands especially when it includes going out to eat, baby massages, cheerios, bathtime, being tickled, pulling all the wipes out of the container.

Dislikes: Getting her diaper changed, being laid down on her back, getting her nose cleaned / wiped, taking medication, the word "No", her baby gate, some food consistencies (one day she will eat a food and the next day she pulls it out of her mouth)

Feedings:  This isn't easy to write since she eats everything and in no specific quantity.  She nurses around 4am, 6 am, and at bedtime.  She takes 3 bottles at daycare mixed with breastmilk and organic cows milk - we aim for 16 ounces a day.  She takes a water cup several times a day and gets cheerios for a snack at least once per day. They offer her two snacks at daycare (usually fruit, a smoothie, fig newtons, or yogurt) - one is a "breakfast" type snack and the other is a traditional afternoon snack. And she gets lunch and dinner - whatever we are eating or is being served at the daycare menu.  The only one I have kept from her is the Turkey corn dog...because, yuck.  She loves Moes, like really loves it. She also loves any form of breakfast food and Panera rocks her socks too.  We use Happy Tot pouches a few times a week to fill in any gaps or for mini meals on the go.

Ava's Favorites: Bubble Guppies, Cherrios (all the time), her OXO tot snack cup, Nuk training cups, Little People (all the time), Marbles museum

Milestones:  Gah! Too many to keep up with.  Big things - she eats everything we eat deconstructed. She eats the same food the kids eat at daycare now AND she eats in the cafeteria instead of in the infant room. 

What a difference a year makes...

Baby Favorites - Part 3 Travel

Of course I'd start writing about our family's favorite baby items over the last year and get two posts in before a rather long pause.  I love reading about other bloggers favorites and wanted to put in my penny cents worth.

Ava bear is not the best traveler, day trips are okay, short trips are okay, but she thrives on routine and familiarity.  We have a few trips planned this year and I'm hoping that she will do much better now that she's a little older but as for the first year these were our necessities.

1.  Covered Goods nursing wrap.  If you are going to nurse then you need this scarf / carseat wrap / nursing cover / high chair cover.  I love the stripe one but they offer a variety of basic and seasonal styles. The fabric is super soft and easy to wash.

2. Diono Ranier, we chose to convert Ava out of an infant seat at 9 months.  We owned the Britax B ready travel system and the infant seat served it's purpose.  It was light weight, easy to use, and has good ratings. But this convertible seat is super durable, super heavy, definitely a bigger learning curve but I trust it.

3. Britax B agile stroller. Again we have the travel system but I love the stroller, turns on a time, lightweight, and easy to fold and unfold. I love that the back is padded and she looks comfortable in it. We have a bumbleride and a McLaren but I still like this one the most. I think as she gets bigger, the McLaren will probably be favored for it's more compact size but she is too small for it to be comfortable now.

4. JJ Cole changing clutch.  Once it's full it will take up the bulk of the space in your diaper bag but I love that it's the only thing I need for diaper changing AND it can be used one handed. I keep about 4 diapers in mine with one of the Huggies portable plastic zippered wipes packets and some Wet Ones.  I keep handsanitizer and diaper bags hanging off the handle...so convenient. Oh and it's big, big enough to cover those Kangaroo stations from side to side.

5. Tula Baby Carrier.  My print has been discontinued but I adore the design.  Worth every penny.  It's comfortable for me and for Ava.

6. Wet Ones.  Buy them in bulk.

As for diaper bags, you won't find them under my favorites.  I own two...this one (in a discontinued Poppy print) and this one.  I carry both and they serve a function.  I also carry a variety of totes and it all works the same.  I think a SAHM may get more use out of an actual diaper bag though, unless you plan to use it as a daycare bag as well which I find very inconvenient. For daycare they can only have certain things in it, anything labeled "keep out of reach of children" can't stay in the bag - so, no first aid kit, benedryl, tylenol, teething tabs, hand cream, etc.  Also any rash cream, snacks, etc are kept in the kiddo's cubbie.  I like to keep my bag packed at all times with these items, extra food, extra snacks, etc so editing it daily would be a pain. I like to keep a packed bag in my car or close to the door to grab when we go on errands and she has a separate tote just for daycare that only includes a couple of outfits, seasonal items such as a jacket and hat, and anything she needs to refill her cubbie. Since most of our days are work, daycare and home we just don't use the diaper bag as much as I thought we would - but the two I have are very nice and I could give my recommendations.

That's it, now to learn all about travel needs with a toddler... and I promise I'll try to get all our baby favorites posted before her 2nd birthday (Ha!)